We also found that the reformation took too long so the first shot shows the new concept of reformation from thicker slime instantly stretching into their new forms
Thursday, 5 May 2016
Thursday, 7 April 2016
Hotline Miami
Unpack the first level of your chosen game (including cut scenes)
– how does it tell its story, and how is the player involved in the
telling (consider all of the narrative elements discussed so far in
the course)?
Hotline Miami tells the first part through a series of chapters and cut scenes. There is a prelude to chapter one, which introduces the player to the meeting room of animal masked men. The player is told unsettling information about the protagonist as not being very mentally stable, not even remembering his own name, and hint at some sort of self imposed memory suppression due to his actions being 'terrible things.'
The 'missions' are introduced by anonymous voice message, disguising 'hits' as innocent tasks.
The game is told through a series of story nodes, in which each storytelling element is spaced out by a mission with a mission objective (kill everyone). The player is involved in that all the violence plaguing the main protagonist causing his initial psychosis, is inflicted by the player in order to progress the unfolding of the story by completing the mass murder of a Russian Mafia.
The game is disorientating, in that familiar faces show up in missions, such as the tutorial man being killed in the first mission, and the animal masks being slowly accumulated through the game, while also being representative of the condescending persons in the protagonists' head. We also learn that our character's girlfriend has been murdered, further supporting the unbalanced nature of the protagonist, The game actively encourages violence, as the only way to progress through a level is to execute every person on the level, and each death is accompanied by copious amounts of blood, making murder seem satisfying and rewarding with a high score point ranking system. However, death remains narratively unglorified, as characters such as a black man near the end of the level crying out 'Please don't" before being murdered, are intended to make the player feel guilt. Ergo game play encourages murder, yet narrative disapproves of it. The game narrative is non linear, while game play is very linear, as each section of the game is divided up into game play and cut scene sections, one leading to another in a classic Jesse Schell string of pearls fashion, while the plot itself is told non-linearly, since the active game play is portrayed as a retelling of past events.
The game narrative is not dependent on the character in the first part, as it is a re telling of past events. The main protagonist has already suffering the mental repercussions of the player's actions, the player is only required for the main protagonist to relive his past horrors, to remind him of "who he was." and "what he did".
The final chapter of part one closes with the player seriously questioning the psyche of the main protagonist, as now recognizable masks, notably the chicken mask, ask the player almost directly 4 important questions. Do you like hurting people, who is leaving messages on your answering machine, where are you right now, and why are we having this conversation? Throughout, a myriad of bugs are scuttling across the top down perspective of the game, and a sickly yellow light representing decay and rot permeates the setting. The questions addresses both the protagonist and the player, since murder is made to be 'fun' and a way to accumulate points, and it was never yet revealed who, or even why the protagonist follows vague instructions as missions, and if the room, or even the conversation is being held in is real at all. It brings forth the question of the reliability of the protagonist as a narrator, and creates a sense of mistrust over narrative validity of the events unfolded in the past and in the present as a result.
Hotline Miami tells the first part through a series of chapters and cut scenes. There is a prelude to chapter one, which introduces the player to the meeting room of animal masked men. The player is told unsettling information about the protagonist as not being very mentally stable, not even remembering his own name, and hint at some sort of self imposed memory suppression due to his actions being 'terrible things.'
The 'missions' are introduced by anonymous voice message, disguising 'hits' as innocent tasks.
The game is told through a series of story nodes, in which each storytelling element is spaced out by a mission with a mission objective (kill everyone). The player is involved in that all the violence plaguing the main protagonist causing his initial psychosis, is inflicted by the player in order to progress the unfolding of the story by completing the mass murder of a Russian Mafia.
The game is disorientating, in that familiar faces show up in missions, such as the tutorial man being killed in the first mission, and the animal masks being slowly accumulated through the game, while also being representative of the condescending persons in the protagonists' head. We also learn that our character's girlfriend has been murdered, further supporting the unbalanced nature of the protagonist, The game actively encourages violence, as the only way to progress through a level is to execute every person on the level, and each death is accompanied by copious amounts of blood, making murder seem satisfying and rewarding with a high score point ranking system. However, death remains narratively unglorified, as characters such as a black man near the end of the level crying out 'Please don't" before being murdered, are intended to make the player feel guilt. Ergo game play encourages murder, yet narrative disapproves of it. The game narrative is non linear, while game play is very linear, as each section of the game is divided up into game play and cut scene sections, one leading to another in a classic Jesse Schell string of pearls fashion, while the plot itself is told non-linearly, since the active game play is portrayed as a retelling of past events.
