Random "Force Awakens" Thoughts

Spoilers obviously.

Overall, it was a great movie.
Comparing it to the other films:
5 > 4 > 7  > 6 >> 3 > 2 > 1

I was most excited to see a brand new story in the familiar Star Wars universe. The prequels suffered a very common prequel failing (among many others): if the prequel is meant to explain events occurring in the original work, then we necessarily know how it ends. Every big revelation always takes us to a familiar event in a different movie. Everything is contextualized against what we know happens in the original trilogy. It's difficult to maintain engagement when the tension changes from "what happens?" to "how does it happen?" There are plenty of successful prequel franchises, but the Star Wars prequels are not one of them. With the new series, the story can reach new heights by directing our attention forwards instead of backwards.

With that said, I was disappointed that the old characters had such an active role in The Force Awakens. Han Solo in particular commanded every scene he was present in. I love Han Solo, but his presence stifled the growth of the new leads. A lot of the film felt bound to the original trilogy: the main quest involved finding Luke Skywalker with a map held by BB-8 and R2-D2. Leia and Han are Kylo Ren's parents. Kylo Ren reveres Darth Vader and wants to finish his will. Of course, this kind of anchoring is unavoidable to some degree, but in general I want to be looking forward, not be constantly referring to resolved conflicts in previous movies.

For the new trilogy to really take off, we need strong lead characters. Rey and Finn had a good amount of characterization in this movie, but they did not get as much attention as they should have (for protagonists). I think more care was spent with the fanservice instead of proper narrative focus for certain scenes. At certain parts, instead of beholding a Star Wars reunion, I feel like I witnessed a struggle for attention between veteran and new actors.

With Han Solo dying, I'm hoping that Rey takes more of the spotlight in the next film.

Anyway, that's my only real complaint. I have high hopes for the following movies. I'm excited to see Luke take on a Ben Kenobi role!

VNs and Mobile Gaming

The Muv-Luv Kickstarter is promising an Android port of Muv-Luv and Muv-Luv Alternative. Sounds great, right? You can play really cool games whenever you feel like it. You don't need to be at a computer or a console to boot up a fun game: you always have your smartphone with you so you always have games with you. What's the problem, then?

Simply put, mobile gaming is traditionally a passive activity instead of an active activity. With most mobile games, you don't sit down and decide to play them. You play them because you want to pass the time, whether you're in line, on the bus, or waiting for commercials to end. In a given context, mobile games don't command your attention. You don't focus on them. In a sense, they're secondary to any given activity. (Of course, there are exceptions - very notable exceptions. But the market as a whole produces games that you play when you want to simply pass time.)

This paradigm just isn't innately compatible with traditional storytelling. You watch movies in order to be immersed in new settings and situations. You read books because you want to see what happens to the characters. It doesn't matter that these activities are punctuated by periods of other activity: what matters is that when you sit down with a book, the book commands your attention.

Visual novels are the same way. Reading visual novels is an incredibly consuming activity - they can last up to 100 hours of reading! It's comparable to reading a book (a very, very, very long book). It's also cognitively demanding, so it's not something that can adequately be done passively.

What would happen when a behemoth of a VN like Muv-Luv Alternative is read on a phone? That's hard to say.  I can't stand the thought that someone reads MLA in five-minute chunks. I don't think anybody would want to only read MLA when waiting in line. It's more engaging than that. I would like to say that the player turns a traditionally passive activity and turns it into an active activity. But if this is the case, why does it necessitate a port? If you're going to sit down and commit yourself to this activity, why does it need to be on Android?

A few answers come to mind:

• Not everyone has a laptop. 
• It's inconvenient to carry a laptop around with you and you might find yourself in situations where you want to commit to reading but don't have the bulky computer. 
• The developers widen their audience by having a game on a more accessible platform.

Admittedly, this isn't totally different from having Netflix and eBooks on your phone. I think it's kind of a shame that enjoying film and literature is sometimes treated like a passive activity. But I do think (and dearly hope) that even though they are "treated" like passive activities by developers, users will mostly engage with them in an active manner.

