Aug 10, 2016 at 1:21 PM
Join Date: Aug 10, 2016
Location: Dream Land
Posts: 5
This is probably the only reason why I even made a Cave story forums account. I played Cave Story first through steam because of it's reputation for being of one of the greatest indie games and I admit, liked the game play but the story for me on the other hand is kinda...meh...but that's for another issue. After that I bought Kero Blaster because I learned that it was made by the same guy who did Cave Story and also because I played Pink Heaven and Pink Hour and I do admire the work he does.
When I first played the game, I was very amused by quirkiness of the characters, I have a cat boss who speaks in gibberish, A cat doctor...I think he's a doctor and a pink blob that looks like ditto. I enjoyed the game and the story for me at first was...meh...but then I started asking myself questions and I began to think...
The company I work for is called "Cat and Frog" right? it seems to me that the frog is the only frog around in the entire game, why is the frog a janitor? why does he handle the dangerous shit and not get promoted? Where did the pet of that Cat boss come from? Why is that me and the frog cannot understand the cat boss but other employees like the cat doctor and pinky understand what she is saying? what on earth is a "negativus legatia" and why is it targeting the cat boss? why do I begin the game with black monsters invading the intro screen? - okay that's enough questioning but these weird details have caught my attention, at that point I was starting to think there is more to the story than what it is.
I actually visited a forum involving the same questions but by now is incredibly old ( cannot acess it) and I think people didn't really try to analyse the game. I know it's strange to try to analyse a game that looks like it's meant for children but I can't ignore it's strange motifs and details and I don't promise to be entirely correct but I am just creating this forum because I really do feel like this should have been addressed since the release of the game
-------------------------------------------------------Hidden in Plain sight---------------------------------------------------------
One of the things that I learned about the game is that it deliberately hide some things in plain sight. In normal mode and in Zangyou, there are some areas that are hidden or seemingly unreachable and takes a lot of trial and error or/and thinking outside the box to get to them. In Omake You attain the upgrades of the mysterious Kuro Blaster that would be in areas you wouldn't expect to be in ( if you were even aware of it's existence in the first place) heck, did you ever wonder about the names of the characters? I found out through yet another weird hidden area and you will be shown credits that reveal the names of the characters!
Like do you know the name of the pink blob is Komomo? ( i know it says Comomo but I think it's an error) do you know the name of the cat doctor is Sasuke? the name of the cat boss is Nanao? This is strange, Pixel must be either mad man or a genius for hiding the names of the characters in a hidden area. This game has a level of depth on par with FNAF and Earthbound beginnings
-------------------------------------------------Cat and Frog / The relationship ----------------------------------------------
So because the game's nature of hiding things in plain sight, I am forced to dig and analyse what the story actually is. As mentioned before, the company is called Cat and Frog but there is only one frog around and he isn't a partner of The Company President, instead he is a janitor, Nanao seems like she is always pissed at the frog even after he saves her the first time, she only makes peace with you by the ending after saving her the second time. Assuming that the player sees only gibberish of Nanao, it's safe to think that most of the game is in the perspective of the frog. These details to me seem to imply that they knew each other way before the company started, but the game really does not put much detail that much, there are however comics and a trailer that imply that they had a romantic relationship but I will talk more about that later. Regardless whether they are romantically involved, it was clear to me in the beginning of the game that the Cat and Frog are not on good terms, the frog can't understand a single word the boss says and the boss is always angry at him, only Sasuke, Komomo and the rest understand her. this conflict between the both of them could be one of the reasons why Negativus Legatia appeared. It would also explain why they appear in the frog's room at the title screen.
-------------------------------------------OXOX and Negative Legacy -------------------------------------------------------------
"You would call them pieces of your past that have been cast off."' -Sasuke
I'd consider this the wham line of the entire game, it seems so out of place and out of nowhere at first. I'm just a frog that likes to shoot things till they disappear until this shit appears. It's because of this line I began questioning the nature of the game. So what are Negativus Legatia? Well, Negativus is obvious, it means Negative, as for legatia, I thought it meant legion at first but then I researched more about the word, it’s latin for “legacy”…okay maybe too obvious but what do they mean to The Frog and Nanao? Well at first judging from their name, I thought they were rooted from the tension and conflict between them but here’s the thing, that’s only one of them. In Zangyou mode, I learned more about the past of Nanao, she used to work for a company for OXOX commerence and it looks like they were close to being out of business because they ran out of jobs…until there was an new job, which at first was good thing but then gotten out of hand when there was an overload of jobs and it’s caused by the same black blob things. This gave me the impression the Negativus Legatia are really the physical negative representations of pressure and anxiety, they take form or possess something or someone who has these feelings. The idea of things possessing objects and turning them animate reminds me of the Tsukumogami, a monster from Japanese myth in which after a hundred years receives a soul and becomes animate and that of demons possessing people to cause suffering. I think that supposed gift of a “pet” is really the pressure and the anxiety originating from OXOX passed on Nanao and she is unable to let go of it during Normal Mode and it slowly builds up as she becomes even more unstable. It also seems like the guys who used to work on OXOX were also affected and were brainwashed to move and manipulate the “The work producing machine” to cause more stress for the employees.
