Thursday 27 September, 2018

In my last play session, I was able to complete Four Last Things and I will say that the game was entertaining throughout. My last 30 mins of playtime went mostly to attempting to find extra secrets before I completed my last sin, which I was confident I knew how to complete. Upon finishing the final sin of lust, I headed back to the church to finish off the game. I wasn’t completely sure how the game would end, but the ending really didn’t come as a surprise considering the general message I was getting from the game. Clearly the author wanted to comment on the oddities surrounding the procedures of the church, particularly the church of the past. The fact that the absolving of one’s sins can only be completed within the district the sin was committed, unless the sinner sins again in their new district shows how seemingly arbitrary the idea of absolution can be. The fear of death and damnation the protagonist feels after his dream of the original sin doesn’t trigger him to suddenly find faith, but rather he goes through the procedure necessary for him to avoid a terrible fate. The seven sins are absolute rules of the church, but are actually commonly broken as shown by the line outside the church in the game and the existence of a fast pass to confession for those who commit all seven sins. The ending of the game is a unique one that fuses a bleak message with humor, as was effectively done throughout the rest of the game as well. Despite its short length I enjoyed the game overall and think it was a very unique experience.

Good work Blake! You do a good job of going into detail on your play session and showing how each of the sin gameplay scenarios play out. Additionally, you provide some great analysis in your final entry where you talk about how the game “wanted to comment on the oddities surrounding the procedures of the church, particularly the church of the past. The fact that the absolving of one’s sins can only be completed within the district the sin was committed, unless the sinner sins again in their new district shows how seemingly arbitrary the idea of absolution can be.” This quote and some of the other things you explored about the game’s commentary on sin and the church could be a good starting point for writing your OPA potentially.