Famed doctor of medicine, psychoanalyst, student of freud, and eventually, imprisoned fraudster wilhelm reich described a four beat pleasure process. this pleasure process consists of physical tension -> energetic charge -> energetic discharge -> physical relaxation. the obvious example that we're all thinking of is the orgasm the scatter-shot featured here in bangai-o. upon launching into a level your whole body yearns for the 400 missile eruption... bio electricity springs forth from its own inner source, flooding your entire system, causing it to pulsate - expanding and contracting with the flow of your potent energy. this charge builds and builds until it demands relief: the inner production of energy grows too great. a wave of missiles fires at you. at the moment before annihilation you fire off the scatter-shot, finally discharging this mass of built up energy toward the outside. pleasure washes over you - this discharge liberates you from the dammed-up tension. the system pauses in preparation and anticipation for the awesome task of rendering 68000 sprites at once, each with their own accompanying screams of ecstasy. the tv screen begins radiating a healing cosmic orgone energy, relieving you of injuries both physical and psychic. a pure light replaces your consciousness and you are finally Awake. relaxation felt as a bodily state. 'enoughness'. the missiles serve as the fertilizing agent, swimming instinctively towards the numerous receptive eggs enemies. then another wave of missiles is fired at you...

bangai-o is this pleasure process looped continuously and in novel ways. it comes with all these new weird membranes that stimulate the player in new weird ways. it's instinctive and animalistic - just look out for the closest pink projectiles(!) and achieve the big (bangai) O. it's addicting. if I waited too long between levels I'd get irritable and I'd have a hard time sleeping on days that I didn't play it. speaking of - the narrative elements are rather dreamlike as well, characters come back from the dead, dialogue is often nonsensical, and we even get the jungian archetypes of the father and mother. the bangai-o itself represents the unity between the anima (mami - or maybe even mommy... hmmm much to consider...) and the animus (riki). fighting your progenitor over and over again in battles of nuclear fertility - that's robert anton wilson's anal emotional territorial circuit too. what a psychosexual experience this game is. more psychology and sex than pretty much any game I'd say.

not-as-famed thinker of the counter-cultural movement, occultist, and psychologist christopher s. hyatt re-labelled reich's pleasure process as THE UNIVERSAL CYCLE OF JOY. he said that each thing capable of completing the cycle can be considered a success. this process orients us towards life and away from the drive towards destruction, away from the need to return to the womb. it moves us forward (he states that most people are stuck in one of the three stages preceding relaxation, not you or me though, we made it). stanislav grof may have even argued that it releases us from the trauma of birth. if completion of this process does in fact equate to success then bangai-o is the most successful game of all time.

unbreakably hard and made of cold steel is chibi-robo, the phallus idol worshipped by a gluttonous (american) media-obesessed patriarch heading a rapidly failing family. no doubt the father's willingness to sacrifice the last of his family's resources indicates that he will go to any length in order to re-establish a masculine presence that the family can center themselves around (an obviously archaic view of the family unit as a tribe to be led). in the reality that this attempt fails, the bond between parents is shattered, and the wellbeing of their daughter is compromised.

chibi-robo, of course, succeeds. there's probably nothing in the world that this guy can't do. at one point one of the characters says outright that "thanks to you chibi-robo, I feel great all the time now". this guy pisses himself in front of you later too(?) all of the other characters basically take turns saying this to you after you solve all of their life-ruining issues too. honestly it's probably true that these guys are going to spend the rest of their lives thinking about chibi-robo every single day. and who can blame them? chibi is goated. his every action is infused with an enthusiasm for getting it done. his run is pure passion and he hustles like he can't stop. and the sound design... probably some of our (humankind's) best sound effects. you've got the raising-the-ladder sound effect (nyehwhehehehehe), the bouncy xylophone note accenting every non-carpeted footstep, the a capella "boh" when you back out of the item select menu. I love chibi-robo's way of doing things. like telly says, just chibi's very presence makes everyone happy, happy, happy.

chibi-robo has dominated a small portion of my massive psyche ever since I first saw him in nintendo power. he owned the front cover of the march 2006 issue (though there was a banner advertising a special report on metroid prime hunters as well... now that was a game. I alt-abused as sylux while my brother mained trace and was cracked at hitting rails.) happy to have finally played this. really really sweet game.

krack
the sound of my jab twisting your jaw around
tap
a fast measuring right hand to gauge distance and disrupt your defensive timing
CRASH
your consciousness exploding into a million fragments of lost memories as my left hook shatters your jaw.

the Beautiful Game. a story told with refreshing earnestness. through occupying the world of Moon the player acquires experiences; through acquiring experiences meaning gradually trickles in until the game (and the player) overflow. Love. that which is as nebulous as it is ubiquitous, it is your vitality and the lifeforce driving this game. the world of Moon is deeply imbued with intention; no detail goes overlooked - EVERYTHING you uncover smiles and waves at you. it kisses you on your mouth and you wring the love out of it and bathe in it. you grow so full of it! this game is built atop a foundation of a zest for life, an attitude that is found in every nook and cranny of Moon. isn't it so nice to occupy this world? isn't it so nice to occupy YOUR world? this is some real life-affirming stuff! the world around you is so full of things, to be a cognizant participant is to be blessed (though L.O.L. explores this idea further, perhaps in a more interesting way...). the world around you is so full of people, to be active in your interaction with them is to be blessed (though I suspect chulip explores this idea further but I haven't played that one... yet). there is beauty to found in even the most profound mundanity, assuming one knows to look.

Moon is a game about sitting down until bird calls begin to seep into the grass alongside you. Moon is a game about staring at the clock, He who is pulling the strings. Moon is a game about chilling out and listening to rock and roll. or free jazz. or drum and bass. or shamisen. (Moon Fish appreciators sound off in the comments). Moon is a game about so many things, but perhaps most importantly it is a game about you and about the world. it is transformative in a way that only a video game can be. when the sun shines on me I think of Moon.

an incredibly imaginative little adventure game presented with the rudimentary charm of a flipbook made in the DS' pictochat. I completed it in a single sitting in a dark room (lights out, nighttime - no messing around), an 1.5-2.5 hour playthrough that doesn't overstay its' welcome while fully exploring the central animation-cycling mechanic. tarotica voo doo is navigated via short animations which can be played and replayed frame-by-frame using the up and down arrow keys, a process that is as intuitive as it is unique. this mechanic sees use primarily in tarotica's combat and puzzle-solving. in combat, the enemies will often attack in cycles, presenting the player with an ebb and flow of attacking and defending. this endows the combat with a sort of ~RHYTHM~, inviting the player to try and sneak a cheeky little extra hit between the opponents moves (an impulse that often backfired when I succumbed to my bloodlust...). determining the maximum number of hits you can get before you have to defend remains engaging throughout the playthrough, as, for the most part, encounters with different enemies are distinct (especially that last one!). it's hard to discuss the more traditional puzzles without spoiling their solutions, but I will say the more novel ways to use the flipbook are utilized. a couple of the puzzle solutions towards the end struck me as a bit unclear, but c'mon - you really can't stay mad at this game. too much charm!

very lovely presentation as well of course. there's a lot of personality stuffed into those crude animations. the salamanders really stole the show for me. their characterization as the mansion's loyal caretakers, as clumsy as they are enthusiastic (they literally spring into action!) really endeared them to me. their faces brimming with a resolute pride as they brandish their candles... so purposeful they are, mounted atop their sconces... my god... how fitting the ending cutscene is! really really loved these guys. really really loved this game

(included in the steam version is the 44 page design document - handwritten, of course! very neat! really hope some of this guy's other games receive the same thorough localization)