Analogue - A hate story + hate plus review - Pc - Kimble justice

Oh, hi! Funny to see you here! Donít mind meÖIím just baking a cake, is all. Think of this asÖa new approach to reviewing games. All will become clear soon enough! Anyway, I have all the ingredients I need here ñ sugar, butter, eggs, powder, more powder, flour, cocoa, milk, boiling water, a picture of Sue Perkins, and the two games Iím covering ñ Analogue: A Hate Story and Hate Plus, two visual novels by Canadian indie writer Christine Love. So, get your bowl, combine the sugar and the butter, and mix dat ***! SoÖChristine Love first came to prominence in 2010 with the excellent Digital: A Love Story, a game set five minutes into the future of 1988. In said game, you play as a teenager whoís just got a computer, and the power to access bulletin boards! Thus setting the scene for a wonderful tale about going online, being a script kiddie, hacking, getting friendly with computer A.IísÖitís a fine game, with a very authentic feel - the actual processes involved in scouring this old Internet come into play throughout the gameís puzzles, andÖwell, itís an Amiga 500, isnít it? As soon as I booted the game up, I saw Workbench 1.3, and knew immediately that I was in for a good time. But more than anything else, itís a wonderful, uniquely written story ñ this isnít the nonsense you might expect from the visual novel genre. Itís a game that surprises you at every end, and one thatís worth playing, like, now - especially seeing as itís free. Itís the sort of universe youíd want to stick around inÖ.and indeed, fans got their wish when Analogue: A Hate Story came out in 2012! Even if it is set thousands of years into the future, in the darkest recesses of space, based around a large Korean ship thatís been floating around aimlessly for hundreds of yearsÖthe cyber love story theme is still very much present ñ but the game is so much more. Right, weíve been mixing for a while nowÖsome more wonít hurt. Analogue: A Hate Story was kind of a big deal ñ a visual novel that, rather than released into a small, closely-knit community that few outsiders travel into, was released on Steam, for the whole world to see! This would be many peopleís first experience with a visual novel ñ the very appearance of the game on Steam signifies more acceptance for a largely mocked genreÖanyhow, this mixtureís quite light and fluffy now ñ if we test it out using a spoon, I reckon itís just the right consistencyÖso stick it to one side for the moment! One might wonder what makes Analogue specialÖmaybe itís different, the visual novel that becomes famous by being completely unlike all other visual novels? The answer to that is, of course, a thoroughly resounding hell no. Now letís beat those eggs!...fu- Like Digital, Analogue uses a mock computer terminal as its interface, only now itís the future, so we can use A.I. constructs and visual representations! And so the first thing you see when you get into the systems of the Mugunghwa ñ the aforementioned Korean ghost shipÖis an anime girl. Thatís the sort of thing youíd be afraid of, isnít it? The very sight of an anime girl might cause people to immediately abandon all interest. My advice to you is simple: DONíT LET IT. That is allÖif you do, youíll be missing out. Anyhow, this particular girl is *Hyun-ae, and sheís a computer programÖand youíre the first person whoís loaded her up in 600 years, so naturally sheís going to be quite welcoming, and more than ready to help you uncover the mystery of what happened to the ship. And what you find is quite interesting ñ a huge generational ship whose values were based off of medieval Korean history. Meaning, for instance, that the ship has an Imperial family. The noblemen hold prestigious positions on the ship, everyone dresses modestly, and the women?...well, they exist. So long as they bare sons, that isÖideally, they shouldnít even be able to write. Early on in the game, Hyun-ae shows you a two-word Korean phrase ñ namjon yeobi. Hyun-ae translates this phrase to ìmen are honoured, women are abasedî. Other translations run along the same lines ñ respect men, lower women. The phrase is, in fact, part of Korean code ñ at least it was, and is one of the core foundations of the whole game. You have an Imperial society operating on a futuristic shipÖwhereís the inspiration? Christine Love found it in the Joseon Dynasty, rulers of Korea for over 500 years, from the 14th through to the 19th century. Yes, there is a history lesson on the way ñ take notes, for there will be a quizÖso, Joseon! First off, the Joseon Dynasty was reactionary even for the 14th century ñ they condemned the Goryeo Dynasty they replaced as depraved and suppressed the more modern Buddhist teachings of the time in favour of the works of