Year Unknown

Цей абзац мало хто зрозуміє, але є гра The Silent Swan й хоча вона зовсім інша стилістично та набагато більш складна сюжетно, вона дуже схожа хронічно-циклопічною архітектурою та відчуттям клаустрофобії, ну й ще тим, що крім вас навколо немає ані душі. Тож вітаю в цьому порожньому, незрозумілому світі, ваш персонаж живе перший день свого життя й розуміє ще менше за вас, але гра дуже коротка, тож ви матимете хутенько з усім розібратися. Не хочу пояснювати більше про сюжет, бо зіпсую враження, але загалом про гру скажу таке: на мою думку вона закоротка для своєї ціни, але з іншого боку я не пошкодував про покупку, бо гра технічно крута, тут є купа налаштувань для комфорту та зручності, все працює, я навіть ніде в текстурах не застряг й не провалився нікуди, куди не мав провалюватись (це нечасто трапляється). Тут приємна музика (ще й можна безкоштовно її завантажити в додатковому вмісті) й цікаве втілення ідеї, моєю основною проблемою було те, що цю ідею вже купу разів пережували (й про це гра теж, несподівано), чи радше те, що мені було замало, світ дійсно абсолютно порожній, там майже нічого немає, а те, що є, достатньо цікаве, щоб бажати більшого. Все ж я її рекомендую без питань, але радив би спершу потицяти демо, позаяк це надто специфічне інді.

*Contains Spoilers* Theres something I love about liminal spaces, especially in a context that isn't quite horror. Theres this feeling of uncertainty as you explore spaces that people obviously used to occupy but dont anymore, and a strange intimacy as you become an occupant of these spaces yourself knowing full well you dont belong. Although I wish there was more, I loved the interactive world building and the way we were able to glance into the spaces created by a humanity that no longer exists while slowly uncovering the reason why they *chose* not to. I think the museum specifically stood out to me and I enjoyed the brief exploration of the concept of "originality" especially in an environment of intentionally created repetition and uniformity. As a theme, I think the paradoxical comparison between entropy and existentialism was really interesting, for lack of better words. I find myself relating to it especially as a college student with no life aspirations, trying to decide what path to choose for a degree thats gonna get me nowhere. Another element I particularly enjoyed were the two AIs with very opposite outlooks on life. While I understood them both, I think I was a little more taken with BO's perspective on things and its wisdom as an essentially immortal presence. I related with its exhaustion and its fear of "what now" once everything that could possibly happen has already happened, yet not wanting to stay around to find out. On the other hand, I found AL's motivation and curiosity kind of admirable. While they both feared the unknown, I think they both also had different ideas of what "everything" could look like. for AL, everything was simply everything: endless possibilities, questions that lead to answers that lead to more questions, and they were excited to face it head on. for BO, on the other hand, everything also inevitably becomes nothing, which is fundamentally what entropy is. However through AETS, we are shown that stopping the nothingness also leads to nothingness but in an arguably more painful way where everything starts to lose its meaning and purpose for existing in the first place which circles us back to the nothingness. Through playing both endings, I was also reminded of something that I didn't really understand in the beginning which I though was another fascinating detail: The iterations. We begin the playthrough with a loading screen that among other things tells us what iteration we're on, implying that this has happened X amounts of times already. Seeing it again at the end of the "fix the AETS" option was kind of mind-blowing. Im assuming that the AI that created "us" was the AETS/the Library so the sheer amount of repetitions really shows its desperation to be gone. But the fact that there are iterations in the first place raises some questions: if there hasn't been a human for thousands of years, what were the past iterations? was any of that real or was it a simulated trial? if the destroy the AETS option didn't show the next iteration loading does that mean that every other iteration before this one chose to live? And why doesn't BO remember any of these iterations either? Overall very enjoyable game, lovely ambiance/atmosphere and a deeply interesting concept to think about.

