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EvolutionKills

Well-Known Member
Jan 3, 2021
1,191
3,925
I just got really bored and tired with this one, which is a shame. The game is absurd, and that isn't the problem in and of itself. The problem is that the game is always absurd. There is no normal baseline that the absurd moments are used to punctuate, the game is just always absurd; and when everything is absurd, nothing is. So unlike a similar game like Once Upon A Lifetime, which sparingly dips its toe into absurdity for moments of levity, this game sets it on 24/7 and leaves it at that.

And yeah, that gets really exhausting, real quick.

If that's your jam, I'm glad you enjoy it. But I don't think I'll be coming back to this one, unless the dev gets serious about changes to the pacing and unrelenting tone.
 

Wonder Wolf

Member
Mar 3, 2018
255
2,071
I just got really bored and tired with this one, which is a shame. The game is absurd, and that isn't the problem in and of itself. The problem is that the game is always absurd. There is no normal baseline that the absurd moments are used to punctuate, the game is just always absurd; and when everything is absurd, nothing is. So unlike a similar game like Once Upon A Lifetime, which sparingly dips its toe into absurdity for moments of levity, this game sets it on 24/7 and leaves it at that.

And yeah, that gets really exhausting, real quick.

If that's your jam, I'm glad you enjoy it. But I don't think I'll be coming back to this one, unless the dev gets serious about changes to the pacing and unrelenting tone.
I see it the other way around. With every next scene I wait for something absurdly funny to happen again. Everyone has their own opinions and tastes, so I respect your comment, but most of us including me think the game is great. The great looking renders, the beautiful girls (the mother for me personally the most beautiful milf on f95 zone), the right music at the perfect time with funny sound effects and really amusing scenes such as the random diabolical ritual of the sisters or the burning of the dollar. Maybe give Above the Clouds and his developer another chance in the future, it really deserves our attention.
 

ropershy

Well-Known Member
Aug 14, 2020
1,233
1,726
Mom-no. Sis, kind of.:devilish:
And see it is Mom who needs it the most. Older sis can get attention at work. Younger sis can get attention at school. Poor Old sexy Mom is stuck at home all day while her NUTTY husband is off making crazy ass plans with his old school buddies. Mom doesn't even know anyone in that small town. Mom needs attention from MC (along with being bent over the dinning room table!!!!)))
 
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EvolutionKills

Well-Known Member
Jan 3, 2021
1,191
3,925
I see it the other way around. With every next scene I wait for something absurdly funny to happen again. Everyone has their own opinions and tastes, so I respect your comment, but most of us including me think the game is great. The great looking renders, the beautiful girls (the mother for me personally the most beautiful milf on f95 zone), the right music at the perfect time with funny sound effects and really amusing scenes such as the random diabolical ritual of the sisters or the burning of the dollar. Maybe give Above the Clouds and his developer another chance in the future, it really deserves our attention.
That's probably not gonna happen, because everything is sacrificed at the altar for this unrelenting absurdity. These aren't even characters, they're merely props in the weirdest divine comedy. Nobody has a personality, because they all just do weird shit for the sake of doing weird shit all the time. The cast doesn't have the one goofy or offbeat character to spice things up, they're all like that; and it overpowers everything else.

DiotIzaVAAA-6np.jpg

Imagine Star Wars, but the entire cast was Jar-Jar Binks. Does that sound appealing? Maybe as a Robot-Chicken sketch that comes and goes in a minute or two, so the joke doesn't overstay its welcome. But for a lewd game like this? That requires this much time and reading? It's too long to be a sketch. It's not original, creative, or funny enough to stand on comedy alone. It has lewd scenes with (admittedly well rendered) props that I can't care less about. There is nothing to get invested in, no characters to care about, no drama to get wrapped up in; there is nothing to care about, because...

points.jpg

When you constantly pull the rug out from under the audience for a gag, there can be no drama. There are no stakes, only the illusion of stakes used to setup the next 'wacky' joke. I'd bet $10 that dad's creepy friends aren't going to be anything dangerous, and their their aggressive posturing is but another fake-out setup for some later joke at their expense, when they'll turn out to be anything but the dangerous thugs that they're currently being painted as. It'll be another rug pull for the sake of absurdity, because nothing matters.

