I typically hunker down after beating a game and get my thoughts down immediately. Upon completing Kentucky Route Zero, I sat at my computer and just could not figure out the appropriate way to confront my experiences with the game.
Given its text adventure nature, it lends itself to a literary deconstruction. Yet, that approach poses some difficulties. Either address the broad strokes of the game--the degeneration of ‘The American Dream’ and the consequences that flow from it--or discuss the introspection that the game invites through a narrative decision-making structure that puts the player in the driver's seat for the games slighter moments of insight. Ultimately, this form of analysis is better suited for a discussion involving ‘spoilers’ where all interested parties have at least attempted a complete run of the game.
Another approach would be to engage in a discussion of the mechanics at work throughout. Such dialog would undoubtedly be complementary to the developers ability to couch what is essentially a novella inside the framework of a video game. Mixing up mechanics effortlessly just before the player might think: wait, am I just reading a book? Again, this type of breakdown is unsatisfactory. It brushes past the soul at the core of this game and instead focuses on the lifeless skeleton that accompanies it.
It’s a game that invites discussions not typical of the titles it was inspired by. It may end up influencing storytelling in games in ways that draw comparisons to Super Mario 64’s inspiration on the 3D games that followed it. In the end, I suppose I’ve simply come to realize that I don’t quite have the chops to do Kentucky Route Zero justice. If you’ve ever put a book down after finishing it and thought, man I could go for another one of those, then I suggest you at least give this game a shot. You’ll be glad you did.
Given its text adventure nature, it lends itself to a literary deconstruction. Yet, that approach poses some difficulties. Either address the broad strokes of the game--the degeneration of ‘The American Dream’ and the consequences that flow from it--or discuss the introspection that the game invites through a narrative decision-making structure that puts the player in the driver's seat for the games slighter moments of insight. Ultimately, this form of analysis is better suited for a discussion involving ‘spoilers’ where all interested parties have at least attempted a complete run of the game.
Another approach would be to engage in a discussion of the mechanics at work throughout. Such dialog would undoubtedly be complementary to the developers ability to couch what is essentially a novella inside the framework of a video game. Mixing up mechanics effortlessly just before the player might think: wait, am I just reading a book? Again, this type of breakdown is unsatisfactory. It brushes past the soul at the core of this game and instead focuses on the lifeless skeleton that accompanies it.
It’s a game that invites discussions not typical of the titles it was inspired by. It may end up influencing storytelling in games in ways that draw comparisons to Super Mario 64’s inspiration on the 3D games that followed it. In the end, I suppose I’ve simply come to realize that I don’t quite have the chops to do Kentucky Route Zero justice. If you’ve ever put a book down after finishing it and thought, man I could go for another one of those, then I suggest you at least give this game a shot. You’ll be glad you did.