With my senior year of high school came the NATO bombing and a somewhat late fad for those pocket-sized pet sim clones every girl had attached to their wallet chain. Absolutely convinced that no pet sim could ever be put to good use I came to one of my rich friend's Belgrade apartments two or three months afterwards and realised that Sega proved me wrong. Rearing a fish-like creature through its philogeny/ontogeny until a fully formed surly young man-fish starts conversing with you and making you feel like a failed father was confusing and wonderful at the same time. For a pre 00s game to have controls that primarily consist of talking into a special microphone, a life-like facial expressiveness of the main character, the impression you're left with that your character gains experience and wisdom as you talk to him on a number of serious and ludicrous topics (don't know what algorithms they used , but they did a great job here), and being able to hear some Leonard Nimoy on top of it all was a huge breakthrough for a simple game. And I still often think about the underlying themes or viewpoints the author might have wanted to express- why the fish, why the face, whether it has to do with Christianity, conformity, Creationism vs Evolutionism, a failed deiurge or if it's just about the absurdity of family life and the distorted view that different generations might have of one another.
I wish other titles followed suit and explored it more, maybe even develop a genre in its own right. This way we're left with AI assistants who are simly boring, and tell on you.
I wish other titles followed suit and explored it more, maybe even develop a genre in its own right. This way we're left with AI assistants who are simly boring, and tell on you.
