All posts by Kelly Mulligan

Analysis, Review

Bendy and the Ink Machine- An Analytical Essay

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Kelly Mulligan
Professor Nyland
ENG 281 OM4
26 October 2021

Bendy and the Ink Machine Analytical Essay

Bendy and the Ink Machine is a horror/action-puzzle game set after the closure of the Joey Drew Studios Inc, a studio that created the adorable fictional black and white films and animations that is Bendy and friends. Henry Stein, the character you play as, was asked to visit the studio by Joey Drew, your longtime business partner, and CEO of Joey Drew Studios Inc, for an unknown reason. After discovering the dark secret that the ink can come to life and create horrid creatures from it, your character must try to escape the studio. For the remainder of the game, you must solve each riddle and puzzle that will aid your escape. You are given some help from Boris, a character from the Bendy and the Ink Machine universe, as well as Allison Angel and Tom, who show up in Chapter 5. You must escape the ink monster-infested studio while trying to avoid death by the antagonists Sammy, Ink Bendy, and the other ink creatures that stalk the halls. Bendy and the Ink Machine enhances player experience through atmospheric tension and jump scares, enhances player investment through encouraging the player to venture into the unknown, and enhances player understanding through background stories offered in interactive items in the game.

Player experience in setting and tension

Bendy and the Ink Machine’s level of interactivity is much like other horror games. Outlast (2013) is a highly reviewed game that, in my opinion, will be considered a classic horror game in the years to come (“Outlast”). Bendy and the Ink Machine mimics some similar mechanics and plot as Outlast– you must escape a location by going through a series of rooms and floors in a building, trying to complete small tasks that will eventually lead to your escape (“Outlast”). While attempting to escape, you must simultaneously avoid the monsters and evil characters in the game who want to kill you.

An animation studio is not normally a person’s first choice when asked to list classic haunted locations- usually, an abandoned insane asylum or a haunted mansion would come to mind first. The creators of Bendy and the Ink Machine successfully made the setting seem scary through the eerie sounds and echoes through the walls and hallways, pitch-black ink dripping from the ceiling and puddling onto the hardwood floors, and unsuspecting jump scares here and there in the abandoned building. The setting has been abandoned for some time, given there are cobwebs all around and desks that seemed as if employees just up and left their drawings and never came back.

The game knows when you pass through a hallway for the first time, and although I know when to expect a jump scare (because I’ve seen gameplays of Bendy and the Ink Machine in the past), the game always caught me off guard by popping a cardboard cutout of Bendy from behind a wall when I would least expect it. Later in the game, you find out that it was Boris who was sticking the Bendy cutouts in your path to mess with you- which is quite clever. Another hostile character messing around with you as you are fearing for your life is unique and hilarious.

Jump scares are a great game mechanic that aid in always keeping the player aware of their surroundings. They add to the tension and fear factor of the game and fit into the mood of the game. Jump scares are always unexpected, and although they’re not always terrifying, they do help tell the story in their own way.

Player investment in the unknown

It is common in video games, especially horror games, for the player and playable character to have zero understanding of why they were in the world they are in. You learn early in the game that you must escape and may spend 70% of the rest of the game trying to escape. In Bioshock™ (2007), you enter a failing underwater oasis called “Rapture,” and your character is told to escape this semi-apocalyptic world and get back to where you are from (“BioShock™ on Steam”). In the world of Bendy and the Ink Machine, you are also in an unknown location and are tasked to find a way out, as well as to figure out why you were in this place, to begin with.

Upon entering the game, the character you play as, Henry, says aloud “Alright, Joey. I’m here. Let’s see if we can find what you wanted me to see” (Chapter 1). It is debatable to determine the exact meaning of what Joey wanted to show Henry, but my belief is Joey knew what had happened to the studio. Joey was aware monsters were being created beneath the floors of where Henry used to work, while the employees of the studio suspected nothing. I believe Joey knew the monsters were going to take over, so after he closed the studio in 1959, the ink monsters were able to spread and take control over the building.

The mystery of the unknown drives people forward. Murder mystery novels and films are never not interesting. Bendy and the Ink Machine gives the opportunity to solve the riddles and puzzles that help you escape, as well as the wonderment of how and why these ink monsters came to life and why you are even in that predicament in the first place.

