Have you ever been walking through a street and caught a fragment of some stranger's conversations? A sentence or two, or maybe something more substantial if they are being particularly loud. You ever wonder how, others who live rich lives as complex as yours will only intersect with yours at such brief moments? One day I wish to make a game based on that concept but until then I have Wayward Strand.
One particular narrative pit that games fall into sometimes is making the characters feel like mere simulation, an NPC
who will sit still dispensing quests and exposition at your convenience with seemingly little goals beyond that. Of course this is mostly just due to scope and cost, having NPCs "lead lives" can get you an Oblivion style situation where they almost behave like humans but not quite. I think this is the main reason for the popularity of timeloop games, you can add to the illusion of characters existing beyond being useful to players whilst also being able to limit their freedom and activities to a single day/week/whatever.
Wayward Strand is on a really slow boil, theres no great mystery and is honestly really mundane, but its greatest asset is what it DOESNT show you. Whilst having little in the way of mechanics its as interactive as games get, the wheel of time keeps moving and you cant be everywhere at once.
Eavesdrop on a conversation about who stole Mrs Fitzimmons' cookies and miss the chance to see Mr Finch try to flirt with the Nurse. These characters start to grow on you as you get to know them and even just the act of letting time pass as you sit with one of them is a choice, leading to missed events but also to the character saying something that cannot be asked by you, sometimes helpful, sometimes not so much.
I realize I may come across as a bit of a hypocrite here, because earlier this month I reviewed Outer Wilds and was slightly dismayed at just how prevalent the theme of death and mortality seemingly is in Games, especially those praised for being "arty" or "elevating" the medium. Thats not to say I inherently just hate the theme, its more it becomes tiresome to see the same sorts of themes and narrative threads being gone over so many times, even if executed differently. I've got To The Moon and Rakuen in my backlog as well and I'm dreading getting to those anytime soon.
Wayward Strand does deal in death a bit, these are all Elderly Patients at a hospital after all. There is a sobering but refreshing sense of grounding to it all. A character passes away before you arrive on the first day but he just sort of died of natural causes. Life goes on and those around him try to varying degrees to keep his memory alive.
Some characters are prickly, cantankerous, others a bit sad. Some cannot speak and many cannot walk. Its quite the vehicle for empathy as you get to know these characters and you see these abrasive character traits for what they are. Of course the old cancer patient who seemingly struggles to stay upright doesnt want to talk to you much, she's being kept at the hospital even though she really just wants to go home and spend her final days there. Another is a bit standoffish but seems in immense pain, which has its own narrative payoff at the end.
I enjoy this much more because whilst these characters all live knowing the reaper isnt too far away, they all live their lives how they want to, the theme isnt the same hackneyed memento mori bullshit as always (though there is some of that, and the perpetually ticking clock mechanic does slightly point to it thematically) but much broader about compassion and understanding. Even the asshole nurse Joe becomes more sympathetic when you learn about his relationship to a nurse who quit a few weeks ago.
A ship full of flawed and sympathetic souls to spend your time with, catching glimpses of their lives and yes, eavesdropping on their conversations at times (though even they are not above this sort of behaviour at times). You never get the complete picture of them, much like you don't in real life (and certainly not over the span of 3 days) but it works wonderfully. Their voices and character designs are very well done and expressive, in particular I liked Mr Pruess, Mr Avery and Mrs Fitzgerald's performances. There are some minor visual bugs and stutters at times, but its all more than worth it. And whilst it did wrap up okay in the end, I must say I wasnt the biggest fan of the overarching story arc between you and your mum, the Head Nurse. Could have been executed better, I think.
Overall though I quite recommend Wayward Strand, it is a very talky adventure game with little in the way of puzzles, but its interactivity is hard to deny in a game where jsut choosing to walk into a room or not can make all the difference in the information the Main Character will learn and take with her.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lePaEZCFAWU
One particular narrative pit that games fall into sometimes is making the characters feel like mere simulation, an NPC
who will sit still dispensing quests and exposition at your convenience with seemingly little goals beyond that. Of course this is mostly just due to scope and cost, having NPCs "lead lives" can get you an Oblivion style situation where they almost behave like humans but not quite. I think this is the main reason for the popularity of timeloop games, you can add to the illusion of characters existing beyond being useful to players whilst also being able to limit their freedom and activities to a single day/week/whatever.
Wayward Strand is on a really slow boil, theres no great mystery and is honestly really mundane, but its greatest asset is what it DOESNT show you. Whilst having little in the way of mechanics its as interactive as games get, the wheel of time keeps moving and you cant be everywhere at once.
Eavesdrop on a conversation about who stole Mrs Fitzimmons' cookies and miss the chance to see Mr Finch try to flirt with the Nurse. These characters start to grow on you as you get to know them and even just the act of letting time pass as you sit with one of them is a choice, leading to missed events but also to the character saying something that cannot be asked by you, sometimes helpful, sometimes not so much.
I realize I may come across as a bit of a hypocrite here, because earlier this month I reviewed Outer Wilds and was slightly dismayed at just how prevalent the theme of death and mortality seemingly is in Games, especially those praised for being "arty" or "elevating" the medium. Thats not to say I inherently just hate the theme, its more it becomes tiresome to see the same sorts of themes and narrative threads being gone over so many times, even if executed differently. I've got To The Moon and Rakuen in my backlog as well and I'm dreading getting to those anytime soon.
Wayward Strand does deal in death a bit, these are all Elderly Patients at a hospital after all. There is a sobering but refreshing sense of grounding to it all. A character passes away before you arrive on the first day but he just sort of died of natural causes. Life goes on and those around him try to varying degrees to keep his memory alive.
Some characters are prickly, cantankerous, others a bit sad. Some cannot speak and many cannot walk. Its quite the vehicle for empathy as you get to know these characters and you see these abrasive character traits for what they are. Of course the old cancer patient who seemingly struggles to stay upright doesnt want to talk to you much, she's being kept at the hospital even though she really just wants to go home and spend her final days there. Another is a bit standoffish but seems in immense pain, which has its own narrative payoff at the end.
I enjoy this much more because whilst these characters all live knowing the reaper isnt too far away, they all live their lives how they want to, the theme isnt the same hackneyed memento mori bullshit as always (though there is some of that, and the perpetually ticking clock mechanic does slightly point to it thematically) but much broader about compassion and understanding. Even the asshole nurse Joe becomes more sympathetic when you learn about his relationship to a nurse who quit a few weeks ago.
A ship full of flawed and sympathetic souls to spend your time with, catching glimpses of their lives and yes, eavesdropping on their conversations at times (though even they are not above this sort of behaviour at times). You never get the complete picture of them, much like you don't in real life (and certainly not over the span of 3 days) but it works wonderfully. Their voices and character designs are very well done and expressive, in particular I liked Mr Pruess, Mr Avery and Mrs Fitzgerald's performances. There are some minor visual bugs and stutters at times, but its all more than worth it. And whilst it did wrap up okay in the end, I must say I wasnt the biggest fan of the overarching story arc between you and your mum, the Head Nurse. Could have been executed better, I think.
Overall though I quite recommend Wayward Strand, it is a very talky adventure game with little in the way of puzzles, but its interactivity is hard to deny in a game where jsut choosing to walk into a room or not can make all the difference in the information the Main Character will learn and take with her.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lePaEZCFAWU