Culture is a game
Sounds scares in games are always crucial in creating an fully body experience. We as humans have few sense, and fewer are involved in the process of games, thus making the usage of these sense absolutely critical. The Norwood suite does a fantastic job of tickling my eyes and ears and creates a sensations of non-understanding that my mind just jumps on trying to tear apart and understand, never being able to complete the task.
This game plays very simply. It takes the perspective of a first person view of a character allows you to both move and look around. You have items that you can pick up and an inventory in which to recall them and use them. Using these mechanics, the player will find objects for other characters or objectives and just generally snoop around.
What a wonderful job this game does at creating a grounded feeling. Even though the setting itself is surreal and dreamlike, the music and consistency of the weirdness does an amazing job at making the world feel present and encompassing. A large part of this has to do with the sound design which drills into you unrelentingly, forcing you to acknowledge it. However, the art direction also has a huge role to play, making the convoluted logic of the game feel natural and not out of place at all. The player is well prepared for weirdness from the very start.
The story is a bit all over the place. It actively seemed to refuse me understanding what was happening. I may have missed a couple little pick ups that could tell me more about what was going on but I don’t know how much it could help. The events were random, the climax to the story was entirely out of left field for me, and I just don’t know what to make of the hotel itself. I don’t think I’ll ever understand this game and I’m totally alright with it. The atmosphere of the game lent itself to making a story such as this not feel out of place at all.
I wish some of the room transitions weren’t as obvious as they are. I don’t know what the technical limitations there might have been, but I believe that the game might have been a little bit more smooth with them. The game, when an area isn’t loaded, puts up nothing but blackness at the door. The problem here is that the blackness is there while the player is quite relatively close making it quite obvious what is happening. This stood out to me more as a technical issue rather than an atmospheric device so I thought I should mention it here.
I was worried I would have to go looking in every corner for the items I needed, something I attribute to bad adventure game design, but this game totally side steps it. I thought this was a wonderful bit of design. The player is more or less led to every single important item they’ll need, however, due to the exploratory nature of traversing and getting tasks, it felt natural that I’d come across such an item. Never that I was pushed towards it. Expertly done.
The signs were perfect, thanks to the developer for adding them.
Overall, I enjoyed my time at The Norwood suite. I’ve never played anything quite like it and I’m looking forward to what the developer does next. If you are looking for a game that oooooozes with atmosphere and style, this is your game. 8/10
Stray is a lovely little game that does quite a lot with the little it has. It got me curious, it challenged me, and it felt good to play. This is one of those games that comes into its own not from its mechanics, but from the execution of well worn territory, making it feel fresh again.
The gameplay follows a fairly graspable formula that clearly isn't the star of the show. Basically, there are rooms where the player needs to go through one by one. Exploring and collecting keys where they are prevented from progressing further, defeating enemies along the way. Nothing here stands out that well for those used to this style of structure.
One thing worth mentioning is that the way the game presents itself is top notch. Very subtle use of a chromatic shader and a bit of warping of the screen stylizes the game very well. The choice of grey and off white in the sprites helps the chromatic shader stand out all the more. The art style is very simple and does it’s job well, but the shader gives it life it might not have had otherwise.
The effects are very well done, the screenshake is understated and shooting things feels wonderful. Seeing as how that’s the main form of expression for me as a player, I’m glad that the effort has gone into making it feel as great as it does.
The precision on where the developer landed on for the life for the enemies feels like a perfect decision. Great taste there.
I really enjoyed how the inventory worked. No screen, just words that helped to add a little bit of flavour with how unique its presented.
Sound design in the game was well done. I may be a bit spoiled after playing Norwood Suite, but I feel like outside of the gun sound that the effects could have used a little extra oomph. Maybe an echo or something? I don’t know, just my opinion.
Odd enemy placement sometimes. There were a few times where the situation felt a little unfair based on where I entered the room from and how many enemies were in the room. I couldn’t back up or I would leave the room and have to start all over.
Stray was a really well done game I enjoyed playing. I think there were bits that could have been done better to add a feeling of grandness to a game that was on the cusp of it. 6/10
What to say about a game made with Soul by Soul himself? Pico-8 lends itself wonderfully to stripped down arcade games that have to play with mechanics more so than any other aspect of a game. This game takes that philosophy and shows the world that arcade games can be invented an infinite number of ways but doing it itself.
Stray Shot is a wonderfully complex and interconnected arcade game that is presented in a deceptively simple package. The gist of the gameplay is that the player wants to get a high score by shooting enemies. The trick to the game is that any shot that misses all the enemies and goes off screen, becomes an enemy. Thus the player can fully control the waves of enemies, if they keep their head on straight during the chaos that can easily ensue when one tries to bite of more than they can chew.
