| Platform | OVERALL |
|---|---|
| PC | 3.00 |
| Overall | 3.00 |
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I guess most of you could have seen this one coming, vader doesn’t like that “non-game” the story driven game. I actually went in excited, the reviews were through the roof, I knew I wasn’t going to be doing much of any playing but I expected something special in terms of storytelling and this interactive medium we have. I don’t think I got that at all, I feel I this “game” is just an experimental attempt at a new storytelling technique that still needs a lot of work. I will address the story later because I want to avoid spoilers for now, I’ll let you know when I get into what the story is about. For now I want to try to explain why this didn’t work for me from a general standpoint. I am going to assume that the reason this is not written as a short story, or this wasn’t made into some short film is because the developers wanted to explore this matter in an interactive setting, the interaction is supposed to add something of value to the story. I do not think it does, to me it felt like my role as a player was simply a formality, it was just there so that it can be considered a “game”. Did it really matter that I controlled the character and the pace at which I explored when everything was preordained for me. Eventually you are going to read all the same notes, see all the same drawings and go through the exact same experience everyone else did. What is the difference between me walking from note to note to say watching a movie of a person walking from note to note. I never once felt like an active participant in the story and to me I thought that was the point of making stories interactive. It has nothing to do with having action, or gamey elements, it is about making sure the player has a reason to control your game. I feel like this could have been a video blog and I would have gotten the same out of it. I know the argument is going to be that you get to explore the game world at your own pace. You get to see and manipulate the fake SNES game catridges. You get to find hidden porn stashes under books. I would say it was still very deliberately designed so that you do exactly what the devs want you to do. There really isn’t that much exploration, you can only pick up the specific objects the devs want you to pick up. You can only read what they want you to read. You still have to discover the story in the exact same order as everyone else. And I understand its proper game design to have the player focus on what matters but that is the point only the story matters, that house you are in, that exploration component is just there for show. SPOILERS FROM HERE ON IN, DONT READ IF YOU DONT WANT TO KNOW WHAT GONE HOME IS ABOUT! The story is the real reason to play this and I understand it covers a very different, REAL kind of subject matter than what most all games are used to. Personally I was expecting a sort of horror themed mystery, so I was a tad bit let down when I realized it was a coming of age story of a girl coming to terms with her homosexuality and the thrills and heartaches of young love. Kudos for attempting something deep with storytelling in games, that doesn’t mean all critics should be falling over each other to praise this game. Once again I feel there are some that desperately want any kind of game that can be considered of value to society from a story standpoint, something that doesn’t deal with space aliens or boyhood fantasies. Every time a game comes even remotely close to a mature subject matter they go bananas, they try with all their might to yell and scream to anyone who would hear them “look games can be more than just killing stuff too!!!!”, “Pay attention to video games!!!!”. Don’t get me wrong Gone Home is written well and it will touch some people on an emotional level that it didn’t reach for me but I feel that the story in this game is the equivalent of a internet blog. It’s literally a journal, we aren’t talking about the next great american novel here. If this were a piece of literature it would be something you find in the back pages of some short story collection, no one would pay much attention to it. But add mouse and keyboard controls and OH MY GOD ITS AMAZING!!!!! LIFE CHANGING! I don’t get it. I haven’t even talked about how I personally felt about the story itself. I liked the attention to details and all the 90s references. Personally I found the wife side story to be more interesting than the sister’s story, did she cheat, I don’t think so. Part of why I didn’t enjoy the story like others did is cause I am a fan of sci-fi, fantasy, action; of the fantastic. Dramas are never my favorite type genre though there are drama movies and shows that I would consider some of the greatest things I have ever seen. So usually a simple love story doesn’t do much for me. I actually thought that Sam had committed suicide and her body was in the attic and I was disappointed she wasn’t, I know I am horrible. Let me clarify I was relieved for Sam in the context of the story but after that feeling of “ok she is safe” I felt "oh so she just ran away, that’s it, that’s the climax"… ok whatever. Yeah I like a little more excitement in my stories. So for me Gone Home didn’t work on both aspects. As an interactive experience I felt it failed and I feel that is on the devs. As a story I don’t think it was that great but that is mostly on me, this is not the kind of story I would normally care to read or watch. If I knew what the story was about before hand I wouldn’t have bothered playing the game. To others the story will hit close to home or emotionally grab you, I can very much see that. That said this is still categorized as a game, at the very least it is an interactive story experience and I feels it utterly fails in the “interactive” aspect of that experience. The score simply represents my personal feeling on the game, I think someone else can greatly enjoy the story and a higher score would be just as valid. Where I draw the line is saying that Gone Home is some monumental achievement in game storytelling, that I feel is total bullshit. |
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Posted by Dvader Thu, 19 Dec 2013 06:57:45
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Foolz (3m)
However, largely you come across as having more of an issue with what other reviews thought of the game than the game itself.
I'm not sure what either of you were expecting from the ending. It wasn't building up to anything except the conclusion it reached; it wasn't even really building up to a climax at all.
But maybe I missed something, because it makes no sense that she KNOWS Katie is returning home, and so thus leaves the note to her in the fucking attic for her to find on a treasure hunt...
Also, normally a treasure hunt has, you know, a treasure. No climax, no treasure.
I didn't say it was a successful treasure hunt. But I suppose that's reason enough to expect a climax. But I don't think it's a very good reason: the narrative (despite its mangled implementation) always held precedent over gameplay, and given the style of story (and what was discovered in the first 15 minutes) it was obvious there would be no climax.
And I'm glad there wasn't because at least the story was somewhat successful without one. With one it would have turned into sensationalism or exploitation. And if that were to happen, then there would be absolutely nothing to redeem the game. Except that it didn't crash.