Incline Troubleshooter: Abandoned Children - isometric tactical Korean SRPG

[gurugeorge]

the story isn't even worth reading so it doesn't matter if the translation is crap, it's not why you're playing the game

It's not that bad. I kind of got into it a bit half way through. The way the backstories are revealed as it goes is quite good.

spoon cult

eh, I just chalk that up as goofy, it's probably something that doesn't "translate well" (in the broader sense). But the backstories of the main protagonists, the interpersonal tensions set up by things they did when they were younger, all that's quite well done.

There's no clever pun or cultural reference with spoon cult, btw, it's just a fucking spoon cult for no discernible reason whatsoever and it makes no sense either way

The main story & hero team is just your typical anime-influenced "kind-hearted juveniles with troubled past struggles to open up to others, confronts their inner demons with POWER OF FRIENDSHIP and milquetoast homilies". Nobody really has a strong linguistic style in the original (e.g. some kind of distinctive dialect), so I don't think translation's much to worry about. I'm actually impressed that they managed to ensure all the skill descriptions are clear, which is far more important.

lol, well that's funny. I just assumed there was some obscure reference to Korean mythology or whatever - like the Goddess of x,y,z used a special spoon to stir the broth from which she created the universe or something like that.

 

[Grunker]

all the skill descriptions are clear

notsureifserious.jpg

fake edit: or well, to be fair, most of them are. But quite a few aren't. I've needed to ask here many times.

a bunch of insanely apologetic nonsense

What you are describing has a definition. It's called "bad writing." There are a few plot beats and character conflicts where you can see some bits of interesting, creative expression behind the poor writing, that's true. But mostly, it's just a terribly clichéd, nonsensical story told by people who have no idea how to tell one. What it is mostly, however, is juveline. With lots of really "oh wow so cool" characters that have really edgy moments about how mysterious and powerful they are, unless they're the exact opposite: loaded up on sugar rushes and naiveté. The story is continously told in an "and then this happened"-style where each individual beat has no relation with previous event. Exposition is delivered in the most hilarious infantile manner:

Let's say, for instance, that a character uses a pronoun of a place or a character we don't know. Then what will follow is three or four text boxes - sometimes even with brackets - word for describing what that is.

Like, Ray will say "the white tiger gang", and the next text box will literally be "the white gang, the gang which so-and-so, led by him-and-him, who has done this-and-this." Sometimes this will even happen with stuff we do know about, but the writers have made up som new element of whatever it is we're reading about, and so they have to repeat the exposition in full - only now with their new addition. It's kind of incredible that there are adults who will write stuff in this manner, even the worst fanfiction online will usually be more refined than this.

It is horribly clear that the team made up the story as they went along with minor characters barely introduced suddenly becoming significant plot points out of the blue only to lose their relevance again (something very typical for anime) - and almost every single plot beat and character motivation is the kind teenagers dream up when they have to explain to themselves why their trivial lives are very important and whatever happened to them at school that day was very dramatic. It is melodramatic and has next to no redeming qualities.

Though, and unfortunately I went through a good amount of crap before I finally drew this conclusion; anime fans just enjoy melodrama and teenagers doing teenage stuff in a way teenagers would think makes for good drama. Which is the only explanation I have for why so many attempt to write these things off as good storytelling.

Troubleshooter is just about the worst example I've ever seen, though.

 

[Zumbabul]

When I first finished the game, there was only one mission in the DLC. So, I restarted the game hoping that when I finish it second time, the DLC will be ready. I did this for the sake of awesome turn-based combat, not for the sake of the story. While I replayed the game for the second time, I had a general understanding of the sequence of the events. I had context, and now these random events stop being random. They started to make sense, and everything is just fitted beautifully together. This process of finding and understanding the story in this game was one of the best storyfag moments in my gaming experience.

Yeah, I remember you posting about this awhile back. This is all very cool, but can you explain Spoonism to me in a way that makes it seem less retarded?

EDIT: Sorry, didn't see the post right before the above one.

To put it simply, spoonism is an idea of a better society. Life in Valhalla sucks, so people search for someplace where they will be treated like people.

Since this game infected me with a healthy dose of passion (or an unhealthy dose of autism), in one of my playthroughs, I wrote down the truth of the spoonism. Let me share them with you.

