Um...very well... let's do this.
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Chapter 1: March 2020
When I played The Stanley Parable after it was free on the EG store back in 2020, I instantly became fan, I think that fact it's pretty obvious; one look at my front page here and it's clear my love for the game is anything but hidden. It's a game that has a lot to say, managing both hilarious and gut-wrenching at the same time, and the Ultra Deluxe version only improved on what was already established and gave tackled new themes related to the industry, and specially to the players and the artist, and the very much complicated relationship bettween them.
However, I'm very much aware of the fact that loving these games so much it's rarity, like, a lot of people do love The Stanley Parable but I've never had the chance to meet someone that likes them to the same extent that I do. Maybe they just cater to my tastes too much, maybe I find the message much more profound that they really are, or maybe it was because I play them both at the right time... To this day, I don't really know the answer, I just really find them special and intriguing.
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Chapter 2: January 2023
It wasn’t until I finished The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe early this year when I became more interested in exploring other games from the creators, not so much out of a need for more The Stanley Parable, but rather just out of curiosity in finding out what these guys were up to before and after the original game, and immediately upon beginning my quick searching, one game became the apparent as the next step in this silly ''meta'' journey: Davey Wreden's The Beginner's Guide.
I did know the game, in fact I was aware of its existence the moment it came out back in 2015, and I already knew I wanted to play it, but as the dates show, I hadn't even played The Stanley Parable by that time, and as time passed I forgot about the game, pushing it to little corner in the peanut I call my brain and just never really thought about it... until now!
That's right baby! I was gonna play The Beginner's Guide once and for all! I did know the game's premise, but aside from that, I knew next to nothing about it, tho I could piece in my head what it could be about just knowing the creator's previous work and the overall plot. It was time to once again explore the game, create different interpretations and analyze to its very core!
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Chapter 3: March 2023
But that isn't how The Begginer's Guide is, that is just not how it goes, and that realization hit me harder than any plot-twist could. The game's premise is both simple yet captivating: Davey takes us in a voyage through the games made by his friend, ''Coda'', during 2008 and 2011, we see all of the experiences this person has crafted the years as Davey gives us a interpretation for each of them, and invites us to create and form our own views , all in an attempt to reach ''Coda'' and convincing them to return to the world of making games.
This stroll through ''Coda'''s creations is as interesting as it is beautiful, they are mostly short experiences that are never longer than 30 minutes, some of them repeat ideas, some need Davey's intervention to make them even playable, and some aren't even finished! But... it doesn't make them the less unique and interest to explore, to appreciate and to wonder: ''what was going on inside this guy's head while he was doing this?''. It is inevitable to follow Davey in this exploration of ''Coda'' 's psyche through its work, to question what we are seing and search for a double meaning... and it makes it all the more gut-wrenching and makes you feel all the more guilty once the truth is revealed. Asthe end neared, and Davey kept talking, I began to feel... weird... I began to feel something, a bit of introspection... and it terrified me.
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Epilogue: Turn Back
Listen, I'm not saying that ''WOW!!!!1 IT IS'S LITLERALY ME1'' or something like that, 'cause there are far more people with far more experience than I that deserve a ton more of respect and see themselves more reflected in Davey's words... but as I heard him talk during that final walk, and I saw myself, I felt like I was hearing some of my thoughts escape from my peanut I call brain, and I got scared. I got profoundly scared.
As someone that aspires to create... not as much as art but just something that could make people happy, hearing Davey craving that feeling of validation, lamenting so much that he could have done different, the mistakes he made and how it all could have turn out different I...
When once elevated through the air, seeing that infinite labyrinth, and the credits rolled and that song started playing, I almost broke, I almost completely broke, but instead I just sit there, processing what I had just experienced.
I know very well that not everyone is gonna like this game, both normal players and artist, I totally understand it. But for me, it tackled everything beyond a simple analysis, it made very uncomfortable, and at the same time I loved every moment of it. It's too soon to say if this will go down as one of my favorites, I may have to give it a ton of thought yet to really know where it stands in my yearly ranking. But it stuck with me, it will do for a long time, and I already hold it very dearly. I once again reminded me of what videogames can be. And of what I shouldn’t be.
Maybe I should stop searching double meanings.
Maybe he just liked making games about prisons...
