I think this series made me realize I was just a girl the entire time actually
hello charlotte episodes 1 and 2 should be played not just to be caught up on the story, but to watch a developer gradually learn to express what is at their core. this also means that hc is a series with some growing pains, including but not limited to how it can be: hit or miss in its sense of humor, unevenly paced, and full of puzzles that even if thematically fitting are largely forgettable. i'd put hc1 as a little bit above average for an artistically inclined tumblr user's first rpgmaker game--plus i think its very funny in how eager it is kill you--but i can understand not liking it. hc2 is actually quite good and a very compelling leap forward from 1, and sows some very important seeds that make it ESPECIALLY crucial to be paired with hc3, but its still just shy of excellence on its own. they can still showcase etherane's specificity and intelligence pretty well, and having some of the context for what she's informed by and responding to--which is to say not just rpgmaker in general but that filtered thru tumblr fandom--lets you understand some of where she's coming from. but these two games alone do not exactly feel like fully confident and complete works.
by contrast, etherane's first game after hello charlotte, tomorrow won't come for those without ██████, has a more experienced and steadied hand guiding it. it's standalone and more concise, but this has its advantages over the relative bulk and bloat of the series etherane worked on previously. it's partly because its more contained and wastes less space that the fog of all the tensions twc suggests to us feel so dense, making it like a short story that invites rereads to find something new each time. its more distanced tone and tighter writing also brings a weight and sobriety to it that hello charlotte did not have as consistently. basically it's more "perfected" in what it aims to do with its narrative than any hellchar, and i would call it a capital G Great game for that. only the puzzles still feel hc-tier but that's not a big deal. i do wonder what i could have gotten out of this creator's oeuvre if i had started with hello charlotte and then built up to twc, but i think playing it first was a good way to assure me that ane is the real deal, enough to want to see their first series through to the end. even with the growing pains or whatever other superficial hangups i may have had as i went through it.
then there's hello charlotte episode 3, sitting between the amateurish but inspired explorations of the series before it and the more fully developed twc. childhood's end fits as a subtitle, a sign of not just the finale of hello charlotte as a series (mainline, at least), but also an assertion of itself as the break from the artistic immaturity of previous entries that's now been outgrown, so to speak. this may sound like i'm saying this is where etherane finally reached their potential of greatness, and my answer to that is, essentially, yes! but 3 has more of an adolescent energy to it; even as its subtitle declares being done with childish things, this can be taken not as an objective assessment of itself but coming from a sort of teenage urge to prove that they can overcome their past, by any means necessary. these means are often bratty and practically asking to be disliked. it diverts hard from the last 2 entries, sabotaging the mostly harmless and maudlin cringe for more provocative cringe that at times, tbh, can be offputting for the wrong reasons. at a glance, its lack of subtlety in its belligerence at points can make it seem like it amounts to little more than an overly hammy, bridge-burning heel turn. all these rough and serrated edges often do the opposite of bringing greater coherence that hc2 hinted at, making for an even more unbalanced experience than what came before.
alot of this is done to address a realization that the previous two games, even with their own strengths and self-awareness, lent themselves to being taken as scatterbrained misery entertainment; stories of a soft nice and easily likable character getting her shit kicked in constantly to “become relatable to the max", as a character puts it. fandom attaches to this easily and often uncritically, and as this attachment informs their own interpretations as told through fanart and fanfic, the work itself and characters within get untethered from the creator's control & intentions. many such cases of rpgmaker games--or rpgmaker-ish ones too--that this applies to, and hellchar practically speaks directly to that context it’s situated within. frustrated with the shallow regurgitation of angst back and forth, ashamed of having played into it previously without bristling at it enough, paranoid towards giving a personal story up for voyeuristic dissection (especially for this audience's expectations for authors to unload their traumas and neuroses in a correctly consumable manner), hc3 lashes out in order to separate itself from this and take the narrative back. the guro danganronpa nietzsche-pilled "this is LITERALLY 1984" theatrics, cringe they may be, have a sincerely felt anger and pessimism underlying them. it's painfully aware it's entrenched in a juvenile world and only knows juvenile means to escape it, writhing within what feels like a meaningless feedback loop.
this is the set up for one of the most scorched and restless reconfigurations of identity i've found. hellchar may have gotten so wound up about the subculture it's within, but it doesn't turn its back on it completely in the end because it remains, just as it had been previously, a vector for speaking on its specific preoccupations and troubles. idolization of creators, the ways presumptions about others reflect yourself, fear over losing some cultivated idea of purity from contact with people, having your own life dictated through your psychosis...these are things it wants to express that are inextricably tied with this world it has so much friction with. it comes to understand that even art that is embarrassingly derivative (figuratively and literally) or selfish projection can reveal something, if the author is really willing. its critique of stories that hand out catharsis like its nothing wouldn't mean much if it wasn't so committed to reaching an actually useful catharsis of its own. it strains itself to go further and deeper into its pain, despite all the nihilism it talks up, to eventually finding meaning within its own efforts to change, to keep moving on. here was when etherane showed what true vulnerability is: letting you in on something that would otherwise be kept secret, not hiding behind subtlety--its genuinely smart and incisive in its opaqueness--but also not oversharing or self-flagellating for cheap sympathy. anyone can speak honestly, but very rarely do you see someone really understand that you aren't just speaking in a vacuum. after pulling back all the layers of failed perceptions that attached onto it, being frank about its perceived failures to form attachment before, it's then that hc3 finds a space to hit more directly than anything else it could be compared to.
this game is a mess but it's also a maelstrom, one that's craftily and furiously and courageously leaned into to find where truth really lies. tomorrow won't come is technically a more respectable effort, but in retrospect it is the collected sigh after the panic attack that hc3 was. an extremely fraught but incredibly observant moment of soul searching that haunts what comes after, whether it's heaven's gate or twc or probably the freshly released mr rainer's solve-it service (haven't got to it much yet but i trust post-hc3 ane with my life so it will be the greatest gaming sensation of this week, at the very least). the big bang, scattershot as it may be, of etherane's full voice, and it's the instability specific to it that makes this my favorite game from them. with all its entropy and fevered tantrums in the background, it managed a connection and communicated something invaluable to me. it knows that anxiety of leaving yourself defenseless to others seeing the rear of your head, hating to imagine what their eyes see and doing that despite yourself--and also knows the desire to crane your neck backwards in the hope you'll see it for yourself. it will look grotesque and humiliating and idiotic to go through all those contortions, but don't you want to get one good glimpse for once? and if you can't do it, you might as well try to impress how hard you're trying to anyone who dares to watch.
by contrast, etherane's first game after hello charlotte, tomorrow won't come for those without ██████, has a more experienced and steadied hand guiding it. it's standalone and more concise, but this has its advantages over the relative bulk and bloat of the series etherane worked on previously. it's partly because its more contained and wastes less space that the fog of all the tensions twc suggests to us feel so dense, making it like a short story that invites rereads to find something new each time. its more distanced tone and tighter writing also brings a weight and sobriety to it that hello charlotte did not have as consistently. basically it's more "perfected" in what it aims to do with its narrative than any hellchar, and i would call it a capital G Great game for that. only the puzzles still feel hc-tier but that's not a big deal. i do wonder what i could have gotten out of this creator's oeuvre if i had started with hello charlotte and then built up to twc, but i think playing it first was a good way to assure me that ane is the real deal, enough to want to see their first series through to the end. even with the growing pains or whatever other superficial hangups i may have had as i went through it.
then there's hello charlotte episode 3, sitting between the amateurish but inspired explorations of the series before it and the more fully developed twc. childhood's end fits as a subtitle, a sign of not just the finale of hello charlotte as a series (mainline, at least), but also an assertion of itself as the break from the artistic immaturity of previous entries that's now been outgrown, so to speak. this may sound like i'm saying this is where etherane finally reached their potential of greatness, and my answer to that is, essentially, yes! but 3 has more of an adolescent energy to it; even as its subtitle declares being done with childish things, this can be taken not as an objective assessment of itself but coming from a sort of teenage urge to prove that they can overcome their past, by any means necessary. these means are often bratty and practically asking to be disliked. it diverts hard from the last 2 entries, sabotaging the mostly harmless and maudlin cringe for more provocative cringe that at times, tbh, can be offputting for the wrong reasons. at a glance, its lack of subtlety in its belligerence at points can make it seem like it amounts to little more than an overly hammy, bridge-burning heel turn. all these rough and serrated edges often do the opposite of bringing greater coherence that hc2 hinted at, making for an even more unbalanced experience than what came before.
