We shall start off with another game review while I attempt to boot up my brain.
This next game is very strange. And not just because of the mangled English in the title. Ladies and Gentle Men, I give you….Among the Sleep.
Yup. In this game, you play a two year old toddler. Exactly two years old, seeing as the game starts on your birthday. Everything is idyllic (in a creepy, adult-baby kind of way) at first but then you wake up in the middle of the night and something is very wrong.
It’s extremely original and a very bold experiment. I have to give it major props for that. And the gameplay is original too, because it all revolves around solving the sorts of problems a toddler faces getting around in a world made for larger folk.
And the game has a very creepy atmosphere that reflects just how scary the world can be at that age.
Unfortunately,. that is about all it has. The puzzles are somewhat interesting but not a hell of a lot happens in the game. The spooky atmosphere is great for a while, but you wouldn’t make a movie where all there is the main character does mundane things while spooky music plays, and that is more or less what this game is.
Like I said, the puzzles are somewhat interesting, but not enough to carry a whole game. This game trades very heavily on its originality and originality wears off.
So for me, this game starts strong but doesn’t last long. If the game had more of a plot, that might keep me playing, but it doesn’t. The increasingly surreal locations don’t make me want to play either.
So I am afraid this game only gets a 6/10 from me. It’s a great effort and I applaud its originality and design, but the game feels tragically incomplete.
Now if you will excuse me, for some reason I am super sleepy now and need a nap.
I have a similar problem with out next game, Dream Daddy, a gay dating sim and the first dating sim I have ever played.
And maybe I am just not cut out for the dating sim genre, because while the game is very well made and the writing is genuinely warm and funny in a mainstream sitcom kind of way, most of the game time is spent just paging through enormous chunks of text dialogue and, once more, thhat’s just not enough for me.
I just realized how these reviews are making me sound like I am some kind of twitched out speed freak of a gamer. Oh well.
Somehow, I always assumed dating sims would have more to do in your quest for romance. Like more actively trying to make the love connection. But in this game, I felt very passive and trapped.
It could be that I have not made it out of the game’s VERY LONG intro yet, in which case I am doing it a disservice.
But as it stands, this game gets a 6/10 from me as well.
Random thought : it makes no sense for anyone to change their last name when they get married any more.
I mean, it made sense when women were considered property. Having the woman change her last name to that of his husband made it clear that ownership had transferred from father to husband and said to the world who owned her now and therefore whose property you would be damaging if you interfered with her.
History is so fucking disgusting sometimes.
But in this day and age, it makes no sense for anyone to change anything. I mean, when you think about it, your last name is the most clear and direct thing that you share with the rest of your immediate family. It is your link to them. You grew up in the (Your Last Name) household as part of the (Your Last Name) family. It represents a very big piece of who you are.
To ask anyone to give that up is, to me, asking far too much of them. I am not saying people should not do it. They should do whatever it is that makes them happy. Traditional name change, hypenated names, some strange portmanteau, both changing your last name to SeriouslyFuckMyParents, whatever it is that makes you feel well and truly married, go for it.
But I don’t think anyone has the right to demand it, or even ask for it. You can have the discussion, of course. But nobody should be made to feel like they have to do it.
Like I said, that is asking far too much of someone. It is like asking them to cut out their heart to prove they love you.
And that is my social commentary of the moment.
And now, the subject you’ve all been waiting for : my bowels.
I have felt some disturbing ripples in “The Force”, shall we say. Right now I feel like I am dodging a major IBS attack and I am well aware that I can only dodge it for so long before it catches up with me and I have to deal with it.
Big deal.; So I might spend some highly unpleasant and painful minutes on the ol’ porcelain throne. Been there before, and while it’s very bad, it is usually not very long in the grand scheme of things and afterwards I feel much better.
My first clear sign of trouble happened yesterday. I got up to get ready to go to therapy and my lower intenstines told me, in no uncertain terms, that Something Was Very Wrong Down There and I had better mount the throne ASAP.
What then emerged was alarmingly wet, and came out alarmingly fast.
Since then, I have had small attacks that I beat back via a combination of self-treatment, calming myself, and sheer force of will.
But that probably only bought me some time. Sooner or later, The Big One is coming, and I will just have to weather the storm.
Watch out for them tidal waves!
I will talk to you nice people again tomorrow.