Re: A Free Game for Enjoying Poetry and Songs (Introduction and Review)

Preface

I played "Shika wo Tanashimu Re," a game made with "RPG Maker VX Ace."
I hadn't played many VIPRPGs before, and this was my first time playing a "watching game."
I started playing wondering what the gameplay would be like, but compared to typical visual novels, the presentation is done in a way that adheres to the context of RPG Maker, so I felt a sense of familiarity and was able to read through it without any discomfort.

It was such a memorable work that I decided to write an article about it.
The completion time was approximately 4 hours.
Please note that this work contains sexual and grotesque depictions.
While this isn't the essence of the work, I wouldn't recommend it to anyone who absolutely cannot tolerate such depictions.

Game Overview (No Spoilers)

"Shika wo Tanoshimu Re" is made with RPG Maker, but it's what's known as a "viewing game" and has no gameplay.
I think it's fair to say it's in almost the same genre as a visual novel.

However, since the game primarily consists of a few lines of text displayed in the dialogue window, there is very little narrative text, and it's not a game where you'll be doing a lot of reading.
You can't save freely, but save screens are inserted at intervals of approximately 10 minutes, or up to 30 minutes in some cases.

Another notable feature is the diverse range of effects that take advantage of RPG Maker's capabilities.
In a typical visual novel, scenes that would require lengthy written descriptions can be conveyed instantly through visual representation, which I think is an advantage of visual games.
Simply reading text can sometimes become boring, but these kinds of presentations are used to keep you engaged.

Now, let's talk about the plot of this work.
This work tells the story of people living in a world after the "Great Cataclysm" and "Device Beings," beings that resemble humans.
The story unfolds from two perspectives: that of a human, "Panichi" (name changeable), and that of a device, "Ricepark."

The story from Panichi's perspective focuses on his interactions with P-Matrix (a kind of pseudo-personality) Shiroko, the giant fortress weapon in which he has taken up residence.
The story on Ricepark's side focuses on Ricepark, a device that operates according to the principle of eliminating humans, but in which human-like questions and emotions begin to sprout.

It's hard to describe the genre in a single word, but if I had to list some keywords, they would be "science fiction, post-apocalyptic, mechanical minds, battles, family, encounters and partings."
While there are some very straightforward dirty jokes, especially in the very beginning, they all have meaning and reason behind them.
From the middle of the story onward, there are many impressive scenes, including plot twists and battle sequences.
I think the more you read, the more interesting it becomes.

When you download the game, your save data is stored in the data file at the very bottom.
Loading this data will allow you to read detailed character profiles and information about the characters in the story.
This contains many spoilers, so we strongly recommend reading it after you have finished the game.

Review (contains spoilers)

I haven't had much of an interest in poetry.
When I was little, I used to read and write poetry in Japanese language classes.
Therefore, I may have lacked the tolerance for poetry.
When Shuntaro Tanikawa's "Ikiru" (To Live) started playing unexpectedly during the ending credits, I couldn't help but shed a few tears.
(Incidentally, the word "to live" is used directly in the lyrics.)choral music(There is)

While I felt sad during the scenes where someone dies, I didn't shed any tears.
However, when the film spoke abstractly about something bigger, rather than about specific events, I found myself in tears.
I think I was deeply moved by the hymn to "living" depicted in this work.

Keywords of this work

This post will share my overall impressions of playing the game "Shika wo Tanoshimu Re".
In analyzing this work, I would like to discuss it based on several keywords.

The first point concerns the keyword "family."
Panichi started out as someone who had a family, albeit in an unconventional way.
However, it was lost at the hands of her younger sister, Zanko, and she was left all alone.
I think this symbolizes that even if you're related by blood, that alone isn't the only necessary and sufficient condition for being family.

Then, he meets Shiroko, and they develop a relationship that could be described as the smallest unit of a family, like a married couple (though that might be an exaggeration).
Neither Panichi nor Shiroko are ordinary humans.
However, I felt that the bond of family is something that transcends such things.

Meanwhile, Ricepark also started out in a state where, although they weren't aware of it themselves, they were with Agnafire & Blizzart and beings created to resemble their family.
However, his encounter with Wizdark leads to him becoming an enemy of Agnafire and his group, and he also ends up parting ways with Wizdark.
As mentioned in the setting materials, each of the Agnafires is designed with the roles of father, mother (plus father), and eldest child (though not entirely complete) in mind.
However, as you can see in the main story, it doesn't work well.
I realized that "family" and the roles within it are not things that are given to you from the outside.

The second keyword is "meetings and partings."
This work depicts numerous encounters and partings.
Meeting someone inevitably means parting ways, which makes us acutely aware of the impermanence of life.
In this work, most encounters and partings signify life and death.
One lives, the other dies.
I think the story depicts how life is a continuous cycle of encounters and partings.

Even Shuntaro Tanikawa's poem "To Live," which appears several times in this work, makes us strongly aware of life and death.
This poem eloquently describes what it means to be alive and to be alive right now.
I won't go into detail about the content, as it would take too long, but this poem repeatedly emphasizes the word "now."
To be alive "now" means that once "now" is over, you will eventually cease to be alive—you will die.
When much is said about "living," the opposite, "dying," makes one acutely aware that the things expressed in the poem will not be realized at all, and at the same time, one feels both the wonder of life and the fear of death.

The enjoyment of poetry

This work is titled "Enjoying Poetry and Song."
I have a habit of making all sorts of connections based on the titles of novels, so I'll try thinking about it again this time.