My Problems with Virtue's Last Reward

Kotaro Uchikoshi is pretty great. A lot of his stuff is pretty great. But he's also the first person who convinced me that you can actually plagiarize yourself.

Spoilers for 999, Virtue's Last Reward, and Ever17 ahead.

Virtue's Last Reward is essentially "Ever17-lite." Instead of being surprised by the big twists, I kept thinking "this again?" There is exactly one point in the game where I was surprised -- and that was just because it turned out that they were on the moon the whole time. That reveal was kind of clever. The other twists? They weren't clever. They weren't satisfying. To see why, let's take a look what the other games did right.

Ever17
What is the twist?
One of the protagonists looks into a mirror to find out that he doesn't recognize the image in the mirror. We don't, either. The significance of "we aren't who we think we are" is twofold: first, obviously, we thought we knew who we were playing as this entire time. Most important, however, is the revelation that this character is not somebody who can possibly exist in the game according to our current understanding of the game's rules. This reveal puts into question everything we thought we knew about the story so far. We are shown through Takeshi's perspective what The Kid is supposed to look like. Now, we have somebody ELSE calling themselves "The Kid", someone who everyone ELSE acknowledges as "The Kid". This image does not match our expectation of what "The Kid" is supposed to look like and, furthermore, seemingly violates one of the fundamental rules of the game: that there are only 6 people allowed on LeMU.
How does the game frame the narrative to allow for the twist to happen?
The first scene of the game establishes the setting for us. The underwater theme park LeMU begins collapsing and a few visitors are trapped. We are rapidly shown scenes of the collapse from two perspectives: one of Takeshi and one of "The Kid." Both perspectives seem to be describing events describing the collapse of LeMU, so we are tricked into believing that both perspectives are actually happening at the same time. Of course, we discover that these two perspectives are actually happening 17 years apart. In short, the narrative structure of the prologue intentionally frames the scenario incorrectly.
What's really clever is that this is the only instance of narrative fuckery in the entire game (save for Coco's route, where the reveals happen). The story occurs in a strictly linear fashion after you select your character. The game doesn't keep throwing confusion at you (unless you're really clever and can identify the incongruencies between the two common routes). The game only needs to trick you once: at the very beginning of the story, the part where we piece together the scenario!
What are the character motivations for the plot?
The characters piece this plot together so that they can rescue Takeshi and Coco from the depths of the ocean. This works because we already care about Takeshi and Coco -- we've spent 20-30 hours with these characters already! There's tension because we want them to survive. It works because we are emotionally invested in the characters.

999
What is the twist?
We thought that we were playing as Junpei, but we were really playing as June influencing Junpei from the past.
How does the game frame the narrative to allow for the twist to happen?
The twist is largely similar to Ever17's, but the "trick" is different (and still clever!). The trick lies in the nature of the Nintendo DS: two screens both show text, but we are led to believe that the bottom text describes events in limited third-person perspective while the top screen describes dialogue and first-person narration. This is a very natural way to understand how the game is presenting information to you --- but it's wrong! The bottom text belongs to June, who ultimately is an observer but is still invested in Junpei's happenings. What's pretty masterful about this twist is that, fundamentally, it relies on the console itself, not the medium or the narrative.
What are the character motivations for the plot? The characters produce this plot in order to save June in the past. Again, this works because we care about June. Our motivations are aligned because we want to see her survive.

