Rakuen Review

Rakuen Review

            I’ve been away for a long time.  I prefer to play games more than review them these days.  Some games are special, though.  They may not be among my favorites or even games I had a great time with.  They may not stand out like a AAA title would.  But there is something in them that…drives me to finish them, I suppose.  So, I want to share one of those with you.  This is Rakuen.

            Rakuen is the child of Laura Shigihara, one of the most emotionally powerful video game composers of recent memory.  Without exaggeration, her music, while uniquely her own, has the kind of emotional connection you might think when you hear the names Uematsu, Mitsuda, or Shimomura.  Rakuen is more like pictures and a story that match the music and the emotion of what Laura herself wants to convey.

Get ready for a storybook journey

            With minimal spoilers, Rakuen is a story about a boy and his mother in a hospital.  There are people all around them suffering from their pasts with no one to support them.  So, the boy and his mother try to be that support and by visiting a magical world, they hope to make these people’s lives better and…maybe find a way to keep going with their own lives.  Saying anymore would ruin the impact.  The story has nuances that surprised me in ways that other games who try to be mature…simply lack.  It is charming and whimsical, but also dark and adult.  Within this story, we touch on hope and despair.  Fears of abandonment and the importance of the time spent with others.  Racism and guilt.  Loneliness.  Most importantly, the game wants you to remember that even if you feel these things, if you feel like you can’t keep going…you can.  The boy in the game has a mother to help him and we…even if we have no one else, we have Rakuen and its music to help us.

Enter the Leebles

            Now, graphically, the game is a mixed bag.  The character portraits and design of the world are very whimsical and pleasant, with sky islands, Japanese and European tea houses, a forest of cute creature’s begging to have plushies made of them and even festival grounds.  The stories you dive into in the world tend to have a mix of fantasy and realism to them, being more rooted in the person they are affecting…and while they aren’t graphically impressive, they get the job done.  This is an RPG maker style game and as such, some of the tiles feel repeated and the game itself, while original in many design choices, does feel a bit amateuristic in terms of actual presentation.

Floating islands will never not be beautiful

            Gameplay is impossible to rate here.  This is meant to be a story/experience that you go through, like a point and click adventure game.  It has no real challenge and there is only one way to die in the game…which surprises me, as it seems very out of place.  Perhaps foreshadowing towards the ending?  Anyway, while the game is an experience, I do feel it is a bit slow paced at times, as your characters cannot run, and that there is some unneeded padding. None of this is deal breaking, but it again shows off some lackluster design decisions.

Bit amateur hour, but still charming

            Sound design is where Rakuen shines, honestly.  It’s not just the music or what little voice over there is,(though those are excellent) it’s the total package.  I remember distinctly one scene where I was looking through a deserted hospital and all I could hear was the slow, methodical ticking of a clock.  That tiny touch added a lot more tension and suspense to the scene than many modern survival horror games could manage.  Most of the music is very charming and while not all of it is bubbly, it is all appropriate for the mood, pleasant to listen to, and…at times very emotional.  The most powerful moments in the game are the montage moments where Shigihara and some of her contemporaries sing to help convey the emotion of a scene that would otherwise probably be a bit banal.  Shigihara did this in To The Moon, and it made me cry.  Rakuen didn’t hit me that hard, but…well, we’ll get to that.

This doesn't sound tragic or anything...prepare to cry.

            Technical issues I should mention.  All my desktop icons get shuffled each time I load up the game and the controller support, while it does work, does not have any in-game prompts, so you’re on your own for that.  There are no real options here to speak of, however it does have an auto save feature which is handy. 

            Rakuen is a flawed title.  For those who appreciate games which are more experience and story than anything, it’s hard for me to not recommend it.  For those seeking fast paced action, you might want to pass on it, but…then again, maybe you shouldn’t.  I’ll say this.  Rakuen didn’t exactly make me feel good.  But it did make me FEEL.  Like To The Moon and Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons, sometimes the most important thing you can do is be reminded that…we are all human and we can feel.  Shigihara’s music does that in ways that will make you smile and cry.  The only reason Rakuen’s ending didn’t get me to bawl the way To The Moon did was because To The Moon hid its emotional sucker punch better.  Rakuen gut punches you emotionally every step of the way.  I do mean that.  You feel through the game for each scenario.  Sometimes hopeful.  Sometimes sad.  But you feel.

The boy has his mother to help him.  And if we have no one else, we have Rakuen to help us

            This is clearly a labor of love.  While amateur in many ways, I can’t help but be glad I played it and find it charming in its own way.  This is a game I feel everyone should play, but not everyone will be ready for because of how it will make you feel.  Even if you think you might not like it, if you can get through the 6-8 hours, it may change you.

