probablyrobertharper-blog

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Dan Flavin PowerPoint runthrough. (Just the slides - 5 seconds per slide.)

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For the main submission, I reflect on the flawed but equally charming predecessor to Nier Automata. 

Why I did this: I wanted to show the significance of creativity and originality in games, and the beauty of defying player expectations. I also wanted to show the impact of a development team has on a designer’s vision and how the execution of art is just as important as the ideas behind it.

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[Script] Nier Retrospective

From eclectic game director and writer Yoko Taro comes Nier; an action RPG released in April 2010. It tells a dark, depressing tale of loss, sacrifice and despair as one man tries to save his daughter from a mysterious disease known as the Black Scrawl. The game takes place in the far future, where post-apocalyptic events of the past were so long ago that society has begun to rebuild itself. Resulting in what could best be described as a generic medievally fantasy setting, but with ruins of buildings that came before. However, mankind is threatened once again as nightmarish creatures (Shades) have begun to roam the land and murdering anything in their path. Nobody knows where they came from, or why they’re here.

Across the duration of the game’s 15-hour storyline, the player visits numerous locations, each with their own distinct characteristics: including a cliffside colony who won’t dare venture outdoors and a city with hundreds and thousands of rules that its masked citizens happily abide by.

The protagonist travels across these lands to find a Lunar Tear, the alleged cure for his daughter’s disease, while murdering countless Shades in all shapes and sizes. He also meets a few companions along the way: Grimoire Weiss, an outrageously pompous (yet powerful) talking book. Emil, a lonely child cursed with immeasurable power and Kaine, a distant and cold warrior whose true intentions are unclear.

Right, since we’re on the topic of story, I’m about to talk about the endings. If you don’t want spoilers click on the annotation to skip to me talking about other aspects of Nier.

While teased at several points, the identity and purpose of the Shades are revealed towards the game’s climax. A revelation which turns the morals of the player’s actions on their head. The shades, the monsters that the player will have killed hundreds if not thousands off by this point, are people.

As the player continues to the conclusion, there are moments of heroism, heartbreak and triumph, overall serving a decent conclusion to the game’s story.

Well, that’s ending A. Upon completion, the game allows players to restart the game from its second half, but this time, the Shades have subtitles. It’s with this that players discover the true horror of what they are doing, the heroics from their previous playthrough are dashed away and players are left feeling hollow. This is bolstered by a set of additional

cinematics scattered throughout this second act, providing additional context to the dramatic events that occur.

Endings C & D (which can be accessed after playing through to ending B) involve a certain member of the player’s party falling into mortal danger, and the protagonist having to choose whether to sacrifice themselves to save them. Except, should the player choose ending D, it’s not just death, it’s being erased completely from existence, both from past and present, no one will remember the protagonist. What reinforces the impact of this decision is that it takes this ending very literally, all the player’s collectables, items, weapons, spells, stats, maps etc. get completely wiped from their inventory. Even more extreme, their save data is deleted. It is the ultimate conclusion to the narrative and is the game’s true ending.

All of this is presented in glorious fashion with great voice acting, epic cinematics and most notably, Keiichi Okabe’s music. It features a mix of instrumental and vocal driven tracks; the soundtrack has a unique ethereal air about it (reinforced by the fake mishmash language used in the lyrics). It suits the setting and makes those scenes of intense drama all the more epic, and enhances the game’s overall atmosphere to a much higher level. It is truly one of the greatest soundtracks in the industry. Highlights include:

-Emil (Sacrifice)

-Song of the Ancients (Devola)

-Shadowlord

-Kaine (Salvation)

-Yonah (Piano Version)

But really, there’s not a bad track on there. And is even nice to listen to without having played the game.

