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So I study video games, and one of the major important philosophical texts is Baudrillard’s Simulacra and Simulation. And then in the final act, they throw all that out the window and get really heavy handed.Īt this point, we need to check in with Baudrillard. The rest of the game seems subtle and thoughtful and pretty intelligent.
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So the game has these kinda issues – but frankly they only seem to revolve around the actual monster – the simulacra, I mean. But in SIMULACRA, it’s the big villain’s big speech, his primary monologue – it’s his fucking introduction, really, where he comes out and says I AM SIMULACRA! And the developers decided to distract you in that speech by being like ‘hey did we tell you that we’re heavily influenced by Black Mirror?’ It’s the type of distraction that’s totally inappropriate in that moment. It’s just one little side character who never has a great deal more to do with anything. In Hollow Knight, there’s a ghost who talks about how he “bears a dark soul,” and has “a tendency to go berserk in battle.” The game is joking here, right – it’s pointing at its influences and going ‘Huh? Huh? See!’ It’s silly. I am that reality.”ĭid you spot it? Did you? Did you? Here’s a hint – it’s the part where the villain says the name of the show! And – to be fair, this kind of heavy handed gesturing isn’t alien to games. Beyond your glass screens, behind your black mirrors, is a reflection of your reality. It’s in the big villain’s speech – see if you can pick it out. One of the influences for SIMULACRA is Black Mirror, and there’s a line in the game that hints at that relationship. I’ll give you an example of how heavy handed this game is, one with absolutely no connection to philosophy. There’s some really interesting reflection on the nature of technology, and how so much of our lives are actually invested into these little fragile machines, uh, and also there’s some really heavy handed Baudrillard.Īctually, let’s even just pause there for a moment. You unlock the phone, and you can send messages and snapchat the owner’s contacts, and basically root around in this person’s life – and also the phone is haunted. The premise of SIMULACRA is that you find a phone and it’s haunted. SIMULACRA is another game that falls right into that box.
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I ultimately summarized The Old City as “a quaint early step in the right direction” – basically I think that in fifty years when people have figured out how to explore philosophical themes in a way more suited to the medium, we’ll all look back at The Old City in a low-key condescending way as a game that’s on the right track, but is a little heavy handed and clumsy. I also created a really shitty graphic, so it’s worth checking out just to see that trash. Ages back when I wrote on The Old City: Leviathan, I applauded it for trying to deal with philosophy, albeit in its own unwieldy sort of way.