(And now images don’t work. This mixed with the inconsistent schedule, it’s like everything abut SWERY Month is fucking cursed. But it wouldn’t be truly SWERY related if there wasn’t a few technical hiccups here and there)
Oh man, it’s the game I was the most excited to talk about on here. I’m gonna level with you, everyone. When I played through Deadly Premonition, I didn’t get the appeal at first. I just thought it was a weird game with some charming dialogue and a decent setting. I was not super impressed with it like everyone else was. Sure, I grew on it eventually, obviously I’m passionate about it now, but I didn’t really think much of SWERY65. I just thought he was a westaboo who could make something decent with a low budget. That was until I got to this game. This game, I consider to be SWERY’s magnum opus. Truly his best work, despite it not really being looked into as much as Deadly Premonition. And that game is The Missing: J.J. MacField and the Island of Memories. But, for the sake of getting this article done some time this evening, I’m gonna stick with The Missing.
So I’m going to tell you right now, this game deals with very heavy topics. Like, shockingly heavy for a game by a man whose claim to fame was weird facial expressions, talk of coffee and fucking sandwiches. Yes, this is going to obtain some heavy topics about sexuality and all that, so keep that in mind as I discuss this game. The game follows a college girl named J.J. MacField, on a trip on an island off the coast of Maryland with her friend, Emily. But after Emily goes missing, strange things start to happen, like the island having all sorts of strange areas surrounding it like diners and churches, and everything is hellbent on killing J.J.. Not just killing, but completely dismembering, breaking her bones, setting her on fire, and more. But the strangeness doesn’t stop there, as J.J. is incapable of dying. When she is burned, she comes back, just burnt to a crisp. When her neck is broken, she shambles back and forth. And when she is dismembered to pieces, she can roll her head around to continue moving. So the premise is simple. J.J. can survive the worst things that happen to her and she needs to use that to solve puzzles and find her friend Emily. It’s something you would think would wear off from the strangeness after a while, but it somehow manages to stay both weird and just uncomfortable.
I won’t tell you that the game is a traditional kind of horror game. It doesn’t try to scare you outright. It’s a game that tries to make you uncomfortable. And I always say that a good horror game always leaves you uncomfortable. And The Missing does this through it’s puzzle solving mechanics. In order to solve puzzles like lowering a broken elevator, you need to add weight to it, like letting your limbs get chopped off so you can throw them up there to bring it down. In order to break a weakened wall, you need to let yourself get smashed with a wrecking ball and get sent flying through it, breaking your spine and the wall in the process. Need to burn down a tree to get past it? Just set yourself on fire and burn it down. I won’t lie and say that Deadly Premonition was a horror game. Same for DP2. Those were not horror games. They had their moments, but they were more thrillers than anything. The same way some people would argue that Seven or Silence of the Lambs aren’t horror films. But The Missing, I truly believe is a horror game for how it constantly makes you uncomfortable. The way J.J.’s body breaks, leaving her groaning in pain. Hearing how she screams when she’s on fire and running down the path in absolute agony. And when she’s hoping with one broken leg, only for her good leg to give out and her body to crumble with the sounds of bone snapping. It’s fucking sickening, but it works well in a way. I’d say it’s the most graphic depiction of gore in a game despite it not having much blood. The screen blacks out J.J.’s body every time she’s injured, so you don’t really see the gorey detail, and I think that makes it all the more unsettling. If you want to know the kind of puzzle game this is, think Limbo but with more balls. The same way you gain momentum from running to do a jump with the slow platformer with physics in it as well. That’s a good comparison I think.
But the game isn’t all doom and gloom, as you have plenty of phone messages with your friends. Friends like a rocker girl who is way too cool for school and likes her nose piercing because her parents just don’t understand, her professor who is trying to be professional but is actually a huge Star Wars nerd, and F.K….. hoo boy. Don’t worry, he’s friendly. And also a stuffed doll for some reason. You also get really, really uncomfortable conversations between J.J. and her mother, which, um… Let’s just say that this can get to some uncomfortably real territory. I think a lot of people have been in the same situation that J.J. was in, where the person you are is considered wrong and abnormal, and that they need help, when there is nothing wrong with that. I think what I love about The Missing the most is that it does not hesitate to tell you the dark parts of sexuality. Yes, it’s good to be who you are without feeling down, but while I would love to tell you that everyone will accept you, that would be a lie. Guess what, being gay is not easy. It’s perfectly fine, but it’s not easy. Why would anyone want to be something that people hate, that people think is just wrong? I and many others know that being gay is alright, but not everyone will have that same thoughts and feelings. Even those close to you may consider you wrong in the head for feeling this way, and it’s a stigma that is still present even to this day. I won’t go into major details, since that would spoil this game for you and I would rather you play this game and experience the game for yourself, but… it’s not easy, it never is, and anyone that tells you that being who you are is easy has never known what it’s like. It’s hard to tell those that don’t like it how you truly are. Do you tell them and accept the possible judgement or do you bottle it up and keep it buried inside? The Missing isn’t afraid to acknowledge these darker aspects of sexuality and the struggles that come from it. Family issues, psychological trauma, and even suicide. Like I said, The Missing is a game that is not meant to make you comfortable, and horror should not do that. And it’s why I think the Missing is a great horror game.
