tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3967694277763110629.post2853920343216030877..comments2024-03-28T02:36:05.166-07:00Comments on Experience Points: A Prince's StoryJorge Alborhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04857765716032886965noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3967694277763110629.post-73922396600224129332010-06-15T22:20:29.601-07:002010-06-15T22:20:29.601-07:00Hey Tesh,
Ahhh, I didn't notice at first and ...Hey Tesh,<br /><br />Ahhh, I didn't notice at first and now I can't un-see the creepiness...<br /><br />Yeah, I still don't know what to make of the bath scene, but I do love that they never explicitly address it. The game is unapologetic about being magical. It's so matter-of-fact about how it uses fantasy which I think serves to justify it more strongly than any explicit explanation.<br /><br />Hey Grayson,<br /><br />Thanks for stopping by! <br /><br />Your point beautifully illustrates why I would get frustrated with games as a kid: I looked at "Game Over" as more of a personal failure. For some reason, I had it in my head that the "real" version of the game was one where I completed the story in an unbroken way. Every time I died, I would rationalize it just as the Prince does: "Wait, that didn't really happen...here's the real version where I don't get stomped by Bowser!"<br /><br />Regardless, I totally agree about time travel: it's an elegant way to integrate one of the core mechanical tenants of the medium into a traditional story.Scott Justerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11775296635863850847noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3967694277763110629.post-59818162376442374602010-06-14T09:39:23.282-07:002010-06-14T09:39:23.282-07:00"By narrating the game, the Prince is confirm..."By narrating the game, the Prince is confirming what we already know: the Prince will get through adventure and we are to enact this forgone conclusion. The tension comes from the physical challenge of reaching the end, rather than the possibility of that end not existing. "<br /><br />I think this is an interesting statement because, traditionally, "game over" actually did mean the end of the story. When Mario runs out of lives in SMB1, that's it. Mario *failed.* A direct interpretation of "Game Over" means literally that: the game is over. <br /><br />When you start over, you're starting a brand new "story." In other words, the conclusion of Mario's story is not foregone at all.<br /><br />Dastan's self-aware "that's not what really happened" narration is, as you say, a good way of rationalizing the fact that that conclusion is foregone. But, on another level, it's not just rationalization but reconciliation between old and new design ideas, between "game over" versus "respawn at checkpoint." I've wrote about this before, but I do think that time travel mechanics in games serve a really helpful purpose in that they give designers a way to tackle a lot of "game-isms" that are very hard to reconcile narratively.Grayson Davishttp://www.beepandboops.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3967694277763110629.post-81799910699784957532010-06-14T08:52:55.778-07:002010-06-14T08:52:55.778-07:00Farah looks downright creepy in that still from th...Farah looks downright creepy in that still from the bath clip. Also, it may just be my faulty memory, but I thought it was at least implied that the bath scene was the vizier messing with the Prince's head. Farah didn't seem to share the memory of the incident, and the final confrontation was looming.<br /><br />Great article, by the way. Sands of Time is one of my favorite games, and I'm still... leery... of the movie. I can't help but think it won't do the game narrative or mechanics justice. Games and film are genuinely different mediums, and they just don't translate all that well from one to the other.Teshhttp://tishtoshtesh.wordpress.comnoreply@blogger.com