There's been a lot of discourse about the "turning off" of Living Memory. Lots of people are sad that the vibrant zone they started with transforms into a grey husk, some impressed that the devs had the guts to do it as a story device.
But there's one thing that's really bothering me, and I want to know if I'm alone in this as I've not seen a single person discuss it during the Living Memory discussions. It's a personal subjective opinion and I know those can be risky around here, but this one is making me feel detached from a lot of the community sentiment, alone in my little corner somewhere.
To me look of the zone when you first enter it is unwelcoming, creepy, oppressive, almost ugly, and gives off vibes of liminal space. I much prefer the vibe of the zone when it's "dead".
Everyone I've seen discuss the zone seems to come from a perspective that it's this absolutely gorgeous happy relaxing place that they want to spend all their time in and are sad when it turns off. I don't get this vibe at all. It feels like a horror freakshow to me.
Everything feels so wrong. I don't get happy carnival vibes, I get creepy clown vibes. The way the lighting is done like the Moon zone with a bright spotlit effect but a dark black sky that makes it seem so fake and uninviting. The red barriers that cordon residents off from the unbuilt areas which show off the fake facsimile are really interesting but also terrifying. The music is sort of beautiful but definitely has a vibe of unease to me.
As soon as I entered the zone, I felt uncomfy. I hated the atmosphere. It didn't feel chill, relaxing and euphoric to me, it felt oppressive, creepy and gave me Uncanny Valley vibes. Stepford Wives, We Happy Few, that kind of feeling.
I don't know how many people watched the rather quirky anime Shuumatsu Torein Doku e Iku last season (Train to the end of the World) but the zone gave me vibes of the 7G-infected town of Ikebukuro -
But it isnt just the uncanny/liminal feeling - I reacted negatively to the overall look. It feels ugly to me. The lighting is just "wrong" for a zone that I would have thought would want to evoke tranquility. The dark sky and bright light, the black/gold contrast... it feels like it wants to look like a comfy and nostalgic Synthwave aesthetic but the colour and lighting choices take it out the other side and make it the opposite of that comfort factor.
Conversely, now that the lights are off and the zone is a dark husk, I feel much more relaxed there. It's not vibrant and exciting but I get a sense of melancholic peace.
Don't get me wrong, I LOVED Living Memory as a zone and story experience. It was one of my favorite experiences of Dawntrail (I'm one of the people that don't like Wuk and really didn't enjoy the first half), but I really feel apart from the community somehow with how I reacted to it.
Likewise I don't think the aesthetic is BAD. I think the design of the zone is amazing. But it feels like I just got completely the opposite emotional reaction to the design than everyone else!
Am I alone in thinking this? The zone gave me such a huge primal "ick" factor and I always assumed this was intentional. To me, spending eternity in this environment would be hell, and I relished the opportunity to help its trapped inmates and disable the apocalyptic liminal hellscape for them. I feel like I'm taking crazy pills though because everyone I see discussing the zone seems to have adored it and wanted to live there and are devastated they turned off the prettiness.
Anyone else got that same "ick" feeling?
submitted by /u/Sapphidia
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But there's one thing that's really bothering me, and I want to know if I'm alone in this as I've not seen a single person discuss it during the Living Memory discussions. It's a personal subjective opinion and I know those can be risky around here, but this one is making me feel detached from a lot of the community sentiment, alone in my little corner somewhere.
To me look of the zone when you first enter it is unwelcoming, creepy, oppressive, almost ugly, and gives off vibes of liminal space. I much prefer the vibe of the zone when it's "dead".
Everyone I've seen discuss the zone seems to come from a perspective that it's this absolutely gorgeous happy relaxing place that they want to spend all their time in and are sad when it turns off. I don't get this vibe at all. It feels like a horror freakshow to me.
Everything feels so wrong. I don't get happy carnival vibes, I get creepy clown vibes. The way the lighting is done like the Moon zone with a bright spotlit effect but a dark black sky that makes it seem so fake and uninviting. The red barriers that cordon residents off from the unbuilt areas which show off the fake facsimile are really interesting but also terrifying. The music is sort of beautiful but definitely has a vibe of unease to me.
As soon as I entered the zone, I felt uncomfy. I hated the atmosphere. It didn't feel chill, relaxing and euphoric to me, it felt oppressive, creepy and gave me Uncanny Valley vibes. Stepford Wives, We Happy Few, that kind of feeling.
I don't know how many people watched the rather quirky anime Shuumatsu Torein Doku e Iku last season (Train to the end of the World) but the zone gave me vibes of the 7G-infected town of Ikebukuro -
But it isnt just the uncanny/liminal feeling - I reacted negatively to the overall look. It feels ugly to me. The lighting is just "wrong" for a zone that I would have thought would want to evoke tranquility. The dark sky and bright light, the black/gold contrast... it feels like it wants to look like a comfy and nostalgic Synthwave aesthetic but the colour and lighting choices take it out the other side and make it the opposite of that comfort factor.
Conversely, now that the lights are off and the zone is a dark husk, I feel much more relaxed there. It's not vibrant and exciting but I get a sense of melancholic peace.
Don't get me wrong, I LOVED Living Memory as a zone and story experience. It was one of my favorite experiences of Dawntrail (I'm one of the people that don't like Wuk and really didn't enjoy the first half), but I really feel apart from the community somehow with how I reacted to it.
Likewise I don't think the aesthetic is BAD. I think the design of the zone is amazing. But it feels like I just got completely the opposite emotional reaction to the design than everyone else!
Am I alone in thinking this? The zone gave me such a huge primal "ick" factor and I always assumed this was intentional. To me, spending eternity in this environment would be hell, and I relished the opportunity to help its trapped inmates and disable the apocalyptic liminal hellscape for them. I feel like I'm taking crazy pills though because everyone I see discussing the zone seems to have adored it and wanted to live there and are devastated they turned off the prettiness.
Anyone else got that same "ick" feeling?
submitted by /u/Sapphidia
[link] [comments]
Continue reading...