But like I said, this game has a strange sense of humor to it as well. The characters always text you about their own issues in life like being called a trouble maker for their fashion and sticking up for those that can’t fight back, people dealing with their dreams just being out of reach, and then some. The text messages can bring a bit of nausea with how they're written, dare I say, cringe, but they’re nice. There’s also the game's strange collection items, being donuts. Collecting enough of them unlocks costumes and concept art and more collectables, which you can activate immediately from the pause menu. I love this little feature and wish more games did it. I know concept art is a worthless feature in today’s gaming market, but the fact that it can be accessed through the pause menu rather than quitting back to the menu is a nice feature that I wish more games would try. But of course, this is a SWERY game, so not only is it weird, it’s also atmospheric as fuck. Full views of city landscapes across an evening sky, a diner with a single jazz song and a faint neon sign from the outside, a dark forest with the faintest of music, it’s all such stylish. I think this is when SWERY’s love for American culture really peeked, showing off the different settings for a coast town setting like Maryland. It gives off this comforting feeling between puzzle locations before your thrusted back into cutting off your arms and setting yourself on fire to continue forward, a calm before the madness, if you will.
I could go on and on about the game's story, about it’s clever visuals and puzzles, about it’s amazingly paced story that genuinely had me gripped from start to finish, but I would rather you all play it for yourself. It’s one of the reasons I choose not to say more. I only wanted to interest you all enough to play it for yourself. That plus there isn’t much to say. The game is relatively short, much shorter than Deadly Premonition, only about five hours, but it is an eventful five hours. You can buy the game on Playstation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch apparently, and Steam for $30. I know some may say that price is too much for what you're getting, but I’d argue that it’s well worth it for the experience that it comes with. And honestly, with games rumored to be priced $70 now, you could be doing so much worse than this. I mean, you could be buying Last of Us 2. Yeah, I think I’ll spend $30 for a better representation of gay culture, thank you
Oh man, it’s the game I was the most excited to talk about on here. I’m gonna level with you, everyone. When I played through Deadly Premonition, I didn’t get the appeal at first. I just thought it was a weird game with some charming dialogue and a decent setting. I was not super impressed with it like everyone else was. Sure, I grew on it eventually, obviously I’m passionate about it now, but I didn’t really think much of SWERY65. I just thought he was a westaboo who could make something decent with a low budget. That was until I got to this game. This game, I consider to be SWERY’s magnum opus. Truly his best work, despite it not really being looked into as much as Deadly Premonition. And that game is The Missing: J.J. MacField and the Island of Memories. But, for the sake of getting this article done some time this evening, I’m gonna stick with The Missing.
So I’m going to tell you right now, this game deals with very heavy topics. Like, shockingly heavy for a game by a man whose claim to fame was weird facial expressions, talk of coffee and fucking sandwiches. Yes, this is going to obtain some heavy topics about sexuality and all that, so keep that in mind as I discuss this game. The game follows a college girl named J.J. MacField, on a trip on an island off the coast of Maryland with her friend, Emily. But after Emily goes missing, strange things start to happen, like the island having all sorts of strange areas surrounding it like diners and churches, and everything is hellbent on killing J.J.. Not just killing, but completely dismembering, breaking her bones, setting her on fire, and more. But the strangeness doesn’t stop there, as J.J. is incapable of dying. When she is burned, she comes back, just burnt to a crisp. When her neck is broken, she shambles back and forth. And when she is dismembered to pieces, she can roll her head around to continue moving. So the premise is simple. J.J. can survive the worst things that happen to her and she needs to use that to solve puzzles and find her friend Emily. It’s something you would think would wear off from the strangeness after a while, but it somehow manages to stay both weird and just uncomfortable.
