Video Games and Their Genres

          Probably the most important factor that goes into a gamer's decision to buy a video game. As with films, video games come in many different genres; however, unlike films, video games also have a "gameplay" genre as well. In my personal opinion, I find that many players, including myself, find the gameplay genre more important than if it's a fantasy or sci-fi story(just look at how successful the Elder Scrolls and Fallout franchise are despite being in a different setting but also both RPGs). Not only does gameplay attract different audiences, they also can be used to tell the narrative, a feature of video games that is completely exclusive to the medium.

          The game Brothers belongs to the adventure and controller genre. The game uses the controller genre to show how the brothers need each other, and the controls become a key to the video games narrative at the end. Jade Empire however, is almost the complete opposite of Brothers. Jade Empire falls into both the fantasy and RPG genres. The narrative in the RPG genre is pretty much decided by the player. The more that the player in Jade Empire puts into it, the more narrative he will get out of it. The full narrative is only shown to those who want to know it best. 

Establishing the Story in Brothers

          As mentioned in my previous blog, one of the things that makes this game stand out its use of visual storytelling. From the get go we are given the main conflict in the story, death. While it is simple and may not be as complex as games like Lords of Shadows, I found it to be most effective. A story that has more going on in it isn't automatically better than one that has less.

          Brothers also does a much better job at establishing characters, a fundamental part in establishing a story. A story is must involve growth in the characters, because without it they can't overcome the obstacles in the main plot(or if they do so without growth, the story will come off as uninteresting). Other the course of the game, the two main characters in Brothers grow and learn with each other(as well as without each other) in their journey because it's what they need to do to reach their goal. In LOS however, most of the characters seem stagnant and don't grow to be well rounded characters, making the story in the game seem uninteresting. However, while the protagonist, Gabriel, does grow, it comes off as unrealistic("I can't beat Satan, so I'll become Dracula") which makes the audience find disbelief in the overall story.

Brothers:A Tale of Two Sons(Part One)

        

           When I play a video game, what I like is action and entertainment. Knowing that I had very low expectations going into Brothers; however, I actually grown to appreciate the game. From how far in the game I've gotten(I stopped when the brothers find themselves surrounded by wolves in the middle of the night), Brothers has shown itself to be a great visual storyteller, with a unique gameplay. 

          Considering one of the mediums I love the most is anime, it comes to no surprise that visual storytelling is something I greatly appreciate. When I started playing, I quickly noticed that the characters where speaking in some made up language. Immediately I went to the game sittings only to find out there are no English(or other languages) subtitles. Obviously this worried how I will be able to know what is going on in the game's story. This language barrier actually turned out to never be a problem. The game does this by showing visual storytelling through the characters interactions, expectations, and body language. While playing, I understood exactly what the characters want and need. An example being when the brothers encounter a troll on their way to get what they need for their father. The visual storytelling of the game quickly leads its audience to the conclusion that the troll lost someone very close to him, and we later have that confirmed to be the case when the brothers rescue the troll's wife/girlfriend and the two are reunited(insert dead "better love story than Twilight" joke here). What Brothers reminds us is that visual storytelling isn't just artsy symbolism, rather it can simply be a way to deliver a message to the audience through emotions, and body language of a story's characters.

          The gameplay of the game is unique in the way that rather than controlling one character, you control two. Knowing how tricky doing this would be, I didn't even bother using my keyboard on the laptop I'm playing on and just used an Xbox 360 controller. Through controlling the two brothers, you figure out how to get through each obstacle you come across on your way to what the brothers are looking for. As I implied in my opening paragraph, Brothers is not at all an action driven game. The game however, focuses more on problem solving. When you come to an obstacle, you aren't told how to clear it like you probably would in another game. Rather, you are always having to look around the environment your in and find out how to solve the problem in front of you. After all, Brothers is an adventure game and adventures are all about exploring the things around you.

          In conclusion, Brothers is a fun adventure and great example of how to handle visual storytelling. Even I, a person who normally dislikes games like this one, found it worth the time and money(though I was able to buy it for under three dollars because of a Steam sale). I would highly recommend Brothers to anyone looking for a different kind of game and had no problem with indie. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go finish the game.

First Impressions:Dark Souls

     Despite all the praise surrounding Dark Souls, I never got around to playing or even looking it up on Google until now. I don't know what made me want to all of a sudden, maybe it was everyone saying Re:Zero was the Dark Souls of anime, but here I am.

     Before going into researching a little bit about Dark Souls, my thoughts on the game was that it was basically going to be Skyrim(though I learned Dark Souls came out a year early) but just a little darker. So was I right in my first thought? Somewhat. However, there was one thing I wasn't aware of, and that thing is the difficulty. Take Skyrim's highest difficulty level and put it on cocaine, that's how you get this game. After watching a walkthrough by a Youtuber named HunterStarcraft, I was quickly amazed at how anybody could get through just the first boss. In Skyrim, beating an enemy isn't at all difficult, you just swing your sword as much as you can; however, in Dark Souls, there's actual strategy involved. The lowest enemies in this game were by far more deadly than half of Skyrim's. While it maybe challenging, it does seem to be so much fun.

     As for the story, I honestly don't know much, as I only watched the first twenty minutes of the game; however, from what I can tell it's about these undead humans and the protagonist is the chosen one(because rpg). Though going back to gameplay, one thing that I thought was cool was that there's multiplayer and co-op. Honestly, I have no idea what you do, but HunterStarcraft mentioned stealing stuff, and what's better than that? All I know is, I'd have loved some multiplayer in Skyrim(I guess ESO is that but I haven't bothered with buying it) and I'm getting it with Dark Souls.

     Overall, going into Dark Souls I have very high expectations. While it maybe difficult, in gaming the higher the risk the greater the reward.