Ambrosia Sky Respects The Dead In Ways Video Games Often Lack, And It's Refreshing
While cleaning up fungus in the present, the hero of Ambrosia Sky shows reverence to the past in a beautiful way
As the demo begins, I'm armed with a pistol-like tool that shoots cleansing water and other elements to remove fungus I see in my path. Some fungi hold special properties--one strain is electrified and can damage me if I get too close, while another is highly flammable and can be destroyed over time with a well-placed flame shot from my tool.
One room requires me to solve a puzzle by routing electricity to a dormant power terminal in order to unlock the door next to it. I learn that I can use a sample of the electrified fungus to shoot a version of it from my tool, which I can use to create a path from a nearby light on the ceiling to the power terminal, giving it the electricity it needs for me to proceed. It's a neat trick, as it gives a small "aha!" moment and makes me wonder how other elemental blasts will come into play.
I reach my target and begin the process of disposing of the body and collecting the sample--and this is where Ambrosia Sky ascended from "simple cleaning game" to "thought-provoking experience." Rather than simply standing and watching while the corpse fades away and converts to the sample I need, I watch through Dalia's eyes as she starts the process, and then quietly kneels in front of the deceased, her hands on her lap.
She places herself in a pose of reflection, respect, and reverence for the dead, creating a moment I found beautiful and poignant. In her own way, she is paying respect to the departed, and I didn't have to press F to achieve it--it was part of the normal gameplay experience.
This, co-founder Joel Burgess told me after the demo ended, was completely intentional.
"The idea of after-death care is something we've thought about a lot; there's a combination of sterility and intimacy in it, acting at the same time," Burgess said. "Treating these bodies with respect has been very pervasive throughout, with the challenge being how we actually portray that through actions and presentation."
Dalia--whose name certainly sounds like it was intentional given the themes of death and dying, but Burgess would not confirm or deny--went through multiple iterations on how she acts around these dead people throughout the development process, Burgess explained. "How does Dalia touch a thing? Is she handling this object a bit too rough?" he says. "That, plus the kneeling posture shown in the demo, are all parts of us trying to convey that respect."
There's also a personal layer to this story for Dalia--one that the demo alludes to through in-game messages, but doesn't outright call out. Dalia is a former citizen of this cluster, and the person she's tasked with collecting is someone she knew before she left 15 years prior. In fact, if you search the target's terminal across the room from where the body is found, you'll find that he archived the last message he received from Dalia before she left.
That personal connection is at the root of Dalia's reverence for those she's tasked with performing these last rites for, and Burgess and his team not only explore that through her, but also through environmental storytelling like the terminal above. Every corpse Dalia comes across on her way to her target can be analyzed, and doing so is usually followed by Dalia paying her respects by saying something to the effect of, "I'm sorry I couldn't help you."
The personal elements to Dalia's story have layers of their own, too: Other in-game messages reference the fact that, in order for a corpse to be collected by a Scarab for this research, the deceased must give consent before they pass away. It's also brought to light that our target only gave his consent moments before he died; Burgess says that, if you look hard enough, you'll learn that the deceased knew Dalia became a Scarab--and that she would be assigned to his collection should he give his consent.
The layers upon layers of storytelling contained in a game that, on the surface, involves simply removal of fungus from a space station, is what makes Ambrosia Sky so interesting. The focus on death--and particularly the payment of respect to those who have passed--also possesses a universal appeal, which is why Burgess and his team decided to place it at the center of their story.
"At the end of the day, death comes for all of us; it doesn't matter what culture you're from, what your background is, your age," Burgess said. "You will die, you will know people who pass, you will go through this as well." That relatability, once Ambrosia Sky is released, has the chance to resonate with everyone who decides to give it a try.
Ambrosia Sky is "coming soon" on PC.
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Ambrosia Sky PCThis story originally appeared on: GameSpot - Author:UK GAG