alot of this is done to address a realization that the previous two games, even with their own strengths and self-awareness, lent themselves to being taken as scatterbrained misery entertainment; stories of a soft nice and easily likable character getting her shit kicked in constantly to “become relatable to the max", as a character puts it. fandom attaches to this easily and often uncritically, and as this attachment informs their own interpretations as told through fanart and fanfic, the work itself and characters within get untethered from the creator's control & intentions. many such cases of rpgmaker games--or rpgmaker-ish ones too--that this applies to, and hellchar practically speaks directly to that context it’s situated within. frustrated with the shallow regurgitation of angst back and forth, ashamed of having played into it previously without bristling at it enough, paranoid towards giving a personal story up for voyeuristic dissection (especially for this audience's expectations for authors to unload their traumas and neuroses in a correctly consumable manner), hc3 lashes out in order to separate itself from this and take the narrative back. the guro danganronpa nietzsche-pilled "this is LITERALLY 1984" theatrics, cringe they may be, have a sincerely felt anger and pessimism underlying them. it's painfully aware it's entrenched in a juvenile world and only knows juvenile means to escape it, writhing within what feels like a meaningless feedback loop.
this is the set up for one of the most scorched and restless reconfigurations of identity i've found. hellchar may have gotten so wound up about the subculture it's within, but it doesn't turn its back on it completely in the end because it remains, just as it had been previously, a vector for speaking on its specific preoccupations and troubles. idolization of creators, the ways presumptions about others reflect yourself, fear over losing some cultivated idea of purity from contact with people, having your own life dictated through your psychosis...these are things it wants to express that are inextricably tied with this world it has so much friction with. it comes to understand that even art that is embarrassingly derivative (figuratively and literally) or selfish projection can reveal something, if the author is really willing. its critique of stories that hand out catharsis like its nothing wouldn't mean much if it wasn't so committed to reaching an actually useful catharsis of its own. it strains itself to go further and deeper into its pain, despite all the nihilism it talks up, to eventually finding meaning within its own efforts to change, to keep moving on. here was when etherane showed what true vulnerability is: letting you in on something that would otherwise be kept secret, not hiding behind subtlety--its genuinely smart and incisive in its opaqueness--but also not oversharing or self-flagellating for cheap sympathy. anyone can speak honestly, but very rarely do you see someone really understand that you aren't just speaking in a vacuum. after pulling back all the layers of failed perceptions that attached onto it, being frank about its perceived failures to form attachment before, it's then that hc3 finds a space to hit more directly than anything else it could be compared to.
this game is a mess but it's also a maelstrom, one that's craftily and furiously and courageously leaned into to find where truth really lies. tomorrow won't come is technically a more respectable effort, but in retrospect it is the collected sigh after the panic attack that hc3 was. an extremely fraught but incredibly observant moment of soul searching that haunts what comes after, whether it's heaven's gate or twc or probably the freshly released mr rainer's solve-it service (haven't got to it much yet but i trust post-hc3 ane with my life so it will be the greatest gaming sensation of this week, at the very least). the big bang, scattershot as it may be, of etherane's full voice, and it's the instability specific to it that makes this my favorite game from them. with all its entropy and fevered tantrums in the background, it managed a connection and communicated something invaluable to me. it knows that anxiety of leaving yourself defenseless to others seeing the rear of your head, hating to imagine what their eyes see and doing that despite yourself--and also knows the desire to crane your neck backwards in the hope you'll see it for yourself. it will look grotesque and humiliating and idiotic to go through all those contortions, but don't you want to get one good glimpse for once? and if you can't do it, you might as well try to impress how hard you're trying to anyone who dares to watch.
It would be hard to summarize this I think. The most I can add to the small but fruitful conversation are simply collective anecdotes, which mostly consisted of spiraling down in self critique. Like, did you know I write fanfiction? It used to be "wrote" until recently when I picked up the Wings of Fire books and now I've added on a whole other world of things to help get both my emotional pains/frustrations out as well as seek affirmation to myself through shipping and what not.
This is relevant in HC3 because HC3 is at least partially about this sort of 'growing up' reflection, reconciliation, and reconstruction. It lashes out at everything it stands for and critically destroys and demakes its own ecosystem but it, at the end of the day, respects where its roots came from and how that transformed them to how they are today. Even despite the reactions of the cruel unforgiving world of Viewpoints that it then received. There is also so so so much more than that. A cascading rhythm of brutal acts of cleaning/detoxing the system by looking at what you've made like glass structures to throw rocks at. An immense cry for help to be heard by others but largely yourself. An attempt to reconcile with deep traumas that instead of being comforted by venting instead multiplied and become a duplicitous monster of a creation you regret. There is a plethora of interpretations that Childhood's End gives you and they are all frictional and ethereal and eternal.
But I kind of ruined some of that magic. Another part I find myself reflected here, doing the awful deed of continuing to graft myself onto these works is one of parasocial schisms within. There's a point in HC3 where there is a paranoid direct breakdown of feeling your move stalked and then duplicated to others. And unfortunately I imagine I'm one of those parasitic entities. I'm at a point now where my first step could hardly be a true one in most things anymore, there are multiple people I have watched from afar making myself like a kaleidoscope of parroting people. I've gotten better with it in that I no longer occupy those spaces to where I could be hurtful even indirectly and my mind is more clearer in my direction but the taint remains.
It feels wrong to sort of throw that sort of personal life off scenes (that do indeed super reflect that tho) but I find myself so personally changed on this journey that I find it difficult NOT to talk about it. It's funny because there's really not a year going by where I hate the "self" i was 1-2 years ago. It's like I don't stop 'growing' and I change almost to the point of instability when trying to consider what's 'me.' But I digress, the idea here is that HC1-3 as well as TWC were a turning point in terms of what I value in fiction, myself, and a big light on the path of where I go from here. I'm still going to write all of that fanfiction. Looking forward to being proud of it.
Where was I going with this again? I'm not sure. Let's hope there is something TO go to, the idea is after all to eventually move on from these selfs we might leave behind or grow discomforted with the thought of. I feel equivalently ready to move on as much as I do ashamed that I never quite gave the selfs enough "form" to move on from. I think from here though it's a new day and I'll press on, and worry less about the pasts of myself and more what I can do. It's time to put an end to this cyclical self destruction in some fashion, and I mean that in as little an ominous sense as I can possible.
This is relevant in HC3 because HC3 is at least partially about this sort of 'growing up' reflection, reconciliation, and reconstruction. It lashes out at everything it stands for and critically destroys and demakes its own ecosystem but it, at the end of the day, respects where its roots came from and how that transformed them to how they are today. Even despite the reactions of the cruel unforgiving world of Viewpoints that it then received. There is also so so so much more than that. A cascading rhythm of brutal acts of cleaning/detoxing the system by looking at what you've made like glass structures to throw rocks at. An immense cry for help to be heard by others but largely yourself. An attempt to reconcile with deep traumas that instead of being comforted by venting instead multiplied and become a duplicitous monster of a creation you regret. There is a plethora of interpretations that Childhood's End gives you and they are all frictional and ethereal and eternal.
But I kind of ruined some of that magic. Another part I find myself reflected here, doing the awful deed of continuing to graft myself onto these works is one of parasocial schisms within. There's a point in HC3 where there is a paranoid direct breakdown of feeling your move stalked and then duplicated to others. And unfortunately I imagine I'm one of those parasitic entities. I'm at a point now where my first step could hardly be a true one in most things anymore, there are multiple people I have watched from afar making myself like a kaleidoscope of parroting people. I've gotten better with it in that I no longer occupy those spaces to where I could be hurtful even indirectly and my mind is more clearer in my direction but the taint remains.
