SubJeff on 15/8/2012 at 08:09

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So you all know that I dig arty pretentious wank like Dear Ester, Flower, Journey. Oh, and more left-field games like Shadow of the Colossus. Well it looks like there is a slew of interesting stuff coming out for the PS family. Check these out:

(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NK6_QvdxyXQ) Tearaway - a Vita game with an inspired control scheme. And it looks great too.

(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0GECUR5Wgyc&feature=player_embedded) Puppeteer -you play a boy who has been turned into a puppet, in a puppet show. The game takes place on stage with the scenery changing, not you moving in the game world.

(http://kotaku.com/5934696/an-invisible-little-boy-finds-himself-in-sonys-stunning-rain) Rain - a 3rd person game about a boy who is transported to another world where he is invisible, and thus only visibile in the rain.

(http://kotaku.com/5934701/this-new-montage-of-the-last-of-us-mixes-bloody-violence-and-wistful-hank-williams) The Last of Us - we've had a thread about it before, but boy does it look good. An interesting idea, lets hope they do a good job.

(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nRyenmHvaFA&feature=player_embedded) Unfinished Swan - some sort of 1st person painting thing.

(http://kotaku.com/5934690/until-dawn-is-a-gorgeous-horror-game-that-uses-playstation-move) Until Dawn - a horror game that seems to be a little bit of a movie parody.

(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CAkUDP5ZqYY) Papo & Yo - I don't even know. Described by Kotaku as a "Metaphorical pseudo-memoir puzzle platformer." That's all you need to know, no?

No FPSs, no run of the mill 3rd person action games.

This is what gaming should be about, not just making you into a badder badass. Fwiw Journey, as short as it is, is now one of my favourite games. It's just so... dammnit, that game is spiritual, man.

Edit: How could I forget - (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zfPbJE6XDxg) Sound Shapes!!

Angel Dust on 15/8/2012 at 11:23

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Hmm, I don't know. I do like to play all kinds of games, especially ones that take chances, but stuff like Rain and Puppeteer just look like pretty standard games dressed up in 'arty' clothes. That kind of stuff still has value of course, but I'm much more interested in what someone like Ice-Pick Lodge, who try and push the game side as much as the aesthetics, are up to. Papa & Yo looks interesting though, so thanks for that one, and I'm looking forward to The Last Of Us too.

What I'd really like to see is developers using the FPP for more than just shooting dudes*. Frictional's work seems to have started/popularised a little trend in FPP horror games, with that upcoming game where you play as a toddler looking particularly interesting, but hopefully there are people out there trying to push it even further. In that regard, Jonathan Blow's The Witness looks like one to watch and the Chinese Room's Everybody's Gone to the Rapture will hopefully expand on what worked in Dear Esther (the mood and unhurried exploration), while dropping or drastically improving what didn't (would-be poetic prose and the 'sad trumpets').

* It has to be said though, that I'll always have time for a good FPS. Just like I'll always squeeze some Philip K. Dick/Jim Thompson in amongst my usual diet of classics and wankers like Gaddis/Markson/Wallace. Same goes for film; I like it all!

van HellSing on 15/8/2012 at 12:07

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The funniest thing is that there were no trumpets in Dear Esther, sad or otherwise.

Renault on 15/8/2012 at 13:44

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I'm looking forward to The Last Of Us too, but how does it qualify as a "Art Fag" game? It's basically Uncharted with an Apocalypse, right?

Renault on 15/8/2012 at 14:00

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OK fine, but that's still my point. TLOU looks good, but it doesn't look all that different, really. I mean, it's platforming and shooting zombies and thugs during an apocalypse. None of those ideas are exactly breaking new ground.

Again, not ripping on the game, I'm looking forward to it too. There's a reason zombies and "end of the world" scenarios are used so often, it's because they're interesting and fun.