Recent reviews by XxStormPkX

Bug Souls.

Warning this does contain spoilers, but it is more a love letter to this game than a review.

When I first bought this, it had mostly negative reviews, but I never take things at face value. I tore through the negative reviews and found they were inaccurate (Its boring! Well, you bought a walking sim! If you wanted violence and gunfire buy FPS!) or irrelevant (no story). The few mature well written reviews convinced me to buy it and I’m so glad they did.

The main complaint people had at the time was there was not enough story or background, but I found that was the reason I loved it. I was walking through and thinking what is going, what is the story, and then I saw what looked to a vision of a person and I couldn’t make him or her out clearly, so I moved closer and person disappeared, and I dismissed it. Further down the path I saw the person again but this time slightly clearer. It was a woman and she appeared to be gesturing but I was not sure. I got closer and she disappeared.

I was curious now. Who was this woman? A ghost? A vision of the past? A memory? So, walked further down the path. Reading the notes as they appeared. The notes just gave me more questions. Further down path I saw her again and again. Each time slightly clearer and I got just slightly closer. Then the path ended. There was a lake and a shack. My questions had not been answered in the notes, nor visions of the woman, nor any narration. Then I did the only thing left to do. I opened the door to the shack. There was a table and a bottle of wine. All my questions had been answered in that moment seeing what was in that lonely shack by the lake. This was a story of a man who had lost the love of his life and his daily life was going to bed in his house in the wilderness and at the end of the day taking a walk to the shack by the lake. Visions of his lost love in equal parts haunting and reminding him. The visions of the woman and notes were that of his sub-conscious trying to cope. So, every night he goes to shack at the lake and drinks from the bottle wine they shared, and he enjoys the view they loved to share. Alone.

The way this story is handled is pure genius. In my very humble opinion. It makes you wonder, and wonder, and wonder. What is going? Then at the end with simple opening of a door. Everything is understood, and it hits you like a train. It is a tale of a romantic tragedy. A harsh realism of life that is hardly explored in video games. Let alone so expertly. Whether this method of storytelling is intentional or not I do not know. Was it budget constraints or just great story writing? Either way I do not care because it does matter.

After I bought this game I bought every game this developer has made, and I was not disappointed in the least. When a new release comes out I buy without hesitation. (Which is something I never, ever do. I research every little detail of everything I buy. I ask questions to the right people. I don’t care if the price tag is $1. I want to know what I’m buying.) I don’t always have time to play them right away, but when I do. I am never disappointed.

I don’t know if the dev read his reviews but in case he does. My message to the dev is don’t stop. You got a talent for making games. Not gimmicky games that sell you on fancy gameplay, graphics, or excessive gore/violence, but games of story and experience. I respect that. I would rather spend my time gaming enjoying a great story and listening to a beautiful soundtrack than shooting zombies.

I don’t often write reviews anymore. My time is limited with work, family, friends, and life in general. I was never a fan of short films. Most of the time I didn’t enjoy them at all. A few I loved with a passion and will for life but because they were short (10-20 minutes tops) I felt some amazing stories were never fully explored and I was disappointed that they probably never were going to be explored. I have never regretted watching such films for these reasons, either. This short film is one of them. 10 minutes long and I loved every second of it. I see the beginnings of a full length 2-3 hour long 5-star movie that could win every award in the book, but it will probably never happen. Such is the beauty of short films but also its curse.

In summation. Its free, 10 minutes long, amazing, I now have the game on which it’s based on my Wishlist with the determined intent of buying it. Also, My Love Hate relationship with short films continues and I wouldn't have it any other way! Haha!