Player understanding of the world 

Thankfully, despite all this mystery, there are some aspects of the game that help answer some questions you might not have thought of. The audio logs are a helpful feature that enhances the player’s understanding of the Bendy and the Ink Machin world and backstory. Much like in Bendy and the Ink Machine, Bioshock™ features audio logs throughout the levels of the game (“BioShock™ on Steam”). Audio logs use recordings of other characters in the game’s world but are not always featured as interactable characters. These audio logs can be avoided and not necessary to the gameplay, except when the game lets you know if you must listen to a specific audio log to keep the gameplay moving along. However, audio logs can provide some more insight into the background story of the game for the player before the time when the game began.

In Bendy and the Ink Machine, the player is not required to click on every audio log, but it is extremely helpful to do so. One audio log, in particular, gives the player hints as to where to find the missing key to unlock a broom closet in Chapter (2), which provides you with the next audio log that helps you unlock the door to the recording studio. This is the only occurrence that I can recall where the audio log leads the player to another audio log to progress the gameplay forward.

Bendy and the Ink Machine provides players with a classic horror puzzle game structure, added with complex lore and creative action. This game does a fantastic job of creating a unique horror atmosphere and story with an innocent setting idea. Their ability to create a horrific atmosphere through music and sound, as well as setting interactivity with the player to improve their understanding of the world, is incredibly genius. This game is highly underrated, and although it has its flaws (such as puzzles that take way too long to complete), the quick story run time and the intense horror levels in some plot points deserve more recognition.

 

 

 

Works Cited

“BioShock™ on Steam.” Steam, 21 Aug. 2007, store.steampowered.com/app/7670/BioShock/.

“Outlast.” Red Barrels, 4 Sept. 2013, redbarrelsgames.com/games/outlast/.

Tucker, Evan. “What’s the Deal with: Bendy and the Ink Machine (Spooky October Spectacular).” Canyon Echoes, 29 Oct. 2018, canyonechoes.org/15968/entertainment/whats-the-deal-with-bendy-and-the-ink-machine-spooky-october-spectacular/.

Review

Video Games as Literature- The Story is All Around Us

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Video Games in literature | Gamers

(Image from https://vocal.media/gamers/video-games-in-literature)

What have you learned, played, or argued about this semester that has changed the way you think about or play games?

Everything about this class has taught me to look at video games from a different perspective. Video games offer much more in-depth and deep stories than we may see at first glance. Great video game writers and creators make games with the player’s best interest in mind- this means that they want to create games that WOW the player and make them want to play more and more.

One thing I have learned is that video games can be seen as more than just a game. Video games can be a form of literature or a form of art. Video games can tell a story in ways that books and poems cannot.

Has your relationship with games changed since the start of the semester, and if so how?

I’ve definitely learned to look at video games from a new light. I’ve learned an appreciation from the craft, and have a desire to learn more about the lore and story within a game’s plot. I’ve learned to give games that I would’ve thought twice about playing another chance.

Do you plan to continue the conversation about games as literature?

Because of the things I’ve learned from this course, I probably would let the academic in me slip, and will try to teach my video-game-loving friends some of the things I have learned. For instance, I’ll probably pause in the middle of playing Left 4 Dead 2 with my friends while surrounded by zombies and will try to define if the game is a piece of literature or art. My friends will definitely get annoyed with me at some point, but at least I’d do it for the art!

There will always be forms of literature and art around us every day. Yes, seeing a book or a magazine sitting on a table next to us is a good example, but there are many more. Watching two people walk past and overhearing their conversation while you sit in a coffee house doing homework could be an entire plot on its own! Maybe there’s a story or lore behind the mindless video game sitting on your phone that you play while waiting for your dentist appointment to begin. There is always a new story to be discovered, even in the video games sitting on our computer, waiting to be played.

What will you play next?

This class has helped me open my mind to step out of my comfort zone and play new games that I normally wouldn’t think of playing. When we played BioShock, I felt as if that game was completely different than the games I’ve played in the past. The next game series I plan on digging into is the Borderlands series. The Fallout series is similar as well, so I will try to play some games from those series.

And I don’t even have to play a new type of game. Maybe I’ll go back and play a game I’ve finished in the past, and try to define the story behind it. Heck, maybe I’ll try to finish Minecraft again and try to define the story behind it all.

