Fairy Tale Spotlight: Maize [Video Game Review]

"Maize" is an adventure video game released in 2016. I've played it through twice. I think I meant to review it back when I finished it the first time but simply forgot to do it.

The basic story of "Maize" is that you wake up in a strange cornfield with no memory of who you are or why you are there. Very quickly you find out that some of the corn are not only alive but sentient beings. They even have faces and can talk, although they don't seem very intelligent, as one might expect of corn.

Soon, you find out the the farm is on top of an extremely large secret facility. While exploring it, you end up finding one of the most entertaining characters I have ever met in a video game. His name is Vladdy. He is a talking, Russian, robot, teddy bear... and he hates you. He constantly reminds you about how stupid you are. It's wonderful. Pretty much this character alone made this game worth playing a second time. Seriously, look up a trailer for this game so you can see and hear him.

The gameplay consists mainly of finding things and figuring out where those things go. It's basically a simple adventure game. The enjoyment comes from just taking in the whole world and learning about all the details of how it came to be. Everything is built upon comedy, but it is presented in a very surreal manner that makes it all fascinating. This is a good way to do comedy.

The comedy itself is quite absurd, but dry enough so you can kind of relax and take it all in. An example of this was that the lab has a really awful cheap security system which is painfully easy to circumvent. In order to pass by a facial recognition scanner, all I had to do was do an "Etch A Sketch" drawing of the man I am trying to impersonate (a really bad one, by the way) and then dress it up in an old jacket. Instant access. Yes, it's really that stupid.

Actually the word "stupid" is a prevailing aspect of the whole experience. The game owns stupidity as almost a way of life. Throughout the game, nearly every character you meet seems like a complete moron. You are also called "stupid" and an "idiot," usually by Vladdy. And as you play through the campaign... you actually may begin to wonder if you really are stupid.

The concept that you are just as stupid as the people around you is not something I am used to in games. Usually we assume that we are, at the very least, the one hero that can solve the problem. But this game doesn't really do that. No. You're an idiot, and the game lets you know that... and also that... it's kind of okay to be an idiot... as long as things work out.

If you can get your hands on a copy of "Maize" you really should. It's worth it for its very surreal brand of comedy and adventure. Just keep in mind that the humor is often very slowly paced and heavily based on your own personal investment in this strange world. Give it a try. Do it for that Russian robot bear who hates you. Also do look up that trailer. It's really quite fun to watch.

This blog was written on May 3, 2023.

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