Simply put, I think it means that a person is someone who "enjoys poetry and song."
To put it in the style of Shuntaro Tanikawa's "To Live","People appreciate poetry and song."is.

Even though they are devices, the characters who have become beings that can be considered indistinguishable from humans all seem to enjoy poetry and song.
Shiroko sings songs, and Ricepark (With Light) travels the world writing poetry.
Needless to say, we're talking about people in just their underwear or Zanko.

However, this doesn't mean that simply developing an appreciation for poetry will make you the same as everyone else.
Perhaps the phrase "enjoying poetry" expresses the idea of living a life where one experiences repeated encounters and partings, feels joy and sorrow, and appreciates beauty just like other people.
I think it means that if a being acquires emotions similar to those of a human, it will naturally come to appreciate poetry and song.

Sistra, who appeared before Panichi and Shiroko, ultimately died due to a misunderstanding.
I personally found Sistra's sudden death to be a surprising turn of events.
I thought that this new character would bring about changes in the interactions between Panichi and Shiroko.
To put it more precisely, when considering Panichi and Shiroko as the smallest unit of a family—a married couple—Sistra felt that she was meant to play the role of their child.

However, Sistra was a device that could not speak, so verbal communication was not possible.
One of the biggest differences between humans and animals is that humans cannot speak.
The inability to speak means that communication is impossible, and mutual understanding cannot be achieved.
Like Panichi and Shiroko, perhaps it was difficult for them to deepen their relationship from the start.

Sistra has been given the command to "meet others who are just like you."
Since Panichi and Shiroko can speak, she could say they are not "the same kind of people as herself," so perhaps her misfortune was that she never met anyone who was like her.

My thoughts on each character

Although this work doesn't have many characters, I felt that each character was explored in great depth.
I'll write some casual thoughts about the main characters without being too serious.

・In just underwear
This person is memorable for the barrage of crude jokes they deliver at the beginning of their presentation.
However, I had assumed that such a lighthearted character would have some kind of hard past, and my expectations were exceeded, leaving me feeling quite disheartened.
When you consider the exchange with his sister at the beginning as a scene of him watching over her in her final moments, you can read it a second time with a completely different perspective.
He was a tenacious character who could make Agnafire say, "You're the one saying that!?", and he had plenty of potential to be the protagonist who could somehow manage to resolve the situation.

・Shiroko
It was the heroine's brave weapon.
Perhaps because it was a P-matrix from the same period as Ricepark, it seems to have inherently possessed elements that fostered human-like emotions and sensibilities.
Instead of viewing the parting with Panichi solely as sadness, they will understand that this parting is what it means to live, and they will continue to sing about it.

Ricepark
As the name "Lie Spark" suggests, I think it played the role of the protagonist as a device capable of telling lies.
The use of quotation marks to enclose lies is a technique unique to works where the reader follows the text visually.
From the start of the story, although he possesses a different kind of perfection than Agnafire and Blizzard, his comment "Being alone is easy" during the settlement cleanup suggests that he did feel some kind of loneliness from being alone.
The battle against Agnafire was spectacular, and the various strategies used to overcome the overwhelming difference in performance were fascinating.
Reading the explanation in the reference room, I felt that it possesses some truly incredible capabilities, and that it seems capable of any kind of fighting depending on one's imagination, which is fitting for a protagonist.
I particularly enjoyed interacting with Wiz Blind.
The scene where he flees from Agnafire, unable to comprehend his own emotions, felt just like a human being.

With Blind
The playful banter between the talkative and somewhat naively honest Ricepark and the others was so endearing that I could have watched it forever.
For a long time, it interacted with and was cared for by humans, and ultimately ceased its activities while being watched over by Ricepark.
I was even able to tell Ricepark my name, so I think I was one of the more fortunate characters to have appeared.

・Agnafire
The foreshadowing of the spelling "AgNa" was a fun development, typical of a battle of abilities.
The more I read the explanations in the documentation room, the more I'm amazed by its ridiculously high performance.
Rather than being a mechanical device that doesn't understand what you're saying, it felt like it possessed emotions from the very beginning.
His overconfidence led to complacency, and his surprise at the unexpected counterattack made him seem very human in a way.
Even if it wasn't a direction that involved a love of poetry, I think he had acquired a considerable amount of human emotion.

It's ironic that she, who was filled with boundless energy, ultimately freezes to a halt.
In this film, which depicts the bonds between people, being sealed away in solitude at the bottom of the sea felt like the ultimate punishment.

・Brisalt(d)
There's something endearing about him, like when he's happy to be carried in a princess carry by Agnafire, or when he's afraid of pain and gives in to Rice Spark's threats; I found him quite cute.
Even just in terms of cyber warfare, Agnafire clearly holds him in high regard, and despite their master-servant relationship, a glimpse of trust between them was evident.

When he switched to Blizzard during the cyber battle with Shiroko, his overwhelming strength was striking, making him a terrifying presence.
Just when you thought you'd defeated him, he interfered with Shiroko's main cannon firing at the very last moment, which also left a lasting impression on me because of his unpleasant nature.

・Zanko
This character conveyed the message that family isn't always healthy and wonderful.
For Panichi, this person was a beloved member of his family, yet also the cause of its downfall—a person who defies simple description.

It wasn't that any one family member was at fault; rather, it was a situation where everyone was slightly out of sync, a truly disheartening scenario.
I can't help but think that if they had communicated a little more and understood each other better, things wouldn't have turned out so drastically differently.