Amnesia: A Machine For Pigs Discussion Topic Part 1

[Hunter of Shadows]

They are right. Games are way more than just platforming and shooting now, but they're giving less than platforming and shooting. Nothing in Dear Esther, and I mean nothing, can compete with the shooting in Call of Duty 8 or the platforming in Super Mario World because there is nothing anywhere near any other game's level of complexity. Call of Duty 8, apart from bits and pieces of the multiplayer, is just bad trash,
but even its singleplayer campaign hasn't yet devolved into something
bad enough to rival the brainless HOLD-W fest in Dear Esther.



There is no debate about the experimental, conceptual limits of gaming
to be had about DE. Every idea that it "surpasses" (read: "retreats
from") is something that has already solidified in games. Interaction is
the staple behind everything good in a game. If your world is
beautifully crafted, make it useful. If your story is fucking great,
connect it to the player through gameplay. If you're trying to convey a
certain emotion, don't just put it in the writing and hope the player
feels sympathy; actually place him in situations that will make him feel
that emotion. Numerous games have been on the forefronts of
advancements these fields, including and especially
Frictional's games. DE comes nowhere near that because it relies on
conveying its world, story and emotional value in a completely
uninteractive way, almost exactly like it would if it was a visual
novel.

I'm afraid all of that went a little bit over my head, can you dumb it down perchance?