In your own space, share a favourite piece of original canon (a show, a specific TV episode, a storyline, a book or series, a scene from a movie, etc) and explain why you love it so much.When I thought about this prompt, a few different games popped into my head, but ultimately I went for the second one that came to mind because it's probably the one most people haven't played.
I have a great love and appreciation for the game Bully.
I discovered this game in the small gap between high school and college, and honestly, that's a pretty perfect time for me to have found it. It's a game that's very in between itself. It's basically Grand Theft Auto but teenagers in a boarding school. It's problematic and childish, but it's got some surprisingly amazing character writing and wonderful moments that make you stop and wonder if you're still playing a game that's about beating other teenagers up.
The main character, Jimmy Hopkins, is endlessly charming to me. He's introduced as a rude little shit who defies authority, but as it turns out, he's mostly just the victim of circumstance. He's prideful and aggressive, and not very good at realizing when he's being manipulated. I find that character flaw to be such a fun one. I feel like I don't see it too often in characters like him. He's a truly wonderful mix of confidence and swagger as well as a hot mess who is adorably bad at telling people no, hiding a good heart and a cute, genuine sense of humor and camaraderie with people.
One of my favorite scenes in the game is early on when Jimmy is introduced to the lunch lady. They introduce her as being unhygienic. She smokes around and spits in the food, and it's inferred that she uses spoiled meat, etc. And despite that being her introduction, Jimmy is playful with her. He goofs around with her in the cut scene, unpretentious and, while understandably grossed out, he's not rude. Jimmy connects with people as long as they aren't shitty to him first, and it becomes increasingly obvious through the game that the whole reason he's such a 'bad kid' is because the world always threw the first punch.
Outside of Jimmy, the rest of the cast is probably the biggest selling point to me! The different cliques are all cartoonishly exaggerated. The preps are all old money and clad in argyle, calling other people 'paupers' and talking about how their daddy's will take care of their problems. The game never takes itself too seriously, and every single individual student has their own different dialogue that you can hear when walking by them. They each have quirks and back stories.
My favorite is Gord. He's a prep, but you learn a lot about him the more you pass by him or interact with him. He's the bisexual boy in the clique, romanceable by Jimmy and able to be kissed for power ups. His dialogue paints him as vain and shallow, talking about clothes more than the other characters, but he's also super complimentary! If Jimmy is dressed well, Gord will comment on it.
He's also part of a side quest where he's flirting and messing around with a girl in the greaser clique. He likes dating beneath his social circle, excited by this different world outside of money and yacht clubs. You also learn that his father is a lawyer, and that he plans to become a lawyer as well. He's also one of the only preps you can encounter inside of the library, hinting he takes his studies seriously and/or likes to read.
There are so many details painting just this one character! And there are almost one hundred characters that are similarly detailed. I feel like every person who enjoys this game tends to have favorite characters because it's so easy to get attached to them. Vance is a greaser with gelled hair, a leather jacket and cigarettes, and he cosplays a pirate all by himself on an island!
The whole game feels like a love story to how quirky and interesting
people are, all beneath a thick layer of humor and absurdity that still somehow reflects exactly what high school felt like. It's a game that I will always love despite its flaws because at its core it's about people and getting through life. It focuses on situations forcing your hand, mistakes, victories, mundane problems that are irritating, and how we're all so weird and sharing space with other weird people, and how great and hilarious that can be.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
![[sticky entry]](http://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/entry/sticky_entry.png){kind=small}