-----------------------------------------Theories and Speculations --------------------------------------------------------------
Okay so this is where I am bringing the part where I really feel like it could just be a coincidence. I found out that some of the characters were based on a manga known as “Ame” and it gave me a really strange impression. Kaoru the frog seems like a suicidal, Ame the cat is a silent sociopath who doesn’t care what she eats and only Sasuke seems to be sane. I am brining this up because of the cancelled game “Gero Blaster” which features the Ame characters, a concept similar to Kero Blaster but the gameplay elements seems to be more aligned in cave story. Looking at the trailer, it seems the story was supposedly The Frog rescuing his girlfriend Ame who was catnapped ( badum tss) by aliens and now The Frog has to fight them.
It’s possible that Pixel still retained the romantic plot but instead it’s more subtle this time it’s between Nanao and the Frog. It’s also possible that the comic could be a predecessor to Kero Blaster with another possibility for me that Nanao, the company president was Ame who possibly dyed her fur purple and work to fit in and provide for both her and The Frog. I thought of this because while I was reading the comic and aside from the connection between the The Frog and Nanao was that the relationship in the comic has a similar dynamic with the one in the game but the roles are switched.
The Frog in the comic is the talkative and expressive one and has the leading role and Ame never speaks and is shy, In the game Nanao is talkative ( well almost) and expressive and the frog never speaks and is shy ( maybe even worse that). What further supports this for me is the expression Nanao makes when she is becoming more unstable, she makes this weird expression and messy hair similar to Ame’s similar usual expression and messy hair ( it’s 8 bit graphics so I’m not entirely sure), then again this could just be coincidence but if this was true it makes the overall conflict between Nanao and The Frog even more tragic and the normal ending more satisfying because judging from the president giving flowers and being more calm implies that she now made peace with The Frog and if she is indeed Ame, she forgives him.
The ending for normal mode is very clear to me but Zangyou mode on the other hand feels like an Amigious ending, something I feel like I still need to take time to understand. As if it wasn’t surreal enough, The Frog ( I think he’s blue because of all the stress) after fighting the possessed OXOX boss climbs a ladder which leads him to a room that looks like a psychiatric therapy room where you fight the True Boss behind the work producing machine. After beating him trice, The Frog finds all the Negativus Legatia sleeping and a phone was ringing just like in the Intro of the game, he answers it and it seems like in the past, the boss picks it up and all the work disappears…I am still trying to figure this out. I think the ending of Zangyou mode or atleast the whole of it is The Frog finishing the unfinished business and solving the problems of the previous company thus because of that, the work machine disappears like it never exists…
I think. Also I think the significance of the phone from both the intro and ending of Zangyou mode is a literal form of the trope “Answering to the call”, getting to the job, doing your job and finishing it, in the ending, it’s the frog reassuring the OXOX company’s problems are all over. Atleast this is how I understood Zangyou mode ending but my interpretation could possibly change when new info is presented.
The Omake mode so far for me does not have much significance other than showing me the true role of the weapon mod shop keeper who is really God…or in other words may or may not be the representation of Pixel Amaya, asking if you are satisfied with the game and gives you more challenges if you ask for more.
-----------------------------------------Themes, Conclusion and invatation --------------------------------------------------------------
So looking at the entire game, I think it’s the game is really about a broken relationship between the cat and the frog and how the negative fears, pressure and anxieties of the previous company affected Nanao thus affecting her own employees and her business. I would be disappointed if Pixel confirms these theories false but I still think even without the theory of Ame and Nanao being the same, it’s still a game is about, confronting your problems rather than running away from them or being lazy it (ironic that games are meant to be escapist), that’s why when you don’t play the game for a long time, those black things appear and you are forced to deal with them. What I like about the game is how subtle it’s story is so that you can enjoy the gameplay without the story getting too much attention ( unlike a certain story I know…) and destroying the fun, now that I know the story and the themes of the game, I am much more appreciative of the game now. I wish this got more attention that what it originally got. It’s not Cave Story but the thing is, I don’t want another Cave Story, I don’t want a copy paste game , that’s boring and it might limit the possibilities of Pixel as an artist can do with his games. I’m glad Kero Blaster turned out the way it is and I can’t wait to see what Pixel will do next. I would like to know what you think of this, if I am just being over analytical or if there are things I am missing, I'd like that you join in if you have more things to add or share.
