Overcoming Triviality in Dishonored

This recent Kill Screen review of Dishonored earned its fair share of criticism, and rightly so - the review reads more like a rant than a well-reasoned criticism of the game, but I am no expert on the matter. I rarely review games, partially because I have a sneaking suspicion my comments are suddenly less compelling when numbers are attached. Instead, I prefer to explore ideas and their executions in more free-form and isolated situations, which is exactly what I want to do here.

The reason I mention the review at all is because the author specifically calls out Dishonored for its array of choices which, as he states, feel absolutely meaningless. As the article tag-line states, "Dishonored lets you do whatever you damn well please. Why?" Could it be that the glut of choices makes each of them trivial?

For awhile, I actually thought this was true. For those unaware, Dishonored is a stealth-action game, or rather, it is a stealth game and an action game - and a few other things as well. Corvo, the game's protagonist, can approach his assassination missions with a huge array of variability. He can use his Blink ability to teleport along the rooftop, out of sight from the watchful guards, or he can lurk in the shadowy sub-basements to reach his target, or he can leap into action and stab everything that moves, or summon rats, or possess fish, etc. etc. etc. It can all feel quite overwhelming.

Here is how I played the game for the first two hours: First I tried being stealthy, maintaining a height advantage over my enemies and sneaking up to guards. Then, time and again, I failed miserably. I would blink off the side of a building and land on top of a guard, or move out of the shadows and bump into a roaming NPC. In response, I would panic, kill anyone in the immediate vicinity, and then run back in the shadows. Frankly, it was boring and disheartening.

Then I learned how to play. Today I went through The Royal Physician campaign twice with two self-imposed conditions. In my first attempt, I would avoid touching the ground whenever possible. Functionally, the floor was lava. In my second attempt, I would kill...everyone (I know, I'm a terrible person). Both experiences were viable and incredibly entertaining, mostly because the I established the limitations myself and I was able to handle the job efficiently.

Play became an artful form of practice. The pathways left unexplored were intentionally abandoned. I felt more like an artist choosing her color palate rather than a tactician in battle. My perspective changed from when I first stepped into Dishonored. I abolished the sense of triviality in the face of so many options by measuring my ability, learning, and, most importantly, choosing to find meaning on my own terms. Sometimes you have to work for your enjoyment.

Transformation and Papo and Yo

My latest PopMatters article is now live: Transformation and Papo & Yo.

So I wrote about a very personal game in a somewhat personal way. For the most part, I tend not to talk about my own history of familial abuse. I am not shy about it by any means, it's not a big secret at all really. I have mentioned it on the podcast a few times in the past and I discuss it a little in the article without going into a whole lot of depth. I tend to avoid it for a couple of reasons.

First, I actually don't think it applies for the most part. It's not something I need to get off my chest, so I unless it is somehow applicable (and in this case it is), then it never comes up. Also, especially if it does not apply to the subject at hand, I doubt most people are all that interested in my personal history.

Second, my experience with child abuse no longer defines me. Or rather, I made a conscious long ago to be the arbiter of how my experiences growing up affect my well-being today. Dealing with a history of abuse is a process and each person's experience is different, but often times that process starts with a personal confrontation - an recognition and acceptance of one's experience.

I say in the article that Papo & Yo is about transformation, but equally - or even necessarily - it is also about confrontation. Quico's monster is every present and always returns to him, at times by coercion and at other times by cue. His connection to Quico is constant and physical. Even when he is not present, you are constantly aware he is around a corner. Time and again Quico must confront the monster out of necessity. This act is a powerful one and the familiarity with his destructive tendencies pushes and prods Quico to his own personal confrontation.

I want to stress here something I perhaps do not make clear enough in the article. Papo & Yo is not a perfect game by any means and I do genuinely agree with those who believe the game could be harder without sacrificing its themes. However, this game is about something, explicitly and completely. If you give it time to work its magic, it can be a transformative experience.

