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"Collage is the noble conquest of the irrational, the coupling of two realities, irreconcilable in appearance, upon a plane which apparently does not suit them." (Max Ernst)

Middens is an exploration game using collage and original pixel art in tandem that takes the perspective of a drifter traversing a veritable x-zone. Roving its interminable wastes the nomad chances upon a sentient revolver beside an ominous pile of remains.
The pistol offers its exploit in exchange for a pledge of inextricable companionship. Espousing to be the player's conscience the dubious weapon directs the drifter to a nearby outpost wherein the story further unfolds.

Despite its appearance as a wasteland the rift is home to many strange denizens---
some volatile and others ineffectual. Whatever their disposition the pistol represents the choice to engage them or to spare them. Aggression and passivity have their appropriate times with rewards and consequences being granted to both paths respectively.


Latest Blog

Where They Cremate the Roadkill



A thread of three lives confront the personification of appearances as it grows from larva to adult.

At the dead-end of the future a telepath assists the embodiment of insanity and is marooned in the mind of a flea.

In the primeval past one quadruped forages for food as a sentient cancer swallows the last of Earth’s living tissue.

Between the present’s many crossroads a jobless coolie that cannot die kills for rebellion and revenge.

All this as a desire for sleep returns in the heart of existence.

Where They Cremate the Roadkill is an experimental action-oriented RPG now available on Steam:

http://store.steampowered.com/app/705610/Where_They_Cremate_The_Roadkill/
  • Completed
  • myformerselves
  • kumada
  • RPG Maker XP
  • RPG
  • 02/27/2012 07:06 PM
  • 04/25/2022 05:20 PM
  • 09/21/2012
  • 781364
  • 171
  • 29149

Posts

The hard part for me wasn't figuring out that I need to kill things, but figuring out that I needed to
use the Talking Revolver in the menu after collecting at least 30 Nothings.


What really struck me as odd was that
after killing over 80 creatures and then the Nomad himself, the revolver said my blood tasted like that of a pacifist.
author=Fugue
when all you have is a hammer, everything starts to look like a nail.

That's a great quote to describe the game. I think much of the meaning of Middens is pivoted on that point. For instance there's a conversation with the gun where it explicitly states that its life cycle is

rooted in the killing of other creatures. Making the Nomad a sort of parasitic host to the gun.


It also reminded me of the quote of how violence begets violence. Weapons create the need for more weapons.

My older brothers are obsessed with the Call of Duty franchise and in that the main goal is to shoot and kill hyper realistic imitations of humans. I appreciated that Middens purposely makes the player uncomfortable with killing at first but eventually the act becomes so routine that the player learns to ignore the pleading of their victims and just go in for "point blank".
Gibmaker
I hate RPG Maker because of what it has done to me
9274
author=Fugue
i like how some of the inhabitants of the rift are not at all innocuous. like "mr. williams/quiddity".


mr. williams rocks
author=nin8halos
The hard part for me wasn't figuring out that I need to kill things, but figuring out that I needed to
use the Talking Revolver in the menu after collecting at least 30 Nothings.


What really struck me as odd was that
after killing over 80 creatures and then the Nomad himself, the revolver said my blood tasted like that of a pacifist.


i wish i hadn't read that spoiler, but since i have...I'm fairly certain the revolver is an "unreliable narrator"
author=bargainbinbible
For instance there's a conversation with the gun where it explicitly states that its life cycle is

rooted in the killing of other creatures. Making the Nomad a sort of parasitic host to the gun.


This is part of why I wish so much that this game had a more developed story. I find that kind of thing fascinating. There's a lot of character dynamics that can be implied from that.
Marrend
Guardian of the Description Thread
21781
End-game commentary ahead.

The way the game handles how the end-game is triggered is interesting. Using the gun in the inventory? Utilizing the "Exuent Nomad" ability, suggesting that Nomad shot himself? Personally, I'm reminded of the FMV in Shin Megami Tensei - Persona 3 where a character shoots himself in his head to call forth his persona.

When the gun says "You play games when you're bored, right?" I mentally re-phrased it as "You're bored with this game, right? That's why you're here, at the end-game, fighting me." I dunno, I just found this sequence amazingly ironic. That the player has to choose to shoot the character in the head in order to end the game. And it's totally possible that some of that decision might be because of boredom.

is it just me or is there a bit of an "old school final fantasy art" vibe... like the concept images and character sketches? i guess what im saying is, i love the use of color.
This looks fabulously unique and bizarre, David Cronenberg would definitely jump on the film adaptation heh
Marrend
Guardian of the Description Thread
21781
author=notices
The status for Middens was changed to Completed.


