*̷̢͕͇̮̪̣͈̬̬͉̰̫͎̩̳̝͉͓̹̗̗̬̝̇̿̏͆͒̄̄̈̊̌́͆̋̆̈́̂̉̚͘͠ͅͅ ̶̨̡̡̢̢̢̩̹̪͈̼̜̲͚͎͙̭̳̝͓̩̜͍̲̠̹̻͂̅͐͌̈́͊̀̄ͅ*̴̧͙̠̬̣̝̦̝̟̳͆́̇͜͜ ̸̧̺̬̠̗̯̭͔̞̼̰͉̯͖̬͙̩̖̱̙̠̙̈̊͆̒̐̔̀̑̂̈́̉̋̇̆̒͋͂̕̚*̶͉̯̲͗ ̸̧̡͔̭̜̤͎̺̫̮̮̰̼͚̻͈͔̳̹̱̰͌̓͗͌̈́̑͌̉̑̕͜͜ͅͅͅS̴̹̪̘͈͓̠̦͇̘̔̊̊̏̒͊́̀̒̊̽̉̃̔̔̾̊̋̕̚͜͠͠P̷̛̟̱̗̼̣̬̉̆̈́̐̊̀̀̀̓͌̾̅́̈́͜͝͝O̷̢̨̡͖͇̞̲̳̙̠̩͇͇̣̟͈̥̗͙̊͌͗̓͛̈́̒͛̈́̾̌̉̒̚͜ͅI̶̛̛͇͎̫̻̱̻͉̪̐̎̔̍͆̓͂̀̑̀L̴͔̍͐̽̊̾Ę̵̡̢̨̜̼̰͉̠͎͔̖͍̘̬͓̙̹̪̳͍̙͔̠͉̝̰̜̟̟̓̄̾̋ͅR̴̢̮̫̋͂̿̿̿̌̐̅̐̓̂̉̋̇̓̈́̔̅̓̒͗̍̌͐͘͠͝͝͝ ̴̫͖̞̤̼͂̃́͗́̒͐̑͌̂̊͘͝Â̷̞̦̜͕͎͙̳̎̅̀̿̎L̷̡̪̹̤̜̼͕̻̊̈̌̅̎̏̈̊͐̿̈͌̈́̚̕E̴̡̢̖͎̜͉̠̘̖̭̞̥͚͈̘̪̯̩̺̙̘̩̲̜̳̠̘̤̜̿͘ͅͅͅR̸̮̬͈͕̺͓͙̜͇̣̖̺̤̰̀̈́̍̈́̅͋̏͂̔̍̇͐̏͋̂̍̀̕͜͝T̸̨̧̢̪̲̙̜͇̜͖̟͙̫͙͉̖͇̫̣̘̩͇̺̹̖̮̻͕̫͑́̀̊̍́͂͌̀͌̾͒̎͋͊̈́̔͛́̇́̏̄̅̃̌̋͐̕͝͠!̴̨̭̺͇̲͐͛̃̽̈̆͋͘͜͜͝ͅ ̶̨̧̮̖̤͕͎̭͕̰͓͖̜͇̟̫̖̼̪̰͉̖̲̥̣̟͇͇̈́͆̂͛̏̕̚ͅ*̵̨̡̧̙͇̝̺̩̙̝͔̱͕̺̤̗̳̳̲̙̟͙̝̼͒͆ ̵̛̺̈́̀̈́̓̃̈́͐̉̆͛̀̌͊̓̌̊͐̍̔̋́̊̀͌͒̌̆̈̕͝*̸͍̯͓̻̩͖̟͈̗̠͙̯̫̟̘͔͔̠̾̃́̔̏̊̄̑̽̉͌͑͐̾̂̽̉̿̓̇̍̚͜͜͜͝͝ ̴̩̳̱͇̟̠̬͓͕̮͉̟̻̲̝̼͕̹̈́̃͒̂̔͂̎̀̽̔̀͗́̽̑̎͆͌̐̾͆̋̍̄̆̍̾͒̑ͅ*̸̢̛̩̮̖̟͇͈͔͇̟̰̠͈̬̹̗̜͇̗͎͎͒̈́̒͒̇́͆̀̏̈́̌͂̌̄͂̋̎́̌͘̚͜͜ͅͅ
"Changed" is an indie title made, as far as I can tell, entirely in China. So when the game was released, nobody could understand anything being said. This was made even worse by the fact that everything said was in text. Many people did not even have Chinese characters on their computer, so all the text would come up as either little boxes or question marks.