Confucius, creating a sort of Neo-Confucianism that focused, in the main, on the idea of filial piety ñ respecting your elders ñ and strict societal roles ñ knowing your placeÖ thereís a somewhat large gap between the social orders ñ women, even nobles, being amongst the lower class. In the context of this work in particular, the main duty of a wife is simply to give birth and continue the line. In most cases, they arenít even included in family trees, and education, as we define it, was not a priority ñ indeed, it would be frowned upon. A lot of the historical angles Christine Love takes in Analogue are not actually embellished, or exaggerated ñ if anything, when you look at the Dynasty itself, theyíre underplayedÖ Itís also still a fairly relevant subject in the modern day ñ the Joseon Dynasty only ended a little over 100 years ago, and a lot of those traditions still exist in KoreaÖalongside a society that is actually still, to this day, really quite sexist. In 2010, a study was released revealing that Korean women were paid, on average, THIRTY-NINE percent less than men in similar positions ñ the largest gap in the study, and a whole ten percent more than the 2nd placed countryÖJapan. If youíre looking for some good academia or reasons behind the occasionally weird attitudes towards the genders in Asia, the continuing influence of Confucianism is a good place to start. AnywayÖtrack over. Letís get back to whatís REALLY important! ÖOk! Iíve beaten the eggs and added them into the mixtureÖbe sure to do this gradually. The next stepÖcombine the flour, the baking powder, and the cocoa! We shall do this with the help of a sieveÖeasy enough! And now we fold it gently into the egg-butter-whatever mixtureÖgently, remember! You donít want air bubbles! Treat the cake with respect, and the cake shall respect you. Anyway, what can we take from the last paragraph?...well, Christine Love certainly did her research. To a damn high standard, and allÖit adds a lot of colour to the story, really places you inside the heart of this odd little shipÖand draws you further in when the story becomes personal, and Hyun-ae in particular reveals herself as more than just a computer A.I. keeping dead records. You came to the ship looking for old historical data, and you find so much moreÖpossibly even a friend? ok, folding done. Iím gonna grease some cake tins, and youíre going to go back to the game world. Your own personal relationship with Hyun-ae certainly becomes a factor as the game progresses ñ she is after all in control of the logs, and the only one who can help you find context ñ make of that what you will. However, you will stumble upon a second A.I - *Mute, the shipís security program. She has her own interpretations of the storyÖso, minor spoilers ahoy! It turns out that Hyun-ae is actually a sick girl who was placed into a cryogenic chamber thousands of years ago, in the hope that she could be treated in the futureÖa future that, alas, refused to improve. She grew up in a wholly different, progressive society ñ and so when she was released into the Imperial society, she didnít exactly fit inÖítwas a combination that would ultimately lead to disaster. *Mute, on the other hand, has views shaped by the Dynasty ñ and as such they are much more in line with those valuesÖsheís utterly misogynistic and values filial piety above all. She also has her own views on Hyun-ae herselfÖand thatís partly where the Hate comes in ñ Muteís hatred of Hyun-ae, and Hyun-aeís hatred for the society. Itís hard to explain it all without spoiling everything, unfortunatelyÖbut you certainly get into the story, and all of its shocking details. Just an example, I guessÖthereís a moment in the story where the ship starts to go haywire ñ itís suddenly active after laying dormant for hundreds of years, and it canít take it. You have to go into the system and manage the power so it doesnít blow up, taking you with itÖitís a pretty simple puzzle that youíre given 20 minutes to solve ñ you could easily do it in about three, possibly about five the first time through. When I first played through the game, I finished the puzzle with around about two minutes to go ñ it was more than just joining dots, it was a damn tough thing to doÖIíll leave it to you to wonder why that was. Itís a masterful moment, one of the most gripping and intense Iíve ever encountered in such a game, matched only by the other moments in the story, particularly their crushing resolutionsÖin the end, itís not a happy journey. Some of the logs are incredibly hard to read ñ a testament to Loveís power as a writer. And you come away at the end with a fairly complex relationship between yourself andÖwell, a fictional character. Kind of hard to explain, and probably not for everyoneÖitís not that silly