I would play Trials HD all the time on the Xbox and have a hell of a time, so I decided to wishlist the rest of the games on Steam as a sort of play it whenever scenario. Last Christmas, I got gifted this (shoutout to @senkaikasa btw) and after about 5 hours I can confidently say that this series wasn't just kid me being bored and was genuinely peak.
Coming back to this series as a fully out trans woman is really funny. I never thought about it, but this game is masculinity turned up to the max. From the rock music to the screechy guy shutting up the nerd in the intro, every aspect of this title should tell you at face value that this is a REAL MAN's game for manly men with beards and muscles that have an XBOX because they're COOL and don't have a Wii for SISSIES.
Yet, I can't help but get the vibe that Trials is a title that has a cult fanbase full of autistic trans women. Putting aside the stimulating setpieces, responsive physics and hilarious failures, the aformentioned themes of masculinity seemed to resonate to me in a way that hits different than when I played Marble it Up. Whereas in that game I was fondly remembering how the marble would control under my fingers, Trials's presentation continuously stuck out to me.
This game is so masculine that it smashes the barrier of parody. Think about what comes to your mind when you think of doing cool manly things. Riding motorcycles. Explosions. Getting dirty. Breaking bones. That game has all that. And completely unintentionally, Trials puts it all together into a comprehensive, fun and arcadey package with one message: masculinity can be goofy.
The game knows it, too. It's named TRIALS, how much more on-the-nose can you get? There's a skill game where you try to break as many bones as possible flying off your bike. The message the game is giving is that if your try to perform too hard to be a man, you're just going to get pummeled. And then the omnipotent being that's controlling fate is going to laugh at you for it. To that end, make sure that you have fun, but also make sure that you have fun tomorrow. The standards of toxic masculinity be DAMNED.
I'm not entirely sure where I'm going with what I'm saying. I'm drawing meaning from a goofy bike game from 2013. If I can shorten my thoughts, it would be that this game represents my naive ideas about what being a man was all about as a kid, and as a trans woman that is now aware of how gender works, I see that's what they were going for!
Now if you'll excuse me I'll be looking for the Trials fandom to see what they're all about ^w^
Coming back to this series as a fully out trans woman is really funny. I never thought about it, but this game is masculinity turned up to the max. From the rock music to the screechy guy shutting up the nerd in the intro, every aspect of this title should tell you at face value that this is a REAL MAN's game for manly men with beards and muscles that have an XBOX because they're COOL and don't have a Wii for SISSIES.
Yet, I can't help but get the vibe that Trials is a title that has a cult fanbase full of autistic trans women. Putting aside the stimulating setpieces, responsive physics and hilarious failures, the aformentioned themes of masculinity seemed to resonate to me in a way that hits different than when I played Marble it Up. Whereas in that game I was fondly remembering how the marble would control under my fingers, Trials's presentation continuously stuck out to me.
This game is so masculine that it smashes the barrier of parody. Think about what comes to your mind when you think of doing cool manly things. Riding motorcycles. Explosions. Getting dirty. Breaking bones. That game has all that. And completely unintentionally, Trials puts it all together into a comprehensive, fun and arcadey package with one message: masculinity can be goofy.
The game knows it, too. It's named TRIALS, how much more on-the-nose can you get? There's a skill game where you try to break as many bones as possible flying off your bike. The message the game is giving is that if your try to perform too hard to be a man, you're just going to get pummeled. And then the omnipotent being that's controlling fate is going to laugh at you for it. To that end, make sure that you have fun, but also make sure that you have fun tomorrow. The standards of toxic masculinity be DAMNED.
I'm not entirely sure where I'm going with what I'm saying. I'm drawing meaning from a goofy bike game from 2013. If I can shorten my thoughts, it would be that this game represents my naive ideas about what being a man was all about as a kid, and as a trans woman that is now aware of how gender works, I see that's what they were going for!
Now if you'll excuse me I'll be looking for the Trials fandom to see what they're all about ^w^
SenkaiKasa
3 months ago