Viewing entries tagged
abstract
It's been a while since I've been able to write about a game and post a new post, so let's ease ourselves back into it with a tiny little game that managed to surprise and delight me in unexpected ways. Although I must stress that my thoughts on this game are genuine, and are by no means satirical, which is something I feel the need to point out after reading other interpretations that failed to find any value in the experience at all.
Something I never like reading about in relation to video games is whether or not a particular title is "no different from a book" or "the same as a movie". It's nothing new, because it's often the argument that's made against walking-simulators and visual novels. Although when I read these kind of perspectives, I'm left wondering if the writer has ever actually read a book or watched a movie.
As an artist, I love abstraction just about as much as the next guy. In fact, as a designer it's one of the most important tools in the box, as the essence of good design is arguably the ability to abstract concepts to their furthest point. Thankfully, this doesn't only apply to visual art, but I'm sure there are threads of abstraction found throughout video games as well.
It never ceases to amaze me that mobile gaming is often more popular than any other platform these days. I guess I might just be behind the times, but using my phone for playing games always seemed a bit pointless. The combination between awful touch controls and exploitative micro-transaction models has kept me far from mobile games for a long time.
There has to be a point in life when you realise that interacting with art can be an experience without form, or end. When I studied philosophy, I quickly learned that a lot of people really hate wrestling with questions that have no immediate answer. It seemed that no matter how compelling the discourse was, some of us can't handle a lack of definition.
How do you take a familiar game concept and turn it around to be something original and unique? Then again, how do you make this new iteration something interesting and compelling, or is it enough to be different? These questions and more will be raised when anyone dives into Vertiginous Golf.
In the last few years, I've come to the understanding that a bit of narrative surrealism might well be up there as one of my favourite genres in gaming. When I was younger, all I needed was some fun first person shooting action from id Software or Epic Games to keep me amused. These days however, I really appreciate how deep a good narrative game can take you.
I'm always up for abstract ambiguity in games and stories in general, so as I danced my way through the beautiful environments of Bound, my mind wandered to theorise on elements in the game. This Playstation 4 indie darling has a lot of good ideas and hints at a bunch of interesting themes, but I'm not sure if it ultimately succeeds.
