Indie Game Spotlight: Hero's Adventure

[Maet]

N.B.: This is a weekly occurring printed column, currently five installments in. I've only posted #2 and #5 so far, the former to see what the community at large would think (apparently they don't care), and the latter to share with a friend (DeadpanLunatic).

I'm on the fence about posting #1, #3, and #4, (Minecraft, Rock of Ages, and Frozen Synapse, respectively), so if you want to see them, let me know and I'll be more inclined to share them here. Although you should know that I've already posted them on my personal website (listed in my Escapist profile), if you're curious enough to check them out of your own volition.

Update: Indie Game Spotlight #9 (Hero's Adventure) is now live.

<color=black>Indie Game Spotlight #2

Spoiler: Foreword

This review is the second installment in my recently acquired "Indie Game Spotlight" column for my campus newspaper, so please take the review with this context in mind. It's deliberately limited to 400 words and is written for an audience that is varied and presumably far less knowledgeable about the subject than you are (compare how you're reading it in a forum dedicated to video games and the culture thereof, and how they're an unknown quantity reading an independent newspaper from a rack in a campus bookstore or library). As such, I'm trying to write about the game in a way that's brisk, engaging, and intelligible to as many people as possible. Again, this is a spotlight, not necessarily a critical analysis; still a review, but in a different way.

If anything, I suppose the primary goal is to trumpet the virtues and merits of indie games and grant them exposure and consideration to people who have never seriously considered them before. I'd appreciate it greatly if you let me know how well I succeeded in this regard.

<color=black>Limbo

Video games are currently facing the issue of acceptance as an art form just as worthy of respect as film, music, or literature, and while there are certainly champions for either side of this debate, too often the medium isn't allowed to speak for itself. We'll listen to Roger Ebert voice his doubts (to name but one detractor) and we'll tolerate floods of asinine and overzealous counterarguments from a passionate but largely misguided community. But will we listen to what the medium itself has to say? Most times, we're so busy shouting at each other that we don't hear it.

How appropriate is it, then, that the most compelling argument to arrive in recent memory has no lines of dialogue, no lines of text beyond menus and credits, and a sound design so sparse and consciously hollow that the game itself barely makes a sound?

http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/images/11/aug/limbo4.jpg

Limbo is this argument; a 2D puzzle and platform game created by Danish developer Playdead. You control the silhouette of a boy traversing a bleak and hopeless monochrome world as you navigate a series of devious traps and puzzles. There's no explicit plot or narrative, and no music or colour. Just you, the sound of your footsteps and breath, and a tenebrous world constantly oppressing and unnerving you.

Quite curiously, Limbo competently reaches its aspiration of artistic accomplishment without the appearance of too much effort. Its minimalist visual and sound design gently coax players into immersion without dragging them in, and gameplay is so unobtrusive that you quickly forget you're playing a game in same way effective theatre displays characters and not actors. The only real misstep is how the ending sequences betray illusion and atmosphere in favour of obtuse physics puzzles, however the entire game before this point, with its commitment to an air of paranoia and intensity, is superb. This is owing in no small part to its "trial and death" philosophy, grim imagery, and a truly menacing arachnid antagonist.

Some may find Limbo a bit too short, others a bit too discouraging, and many more will probably find it too bleak and depressing. But for $10, it's definitely worth a look. Remember: you're not just getting a cost efficient and devious platform puzzler; you're getting one of the best examples for video games as a work of interactive art.

Due to an exclusivity agreement between developer Playdead and publisher Microsoft Game Studios, Limbo was exclusive to the Xbox 360 for a year after its summer 2010 release, only being made available on PS3 and Steam (a PC digital distribution service) this August.

 

[Maet]

<color=black>Indie Game Spotlight #5

Spoiler: Foreword

This review is the fifth installment in my recently acquired "Indie Game Spotlight" column for my campus newspaper, so please take the review with this context in mind. It's deliberately limited to 400 words and is written for an audience that is varied and presumably far less knowledgeable about the subject than you are (compare how you're reading it in a forum dedicated to video games and the culture thereof, and how they're an unknown quantity reading an independent newspaper from a rack in a campus bookstore or library). As such, I'm trying to write about the game in a way that's brisk, engaging, and intelligible to as many people as possible. Again, this is a spotlight, not necessarily a critical analysis; still a review, but in a different way.

