First Impressions: Still Wakes the Deep (SOS)

Still Wakes the Deep
Systems: Windows, Xbox Series S/X, PlayStation 5, Linux, Steam OS
Release Date: June 18th, 2024
Publisher: Secret Mode
Developer: The Chinese Room
Current Time Spent: 4.7 Hours

I love the games developed and published by The Chinese Room, so I already knew ahead of time what I was setting myself up for with Still Wakes the Deep.  I already enjoyed narrative-based walking simulators (Amnesia: A Machine for Pigs, Dear Esther, Everybody's Gone to the Rapture, Gone Home, Kholat, Sagebrush, SOMA, What Remains of Edith Finch), so playing another horror-based walking sim that took place on an oil rig in the North Sea felt like a great place to spend a handful of hours.  And by handful, I mean just under five, as of this writing.

I'm not really sure where to start.  You play as a character named Caz, an electrical engineer on an oil rig operated by a Scottish company in the North Sea, around December 1975.  I haven't found any contextual clues for the game set in 1975, so my immediate assumption is to limit the amount of available technology (e.g., cellphones, satellite phones, social media, etc.).  A cursory search also brought up several articles about oil rig accidents in the North Sea in the 70s and 80s, and it looks like that had a significant impact on the story and location, as well as being an isolated location where The Chinese Room could tell a "Thing on an oil rig" type of story.

Like any good horror story, the game starts out with a normal world.  Caz greets other members of the crew on his way down to the canteen, and then to the supervisor's office for a reprimand; I haven't figured out why yet, which is odd because I don't think the supervisor is of sound mind at the point I'm at in the game; but I'm getting ahead of myself.  On his way to a helicopter to fly him off of the oil rig, there's a drill-induced explosion that rocks the entire structure, and in the process of trying to help a fellow crew member who's hanging over the edge of the helipad, Caz falls overboard.  After being rescued, the rest of what I've been playing has been one thing going wrong after another in a series of events that Issac Clarke from the Dead Space series could empathize with.  

I won't go into too much detail, but it's events like having to get from Point A to Point C to fix a mechanism so that Caz can access Point B back at Point A while also trying to rescue anyone else he comes across along the way.  Once he gets through to Point B, though, one of the crew that he thought he had rescued ends up dead like Satipo in Raiders of the Lost Ark (minus the betrayal subplot).  Caz then receives (another) intra-rig phone call asking for his help getting to the helipad, but first something needs to be fixed, repaired, or moved to a different location before he can get back to his friend in the canteen or find a way back up to the helipad to let the pilot know that something horribly wrong is happening to the crew members on the rig.

I'm playing on the Steam Deck, thinking that it would be a fun game for Conklederp to watch at night (when the game isn't filled with the screams of Caz's crewmates, or the mechanical whirring and chunking of machinery being ripped apart by [REDACTED].  For the most part, the game runs fine on High graphical settings (a step below Ultra, or whatever the highest setting is) with the frame rate capped at 30 fps.  The most aggravating thing, though, is the load times.  The game takes between two and three minutes to load up to the starting screen, then an additional minute before I can actually start playing the game.  Dying too often requires a minute of loading before I can respawn at the previous checkpoint, which thankfully is usually pretty close to where I died.  

I'm not overly bothered, though.  Sure, it can be annoying when I want to start playing or jump back in after getting killed for the third time after misjudging the distance I was from [REDACTED] or how fast [REDACTED] could move around a shipping container or through a hallway.  I'm sure there's meaning behind the imagery in the loading screens post-death; I just haven't quite figured out what it means yet.

I am having a great time with the game, and I'm very happy to be playing another game from The Chinese Room, a studio Dr. Potts first introduced me to over 14 years ago at the beginning of the baseless accusations that walking does not constitute a video game.  Now, if I could just help Caz survive in a fashion that couldn't be described as Lovecraftian.

~JWfW/JDub/The Faceplantman/Jaconian
Transfixed in a Stare

P.S.  After I finish the game, assuming it isn't a 30-hour endeavor, I'm probably going to play through it again, but turning the spoken language to Scottish Gaelic, because how often is that an option in a game?  And it wouldn't just be for the achievement either.

