If you've been feeling uncomfortable with the number of games today that are rigidly defined by their stories (fitting given their prevalence in the Resident Evil 6 trailer, eh), you'll enjoy Raph Koster's deconstruction of the role of narrative in game design.
His post argues that narrative is a form of feedback, not a mechanic in itself, and warns that overuse of the likes of QTEs and similar short-form narrative-driven diversions is "'a bad game design' even if it may be a great game experience."
Why? Koster cites the sequence in Batman: Arkham City in which Batman climbs to the top of a bell tower to find the location of a sniper. A cutscene relates that Batman's been tricked by the Joker, who has rigged the tower with a bomb. Cue your chance to play the game, which entails simply locating the window and double tapping A before the timer ticks down. You're rewarded with another cutscene of Batman flying away as the tower explodes.
The problem, Koster says, is that this sort of feedback, as finely constructed as it is, only really works once. The reward of the cutscene has devolved value having been experienced already, meaning that developers must keep releasing new content to keep players engaged. After all, such large-scale feedback is supporting a rather insignificant challenge.
"The bar that designers should strike for should include a rich set of systemic problems precisely because that is what the medium of games brings to the table. It's what lies at the center of the art form," Koster continues.
"If the systems of your game are outweighed by the feedback, you should grow suspicious. And if they are outweighed by feedback that takes the form of movies, you're making interactive movies first and games second."
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If creativity is forged in restriction, perhaps all artists should work in the medium of the Spectrum 48K. That's why you should browse this gallery of pictures made by "the finest Spectrum graphicians (mainly from Russia & ex-CCCP, also from Slovakia and other countries)" for its 15-colour gamut and 256x192 resolution.
r0m's Hellclowns
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Indie bundles - too much of a good thing? Patrick Lindsey thinks so, writing:
"They're good games – oftentimes very good, and they deserve proper recognition in the form of more deliberate, less feverish playthroughs. Slow down with the bundles. Let us stop and smell the roses for a bit. We'll still be interested, I promise."
We're inclined to agree - a bundle of games doesn't invite quite the same investment of playtime as can a single purchase. And the sheer glut of them over the past few months has been quite remarkable.
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It's not the most obvious of links, but in practice it's brilliantly fitting. Some wag has taken inspiration from the now-legendary @horse_ebooks Twitter account, a bot that tweets random - but weirdly profound - lines from business eBooks to create one based on game writer and academic Ian Bogost.
Some choice highlights:
"imagine positioning oneself in the context of the chickadee"
"has anyone yet violated their entrails
Comments
9Very rarely do QTEs work well and fit a game. God of War is the only game/series that I've played that does this well because the challenge comes before the QTE and it's just the icing on the cake.
It's also very difficult because you never know when to relax and watch a scene or be "on" and "ready" for the next QTE. Best to avoid them unless you can solve these problems.
"It's also very difficult because you never know when to relax and watch a scene or be "on" and "ready" for the next QTE"
God of War is a stunning game and I would have liked to watch more of the cut scenes than the bottom centre where a button may or may not appear
You've obviously never played Resident Evil 4. That game (Shenmue notwithstanding) is the sole reason we're in this bloody QTE-shaped mess! It nailed it at the first time of asking and every game since has copied it, running what was once rather novel and brilliant into something that people now mostly despise.
I'm not sure why you think I haven't played Resident Evil 4. What's your point?
Sorry, that first statement was meant in jest (how on Earth would someone who reads Edge NOT have played RE4?!). My point I was trying to make was that it basically took the whole idea of QTE's and perfected them (that knife fight with Krauser for example is bloody fantastic). Ever since, every dev has imitated it so as to render them utterly lacking in imagination. I haven't played any of the GoW games (not really my cup of tea) so I can't comment but from what video of it I've seen they use QTE's in a similar manner.
Well, while GoW does have some similarities with RE4's QTE it also has a different usage. As you battle tougher opponents you fight them the way you normally would. When you are close to finishing them you hit a button to initiate the QTE and from there you get 2-4 QTEs that are randomly generated which finishes off your opponent. So there are no (for the most part) die-and-retry situations like there are in some other games, even RE4.
Quit Talking Elbonian
So... where does Asuras Wrath fit in all this?
@Plornt 2.0: the question is if Asuras Wrath is completely consisting of QTEs like in the demo - according to several previews there is also much of a gameplay like God of War. BTW, enjoyed the demo because of the great humour, but QTE gameplay still keeps very silly.