exit 8 is not really a game. You can play it so by definition it is a game but I don't think that really fit's in this case. streamer-bait games is what I've came around to calling things like it. they're designed more or less entirely to be experienced trough someone else like a Vtuber.I used to think these games weren't art and that they were an affront to art itself, that they were meaningless and a sign of the downfall of art. i just did not enjoy them. the reality is just that they aren't really games or art in any traditional sense I think we've even thought of so far. they're something new and entirely unique to the modern day. it's rare we see an emergence of a new artform and I think it at least deserves credit for being interesting in that sense. i see people i care about also enjoying watching others play them and while i may not get it but i also don't want to take that joy away from others. i think it's good to be understanding about what others love especially if you're someone like me that wants to share more about what they like and tearing down things just because you don't see the appeal just feels incongruent to that goal. i don't need to like something to respect it and i think exit 8 is deserving of that respect. part of why I felt iffy on this game in the first place was my own fault. I heard this game was huge in the Japanese game scene and this alone made me interested. it's rare something like that ever steers me wrong and usually aligns very well with my taste, something like suica game is a ton of fun and I *adore* last years mega hit "urban myth dissolution centre". In this rare case it just, didn't work for me as much as i really wanted it to.

as far as gameplay goes it's a PT-like. like PT you have a long corridor that you go through repeatedly in an attempt to see what happens and eventually escape. the loop here is more self explanatory though since the game tells you what you need to do via a cool diegetic sign in the subway. you need to do the loops and look for anomalies, these could be as simple as a weird tile pattern or a guy smiling or being faster, to enemies at can kill you or faces in the walls or a rush of blood, one time even gave a false exit which was really neat. if you find one of these you need to turn back and go in reverse, if there's nothing wrong you continue foreword. do this correctly for 8 loops and you can escape. the anomalies are cool at least and they're the big standout, there's a good variety and the game early on has a real sense of menace and tension with how you really don't know what the game could throw at you. even in the lategame it never fully loses that since the trophy for seeing every anomaly never pops up until you finish the game . i like how the game can be a little difficult too, some of them are very subtle and i do like that, it's never going to be immediately obvious and it's the most mechanical depth the game ever really gets. but the game just isn't really engaging to play which is why i think it's made to be viewed more than played. for some it might be the better option by default because those more subtle changes can make the game frustrating if you don't have the patience.

that said I was never really outright bored with it or anything, frustrated at times but never to the point of wanting to quit, but it also just never really endeared itself to me all that much. the game looks great and it can be really creepy and i think that look and all the variety the game has is its main strength, there isn't anything out there that looks like exit8. there's a few sequels like the platform 8 but none I think I'll really end up playing, the game just didn't engage me enough, same with the games it inspired, it's almost it's own genre by now with dozens if not hundreds of these filling steam and itch and PSN, usually full of AI or backrooms stuff. the game is easy enough and short enough that you'll probably be done with it in around an hour, I took a little over that and managed to 100% the game with relative ease.. it's also very cheap, like £4 on PSN with it being on plus right now if you want it even cheaper. there's also a physical release that combines it with its sequel and it only retailed for around 2K yen or so if I remember right, probably the way to go If you have the means, it even has English support! So do I recommend it? not really. if the idea interests you then I think it is worth a shot if you know what you're getting into and have the right expectations, but otherwise I'd just skip this one as a game. the more online readers might get a lot out of watching a favourite net personality play it though, it's very much how i read as the intended experiance. now it is worth mentioning that there is one other thing about exit 8 that's interesting. that it has a movie. as it just so happened on the week i planned to publish this page the movie actually released in my local theatre.