Nothing was sexy, it was all absurd. I couldn't get invested in the characters, because there are none; they are all props. I couldn't get aroused by the lewd scenes, because again, they didn't involve characters I cared about or invested in having a satisfying arc that payed off in mutual gratification; it was department store mannequins awkwardly doing weird shit with each other amidst wonderland.

There is no baseline. There is no normal. There is nothing to contrast the absurd against, and thus it looses all power and becomes utterly banal. Like a lazy standup comedian who drops f-bombs constantly until they lose all meaning. Anything repeated often enough become mundane. So this is both very exhausting because it is all wacky all the time, and on the other hand, disappointing because the absurdity is so overused its toothless; it completely lacks the power to shock or surprise. I think perhaps more than anything else, that's what I find most disappointing; that it managed to make the absurd mundane.

The game isn't bad, far from it. But it isn't my cup of tea either.


EDIT: Also, I read every facepalm reaction as an overt admission that I've hit the nail squarely on the head, but I'm being critical of something the reactor likes and I'm hurting their feelings. Cause if they had more than just hurt feelings, they'd actually try to say something of substance, right? Like, if I was just making shit up and talking out of my ass, people would call me on it, right? But just a facepalm? Thanks for adding nothing to the discussion except letting me know I hurt your feelings? Wonder Wolf at least put in some effort to disagree with me, so props to them at least.


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Last edited:

JBZ

Active Member
Aug 1, 2020
636
1,592
EvolutionKills

It almost sounds like you're playing with the WT, always just making the "right" decisions and missing out on all the fun.
90% have fun with this game and 10% have a different sense of humor. That's Ok and you're right, minorities are important too. ;)
 

Nebulotus

New Member
Aug 22, 2021
5
26

That's probably not gonna happen, because everything is sacrificed at the altar for this unrelenting absurdity. These aren't even characters, they're merely props in the weirdest divine comedy. Nobody has a personality, because they all just do weird shit for the sake of doing weird shit all the time. The cast doesn't have the one goofy or offbeat character to spice things up, they're all like that; and it overpowers everything else.

View attachment 1470818

Imagine Star Wars, but the entire cast was Jar-Jar Binks. Does that sound appealing? Maybe as a Robot-Chicken sketch that comes and goes in a minute or two, so the joke doesn't overstay its welcome. But for a lewd game like this? That requires this much time and reading? It's too long to be a sketch. It's not original, creative, or funny enough to stand on comedy alone. It has lewd scenes with (admittedly well rendered) props that I can't care less about. There is nothing to get invested in, no characters to care about, no drama to get wrapped up in; there is nothing to care about, because...

View attachment 1470890

When you constantly pull the rug out from under the audience for a gag, there can be no drama. There are no stakes, only the illusion of stakes used to setup the next 'wacky' joke. I'd bet $10 that dad's creepy friends aren't going to be anything dangerous, and their their aggressive posturing is but another fake-out setup for some later joke at their expense, when they'll turn out to be anything but the dangerous thugs that they're currently being painted as. It'll be another rug pull for the sake of absurdity, because nothing matters.

Nothing was sexy, it was all absurd. I couldn't get invested in the characters, because there are none; they are all props. I couldn't get aroused by the lewd scenes, because again, they didn't involve characters I cared about or invested in having a satisfying arc that payed off in mutual gratification; it was department store mannequins awkwardly doing weird shit with each other amidst wonderland.