MIDI Week Singles: "Vacant Room" - Resident Evil (NGC)

 

"Vacant Room" from Resident Evil on the GameCube, Wii, PlayStation 3/4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, Windows, Nintendo Switch (2002 - 2019)

Composers: Shusaku Uchiyama, Misao Senbongi, Makoto Tomozawa

Album: biohazard Sound Chronicle Best Track Box

Label: SULEPUTER

Publisher: Capcom

Developer: Capcom Production Studio 4

"Vacant Room" first plays in the 2002 remake of the original Resident Evil when you play as Jill in the Dormitory/Guardhouse after leaving the mansion.  It plays when you first enter the room using the Residence Key where the Umbrella Employee has hanged themselves.  Just this song and the slow, metronome-quality creaking of the rope as the body gently sways.  What happens next has been burned into my memory since I first played the game on the PlayStation 26 years ago, and I was thankful the scene was kept.  After Jill enters the bathroom, there is a sound.  In the original PlayStation version, I recall it sounding like a digitally compressed "thump,"* but in the GameCube remake, it was a snap and thud simultaneously.

It's pretty obvious what this meant, but to 20-year-old me, who had never played a survival horror game extensively, I really hoped the sound didn't mean that the person who had been hanging just a moment ago was now up and moving around.  But that's exactly what that sound meant.  And that's an awesome, fun realization.

Musically, the star here is the tinkling piano with the accompanying "aahing" vocals.  And the tinkling piano part is really just two notes, repeated over and over with slightly different note lengths.  Then at 9 seconds into the song, the tinkling piano part doubles (triples?), creating a frantic rhythm while the tempo remains the same.  I used "tinkling" to describe the first piano, because the second piano that comes in at 0:35 has a more typical sound while it plays a slightly off-kilter run with seemingly no tonal center.

I believe this song is used again in another Residence room where the player learns about the V-Jolt substance (if they don't know already) and leads into the fight with Plant 42.  For me, though, "Vacant Room" will always be the theme for the Residence room where the developers did exactly what I had hoped wouldn't happen, which is exactly why it needed to happen.

~JWfW/JDub/The Faceplantman/Jaconian
I Really Don't Know Why I Can't Spit it Out

*The problem with trying to locate a YouTube video focusing on this specific moment is that the majority of the longplays I found all skip going into the room and instead head straight for the bathroom and drain the bathtub.  All three longplays I watched could have been the same video except for the channel tag or watermark, but their actions were all in the same order and nearly identical.  I guess I'll just have to replay the original version and make sure that I get the bad (which is actually the best) ending.

Game EXP: lily's world XD (PC)

lily's world XD
Systems: Windows
Release Date: September 17, 2026
Publisher: Kwalee
Developer: SonderingEmily
Time Spent: 5 Hours

Maybe it's a cop-out as someone who plays video games and attempts to write reasonably well-thought-out reviews, but it's one of those games that the less that's known about the finer points of the story, the better.

lily's world XD is in the genre of "found device" games where you play as a person who's found a laptop straight out of the early-mid 2000s.  After logging into the computer, you have access to a handful of files and a Netscape-era web browser complete with access to MySpace-era social media pages and LiveJournal-type blogs of introspection.  The sound of the mouse clicks and even the animated mouse icon are all straight out of the early to mid-2000s.  There is a choice to have an optional ambient audio track in the background, and while I did try turning it off to maintain the immersion, I found that it actually accentuated the "feeling" of playing in the world created by SonderingEmily.

Like other "found device" games, lily's world XD is full of puzzles to access different parts of the laptop, unlocking private folders, and accessing online accounts that have been dormant for the last 20 years.  There is a compelling narrative mystery as new areas of the laptop are uncovered and communications with long-silent accounts are rekindled.

The game is broken up into several gameplay loops.  You solve puzzles, gather information through conversations, and discover other details on your own.  Using information that's given to you and that you read about on your own is what gives you the answers to the puzzles.  And repeat.