I swear, the status of this game was "Completed" when I was downloading Version 1.7 (which is the version I based my review on, by the way). Maybe I just thought it was completed?

Geeze, even after I finish the game, it still messes with me!
Gibmaker
I hate RPG Maker because of what it has done to me
9274
author=Marrend
author=notices
The status for Middens was changed to Completed.
I swear, the status of this game was "Completed" when I was downloading Version 1.7 (which is the version I based my review on, by the way). Maybe I just thought it was completed?

Geeze, even after I finish the game, it still messes with me!

you never stop playing this game
>_>
<_<
I started playing this like an RPG and was bored. I almost quit. Then I remembered what you said about not having to play the game in any one way so I decided to just explore and play my guitar. A wise choice, cause then I was able to enjoy the art style of the game. Mostly a visual expereince. The writing didn't interest me very much. The whole wacky randomness thing is not my cup of tea(it's like Space Funeral), but man, this game is a trip and I enjoyed it.(I may have been "tripping" myself ;P)

I encountered lots of passability errors and events that didn't keep the proper facing(so their graphics changes if I talked to them from different sides). At first I couldn't tell if it was intentional or not haha but I figured it was after a while of seeing it. I played for exactly 2 hours and explored the first area of the Love Bus routes and most of the second. Oh, on the bus I was able to fight Better Man about 7 times. I power leveled on him to level 9 the first time I got on the bus. Also, with the events that make you sit, if you touch them from the sides you aren't lined up with the seats but still move up a few tiles. I think it's an error...

There was some general design choices that bothered me, like exiting a map on the right side and appearing on a new map on the right side going the other way. So a few times I end up going back to the first map because I'm still holding right after the transition(cause normally I'd still be going right!). Some of the placements of transitions were obscure, it wasn't always clear where on the map I could go to move to a new area. I didn't like having to go into the menu/skills to play my guitar. Something like that deserves it's own button. Some skills seemed useless, like why would I want to desummon? Unless I got MP back from it or something.

The battles were more interesting at level 9, but still not great. Probably due to balance, you can't fight much between saves. The concept of summoning those guys was neat. At first it felt like 70mp was a lot for the summon, but I got the hang of it eventually. I just wish there were more save points. Not having many sort of discourages fighting along the way, I found. Which may have been intentional, but there were so many enemies that it's like you were baiting the player to fight ha
got a mirror site for this? found this through indiegames but this site seems to allow only a limited amount of downloads
Marrend
Guardian of the Description Thread
21781
author=mediakill
got a mirror site for this? found this through indiegames but this site seems to allow only a limited amount of downloads

Did you get a message, like, "Download limit reached"? That's just a precaution against multiple downloads in a limited amount of time. In an hour, maybe two, you should be good.
So, I woke up this morning with a theory. It's cracked out, but given that it's a theory about Middens, that's actually kinda appropriate.

You ready for it?

The gun isn't a parasite latched on to a random host. The Nomad is its child.

Stop and consider.

The game will not play without the Nomad accepting the gun, and--even when the two are apart--he always has access to the gun's abilities. Moreover, the gun is a creature that lives through countless destruction. It actually makes sense that it would kill itself in order to reproduce. When the Nomad destroys it, that's part of a cycle. It's already laid a seed in him (the bullet in his brain, delivered when you choose to Exeunt Nomad) and taught him its way of life (murdering the inhabitants of the rift.) Moreover, he has never once questioned it. It demands things of him, and he obeys like a child following the commands of its mother.

In time, the Nomad will change. His body will become more metallic as his armor becomes more pronounced. His features will shift and lengthen, becoming tapered and cylindrical. In the end, only an eye and a mouth will remain of him. The rest will be the gun. And he will begin to grow a new child to wield him.

This explains the Nomad's inability to socialize with the other inhabitants of the rift. It explains where the gun comes from, and where it goes. It explains the (mostly) non-linear nature of the game. And I was totally sober when I came up with it.

Gibmaker is right. You never stop playing this game.
Ooh, I was interested in this when I saw it a few days ago. Definitely downloading now that it's featured.
I'm not even surprised that this game is featured! I thought it was cool before it was popular! Kidding. Lame joke. I'll shut up now.
Gibmaker
I hate RPG Maker because of what it has done to me
9274
Seems only natural that this awesome and strange game would be featured. Hey why aren't I playing it right now
Initial impressions: The atmosphere is nice, but it could use some proofreading. I'm noticing a lot of dropped commas and missing spaces. Other than that, looks fairly interesting. I've tried not to kill anything yet, we'll see how that turns out. The game's a bit reminiscent of Yume Nikki, I think.
Holy Fu-... This looks AMAZING! I will be downloading this today.