Where We Remain
Where We Remain, the debut offering of Twofold Secret, is a quiet game. It has the allure of that person sitting across the room that you make eye contact with but never speak to, or of the woods that taunted you as a child. It is also an action adventure game of exploration in a randomly generated world. You're a lost youth stranded on a haunted island in the Aegean Sea, searching for your lost love among the ruins of a wasted civilization stalked by mysterious spirits. Twofold Secret borrows the formula from another popular action adventure game and brings back the sense of curiosity and loneliness, and with panache.
[Arrow] keys move you around in all directions, reliable as they have ever been. There are no other controls. The whole game is based on the arrow keys in the same way that drinking water is based simply on swallowing. You find yourself alone on a vast island, messages and flowers are strewn about, caves dot the cliff sides, and unspeakable phantoms stalk the plains, causing the wind to shudder and the earth to tremble. Inside the caves are power-ups (10 in all) and notes left over from a missing lover that you desperately have to find, and let's not forget the shades of the dead who banish you outside when you lack flower petals to ward them off. Eventually you will find your true love, but perhaps not in the way you had imagined.
Analysis: The authors, Chris Klimas and Joel Haddock, have taken the traditional exploration dynamic of the Zelda series and created something the original Legend of Zelda had but its myriad successors lacked: a sense of free exploration fused with solitude. Somehow, most action-adventure games fell to the lure of putting you on rails, and when they did you lost the sense of being alone in a haunted world. Your hands were held between power-ups and boss battles, a simulated adventure rather than an adventure simulator. Now, after years of indie games re-making the platformer genre, we're starting to see exploration games get the same treatment, Where We Remain is a glorious rallying shot.
One thing I really love about this game, moreso than other "artsy" fare that we've seen in the past few years, is that it doesn't try to shove any messages down your throat. It respects your subjectivity enough to let you draw your own conclusions and, more importantly, to let you own the sense of discovery when you tease out each of the secret endings. The freedom in the gameplay reflects this austerity, you get to play and the artistic aspects that the authors so lovingly imbued are there if you want them, there's no forcing of your hand. Fitting that, the game is randomly generated each time you play, so the core task of exploration never gets fully exhausted. The lack of any music makes the sound effects stand out, the building of the changing winds, then the tremors, followed by the "baaaaannn" that alerts you to imminent danger, it follows a primal procession from childhood nightmares where we would turn off the dream-lights in our dream-kitchen and summon the ghosts we feared. The randomization of the island, with its never-ending well of imperfect information, keeps these chases fresh, and there really is something at stake in these encounters: you could lose your entire progress. The lack of music also underscores a sense of apprehension when you aren't under pressure, you're left to wonder at why you're doing these things, like the horse-riding segments of Shadow Of The Colossus but with gameplay. These are just a sample of the subtle details that make this game a holistic whole.
If you find yourself still sitting in the chair you were in before reading this review, congratulations, because I'm still in the same chair after writing it, these chairs are Where We Remain.
Walkthrough Guide
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For those of you who don't feel like losing a dozen or so times to hear the story I figure I'll transcribe all the tablets/notes. Not sure they're in the right order, but you can figure 'em out yourself, right?
Records of the Island
...These are the records of the island we name Polykotes, in our hundred-and-thirteenth year. We have no archon to reckon our year by. Instead we remember the first year we landed on this shore, and count the hard deeds that keep us alive and our settlements thriving...
...On the fifth day of Skirophiron each year, we gather in the largest of the halls we have constructed to celebrate the year's gifts, the plentiful harvest, the newborn children, the sunrise. We are a solemn people but even the thickest curtains must admit a little light. We drink and dance; all rules save one are suspended for the evening...
...We hear of wars taking place on the continent, but we do not trouble ourselves with them. We are forgotten by the world, and in turn we are allowed to forget it. Those who wish for a larger life may seek it for themselves. Nothing will stand between them and the sea. We have problems enough. We keep our children's eyes turned from the spirits so that they understand our mortal peril only when they are ready to. Living on the edge of oblivion is a heavy burden, but we share it evenly...
...We named the opastia that haunt our home island after the winds that bind them to each part of the island. They would devour us all if they could. We do not know why they hunger. There are some of us who have seen one eat a man, but none that would give voice to what they saw. Better for it to remain memory alone and not story. Our imaginations can satisfy us more than enough...
