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Feb 15th, 2018 at 00:54:28 - Firewatch (PS4) |
So I decided to do something different again and start the game over to try and make different choices to see how the story would be affected. As I expected, there really wasn't much difference in terms of content, although admittedly there is the rest of the game to consider as well as possible unfolding narrative branches there. However, the most important thing that I saw happen and what I consider to be the mark of a good choice-based story game was that the way I perceived my character, what kind of person they were, changed dramatically. Instead of a tough-guy/inner softy that I ended up with the first time, I had the complete opposite in the form of a pushover/ball of rage. These are the kinds of differences choices make that I actually care about. Sure it would be nice for the sake of replay value to see new areas, dialogue, or encounters, but that gets old pretty fast. The true value is seeing how a character changes and grows differently each time, in subtle ways, and that comes in the relationship the player has with that character. I'll probably continue with my first set of decisions, just because I'm a guy who tends to stick with his first, gut instincts, but my little experiment just makes me more excited to play.
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Feb 14th, 2018 at 00:49:02 - Firewatch (PS4) |
So, in a 180 from the Shadow of Mordor, I decided to play Firewatch for this week and I must say that I'm enjoying myself so far. The introduction was a great way to start the game and had me instantly hooked. As someone who has recently gotten into a relationship, the intro had me seriously considering what I would do if the person I cared about was in those situations. I had legitimate emotional anguish over deciding issues like whether of not I would let her move away, if we wanted to have kids, what to do if she was struck with sudden illness, etc. That stress probably fed back into my behavior with the other characters, where I chose more hostile answers as opposed to my more usual "goody two shoes" style of play. The mystery element is also compelling, but more than anything the one aspect that has me wanting to play more is the way you can navigate through the wilderness using solely a compass and map to guide you. In a gaming environment where every objective is highlighted for you, with arrows and minimaps guiding you along the way, it's refreshing to have a game designed with the option of navigating your own way through the wilderness. Firewatch has proven so far to be a game where the little touches end up making all the difference.
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Jan 18th, 2018 at 10:14:49 - Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor (PS4) |
So I decided to go back and start a separate save file for Shadow of Mordor to remind my self about how the beginning of the game felt. I was pleasantly surprised at how quickly and naturally the game transitioned from exposition to tutorial to actual gameplay. It was also refreshing having to rely more on my intuition and reflexes as I played instead of just crushing all opposition thanks to my end-game wraith abilities. Funny enough, killing the one level 4 Orc captain at the very beginning was more satisfying than killing the Warchief in my last play session. The little amount of character building you and your soon-to-be-deceased family members get was sweet, if a bit "fridgy" in retrospect (in reference to comic book writer Gail Simone's term "Women in Refrigerators", wherein predominantly female characters are killed off to progress the predominantly male hero's story).
One thing that did surprise me a little was how the orcs were immediately presented as fodder for you to kill and torture. Granted, they did just help kill all your friends and family, and maybe it's just the way the story quickly shifts into gameplay that this happens, but it's obvious from the framing here that we're not meant to think ethically about the orcs, what we do to them, or what happens to them, at least so far as my experience in the early game and the post game has let me know. I'm interested to see if this changes with the Ratbag sidequest (where you help a cowardly orc rise through Sauron's ranks to further your own agenda, which is its own ethical dilemma on its own), or if this is just one more element of the power fantasy, presenting you with an infinite number of guilt-free baddies to play with.
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Jan 17th, 2018 at 22:12:33 - Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor (PS4) |
Today I quested for more trophies and found myself once again dealing with my own perfectionist tendencies as I tried to create the correct circumstances to kill specific monsters, execute a flaming berserker, and mind control the five bodyguards of a Warchief to turn on him at my command. As I pressed myself forward, ever closer to that elusive platinum I'm so frustratingly near to, I started to think more about the mechanics at play here, and how, fully powered up at the end of the game, I considered the orcs, the slaves, and even my own character less as persons and more like statistics that needed adjustment. This Warchief needs to be level 20 and be weak to fire so I can get the best chance for a level 25 rune setup, I need to find 30 slaves to rescue in 180 seconds while riding what was essentially a giant demon dog. I ask myself whether this behavior is just the logical endpoint of scouring every system and piece of content the game has to offer and it's just me being obsessive (which, to be fair, there is a good chance that's all it is) or whether this behavior is merely uncovering the artifice on top of what is essentially a series of numbers designed to trigger an emotional high when I get a big enough number.
I suppose that would be an overly reductive way of putting it, you could say that about any game, just like you could say a movie is just people wearing costumes and reciting memorized lines, and a novel is just a series of letters stringed together in various patterns. Still, I have this nagging feeling that whatever my personal feelings are towards any old orc; their personality, their demeanor, etc. the only thing that really matters to me is if they are weak to fire or if they are invulnerable to ranged attacks. They all just sort of blend together after a certain point, and it's hard to feel as attached to them as one might be just starting out. Ah well, at the very least it's still fun to play. After all, it's just a game.
This entry has been edited 1 time. It was last edited on Jan 17th, 2018 at 22:13:15.
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jchansen has been with GameLog for 6 years, 10 months, and 5 days |
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