All in all, this class has taught me a lot about one of my favorite things- video games. I’ll probably never look at video games the same, and that’s okay! I don’t see anything wrong with looking at things I love from a new perspective, and I’ll encourage others to do the same.

 

 

Chrono Trigger

Chrono Trigger First Progress Report

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Is Chrono Trigger the Greatest RPG Ever Made? - YouTube

I am going to be honest about my Chrono Trigger playing experience so far-

….. This game is hard!

Well, it’s at least too hard for me.

I am very used to playing first-person-shooter (FPS) games, not top-down, RPG games. It was so nerve-wracking and hard to defeat even the little goblin/troll-looking enemies when you travel back in time to save Marle, but only for a short while before I got the hang of it.

I believe Chrono Trigger provides a very unique gaming experience for video game players. For a game that was published in 1995, some of the graphics, such as the portal that opens after Marle gets sucked back in time amidst the 8-bit art style around it.

It does still feel like an old game since I am not able to move left and down or right and up at the same time as in newer games, but I believe it still holds its own. I’m not too surprised by the game mechanics and motions for the time period, since Mortal Kombat 3 (a game I have played before) came out the same year, and these two games feel just as slow as one another.

Actually, I think Crono walks a bit faster than the characters in Mortal Kombat 3 do if I remember correctly…..

Anyways, story-wise, I feel like I have no idea what is going to happen next. I have a semi-high expectation that the game will throw me a curveball plot twist in the next hour or so of me playing, even though I’ve only put a few hours in so far. Most of my playing experience has just been defeating Emps and ugly goblin enemies, more than the story.

However, I have been talking to as many NPCs as I can to pick up on the history and politics of what is going on in their country at that moment in time. I hope that the more I play, the more I will be able to collect more of the story from the main characters and the side characters.

Bioshock

BioShock Infinite – Please Fix the “Easy” Mode

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“The Lord Forgives Everything, But I’m Just A Prophet…So I Don’t Have To. Amen.” – Comstock, BioShock Infinite

Screenshot of Bioshock Infinite that shows the main game view. Source:... | Download Scientific Diagram

In my first blog post about BioShock Infinite, I was very open about how much I loved the game. The art style is very similar to what was seen in BioShock, but the art style of the interiors and architecture resembles that of the 1910s where the game takes place.

The gameplay mechanics were not my favorite out of the two BioShock games I have played, but at least I was still able to have fire powers, which made me content. I also liked the unique vigor abilities, such as the “Murder of Crows,” where the player ordered a swarm of birds to attack and maim the desired opponent.

BioShock’s easy mode was very helpful to me in that game- I ended up never losing your life and breezed through the enemies and boss fights with ease. In BioShock Infinite, however, in the second half of the game, I found myself losing lives over and over again. It was a bit frustrating since I breezed through the easy mode in the first game, but it didn’t bother me until the end of the game.

In the last boss fight, where you must stop the Vox Populi Zepplin from attacking, I could not figure out for the life of me how to destroy the Zepplin. I knew I had to use Songbird- so I did, over and over and over and over again. No matter how many times I tried to complete the level, more Patriots came down to distract me, and the Zepplin never fell. I got aggravated, so I had to stop playing the game myself and watched a playthrough of the end of the game via YouTube. That really sucked, because the fifteen-minute ending did not seem hard to play, but it did seem very repetitive, going from one door to the next to back to the first lighthouse in the game over and over.

The ending left me with a lot of questions. I had to rewatch it a few times to fully understand the context of the situation. But after much clarification, I can honestly say that I like the story behind the ending (I did not like how it wasn’t clear the first time around, though). Booker DeWitt being Comstock was NOT something I was expecting, but it made a lot of sense when you throw alternate dimensions in the mix. And Elizabeth being Booker’s daughter was a fantastic twist as well because he cared for her since the beginning, and eventually wanted to do nothing but take her to Paris where she could be freed.

My one theory about the ending of the series is that as each Elizabeth fades away after killing the Booker DeWitt that was Comstock in every dimension, their dimensions and worlds close. Once the last Elizabeth is standing there, you do not see her fade away- instead, the screen flicks to darkness in a split second. I believe that was an indication that every Elizabeth, that did not end up in the care of Booker DeWitt, disappeared, including that last one. The black screen at the end shows there are no more possible universes or dimensions left for Elizabeth to exist.

