PEGBRJE: Tanglewood and a new life.
I’m emotionally invested in a fox and lesbians, and it’s only Tuesday. And now I’m sad.
Tanglewood is a platforming adventure from Big Evil Corporation, a not big nor evil (but still a corporation technically) founded by Matt Phillips out of the UK. Players play as Nym, a little forest fox who seems oddly alone at the current moment, stuck without a family in an unknown area of the forest. Players must help Nym reconnect with the safety of their underground den by navigating this forest world and by being crafty and wary; the night brings terrors of many kinds, some with barely any semblance to a real animal, and Nym has no way of fighting back. Thankfully, players can help forest sprites return to their own homes to receive power ups to avoid these dangerous creatures, and hopefully make it home safe and sound.
I’d like to recall a game from this bundle played some time ago called Micro Mages, one made specifically for a console of an era long gone. While Micro Mages was designed for the NES, bringing the challenges of fitting a game smaller than a word document onto a cartridge, Tanglewood was made for the next generation of consoles with the added power of 16 bit; the Mega Drive. To us North Americans, we know it better as the Sega Genesis, the first console to arrive in NA and Europe of this new ‘second generation’ (it was the fourth, sorry) before the Super Famicom could make its way over. It was an extremely important time in Video Game History, as by incorporating 16-bit architecture it gave developers more power to work with than ever before. There could be more audio channels, better graphical fidelity, and more colours and stages to have displayed on your CRT. Sega in particular thrived in this moment, as not only did they release their new console into the West before Nintendo, but it gave rise to a certain franchise known as Sonic the Hedgehog.
So why the history lesson? While it is certainly history for me having never owned one, to many the Sega Genesis is peak gaming perfection. I know at least a handful of gamers and developers alike that cite the Sega Genesis as their reasoning for playing games, a console that showed them the true potential that gaming could achieve. It’s this love for this little cartridge powerhouse that gave rise to many retro games made for the console itself, such as Tanglewood. If you wish to know more about the development and surrounding culture of the Sega Genesis modern devs, Digital Foundry did a mini-documentary on two developers (BigEvil being one of them) for Sega Genesis games. Just like with Micro Mages, it’s fascinating to see new tech being put to use to create something new with something from the past
As one could expect, the game itself plays to what I would feel is extremely retro. Levels are bright and colourful, and the protagonist is easily distinguishable to make sure that they don’t blend in by accident. Players only need 3 buttons (besides the movement input) to play the game, with a jump, a push/interact and power up usage. All of this, rather than being in game, is explained in the digital manual given to the player. There is little direction in the way of hints, and the player is forced to explore and discover just what exactly they are trying to do besides ‘go home’. It’s a lot of trial and error, but since many of the assets for interactables are reused it gets much easier once the player discovers it the first time.
And just like in typical retro style, touching the bad guys once kills you in a way that instantly makes you feel guilty for getting a cute fox pup killed.
Tanglewood is a labour of love dedicated to those who remember the Sega Genesis as their gateway into video games. It won’t appeal to everyone; it’s hands off approach to teaching players will frustrate many as they try to figure out what they can and cannot do. For those looking for a retro platformer that’s cute and heartwarming in its scary nighttime imagery, I highly recommend Tanglewood. If you own a Sega Genesis, you might wish to grab it as a cartridge instead for the authentic experience, but it works just as well on computer so it’s truly up to you.
a new life.
By Angela He, it’s a visual novel following two girls named August and May as they meet each other for the first time at lunch, and possibly (probably) fall in love. They talk with each other, make plans, do cute things together, make more small talk, and generally interact with each other like you would expect from two who fell in love. The player, besides being a witness to this adorable story, must make decisions for either August or May at different times in the plot (usually for August). These decisions look to be rather trivial at first, mostly about where the conversation will go and when it will end, but after it finishes once players learn of just how important each little piece of dialogue can be.
From the moment it starts, ‘a new life.’ essentially announces via visuals that it is the softest game players have picked up in some time. The art style is, for lack of better term, so darn comfy that I enjoyed the simple drawings of the phone and the text messages. The characters are done with the same thoughtfulness, but it’s their eyes (specifically May’s) that are accentuated during more emotional moments and tie the entire visuals together. I don’t know how much I can talk about the art without essentially repeating myself, so I’ll leave it with ‘holy heck is that soft and beautiful’. I’d also like to make a small comment that I would die for Mao, that is the fluffiest looking cat and I want one. Thank you, back to the overview.
It’s hard to talk about ‘a new life.’ without spoilers; it’s not very long, with the initial playthrough only taking 30 minutes and subsequent runs being shorter. Yet it’s how intertwined these subsequent playthroughs are that adds even more emotional charge to the game, as August uses her previous knowledge to relive her own memories to learn of what could’ve been different if she had changed her tone. Some choices are completely reflavoured to match the player’s more current knowledge, and there are even little thought bubbles lurking around to reinforce said knowledge and assist players to get new endings. Or at least, that’s what it may appear. In truth, some endings can be repeated even with prior knowledge simply by a decision later on that flags for that appropriate ending. Usually it is due to a risky choice that seems as if it may lead back to the previous string of events, as it did with my time of accidentally repeating the same ending.
There are other nice touches that ‘a new life.’ adds to assist repeat playthroughs, specifically centred around the journal and its ability to jump between chapters for ease of continuation. Gaining new knowledge will also highlight the chapter that players can use this information in so they don’t have to guess where they might need to start from. It’s a handy tool both as a diegetic way of interacting with the game, but also an emotional tool as players uncover the plot and where this journal comes from.
This game is a soft gift wrapping up an emotionally driven (almost draining if I’m honest) plot that will either have you crying or swearing loudly. Or both, possibly. If you want a short tale about love and longing that can end in 5 different ways but always ends with you sad and (possibly) lonely, then ‘a new life.’ is an amazing addition to your visual novel library.
