- Code provided by studio Amanita Design
- Completed in about 4 hours
Five years have passed since the end of thepoint ‘n clickpsychedelic horrorHappy Game, penultimate game created by Amanita Design. Today, changing atmosphere withPhonopolis, the result of a long-term work and dystopic work that marks the return of the Czech studio to the forefront of the independent scene.
Phonopoulet
In the dystopic city of Phonopolis, life is orchestrated by ubiquitous speakers who dictate every aspect of the inhabitants' existence. Citizens, subject to the orders of the authoritarian Leader, work in unison to realize his great vision. Soon the absolute tone, such a powerful sound that it would deprive every citizen of his humanity forever, will sound. In any case, this is the evil plan that was planned until a garbageman named Felix found a noise-proof helmet in the rubble of an old opera, making him the only person able to regain control of his thoughts and thus become aware of the threat.
Inspired by the works of George Orwell, no longer presented and by the Czechoslovak writerKarel Čapek, the history ofPhonopolisexplores with humour and lightness the themes of social manipulation, individualism and totalitarianism. Smile in hand, we really feel like we're going through a hybrid between an interactive animation film and a children's story book. I am thinking particularly of the so-called books. «animated » or «pop-up», which see the illustrations expand and rise in relief when turning the pages.
Graphically, the rendering is striking and you quickly understand whyPhonopolishas required not far from six years of craft and development. As such, I strongly recommend viewing the documentaryBuilding Phonopolis, available on the Youtube channel of Amanita Design. There we learn a lot about the challenges of the development process of such a UFO halfway between video game and work « Physical », on the ethical philosophy of the studio, but also on the division of tasks within this small team so talented.
PhonopolisHe drew his inspiration mainly from the avant-garde art of the interwar period (1918-1939), a period of intense creative effervescence. Indeed, with its 18.6 million deaths, the Great War had logically been a real moral shock to society at the time. As a result, the signing of the Armistice on 11 November 1918 had once marked the beginning of a new wave of rejection of the traditional values advocated so far, and these are the questions raised by the European Parliament.status quowhich gave rise to the emergence of radical thinking (dadaism, surrealism, constructivism, suprematism, etc.) aimed at redefining society through aesthetic and political innovation.
You will understand, visually,Phonopolisis a success and looks absolutely like no other video creation. More original, you die! It's also a game that will always appear as sublime in decades, while Joel and Ellie will seem to us to be very out of date graphically speaking.
Level sensations, expect to browse a deliciously experimental title, with what this may involve rare micro-frustrations for modern players that we are, so accustomed to clicking all-va on the icons of our screens, with an instant answer to the key. As the developer Petr Filipovic so well says in themaking-of, Phonopolisis a game that asks us to take the time to look at it, and this logic also applies to its reflection phases. Clicking on an item on the screen will often trigger a short animation that is impossible to skipper, which should take the time to admire and analyze in order to achieve a global solution. This artistic party eventually proved frustrating only on the occasion of a convoluted puzzle on which I had long blocked and which put my patience to the test. But I've recovered!
Finally,Phonopolistranscends our esgourdes with compositions that never hesitate to degrade the sounds of the instruments and to dissipate them again and again to result ina hypnotizing resultand stubborn that would not have deniedLuigi Russolo, an Italian painter and composer of 19ndcentury considered, if I believe Wikipedia, as the father of noise music. And two Saints Luigi! The musician is also cited as an inspiration by Amanita.
The Amanita Design paw is in my eyes and above all the attention to detail coupled with specialization in creating worlds seen nowhere else; andPhonopolisdoes not derogate from the rule in this respect. When one arrives at the end of the four hours that the game requires to see the credits scroll, one feels really lucky and moved to have been able to put his hands on such an atypical work and demanding from the point of view of the colossal effort that he demanded his making. Both modern, timeless and in the artistically disruptive line of the studio's previous productions,Phonopolishas shaken us and will leave a lasting imprint on the glorious genre of the ‘n click point.
Well, it's really beautiful. Impressed by artistic direction. It's goldsmith work there.
We agree, it's extremely impressive. They're very talented at Amanita.