demagogue on 1/6/2020 at 13:11
Fugue in Void - One of the most pretentious, self-indulgent pure art for art's sake walking simulator I've played, maybe just shy of 0°N 0°W and Aentity, but it can maybe get away with it because it is admittedly fantastic art. It reminds me of those old grafix demos back in the day, and if you take it in that spirit, it's a nice tromp. It has the semblance of puzzles and I don't know if you could call it progression, much less a plot arc, but it has a self-consistentish world and very much an aesthetic. I took 101 screenshots, so evidently I liked it enough.
Inline Image:
https://i.imgur.com/lhABxA7.jpgHarvester on 1/6/2020 at 13:34
Yeah I couldn’t figure out what it was about either, but I liked walking around the oppressive brutalist architecture.
Anarchic Fox on 1/6/2020 at 18:47
Every time I hear something called "pretentious" I pause and wonder, what is it pretending to be that's so bad? Pretending to be intellectual, when it's not? Pretending to be profound, when it's not? The word gets lobbed around frequently, and yet people rare pause to actually identify the pretense.
Most creators that aim at profundity, and then fall way short, genuinely believe they're profound. They're not pretending, they're deluded.
demagogue on 2/6/2020 at 09:34
The first thing you have to realize about my use of that term is that I'm a junkie for artistic indie games.
A lot of us here are, though I think qolelis may be the only one that's a bigger junkie than I am, which is why I always want to hear what he's playing.
But aaaanyway, usually the first red flag that identifies that kind of game to me is that it has a "mixed" score on Steam, and most all of the negatives are some variation of it being pretentious or pointless or alienating or that it's a whole lotta faff without much game or they just don't get it. I think good art should challenge and alienate people, and I even distrust art that's too comforting and doesn't challenge enough. But I also recognize there's a fine line between art that challenges and alienates to make our horizons grow and art that's just being difficult and ugly and going nowhere for no reason, or a game that's trying but is just clumsy and hamfists it. All of those kinds of games would get that profile, so it's not a guarantee it'll hit with me. It's the growth part that's important to me. But for me it's often worth giving it a shot, and I'll slog through 5 or so sludge games for the few jewels, and I'll appreciate that a game is at least making an effort at being something more than cheap, throw away entertainment, even if they don't hit what they're aiming for.
Anyway, long story short, when I use that term, I'm usually inverting it to represent a badge of honor, and I'm not using it in the typical way.
It reminds me of this scene from Frasier
Quote:
Martin: Right! We can cross the line and toast in the new year.
Frasier: Dad, that's brilliant! And there was a delightful little restaurant just across the border.
Martin: Well, the guide book said it was pretentious.
Frasier: Perfect, let's roll!
PigLick on 2/6/2020 at 13:30
lol whats that game henke? not something you made is it
henke on 2/6/2020 at 13:37
It's Desert Golfing! :)
Anarchic Fox on 2/6/2020 at 13:41
Hah, I remember when that game had its little moment in the spotlight.
Renault on 2/6/2020 at 13:49
I want to know if you actually intended to hit it off the peak of that hill.
