HH

yep, and the fact that we're now living in the corporate-state world that first alienates Joel makes it all the more relevant and thought provoking.

but taking the Last of Us as an example, and forgiving the game-play elements that require suspension of disbelief, i think the story is executed brilliantly and is worthy of consideration in those terms alongside good literature and smart movies.

BUT the fact is, even being wholly appreciative of that, there were games i preferred this year, because of various other concerns, and to me, and I'm sure many others, stories in games could always take second place to these other concerns, be they game-play, or game-worlds, or interaction with other players, or whatever.

to me the real potential for storytelling in games lies with titles like FTL, and Eve Online, and other open-ended games, where the player is given responsibility for what happens, and what happens is unique to them. This is something that books and movies have no access to, and at the same time it does not rule out opportunities for in-depth characterization or writing in the world that's established.

If The Last of Us achieved greatness in storytelling this year, as far as I can see it really didn't make a huge amount of difference, because many of us are already preoccupied with our own role in these games, our own persona and influence, and I think it would be an opportunity missed if more developers didn't start taking advantage of that.

Last of Us, finishing up survivor run, and sizing it up for the ol' goty list.

if it's a game i'm eager to play i'll pay 60, the difference between that and 40 wouldn't matter to me that much, but i'd definitely be more willing to try stuff i'm not completely sold on straight away if they were put out at 40.

but i do wish retail and digital prices would align for good, sick of xbox live advertising older games as being on sale, when really they've just stopped being ridiculously overpriced, and are now the same as retail.

yeh, i'd say ignore the defaults, and judge it by the light level in the actual game - an enclosed unlit space should be impossible to see without torch or goggles.

not lost or corrupted, just stupidly handled... when i was getting into games, and i hadn't figured out yet the purpose of multiple save slots, i was playing Tomb Raider 2 on pc, was quite close to the end, and i hit save just as a ship's cook brought a wrench down on my head, killing me.

i must've reloaded it fifty times trying to roll out of the way, but in the end i had to start again.

i can still see the arc of that wrench.

i plan on doing my second run in english to pick up on those conversations, but i think a huge part of the appeal of the game is how distinctively russian it is, how grim the faces are, how resolute the characters, how accustomed to tragedy and winter, long before chernobyl was a thing the country was home to a pessimistic perseverance, and survival in the harshest of conditions, and this is all reflected in their language and manner of speech.

also it's just a damn gorgeous language to listen to. but yeah, it's a shame the background chats aren't subtitled.

@arbitrarywater: @thebluthcompany: yeah dragon age 2, spent 280 hours on my first - nightmare, force mage - playthrough, which i found so challenging i ended up running a 3 mage/1 rogue party, then about half that on my better prepared second - duelist bow rogue - run, and i'm currently lining up a - 2h or sword and shield, i haven't decided yet - warrior build for a third run.

like mass effect 3 the community seemed to go into a feeding frenzy over a couple of obvious flaws, but, also like ME3, the core game in there is pretty great, and foolishly overlooked.

i played it last week and really liked it, straight shooters are not usually my thing, but first time through i went ranger hardcore and with russian audio, found the air filter restraints a little frustrating in places, but really got sucked into how oppressive and distinctive and unique it's vision of the future was. ace atmosphere, will play again for sure.

@joshwent: wow, thanks for those links, fascinating stuff

this year's Tomb Raider, didn't like it much for the first half, and then i just went into a weird trance where i'd walk along a wall, watching her arm go up to push against it, and listening to the noises made underneath her feet, and that was it, hooked, played it really carefully and meticulously from then on, found all the hidden stuff except 2 things without looking up a guide, finished it three times so far.