LiasLola
‚Matters of Care‘ by Maria Puig de la Bellacasa is (reductively described) a book about non-human agencies and what care can mean in those contexts. It’s about non-/human interdependency and vulnerability. One of its chapters is named ‘Touching Visions’, and it’s about touching, both in a metaphorical and physical way – not only human touch, but also the touch of plants, animals and things. One of the central ideas of this chapter can be summarized with the quote ‘You can’t touch without being touched’. For me, Sephonie is a game about this quote.
Sephonie is the name of an island with no clear location, somewhere far out in the sea. It’s a special and unique little ecosystem with its own quirks and natural wonders. Our three protagonists, all from different academic backgrounds, are there to investigate the ecosystem, how it works – its interdependencies. Over the course of the game, the one-directional analysis of creatures, done via the ONYX link-system, becomes more and more two-directional. The personal lives and experiences of the main characters seep into the island itself, memories become manifest, distorted; cities pulled into natural landscapes and vice versa. It’s not about how the natural wonders of the island work, its what they mean, what they become to mean in human contexts. A fish can mean a living organism, a smell but it can also mean the trip to the supermarket with the family, the one very weird date you once had, and so much more. Everything natural is hardwired into interdependencies with the “artificiality” of human worlds – and vice versa, and every little thing gains new meanings through this connection. This connection is always vulnerable, so it needs care to be sustained in an ethical way. But the quote of course also extends to human relationships. Where new topics arise. Like how borders create cuts in connections. On those parts I’ll have to dwell a little bit more, let me just say: Sephonie is excellently written, in every aspect.
Exploring Sephonie, the game, the island and [REDACTED], all these ideas come flooding back into my mind. The platforming is clunky as heck, the controls are the opposite of tight and responsive – but it’s still fun and very chill! The game connects all its elements into a wonderful whole, not seamlessly, but that’s exactly why it’s so amazing. The game moved me. I can’t touch without being touched.
Sephonie is the name of an island with no clear location, somewhere far out in the sea. It’s a special and unique little ecosystem with its own quirks and natural wonders. Our three protagonists, all from different academic backgrounds, are there to investigate the ecosystem, how it works – its interdependencies. Over the course of the game, the one-directional analysis of creatures, done via the ONYX link-system, becomes more and more two-directional. The personal lives and experiences of the main characters seep into the island itself, memories become manifest, distorted; cities pulled into natural landscapes and vice versa. It’s not about how the natural wonders of the island work, its what they mean, what they become to mean in human contexts. A fish can mean a living organism, a smell but it can also mean the trip to the supermarket with the family, the one very weird date you once had, and so much more. Everything natural is hardwired into interdependencies with the “artificiality” of human worlds – and vice versa, and every little thing gains new meanings through this connection. This connection is always vulnerable, so it needs care to be sustained in an ethical way. But the quote of course also extends to human relationships. Where new topics arise. Like how borders create cuts in connections. On those parts I’ll have to dwell a little bit more, let me just say: Sephonie is excellently written, in every aspect.
Exploring Sephonie, the game, the island and [REDACTED], all these ideas come flooding back into my mind. The platforming is clunky as heck, the controls are the opposite of tight and responsive – but it’s still fun and very chill! The game connects all its elements into a wonderful whole, not seamlessly, but that’s exactly why it’s so amazing. The game moved me. I can’t touch without being touched.