Walking the line between esoteric art and nonsensical elitism can often be the downfall of a good idea, as the latter prevents large parts of the audience from connecting with your message. In narrative-heavy games, there is always a need for the player to understand what's happening along the way, but being too obvious is boring, while complete abstraction tends to be confusing and pointless. Suffice to say that there's an art to telling a story that pulls in the player, but doesn’t beat them over the head with a bland message.
I promise I'll post more about some bigger games eventually, but right now I'm having a great time going through all the lovely little indies I've never mentioned before. These days I think one of my favourite gaming things to do is try out new little ideas and experiences that would never make it as a blockbuster release. After all, the more mainstream something is, the less interesting it ends up being.
Sometimes it's hard to remember that video games have the potential to make a statement and be an actual piece of art, especially when faced with the latest big blockbuster that fits the marketable template. Much like all art, the different and unique work is often relegated to niche corners of obscurity without ever being given the attention they deserve. However, for those of us who like to seek out what's hiding in the shadows, there are many rewarding experiences waiting.
I'm usually quite sceptical of subscription services of any form, as it usually benefits the service a lot more than the subscriber. However, since I entered the world of Xbox and Microsoft GamePass, I have to admit that I've been pleasantly surprised with the rotations of games on offer. Not least because I've ended up playing a bunch of new little indie games that I might have missed if I weren't paying attention to the GamePass library.
There's always so much to be gained from going into a game blind, with no real idea about what to expect. Then again, we've all be burned by a movie or a game that looked interesting, but turned out to be a stinker. However, when you go in blind and discover an excellent little experience that you were never expecting, the overall level of satisfaction gets raised significantly.
I feel like at this stage, I could ask any regular reader of this blog for a short list of things that I really like to see in games and anyone keeping track would have an easy time figuring it out. Perhaps you might start with a narrative, or some king of story-telling device that plays a central role. You might then add in some kind of aesthetic importance, where the graphics can be considered art, and they play an important role in telling the aforementioned story. Finally, even though it's not as obvious as the others, you might think to shape the game mechanically as a traditional point-and-click adventure. If you did all that, you'd undoubtedly be pretty close to a game that really can't fail to impress me.
I remember when I was first getting into visual novels in general. At first I didn't really understand the appeal, as most of the ones recommended to me consisted of little more than sexually suggestive anime. In fact, I didn't realise that visual novels as a genre could ever exist without some kind of horny element, which I later found out to be completely false. This, however, is not one those visual novels. This is one of those anime-looking, unnecessarily horny entries into the visual novel library.
Up until now, I never thought I would be writing about visual novels unless I came across one that was particularly interesting. The reason being that there are only ever a few things going on in these games, most of which can only be appraised through a subjective analysis of taste. At the end of the day, a visual novel is only as good as its art and its writing, which can mean different things to different people. Perhaps there's something worth discussing though, so let's have a crack it for a change.
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.
Ever since I was a kid I've loved science fiction, but mostly one particular kind of science fiction that doesn't always stand out. I suppose a lot of the time when I mention science fiction, people tend to think up fantastical future things like Star Wars, or something completely off the wall like Transformers. While I do enjoy that side of the genre, what really gets me going are the stories that seem to be firmly tied to what's actually possible.
I know a lot of people out there like to tick a lot of boxes with their games. It's why we have games that shove in as many collectables and modes as possible, with no regard to their quality. On the other hand, it's why I've often heard people complain about games that focus too much on a single element, even if they pull it off superbly. Why then, does everyone love Gorogoa so much?
Sometimes it's worth remembering that when you've created something excellent, it needs to speak for itself. When you have a core set of compelling mechanics presented beautifully, there's no need to inflate the facts. Countless little indie treasures could learn from this, and She Remembered Caterpillars could as well.
Normally I wouldn't bother talking about a visual novel, as most of them follow the same kind of format. The only things that generally matter for me in the genre, are whether the story is interesting enough, and if the art is any good. In fact, I think the latter might be all it takes to get me interested.
Here is a game that says it's "for adults" and will respect you time with a "mutation in text-based adventure". If it weren't for the integrity of Bithell Games' track record, this would all smell a bit fishy and invite hard-nosed scepticism. Thankfully, the lame marketing speech only goes as far as the sales pitch, leaving the actual game experience to be engaging and unique.
There once was this game called Bastion, which I played to death and loved every aspect of. The story was unique and original, the graphics were gorgeous and colourful, even the gameplay was simple and compelling. I often listen to the soundtrack, just because it's a good album of music, and surely everyone saw the hype around the clever narration guiding you through the game's story.
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.
One of the coolest things about any form of art, is that it often defies any rational justification for why we like it. Sure we can point to likely culprits, such as quality and detail, but sometimes something hits you harder than expected. I often think that these odd connections with creativity are all the more powerful, as they defy logic and rationale.
I'll probably give it a post eventually, but one of my favourite games of all time is The Tiny Bang Story. It's a simple little game that mixes solving puzzles with finding hidden objects, but it's all about the presentation. In a game with such simple gameplay, there's loads of room for beautiful art and music to tie the experience together and The Tiny Bang Story does this without ever uttering a word of dialogue, written or otherwise.
I'm really enjoying these experimental little games from accomplished developers that are tiny examples of a good idea that probably could never be expanded on. Before playing the wonderful Subsurface Circular, I unironically got my hands on Edmund McMillon's experiment; Fingered.