=================================================
Chapter 1: March 2020
When I played The Stanley Parable after it was free on the EG store back in 2020, I instantly became fan, I think that fact it's pretty obvious; one look at my front page here and it's clear my love for the game is anything but hidden. It's a game that has a lot to say, managing both hilarious and gut-wrenching at the same time, and the Ultra Deluxe version only improved on what was already established and gave tackled new themes related to the industry, and specially to the players and the artist, and the very much complicated relationship bettween them.
However, I'm very much aware of the fact that loving these games so much it's rarity, like, a lot of people do love The Stanley Parable but I've never had the chance to meet someone that likes them to the same extent that I do. Maybe they just cater to my tastes too much, maybe I find the message much more profound that they really are, or maybe it was because I play them both at the right time... To this day, I don't really know the answer, I just really find them special and intriguing.
=================================================
Chapter 2: January 2023
It wasn’t until I finished The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe early this year when I became more interested in exploring other games from the creators, not so much out of a need for more The Stanley Parable, but rather just out of curiosity in finding out what these guys were up to before and after the original game, and immediately upon beginning my quick searching, one game became the apparent as the next step in this silly ''meta'' journey: Davey Wreden's The Beginner's Guide.
I did know the game, in fact I was aware of its existence the moment it came out back in 2015, and I already knew I wanted to play it, but as the dates show, I hadn't even played The Stanley Parable by that time, and as time passed I forgot about the game, pushing it to little corner in the peanut I call my brain and just never really thought about it... until now!
That's right baby! I was gonna play The Beginner's Guide once and for all! I did know the game's premise, but aside from that, I knew next to nothing about it, tho I could piece in my head what it could be about just knowing the creator's previous work and the overall plot. It was time to once again explore the game, create different interpretations and analyze to its very core!
=================================================
Chapter 3: March 2023
But that isn't how The Begginer's Guide is, that is just not how it goes, and that realization hit me harder than any plot-twist could. The game's premise is both simple yet captivating: Davey takes us in a voyage through the games made by his friend, ''Coda'', during 2008 and 2011, we see all of the experiences this person has crafted the years as Davey gives us a interpretation for each of them, and invites us to create and form our own views , all in an attempt to reach ''Coda'' and convincing them to return to the world of making games.
This stroll through ''Coda'''s creations is as interesting as it is beautiful, they are mostly short experiences that are never longer than 30 minutes, some of them repeat ideas, some need Davey's intervention to make them even playable, and some aren't even finished! But... it doesn't make them the less unique and interest to explore, to appreciate and to wonder: ''what was going on inside this guy's head while he was doing this?''. It is inevitable to follow Davey in this exploration of ''Coda'' 's psyche through its work, to question what we are seing and search for a double meaning... and it makes it all the more gut-wrenching and makes you feel all the more guilty once the truth is revealed. Asthe end neared, and Davey kept talking, I began to feel... weird... I began to feel something, a bit of introspection... and it terrified me.
=================================================
Epilogue: Turn Back
Listen, I'm not saying that ''WOW!!!!1 IT IS'S LITLERALY ME1'' or something like that, 'cause there are far more people with far more experience than I that deserve a ton more of respect and see themselves more reflected in Davey's words... but as I heard him talk during that final walk, and I saw myself, I felt like I was hearing some of my thoughts escape from my peanut I call brain, and I got scared. I got profoundly scared.
As someone that aspires to create... not as much as art but just something that could make people happy, hearing Davey craving that feeling of validation, lamenting so much that he could have done different, the mistakes he made and how it all could have turn out different I...
When once elevated through the air, seeing that infinite labyrinth, and the credits rolled and that song started playing, I almost broke, I almost completely broke, but instead I just sit there, processing what I had just experienced.
I know very well that not everyone is gonna like this game, both normal players and artist, I totally understand it. But for me, it tackled everything beyond a simple analysis, it made very uncomfortable, and at the same time I loved every moment of it. It's too soon to say if this will go down as one of my favorites, I may have to give it a ton of thought yet to really know where it stands in my yearly ranking. But it stuck with me, it will do for a long time, and I already hold it very dearly. I once again reminded me of what videogames can be. And of what I shouldn’t be.
Maybe I should stop searching double meanings.
Maybe he just liked making games about prisons...
2 Comments
I myself have seen some negative reviews after playing and my first thought was: ''...yeah that's fair''. I know very well that it's not a game for everyone, and that's absolutely fine, but considering its short length and that in sales it gets pretty cheap, I think it's worth the risk to find out if you like it or not. Again, this is coming from someon that really loved it, so take it with a grain of salt XD
BlazingWaters
1 year ago