Confetti’s Cozy Corner: Parasocial – Chilla’s Art
In Parasocial from Japanese horror game studio Chilla’s Art, you play as a live streamer and gamer who is up and coming in her career. She plays suspenseful mini games while chatting with her community and slowly starts to gain more viewers and success.
If you are not familiar with Chilla’s Art as developers, they make Japanese-based horror games. The studio was founded by 2 brothers and all of their games have a grainy VHS film aesthetic. The environment is heavily inspired by Japanese horror films and lore which adds to the immersive experience of the game.
While the graphics can look interesting at times, it definitely adds to the vibe of the game. Usually, but not always, there is an overarching theme or lesson that is highlighted in each Chilla’s Art title.
Throughout Parasocial, the protagonist will be faced with encounters that will have you on the edge of your seat.
According to the Cambridge Dictionary the term ‘parasocial’ means: “involving or relating to a connection between a person and someone they do not know personally, for example a famous person or a character in a book”.
Parasocial relationships happen often, especially in this era of influencer marketing, where consumers are more likely to buy something from a brand or engage with a product if an influencer who has a connection with their audience is seen using that product. While parasocial relationships can be maintained with strong and healthy boundaries between the influencer and audience, there are times when those lines are crossed and can even turn dangerous. Chilla’s Art Parasocial highlights that breakdown using horror elements, plot twists, and turns.
Chilla’s Art games take potential real life scenarios and turn them into a horror plot. Their approach to creating horror games reminds me of Jordan Peel’s approach to making movies. While they both put specific cultural references in their art, the horror elements that seem absurd at times (outside of the majorly exaggerated, paranormal elements) are based in a form of reality.
After completing the game and getting the multiple endings on my own live stream, I took the opportunity to speak with my chat about parasocial relationships, why boundaries are important, and gave real world famous examples of when those parasocial lines have been crossed with influencers, celebrities, athletes and gamers.
Parasocial is an indie Japanese horror game made to entertain gamers, so you do not have to dive deep into the themes and motifs if you don’t want to. However, if you are a true fan of horror, you know that horror as a genre and medium always pokes at elements of society.
Parasocial is a fun game, but does have some bugs you may run into that means you might have to redo certain points of the game.
Chilla’s Arts games are exclusively on Steam, can be beat in under an hour, and normally do not cost more than $9.99. There are strong mature themes in all of their games, so do your due diligence to research the themes of each game before playing.
If you would like to support an Indie Japanese Horror Studio, you can support Chilla’s Art on Patreon.
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