If anything, I suppose the primary goal is to trumpet the virtues and merits of indie games and grant them exposure and consideration to people who have never seriously considered them before. I'd appreciate it greatly if you let me know how well I succeeded in this regard.

Fun Fact: If I had an arbitrary list of personal all-time favourite video games, Gravity Bone would easily rank near the top.

<color=bronze>Gravity Bone

If you have even the slightest interest in video games as more than just flippant distractions or inane wastes of time, or if you're even remotely curious about the narrative and emotional potential of video games beyond puerile power fantasies, you must play Gravity Bone. It's free, it's short, and it's damn well brilliant. What more do you need to know?

Created by Brendon Chung of LA based Blendo Games, Gravity Bone is best described as a first-person romp. As soon as the game loads, you're descending an elevator into The Saturday Club. The bombastic brass of a Xavier Cugat arrangement delights the ears as you infiltrate a swanky black tie affair populated with paper-craft patrons. You pull up a business card which instructs you to head to the furnace room for a spot of wetwork. The mission? Deliver a bugged drink to a man with red hair. In equal measure you notice the security gaze following your every move and the stunt planes whizzing through the mountain air. Nothing makes sense, but damned if it's not a charmingly imaginative experience. What a strange game... What a strange, wildly confident, and immaculately realized game...

http://images.wikia.com/tig/images/f/fe/Gravity_bone_party.jpg

Despite lasting only 15 minutes, Gravity Bone nevertheless has so many curious and fascinating little touches that it becomes endlessly engaging both in terms of presentation and gameplay. Its in medias res approach to what little narrative actually exists creates the sense of playing through select scenes in a grand espionage epic. And not only is that narrative seamlessly integrated with the gameplay, but so are the actual gameplay mechanics into its aesthetic design ("Safety first! Press [e] to use doorknobs"). It even allows freedom of perspective in scripted sequences, which still enables empathy even when control has been taken away for cinematic purposes. And to cap it all off, the final sequence is one of the most breathtaking gameplay experiences ever devised, fantastically executed in all its brevity, surrealism, and surprise.

Gravity Bone is an incredible game, remarkable for its subversive approach to first-person game design, beautiful construction, and taut composition. It's highly experimental and perhaps a bit rough around the edges, but its risks pay high dividends for those who are curious to explore its wonderfully wacky world of guns and glory.

Few games leave an impression quite like Gravity Bone. While it may be a short ride, it's also free and provides an experience that won't soon be forgotten.

Visit http://blendogames.com/ to download Gravity Bone and see more of Brendon Chung's work.

 

[DeadpanLunatic]

I have removed my words from this site.

 

[Maet]

Once you've been tossed out, what is it that you really take with you?

Spoiler: PLAY GRAVITY BONE BEFORE YOU READ THIS!

For me, it was actually quite a lot. To this day, I'm mesmerized by the ending sequence. The way the game capitalized upon the natural impulse to chase and hunt down someone who's wronged you no matter the risk and consequence is genuinely brilliant. And yet more brilliant than that is the initial surprise of being shot before the chase begins, having been previously conditioned by the last level end sequence that nothing at all would happen when you walk into the exit zone. And the fact that the person who shot you was standing right there in plain sight all along! That highly conspicuous woman with red hair and a romance novel! Citizen Abel noticed her right away (as did I) and paid no mind to her (as did I), and yet she turns around at the very end and literally blows you away! That powerful dual realization that both you as a player and your avatar the protagonist should've known better... I can't think of any other game to pull such a masterful manoeuvre...

And the fall... You know, I've actually been thinking about that a lot recently. How your life flashes before your eyes when you're moving towards what can only be assumed as your demise. The ability to control your perspective during that entire sequence, to look around and try and make sense of what was going on even though those futile hopes are beyond all consequence. When you were falling, did you look up at your assailant who bested you, or down at the ground about to claim your life? Were you enraged? Confused? Accepting? At peace? And Xavier Cugat's Perfidia... oh what a brilliant piece of music, and how fitting a way to end it all!

