by Qwanon » Tue Sep 05, 2023 8:47 pm
In 1983 Harry Horse wrote a poem covering the whole history of mankind from its genesis by the hands of an alien race from the fallen 10th Planet of the Solar System, to its coming apocalypse - and, in between, the total war for truth being fought behind the veil. Perhaps for a greater exposure, Harry credited his poem to 19th century poet Richard Horne (which was also Harry Horse's real name), but this "forgery" was discovered and the poem was forgotten. Around 1993 Harry Horse played
Myst, and found in videogames, at last, the perfect platform for his epic tale - leading to the creation of
Drowned God: Conspiracy of the Ages.
For what is worth, the game is still a poem - full of rhyme, symbols and music. The game is linear, but it advances not through a narrative logic, but more of a lyrical one. Things tie into one another not by cause-and-effect but by mental association. Places are multiple places at once, people are multiple people at once. Harry Horse relates us about his vision about the secret history of humanity through superposing voices and sources and ideas. The game is bizarre, ambiguous, and at parts incomprehensible - but never nonsensical.
You play as a "Chosen", assigned a number, a symbol and an animal depending on your name, and are asked to venture into four different realms in search of four different relics: the Holy Grail, the Rod of Osiris, the Philosopher Stone and the Ark of the Covenant. These realms are not concrete places: while the four of them are very different from the rest in style, we should think of them more as "psychic realms" (as the trailer says), or layers of reality. In them different places and times amalgamate into one: for example Chesed, the second realm, is Teotihuacan and the Bermuda triangle
at once. Time, as well, is simultaneous. On the words, in-game, of Albert Einstein: "The passing of time is an illusion. In reality, the past, the present and the future are one" - indeed, you meet Albert Einstein, in the same realm as you get acquaintance with the reality of the tale of King Arthur.
Binah
Chesed
Din
Chokmah
You meet several characters: some historical figures, some mythological ones, some purely symbolic, and the borders between these are hard to define - again, multiple characters are the same character at once. But could you trust any of them? Many characters are portrayed in dyads, from Kether and Malkuth to Einstein and Newton to Crowley and Jung. And none of them tell the full truth: it could be because they are limited to their own ignorance, because they want to keep you from finding the truth, because they want to manipulate you into doing something, or because you fail to understand them. Everyone contradicts the other. Even the many "documents" that are there to read are dependent in a certain point of view, those who wrote it (like MJ12) are limited both by their narrow vision and their wider agenda - even the established truths you find out will be put into question as you go further.
I don't wanna do much analysis in this post, which I might do later: I just wanted to talk about this game. If it interests you, the game is now abandonware and easy to find. You can find more art by Harry in here:
https://www.harryhorse.co.uk/ . I purposefully avoided to talk about Harry's later life and tragic death, because it has already attracted too much morbid interest.
Drowned God is now one of my favorite works of art of all time. I love this game, and I hope you can love it too.
In 1983 Harry Horse wrote a poem covering the whole history of mankind from its genesis by the hands of an alien race from the fallen 10th Planet of the Solar System, to its coming apocalypse - and, in between, the total war for truth being fought behind the veil. Perhaps for a greater exposure, Harry credited his poem to 19th century poet Richard Horne (which was also Harry Horse's real name), but this "forgery" was discovered and the poem was forgotten. Around 1993 Harry Horse played [i]Myst[/i], and found in videogames, at last, the perfect platform for his epic tale - leading to the creation of [b]Drowned God: Conspiracy of the Ages[/b].
[img]https://ia802901.us.archive.org/23/items/drownedgod1996.7z/Drowned-God-1996.png[/img]
[media]https://youtu.be/8OnC4FLdypk[/media]
For what is worth, the game is still a poem - full of rhyme, symbols and music. The game is linear, but it advances not through a narrative logic, but more of a lyrical one. Things tie into one another not by cause-and-effect but by mental association. Places are multiple places at once, people are multiple people at once. Harry Horse relates us about his vision about the secret history of humanity through superposing voices and sources and ideas. The game is bizarre, ambiguous, and at parts incomprehensible - but never nonsensical.
[media]https://youtu.be/2rrwSmu8PD8[/media]
You play as a "Chosen", assigned a number, a symbol and an animal depending on your name, and are asked to venture into four different realms in search of four different relics: the Holy Grail, the Rod of Osiris, the Philosopher Stone and the Ark of the Covenant. These realms are not concrete places: while the four of them are very different from the rest in style, we should think of them more as "psychic realms" (as the trailer says), or layers of reality. In them different places and times amalgamate into one: for example Chesed, the second realm, is Teotihuacan and the Bermuda triangle [b]at once[/b]. Time, as well, is simultaneous. On the words, in-game, of Albert Einstein: "The passing of time is an illusion. In reality, the past, the present and the future are one" - indeed, you meet Albert Einstein, in the same realm as you get acquaintance with the reality of the tale of King Arthur.
[size=150][i]Binah[/i][/size]
[img]https://i.ibb.co/wSdvWr8/Binah.png[/img]
[size=150][i]Chesed[/i][/size]
[img]https://i.ibb.co/PNz3BZg/Chesed.png[/img]
[size=150][i]Din[/i][/size]
[img]https://i.ibb.co/MS4nfWk/Din.png[/img]
[size=150][i]Chokmah[/i][/size]
[img]https://i.ibb.co/Tkmtq8D/Chokmah.png[/img]
You meet several characters: some historical figures, some mythological ones, some purely symbolic, and the borders between these are hard to define - again, multiple characters are the same character at once. But could you trust any of them? Many characters are portrayed in dyads, from Kether and Malkuth to Einstein and Newton to Crowley and Jung. And none of them tell the full truth: it could be because they are limited to their own ignorance, because they want to keep you from finding the truth, because they want to manipulate you into doing something, or because you fail to understand them. Everyone contradicts the other. Even the many "documents" that are there to read are dependent in a certain point of view, those who wrote it (like MJ12) are limited both by their narrow vision and their wider agenda - even the established truths you find out will be put into question as you go further.
[media]https://youtu.be/sFl5rKWlOS8[/media]
I don't wanna do much analysis in this post, which I might do later: I just wanted to talk about this game. If it interests you, the game is now abandonware and easy to find. You can find more art by Harry in here: https://www.harryhorse.co.uk/ . I purposefully avoided to talk about Harry's later life and tragic death, because it has already attracted too much morbid interest.
[media]https://youtu.be/RNEPEshK9LM[/media]
[i]Drowned God[/i] is now one of my favorite works of art of all time. I love this game, and I hope you can love it too.
[media]https://youtu.be/QL4r2Uw3yxk[/media]