EXP Podcast #192: The Walking Dead Debrief, Episodes 1 and 2

Image from Telltale Games

We've caught the fever. You know: the one that starts with a mild cough and ends with you chewing the flesh off your friends and loved ones? That's right, we've been playing Telltale's excellent adventure series, The Walking Dead. This week, we devote a good chunk of time to the series' interesting design and mechanical choices before heading into spoiler country to discuss the details of episodes 1 and 2. Part of the fun of these games is hearing how other people dealt with many impossible decisions they present, so feel free to jump in with your thoughts in the comments.

To listen to the podcast:

- Subscribe to the EXP Podcast via iTunes here. Additionally, here is the stand-alone feed.
- Listen to the podcast in your browser by left-clicking here. Or, right-click and select "save as link" to download the show in MP3 format.
- Subscribe to this podcast and EXP's written content with the RSS link on the right.

Show notes:

- Runtime: 50 min 51 sec
- Music provided by Brad Sucks

Discovering the Chrono Trigger Anime Short

Image from Square Enix

A while back, I was cruising around the Internet, looking at Chrono Trigger stuff (surprising, I know), when I found something amazing: an official Chrono Trigger animated short, Dimensional Adventure Numa Monjar (which I've embedded below).

A quick jaunt over to Wikipedia confirmed that it was created back in 1996 and screened at a Japanese manga festival. It's great fan service for Chrono Trigger devotees: A Nu and Mamo (one of the kilwala enemies) are a Laurel & Hardy duo looking to make it big at the Millenial Fair. Unbeknownst to the humans, the game's monsters put on their own celebration the night before the fair opens. Pratfalls abound as old favorites like Gato (or "Gonzales," as he was called in Japan) and Johnny show up to celebrate.

In this age of tightly controlled corporate tie-ins and meticulously constructed expanded universes, it's rare to find spinoff content that hasn't been carefully packaged for consumption. In fact, the mid-1990s was probably the end of the era where you could be completely surprised by some kind of transmedia content. And now, thanks to the Internet, it's easy for fans to create and distribute their own tributes to huge audiences. None of this is a bad thing (especially the ease at which fans can spread their art), it just makes it less mysterious and surprising when you run across extracurricular material.

I still remember when I happened upon the Zelda manga in Nintendo Power. Suddenly, the bounds of a game I loved seemed bigger, it's legend (pardon the pun) richer. Similarly, the Chrono Trigger anime offers an alternative look at the characters and world I love. It expands on characters I know and love while keeping the same quirky sense of humor found in the game. It's fan service and that's ok; anyone who cares enough to watch is also the same kind of person that will get the weird visual jokes and cameos. It's a strange, charming little detour that expands the a beloved game's world.

Wondering what happens before Crono wakes up? Give it a watch:

Part 1 of 2:

Part 2 of 2:

'Sleep No More' and Storytelling in Games

Image from PopMatters

My latest PopMatters column was inspired by a podcast about a play. How's that for abstractions?

I'm a regular listener of the Freakonomics podcast. A recent episode dedicated to exploring the way our social environments dictate our behavior introduced me to an experimental theater project called Sleep No More. In this production, audience members are given masks and then asked to explore a multi-room warehouse in which actors play out various storylines. As you might expect, the combination of anonymity and unfamiliar circumstances causes people to act a little...weird.

Anyway, I couldn't help but feel a little irked while listening: the show is undoubtedly bold, but conceptually it's very similar to what video games do. Yet, despite all the references to interactive storytelling, presenting people with challenging rules, and allowing them to create a temporary avatar in a new environment, video games were never mentioned. Again, I know this probably had more to do with making sure the podcasts segments and run time remained snappy (it's something I struggle with every week!). Even so, I wanted to draw attention to the close relationship between theater and games.

