Viewing entries tagged
design
Ever grown up in a small town, only to leave it and explore the world once you come of age? Ever leave your safe little bubble in favour of the unknown dangers and risks that lead to greater rewards and ultimate awareness? No? Me neither; but I feel like I was able to have my own little Rumspringa vicariously through the adventure of Sable exploring the surreal and beautiful world around them.
Not long after I'd finished playing Stray, someone asked me if it was any good, with the implication being that this was nothing more than a meme. It's no surprise that any game featuring a cat as its main character would garner a lot of internet attention, but I tend to stay away from those kinds of things and hadn't seen a single meme during my time with the game. Thankfully I was able to respond with the clarification that this is indeed, more than just a meme.
I've heard it said before, that a sequel of a smash hit is always doomed to fail, and there isn't a lot anyone can do about it. This is especially true in certain forms of media, but I would argue that video games are something of an exception to the rule, as making a hit sequel doesn't appear to be all that difficult. At the very least, just repeat what you did in the first game, make it look nicer, and you'll make everyone happy. No?
I've always been sceptical about real-world escape rooms for a number of reasons, not least because it would mean trying to gather a suitable group of people to go with. Then there's the chance that the whole ordeal would be far too easy, or ridiculously difficult, wasting whatever money you spent on the entry fee. Plus, the cost has always been a barrier to escape rooms in my local area, as they seem to always be on the higher end of what seems affordable. It's nice to know then, that there are other options available to people like me, who probably aren't going to get to a real world escape room anytime soon.
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've never gone back to a game that I've already posted about before, but I also didn't think I'd be going back to Spiritfarer after the technical difficulties I faced last time around. In fact, it should be a testament to the game's success that I even went back at all, because after hitting a game-breaking bug ten hours in, I would usually uninstall with glee and never give it any more of my time.
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.
To this day I'm always amazed at how much I enjoy certain simulator games. Not because I have something against the genre, but the ratio between good and bad simulators has been levelled heavily in favour of the bad for a long time now. In fact, it seems that genuinely decent simulators are rare enough that when one comes along, it should be held aloft for doing things the right way.
Sometimes I wonder if a good game is actually not that good, but I have some irrational interest in one tiny element that makes it worth playing. Other times I wonder if I dislike a game that's actually brilliant, but there's one key part that ruins it completely. All of me knows that both of these things are true, so let's try not to think too hard about it.
I always think it must be difficult to carve out a visual identity for a game development studio, as it kind of puts the cart before the horse in a lot of ways. After all not every game will fit into the same style guide, unless their scope remains limited as well. Is it worth giving up a little bit of depth to retain a strong identity? I'm still not sold either way.
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.
I'm not a fan of deck-building games at the best of times. I never got into Magic The Gathering, or Pokémon, or any other form of Collectible Card Games, or Trading Card Games at any point in my life. The closest I ever got was collecting basketball cards in primary school, because literally everyone collected basketball cards at my primary school.
After the success of Grand Theft Auto V and the previous Red Dead Redemption game, the avalanche of Red Dead Redemption 2 hype was not unexpected. It seems like whenever Rockstar get around to releasing another game, there's reason to be excited. Few publishers manage to carry that kind of reputation, but is the weight of previous success beginning to weigh them down.
Hype can be a double-edged sword, as it's often a result of aggressive marketing that never lives up to its promises. Over time we've learned to avoid buying into the huge swell of praise and applause handed out to big budget "hits", thanks to a long list of disappointing experiences that were supposed to be transcendental. It's a shame then, that when a truly excellent game comes along, it's mired in doubt on account of all the hype built up in its wake.
Immersion often seems like the holy grail of game design, as it's often seen as the key to a player's overall enjoyment. It's why so much effort is put into input methods and fancy new controllers with motions sensors and vibrating functions. The more a game can draw us into its world and make us believe what we're seeing, the better, but there's one type of game that needs nothing more than a player sitting at a computer.
Every now and then a game is released to mediocre reviews and practically non-existent hype, but I enjoy it all the same. The first Mirror's Edge was criticised for its empty world and bland story, while offering unique and compelling gameplay. It was short and sweet, but I loved everything about it, so the sequel must be right up my alley… right?
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.
Across all forms of media, a reboot can be a risky undertaking. The good ones revitalise an idea and bring it up to date with modern techniques and technologies. While the bad ones leave fans of the original betrayed and wronged for having their beloved art bastardised into something else. Unfortunately it seems like a lot of reboots fall into the bad category, but I actually enjoy rebooted video games for a number of key reasons.
There are some genres that I never expect to surprise me, but that's okay. When it comes to sports and racing games, there isn't a lot of room to move, as we all have some kind of understanding about what we're going to get. So when a little racing game comes along and finds a unique identity between arcade and simulation, it deserves to be noticed.
