Tetris Attack is one of my favorite puzzle games. Despite the fact it was created in the 90s, it still holds up incredibly well in terms of game feel. Sadly, I eventually stopped playing it entirely because whenever I would close my eyes, I would see the game. I could see the blocks along with their colors and movement as if my eyes were open. I asked about this, and I was told that it was probably due to how bright and saturated the graphics in the game are, along with how simple the shape of a square grid is. It must've been an after image, right? Either way, it slightly frightened me, so I stopped playing.

One day, I see the trailer for hyper demon for the first time, and I was thoroughly confused yet highly intrigued. My first thought was that it looked like a fake video game you'd see in a movie or something. My second thought is that it looked like a dream. I read the store page and reviews for it, and it felt like I was reading about Polybius. It just didn't seem real.

I now own the game, and for the first time, I realize that it wasn't due to the saturated, brightly colored squares that caused me to see Tetris Attack while my eyes were closed. For a significant amount of time after quitting Hyper Demon, I see it. I see the gems going straight into my eyes. I see the enemy types barreling towards me, moving like they would in game. Yet, there aren't any square grids, and there aren't any saturated colors. Tell me: why is it only these two games that have this effect on me?

I need to do actual research on this, but my hypothesis comes from a little word I found on the store page: "Phantasmagoria". Could it be that the black background combined with the circular greyish shapes moving around resembles the normal noise you see when closing your eyes? Perhaps the brain fills in the gaps and sees the useless, blobby noise and imprints as the floating skulls if a play session is long enough. Could this have been intentional? Perhaps it wasn't intentional, and the game has this art style to ensure absolute clarity. Clarity just happens to be much easier for the brain to visually reproduce. But if it was intentional... then that's pretty rad. I won't play any other games until I get the deicide achievement. Until then, I'll just have to get used to seeing floating skulls every time I blink. #1 game of the year.



UPDATE:
I did it... I actually did it. Just under 10 hours of play time, most of which was today, and I did it. 470 deaths later... and never once did I boot up another game.

5 times, I got to the god, but only on the final attempt did I slay it. My head feels light. My stomach feels empty. My lips feel dry. My eyes don't burn, but... I see the skulls while they're open. If i look at something dark, I see the them. My vision feels like its rotating. The edges of my field of view are warped. Yet, I am finally at peace. I screamed in excitement when I realized I hit that final 6th shot.

Devil Daggers is hell, Hyper Demon is... Well, Hyper Demon is HYPER DEMON. Buy this game.




𝐒𝐄𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐃 𝐔𝐏𝐃𝐀𝐓𝐄:

𝐀𝐂𝐇𝐈𝐄𝐕𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝟑𝟓𝟎+ 𝐈𝐒 𝐄𝐗𝐏𝐄𝐑𝐈𝐄𝐍𝐂𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐌𝐎𝐒𝐓 𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐍𝐒𝐄 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐏𝐀𝐈𝐍𝐅𝐔𝐋 𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐌 𝐎𝐅 𝐅𝐀𝐈𝐋𝐔𝐑𝐄 𝐌𝐀𝐍𝐘, 𝐌𝐀𝐍𝐘 𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄𝐒 𝐎𝐕𝐄𝐑 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐎𝐕𝐄𝐑 𝐀𝐆𝐀𝐈𝐍: 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐅𝐄𝐄𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐎𝐅 𝐁𝐄𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐒𝐎 𝐂𝐋𝐎𝐒𝐄 𝐓𝐎 𝐒𝐔𝐂𝐂𝐄𝐒𝐒, 𝐘𝐄𝐓 𝐁𝐋𝐔𝐍𝐃𝐄𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐃𝐔𝐄 𝐓𝐎 𝐘𝐎𝐔𝐑 𝐎𝐖𝐍 𝐈𝐌𝐏𝐄𝐑𝐅𝐄𝐂𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍 𝐀𝐒 𝐀 𝐇𝐔𝐌𝐀𝐍.

𝐍𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐑 𝐆𝐈𝐕𝐄 𝐔𝐏. 𝐍𝐎 𝐌𝐀𝐓𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐇𝐎𝐖 𝐌𝐔𝐂𝐇 𝐏𝐀𝐈𝐍, 𝐍𝐎 𝐌𝐀𝐓𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐇𝐎𝐖 𝐌𝐀𝐍𝐘 𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄𝐒 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐅𝐀𝐋𝐋, 𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐍 𝐈𝐅 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐍𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐑 𝐀𝐂𝐂𝐎𝐌𝐏𝐋𝐈𝐒𝐇 𝐘𝐎𝐔𝐑 𝐆𝐎𝐀𝐋𝐒: 𝐈𝐓 𝐈𝐒 𝐘𝐎𝐔𝐑 𝐃𝐔𝐓𝐘 𝐓𝐎 𝐘𝐎𝐔𝐑𝐒𝐄𝐋𝐅 𝐓𝐎 𝐊𝐄𝐄𝐏 𝐎𝐍 𝐆𝐎𝐈𝐍𝐆.

I hate that I can't feel true happiness in life without also feeling excruciating pain.
The amount of failure I experience directly correlates with how good I feel upon succeeding.
I wish that I could feel good without feeling bad.
I wish that feeling bad didn't make me feel good.
After all these hours of torment, I finally got my shiny Devil Dagger.
In the end, was it really worth it?
Could anything justify the intense hardship I've went through?
Should I have quit before the pain got so intense?
There are no correct answers here.
Whether the Devil Daggers are a curse or a blessing is undecided.
Just never forget that when you're tempted by a devil, be prepared to face the consequences.
If you really, really want that shiny dagger, you can have it... but a devil is not a saint, a devil is a merchant.

Well, like they say in Brooklyn: even a devil may dagger when pissed and shidded and farded and camed