Blogging the experience of gameplayhttps://www.gamelog.cl/gamers/GamerPage.php?idgamer=1939https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=6668I have enjoyed my experience with Prison Architect. Today I played through the entirety of the 3rd story chapter of the campaign. A prison riot had broken out and we had to effectively quell the rebellion as soon as possible. This involved calling in Riot Police, Firemen, and a whole bunch of staff to accomplish, however, I didn't find the story particularly engaging in this play through. It definitely feels as though the narrative was added in the end of the development cycle, but the game-play otherwise is still very fun. I think the most ethically interesting part of this game is definitely the idea that you are running a prison as effectively as possible. You're not just designing a normal prison where the well-being of inmates is considered, you are attempting to design the prison that can make the most money while spending the least. It's clear that the game encourages the establishment of a for-profit prison, and the well-being of the inmates takes a backseat to the money making scheme.Fri, 30 Mar 2018 00:59:20 CSThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=6668&iddiary=11823https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=6668In playing through Chapter 2 of Prison Architect I came to realize just how strange the game's underlying mechanics really are. It's clear that this is a for-profit institution, and for-profit prisons have recently been demonstrated in real life to be quite inhumane. Not only that, but it seems that to the CEO the prisoner's well being takes a backseat to the effectiveness at which the prison runs. The whole entire prison feels like a money making scheme, and while elements of building the prison with the earnings are there, and therefore making the prison "better" for those held there is present within the game, it still feels so strange. In fact, the concept of prison is a little strange when you think about it; Perhaps the concept of generating the most effective prison possible is even more strange. The plot is interesting, however it is certainly not the bread and butter of the game, and at times feels like a very glorified tutorial. The story of the mafiosi is funny, I found it especially entertaining that their last name is "Palermo" which is the city in Sicily where the Mafia originated. Thu, 29 Mar 2018 00:47:54 CSThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=6668&iddiary=11796https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=6668Prison Architect is very interesting so far. I enjoy the sort of city-building mechanics that are present within the game, I find that type of game-play to be quite entertaining. However, it is clear that this game is absolutely rife with tons of ethical dilemmas. Having to build the electrical chair and execute the prisoner Edward for his crimes was certainly interesting, especially given that he sought to be forgiven for his quite heinous murder by the priest. He clearly regrets his actions, but we are still required to place him in the electric chair. It's morbid, but it sort of invites questioning as to whether the death penalty IS indeed ethical. While I think it was sort of hamfisted into the story, the game did cause me to think about the dilemma. Perhaps there is a great deal more dilemmas explored that, perhaps, will be less forced into the narrative. I look forward to playing the game more in the upcoming days. (This entry has been edited2 times. It was last edited on Wed, 28 Mar 2018 00:42:28.)Tue, 27 Mar 2018 23:59:20 CSThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=6668&iddiary=11759https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=6617In my final session with Firewatch today I began to really discover the moral dilema within the game. The beginning of the game is designed to give you that empathy and sense of loss that Henry has experienced with the eventual loss of his wife to early onset dementia/Alzheimer's, and then introduces Delilah as a possible relief to that pain. The game wants you to decide whether you are going to keep interacting with Delilah, keep moving along the path that will bring you closer with her, or if you are going to stay with Julia. The discovery of the man taking all of the notes of their conversation, as well as the events and news behind the disappearance of the two teenagers, hint that there is something going on that perhaps Delilah is aware of and doesn't tell Henry. Earlier on, Delilah makes a radio call out to someone else, perhaps hinting that she knows whoever this person listening to them is. I don't know whether I should trust her or not, but I feel for Henry. I think it's a very interesting idea to explore the difficulties of a relationship where one person needs to be cared for within a game. The player has time to grow attached to characters, particularly if your actions within the game influence them, and it's even more interesting for a game to explore what sorts of consequences a player can incur if they choose to explore other opportunities outside of their marriage/relationship.Thu, 15 Feb 2018 23:59:06 CSThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=6617&iddiary=11694https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=6617My second session of Firewatch furthered my opinions of the first session. The interactions with Delilah over the radio are charming and add to the overall aesthetic of the game. I love how in-depth the character development and story of the game is, you feel like you are actually getting to know someone over this channel of communication that you have with them. The dialog system is also interesting, particularly because it gives you only a set amount of time to choose a given response, and in some cases allows you to simply ignore what was said altogether. To be honest I simply select what I feel I would have said if I was in the same situation, and I think that's incredibly interesting. I also quite enjoyed how easily the game was able to manipulate the perceived tonality of the game. With the drop of a hat, by the end of day 1, the forest no longer felt cozy and inviting, it felt menacing and incredibly eerie. The random man outside of your tower, as well as having the tower broken into, furthered this tonal shift. With the start of day two I enjoyed the game's acknowledgement of what route I took in the day prior within the dialog with Delilah, it's self aware, and is clearly hinting to me that my actions do have an effect on the sort of ending I get. The forest is incredibly well designed, it feels vast and alive. Walking to explore what the thin column of smoke was, as well as walking to examine the wire were fun experiences simply because of how beautiful the scenery was. It really does manage to emulate that genuine hiking experience. So far I'm really enjoying everything Firewatch has to offer.Wed, 14 Feb 2018 23:54:13 CSThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=6617&iddiary=11661https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=6617My first session of Firewatch has been quite enjoyable. I really enjoy the art style for one, it's so colorful despite its somewhat simplistic approach to the individual models themselves. The initial dialog, where you learn about his wife and the backstory of what brought you there, was brutal. In all honesty I spent easily 15 minutes trying to think about what the correct response should be, what I would do if I was in Henry's shoes, it was surprisingly difficult and incredibly sad when I finally reached the conclusion of that dialog set and learned that she had been taken home by her family. I played a bit more of the first day and I like the gameplay, despite being very aware of the criticism that the game is essentially a "walking simulator". I'm appreciative of that approach in Firewatch, it makes the game feel meditative, and cozy, perhaps like what working the job would be like. It's actually relaxing to come home from a long day and be introduced to a game that has a nice, relaxing pace and tone.Wed, 14 Feb 2018 23:43:53 CSThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=6617&iddiary=11659https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=6559I finished my third gameplay session of Shadow of Mordor tonight, and I’m still enjoying it thoroughly. I now have about three hours of gameplay into the game overall and I think that I am starting to understand the sort of “flow” that the game requests of the player. I do have some critiques of the game, namely the somewhat antiquated and overused “tower” system that reveals specific portions of the map could have been made into a sort of territory competition with the captains instead. However, keeping the release year of the game in mind (2014) it isn’t quite as bad as other, more modern takes on the same system. The combat, while very fun, does start to feel somewhat less impactful if you don’t take a stealth approach, which has really pushed me to take said stealth approach to more recent missions. I think the stealth approach is also ethically interesting, as in whether you ought to take the stealth approach to missions to minimize the unnecessary casualties to the enemy side. Other games like Dishonored have explored this sort of ethicality, wherein if you kill people on the enemy side you get a bad ending, however I don’t know if there is any such implication within Shadow of Mordor, or whether there should be. While you really can play the game as a sort of spectacle fighter, beat-em-up, I think the real fun of the game comes from running around on the top of ruins and terrorizing enemies by dropping wasp nests on their heads, or simply coming up with creative ways to sneak around the various enemies. The skills of the game, such as slowing time down before shooting the arrows, or the stun skill which can be followed up with a huge combo is quite fun. To be honest I haven’t found the narrative of the game necessarily captivating, but I think that is mostly because I haven’t advanced quite far enough into the game to truly know what is going on. There is definitely a sense of authorial reticence within the game’s story design. Even with all of these criticisms I can genuinely say that this is a very fun game, and I’m not even upset that I had to shell out the $20 dollars to play it as I am sure that I will be continuing to play it on my own time throughout the semester.Thu, 18 Jan 2018 23:44:35 CSThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=6559&iddiary=11560https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=6569Today’s gameplay session went particularly well, as I played the game for roughly an hour and a half and had a genuinely hard time putting it down when it was time for me to write the game log. The gameplay is quite good, I have been having a great time running around and fighting captains, to be honest I haven’t even really felt compelled to complete the first “real” story mission of the game since I have been having so much fun exploring the map. I will say that the game does seem a bit “easy”—you can fight off 10+ enemies by yourself by simply paying attention to the counter-attack prompt which flashes on the screen whenever an enemy is about to attack you, making gameplay somewhat…stale occasionally. Some enemies in particular are harder to deal than others though, there was an archer captain who killed me three times before I managed to kill him, making him grow quite strong before I got my revenge. In terms of topics discussed in class I thought about the discussion on unnecessarily violent imagery being present in games. When you unlock the ability that lets you “glory kill” enemies you start to see some violent stuff, heads cut off of torsos, as well as a lot of insides becoming outsides. While this sort of imagery isn’t something I’m not used to, as it is present in a lot of contemporary games, it does cause me to think about whether or not this sort of stuff is entirely necessary, is there a real need to see such gore when you kill an enemy, and is it really ethical to have this sort of stuff in games?Wed, 17 Jan 2018 23:53:07 CSThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=6569&iddiary=11515https://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=6559I really enjoy shadow of Mordor. I found the game-play so far to be quite entertaining, and the game is visually stunning. I did have only one gripe, which is that conventionally the spacebar is used for jumping in PC games, however, Shadow of Mordor’s control scheme has it so that sprinting is the space bar, and sneaking is shift. Thankfully this is easily remedied by the excellent customization options. The story is engaging, I like the vignette style of narration in the tutorial and introduction area. I then liked how the game gave you the reigns so quickly after the basic tutorial and taught the player by having them play through the game in a manor that it would be throughout the rest of the game. In terms of topics relating to what we discussed in class I found it particularly interesting to note that the nemesis system is not the same monetization model as the nemesis system in the sequel Shadow of War. Shadow of War’s use of a pay-to-win monetization strategy through the utilization of loot boxes has come under fire recently, and rightfully so, as many players say it is impossible to play the game without essentially gambling through buying extra lootboxes to further yourself within the nemesis system. However, Shadow of Mordor does not contain this same monetization model, despite having nearly the same in game necessity for the nemesis system. This could call into question the ethicality of forcing certain aspects of gameplay to be more difficult by establishing various perceived paywalls as roadblocks to furthering in the game.Wed, 17 Jan 2018 00:57:48 CSThttps://www.gamelog.cl/logs/LogPage.php?Log_Id=6559&iddiary=11483