MIDI Week Singles: "Dark Flute" - Super Brothers: Sword and Sworcery EP (PC) (Android)

"Dark Flute" from Sword and Sworcery EP (PC)(Android)

Publisher: SuperBrothers and Jim Guthrie

Composer: Jim Guthrie

Developer: SuperBrothers

I chose this song because it has been my ringtone for over a year.  Truly, there are many excellent songs from Sword and Sworcery EP, and I may want to do a Game Scores feature to cast a light on the whole, beautiful soundtrack.  I got this game as part of a Humble Indie Bundle, and fortunately, I was able to get a copy of the soundtrack to Sword and Sworcery EP and several other games as part of this bundle.  This soundtrack and others made their rounds on my phone during work.

I'm very happy to be sharing a song from this soundtrack, as it is one of my favorite soundtracks and favorite games of the last three years.  Dark, and haunting, with sweeping rises in volume and intensity, Jim Guthrie's composition style is very atmospheric while also exciting.  

-D

BBC indie game podcast and the best indie games of 2011

If you're like me, then you may be perpetually out-of-touch with what's going on right now in gaming.  I recently went to a game stop, and I kept repeating 'Another God of War?'  'Another Bioshock?' 'didn't these games just come out?'  And if you're like me, you probably don't really mind being out of touch.  

Yet another similarity you may have to me is that you may enjoy listening to podcasts,  perhaps while in the kitchen, cooking or washing dishes.  I have a few podcasts that I cycle through; I've always got something to listen to.  However, sometimes I get bored of the same old subjects, and I go out to find something new.  My latest search was for indie game podcasts.

To my disappointment, the first few podcasts I found had not been updated in months or even years.  This seemed odd, given that I think indie games are becoming a bigger part of the entertainment discussion, not smaller.  But, then again, as I mentioned, I am perpetually out-of-touch. I decided to give one a go, and I settled on the BBC-sponsored:  99 coins podcast (not updated since July, 2012).  

I started with the latest episode, titled 'anyone can make a game.'  This is just the kind of sentiment I was looking for.  What I found was a rambling discussion of game-making tools and what an 'indie game' really is.  Nice overall tone, a little hard to catch the details sometimes.  However, the writings and programs they reference in the episode are included in the links. 

The second episode I listened to was 'favourite indie games of 2011.'  I found that this was just my speed.  If being out-of-touch can be quantified, then I guess I'm about a year and half behind the indie gaming scene.  They list of several interesting titles, and even a couple I know of: Minecraft, SpaceChem, Sword and Sworcery EP along with many other interesting titles.

One game referenced is johan sebastian joust.  A game I may never play, but does look like fun.
http://www.jsjoust.com/

Another is the Stanley Parable, a game I almost played once.  I'm going to give this another try.    -D
http://www.moddb.com/mods/the-stanley-parable


-D

Follow up: Sword and Sworcery EP

I recently completed this game, and decided to do a follow-up to my First Impressions.  I felt that the ending of this game was strongly affecting in a way that warranted further attention here.  

Sword and Sworcery EP is weird.  Weird and unique; truly this game is very much itself.  It doesn't really resemble anything else in my library or memory. Weird and beautiful: the sounds and graphics are finely crafted, original creations, custom to this game.  There's something so great about the impact of the sword swings during combat.  The sound has a real punch to it.

The themes are strange and perplexing.  The willingness to mix fantasy with random bits of modern imagery make it really hard to pin down.  However, playing through, from start to finish, this game has a sense of coherence.  This is actually aided somewhat by the habit of breaking of the fourth wall.  The characters speak directly to the player, and even the Scythian, the character controlled by the player, uses the royal 'we' whenever speaking.  It seemed clear to me that the Scythian did this to acknowledge the dual nature of the player and herself. The other characters will refer to the Scythian, but speak directly to you.  It feels as though they live in this game and acknowledge that there is a player outside the game.  

