Ludonarrative Whatnow?

Lately, I've been hearing a lot about this Ludonarrative Dissonance business, and it got me thinking. Ludonarrative Dissonance means that a game's narrative conflicts with the gameplay. That's a strange concept, but it happens more often than not in video games.

I first heard about this concept shortly after the release of Bioshock: Infinite. There was a bit of an uproar over the amount of excessive and grotesque violence within the game. It did seem out of place, for a Bioshock game. The violence was a bit over the top, with people's heads exploding, decapitation, and just some straight up gruesome visuals. The first Bioshock games were violent, as they both received an M rating, however, they were never this violent. However, upon reflection, the level of violence that Bioshock: Infinite did have its place, but only to a certain extent. In the game, players take control of a man named Booker DeWitt. Booker, is a Private Eye, and also a bit of a thug; he's sent off to the city above the clouds where everything is pristine and rather peaceful, until Booker shows up. When the action starts, it explodes with a tidal wave of blood and violence, and given the circumstances, Booker didn't have much of a choice. So, Ludonarrative Dissonance remained a mystery to me as to what it really meant.



A little while later, I saw another video discussing, or rather rhyming, about the concept of Ludonarrative Dissonance. This video, or at least the first half, really does properly illustrate the definition of Ludonarrative Dissonance in a way that common folk like myself can understand.

The Escapist : Jim & Yahtzee's Rhymedown Spectacular : Whine Out Of Ten

This happens a lot more in video games than it should. I think what it comes down to is how the player decides to play the game, and the options that the game gives to its player. If the player has access to a lot of things that, they most likely shouldn't early in the game, this tends to conflict with the narrative of the game. However, this doesn't happen with just sandbox games like Grand Theft Auto.



Final Fantasy XIII for example has a character named Hope. Hope is an interesting character, in that he is a coward. He never want to fight, and goes into the fetal position whenever confronted with any sort of conflict. Yet, when we are first introduced to the character, he whines, complains, cries, whines, and kicks ass. What? Wasn't he just crying in a corner two seconds ago, being scared of the monsters? Battles, and fighting are core components of Final Fantasy games, along with any other kind of RPG. This is an example of Ludonarrative Dissonance. The gameplay, where the character stands and fights, conflicts with the narrative, where the same character preaches nonviolence and literally cries at the precipice of every battle.

This reminds me of  another character from an old anime called Gundam Wing.  Quatre Raberba Winner, is exactly like the aforementioned Hope. Quatre is a pacifist, but he's not a very good one. He pilots his Gundam Sandrock, who wields two sickles that are unbreakable and can slice through pretty much anything. The whole concept of this character is out of wack. He's a pacifist, who is specially trained to pilot a custom made giant robot that was designed to fight and kill. Just like Hope, he doesn't want to fight, and he prolongs the inevitable as long as possible with talks of peace before he ends up killing everyone in his giant robot.



Pacifism.

I loved that show, but looking back on it, it has some weird stuff about it.

So, I suppose that Ludonarrative Dissonance exists in media other than video games, and while it doesn't necessarily break a game, it does break immersion.

What are your thoughts? What video games, or other media has some kind of ludonarritve dissonance? Tell me your thoughts in the comments

Bleep Bloop

What is the deal with games only having orchestral scores?

Apologies for the Seinfeldesque intro, but I kind of miss the electronic bleeps and bloops of the 8 and 16-bit eras of video games. The sounds that those consoles produced had a certain charm to them. Video games have a way of creating ridiculous situations that are impossible to the physical realm of reality. I think that some games should bring that old funny sounding electronic soundtrack back.

Video games have the capacity to tell a story, or express an emotion, in a way that no other medium can attain. That's all well and good, but games can be fun and silly as well. I've been watching a lot of Let's Play videos on the Youtube. Those Let's Players play a lot of old school video games from the NES and SNES. There's a definite feel to those games that modern games, for whatever reason, try to put behind them. It's true, that as art, a medium should evolve with the time, but what's wrong with a little bit of nostalgia?

A lot of Indie games these days go back to that style of art and sound, as well as difficulty. Indie games are where it's at when it comes to finding something new and inventive, and just plain creative, but that's for a different post. Indie game developers create their games to look and feel like the games of yesterday because that's what they grew up with, and so did we. Part of that experience was the graphical and audio limitations.

