Mild spoilers ahead. Ahh, progress: is there any better feeling, in a puzzle game, than finally just getting that door open just a crack--peeking behind it, seeing what's really going on?

I finished the manual today. All the pages. In theory, I think, I've got all I need to get to what would seem to be a true ending. But fuck me if it ain't hard to get there. Seems like most of the mysteries remaining are optional: the big one, the final one, is how to open that damn mountain door.

I admit, I was frustrated; I was stuck and turned to google for help and direction. Luckily, I am bad at using Google nowadays; it was mostly unhelpful. I saw some things about an optional windmill puzzle, I saw some mutterings about how that mountain door works. Nothing that actually impacted my progress, luckily.

It would be cool to figure out the end of this game myself. I hope I can get there.

What a bizarre game this is. One thing I have been thinking about while playing is the way race is depicted here. It's set in 1899, in the American west. South-west, maybe? I'm not great on those sort of sub-region distinctions. There is a pretty generous depiction on the part of Dutch's gang, and really the world generally, in terms of not being too racist.

Just now, I played a mission where race was directly talked about. A Black member of the gang came back into camp, saying that he had almost been lynched. I guess, he and another member, Micah, had been out and about in another town and Micah's actions attracted some attention. The people of the other town had arrested Micah and almost lynched the Black guy, but he got away. Interesting to bring up lynchings, sure, but a strange overall context.

The goal of that mission was to "take him to a bar to get drunk and forget about it," which ok sure. Afterwards, he gets arrested--hopefully not lynched, although it is left unclear; your character is seemingly unconcerned as you get away--and you wake up the next morning, in the middle of nowhere, hungover and without a horse.

Being stranded without a horse in this game sucks. Running is slow and unsafe. You can steal a horse, but that's fucked up: you lose honor and, again, being without one would suck for whoever you steal it from. There's no fast travel I'm aware of. Having to walk all the way back to town would blow: though something like that can be cool sometimes, in a game.

Luckily, there was a mission start point nearby. And midway though, my horse just showed up out of nowhere. God bless shitty game design. Maybe the walk back would have sucked, but actions having consequences is cool? I could have scrambled and stole a horse during the mission. The horse seemingly teleporting to me was convenient but just kind of makes everything else about the game seem pointless, why bother with cowboys and horses if the implications of em are ignored?

Glad I came back to this. At this point in video games, most people have played a zelda-like. They'll get the idea. The way it's mixed up here keeps it refreshing, and the core gameplay is so well-refined. Combat is kind of shitty.

I played this a bit when I was younger and save data would suggest I played it again as recently as 2017. My somewhat hazy memories portray this game as a charming and well crafted adventure, though I know I hadn't played much. Upon playing the first two missions today, its a little more uh, stiff, than I thought. I feel like I've seen the spin dance 3000 times already, and I expect to see it more. Very generously paced text though, and the game has what could be a pretty convincing and charming consistent aesthetic.

Played like 20 minutes of this bitch. Cool aesthetic but goddamn man I already played Papers, Please! Wonder if this will get its own kind of vibe eventually. Might keep playing, might not

Made a little bit of progress here. I had thoughts about this yesterday but forgot to really record them here. Hmmm. A conondrum. The game doesn't waste your time, which is to be greatly admired. More tomorrow.

Hmm. Hmmmmm. This is a game alright. Some real fuckin, late-night Toonami anime preview bumper ads, predecessors of adult swim bumps. I wonder if they tried to get FlyLo to do the sound track.

this game fucking sucks lmfao

I am waiting in line at the drive through of a Dunkin Donuts as I write this and this game's charm is beginning to wear away from me. Navigation is just generally irritating, although maybe that's on me for failing to buy enough fast travel slots. I think I've explored the entire island at this point, and I've crisscrossed it who knows how many times.

Despite that, the little things are still enjoyable enough. You get flavor text about the gods of the gameworld that always comes in the form of absurd and shocking stories over a sentence or two. That's nice. There are a lot of "relics" and other items to pick up throughout the island but I think I've gotten most of em at this point. I suppose I'll consider feeling mildly annoyed at this game until I get to the trial part which is coming up.

Not a very in depth note today. Game's fault imo.

I am really skeptical that this game is good. It seems like it is almost mediocre. But the bulk of my playthrough so far is just meandering this confusing island without decent navigation tools. You talk to some guy named like "Live Love Die" and he tells you "Mr. Death Snax" is angry at "Mistress Booblord," so you have to go back to talk to Death Snax again and get his whole take on it. But there's not much real detective work it seems. Well, I'm gonna keep playing this garbage and see where it goes.

really feel like I'm approaching the end. the game suggests I'm ~80% of the way there. seems I'm running low on big areas to explore. excited to get to the end of I can, I'll probably look stuff up about the arcane secrets I'm not getting.

didn't actually play this today (yesterday as of the time I'm writing this up). instead, I spent a little more time on Paradise Killer, a game which I am having a hard time determining the quality of. enjoyment, sure, it's filled with dumb ridiculous bullshit that I find pretty enjoyable. but quality? hard to say.

the most original aspect of the game seems to be the DeviantArt style character designs you run into. everyone is really hot and dripped out, or they're supposed to be at least (I'm not super into it). there isnt much challenge as of yet outside of minor platforming. it's mostly just been reading stories and whatnot.

I think it might be something like a visual novel as transposed onto a barebones 3d platformer. not the worst thing in the world but I hope there is substance to back up the flash. again the game is very derivative of SUDA; not necessarily bad as you can rip something off poorly and this game is doing it well, but it remains to be seen if it will go beyond just the rip off.

more fez tomorrow (today).

day three. things are getting weird. I confirmed my understanding of some certain spoilers and will probably discuss those from here on out, albeit in vague terms. up to something like 20 cubes: I've found a new door.

one thing I am wondering going forward is what "beating" this game looks like. will I need to decode the language? get more anti-cubes, or the other artifacts? I've been thorough in exploring the map but there are tons of secrets I've yet to crack. I wonder how many will need to be popped open to get to a completion state. there's a percentage indicator iirc that's not in front of me as I write this, but it would indicate I'm on my way. a pleasant experience on the whole so far.