Tuesday, January 21, 2025

Rogerin' James

Mentioning We Happy Few last week reminded me I've never really praised the DLC They Came from Below. While the raygun fights can get a tad repetitive and annoying, it hits a solid bullseye on the retro-futuristic charm it was aiming for, complete with a slew of references to old SciFi stories.
 
Moreover, a quick glance at this blog will show I have little patience for self-righteous "woke" bullshit, and I've given We Happy Few its requisite lumps for its feminist ramblings. One of the other DLCs, We All Fall Down, dives headlong into the same idiocy with its antivillainness blaming everything on her father and relying on her Indian mother's timeless wisdom. Because of course.

But Roger and James? A rare example of how to do it right. Developing them with actual personalities beyond merely their beatific status within group identity. Limiting their interactions mainly with each other prevents their characterization from sinking to the usual posturing as morally superior to heterosexuals, and fleshes out their dynamic as complementary individuals and not just poster-children. A flat refusal to idealize them while at the same time slipping free of comic relief and securing protagonist status. Fallible and ridiculous befitting the goofy tone of the story, you nonetheless find yourself rooting not just for Roger to save the day but for their relationship to survive.

Attaboys. Great work.

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