…a place both new and familar
[Image credit:Mike Lambert]
Growing up, a lot of kids I knew liked to try to sound grown up by saying they played videogames “for the story”. Maybe they had adapted the phrase from the adults they saw on TV who said they read Playboy magazine “for the articles”. Regardless, the stories in the games they loved were oftenterrible,and they weren’t the only ones. I’m not one to point fingers. There was a time whenthis was some of my favorite storytellingever, in gaming or otherwise.
So why are we so enthralled with bad stories? I can only speak for myself when I say that the world crafting in a game can often compensate for failings in narrative. When we watch a good movie or read a good book, effective storytelling can transport us to other worlds. A game doesn’t need to rely on storytelling to do that. Instead, we can skip over the storytelling part through methods unique to gaming as a medium, planting us directly into their worlds through techniques that we’re still learning to truly understand.
Thisyear in videogames brought many amazing worlds to life. The write-in votes for this category, includingTomodachi Life,Shovel Knight,Broken Age: Act 1,Bayonetta 2,Hohokum,andExtrasolarare about as varied a bunch of games as you could expect to see. That came across in the voting as well, where our staff’s preferences were on full display. One staff member would give nearly every vote toSouth Park, where another would place the game at the bottom of the barrel. In the end, we had yet another three way tie for third place betweenValiant Hearts,Five Nights at Freddy’s, andDragon Age: Inquisition. That left two games to fight it out,Bravely DefaultandAlien: Isolation, with just a vote between them deciding the winner. Read on to find out who came out on top, and don’t forget to vote inour reader’s poll on the way out.
Alien: Isolationwon, you guys. As imaginative, inviting, and endlessly charming as the world ofBravely Defaultmay be, it just couldn’t beat out the dark hallway, half-open lockers, and claustrophobic air vents of The Anesidora. Like with the original film, the ship inAlien: Isolationis arguably the most important character in the game. While the titular alien takes the spotlight, the game is really about the player’s relationship with the environment.
How well you know and understand your surroundings will determine if you live or die, or more like if you live for another 20 minutes or another 60 seconds. Likewise, the game itself lives or dies by how deeply convincing it is to the player. If you don’t feel like The Anesidora is a real place, then there is no reason to feel that your plight is real, that the alien is real, or that you’re in any form of danger worth being invested in. Thankfully, the game pulled it off better than many expected aftera recent failed attempt, which is part of why it won our award.
Congratulations to the team at Creative Assembly for their win, and tune in tomorrow when we crown the winner of Destructoid’s overall Game of the Year. Don’t be mad ifBayonetta 2doesn’t get the top spot. Instead, buy it for a friend. Then everybody wins.