It feels wrong to sort of throw that sort of personal life off scenes (that do indeed super reflect that tho) but I find myself so personally changed on this journey that I find it difficult NOT to talk about it. It's funny because there's really not a year going by where I hate the "self" i was 1-2 years ago. It's like I don't stop 'growing' and I change almost to the point of instability when trying to consider what's 'me.' But I digress, the idea here is that HC1-3 as well as TWC were a turning point in terms of what I value in fiction, myself, and a big light on the path of where I go from here. I'm still going to write all of that fanfiction. Looking forward to being proud of it.
Where was I going with this again? I'm not sure. Let's hope there is something TO go to, the idea is after all to eventually move on from these selfs we might leave behind or grow discomforted with the thought of. I feel equivalently ready to move on as much as I do ashamed that I never quite gave the selfs enough "form" to move on from. I think from here though it's a new day and I'll press on, and worry less about the pasts of myself and more what I can do. It's time to put an end to this cyclical self destruction in some fashion, and I mean that in as little an ominous sense as I can possible.
🎵drugs drugs🎵 AYO TURN THAT SHIT UP CHARLES” And I am still wondering who is Charles????
In the world there are 7.4 billion people, but also in the United States there are 2.4 million people named Charles. So now that we’ve narrowed it down lets look at Orlando, Florida where Dream lives. Out of the 2.4 million Charles’ there are only 700 living in Orlando Florida and out of those 700 there realistically could only be 7 people he could be talking about because there are around 100 regions where Dream could be in that another Charles could be in and out of those 7 people the average white male (Dream) in this case only interacts with in a day is 4 so there could only be about 2 Charles he is talking about and the average human usually knows 3 Charles in there lifetime which leads us into this endless math loop so chances are he saw a Charles at some point whilst outside (unless hes scared to go outside haven’t seen the light in ages) then his brain remembered the name and when going to think of someone to use whilst tweeting he said Charles From the True Realm.
In the world there are 7.4 billion people, but also in the United States there are 2.4 million people named Charles. So now that we’ve narrowed it down lets look at Orlando, Florida where Dream lives. Out of the 2.4 million Charles’ there are only 700 living in Orlando Florida and out of those 700 there realistically could only be 7 people he could be talking about because there are around 100 regions where Dream could be in that another Charles could be in and out of those 7 people the average white male (Dream) in this case only interacts with in a day is 4 so there could only be about 2 Charles he is talking about and the average human usually knows 3 Charles in there lifetime which leads us into this endless math loop so chances are he saw a Charles at some point whilst outside (unless hes scared to go outside haven’t seen the light in ages) then his brain remembered the name and when going to think of someone to use whilst tweeting he said Charles From the True Realm.
(This is a cross-post from my blog. https://saab900blog.blogspot.com/2022/05/hello-charlotte-and-conversations.html)
I don't understand why I love Hello Charlotte. Not in traditional terms, anyways.
Most of my favorite stories have elements that I can easily understand as to why I fell in love with those stories in the first place. Evangelion and loneliness, Fata Morgana and empathy, Subahibi and subjective reality, Omori and forgiveness. With Hello Charlotte, it's not that easy for me anymore, and I don't really understand why. And I don't really understand why I don't understand. It's not especially subtle with it's themes, I feel like I understand what etherane was trying to say, and what feelings she was trying to impart onto me. I feel like I mostly understand the narrative, in a way that left me satisfied. In every respect, I should feel satisfied moving on from this work. I can't though. That's what I'm trying to figure out. Why am I so fixated on this story?
I've been thinking, and I think it's because it's more than the sum of it's parts. I can't really think of any other reason. And I think the reason why I'm so confused on this game is that, in general writing terms, I don't really think it's that good. To say the narrative is loose would be an understatement - it feels less like a progression and more like a tangled ball of yarn, going in and out of various plot threads like trying to untie a knot. The characters are not especially affecting to me, nor was the ending, or the music, or art. And yet, when I think back on the time I spent with this series, an indescribable feeling bubbles up within me, a feeling I feel so rarely that it justifies me writing this more-of-a-rant-than-review thing.
Hello Charlotte is honest.
This story knows what it is. It knows that it's "narrative" is convoluted and messy and not really thought out, like, at all. It knows the characters are mostly run-of-the-mill Tumblr-esque RPG Maker fanfare. It knows the music can be grating, and the gameplay boring and frustrating, and that it kinda seems like it thinks it's smarter than it actually is. And it all ties back to what a story is. Should a story need to be enjoyable to be good? Should a story need to be tightly written to be considered worth the time investment? It's typical critique ideations like these that I come back to time and time again. I've tried and tried to unspin this tangled yarn of what a good story is. I still don't know - no one does really - but for me, I think the conclusion that I feel is right is that a story is different for every story. Some stories are lectures. Other stories are invitations. Every author and the stories they create interact differently with the audience, and I think that, above all, Hello Charlotte is a conversation.
Of course, the individual is going to interact with these stories in different ways. Just because I felt my experience with Hello Charlotte was a heartfelt conversation with the author doesn't mean that others feel that it might be a self-important lecture, or an ignorant invitation to some fairytale utopia that doesn't exist. Those are just as valid.
To me, Hello Charlotte was an honest, back and forth talk with etherane. It was a conversation about trauma, about the cyclical nature of stories, about beginnings and endings. Saying that a story is personal is a copout in my eyes - every story is personal to the author - but to Hello Charlotte, it felt less personal and more person. I felt like I met part of the author through this story, their faults, their strengths, their imperfections. Which isn't to say I feel like I met the individual, because that's silly - all I'm saying is that I feel like I was able to feel what they were feeling, or at least a part of what they were feeling at some point in their life, if at least for a brief moment.
Hello Charlotte is a work I can't really describe with words. All I can say is that, I've never experienced a work that feels this authorially oriented, rather than audience oriented, if that makes sense. It feels like truly delving into the mind of someone else, and connecting with that mind. Even if that's fake, even if that's silly, I think that's what this story is: a conversation, ending in connection.
I don't understand why I love Hello Charlotte. Not in traditional terms, anyways.
Most of my favorite stories have elements that I can easily understand as to why I fell in love with those stories in the first place. Evangelion and loneliness, Fata Morgana and empathy, Subahibi and subjective reality, Omori and forgiveness. With Hello Charlotte, it's not that easy for me anymore, and I don't really understand why. And I don't really understand why I don't understand. It's not especially subtle with it's themes, I feel like I understand what etherane was trying to say, and what feelings she was trying to impart onto me. I feel like I mostly understand the narrative, in a way that left me satisfied. In every respect, I should feel satisfied moving on from this work. I can't though. That's what I'm trying to figure out. Why am I so fixated on this story?
I've been thinking, and I think it's because it's more than the sum of it's parts. I can't really think of any other reason. And I think the reason why I'm so confused on this game is that, in general writing terms, I don't really think it's that good. To say the narrative is loose would be an understatement - it feels less like a progression and more like a tangled ball of yarn, going in and out of various plot threads like trying to untie a knot. The characters are not especially affecting to me, nor was the ending, or the music, or art. And yet, when I think back on the time I spent with this series, an indescribable feeling bubbles up within me, a feeling I feel so rarely that it justifies me writing this more-of-a-rant-than-review thing.
Hello Charlotte is honest.
This story knows what it is. It knows that it's "narrative" is convoluted and messy and not really thought out, like, at all. It knows the characters are mostly run-of-the-mill Tumblr-esque RPG Maker fanfare. It knows the music can be grating, and the gameplay boring and frustrating, and that it kinda seems like it thinks it's smarter than it actually is. And it all ties back to what a story is. Should a story need to be enjoyable to be good? Should a story need to be tightly written to be considered worth the time investment? It's typical critique ideations like these that I come back to time and time again. I've tried and tried to unspin this tangled yarn of what a good story is. I still don't know - no one does really - but for me, I think the conclusion that I feel is right is that a story is different for every story. Some stories are lectures. Other stories are invitations. Every author and the stories they create interact differently with the audience, and I think that, above all, Hello Charlotte is a conversation.