I won’t tell you that the game is a traditional kind of horror game. It doesn’t try to scare you outright. It’s a game that tries to make you uncomfortable. And I always say that a good horror game always leaves you uncomfortable. And The Missing does this through it’s puzzle solving mechanics. In order to solve puzzles like lowering a broken elevator, you need to add weight to it, like letting your limbs get chopped off so you can throw them up there to bring it down. In order to break a weakened wall, you need to let yourself get smashed with a wrecking ball and get sent flying through it, breaking your spine and the wall in the process. Need to burn down a tree to get past it? Just set yourself on fire and burn it down. I won’t lie and say that Deadly Premonition was a horror game. Same for DP2. Those were not horror games. They had their moments, but they were more thrillers than anything. The same way some people would argue that Seven or Silence of the Lambs aren’t horror films. But The Missing, I truly believe is a horror game for how it constantly makes you uncomfortable. The way J.J.’s body breaks, leaving her groaning in pain. Hearing how she screams when she’s on fire and running down the path in absolute agony. And when she’s hoping with one broken leg, only for her good leg to give out and her body to crumble with the sounds of bone snapping. It’s fucking sickening, but it works well in a way. I’d say it’s the most graphic depiction of gore in a game despite it not having much blood. The screen blacks out J.J.’s body every time she’s injured, so you don’t really see the gorey detail, and I think that makes it all the more unsettling. If you want to know the kind of puzzle game this is, think Limbo but with more balls. The same way you gain momentum from running to do a jump with the slow platformer with physics in it as well. That’s a good comparison I think.
But the game isn’t all doom and gloom, as you have plenty of phone messages with your friends. Friends like a rocker girl who is way too cool for school and likes her nose piercing because her parents just don’t understand, her professor who is trying to be professional but is actually a huge Star Wars nerd, and F.K….. hoo boy. Don’t worry, he’s friendly. And also a stuffed doll for some reason. You also get really, really uncomfortable conversations between J.J. and her mother, which, um… Let’s just say that this can get to some uncomfortably real territory. I think a lot of people have been in the same situation that J.J. was in, where the person you are is considered wrong and abnormal, and that they need help, when there is nothing wrong with that. I think what I love about The Missing the most is that it does not hesitate to tell you the dark parts of sexuality. Yes, it’s good to be who you are without feeling down, but while I would love to tell you that everyone will accept you, that would be a lie. Guess what, being gay is not easy. It’s perfectly fine, but it’s not easy. Why would anyone want to be something that people hate, that people think is just wrong? I and many others know that being gay is alright, but not everyone will have that same thoughts and feelings. Even those close to you may consider you wrong in the head for feeling this way, and it’s a stigma that is still present even to this day. I won’t go into major details, since that would spoil this game for you and I would rather you play this game and experience the game for yourself, but… it’s not easy, it never is, and anyone that tells you that being who you are is easy has never known what it’s like. It’s hard to tell those that don’t like it how you truly are. Do you tell them and accept the possible judgement or do you bottle it up and keep it buried inside? The Missing isn’t afraid to acknowledge these darker aspects of sexuality and the struggles that come from it. Family issues, psychological trauma, and even suicide. Like I said, The Missing is a game that is not meant to make you comfortable, and horror should not do that. And it’s why I think the Missing is a great horror game.
But like I said, this game has a strange sense of humor to it as well. The characters always text you about their own issues in life like being called a trouble maker for their fashion and sticking up for those that can’t fight back, people dealing with their dreams just being out of reach, and then some. The text messages can bring a bit of nausea with how they're written, dare I say, cringe, but they’re nice. There’s also the game's strange collection items, being donuts. Collecting enough of them unlocks costumes and concept art and more collectables, which you can activate immediately from the pause menu. I love this little feature and wish more games did it. I know concept art is a worthless feature in today’s gaming market, but the fact that it can be accessed through the pause menu rather than quitting back to the menu is a nice feature that I wish more games would try. But of course, this is a SWERY game, so not only is it weird, it’s also atmospheric as fuck. Full views of city landscapes across an evening sky, a diner with a single jazz song and a faint neon sign from the outside, a dark forest with the faintest of music, it’s all such stylish. I think this is when SWERY’s love for American culture really peeked, showing off the different settings for a coast town setting like Maryland. It gives off this comforting feeling between puzzle locations before your thrusted back into cutting off your arms and setting yourself on fire to continue forward, a calm before the madness, if you will.
