michael lutz
@ztul.bsky.social
"warrenisdead". he/him. boston-ish. phd thinking about media and making podcasts for @rangedtouch.bsky.social. writer and narrative designer. Project C for @halfmermaid.co inquiries: j.michael.lutz at gmail
Can you imagine it, Tom: if they were all bipedal turtles and Simpsons?
December 20, 2025 at 3:57 AM
Can you imagine it, Tom: if they were all bipedal turtles and Simpsons?
One last thought, incidental and a spoiler, so I'll rot13 it:
V xabj lbh pna ernq vagb vg Gurzngvpnyyl be jungrire ohg "jr sbhaq na nyvra ba gur zbba naq vg tbg vagb bhe ubhfr naq pubxrq gb qrngu ba na nccyr" vf fhpu n shaal shpxvat fgbel orng. Vg'f yvxr n fuvgcbfg V'q znxr
V xabj lbh pna ernq vagb vg Gurzngvpnyyl be jungrire ohg "jr sbhaq na nyvra ba gur zbba naq vg tbg vagb bhe ubhfr naq pubxrq gb qrngu ba na nccyr" vf fhpu n shaal shpxvat fgbel orng. Vg'f yvxr n fuvgcbfg V'q znxr
December 20, 2025 at 3:05 AM
One last thought, incidental and a spoiler, so I'll rot13 it:
V xabj lbh pna ernq vagb vg Gurzngvpnyyl be jungrire ohg "jr sbhaq na nyvra ba gur zbba naq vg tbg vagb bhe ubhfr naq pubxrq gb qrngu ba na nccyr" vf fhpu n shaal shpxvat fgbel orng. Vg'f yvxr n fuvgcbfg V'q znxr
V xabj lbh pna ernq vagb vg Gurzngvpnyyl be jungrire ohg "jr sbhaq na nyvra ba gur zbba naq vg tbg vagb bhe ubhfr naq pubxrq gb qrngu ba na nccyr" vf fhpu n shaal shpxvat fgbel orng. Vg'f yvxr n fuvgcbfg V'q znxr
There's some neat stuff in there (like evocations of William Gibson's "Hinterlands") but, again, it all lacks the weight of meaningful character or context. I love the little robot that does Twin Peaks dreamtalk and simultaneously wanted more of them and am relieved they didn't get overexposed.
December 20, 2025 at 3:05 AM
There's some neat stuff in there (like evocations of William Gibson's "Hinterlands") but, again, it all lacks the weight of meaningful character or context. I love the little robot that does Twin Peaks dreamtalk and simultaneously wanted more of them and am relieved they didn't get overexposed.
To put this differently, the game is narratively oblique. I'm fairly certain I know "what happened", as that feels actually quite clear, but I struggle to think of a cogent, plausible sequence of events that results in the various outcomes you witness in the spaces you explore.
December 20, 2025 at 3:05 AM
To put this differently, the game is narratively oblique. I'm fairly certain I know "what happened", as that feels actually quite clear, but I struggle to think of a cogent, plausible sequence of events that results in the various outcomes you witness in the spaces you explore.
I know "story" was one of the sticking points in the development, so I'm curious what those plans were and what changed. What we get feels like a selection of notes from different drafts, carefully cut down and fragmented in a way to leave gaps for the player to imagine the connective tissue.
December 20, 2025 at 3:05 AM
I know "story" was one of the sticking points in the development, so I'm curious what those plans were and what changed. What we get feels like a selection of notes from different drafts, carefully cut down and fragmented in a way to leave gaps for the player to imagine the connective tissue.
Not a fair comp given resources, etc, but with Routine's arc, it's very hard not to think of Prey's Talos I and how much that game's attention to the interrelation of earthly geopolitics and the space station tell a whole story of a society that contextualizes the action in a really satisfying way.
December 20, 2025 at 3:05 AM
Not a fair comp given resources, etc, but with Routine's arc, it's very hard not to think of Prey's Talos I and how much that game's attention to the interrelation of earthly geopolitics and the space station tell a whole story of a society that contextualizes the action in a really satisfying way.
There's this extremely cool, ultra-greebled 90s retrofuture aesthetic, and absolutely no sense at all of the world that exists in. It's an alternate history 1999, but might as well be the year 3000 or in another solar system. What happened or is happening on earth that got us here? Who knows!
December 20, 2025 at 3:05 AM
There's this extremely cool, ultra-greebled 90s retrofuture aesthetic, and absolutely no sense at all of the world that exists in. It's an alternate history 1999, but might as well be the year 3000 or in another solar system. What happened or is happening on earth that got us here? Who knows!
It's mechanically thin, which I think can be fine if the story is interesting, but sadly that's even thinner. I'll avoid spoilers but it hit "oh that's much less interesting than what I thought could be happening" pretty quickly for me. And it does a poor job offering any stakes for that narrative.
December 20, 2025 at 3:05 AM
It's mechanically thin, which I think can be fine if the story is interesting, but sadly that's even thinner. I'll avoid spoilers but it hit "oh that's much less interesting than what I thought could be happening" pretty quickly for me. And it does a poor job offering any stakes for that narrative.
yeah becoming the basic infrastructure of the internet for a sizable chunk of the world does, uhhh, make this suck a great deal more in its consequences
December 19, 2025 at 3:33 PM
yeah becoming the basic infrastructure of the internet for a sizable chunk of the world does, uhhh, make this suck a great deal more in its consequences