While there's nothing wrong with grandiose orchestral scores that sweep me off my feet, there's nothing wrong with a few bleeps and bloops that send me back to my childhood.

All the Virtual World's a Stage...

A while ago I read this article (WARNING! SPOILERS IN THE ARTICLE!!!). It's about a critics reasoning behind the score that she gave to The Last of Us. In the article, she discusses the topic of choice, and how it was taken away from her in that moment. Though, I think that she's wrong to complain about that.

Characters in video games are just that: characters. They have motives, thoughts, feelings, and actions that they perform based on their CHARACTER. The way that this reviewer tried to act in that last scene, contradicted the character of Joel. Joel is not a good person. He kills anyone, or anything that stands in his way. Kind of a Joseph Stalin approach to life. In that last scene, player has to fight through a battalion of soldiers before they can make it to Ellie. The game really doesn't make stealth or pacifism an option here, as there are just too many guards. After making your way through all of them, not stopping until every single one is dead, you finally end up in the OR where Ellie is sedated lying on the operating table. One of the surgeons grabs a scalpel in an act of defense to stop Joel from taking Ellie, the hope for all mankind. This reviewer tried to go around it, while I on the other hand, straight up shot the guy like Indiana Jones in The Raiders of The Lost Ark. After all of the things that Joel had done up until that point, do you think that he would just walk on by someone who was a threat, and who stood in his way?

I feel like to try and do something that is out of character in a video game kind of breaks the immersion of the game. I like to play in a different way than most others. I used to be in theater, and let me tell you, being on stage is the most euphoric experience that you ever will have. To me, video games with story and character are kind of similar to a play. The writers of the game put so much into the game to create this world and the characters that inhabit it. I feel it kind of insults the writers when players roll around and screw with the world during what is supposed to be a dramatic, or story moment.

That's just my thoughts on it. Perhaps I'm overreacting, but I feel like when one of the characters is trying to talk to the player, and the player is trying to see if they can glitch to an area where they're not supposed to be, it kind of  breaks the moment. How do you feel about this?

Violence as a Tool

Video games are violent. More often than not, we see video games get called out by the media for being just that. Violent. Though, no one really seems to take the context of the violence into consideration when discussing this issue.

Please note that I do not condone violence, this post is to explore how game developers use violence as a story telling, rather than just a gameplay mechanic.

Hotline Miami

Hotline Miami is an independent game that come from Dennation games. The game is fast, frantic, and absolutely brutal. The game is in a 16 bit graphical style, which leaves the details of the deaths up to your imagination. There's lots of blood and violence to be had here, but what's the point? Hotline Miami takes that into consideration. You take control of a nameless, faceless man who receives anonymous messages on his phone's answering machines that leave addresses for him to go to and straight up murder everyone inside the building.The game plays up the whole "glorification of violence" even more with the scoring system. Players are rewarded for being, brutally efficient. The more effective the player is, and how quickly they do it nabs them a high score. This is what makes the game fun: its pacing. The game moves so quickly that death doesn't phase the player, but makes them retry over and over again, employing different tactics to beat the level. If the player fails, it's their fault, and not the game. But, why? Why do this? What is the point? Who are these people? Are they bad? Are they good? Who am I? How does my character play into any of this? Hotline Miami takes these questions and runs with them at a hundred miles per hour. Then at the end of each level, the game forces players to walk all the way through the level, past the corpses they've made, back to their car. The quiet of the each level, after the murder and the killer soundtrack, provides an opportunity to reflect upon just what they had done.

Spec Ops: The Line




At first glance, Spec Ops: The Line is an average, ordinary, 3rd person action shooter game with cover and squad based gameplay. The game follows a team of soldiers that are sent to Dubai to save the day and escort all of the civilians and refugees out of the city to safety and get any remaining US soldiers out as well. However, the whole thing gets turned on its head when everyone in the city has going crazy. Nobody is willing to reason, so the situation comes down to shoot first and ask questions later. In the end, the soldiers that were sent to save the city, end up doing more harm than good. Killing thousands of soldiers and refugees alike. The game puts players through some pretty traumatic stuff. Spec Ops uses brutality to cement the evils of violence and why no good comes of war and fighting. The gameplay of Spec Ops the line satirizes the industry and its constant pumping out of violent video games. Every headshot that the player lands is emphasized with a moment of slow down to hold it right up to the players nose. The game made me feel like a terrible person after all of the things that the game had me do. The game does provide the opportunities for "moral choice" but they all end badly. I still highly recommend this game, and that you do the same and recommend it to everyone you know.

