#deck nine

[doodlenoodleh]

As long as you’re my partner in time 🦋

[thealexchen]

Why Dontnod's games feel original and inspired (and why Deck Nine's games don't)

So, I've talked at length about how Double Exposure feels much more like a corporate product than a playable piece of art entertainment [My initial thoughts on the DE trailer] [My thoughts on the early access paywall] [My thoughts on the weird marketing].

But now with the release of Lost Records, I feel like I have no choice but to confront the question: were any of Deck Nine's games truly original or inspired in any way? And honestly, I have to say no.

Objectively, I could say it's because Deck Nine literally has not produced any original IP's since their rebrand from Idol Minds in 2017. Their only narrative adventure games are all part of the LiS franchise. But even their most original game, True Colors, pretty obviously follows the first game's narrative formula (young woman with a superpower investigates a sudden disappearance/death in a small town with a dark secret, has two opposite sex love interests, learns about a twist villain, is nearly murdered, and goes through a psychological nightmare in the last episode) to a tee. But oh look, there's also a LARP!

But I believe there's more to it than that, because when I look at Dontnod's games, they are always inspired by other works. Life is Strange 1 plays very clear homage to Twin Peaks with the Pacific Northwest setting and Rachel Amber resembling Laura Palmer. Max Caulfield is named after the protagonist of The Catcher in the Rye, another novel about the fleeting innocence of childhood and superficiality of society. Life is Strange borrows tropes from Donnie Darko, Groundhog Day, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, Stand By Me, and even Blue is The Warmest Color for its themes and plot points. Just take a look at its "Shout-out" page on TV Tropes. And the result is... something completely original, with riveting plot twists, memorable characters, and an ending that will make you cry.

This shouldn't make sense, right? You'd think this big soup of references would turn into an indistinguishable mess of cliches, but Life is Strange managed to be a synthesis of everything the writers loved and were inspired by, to become something completely new. Why? Because nobody had tried to take Twin Peaks, Donnie Darko, and The Catcher in the Rye and turn it into a video game before! And make it gay!

The point being, Dontnod consistently makes original material because they take creative risks. This is definitely not done lightly, since they still need to be a company that generates profit, but they still prioritize making art over selling out. Their stories feel inspired because they are inspired; when writers love what they're writing about, the result is a passion project that has loving, clever nods to all the works that are woven into it.

So perhaps a way to reword that first question is to then ask, "Have Deck Nine's games ever been inspired by anything?" And unfortunately, the answer is still no. Instead, they just copy what they hope will sell well. And a bland imitation for the sake of generating profit is never going to produce anything that feels original.

This takes me back to Lost Records, which is also clearly inspired by the same works: Twin Peaks, It: Chapter One, The Craft, The Blair Witch Project, The Goonies, Stand By Me. But again, no other game studio besides Dontnod has ever looked at these works and thought, "But what if it starred teenage lesbians instead?" Or, more specifically: "How do we capture the spirit of what made these media great and incorporate that into a new story for a new audience?" And those characters have so much thought and care poured into them too: while I've been disappointed that Double Exposure Max looks airbrushed to hell and back, I love that the Bloom & Rage girls have asymmetrical faces, acne, freckles, body hair, skin discoloration, and diverse body types. Double Exposure is marketed as nostalgia bait for fans, where Max is reduced to a prettied-up, polished-up, representation of nostalgia, not even her own character anymore, in a game that otherwise has no connection to the original. Her quips are reduced to "Hey! Remember our good ol', dad-joke cracking, dorky Max Caulfield??" and her grief is shoved aside for "Hey, look at that appealing new love interest! Because we knoooow y'all love your sapphic romance, right?"

By contrast, Lost Records has only been out for 10 days, but I already feel like the girls are some of the most memorable characters I've come across in gaming for the niche they fill. Swann seems like your typical Max-like dork, except she's also a movie buff and giddy about bugs, horror, and the paranormal; and has clearly been affected by her mother's fatphobic beliefs. Autumn is a level-headed leader who always stuck to her desire to help others, and her Blackness naturally informs her desire to feel valued and not cause trouble in a small, very white, conservative town. Nora intrigues me so much for going from a fun-loving rebel punk teen to a more gender-conforming, capitalist-leaning, influencer businesswoman. And Kat feels like an evolution of Chloe's cynicism, where her scrappy charm belies an almost unsettling obsession with the occult and a deep, tragic chasm of rage at having to confront her mortality far too young. They make sense. They feel carefully written, genuine, and like real people.

But most of all, Dontnod's games have never felt like products. In fact, most of their characters have historically gone against the grain of what traditionally "marketable" characters are. The first LiS took all these aforementioned stories about straight white men and chose to remix and retell it through the eyes of a young, queer, time-traveling girl instead. Tell Me Why is the first AAA game with a trans protagonist, and Tyler is voiced by a trans actor in all the language dubs. Lost Records decided that it would tell its story through four queer teenage girls, with women writers onboard, and fucking own it. As long as Dontnod keeps making games that stick to their creative integrity, I'll keep respecting their vision in whatever they decide to create next. Also, maybe I should finally watch Twin Peaks.

Thank you for reading!

[diazmaximoff]

Saw this on Twitter and tbh, I can't detect any lies🤷🏾‍♂️

[lenorenevermore99]

Alright what the fuck

I've been having fun till now reacting to all the dumb shit deck nine put in this game, but honestly this is the only thing that made me genuinely upset. What the actual fuck is that drawing????? Why on earth would Max ever draw herself like that??? Like wtf she almost looks like she's smiling, sleeping peacefully 🤨🤨🤨 This was literally one of the most traumatic events of her life, I'm pretty sure that's not how she remembers it.