This game is very short, not even an hour of gameplay. Despite the massive environment, it is a very contained escape puzzle and a very short story. In fact there really aren't any puzzles to solve, just finding and using portals. Even going through it twice it only took 45 minutes. II frankly feel cheated at paying $9.99 - it is worth $1.99. A pity because the demo hinted at so much more. At $1.99 I would recommend it [b]barely[/b] just because the concept is interesting. I remember writing a paper in philosophy class in college ages ago postulating that if an all knowing being existed, it would by definition have no motivation to do anything at all since nothing new could be discovered, and this work carries that theme. So play it if you are seeking a very short diversion if you get it on sale or the developer creates an update and adds more content and puzzles and works the ending a bit more. The biggest disappointment: [spoiler]There is essentially no difference in the endings - one everything ends, and the other is suggestive of a new beginning but it just ends as well - IMHO there should be at least a suggestion of the big bang or the universe starting over - that would have been a bit more satisfying - or perhaps the suggestion that the player's presence has introduced an unknown and will alter the starting conditions for creating a new universe so it won't be the same. I don't know, the current ending just left me hollow and surprised at how quickly the game was over.[/spoiler]

Year Unknown is a masterclass in atmosphere. In just under an hour, it manages to weave a narrative that is as terrifying as it is beautiful. The sublime art direction and immersive sound design pull you into a world that feels endlessly vast despite its short runtime. It’s the kind of experience that stays with you long after the credits roll, though I’ll admit I was left wanting more. A must-play for walking sim fans who want a story that actually makes them think.

Really interesting. Puts the lifespan of humans and the universe in perspective. Similar to Everything in that way.

Enjoyed this short tale of existentialism and the inherent value of experiencing a world with nothing left to experience. I got a bit hung up on whether or not I felt the presented premise was "plausible", but once I stopped trying to work through it as a societal allegory for some reason I found the themes far more compelling to think about. In the moment the ending I selected felt like the right choice, but now I feel like the other ending (that I've yet to witness) is more appropriate for a few reasons. Would recommend to those who are fascinated by stories tackling the hypothetical plights humanity would face in a future that frankly I would be overjoyed to be en route to, lol.

Very interesting game with a philosophical-existential theme. I loved the haunting atmosphere lingering among the brutalist megastructures, and the way the narrative is communicated to the player through nothing more than a simple computer interface... Terrifying, yet strangely beautiful. But it's quite short, I wish it were longer.

Some people fear immortality because of inevitable loss. Others take it to its logical extreme, and fear it because of inevitable eternity. It is, after all, impossible to comprehend *true* eternity. Our minds are not built for it. Realistically, no mind of this universe [i]would[/i] be. To be capable of change in any form is to doom oneself to a finite existence. When such a being is thus presented with eternity, all-consuming dread is a truly reasonable response.

Not sure how to approach this. It being less than an hour, I would recommend giving it a try before reading anything else, besides it's about existential dread and the end of everything. [spoiler] Waking up after being (literally) born into a ultra mega structure that contains the wealth of all human knowledge, creation, science, art, everything. However, the only way to interface with any of it is via AI Interfaces. AL (one of the two (maybe three) AIs that you meet) says that how the data is stored would be incomprehensible to a human brain. You end up finding an Art Museum BO (the other AI) remarks that humans have created everything there is to create, there is no longer anything new, its just a remake of a remake of a remake of a remake; a Remix of a Remix of a Remix if a Remix; a Reference to a Reference to a Reference; They then say that the humans ended up asking BO to just end it, the humans didn't see a point in living anymore and it has been 10s of thousands of years since the last one walked around. And if I was there I would probably want the same thing, if we were to live in a perfect utopia, where we had solved everything millenniums ago, no more 'great' pursuits of science to discover, no more philosophical questions to debate, no more wars, no more conflict, no more "enemies", no more emotion? You have access to all of the worlds history, but have no relation to those people, unable to fully understand the context of which things were made and why things happened. The only thing at that point worth creating (or even living) for would be for your friends and family. However, if there is no detriment, no stakes, no friction. How would you be able to create anything if you don't feel anything? I decided to end it all, I would not want to live like this, and even going back to do the letting it continue ending, it (to me) suggests that this cycle is doomed to repeat for the 827,340th iteration. My overall feelings out of this is how glad I am to be living right now, even with all the awful things happening. I have something to create, to strive towards, to live for. Even if my contributions to this infinite library would be a single bit, I would still believe it was worth it. [/spoiler]

its funny that the word Library, Limbo and Labyrinth starts with the same letter