...Someone new to our land might ask why we have not slain the opastia that curse this island. They are impervious to any weapon fashioned by mortals, and pass as easily through our fortifications as a fish through the ocean. We have tried to reason with the opastia, or at least engage them in dialogue. But they do not respond to words at all. We do not think they understand language in even its most rudimentary form. We have never seen the spirits converse among themselves. They are, as far as we can understand, entirely unthinking beasts, driven by instinct and hunger...
...The opastia have existed on this island for as long as our memory extends, and many of us believe that they have existed long before mortal man. We speculate that this place was formed as a prison for them, a way to contain what could not be destroyed, even by the gods. But we should not venture to guess at what gods wrought, and why. We have life; we have breath; all else is a gift...
...Apollo watches over our herd. No opastia may tread in his house, and we have constructed many homes for him, so that our population covers nearly the entirety of our small island. We can sit at the edge of the Mediterranean and fish if we are mindful. We can grow wheat in the fields so long as watch is kept at each horizon. Our lives are simple ones, they are by necessity, but is there no better life than the one lived in devotion to the gods? Let the statues of Apollo that dot this island stand as testament to our constant virtue...
...Let it be remembered that on the seventeenth day of Boedromion, we laid an injunction on one of us, who in defiance of all convention, calls himself Xdrngy. We discovered he had been sneaking out of the settlements for several nights. He claims that he was only satisfying curiosity, that he wished to map the caves of our island in order to further our collected knowledge. But when asked to produce any such maps, he could not. Thus, he shall serve as an altar-servant until five winters have passed. He will eat nothing during time but what Apollo will grant him, drink nothing but what Apollo delivers to him, be nothing but dust until he learns to obey...
...The boy has destroyed us. He has broken the covenant we have held with Apollo as long as we have lived on this island. He has brought one of the opastia into our homestead and disjuncted our protection. Nowhere is safe for us. They are coming for us and there are few places for us to hide. We know what waits for us in the caves...
...Our settlements have been afire three days now. And yet we count this as a blessing, for the smoke, of all things, seems to keep the opastia from noticing our presence. Hunger has started to affect our minds. But there are much more worse things at hand...
...Those who are able-bodied should attempt to fashion rafts and set sail for Knossos. Those that cannot should take shelter where possible, to hide themselves from the opastia by whatever means present themselves. This is our final edict.
...We few who have remained behind struggle to record what we can in the time left to us. We number less than fifty. Most of us have fled to the coastline, to make passage to Knossos. We have no way of knowing how many of those have survived but we think the number low. The opastia move with terrifying alacrity now. They have been waiting decades to sate their hunger...
...We only number five now. We are likely the only living beings left on this island -- save for that cursed boy, that traitor, whose name we will not enscribe here. Let his name be forgotten. Let his deeds stand forever. We glimpse him walking with one of the infernal opastia. He seems utterly unaware of the destruction he has delivered unto us. He walks as if dreaming, as if he heard none of the screams, saw none of the fires. It is as if he only hears the screeches of his opastia companion, as if they are honeyed songs in his ears...
...Time is short. Remember us. There is darkness. Here it comes.
The Boy's records
...I engrave my story into this stone so that it might outlast my body. I write so we can be remembered once we are nothing but shades. I write so that my love for you may remain as the tides change, the moon wax and wane. As the stars follow their course. Let this story be constant; let everything else alter.
...I hope my testaments will become mixed with the official records of this island. I want our story to replace the tallies of grain, the endless births and deaths described only by names, useless names -- I want all prose to be replaced by our song...
...It was you who first called to me. I heard your song while working in my father's fields, on the hottest day of the year. There is no colder water than your voice. I walked the forbidden caves, I eluded the shades the gods placed there to keep mortal men from finding you. I succeeded where no others did before because I loved you, I loved you even before I knew you...
...I have had no women before you, and none shall come after you. You are my only, my song without end. I dream of your golden hair and wake with a smile that cannot be broken. The world is a shadow. I am a dreamer. In the contours of your face I glimpse what is real...
...We were lying together, not speaking. I could see a trickle of moonlight in the cave ahead of us. You were sleeping, but only fitfully. Dreams never clung to you the way they do to me. When you woke, I asked about your family. It was the one thing we never discussed. Finally you said: I have two brothers and one sister, and I hope I never see any of them ever again. I kissed you because I was afraid you were angry at me; I never thought to ask about your parents...
