And now some games

[alias_sqbr]

RealMyst: same basic game as the original Myst, but with the 3D models rendered in real time instead of a slideshow, as well as a few animals and night/day cycle. It's a great classic puzzle game, and I am enjoying the added immersion of walking around, even if the models are showing their age. Be warned: the save feature is very unintuitive, make sure you drag the image of your screen onto the relevant save file, when the game says it is saving automatically is is LYING.

Broken Age: a really pretty point and click adventure game from the creator of Monkey Island. So far I'm finding it funny and endearing and not too tricky, though there's some weird gender subtext. It splits into two stories you can (so far) flip between at will, one about a plucky young brown girl who isn't so sure about the Destiny her village has in mind for her, the other about a dispirited white boy who lives a so far dull life on a spaceship. The boy's mum/computer is voiced by Jennifer Hale aka the protagonist of Mass Effect which is surreal(*). EDIT: I just finished Act 1 and THERE IS NO ACT 2 YET D: Stayed good but I want to know how it ends!

Child of Light demo: very pretty! Haven't explored it much since I haven't been in the mood but I hear good things.

Mass Effect: Yes, again. Gosh I love this game.

(*)I have of course decided that Broken Age is set after Mass Effect 3 and shows us Shepard's eventual fate.

Comments

[thedeadparrot]

I could talk to people forever about the gender subtext in Broken Age. It seems like you are early on in things, and I don't know if you're trying to progress on both storylines at an even clip, so I will not speak too much about how I feel in fear of spoilers. The ending of this part is what really draws things in focus for me. Let me know when you get there, and I will totally talk your ear off about it. :)

[alias_sqbr]

Actually I just finished Act 1! And discovered that's ALL THERE IS RIGHT NOW. Which I did not know when I started. So spoil away! (EDIT: I finished the game after writing the post)

[thedeadparrot]

Okay, yes! I think it's a story that's all about how gender plays out, both the consequences of telling coddled boys they are and should be heroic with out questioning what that means, and the ways in which girls are forced to construct their own sort of moral code and self-identity in the face of confusing and occasionally contradictory messages. I like that it's both sympathetic towards Shay and not afraid to rebuke him for being naive.

There are things it trips on (the other maidens are not particularly well-drawn, sigh) but I think it's a story that's smarter and far more thoughtful than it might seem to be on the surface. I guess we'll have to wait for part 2 to see how it all plays out.


Also, mostly unrelated, but I adore the documentary about the making of this game and I never resist an opportunity to plug it. It covers pretty much every stage of development, and it's not afraid to shy away from talking about things like 'oh man, what happens when we run out of money?' and 'crap, tuning the puzzle difficulty is really difficult.' More episodes are going to be coming out as work on Part 2 continues, and I am super eager to see how those play out. You can watch Episode 1 for free if you want to see what it's like.

[alias_sqbr]

The more I think about it the more I am inclined to agree with you. And hopefully the other maidens get a chance to shine in the next Act now that they're not actually dead.

Am not really a documentary person but am considering watching anyway, Cam certainly enjoyed it.

[thedeadparrot]

Yeah, I think Shay's story is much better drawn on this front, unsurprisingly. But I do like that Vella's story is about facing down societal expectations without having to go full-tomboy 'girl stuff is gross!' though there are some shades of that.

I do hope that Vella's story in the next part is about them rescuing the maidens and then all of them teaming up to get to the root of Project Dandelion. But who knows at this point. I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

[alias_sqbr]

Yes! waits impatiently

[lilysea]

Child of Light demo: very pretty! Haven't explored it much since I haven't been in the mood but I hear good things.

It looks very very pretty, and I am sad that it is not available for mac!

[alias_sqbr]

Yeah. On the plus side Broken Age and RealMyst are available for Mac.

[lilysea]

Yay! ^_^

Thank you! ^_^