Part 1 - Interior Design
Part 2 - Patterns and Designs
Part 3 - More about Patterns and Designs
Part 4 - Introduction to Town Decor
Part 5 - Pattern Design in Town Decor
Part 6 - Gardening in Town Decor
Part 7 - Aika Village
Onwards!
***
Welcome back!
Last time, on "Let's scare the crap out of ourselves" . . .!
For the past few month or so, we've been playing Animal Crossing and simultaneously been thinking about the impact of art in these games and if, at all, we can consider creation in these games to be forms of art. Still no answer, despite all of the work I've put into these posts! Which means continued investigation, which has led me to a midnight-dreary Aika Village.
(Okay, so more like 4AM dreary, but whatever. Edgar Allan Poe's too cool for this shit (or is he?).)
So picking up where we left off - we found the second house, took a little tour, then stopped in the basement with the dollies having a feast, where we found one hiding an axe behind her back. Totally innocent, huh? You can guess my natural reaction: I ran like hell.
And then found myself in a graveyard.
A pair of abandoned mittens . . .
This does not bode well.
Once again, we see the use of custom designs, but more than that, we see clear indicators for gravestones. As for those stars on the ground, those are dig spots, and luckily for me, I picked up a shovel before coming. When I dug up some of the spots, I discovered dog houses - a fierce reminder of the drawings made by the little girl in the first house. That's not creepy at ALL, but moreover, I found a pair of mittens by the cliff's edge. Uuh, weird much? Whoever made this town, they sure paid attention to the details.
The third part of town - ruined, much?
I moved on further into the village, where I found just the beginning to the desolation to come. Remember the perfection of before? That's all but disappeared now. Weeds are sprouting everywhere, the trees are dead (a result of perfect peach trees having died!), and rotten turnips - typically used in the stock/stalk market - are strewn on the ground. Obviously, we're seeing a lot of symbolism in the environment, and in this case, it's clear: ruin. We've devolved into ruin, and the environment was clearly arranged to show that.
Um . . . ma'am, are you okay . . .?
This girl again - even with a translator's help, there's no way to tell what she's saying. For all we know, she could be screaming. To be honest, I wouldn't be surprised at this point - I know I'm screaming anyways on the inside. Then again, that's normal for me, considering my oddities. So never mind that.
House number three, here we come.
Well, this isn't terrifying at all.
THAT DOLLY HAS A KNIFE.
NOPE NOPE NOPE I CHANGE MY MIND I WANT TO GO HOME TO MY HAPPY PLACE.
This is, if it wasn't obvious enough, ANOTHER MAZE. And to make it worse, THE DOLLY IS RIGHT THERE. Thank goodness I have the use of emotions in this game to make communication easier, because THAT IS MY REACTION RIGHT THERE.
Just for the record, this is NOT my happy place!
Like, let me get across to you how creeped out I was. I wasn't told about this mechanic of the room, and I wish I had been, because this machine makes higher-pitched noises the closer and closer you get to it. I had no idea this was around, so as I traversed through the maze, the sound just got worse. And worse. And WORSE. I got legit scared, never mind the other noises (a waterbird - yeah, real creepy). I swear, that was the worst part of the whole ordeal of walking through this town, mostly because it came so unexpectedly that I couldn't really handle it at first. I do not like scary noises!
Okay, I really wish I could explain this, but I'm at a loss.
Again, I don't understand this world.
Once I made my way through the maze, I found the rooms in the back and right sides. To be honest, I can't discern much meaning from these - the one, obviously, seems to be filled with papers (plans?) and the other of a piano with Easter eggs, but what do they symbolize? I'm not sure. I'm sure that the creator had more concrete plans, but to be honest, these are the most underwhelming rooms of the whole layout. Even then, though, they do seem to have a significant purpose, so maybe I'm just missing something? Again, there was clearly SOME plan, but it just doesn't seem to contribute to the plot of the town very well.
Those being over with, I went back to the beginning and immediately made my way upstairs.
And so we walk into the bedroom of your neighborhood sociopath.
. . . well. Now, this is what I would call obsession.
Who would even WANT to sit in these chairs?!
Earlier, I mentioned the ability to customize your furniture. Clearly, the artist did a lot of that here. Almost every piece of furniture in this room has been modified to include the drawings from before, plastered onto every surface and table and bed. Why? My guess is the doll's representation of obsession. After all, this does seem to be a pretty murderous dolly, with the axe and stuff. And on that note . . .
