Death – Interactive Digital Narratives

Death, Sharks, Localization

Cleaning up the town of Sharks involves a various step measure. First the streets and then the arcade. Real consequences presented themselves during the fight with Frank. Frank had two knives and then killed Ness! “Ness decided to return after summoning all the courage and energy he had.” I do not know how mustering up […]

After various multiple attempts Ness finally defeated Frank. However, a second battle takes place with Frankystein Mark II. That also took several attempts.

Frankystein Mark II

There were various important things to do that were overlooked over the course of the three gameplays. I had access to an ATM and I was carrying a debit card that my in game dad had loaned me. It contained about $210 but it felt as if though the amount would fluctuate. This was important as I was able to upgrade to stronger weapons with the new found allowance. The town of Onett has so much to offer yet I still felt completely lost.

When attempting to make sense of Ness’ adventure thus far, the comparison I can make is to the Grand Theft Auto franchise. Remove the bloody death scenes, stealing cars, sex and add a meteor and psychic abilities and you get Earthbound. You get the violence early on by “taming” wild animals and eventually the “Sharks.” But as an adult playing through it, I definitely know Ness was not a match for a gang leader with two pocket knifes and the alluded to gun earlier in the arcade.

The game does not take itself too serious which really makes Eagleland worth discovering. Sadly, the Earthbound series was a victim of translation problems, specifically lack of translation and localization of the final game in the series, Mother 3: “Nintendo’s American branch decided that translating the game would be too much work, and too expensive a project, given the limited audience they expected the game to have.” [1] The reason why this is a dilemma is because Earthbound has a great following as well as its potent ability to send the video game community into chaos at moments notice. [2] Maybe if Nintendo has any faith left, they might decide to translate after summoning all the courage and energy they have of attaining success with the localization.

In all its un-localized glory

1. Anna Anthropy, Rise of the Videogame Zinesters (New York: Seven Stories Press, 2012), 80.
2. Jason Schreier, “The Mother 3 Rumors Are Getting Intense,” Kotaku, February 4, 2016, http://kotaku.com/the-mother-3-rumors-are-getting-intense-1757072418.

Game Log #11 (Reflection): Summing it All Up

Looking on back on the various topics I discussed in my Game Logs, I am actually surprised by the lack of constant themes that tie my logs together. I find it pretty impressive that the games I chose were able to spawn unique topics of conversation that did not overlap with each other, especially when considering the fact that one of my games was Ratchet and Clank (not exactly a work renowned for its intellectual musings). There are some notable similarities, however, between some of the topics I discuss in my posts and posts authored by other members of the class. While on a base level this is perhaps not the most earth-shattering revelation, given the fact that as a group we studied the same topics and read many of the same assignments, I do find it interesting the Game Logs of my classmates actually serve to support some of my arguments and suggest that my posts were not simply incoherent ramblings.

For instance, Patrick’s post on death in Infinity Blade III relates to the concept of death in games that I discuss in Game Log #10, specifically in how we both explore how games can use death as a mechanic that ultimately leads to the development of a player’s skill. While Patrick tends to focus more on how this mechanic assisted his immersion in the gameplay, we both come to similar conclusions that death does not always act as a simple punishment for the player. Instead, it can provide a player with greater knowledge, skill, and power that will assist their next attempt. Another one of Patrick’s posts discusses the definition of a casual game in a way that mirrors my thoughts in Game Log #5, in that we both played iPhone games that defied the simplistic tropes tied to most mobile experiences. Several posts also discuss race in a manner that reflects some of the discussion I attempt to carry out in Game Log #6. Sam’s mention of potentially unintentional racial undertones in the intro of Grand Theft Auto V and Desmond’s exploration of Arab representation in Metal Gear Solid V point to the sort of conclusions I make concerning the depiction of Lee’s character in The Walking Dead.

I found Violet’s take on The Last of Us to be particularly intriguing. While her analysis tends to center around feminist critique, it also shares some interesting parallels to the popularity of zombie media I discuss in Game Log #7. I argue throughout my post that the recent decline in zombie games and the continued popularity of The Walking Dead can be attributed to a lack of public interest in the same old shoot-em-up gameplay that has characterized zombie games for years. The personal, human issues discussed in The Walking Dead are at the forefront of its appeal, with the apocalypse setting eventually fading into the background. I found it interesting that Violet’s distain for The Last of Us’ inability to accomplish anything interesting with its protagonists’ relationship resulted in her calling the game “another tired hyper-masculine experience.”

I am satisfied with the similarities that cross between my posts and the posts of my peers, as they allow me to fill in the gaps where my Game Logs fail to speak to each other. If I had to find a significant similarity that exists between two of my blogs, however, I would have to point to the personal anecdotes I use in Game Log #3’s discussion of Bioshock’s music and the gameplay of Halo I mention in Game Log #10. In both of these instances I used memories of my old gaming days that I had not thought of in years in order to prove my points. In writing Game Logs about them, I was able to determine what it was about these memories that made them so special to me in the first place. This was certainly an educational and valuable experience, as I was able to greater contextualize the joy I felt playing Bioshock and Halo for the first time all those years ago.

A New Way to Die

The part about Infinity Blade III, and the series as a whole, that I loved was that death was an explained and important part of the gameplay. If you die within the castle or level to a major enemy, you are dead for good and must restart. Instead of restarting with no explanation the game … Continue reading “A New Way to Die”

The part about Infinity Blade III, and the series as a whole, that I loved was that death was an explained and important part of the gameplay. If you die within the castle or level to a major enemy, you are dead for good and must restart. Instead of restarting with no explanation the game wove death into the story. In the first Infinity Blade you restart 20 years later with your new character saying “I will avenge you father.” Basically you are the son of your previous play through and you must attempt to beat the whole castle and take back the all-powerful sword that the main boss controls. If you beat the boss then the story says that you were meant to do this because you are not like the ancestors that came before you. This was all an interesting way to weave death into the gameplay.

In Infinity Blade III the story has been more flushed out and you are still playing as the character that killed the main boss in the first game. This time you have access to this machine that builds your body again whenever you die. Your immortal soul reenters the body and you try to beat the level again. All of this was so intricate and fascinating that it really helped me be more drawn to the gameplay. I did not feel as though I was simply replaying the same thing over and over like in a game such as Mario. Instead it all felt like a continuous story. This game changed how I viewed death in games.

Death is usually viewed as a break in the game. Where the game world ends briefly before restarting. The Infinity Blade games solve this with their integration of games into the story. By making the player feel as though they did not fail, but merely progressed they are less discouraged and want to continue playing the game. I only got stronger each time I died as I was able to level up and purchase better items. It felt like a necessary and useful part of the gameplay, whereas usually death works as a way to punish the player for a mistake.