At the end of the game, one final DeWitt is left to reach for his daughter’s bedroom door to soothe her cries. In my opinion, I believe that is the one, final, perfect dimension where Booker and Elizabeth/Anna were able to live together, and Booker could finally raise her as his own child. Although Elizabeth/Anna was not actually seen in the very end, I still believe she was there, crying in her crib.

BioShock Infinite': 5 ways it's different

All in all, I enjoyed BioShock Infinite a lot. It pulls in a lot of emotions, especially anger, such as from all of the exaggerated propaganda and racism spread across the world Comstock created. I liked the connection Elizabeth and Booker had with one another- it helped me feel a little bit less alone as I played the game because there was always someone at my side throwing me ammo and salts. I definitely will be replaying this game on my own time and will recommend any person with a PC or console to play this classic.

 

 

Images Sources:
https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Screenshot-of-Bioshock-Infinite-that-shows-the-main-game-view-Source-Irrational-Games_fig2_344837920
https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/gaming/2012/12/07/bioshock-infinite/1753657/

Bioshock

BioShock Infinite – “Utopia” In the Sky

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“The mind of the subject will desperately struggle to create memories where none exist.”  – Opening Title Card 

BioShock Infinite, Irrational's New Video Game - The New York Times

Credit…Irrational Games 

 

BioShock Infinite is a (slightly) open-world first-person shooter game with a solid and shocking storyline. The game takes place in the early 1910s, where a man, Zachary Comstock, has created a religious utopian paradise for the white and wealthy in the sky. You play as Booker DeWitt, who was sent to the clouds to rewrite his wrongs and pay the man he was indebted to.

I’m just going to get straight to the point and make my statement- I like BioShock Infinite. A lot. I love how it still has the BioShock game feel, but the added 1910s storyline and deep lore make it all the better. I also love how the character we play as has a personality and story- Booker DeWitt is now one of my top favorite video game characters ever.

It feels very BioShock, but not too BioShock… if that makes any sense. It holds the same components and mechanics as BioShock 1, with plenty of added differences. Special abilities remained (now called vigor, not plasmids), the weaponry has a larger selection (although I hate how you can only hold two weapons at a time), and the clothing/added abilities (such as the shirt that shocks enemies if they melee hit you) are very similar to the first BioShock.

It has been taking me a long time to get through the game. I think the reason is that I am searching every nook and cranny for any voxophone (a 1910s audio log machine) and sifting through every garbage can, barrel, and dead body to collect any health, salt, or cash. I also absolutely adore the art style of the game, so I always make sure to look at every propaganda poster and skyline view.

I love the way the background characters in the open-world stand around and openly speak to other NPCs. I love being able to walk past an NPC and hear their story. I remember walking past a mother scolding her young son for kissing an Irish girl on the cheek, and the son’s sobs stuck with me. It can be odd, feeling as if you are eavesdropping on someone’s else conversation, but I believe it was an intentional way for the game creators to add another way for you to collect background lore in the game, aside from through voxophones.

I just made it about an hour past where Elizabeth cuts her hair, so I still have a long way to go. However, I’m not complaining, because I love the game and the story of it, and can’t wait to finish it.

 

 

 

Image link:

Bioshock

He’s the one who hurts us – Bioshock Review

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I’m not normally one to play video games with a storyline. I enjoy playing games where I play on a team and compete against other players and try to get the highest score or complete the map. I never had the patience to complete story-based games on my own. However, “Bioshock” has made me reimagine my appreciation for story-based games.

The one mechanic I loved the most in Bioshock was the ability to switch between using Plasmid abilities and weapons. Being able to snap my fingers and project fire wherever I desired made me feel like Roy Mustang from Fullmetal Alchemist, and it was AWESOME. It was also useful to quickly switch in between the two options whenever you didn’t have the time when fighting to reload your weapon or inject more eve into your veins.

One key lesson you as a player discovers in the second half of the game is to not always expect the narrator of your game to be a trustworthy person. Throughout the first half of the game, the player follows what Atlas tells them to do. In the Rapture Central Control level, we find out from Andrew Ryan that Atlas had been controlling the player the entire game through what is similar to a Pavlovian conditioning technique, implemented as soon as you began the game.

Atlas’s true identity is revealed as Fontaine, a mobster who challenged all of Andrew Ryan’s beliefs and power over the city of Rapture. With Ryan dead, Fontaine had complete control over the fallen city, and you the player must now stop him in the second half of the game.