            Tragedy striking is not the end of our story.  So long as we keep on going, we’ll be alright.  Everything’s alright.

            A bit old, but if you want my personal opinion on Laura Shigihara from a few years back, the link is here.

            Laura Shigihara’s music can be found here and you would be foolish to not give it a listen.

            Finally, Rakuen can be bought here on steam.

Creator Spotlight: Alec Holowka

            This week's topic is bittersweet for me.  You see, for a brief period of time, one team of developers had my heart, my soul, and the power to cash any check from me, which I would pay without question, provided it meant more of one game.  That team is the one that made the game Aquaria, Bit Blot.  And...then the disappointment comes.  That being said, I still respect the star of our topic today for what he's done.  Today, the design and musical genius of Alec Holowka.

So much genius...yet, it's not aimed in the direction I desire TT_TT

            Alec Holowka got his first big start in game design with the masterpiece, Aquaria.  This game is ranked in my top 10 of games, bearing in mind that I've played over 1000 titles...yeah, that's a big flippin deal.  So, let's take a journey.  It's 2010, I've got my laptop, it's moderately powerful, and me, having seen an awards show in 2009 that spotlighted a strange, but beautiful title...decide to download the demo for Aquaria.  My god...Aquaria.

From both a music and a design standpoint, Aquaria is a masterpiece.  Go out and play it now.  NOW!!!

            One part Metroid, one part Ecco the Dolphin, and one part the most bittersweet of stories, Aquaria captivated me from start to finish.  Derek Yu and Alec Holowka were the designers responsible for bringing the game to life, alongside the voice talent of JennaSharpe.  Derek Yu is worthy of a spotlight in his own right, but today, we're talking about Alec.  See, Aquaria is a PC game that focuses on exploration and combat, much like Metroid, but which takes place almost exclusively under water.  It features a song based system of auditory, color, and shape recognition for puzzles and fighting enemies that managed to be intuitive, memorable, and strangely haunting, as a way of making the music a more real part of the game.  All these design works belong to Alec.

The voice of Naija, who gave life to Alec Holowka's compositions?

That would be the amazing Jenna Sharpe.  Please, game designers, HIRE THIS WOMAN!  She is just fantastic.

            Alec Holowka is a brilliant game designer.  He's got a real knack for coding, and using the engines at his disposal to make a title memorable, intuitive, and enjoyable.  However that's not all.  Aquaria also features some of the most beautiful music I've ever heard and Alec was the first composer aside from Nobuo Uematsu to make me break down and cry from the sheer beauty and tragedy of the music alone.  Lost to the Waves and Fear the Dark from the Aquaria sound track should be all one needs to prove the sheer power of his rhythm and melody, however he manages to perfectly mix peaceful, exciting, sorrowful, and upbeat all within a few tracks.  Aquaria is a musical tour de force and while I have a bone to pick with Alec...his work in the industry after Aquaria continues to prove that he's still a genius.  It's hard to pin down what makes his music so good beyond base composition.  With Laura Shigihara, it's somewhat easy.  It's clear that her works start from the piano, coupled with her ability to listen and play by ear, which she builds upon for either vocal or symphonic additions.  Alec's work tends to have a synth base, but synth music is a dime a dozen in the world...it's hard to say what makes his special other than it just feels...right.  No matter the piece, it manages to not pull at emotions, but imbue them into others.

            Now, I've built this up enough.  Why do I have a bone to pick with Holowka?  Well, he and Derek Yu ended Aquaria on a To Be Continued that both admitted they had no plans to go back to...sigh...yeah, that's petty of me, but I feel that was petty of them too.  We didn't need that...the story was complete, so...anyway, moving on.

            Following his work on Aquaria, Holowka started up Infinite Ammo, a blog dedicated to the work on his game, Marion.  Marion was eventually scrapped.   AGGGGGHHHHH...Yes, Marion was going to be a spiritual successor to Aquaria with a wonderfully captivating premise of a puppet cutting her strings, using them as weapons, and finding a destiny of her own, free of the manipulations of others.

I can only dream of what could have been...

            Sigh...so, I'm a bit peeved with Holowka.  I can't really blame the guy, though.  He went through a rough patch, trying to find a team, dealing with a cancelled superhero mobile game, and having to rebuild much of Marion from scratch after changing it's art direction.  It's just frustrating to know there's this work of genius that's...never going to be made.

            That being said, it hasn't stopped me from loving his work.  Near the end/middle of Marion's demise, he worked on a game called Paper Moon, which was a free flash game.  It was a cute little title, with a simple, lilting melody that inspired a sort of relaxed pace, despite the game being timed and failure being heavily penalized.  Holowka made the music for this title, as well as the unique mechanic of, since the world is paper, causing the world around you to rapidly fold in or out to create a hectic, but interesting platforming experience.

