edit: just noticed your addition. nicely done. thank you. hey dude, you make a good point. i am aware of the fact that the summary i wrote is a bit lackluster, and was written before i had beaten the game. i guess that adding tropes and things on the themes behind it slipped my mind. i am also sorry about this lackluster response.
Edited by corruptioncultivator
So is it trying to say we shouldn't enjoy games, or that we enjoy them too much? That doesn't seem like a good business model. Sure, they're time consuming, but so is every enjoyable activity on some level. Sounds like they don't want us to play games or something.
It seems to be less a critique of games as a concept and more a critique of modern gaming specifically. As in, an awful lot of modern "gaming" is actually just sitting staring at a Facebook screen waiting for the next Farmville item to become available or whatever. If the game is a critique, then Tomorrow Corporation wouldn't be the first people to question why such an inane, pointless and unstimulating activity deserves to be called a "game".
So, I notice no one anywhere (on this page or otherwise) is talking about the fact that this game is a bit of a deconstruction of its own genre much like spec ops the line. (Possible spoilers, don't keep reading if you haven't beaten the game.)
If you don't believe me let me list the ways I noticed: the fireplace is called the "Little Inferno ENTERTAINMENT fireplace." Sorta drawing parallels between it and a game system. There is a pointless time limit on each item you buy's shipping despite the fact that this is not an online game and thus it probably doesn't need one. In order to use your Entertainment System you must set fire to all your stuff (one character even calls the stuff a "box full of memories.") Each time you set your stuff on fire you unlock new things to pointlessly set on fire. Your character becomes completely transfixed by the entertainment system, unable to look away or do anything else. But more then that, the fireplace is their escape from the cold harsh reality. ("It's been snowing for so long and we just don't know why.")
Your neighbor is like a friend playing the same game. Though you never see her in person, you communicate using letters. (Which seems to work more like an instantaneous chat system found on many online games. Notice that she knows when you get to the part about neighbors and the wall makes a knocking sound at the exact same time.) She gives you tips on how to play the game and suggests that describing a combo to you would be "spoilers." You also send items for the game back and forth to each other. But over time she begins to question the point of the game, and then she decides to basically destroy her copy of the game so she can break her addiction and go explore the real world.
When you do the same thing, what happens next does not really look like someone burning their house down, it looks like someone breaking their game. (It says "Error!" and the meters start glitching up....) And once your character breaks their game, they are free to final look around and explore the real world.
The Sun, and the fact that we don't know if it is setting or rising could either be a parallel to the fact that we have lost track of time, or it could be a metaphor for someone who has broken a gaming addiction and is moving on with their life. Will things get better when they do this? (Sunrise) or will they be unable to adapt to the change and find nothing to welcome them back to life. (Sunset)
So... yeah... shouldn't we mention this somewhere on the main page...?
Hide / Show Replies