The game narrative is not dependent on the character in the first part, as it is a re telling of past events. The main protagonist has already suffering the mental repercussions of the player's actions, the player is only required for the main protagonist to relive his past horrors, to remind him of "who he was." and "what he did".
The final chapter of part one closes with the player seriously questioning the psyche of the main protagonist, as now recognizable masks, notably the chicken mask, ask the player almost directly 4 important questions. Do you like hurting people, who is leaving messages on your answering machine, where are you right now, and why are we having this conversation? Throughout, a myriad of bugs are scuttling across the top down perspective of the game, and a sickly yellow light representing decay and rot permeates the setting. The questions addresses both the protagonist and the player, since murder is made to be 'fun' and a way to accumulate points, and it was never yet revealed who, or even why the protagonist follows vague instructions as missions, and if the room, or even the conversation is being held in is real at all. It brings forth the question of the reliability of the protagonist as a narrator, and creates a sense of mistrust over narrative validity of the events unfolded in the past and in the present as a result.
Thursday, 31 March 2016
Fez (2012)
As the player, do you interact with a character or an avatar
and how does this affect your involvement in the narrative?
Gomez is the main character introduced to the game, but h's a bit of both an avatar and a character. He is a character because he is an established citizen of his tiny town who already knows his neighbours, but he is also an avatar in that he is plain enough for the player to project their own characteristics onto him, even though we're given little. if any opportunity to do so, with most of the character 'interactions' being through Dot your 'guide'. The most emotion Gomez has to offer is an ecstatic 'happy' face when he accomplishes a goal, or plays with his fez/falls asleep on the floor in one of his long idle animations, showing off his childish personality.
Gomez suffers from a case of 'silent video game protagonist' and ergo, we cannot discern Gomez's thoughts on the possibility of his whole world and universe's imminent collapse. He isn't given the opportunity to express his own distress, confusion, or fear, or even any interest in starting an adventure. his emotions are instead left up to the player to project onto him and the player's motivations in the game narrative become his.
Gomez's status as 'character' from being an established character does not affect the game very much, as it is only a means to give Gomez a connection to Geezer who introduces him to the power of 3D game core mechanics. It's an underdeveloped bond between these two characters that stems from simply that the village, including Gomez are descended from the same people who were once gifted the view of 3D sight and that is the sole reason of connection, but Gomez is not aware of it yet. There is no further explanation as to how Geezer and Gomez know each other or why Geezer trusts Gomez with this power out of all the other villagers, but the brief backstory of a 'bond' simply creates an easier segway into kicking off the adventure, Gomez's identity as a character does not show much, nor does it impact the narrative of the game, since the village's identity is not very important to the overall narrative, as if the Fez was simply a magical artifact rather than a lineage-specific item any character could have been tasked with saving the world, descended from mystical village or not if the lore was changed so that anyone who had the fez could see the 3rd dimension, Therefore it is clear that Gomez is more of an avatar in nature, than character.
Gomez is the main character introduced to the game, but h's a bit of both an avatar and a character. He is a character because he is an established citizen of his tiny town who already knows his neighbours, but he is also an avatar in that he is plain enough for the player to project their own characteristics onto him, even though we're given little. if any opportunity to do so, with most of the character 'interactions' being through Dot your 'guide'. The most emotion Gomez has to offer is an ecstatic 'happy' face when he accomplishes a goal, or plays with his fez/falls asleep on the floor in one of his long idle animations, showing off his childish personality.
Gomez suffers from a case of 'silent video game protagonist' and ergo, we cannot discern Gomez's thoughts on the possibility of his whole world and universe's imminent collapse. He isn't given the opportunity to express his own distress, confusion, or fear, or even any interest in starting an adventure. his emotions are instead left up to the player to project onto him and the player's motivations in the game narrative become his.
Gomez's status as 'character' from being an established character does not affect the game very much, as it is only a means to give Gomez a connection to Geezer who introduces him to the power of 3D game core mechanics. It's an underdeveloped bond between these two characters that stems from simply that the village, including Gomez are descended from the same people who were once gifted the view of 3D sight and that is the sole reason of connection, but Gomez is not aware of it yet. There is no further explanation as to how Geezer and Gomez know each other or why Geezer trusts Gomez with this power out of all the other villagers, but the brief backstory of a 'bond' simply creates an easier segway into kicking off the adventure, Gomez's identity as a character does not show much, nor does it impact the narrative of the game, since the village's identity is not very important to the overall narrative, as if the Fez was simply a magical artifact rather than a lineage-specific item any character could have been tasked with saving the world, descended from mystical village or not if the lore was changed so that anyone who had the fez could see the 3rd dimension, Therefore it is clear that Gomez is more of an avatar in nature, than character.
