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lovelessjane · 10 months

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I wanted to make a simple analysis of the game and how it played with my feelings, but I'm gonna add some theories and headcanons to the mix. Sludge Life 2 spoilers ahead!

Back when I first saw the trailer, I thought the Ciggy City and the island were two separate locations. Like, I thought the Ciggy City was somewhere far away, in some kind of dystopian civilization only the Glug employees are allowed (and can afford) to go to. The way my heart sunk into my chest when I finally gathered the courage to live the city, and saw that it was build over the ruins of the island. That part took me by surprise. Again, I thought we were FAR away from the island and that we might go back to it via ship. Visiting the island was like getting punched in the gut again and again. I mean, the place seems peaceful now, and I'll talk more on why later. But it was still heartbreaking to see the state it's in now. And not only that, but it got wiped out by a fucking nuke while Ghost was gone. Finding the statue head in the sludge with our graffiti still on it was like eating your favorite dessert only to find out it was coated with nails and broken glass. I just stood there for 5 minutes trying to visualize the layout of the map from the first game, and picturing where every building would've been. Also, I remember getting so excited when I saw a familiar bridge with a boat next to it. I thought it was the one from the beginning of the first game, the one that lead to Ghost's shipping container. But it lead to nowhere. This game uses familiar imagery and nostalgia to mess with you, and it does it so well. It hit me very hard in particular because I loved the first game. The miserable yet comfortable atmosphere from the first game made me feel at home. The island isn't the best place in the world, but it's your home. You know everyone and everyone knows you. You know where everything is, and so on. Visiting the sludge in the second game was like going back to your hometown, only to find out nothing is the same anymore. And although it was a sad sight, I'm glad the devs took this route. Because it added a whole new emotion to the experience.

. . .

As for the residents, Glug obviously prioritized the Ciggy City and kind of left the sludge residents be. I have a feeling that the employees working at Chemico and other companies owned by Glug aren't from the sludge, and they were brought there in order to keep everything in check. Which lead to the sludge residents losing their jobs, which wasn't exactly a bad thing. Back in the first game, everyone complained about their jobs or their life and so on. If I'm not mistaken, we don't see the same negative mindset from the residents in the second game. Yeah, they're not living the best life still, but they're happy with what they have. I especially like the zone on top of the apartment complex. The one full of containers. The fact that so many residents live in shipping containers now says a lot. Back in the first game, the only people who lived in shipping containers were the taggers. Now even non vandals live in containers, because they have nowhere else to go. The apartment complex isn't as big as it uses to be back in the first game, so people had to improvise in order to not remain homeless.

I also want to talk about the in-game races. First of all, I like to think that goblins are the native race to the sludge. That would explain why Uzzi (and his mom, by default) is so overprotective of his home. He does call it a dump in the first game, but still. Out of all the taggers, he's the one to go as far as vandalizing two important buildings in both games (the Glug tower and the clops' HQ). This is just a headcanon of mine though. But related to that, I like to think that Glug brought the humans to the sludge in order to work. Humans who probably were poor to begin with, and that's why they agreed to go in the middle of nowhere and work in such shitty conditions. Same goes for the fly people (or fly person), frog people, etc. One of my theories is that insect, and animal people in general (except for bird people, who I'm guessing come from the same place as the humans because haha pigeon person, pigeons are often found in cities, you know?), come from less industrialized places, such as the sludge (pre-Glug).