When I first played the game, I was very amused by quirkiness of the characters, I have a cat boss who speaks in gibberish, A cat doctor...I think he's a doctor and a pink blob that looks like ditto. I enjoyed the game and the story for me at first was...meh...but then I started asking myself questions and I began to think...
The company I work for is called "Cat and Frog" right? it seems to me that the frog is the only frog around in the entire game, why is the frog a janitor? why does he handle the dangerous shit and not get promoted? Where did the pet of that Cat boss come from? Why is that me and the frog cannot understand the cat boss but other employees like the cat doctor and pinky understand what she is saying? what on earth is a "negativus legatia" and why is it targeting the cat boss? why do I begin the game with black monsters invading the intro screen? - okay that's enough questioning but these weird details have caught my attention, at that point I was starting to think there is more to the story than what it is.
I actually visited a forum involving the same questions but by now is incredibly old ( cannot acess it) and I think people didn't really try to analyse the game. I know it's strange to try to analyse a game that looks like it's meant for children but I can't ignore it's strange motifs and details and I don't promise to be entirely correct but I am just creating this forum because I really do feel like this should have been addressed since the release of the game
-------------------------------------------------------Hidden in Plain sight---------------------------------------------------------
One of the things that I learned about the game is that it deliberately hide some things in plain sight. In normal mode and in Zangyou, there are some areas that are hidden or seemingly unreachable and takes a lot of trial and error or/and thinking outside the box to get to them. In Omake You attain the upgrades of the mysterious Kuro Blaster that would be in areas you wouldn't expect to be in ( if you were even aware of it's existence in the first place) heck, did you ever wonder about the names of the characters? I found out through yet another weird hidden area and you will be shown credits that reveal the names of the characters!
-------------------------------------------------Cat and Frog / The relationship ----------------------------------------------
So because the game's nature of hiding things in plain sight, I am forced to dig and analyse what the story actually is. As mentioned before, the company is called Cat and Frog but there is only one frog around and he isn't a partner of The Company President, instead he is a janitor, Nanao seems like she is always pissed at the frog even after he saves her the first time, she only makes peace with you by the ending after saving her the second time. Assuming that the player sees only gibberish of Nanao, it's safe to think that most of the game is in the perspective of the frog. These details to me seem to imply that they knew each other way before the company started, but the game really does not put much detail that much, there are however comics and a trailer that imply that they had a romantic relationship but I will talk more about that later. Regardless whether they are romantically involved, it was clear to me in the beginning of the game that the Cat and Frog are not on good terms, the frog can't understand a single word the boss says and the boss is always angry at him, only Sasuke, Komomo and the rest understand her. this conflict between the both of them could be one of the reasons why Negativus Legatia appeared. It would also explain why they appear in the frog's room at the title screen.
-------------------------------------------OXOX and Negative Legacy -------------------------------------------------------------
"You would call them pieces of your past that have been cast off."' -Sasuke
I'd consider this the wham line of the entire game, it seems so out of place and out of nowhere at first. I'm just a frog that likes to shoot things till they disappear until this shit appears. It's because of this line I began questioning the nature of the game. So what are Negativus Legatia? Well, Negativus is obvious, it means Negative, as for legatia, I thought it meant legion at first but then I researched more about the word, it’s latin for “legacy”…okay maybe too obvious but what do they mean to The Frog and Nanao? Well at first judging from their name, I thought they were rooted from the tension and conflict between them but here’s the thing, that’s only one of them. In Zangyou mode, I learned more about the past of Nanao, she used to work for a company for OXOX commerence and it looks like they were close to being out of business because they ran out of jobs…until there was an new job, which at first was good thing but then gotten out of hand when there was an overload of jobs and it’s caused by the same black blob things. This gave me the impression the Negativus Legatia are really the physical negative representations of pressure and anxiety, they take form or possess something or someone who has these feelings. The idea of things possessing objects and turning them animate reminds me of the Tsukumogami, a monster from Japanese myth in which after a hundred years receives a soul and becomes animate and that of demons possessing people to cause suffering. I think that supposed gift of a “pet” is really the pressure and the anxiety originating from OXOX passed on Nanao and she is unable to let go of it during Normal Mode and it slowly builds up as she becomes even more unstable. It also seems like the guys who used to work on OXOX were also affected and were brainwashed to move and manipulate the “The work producing machine” to cause more stress for the employees.