Of course, the individual is going to interact with these stories in different ways. Just because I felt my experience with Hello Charlotte was a heartfelt conversation with the author doesn't mean that others feel that it might be a self-important lecture, or an ignorant invitation to some fairytale utopia that doesn't exist. Those are just as valid.
To me, Hello Charlotte was an honest, back and forth talk with etherane. It was a conversation about trauma, about the cyclical nature of stories, about beginnings and endings. Saying that a story is personal is a copout in my eyes - every story is personal to the author - but to Hello Charlotte, it felt less personal and more person. I felt like I met part of the author through this story, their faults, their strengths, their imperfections. Which isn't to say I feel like I met the individual, because that's silly - all I'm saying is that I feel like I was able to feel what they were feeling, or at least a part of what they were feeling at some point in their life, if at least for a brief moment.
Hello Charlotte is a work I can't really describe with words. All I can say is that, I've never experienced a work that feels this authorially oriented, rather than audience oriented, if that makes sense. It feels like truly delving into the mind of someone else, and connecting with that mind. Even if that's fake, even if that's silly, I think that's what this story is: a conversation, ending in connection.
i never thought i could find solace for an ultra specific situation in any sort of media but here we are
I'D LET Q84 HIT ME WITH A BASEBALL BAT
Ben çok soyut bir video oyunuyum 4. duvarı kırıyorum kevin macleod falan çalıyo
(im on a mission to finish some left over reviews from the games ive played and post them before the end of the year or else theyre gonna show up in the game count of 2024 dont talk to me so its been a while since ive played \insert current game\ have fun with what i remember about it)
sexy fweged recommended this to me as part of this list thanks dude
at this point we are at the third installment in this series and I can competently say that I didnt understand m anything that happened in this fucking game and I'm positive enough that there's some deep lore and understanding about characters worlds and relationships between the work of art and the creator behind it but I have absolutely no idea how i am supposed to know all this without looking it up or having someone infodump me the truth concealed behind this game in a 3 hours video essay about hello charlotte and its legacy but until then I will be talking about the game as its own thing because again I have no knowledge about the surroundings for now
needless to say playing hello charlotte 1 and 2 is nearly mandatory to even barely understand what is happening in this installment so yeah you're advised to play those before thank you very much champion
hello charlotte 2 in its own regard is possibly the greatest one of the bunch if you ask me its such a great leap in narrative and production from the first one that it could be its own thing if it weren't for hello charlotte 1 and then hello charlotte 3 somehow follows the steps of the other games and in particular the second one in all the worldbuilding around it and the setting AND the fucking theology/beliefs/whatever aspect which is something that I liked a lot in the second game and somehow I even enjoyed it more in that game
not entirely sure how I should even begin to explain the story of this game because I don't even understand it to begin with so ideally I will just explain the surface level stuff . you get to play as charlotte again but for some reasons she's absolutely fucked up and a jerk and to even get the point across that she's fucking unbearable every single character of the game all of the sudden wants to kill her although shes an immortal entity or whatever
this is already such a different direction from the very first game and even from its sequel theres nothing left of the charlotte you know and love she just got turned into a violent freak that just wants to punish anyone and everything on her path
this is certainly the main plot twist of the game and it still delivers such a haunting experience even though this time youre probably not gonna be relating to the protagonist lest youre a murderer but that being said etherane really makes it pretty obvious that this iteration of charlotte is to be hated in any way shape or form even when you have some kind of opportunity to be sympathetic towards her this thing is gonna get crushed in a second by the absolutely hideous stuff she does to the other characters
most of the relationships you grow accustomed in the first 2 games were thrown out of the window because most characters were either reshaped entirely for the purpose of this new narrative or the bond they have with charlotte are just ones of pure hatred and create a stark contrast to the usual narrative of found family that was present in the second game
ideally i would say that this is the core of the entire game but actually this is gonna get super metaphysical real fast and thats also where im gonna lose contact with the story . i genuinely have no idea what the charles eyler true story is really about and i cant even talk about this in full length because it would be spoiler uwu
that being said most of the real life implications and general ideas of the story actually surround charles and what is up with him , now this is probably the most haunting part of the game because it gets real heavy real fast with some themes like depression suicide and death so umh not really the funniest shit in the universe but its also where the game gets the most personal its like etherane is writing about their experience as an artist a creator and a human being and what this actually means for themselves and for the world around them
again im not clever enough to actually understand what is happening here and most of the stuff is probably gonna be left in weird hints that people arent gonna get anyway unless their big in the hello charlotte conspiracy theory scene which i am definitely not
i could glimpse a lot of different themes from this one but i definitely will need another playthrough to actually make up my mind about what this game is truly about but apart from the charlotte prologue and charles plot twist probably my favorite part of the game is probably the scarlett one
now mild spoilers ahead when you actually take the rein of scarlett eyler and slowly descend into madness to understand what the fuck is happening in this game altogether but its also my least favorite part of the game gameplay wise so im pretty conflicted
this game plays in the normal rpg maker tropes rightfully its basically just a glorified ao oni with some more puzzles in there now even though i dont usually like the “get items and use them somewhere” puzzles hello charlotte somehow managed to make some more puzzles that i absolutely despise theyre definitely some of the most mind numbing stuff ive ever had to experience in a videogame im not wise enough or clever enough or anything so i just resolved to using guides now for whatever reason they decided it was a good idea to just put the entirety of the puzzles in a late game segment while youre controlling scarlett and its SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO BADLY PACED it completely breaks the momentum i have no idea why they had the idea to completely break the story pace to put a whole lot of puzzles in a climax for the whole game but i digress
so umh again i think charlotte/charles segments are the most story heavy and the scarlett one is the most puzzley part of the game and still i do think the scarlett epilogue is the most haunting one of the bunch absolutely gut wrenching and an incredible testament at how good etherane is to write these ethereal and nonsensical stories that manage to feel intelligent anyway because theyre probably games for smart people = not me
again while most of the story stuff is a mystery to me i cant lie and say that i didnt actually love this shit to hell and back the vibes are unmatched most of the themes actually resonated with me and when you actually add on top of that etheranes GORGEOUS character designs interesting music decisions and rpgmaker knowledge you get an experience in the genre that is nothing like anything else youve ever played
definitely my favorite etherane game together with HC2 but im sure gonna check heavens gate out because i want to actually understand something in this fucking series AND i want to fuck vincent in the ass so theres that thank you everybody for tuning in
sexy fweged recommended this to me as part of this list thanks dude
at this point we are at the third installment in this series and I can competently say that I didnt understand m anything that happened in this fucking game and I'm positive enough that there's some deep lore and understanding about characters worlds and relationships between the work of art and the creator behind it but I have absolutely no idea how i am supposed to know all this without looking it up or having someone infodump me the truth concealed behind this game in a 3 hours video essay about hello charlotte and its legacy but until then I will be talking about the game as its own thing because again I have no knowledge about the surroundings for now
needless to say playing hello charlotte 1 and 2 is nearly mandatory to even barely understand what is happening in this installment so yeah you're advised to play those before thank you very much champion
hello charlotte 2 in its own regard is possibly the greatest one of the bunch if you ask me its such a great leap in narrative and production from the first one that it could be its own thing if it weren't for hello charlotte 1 and then hello charlotte 3 somehow follows the steps of the other games and in particular the second one in all the worldbuilding around it and the setting AND the fucking theology/beliefs/whatever aspect which is something that I liked a lot in the second game and somehow I even enjoyed it more in that game
not entirely sure how I should even begin to explain the story of this game because I don't even understand it to begin with so ideally I will just explain the surface level stuff . you get to play as charlotte again but for some reasons she's absolutely fucked up and a jerk and to even get the point across that she's fucking unbearable every single character of the game all of the sudden wants to kill her although shes an immortal entity or whatever
this is already such a different direction from the very first game and even from its sequel theres nothing left of the charlotte you know and love she just got turned into a violent freak that just wants to punish anyone and everything on her path