When thrown into a new world, a player’s natural instinct is to follow what the narrator/guide says, since it is a foreign world to you and you need some guidance. Thankfully, most story-based video games offer this guide for at least a portion of the game. Sometimes guides continue throughout the game, like in Bioshock, while in others they do not. Bioshock does a wonderful job at creating a character for this guide and using that character as an extremely vital player in the game’s overall story.

The lesson that can be taught through this is to not always believe the guide is helping in your best interest. It’s not something that will always happen in every video game, but it’s a fun thing to keep in the back of your mind as you play a video game.

Another lesson/theme of the story that occurred had to do with the Little Sisters. You as the player are given a choice to either “Harvest” the Little Sisters for all of their adam, or “Rescue” them and receive a smaller amount of adam. Adam is an important game element that allows you to create and add new and better upgrades in the game to help you become stronger, and help you play the game more practically and skillfully.

You could save every Little Sister in the game. However, as soon as you harvest one of them, the other Little Sisters in the game fear you, and Tenenbaum, the “mother” of the Little Sisters, looks at you in a different light. Of course, this would not be known unless you speak with other players about their experience in the game.

After the player confronts Andrew Ryan, Tenenbaum sends Little Sisters to rescue you and restore you back to health. Depending on how you choose to handle the Little Sisters after defeating the Big Daddies that guard them, the Little Sisters may fear or praise you. If you continuously harvest Little Sisters, they might say “He’s the one who hurts us,” but if you rescue Little Sisters, they’ll say “There he is! The one who will save us all.”

Honestly, if I had known the Little Sisters were going to say such nice things to me later in the game, I would’ve saved them all. But l also wanted cool new upgrades, so I chose that.

Overall, I very much enjoyed Bioshock’s game mechanics and their ability to tell a story through your surroundings and background dialogue. There were more and more story pieces to unlock if you just looked around, and I praise Bioshock for that.

 

Sources:

https://bioshock.fandom.com/wiki/Atlas

https://bioshock.fandom.com/wiki/Brigid_Tenenbaum

https://bioshock.fandom.com/wiki/Little_Sister/Quotes

Image Sources:

  1. https://www.reddit.com/r/Bioshock/comments/arutgk/oc_bioshock_1_2_inspired_posterdigital_print/?st=JSAI9XQ1&sh=0fbfd730

5. https://imgur.com/aXuiKUt

Telltale

The Importance of Secondary Characters – Telltale’s The Walking Dead Season 1 Finale

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Season One: Episode 5 - The Official Walking Dead Game Wiki Guide - IGN

I mentioned it briefly in my last post, but I’m not going to lie- this video game was hard for me to play.

Not that my video game skills are sub-par- I can play games that require a fair amount of skill, such as Overwatch or CS:GO. But this game was nothing like those. I’ve never played a game that required me to select dialogue without knowing if I picked the “right” answer, and it was difficult for me to have the motivation to complete the game.

But, after a long-nighter and help from my gamer boyfriend, I finished the game. It took a lot of effort, but I was partially satisfied with the results.

In the ending I received, Ben, Kenny, and Lee all met their inevitable fates amongst the world of walkers. Omid, Christa, and Clementine were able to live on, but Clementine was left alone, without any direction as to where the other two group members are. And poor Clementine had to take her babysitter out of his misery in the last five to ten minutes of gameplay in Episode 5.

I’m unaware if there was another possible ending for the episode. Maybe Clementine left Lee behind, chained up to a radiator, left to turn into a walker. But would that have been a better ending? Or did ending Lee’s suffering cause a turning stone in Clementine’s personality?

I was thankful that I ended up with everyone on my team to help search for Clementine. However, it was painful to see Ben and Kenny are both surrounded by walkers. I can only wonder if Ben and Kenny never joined the search team if they would’ve made it out alive. But, after discussion with my classmates, no matter what, Ben and Kenny end up with you, and Ben dies and Kenny manages to escape (or so we think).

As I mentioned in my previous blog post, Clementine influences a majority of my options. Whenever tension rises within the group, I would always select dialogue that might help the group get back on track to search for Clem. At the end of the day, she is the most important character to Lee, and myself.

I was always surprised, yet grateful while playing that the team was so willing to help Lee find Clementine. Although some players may end up with a smaller search team, or maybe no search team at all, no matter what, my goal as the player was to always find Clem.