And also "I was infatuated with a hot teacher" what the ACTUAL FUCK are you guys smoking at deck nine?????? When the fuck was Max ever infatuated with Jefferson, or ever called him hot??? She literally told Chloe it was "gross" when she called him hot, and heavily criticized Victoria for her flirting with Jefferson. Max was NOT infatuated with him, she had that typical "crush" that is born out of admiration rather than physical or romantic attraction.

Like what the actual fuck, deck nine?

[danieesketches]

Life is Strange: Double Exposure

[samtamdan]

[xamiipholia]

This is a really important read. (fyi the title refers to the upcoming LIS, not True Colors)

Rebekkah Valentine is the real deal, she does great fucking investigative journalism.

Honestly it seems like a miracle that True Colors is as good as it is. Fuck Square Enix.

[tangent101]

Okay. I can't just let this rest...

So. We have a clip from Max's journal that is out now that shows lackluster art, dialogue from Max and Chloe, and is basically Chloe teasing Max that they should have a threesome with some rando guy. And on the surface it's idiotic and stupid (and part of Deck Nine's efforts to demonize Chloe and break up Pricefield so people will ship Max with Safi). But if you know anything about LiS...

Let's get this straight. (Because neither Max nor Chloe are straight.) Chloe Price, the young woman who freaked out because her mom started flirting with an in-your-face ex-military type within two months of her father's death and married said asshole probably within a year of William's death (and definitely in canon married Joyce before Chloe's 16th birthday), who threw a huge fit upon hearing her not-quite-girlfriend Rachel Amber was sleeping with their drug dealer (and not just a one-and-done deal), and who Rachel Amber herself describes in a note to Chloe in giving the "stink-eye" when Rachel flirted with guys, this Chloe Price... suggested having a threesome with some random guy.

Chloe Price is not fucking Rachel Amber. She has abandonment issues, she is possessive as fuck, and she is fucking loyal. Even after learning about Rachel cheating on her, Chloe still wanted to find Rachel rather than just write her off. This girl can give dogs lessons in loyalty to those she loves.

I said this in previous posts. It is clear that Deck Nine is doing to Chloe in the Bae setting what they did to Max in BtS by making her into someone she is not and setting up a reason to hate Chloe so they can push their new ship. It is shoddy and sophomoric writing that fails to capture the character as she was previously established. It is the worse aspects of fanfic writing. And in fact, the majority of fanfic writers are better writers than these hacks.

[zelpharofficial]

🦋 M: "I'm so glad you're my partner in crime"

C: "As long as you're my partner in time."

~ missing them hours 🥹 That's my favorite line out of them 💙

[blue-rose-07]

[genderpunk12]

I hate it here.

[doodlenoodleh]

Max Caulfield 🦋

[dolche-tejada]

Still waiting for DE to come out to finally criticize the whole game (and I swear this will be long) but what the hell am I looking at ?

There's so much wrongs right here that I don't even know where to start...

Where are the stickers and random thingies Max used to add ? Why the paper from her new diary looks so bland and greyish ? Did adulthood sucked all the personality out of Max because last time I checked, her 18yo self was slightly more inspired

Like idk, if you want to milk your cash cow to the last drop, you could at least do it properly ?

And why her drawing style became so fucking boring visually ?? It literally looks like one of those cheap magazines that teach you how to draw manga characters

[amber-jinx]

Just played Love is Strange

Bawling. Amberfield* really is an electric combo like I believed

It gave me the closure I needed. Start living for yourself, Rachel. In my mind this is canon.

Got the date ending. This game characterises Rach so on point, more on this later.

Truer words have never been said

Rach like you said, you & Chloe should quit smoking :)

But this shot I got I really love. She's let go & she's assured. You are free, RA.

[door-insurance]

thank you for talking about the life is strange subreddit. since the announcement of Double Exposure it got a lot worse over there than it usual and a lot of the people over there are deeply unwell. i think a lot of people in this fandom have emotional issues that need to be resolved. attaching yourself to a ship of any kind isn't healthy at all!

Heyyy no I feel you, I’m not gonna step foot into that subreddit for sometime (only to post art) cause the display I saw yesterday after the announcement was scary

It’s like the created a saint hood around Chloe it’s off putting they have a parasocial relationship with this character so much so that they think they’re owed a wrongful death lawsuit or something

It was almost cult like, they all echoed the same sentiments and had this obsessive hate relationship with a whole ass gaming studio with no knowledge on how things happen in the industry

How studios working on big budget games arent given the total creative freedom that indie devs have, it’s complicated and very ugly

Not like there’s nothing to be criticized about deck nine cause there is- hello the whole Nazi dog whistler thing? I thought they fired the guy or something, god damn. (Again I think that’s on the higher ups who protected him not on the artists who chose to report that person to them after noticing the dogwhistles)

Idk everyones acting brazen hounding them about Chloe and maxs sex lives y’all could’ve went after square Enix and deck9 upper management about the mishandled marketing and the weirdo dog whistler

This is not the fandom i knew almost ten years ago where all we did was draw, shitpost (in a sane way) and write fanfics- they’re weren’t perfect back then but god damn none of them threatened people’s livelihoods over Shaka brah mosh pit

[danieesketches]

Amanda and a snapping turtle. 🥹🐢

I was very inspired to draw her because I’ve been seeing so many cool Amanda fanarts over the past couple of days!