Here's my quick little follow up post about Braid.
People, myself included, tend to gravitate towards games like Braid in the "Games as Art" discussion, probably due to it's unique visual style, gorgeous musical selections, indedpendent game vibe, and all around pretentiousness of it's creator, Jonathan Blow. Not that those elements are untrue in the argument, but to me Braid rests in the Art category for the way that everything comes together, particularly the gameplay and the narrative.
Braid's gameplay is a simple puzzle platformer, with a layered time-rewind mechanic, creating some of the most "outside the box" puzzle design ever, some to a difficult point of feeling cheap and frustrating. Braid's story is an ambiguous tale about regret, love, selfishness, a princess, and... wait, did they mention the Manhattan Project? Both of these things are woven into each other in such a beautiful way, that the game acts as a visual metaphor for the story (whichever one stands out to the individual player), and at times, the story itself is created and manipulated by the actions that transpire in the game. Once you have played, or seen the game played, it's a little easier to grasp the concept.
Braid breaks some new ground in my opinion, for this beautiful synthesis of these two common game elements. Some games use the gameplay to drive the story forward (like Halo, where the events of the narrative are moved forward by successful play) and others use the story to justify gameplay elements (like in Assassin's Creed, where you don't die, but get desynchronized, justifying the death of the protagonist). Almost like a mobius strip, Braid uses each element to support the other. The narrative isn't as neatly placed in the game as some do, requiring the player to read books in the game to put a context on their actions, but it work's well enough for a 2D platformer.
Braid isn't perfect by any standard, but it's homegrown charm, sublime musical selection, and solid game/story blending, it's worth a look at least. I'm curious about other's thoughts about how their games tell stories, or even if you think they should. Games have so many similarities to other storytelling mediums, it's almost hard to say that one works particularly well over another, but their power as a storytelling device is undisputed... I think. Do games even have a place telling stories, or are they just ripping off other art forms the whole time?
Thanks for reading.
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I really loved Braid's art style and the time dynamic but being the gamer that I am, I couldn't finish it as I got fed up with the puzzles. But I'm not much of a puzzle game player. But yeah, on the music and art style, the game was phenomenal.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was younger, I enjoyed games with deep stories but have moved to a more Story-As-Background player. Games like Oblivion or Fallout 3 where there is a story, sometimes a strong one, but with all the side missions or endless hours of running, the story becomes a background to a fleshed out game world. I don't like when the story becomes to "controlling" (*cough* Fable *cough*) where a game may force you to be imprisoned for 20 years or whatever. Also, when the great story completely replaces good gameplay, it can destroy a game, such as Alan Wake.
For me, gameplay is the essential part of a game. Graphics can enhance the gameplay and add to it just as a great story can but take away good gameplay, and you have an empty shell.
Okay...this is going to sound mean and it is TOTALLY not meant to be taken that way to the original post or anyone else, but....why the hell do we even care if games are art?
ReplyDeleteWhy do we need the validation of a hobby and past time we absolutely love from media outlets that look down their noses at gaming?
Movies used to be called trash too back in the day and now they're art. Same goes for rock and roll and various other media outlets, but why the hell should we, as the player, care?
If it's fun then why can't it just be about fun and pretty to look at and just stop there? It seems like gamers in general are so offended when Roger Ebert (who recently did admit that games CAN be art) who is a friggin movie critic knocks on games. Who cares?!
I just read an astounding article by Kev Levine (you know...the guy that created System Shock and Bioshock) talking about why we shouldn't give a shit about what others think of what we love. Why do we need their validation?
Some of the most moving movies I've ever seen are just that....movies. Same goes for games and music. Sure it can be "art", but my goodness I'm tired of hearing and reading about it because in the end....the thing you're arguing about is no better or worse if it's "art" or not.
Gamers need to get over this and by the way....the Mona Lisa is not art.
While I do agree with you, 3N3MY, that the debate about "games as art" is getting old and I'm a little tired of it too, that wasn't really the question here. It was, "Do games have a place telling stories?" I definitely think they can and do tell stories well and in slightly different manners than other media can.
