2024 in Games
This year’s gamest games.
22 Games
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-One of the most interesting conversations I had in recent memory was about all the narrative reasons that make a detective story tick; trying to provide an exaplanation as to why readers enjoy these pieces of fiction. The people I had a discussion with unanimously agree that the tricks were the most important parts of said genre. Forget about the themes, the social component of any given detective story, what it says about society and its people, the characters, and what have you - what matters is the twist, and nothing else. To some, I suppose Christie's 'Death on the Nile' would be meaningless if not for its last-page reveal. While it may be true to a certain extent, I think it is silly to downplay what Christie states about the 20th century British 'tales of bourgeois malaise' in her novel, or all the fascinating intertextual nods to Shakespeare's 'Anthony and Cleopatra' that form the whole narrative.
-I feel Uchikoshi's 'Virtue's Last Reward' is exactly what they would like the most: a story mostly composed of 'unpredictable' twists, tricks, and reveals behind the game's narrative. And 'unpredicatble', they are! I certainly do not want to underplay how dumbfounded, confused I was while reading the endless conversations the characters had with one another - conversations about the nature of the game they are in, bullsh*t (pardon my language) accounts of complex scientific concepts, tiresome discussions on the game's uninteresting lore (literally 'the most' at every 'unforeseen development'), and so on and so forth.
-The story merely forgot to feature interesting characters with believable motivations (which 999 had, not without its fair share of flaws of course); an interesting setting, besides this boring, insufferable 'factory-looking' building; proper social themes that would help the story to feel grounded in spite of its silly premise, yada yada yada. You get it. The whole schtick is boring as sin, but eh game is unquestionably suprising, so I think that is good enough, right?
-This is what a story written entirely with the sole purpose of surprising its readers (or in the case of 'Virtue's Last Reward', players) looks like. Some of the puzzle rooms are neat, I will not deny that, but they are mired in a never-ending series of awful dialogues. The game is terribly, but also comically ugly; pacing is all over the place. Such a poor sequel to 999, writing a story about complex concepts does not make your story complex, it needs more than that - otherwise, it just makes it meaningless.
-I feel Uchikoshi's 'Virtue's Last Reward' is exactly what they would like the most: a story mostly composed of 'unpredictable' twists, tricks, and reveals behind the game's narrative. And 'unpredicatble', they are! I certainly do not want to underplay how dumbfounded, confused I was while reading the endless conversations the characters had with one another - conversations about the nature of the game they are in, bullsh*t (pardon my language) accounts of complex scientific concepts, tiresome discussions on the game's uninteresting lore (literally 'the most' at every 'unforeseen development'), and so on and so forth.
-The story merely forgot to feature interesting characters with believable motivations (which 999 had, not without its fair share of flaws of course); an interesting setting, besides this boring, insufferable 'factory-looking' building; proper social themes that would help the story to feel grounded in spite of its silly premise, yada yada yada. You get it. The whole schtick is boring as sin, but eh game is unquestionably suprising, so I think that is good enough, right?
-This is what a story written entirely with the sole purpose of surprising its readers (or in the case of 'Virtue's Last Reward', players) looks like. Some of the puzzle rooms are neat, I will not deny that, but they are mired in a never-ending series of awful dialogues. The game is terribly, but also comically ugly; pacing is all over the place. Such a poor sequel to 999, writing a story about complex concepts does not make your story complex, it needs more than that - otherwise, it just makes it meaningless.
19
-I really have nothing interesting to say on that one: I like 'Super Monkey Ball' all right, the second game remains dear to me; I have also fond memories of the first one. That collection / remake did not do them justice at all.
-I do not mind the more 'colourful artstyle' (it is a bit 'lifeless', but whatever I accept it); I especially do not mind at all some of the new options featured (by all means, if that helps new players): the game is tightly-packed in terms of content. What is there to not like then?
-The physics. They completely missed the mark on that note: that note being, sadly, the most essential part of the franchise. Some stages have become completely unplayable: I invite everyone to check some of the comments on videos of stages from the collection, and you will see an endless stream of people being angry, frustrated, and ultimately disappointed at the poor experience they had completing a stage compared to its original counterpart. These comments truly speak volume of the quality of said compilation.
-I guess if this is a player's entry point to the series, they will not mind, nor care about the gripes I have (though I could see them quitting the game on more occasions than one). That is not the case for me though, and I cannot stress how gutted I am with the final product.
-I do not mind the more 'colourful artstyle' (it is a bit 'lifeless', but whatever I accept it); I especially do not mind at all some of the new options featured (by all means, if that helps new players): the game is tightly-packed in terms of content. What is there to not like then?
-The physics. They completely missed the mark on that note: that note being, sadly, the most essential part of the franchise. Some stages have become completely unplayable: I invite everyone to check some of the comments on videos of stages from the collection, and you will see an endless stream of people being angry, frustrated, and ultimately disappointed at the poor experience they had completing a stage compared to its original counterpart. These comments truly speak volume of the quality of said compilation.
-I guess if this is a player's entry point to the series, they will not mind, nor care about the gripes I have (though I could see them quitting the game on more occasions than one). That is not the case for me though, and I cannot stress how gutted I am with the final product.
20
-Better than the first game, but not by a large margin. I suppose I have a hard time understanding the appeal of the 'A Plague Tale' franchise. A Hard time figuring why Western players enjoy it so much, considering that all it does is basically 'copying and pasting' what Niel Druckmann and his team have achieved twice with 'The Last of Us'.
