The most lasting monument that will be built to honor me is likely to be a simple gravestone with my name and dates of birth and death etched into it. A tombstone is an enduring memorial, but it's also an impersonal one. It's difficult to express the wonder and the turmoil of a single human life with a single slab of granite and a bouquet of flowers resting at its base.
9.03m seeks--but ultimately fails--to honor memories in a way a simple monument cannot. It is an interactive memorial for the precious souls lost in 2011 when a powerful tsunami devastated Japan's eastern coast. It does not depict the lives of known victims, nor does it present a solemn list of names on which to pontificate. Instead, it leads you across a tranquil beach in first-person perspective, where glowing markers lead you to dark silhouettes that represent lives cut short. As you approach, the shadowy figures dissipate, replaced with precious items that embody the joy, the youth, and the love that were washed away in the destructive deluge. The first figure: a young boy who vanishes, and is then substituted with a soccer ball, which in turn erupts in a flash of luminous particles, leaving a butterfly that flutters ahead, guiding you to the next shadow.
This 10-minute journey uses emotionally manipulative audiovisuals to make its impact. The sky, the sand, the ocean, and even the sun are infused with an indigo hue, initially lulling you into a serene melancholy underscored by the hushed roar of waves lapping at the shore. A maudlin piano soundtrack creates momentary dissonance with suspended chords, then gives way to relaxed thirds--a simple, proven method of inviting quiet contemplation. Each cherished object you examine (a music box, an engagement ring, and so forth) brings to mind an individual who will never dream again, yet each butterfly seems to emblematize the victim's soul, the game implying in its cliched conclusion that the spirits of the lost live on.
You might call 9.03m a form of interactive poetry, though its final message is more "Hallmark card" than "heartfelt eulogy." It is undoubtedly committed to its manipulation; the gentle camera movements, glittering waves, and hazy visuals want to comfort you, to embrace you. And in some sense, 9.03 works, in the way a Thomas Kinkaide painting works, or a Stephenie Meyer novel works. It has a shallow allure that allows you to use words like "pretty" and "pleasant" to describe it. But the game's laudable sentiment is an empty facsimile of grief and hope, rather than an honest expression of those emotions. Just as a tombstone is too dry and solemn to properly commemorate the tumult of a human life, 9.03m is too hollow to be a respectful tribute, and never uses player interaction in any meaningful way.
9.03m thus has no more to offer than would a pretty landscape drawing dedicated to the tragedy's victims. It's hard to fault the developer's intentions, and I appreciate the game's tranquil color palette and its pensive atmosphere. In a different context, 9.03m might have been a lovely trifle--but the lives snuffed out in 2011, and the survivors that mourn them, deserve more than just a trifle.
Thomas from DarkZero writes - "Republique tries to accomplish many things, but mostly sets its mind on simplifying stealth controls to work on a touch device. It executes that task with great aplomb, but not without some problems. For me, most of these problems arose from my want to interact with the game more than I should. For my first 30 minutes or so, I wanted to do more with Hope than the game allows. I quickly learned that in terms of gameplay Republique is not built that way. It is instead a much more slow paced, methodical experience. The game lets you pause the action too make decisions after all, so I should have expected this, Once you wrap your head around that, there is fun to be had."
AWESOMEoutof10's Adam DeMarco's been hearing voices all year long. Luckily, they've been truly captivating and mostly all from video games. "This year featured some of the finest voice-work I have ever come across, and I found it to be incredibly effective in creating memorable and engaging experiences. Courtnee Drapers work giving voice to Infinites Elizabeth was superb, as was Ashley Johnsons acting as teenage survivor Ellie in The Last of Us. Right alongside of each of them was the ubiquitous Troy Baker, who made quite the name for himself this year as well. Another incredibly good, but criminally under-appreciated performance this year was that of Danny Wallace as the narrator in Thomas Was Alone."
Check out the video and remind yourself of the huge games the IGC has had this year including Sleeping Dogs, Need for Speed Most Wanted, Thomas Was Alone, Zero Escape: Virtues Last Reward and Far Cry 3, to name but a few.
Pretentious Game is a puzzle-platformer about different strands of a broken relationship further damaged by tragedy.
It plays a little like Thomas Was Alone but coupled with a rough-edged charm - there's no Danny Wallace here to provide narration, no high-def graphics, no lighting effects.
Instead there's a clearly defined story artfully told through abstract means - not unlike Braid, I supp...
Pretentious Game is a puzzle-platformer about different strands of a broken relationship further damaged by tragedy.
It plays a little like Thomas Was Alone but coupled with a rough-edged charm - there's no Danny Wallace here to provide narration, no high-def graphics, no lighting effects.
Instead there's a clearly defined story artfully told through abstract means - not unlike Braid, I supp...
Pretentious Game is a puzzle-platformer about different strands of a broken relationship further damaged by tragedy.
It plays a little like Thomas Was Alone but coupled with a rough-edged charm - there's no Danny Wallace here to provide narration, no high-def graphics, no lighting effects.
Instead there's a clearly defined story artfully told through abstract means - not unlike Braid, I supp...
