tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10293499.post111710061514342233..comments2024-02-13T17:30:02.808-08:00Comments on Design Synthesis - structure.function.relation: Color Me UnimpressedDeaconhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03676351336106101412noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10293499.post-1117130050949986432005-05-26T10:54:00.000-07:002005-05-26T10:54:00.000-07:00I'd agree that the mod community is becoming more ...I'd agree that the mod community is becoming more difficult to break into - you basically have to be an indie developer more than a hobbyist. <BR/><BR/>And actually, I did play ICO, and it was pretty remarkable for what it did, which was present an almost silent-movie type of narrative but still evoked emotions -- every battle felt tense, I remember feeling wonder and awe in certain places. And the level design made you really focus on looking around, without ever really being impossible to find your way forward. <BR/><BR/>Shadow of the Colossus doesn't quite give off a Zelda feel to me. It feels different because they are sticking to a theme (some may call it a gimmick) that requires a player to think perpendicular to most games, which typically require hordes of enemies to be dispatched. By having fewer yet larger enemies, the enemies effectively become part of the environment to be surmounted, and puzzles to be solved AS WELL AS enemies to be defeated. <BR/><BR/>But I guess it's probably nothing new, either. I just like the tack the company takes - ICO created compelling narrative (for me, at least) from almost nothing, which is more than a lot of games do with cutscenes and full voice-acting. <BR/><BR/>I specifically pointed out that game because none of the reviews I've read really talk much about any special graphical flair they have, other than a specific artistic style (which is very different from saying 'whee, reflective surfaces!') and the feel they want for the gameplay, how it integrates into a unified experience. In other words, stuff I like to know.Deaconhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03676351336106101412noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10293499.post-1117129308551921702005-05-26T10:41:00.000-07:002005-05-26T10:41:00.000-07:00Three words and a number: Okami, Metronome, Killer...Three words and a number: Okami, Metronome, Killer 7.<BR/><BR/>Though, granted, the last one IS all about violence, so maybe not so much that.<BR/><BR/>So replace the last one with Dreamfall.n0wakhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06307792884016597965noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10293499.post-1117113396510584432005-05-26T06:16:00.000-07:002005-05-26T06:16:00.000-07:00Well to some extent we can try to blame big corpor...Well to some extent we can try to blame big corporate america for what you're lamenting. Games cost a F&%#-TON of cash to produce especially with all those graphical whistle and bells that people clamor for (and even the best of us miss if they aren't there). The risk of being really outside the box is that you'll lose all that money and then go out of business. So really the companies that have the cash to be innovative are the ones that have survived by not taking risks. So then if you look at the old innovative community it was the mod community. Perhaps it's just me but the mod community isn't nearly as strong as it once was and I suspect it's because the tools necessary to mod our graphical wonders are getting more complex. I remember when a decent understanding of geometry allowed a player to create his own doom levels after an hour or so of learning an interface. I also blame the rise in console development and use among older players as it is very very unfriendly to the mod community. If you want innovation look to smaller companies with big ideas. Oh yeah and Shadow of the Colossus is just an artistic looking version of a zelda type game. People fawn over it because nobody played ICO yet it's considered a "sleeper" classic.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com