Jianghao Hu | Rezmo: A Rhythm Platformer Simulating Deafness

 
Rezmo is a 2D action platformer combined with rhythm game mechanics. The combined mechanic is designed to bring in challenges and strategies with music rhythm, creating different gameplay experience from conventional rhythm game design where music rhythm constrains player agency. When presented to players, the game will contain a regular level where players can hear the sound track and a silent level where players can’t hear any sound but have to rely on other sensory skills such as sight and touch to play.
Set in a fantasy world called “Rez Realm” that is intruded by the darkness known as the “Dissonance”, players play as this character “Rezmo”, a guardian who fights to restore harmonies to the world. The game presents players with 2D linear side-scrolling levels—similar to the perspective of Super Mario—where their goal is to reach the end of a level while carefully confronting obstacles and enemies. Players will control the game character through a console joystick controller. They will be able to move left and right, jump, and shoot projectiles. In each level there will be a background drum track that indicates a consistent rhythm pattern. Synchronizing jumping and shooting with that pattern will reward players with stronger action effects such as jumping higher and shooting more powerful projectiles. Strategically utilizing this feature will be crucial for players to get over certain parts of a level. At the end of a level, players will be shown a score that indicates the accuracy of their actions throughout the entire level.
Through combing rhythm game and platform game mechanics as well as leading players to compare different experience of the same game level, Rezmo takes on the challenge of being a fun game that incorporate mainstream video game elements and at the same time being a game that conveys certain social message.
The combination of rhythm-based mechanics and platform game mechanics break out of the conventional design of rhythm games by providing players with a fresh experience in which they engage with rhythm in a more flexible way other than simply waiting for bars to fall and pressing the right buttons. Such a combination results in Rezmo granting players more freedom in terms of what they can do while still stressing the importance of music rhythm to the gameplay. The way that Rezmo guides players to get used to “being deaf” and to practice sight and touch in its silent level responds to a concern that activists have towards disability simulations. In his article “The Perils of Playing Blind: Problems with Blindness Simulation and a Better Way to Teach about Blindness”, Dr. Arielle Silverman argues that simulations that makes audiences experience the struggle and hardship of being blind might reinforce their misunderstanding of blindness. Adapting this argument to hearing loss, Rezmo creates an experience with its silent level in which players adjust themselves to “hearing loss” with the assistance of visual indicators and vibration. This method which Dr. Silverman refers to as “opportunities for skill mastery” intend to make players feel the confidence and capability even without being able to hear.