Everblue
(sorry for the blurry captures. I’m playing in PCSX2 with blended interlacing. If I didn’t do that, the screen would vibrate and give me a major headache, so I hope this small headache is tolerable enough.)
Arika is now my favorite PS2 studio. Beautiful name: a jumble of “Akira” that nearly whispers “eureka.” That sort of thoughtfulness directed to quaint details drives the design of Everblue.
I wake up from a dream. In this dream, I had died, but I still feel pulled toward making my dream life real. I was diving; I had discovered something forgotten. I wake up to blue skies and people saying “hello.” The world on land is nice, but nothing feels as real as the cyan-dyed universe underwater.
Something is drawing me to Everblue.
My partner’s name is Marco. He watches me as I dive and manages to acquire tea and hats while I’m gone. We sell what we find, but we have no needs. There is a man who is also looking for treasure. We steal his tips and his equipment. We shrug when he complains.
I’m getting closer to what draws me to Everblue.
There is an old car on the street, maybe it still runs. There is a drunk sitting next to it. He is proud of his talents and asks me to give me any spirits I find underwater. I hand him whatever ancient gins, weizens, or stouts that had been casked in sunken ships. He gives me his tasting notes.
I’m nearly on top of what draws me to Everblue.
The ocean seems featureless if you are not looking, if you are not listening. Like a bat, I call out to the world. Sometimes, lost items call back. I’m living the dream I imagined when I saw a man with a metal detector comb the beach in Maine. I’m staring at the world of huge possibilities I had only glimpsed when I had dropped my watch into a lake and realized that there must be at least a dozen more watches like mine planted in the lakebed.
This is it. This is what draws me. There is an infinite world underwater, on land, in each person. It’s enough to just see a fraction and know a little more.