'Never be full with the first spoon'. In spoonism, first spoon is an intention, second spoon is the result. Don't be satisfied with intention, aim for the result. When spoonist refer to people as 'first spoon', they mean the group that created the opportunity for them to gather. The second spoon are those people who will reach 'land of feast' (build korean communism).

'Your spoon may be different from mine, but we share the same bowl'. It is a beautiful way to say 'respectfully disagree'.

'Don't seek truths hidden behind masks'. Your past doesn't matter, we will treat you like a brother if you will help our cause.

'Only the hungry one can eat'. If you have a desire to do something, you will do it. Without a desire, you will do nothing.

'Those who lose their turf will suffer for as long as they live'. If you betray your ideals, you will suffer.

'Those who undergo hard times with you are your brothers'. brothers? comrades? Communism!!!

'When 10 people each give up a spoon full of their bowl of rice, they can make a new bowl of rice'. Communal property. Communism!!!

When you play this game long enough, not only spoonism stops being retarded, you start to understand spoonism as an idea and you start to understand what spoonists say. And sometimes they have a point.

 

[Tigranes]

There's no clever pun or cultural reference with spoon cult, btw, it's just a fucking spoon cult for no discernible reason whatsoever and it makes no sense either way

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spoon_class_theory

At first, the spoonism looks stupid. However, I played this game so much that I started to understand what spoonists say. Spoonists want to build a fair society. Basically, they don't worship any god, they worship justice and a dream of a fair society. They want to build 'land of feasts': a society, where people will treat other people like people, but not some source of profit. They want a society where a community of people cares for each other, help each other, and share resources rather than robbing each other. If you look more closely at what spoonist say and do, you may conclude that 'spoonism = korean communism/marxism'.

Oh, wait! Sorry, I can't fucking believe I forgot this, this is like forgetting the sky is blue.

Gold spoon vs Dirt spoon has been a thing for ages in Korea in terms of how wealth begets wealth. Gold spoons like Bezos's son or whatever are reviled for their advantages (unsurprising in a country where a Seoul apartment can literally cost 3 million USD), but of course they are also admired, because people often want to imagine they could become like them too, in the same way many Americans will actively become hyper-defensive fans of billionaires. Equally, dirt spoon becomes both a self-derogatory term and a term you use to denigrate people you think are worse off than you.

Anyway, I'm not so sure about whether the game's calling out to this. Spoons don't get used as a codeword for communism or anything in Korea - it's too widespread for that, people across the political spectrum will use it. After all, you can easily use it to talk about how you'd never be friends with / go out with a 'dirt spoon', but you can also use it to say generational inequality is bullshit eat the rich etc. And spoons specifically refer to intergenerational wealth which is a major bone of contention in Korea - it's literally what kind of spoon your parents might have fed you with, and in somewhere like Korea it really isn't an abstract complaint, it's flagrantly visible when your classmate shows up with custom-tailored school uniforms and gets Harvard graduate tutors or something.

Heck, actual spoon theory in Korea uses the Korean word for spoon (sujeo), but the game's original korean script the cult is still "spoon" cult. So I can't tell if it's a concealed easter egg connection or just unintended.

Leaving all that aside, though, I certainly think spoon cult is the only potentially interesting group/narrative in the game. Boo hoo Albus the boring textbook nice guy with painful past surrounded by mary sue supercop mother figures, show me more spoon society

lol, well that's funny. I just assumed there was some obscure reference to Korean mythology or whatever - like the Goddess of x,y,z used a special spoon to stir the broth from which she created the universe or something like that.

That would be funny, but to be honest, Troubleshooter as a whole doesn't seem to be written with such things in mind. Most of the names like Wind Sector (or however they translated it), character names like Albus, all seem to be generic "let's think of some white fantasy-sounding names" without much more consideration.

 

[Grunker]

How do you know Korean btw Tigranes?

 

[vonAchdorf]

How do you know Korean btw Tigranes?

