Ori

So there I was:
Cozied up in our living room. Wrapped up like a little vegan burrito.
Vacation. 
Outside: snowing. quiet. dead.

Inside: toasty. exciting. alive. 

My brand new game console before me.

48 hours of whatever-the-fuck-I-want left before my return to adulthood. 

The one game I have been craving (Don't Starve / see previous entry) safely cradled in the heart of my Switch. But... what else was there? What were games even like now? Hopefully they weren't just a bunch of first-person shooters... anything but those...

The (aggressively) white screen of Nintendo Shop scrolled over my glasses. I was overwhelmed. I didn't know where to start. I figured:

1.    if I get something cheap and don't like it... it's only a few bucks wasted. no big deal.

2.    if I don't like the thing I get, I've still got Don't Starve to flee back to. 

In scanning the "Clearance" section, I discovered: a FREE demo!

Free? That's the cheapest you can get without getting paid!

I watched a preview / teaser: looked like an adorable, simple platformer with a fantasy edge. It looked like it might end up feeling like that random rental you got from Movie Gallery for the weekend once you realized the Matrix game you wanted had been unavailable. Better than nothing, intriguing at times, but mostly shallow characters / a story line you feel disconnected from. Something you don't mind abandoning / never finishing once the weekend is over and your time is up. 

But! Twas free and I twas over-twhelmed. So I rolled the dice / downloaded / started it up.

I really wasn't ready for the emotion.

Do not play this game if you have recently lost a loved one / a pet / a sock - I'm serious. If you have a heart at all, just be warned that - although not Neva level of The Sads (more on that later) - literally the beginning of this game will leave you feeling down in the mouth. Especially if you're not used to this new generation of gaming and was expecting something closer to quirky, goofy bandicoot madness. 

You play as an adorable little white bunny-like creature who, I believe, was originally orphaned / found and raised by this equally adorable large creature, the narrative takes you / lets you play a bit through the seasons / build a foundation of sorts / start a relationship with these two cute little peanuts only to have the larger creature who found you and raised you / the only creature who gives a flying f*** about you in this world... die. 

Hey, man. 
That's like the first ten to twenty minutes of the game - depending on how long it takes you to get the hang of the controls. 

What's with the familial death? I felt like I was transported back to the day I realized what happened to Bambi's mom. (I was always wondering why she never turned up again.)

I tried to be strong and muscle through the pain (queue Jessica Simpson's character on That 70's Show singing "I haven't got time for the pa-a-ainnnn"). I pushed through and was rewarded with:

Exactly the sub-par, disconnected feeling I was expecting. 

It was honestly kind of a relief.
I wasn't ready for the emotion!! I can't afford to be this attached to the characters! I will never sleep again. Because I am going to fall down holes and miss my mark and die 58 times before I finally defeat the boss. And so: die of guilt. 

I have to have that perfect balance of "This character looks cool/I like them" and "If they die, at least they're not a precious little baby that I would love to take care of in real life". (Incidentally, this is why I never finished Croc. I loved that game! And I loved Croc! TOO MUCH.)

I think this game was super cute and designed well / to completion, but I just think it isn't really for me. Like I think this type of games isn't for me. Zipping through the levels, less directional / some back-tracking, gathering gems and building on pre-set abilities... it's fun! But only here and there. It is simply not the kind of game that has the longevity I find necessary to be spending money on it.  Lesson learned! Onto the next...