The Last of Us



The Last of Us is definitely one of my favorite games of 2013. The game follows the two characters Joel and Ellie as they try and survive in the mad world that they live in. In the year 2013, humanity was wracked by the cordyceps fungus, which is normally found in species of insects that have become over populated. The Last of Us has a distinct way in which it uses violence. Every fight is a fight for survival, and Joel and Ellie have to survive. Both of them use whatever means necessary to ensure that they are able to make it to tomorrow. Supplies are scarce and players have to be more resourceful to ensure that they make it to the other side. Vicious blows to the head with blunt objects and gunshots that tear through flesh fill the screen. Each encounter with other survivors is tense and dramatic. The Last of Us does a good job to give a sense that the people that you are killing are just trying to survive as well. They make sure that their group stays alive and that they make it to tomorrow. This equality between the two parties gives a sorrow to taking them out. You kind of feel bad for them, but then you quickly move on when you realize that it was either him or you, or that you've been spotted by his friend. Every hit, every shot, every action is made with the intent to kill. Joel is a bitter, violent person, who doesn't hold back when it comes to dealing with the enemy. Contrast to him, is Ellie, who is an optimistic light in the darkness. I tried playing to where she wouldn't see as much of the violence, to protect her, but it was all for not. Ellie evolves into a survivor of this world. It has changed her, and how she acts. When the game gives players control of Ellie, it becomes crystal clear the effects of being around Joel, and the terrible violence.

Violence is often looked at as a gameplay mechanic, and approached casually. Yet, it's a big thing to take another persons life. The terrible ways that people die in these games are truly horrific, and cringe worthy. The difference between these games and others is that they have context that evoke emotion and remorse for pulling the trigger. Violence is not a good thing. It's never the right thing to do. If anything, it should be used as a last resort. Too often games use violence willy nilly, and make a farce of the gravitas of the act of killing.

What time is it?

I'm really not a fan of where I currently stand in life. I have a crummy job, making crummy wages, and I'm not really going anywhere. After a talk with my brother; he gave me quite a different, and inspiring point of view. He told me that this was actually a positive thing, as I have no ties. This is true, I really don't have anything tying me down here, besides the lease on my apartment, but, that's going to go up early next year. The end goal for me is to become a video game journalist. Whether that be for Kotaku, Revision3 games, Game Informer, Giant Bomb, or any other site that I admire. I just have to become a video game journalist. No better time than the present as they say.



I'm not saying that I'll be moving out to Los Angeles, San Fansisco or anywhere like that as soon as my lease goes up next year, but on the other hand... what's holding me back? Money, well that's one thing, but is it really enough, or something that is worth putting in my way just because I don't want to go into debt? But I feel like Bilbo Baggins. WOAH! LITERARY REFERENCE!

It's true, though. I live comfortably in my hobbit hole and make comments about my neighbors behind their back because I've got it so good, and I am much more civilized than they are. Though, this is not the life for me. I need that call to adventure. I need a kindly old wizard to cross my doorstep and take me on the adventure of my lifetime.

Being my mind the one that it is, and working the way that it does. My mind went straight to video games.

I feel like most adventure type of games don't exactly establish this call to action and adventure. Generally it's already been established that you're, the main character of the game, is already well established as some kind of adventurer/ some kind of badass. I never get that feel of normalcy. Generally, players are thrown into the thick of it right from the get go. Except for one game in particular.....

That's right Zelda. The Legend of Zelda is very close to my heart, so there is a great deal of bias, however I also haven't really played that many other adventure or RPG games that I could really get into. Generally a LoZ game starts off with Link just living life. It's nothing interesting, but it's comfortable. Life is good. He's got a roof over his head. Sometimes, he even has a job that keeps him busy and out of trouble. Then suddenly, there is that call for action. That one thing that seems to come out of nowhere, that upsets the balance and the state of normalcy.

If this is all sounding familiar, it's because it's the tried and true method of the heros journey tale.



Did you watch it? Good.