For me, it was quite easy to walk away from the experience with a sense of Memento Mori. Soon the game will end, and it will very likely be unexpected. The same could be said of one's life, either by tragedy or by waking up one day wondering where all that time had gone.

I love Gravity Bone. It's just... brilliant. For me, the game's power lies not in its quirky charms and undeniable novelty, but in its ability to evoke certain emotions and feelings through wonderfully well executed gameplay mechanics and nothing else. It barely suggests a thing, let alone tells overtly. Yet its able to engage a wide and disparate range of ideas through what is essentially gameplay alone. Literature influences through just words, visual art through images alone, and music through only sounds. Gravity Bone is the first video game I can think of to influence exclusively through gameplay. And for me, nothing before or since has been able to compare.

 

[Tanakh]

I will only address the Limbo post as haven't played yet Gravity (though i am downloading it right now). Commenting paragraph by paragraph of your review.

- I have heard that quite a lot, and strongly disagree. Videogames as an industry are not facing the issue of acceptance as an artform, you think Nintendo gives a crap about being considered an art firm? Or that the legions of GoW fans want to know that they are having an artistic experience? Yet the people that care about videogames seem to think this is paramount, maybe to validate their time there? Saying that would be akin to say that NFL is facing the issue of acceptance as a deep strategic/tactical game based on mathematical analysis, while true to some small (and vocal) part of the community, it just seems irrelevant for the sport at large. And even then, films, music and literature are, in my opinion, the wrong kind of art to compare to; for me video games have more to do with experimental dance or happening, artforms where the frame was not set by the performer and where the public might or might not exists.

- "The most" absolute superlatives are a little dangerous in reviews, Limbo is wonderful but out of the top of my head Bastion, Amnesia or FRACT all give it a run for it's money to say the least.

- I liked the rest of your review. Was it just me or this game inherits a lot from Oddworld?

And bump, because i will bump any indie thread.

 

[Maet]

Videogames as an industry are not facing the issue of acceptance as an artform, you think Nintendo gives a crap about being considered an art firm? Or that the legions of GoW fans want to know that they are having an artistic experience? Yet the people that care about videogames seem to think this is paramount, maybe to validate their time there? ... And even then, films, music and literature are, in my opinion, the wrong kind of art to compare to; for me video games have more to do with experimental dance or happening, artforms where the frame was not set by the performer and where the public might or might not exists.

Perhaps it was wrong to say that video games themselves are facing the issue of artistic acceptance. I suppose I'd say you're right to suggest that it's more to do with the consumers of video game media trying to validate their pass-time (of course most video game creators aren't in the art business, least of all Nintendo, but then again neither are very many authors, musicians, filmmakers, etc.), however my Limbo piece doesn't reflect my position on that argument. I mostly chose to lead in with that whole, "are video games art?" hook precisely because it's attention grabbing and I thought it would be engaging to as many different types of people as possible. And frankly, I kind of liked trying to juxtapose those loud and often bitter "video games as art" arguments with a game as soundless and serene as Limbo. Again, this column isn't meant for gamers, and I try my best to write these without presupposing that the reader has any familiarity at all with video games. One of my goals with this is both to expose people to indie games and to have them consider video games as a medium in different ways. It's difficult when you only have about 400 words to work with on a week-to-week basis.

Anyway, I'm happy that you liked the review, and I'm especially happy that you're giving Gravity Bone a look. As you can probably tell, I tend to gush about that game quite a bit (to the point where it may not be entirely rational), so I hope the way I lovingly talk about it doesn't seem too crazy if it didn't have quite the same effect on you.

Thanks very much for reading. I haven't got much feedback on this yet, despite being five installments in (my fellow writers/editors aren't at all into video games), so I really do appreciate it.

 

[DeadpanLunatic]

I have removed my words from this site.

 

[Maet]

<color=black>Indie Game Spotlight #6

Spoiler: Foreword

This review is the fifth installment in my recently acquired "Indie Game Spotlight" column for my campus newspaper, so please take the review with this context in mind. It's deliberately limited to 400 words and is written for an audience that is varied and presumably far less knowledgeable about the subject than you are (compare how you're reading it in a forum dedicated to video games and the culture thereof, and how they're an unknown quantity reading an independent newspaper from a rack in a campus bookstore or library). As such, I'm trying to write about the game in a way that's brisk, engaging, and intelligible to as many people as possible. Again, this is a spotlight, not necessarily a critical analysis; still a review, but in a different way.

