a variety of notes, written whenever i can stop full body sobbing long enough to write them.
video games r the single greatest medium for this thesis statement, but it applies to all art. art is soul-powered, the machine cannot operate without a soul and the soul has nowhere to go if there is no machine. the machine must itself be made by a soul, often with the intent of capturing it, but it can only capture echoes and afterimages, only detectable with certain tools from certain angles. art in all mediums is in the ultimate superposition, completely at the mercy of its observer...yet the function of the machine is to convince the observer that its the other way around, and that THEY are at the mercy of IT
the most enriching experiences , for me, have come when awareness of this conflict have only aided the power, when i can see all the reasons i Should Not Care and how flaccid they are next to the amount that i Care Deeply. what is created is not distance but an Understanding, an effortless exchange where both i and the machine are aware of our relation to eachother, we have finally found someone who values the exchange as mutual instead of expecting the other to do all the work. many many ppl engage with art as a rule expecting it to simply whir away while they sit there and passively observe it, never letting their soul interact with it, never extending understanding to its limitations, never allowing it to just Be without explaining itself. that this is such a Particular Issue with the medium of video games has roots in a lot of causes, but i do not believe those causes are anything inherent to the medium itself. games, more then any other medium potentially, CAN demand your soul, and in this environment, it might be a moral imperative that they do
undertale is such an unbelievably trite line of comparison that i trust that u trust me that i wouldnt bring it up without good reason...aside from the fact that its rly an origin and anchoring point for my first exposure to a lot of these thoughts, its fascinating how two games that , timeline-wise, rly cant have Ripped Off Eachother, ended up with such similar things on their minds, and a similar drive to breathe life into what are on a surface level Barely Sketched worlds. in general i would say this is a lot more Specific and Conscious then undertale...undertale is thematically massive, filled with moments and images and rhymes that feel like they Should be straightforwardly didactic, but considering how vastly differently ppl have taken it over the years, theres plenty of testament to it being more of an associative sprawl...undertale does Not have a thesis statement, oneshot does
i might slightly prefer the sprawl approach in general...theres a lot more to chew on in a lot more directions, plus ive just had more time to live w/ undertale so its not the fairest comparison for me probably. but i also cant deny that i See my own personal undertale lens in this game, and that in fact it feels like an entire experience oriented out of that specificity, exploring and honing it to create the most power possible. thats the real reason i suppose that im bringing it up even tho its kind of embarrassing to do so...oneshot is capable of doing things Intentionally with its awareness of the player and its protagonist and the surrounding world in a way that undertale can rly only do between the lines with the player/frisk/chara interlocking triangle. the triangle is more interesting, its something ive been chewing on for years...but im not sure i feel it like i feel me and niko. and like how niko feels me and them.
one last note: one of my favorite things, esp compared to similar games, including undertale if im being honest, is its lack of moral judgement. it assumes that u are acting in good faith, are capable of having complicated feelings, and have a generally healthy ability to acknowledge that it is Just Fiction even as u are invested. the game is not interested in using yr input as a gotcha, not interested in wasting breath on those who dont engage with it in an earnest way. its not there to impress you, its not there to change your mind if you are going to be stubbornly callous towards it. it is not playing to a crowd, it is there for you. it is there for anyone who needs it. if thats you, youll know. and itll know.
video games r the single greatest medium for this thesis statement, but it applies to all art. art is soul-powered, the machine cannot operate without a soul and the soul has nowhere to go if there is no machine. the machine must itself be made by a soul, often with the intent of capturing it, but it can only capture echoes and afterimages, only detectable with certain tools from certain angles. art in all mediums is in the ultimate superposition, completely at the mercy of its observer...yet the function of the machine is to convince the observer that its the other way around, and that THEY are at the mercy of IT
the most enriching experiences , for me, have come when awareness of this conflict have only aided the power, when i can see all the reasons i Should Not Care and how flaccid they are next to the amount that i Care Deeply. what is created is not distance but an Understanding, an effortless exchange where both i and the machine are aware of our relation to eachother, we have finally found someone who values the exchange as mutual instead of expecting the other to do all the work. many many ppl engage with art as a rule expecting it to simply whir away while they sit there and passively observe it, never letting their soul interact with it, never extending understanding to its limitations, never allowing it to just Be without explaining itself. that this is such a Particular Issue with the medium of video games has roots in a lot of causes, but i do not believe those causes are anything inherent to the medium itself. games, more then any other medium potentially, CAN demand your soul, and in this environment, it might be a moral imperative that they do
undertale is such an unbelievably trite line of comparison that i trust that u trust me that i wouldnt bring it up without good reason...aside from the fact that its rly an origin and anchoring point for my first exposure to a lot of these thoughts, its fascinating how two games that , timeline-wise, rly cant have Ripped Off Eachother, ended up with such similar things on their minds, and a similar drive to breathe life into what are on a surface level Barely Sketched worlds. in general i would say this is a lot more Specific and Conscious then undertale...undertale is thematically massive, filled with moments and images and rhymes that feel like they Should be straightforwardly didactic, but considering how vastly differently ppl have taken it over the years, theres plenty of testament to it being more of an associative sprawl...undertale does Not have a thesis statement, oneshot does
i might slightly prefer the sprawl approach in general...theres a lot more to chew on in a lot more directions, plus ive just had more time to live w/ undertale so its not the fairest comparison for me probably. but i also cant deny that i See my own personal undertale lens in this game, and that in fact it feels like an entire experience oriented out of that specificity, exploring and honing it to create the most power possible. thats the real reason i suppose that im bringing it up even tho its kind of embarrassing to do so...oneshot is capable of doing things Intentionally with its awareness of the player and its protagonist and the surrounding world in a way that undertale can rly only do between the lines with the player/frisk/chara interlocking triangle. the triangle is more interesting, its something ive been chewing on for years...but im not sure i feel it like i feel me and niko. and like how niko feels me and them.
one last note: one of my favorite things, esp compared to similar games, including undertale if im being honest, is its lack of moral judgement. it assumes that u are acting in good faith, are capable of having complicated feelings, and have a generally healthy ability to acknowledge that it is Just Fiction even as u are invested. the game is not interested in using yr input as a gotcha, not interested in wasting breath on those who dont engage with it in an earnest way. its not there to impress you, its not there to change your mind if you are going to be stubbornly callous towards it. it is not playing to a crowd, it is there for you. it is there for anyone who needs it. if thats you, youll know. and itll know.