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hungryghostsIn an effort to get back into posting on this journal, mayhaps we will begin posting about what we've been playing? Just as a semi-regular writing exercise.
Today's topic:
Your father is the Sun. Your mother is the Earth. All beings are your prey. Rejoice.
An indie game about living as a dragon, from the hatching to adulthood. Set on ancient Earth, you hunt, explore, gather treasure, engage other dragons in contests of might and wit, and uncover ancient secrets long forgotten.
The gameplay is a mix of visual novel, RPG, and roguelite. You choose what you do a day at a time, and pick dialogue choices that you can pass or fail depending on your stats. There is only one save file which autosaves frequently, and deletes itself after you die three times, instituting a kind of permadeath - however, some bonuses you earn from playing carry on to your next save file, so you're a little stronger each time.
We're not really the type for roguelites, especially since dying here means having to go through all the past dialogue. (And there is a LOT of dialogue.) It's offset a little by the fact that you can choose to start a new game at certain chapter checkpoints, but admittedly, we ended up cheesing the game by manually backing up our saves and using an external program to manipulate our stats.* It did take away from the overall experience of the game, which is in part about the ruthlessness of life in the natural world, but if there's anything we hate in games it's having to redo our progress. That's definitely an us thing, though. Some people enjoy the punishingness of permadeath, and honestly, a sincere good for them!
And overall? The game is fantastic. The writing is fucking fantastic. It's very much written from a non-human perspective, down to the littlest details. (For example, GT's dragons have no concept or care for gender. All dragons are referred to with it/its pronouns, and while they have a concept of "Givers" and "Birthers" in mating, it's left deliberately vague which sex most characters are, including the player character. There's no indication of sex being associated with personality traits, gender roles, etc.) The writing style itself is somehow both poetic and primal - it verges on flowery at points, but it honestly feels right for a dragon.
If you're dragonkin/draconic, or just beast-otherkin in general, beware! This game is the equivalent of shotgunning spicy food and then writhing on the ground in pain and ecstasy. It is agony. It is transcendence. It will make you feel seen, and it will make you suffer.
If you're on the fence about trying it, there's a free demo that's the first third of the game, and it'll transfer any collectibles you get to the full version. The game also runs on a potato, or so I hear. Go for it!
Price: $19.99
Available on:
- PC and Mac: Itch.io, Steam
(Also, the game is somewhat mature - we'll put some content warnings in the comments.)
* We are strong proponents of the idea that if cheesing a game makes it more fun and accessible for you, go for it! As long as you're not taking money away from small devs (like unlocking paid DLC illicitly) or impacting how others play (like making yourself unkillable in PvP), it's really no one's business.
Today's topic:
Golden Treasure: The Great Green
Your father is the Sun. Your mother is the Earth. All beings are your prey. Rejoice.
An indie game about living as a dragon, from the hatching to adulthood. Set on ancient Earth, you hunt, explore, gather treasure, engage other dragons in contests of might and wit, and uncover ancient secrets long forgotten.
The gameplay is a mix of visual novel, RPG, and roguelite. You choose what you do a day at a time, and pick dialogue choices that you can pass or fail depending on your stats. There is only one save file which autosaves frequently, and deletes itself after you die three times, instituting a kind of permadeath - however, some bonuses you earn from playing carry on to your next save file, so you're a little stronger each time.
We're not really the type for roguelites, especially since dying here means having to go through all the past dialogue. (And there is a LOT of dialogue.) It's offset a little by the fact that you can choose to start a new game at certain chapter checkpoints, but admittedly, we ended up cheesing the game by manually backing up our saves and using an external program to manipulate our stats.* It did take away from the overall experience of the game, which is in part about the ruthlessness of life in the natural world, but if there's anything we hate in games it's having to redo our progress. That's definitely an us thing, though. Some people enjoy the punishingness of permadeath, and honestly, a sincere good for them!
And overall? The game is fantastic. The writing is fucking fantastic. It's very much written from a non-human perspective, down to the littlest details. (For example, GT's dragons have no concept or care for gender. All dragons are referred to with it/its pronouns, and while they have a concept of "Givers" and "Birthers" in mating, it's left deliberately vague which sex most characters are, including the player character. There's no indication of sex being associated with personality traits, gender roles, etc.) The writing style itself is somehow both poetic and primal - it verges on flowery at points, but it honestly feels right for a dragon.
If you're dragonkin/draconic, or just beast-otherkin in general, beware! This game is the equivalent of shotgunning spicy food and then writhing on the ground in pain and ecstasy. It is agony. It is transcendence. It will make you feel seen, and it will make you suffer.
If you're on the fence about trying it, there's a free demo that's the first third of the game, and it'll transfer any collectibles you get to the full version. The game also runs on a potato, or so I hear. Go for it!
Price: $19.99
Available on:
- PC and Mac: Itch.io, Steam
(Also, the game is somewhat mature - we'll put some content warnings in the comments.)
* We are strong proponents of the idea that if cheesing a game makes it more fun and accessible for you, go for it! As long as you're not taking money away from small devs (like unlocking paid DLC illicitly) or impacting how others play (like making yourself unkillable in PvP), it's really no one's business.
no subject
Date: 2021-09-04 07:14 am (UTC)- Amorality/orange and blue morality (you're a dragon, after all)
- Killing and eating of animals, including humans, the young, and young humans.
- Disease and infection, including lethal
- Fungi and insects, including visuals
- Genocide/extinction
- Blood/injuries/light gore, including visuals
no subject
Date: 2021-09-04 04:14 pm (UTC)--Sneak
no subject
Date: 2021-09-04 08:56 pm (UTC)Roguelike, with a k: Progress resets completely between runs.
Roguelite, with a t: Some progress carries over between runs, i.e. you can unlock "account"-wide bonuses that you can use to make yourself stronger in the next run.
Though GT might not even be considered a roguelite by some standards, because its runs aren't procedurally generated - it's the same map and same events every time. That's getting into the nitty-gritty of game categorization, though.