|
jp's The Red Strings Club (PC)
|
| [March 30, 2019 04:34:47 PM]
|
I had to play this for class and, wow SO GOOD! I enjoyed the story and the characters, and the diversity, and the music. It's not all perfect, but I'll list some of the things that were notable in terms of gameplay and design...
a. There's a sculpting section which was really annoying to do with a trackpad. Really annoying and definitely not fun. As a concept, I did enjoy it though...
b. One of the core mechanics is mixing and serving drinks such that they "hit" (target) a special spot on your customer (you pay a bartender/owner). Which spot you want to target is up to you, but the idea is that a correct/specific spot will lead to your customer opening up to you in the conversation you have with them later. In order to mix, you have to pick up bottles and tip them over into a glass and try to get the amounts right. The tipping and pouring was a bit tricky with the trackpad - so again that was a bit annoying. However, if you messed up it was a lot easier to fix than the sculpting. For that, if your sculpt was "bad" you had to start over...
c. There's a neat section at the end where you're trying to get information by calling people on the phone. The fun part is that you have to decide who you will impersonate (imitate voice) such that the person on the other end will tell you what you need to know. I thought it was neat!
There's a whole bunch more that's interesting about the choices you make and what the whole thing is about...In a nutshell, there's a corporation that has figured out a way to affect (manipulate) people such that strong negative emotions (fear, anger, depression, anxiety) disappear. You're playing a character who wants to stop that - and over the course of the game (as you discover what's actually going on) you need to decide how you feel about what is happening and so on...
Lots of interesting issues:
a. The bartending mechanic is essentially one in which you're manipulating people - using them as a means to an end - to get the info you want. That's not ok! The same happens at the very end - with the phone calls. Essentially two groups manipulate people to get what they want: a better world or a world where people have freedom of choice. (I can choose to be depressed) So, there's a certain amount of hypocrisy in the "heroes". One of the first things you do in the game is work as a robot implanting personality/mood modifying implants (these are the things you sculpt): people arrive asking for a certain change, you give them that, and they're not happy (because they come back asking for a new change) - eventually you have to give them implants that are "bad" - these are all implants that neutralize a desire completely (husk = not feel anything). Again, you end up manipulating "for their own good". So, that is one theme that runs throughout the game....
b. There's a funeral scene I thought was neat. A character dies and then you (and friends) each take an aspect of that character and its incorporated into you. The aspects look like a crystal (or test tube?) Anyways, there's a physical manifestation of a trait of their personality... In this way your friend literally lives on through you...
Anyways, nice and short AND interesting!
add a comment 
|
|
|
 |
jp's The Red Strings Club (PC)
|
|
Current Status: Finished playing
GameLog started on: Monday 11 March, 2019
GameLog closed on: Saturday 30 March, 2019 |
|