So how then? Can a game with such creative merit be condemned to an endless slew of mediocre reviews and a generally lukewarm reception upon launch? Well, a part where the package falls particularly flat is… well… being not an exceptionally great game to play. In fact, as a game, it’s got quite a few problems. Combat for instance, sure it works, but there’s not much room for experimentation, it’s the same button-bashy combos over and over again, broken up by the occasional spell or two. That’s not to say it can’t be challenging, but the only real difficulty comes from the boss fights. This is alleviated however by one of Nier’s great quirks, it never sticks to one genre. One second it’s a hack and slash, next it’s a bullet hell, a puzzle game, an isometric CRPG and platformer. This keeps the experience exciting and fresh but at its core, the gameplay is not one of Nier’s strong points. Then there’s the visuals. On a technical level, certainly one of the plainer titles of the generation, you got bloom/eye adaption (which while over-the-top for some, I think it works well with the game’s otherworldly aesthetic), you’ve got basic lighting (mostly pre-baked) and animations which are solid if unremarkable (although I’ve never seen so much work put into an animation for pushing blocks). The geometry and texture work are… fine, it looks rather dated even for its time. But artistically it is very nice, if a little brown and bare.

It’s worth pointing out that none of this particularly bad, but it’s a game that is visually and mechanically like something from the PS2 era (albeit a very pretty PS2 game). It’s easy to see why this game was largely overlooked at the time. Especially considering the other titles released that year included Red Dead Redemption, Mass Effect 2, Fallout: New Vegas and other genre-defining titles. It always had a loyal cult following, and now thanks to the release of Nier: Automata, some are revisiting the predecessor to see what all the fuss was about.

In summary, Nier is a diamond in the rough, it’s a game filled to the brim with originality, surprises and charm. Trapped in the body of a solid but generic hack and slash RPG. It is a game worth experiencing, for the story and music alone. It toys with emotions and expectations and is not quite like any other RPG on the market. Or any game on the market, (rather, any game I’ve played).

…just don’t touch the fishing minigame.

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[Critique 2] Erased - The Importance of Production Values in Anime

Erased [僕だけがいない街] is a supernatural murder-mystery series from veteran anime director Tomohiko Itou, which aired Jan 8th – Mar 25th 2016.  it follows the story of Satoru who, after being framed for the murder of a close relative, is sent back in time to his childhood to rewrite history and prevent the murder of a classmate. In his search for the truth, he discovers what happened in the past might have something to do with his present predicament.

Across its 12 episodes, the content of show is presented with a cinematic flair that is not commonly found in most Japanese animation, it feels surprisingly western. That’s not to say that this is exactly like watching something from this part of the world, it’s still very much an anime. But everything from the minimalist background music and strong cinematography to the 21:9 letterboxing that gives the show a distinct visual style. The show also uses narrative devices such as flashbacks, flash forwards and flash frames whenever the protagonist has revelation about past or future events, but these are appropriately used and do not disrupt the show’s pacing. The way they’re presented is also interesting, for the more developed flashbacks or thought processes, the flow of time is showed with a sprawling network of film stock whose frames flick back and forth across the screen in a sort of montage highlighting important dates or the events in question.

Complementing the show’s sombre tone and plot is the show’s art style. In its backdrops, it primarily sticks to a palette of cold blue-ish hues, however scenes where Satoru is at his childhood home or in some other haven are warmly lit. But throughout the visuals appear firmly grounded with realistic lighting and texture work. And these moments of rest from the mystery breaks up the pacing quite nicely and prevents the viewer from getting fatigued. Overall, the show’s environments successfully convey the cold of winter and the warmth of a loving home, it’s very easy to get immersed in Satoru’s world. The characters inhabiting these scenes are also very well animated, while is sticks to the typical large eyes, exaggerated expressions and thin outlines to make them “pop” from the backgrounds. It goes above “getting the job done” affair of characters who are completely static during conversations with basic lip sync to the dubbed actors. Every action and conversation is filled with smooth and detailed animation, not quite anime film standards, but above and beyond what one would expect with most shows.

When looking at the show as a whole. While the dark story is solid, well-written and appropriately paced. It’s the show’s production values that I believe is what made this show special. The music, acting, shot composition, animation all combine to make a show that is a delight to the senses. Even if the scenarios they are conveying are not entirely pleasant. I wouldn’t say this show has “revolutionised the industry”, nor will it bring mature anime to the masses. It’s just an all-round good show that doesn’t outstay its welcome.

