Forks in the road. Divides in life. Choices that can change everything, for now, just like they always have.
There's a certain point early on in Arches that made me fully realize what Arches was really all about, when Cameron finds a irrational rationalization for his mental illness, for his struggles he found so much strife and loathing for in life.
It's when that happened that it really fully hit me that this wasn't just a sequel or a rehashing of Echo (like I deep down feared it might be) but it was a rumination of the post-Echo writing experience, an exploration of how writing Echo made things worse, and, I think most importantly, how to move on from something like that.
Or, how you can't.
The good thing that Arches does that Echo did so well is to make it somehow relatable? There's a lot of very specific and, I imagine, personal experiences being drawn into Arches that I definitely don't have experience with (I have never done shrooms.. yet) but it's the way that Howly is able to write these things to make them understandable. How he is able to turn a trippy experience of looking into the future, past and present and seeing things accordingly into an experience that gives me a sort of deeper look into myself and my own psyche is just, fucking incredible. I resonated a lot with Arches, I found a lot of weird comfort in Arches, and I found a lot of hurt in Arches.
I really enjoy Arches' writing (and by extension, Howly's writing), and I really can't wait to read more.
Also pls Howly I hope you're doing at the very least OK
The other aspects of Arches are really fucking good too, Paintfox on the cg's and sprites was fucking incredible, the BG's were really good and Anthemics blows it out of the water with the soundtrack, so much so that I'm buying it as soon as I'm able to.
Arches may be a short, rough and tough read, but if you're interested in a sort of closure to Echo, then definitely read this. It comes to terms with the entirety of Echo as a concept in a way that really feels satisfying and, well, closing.
(But yeah it can get really hard to read sometimes, and also these are a little sliver of thoughts that I've had in this first read of Arches. I definitely want to read through it again, my rating might go lower, but it definitely emotionally hit me. Good stuff!
There's a certain point early on in Arches that made me fully realize what Arches was really all about, when Cameron finds a irrational rationalization for his mental illness, for his struggles he found so much strife and loathing for in life.
It's when that happened that it really fully hit me that this wasn't just a sequel or a rehashing of Echo (like I deep down feared it might be) but it was a rumination of the post-Echo writing experience, an exploration of how writing Echo made things worse, and, I think most importantly, how to move on from something like that.
Or, how you can't.
The good thing that Arches does that Echo did so well is to make it somehow relatable? There's a lot of very specific and, I imagine, personal experiences being drawn into Arches that I definitely don't have experience with (I have never done shrooms.. yet) but it's the way that Howly is able to write these things to make them understandable. How he is able to turn a trippy experience of looking into the future, past and present and seeing things accordingly into an experience that gives me a sort of deeper look into myself and my own psyche is just, fucking incredible. I resonated a lot with Arches, I found a lot of weird comfort in Arches, and I found a lot of hurt in Arches.
I really enjoy Arches' writing (and by extension, Howly's writing), and I really can't wait to read more.
Also pls Howly I hope you're doing at the very least OK
The other aspects of Arches are really fucking good too, Paintfox on the cg's and sprites was fucking incredible, the BG's were really good and Anthemics blows it out of the water with the soundtrack, so much so that I'm buying it as soon as I'm able to.
Arches may be a short, rough and tough read, but if you're interested in a sort of closure to Echo, then definitely read this. It comes to terms with the entirety of Echo as a concept in a way that really feels satisfying and, well, closing.
(But yeah it can get really hard to read sometimes, and also these are a little sliver of thoughts that I've had in this first read of Arches. I definitely want to read through it again, my rating might go lower, but it definitely emotionally hit me. Good stuff!