VLR
What is the twist?
The protagonist is old instead of young. This questions our perception of the narrator and the setting -- namely "when" the events are happening.
How does the game frame the narrative to allow for the twist to happen?
The protagonist told us through flashbacks that he was young. The "trick" here is just textbook "unreliable narrator." This is a big step down from the previous stories. Additionally, it tries to shoehorn the Blick Winkel character in the last ten minutes of the game, which is only a cliffhanger if you've never played E17.
What are the character motivations for the plot?
Again, the plot was constructed by characters in the game in order to save other human beings. My biggest problem here is that I just don't give a shit about those human beings. Who are they? Why do I care? I've never seen them before. There's no reason for me to care because these characters don't appear on-screen. It's reminiscent of a "saving the world" plot, but worse because we don't even get to SEE the world we're saving!
Presumably, there was this virus that wiped out most of humanity and we ultimately want to save some people down there. Great. This is noble, but I don't have ANY emotional connection to ANYBODY "down there." This point fails simply because it never gave me the opportunity to give a shit.

So what's the problem with VLR, then?
TL;DR: All of these games rely on their plot twists. E17 and 999's twists are clever and defy simple "trope" classification - they're groundbreaking and change the way we view our understanding of the medium's narrative patterns. VLR's plot twist is like E17's if you removed all creativity from it. The "cool" elements of VLR are less good versions of things that E17 and 999 did really well.

Muv Luv Kickstarter

So, the Muv-Luv Kickstarter was released half an hour ago, and it already has over $100,000!

This is really a historic event for anime and visual novel representation in the West -- I'm really hoping the medium gains traction because of this series. It's no hyperbole MLA this is the greatest VN ever released, and that (if you consider it a video game) it's one of the best games, period. If there's any game to prove that the VN is a legitimate storytelling medium, it's this one.

Not going to wax poetic about this game (today) but I'm really excited for the opportunities this Kickstarter represents -- sure there's prospects for anime and film adaptations, but also for a larger shift in Western perception. (And maybe a shift in storytelling patterns!)

EDIT: In 6.5 hours, the first goal was reached! $250,000!!! Amazing.

What is Muv-Luv really about? (Very light spoilers)

My first real foray into Japanese media was Umineko no Naku Koro ni. When I read Umineko (the first half), I thought it was the best thing I had ever read. Nothing had ever made me think like Umineko did -- it was so bizarrely meta and classic at the same time that it really commanded my attention. I was always thinking about it.

Then CLANNAD became my favorite story ever. However, by this point I knew that it was possible for a better story to come along and take this place. CLANNAD doesn't command the industry in terms of quality. There are other stories which are just as good, and stories in the future that will take its place in my heart --- CLANNAD was just the one I would designate as my favorite.

I always had the philosophy that there wasn't one story that completely stood above the others -- a story that could not be surpassed in the present or future.

---- Then I read Muv-Luv Alternative.

From a mathematical standpoint, I understand that it's always possible for Story X to be surpassed by Story Y.

My heart sincerely doubts that it's going to happen. (Don't get me wrong -- I'd love to see this happen! But I'm not counting on it.)

Muv-Luv Alternative is, in my mind, the absolute pinnacle of Japanese storytelling. It's the game that ruined anime for me.

It's so good it makes me angry. 

(Describing specifics would require me to delve into spoiler territory, so I'll leave it at that for now.)

Naturally, I want to share this with my friends. It's the best story to come out of the anime industry, so why wouldn't I?

Of course, this is really hard to communicate to others. I've tried to tell my friends to read this story, but alongside the doubt comes one question --

"What's it about?"

Sometimes this is a pretty easy question to answer. CLANNAD is about family. Little Busters! is about friendship. Fate/stay night is about ideals. For Muv-Luv, I had more trouble.

You might think Muv-Luv is a mecha story. It's not -- the mechs are just a pretense.

The game acts as a deconstruction of the harem genre of Japanese anime. I wouldn't call this the focus of the game, though.

The game markets itself as "a tale of love and courage." This is certainly true, but there's more.

Some say it's about how humans choose to live and how they choose to die. Again, this is certainly a main theme, but there's more.

Muv-Luv Alternative is a story about the human spirit. 

This game is really brilliant in that it discusses this in both macro and micro scales. We see a race of people that are almost completely subjugated by an alien species but fight on anyway because they have to. We see how people fight and how they hold themselves with dignity in the face of the apocalypse. We see how people pass on the wishes of the deceased and how they give their lives to protect what truly matters to them.

