All Our Asias

It's not a bad game. But I got frustrated. I like the aesthetic, the music, and the message, but the story was NOT strong enough to make up for the slow, boring, and basic platforming... which is most of the 'gameplay.' I really wanted to like this game. I'm not Asian, but my dad is an immigrant and I was really interested to hear the dev's ideas on diaspora; all I got was basically what you can infer from the beginning: "'Asian' is too broad a category and there are other reasons to feel empathy for others." Again, I agree and the dev seems like a really lovely and thoughtful person, but as I was steering my slow-ass ship through the memories of a guy that I, in my playthrough, never got to meet.... I just got increasingly frustrated. Especially when I missed a jump and I'd float down three excruciatingly-slow levels.

nice

More or less a tech demo for what would become Melos and Marina's sequel to their first full-length game, Anodyne. That shouldn't discount what this game does itself, however. Much of the geometry is rudimentary and simple, far more minimalist compared to the alien surreality of Anodyne 2. But the story is more involved with the real world complexities of what it means to be "Asian." Melos has explored this topic in later projects of his in his music as well as in future Analgesic games such as Sephonie. The protagonist, Yuito, is a Japanese-American who is exploring the memories of his dying father to gain answers to why his father was the way he was. Now, I'm not totally sure how much I can realistically add to the conversation as a euro-american, nor is it entirely my place to say it. However, something I've noticed especially among Asian Americans is how there seems to be genuine community with one another regardless of their own cultural background, whether Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese, Filipino, Han Chinese, Khmer, Malay, Tibetan, Austronesian, etc. Perhaps its how their shared treatment as an outgroup of euro-americans, perhaps its some similar cultural traditions, perhaps its the cultural blending Asian Americans have in similar fashion to that of euro-americans in the "melting pot" of this country, so to speak. I can't say, I'm not Asian myself. Though I still have no doubts cultural chauvinism still plays a role in Asian American though, more likely from Japanese and Han Chinese people. As the game points out, being Asian American, or Asian in general, is not one monolithic experience. Asia comprises of so many cultures, peoples, histories - some underrepresented, some overrepresented. Yuito, Japanese-American, feels that sense of community as an Asian man, but, as Melos points out, what exactly does he have in common with every single other Asian man in the world? Why do we see such community in categories made for us, among people who we really don't have that much in common with? Is it because of those categories, or do we find community among those who see us as human? Sometimes we find community among others who faced the same dehumanization and discrimination we have, because of those shared experiences. In turn, perhaps that blossoms into its own unique culture, into subcultures upon subcultures of its own. I will say, much of Melos' exploration of this topic, and his development of the narrative, feels incomplete in some sense? Perhaps just as our own memories are also incomplete, much like the ones we explore in Yuito's father's mind. Really though, the game itself is quite short, but at least a decent experience. I'm a big fan of Melos and Marina's work over the years, with Anodyne 2 genuinely being one of my favorite games of all time. All Our Asias is interesting as an experimental title in the duo's ever-expanding catalogue. It feels more like a tech demo for the team's later 3D outings, but the atmospheric, dreamlike, pixelated, polygonal landscapes pull you in. I love the ps1-era graphics, though the border art and movement were giving me late 90s pc game vibes. And of course, I can't forget the wonderful soundtrack that scores the experience, composed by Melos as well as some guests this time, including Equip! It's kind of interesting that Melos has had some overlap with the vapor scene, I also noticed BarchBoi was one of the testers too. His music is incredibly serene and tranquil, while equally mysterious and sometimes unnerving. You can kind of tell that his headspace was similar to when he was composing for Anodyne 2 - some of these songs I almost thought were also in that soundtrack! Also as per usual, the game gives you the opportunity after you finish the game to explore a bit beyond the bounds of the beaten path the rest of the game took you along. Though I'm not entirely sure how much there is to really see compared to that of their paid titles - the game itself isn't very long or expansive as their other works of course! As a short, bite-sized experience, I recommend it. Just don't go in expecting this to be longer than 2-3 hours, if that. The narrative could've been a bit more fleshed out perhaps, but the game still provides a meditative experience over identity, culture, and life in the face of death. The music and art are, as they usually are, great, and I'm now tempted to purchase the fan pack for myself!

Estremamente lineare ed è praticamente impossibile perdersi. Le musiche sono molto carine. Per quanto la grafica sia estremamente minimale, l'atmosfera mi è comunque piaciuta. L'incipit di dover entrare nei ricordi di una persona in fin di vita mi ha ricordato molto To The Moon. (il che ovviamente è una bella cosa) La trama l'ho trovata molto carina ed il messaggio finale poco prima dei titoli di coda mi è piaciuto moltissimo! Lo consiglio assolutamente.

The first half was nice, but the second half was pretty disappointing & got dull/uninteresting fast.

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