sort of thing ñ yíknow, the ìmai wai-fuî typw stuffÖyou just feel as though youíve shared a moment. You might have sympathy, you might understandÖor not, even. Some actions are, on the face, hard to forgive. But itís definitely worth taking that journeyÖin short, Iíll recommend Analogue as a fantastic game ñ praise it to the high heavens, as high as possibleÖI played it many times, to experience the story from all sides and reach all the endingsÖand I was never not completely engrossed in it. Itís honestly brilliant ñ even if you donít think youíd like this sort of thing, I recommend you give it a whirl. ÖSo, yes. Analogue! Now where were we? So weíve got our cake tins, and weíve greased them with butterÖnext step? Stick the mixture in there! Not much to say here, I guess ñ divide it evenly, and make sure itís smooth! You donít want an uneven cake after all your effortsÖmake sure your ovenís pre-heated, and thenÖwell, slam it in! Stick that bun in the oven! Slap it and tap it! WhewÖok, thatíll bake for about 20 minutesÖletís take a break! Ah, SueÖyouíre great, yíknow? I know youíre more cher chez la femme and all that, but we should go off into the countryside and eat scones togetherÖwe can be friends at least, Iím sure? Right?...OH! There you are. Anyway, Analogue left one burning question in the mind ñ we know that Hyun-ae grew up in a progressive, modern society that weíd recognise, and was then thrown into a regressive, imperial society straight out of the history booksÖso how did that happen? What made a futuristic society change? Christine Love promised an answer, and delivered it in the shape of Hate Plus, the gameís 2013 sequel ñ originally meant as an expansion, it gradually evolved into a full game. It should be said immediately that thereís not much point in playing Hate Plus if you havenít already played Analogue ñ itís meant to fill in all those big gaps, after all. You can even take saves from Analogue and transfer them to this gameÖitís probably not spoiling much to say that at the end of Analogue, you decide if you want to take the A.I with you back to Earth or notÖdepending on what you do it can be Hyun-ae, or Mute, or even ñ if you cheat ñ both. Either way, as you begin your journey back, the A.I finds log files in their memory from before the ìyear zeroî ñ the event that led to the Imperial Dynastyís formationÖand they reckon itíd be nice to read them together! What, donít you agree? One thing that is interesting is how the story is told ñ you can only extract a few files at a time, and your ship has limited power. When you donít have any power, you have to shut down for a day before you can extract files againÖand thatís real time. The story takes place over three real days, covering your journey back to Earth ñ you actually do have to stop playing and just let the story sit for a timeÖitís odd, but it works. If the game didnít have it, you could simply plow through the whole thing in a couple of hours without even taking it inÖwith it though, you do find yourself thinking a great deal about the story, and the log files youíve read in the downtimeÖall those new characters, the differences between the *Mute you know and the *Mute you find in the old logs, how Hyun-ae reacts to the more intimate detailsÖand who keeps benefiting from all the conspiring and power-plays that are clearly going onÖthe strings behind the strings, so to speak. And of course, going through the logs continues to build your relationship with the character ñ something that Iíve barely even touched on yet! You see, one of the main conceits of the game is that you canít properly talk to them. They have to ask you binary questions, to which you can respond in ways that theyíve chosenÖoccasionally these are positive and negative and not necessarily symbolic, but there are amusing points where you might feel somewhat railroaded into a choiceÖnot because of bad game design, but because of the A.I. itselfÖthe choices are often more like what the A.I. presumes you would say, and what theyíd like you to say ñ especially in the case of Hyun-ae. The relationships also change dramatically depending on whether you choose to be male or female ñ the difference being a lot more marked if Muteís your companion ñ thanks to those ancient values we mentioned beforeÖand it all plays into what the game has to say about relationships, sex, gender identityÖso much to go into. Weíll try and delve into it a little more. But firstÖ Right, obviously itís no use just having two layers of cake and nothing else ñ it might well be nice, it might even do if youíre a lazy ***Öbut if you really want a good cake? You gotta sex it up. The layers have to come together! And so what do we need? ICING. First off, weíve got some dark chocolate, broken into pieces and melting