In her article “NPCs, How Games Move Us,” Researcher Katherine Isbister perfectly encaptures the idea of invoking emotion in players by saying, “-game designers can create powerful feelings in players when they make use of relationships that players form with NPCs.”

Telltale’s The Walking Dead does a fantastic job at invoking the emotions of the players in response to the actions of the NPCs in the game. Some characters’ actions are designed to aggravate the player, while others, such as Clementine, are designed to create an empathetic response.

I would recommend this game to those who enjoy games that determine the outcome of the story based on the player’s dialogue decisions. The art style is extremely unique, which I appreciate, and although the graphics and movements could be updated, The Walking Dead does a great job at using the the dialogue as the forerunner for the game mechanics.

The Walking Dead: The Complete First Season for Nintendo Switch - Nintendo Game Details

 

Image Sources:

  1. https://www.nintendo.com/games/detail/the-walking-dead-the-complete-first-season-switch/
  2. https://www.ign.com/wikis/the-walking-dead-game/Season_One:_Episode_5
Telltale

The Walking Dead – More Than a Horror Game

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I’m not normally the one to play suspenseful, scary video games. I prefer more peaceful games, such as Slime Rancher, in which you can just breed and harvest giant sentient slime balls that eat fruits and vegetables and can glow in the dark and fly. I have played some scary games, such as Outlast (which was NOT fun to play my first time around- eventually I got used to the horror) and Phasmophobia, where you hunt for ghosts with your friends online.

The Walking Dead is an adventure-based, interactive “choose your own story” horror game based in an apocalyptic world. You are thrown into the world just as the zombies are coming to life, and you must make decisions all the time, that will be remembered by the other characters in the game, and determine how the rest of the story will play out for you.

Sometimes, some of those decisions are as simple as lying about your past to someone such as Hershel Greene, the first man who takes you in during the apocalypse. Other times, the decisions are way more drastic. Having to choose between saving the life of a child or a grown man whose leg broke while zombies are surrounding you wasn’t something I was expecting to experience within the first hour of gameplay, but that was more than enough emotion for me to handle during my first sit-down playing the game.

I especially love Clementine’s character. As someone who has a younger sibling and many young-aged cousins, I can’t help to fear for Clementine’s life every moment in the gaming. Seeing a young child hurt breaks my heart. But that was probably the intent of the creators all along- they selected Clementine to be the “secondary character” in the game because children invoke a lot of human instincts and strong emotions to anyone who has a soul and a heart.

I also make sure to keep Clementine in mind with every decision I make while playing. If I lie to Kenny about my character’s past life pre-apocalypse or to any new characters that I meet, will that affect Clementine’s safety in any way? The must be the human in me, but that was my thought process while playing through these episodes.

Well, except for the swearing. I could probably censor myself around Clementine, but I choose not to. And then she started cursing. But that was kinda funny to watch.

Edith Finch

The Youngest Finch- Gregory’s Tragic Backstory

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The breadth of video game genres and the width of stories within them has grown exponentially over the years. More and more talented artists, writers, graphic designers, and developers are creating enticing video game experiences. However, despite the vast number of games on the market, one amazing game still manages to stand out amongst the competition.

What Remains of Edith Finch does a fantastic job of taking multiple stories, each with a different play style, and morphing them into a beautifully designed video game. These stories explain the deaths of each family member of the Finch family, experienced in the viewpoint of Edith Finch, while simultaneously narrating to both the player and Edith’s child. But, all of that isn’t figured out until the end of the game.

As mentioned earlier, each level/story within What Remains of Edith Finch has its own playstyle and action, which helps tell the tragic story of that given family member’s death. Some characters’ stories are told in short clips and images, which don’t take too long to get through. Other levels required the player to perform actions and move around their person in order to experience the full backstory.

What Remains of Edith Finch - Gregory - Vídeo Dailymotion

One of the more heart-wrenching levels describes the death of Gregory, son of Sam and Kay, who faced the “family curse” (which is a debate to be discussed and interpreted on your own time) just before he turned 2 years old. As most levels in What Remains of Edith Finch, the player must move whatever interactive element they are using to perform actions, towards words in the narrative, in order to reach the next part.