so i actually went and watched exit 8. while i didn't have the best time in the theatre watching the movie thanks to a very brainrotted zoomer audience (the people behind us ended up being kicked out after refusing to stop talking and using their phones) i did enjoy the movie a lot. in a way it's the perfect adaptation of the game. you're watching a guy solve the games puzzles and grow as a person while he does so which is more in line with what the game is than i think any other adaptation I've seen and i think that's very impressive. beyond just that it's a good movie too, it does some cool things narratively that i won't spoil and i did like the chunk of the movie that was made in first person to emulate the feeling of the game. i love the writing and the ways it tries to explain the subway are really cool and fun to watch play out. the physical set they built it beautiful and super detailed, i loved looking around and trying to spot the anomalies myself as though i were actually still playing the game. it's a great time and it's really worth seeking out and watching. my only real complaint with it is that i wish it did more with it's commentary on smartphones, it brings it up a few times near the start but it then proceeds to not really do much with it outside a cursory "maybe don't get hooked on your phone" bit of commentary, though i do recognise that this isn't the movies priority at all. one cool thing though is that they gave us a free poster at the screening, so if you do go and see this maybe ask if they're giving those out, it's a cool little bonus.

there's also the Stanley parable. again, i had zero intention of playing this before the opportunity came up. it's a very valve adjacent game and i dislike valve more than is reasonably healthy and i avoid their games like it's expired milk. i always assumed it was very portal adjacent in its humour. that kind of valve writing which i just find grating and how it looked with the fairly bland source-adjacent visuals didn't help. the game isn't really like that though and it was only after i had someone close to me promise me that it wasn't like that when i finally decided to give the game a try and i ended up having a really fun time with it. Unlike portal this game is actually really funny. it plays around with conventions and tropes in meta ways that i think are clever and funny and always really surprising. It's very easy to see why the game means so much to so many people since if this was one of your earlier ventures into this style of writing then i can see it being pretty revolutionary to you and it might really get you to think more about how the things you love are made. it's always constantly surprising you and it's always so fun to try and break the game and to have it acknowledge that and give you a new ending or dialogue for it. it has a lot to say using that structure. lots about the nature of game design and player choice and about how people play games or even about things like storefronts or critical reception or the actual real horrors of the steam forums and for the most part it's all a joy to listen to with one of the best narrators in the medium. how many variables it has is very impressive and it gives the game a lot of intractability which i think does set it apart from other walking sims, it feels much more open ended than it might very well be and i like that. visually it looks fine, i do like how creepy and liminal it can look and i did enjoy exploring but i find the source engine look just kind of off-putting in a way i really dislike. it's just never a look I've enjoyed. the version i played was the much later released "ultra deluxe" which contains a bunch of exclusive and new content, much of which is some of the games best stuff like it's section on DLC or on sequels. this is the version i recommend, the original mod is free but this version is on consoles, has that extra content and has a fairly common and affordable physical release if you want it.

i also sat down and finally played Fortnite some time ago. i never had any intention of playing this, or any interest. sure it's a weird curiosity with how it's basically became an all consuming media empire in and of itself. how it's a games platform on its own, has a crossover with every IP under the sun and may as well be the best example of a so called "metaverse" out there. my thinking though was that it wasn't really something i needed to know about. sure knowing about gaming history and the important games there-in is good but in this case i just felt that i don't *need* to try that. i'm a neo-luddite it's a special kind of tech dystopia do not need to engage with, like TikTok or AI. i can live my life in ignorance and live here happily.eventually though i was goaded into trying it in call by my sister and after few playsessions spent during the games "simpsons" event i can confirm that it's exactly what i expected it would be. it's an advertisement and social space masquerading as a game. i still figured i should give the game a fair shot though and i did find that it's not a bad game but it's also not one that really engaged very much beyond how it interesting it is in a sociological study kind of way. the game is a marvel in seeing the sheer amount of advertising people will not only willingly put up with but will actually pay for in ways increasingly confusing and alienating to someone as offline as me. the game has a line of shoe cosmetics, that alone tells me everything i need to know about it.