There is no baseline. There is no normal. There is nothing to contrast the absurd against, and thus it looses all power and becomes utterly banal. Like a lazy standup comedian who drops f-bombs constantly until they lose all meaning. Anything repeated often enough become mundane. So this is both very exhausting because it is all wacky all the time, and on the other hand, disappointing because the absurdity is so overused its toothless; it completely lacks the power to shock or surprise. I think perhaps more than anything else, that's what I find most disappointing; that it managed to make the absurd mundane.

The game isn't bad, far from it. But it isn't my cup of tea either.


EDIT: Also, I read every facepalm reaction as an overt admission that I've hit the nail squarely on the head, but I'm being critical of something the reactor likes and I'm hurting their feelings. Cause if they had more than just hurt feelings, they'd actually try to say something of substance, right? Like, if I was just making shit up and talking out of my ass, people would call me on it, right? But just a facepalm? Thanks for adding nothing to the discussion except letting me know I hurt your feelings? Wonder Wolf at least put in some effort to disagree with me, so props to them at least.


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I am fairly certain Above the Clouds is written as very intentional absurdist humor. If we move forward with that assumption and view this work through that lens and consider some of what is known about this particular type of storytelling it might shed some light and offer a bit of missing context.

Absurdism and surrealism as I understand them are, in large part, about playing with commonly held perceptions through contrast. When you contrast the absurdity of what is presented against the commonly accepted norm what does that juxtaposition reveal to you? For some it reveals that the norm it's self is quite absurd, thus presenting the option to consider the norm and all of your expectations regarding it differently than you normally would. This abstraction can be very freeing, and potentially create a storytelling space free of preconception, expected outcomes and judgement typically tied to the commonly accepted "norm".

With all that in mind, I personally found what is here so far to be quite enjoyable. I found a very serviceable and competent narrative that never left me confused or wanting. I found the characters compelling, dimensional and suitably likeable, unlikeable or endearing. The pacing and emotional payouts all felt pretty on-point to me and the nughty bits were all very satisfying and impactful.

Bear in mind that as I was reading through I was always hyper-aware of the abstraction. The absurdity never served as a distraction or deterrent. In fact, it also became quite normal for me as well, but in no way banal. It actually amplified everything for me in a very unexpectedly delightful way. I found myself weaving new expected outcomes around this new normal that most certainly added to the experience. The whole thing just clicked for me.

It's worth noting here that absurdism as a storytelling device is absolutely not going to be for everyone. Some people have a very strong negative reaction to having their expectations subverted. Not everyone is going to be willing to accept absurdity as a catalyst for abstraction that may lead to a shift in perception and a willingness to suspend one's own expectations. I freely admit it's quite a leap, but one worth taking in my opinion. That's subject to the standard variable mileage clause obviously.

Absurdist works are, of course, subject to all the same constructs of opinion, criticism and personal preference that all art forms are. Your opinions, criticisms and conclusions here are every bit as valid as mine or anybody else's. I'm not going to pick them apart in granular detail and use my own opinions and thoughts on absurdism as a cudgel. That would be quite pointless and potentially circular in nature. My intention here is to simply offer a different perspective. Maybe it will offer a bit of insight into how and why I and others found Above the Clouds to be such an enjoyable experience.
 

Eezergoode

Newbie
Oct 31, 2017
83
83
After reading a lot of the criticisms of this game, I decided that since I was bored, I would try it anyway. This is absolutely one of the oddest, most ridiculous, over-the top silly stories I have seen to date on this site, and I am loving every freaking minute of it. I'm usually about the more serious storylines, the insane depth of character some writers go for, and a long term investment into maybe either digging into a characters backstory to discover what things make them tick, so that I can then make sure I am one of those things, but holy crap, this is a great break from all of that. The writing is truly top-notch for this type of humor. Every time i think things can't possible get any stranger, I quickly discover how wrong I am.

TLDR: Haven't had this much fun with a VN in a long time. Super silly and crazy, but it works. And works well.
 
4.30 star(s) 208 Votes