This article discusses the illusion of the North American immigrant dream for cultural refugees, the exhaustion of living under Han Chinese families, police violence, the mixed legacies of the Hong Kong 2019 protests, and the cycle of parental abuse and trauma in Chinese diasporas from a Chinese Indonesian perspective. There will also be unmarked spoilers for gameplay and story.
What a stunning piece of writing about a game I can't stop thinking about
Thank you for your words. Twords the end of your essay i suddenly remembered a comment I found online on a discussion of queer acceptance: no place by us, no place for us. It's an emotion i think about from time to time, and perhaps something felt by 1000xResist.
Excellent writing, I have to reread this later and let it stew more but I definitely felt the pull of returning to china but being non han that feeling is pretty complicated.
upon reading this comment, i decided to add han chinese references a bit too. but yeah, it’s extremely complicated and i still have no idea what to think (hence this post being tangential and too long from my own perspective).
this was a really nice read, thank you for posting. it's nice to learn about other diasporas
thank you, i’m looking forward to other diasporic takes myself!
kastel, your writing always feels so intimate... i'm really glad i read this!
thank you! i felt like i spilled all of my brain juices on what hong kong means to me lol.
Some of the best writing I've had the pleasure of reading on this webbed site. Thank you.
wonderful writeup that gave me a lot of perspective about the game's sociopolitical ins and outs. truly a special game that we'll be talking about some time and i cherish the insight you bring to the table. like Everything Everywhere, there's an incredible density here, you can look at this game through like 5 different lenses or more. it just begs to be discussed, thought about, ruminated on. hekki allmo sister
Having a deeper understanding of the diaspora-centric issues this game is handling and the way those themes echo and reverberate throughout the game's entire narrative definitely helps with my already huge appreciation for the game.
Appreciate the added perspective as someone who was familiar with these things on a surface level.
thank you for reading it and i especially liked to see your posts on social media talking up about the game :-)
This is so good. Thanks for adding your point of view in such a poignant way. There's something universal about the game's story but also something deeply specific to this diasporic experience, which you speak to wonderfully here.
thanks for the kind words and always good to hear people are playing the game :-)
Made an account (or logged into an account I made years ago then forgot about) just to say I deeply appreciated this post. It affirmed a lot of thoughts I had about this game's narrative and what it meant to convey, though I myself lacked the vocabulary or lived experiences for to place a finger on it that went beyond a superficial reading of the text.
I especially find the final point made about this game's intended audience being for a hypothetical upcoming generation fascinating. I think that especially jumps out between the last exchange Iris has with her mother in the final chapter when her mother commends her for having never looked back. I feel like for how lowkey it is in the larger scale of the story at that point, its maybe the most explicit statement that the developers make on what they think people need to be taking from this game even as it slots into the logic of the narrative and the mother character. AAAAA such a fascinating and incredible game.
in a podcast interview, remy siu (creative director) brought up how provocative my claim that it is a game for the future generation. it taught them what they're trying to make. it's a bit flattering lol.
but yeah, the dialog between iris and her mom made me feel this way. i just thought the people who would find this extremely beautiful are the irises of the future.
I've had this link sitting in a discord channel and then waiting for me in my safari tabs for days. I finally read your writing, and I'm floored.
Thank you so much for your perspective and your incredible way with words.
hello!
i don't know how to say this but thanks for the article i am a 16 year old who is trying his best to leave hong kong asap and i really appreciate this article and the game itself without this article ion think i wouldve tried out the game
also i would like to add the virus symptoms are 1:1 with tear gas symptoms and also one of the sign that block the train station at the start of chapter 5 references to a IRL hk street that is really close to prince edward station
Finally got around to reading this article in light of the news of Cohost's imminent shut down. Hopefully this will be preserved elsewhere because it really is an impactful read.
(edit: nvm i found it on your other website lol)
