You got Quality Storytelling in my Videogame!

This week i decided to dive into the world of Narrative in games by exploring 2 games from That Game Company (TGC). TCG has a history of making games that air more on the artsy side of the gaming universe.  The first game i ever played by them was a game in which you play a bacteria and you attempt to make your way up the food chain by eating other bacteria. in this game there is Little to no narrative. However TGC next game, Flower added a more fleshed out, but minimalistic narrative to the story.

In Flower you play as a single flower petal (or the spirit of nature, but its never really laid out for you what exactly you are) that goes around reigniting the nature that it comes in contact with. Through the game you cause other flowers to blossom and if you get a certain number in a given area that area changes or even comes to life. the grass changes, the rocks morph into a beautiful formation or the environment changes somehow. Each level is indicated on the title screen as a series of plants in clay pots sitting in the windowsill of a house in the city. Between each "level" or environment are small cut scenes showing the hustling and bustling of the city. as you play these images and environments come more into play. as you progress you see that the world in the city has become bland and lifeless. You Fly through the city and bring life back into the city, bringing life to plants and removing the edgy sharp and menacing architectural spires that begin bursting up around the city. In the end you arrive in the center of the city seeing an enormous spire of the menacing dark architecture. you enter the structure and ascend through it reawakening nature within the spire destroying it and bringing Life and plant life back to the city. as you reach the apex of the spire as its falling down around you you see a single chair and a window abstractly floating above you. you continue to it only to realize that it was the window and chair from the title screen/level select screen, bringing the story back around to the very beginning of the tale.

That Game Company's most recent game is Journey. And it too tends to be on the artsy side of not only their game and storytelling but visual design as well. Journey is a Cyclical game. The end leads to the beginning. its a never ending cycle. I don't want to say too much about the story directly because it truly needs to be experienced. Suffice it to say the main character is minimal in both design and character. its a bland slate, a simple non sex specific character in a red robe. no distinguishable facial feature, and it doesn't even have any arms. its is a simple graphical triangle shape with black legs. i dare say that this only strengthens the appeal of the character and the strength of the story. throughout the game you endure trials as you attempt the complete a pilgrimage to a glorious mountain in the distance. These trial force you to stop and think as well as explore one of the most beautiful environments in a game in recent years. At the end of each "level" you find a small prayer shrine, in which your character descends to his/her knees and begins to meditate or pray. You are then transported to another state of being where you witness your character talking to a character similar to yours but clothed in all white and 3 times larger then you. it has the appearance of a deity and shows you painting on a wall which depict the narrative. The whole game is told in this fashion with little hidden shrines you can find that show you other images/hieroglyphs giving even more back story to the world. The main meat of the story is told through the cut scenes  all of the small shrines you find, really flesh out the rest of the story. In the end you reach the mountain... but i don't want to say anything more then that. its something you must play and experience. Suffice it to say, the way they force you to play the ending couple of levels really garners a deep connection with your faceless, silent protagonist, and in the end i actually almost cried. it was like a mini religious experience. i know that sounds weird but the way the story unfolds in the end, through visuals ONLY and how it ends is extremely powerful. Simple but powerful. its a game like no other with a narrative structure like no other. if you have a PS3 do yourself a favor and pick this up. or if you don't have a PS3 watch some playthroughs online.

The Medium is the Mixed Message

We live in a time of incredible connectedness, yet that universal connectedness seems to also be pushing those nearest to us further apart.

Comics: Now with 100% more Content!

This week i read: Asterios Polyp by David Mazzuccheli. and i have to say it was an incredible read. I went into it not very excited about the reading but after few pages the comic just grabbed me. The design style, character shapes, and visual language was incredible. I loved how the comic depicted the closeness of Asterios and Hanas relationship by the art style in which they both worked, and really how that connected to how they lived their lives. Asterios is depicted as a very technical drawing while Hana like her personality and personal art style is depicted in a much more artistic fashion. It was a masterful way to describe visually the gap forming in their relationship. it was used sparingly but every time it was used it instilled in me a sense of dread. i knew that they were eventually going to get a divorce and every time the divide, both emotionally and visually appeared i got anxious. I kept wondering if this was the moment where Asterios messes up and breaks the relationship? or will she forgive him? it woudl have been very easy to just say it in the dialogue and the emotions of the drawings themselves but the artist went a step further to REALLY drive that divide home.

I quickly found myself invested in the characters. While the main character kind of seemed a little off-putting for me, too stuffed shirt and a little pompous, he was still very likable and i was pulling for him throughout the duration of the story. I was so interested in Hana and Asterios's story that i quickly got bored with the sections where Asterios was with Stiff Major and his family. Those sections were still very charming and contained some great character moments and discussions. but i kept just wanting to get back to the love story. I'm kind of a sucker for a good love story. Through showing little tidbits of Hana and Asterios life i seemed to develop an overall felling that there was a real relationship there with an ebb and flow that felt tangible.

I dont want to give anything away but the ending for me was bitter sweet. Do yourself a favor and READ THIS COMIC. it was super good in every aspect of its execution. but back to the ending... i both loved and hated it. I love how everything wrapped up. but i really wish there was another way they could have told the ending with a bit more resolution or something more to hang onto. however with that said, it was pretty much the most perfect ending that could have gone with this comic. anything less would have been outside of its style, and how it was telling its story. But as you know i tend to want a more clean ending. something with some permanence (well i guess it was a "permenant ending", but i still wish it could have been a bit more "full of life") and what i got, while still loving it, a part of me wished i could have gotten just a bit different take, but i regret nothing, and i wouldnt change it.

in the end what i got out of this comic was a great reading experience, and it prompted me to look into myself and examine how i treat the people i love in my life. putting others first, making sure that the focus is not on me and that i should appreciated not only my love, but everyone around me. Do yourself a favor and READ THIS COMIC!

I give it 5/5 Stars!