...They placed their punishment on me. Five years' labor at the shrines. I could not let that happen to me. Your absence for that long would be a death sentence. I killed three men today as I escaped. Let my guilt be repeated into eternity, let my shame carry across the earth. But please -- please fill my ears, my heart, my soul with your song. Make me forget the thing I have done today...
...I will wait until dawn before committing myself to this decision. I will not sleep. I will think deeply on it. I was raised, like everyone else, to believe the elders' word is supreme. It is one thing to hide from it. It is another to defy it. But I must. I will not stay hidden forever in these caves. I will take you by the hand and lead you into the light. We will force them to recognize our love; we will break all the prophecies; we will shatter the gods' own laws.
The Girl's notes (without glasses)
Xdrngy, I am trapped on this island just as you are. Even worse. I'm being kept in a cave, but I don't know where exactly. I know you'll be able to find me. But beware. No one on this island is your friend. Already they are looking for you. Run. Caves mean safety.
I love you.
--Freya
Xdrngy, I miss you terribly. I wish I could say it in grander words than that, but I don't have your gift with language. You wrote me such poetry-- I know you don't remember it anymore.
The flowers you bring me are beautiful, but they carry a strong scent. The more you have, the easier the spirits can find you.
--Freya
Xdrngy, don't give up. Please, never give up. It was never your fate to become a warrior. It was never your way to kill.
There are several signs that a spirit is near; the wind grows stronger, the skies turn dark, and when it has nearly found you, the earth will begin to shake. It wants nothing but to kill you. You must find shelter as soon as you can. You cannot outrun the spirits for long.
--Freya
Xdrngy, please keep trying. You will find me sooner than you think. You are close to me even now. I can feel your presence. I always will.
There are shrines scattered across this island that can protect you from the spirits. If you are clever, you can use them to hide from the spirits; if you are more clever you can use them to banish the spirits... I know you will be able to discover how to do it.
--Freya
Just a little further, Xdrngy.
As you explore the caves of the island you'll make a map of where you've visited. There is a way to learn what caves you have yet to explore as well.
--Freya
The Girl's notes (with glasses) - thank you to KingfisherEyes
1. I am sorry, Key. If I could make amends by filling every page I write with that sentence I would. But you deserve an explanation. I hope one day you will be ready to read it. And I pray you will forgive me once you do.
I'm not sure anyone can understand what I had done. No one has suffered under the god's hands as we did. My brothers at least, were allowed to live in the sun. The gods distrusted my sister and me because we had intelligence above our bothers, and bound us to the underground. By the time I met you, I had forgotten even the sound of waves, even the sweet smell of saltwater.
-- Freya.
2. We were helpless without mortal help. My sister thought we would never escape; she fled deeper into the caves. I haven't seen her in
many years. I held to the hope that someone would be brave enough to venture into the caves.
You and I were the happiest of accidents, Key. People will write that I ensorcellled you with my charms. But I never possessed that magic. I can change the story your eyes tell you, but I cannot alter your heart.
Please remember: everything I've done is out of love for you. Every wrong I've worked was formed from affection.
-- Freya.
3. You led me out of the caves into the light but I didn't know what price that would hold. I didn't know that what bound me to the caves also kept my dull brothers in check. The balance managed on tiptoes was destroyed forever.
It was terrible. I cast what charms I could to turn your eyes from the slaughter around us, but I could not keep it up forever. I could not bear for you to know what you had caused. You are innocent, Key. Where there is blame, place it on me.
Come Home.
--Freya
4. The Island was in ruins. Everyone you'd known had died. My brothers were uncontrollable. Like Babies with butterflies trapped in their hands. I couldn't cloud your eyes to what had happened forever. Instead I invented a fantasy for us to play, a game of hide-and-seek.
You were meant to be a hero. And in this story we make together, you are one. You are the one that finds me in darkness; you are the one that carries me out of it. It doesn't matter whether your deeds are real or not. What you believe matters more than the world.
-- Freya.
5. Everything has meaning. Flowers denote love. The island is the earth. Games are Life. The only thing here without antecedent is death. When my brothers find you, I keep them from harming you. You will always succeed here. It's only a matter of time before you find me when we play. I've lost count of how many times now. Years it must be now.
I wish we could have been ordinary. But wishes are only a way to name what will always be beyond our grasp. A game is enough.
-- Freya
Definitely have all the girl's notes. Pretty sure I have the full island's history. Less sure about the boy's history. Definitely not sure if they're in the right order. Make of it what you will
XD
Posted by: xdrngy
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January 30, 2010 10:15 PM