July Modern Community Playthrough - PC Indie Mix

[Disposed Hero]

I finished Gone Home over the weekend.  It's an interesting game.  I was put off by it at first because not much really happens.  I found it really boring.  But about half way through, I started getting more interested in the story and really cared about the characters.  The game tells a nice story, and it stuck with me for a while after playing it.  It actually made me feel kinda depressed, but I think if a game can stir any real emotion in the player (other than extreme frustration, of course), then it's doing something right.

i felt the same way during certain moments of it, though at the beginning i wasn't bored but creeped out. i thought it was supposed to be a scary game and kept expecting jump scares, but there was nothing except my imagination.

Yeah, it definitely has a creepy atmosphere.  I made the mistake of looking at some user reviews on Steam before I played the game, and some asswipes decided to spoil the story just because they didn't like it, so I pretty much knew what to expect.

[noiseredux]

I do have Dear Esther which I've yet to play.

I feel like Minecraft is too expensive, because I don't think I'd be so into it after the month is over.

[techwizard]

@disposed that really sucks, that's exactly why i try to avoid reviews before i play a game...i read reviews to see what people thought after i've already formed my own opinion, not as a deciding factor in whether or not i'll play something.

@noiseredux awesome! Dear Esther is my favourite of the bunch this month. just make sure to hold off on discussing it until next week . Minecraft is a little pricy for what it is, but then at the same time if you have the motivation and creativity you can get way more than your money's worth out of it. i must have sunk hundreds of hours into it and i've never built anything really amazing. i think for me it's just a great game to relax to, especially on easier difficulties. you can just get lost exploring and mess around, no stressing over any goals if you don't want to. if you need storyline and structure to a game or even just goal oriented gameplay, which is totally understandable, then this probably isn't for you.

[noiseredux]

when are we allowed to start talking about Dear Esther?

[techwizard]

when are we allowed to start talking about Dear Esther?

normally for week 4 which starts on tuesday, but The Stanley Parable has been a dud for discussion so i'd say we could go ahead and discuss any of the four titles now.

edit: shutting down the minecraft server for a few hours to do the podcast episode 4 recording with less risk of skype lag.

[noiseredux]

started it up, but on vacation this week. Seems like a thinking game. Thinking and drinking don't mix...

[Disposed Hero]

I tried to play The Stanley Parable over the weekend, but I still need to download it to my gaming PC.  The bad news is that my WiFi adapter seems to be failing on me, making the download pretty much impossible until I get a replacement.

I'm pretty sure I already have Dear Esther downloaded, so I should be able to play that one no problem.

[techwizard]

that sucks disposed but at least you have one of them. you could always put in your thoughts later once you do get a chance to download the stanley parable, even if july is over by then.

[techwizard]

so what does everyone think of Dear Esther? this is one of my favourites for being a thinking game like disposed mentioned, the story is very open to interpretation.

also i've been in minecraft on and off, mostly with the girlfriend mining. unless i get inspired to build something specific, most of the time i really like to just explore caves and gather resources.

[singlebanana]

so what does everyone think of Dear Esther? this is one of my favourites for being a thinking game like disposed mentioned, the story is very open to interpretation.

I'm still unsure as to what to make of this game, and maybe that's the point. The thing I would ultimately question is, "Is this a game?" Seems like there's not a lot of gamesmanship, but more of a walkabout with inlays of narrative. I understand that you can use your flashlight and unlock messages, but there is nothing that I would call "gameplay." "Dear Esther" seems to be more along the lines of a virtual book.

With that said, I couldn't tear myself away from watching it. The narrative is super fragmented and I found myself wanting to continue in order to make some sense of it. Even with it over, I'm still not sure I've put a complete story together yet. I'm not one for tidy endings and I appreciate the experience and what it produced (still produces) in me mentally. A thinking man's/woman's game that will have you trying to unravel it for days.

[Fleach]

I believe that the narrator is in purgatory and the events of the game depict his path towards atonement and reconciliation. My take is that the narrative was involved in the car crash that took Esther's life and now the narrative is looking for closure and forgiveness.

I love the fragmented nature of the game. Nothing really makes sense, but all the clues and memories can be put together to string up a rough understanding of the game.

This is one of my favourite games. Going to have play it again for the playthrough.

[techwizard]

i agree with what Fleach said, and singlebanana i'd recommend watching it again from a different video because the dialogue you get each time you play will be different. not 100% different, there's still a good chunk of overlap, but it's definitely somewhat randomized.

[Disposed Hero]

I finally found time to play Dear Esther over the weekend.  I know you guys seem to love it, but I couldn't get into this one.  I found Gone Home to be much more interesting and entertaining.  I think I was put off by the fact that there is literally no gameplay to this one whatsoever, just walking.  And to make matters worse, I wasn't really following the story, and I didn't really care about it anyway.

The good news is that by some miracle my WiFi adapter on my gaming PC decided to spring back to life, and I was able to download The Stanley Parable.  I'm hoping to play through it some time within the next couple of days.

[techwizard]

And to make matters worse, I wasn't really following the story, and I didn't really care about it anyway.

there's the problem this "game" is much more like a virtual short story and if you aren't paying attention to the story you're not going to get anything out of it. the story is pretty interesting if you pay attention to it and piece together what's going on.

[Fleach]

http://ca.ign.com/article...y-people-hate-indie-games

This article is pretty relevant to this month's playthrough. I'm curious to see how other RF Genners respond to the author's claims.