got_quiet (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
got_quiet) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
playingstory2021-03-28 10:46 pm
got_quiet) wrote in playingstory2021-03-28 10:46 pm
Entry tags:
- blm bundle,
- gen,
- vn
Boa Retina
Name: Boa Retina
Status: Complete
Site: https://jenniferraye.itch.io/boa-retina
Rating: PG-13
Pairing: Gen
Description: An art game about being trans-feminine
An artsy fartsy game. And another game in the visual novel category that is barely a visual novel. Just having a couple of text choices doesn't make a visual novel! Anyway, this is a short, conceptual game about struggling with being MtF trans.
I say MtF trans because the language is very explicitly about feeling like a girl, and almost all of the text is from a disembodied eye representing a parent or something telling you you're not and saying a bunch of transphobic denial shit at you (including, hilariously to me, "you are not a woman"). In between these little discussions you have with eye-parent, you are directed to click on one of 4 pieces of technology that give you a little glimpse into the psyche and experience of the creator. There's a long audio file of the creator talking that's kind of like an inner monologue, some distorted pictures of the creator in girl mode, a janky 8 bit game you actually have to play, and some text to read about a youtuber you idolize or something.
The warning in the beginning of the game is well earned. When I say most of the game is reading transphobic stuff I mean pretty much 99% of the game is that. After you have clicked on all the exposition devices and then the text options the eye-parent loses patience and sticks you in some sort of bullet hell minigame. This minigame is also janky. The plane on which you play is angled forward for example, causing some strange behavior in your little ship, particularly around the edges when you' think you're going to go up and suddenly you go left. There were no indications that I had any number of lives, but at some point the game ended and I got the message "goodbye, loser" so I guess that was that?
Status: Complete
Site: https://jenniferraye.itch.io/boa-retina
Rating: PG-13
Pairing: Gen
Description: An art game about being trans-feminine
An artsy fartsy game. And another game in the visual novel category that is barely a visual novel. Just having a couple of text choices doesn't make a visual novel! Anyway, this is a short, conceptual game about struggling with being MtF trans.
I say MtF trans because the language is very explicitly about feeling like a girl, and almost all of the text is from a disembodied eye representing a parent or something telling you you're not and saying a bunch of transphobic denial shit at you (including, hilariously to me, "you are not a woman"). In between these little discussions you have with eye-parent, you are directed to click on one of 4 pieces of technology that give you a little glimpse into the psyche and experience of the creator. There's a long audio file of the creator talking that's kind of like an inner monologue, some distorted pictures of the creator in girl mode, a janky 8 bit game you actually have to play, and some text to read about a youtuber you idolize or something.
The warning in the beginning of the game is well earned. When I say most of the game is reading transphobic stuff I mean pretty much 99% of the game is that. After you have clicked on all the exposition devices and then the text options the eye-parent loses patience and sticks you in some sort of bullet hell minigame. This minigame is also janky. The plane on which you play is angled forward for example, causing some strange behavior in your little ship, particularly around the edges when you' think you're going to go up and suddenly you go left. There were no indications that I had any number of lives, but at some point the game ended and I got the message "goodbye, loser" so I guess that was that?
If you like games about the trans experience, and you like lo-fi, distorted graphics, then this is probably the sort of art project that might be up your alley. The creator clearly put a lot of emotion into it. As a game this sort of thing isn't really the type of thing I like, but the issue is concept more than execution.