If anything, I suppose the primary goal is to trumpet the virtues and merits of indie games and grant them exposure and consideration to people who have never seriously considered them before. I'd appreciate it greatly if you let me know how well I succeeded in this regard.

Fun Fact: I hate The Binding of Isaac as much as I love Super Meat Boy.

<color=red>The Binding of Isaac

Isaac had no idea that Abraham intended him as a sacrifice to God when he was following his father up the mountain. In fact Isaac had no power in that entire incident. Either God was testing Abraham's faith, or Abraham was testing God's benevolence. Issac was just the object of a dare.

In The Binding of Isaac, developed by Austrian-born Florian Himsl and Edmund McMillan (of American indie developer Team Meat), Isaac takes centre stage. In this game, it's Isaac's mother who causes the ordeal after hearing a televangelist voice demanding that she sacrifice her only son. Isaac then flees into the basement, where he faces grotesque monstrosities and flashes of his troubled innocent life.

http://gamingbolt.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/binding-of-isaac-big-1024x600.jpg

As a game, The Binding of Isaac plays as a traditional twin-stick shooter. Moving and shooting are the core gameplay inputs, mapped to WASD and the arrow keys respectively. Level design consists of a half dozen floors of randomly generated dungeons, loot, and bosses, which guarantees that no two attempts are identical. The aesthetics will also be immediately familiar to anyone who remembers last year's stellar Super Meat Boy (also by Edmund McMillen). And to further that particular connection, composer Danny Baranowsky returns for the soundtrack as well.

On paper, then, The Binding of Isaac should work: tried and true art direction teamed with refined retro gameplay. Sadly, while all the individual elements would certainly work well independent of each other, they're a frustrating mess when combined. Being able to shoot effectively only at rigid 90 degree angles clashes with the ability to move in any direction at any gradient. Where a high degree of difficulty demands a well balanced progression, randomized loot and level design quickly boils matters down to luck. And finally, recontextualizing a weighty biblical story with coarse aesthetics, no matter how indicative of the artist's style, just comes off as tasteless.

While there are interesting elements contained within The Binding of Isaac, so much of the game is a product of misplaced energies that it becomes nearly hideous to behold. There was potential here for an imaginative and thoughtful reinterpretation of Abraham's near sacrifice of his son in accordance with God's will, but The Binding of Isaac becomes mired in a polarizing art direction before being buried with frustrating gameplay. God wouldn't think twice about asking for The Binding of Isaac as a sacrifice, and Abraham would deliver it whether God changed his mind or not.

The Binding of Isaac is available for download on Windows PC and Mac OS X

 

[Maet]

<color=black>Indie Game Spotlight #7

Spoiler: Foreword

This review is the fifth installment in my recently acquired "Indie Game Spotlight" column for my campus newspaper, so please take the review with this context in mind. It's deliberately limited to 400 words and is written for an audience that is varied and presumably far less knowledgeable about the subject than you are (compare how you're reading it in a forum dedicated to video games and the culture thereof, and how they're an unknown quantity reading an independent newspaper from a rack in a campus bookstore or library). As such, I'm trying to write about the game in a way that's brisk, engaging, and intelligible to as many people as possible. Again, this is a spotlight, not necessarily a critical analysis; still a review, but in a different way.

If anything, I suppose the primary goal is to trumpet the virtues and merits of indie games and grant them exposure and consideration to people who have never seriously considered them before. I'd appreciate it greatly if you let me know how well I succeeded in this regard.

Fun Fact: I can't play this game for more than 15 minutes at a time because it's so damn scary.

<color=black>Amnesia: The Dark Descent

Survival horror games have undergone a curious metamorphosis over the years. Most notably, they're now forgoing frugal design principals enhancing atmosphere in favour of bloody gore fests highlighting action. And while technology and gameplay certainly improve over time, cultivating scenarios of dread and terror have fallen out of fashion as fluid high resolution dismemberment began to take centre stage. Dead Space and Resident Evil are the reigning kings of survival horror, which is quite ironic considering there's absolutely nothing scary about them.

