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Sep 18th, 2017 at 16:09:24 - Life is Strange (PS4) |
Today I finished episode two of Life is Strange, and the choice system has demonstrated to keep a tight record on what you have done until that part. This is mostly seen with Kate Marsh and when you have to prevent her from committing suicide.
Kate remembers all the actions you took on the first episode, whether to support her or not. This leads me to believe choices not only have short-term consequences, but long term even.
Overall, it seems the game's ethical framework is really hard to decipher, due to all the grey areas representing the choices Max has to do (emphasized by her monologue after the choice is made). Only the long-term outcome for some characters really dictate whether or not you choose correctly. For example, If I hand't supported Kate as much as I did despite getting glared from David or other people, she would have probably killed herself.
I believe this game perfectly ties with the vision of Rochard Garriott: Making you feel personal and responsible for the game's actions.
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Sep 11th, 2017 at 20:27:05 - Life is Strange (PS4) |
Life is Strange is a game that puts you in the shoes of Max Caulfield, a teen girl who suddenly discovers she can reverse time after seeing a girl get killed by another student.
Immediately the game throws the question of what could happen if you could back to reverse the choices that you made? Would the choice lead to something better? Or worse?
Furthermore, is actually every choice perfect? Sometimes the game feels like no matter what, every choice has a certain degree of negative and positive consequences.
Furthermore, it brings me another issue that I noticed after I finished the first chapter: It seems there are certain actions that happen no matter what you choose.
Examples are like going to the parking lot, leaving with Chloe, her step-father discovering she had weed in her room.
I believe it raises the issue that whether we, as players, are able to truly control the outcome of the story, or are we held constrained to a type of subtle slavery from real outcomes thanks to the scripted story events?
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Aug 30th, 2017 at 17:22:47 - Dishonored 2 (XBONE) |
08/30/2017
Today I am heavily convinced Dishonored 2 is meant to be played in a non-lethal way: Not only is low chaos useful for better interaction with characters over the playthrough, but the tutorial also explained that even the environment is affected if you keep a low kill rate.
One major example are the bloodflies, which will come more frequently the more kills you make in the game. As I stepped in into the first infested apartment in the new city Corvo arrives, I quickly realized these flies are a pain in the rear to take care of, and sometimes they need flammable objects to destroy the nests.
This does not only show how much the game "subtly" pretends to direct you in a good behavior, but it further enforces the moral framework that designers can make in their game, which can be a substantial modification to the entire experience, as mentioned in the "The Videogame Ethical Reader."
Dishonored is a fantastic experience directing a moral dilemma, since when you think you can get away with a few kills without anyone noticing by using the crossbow, the game warns you no matter how well hidden your assassinations, it will have multiple repercussions, even with the ending.
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Aug 29th, 2017 at 23:46:21 - Dishonored 2 (XBONE) |
08/29/17
I beat the first mission of Dishonored 2 plus a dream session with a mysterious person and the recovery of Corvo's powers. I noticed a few features in the game that reinforced my previous concept about morality. One of them is the presence of many alternative ways to traverse a section in order to remain unseen, and the second one is the contribution of non-lethal actions to better stats, achievements, and low chaos, which I believe it should lead to a more favorable outcome.
However, today's EAE 3020 class also made me question something about the violence in the game. This came in the part where Corvo picks up a heart to search for runes and other upgrades through the game, and the previous empress, who was also the lover of Corvo, has a heartfelt conversation with him that, as people say, "got me in the feels" since I played the first Dishonored a long time ago.
It made me realize that videogames have the potential to create noticeable emotional impacts depending on the person, and it made me arrive at the conclusion that proving the claim "violent games make children go violent" is as hard to prove wrong as it is to prove right in my opinion. I can only portray my personal case, where even unconsciously, I see the vast majority of violent actions in games as mere non-real entertainment rather than something which causes me real life frustrations and doubts, yet when a story takes a turn where a character becomes deeply affected, it stays in my memory for days, weeks or more. Trying to determine what causes this difference is extremely hard for me, and I can only attribute that to my own attitude, but since each person is different, who knows what different impacts a videogame might cause?
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vic1500 has been with GameLog for 7 years, 3 months, and 0 days |
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