The Hero with a Thousand faces is the basic breakdown of the heros tale that we all know and love. Link is the quintessential hero of video games, and of heroism. He's not the only one. Sora of Kingdom Hearts, The Kid From Bastion, Alexandra Rovias of Eternal Darkness, Jade of Beyond Good and Evil and many more. Though, these games don't establish that sense of comfort that the hero is ripped from by the call to adventure.

That contrast between the state of normalcy, and the grand epicness of adventure is what can really drive home the sense of adventure. I'm reminded of Red Dead Redemption; where, towards the end of the game, John Marston has completed his mission that was beset upon him by the government and was given his state of normalcy back to him. This moment in the game is beautiful. John Marston, throughout the game had always talked of his family and his ranch that he wanted to get back to after he was done. True to their word, the government gave John back his family and his land, just as he wanted, so that he can get back to what was normal. I didn't mind playing through this part of the game. It was kind of relaxing to have all of this nonviolence. I was happy to see John and his wife reunited and to see the way that he looked at her even though she was yelling at him to get some menial task or another done. I enjoyed the state of normalcy.

This contrast can be used quite effectively, if used properly. It's not a bad thing to be thrown into the middle of things, but it certainly makes clear what it is exactly that you're fighting for when you go on your adventure.

P.S.

I know that normalcy is not what the beginning of this post was about, but my life isn't being overrun by monsters or general evilness, that I need to fight for it. I need to fight for change so that I can make my state of normalcy something worth fighting for.

Games need to be quotable.

He doesn't like you.

I'm sorry

I don't like you either. You best watch yourself! I have the death sentence on twelve different systems!

I'll be careful.

You'll be dead!


Quotes are what movies memorable. Some quotes are so memorable that some interactions with our friends are just quotes from movies.I think that video games are getting to the point where they have the potential to be as quotable as movies.

There are quotes from video games that are pretty popular, but they're all one-liners and exist in a popular fashion that is congruent with internet memes. They aren't that clever, or as fun to quote. They're just kind of there, and they're kind of ridiculous. They're more punchlines than interactions between the characters.

All your base are belong to us.

I've got balls of steel.

Though, some games have fantastic dialogue. Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, The Mass Effect Series, Borderlands 2, and Red Dead Redemption are games that are well written, have clever dialogue, amazing characters, and great interaction between said characters. Uncharted 2 is my favorite game to quote. It's because the characters interact in a way that is unlike any other game that I've seen come before it. The characters are so well voice acted and captured that they transcend the video game and become human. They may exist in crazy-impossible situations, but retain their human element that make them great characters. Uncharted 2 has great characters that play off each other, and the thing is, a couple of the characters are female. The thing with female characters, is that writers need to write them as humans, and not from their perspective of women, but that's a post for another time.

Mass Effect has some really well written dialogue, though it's all kind of hit or miss. There wasn't any particular line that I remember exactly. I remember the dialogue painting the picture of the characters and their history and cultures, but there wasn't any kind of exchange that I just, remember.

Have you ever gone to a movie and remembered some really awesome line, or scene that was just the dialogue or the clever quips that were said during some scene? In The Avengers movie there was a quick dialogue between Black Widow and Hawkeye,

"Just like Budapest!" said Black Widow as she squeezes off a few rounds from her pistol.

"You and I remember Budapest very differently" as Hawkeye lets loose another arrow into the face of a Chitari warrior.

There's a lot going on in this scene. Part of it is Joss Whedon and his ability to create characters that leave a lasting impression and bring with them their presence and color wherever they go. Another thing is that when watching movies we tend to think about the things that are said and the things that we see. Whereas with video games, we focus on the gameplay.

Video games are not famous for their writing and dialogue. Games are known for how they play. If a game plays well, it's good. Likewise, if a movie is well written it succeeds as the box office. That may not always be the case, but movies that are well written tend to get a good amount of recognition.

I feel that games need to be more quotable because it would make it more easy to talk about. Whenever I hear two gamers discussing video games, it's always critical. They analyze every aspect of the game, including the writing and characters. There's no real discussion, or geeking out, about the characters of the story. It's all about the game, how it plays, the enemy AI, the bossfights, the quality of this or that. If there is any discussion about what the player experienced, it's always an awkward, clunky, description of playstyle and stats. "I love Bioshock! That game is so great! I remember this one time when I was playing: I shocked a bad guy with the electric plasmid so I could stun him, Then I lined up my crosshairs and pulled off a sweet headshot." Why was he attacking the bad guy? Why was the bad guy attacking him? What's going on in Bioshock? Where does it take place? Who are the characters? What are their motivations? What's the point?