-----------------------------------------Theories and Speculations --------------------------------------------------------------
Okay so this is where I am bringing the part where I really feel like it could just be a coincidence. I found out that some of the characters were based on a manga known as “Ame” and it gave me a really strange impression. Kaoru the frog seems like a suicidal, Ame the cat is a silent sociopath who doesn’t care what she eats and only Sasuke seems to be sane. I am brining this up because of the cancelled game “Gero Blaster” which features the Ame characters, a concept similar to Kero Blaster but the gameplay elements seems to be more aligned in cave story. Looking at the trailer, it seems the story was supposedly The Frog rescuing his girlfriend Ame who was catnapped ( badum tss) by aliens and now The Frog has to fight them.
It’s possible that Pixel still retained the romantic plot but instead it’s more subtle this time it’s between Nanao and the Frog. It’s also possible that the comic could be a predecessor to Kero Blaster with another possibility for me that Nanao, the company president was Ame who possibly dyed her fur purple and work to fit in and provide for both her and The Frog. I thought of this because while I was reading the comic and aside from the connection between the The Frog and Nanao was that the relationship in the comic has a similar dynamic with the one in the game but the roles are switched.
The Frog in the comic is the talkative and expressive one and has the leading role and Ame never speaks and is shy, In the game Nanao is talkative ( well almost) and expressive and the frog never speaks and is shy ( maybe even worse that). What further supports this for me is the expression Nanao makes when she is becoming more unstable, she makes this weird expression and messy hair similar to Ame’s similar usual expression and messy hair ( it’s 8 bit graphics so I’m not entirely sure), then again this could just be coincidence but if this was true it makes the overall conflict between Nanao and The Frog even more tragic and the normal ending more satisfying because judging from the president giving flowers and being more calm implies that she now made peace with The Frog and if she is indeed Ame, she forgives him.
The ending for normal mode is very clear to me but Zangyou mode on the other hand feels like an Amigious ending, something I feel like I still need to take time to understand. As if it wasn’t surreal enough, The Frog ( I think he’s blue because of all the stress) after fighting the possessed OXOX boss climbs a ladder which leads him to a room that looks like a psychiatric therapy room where you fight the True Boss behind the work producing machine. After beating him trice, The Frog finds all the Negativus Legatia sleeping and a phone was ringing just like in the Intro of the game, he answers it and it seems like in the past, the boss picks it up and all the work disappears…I am still trying to figure this out. I think the ending of Zangyou mode or atleast the whole of it is The Frog finishing the unfinished business and solving the problems of the previous company thus because of that, the work machine disappears like it never exists…
I think. Also I think the significance of the phone from both the intro and ending of Zangyou mode is a literal form of the trope “Answering to the call”, getting to the job, doing your job and finishing it, in the ending, it’s the frog reassuring the OXOX company’s problems are all over. Atleast this is how I understood Zangyou mode ending but my interpretation could possibly change when new info is presented.
The Omake mode so far for me does not have much significance other than showing me the true role of the weapon mod shop keeper who is really God…or in other words may or may not be the representation of Pixel Amaya, asking if you are satisfied with the game and gives you more challenges if you ask for more.
-----------------------------------------Themes, Conclusion and invatation --------------------------------------------------------------
So looking at the entire game, I think it’s the game is really about a broken relationship between the cat and the frog and how the negative fears, pressure and anxieties of the previous company affected Nanao thus affecting her own employees and her business. I would be disappointed if Pixel confirms these theories false but I still think even without the theory of Ame and Nanao being the same, it’s still a game is about, confronting your problems rather than running away from them or being lazy it (ironic that games are meant to be escapist), that’s why when you don’t play the game for a long time, those black things appear and you are forced to deal with them. What I like about the game is how subtle it’s story is so that you can enjoy the gameplay without the story getting too much attention ( unlike a certain story I know…) and destroying the fun, now that I know the story and the themes of the game, I am much more appreciative of the game now. I wish this got more attention that what it originally got. It’s not Cave Story but the thing is, I don’t want another Cave Story, I don’t want a copy paste game , that’s boring and it might limit the possibilities of Pixel as an artist can do with his games. I’m glad Kero Blaster turned out the way it is and I can’t wait to see what Pixel will do next. I would like to know what you think of this, if I am just being over analytical or if there are things I am missing, I'd like that you join in if you have more things to add or share.