Trust me...insanely addicting.  This game will eat hours out of your day like minutes.

            Now, this about covers my experience with Holowka's work, but it extends far beyond that.  He wrote music for the interesting little 16-bit throwback, Offspring Fling, featuring a bird-like creature throwing their offspring to solve puzzles, and did both coding and music on an odd title called Planet Punch where...a cloud...punches things...and it's a space based shooter...yeah, that's a weird one.  Either way, both titles showcased more of his talents.  Offspring Fling featured some unique tracks that managed to mimic the 16-bit stylings we grew up with, but with as much flair as the best of Uematsu.  Planet Punch had a different, more harsh style of music not unlike the scratches and beats of a DJ.

Really should give this game a try...

            The game most people might know Holowka for, and yet not know him for, is Towerfall Ascension.  The game where you shoot a limited number of arrows at enemies in an arena, Super Smash Brothers-esque battle for survival.  It was the killer app for the Ouya for a time before it's eventual port to PC and console.  Holowka did the music and by god, is it glorious.  It manages to remind me why I loved the man to begin with, because the tracks are so memorable and so engrossing.

Aright...it's not JUST the music that's got me interesting.

            At present, Holowka appears to be working on three separate projects.  Portico, which is described as a puzzle-trap-defense title, Skytorn, a game that appears to be Metroidvania-esque with a character exploring islands in the sky, and Night in the Woods, an odd little title featuring anthropomorphic animals in a game that seems to be part exploration, part commentary on the state of life, and part trippy as hell visual experience.

            Look, I cannot state enough how amazing Holowka is as both a designer and a composer.  Musician...well, I wouldn't go that far, but he's able to do amazing things with both lines of code and notes on a sheet of paper.  I may have my personal issues with the guy, but check out his work.  All of his games are highly memorable and even if you're not into games, his music is soul rending and soul soothing, all at once.

            Thankfully, Holowka himself has set up links to all his projects, past and present, at his blog, here.  Also, check out his band camp and support him, here.  Aquaria gets its own special mention.  Find it here.

Shine on, Naija.  I miss you.  Maybe someday, we'll get that Aquaria 2.  Eh?  Mr. Holowka...?

            I started off calling him Alec and ended with Holowka because I felt like the man I admired betrayed me, just a little bit.  It's not his fault, really...he doesn't know me and I don't know him.  But still...the man made me feel, with his game and his music.  That's both terrible...and wonderful.  No matter what I may say after, Alec Holowka is one of four composers to make me cry...an honor he shares with the legendary Nobuo Uematsu and the charming Laura Shigihara.  Nothing he does can take that away from him.

            You may frustrate me, but I salute you, Mr. Holowka.

Creator Spotlight: Laura Shigihara

            Confession time.  I got the idea for the Creator Spotlight section of this blog almost entirely due to one person.  I rediscovered her work just a little while ago, and I'd been a huge fan for years before...not really sure how or why I forgot about it.  She reminded me of other great game creators that I respected...and I wanted to pay my dues to them.

Too often people get angry at developers and creators who don't deserve it.  I want to pay respects to people rather than getting angry at them.

            From the title, it ought to be obvious who I'm talking about, but let me just give a brief introduction.  A fantastic pianist and vocalist, capable of singing both in English and Japanese, and a member of the prestigious club of 3 composers who have actually made me break down and cry from playing a video game.  This is Laura Shigihara.

Talented to a fault, but also very humble, enthusiastic, and adorable, Laura Shigihara is one of a kind.

 

Laura on Youtube.  Check her out.  CHECK HER OUT NOW!!!

            While not nearly as obscure as Amon26, I don't believe Shigihara gets nearly enough credit.  True, she has had some mainstream recognition from her work on Plants Vs Zombies, Plants Vs Zombies 2, and thanks to Kotaku spotlighting her collaborations and covers of other video game music.  However, she's not a household name when...really, I believe she should be.  Shigihara may be relatively new to the composing scene compared to Uematsu, Mitsuda, Talarico, or Yamaoka, but that doesn't make her any less talented or worthy of praise.

Shigihara has also worked on this charity album with such great composers as Uematsu, Mitsuda,a nd Yamaoka...eerie, isn't it?