this is certainly the main plot twist of the game and it still delivers such a haunting experience even though this time youre probably not gonna be relating to the protagonist lest youre a murderer but that being said etherane really makes it pretty obvious that this iteration of charlotte is to be hated in any way shape or form even when you have some kind of opportunity to be sympathetic towards her this thing is gonna get crushed in a second by the absolutely hideous stuff she does to the other characters
most of the relationships you grow accustomed in the first 2 games were thrown out of the window because most characters were either reshaped entirely for the purpose of this new narrative or the bond they have with charlotte are just ones of pure hatred and create a stark contrast to the usual narrative of found family that was present in the second game
ideally i would say that this is the core of the entire game but actually this is gonna get super metaphysical real fast and thats also where im gonna lose contact with the story . i genuinely have no idea what the charles eyler true story is really about and i cant even talk about this in full length because it would be spoiler uwu
that being said most of the real life implications and general ideas of the story actually surround charles and what is up with him , now this is probably the most haunting part of the game because it gets real heavy real fast with some themes like depression suicide and death so umh not really the funniest shit in the universe but its also where the game gets the most personal its like etherane is writing about their experience as an artist a creator and a human being and what this actually means for themselves and for the world around them
again im not clever enough to actually understand what is happening here and most of the stuff is probably gonna be left in weird hints that people arent gonna get anyway unless their big in the hello charlotte conspiracy theory scene which i am definitely not
i could glimpse a lot of different themes from this one but i definitely will need another playthrough to actually make up my mind about what this game is truly about but apart from the charlotte prologue and charles plot twist probably my favorite part of the game is probably the scarlett one
now mild spoilers ahead when you actually take the rein of scarlett eyler and slowly descend into madness to understand what the fuck is happening in this game altogether but its also my least favorite part of the game gameplay wise so im pretty conflicted
this game plays in the normal rpg maker tropes rightfully its basically just a glorified ao oni with some more puzzles in there now even though i dont usually like the “get items and use them somewhere” puzzles hello charlotte somehow managed to make some more puzzles that i absolutely despise theyre definitely some of the most mind numbing stuff ive ever had to experience in a videogame im not wise enough or clever enough or anything so i just resolved to using guides now for whatever reason they decided it was a good idea to just put the entirety of the puzzles in a late game segment while youre controlling scarlett and its SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO BADLY PACED it completely breaks the momentum i have no idea why they had the idea to completely break the story pace to put a whole lot of puzzles in a climax for the whole game but i digress
so umh again i think charlotte/charles segments are the most story heavy and the scarlett one is the most puzzley part of the game and still i do think the scarlett epilogue is the most haunting one of the bunch absolutely gut wrenching and an incredible testament at how good etherane is to write these ethereal and nonsensical stories that manage to feel intelligent anyway because theyre probably games for smart people = not me
again while most of the story stuff is a mystery to me i cant lie and say that i didnt actually love this shit to hell and back the vibes are unmatched most of the themes actually resonated with me and when you actually add on top of that etheranes GORGEOUS character designs interesting music decisions and rpgmaker knowledge you get an experience in the genre that is nothing like anything else youve ever played
definitely my favorite etherane game together with HC2 but im sure gonna check heavens gate out because i want to actually understand something in this fucking series AND i want to fuck vincent in the ass so theres that thank you everybody for tuning in
when the childhood has ended
“Come gather, both the young and the old!
Come enjoy the show
A show of lies and gods”
It’s as existential as horror can get and, in the ocean of indie top-down horror RPG, it’s the only trilogy worth the entry price from beginning to end. This time, the world is broken from the very start, every wish for everyone to be happy has failed and death is destined to come no matter what. After three games of journey through etherane’s personal hell-scape, we are addressed directly to accept that nothing in it is alright, and probably can never be as long as we think of it as a story. Individuality is questioned to rationalize the game logic that make it possible to treat people and feelings as items. It is worthless. The only normalcy that can be achieved is to recognize ourselves as individuals that need to be together.
It’s corny to treat your own story as a parasite, to see it being carried over into the world outside, trying to scare the viewer with the idea of being endlessly, helplessly seen, to no end. Stuck is a world soaked in ugly colours, being tainted, incapable of achieving the pure white. It’s a world of regrets, but it’s also a world where we can inject love. Because, all this time, we have listened.
Come enjoy the show
A show of lies and gods”
It’s as existential as horror can get and, in the ocean of indie top-down horror RPG, it’s the only trilogy worth the entry price from beginning to end. This time, the world is broken from the very start, every wish for everyone to be happy has failed and death is destined to come no matter what. After three games of journey through etherane’s personal hell-scape, we are addressed directly to accept that nothing in it is alright, and probably can never be as long as we think of it as a story. Individuality is questioned to rationalize the game logic that make it possible to treat people and feelings as items. It is worthless. The only normalcy that can be achieved is to recognize ourselves as individuals that need to be together.
It’s corny to treat your own story as a parasite, to see it being carried over into the world outside, trying to scare the viewer with the idea of being endlessly, helplessly seen, to no end. Stuck is a world soaked in ugly colours, being tainted, incapable of achieving the pure white. It’s a world of regrets, but it’s also a world where we can inject love. Because, all this time, we have listened.
This game is literally one of my favorite games of all time, along with the second game, this wraps up everything perfectly. In fact, this game felt like several different games all together that if you told me they were I'd believe you, and how all of the stories cross over and make you think, I really love it. Just as I said for EP2, I still think about this game to this day and feel like I have every bit committed to memory. This game shaped me as a person, helped me improve and made me really think about aspects of myself.
Etherane has a lot to say and I want to hear it.
Muchísimo más caótico, complejo y, a la vez, especial que sus dos predecesores. Entre las sentencias suicidas, la rabia de la incomprensión adolescente y la confusión social hay una amalgama de capas complejamente orquestadas que terminan por hilarlo todo quizás no de la forma más elegante o limpia posible, pero sí de la más sincera y emocional.
Hello Charlotte 3 es una historia agria como el limón y triste como las olas del mar sobre saber rendirse, sobre que a veces debes aceptar tu derrota y, simplemente, dejarlo ir, pero también es un cuento valiente y lleno de corazón sobre dar la cara por quienes nos rodean y tener la audacia de intentar insuflar algo de amor y belleza en este universo cruel
Hello Charlotte 3 es una historia agria como el limón y triste como las olas del mar sobre saber rendirse, sobre que a veces debes aceptar tu derrota y, simplemente, dejarlo ir, pero también es un cuento valiente y lleno de corazón sobre dar la cara por quienes nos rodean y tener la audacia de intentar insuflar algo de amor y belleza en este universo cruel
This review contains spoilers
Hello Charlotte 3 is an experience that I'm not sure how to rate. I think I may not be the intended audience for this as nothing in the series really hit me super hard emotionally as it did for many others, nor was anything particularly relatable. But I don't know how to give this a rating on a scale of 0-5 Stars. It seems negligent for me to give it a lower score because the series is not really something that can be judged based on gameplay or story.
It was an art piece. It was like playing through the culmination of the developer's emotions and it felt like they had some things that they really wanted to say. Throughout the game, I honestly had no idea what the fuck was going on and I was trying to piece together the story but it doesn't really matter.
The game knows that it is super convoluted and it doesn't apologise for it. This isn't to say that the plot is bad. It's incredibly intriguing and the world-building is super immersive throughout the series. (Not to mention the pretty art!) But the plot isn't important, it's used as a means to show how Etherane was feeling at this specific point in their life and to put it all onto a canvas for the audience. My favourite part of the game was the very end, reading the afterword from the author. After having experienced that whole trilogy of crazy shit, being able to listen directly to the person behind it all and being able to hear them talk about their literal, real-world counterpart stories was so genuine and authentic. For the first time, not absorbing this story through wacky characters and meta-cynical plotlines, but hearing it from a real human who feels real emotion. That was the moment of the game that stuck with me.
I saw another review saying that this game was extremely "authorially oriented" and I love that shit. I think that's so fucking cool and it makes me giddy being able to experience people's emotions through this form of media.
So while the game's plot might not have had a severe impact on me, I feel very lucky to have experienced this trilogy and it's something that has stuck with me as one of the best gaming experiences I've had. I will look out for anything else that Etherane makes in the future!
It was an art piece. It was like playing through the culmination of the developer's emotions and it felt like they had some things that they really wanted to say. Throughout the game, I honestly had no idea what the fuck was going on and I was trying to piece together the story but it doesn't really matter.
