So I've been looking forward to playing an indie game called Bientôt l'été for a while now, but only just got around to paying the $10 to get it on Steam. It's an arthouse indie game in which you walk across a surreal beach, imagining the myriad better things you could have spent $10 on. I was hoping Bientôt l'été would be an enjoyable experience. I was also hoping it'd be suitable for Iron Man Mode since I'm acutely aware that I've been slacking on this site recently. Alas, it's not meant to be. I was invited to write a review of an arthouse game for another site, and I thought "A-ha! I'll try that weird French game I've been meaning to check out for Iron Man Mode!" but had I actually looked at the feedback from real gamers who'd try it, I wouldn't have been so hasty to use two exclamation marks. Here's a video of my first (and last) playthrough of Bientôt l'été. Treat it as a rare look at one of the many 'aborted' IMM games you never usually get to see. What a shame. So excited at the beginning. So rage-quitty at the end. [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2lNSB\_e7i3w[/youtube] If you want to watch it in something other than Eyestrain-O-Vision, click here to view it in HD on YouTube. Or don't. Whatever. You're not doing me a favour by watching it, I was doing you a favour by playing this crock of shit. I also went on to write about my thoughts on the game - and the art house genre in general - for an article which featured on Tap Repeatedly. You can read it here, and check out the comments beneath it for some good intellectual discussion on the topic. But in closing: Screw you, France.----------- *Yes, I know Tale of Tales (the game's developer) is actually Belgian. I wasn't being ignorant by referring to them as being French, I just thought the game so damned pretentious they'd find it a compliment.
2013-04-23