Amnesia: The Dark Descent is an independent survival horror game by Swedish developer Frictional Games, which is a rare entry in its particular genre in that it's genuinely terrifying. Cast as the amnesic Daniel wandering the crumbling halls of the Prussian Brennenburg Castle in 1839, players must evade the malevolence hunting them as they attempt to find and kill a man named Alexander.

http://sprunkey.net/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/Amnesia1.jpg

Whereas most survival horror games offer the player a means of defence from its threats, Amnesia is unique in that the player is afforded no means of recourse against the horrors contained within. When faced with a grotesque menace, the only way to survive is to hide and pray that it leaves you alone. There's no means to fight back, and confrontation only ends with a blood spattered demise.

Of course effective evasion most often leads into shadowy areas, where the results of the darkness take a toll on Daniel's sanity, distorting his vision and compromising his movement. Although this mechanic of sanity isn't anything new or even played to its most extreme ends (2002's Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requeim often broke the fourth wall with fake technical errors using the same technique), it's nevertheless supremely effective in cultivating an extraordinarily tense atmosphere.

In fact it's atmosphere where Amnesia most excels. Frictional Games understands that the best horror is often psychological and left to a person's imagination. Horrors are merely glimpsed through the shadows and fog, and their presence is often a suggestion that never materializes among all the creaks, wails, and dreadful noises. It's all very suspenseful and well assembled, and the optional developer commentary reveals a meticulous process behind the excellent design.

Amnesia: The Dark Descent is a tense and terrifying experience in the best possible way. Play this game in a darkened room with cranked headphones and fully devoted attention, and it'll be the scariest thing you do this Halloween.

Amnesia: The Dark Descent is available on PC-DVD, and through either digital distribution or cloud computing.

 

[Maet]

<color=black>Indie Game Spotlight #8

Spoiler: Foreword

This review is the fifth installment in my recently acquired "Indie Game Spotlight" column for my campus newspaper, so please take the review with this context in mind. It's deliberately limited to 400 words and is written for an audience that is varied and presumably far less knowledgeable about the subject than you are (compare how you're reading it in a forum dedicated to video games and the culture thereof, and how they're an unknown quantity reading an independent newspaper from a rack in a campus bookstore or library). As such, I'm trying to write about the game in a way that's brisk, engaging, and intelligible to as many people as possible. Again, this is a spotlight, not necessarily a critical analysis; still a review, but in a different way.

If anything, I suppose the primary goal is to trumpet the virtues and merits of indie games and grant them exposure and consideration to people who have never seriously considered them before. I'd appreciate it greatly if you let me know how well I succeeded in this regard.

Fun Fact: I like this game more and more after each playthrough.

<color=bronze>Braid

Three years ago, independent software developer Jonathan Blow released Braid, a game which at the time was something of a champion for the artistic merits of video game design. Lauded for its striking artistic direction, inventive time manipulation mechanics, and poignant narrative, few games before or since have been met with quite as much adulation.

Braid tells the story of Tim, a man searching for a princess snatched away by an evil monster. And while the relationship between Tim and the princess is never clearly expressed, text preambles throughout the worlds of the game indicate that Tim is hoping to reconcile - or better yet erase - a mistake he has made.

http://www.lockeddoorpuzzle.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/09/braid_screenshot4.jpg

It's the last sentence of that synopsis which separates Braid from other "save the princess" affairs which have plagued fictional storytelling for countless years. Tim's adventure is an exploration of themes, where a single gameplay mechanic is used to express forgiveness, decision, and place, among others. The pragmatic end of saving the princess isn't the goal; it's the emotional discoveries made along the way as perspectives gradually shift and come into focus.

As a game, Braid is a fairly straightforward puzzle-platform affair across six areas, each with its own variation on time manipulation. One world lets you rewind time at will, another has time advance and rewind as the player moves forwards or backwards, etc. Each variation is alluded to in the area's introductory text, which is the only kink in an otherwise immaculate interweaving of narrative and gameplay.

