Thoughts on Postmodernism

Lately, I've been noticing all the subtle ways Paper-Soul Theater takes after Alice in Wonderland, a surreal-humor book about a young Victorian girl who runs off to a place of confusion and dystopia and discovers that grass in such a place is not greener.

The book as a whole plays out neither as a counterargument to Postmodernism nor as a celebration, but it maintains some very important lessons for a modern reader. First of all, Alice, like both Generation X and the Baby Boomers, has no direction and saw it fit to let her intuition guide her. The Cheshire Cat, by contrast, is a master at predicting the future to the full extent any person could reasonably be, and it is enabled by its precaution of the future to find a path for itself that it likes. The grinning cat perhaps grins because it has the world figured out, which allows it to trick everyone that passes it by, even the king. Yes, it tricks most people because they are Modernists, but that doesn't mean the cat itself is a Postmodernist, because that would imply it's an equal with the mad hatter, whom it is wiser than. The mad hatter is a postmodernist who things making shit up and living life in anarchy will satisfy all his needs, when in reality he is blissfully unaware of the way this repels others from being his acquaintance and has trapped him.

Ever since the Beatniks, many people have fallen into the trap of trying to live like mad hatters: on their own terms with little regard for reason, established morals, or progress made in the past. I am hopeful that people of the Digital Age take after the Cheshire Cat, who has access to more options than ever before yet found the strength to pick a path rather than drift on the wind.

The problem is, Postmodernism as a mainstream norm refuses to go away and allow for the response to Postmodernism to take its place. Both my generation and Gen Z are in danger of falling into the same trap of choosing doublespeak over established order, of choosing no direction over any sort of plan, of having no backbone to reject what they think is wrong at the cost of stepping on someone's way of life. What I find maddening is that Postmodernism has become conservative, and a sort of Neo-Modernism (Digitalism as I call it) has become progressive.

With Paper-Soul Theater, I aim to demonstrate how Postmodern thinking can destroy a person's life and limit them much like modernism once did in a completely different way. The Cheshire Cat is content because he found direction in life in such a way that is neither rigid nor uncareful but instead nuanced.

Paper-Soul Theater is on hiatus: What you need to know

Paper-Soul Theater, a game in development directly-inspired by early-2000s Paper Mario.

For those who don't know, Paper-Soul Theater is a not-so-subtle continuation of the art style and revolutionary game mechanics of the first two Paper Mario games. It's an original property with a different direction: Paper-Soul Theater is not just a turn-based rpg but also a horror game to its core. Furthermore, PST layers on ideas from tactical rpgs such as Fire Emblem, and Final Fantasy Tactics, as well as experimental idea from story-focused indie rpgs like Lisa: The Painful and Undertale. That may sound like a radical departure from the Paper Mario formula, but most of the differences are things added on top of Paper Mario, or are there to directly subvert it.

It is no exaggeration that Paper-Soul Theater is a highly-anticipated upcoming game. Some argue that it's detachment from Paper Mario allows for it to coexist--perhaps even pick up where Nintendo left off a decade ago, which according to them, makes it more "Paper Mario" than Nintendo's latest offerings! Plenty of Paper Mario fans have emailed us to say how excited they are for this game, and some have gone as far as to ask to volenteer, as they see it as a Paper Mario community project, which is how we'd describe it too; most people who've worked on Paper-Soul Theater thus far have been fans.

Past, Present, and Future
"You said 'two years,' what has the team been up to all this time?" Learning through failure. I gained painful lessons about what not to do almost daily, and twice I've watched a prototype rise and crash to the ground. I watched team members join and leave with the seasons. It was development hell; we worked day and night to run in circles! In December, my business partner and I decided what we needed was to take a break by making a smaller game, Phantomatics.

Our smaller game, in which the player controls a spooky ghost in one hand, and a clunky robot in the other.

I wouldn't blame you for thinking that means Paper-Soul Theater is going to be forgotten about; developers often leave exciting projects unfinished to pursue fun new ideas. Allow me to explain why that isn't the case:

• The period of my life when I abandoned old projects to chase the newest, shiniest idea, is long gone. For about three years, I started/ abandoned five games with so much potential, all because I didn't have the strength to sit down and vow to finish anything. Paper-Soul Theater means the world to me, and I'm never looking back.
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• Phantomatics is being made to give us the experience of completing and releasing a game. We've never sold a videogame before, or done this professionally, so when PST is up to bat, I don't want it to suffer because we were amateurs. I know in my heart this game deserves better.
• Think of Phantomatics as a convoluted fundraiser so that we can make the Paper-Soul Theater Kickstarter and prototype. I don't like to beg for money if I don't have to. I'd rather make a small product that people want to buy on the merits of the product itself, so that we can properly earn the money.
• Eventually when Paper-Soul Theater is on Kickstarter or some other crowdfunding site, I want people to be able to look back at our past work and see that we are creative, capable of making a game, and hold ourselves to a high standard. Otherwise, they only have our word that we know what we're doing.

So if you're someone who considers the prospect of a Paper Mario spiritual successor to be exciting, here's what you can do in the meantime:

• Write "Paper-Soul Theater" on a sticky note and draw a doodle of a round plumber beneath it to give the words some context. Then, put that sticky note somewhere you don't look often.
• Sign up for the e-mailing list! When we resume development, you will be the first to know! Please send a tiny email to otyugragames@gmail.com; it's the best way to be a part of our community and to stay up-to-date without the fluff of social media.
• Read about the game on our website (otyugra.weebly.com/), then have the courage to show your excitement online, even if most people haven't heard of PST. Where's the fun in being a fan if you don't get to express your feelings?
• Tell your close friends about it, if they like videogames in general.
• Purchase Phantomatics when you get the chance. You'll get a neat little game and get to support us directly!

That's all for now. Thanks for reading.