The game knows that it is super convoluted and it doesn't apologise for it. This isn't to say that the plot is bad. It's incredibly intriguing and the world-building is super immersive throughout the series. (Not to mention the pretty art!) But the plot isn't important, it's used as a means to show how Etherane was feeling at this specific point in their life and to put it all onto a canvas for the audience. My favourite part of the game was the very end, reading the afterword from the author. After having experienced that whole trilogy of crazy shit, being able to listen directly to the person behind it all and being able to hear them talk about their literal, real-world counterpart stories was so genuine and authentic. For the first time, not absorbing this story through wacky characters and meta-cynical plotlines, but hearing it from a real human who feels real emotion. That was the moment of the game that stuck with me.
I saw another review saying that this game was extremely "authorially oriented" and I love that shit. I think that's so fucking cool and it makes me giddy being able to experience people's emotions through this form of media.
So while the game's plot might not have had a severe impact on me, I feel very lucky to have experienced this trilogy and it's something that has stuck with me as one of the best gaming experiences I've had. I will look out for anything else that Etherane makes in the future!
Thorny, vantablack comedy, dripping with its own caustic bitterness. Successfully defines the difference between the pain of intentionally pressing your thumb against a sharp edge and someone else doing it. However, some incredibly clear moments bleed through the cacophony and will probably stick around in my mind for some time. Even a single character like Anri herself will probably cause me to collapse at some point in the near future - looking forward to that.
It might not yours, but Hello Charlotte 0/3 evades my rating scale. It's the messiest shit I've played... ever? To confine it to one conclusion would do a disservice to it, but most importantly to me. I need time with this.
edit: time's up, 5 stars.
It might not yours, but Hello Charlotte 0/3 evades my rating scale. It's the messiest shit I've played... ever? To confine it to one conclusion would do a disservice to it, but most importantly to me. I need time with this.
edit: time's up, 5 stars.
there's something particularly grimy about this one that wasn't present in the others. something instigating and coarse and spiteful and reactionary. "language as a virus" as interpreted in the most corrosive way possible. characterized by emptiness; overwhelmingly pro-nothing
HC2 was positioned like an anaglyph where the heightened elements were layered just askew of the seen&felt "human" elements despite their differences, and when paired they were able to speak earnestly to lived experience. HC3 bristles at the very thought; too suspicious and cynical to allow anything to resonate so cleanly; too preoccupied with how earned it is; too uncomfortable with its own audience; too busy wagging its finger at ghosts
this is a work defined by unpleasant, uncharitable metacommentary; the shock of gore, body fluids, and pointlessly cruel backstories amounting to little more than a yawning (bored, boring) void. violent death of the author offered the instant every page's been torn to confetti. one last mean little joke from a particularly mean little game
a neurotic stormcloud reckoning with creation and voyeurism and expectations and consumption. the reclaiming of catharsis thru punishingly overcorrective countermeasure. a last gasp chance to weaponize itself against that what came prior, itself, and the "puppeteer". denouement as calculated sabotage that can't be walked back
rpg maker's BioShock Infinite: Burial at Sea - Episode 2 (2014)
HC2 was positioned like an anaglyph where the heightened elements were layered just askew of the seen&felt "human" elements despite their differences, and when paired they were able to speak earnestly to lived experience. HC3 bristles at the very thought; too suspicious and cynical to allow anything to resonate so cleanly; too preoccupied with how earned it is; too uncomfortable with its own audience; too busy wagging its finger at ghosts
this is a work defined by unpleasant, uncharitable metacommentary; the shock of gore, body fluids, and pointlessly cruel backstories amounting to little more than a yawning (bored, boring) void. violent death of the author offered the instant every page's been torn to confetti. one last mean little joke from a particularly mean little game
a neurotic stormcloud reckoning with creation and voyeurism and expectations and consumption. the reclaiming of catharsis thru punishingly overcorrective countermeasure. a last gasp chance to weaponize itself against that what came prior, itself, and the "puppeteer". denouement as calculated sabotage that can't be walked back
rpg maker's BioShock Infinite: Burial at Sea - Episode 2 (2014)
I usually don't think about rewriting things on here, but my prior HC3 review is currently the most liked one on this page and, Unfortunately, one that I have a deep embarrassment towards. Not that I didn't speak my truth, but lots of time has passed since my first interaction with the game, and my words on it were much more of a riposte of the thought-cyclone the game left me with than anything, like, substantial. And frankly, the feeling I get when I receive a notif about it, that someone assumes I still ride with those thoughts is - boy, no wonder I gave this shit a 5 - enough to coax a second try out of me. After all, as I said in my old review, to confine it to one conclusion would do it a disservice (though now I mean that in a more direct way than I ever did before, lol).
As far as more formal things go (character depth, conciseness, visual splendor) it could be argued that etherane has outdone HellChar 3 a few times by now, but to be honest, the more I sit with it, the more I think the circumstance of Hello Charlotte as a series is a worthwhile feature more than any kind of problem. Playing HC1 and casting it off as a study of RPGMaker more than a developed game in and of itself feels almost necessary to eventually get to the part where HC3 throttles some purple and blue into your cheeks. To put it more directly: even if I didn't see myself in it (which I do), I still think it's incredibly worthwhile to see this rare glimpse into the game creator's artistic trajectory.
What makes this game part of that trajectory, let alone the extremum of it? Well, with all its internet-coded self-reflection, the nihilistic lashouts at just about every aspect of the game as an object/piece of entertainment, the audience as a collective entity (crucially, the audience of people who were there at the time of HC3's release, who played HC2 and asked, "please may I have some more"), and the ensuing story as the byproduct of an intellectually and emotionally laborious creative process. It works through that initial stage of self-awareness games this metafictionally occupied have and into a world of razor-thin separations between idea and story. And none of this is strictly contemptuous, but etherane does not mince words and speaks to certain things so directly that the aforementioned separation of fiction is liable to break down, if only for a moment. (I believe the less-nice way of saying this is "preachy", but stick with me)
Hello Charlotte always has been very artificial as a fiction, but here its worldstate is so rebellious that it's a wonder any coherency occurs. Though, I will say, the conceptualization of creator and creation here is perhaps more vital and centers more than that explanation leads on, and there's a layer of, for lack of a better term, knowing bratiness that IS SO IMPORTANT TO INTERNALIZE by the end or else you'd just fuckin' hate this shit. But, even then, these things are likely to someone's distaste (understandably so) given how brash and just straight up trying it all can be at the best of moments.
BUT, that's the thing, and I'm gonna just come out and say it, HC3's rigor and vulnerability remain unmatched in the space of games, even in the rolling wake of personal games or w/e tag you'd ascribe to them. It has a pinpoint line of sight to the core of tumblr's now-ruinous identity and truth politics and proceeds to shred the Earth's mantle to get there. You could not make this up if you tried - etherane shoveled the trenches of that distinct blog-era mental-to-digital-to-mental anguish and isolation, and the dirt and clay, cracking in the fiery kiln, forms this completely unstable work that cannot be any less angry or confused than it is, lest it fail to... be itself. But it succeeds, and I am so fucking thankful that someone out there spoke to it with such bare intentions, because it's a cultural aftershock that affected me and continues to affect me on multiple levels - I reckon this is at least partially why the game gets such a strong response years after its initial release, because it's prodding the tender points of a life so common among its demographic but also one that's, from my own experience, hard to come to terms with. I've seen some people struggle to understand or even outright despise this game for this, but in my case, there's no way, man. This game got it.
ALSO sneak-attack Heaven's Gate review because I finally played it: so much more than the AU tag gives it credit for, at least in the sense that it doesn't feel at all out of step with anything else in the series. I mean, rigid fiction HellChar is not, so what's a couple of smudged details to stop you from feeling out Charles, Anri, and Vincent as a graduating class? It pretty much sledgehammers the layers of abstraction left in HC and becomes unfettered conversations with these ideologues that the True Realm characters have assumed the roles of. Despite that, though, it's maybe the most natural dialogue of the series and every conversation with these three ends up being just SO emotionally fulfilling and a great treat for those who already liked the sprite versions of them. I guess that is etherane's twisted idea of an AU? God, please miss, just once.
