Chaos;Head Noah - Beyond the Screen
10/03/22
The following blog is a repost of an old answer for an online Q&A I held, as for why I liked this game, as well as SciADV in general.
It's no secret I really like NoAH. I love it, in fact. I've been in love with this game, and by extension, series, for a very long while. I got into S;G around the time A;C was announced back in 2015. Then by 2016, I'd read NoAH, S;G, and S;G0. I would then go on to pretty quickly inhale quite literally every other title. I was enamored. Blinded by love. I hold this series very dear, even if I oftentimes act quite jaded and apathetic toward its developers, who see it fit to constantly assign little to no value to their own fanbase, both domestically and abroad. That does get tiring, true. But ignoring the backend, ignoring the constant disappointment, ignoring a LOT of stuff: I still deeply value this series.
Even with the content drought of 2015-2021, wherein I feel very little of value took place or was produced, I still clung on during that time for hope that A;C would release, and it would absolve me of my woes. It seemed like a very impossible hope, especially as time went on. But once it released mid-2022, I absolutely inhaled it. Took two, maybe three days tops to clear the entire thing, and that was with plenty of breaks. I was immersed, lost in the joy of a mainline SciADV that was just actually competent, one which returned to the roots of the series and expanded on its themes and mechanics and setting tenfold.
I remembered what it was like to really enjoy any of it. Being caught up in spending year after year after year after year after year making patches and dealing with the subpar releases did sorta wear me down, so then getting to not just play Anonymous;Code, something I think is real damn good, but also knowing its localization was in good, if the the best, hands, was just unending relief. Like I've made clear, the release with NoAH recently has pretty soured my view again, but at least with A;C, I still hold a bit of hope that people are gonna get a good product in their hands for once.
These are a lot of words so far to not actually address what I was asked. So okay, I'll bite. NoAH just resonates with me on every possible level. I think the atmosphere is gripping, exciting, tense, poignant, and even cathartic.
- The use or lack thereof of soundtrack and SFX is brilliantly planned and perfectly executed.
- The voice acting goes way harder than it needed to. The pacing is almost entirely as tight as it can be, with very little in the way of extraneous content.
- The characters are charming, unique, interesting, and full of deep meaning. The setting is ominous and realistic, but has just enough spice of fantasy / sci-fi to make you feel like it's both your own world and someone else's, like you're looking at a mirror image.
- The art and visual direction ooze style and a real era-specific aura, grounding it in the setting it purports to occur in while also playing off the gimmicks so often found in traditional galge.
Its themes of self-acceptance, dissonance with reality, the vagueness of information society, and existentialism are all well-explored and the cast is a fantastic vehicle for those ideas. I can say all that, and still think NoAH isn't a perfect game, but goddamnit I think it's one of the best ever assembled within its medium. If you come away from NoAH with anything, even if you hate the pacing or the music or the art or whatever aspects, I think we can all agree that this game very wholeheartedly tries to send an important message about your value as a person.
You exist right here. Even if this world is a lie. Even if you stumble and fail. Even if it hurts to keep living. Even if it seems like there isn't a goddamn point to any of it. Even if you'd rather die. Even if you'd rather suffocate under an ocean of delusion than face reality. You'll always be a part of the world. You'll always find a place to return home to, even in this convoluted, seemingly-unworthy world. Just do your best to live. Won't you do that for me?
So okay. I've made it very clear I love NoAH. That's just one game. THERE'S A WHOLE SERIES OF THIS SHIT. I can't realistically make writeups on every single title like that for a single Q&A prompt, please understand! I like the series overall because really, they don't stray away from a lot of the same/similar themes of belonging & doubt or about the uncertainty of existence.
Are we real? Are the characters we look at within our screen any different from us? Are we any different from being characters within a screen ourselves, playthings of a god or gods watching our development for their amusement or entertainment or curiosity or any other possible reason. That's the thing, isn't it?
We love these characters. Empathize with them. Cherish them. Cheer them on through their struggles, wish from the very bottom of our fuckin' hearts they'll succeed and find the answer or future they genuinely need or want, no matter the cost. We stare at this fiction and become one with it. We gaze into this mirror, this image world, and see so many souls we wish nothing but the best for. We laugh and cry and yearn and so on, for them. Even if it's all just fake, even if they're just pixels on a screen.
To any observer, maybe they're just as real as you and me.
Whose eyes are those eyes?
