(no subject)

[egypturnash]

As a side note, since some people seem to want to convince me that Bioshock is actually a really good game - an opinion you're welcome to have; it's clearly a finely-crafted instance of an experience I simply don't care to have - I would like to note that so far, the only FPS I've actually enjoyed as a game is Thief, which I've been playing on and off the past week via Rik's machine. I had fun with System Shock 2 a couple years back but by the end, I was sick and tired of the basic game mechanics and just wanted to find out what happened to SHODAN. I really don't like FPSs.

As I've gotten older, I've slowly learnt how to see people as, well, people. I'm not very good at it; I never was. As video-game technology marches on, the creatures the games pit you against have gotten more like people. When I play some games made in the last decade or so, I can feel them training me to see people as just things. I'm still working out what factors make this happen; it's only a handful of games that do this so far.

I really think that the increasing drive for 'realism' in video games means that the game industry has a big moral quandry coming up. The forty-year-long focus on the hurt button as the core mechanic becomes creepier as the things you hurt become more and more like people. What happens when the project lead on a game focused on killing and blood plays his game and feels that weird sense that it's gnawing away at something in his soul? What happens when this is a regular occurrence?

A few major choice-points over, there's another me who went into video games. Is she (or he; I might never have transitioned in that life-path) getting ever more uncomfortable with these themes, or has it been completely burnt out of her by this point?

Comments

[turbinerocks.livejournal.com]

I've heard Rule of Rose is sort of a bad game, but the content/plot presentation is so amazing that it's worth playing anyway.

[dv-girl.livejournal.com]

Yeah. It's a fantastic _STORY_ but as a game it's pretty lame.

[turbinerocks.livejournal.com]

It did infuriate the Vatican! :D That has to count for something.

[dv-girl.livejournal.com]

It's also banned in a couple of countries due to the violence against children and the suggested sexuality between children (although the later is tamer than what you see in anime).

But yes. If it makes the baby Jesus cry, it can't be all bad. :)


Really, I enjoyed it because it is a bit of mind f*** and if you play it in large continuous chunks, you sort of fall into this surreal psychotic nightmare world. There are some parts that can really mess with you.

On the downside, there's a lot of long-hikes-with-nothing-happening, where you'd just treading scenery, and there's also Sonic Screwdriver (Or more aptly in this case, K9) problem. You get a few puzzles and then you rescue the dog and the rest of the game involves using the dog to solve everything. It's a shame really. A few more varied puzzles and it could have been fantastic, even with the long-hikes.

One thing I really did like about it is that you don't really 'level up' in it. At the end of the game, you're still a frightened and frail little girl. Power-ups are fun, don't get me wrong, but in terms of giving it a more 'real' feel, making you basically no stronger at the end than you are at the beginning is a particularly nice touch for not breaking suspension of disbelief. (Although a lot of people might find that frustrating)