Introspection

We’re not dead yet guise~

c:

Just dealing with life and how we look at it and ourselves.

I dunno about you guise, but introspective games are some of my absolute favorite games to play as I’m really big on self development and advancement. So anytime I get a chance to watch a movie or play a game that makes me ask a question of myself, to truly stop and think of my beliefs and perspectives, I jump into it— for better or worse.

So here are three pretty epic games I think can do that for you all~

A lot of you probably expected this with the title as I saw many people in the indie circles were looking forward to Catherine which was released in Japan on February 17, 2011, and in North America on July 26, 2011. Before character art was even released me and Day were pretty aroused as I’ve been trying obsessed with Atlus since Digital Devil Story: Megami Tensei II and I’ve been adding their employees to my will at random since Persona 3 dropped ( to my future children forgive your father =__=;), and Day has wrote a formal offer to Studio 4˚c to bear their children. All of them.

The cel-shading is incredible as expected, and the cut scenes are captivating and puts movies that try similar scenes, to shame with their execution and brilliant way of connecting you to the character before hand so you feel what he does(even if only a little bit). I could do a whole article on the game by itself but my posts are long as it is. A common theme of introspective games is that there are no literal good or bad choices.Executed admirably here you’ll define the path you travel in life(if you answer honestly) whether it be one seeking the comfortable and steady or excitement and freedom. All while dealing with the two women in his life and life itself.  It’s even got a neat feature where you can compare your answers to the other people who also lied !! :D

And that’s only the social aspect of the game, but with questions like these, you might want to play this one on a nights your significant other is elsewhere.

The Next two games have the bonus of being introspective and coded in Flixel (Adam Atomic ftw!) we’ve been experimenting with ourselves and being free! You damn cheapskates loveable fans you. :)

Twofold Secret’s got a great one in the the form of Alight (in dreams), which by the full title you can guess has a link to Catherine through a dream scheme. This time you follow a character and his thoughts as his dreams take you back through his past and his emotions and thoughts during this time. More so than your perspective on path, I believe this is a game which will have you looking at your past and how it has defined your present. Exploring the world you’ll come across various rising clouds of smoke which will trigger dream world related thoughts of the character. This is until you find 3 items a candle, an alarm clock, and a feather, which will decide the conditions in which you must place your chosen item on an altar somewhere in the world. Not only changing your path but also the thoughts displayed afterwords during your much less challenging journey to the door that leads to the next world. With art giving off an intangible dream-like feel to the world of Alight and backed by the mood-setting score of Smiletron, you might not be able to help thinking about younger days and your defining moments as you travel with the main character. »Play it here«

If Alight makes you look at your past, and Catherine indirectly makes you examine your future, this one will probably bring you face to face with your present. Have you ever heard that question what would you do if it was you last day on Earth? Well what would you do if you had 6? Those bastards geniuses over at AwkwardSilence Games brings you face to face with that question in the medium of One Chance. This game is a great representation of the combined concepts of choices and dealing with them. Carried onward by a haunting tune in the background you can see the result of such decisions. One playing the game for what it is can’t help but think about their own choices and the choices of others and how they affect the world around us. This game really impressed me on two big points. One being the stage of 6 days, as I always try to live being conscious of our undeniable mortality, spending time with,where, and who I want to be with so that I can have as little regrets as possible and rest in peace. The other being the ingenious use of cookies which I’ll let you guys see for yourself what I’m talking about(don’t be wads and turn them off ):< ). Thinking about that title in comparison with your beliefs, many people do feel like this is the only life we have.

»Play it here«

So how are you living? How have you lived? How do you want to live?

Take some time to look at these games and then yourselves, I think you’ll like what you see.;)

Unless of course you’re a pedophile, as seeing your inner child might not turn out so well for you. o_o

In any case sorry for the huge gap in postage here at the EGS, I hope this tl;dr post’ll make up for it. If you wanna catch a couple more games like these, I found the an NG Art Games and Flixel collection to be all kinds of delicious with gems like Babies Dream[…],Air Pressure, and Depict1(which should be in those collections).

We’d love to hear any thought on the games as well as Studio 4˚c/Atlus employee locations recommendations for similar games!!

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CHAINSAW BABY!!!! FFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU-

Til next time d00ds

❾