I could go on and on about the game's story, about it’s clever visuals and puzzles, about it’s amazingly paced story that genuinely had me gripped from start to finish, but I would rather you all play it for yourself. It’s one of the reasons I choose not to say more. I only wanted to interest you all enough to play it for yourself. That plus there isn’t much to say. The game is relatively short, much shorter than Deadly Premonition, only about five hours, but it is an eventful five hours. You can buy the game on Playstation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch apparently, and Steam for $30. I know some may say that price is too much for what you're getting, but I’d argue that it’s well worth it for the experience that it comes with. And honestly, with games rumored to be priced $70 now, you could be doing so much worse than this. I mean, you could be buying Last of Us 2. Yeah, I think I’ll spend $30 for a better representation of gay culture, thank you
#1:SULLIVAN:
As you already know.
I kinda stopped playing for a bit, Sullivan is why.
Not to mention. I was shocked the first time. I was starting to like Sullivan..
#2: CHEF ANTOINE:
I think we covered this one :)
#3: BACHMAYER:
Near the end of the 3rd game, Max Payne fights this guy.
It's hard to explain, why it's so hard, just have to see it yourself..
#4: BECKER:
Last boss of Max Payne 3.
And really holds the "last boss" feeling.
In a negative way..
#5: WESKER:
The main villain of Resident evil 5. And final boss..
#6: CEASER:
The final boss of Assasins Creed 3..
As you already know.
I kinda stopped playing for a bit, Sullivan is why.
Not to mention. I was shocked the first time. I was starting to like Sullivan..
#2: CHEF ANTOINE:
I think we covered this one :)
#3: BACHMAYER:
Near the end of the 3rd game, Max Payne fights this guy.
It's hard to explain, why it's so hard, just have to see it yourself..
#4: BECKER:
Last boss of Max Payne 3.
And really holds the "last boss" feeling.
In a negative way..
#5: WESKER:
The main villain of Resident evil 5. And final boss..
#6: CEASER:
The final boss of Assasins Creed 3..
What in the name of god. They are already ready remaking Grand Theft Auto 5.
Now, don't get me wrong. I love Grand Theft Auto 5. I think it is one of the funnest games I have played in 2013. But, seriously, it's only one year old, and already they are remaking it for Playstation 4 and XBox One. Seriously, you should at least give a game some time to age before you remake it. Look at Ocarina of Time, a game which people said is the greatest game ever, which was made back in 1999. The remake for the 3DS wasn't made until 2012, which is years later. Honestly, they are already remaking GTA 5. Sure, the graphics are better, but the thing is that the graphics were amazing to begin with. Why are you remaking this game so early, Rockstar. But, hey, that's only my opinion. What's Your Take
Now, don't get me wrong. I love Grand Theft Auto 5. I think it is one of the funnest games I have played in 2013. But, seriously, it's only one year old, and already they are remaking it for Playstation 4 and XBox One. Seriously, you should at least give a game some time to age before you remake it. Look at Ocarina of Time, a game which people said is the greatest game ever, which was made back in 1999. The remake for the 3DS wasn't made until 2012, which is years later. Honestly, they are already remaking GTA 5. Sure, the graphics are better, but the thing is that the graphics were amazing to begin with. Why are you remaking this game so early, Rockstar. But, hey, that's only my opinion. What's Your Take
*ding dong*
???: what is it?
Henry: hello Simon
Simon: Henry! you still wearing that tux?
Henry: every chance I get
Simon: heh... oh... you brought soldiers
Dex: why does everyone think i'm a soldier?
Marcus: no idea...
Henry: you seem calmer since the last time a saw you...
Simon: I take pills... anyway, why are you here?
Henry: we need you back
Simon: no way! i'm NOT going back to Klintsy!
Henry: we are close to taking down Harper and Dominic.
Simon: why don't fight your own war!
Henry: you are the only one that knows Harper and his tactics.
Simon: ok then, come inside so I can teach you
Henry: you and I both know that he still has some sanity left...
Simon: ... *sigh* lets go...
???: what is it?
Henry: hello Simon
Simon: Henry! you still wearing that tux?
Henry: every chance I get
Simon: heh... oh... you brought soldiers
Dex: why does everyone think i'm a soldier?
Marcus: no idea...
Henry: you seem calmer since the last time a saw you...
Simon: I take pills... anyway, why are you here?
Henry: we need you back
Simon: no way! i'm NOT going back to Klintsy!
Henry: we are close to taking down Harper and Dominic.
Simon: why don't fight your own war!
Henry: you are the only one that knows Harper and his tactics.
Simon: ok then, come inside so I can teach you
Henry: you and I both know that he still has some sanity left...
Simon: ... *sigh* lets go...