Video Game Reviews
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Assassin’s Creed II’s central narrative is ambitious in nature, chronicling multiple decades of the player character Ezio Auditore’s existence, a profound character and a singularly likable one – Ezio anchors the narrative, and even as it periodically loses its way, he is always present to instigate redirection, a return to profoundness and emotional and cerebral
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Lake’s central narrative is unquestionably its finest achievement – profoundness abounds; intense emotions are frequently and fiercely stimulated, positive and negative both. Much of this swelling success is attributable to the consistent heart and sincerity often on display, a defining characteristic, though another source of narrative success stems from the narrative’s overall originality, the developers’
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Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor’s core narrative is severely fragmented – multiple disparate narrative threads are explored in turn, though ultimately those explorations are fruitless; the game absolutely overreaches. Narrative missteps are foundationally frustrating and upsetting. But narrative missteps which arise from immense ambitions are far more frustrating and upsetting. And so it is here,
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Assassin’s Creed is defined by its rigidness, firmly adhering always to structure – the narrative especially is formulaic, is mostly unambitious and unengaging in nature, characterized by failure. One major failing – a further display of ambition’s absence – is observable within the secondary characters; or rather their lack. Save for the player character Altair,
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Kona’s world-building is a major triumph, a major source of creativity – the decision to situate the narrative in frigid, isolated northern Quebec was bold indeed, and ultimately all the potentialities inherent to that location are seized upon and exploited to maximum effect. Here, snows and snowy wastes predominate, as do fierce winds, sharply reduced
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Jade Empire’s central narrative is a profound specimen, alternating between innovativeness and derivativeness. Many failings – the greatest displays of genericness – are intimately wrapped up within the player character. In the narrative’s very opening, the player is provided the opportunity to select a character class and a character model – the developers apparently nurtured
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Deadly Premonition’s central narrative is a masterful achievement, dwelling upon impossibly bleak subject matter – in this precise instance, serial murder; the butcheries exercised on the various victims are displayed and discussed boldly; the game is unflinchingly mature. Many games are bleak – darkness is common. But with Deadly Premonition, darkness is uniquely tempered by
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As experience, Pokémon Y – and by extension Pokémon X – fiercely and desperately clings to the long-established series formula, relying upon longstanding tropes and design philosophies; in many ways, originality is minimized. This total adherence to convention only results in an overall safe construction, as if the developers were afraid of novelty – very
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Prototype’s central narrative is a dull and unimaginative construction, merely serving as framework for the gameplay, which is prioritized to the last. Not all narratives need be brimming with imagination and creativity – many games can excel even with flawed narratives. But the narrative tarnishment present here is especially painful owing to the swelling narrative
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Coffee Talk’s central narrative is a mature and engaging construction, being highly character-driven. And the cast of characters is large, the characters themselves diverse, each featuring distinct aesthetics and distinct feelings – fear, bitterness, frustration and the like. Unravelling these characters’ depths ultimately becomes the driving narrative motivation; the player is largely tasked with establishing
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Narrative sees dramatic and total emphasis within Call of Cthulhu, prioritized at the expense of gameplay. Forutnately, the narrative is a compelling one, adopting a sharp investigative tone, logical when considering the player character, his profession – Edward Pierce is a private detective circulating in 1924 Boston society. This circulation does not instantly translate to
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Amnesia: The Bunker’s central narrative is unintrusive, developed in a mostly unconventional fashion – discoverable documents dispersed throughout the game world, though environmental storytelling also has a prominent presence; formal cutscenes and protracted exposition sequences are absent, with roughly one in five of the documents featuring voice acting, which is mostly executed excellently, while the
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Far Cry New Dawn’s central narrative is a mostly grounded and human affair, revolving around the struggles of Hope County, Montana’s various citizens in the wake of the catastrophic occurrence which terminated Far Cry 5’s narrative. Some years have passed – the world is changed, though oppressors persist, in this instance a pair of corrupt
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Amnesia Rebirth’s narrative is a nonsensical, muddled mess, rarely engaging, excessively abstract, poorly and lazily presented – after an immensely promising start, there is a rapid and constant descent into dull incoherence – very few are the positive attributes. The existence of this promising opening, meanwhile, only makes more frustrating that painful descent. Regarding this
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Trine’s central narrative is abounding in charm and whimsicality, though suffering from a relative dearth of originality – foundationally, it is simplistic, firmly adhering to the tropes of the fantasy genre, being a “fairy tale” of sorts. But life and humor are injected throughout, the narrative unfolding (predictably?) within a fallen kingdom, once renowned for
Games With Grey 