Am I the only one who hates fuzzy TV noises? Good, I'm not alone.
. . . yeah, this doll again. Now we know why she's sort of murderous - she's got an obsessive fixation on this girl, the lady we keep seeing who owns these houses. And the TV's spurred out, so that's a thing, too. Again, totally creepy. Still, this is good design stuff, and it sure does help the story. Yeah . . . totally . . .
Oops I blinked.
After that, we only have one more room to visit - the basement. While this house has been a bit on the bizarre side (I'm continuing to question those two other rooms), and while there has been some obsessiveness in play, and while there WAS the creepy machine scaring the pee out of me, the house itself has been rather underwhelming. It can't get much worse in the basement.
NOPE-A-RIFFIC.
. . . GOD DAMMIT GAME, I JUST FUCKING SAID- I'M NOT EVEN COOL WITH THIS ANYMORE.
Okay, this is just frippin' creepy.
What is up with this doll?! I mean, holy crap! I could accept that it was sentient, I could accept that it was obsessive and murderous . . . but this? This is flat-out sociopathic! I mean, I might've made a sociopath joke earlier, but I was kidding! It's basically the closest thing to a torture pen Animal Crossing can get! And hell-o, am I the only one seeing the doodle on the wall again???
Johnny . . . I see dead people.
What freaks me out the most, to be honest, is this bed. I mean, somebody's CLEARLY died there. Chalk outline, the telescope, the creepy walls and floor and stuff . . . and to make it worse . . .
Nightmare fuel for your burning flame of passion?
. . . I fit into the outline.
TIME TO GET THE FUCK OUT OF HERE EVERYBODY, TIME TO HOP ABOARD THE STRUGGLE BUS OUT OF THIS CRAPHOLE.
And, at least, we just get freaking terrifying.
Back outside, it's still getting crummier and crummier - which, y'know, I'm beginning to prefer. At least I'm not inside the houses again, because I'm beginning to get the feeling they're all possessed or something.
The last house . . .
I couldn't find the owner outside of the house like I could the other three, even after some searching, so I had no choice but to flat-out enter the final house. Here we go . . .
There she is . . .
Gibberish for all.
. . . before anybody snarky asks me . . . no. That is no language that I recognize. It's not even Welsh, for goodness's sake.
This couldn't get crappier if you tried, man. It's checked out like the ladies at Walmart . . .
It's pretty obvious what this is - it's the room from the first house. Lights out, drawers ruined, trash everywhere. And while I'm still really nervous about where this is headed, I've got to once again admit that the time and effort put into this is tremendous. These sloppy furniture pieces, they're a very, very rare set. So rare I only have one piece of it after months of playing.
. . . even so . . .
This toy room is ruined, now . . .
We're continuing the theme of the first house. The second floor is exactly the same, besides some minor - and not so minor - changes.
There goes those doodles.
The dolls in the back are turned away. The drawings are scribbled out. And that doll, it still has an axe . . .
The back room is open now . . .
The biggest difference from the first house - this room is now open.
I'm going to regret this . . .
At last.
. . . the girl. And the doll.
Static noise . . .
. . . and the girl is trapped.
. . .
NOPE NOPE NOPE!
ANDALE, ANDALE, I'M OUT OF THIS PLACE!!!
Beach time, let's go to the beach-each-each!!!
Even with a warning, I sprinted like hell out of that place and onto the beach, hoping I could find some kind of merciful respite from all of this- this madness! I mean, I know I'm sensitive and all, but this is just creepy enough! Get. Me. OUT!
THIS DOESN'T HELP!
I tried to take a shortcut along the beach so I could get back to the plaza and wake up - the only way to leave without restarting the game. But while I was running, I found a pair of shoes on the beach - red shoes. Red shoes very close to the water.
. . . one of my sources told me that those are a symbol in Japan for suicide.
. . . eeeehhhhh?!?!?!?!?!?!?!
. . . I think it's time to wake up.
Shut up Luna! You know what you did!
Let's make the answer to her simple.
NO.
Back in normal, normal Sandhall . . .
The whole ordeal took a good hour of my time from beginning to end, and I know that it would've been quicker if I hadn't been taking so many photographs. I started at four and ended at five - a good hour of time put towards an interesting, albeit terrifying town. It's all too clear - the person who put this together? They're a genius. They knew what they were doing, alright.
. . . I don't know if I should suggest they go into horror films or not . . .
Part 3 for Aika Village coming soon . . .
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