Some Incoherent Thoughts about Open Worlds (and Skyrim)

Note: This is a sister piece to a short rant on Lightning Returns that I will be posting on Pop Trends.

I still remember the first time I played a well crafted open world game. It was The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind (PC). I created my character, followed the soldier up the stairs and into the office to get documents stamped by the Imperial authorities. They sent me on a mission to deliver something – I can’t recall what – to a city called Balmora. Once I completed my mission, I was free. That’s what the NPC said. It was something along the lines of “you can now do whatever you want”. And so, I did.

On Beyond: Two Souls

It seems like people don’t very much like Beyond: Two Souls. With a Metacritic average score of 70 points, negative comments about the game abound, even on positive reviews. Over at Game Trailers, Ryan Stevens writes that the game makes players feel inconsequential. Over at IGN,  Lucy O’Brien writes that ““playing” it a very confusing and unrewarding experience”, while Ludwing Kietzmann over at Joystiq writes that the scenes aren’t tied to one another, that there is no chemistry between the actors, and that the writing is goofy. Ben Croshaw’s Zero Punctuation review was specially harsh. Certainly, the game review community largely agrees that Beyond: Two Souls is a “bad game”, with some even arguing whether it’s a game at all. Although some like James Wright over at Impulse Gamer write that it’s one of the more memorable gaming experiences to date, the consensus is that it’s bad. However, I am not only inclined to agree with critics like James Wright in that, yes, Beyond: Two Souls is one of the most memorable experiences in gaming, but I would also argue that games like Beyond: Two Souls (along with the other Quantic Dreams games and Spec Ops: The Line) and are spearheading a new era of videogame narrative which shows a grown up side to this form of media.

Gaming Period Pieces

Videogames have been the source of much debate. From one of the greatest film critics saying that videogames cannot be art (rest in peace, Ebert) to one of the most prominent videogame scholars saying that videogame analysis should focuson ludic elements to a top videogame scholar creating a reductive taxonomyauthoritatively stating what is and is not a game (a taxonomy that, curiously, supports his claims that videogames are not about story, and you can thank Jesper Juul for this one), people have seen videogames as a mechanics-only form of media that is somehow less than otherforms of art. Of course, not everyone agrees with this. People ranging from scholars attempting to establish a videogame canon to museums creatingvideogame exhibits to scholars exploring the narrative potential of videogameshave also explored the non-ludic aspects of gaming. One such aspect that has largely been left unexplored is whether games can incorporate literary or artistic traditions into their design. For this piece, I will hastily attempt to answer the question of whether videogames can be period pieces.