videogameblog

Mothmen 1966

I've pretty much completely abanboned the original schedule of 12 games I put in place. I saw this one on twitter and thought it looked cool. Completed it in exactly 2 hours so I guess it counts? I can't wait until this is over so I can stop thinking about game lengths.

Mothmen 1966 refers to itself as a 'pixel pulp' game. A semi-fitting title, as it conforms to the aesthetic tropes of the 'pulp' genre, but not the narrative ones. Pulp fiction is, by definition, not very good. It's full of tropes and cheap writing, usually only serving one purpose. Mothmen 1966 has alot more to offer than some cheap scares.

The 'pixel' half of 'pixel pulp' definitely feels fitting. the pixelart is great, it emulates the style of the older-generation of games it clearly takes inspiration from effectively. The low-pixel count is definitely beneficial to the overall feel, applying a level of uncanniness to most close-up shots. It also helps mask the shape and features of the creatures, especially the titular Mothmen. The green color palette and deep shadows contribute to this overall feeling of uneasiness that's felt throughout the game. Something feels off, and everything being drenched in a sickly green doesn't exactly calm the nerves. The sound design pushes this feeling even further, with the ambience being unexpectedly pierced by the sharpest, most grating sound you can produce whenever something unfortunate happens. There's an unpleasantness to virtually all the sound effects. One character describes the sound of a flowing stream, but all we can hear is a shrill, reverberating synth sound. In order to emulate the 80s style of home computer games, limitations must be put in place on both the visual and sound quality. These limitations help the game significantly, allowing the player to imagine what they cannot see/hear while simultaneously contributing to the overall atmosphere of uneasiness.

Typical pulp fiction would have virutally no focus on the characters within the narrative, relying on archetypes so the majority of the narrative focus can be put on the spectacle present in the narrative. In this case, that spectacle would be the mothmen, but the writers didn't skip over the character development. The game alternates between three perspectives surprisingly frequently. We play as Harold, a gas station attendant with an infatuation for civil war weaponry, trying to fulfil his father's legacy. Victoria, a college girl who feels conflicted about her relationship, dreading the future. and Lee, a typical 'jock' who's trying to maintain the veil of masculinity he presents, when in reality he's emotionally weak and has anger issues. These characters don't really seem to like eachother at all, but are stuck together as they attempt to survive the onslaught of mothmen and other creatures that assault them throughout the game's 10 chapters. They have little development by the end of the game, but they seem to be more at peace with themselves than when they were introduced. I like the cosmic horror aspects of the narrative alot. I don't know what's going on, nobody in the game knows what's going on. We get brief glimpses at the reality behind what's unfolding, but the answers create more questions. It feels very Lovecraftian at times. Theres also a very funny bit where they find an old woman in the woods with a shotgun and one of the characters starts analysing it like a piece of media, discussing the subversion of gender stereotypes even though this is a real situation from their perspective (i do this every day).

Gameplay-wise this is a visual novel for the most part. Gameplay is mostly choose-your-own-adventure style situations where you need to avoid death, or minigames you control with 3 text box options. Again there has been limitations put in place in order to emulate the feel they were going for, but it hinders the enjoyability of the game surprisingly little. All of the minigame/puzzles are surprisingly fun (except the solitaire but thats intentional). They use the limited system in alot of creative ways, with no feelings of similarity between any of them.

6/10 monthmen.. moth.. men.. moth