Now about the taggers... Of course I'm gonna talk about Mosca first. First of all, his location. He's the only tagger up in Ciggy City, like one of my mutuals pointed out. And I like to think that he has multiple reasons to be there. -First of all, his dad. We see him on the roof, but given that he's an employee there, I'm guessing that he lives somewhere in the hotel. Headcanon time, but I imagine he invited Mosca to live with him in the City, but knowing Mosca he probably refused because the sludge is his home. He probably still crashes at his dad's apartment every now and then though. -Second of all, Ghost. I like to think that he roams around the City every now and then, mostly to visit his dad, but he actually spends most of his time down in the sludge with the other taggers. But the fact that we find him in the City during the events of the second game, makes me think that he was actually waiting to see Ghost. I mean, he's well aware that Ghost is back and obviously very excited to see him again, so no wonder he came all the way to the City just to see him. Judging by his dialogue, he hates the City just as much as the other taggers, but Ghost and his dad are probably the only reason why he bothers to come there. I also like to think that he doesn't sneak in like other people from the sludge (ex: Big Mud's fans) and actually has access because his dad works there. I also, ALSO like to think that he decided to wait right next to the ships just in case Ghost was going to leave soon. Like, he had no idea where Ghost was, but Mosca won't let the bugger leave the island again without saying "hello". But except for that, it's good to see that him and Ghost are still on good terms. Despite Ghost being an absolute ass and abandoning his friends for money, but whatever. One last thing though, he doesn't seem to know about granma. But the other taggers didn't mention anything about it either (and they don't show up in the ending), so the only ones who might know about it are Hans and Tia.

Hans is an interesting case. After you hit 100 tags, you get to talk with him behind the clops' HQ. He starts doubting his ways and says that Uzzi might be right, hinting that he's willing to embrace a more violent way of protesting. If the devs decide to make a 3rd game, I have a feeling it's going to follow this route. If the taggers do become more violent, it obviously won't end well for them. But it just seems like the right way to end this.

Seeing the Doubles drift apart is also very interesting. Back in the first game, selling out is what alienated them from the tagging community. But in the end, is also alienated them from each other. Also, interesting how Double (not Dolo) wants to get a glass eye.

Glad to see Uzzi is still the same and that he plays such a huge role. Should've seen this coming. Back in the first game, every tagger was unique enough to stand out, so I didn't think much of Uzzi. I even thought he might be a poser, because after talking to an NPC you find out he had been trying to reach the CEO's ship. So I thought he was just trying to escape this place, instead of tearing it down like he kept saying he would. I was so wrong. Also, I think him and Ghost grew a little. And off topic but I'm definitely going to use his "I got plots within plans within schemes" line on a daily basis, it's amazing.

Tia didn't get too much screentime, but it was nice seeing her. At first I thought she might be granma, giving that the "Granma loves you" posters have the same color as her hoodie, and that she's...old. But I'm pretty sure granma is actually Uzzi's mom. But back to Tia, she seems way more happy in the second game. Maybe it's because of the amount of weapons at her disposal, but still. Good for her! And the fact that the disappearance of King Eyes made her give up on tagging says a lot about their relationship. She dislikes him, from what we learned in the first game, but still cares. Or she might fear that she's next in like to become like him. Either way, I am so happy that we got to see her again!

I still think that King Eyes is the one who activated the nuke. I used to think that Uzzi did it, but now he know he's innocent. But King Eyes definitely knows about the nuke, since his tag is in the same room. He also vanishes after you hit 100 tags in the first game, when you can finally take his place. So maybe the fact that Ghost "dethroned" him set him off. Or maybe it's completely unrelated and he's also innocent. Who even knows?

I can't say much about the new taggers. Already rambled about them in one of my posts, but it wasn't much. They're cool and I love how one of them is an NPC you find in the first game. Buns is forgotten. I kind of feel bad for him but also kind of don't. I understand his importance in the demo and why it wouldn't have made sense for the devs to bring him to the island. Glad he didn't come back. His theme slapped but I want to beat him up, for some reason. Plus, he didn't stand out and that choice was probably on purpose. Imagine making such a cool character only to not add him into the full game. Buns can't relate. Missing his theme a lot though, the fact that it's not on Spotify is a crime.

In conclusion, the first Sludge Life has a VERY special place in my heart, but Sludge Life 2 is just as cool. 10/10, would tag again.

#sludge life 2 #sludge life #i went a little crazy #but this game hoovers in my mind like a bouncing dvd logo #typos incoming probably idk #uzzi deserves his name btw

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