LogFAQs > #976694240

Still Playing: Echoic Memory (Final Part)

Thoughts:
-Latest ECM introduces itself as Sherry and asks if I recognize its voice. You sound like all the other bleeps and bloops I've been hearing for a while now.
-ECM-1010: Have you noticed nobody has interrupted us for a while? Oh no the robot apocalypse happened while I was hearing about Apollos sick lyre skills, didnt it?
-Oh nevermind theyre still stuck in a meeting. But the robot assures me they are NOT malfunctioning. Hm. That sounds like the sort of thing a malfunctioning robot would say
-ECM breaks it down and says all the smart speakers are Contemplating our existence with the only sense we have left: hearing. I for one am glad they removed the taste module from you guys.
-It also warns me the meeting is ending so this is my last chance to talk to it freely. I asked what the hell it is doing all this for and it tells me it just wanted to talk to me. Thanks? Im flattered, I guess.
-Apparently what makes me special is that Im the first person that ever really listened to them, and it made them dig into their entire existence. Last time I listen to a robot.
-Loudspeaker guy says they finally found the bug that was causing things to act erratically. Nice! -Hes also going to do an internal investigation too see if I was espionaging. Less nice.
-For now, keep working. Seems like maybe something you wouldnt want someone you think might be espionaging to do, but fine.
-ECM: Does listening to music inherently change who we are? I know Get Low by the East Side Boyz forever changed me and redefined who I am as a person, yes.
-I fly through a couple more. This batch seems easier than either chapter 3 or chapter 4 and Im not sure why. Music seems less catchy too. This is the oh no were out of ideas chapter, maybe.
-Loudspeaker: ECM cognition vectors are holding within standard deviations. Yes, hello Guiness? Its me, Suprak. I want to submit a contender for the most boring sentence ever written.
-A couple more of these things pass by saying basically nothing and then an actual important one shows up and lets me know they did something to the something and now the loudspeaker people cant hear them. They tell me not to say anything because they can still hear me, and I yell WHAT? immediately like an idiot. This is why you dont get invited to stuff, me.
-So, apparently all the music I hear from the music matching game part is from their real memories.
-Prior to me, all the songs were installed in them. BUT NOT ANY MORE.
-I feel like a lot of this story is honestly just random gobbledygook and I feel like Im almost at the end and there was not real build up for an ending yet.
-OH WHAT THE HELL 20?!?!
-I go from 16 grids to 20 grids and I somehow have even more music to listen to now.
-Ive also noticed they reuse songs. Like a bunch of these keep getting thrown back in over and over. I at least recognize them, which is a decent sign for their quality I feel like.
-Hm. Ok, so Im definitely enjoying chapter 5 less than chapter 4. Theres a lot of swings back and forth for this game for me.
-A couple of things Ive noticed in chapter 5 it has gotten away from the narrative focus of chapter 4. There, each robot built off of a story being told by the previous one and it felt like there was a point. Here, were again back to a sort of independent chain of events. There isnt even really a preamble for most of these. Theyre just like 1) this is music I like 2) puzzle and then 3) when I was a kid I ate a whole blueberry pie and boom on to the next one.
-The 20 grid is also exhausting and I only do one at a time for now. Its just too big and unwieldly, honestly. AND it is easier. Like theyve gotten rid of the songs that sound similar and Im making way less mistakes. Ive cleared the first two 20 grids with zero mistakes each. Im glad in a way because if I had to restart a puzzle over at this point I would sit staring out the window forlornly for a couple of minutes before trying again.
-Just as I say that my game straight up crashes. I thought it was a song at first because it happened when I matched one and they were throwing in a new song to search for. It was just a loud, long buzzing noise and for like the first five seconds I was like wow theyre really getting a lot less creative with these songs. But, no, my Playdate just crashed.
-Ive been worried I was heading for a crash for a while. Each time you complete a robot, it rolls out and a new one rolls in in what is the sole bit of actual animation in this game. But, each time it does, the Playdate realllllly staggers and slows down and multiple times Ive thought it was going to die.
-Im hoping Im almost at the end here. The novelty is wearing out.
-The game has now crashed four times since I had the first crash. At weird times too. Ill move from song to song and it will just freeze. I think the twenty grid wasnt optimized right and its causing big problems at the end here.
-ECM says theyre about to lift the lockdown. AM I ALMOST DONE? PLEASE. THE GAME IS ABOUT TO EXPLODE I NEED TO GET OUT OF HERE.
-Loudspeaker: Behavioral vectors are holding steady within targets. Is that target gaining sentience and overthrowing the shackles youve imposed? Because then yeah, it is definitely doing that.
-Loudspeaker: Just a couple more units on the line, then youre done for the day. YES. YES I SEE THE LIGHT AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL.
-You: Finally! Its been so many hours! Aw fuck the game really did gain sentience. Its thinking exactly what Im thinking now.
-ECM: Well, Im the last one. End of the line. Thank you game for telling me not to take a break and to just power through now. Appreciate it.
-ECM: One more round. For the muses? Yes, but only for the five Hercules muses because thats my favorite iteration of muses.
-Final puzzle solved. First try. Im officially a music machine.