KPOP

 

[Grunker]

When 10 people each give up a spoon full of their bowl of rice, they can make a new bowl of rice

Truly deep writing. I am ashamed to have overlooked such gracious subtlety :D

 

[Zumbabul]

What you are describing has a definition. It's called "bad writing." There are a few plot beats and character conflicts where you can see some bits of interesting, creative expression behind the poor writing, that's true. But mostly, it's just a terribly clichéd, nonsensical story told by people who have no idea how to tell one. What it is mostly, however, is juveline. With lots of really "oh wow so cool" characters that have really edgy moments about how mysterious and powerful they are, unless they're the exact opposite: loaded up on sugar rushes and naiveté. The story is continously told in an "and then this happened"-happened style where each individual beat have no relation with previous event. Exposition is delivered in the most hilarious infantile manner:

Let's say, for instance, that a character uses a pronoun of a place or a character we don't know. Then what will follow is three or four text boxes - sometimes even with brackets - word for describing what that is.

Like, Ray will say "the white tiger gang", and the next text box will literally be "the white gang, the gang which so-and-so, led by him-and-him, who has done this-and-this." It's kind of incredible that there are adults who will write stuff in this manner, even the worst fanfiction online will usually be more refined than this.

It is horribly clear that the team made up the story as they went along with minor characters barely introduced suddenly becoming significant plot points out of the blue only to lose their relevance again (something very typical for anime) - and almost every single plot beat and character motivation is the kind teenagers dream up when they have to explain to themselves why their trivial lives are very important and whatever happened to them at school that day was very dramatic. It is melodramatic and has next to no redeming qualities.

Though, and unfortunately I went through a good amount of crap before I finally drew this conclusion; anime fans just enjoy melodrama and teenagers doing teenage stuff in a way teenagers would think makes for good drama. Which is the only explanation I have for why so many attempt to write these things off as good storytelling.

This is exactly how I felt after the first playthrough. Story was just impossible to understand. Nothing made sense. Everything looked stupid. It is like the story did not exist at all.

More importantly, this is a way how everyone reacts. Without exceptions. If I played this game only once, I would agree with every word you wrote.

 

[Grunker]

vonAchdorf ok so i googled this 'kpop' and i think i may see the appeal



those are some very nice... beats

 

[Grunker]

I love the idea that somehow by playing the game again the exposition-rants after each pronoun will magically turn into great writing. But hey, you do you my man. You've been very helpful when I needed it so I shant tease you further

 

[Zed Duke of Banville]

spoon cult

Main plot feels made up as it went,...

That would be funny, but to be honest, Troubleshooter as a whole doesn't seem to be written with such things in mind. Most of the names like Wind Sector (or however they translated it), character names like Albus, all seem to be generic "let's think of some white fantasy-sounding names" without much more consideration.

The name Albus Bernstein is "fantasy-sounding"?

Spoiler

 

[Zumbabul]

I love the idea that somehow by playing the game again the exposition-rants after each pronoun will magically turn into great writing. But hey, you do you my man. You've been very helpful when I needed it so I shant tease you further

Let me clarify. The ranting will make sense. You will start to notice hints and clues. Some of the hints are super cool and subtle. You will start to understand what is going on and feel smart about yourself. But the quality of the writing will not magically improve, it will stay the same (that is meh).

Probably the only place in the game where writing is really good is

Spoiler

the dialogue between John and Carter.

Edit: I agree that the writing is meh, and that it is impossible to understand. But the story is fucking awesome!!!

 

[Grunker]

Pre-teen assassins with long curls and murderous chainsaws are just a great metaphor

ok ok now I'll stop!

 

[Tigranes]

How do you know Korean btw Tigranes?

Infinitron is obviously training me as Asia Bot Correspondent for the inevitable Korean mobile MMO era of the Codex

That would be funny, but to be honest, Troubleshooter as a whole doesn't seem to be written with such things in mind. Most of the names like Wind Sector (or however they translated it), character names like Albus, all seem to be generic "let's think of some white fantasy-sounding names" without much more consideration.

The name Albus Bernstein is "fantasy-sounding"?

I really wouldn't be surprised if they just took it from Albus Dumbledore

Also I'm sorry but Irene Lion and Bianca LeBlanc this just follows in proud Korean traditions like

 

[vonAchdorf]

I like the world and the characters. The contrast between silliness and seriousness has its own (Asian) appeal.

 

[Zumbabul]

Pre-teen assassins with long curls and murderous chainsaws are just a great metaphor

ok ok now I'll stop!