-No really, think about it - if 'Innocence' is merely a retread of some of the plotpoints, and subject matters tackled by 'The Last of Us'; 'Requiem' plays in the fields of 'The Last of Us Part II', though being less gratuitous. Not by much though, game often dabbles in unnecessary 'misery porn', which does a huge disservice to its main theme: grief. I get why Druckman was approached to write the afterword of the game's artbook - his franchise and 'A Plague Tale' are basically two sides of the same coin - not one I fancy at all.
-I guess the setting plays a major part in the appeal of said franchise - though, it is not like it is particularly well-developed either, boiling down to very simple individualistic politics, and an umpteenth reading of what a 'zombie apocalypse' would look like given the backdrop (which works in the context of a subpar McCarthy's America, not so much with 14th-century France). 'Requiem' is a bit better at handling said details (thanks to its central theme, which makes a more compelling, greater whole compared to 'Innocence'), but not by much I am afraid. There are way better stories on the same topics, with more realised characters.
-In terms of 'designs', it is the same 'stealth' approach, albeit a more 'gimmicky' one this time. I guess a player's preference would depend on their tolerance of said gimmicks - not fond of them all, really (I was mostly bored the whole way through), but they help the game to feel a bit more 'memorable' I suppose. It is a matter of 'simply not for me'.
-Considering what people like about these two games, I found myself dumbfounded at what the post-credits scene promises. I still do not really know what to make of it.
-No really, think about it - if 'Innocence' is merely a retread of some of the plotpoints, and subject matters tackled by 'The Last of Us'; 'Requiem' plays in the fields of 'The Last of Us Part II', though being less gratuitous. Not by much though, game often dabbles in unnecessary 'misery porn', which does a huge disservice to its main theme: grief. I get why Druckman was approached to write the afterword of the game's artbook - his franchise and 'A Plague Tale' are basically two sides of the same coin - not one I fancy at all.
-I guess the setting plays a major part in the appeal of said franchise - though, it is not like it is particularly well-developed either, boiling down to very simple individualistic politics, and an umpteenth reading of what a 'zombie apocalypse' would look like given the backdrop (which works in the context of a subpar McCarthy's America, not so much with 14th-century France). 'Requiem' is a bit better at handling said details (thanks to its central theme, which makes a more compelling, greater whole compared to 'Innocence'), but not by much I am afraid. There are way better stories on the same topics, with more realised characters.
-In terms of 'designs', it is the same 'stealth' approach, albeit a more 'gimmicky' one this time. I guess a player's preference would depend on their tolerance of said gimmicks - not fond of them all, really (I was mostly bored the whole way through), but they help the game to feel a bit more 'memorable' I suppose. It is a matter of 'simply not for me'.
-Considering what people like about these two games, I found myself dumbfounded at what the post-credits scene promises. I still do not really know what to make of it.
21
-That new entry in 'The Silent Hill Western canon' has a particularly compelling backdrop - a post-Covid19 pandemic German town - but does absolutely nothing with it. The whole game is riddled with American visual cues (see the school sequence, that is not how a 'Gymnasium' is supposed to look like), as well as lots of Japanese undertones in the script. The setting being 2020s Germany feels like an afterthought, which is a shame - there is something fascinating to be written about today's teenage malaise in the aforementioned country.
-I do not mind on paper 'Silent Hill' becoming a global entity (though the in-game reason provided is beyond silly), but that has to mean something, and not merely being a poor gimmick of sorts. Ultimately, there is no doubt in my mind that 'The Short Message' - as is - will be remembered as this weird German Silent Hill project; and if it is remembered at all, really.
-When it comes to handling the topic of suicide, the game also reeks of misunderstandings of what vulnerable teenagers (and people in general) are going through. There is a conversation to be had on 'The Short Message' taking notes from the likes of dramas akin to '13 Reasons Why' (the mysterious suicidal girl, the artistic mindset prone to suicide, and so on and so forth). Being inspired, to the point of ripping some of the bits and pieces off, from such a distateful show is not something that should be glanced over.
-Game-wise, there is not much to be said I am afraid: a poor man's version of 'P.T.' that has nothing interesting to offer - the case of the 'same old, same old' in some of the environments featured; been there, done that. The poster child for a 'nothingburger' of a video game.
-I do not mind on paper 'Silent Hill' becoming a global entity (though the in-game reason provided is beyond silly), but that has to mean something, and not merely being a poor gimmick of sorts. Ultimately, there is no doubt in my mind that 'The Short Message' - as is - will be remembered as this weird German Silent Hill project; and if it is remembered at all, really.
-When it comes to handling the topic of suicide, the game also reeks of misunderstandings of what vulnerable teenagers (and people in general) are going through. There is a conversation to be had on 'The Short Message' taking notes from the likes of dramas akin to '13 Reasons Why' (the mysterious suicidal girl, the artistic mindset prone to suicide, and so on and so forth). Being inspired, to the point of ripping some of the bits and pieces off, from such a distateful show is not something that should be glanced over.
-Game-wise, there is not much to be said I am afraid: a poor man's version of 'P.T.' that has nothing interesting to offer - the case of the 'same old, same old' in some of the environments featured; been there, done that. The poster child for a 'nothingburger' of a video game.
22