Atmosphere is a really important part of a game. The way that things feel, how it can weigh upon you as traverse its areas. Games are miniature worlds, after all - make them feel like them in some capacity, as live or dead as that ends up being.
One great example of this in action is a game that I couldn't finish due to how heavy it was: Disco Elysium. Everything in that game feels uniquely heavy, even the funniest interactions like convincing an old man to give you his sandwich carry a somber weight to them due to the washed-out color palette and worn-down instruments that make up the game's presentation. The city is tired, it's been through so much pain and violence and generational trauma that nothing seems worth doing anymore. It's a masterclass in creating a thick atmosphere that you can't quite get off of you, one that you won't stop thinking about for years after experiencing the piece.
Hyper Light Drifter is a game where the atmosphere reigns supreme. It's both inviting and dangerous, a world where anything can kill you yet there's a serenity to its beautiful, lonely vistas. Nobody ever speaks in written dialogue, only showing you images as a substitute for it. There are no real friends in this world, none that you can understand at least beyond images - the only things that you do truly understand are the monsters that try to kill you. It's an empty land, but it's beautiful in that emptiness. Gorgeous, hostile, and a husk of what came before.
However, I don't think that I can truly enjoy a game on its atmosphere alone. Disco Elysium's potent atmosphere is a great foundation for the game, but there's a lot more going on there. Each character represents different political beliefs, and they're all incredibly interesting to have philosophical discussions with. From the union leader who has given into the vices of capital but still pretends to be fighting for the working class to a dice maker in a chimney who just trusts in the system because she's too exhausted for anything else. The world is more than just an interesting vibe, it has substance to back that up. There's purpose here.
There's not much going on in Hyper Light Drifter to keep me interested. The atmosphere of this dead world is potent and feels heavy and lifeless as you play, but there is a major drawback to the game's minimalist storytelling: there is no motivation for anything you're doing. You're simply plopped into the world and given free reign of the place with no reason to care about any of it. There is no attachment to this main character or their struggles when I don't even know what their struggles are. Why are we going on this quest?
Maybe that's the point: this dying world is yours to take care of, regardless of if you know why you're taking care of it or not, and I just failed that test.
One great example of this in action is a game that I couldn't finish due to how heavy it was: Disco Elysium. Everything in that game feels uniquely heavy, even the funniest interactions like convincing an old man to give you his sandwich carry a somber weight to them due to the washed-out color palette and worn-down instruments that make up the game's presentation. The city is tired, it's been through so much pain and violence and generational trauma that nothing seems worth doing anymore. It's a masterclass in creating a thick atmosphere that you can't quite get off of you, one that you won't stop thinking about for years after experiencing the piece.
Hyper Light Drifter is a game where the atmosphere reigns supreme. It's both inviting and dangerous, a world where anything can kill you yet there's a serenity to its beautiful, lonely vistas. Nobody ever speaks in written dialogue, only showing you images as a substitute for it. There are no real friends in this world, none that you can understand at least beyond images - the only things that you do truly understand are the monsters that try to kill you. It's an empty land, but it's beautiful in that emptiness. Gorgeous, hostile, and a husk of what came before.
However, I don't think that I can truly enjoy a game on its atmosphere alone. Disco Elysium's potent atmosphere is a great foundation for the game, but there's a lot more going on there. Each character represents different political beliefs, and they're all incredibly interesting to have philosophical discussions with. From the union leader who has given into the vices of capital but still pretends to be fighting for the working class to a dice maker in a chimney who just trusts in the system because she's too exhausted for anything else. The world is more than just an interesting vibe, it has substance to back that up. There's purpose here.
There's not much going on in Hyper Light Drifter to keep me interested. The atmosphere of this dead world is potent and feels heavy and lifeless as you play, but there is a major drawback to the game's minimalist storytelling: there is no motivation for anything you're doing. You're simply plopped into the world and given free reign of the place with no reason to care about any of it. There is no attachment to this main character or their struggles when I don't even know what their struggles are. Why are we going on this quest?
Maybe that's the point: this dying world is yours to take care of, regardless of if you know why you're taking care of it or not, and I just failed that test.
5 Comments
1. Games are not just gameplay. To be that reductive is an extremely lacking way to look at games.
2. The combat is fun, but not in a way that is particularly interesting to me, and it feels very unmotivated. The exploration is not fun for me in the slightest and I like to think I elaborated on that pretty well.
2. The combat is fun, but not in a way that is particularly interesting to me, and it feels very unmotivated. The exploration is not fun for me in the slightest and I like to think I elaborated on that pretty well.
yeah, the atmosphere (both visually and sonically) is great and i enjoyed the gameplay, but it really feels like one of those wordless games that kind of kneecaps its storytelling by giving you pretty much nothing. there's small bits of environmental storytelling (the one that sticks out most in my mind is the blue people being discriminated against, possibly due to a war, the aftermath of which you can see in a section in the west area) but it's just really scant on almost everything, the only real motivation for the player is "try to find yourself a cure". in terms of games like this, i prefer something like rain world's approach where lore exists but the player has to go out of their way to find it (plus it makes more sense lorewise in that game given you're an animal in an ecosystem exploring the ruins of a completely dead civilization). i guess i just prefer my game stories such where theories serve as an different angle to discuss a game's narrative or themes, rather than the only vehicle.
Yeah, it's so hard for me to explore a game's world when the game doesn't give me any reason to do it. Why should I care about exploring this world in the slightest? What's the point? It just feels like... busywork, I suppose. I don't know how else to put it.
Maybe I'll check that game (Rain World) out at some point. I've heard a lot of really good things.
Maybe I'll check that game (Rain World) out at some point. I've heard a lot of really good things.
yeah rain world was imo good and a very unique experience, but fair warning, it's absolutely not for everyone and can be hard/unfair what with ever changing enemy positions and how generally easy it is to die to pretty much everything. might be worth using some form of walkthrough due to vague hints on where to go (or at the very least a guide on its surprisingly complex movement which can give you an upper hand and is not really detailed in game)
in some ways i feel like i gaslit myself into liking it because of how hard it was, but i've never seen a game so artistically uncompromised as rain world.
in some ways i feel like i gaslit myself into liking it because of how hard it was, but i've never seen a game so artistically uncompromised as rain world.
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8 months ago
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kleptomato
1 year ago