Thanks to their visual spectacle, games are often compared to movies, but I've always argued that they are closer in spirit to theater. After all, every time you play a game you're taking part in a performance. Even the most tightly scripted games vary slightly from player to player and from session to session, just as staged performances do. Every time you pick up a controller to participate in some mixture of directorial and role-playing creation that has the potential for spontaneity. No two audience members will experience Sleep No More the same way, just as no two players will have exactly the same experience in Red Dead Redemption, or Geometry Wars, or The Walking Dead.

I'd definitely be interested in seeing Sleep No More if I had the chance. It sounds extremely ambitious and artfully executed. It's just that the concept of taking on another identity and piecing together a story by interacting with a strange environment doesn't strike me as that "far out." I've been doing the same thing in a digital form for years now.

EXP Podcast #191: Papo y Yo Debrief

Every now and then a game comes along that attempts to address a delicate and rare issue. Minority studio's debut title Papo y Yo does just that. The platforming-puzzle game of sorts is quite explicitly about a young boy and his alcoholic and abusive father. While the game might be "a bit on the nose" for some, it actually reveals quite a bit of narrative depth and artistry. Join us this week on the podcast as Scott and I discuss this indie gem. As always leave your comments below and check out the trailer for Papo y Yo below.



To listen to the podcast:

- Subscribe to the EXP Podcast via iTunes here. Additionally, here is the stand-alone feed.
- Listen to the podcast in your browser by left-clicking here. Or, right-click and select "save as link" to download the show in MP3 format.
- Subscribe to this podcast and EXP's written content with the RSS link on the right.

Show notes:

- Run time: 41 min 50 sec
- Music provided by Brad Sucks

League of Legends and "Honoring" Good Behavior

Since May of 2011, Riot Games, the developers of League of Legends, have sought to curtail hateful, vitriolic, antagonistic, and deliberately offensive behavior within their community with their Tribunal System. Like all online competitive gaming communities, the immensely popular "MOBA" game has been plagued by trolls, "AFKers", and your average "internet fuckwads". The Tribunal, a peer-adjudication system that allows users to review and punish their fellow players, was groundbreaking. I called it a step towards an "information revolution" and praise it for its use of "public shaming". Now Riot has instituted several changes, adapting once again the way developers and communities police behavior.

While the Tribunal system continues to act as the proverbial stick, Riot has added a carrot to their community management repertoire. The new Honor system is designed to encourage positive social interactions between players. The Tribunal is considered a success.  As of May 25, 2012, more than 47 million votes have been cast. About half of those who have been punished never face the Tribunal again. Still,  weeding out the worst players in a gaming community changes the communities behavior, their culture, very slowly. It does little to actually shape behavior for the better.

One would hope we would never have to teach players how to be kind to to their peers. Unfortunately, a macho and incredibly offensive set of behavioral norms is already entrenched in games culture as a whole, particularly within competitive games. We have come to the natural evolution of the "teabag". Those wishing to positively shape their community's culture cannot afford to take half measures.

Interestingly enough, the Honor system is actually less complex than the Tribunal. After any given match players can distribute honor to both their teammates and their competitors with a simply click of a button. Honor categories include "Helpful", those know willing to share knowledge and tips, "Friendly" to acknowledge those who foster a healthy match environment, "Teamwork" for those players who put in the extra effort to work as a team, and "Honorable Opponent" to those enemies who remain "humble in victory and graceful in defeat".

While Honor offers no in-game reward, at least not yet, it does appear along your persistent character, or summoner, profile. All the world can see how well you are appreciated by your fellow players. The Honor system acknowledges the social capital we already maintain. In a persistent environment, including digital ones, how others view your behavior matters. For some its just another number, but the hope is that honorable behavior will become its own reward. If the digital recognition of positive social behavior succeeds here, we may yet see such honor systems repeated elsewhere in online game spaces. It is an experiment a long time coming.

Oh, and I should not. Riot has considered "Honor trading" - the intentional distribution of honor between friends to artificially inflate the value. The system accounts for this by calculating total honor to include consistency across a large number of players. For those who violate the rule anyway? They face the stick.