That was the year it was: 2020

And so we come to the end of another year. And so Game Tumour will go into hibernation, only to emerge in the new year (unless of course there are some last minute surprises between now and the new year). 

It should be noted that this year has seen some milestones for this blog. Not only has it seen a full decade of existence - which, let's be honest, is a millennium in internet terms - but it should be noted that this post is the one thousandth post in this blog! 
Yeah I don't know how I did that either but this is major achievement: Granted this may be a dying medium but to come so far, even when other blogs tend to have a limited lifespan (or at least the one's I have seen) and are written by people who's interest and commitment tends to die off rather quickly, is something to be proud of. 

So to everyone who has seen this blog, who has been following it and who kept coming back to it, through periods of activity, stretches of nothing happening, through posts of both insightful observations and just utter nonsense, I want to say Thank You.
From the bottom of my heart Thank You.

As for 2020, it's become something of a cliché to deride 2020 as a seemingly never-ending year of disaster, where it seemed a challenge to say how things could get progressively worse. 
But it has seen something of a boom time for gaming. Because, after all, when Lockdown has you stuck inside your house, what else are you going to do? Well, personally I completed Borderlands 2, Rakuen and Wolfenstein 3d (at last!). I have upgraded both my gaming chair and the Retropie to the Raspberry Pi 4. I have said goodbye to ESO, was traumatised by Phasmophobia, and viewed the Space Australia that was the Borderlands Pre-Sequel. 
And I swear I have spent more time waiting for games to download than actually playing them. 

So where do we go from here? 

Well the way I see it, there are still plenty of more adventures to be had in this wonderful world that is gaming. So whilst my interest in this hobby and this blog may have quietened down in recent years, I am not prepared to give either up just yet. 

And with that, Game Tumour bows out for 2020.
Thank you for taking the time to read this and I hope to speak to you all again on the other side of 2021...

Take me down to a paradise city

Recently I had the pleasure of casting another game from my Hall of Shame. And who’s the lucky candidate? None other than Rakuen!

 Original image located here. Accessed 14th June 2020

I first became aware of Rakuen through it apparently being a tearjerker that exceeds the legendary To the Moon. That sounded like a challenge to me so I took it! But upon obtaining the game I noticed something: This was developed and published by one Laura Shigihara – a name I recognised through her contributions to the soundtrack of the afore-mentioned To the Moon. Well, if she wants to take a stab at making her own game then good for her.

But perhaps the connection to To the Moon may be telling: There are numerous similarities in both games (both made in RPG maker, both sharing a staff name and both inspiring the waterworks) that separating them presents a difficult prospect. So the real question here is: can Rakuen stand up on its own two feet?

The answer is a resounding yes.

What makes this game unique for me is that it tackles a theme rarely approached by games: The PC is a child going on a journey accompanied by his mother. You don’t see many mothers in game (this is, after all, a medium where its users have frequently uttered the words “Awwww Ma-ummmmm!”) so this game is indeed trying something different. Perhaps that many gamers today are parents themselves that we are seeing a game where a mother plays a key role - moreso considering that the story presented in Rakuen is just as much the Mother’s as it is the Boy’s.

Being a story-driven game, the narrative is effectively carrying this game but never once does it crack under the weight. It is an indeed an emotional roller-coaster dealing with issues such as loss, regret, letting go and redemption. And the technical department is no slouch either: the graphics and world building are indeed beautiful and the music is truly unforgettable.

Clearly Laura made this game because she felt she had a story to tell. And so it would seem that it was the right call to make.