Thursday, 24 March 2016
The Wolf Among Us
How does morality influence the choices you make in the
game?
Morality in the Wolf Among Us is easily distinguished between empathetic or apathetic responses. For example in the very beginning Toad complains about the hassle and complications of fables being constantly in glamour for the lower class, and you can choose to sympathize with Toad and tell him you'll let him off the hook, or you can reprimand him and threaten to send him to the 'Farm' the next time you meet. The primary response the game is trying to rope from us, is our desire to prove Bigby Wolf as a sincere individual to the townsfolk, a goal that is shared by Bigby himself as sated in the Book of Fables. Alternatively, we can flip this narrative and play Bigby as if he never changed from his old ways and gladly, even find pleasure in hurting others. The character's responses seem programmed to reprimand Bigby for every action in the game, trying to prompt you to redeem Bigby to them, however it can get tiresome and naggy at times.
You are expected to empathize with the denizens of Fabletown as they experience common lower class social problems such as never getting help from the government, the powerlessness of being essentially invisible citizens, thus their problems are seen as invisible, poverty, and government corruption. Even if the player has not experienced these hardships themselves, they are morally expected to sympathize with these very real world problems and attempt to try make life for the Fabletown citizens better. The game expects your first playthrough at least, to show that despite having the most supportive intentions and trying hard as you might to make morally right choices, life doesn't always go swimmingly and misfortune still befalls these people just like in real life, such as despite all the help you're offered to give Toad, the money, and promise of a second chance to afford a glamour and continue to live in Fabletown, through enforcement of law Toad is still forced to be evicted from his property with his son into the Farm, a place described as a prison. This disregard of moral choices affecting certain characters storylines makes it difficult to be properly motivated to make empathetic choices if all it's going to do is give characters false hope, thus my second playthrough of the game made it easier to be more stern and apathetic to Toad, in attempt to give him no pretenses that he would be exempt from the rules. The morality of following the rules as opposed to following your instincts is also challenged in this game, as multiple times if you do exactly what Snow White says in order to appease her, effectively the law, you're called her 'lap dog' and Georgie even wishes you'd 'come to your senses' if you choose to chase him first instead of the Crooked Man, where your choice to complete the specified, but not the most important objective, results in characters calling you an obedient dog sent to where it's told. Ergo this game encourages you to make moral choices over what path to take as opposed to the path you're explicitly told to take.
game?
Morality in the Wolf Among Us is easily distinguished between empathetic or apathetic responses. For example in the very beginning Toad complains about the hassle and complications of fables being constantly in glamour for the lower class, and you can choose to sympathize with Toad and tell him you'll let him off the hook, or you can reprimand him and threaten to send him to the 'Farm' the next time you meet. The primary response the game is trying to rope from us, is our desire to prove Bigby Wolf as a sincere individual to the townsfolk, a goal that is shared by Bigby himself as sated in the Book of Fables. Alternatively, we can flip this narrative and play Bigby as if he never changed from his old ways and gladly, even find pleasure in hurting others. The character's responses seem programmed to reprimand Bigby for every action in the game, trying to prompt you to redeem Bigby to them, however it can get tiresome and naggy at times.
You are expected to empathize with the denizens of Fabletown as they experience common lower class social problems such as never getting help from the government, the powerlessness of being essentially invisible citizens, thus their problems are seen as invisible, poverty, and government corruption. Even if the player has not experienced these hardships themselves, they are morally expected to sympathize with these very real world problems and attempt to try make life for the Fabletown citizens better. The game expects your first playthrough at least, to show that despite having the most supportive intentions and trying hard as you might to make morally right choices, life doesn't always go swimmingly and misfortune still befalls these people just like in real life, such as despite all the help you're offered to give Toad, the money, and promise of a second chance to afford a glamour and continue to live in Fabletown, through enforcement of law Toad is still forced to be evicted from his property with his son into the Farm, a place described as a prison. This disregard of moral choices affecting certain characters storylines makes it difficult to be properly motivated to make empathetic choices if all it's going to do is give characters false hope, thus my second playthrough of the game made it easier to be more stern and apathetic to Toad, in attempt to give him no pretenses that he would be exempt from the rules. The morality of following the rules as opposed to following your instincts is also challenged in this game, as multiple times if you do exactly what Snow White says in order to appease her, effectively the law, you're called her 'lap dog' and Georgie even wishes you'd 'come to your senses' if you choose to chase him first instead of the Crooked Man, where your choice to complete the specified, but not the most important objective, results in characters calling you an obedient dog sent to where it's told. Ergo this game encourages you to make moral choices over what path to take as opposed to the path you're explicitly told to take.
Sunday, 20 March 2016
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