But people still played it anyways. And soon, a rather awful English translation was released. That was when I got it. I marveled at such translation errors as referring to "furry paw pads" as "animal meat mats!" Actually now that I think of it, animal meat mats sounds kind of sexy. Interesting how that worked out.
In "Changed" you are forcibly dropped into the role of a human boy--not a man, a boy--who is just waking up from a sleeping chamber. He finds himself in a broken down facility full of strange creatures made of living latex. If he ever touches any of these creatures, they will latch onto him, dissolve everything organic inside, and transform him into an animal person made of living latex. At which point, he will operate under the rules of that particular creature.
Some of these creatures are looking for sexual slaves. Some transformations would hypnotize the boy into being a slave to the other latex animals. Once he became one of them, he would agree to be humped for eternity and not care about it at all. He was one of them after all.
The one aspect of the game of which I really cannot avoid spoiling was that of the character Puro. Puro was a living latex animal with a wolf form. He was entirely black but with a white skull mask for a face. His kind were considered experimental defects who could only see when things were in motion. They were particularly ego driven and enjoyed reproducing themselves for the purpose of fucking one another--a fate that could easily happen to you, by the way.
Puro was different. He broke free of the programming his kind had and took an interest in books. What a struggle that turned out to be! He even expressed frustration at the difficulty of reading with motion-based sight. Likely, he was forced to jiggle the book around just to make it visible to him. Puro was also an artist. He enjoyed drawing the things that he saw. His artwork could be found all over the facility. Some were quite good and others not quite good. Puro was rather embarrassed of his failed attempt at art and did not like the main character looking at them.
Despite Puro's creative endeavors, everything he did was based on his inquisitive mind. He read to learn. His artwork reflected what he learned. His self portraits were attempts to properly show who and what he was. His interest in you was also based on his own fascinations. But here is where things get a little strange. He did not want to assimilate you. He wanted to be your friend.
Remember Ixus from my last blog? Ixus and Puro have striking similarities. For one, they are both based on canines. Ixus is a fox and Puro is a wolf. They are both based on the liquid latex model of assimilation. They both abstain from it in the name of friendship. They are also extremely obsessed with learning and asking questions. Friendship is fascination and visa versa.
Puro follows you around throughout the game. He expresses a deep loyalty to you, but there is a problem. He is very weak. His decision to not assimilate anyone had made him this way. Because of his weakness, he often falls asleep. There was even one part where he agrees to cuddle with you while he takes a nap. The sad thing about this is that he is sacrificing his own well-being for you, not because he cares, but because he wants to see what you are capable of. That is friendship to Puro.
If you made my mistake and played the game on easy. You will come across a very interesting bad ending before the game is allowed to complete. Puro's fondness for you essentially reaches its peak. He realizes that you are actually strong enough to make it out of the facility and likewise realizes that he is too weak to do the same. At this point, he gives into his selfishness and assimilated you utterly. This was not an easy thing for him to do, and he sulks over it. The funny thing is that you have come to trust him so much up to that point that you don't even bother to stop him.
The parallels between Puro and Ixus are absolutely wonderful. I thoroughly enjoyed what this game did to me. And it did a lot of nasty things to me, to be sure. I adore Puro. I fantasize about giving myself to him in friendship. I yearn to feel him cry over my loss. What a wonderful game!
If you are interested in seeing more information about Changed: Click here!
Also if you are interested in my Ixus character, check out my book "Pack Rats of the Inside."
$9.99 - Paperback Edition
$5.99 - Kindle Edition
Click here to see the Amazon.com listing.
The similarities are uncanny! Ixus was not inspired by Puro nor was Puro inspired by Ixus... yet both characters developed as if one was derived from the other. Interesting that their ideas of "friendship" are intellectual fascinations rather than unassuming and sincere. They will go to extremes to explore this interest.
ReplyDeleteIt is very weird how close these characters are. One popped up in China and mine in USA. We never talked to one another or compared notes. The only thing I can imagine is that the concept bares some connection to some basic truth.
DeleteFascinating game, the easy ending seems sad because both Puro and the main character give in to entropy. Interesting how close Puro is to your character Ixus, a friendship with either character has dire consequences. I did like the fact that Puro was attempting to become more than the sum of his parts, even by curiosity alone it's inspiring.
ReplyDeleteYes, he was definitely a weirdo among a lot of sameness. But this is a good lesson to learn about creatures like him. Even when they change, they still remain the same.
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