This game has to be performance art
Life is Feudal: Your Ownfinally released on Steam last week after a hefty period in early access. The idea is great: take survival sims likeRustandThe Forest,and add a pinch ofMount & Bladeto make the ambitious medieval survival sandbox RPG I’ve been hoping for for a long time now.
It’s just a shame thatLife is Feudalisn’t all that great. It performs incredibly poorly, it’s chock-full of bugs, and even the most populated servers feel like desolate wastelands. In my time with the game I’ve only ever swung between a vague sense of boredom and an inkling of frustration, with no hint of that thing called ‘fun’ to be seen anywhere.
Rather than focus on the negatives ofLife is Feudal: Your Own, why not instead take a look at what is interesting about it? With games like this, it can sometimes be difficult to see a glittering sign of something good buried deep within, however I am up for the challenge.
And so, I give you uh… an exciting guided tour of the many, many loading screens and progress bars,and how they make a statement on the very fabric of our universe itself.Feudalmay well be strange, but life is alsoart, and this game proves it.
Our utterlyfascinatingjourney begins when entering a multiplayer server. I chose a heavily populated one (around 60 out of 64 potential players), and was treated to a nice, incredibly lengthy loading screen. But that’s alright, the loading screen taking the better part of five damn minutes isn’t a problem! Just take a look at those suave jet blacks and those imposing yellows as they come together beautifully in a visualfeastslap bang in the middle of the screen. Isn’t it just delightful?
Note how the relevant information. such as how close the loading is to being complete, is relegated to being dark grey text on the black background. It’s a bold move that screams “I’m absolutely taking form over function, but when your form is as sweet as mine who really cares, eh?”
Now I know what you might be thinking: this piece isn’ttechnicallya true loading screen. But don’t you worry, we’re accepting of all hangups, slowdowns, waiting periods and roadblocks here!
Look at this abstract art dancing around the screen. Look at how those blues and whites gently give way to a more rustic and earthy brown. You may have mistaken this for a delicious artisinal blueberry muffin, or maybe a painting by Johan Sebastian Mozart himself. In reality, this isactuallythe world popping in incredibly slowly all around you!
Unable to move, all you can do is stand and absorb the waves of colour as they cascade over you. You may have already sat through the initial loading screen, butLife is Feudalloves to just spoil you with how much waiting you’re allowed to do before having to play the game!
With time, those lighter areas might’ve gradually become a tree or a patch of grass, but in those fewminutesit was something so much more: it was a discussion of the nature of reality, and the futility of seeking perfection. All I can describe it as is ‘inspiring’.
And now we come to the main event, the one I’ve been most eager to show you.
To do literally anything withinLife is Feudal,you are rewarded with this low-key progress bar, slowly scrolling from left to right. Want tochop a tree,make an axe, or even justpick up some grass? Don’t be silly, nobody wants to do that, we all just want to gaze longingly at the progress bar in all of its sluggish, beige splendor.
Some critics might argue that this bar is a metaphor for the unyielding capitalist society we find ourselves in, where even the smallest and most insignificant of actions requires hard toil. Life may be feudal, but does it really need to be this difficult? Alas, the beige progress bar seems to suggest so.
And so here we are at last, the very end of our tour, and the thing that I believe might well be the most exciting statementLife is Feudal’smakes. Should you ever find yourself tiring of the artistic genius that is the game’s many loading screens, and should you ever want to to stumble wearily away from the deep philosophical questioning of its progress bars,Life is Feudalwill leave you with one parting message:life is nothing but waiting.
Our fascinating journey begins when entering a server. I chose a heavily populated one (around 60 out of 64 potential players), and so got to sit through a nice, minutes-long loading screen. Look at those suave jet blacks and imposing yellows coming together beautifully in an absolute visualfeastslap bang in the middle of the screen. And look at how the actually relevant information is relegated to being dark grey text on the black background. It’s a bold move that screams “I’m absolutely taking form over function, but when your form is as sweet as mine who really cares, eh?”
Now this one isn’ttechnicallya true loading screen. However it will become clear in time why I’ve included this in our tour. Just look at this abstract art dancing around the screen, merging blues, whites and browns. You may have mistaken this for a delicious artisanal muffin, but it’sactuallythe world popping in incredibly slowly. Over time, those lighter areas might’ve become a tree or a patch of grass, but in those fewminutesit was something so much more. A discussion of the nature of reality itself. All I can describe it as is ‘inspiring’.
And then we come to the main event. To do anything withinLife is Feudal,you are treated to a low-key progress bar, slowly scrolling from left to right. Want to chop a tree, plow a field, or even just pick up some grass? Don’t be silly, nobody wants to do that on this tour, we all just want to gaze longingly at the progress bar in all of its beige splendour.
Some critics argue that this bar is a metaphor for the unyielding capitalist society we find ourselves in, where even the smallest and most insignificant of actions requires hard toil. Life may be feudal, but does it really need to be this difficult? Alas, the beige progress bar seems to suggest so.
And so here we are at last, the very end of our tour, and the thing that I believe might well be the most exciting statementLife is Feudalmakes. Should you ever find yourself tiring of the artistic genius that is the game’s loading screens and wanting to stumble wearily away from the deep philosophical questioning of its progress bars,Life is Feudalwill leave you with one parting message.
That is right, my most esteemed guests. Even closing the game and ending your presence in their world will give you another wonderful loading screen. Hauntingly similar to the first, yet instead of the welcoming bearded gentlemen bringing you into his world, you are given a dragon-headed longboat to guide you far, far away.
I hope you enjoyed your tour of what might be the most poignant, emotive piece of digital art created this decade. Truly,Life is Feudalis an artistic cornerstone, a piece to be held up for generations to come who seek to learn how to most effectively waste a player’s time.