I agree that chainsaw is kind of too much anime. But pre-teen assassins are not nonsense. It was a thing in Latin America. Since pre-teen could not be sentenced to death and received less jail time, gangs used pre-teens for murders. A pre-teen will go to jail, but in return, he will get money for his family, and some criminal activity to put on his resume.

 

[WhiteShark]

I kind of appreciated the surface-level absurdity of a spoon cult juxtaposed to how it was more seriously developed over the course of the story. It goes from seeming totally ridiculous to fairly sympathetic. I also assume that they didn't want to accidentally step on the toes of any real life religion.

 

[Grunker]

Just ended a mission with only Irene alive on 400hp

 

[Saark]

Just ended a mission with only Irene alive on 400hp

I hope you were playing this song on repeat for the last 10 minutes of the mission.


I had a few similar missions once, not once was my rating anything less than "very good". 15 NPCs dead, and 5 out of 6 company members defeated? Very good performance.

 

[Lyre Mors]

I had a few similar missions once, not once was my rating anything less than "very good". 15 NPCs dead, and 5 out of 6 company members defeated? Very good performance.

Yeah, not exactly sure what goes into the rating. I've come out of missions I've felt I did very poorly on with the same.

 

[baud]

That would be funny, but to be honest, Troubleshooter as a whole doesn't seem to be written with such things in mind. Most of the names like Wind Sector (or however they translated it), character names like Albus, all seem to be generic "let's think of some white fantasy-sounding names" without much more consideration.

The name Albus Bernstein is "fantasy-sounding"?

I really wouldn't be surprised if they just took it from Albus Dumbledore

Also I'm sorry but Irene Lion and Bianca LeBlanc this just follows in proud Korean traditions like

well, they're not too far of the truth:

Baguett's Café, Paris

 

[Grunker]

There is a single piece of good writing in the game, tbf:

"The Black Tigers? I think those guys want to be Troubleshooters. They seem to avoid trouble whenever they can." HEYOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

 

[ERYFKRAD]

juveline

 

[Sykar]

the story isn't even worth reading so it doesn't matter if the translation is crap, it's not why you're playing the game

It's not that bad. I kind of got into it a bit half way through. The way the backstories are revealed as it goes is quite good.

it is literally like listening to my 10-year-old nephew tell an and-then story. it's that bad

No, it isnt.

Pre-teen assassins with long curls and murderous chainsaws are just a great metaphor

ok ok now I'll stop!

Makes about as much sense as a bunch of dudes drinking dirty soup to sense the big evil like in Dragon Derp.

Truly deep writing. I am ashamed to have overlooked such gracious subtlety :D

The writing is obviously not supposed to be deep. What you expect, Planescape Torment? Original XCom had no story whatsoever, just a premise. NuXcom had a bare skelleton of a story. The tactic game that comes closest to a story is Jagged Alliance 2 and that ones story is even more primitive than this one with no nuance whatsoever. In fact its chracterization of Deidranna is more juvenile than anything in this game, including the teen assassin which is explained even by Giselle why an organization would use children and teenage assassins.
What about Deidranna? Well I guess they chose her to be a woman so they do not have to paint the proverbial twirling mustache on her, because every appearance of hers is about "Look at me how EVIL I am. Have you noticed yet that I am EVIL? Muhahahahahahhaa!".

Yeah it is a fairly standard shonen story with the typical cliches. I am just glad that the main character, or anyone else for that matter, is not of the screaming retard archetype, which is an archetype I absolutely abhor with prominent examples being One Piece and now Black Clover, both series I had to drop because of that.
Also what is wrong with the power of friendship message? Sure beats 90% of the "message" other games deliver.

 

[Lhynn]

Pre-teen assassins with long curls and murderous chainsaws are just a great metaphor

ok ok now I'll stop!

I agree that chainsaw is kind of too much anime. But pre-teen assassins are not nonsense. It was a thing in Latin America. Since pre-teen could not be sentenced to death and received less jail time, gangs used pre-teens for murders. A pre-teen will go to jail, but in return, he will get money for his family, and some criminal activity to put on his resume.

Makes sense in universe would be the best answer. Espers are very powerful, the equivalent of Marvel mutants. Makes sense that there are criminal organization willing to use them.
Marco talks about this, while disagreeing with the practice, as there are few things as unstable as a teenaged girl that has been abused all her life and that can now hurt people back.