            There's something undeniably charming about Laura Shigihara that is apparent anytime she creates her music and talks to the audience.  She appears to be both humble and enthusiastic about her work, showing a true reverence and respect for gaming as a whole.  Her first soundtrack composition was for the small casual game Wobbly Bobbly, which she offered to do for free just because she was so excited to be working on a video game.  Such dedication shines through all her work and it has gained her employment on a number of games, including Minecraft, World of Warcraft, Basement Collection, and my personal favorite, To The Moon.

Wobbly Bobbly, the debut of a great composer.

            I first came across Shigihara's work when I played Plant's Vs Zombies.  She not only composed the entire sound track and was the sound designer on the game, but was also the vocalist, in English and Japanese, for the end theme, Zombie on your Lawn.  The song and music video were featured on Steam and the deciding factor in my purchase of the game.  However, I only really took notice of Laura Shigihara while playing the indie game, To The Moon.

            In To The Moon, Shigihara's music made for a fantastic emotional rollercoaster.  It could be quiet and somber, a little manic or silly for the lighter moments, or even bombastic in places.  What got me, though, was the song Everything's Alright.  This is sung at a key moment in To The Moon where love, true, unrequited love, is lost.  I first heard it when I was in a...less than stellar relationship.  I won't spoil the payoff, but it was beautiful, moving, and heartbreaking all in one.  For me, this piece was something sad, but also somewhat hopeful.  It was an anthem to me of love and became both the hope and the requiem of my own hopeless romance.  Even though my love is dead, I still listen to it frequently and never tire of the soft, thoughtful look at a flawed relationship that we want to work so well.

             I suppose that's what made me really sit up and pay attention.  You see, this song, and Shigihara's music as a whole, remind me of a saying from the game Soul Blazer.  The gist of it is that music is a funny kind of thing.  The same music we listen to can feel very triumphant or joyous when we are happy, or mournful and sad when we are depressed.  It spoke to me, I suppose you could say.  It made me feel.  Any game and any music that can do that, really make you feel something, is powerful.

Yeah...that's the moment.  The moment music begins to make you feel.

            Shigihara's music usually involves the piano as she is incredibly skilled as a pianist, but it doesn't have to.  Thanks to the advent of sound software and electronic keyboards, a piano can produce a much wider variety of sounds, which offer great variety to the music as a whole.  Which is quite good, as Shigihara's strength is in piano music and vocals.  She often collaborates with others when other instruments are needed, which have led to some fantastic renditions of classic video game music.

            Now, I am not an expert in music or composition by any means, so perhaps this is also pretty normal for those who can play.  However, Shigihara amazes me with her ability to play music by ear and compose her own original pieces.  Her original work can span any range, from being soft, quiet, and mournful, to being fast paced and energetic.  Cubeland, From the Ground Up, and Jump showcase this range and all her songs are immediately infectious and memorable.  I also can't forget when I saw her playing the Little Nemo themes by ear on her piano.  It sounded spot on and was a wonderful nostalgia trip for me.

            Shigihara is an amazing composer in her own right, however she has also dabbled in game design.  While work began on an RPG called Melolune, it never made it past the demo phase.  However a 3 hour demo is quite impressive, nonetheless and Shigihara has stated she is only on break from this game.  At the moment, she is working on a title called Rakuen, which focuses on a mother and son's relationship, and how stories told to the hospital bound boy are able to help him cope with his illness.  Along the way, the boy starts to learn about the patients in the hospital and tries to complete his own sets of challenges to meet the guardian of the forest from his stories, the mysterious Morizora.  Having heard some of the soundtrack for Rakuen, I can say it looks to be charming and playful, yet also a little somber, mysterious, and possibly even tragic.  In short, it sounds like an emotional journey that I can't wait to try.

Fantasy and reality mixing to create a journey of emotions.  Also, I want that kids hat.

            While I have many famous composers I admire, including Nobuo Uematsu, Akira Yamaoka, and Yasunori Mitsuda, I'd say Laura Shigihara deserves a place among the best of them.  Her music is hauntingly beautiful, memorable, and something that everyone, not just video gamers, should listen to.

Laura is also very vocal about her love of gaming.  She defends the works of others and is a voice of reason in the vitriol fueled games media machine.

            For more information on Shigihara's game, Rakuen, check here.  For all Shigihara's music, which you can purchase for a nominal fee, check here for her bandcamp page.  If you want to show some support, then check out her blog or her facebook pages, but above all else, look at her Youtube channel.  It features some beautiful covers of music, from Miyazaki and Megaman to Frozen and Final Fantasy.  And, just to cover all bases, for the EXCELLENT To The Moon, and other great emotional journeys, check here.

            We don't get composers like her everyday.  No matter what the future brings, we're all anxiously waiting to see what you come up with, Laura.  Keep on playing, keep on singing, keep on having fun.

Keep on making that wonderful music, you beautiful person.