As far as more formal things go (character depth, conciseness, visual splendor) it could be argued that etherane has outdone HellChar 3 a few times by now, but to be honest, the more I sit with it, the more I think the circumstance of Hello Charlotte as a series is a worthwhile feature more than any kind of problem. Playing HC1 and casting it off as a study of RPGMaker more than a developed game in and of itself feels almost necessary to eventually get to the part where HC3 throttles some purple and blue into your cheeks. To put it more directly: even if I didn't see myself in it (which I do), I still think it's incredibly worthwhile to see this rare glimpse into the game creator's artistic trajectory.
What makes this game part of that trajectory, let alone the extremum of it? Well, with all its internet-coded self-reflection, the nihilistic lashouts at just about every aspect of the game as an object/piece of entertainment, the audience as a collective entity (crucially, the audience of people who were there at the time of HC3's release, who played HC2 and asked, "please may I have some more"), and the ensuing story as the byproduct of an intellectually and emotionally laborious creative process. It works through that initial stage of self-awareness games this metafictionally occupied have and into a world of razor-thin separations between idea and story. And none of this is strictly contemptuous, but etherane does not mince words and speaks to certain things so directly that the aforementioned separation of fiction is liable to break down, if only for a moment. (I believe the less-nice way of saying this is "preachy", but stick with me)
Hello Charlotte always has been very artificial as a fiction, but here its worldstate is so rebellious that it's a wonder any coherency occurs. Though, I will say, the conceptualization of creator and creation here is perhaps more vital and centers more than that explanation leads on, and there's a layer of, for lack of a better term, knowing bratiness that IS SO IMPORTANT TO INTERNALIZE by the end or else you'd just fuckin' hate this shit. But, even then, these things are likely to someone's distaste (understandably so) given how brash and just straight up trying it all can be at the best of moments.
BUT, that's the thing, and I'm gonna just come out and say it, HC3's rigor and vulnerability remain unmatched in the space of games, even in the rolling wake of personal games or w/e tag you'd ascribe to them. It has a pinpoint line of sight to the core of tumblr's now-ruinous identity and truth politics and proceeds to shred the Earth's mantle to get there. You could not make this up if you tried - etherane shoveled the trenches of that distinct blog-era mental-to-digital-to-mental anguish and isolation, and the dirt and clay, cracking in the fiery kiln, forms this completely unstable work that cannot be any less angry or confused than it is, lest it fail to... be itself. But it succeeds, and I am so fucking thankful that someone out there spoke to it with such bare intentions, because it's a cultural aftershock that affected me and continues to affect me on multiple levels - I reckon this is at least partially why the game gets such a strong response years after its initial release, because it's prodding the tender points of a life so common among its demographic but also one that's, from my own experience, hard to come to terms with. I've seen some people struggle to understand or even outright despise this game for this, but in my case, there's no way, man. This game got it.
ALSO sneak-attack Heaven's Gate review because I finally played it: so much more than the AU tag gives it credit for, at least in the sense that it doesn't feel at all out of step with anything else in the series. I mean, rigid fiction HellChar is not, so what's a couple of smudged details to stop you from feeling out Charles, Anri, and Vincent as a graduating class? It pretty much sledgehammers the layers of abstraction left in HC and becomes unfettered conversations with these ideologues that the True Realm characters have assumed the roles of. Despite that, though, it's maybe the most natural dialogue of the series and every conversation with these three ends up being just SO emotionally fulfilling and a great treat for those who already liked the sprite versions of them. I guess that is etherane's twisted idea of an AU? God, please miss, just once.
omori but good (i have never played omori)
i'm going to issue the same statement i did with hello charlotte's second episode and genuinely wish etherane the absolute best in all things and all walks of her life; it's clear that this series was founded on and helped exorcise a great deal of grief, trauma and insecurity and i absolutely commend that. i've been in places somewhat similar and know the feeling and with that in mind i offer solidarity and a lot of respect.
with that said... i just don't think i'm the target audience for this series. it's valid, obviously, to create art that very deliberately targets something raw and personal - and that's absolutely what hello charlotte does throughout its entire run. i'm reminded of periods of my early teenage years when i was angry and confused and wanting to create something meaningful but incapable of writing something earnest, something with my own mark on it yet, instead turning to emulate massive pieces of the work that i saw as great all the time. not just wanting to write something emotional, but writing it like those people did it. it seriously prohibited me as a songwriter and artist but that's part of being a teenager and first going through the motions - the utter pessimism of the age, of things one can't fully comprehend at that age, but the urge to create something abundantly profound and far too over your head at that age. you'll rare find a genius at that age, and it's a rough feeling to walk away from a work of art so personal and kinetic but so clearly off the mark at that time that you begin to feel that impostor syndrome kick in. i think etherane, based on this series, is absolutely a creative, talented individual with a lot of emotions on display but no core understanding (yet) of how to execute them on a level that's truly realized or fulfilled. there's a hanging pessimism over this series, riddled with romanticized suicide, dangling brutal violence and conveniently tragic episodes over the cast's heads while lampooning peers for attempting the exact same thing. it's a tempter tantrum of a work that doesn't have any level of coherence or assuredness in itself - but that is some of its charm. those earnest lashes of true emotive creation, at hello charlotte's best, outweigh the awful storytelling, the negligible rpgmaker stereotypes of a cast, the fumbled and irreverent attempt at a metaficitonal discussion of the alleged parasitic nature of art (largely presumptuous and self-centered, as teenagers tend to be - i was one too) and the questionable pacing and puzzle mechanics.
my father, a songwriter and artist in his own right, told me around that age when i was clinging to the influences of my heroes to "write as yourself, and write what i know", and it's probably the single best piece of advice i've been given as a musician. similarly, i think hello charlotte attempts to stand out from the crowd of rpgmaker-centered indie titles of the time but ultimately falters in not understanding itself. in its blatant attempts to shock and react it becomes as profoundly hamfisted and self-destructive to its own narrative focal point as any of its more openly criticized colleagues. ultimately, hello charlotte ep3 is an experience i'm still grateful to have had and i am grateful that etherane is with us and creating art - i bought this game from her and i plan to do so with her later work as well, but i think a little less focus on others' side of the street and a little more earnest self-reflection in place of bombast and shock appeal might make the tender, beating heart behind these titles that is no DOUBT present shine through a little brighter.
with that said... i just don't think i'm the target audience for this series. it's valid, obviously, to create art that very deliberately targets something raw and personal - and that's absolutely what hello charlotte does throughout its entire run. i'm reminded of periods of my early teenage years when i was angry and confused and wanting to create something meaningful but incapable of writing something earnest, something with my own mark on it yet, instead turning to emulate massive pieces of the work that i saw as great all the time. not just wanting to write something emotional, but writing it like those people did it. it seriously prohibited me as a songwriter and artist but that's part of being a teenager and first going through the motions - the utter pessimism of the age, of things one can't fully comprehend at that age, but the urge to create something abundantly profound and far too over your head at that age. you'll rare find a genius at that age, and it's a rough feeling to walk away from a work of art so personal and kinetic but so clearly off the mark at that time that you begin to feel that impostor syndrome kick in. i think etherane, based on this series, is absolutely a creative, talented individual with a lot of emotions on display but no core understanding (yet) of how to execute them on a level that's truly realized or fulfilled. there's a hanging pessimism over this series, riddled with romanticized suicide, dangling brutal violence and conveniently tragic episodes over the cast's heads while lampooning peers for attempting the exact same thing. it's a tempter tantrum of a work that doesn't have any level of coherence or assuredness in itself - but that is some of its charm. those earnest lashes of true emotive creation, at hello charlotte's best, outweigh the awful storytelling, the negligible rpgmaker stereotypes of a cast, the fumbled and irreverent attempt at a metaficitonal discussion of the alleged parasitic nature of art (largely presumptuous and self-centered, as teenagers tend to be - i was one too) and the questionable pacing and puzzle mechanics.
my father, a songwriter and artist in his own right, told me around that age when i was clinging to the influences of my heroes to "write as yourself, and write what i know", and it's probably the single best piece of advice i've been given as a musician. similarly, i think hello charlotte attempts to stand out from the crowd of rpgmaker-centered indie titles of the time but ultimately falters in not understanding itself. in its blatant attempts to shock and react it becomes as profoundly hamfisted and self-destructive to its own narrative focal point as any of its more openly criticized colleagues. ultimately, hello charlotte ep3 is an experience i'm still grateful to have had and i am grateful that etherane is with us and creating art - i bought this game from her and i plan to do so with her later work as well, but i think a little less focus on others' side of the street and a little more earnest self-reflection in place of bombast and shock appeal might make the tender, beating heart behind these titles that is no DOUBT present shine through a little brighter.
