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Feb 14th, 2018 at 20:03:20 - Yakuza 0 (PS4) |
Part 2.
Once done with showing these guys who the strongest is, a guy appears. Nishirki. He seems to be an old friend. A quite long sequence begins, where we are introduced to him, and we learn about their relationship. It seems that he is a old friend, and quite possibly the closest we have to a brother. We learn about how the image of one self is very important to Yakuzas. The display of wealth (cars, jewelry) is especially important, so that people look up to the Yakuza. This is an interesting thought, I wonder if the writers of this game took this idea from reality, or if it is a rather sly social commentary masked as a characterization of a Yakuza?
After another fight, we meet a weird foreigner, who wants me to fight for him or something like that? It is not really clear, nonetheless he teaches me some new fight moves. The game continues to show me various parts of the game, including a Karaoke mini game?
As we sit and eat Ramen later that evening, something important seems to happen. A TV journalist reports about a guy who was killed. That guys seems to be the person we beat up in the alley in the first moments during the opening sequence of the game. I am honestly surprised about how the main characters are reacting to this. Is a guy dying such a big deal? We have been punching and kicking our way up till now, but now it is a huge deal that this guy is dead? It does seem that the underlying idea is that the murder of a "civilian" is an atrocity. This is an interesting moral perspective which may be used as a Framework here. It puts the player in this situation where he has to believe that murdering a civilian is not allowed, and against all rules of the Yakuza. I wonder if this is reflected in the Japanese underground as well, or was this chosen to create a specific experience for this game? Anyhow, the main character (us) is very worried about this and decides he needs to speak as soon as possible to his Yakuza bosses. I wonder how this will work out...
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Feb 12th, 2018 at 20:44:31 - Yakuza 0 (PS4) |
Yakuza 0, in a not very surprising manner (considering the Title) starts with violence. The game begins with a well made cut scene introducing us to the main character who violently beats a man, and kicks him on the floor before he takes what we can expect to be money from him. The scene changes and we watch a small man talking fresh to some young women before he gets pushed aside by our "Hero". The little man becomes angry and follow him, taps him on the shoulder before his friend signals him that the guy he is tapping on the shoulder might be the kind of guy that can become dangerous. If this is us the player, we seem to be quit the Bada$$. With a bloody, and cold face our character leaves the scene (without beating the guy). We then watch out main character have a mysterious discussion with a loan shark, it seems like we do jobs for him, and he encourages us to join him, which we decline because we are YAKUZA. Alright then, quite the intense introduction to this game, especially because it is all in Japanese with english subtitles. Atmosphere seem interesting, although quite dark. We continue watching our Hero walking through the streets of the city, until we get a page. This is where Chapter 1 begins, and we begin to control the main character.
We walk for a couple of meters, where we then get involved in a street fight. We talk to the bad guys and decide to take them out, they do not respect out turf it seems. The game uses this situation to teach us the fighting mechanics... simple enough and quite brutal. Faces get smashed, and heads are hit against concrete walls. It is interesting to analyses how this game deals with such moral problems as violence and murder. As we discussed in class a game can provide the player with a moral framework, I wonder if it will also make me as a player decide if I want to do good, or if it forces me to live the live of a Yakuza, which probably would include some morally questionable instances. I am interested to see how this game deals with such questions.
This entry has been edited 1 time. It was last edited on Feb 14th, 2018 at 19:45:07.
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Jan 18th, 2018 at 09:56:32 - Firewatch (PS4) |
#3
When I got home to my base I noticed that one of the windows was broken. Neither me or Delilah know who we can suspect about this. This seems weird. Who would damage my base? Anyhow, I feel tired and sleep through the night.
The next morning I am woken up by Delilah's radio call; she informs me that a storm has damaged some wires she normally uses for communication. She asks me to see if I can find the area where the cables are down. So I begin walking again. This seems to be the main mechanic of the game. Walking, talking, and wondering about what is actually happening beneath the surface. There have been little instances of what Delilah says and little items lying around which do seem to suggest that some things are currently not mentioned yet. There seems to be more than just us watching for Fire. This hidden part of the story keeps the motivation up to to continue playing for me.
While trying to find the downed lines, something weird happens. Delilah asks me to hold on, but seemingly forgets to mute her microphone. I have the option to let her know or just listen. I decide to listen. She seems to be speaking to a third person, and I almost believe that I am the topic. She mentions that she doesn't think "that he is aware of it..." I wonder what she is referring to. After I ask her about who she was talking about, she reacts angrily, and stops talking to me for a while.
I continue on my walk, and eventually find the downed lines... and empty beers, again. There seems to be a connection between these beers and things happening in this forest. Is it the girls again? There seems to be more about this story than it seems.
I feel like this game has great potential when it comes to the story, and especially the style of it. The graphics are absolutely gorgeous, however I feel that the gameplay mechanics are a bit limited. It really is only walking and occasionally looking at object. There is not really anything more to it, so this could also just be a interactive story, not really a game in the strict sense. It is more about the atmosphere and story than anything else.
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Jan 17th, 2018 at 11:13:12 - Firewatch (PS4) |
# 2
After looking around in my new home for the new couple of months, and wondering what some items are supposed to be used for, Delilah (which I learned was the name of my superior/co-firewatcher), explained to me the use of a Firewatch item, conveniently placed in the centre of my home. Suddenly, her voice tensed up, and I hear fireworks going of in the distance. Delilah tells me to go and find the people using these, for that the forest is currently very dry and such fireworks could easily start a fire. Hesitantly, I agree. I slept long, so I am not really in the mood to wander around to find these people. And I am also wondering what I should actually do when I find them. I guess, this is my job now, so I walk down from my tower and begin my hike towards the fireworks. While on my hike, I cannot ignore the absolute beauty of my surrounding. The evening light tinges the environment in a deep red light, absolutely gorgeous. I need to concentrate on finding the people who are using fireworks, and I shouldn't not get lost wandering around watching the sun set. After a while hiking, I find a camping spot, with some empty beer cans lying around. I am probably close, I am thinking to myself. I also find some fireworks, and some whisky (which I pocket for later use). While I am following these items towards a lake, I also find girls underwear, and suddenly I become a bit shy about how to react in this situation. What will these girls think I a random man just appears. Delilah makes fun of me, and tell me to continue. Just of couple of meters ahead I find the girls who we suspect have used the fireworks, swimming in the water. I turn of the boombox they had with them, and yell to them that they should not use fireworks. Not surprisingly they respond in a disrespectful manner, and do not seem to acknowledge my authority. After this successful "mission" I make my way back to Two Forks, (where my stand is). On the way I engage in chatter with Delilah, find a locked cave (later investigation), and notice a man who looks at me from a hill. I wonder what his deal is... I fall into bed, after this very tiring day.
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KevinJRoeder has been with GameLog for 6 years, 10 months, and 5 days |
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