 You are presented with a handful of puzzles to solve, such as figuring out a password or where ot use a login ID from only a handful of available websites, where you end up finding a new website through a hyperlink on another website.  Then there are information/context/exposition dumps you receive from the laptop owner's friend Iris, who is your primary messenger contact.  Then it's rinse and repeat, but not in a bad way.  Several of the puzzles actually reminded me a lot of playing an escape room with Conklederp, Himo, and Folly (friends from college who we've been doing escape rooms with for the last 10 years), if we were all working to unlock different parts of a single laptop.

That's all I'm going to say about this amazing game (except for the P.S., but that's optional).  If you like 'found device' games and/or escape room-style puzzles and have a nostalgic view of early-mid 2000s computer aesthetic, I can't recommend lily's world XD enough.

~JWfW/JDub/TheFaceplantman/Jaconian

Katkeruuden liekin polttama?

P.S.  The quick and easy explanation for why I don't have a lot of images up for the game is that I inadvertently had the Notes app open on the in-game desktop, which contained a lot of the answers to passwords, email addresses, and other bits of information that I took down while playing.  Most of the pictures would then include a mass of censored lines to prevent spoilers.  I guess that's one of the biggest issues with not thinking ahead while taking screenshots during the game.  And so I decided to only include a few screenshots, ones that give off more of a vibe that the SonderingEmily was creating with the UI, and not include a bunch of screenshots with information blacked out.

P.P.S.  Below are spoilers of sorts, so proceed with caution.

There were several instances where the game messed with me in a way that can best be described as Eternal Darkness-esque and fourth-wall-breaking.  How that manifested (I'll link here if you're interested, but I won't include it in the article to avoid spoilers) was in ways more personalized than I've ever experienced in a video game.  More often than not, I was more excited by the creepy things happening than genuinely scared.  

There was also one instance where my webcam was accessed, but because I had the shutter closed, I didn't realize what was going on until after the scene was over.  There was a later moment in the game where the webcam footage was called back up, but because it had originally been closed, there was just a grey placeholder image, which was a little disappointing.

MIDI Week Single: "The City of Ruin" - Resident Evil 3: Nemesis (PSX)

 

"The City of Ruin" from Resident Evil 3: Nemesis on the PlayStation, Windows, Dreamcast, & GameCube (1999-2006)
Composer: Masami Ueda
Album: Resident Evil 3 Nemesis Original Soundtrack
Label: Mars Colony Music
Publisher: Capcom
Developer: Capcom

"The City of Ruin" is a great song that plays right after Jill leaves Bar Black Jack after her conversation with Brad, but only if you're able to save Brad.  During that conversation, Brad warns Jill about someone hunting STARS members and that they're all going to die.  Brad flees the bar on his own, allowing Jill a moment of respite and time to find the ammunition hidden by the cash register.  When Jill leaves the bar, that's when "The City of Ruin" first plays, with Jill now (vaguely) knowing that something is hunting her and her fellow STARS members.

What I really like about "The City of Ruin" musically is how sad the song feels.  Chock full of slow MIDI strings and a choir, all in a minor key.  Then, at 18 seconds in, there's a chime followed by five percussive notes that come across as ominous, foreshadowing Nemesis's arrival outside the Raccoon City Police Department.  At that point, the song changes from one of melancholy to one of menace and dread.

My biggest critique of the song is that those five percussive notes and the later presence of the MIDI French Horn don't actually play "Nemesis's Theme," or that those five notes are not incorporated into "Nemesis's Theme," even though both songs were composed by Masami Ueda.  But that one thing aside, "The City of Ruin" is a great transition song between the first section of the game, where Jill only has to contend with the zombies she was familiar with from the original game, and now having to avoid the stalking horror of Nemesis.

