Forsaken Denizen

Adapted from an IFCOMP24 Review

There is nothing new in the world, and all art is built on art before it. We know this about the world. Yet year on year, things are still produced that surprise and delight us with novelty. How is this possible? It’s like music. There’s only 7 (12 if generous) notes but look at all the songs! It’s the ordering, pacing, orchestrated tonal qualities, volume, all these variations that bring uniqueness out of sameness. Man does FD deliver a symphony.

It’s like if you took every single decision an author might make – plot, character, background lore – and said “I want each of these things constructed of no fewer than 3 contradictory parts, and each of those parts should be BANANAS.” The protagonist/player is a third person space marine of some kind, but the game is narrated by a first person NPC of royal lineage. The world is under threat from an investment gone wrong(!) that is also apocalyptic and also challenged by ANOTHER apocalypse of some undetermined quality. Antagonists and bosses are simultaneously samey but each with unique details. It would be easy to mix all these things together and get only a muddy mess. FD proves itself an amazing conductor though - pacing things out really well (mostly) so that bonkers builds on bonkers and is not just dumped on you all at once. The fact that EVERY dimension of the story is so bananas helps here, I think. You never really have time to dwell on, say, some outlandish character reveal because HEY LOOK OVER THERE! now the plot has taken a turn! Ok, but would… HEY, SHINY BACKGROUND LORE!! I used orchestration earlier somewhat tongue in cheek, but its details are dispensed so regularly yet diversely it hits the exact sweet spot of increasing-engagement and no-time-to-poke-holes. Eventually, you just surrender and trust the wild ride you are on. I can’t say enough about the pacing of this thing, it is supremely well constructed to lob curves at you any time familiarity starts to settle in, right up to the end.

I haven’t spent much time specifically lauding the background lore here, so let me correct that oversight now. Like a fractal mirror of the entire work, its background is a chunky gazpacho of crazy - a Chex Mix where each part is satisfying to crunch, but whose saltiness begs for more, only instead of more corn chex, you now get a pretzel or cheese cracker or whatever. Ok, now I want more of that! Nossir, here come the peanuts! If you had nothing but peanuts, you would quickly start wondering “wait, some of these peanuts are undersalted or half-roasted.” Not here! It’s the variety that sums to more than its parts by so completely hiding its parts’ gaps. If you’re the type that picks MnMs out of Gorp, this is not your narrative. Grab a handful and start gulping, you get what you get.

If there is an anchoring aspect to the work, it is its gameplay. This is a well-established paradigm of explore, unlock areas, find and use items with light random-based combat. And save points! Yes, you are managing combat resources (bullets), but like video games, they seem to be stashed in a large variety of decreasingly likely places. In other works, this might rub against engagement, but here it is just a fine detail lost in the sauce, a nod to its inspirations more than mimesis defeating. This underpinning mechanical infrastructure ultimately acts as the player’s guide to the game, its familiarity a much needed asset to navigate the wild stuff happening in the world. It is a nifty trick, crucial to the game’s success.

I gotta say, this was a heady brew. Gameplay that elsewhere might leave me cold and unimpressed was so well seasoned with story and chaos, I bounded from one encounter to another fully Engaged. The puzzle was never really too difficult, the text cued the next beats clearly enough, and the ever-present antagonists were the perfect balance of not overwhelming, but too impactful to ignore. Their presence augmented what might otherwise be mechanical ‘find key use key explore new area’ gameplay.

Yeah, this one really worked for me.

Played: 10/8/24
Playtime: 2hr, finished, died many times
Artistic/Technical ratings: Engaged/Mostly Seamless
Would Play Again: I could see coming back to it in a few years

Artistic scale: Bouncy, Mechanical, Sparks of Joy, Engaging, Transcendent
Technical scale: Unplayable, Intrusive, Notable (Bugginess), Mostly Seamless, Seamless