Degeneracy
February 6, 2024
last updated February 13, 2024
degeneracy by leonard richardson has a very off-putting title to the point i almost didn’t play it. i only did so in the end because my mentor suggested it might be a criticism of the idea of “degeneracy” in general.
the title fits the game. you play as a holy knight. you’ve just slain an evil baron, and now you must escape said baron’s keep. in that respect, this is a pretty typical puzzler. what sets this apart is the very archaic writing style & narrative voice. here’s the opening text:
The glitterings of Gold, Jewels, Tapestries, &c. belie the Corruption of he who ’til recently occupied this high Seat. A white Carpet, once flanked by Sycophants & Counsellors, now lies untravelled. It leads away from the Seat & towards the Sunrise.
The cruel Baron lies at your feet, dyeing the carpet scarlet with his blood.
the viewpoint character is concerned with righteousness and sin and such. the baron’s sin is the titular degeneracy — he’s a vile man who does blood sacrifices, collects tomes on wicked arts, and has premarital sex. this view so thoroughly permeates the narration that the game’s incapable of actually criticizing it. i’m uncomfortable with this, but i can sort of respect committing this hard to characterization through narration.
there’s a double meaning to the title, though. it’s important to my thoughts about the game, but it’s also a big reveal, so i’m hiding it away.
big twist spoilers (click to reveal)
the baron’s put a curse on his castle. the longer you spend there, the less fleshed out it becomes. emily short describes this in the if theory reader as the castle’s becoming “progressively less well-implemented.” that description was so intriguing it got me to play the game despite its title.
this effect only kind of works. the gradual degradation of reality largely manifests as no longer being able to examine background objects. it’s the kind of meta move i should be all about, but it only works for me in the extremes. when reality decays enough, certain rooms entirely lose their description. the kitchen becomes room 3 and so on. the striking sparsity of that is compelling, but otherwise it doesn’t really do it for me. the game just gets less interesting the more it continues.
this also leads to some deeply unpleasant ideological conclusions. the narrator’s view not only goes uncriticized; it’s vindicated. the bishop’s “degeneracy” extends to the point it’s an actual threat to local reality. his moral decay extends to the space around him. he is figuratively rotting the world.
i really don’t like this worldview. i respect this game as a formal experiment, but in the end it just leaves a bad taste in my mouth.
i don’t think it’s unfair to expect consideration when using such a loaded word in your title. perhaps worth examining, but i can’t recommend it on the merits.