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When I was younger, I had dreams of writing and drawing my own comic book (or 'graphic novel' if you will), but it always seemed like more work than I was willing to put in. I wasn't the fastest artist in the land and producing that much art regularly and quickly enough to keep the whole thing moving was a bit overwhelming. Although, I'm not one to be put off so easily, and I tried out a few alternate methods, which came with their own levels of success and complication.
I've mentioned it before, but I'm really enjoying this renaissance of FMV in gaming, as we're at a point now where the technology has reached an equilibrium with the concept. What used to be a fairly janky way to include photo-realistic graphics in a game, has since become a viable and high resolution solution. In fact, I would argue that a lot of the modern FMV games wouldn't be half as interesting if they had gone with an all-CG cast instead.
There aren't many genres that I tend to avoid like the plague, but horror has never really been my bag. The closest I get to modern day horror in media, is classical gothic literature, which is a different beast entirely. When it comes to movies and games, being scared is not something I find enjoyable, and my active imagination always ensures that I feel the spooks.
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.
Lately it might seem as though the only innovations made in narrative game design, have been from the so-called 'walking simulator' end of town. A lot of games enhance their narrative side by removing gameplay elements, which sometimes works, but often ends in boredom. However, keeping in gameplay doesn't automatically fix the problem.
I think it's fair to say that narrative focused games got a real boost when TellTale came out with their version of The Walking Dead. It was arguably when the mix between visual novels and point and click adventures became popular. So why haven't we seen more clones of the formula? Why is it that Life Is Strange feels like the only direct competitor around?
Do we enjoy short narrative games with innovate methods of story-telling? By now it should be obvious that a game like Wheels Of Aurelia, with an interesting premise and unique gameplay, is right up my alley. Sure it's a small, short indie game that was released to little fanfare, but it's a game that exemplifies how unique telling a story while driving a car can be.