ReplyDeleteI don't know if I can completely agree with what Kev Levine says because I really don't like the idea of people just shrugging off video games as a pointless waste of time. I don't see playing (good) video games as any different than watching a good movie or reading a good book as long as there is some kind of halfway decent story going on in the game. I can get just as invested in game characters and their stories as I can in a book or a movie. And I haven't even played most of the games from this generation that are known to have a great narrative (the Elder Scrolls, the Fallouts, the Mass Effects, KOTOR, etc).
The mediums are perceived differently, though, for some reason. And that does bother me. If I tell someone I read a good book or saw a great movie over the weekend they'd probably be interested and want to hear what it was. But if I said I dumped 25 hours into Mass Effect, the average person would probably be like, "Oh...ok...nerd. Why don't you get outside and exercise or something?"
Sorry...I got on my soap box for a second.
ReplyDeleteI absolutely agree that games can and should tell stories. I'm pretty sure that there are very few "original" ideas anymore (or maybe I'm just too uncreative to come up with one?) so I think it's fair to say that all media rips off the others from time to time, but I think video games have the most potential for a complete story telling package because of the interest the player has in the outcome of the game.
I applaud games like Half Life 2 where it doesn't spoon feed you anything about the story, but I do have to admit that I couldn't articulate the story to anyone very well unless I did outside research.
I guess I like the Dead Space and HALO narrative the best. I especially like the mystery involved in Dead Space and the fact that there is a ton of content as well in the forms of movies, graphic novels and books. HALO obviously has a ton of content too, but the mystery of "the marker" in Dead Space keeps me on the edge.
P.S. I do appreciate what Braid did as far as games go, but that story was a mess and anything that purposefully convoluted can pretty much lick me.
ReplyDeleteJonathan Blow is an ass and his "story" is evidence to how high and mighty he really thinks he is. I bet he couldn't even explain his story. He'd just give the old "it's something different to everyone" explanation.
Yeah, I agree with 3N3MY about the story in Braid. As far as I was concerned, it was a Mario story. Princess gets captured. Go get her. The game could exist and be just as great (because of the gameplay/puzzles) without those books between the levels. Sorry to boil it down to something so simple, but the story did nothing for me in that game and I had no idea it was "about the Manhattan project" until I read it online. And when I did I said to myself, "Huh?"
ReplyDeleteWow, late to my own party.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Levine on the premise that we shouldn't make art specifically for people, and I'd need to read more of his stuff to go further with it, but even he can't sit on that high horse for very long - he's gotta make money off what he does. At some point, developers/designers *need* to care what other people think. Unless of course you have loads of money to (Jonathan) Blow, then go crazy and knock your socks off.
I've always been interested in the method that games choose to immerse the user, not specifically in the quality of story they produce. Games require something of the participant, be it a simple button pushes, a little waggle of a Wii remote, or creative input to when an NPC will live or die. These simple and complex requirements change the way a narrative is communicated. Not surprisingly, this could help or hinder the games/story's quality.
As for specifics, the "convoluted" nature of Braid's story is, I believe, not meant to be a strong revelation. Conversely, I don't think it's designed to mean nothing at all. Like so much media before it, some of it is created to make someone think, discuss, debate, or philosophize. Sometimes this upsets people. I remember a piece I saw at the Art Institute in Chicago that was just a pile of light bulbs on the ground, and how upset I was that someone got paid to lay them there. Was that the point of the work? I dunno, but I bet that artist would be pretty glad it got me thinking, even if it was in frustration.
Art, regardless in what form it takes, stirs something within who are as creative individuals... the fact that this discussion is happening right now, from neutral positions or high soap boxes, is evidence that something is going on that is about more than just "was it fun to play?".
I apologize if I come on a little thick with the Artsy stuff sometimes. Although I respect not caring about these concepts, Its something I'm really passionate for. And at the very least, I don't think games being socially respected as an art form is going to hurt anything... not any more than casual gesture gaming has already done, anyway.
