1000xRESIST

Ah... 1000xRESIST... I've complained about this game how many times? 4 in total I figure. Once to a friend as I was playing it, once on my YouTube as I've finished it, once to ChatGPT as I was discussing my preferences in order to get better game recommendations, and finally one more time to the same friend as the very first time, and after that round of complaining he actually went on to download it and is planning to play it himself.

My critical video is sitting there at YouTube at meagre views, zero likes and one solitary dislike. My Steam negative review has 2 likes, so at least I know I am not alone, but still, I am pretty much against the general consensus here, disliking something that has been praised so extensively.

One thing I can admit, though it's been over 2 months since I've played it, I am still somewhat affected, and that speaks of the game being powerful and impactful regardless of what kind of impact that is. And there are a lot of things I still remember about it.

Resonance

One thing I truly loved about the game, no questions asked, was all the alien lore. The visual imagery, the whole idea. As much as I disliked the game overall, I still feel tempted to configure my ChatGPT to answer «Resonance» every time it agrees with me (and if you've ever chatted with it, you'd now that's going to be very often).

The prompt itself would be easy. Just add something like this to the settings: If the concepts presented are coherent, simply say "Resonance.", nothing else, do not praise or elaborate further.

Now, as all of my anger has subsided, the feeling I have towards 1000xRESIST is mainly sadness and regret, that something that could have been so great, has failed to reach its full potential. But do I have the right to use the word fail when all I mean is: the game chose not to give its narrative a simple resolution to tie together all the inconsistencies?

Expectation of complexity collapse

There's one kind of narrative structure that I particularly enjoy. It's when a truly complex story collapses all of its complexity in the end, bringing the reader to what can only be described as a mental orgasm. Seeing how all the storylines fold neatly into one structure, alike to an origami taking its final shape from what basically is a crumpled piece of paper... that feeling is one of the most intense mental pleasures I know.

But the intensity of this pleasure depends on ability of the reader to hold the totality of the narrative in their heads. To be building all the structure step by step as it is presented. To be carrying all the weight constantly as they are experiencing that book or game.

One good example of a book like that is «The Flanders Panel» by Arturo Perez-Reverte. It's been over 20 years since I've read it, and all the details are gone from my mind. But what I do remember is reading all those 500 pages of... well... basically just life of a small town. I remember how heavy and boring it felt at times with nothing much seemingly happening, just characters getting exposed, and re-exposed all over again. But then I got to the end, the book completed in such a powerful catharsis which would not have been possible at all, unless all of those 500 pages had been absorbed, and motivations of all characters had been properly explained. Every word mattered.

It was so powerful, so satisfying that it made all the prior suffering truly worth it.

This was what I hoped to get from 1000xRESIST. As I was taking more and more details into my head, holding the complexity of its narrative, with all the extra subplots, carrying the weight of it all, hoping for one final satisfying release... and it was never granted. Questions remained unanswered. Complexity remained complex. Resolution did not arrive.

It felt like a truly bad sex, when you just lie there thinking, why, why did I do it al all?

A right to expect?

Is it truly the game's fault that it didn't give me the mental orgasm I hoped for? No, it's not. Not every game is «The Flanders Panel», «Ulysses» or «The name of the Rose». Some games are just... experiences.

The proper way to play 1000xRESIST is probably just to relax and enjoy. Do not think about the structure. Do not hold the narrative in its totality. Just take it for the rollercoaster it is, and enjoy the ride. It's a sci-fi arthouse, not a classical work of art renowned for its complexity. Just chill, girl, chill.

But it's too late for the girl to chill. I've already been violated through holding the narrative that hasn't been resolved, and all I can do now is take matters into my own hands imagination and think of a resolution, of a proper complexity collapse that would have given me some pleasure.

An imaginary climax

What if there was one more scene at the end of the game. What if we learned that all this time Iris was in a coma and sisters coming up to the surface would be her finally waking up? I know it's not the most imaginative idea, maybe it would take away a bit from the unique sci-fi arthouse feeling... but it would have explained everything so neatly! All the inconsistence would have been forgiven since everything would be just a mind locked within itself trying to find a way out.

What did I complain about in my video? That 1000xRESIST is a drug-induced fever dream. Well, duh! It is a drug induced fever dream indeed, what else would you expect of a trapped consciousness recycling itself trying to process the original traumatic experience that could have led to the coma state in the very first place.

Maybe it was a suicide attempt after doing something terrible to Jiao, or unknowingly being the cause of something terrible that has happened to her. All this killing the Allmother subplot would be symbolic of succumbing to this guilt. Or maybe collapse of the narcissist ego.

Someone called 1000xRESIST trauma dumping. Duh again! It's the mind trying to recover from traumatic experience, what else would it be?

Real Iris could have had devices attached to her head, similar to crowns of the aliens. Remember there are just crowns and the actual faces and heads are gone? Well sure, her consciousness is gone, the image just conveys it.

Mother and Allmother everything... there could have been her mother sitting by her side, whispering something to her, hoping she would wake up.

And all that reliving past memories...

The more I think about this mind trapped withing itself and coma idea, the more it just ties everything together so nicely that yeah, baby, I'm getting there finally! It feels so good.

And here I think about «Hard-boiled Wonderland and the End of the World» by Haruki Murakami which is another book I genuinely loved. I don't want to spoil it, but it ends in something rather similar, which is also extremely satisfying.

So I'm going to imagine that this ending was meant to be in 1000xRESIST. I'm going to tamper with my memory and rewrite as if this ending has actually happened. I am sure the current fans of the game would still have loved it. It's just one more thrilling rollercoaster hill to enjoy. But then the people like me, who like to hold complex narratives in their heads and desire for resolution of these narratives would have also loved it.

I've envisioned it clearly, so let it be my own personal truth.