We see a young man repeatedly get shit on by fate. We see him driven to the absolute ends of sanity, only to be beaten to the ground because of his very existence. We see him stand up, every time, and fight on because he has to protect her. 


Muv-Luv Alternative masterfully captures the human condition and that's what makes it insurmountable as a story.

It's been over a year since I've read this and I'm still waiting for a story to handle this topic better than Muv-Luv did 10 years ago.

Schedule

I need to find a way to force myself to work on creative stuff. Right now most of my free time is dedicated to FF11.

A friend told me that the best way to force yourself to keep a schedule was to involve other people. It's one thing to let yourself down, but it feels really terrible to let down others that are relying on you.

I'm thinking of writing a webcomic to get into this habit. If I don't make new posts twice a week then people will be disappointed. That seems like a good way to force myself to be doing something productive.


It's a start!

??? Day 1: Programming is easy, content is hard

I need to learn how to draw "well enough" to start. 

I spent a few hours today with my tablet, Photoshop, and a crapton of shitty Conversation Hearts. (And no plan!) 

――― I learned the basics of wire-framing and faces for sketching. Of course, that doesn't mean I'm any good at that, I just practiced a lot.

 ...I'll get there someday, so I'm fine with that. 

――― I have a possible main character design. He came out a lot more feminine than I planned, but I think this is actually a good thing. And not just because he's a child.

――― I'm learning how undeveloped this particular idea is. Or, rather, I didn't really realize how much goes into a single game, content-wise. I don't have a title, any names, or a specific set of level ideas. Just a story frame, the premise, and the characters. 

――― I think I have a nice music playlist for this (I call it "Calm"). The Kanon, Air, and CLANNAD soundtracks came through for me today!

――― I feel my confidence rising already! I think diving right in was a good approach. 

――― I ought to come up with a title soon, That should help cement its identity. 

The Power of the Deadline

I've had quite a few game ideas for a while now, but my artistic ineptitude has routinely kept me from starting anything. I've been stuck with "easy-to-implement test games" which I very quickly lost motivation for.

"Everything looks better up in my head so I'll keep it all up there."

This stupid mindset had several terrible effects on my productivity and self-esteem. I could never properly express myself. I got angry at myself for not following my dreams.

"What good are these stories if I can't do anything with them."
"I have a bunch of skills that don't help me."
"If I can't draw, I'll never be a good game director."
"All I have are ideas."

Of course, the same goes for writing. My writing skill is limited and I only really feel comfortable writing in a particular type of voice (not one suited for scriptwriting or storyboarding, mind you).

So, nothing ever really got done with these ideas. I couldn't even accurately convey them to other people. Somehow, my self-worth got tied to these stories, so you can probably guess the effects of all of that.

In short, I was lonely and unfulfilled.

This semester, I decided I wanted to do something about it. It wasn't a strong conviction or anything. Actually, I think it was a rather weak sentiment, more useless than a New Year's Resolution.

"I want to make one of these games."

I didn't have a plan. Really, the only shred of hope I had was this Game Programming class I registered for. Even then, it wouldn't even really help me conquer my obstacles: this course focuses on CS topics like AI, Networking, scripting, and engines... stuff that would only be valuable knowledge for me if I ever got past the drawing board.

I've only had one class and I think this might be a turning point in my life.

My first day of this Game Programming class has already inspired me to start and we haven't even learned anything yet. We mostly talked about our final project: a complete video game. I think the presence of a hard deadline and the promise of regular checkpoint evaluations has given me the inspiration to get started. The game isn't due until May something-th, but for once I want to dive right in.

I don't have a romantic story about how I started making games. It's almost kind of lame if you think about it. I haven't broken through any limits to get here. No magical revelations, no life-changing pep-talks, no once-in-a-lifetime opportunities.

Only a deadline.

...And as for those obstacles, I intend to break the fuck through them with sheer will.