Themeatgoblin
2 reviews liked by Themeatgoblin
Babbdi
2022
A short and sweet piece of exploration that succeeds at it’s goal much better than most other games like it for several reasons:
- It’s extremely small open world is completely made much bigger thanks to a sheer lack of any kind of barriers to stop you, and encourages you with its dark, concrete hell of a world to just explore. You don’t get much out of it most of the time but there’s an almost intrinsic satisfaction of finding a new, surreal part of the world that gives you anything from chills to satisfaction, which is something I never really feel when exploring games.
- The world itself is empty with few points if interest in its almost illogical design, but does a great job of making it feel lived in from each tiny detail to even carrying texture quality.
- I personally found the actual world’s background very open-ended in its storytelling, which made exploring every nook and cranny feel like you were finding a piece to a puzzle you build without any guidance.
- You get as much out of it as you put in. You can beat it in about ten minutes and it won’t leave much of an impact on you, but it can very easily just be used as a liminal
playground if you want.
- The tone and atmosphere is just unlike anything out there, nothing else to say.
Granted I don’t see anyone that doesn’t vibe with its barren world to find it all that interesting, but I feel like I’ll be coming back to this for comfort for a long time.
- It’s extremely small open world is completely made much bigger thanks to a sheer lack of any kind of barriers to stop you, and encourages you with its dark, concrete hell of a world to just explore. You don’t get much out of it most of the time but there’s an almost intrinsic satisfaction of finding a new, surreal part of the world that gives you anything from chills to satisfaction, which is something I never really feel when exploring games.
- The world itself is empty with few points if interest in its almost illogical design, but does a great job of making it feel lived in from each tiny detail to even carrying texture quality.
- I personally found the actual world’s background very open-ended in its storytelling, which made exploring every nook and cranny feel like you were finding a piece to a puzzle you build without any guidance.
- You get as much out of it as you put in. You can beat it in about ten minutes and it won’t leave much of an impact on you, but it can very easily just be used as a liminal
playground if you want.
- The tone and atmosphere is just unlike anything out there, nothing else to say.
Granted I don’t see anyone that doesn’t vibe with its barren world to find it all that interesting, but I feel like I’ll be coming back to this for comfort for a long time.
BioShock Remastered
2016
"Why are you so resistant to the traditional methods of separating a man from his soul?"
the thing about Bioshock is that everyone talks about it like it's this immaculate masterpiece of game design and narrative that'll blow your mind and when you actually sit down to play, it really fucking is.
Bioshock, to my mind, is to the fps genre what Resident Evil 4 is to third person action. a title so polished and well thought out that it unarguably inspires everything that comes after by its mere existence.
a gameplay so elegant in it simplicity it feels like a breeze to play through almost two decades later. mixing up plasmids with firepower remains a blast and rapture still is one of the most well realized locations in gaming history, with new secrets to uncover in almost every corner.
although it's plot twist often steals the spotlight, the whole narrative is incredibly well written and well acted. the characters perfectly emulate that sort of 60's speech pattern you seen in movies, and the whole visual artstyle immerses you in the time period. it's so surreal to me that there are people incapable of seeing the political commentary in games like these. a whole story about how rampant capitalism inevitably produces rampant poverty and gives rise to fascism. there's an entire building in rapture called OPTIMIZED EUGENICS!!!
Bioshock gives control to the players and asks them if they have what it takes to break the cycle, to act contrary to our own best interest, to care about the human life even when its more valuable to end it. a staggering achievement in interactive fiction and the way we interact with it.
the thing about Bioshock is that everyone talks about it like it's this immaculate masterpiece of game design and narrative that'll blow your mind and when you actually sit down to play, it really fucking is.
Bioshock, to my mind, is to the fps genre what Resident Evil 4 is to third person action. a title so polished and well thought out that it unarguably inspires everything that comes after by its mere existence.
a gameplay so elegant in it simplicity it feels like a breeze to play through almost two decades later. mixing up plasmids with firepower remains a blast and rapture still is one of the most well realized locations in gaming history, with new secrets to uncover in almost every corner.
although it's plot twist often steals the spotlight, the whole narrative is incredibly well written and well acted. the characters perfectly emulate that sort of 60's speech pattern you seen in movies, and the whole visual artstyle immerses you in the time period. it's so surreal to me that there are people incapable of seeing the political commentary in games like these. a whole story about how rampant capitalism inevitably produces rampant poverty and gives rise to fascism. there's an entire building in rapture called OPTIMIZED EUGENICS!!!
Bioshock gives control to the players and asks them if they have what it takes to break the cycle, to act contrary to our own best interest, to care about the human life even when its more valuable to end it. a staggering achievement in interactive fiction and the way we interact with it.
5 lists liked by Themeatgoblin