~JWfW/JDub/The Faceplantman/Jaconian

On With Hope to the Grave

Game EXP: Platform 8 (PC)

 

Platform 8
Systems: Windows, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5
Release Date: May 31, 2024
Publisher: PLAYISM
Developer: KOTAKE CREATE
Time Spent: 76 Minutes
First Play Series on YouTube

In theory, this will be a short article because I've only played Platform 8 for 76 minutes, and I've seen most of the game, including two different (colored) credit sequences.

Platform 8 is an anomaly-spotting game from KOTAKE CREATES, the same developer behind The EXIT 8, and, with some experience in the liminal anomaly-spotting genre, I felt it was played against me as a player.  But in order to talk about how to play the game itself, we're going to have to jump right away into spoilers.  So, be warned.  

~SPOILERS~

In several of the anomaly-spotting games I've played, there's frequently been a mechanic that tells the game you've seen an anomaly so you can proceed safely.  In The EXIT 8, if you spot an anomaly, you turn around and walk the opposite direction.  In The 18th Attic, you have to take a picture of the anomaly.  In Room 713, if you spot an anomaly, you take the hallway to the right, or the left if you don't spot anything.  In Platform 8, the mechanic is almost simplisticly nuanced to be overlooked or misinterpreted, potentially making the player feel that they're playing the game incorrectly.  Maybe that's a feature?  Unlike the list of rules you have to follow in The EXIT 8, the only direction that's given to the player is a small sign on both the front and back doors of the metro train you're riding in that simply reads, "Please check electric signs."

The direction is simple enough, but only if you register it as a sign put there by the developers to tell the players what to do when they spot an anomaly.  You'd be forgiven if, like me, you thought maybe that's a perfectly normal sign to find in a Japanese subway car, directing the passenger to look at what the sign above the door says regarding which stop is coming up next.  But no.  The key to progressing in Platform 8 requires the player to take into account two main facts.  The first is to look to the digital sign above the door for direction.  The second is that passing from one car to the next does not immediately count as progressing through the game, and progression only happens after you've seen an anomaly.

Anomalies in this game also work differently than they do in The EXIT 8 or other anomaly-spotting games.  Platform 8 feels like it forces the player to witness anomalies before you can continue.  You might pass through the double doors into the next car, and the lights flicker, and the door at the other end begins opening and closing on its own.  As you approach, the door closes and stops.  That's it.  You saw an anomaly and can continue.  You might pass into the next two cars without seeing anything.  Then, in the following car, you see the flickering image of a woman standing.  Above the doors, the electric sign flashes in red text: "Do Not Look Away."  If you follow the directions of the sign, you're allowed to proceed to the next car; otherwise, you run the risk of being "caught" or "killed" and starting over from the beginning.

Of all of the anomalies I saw in Platform 8, I didn't come across any that were as obscure as ones in The EXIT 8, like the face in the ceiling tiles or a poster slowly growing in size.  The developers want you to see the multitude of bloody handprints covering the windows or the little girl who writes "Find Me" on the ground and prevents the door to the next car from opening until after you've found her.  The game is having fun with the anomalies as opposed to making the player feel frustrated when you pass from Hallway 7 back down to Hallway 0.  That's something that I greatly appreciate because that tells me that the developer respects my time as a player without padding the hell out of their game.  It also shows evolution in a developer, not rehashing the exact same formula and mechanics in a different setting.  I did go into Platform 8 expecting another The EXIT 8 set in a series of infinitely connected subway cars, but what I played was so much better.

I enjoyed the anomalies and was creeped out by several of them as well.  I came across one anomaly multiple times because I couldn't figure out how to get past it, but I never felt the frustration of being sent back to the beginning of the subway terminal.  I wanted to see the different anomalies, not just because they were how you progressed, but because they felt unique, and odd, and kind of absurd.  Yes, having a nearly faceless creature make noises at you is unnerving; seeing a giant hand pass through an open subway door and pad around for a few seconds is just bizarre.  That's what makes Platform 8 so much fun to play.