Basically does its best to capture the feeling of a creator breaking beyond the barriers of their creations in the same way something like End Of Evangelion, MGS2 or Undertale does and succeeds. This trilogy is really special, despite some rough puzzles and overwrought metaphors. Worth playing, nothing else like it. Stop at the second episode if you don't like overly meta narratives, though, it works fine enough as a duology.
This review contains spoilers
I really hate Madoka Magica. I think it's insanely gratuitously miserable, has no real substance, and is an overall motherfuck of a chore to reminisce on. It feels like there's no progression, no buildup, just an oddly static hodgepodge of misery and misanthropy. Oftentimes when something starts reminding me of that, generally through being similarly miserable and misanthropic, I'm very quick to dismiss it. In the case of Hello Charlotte EP3: Childhood's End, however, I find myself a lot more conflicted.
The overarching narrative is mostly very solid, I don't mind much the sharp turns and twists in the story and I think it sticks the landing pretty well. The cast of this episode in particular, though, truthfully irks me at times (Anri is fun though, especially compared to her EP2 counterpart). I really don't like Charlotte Q84 (or V19) in particular, and while I can imagine she's deliberately designed to be unlikable it made the first half of this one a pretty rough experience to get through. V19 rants about this rather agonizing view of how entertainment is dead and content pours out people's assholes rather than their minds. I don't know if this is a view shared by the developer or what but it's just insanely lame and sours a climactic moment that had lots of buildup prior.
Vincent and Charles' scene where the former kills himself is probably the low point. I think it's portrayed a bit questionably at best and it really struggles to allow me to sympathize with Charles when he makes an absurdly minimal effort to save his friend. From that point onwards I just found him groan-inducing despite it feeling like the game was trying to tell me otherwise.
I think Hello Charlotte is a damn solid story all in all, but it starts off fumbling around a bit too much and ends with striking a bit too many personal pet peeves to get the most enjoyment out of it. Definitely hits its stride in EP2 for my money.
I will say though, I highly recommend it if the things here that bother me DON'T bother you, and I'm pretty sure a sizable amount of RPG Maker nerds would love it too. I've started fixating on that type of stuff recently, and this is definitely still in the upper half.
The overarching narrative is mostly very solid, I don't mind much the sharp turns and twists in the story and I think it sticks the landing pretty well. The cast of this episode in particular, though, truthfully irks me at times (Anri is fun though, especially compared to her EP2 counterpart). I really don't like Charlotte Q84 (or V19) in particular, and while I can imagine she's deliberately designed to be unlikable it made the first half of this one a pretty rough experience to get through. V19 rants about this rather agonizing view of how entertainment is dead and content pours out people's assholes rather than their minds. I don't know if this is a view shared by the developer or what but it's just insanely lame and sours a climactic moment that had lots of buildup prior.
Vincent and Charles' scene where the former kills himself is probably the low point. I think it's portrayed a bit questionably at best and it really struggles to allow me to sympathize with Charles when he makes an absurdly minimal effort to save his friend. From that point onwards I just found him groan-inducing despite it feeling like the game was trying to tell me otherwise.
I think Hello Charlotte is a damn solid story all in all, but it starts off fumbling around a bit too much and ends with striking a bit too many personal pet peeves to get the most enjoyment out of it. Definitely hits its stride in EP2 for my money.
I will say though, I highly recommend it if the things here that bother me DON'T bother you, and I'm pretty sure a sizable amount of RPG Maker nerds would love it too. I've started fixating on that type of stuff recently, and this is definitely still in the upper half.
Like watching someone self destruct in real time, only able to begin putting everything back together when its all over.
This game is a fucking mess
Easily the best ending to a video game trilogy when you know the context of the previous games and everything within.
Hello Charlotte
This game is raw, and at a lot of times, very uncomfortable. I think, all in all, I prefer the 2nd game, but I think about that, and I think about this game and I can't help but sit uncomfortably with that. This game isn't written to be liked. In fact, it feels written to be disliked. Like the creator, etherane, wants you to stop, or to be mad, or uncomfortable, or even hate the game. I think in that regard the story is highly effective.
I'm glad I played this series.
Goodbye Charlotte.
This game is raw, and at a lot of times, very uncomfortable. I think, all in all, I prefer the 2nd game, but I think about that, and I think about this game and I can't help but sit uncomfortably with that. This game isn't written to be liked. In fact, it feels written to be disliked. Like the creator, etherane, wants you to stop, or to be mad, or uncomfortable, or even hate the game. I think in that regard the story is highly effective.
I'm glad I played this series.
Goodbye Charlotte.
I see a lot of people calling this game a 'mess' in a good way, and I can agree in that the overarching story of Hello Charlotte takes a lot of twists and turns, changing meaning throughout, as etherane's intentions seemingly shift from part to part, episode to episode. Yet despite this, the entirety of Hello Charlotte manages to tell a complete narrative, one that ties just about all its lose ends and formulates several cohesive and powerful messages. In the typical complex meta-narrative type story such as HC, I often would have trouble piecing together the full story and have to look up some 3rd party explanations, but by the end of HC3 I felt as though I had a full grasp on everything that I had just experienced, and was able to logically put together many of the overarching ideas etherane placed carefully throughout.
From early on in episode 1, I fell in love with the characters of the game, and only did moreso until the end of HC3. This attachment of course was created intentionally, as the meta-narrative explains, and I found myself sad at the end of the game knowing how much I would miss them, even within just the few hours that I got to know them. Hello Charlotte, among many other themes, tells a story about letting go, and I certainly had to learn it myself. It also tells a story about the nature of stories themselves, and legitimately made me sit back and think about my role as a consumer of media for the sake of entertainment, feeling even guilty at some points of the game. This is a very special and memorable series that I am happy I experienced.
From early on in episode 1, I fell in love with the characters of the game, and only did moreso until the end of HC3. This attachment of course was created intentionally, as the meta-narrative explains, and I found myself sad at the end of the game knowing how much I would miss them, even within just the few hours that I got to know them. Hello Charlotte, among many other themes, tells a story about letting go, and I certainly had to learn it myself. It also tells a story about the nature of stories themselves, and legitimately made me sit back and think about my role as a consumer of media for the sake of entertainment, feeling even guilty at some points of the game. This is a very special and memorable series that I am happy I experienced.
My brain is melting and I'm sad
I don't know how/what to feel
this game caused irreparable damage to my psyche
in all seriousness, this game remains one of my favourites, if not my favourite, i've ever played to date. the beauty of the hello charlotte series lies in the fact that no matter how hard you think, absolutely none of it makes sense. there is no coherent plotline and that fact really adds up to the fact the story was born from charles eyler's fucked up crazy little mind. this is honestly one of the only games i've played that actually has accurate depictions of mental illness, especially highly stigmatised mental illness such as psychosis, and a lot of the content hit incredibly close to home. an incredible game through and through. i could replay this over and over again.
in all seriousness, this game remains one of my favourites, if not my favourite, i've ever played to date. the beauty of the hello charlotte series lies in the fact that no matter how hard you think, absolutely none of it makes sense. there is no coherent plotline and that fact really adds up to the fact the story was born from charles eyler's fucked up crazy little mind. this is honestly one of the only games i've played that actually has accurate depictions of mental illness, especially highly stigmatised mental illness such as psychosis, and a lot of the content hit incredibly close to home. an incredible game through and through. i could replay this over and over again.