Tyraynor
6 reviews liked by Tyraynor
Genshin Impact
2020
Genshin sadly gets dragged through the mud both by people who don't play the game (who don't look past the gacha mechanics and anime aesthetic) and people who do (who feel entitled to get more free stuff than they already do). It's not without its flaws; I do think it is pretty long-winded, grindy, and boring at times. But there are so many wonderful characters, beautiful landscapes, sublime music tracks, amazing voice performances, and epic cutscenes - and the story writing at its best can be funny, poignant, uplifting, or downright sad. The creators hold such a high bar of quality for both stability and pouring love into every detail of their creations, which are often a celebration of various real-life cultures. I'm happy with the time I've put into this game and I think it'll always stand as one of my favorites.
On one hand, I am a huge fan of using video games as interactive demonstrations for all kinds of arguments and essays on any topic, even especially game design. On the other hand, the formal academic language here does a bit of a disservice to the point its trying to convey and the piece of media itself is kind of... generic? and sometimes even visually illegible tbh. I feel like a piece advocating for more thoughtfulness should also be a more thoughtful piece itself to lead by example.
Mild "spoilers" ahead.
There's a cruel lack of understanding of context and relations between mechanics here, mimicking the mechanics of some surface-level namedrop not only never reinforces any point it's trying to make, but also ends up creating completely disjointed gameplay, that's a pretty strong contradiction.
Game design is supposed to shape an experience based on how different mechanics answer each other, it's always been a matter of context and good use of its elements, the assertion that any kind of HUD or linear level design fundamentally conflicts with any sort of emotional implication is a seriously flawed argument.
If anything, the final claim about how "Shadow of the Colossus is the greatest game of all time" (objectivity in any art-related writing is pretty eliminatory) without ever mentioning the game beforehand, even as an example, shows that this essay/study comes from the place of someone having just discovered what subtractive design is and who holds it as some sort of golden standard, if it certainly encompasses interactive storytelling, I can only hope the impact it had on the writer's view of narration will lead them to realize how expandable it is instead of restrictive.
There's a cruel lack of understanding of context and relations between mechanics here, mimicking the mechanics of some surface-level namedrop not only never reinforces any point it's trying to make, but also ends up creating completely disjointed gameplay, that's a pretty strong contradiction.
Game design is supposed to shape an experience based on how different mechanics answer each other, it's always been a matter of context and good use of its elements, the assertion that any kind of HUD or linear level design fundamentally conflicts with any sort of emotional implication is a seriously flawed argument.
If anything, the final claim about how "Shadow of the Colossus is the greatest game of all time" (objectivity in any art-related writing is pretty eliminatory) without ever mentioning the game beforehand, even as an example, shows that this essay/study comes from the place of someone having just discovered what subtractive design is and who holds it as some sort of golden standard, if it certainly encompasses interactive storytelling, I can only hope the impact it had on the writer's view of narration will lead them to realize how expandable it is instead of restrictive.
Disappointing that a game with such an interesting art direction basically just culminated in praise for one of the most mid games of all time. Sure it made some interesting observations and dunked on a bunch of games I don't like, but also interesting that almost all of the games he dumped on are the poster children of Sony which was apparently the main sponsor for this.
The game goes on about explicit interactions and making games more creative while seemingly forgetting very important game designs. Like camera sensitivity, camera angles, the enemy hitboxes, and color. And where's the platinum trophy? Another indie game that tries too hard to be brilliant falls flat on its face.
tell me you're a shadow of the colossus fanboy without telling me you're a shadow of the colossus fanboy