Blog: "What videogames lack: Deeper intent"

[hollowleviathan]

A recent game that struck me as being lovingly and well-crafted was Zeno Clash, the only first person brawler that I can recall, coupled with an inventive and very unique world, told through narration as well as the environment and character design.

The final level of Braid combined the ongoing game mechanics into the story-telling and level design so well as an interactive narrative short, it was well worth the sometimes slack text-popups that led to that point.

Noncommercial games like Korsakovia and Dear Esther have been using current tech to push the envelope of story-based games. Korsakovia is difficult to immerse in, because frustration and confusion is delibeate, but once there it frightens me as much as Amnesia.

It feels like the advancement of physics and graphics has not yet plateau'd, the explosion of the gaming crowd hasn't slowed enough that graphics and uninspired repetitive gameplay cannot carry a title.