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YaBoiMarcAntony
For: I wanna be the Volatile Presence: Stagnant Edition
Before what you're reading now, I had written up what was by far my longest review, a lot of which was just me rambling about irrelevancies and personal shit in a vague attempt at connecting my own life with the game, but after writing it, I decided that I didn't like such a verbose and almost overwrought review for such a game as this. As it stands, I guess I just don't really know what to say about VP:SE without tending towards the overwrought and verbose, but I don't know that I'll ever write something that satisfies me seeing as I very rarely rewrite my own reviews, not because I'm just so good as to get it right the first time always, but because I'm of a lazy disposition and don't aim for writing a perfect review every time or even any time. I simply want to write something that, in my eyes, is a reaction to my time with the game, and whether it's to write something of a thank you or a damn you, that depends on the game. Here, I'm aiming for something of a thank you, though it is naturally a bit more complex than that.

I write now while listening to The Sound of Someone You Love Who's Going Away and it Doesn't Matter, and for some reason I find it to be the song most befitting of the game despite the file name being taken from a different song off Music From the Penguin Cafe. I don't know that this game is a goodbye, despite the hopes of the creator, and I think it is not worth getting into the why's and the whether-or-not's, but I will say that there is this sense that the game occupies the space between the last conversation and the goodbye, that place where you just know there's nothing left to say but you don't quite want to say that last terrifying word. As concrete a concept as it is, though, I don't find myself recalling many times where I've truly experienced that. More often than not, we're not blessed with the gift of knowing to say goodbye. Instead, it just so happens that we say our last words to someone without knowing we'll never say anything to them again. Sometimes, a goodbye isn't even the last word, but it's the last meaningful word, whether by choice or happenstance. I've known so many people throughout my life that I know I'll never see again, so many goodbyes that I'll never remember cause I didn't realize that's what they were, and I know there'll be many more to come.

Truly, there has only ever been one time I had a chance to say my last words knowingly and that was at what may as well have been my grandmother's deathbed. She wasn't able to respond, so it wasn't much of a conversation, but I had the chance to say a few things to her before she passed away. My dad told me she wouldn't be able to respond but that she could hear me, however after the fact I realized that he probably was just saying that to make me feel better, and I suppose it doesn't matter if she heard me because the last things we say to someone don't tend to be about things the other person doesn't know, but just things we wish to stress. When I told my grandma I loved her and that I was sorry I didn't spend more time with her, that I was happy to know she'd be able to see her beloved husband in heaven and to say hi to him for me, I know that I didn't need to say any of that because she knew it all. Even still, it was nice to get the chance to say it regardless.

I don't think much of anything I said here has to do with Volatile Presence (I'll be calling it that from here on out even though that's not it's official name as I don't want to write VP:SE over and over again), but all the same it's what my mind strayed to. Really, it's difficult to pin down what exactly Volatile Presence is beyond being not so much a sequel to the original, but instead the finished product - although, the game itself is and will likely remain unfinished, so perhaps that's a bit of a misnomer. Even so, finished or not, there is some sense of closure within the game's "ending," an ending that will likely catch many off guard and feel off to most, and though I fully realize it's not what the maker wanted, I think it nonetheless brings meaning to the game that may not otherwise have been there.

I originally (in my old review) described Volatile Presence as composed fragments of a mind, a museum of expressions made physical, and there's still some truth to that. I cannot tell you the meaning of each painting within this museum and truth be told I don't have much of an interpretation for almost any stage in the game. It's not so much that everything is too vague, and to be clear the game itself is not particularly subtle on a macro level, but more so that I find myself just wandering the game, not wanting to give thoughts but instead to just immerse myself. Volatile Presence is a somber game, and yet there is this feeling of warmth which works through me as I play it, not so much a warmth of kindness or happiness, but instead one of companionship.

Something I seek in everything I play is that feeling of companionship, something I could just as easily write as that feeling of humanity. Even the coldest and most depressive works have that feeling when they're done right, and it's partially what separates the good from the truly great, that sense that what you're partaking in is genuine and not fabricated artificially. The funny thing is, most pieces of art are genuine in some way, but the way I say it makes it out to be that I don't think that's the case. So, I reckon the missing link then is a need for some sort of relatability, not in the traditional sense, though. I don't know that I relate to much of what Volatile Presence deals with, though I can sympathize, of course. Instead, it's much more of a vague subconscious feeling I get that makes me think of Volatile Presence as being familiar to me. I don't relate to the game, but I relate to its general emotions, I suppose.

That's my greatest difficulty with discussing Volatile Presence, I can't find myself being anything but vague. Perhaps it's a failing on my part as a writer, or maybe I've just chosen to write before I really know what to say about the game, but all the same I feel the need to talk about Volatile Presence, so here I am talking. As silly as it is to say, maybe it's just my need to still be actively participating in the game. I could replay it, but it's not what I want, truly. No, I guess it's more that I can feel that goodbye coming, and this is my silly way of trying to push it off as much as I can. I love Volatile Presence and I love the way it makes me feel. I don't think there's any other game like it, no game that could accurately replicate what it makes me feel, and so I wish it could go on forever. Of course, I know it can't go on forever, and I know the game has already said goodbye to me, a goodbye that came before I was ready to say it myself. Thinking on it now, this review isn't a thank you, but a goodbye to this game I love dearly. I'll play it again and again, but I'll never be able to go back to my time watching this game grow into something truly special, and seeing it now as a blossoming flower, one whose beauty is altogether enhanced by those missing petals, I am glad to know I was there for the journey. And here I sit, knowing I have nothing more to say but reaching for anything because I just don't want to say the last word again.

So I won't say it at all.

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Tagged as: Needle Gimmick
[7] Likes
Rating: 10.0 100       Difficulty: 85 85
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Rating: 7.2 72       Difficulty: 75 75
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Rating: 4.0 40       Difficulty: 70 70
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[0] Likes
Rating: 7.0 70       Difficulty: 70 70
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For: I wanna LXZ
[0] Likes
Rating: 7.0 70       Difficulty: 75 75
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Crescendo
For: I Wanna Play the Simple Medley
left side of screen 1 of stage 3 has block, on right side it is not exist. I saw it only after the save. Thanks for it, i will not restart this game. 1 point only for removed those generic traps from some screens that were should be with traps

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[3] Likes
Rating: 1.0 10       Difficulty: N/A
Jun 17, 2022
cLOUDDEAD
For: I wanna be the Volatile Presence: Stagnant Edition
it makes me incredibly sad to know we will likely never see the "finished" version of this

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[1] Like
Rating: N/A       Difficulty: N/A
Jun 17, 2022
Nemicron
For: I wanna be Myself
When I was a freshman, I was inspired to play when I saw a Korean YouTuber broadcast the game. The YouTuber said it wasn't fun, but on the contrary, I cleared it all in a fun and not boring way based on version 1.7. This game is very difficult to play against the boss. Be careful when you play.


+rating based medium mode

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[1] Like
Rating: 8.2 82       Difficulty: 57 57
Jun 17, 2022
shign
For: I Wanna Step Outside the Needle
Decent needle game with a huge emphasis on cycle. It has a lot of cool ideas but execution is sometimes very lacking, ranging from pretty good to agonizing and passing by whatever. Best part of the game was after the hub.

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[1] Like
Rating: 6.8 68       Difficulty: 60 60
Jun 17, 2022
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