It's fitting, then, that Braid's overarching narrative is as sophisticated as its core gameplay mechanic. The paragraphs framing the narrative are out of sequence, reminiscent of the film Memento but with a more human touch. Saving the princess becomes a metaphor for the lengths to which one goes in order to repair what's been damaged, for how learning from a mistake never comes without the sting of the fault.

Unifying Braid is an aesthetically lush and beautiful style, with vivid brushwork art and soothing acoustic melodies. The feeling of being lulled to sleep permeates the entire experience, which compliments the dreamscape design exploring fresh perspectives on a familiar tale. From beginning to end, Braid never ceases to charm, and its fascinating narrative makes it all the more attractive.

And yet even after three years, Braid remains as alluring as ever, perhaps in part due to its closure (or lack thereof). Like the relationship between Tim and the princess - indeed like the relationships of anyone - Braid may come to an end, but it never resolves. What conclusion could be more appropriate than that?

Braid is available on PC, Mac, Linux, PSN, and XBLA for $10.

 

[Maet]

<color=black>Indie Game Spotlight #9

Spoiler: Foreword

This review is the fifth installment in my recently acquired "Indie Game Spotlight" column for my campus newspaper, so please take the review with this context in mind. It's deliberately limited to 400 words and is written for an audience that is varied and presumably far less knowledgeable about the subject than you are (compare how you're reading it in a forum dedicated to video games and the culture thereof, and how they're an unknown quantity reading an independent newspaper from a rack in a campus bookstore or library). As such, I'm trying to write about the game in a way that's brisk, engaging, and intelligible to as many people as possible. Again, this is a spotlight, not necessarily a critical analysis; still a review, but in a different way.

If anything, I suppose the primary goal is to trumpet the virtues and merits of indie games and grant them exposure and consideration to people who have never seriously considered them before. I'd appreciate it greatly if you let me know how well I succeeded in this regard.

Fun Fact: Size matters. Shorter games > longer games.

<color=blue>Hero's Adventure

Way back in 1999, I once had a curious thought while playing Final Fantasy VIII, a Japanese role playing game in the spunky-teenagers-save-the-world mould. This particular game features a rather prominent dichotomy between the civilized and savage, as futuristic settlements litter a world where monsters still roam the countryside outside the city limits. One of the questions it caused me to consider was how technology could advance without complete dominion over the wilderness. Continental road and rail networks that could be interrupted by marauding monsters felt ridiculous, even by the loosest standards of fiction.

Another question Final Fantasy VIII raised, albeit perhaps unintentionally, was the degree to which it was considered healthy behaviour for people to go out monster hunting. Teenagers traipsing through the local forests and fields slaughtering giant bugs is evidently quite acceptable in this universe. Needless to say, I've never quite understood fantasy. Apparently, neither has Terry Cavanagh, developer of Hero's Adventure.

http://28.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lqnvoiCMrh1qbkungo1_500.png


Lasting only a few minutes, Hero's Adventure is perhaps less a game and more an interactive commentary. The subject is turn based role playing games, specifically the violent tendencies encouraged and expected, as well as their possible effects on mental wellness. You play as a young boy who, frittering away the moments before dinner, explores the local wilderness near his home.

Hero's Adventure can best be understood as a sort of dramatization or easily imaginable work of fiction. Far from being fantastical, everything featured is rather mundane and entirely plausible. The loving parents, the idyllic house near a forest, the trio of common animals met in the woods, none of it is out of the ordinary.

The twist here is how the young boy's world is framed by a violent mechanic. The harmless wildlife encountered are viewed as enemies, signalled by the delightful core flute melody sharply changing into a hardened guitar riff for battle. In this mode the animals can only be massacred, and they must be buried deep in the forest in order to progress.

Most games like this wouldn't think twice about the cruelty such gameplay asks us as players to commit, which is precisely what Cavanagh is attempting to demonstrate. The grim darkness the young boy reaches travelling deep into the forest makes this clear. The musings of his parents once the screen has gone black drive the message home. Hero's Adventure is meant to trigger a seldom acknowledged ethical impulse, and to that end it's immediately successful.

Click here [http://jayisgames.com/games/heros-adventure/] to play Hero's Adventure.