There is a theme of the inevitability of death, which is mentioned directly within the dialogue, and also through animated behavior.  This theme coupled with the breaking of the fourth wall, drew my attention to the fact that I was in no danger, however, I was taking part in putting the Scythian in danger.  And while the game never blamed me for it (as the player), I shared in a sense of dread and inevitability, as the Scythian carried out her 'woeful errand' with my assistance.  But more than that, I had an awareness that I was 'sharing' these feelings with the characters, who are merely pieces of fiction after all. 

As the game drew to a close, I felt my own connection to the characters drifting away.  I was left with a feeling of watching fish in a glass bowl.  The events of the story ultimately have a greater impact on the characters within, and I have  only second-hand involvement.  I will go on with my life, go to work, the grocery store, play another game.  But these events will have lasting effects on the characters within.  

I guess, in a sense, immersion is never really broken, but more put in its place.  The player is outside, and must remain there. We can only watch, and have a small influence on what happens within.  Which makes for a weird and beautiful experience.

So yeah, rad game.  I highly recommend it. Click the >Read More> link below for more info.

First Impressions: Superbrothers: Sword and Sworcery EP

Another Humble Bundle game!  The Humble Bundles are the best thing ever.  By the way, there's one going on right now.  11 more days. Upon reviewing my files, I recently discovered that I've bought five Humble Bundles.  Which probably accounts for about 35 of the 50 or so games in my steam account.  I'll probably never play them all, but I'm glad I gave Sword and Sorcery EP a look.  So far, at 2 hours in, I am having a great time.

The game is beautiful in a neat 'retro' way that captures my heart.  I can't explain it, but the graphics and design really mesmerize me.  The visuals are great, the sounds and the animation are also great.  Everything seems to fit in the world, and no element clashes to pull me out of my absorption in the game.  I've enjoyed the sound so much that I decided to download the soundtrack (another perk of the humble bundles).

The story follows a character known as the Scythian.  She is wandering around looking for something called the Trigon, which appears to simply be a triangle.  Except using the 'gon' suffix like a pentagon or septagon.  She encounters some people along the way to help her and some others who are trying to hinder her.  And the whole time the graphics and sound are just great.  

The controls took a little getting used to.  My only real problem was that I didn't realize that I could double-click to direct  the Scythian to walk or interact with items.  I thougth I had to hold the button down, which does work, but it also is the same action that I use to look around the screen.  Mixing the two of these up was frustrating, but since I figured it out, the controls have given me no trouble at all. 

The name is kind of stupid, and so far the writing is pretty stupid as well.   For example, the lumberjack that the Scythian meets early on is named "logfella."  And then the dog she encounters is named "dogfella."  The thing about the dialogue is that it seems to be speaking directly to the player, and not to the Scythian.  The other characters in the story will speak of the Scythian and not to her, and the Scythian herself uses the royal 'we' whenever expressing herself verbally.  After playing the game for a couple of hours, the dialogue has started to become charming, instead of annoying.  I think this comes from the consistency of the silliness.  The game seems to break the fourth wall as a rule, instead of an exception, and this somehow works.  

There are some themes that I don't really understand.  One is the 'EP' theme.  I am guessing that the inclusion of EP in the title is to indicate that the game won't be very long (I have been playing 2 hours and have 47% completion) and that maybe it indicates that the soundtrack won't be very long, as an vinyl record EP runs a standard of about 25 minutes.  The menu screen for the game prominently features an image of an EP vinyl record.  The record reacts to the players menu choices.  Another theme is the triangle, or 'trigon' theme.  Triangles feature in all of the menus, and also as the main source of conflict for the Scythian.    

I want to throw in that the lead character, the Scythian,  appears to be female, based on the sound of her grunts as she swings her sword. However, she is not portrayed as 'super-feminine' - a nice departure from so many of our video game heroines.

The game is available for eight bucks on steam, but I got it for much less, given it was a Humble Bundle.  I probably dropped $20 bucks on Humble Bundle V, and still the games were about $3 apiece.  hells yeah.

-D

I want to also make a quick mention that there was a reference to Al Jaffee in this game.  Yes, that Al Jaffee.  I think that was the precise moment that the silly dialogue began to win me over.  

Also, I want to mention again that the Humble Bundle 7 is out right now and has 11 days to go.  Pay what you want, can't beat that price!