during this event it decked the whole game out in simpsons theming with a town to explore. admittedly it was really nice look at with a cool cel shaded style and it was clearly made with a lot of care. it was full of easter eggs that i did not get because I've never seen so much as an episode in the show and it was pretty varied and big with tons of vehicles and sidequests. it's just a very standard battle royale really at its core but that extra layer of map interacction and variety in items do give it a lot of depth under the surface for anyone that wants to dig into it. the items and weapons even seemed to always change and be themed to whatever is going on which i think is cool, i know there's been events for attack on titan and jujutsu kaisen that had stuff from them usable and that sounds great. i had a fun time playing it in call even though neither of us were taking the game seriously at all, though that never makes for the most engaging kind of game for me. i'm just not one for those kinds of experiances .there's also the namesake mechanic, a building system but it never clicked much with me outside of a few times i trapped and killed someone with a spike trap in a house. i have seen that there is a huge skill cieling there though and i do think that's at least a little neat. that's kind of it though. I'm already kind of running out of things to say. it's got a whole games as a service thing down to a tee with custom maps and a whole ecosystem of other games within it that you can play (like a very weird squid game patsy being the most common) as well as a few official spinoffs like a valorant clone, a story mode that recently went free to play, a racing game, a rhythm game that has suisei hoshimachi in it and a lego variant for some reason. apparently the rhythm element is made by harmonyx of rock band fame, so honestly that is probably pretty good. it has miku and suisei songs as well so you can't complain about the tracklist. i can't ever see myself going back to it though. when compared to my usual BR, ultra rumble, the game just isn't fun enough and i don't find it interesting enough to keep me wanting more. i do leave things open to maybe trying that story mode though.

terror in resonance is an anime that i recommend to almost anyone that can handle it, but that last bit is a big asterisk to the recommendation. asking an audience to empathise and root for terrorists can be a big ask for some and i understand if that's enough to put people off the series. if you can handle this though, it's one of the best anime of the 2010's and one you need to give a try. the series follows two traumatised teens as they start committing heinous acts. starting with blowing up a building in a scene that's very 9/11'y and then proceeding to lead the police on a series of hunts for the next targets. during this a girl stumbles on their attempt and ends up joining them as an accomplice. it's a really interesting set-up that sold me on the show instantly and it's always fascinating to see it from both the side of the boys and from the detectives trying to hunt them down. you end up feeling so conflicted because on one hand you want the boys to expose the truth and make the people wake up but on the other hand you want to root for the cool ojisan detective and for him to stop people from dying. all of the conspiracy stuff is neat too, it's really interesting to see it all unravel and you always want to know more about why the boys are doing what they're doing. it's an emotional story as well, it had me in tears at multiple points and it has one of the most heartbreaking endings I've seen in a show, I'm still not over it even now.

the character work is more impressive than the story though. i just love this cast! the cool ojisan detective is really likable and his friends at the police force are all really fun characters. Lisa, the girl who joins as an accomplice. she's really interesting and she gives the series an almost shoujo energy at times and it's interesting to have that outsider perspective, plus her romance with twelve is a real series highlight for me. there's even a fun villain here with five, a woman with a connection to the boys who ends up being one of the sillier elements of the series. her inclusion is a little dumb but i love her energy and her VA is clearly having a great time with the character. she even has the series best design. though her arc is a little weaker than i would have hoped for and her episodes are a slight lul in quality compared to the earlier ones, even if i do enjoy her as a villain a lot and she has great chemistry with the boys and Lisa. the two sphynx boys nine and twelve do steal the show here though. each has an interesting arc and i loved learning more about them and why they're doing what they're doing. nine has this serious personality and twelve is a little more unpredictable and chaotic and i think they contrast really well. twelve especially ended up being my favourite with how you could never really guess where he was going to go and he's hilarious in the videos they make for the police, the romance too again is just so good as well. nine's interactions with five are neat too though and i do think he works great as a protagonist, it's interesting and exciting to see him make and execute his plans.

