At first glance, 1000xRESIST looks like a typical anime crap in a sci-fi setting. You start playing, and all around you are angular textures, no graphics, no gameplay, there is only walking and spatial chatter. Tsvetokor is twisted into the colors of an acid trip, and, wait, what do we have, a fantastic plot about same-sex relationships? To my disappointment, I came across several such reviews from people who quit the game without even trying to understand it. Tastes are tastes, but how glad I am that I am not one of them. After all 1000xRESIST — one of the most unique gaming experiences in recent years.
What follows is not so much a review as impressions of the game and a discussion about expressive methods. It’s very easy to spoil the game, so I won’t go deep into the plot and will only show some scenes.
1000xRESIST
What would happen if a group of very creative people met during quarantine and they wanted to create something together?? It’ll be a story. After a devastating deadly pandemic, the remaining human population exists solely on clones of the only survivor of the disease — ALL-MOTHER. This is the foundation for the game, and it sets the stage for a powerfully written story that explores revolution, generational trauma, and personal identity. Plot in 1000xRESIST very complex, it consists entirely of time travel and jumping through a person’s memories? People? Or yourself? It is thoroughly saturated with the echo of images that arise in every episode. Some of them are obvious, like the juxtaposition of alien invasions and uprisings in Hong Kong, or death by crying in one timeline and tear gas in another. And sometimes they go into very subtle matters that can only be caught if you carefully watch and listen to the game.
Just think about it. The main plot of the cloning game is the character’s internal struggle and struggle with his own identity, and then this strangely plays out on a public level hundreds of years later. Sounds like crap — crazy and complicated. But the story of this game is magnificent in its complexity, as are its means of expression.
Game as an interactive experience
The catch is that like a game 1000xRESIST bad. I played through the version for Nintendo Switch, and at some points the picture is very bad: there are “ladders” on each surface, which someone will definitely not like. Although I must admit that the art design outweighs the shortcomings. Just as those who expect a “game” from the game will not like the lack of gameplay. The easiest way is to call it a walking simulator with a claim to a complex narrative, but that would be unfair. People from sunset visitor, who are behind the development of the game are designers, directors, theatergoers, writers, but not developers. Their main desire when working was to express what they wanted to convey through their medium, but in the conditions of a video game, because the usual methods at that time were destroyed by COVID.
The angles that the game artificially builds, https://crazystar-casino.co.uk/ and the work with color and light that is used in it, constantly evoke the feeling of not so much a game as a slide show or a bizarre installation. Just like in a theater, events on one stage can take place in different time periods, and only light and color will differentiate between the present and the future. And behind the “goggle-eyedness” there actually lies a creative calculation and end-to-end symbolism, which allows us to more conveniently navigate the game. Provided you see these techniques. 1000xRESIST requires attention from you so that you can appreciate it at its true worth.
And although from the “game” formula sunset visitor they take only a little, the very opportunity to touch these scenes, to feel involved in those events that are unfolding not around you, but with you, gives some kind of cathartic ecstasy. It’s about your distance as a player in relation to the character, your distance as a player in relation to events and reducing this distance. Being able to walk “through” this narrative is an amazing experience.
For the first time in games I see such stunning editing and consistent tempo: dynamic episode — time jump — static confession — time jump — increasing dynamics — time jump — real chronicle = catharsis and declarations of love.
It has a goosebump-level soundtrack Blade Runner 2049 — intense, disturbing and at the same time fascinating and melancholic. Ryan Gosling from the meme would fit perfectly into this universe. The OST was created after the chapters were ready, so the composers could mix the tracks so as to hit the mood in almost every frame. She’s also amazingly voiced. Even before creating the game, Ramy Siu knew that he would invite not professional actors, but his friends and acquaintances from the industry. Surprisingly, from the skit of different creative personalities, a very organic group of voices turned out, which I would like to call intimate — their voices sound so insinuating.
For all its technical disadvantages, every element in the game is used to be creative and non-standard. Even the interface and task window are used to reveal the central idea of the game. When the heroine is under stress and her internal guidelines change momentarily, the quest window constantly changes, clearly showing the chaos of thoughts.
[1000xRESIST] shows strength in its art direction and visual storytelling. The frame composition of each sequence and the cinematography of its cutscenes communicate so much that doesn’t need to be said directly… Sunset Visitor turns its technical limitations into one of its greatest advantages, allowing its creative techniques to speak as loudly as its words.
IGN
If cinema used to be a synthesis of all arts, then the most striking example of such a synthesis in video games is 1000xRESIST. Which is very interesting. As one of the most talked about indie projects of 2024, this game is dragging the very concept of “game” deep into the industry. She expands the cultural value for her medium without committing a conceptual revolution. That is, it does diametrically opposite things compared to the main indie game of the year — Balatro , which focuses exclusively on process and appeals to the unique language of the gaming industry — gameplay. Games like this are driving the industry up, and that’s great. But I will appreciate the ones that give it more depth, like 1000xRESIST. Although both projects are a triumph of small studios over industry giants. And they even have a collab!
If we speak in the language of comparisons, then 1000xRESIST can be placed alongside Kentucky Route Zero, another ambitious, creative game that aims to combine complex plots, visual storytelling and philosophical themes. Or a less obvious example is OU, whose charm lies not so much in the whimsical visuals, but in the intertext that makes us think of the story as an invisible visualization of a person’s feelings about a book.
Such meta-jokes doom the game to remain a niche product “for connoisseurs”. The mass player is simply not interested in spending time on such things. But if you are a connoisseur of games that are faintly similar to games and are looking for unique experiences in the industry, then this is a definite must-have. Not for everyone, but amazing. It’s not often that gaming equivalents appear on the shelves "Evangelion".
In addition to the mind-blowing narrative, in which one can feel the love of science fiction, the game leaves a huge scope for interpretations. It’s fair to say that this is part of the ongoing dialogue between the Chinese and Hong Kong diasporas. Or is this a statement on the theme of the Umbrella Revolution?. Someone says that this is an allegory about the invasion of Chinese immigrants into the United States. Perhaps it’s just a desire to create a game similar to the one the creators played in their youth. Or a new form of digital art. Look for the pearl — play. And I’ll add it to my favorites and go listen to the soundtrack.
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