Game Review: Sainthood, YouTube Journey Interrupted

Upon routine browsing through Steam while I was searching for yet another cozy game to distract me from the vicissitudes of life, I was absolutely shocked to discover a small indy game called Sainthood, which was released this year, appropriately on All Saint’s Day. I was shocked because games with any Christian content at all are extremely rare and usually terrible, and games that are specifically based in Catholicism are unheard of. It was like finding a unicorn. The sole developer, Bisong Taiwo, is a devout Catholic originally from the Congo, who now resides in Manitoba. It’s clear that he put a great deal of love and thought into this game. It’s a beautiful and uplifting game for anyone, Christian or not. The soundtrack, based in Gregorian chants, is incredible, the game play is sweet and simple, and the narrative is deeply rich and steeped in Catholic tradition. Instead of unlocking more powerful spells or weapon skills, cumulative acts of faith or charity unlock saint cards, which gives the player an image and a biography of a saint and their role in Church history. The entire game is based around accomplishing charitable works and performing acts of prayer, such as reciting the rosary or worshiping with the nuns in the convent.

I’ve played the game through completely once, to a totally brutal ending, because it’s a time and resource management game and I’ve haven’t figured out the formula yet. Somehow all of my charity points kept vanishing, and could never amass enough energy to complete enough charitable works to get enough points for what I assume will be the “good” ending. I had plenty of faith points, but the charitable works mechanic is a real puzzler for me at this stage. (I hope this doesn’t reflect my spiritual condition in real life.) Knowing myself, it’s going to take at least a few more play-throughs to crack the code, but that’s fine, since it’s a relatively short game from start to finish, with only 33 “game days” to the ending. And it has so much deep content to reflect on and absorb that playing it repeatedly only provides further reward. If you are brand-new to gaming and looking for something very chill, rich, and wholesome, I highly recommend “Sainthood.”

Onto a more daunting topic: My triumphant YouTube premiere that wasn’t. Folks, I cannot believe the amount of work that I have put in so far just trying to get one, reasonable-quality, seven-minute diamond painting video up. The learning curve has been more than steep--it’s been almost completely vertical. First, there was finding the appropriate camera equipment and lighting. Then, there was the exhaustive research and trial-and-error that went into finding reasonable video editing software that didn’t cost a full month’s pay and was beginner-friendly. Then came the equally exhausting search for intro music that was 100% public domain, of okay quality, and easily clipped—way harder than I ever thought possible. Then it was having to find separate audio editing software, since the video editor I finally settled on wasn’t adequate to clean up the audio. Then it was having to learn both, and now it’s trying to put together the full video with the intro and outro, and something is not working right and I’m ready to lose my dang mind over seven minutes of me rambling insipidly about the Diamond Dotz “Iris Sunset” canvas.

But, Mr. Typist, who is far more patient and level-headed than I am, pointed out that once I have an intro and an outro and I’ve mastered the software, it’s all going to be a breeze to post new videos, and I just have to get through the learning curve. My immediate instinct is to dig in to my frustration and say that I’m too old to learn anything new, but of course that is ridiculous and leads to the death of the spirit, so I shall shoulder on. I expect to have at least one video up well before the end of the year. And I’m actually really excited about it. It’s a new and creative adventure for me, and I’ve needed a new and creative adventure for a long time. I just have to hang in there a little longer and keep at it. I’m eager to show my premiere video on this blog once my first one is finally in the can!

Here is link to the Sainthood trailer:

Sainthood

--Kristen McHenry