over a pan of simmering waterÖagain, not too rough, donít boil the *** out of it! CakesÖlooking good! Bit more time though. And weíve also got some double cream! You could get something lighter I suppose ñ but look, itís *** chocolate cake, ok? The dietís already a shitshowÖI say go big, or go home. So, the chocolateís melted! Take it off, add in the cream, and stirÖjust be a lilí careful ñ you donít want it to curdleÖright? Right. Now itís going to cool and thickenÖso, you might be asking yourself right about nowÖwhy the hell am I doing this? One of the really fun things about these games is how they play with what youíd traditionally expect. Going all the way back to Digital, the main thing there was that all you could do was press ìReplyî ñ you never actually saw your own messages, meaning that the story concentrated on who you were talking to as opposed to the protagonist. Analogue uses a similar approach, but with a little more control over your protagonist ñ as well as featuring the command line puzzle already mentioned. Hate PlusÖwell, it asks you to bake a cake. Hell, why not? Itís Hyun-aeís way of relaxing! Itís not like the storyís gonna have a happy ending, so you may as well have some cake, right? You might not take it seriously at first, but then you realise that, dammit, the game means it. You donít actually have to bake a cake in order to advance, but the gameíll certainly guilt you into making an effortÖespecially if you try to lie about it. Itís a cute little fourth wall breaker, thatís for sure. And hey, why not? Nothing wrong with this, is there? All Iím doing is making a cake for a cool person!...who doesnít actually exist. Look, donít *** judge me ok? Iím not the only one! Thereís achievements at stake here! And if I send this into the folks at the Great British Bake-Off, Iíll be on TV and Iíll be famous! And ever closer to greatnessÖoh, never mind. Anyway, the cake. It should be about done now! Letís take it out the oven! You might want to give it a little test with a metal skewerÖgot crumbs? Then itís ready! Tee-hee! All we can do now though is stick it on a rack and leave it to coolÖdonít be impatient ñ thereís still magic happening inside there. While itís cooling, I suppose I can try my best to sum up these games. Paired together, these two games ñ Analogue and Hate Plus ñ seem to cover a veritable smorgasboard of themesÖthey have a very non-linear nature ñ you pick the logs you want to read, gradually piecing together a puzzleÖone minute youíre reading the dry minutes of a council session, the next youíre wrapped up in a romantic account of an affair between two lovers. Itís impossible to really pigeonhole it ñ I couldnít even say that the story was wholly masculine or feminine. What does it warn against, if anything?...not sure, but quite possibly repression. That seemed to click for me on my last run (of three) through Hate Plus, re-reading again the story of the one person who is responsible for the transformation of the Mugunghwa ñ an obsessive, Knights Templar-esque character who purposefully manipulates their way into recreating a new Joseon dynasty, the person who youíd expect to hate most of all, who comes, in the authorís words, from an incredibly dark placeÖin the end though, the only identifiable emotions are pity and sorrow. And thatís quite common, to be honest ñ very few characters in the game are wholly good, or do what youíd want them to doÖthe story never seems to quite turn out ok, the hero never gets the girl or the boy, thereís no picturesque sunset for the ride homeÖjust a steady stream of little endings. Christine Loveís games also communicate through the wonders of explorationÖin the end, itís all history. The documents are all ancient in the universe, simply historical curiosities for most peopleÖbut they do still mean something for someone, and in the end they mean something to you. That one purpose, the exploration? All things considered, itís pretty freaking apt. SoÖall thatís left is to do the icing! Lather the top of one half, get it all creamy, get the other halfÖand contact! I hereby pronounce you cake, and cake! A bit more icing for the topÖand there you have it. Kimbleís chocolate cake! Please enjoy some gratuitous food *** shots. Iíll just say what I already said again ñ donít just dismiss these games because theyíre visual novels, or because thereís anime stylings involved ñ theyíre so much more than that. Hell, treat them as you would a good book! Just settle yourself down and get ready for a good storyÖperhaps a few glasses of *** wouldnít go amiss either! But for nowÖwell, letís eat! AwÖshame never tasted so good. Anyhow, itís time to end the video! Thanks for watching, and wherever you are, whoever you be, have a good one, take care, and Iíll see you next time.