So this is it for my first blog series, for now at least. Two reasons this blog has taken so long. First, I've been trying to figure out what I should be writing about. Second, I've been spending a lot of time working on finishing the answer for my next series. I'm happy to say, I have finished it today. To give you an idea of my planned schedule, here is my next few planned posts. Persona 3 FES Retrospective: The Journey (My Review of 'The Journey' section of the game), Anatomy of an Epilogue, and an analysis of the themes of P3. Now onto another game with a lot of depth to it's story, BioShock.

I played BioShock when it first came out a couple years ago, and it really left an impression on me. It made me realize that you actually tell a deep, adult story in a way that couldn't have been done by film or literature. It was also the first game I actually obtained the full 1000 points in. I played it through twice in just a couple of weekends. 

What made BioShock's story so compelling and unique? First, the setting. It's completely original and just feels so full of history. The environment has a history, and it shows. It's enhanced by the audio logs you find lying around. The Audio Logs are an amazing way to tell the history of Rapture and finding each one was a treat. Another thing that makes BioShock's tale unique is the way it tells its story. The game feels so cinematic, yet it does things no film could ever do. It is really one of the first stories completely unique to gaming. It doesn't make the mistake so many other games do, it doesn't try to explain everything. It doesn't have a random character tell you Big Daddies are dangerous, it shows you. There are so few interactions with other characters in the game that the story is really about a man trying to survive in a bad situation. The story gradually grows and grows until the tension reaches a fever pitch, and then the game throws the most surprising game twists I've ever seen. 

Than the game keeps going. This is the problem Sure, becoming a Big Daddy was awesome, but it didn't really feel necessary to the story and the game then moves on to one of the least satisfying final boss fights in game history before wrapping up with a fairly bland ending. This is really the games only fault, though. I love the enemy design. They manage to do a lot with very little. They never over power your character, though. Even at the end of the game, fighting a Big Daddy is still a tense experience. It's a lot easier than before, but one wrong move and you still could be in real trouble. Overall, it's the game's environment and story that make it unique and amazing and what make it one of the most fun games I've played this generation. I'm interested to see how they continue to make Rapture a mysterious place in BiShock 2. If they can't pull that off, I think they'll have a hell of a time living up to the original.