PEGBRJE: This Strange Realm of Mine and Annwn
Metaphysical Philosophical Big words time.
This Strange Realm of Mine is a multi-faceted narrative FPS made by Doomster Entertainment, an indie studio ran by solo dev Wildemar “Doom” Doomgriever (lots of doom today). Players begin their journey with a bit of customization, spruce up what they look like and give themselves a name; only to be thrust in a surreal environment with no understanding of why they are there, or what to do. Only thing we can think of is to shoot.
At it’s core, This Strange Realm of Mine has players navigate different realms in a first person environment to solve puzzles, shoot baddies, and interact with whomever is friendly enough to speak. Completing a level through whatever means are required will transport players to this tavern to rest and talk with anyone present. The only constant is a curious bartender by the name of Ulrich, who will open the door to the next ‘level’ after interactions. Now, while I say that FPS is the core gameplay style, it isn’t actually the only way players will navigate these worlds for the game will suddenly become a different genre at times to better convey the situation. There are times in which players will be in a 2D action platformer collecting items, or wind up in a bullet hell shoot-em-up to progress. All to assist in moving forward the driving force of this title; the plot.
See, This Strange Realm of Mine is just as much a narrative exploration of philosophical themes and ideas as it is a title to just go guns blazing through the halls. Every level transition is met with some poetry to reflect on some of the aspects that have occurred, musing about what it means to exist and the pressure that can come with that. They don’t give an answer — are the question is the answer itself — and instead are looking for players to muse over what exactly it might mean to them. The characters that players can bring to the tavern are also beings attempting to sort out certain philosophical challenges, such as grappling with anxiety, fear, and understanding what exactly the universe is. It gets wordy, but the topics at hand aren’t known for their brevity. There’s a lot of conversation to be had in between the murder and the puzzles, especially coming from that bartender Ulrich, for they play the part of informant and assistant in this regard as well. Ulrich helps to guide the player through small revelations, such as questioning what it means to be alive and what the universe is wanting from individuals. There are questions about what it means to be alive, but also questions about how players feel after concluding missions that involved heavier themes such as the illusion of free choice and what the universe actually is.
To top it all off, none of these people may even be real, for we’re not even sure if we are alive, or were real in the first place.
There’s a reason for the title of this game; the deeper one traverses, the more strange and surreal the realm of ours becomes. It’s hard to really quantify that in words without sounding hyper vague or unrealistically specific, which somewhat defeats the purpose of this style of review; I’m not here to give everything away, after all. Yet through the poems and the different environments, a multidimensional landscape is shaped for you to explore, finding out the different viewpoints of those looking to change something or find out what they mean to the universe as a whole. There won’t be any concrete answers, but your journey most likely won’t stop here.
Annwn (ann-oon) is a mythical puzzle game made by Quantum Soup Studios, an indie studio out of North Wales. Players will survive this otherworldly archipelago, moving through pillars in order to take down the Watchmen at the top to continue forward while wondering exactly what their actions may be causing.
On these grid-based islands is where the players will reside, surrounded by trees and a central pillar known only as the Watchmen who will sweep across the island in search of the player’s sinister influence. To avoid this and reach the top, players have the ability to absorb and distribute the life essence found in the land and tracked on the bottom. This is acquired via the trees of the map, and imbuing them with essence will turn them into the skull pillars that players can utilize to transport their soul. Granting more will raise the height of the skull totem higher and higher to allow for players to see farther. That begs the question; what if there isn’t a tree already accessible? Well, players can imbue essence into the ground itself to grow a tree, with each ‘state’ of the tree costing one — from sapling to fully grown. The reverse is also correct, so taking essence from a full tree will revert it to a sparse sapling, and doing so again will cause it to die.
This resource management and spatial awareness is the basis of Annwn’s success, as players need to be constantly thinking about where the Watchmen’s gaze is searching at the current moment and set up their path to the top. If the Watchmen sees a skull or witnesses the player attempt to add life to a tree, it will automatically begin to absorb the lifeforce into itself, reverting the changes and causing that essence to be lost to the player. If they catch the player directly, their stored essence will slowly be drained until they can escape, with the player dying if it reaches zero. Watchmen can also summon guard dogs if they become too suspicious of activity that will watch an area statically and can only be removed by absorbing their essence. Always ensuring there is an escape in tight situations is important, while also giving enough time for planning a safe and accessible route, for the other big issue is that the grid itself is the only way to manipulate the life. Players need to imbue or remove the essence from the tile, and attempting to interact with the tree itself will do nothing (unless it’s a skull to which that is how players teleport).
While brilliant, Annwn shines best in its atmospheric quasi-tension. The overcast colours mixed with the subtle soundtrack, the blare of the horn when players assume a new totem as their point of origin that still makes me scared. The complete lack of colour of the skulls as they star menacingly at the player at seemingly all times mixed with the overwhelming presence of the Watchmen. Not to mention the ominous messaging about attempting to keep the balance that had me worried about every tree life I took in order to beat each level, or the actual ominous messages found on the story stones that players will decide to push forward plot wise. There’s just a sense of unease in its otherworldly-ness, that we as the players do not exactly belong in the state that we are assuming, yet wish to uncover what exactly is going on.
This is what makes Annwn so beautifully terrifying without even needing to impose any standard horror tactics; the sense of being the mouse in a world where the cat is always there and cannot be escaped, so the mouse must destroy the cat in order to survive. What lies ahead I cannot say, but the sheer constant need to find a new location will keep you on your toes as you trek through these wild islands. If you have a few hours and want to feel atmospheric while dodging a massive lighthouse, this is definitely the game to try.