~JWfW/JDub/The Faceplantman/Jaconian
You Hold Your Power As Your Fears

MIDI Week Singles: "The Front Hall" - Resident Evil 2 / Bio Hazard 2 (PSX)

 

"The Front Hall" from Resident Evil 2 / Bio Hazard 2 on the PlayStation, Windows, Nintendo 64, Dreamcast, GameCube (1998 - 2003)
Composer: Masami Ueda
Album: Resident Evil 2 Original Soundtrack
Label: Geimu PIONEER, VIZ Music
Publisher: Capcom
Developer: Capcom

"The Front Hall" is the first song you hear when you enter the Raccoon Police Department after escaping the city streets, whether you're playing as Leon or Claire.  The song starts as soon as you open the door, even before you get inside, with a chime that, to me, sounds like something you'd hear in a church or sanctuary, a secure place away from the world's horrors.  Then there are the synths that add an air of danger, immediately reminding the player of the zombies outside.  Then the piano comes in, and it immediately reminds me of "Peace of Mind" from the first Resident Evil.  That calming piano line lets the player know they're safe.

The front hall of the RPD is the first full room in the game where there are no zombies, and the player can finally relax, but only just.  It's like the piano can't finish its phrasing because ominous chimes/synths/bass threaten to take over in the most aggressively passive way possible.  

It's a great piece that feels quintessential to the game and the location's memorability, as it was reused a year later in Resident Evil 3 when Jill returns to the RPD, and in the 2019 Resident Evil 2 remake.  If Resident Evil 2 had a theme, this would definitely be one of the primary motifs.

~JWfW/JDub/The Faceplantman/Jaconian
Don't Let Him Come Too Close To You

Thoughts About the Music in the Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster Collection

 

I bought the Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster Collection a while back, both on Steam and on the Switch.  All six NES/SNES-era Final Fantasy games in one collection, but each game is its own separate game.  But I'm not here to talk about the games, but the presentation within the games and the choice of which version of the music is played.  Each game comes with the original NES/Famicom sound chip soundtrack and a newly arranged version performed by the Japanese Century Symphony Orchestra.  The fact that the entirety of the soundtrack has been performed by a live orchestra is an amazing accomplishment in and of itself, and 14-year-old me would have been absolutely floored with this knowledge.

That being said, I have some thoughts.  Some curmudgeonly thoughts.  Some thoughts from a person born in the last century and last millennium.  

And I should preface that these thoughts are my personal opinion.

I love the orchestrated arrangement of each of the soundtracks.  I've listened to them all.  Final Fantasy I through VI, and they're amazing.  

But I don't have them playing when I'm playing.

For me, there's a kind of mental disconnect.  Something is off when I'm playing the original Final Fantasy that has a palette similar to that of Final Fantasy II (on the SNES), and I hear music performed by a live symphony orchestra.  It's similar to the "demand" from players when the pixel collection first came out in July, 2021, and the only font was a modern-looking one.  A pixelated font was added to the Steam and smartphone releases in a future update when it was released on PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch in April 2023.

I did try having the newly orchestrated music playing when I first started playing Final Fantasy in June of 2025 (not my first time playing Final Fantasy, mind you), but I wasn't fond of the orchestrations for the "Chaos Temple," "Matoya's Cavern," "Dungeon," and "Mount Gulg" in the context of the video game.  On their own, I enjoy them significantly more, but they just didn't sit well with me.  So I reverted back to the original MIDI score.

Let me give you a brief example from Final Fantasy III, because it's the one I'm currently playing; brief because the Switch can only record 30-second videos.

That's really it.  I could give side-by-side comparisons to nearly all of the songs in the early games of the franchise, but I won't, for both our sakes.  I love listening to the newly arranaged/orchestrated/recorded music on their own, but when playing, I have to have the original music on.  The instrumentation of the MIDI instruments just sits better with the visuals for me.  The one exception, because of course there's an exception, was "Pandemonium Castle" from Final Fantasy II.  Because spending close to 15 hours in that dungeon, even when using the new sprinting mechanic, I was going to listen to this amazing and completely overblown arrangement instead of the original 27-second song.

~JWfW/JDub/The Faceplantman/Jaconian

Instrumental