If you have not already listened to the podcast of this category, this is the final results, so this will spoil the course of the discussion on that podcast! Be warned! It’s also EXTREMELY SPOILER-Y for our winners, PENTIMENT, IMMORTALITY, and STRANGER OF PARADISE: FINAL FANTASY ORIGIN.
So, I’m gonna skip the normal warm-up here, and say- hey. Hopefully you saw that spoiler warning up above. I bolded it to make it easy to find! I’m serious. This write-up is huge spoilers for those three games. And I am of the opinion that spoilers can’t really ruin games- you can see just about anything and still enjoy a good game. But they can make them worse, make them less enjoyable. And really, I would prefer not to take away from anyone’s experience of these amazing games.
If you plan to play Pentiment, Immortality, or Stranger of Paradise, I really think you should tap out now. Know that those three are our winners- Pentiment as overall winner, Immortality and Stranger of Paradise as runners-up. aMSa winning the Super Smash Bros. Melee tournament Big House is our third runner-up, the only category this year with three runners-up instead of two. If that is the knowledge you sought, go in peace my friend. But if you’re ok with spoilers, or if they aren’t spoilers for you, then read on.
The Winner
Act 2 to Act 3 Transition (Pentiment)
Without this moment, Pentiment would be a good game already- a very good game. But when a hunt for a murderer becomes a mob, and the mob burns down the abbey, it’s different. First, because they’re… kinda right? You know the people standing in this angry crowd. You know their woes, you know their trials and their kindness. And you know that they are justified in their fury- that it should drive them to action, even to violence. But when Peter, pushed to the breaking point by years of hard living and state abuse, lights the library on fire, the story takes a turn.
Andreas Maler’s actions here are heroic- he wants to save art, and knowledge, perhaps centuries worth of it. But his wide-eyed inaction as an innocent is shot and killed, or as those he accuses are marched to the gallows (metaphorically- their execution is not nearly so fancy as that), contrasts his surge of action when art is threatened. He values human lives, and human dignity- he’s not an evil man. But he is a fool. His sacrifice in this moment of all moments is a choice that barely makes a difference, and doesn’t protect anyone from the violence falling upon them.
That moment, where after silently watching so many terrible things happen, when he cries “The books!” and rushes into the fire… it’s a picture of a decent person with completely broken priorities. It’s incredible.
The Runners-Up
aMSa Brings Down the Big House (Super Smash Bros. Melee)
One of the few genuinely good dudes in pro Melee winning a big tournament would be reason enough to celebrate, frankly. I’m not here to yell at Hungrybox for his playstyle like some, I’m here to yell at him for exposing other competitors to a virus because he can’t think about anyone but himself, or his consistent disrespect of his opponents. Or Leffen because (checks watch) damn we don’t have time for that.
But this is bigger than that. This is about fighting to overthrow a meta more than twenty years in the making. Even people who’ve never played Smash know the (admittedly hyperbolic) meme of “Fox only, no items, Final Destination.” The true tier list isn’t THAT restrictive, but Yoshi has spent most of the last two decades considered to be middle, low, or trash tier, with a spike in respect for the dinosaur starting in 2015. He’s now B+. And after two decades of refinement, B+ characters don’t win majors. That’s just not good enough.
aMSa’s win at Big House, a “super” major (like a double major or something, the Big in the name is warranted), broke the understood rules of the scene. Yoshi doesn’t win tournaments. Japanese players don’t win in Melee. And aMSa, a pillar of the community, isn’t a threat to the best players in the world. He can play, he can make a good show of it. But ultimately he’ll be swept aside by the likes of Hbox, Leffen, or Mang0.
Nah. No meta is unbreakable, no throne is unshakeable. aMSa is currently ranked as the second best player in the world. Me, I’d love to see him go for number 1 next.
Cracking It Open (Immortality)
This is kinda what Immortality is all about, yknow? I don’t mean to be overly reductive- naturally, Immortality is a celebration of cinema, especially old art cinema, and the weirdness of filmmaking culture, and a bunch of other stuff. It’s a smart game, and all signs point to it being a thing you should play if you can stomach horror stuff. I speak in these detached terms cuz I totally can’t stomach horror stuff, so I’m speaking from the outside looking in.
But really, Immortality clicks in a terrible way when you discover its trick. When watching film reels becomes unearthing strange and frightening scenes of murder, of warning, and of more. You’re “cracking open” what the game really is- and from there, there’s only more to find.
“You see…? You forgot….”
Heel turns are a dime a dozen. And to be honest? I still like them a lot of the time, even so. When I understand why someone is stabbing me in the back, and respect their reasons? That’s good stuff. Fantastic. But you know what’s better?
“A face turn,” is the obvious guess. But no- a face reveal. A face turn is just like when Kamen Rider Thouser suddenly became a good guy in Zero-One even though he was practically kicking puppies the whole show and it was super unearned. It can be done well, but bah. Now, learning someone was on the right side the whole time and you just didn’t understand their actions? That’s some good shit.
And sometimes they’ll rub it in your face. They’ll want you to apologize, or they’ll tell you that you’ve already burned that bridge, it’s too late to realize you should work together. Astos, King of the Dark Elves doesn’t do either of these. All he does is quietly, sadly, note that he was following YOUR plan, and he told you it would go bad. And you didn’t listen.
It’s fun to believe in the power of Nakama and all, but sometimes your carelessness gets people close to you killed. And Astos has every right to be mad at you for that, but he isn’t. He just wishes things were better.
Don’t we all.
That’s it for today! All that’s left is Friday, the last day of our Gimmick Awards. We’ll have two for you then- Best Creature with Allen, as we talk monsters and friends of all sorts, and then of course Game of the Year. Look forward to it!
Our art for the Gimmick Awards 2022 is a commission from @inkopolis on Twitter.