Chaos;Head Noah - Beyond the Screen
10/03/22
The following blog is a repost of an old answer for an online Q&A I held, as for why I liked this game, as well as SciADV in general.
It's no secret I really like NoAH. I love it, in fact. I've been in love with this game, and by extension, series, for a very long while. I got into S;G around the time A;C was announced back in 2015. Then by 2016, I'd read NoAH, S;G, and S;G0. I would then go on to pretty quickly inhale quite literally every other title. I was enamored. Blinded by love. I hold this series very dear, even if I oftentimes act quite jaded and apathetic toward its developers, who see it fit to constantly assign little to no value to their own fanbase, both domestically and abroad. That does get tiring, true. But ignoring the backend, ignoring the constant disappointment, ignoring a LOT of stuff: I still deeply value this series.
Even with the content drought of 2015-2021, wherein I feel very little of value took place or was produced, I still clung on during that time for hope that A;C would release, and it would absolve me of my woes. It seemed like a very impossible hope, especially as time went on. But once it released mid-2022, I very much inhaled it. Took two, maybe three days tops to clear the entire thing, and that was with plenty of breaks. I was immersed, lost in the joy of a mainline SciADV that was just actually competent, one which returned to the roots of the series and expanded on its themes and mechanics and setting tenfold.
I remembered what it was like to really enjoy any of it. Being caught up in spending year after year after year after year after year making patches and dealing with the subpar releases did sorta wear me down, so then getting to not just play Anonymous;Code, something I think is real damn good, but also knowing its localization was in good, if not the best, hands, was just unending relief. Like I've made clear, the release with NoAH recently has pretty soured my view again, but at least with A;C, I still hold a bit of hope that people are gonna get a good product in their hands for once.
These are a lot of words so far to not actually address what I was asked. So okay, I'll bite. NoAH just resonates with me on every possible level. I think the atmosphere is gripping, exciting, tense, poignant, and even cathartic.
- The use or lack thereof of soundtrack and SFX is brilliantly planned and perfectly executed.
- The voice acting goes way harder than it needed to. The pacing is almost entirely as tight as it can be, with very little in the way of extraneous content.
- The characters are charming, unique, interesting, and full of deep meaning. The setting is ominous and realistic, but has just enough spice of fantasy / sci-fi to make you feel like it's both your own world and someone else's, like you're looking at a mirror image.
- The art and visual direction ooze style and a real era-specific aura, grounding it in the setting it purports to occur in while also playing off the gimmicks so often found in traditional galge.
Its themes of self-acceptance, dissonance with reality, the vagueness of information society, and existentialism are all well-explored and the cast is a fantastic vehicle for those ideas. I can say all that, and still think NoAH isn't a perfect game, but goddamnit I think it's one of the best ever assembled within its medium. If you come away from NoAH with anything, even if you hate the pacing or the music or the art or whatever aspects, I think we can all agree that this game very wholeheartedly tries to send an important message about your value as a person.
You exist right here. Even if this world is a lie. Even if you stumble and fail. Even if it hurts to keep living. Even if it seems like there isn't a goddamn point to any of it. Even if you'd rather die. Even if you'd rather suffocate under an ocean of delusion than face reality. You'll always be a part of the world. You'll always find a place to return home to, even in this convoluted, seemingly-unworthy world. Just do your best to live. Won't you do that for me?
So okay. I've made it very clear I love NoAH. That's just one game. THERE'S A WHOLE SERIES OF THIS SHIT. I can't realistically make writeups on every single title like that for a single Q&A prompt, please understand! I like the series overall because really, they don't stray away from a lot of the same/similar themes of belonging & doubt or about the uncertainty of existence.
Are we real? Are the characters we look at within our screen any different from us? Are we any different from being characters within a screen ourselves, playthings of a god or gods watching our development for their amusement or entertainment or curiosity or any other possible reason. That's the thing, isn't it?
We love these characters. Empathize with them. Cherish them. Cheer them on through their struggles, wish from the very bottom of our fuckin' hearts they'll succeed and find the answer or future they genuinely need or want, no matter the cost. We stare at this fiction and become one with it. We gaze into this mirror, this image world, and see so many souls we wish nothing but the best for. We laugh and cry and yearn and so on, for them. Even if it's all just fake, even if they're just pixels on a screen.
To any observer, maybe they're just as real as you and me.
Whose eyes are those eyes?