I absolutely love the start of this game. It’s purely masterful. Basically the game just lists the enemy types, shows the title, and says press z to play. If you press Z you learn that its the button to shoot, because the game immediately starts with you shooting. Since there’s nothing to hit the bullet goes of screen, spawning the enemy. This is how you learn the entire game, from pressing start. Brilliant!!! Well done, I love it.
The score system has perfect synergy with everything else in the game, because it encourages recklessness. Basically, every enemy has a score multiplier, each of the enemies giving a base score of 1. For every additional enemy on screen, killing an enemy will give increased points based on how many enemies are on screen. What this does is encourage the player to make as many enemies as possible on screen because they will be able to get the most points by doing this.
However, by doing this, the game also becomes much more difficult. Which is another aspect I love, how the player is, almost, entirely in control of the difficulty of the game. The player has full agency over when the next enemy spawns. Realistically, things get out of control sometimes, but generally manageable. Things only get overly hectic when the player knowingly tries to spawn as many enemies as possible, which leads to the highest scores but also the most precarious moments.
The special effects in the game were fine. The art was serviceable. The game definitely suffered here, could have been done better but it works since the style is unified and clearly presents what needs to be presented.
The lack of music was very apparent, it harmed the game a bit. I feel like the right music would have added so much life to the game.
Another aspect to the game is a bit of a giant issue with the score system. As brilliant as it is, theres nothing that prevents a player from just spawning one enemy, killing it, and repeat forever to basically keep their score going higher and higher infinitely. This bit would need something to prevent this as I feel it defeats the spirit of the game.
This game is so amazingly executed I’m left a little bit in awe at its simplicity. There’s a lot to improve on in this game, but the groundwork here is enough to keep me playing time and time again. 7/10
Yet another absolutely brilliant game. This game mixes a story and a simple puzzle game in such a way that I was invested in the characters and gave the mechanics of the game a meaning that I was not expecting them to take on from my initial impressions.
This is a rather simple game in its structure. Each level, the player has to solve a puzzle based on who they want to live and go on. This is motivated by the players choice based on what happens in between the levels. That’s it.
Oh man, the story is amazing! I was not expecting the quality of writing I got based on the presentation of the game, which is rather lacking a bit. The characters were engaging, the dialogue was lively, and I was curious at every moment to know what happened next. This immersion in the story had me invested, not in the story itself, but also with the puzzles which integrated the story in a interesting way.
The game uses branching narratives based on how you solve a puzzle, rather than choosing a path. Though the path you choose needs to be followed by solving the puzzle so that you get the intended outcome. It’s simply done but effective.
The music added tension to the game that I think the game would have fallen flat without. With it the game feels full and well realized.
As I’ve mention before, I really do think this game would have done will with a better take on its presentation. It serves the purpose well, but I just think it could be done better with a little more time.
Play this game. I promise you, if nothing else, you will come away with an experience you haven’t had before. I specifically leave out a lot of things about this game because they are best experienced first hand. 8/10
Go and culture
Go Is a beautiful game. I could sit here for hours and hours writing about how much I love this game, I’ve been playing it for a little over half my life and I still only get more and more impressed by the game as time goes on.
Go is rather simple game. Each player starts with an empty board and takes turns putting stones on the board. If the player surrounds the opponents stones with their own, they captures those stones. The goal of the game is to create areas of the board where the opponents is unable to put stones down without them being captured. The player with the most territory at the end of the game wins + captured stones.
What I love so much about this game is the conversation it creates. When playing against someone else of a similar level as you, I have laughed, been provoked, startled, and various other emotions that come simply from the way in which the other person plays and intertwines with the the way you play. It’s hard to express fully.
It’s also a game that has a particular understanding ingrained into its being. That’s a understanding about change, which again, is hard to express. Everything in this game is about change and makes grasping onto anything impossible. A move and position that’s important on round can become unimportant the next. Life for a group of your stones can mean death for the others. Trying to control a particular area on the board can mean losing control of the larger game. Everything in this game requires balance. Tipping to far in one direction only leaves an opening. It’s magic.
Something I've wanted to see happen more of in modern culture that doesn't happen with games anymore is how much influence a game can have outside of the people who play the games.
Almost every medium has an influence on the greater world around them, indirectly causing a change in society. Knowledge in books, Rock and roll in music, cultural touchstones in film and tv. Go used to have an arguably equal influence. Thousands of years ago, this game was considered one of 4 arts that one needed to learn in order to be considered cultured in China.
This has clearly changed. No game has this same sort of sway in almost any culture. Games have been relegated to pure entertainment and junk food in the mass consciousness of the world.
This is very saddening. Games have so much to offer the world, so much they can express and convey and do.
I don't have any solutions, but I know if its happened before, as it has with go, it can happen again. Go has changed me simply by playing it, I have become a different person because this game is in my life. I believe all games have this power, to influence people and make broad changes through individual experiences.
I honestly don’t have anything bad to say about this game. Its a perfect game in my opinion. 10/10
Comments
Post a Comment