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Sep 23rd, 2018 at 13:40:20 - Four Last Things (PC) |
I spent the next while exploring and talking to more people. I was able to easily get the envy sin by telling a man I wished I was as a happy and content as the marries couples. My character said “that was depressingly easy.” He seems to not care about the world and treats everything like a game. Maybe the creator is reflecting his views in some way here. I’m on a quest to find some illegal scrolls to help steal money. I’m certain this will get me another sin. The comedy of the game seems to trivialize sinning. The other characters often seem bad in themselves. The pie kind is gluttonous and the art connoisseurs are snobs.
I got stuck for. A while so I found a walk-through and solved the riddle to get the scrolls. I got the sin greed for it. It felt fitting to get the reward after looking up a walk-though. This didn’t really progress my so I watched a little further and found I had to drink the beer outside. The game-play here I think was a little too un-intuitive. The puzzles were fun but maybe a bit too hard to keep the game-play fluid. Alongside this I gave the old man a drink and got his urine. When I wen into the doctor he let me take what ever I wanted. After this I figured I could use the poison pills to kill the pie king so I challenge him to a pie off and won. For me receiving as point/check mark for murdering the man felt more violent than a first person shooter killing enemies. The game seems darker for killing a civilian because your sins aren’t just hurting you, they’re hurting others. The game quickly lightened the mood somewhat by letting me get gluttony for gorging on his pies afterwards.
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Sep 22nd, 2018 at 18:33:41 - Four Last Things (PC) |
The game opens by forcing the player to eat the forbidden fruit in the garden of eden. I found myself trying every other thing in the garden before realizing the futility of my efforts. We find that this scene is a dream of our main character as he awakes in a tavern. Shortly afterwards I arrived at a church and tell the priests I’ve committed all seven deadly sins. This makes me think the initial dream is a reflection of ourself. Maybe the main character feels as though he has no choice but to commit sin. This is reinforced by the priests telling you that you must redo every sin within their county so they can abolish you of all sins. The Irony is very visible here and suggests possible criticism of religion.
I talked to all the people at the church and found out about their sins. I’m interested to see what I’ll be able to do to sin. I was able to commit my first sin very quickly by just laying down with the men outside of town. I was surprised by how easy it was, maybe it’s to make a difficulty curve or to prove a point of how easy it is to sin. The “Kickstarter Backers” were a funny touch. It’s an interesing goal to be sinning because I’m constantly looking for any bad thing to do. I stole from the old food lady and called her a wench hoping I would complete the challenge.
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Aug 30th, 2018 at 11:49:14 - Little Nightmares (PC) |
I forgot to mention it, but yesterdays gameplay ended with me being captured. Today was much more intense as the gameplay became more centered around encounters with the other character. He is so creepy! The character design is very well done, he’s disturbing but not overly gruesome. He’s clearly messed up but there are several details that force you to keep looking at him. His animations are equally chilling. The slow jerky movements and cold pops of his joints add suspense and reinforce the fear the game creates.
Once again, the gameplay and narrative progress side by side. We finally learn more about the situation as we see other children trapped in cages around us. As we move to the next room we see the monster packaging the bodies and dumping them off for later. We sneak further and further into his maze of a house as he follows us, getting deeper and deeper into trouble, with no option to turn back. As the narrative becomes more focused on character interaction, so does the gameplay. There are more sneaking and chase levels, less focused on movement and exploration. The gameplay between these two situations is vastly different. I have time to think and enjoy the art and movement during the puzzles. On the other hand, my heart is pounding and my palms sweating as I hide behind a box in the elevator with the monster, or duck into an air vent barely out of his reach. Both are rewarding in their own way and combine to create an exciting gameplay.
The most disturbing and controversial part of the gameplay for me was when you drop into the massive room of children’s shoes beneath the monster’s workshop. This immediately made me think of the holocaust and all the images of rooms of shoes. I felt like the connection was so immediate and distinct that it had to be intentional. What does this say about the larger themes of the game? Is the monster symbolic of something more like Nazi’s, and that connects into the running and hiding in fear as gameplay? How is this commentary reflected in our modern world, and how does it apply to issues’ we’re facing today? I think it’s important to look at the level of abstraction in the game to look at these issues on different planes. How does the deconstruction of a theme allow it to be reconstructed in different ways?
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Aug 29th, 2018 at 12:06:55 - Little Nightmares (PC) |
Today’s gameplay and narrative elaborated on some of the ethical problems and reinforced mood and theme. I forgot to mention it in my first GameLog, but the environment and its execution plays a big role in this as well. I also picked up on more of the subtle clues within the game that are masterfully executed. I got stuck for the first time in a room where I eventually realized I had to climb a chain to escape. The repetition of dying and restarting over again to me felt like part of the message of the game. You are never able to escape the problem ahead of you. The feeling of danger and fear is reflected in even the simplest gameplay. When you are running up the long staircases above an abyss, the camera zooms out, giving you less finite control. The player must be extra careful on these rickety old stairs. Further, the environment itself is constantly evolving and driving the narrative. After long times of sneaking through different areas and rooms, I finally entered one of the giant’s bathrooms. As you pull a lever a bed with straps falls from the wall. The game doesn’t tell you what this is directly; it makes the player curious to find out more and keep exploring. There are little things like this in almost every room: notes, blood marks, cages. All these elements help to piece together and drive the narrative forward. The game is a mix of mystery and horror.
There were several more ethical issues raised in my playthrough today, the cages, blood and nooses all suggest terrible and disturbing things are happening here. There are several children’s toy’s which increase the horror of the situation. Is it okay to show these types of disturbing images in games? And what is the effect on those who play them? For me the most troubling ethical issue in the gameplay happens you press a button that opens an eye and reveals two children curled up shaking in bed. At this point you are clearly in someone’s secret room behind their office. This raises lots of questions about what the motives of these monsters are, as well as foreshadows future ethical dilemma. I’m guessing at some point we might have to confront these giants. Is it okay to harm the giants because they were harming others? How would the different if they captured adults instead of children?
After playing yesterday with PC controls and not loving it, I plugged in my Xbox controller and the gameplay feels a lot smoother. I would recommend using a controller for this game.
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jackcodonoghue has been with GameLog for 6 years, 2 months, and 25 days |
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