In Gregory’s backstory, the player moves around as one of Gregory’s bathtub toys, a cute frog, to visually show how complex and creative the baby’s imagination is.  The narration, that being a dramatic reading of a letter to Gregory’s mother from his father, following the couple’s divorce, is read to the player in the father’s voice while Gregory’s bathtub toys dance around. The player’s ability to become one of Gregory’s bath toys and interact with the other toys and your surroundings is a great way to combine good game mechanics with even better storytelling. This level also does a compelling way of combining two plots/backstories (the divorced couple, as well as Gregory’s death) and experiencing them both at once.

In order to progress through the story, the player must move the interactive object they are using to move around towards letters resting just above the bathtub faucet handle. Once that is moved, the bathtub begins to fill up, and after the screen fades to white and some words from the letter to Kay are spread across the screen, the player turns into Gregory’s frog toy, and must follow the other bathtub toys under the water, towards the water drain, where the player glides through, and the game fades to white, then back to reality.

What Remains of Ludonarrative in 'Edith Finch' - Epilogue Gaming

It can be assumed that the goal of the creative directors and writers of What Remains of Edith Finch is to try to depict the feeling of sadness, maybe even guilt when each character reaches their unavoidable fate. This feeling can definitely reach the player through Gregory’s level because the player understands this infant cannot escape his inevitable death. Humans tend to hold empathy for babies and very young children, which the creators used to their advantage in Gregory’s story. The gameplay also shows the complexity of Gregory’s imagination, how beautifully he saw the world around him, and how innocently his mind made death seem.

 

 

 

Image Sources:

  1. https://www.vidaopantalla.es/2017/07/what-remains-of-edith-finch-se-estrena-xbox-one/

2. https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x70jis6

3. http://www.megabearsfan.net/post/2018/04/17/What-Remains-of-Edith-Finch-game-review.aspx

4. https://epiloguegaming.com/what-remains-of-ludonarrative-in-edith-finch/

Review

MatPat, The Video Game Theory Master

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Why You Should Watch 'Game Theory' And 'Film Theory' | Game theory, Film theory, Theories

Matthew Robert Patrick, well known by his social media username, MatPat, is a video game theory extraordinaire who has a fan base of over fourteen million followers on YouTube. Matthew Patrick is the host of a variety of video series on his YouTube channels The Game Theorists and The Film Theorists.

MatPat’s main goal for these channels is to entertain his target audience of video game and film enthusiasts, much like himself, with deeply dissected theories that have been discussed across the internet. MatPat takes said theories, does very in-depth research on the topic, using scientific and mathematical resources and facts, and compiles all of his gathering research into a humor-filmed video.

For example, in a video on The Game Theorist YouTube channel, titled, “Game Theory: What is a Kirby? The SCIENTIFIC PROOF!” MatPat discusses the biological structure and body of what exactly Kirby, the beloved Nintendo character, is. One of Kirby’s abilities is to ingest another person (temporarily) and absorb that character’s ability. MatPat stated in this video, “In the theory of evolution, it’s proposed that one of the ways simple prokaryotic cells- or cells without a nucleus- turned into the more advanced eukaryotic cells is by doing just that. Endosymbiosis. Cells ingested one another and just started sharing abilities because it was evolutionarily beneficial.”

There is a possibility one might have learned such information in a high school or college biology course, but no professor would ever be able to clearly explain this given research the way MatPat does. More so, it is very apparent that MatPat takes the necessary time and extreme effort to research the most useful facts and information that would be best beneficial to prove the theory he is discussing in the video.

I could not even fathom the amount of time MatPat and his team of theory-debunkers each week into research for their videos. Plus, they also find the time to edit their videos in a very creative and clever way. MatPat’s “announcer’s voice,” as some may refer to as the way a person speaks clearly and concisely that draws the attention of others, is very charming and energetic.

As an amateur video game article writer,  I would love to learn how MatPat is able to gather and display such detailed facts and information that prove the theories he discusses so well, to the point where no one would even bother to disprove it- he just does it that well. For the near and distant future, I will take MatPat’s dedication into consideration, and will put in the extra effort into research to back up my own theories and opinions in my articles about video games.

I have been watching MatPat’s videos for years, and I will continue to watch his theory-filled videos because they are entertaining and thought-provoking, and teach you more than just the theories behind our favorite video games and films.

The Game Theorist - 1 HOUR INTRO - YouTube