By Robert J Harper

Glossary Usage:

1. Director

2. Colour

3. Content

4. Hue

5. Animation

6. Flashback

7. Flash forwards

8. Flash frames

9. Dubbing

10. Montage

11. Composition

12. Frame

13. Background music

14. Outline

15. Texture

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[Critique 1] Beyond Two Souls - Cinematic Game Design: Refined

The French studio Quantic Dream (spearheaded by game designer and lead writer David Cage) has always strived to bring narrative-driven cinematic experiences to players. Their latest title Beyond: Two Souls continues this evolution in cinematic gameplay.

Exclusively released on Playstation 3 (and a remaster for digital download on Playstation 4) Beyond: Two Souls’ plot tells the story of Jodie Holmes, a girl who’s linked to a mysterious lifeform called Aiden. While invisible to the naked eye, this spirit-like entity can manipulate the environment, effectively giving Jodie superpowers. However, Aiden’s own needs sometimes conflict with that of Jodie. The outcome of Jodie’s and Aiden’s relationship as well as the wider world is determined by player choice. This relationship can be taken more literally if players choose to play the game in co-op mode, one person as Jodie, the other as Aiden which can result in some interesting results.

Building upon the foundations set by Heavy Rain and Fahrenheit, controlling protagonist and main P-C Jodie is presented from a third person perspective. These environments mostly consist of small, compact spaces filled with objects that can be interacted with. Often, she will require the assistance of Aiden, which is controlled from a first person perspective, he can fly through the levels and get to places that Jodie can’t. He can also possess and interact with certain NPCs scattered throughout the environments. These powers provide a significant boost to the interaction the player has when compared to previous Quantic Dream titles. Overall, the level of agency given to the player in typical gameplay is appropriate for the kind of game this is.

Dialogue is perhaps not used as extensively as it was in Heavy Rain, but is presented in a very similar style. Minimalist HUD elements show a one word summary of the type of response the player can give, along with a designated button to press. These can alter in appearance depending on how Jodie is feeling or the intensity of the situation she’s in, these options are also time-limited, allowing the conversations’ pacing to remain consistent.

Often, Jodie will find herself in a bit of trouble, and these interactive cutscenes require the player to complete a set of quick-time events to successfully escape or win a fight. This is where the game’s UI design shines. In previous Quantic Dream titles, the game would show arrows which the player must replicate with the right stick on their controller. In Beyond, there are points where the action slows down, and players push the right stick in the same direction that Jodie is about to move. It’s an incredibly intuitive system and (more importantly) it works. The lack of game-over screens also ensures a high level of tension during such encounters as failures will carry through the rest of the story.

All of this is presented with (for its time) ground-breaking rendering technologies thanks to Quantic Dream’s in-house game engine. Bokeh depth of field, volumetric lighting, advanced particles and subsurface scattering all come together to produce what is arguably the most graphically impressive game on Playstation 3. This is complemented by excellent facial/full body motion capture that still holds up to this day.

Beyond: Two Souls is a well-crafted example of how “games like movies” should be done, albeit with one major caveat. While exceptional in both presentation and gameplay mechanics, and acting leads Ellen Paige and Willem Dafoe give great performances. The underlying plot is all over the place and the script often provides wonky dialogue and exposition. It’s a shame that a game so narratively focused would fail at this most crucial hurdle. It’s still a fairly enjoyable 7-8 hour experience that I’d only recommend to fans of David Cage’s previous works or adventure game fans looking for something a little different.

By Robert J Harper

Glossary usage:

1 . Agency

2. Cutscene

3. Controller

4. Download

5. First person perspective

6. Game engine.

7. Game designer

8. Level

9. Mechanics

10. Narrative driven

11. NPC

12. Plot

13. Protagonist

14. P-C

15. Third person perspective