the series has a really nice look to it, the lighting especially really stands out to me and it nails that feeling of a harsh summer perfectly and the colouring is really striking too, especially on things like the OP and in five's design. the environments all look really cool and the amount of detail is has is always really impressive looking, especially in spaces like the arcade or the airport or the beautiful pool scene in the first episode. the scenes of the actual terror attacks can be really rough to watch in a way i find really impressive, they're both a spectacle and a real horror at the same time. the scenes on twelves bike are also a real sight to see, i love how they handled those. the character designs by Kazuto Nakazawa also look really cool, especially the three orphans. Kazuto was known mostly for his work on things like the battle arena tohsinden OVA's, the animatrix, tenshi in Tokyo, final fantasy unlimited, tales of legendia and samurai champloo. the VA work is all really solid too, liked both the sub and dub here, though i tended to stick with the dub for most of my viewing.

music is a part of why this show is just as good as it is. the OST was a big deal at the time, being another made by one Yoko Kanno who is an acclaimed musician in her own right but will be known by many for her work on some of the best soundtracks in the artform. stuff like porco Rosso's end theme, macross plus, escaflowne, memories, lodoss war, cowboy bebop, cardcaptor Sakura, turn a gundam, jin-roh, cowboy bebop, stand alone complex and darker than black, she even worked on a bunch of games like some early koei titles and the cowboy bebop game. it's an impressive resume for sure so it's no surprise that people were excited to see how it sounded. standout tracks include "lolol" which has some amazing rough sounding guitar work and is one of the more memorable tracks. the vocal track "VON" which is one of my favourite songs on the score, it's so ethereal and calming, the later track "bless" also has tha same energy. "Hannah", "lava" and "birden" are also very good vocal tracks but the best overall would be "22" and "dobu to kobune to bokura no shinwa". "saga" is one of the nicer piano tracks, though i prefer "fugl", "nc17", "seele" and "wait" which are my favourite of the piano tracks. "lil lolol" is probably the most iconic track on the OST, an extended and rougher version of the earlier "lolol" it just stands out in my memory the most out of any of the tracks featured. "kvac" is the other track that would stick out the most in my memory, it's the most calming song on the score and the one i've went back to listen to the most. it's really beautiful and those that keep the autoplay music on will be able to hear it playing on this page. "crystalized" is one of the funkier tracks, a very easy to listen one at that. "cket" is also a personal favourite, it's so full of whimsey. "juno" has that same energy too. "ioloi" and "orfn" give me the kind of energy you would hear on a wii app and i like that a lot. the OP and ED are also both pretty killer.

the OP and ED are also both pretty killer. "trigger" by yuuki ozaki is super etherial and almost angelic. it has a really nice electronic beat to it, it's super listenable and i never skipped it. the visuals in the OP are some of the shows best too, it's one of the prettiest OP's around. the ED is a little less pretty but it's still a great song. the song used is "dare ka, umi wo" by aimer. it has a beautiful watercolour visual style and the water motif is so cool, it's got some really rad effects. the song itself isn't as good as the OP but it has such a menacing feel to it that always made me want to watch the next episode to see if the characters would be okay and it's a song i listen to here and there for the pretty piano, string and drum work, though again not as much as trigger.

the people involved with it are also an impressive bunch, on top of the earlier mentioned yoko kanno you also have shinichiro Watanabe. he's known for things like cowboy bebop, macross plus, kids on the slope, samurai champloo, space dandy, carole and Tuesday as well as the most recent series Lazarus. the show was also animated by the studio MAPPA, known for jujutsu kaisen, punch line, yuri on ice, banana fish, chainsaw man, attack on titan, MR love and a newer adaptation of the rose of versaills. it's a solid mix of people and i think they did an amazing job on the series. the show is fairly easy to find these days physically at least in my region, i only paid £2 in a black Friday sale last year but even new it's not super expensive. this will vary by region though but i do really think it's worth tracking down. it's pretty short too at 11 episodes and only one season, it all wraps itself up really well and it'd make for a great weekend watch. if you can handle the themes i do think it is well worth seeking out, so please consider it.