"I love Star Wars! It's a fantastic movie about an average kid who finds his destiny as a Jedi. Jedi are like space knights! Did I mention that this movie takes place in outer space? Well, it totally does, and it's awesome! There's this huge empire that's trying to take over the galaxy, but there's the rebels who are fighting back because the empire is really bad. The Jedi were wiped out by the empire, and they're trying to regain their foothold in the galaxy and restore peace because that's what they do. Luke is the main character, and joins up with the rebels to fight the empire and rescue the princess who's been captured by the empire and holds some major important information about the Death Star, a huge space station that's the size of a moon!"

There's so much more enthusiasm about movies, books, or even television shows than there are with video games. So, maybe it's not that video games need to be more quotable, so much as they need to be better written, and we as gamers just need to be more enthusiastic about the games we play rather than be so analytical. Video games are an art, and we can totally geek out about them if we want to. It's ok. Not everyone has to be a critic.

TOP 5 LICENSED VIDEO GAME SOUNDTRACKS!

I play a lot of video games. I mean a lot. They're kind of my only window to the outside world and what the goings on are with things other than video games. In fact, a lot of the music that I listen to I heard from one video game or another. So, without further ado, here is my list of my TOP 5 LICENSED VIDEO GAME SOUNDTRACKS!

In case you didn't get that from the title.

Rules: No music games. So nothing like Amplitude, Rockband, etc. Also, the soundtracks of the game are entirely licensed songs, not just a few songs like the Red Dead Redemption soundtrack, which I love so much.

5. Burnout 3

Among the symphony of crashing cars and twisting metal, there is a fantastically high paced and high quality soundtrack to play among the carnage. Featuring top hits of the day such as "I'm not OK" by My Chemical Romance, "This Fire" by Franz Ferdinand, "My Favorite Accident" by Motion City Soundtrack, and many others. This is a great soundtrack that compliments the energy and speed of the game. Though, to be honest, it doesn't really seem to fit while listening to it in my car while I'm obeying traffic laws...



4. Project Gotham Racing 2

It's really good when your soundtrack includes variety, even more so when said variety is from multiple countries. PGR2 has an amazingly wide selection of music to choose from, and you can completely customize it by creating your own mixtape. There is so much different music to choose from, it's a marathon to get through it all. Tracks including, but not limited to "Fight Test" by The Flaming Lips, "Automatic" by The Androids, "Tango Shoes" by Bif Naked, "Maschine" by Unheilig and so, so many more.



3. Need for Speed: Underground

Ok, so I play a lot of racing games. I guess I have that need for speed. Say, speaking of which.... Need for Speed has a really great soundtrack for a game that was the first of its kind. What with all the customization and the tuning of the cars. The release of NFS Underground coincided with the release of the movie The Fast and the Furious, a movie all about illegal street racing, over the top modifications of cars, and lots of homoerotic undertones, bro. The soundtrack to NFS Underground had a solid mix of rock, electronic, hip-hop, and Little Jon and the East Side Boys. Each time that you start up NFS Underground the song "Get Low" by Little Jon and his East Side Boys will play every time, so that you get that a cappella "badumdumdum..."



2. SSX 3

This is one of the greatest licensed soundtracks of all time. Seriously. The music in this game fits so perfectly with the insane stunts and the eccentric characters of this game, they couldn't have done a better job. Even the radio's DJ Atomika gets in on the action and brings his own slice of personality to the table. SSX 3 is filled with so much character and personality that it's only fitting that the soundtrack do the same.



1. FIFA 13

A sports game? Yes. A sports game. EA Sports games have surprisingly good soundtracks. You'd think that having music that plays only during the menu screens would defeat the purpose, but it just works so well for FIFA 13. Reason being, is that the amazing soundtrack plays during the incredibly addicting and helpful training games and during the waiting periods in between games in the tournament and career screens. This incredible soundtrack includes "Searching" by Matisyahu, "Top of The World" by Imagine Dragons, "Club Foot" by Kasabian, and so many great other great songs. Sometimes, I don't even play the game, I just turn the TV up really loud and let the music play while I do other things around the house.