Ludologically , it is an incredibly simple game , and was criticised , especially during # GamerGate , for how it “ could have been built in PowerPoint and isn ’ t a game ” ( Koster , 2012 ). Composed by Liz Ryerson , the game ’ s soundtrack is a distorted and “ intentionally garbled ” ( Ruberg , 2020 , p . 81 ) soundscape of C major synthesisers , and medical white noise . The game is split into 4 levels , entitled , “ GENDER BULLSHIT ”, “ MEDICAL BULLSHIT ”, “ HORMONAL BULLSHIT ” and “ IT GETS BETTER ?” respectively . Each level only has one accompanying song , and the song loops until the player has completed the level , as mechanically simple as the game itself . Accompanying the music are the game ’ s ‘ stingers ’ that respond to player inputs and the various mini games the player has to complete in each levels . These stingers are all made of distorted human voice ; the word “ beep ” is pitched down to represent the ringing of a phone , or an over-emphasised and overdriven “ gulp ” represents the swallowing of estradiol pills .
Figure 2 , Figure 3 & Figure 4 : screenshots of ‘ dys4ia ’’
Audio distortion is an incredibly powerful mechanic for queer storytelling . Behind the thick static and “ garbled ” noise , is an incredibly ‘ normal ’ musical soundscape , resting in C major throughout and accompanied by the foley of a ringing phone or a swallowed pill . But for the player , just like it is for trans women , normativity is just out of reach , being denied to them by “ GENDER BULLSHIT ” ( represented by the distorted and denied musical soundscape ), “ MEDICAL BULLSHIT ” ( represented by the medical white noise of machines and chattering waiting room ), and “ HORMONAL BULLSHIT ” ( represented by the tiring , unchanging harmony ). The final level of the game , “ IT GETS BETTER ?” is the only time the music shifts harmonically , as the music begins to oscillate between C major and F major , to convey that , beyond all of what then player has had to go through , finally the journey has the potential to go somewhere . The harmonic movement at the game ’ s end mimics the final sentiment of the game ; as the protagonist remarks “ I feel like I ’ ve taken the first steps towards something tremendous ”.
Llaura McGee remarks that the game ’ s “ angry , confident voice ” is contrasted by Ryerson ’ s score “ which is less certain ”, evoking “ this richness and contrasting texture that comes from collaboration ” ( 2020 , p . 71 ). This uncertainty adds another layer to the game ’ s ambiguous ending , which places the player in an uncertainty that is akin to that of the transgender protagonist . Upon completing all of the medical and hormonal work , the journey of assimilating as a trans woman is nowhere near over ; and the pulsating harmony from C major back to F major again mimics this uncertainty . Again , the player is not just shown a queer story and told to empathise ; the music of the game actively attempts to mimic the story and immerse the player in the world of queerness . Ryerson ’ s score evokes the overwhelming feeling of clinical queerness and denies the player a proper resolution from completing the clinical journey , because , as queer people know too well , the end of “ MEDICAL BULLSHIT ” is not the end of the journey .
Both ‘ Undertale ’ and ‘ Milk outside a bag of milk outside a bag of milk ’ present us not only with haunting , distorted sound textures , but we , as the player , watch the sound unfold and transform in real time , along with the on-screen visuals . We ’ re not only being confronted with a distorted texture , but we ’ re listening to a playful piece of music that we are already familiar with become transfigured in front of our eyes .
SCHOOL OF THE ARTS 2021 / 2022
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