dialogue treehouse of horror

Capcom's latest blockbuster takes one of Japan's most famous cultural figures and smoothes out his rough edges for the biggest possible audience. Is the end result a blunt and dull blade, or is there enough steel left to cut through the noise?

. A trailer for episode 052 of Dialogue Tree, on Onimusha: Way of the Sword, and the life of Miyamoto Musashi. LISTEN ⬇️

Episode 052 of Dialogue Tree is, like the game it covers, overlong, overstuffed and a slightly ridiculous leap of faith. Here's a bit about why.

Here's an accurate, in game representation of me struggling against my intellectual and creative limits.

Episode 052 of Dialogue Tree is, like the game it covers, overlong, overstuffed and a slightly ridiculous leap of faith. Here's a bit about why.

And as with Pragmata, in it's need to appeal to everyone, the game is hampered by some dated design tropes, tired structures and tiresome rhythms. Truly, you can't have everything.

Episode 052 of Dialogue Tree is, like the game it covers, overlong, overstuffed and a slightly ridiculous leap of faith. Here's a bit about why.

Why iron out these interesting wrinkles? Because business. I don't hold that against Capcom. They are a company that need to make money, and making a palatable, appealing product is a big part of that. I just think it's worth illuminating these obscured parts of the real world of their game.

Episode 052 of Dialogue Tree is, like the game it covers, overlong, overstuffed and a slightly ridiculous leap of faith. Here's a bit about why.

Sasaki Ganryu (actually Sasaki Kojiro - Ganryu is the name of the island on which he was killed) was so well known that both he and the weapon he carried earned nicknames. His sword was known as The Drying Pole. He was called The Demon of the Western Provinces.

Episode 052 of Dialogue Tree is, like the game it covers, overlong, overstuffed and a slightly ridiculous leap of faith. Here's a bit about why.

And so, I read The Lone Samurai, by American author and translator William Scott Wilson, the source for a lot of the research in this episode. It's a fun account of Musashi's life, with some lyrical touches you might not expect from a biography. It fills in a lot of Capcom's intentional blanks.

Episode 052 of Dialogue Tree is, like the game it covers, overlong, overstuffed and a slightly ridiculous leap of faith. Here's a bit about why.

There's Okuni, the inventor of the Kabuki dance. There's Minamoto no Yoshitsune, the respected general and poet recast as a demonic sociopath. And then there's the protagonist, Miyamoto Musashi.

Episode 052 of Dialogue Tree is, like the game it covers, overlong, overstuffed and a slightly ridiculous leap of faith. Here's a bit about why.

The lone samurai, and the road to Reigandō. Episode 052 of Dialogue Tree is about Capcom's Onimusha: Way of the Sword. But really, it's about the protagonist of that game, what the developer doesn't tell you about him, and what that says about them and their games. Two blades, two sides. LISTEN ⬇️

No episode this week, as I decided it was imperative that I read this large book first as research.

Why exhibit video games in your gallery at all? Here, SENTIENTS curator and @wshed.bsky.social producer @tokiallison.bsky.social explains why.

Toki told me after our conversation that she hoped she hadn’t “rambled” and that I could make something of our chat. As you can hear, she didn’t need to worry. Toki offers an articulate presentation of video games as art that justify themselves as worthy of exhibition status.