Amateria:
ReplyDeleteI respect what you're saying and it does make sense, but if you read the article (I'll try to find it and transcribe it on here sometime soon) you'd see that Levine was writing from a point of frustration and not a high horse.
If you really think that games have to be respected as art to make money you'd be kidding yourself. Epic, Bungie, Infinity Ward, Capcom and oodles of others are swimming in money and have been for some time with no art debate up for grabs as far as Halo and Call of Duty are concerned. Also, do you really think Levine didn't make a killing off of Bioshock?
I'm passionate about game design as you are, but would rather have a solid gameplay experience over artful content. My excellent example is Shadow of the Colossus. What a mess. That game was truly spectacular and a total mess at the same time. I'd rather the artistic vision have suffered some to not have fought the controls the whole time. I would have actually finished the game had I not wanted to chuck my controller through the wall at every colossus. I'll never finish bosses 12-16.
Some of it is created to make people think and maybe that's the case with Braid, but I would just say I have the same feelings I would project on the light bulbs is how I feel about the story in Braid. It's almost like he finished all the maps in the game and threw in all the Mario references he could and was like, "hey I'll write a mess in here too." So he put those books in you can read that make no sense.
I know it's all down to preference, but I think Levine is right. We don't need the validation from other media. Games are as alive and strong as they've ever been and it will only continue to get bigger and bigger. Just like comic books (while still being considered nerdy to some) were the absolute lowest level of written word 50 years ago and now it's a respected art form.
Give it time, but until then lets all not try to force the art thing so much. It will come.
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ReplyDeleteAccidental glitched double post...sorry.
ReplyDeleteI feel a little misunderstood, and apparently I've been misunderstanding Levine as well.
ReplyDeleteI don't think that "Art" is the highest status games could ever achieved, but respecting it as a possible form needs to be a reality for the deeper future of the medium. I loved deep, thinking, artsy movies, but I also love to sit back and watch Happy Gilmore. We've got a full spectrum of potential with the games industry, but it's heavily weighted on one side right now, and it all revolves around a few words - fun and money.
I guess I want to see Games as a concept, expect more from themselves. It doesn't sound like Levine is giving the middle finger to the other forms, just encouraging games to be their own thing and do it well. I think it's the right way to go about it. Comics are respected now because they've proven themselves, but it only happened because the creators respected them first. I don't see that level of respect coming from many companies out there, even some of my favorite studios and titles to play.
As soon as I posted I wanted to agree with you more. Shadow of the Colossus is a great example. What the game had to offer was beautiful, but totally inaccessible from the horrible controls. A great example of how content can't compensate gameplay all the time. It's proof that it isn't a lost cause, and that even amongst the most artsy things in the field, my games will still be games. Get me that link to Levine, even in my email. I have a feeling I'll like what I read. No computer at work though. :(
ReplyDeletePosted the Levine story on the main page btw.
ReplyDeleteAll this art talk is making me want to just go shoot something... in game, I mean...
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting you say that, Juniper. I got to thinking about all these heady subjects, and the fun, action stuff is something too that makes games unique. A painting, book, or movie could all be shared in groups, individually, corporately, etc., but how many other art forms out there can provide an engaging experience, significantly designed to be shared with multiple individuals. It's hard for me to think about Halo's storyline without reminiscing on the countless hours working through Assault on the Control Room on Legendary in my buddies dark, smelly basement. It may not always be artsy, but the good stuff is a pretty cool shared experience.
ReplyDeleteVery true! Some of my favorite moments in gaming are just gaming with other people and blowing stuff up. A couple weeks, me and a clan buddy, JC, were playing BC2 on the fall map, Isla Inocentes. This jetski comes flying towards us (we're both sniping as defenders) and JC snipes the driver out, the jetski hits a rock and ramps over our heads and lands behind us! It was a scene straight out of an action movie!
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