[Steam] Thread XXXIII: The only winning move is not to play

[Cristo Meyers]

Just completed it myself and I pretty much agree with every word of this review.

In addition to Cristo Meyers' theory regarding the hate levelled at the game, I'd think it's also a substantial amount of buyer's remorse - I would be very hard pressed to recommend this at full price.
I picked it up in the sale for £5.09, which I think is about the right price point for the amount of time invested (about 3 hours) and the replay value (none).

Oh, same here. I picked it up on sale I think around Thanksgiving, somewhere around 7$US I believe, and that's definitely the top of what I'd pay for it. If you're unsure and it's not on sale for around $5US, then wait.

Alternatively, never listen to the hype and go into a game cold.

I missed all the hype so had no expectations going in aside from the trailer which doesn't mention any horror element (the launch trailer bills it as a 'story exploration video game') and I quite enjoyed it, my caveat of the price tag still withstanding.

I double-checked the store page to be sure: there's absolutely nothing in there about it being a horror game. At most it's described as a mystery, which is completely accurate. It also flat-out says that there is no combat, no danger, and no puzzles. The only thing that points in that direction is that Gone Home was originally a mod for Amnesia, but again the store page makes it pretty clear that this is not a horror game.

Believe me, if I'd paid full price for it I'd be pretty put-out too. But anyone saying it was falsely billed as a horror game is inaccurate at best and it's compounded by the fact that there is plenty of criticism that could be leveled against the game and story, just not "it's a bad horror game."

Might as well say Assassin's Creed is a bad platformer.

[Volatar]

Might as well say Assassin's Creed is a bad platformer.

>_>

<_<

Assassin's Creed is my favorite platformer...

[Cristo Meyers]

>_>

<_<

Assassin's Creed is my favorite platformer...

Dating Sim, then

Either way, the point is that saying Gone Home is a bad horror game is criticizing it for doing something poorly that it never set out to do in the first place.

[Tavar]

I do! Haven't gotten past Act 1 though... basic thoughts: micro-focused top-down ARPG, but I like it more than a Diablo-style game or an old Zelda game. Also, soundtrack is amazing.

Using a controller gives more fluid movement, but you can still only aim in eight directions...

Edit: ...Unless, of course, you go to controls and turn that off. >_<

Can you explain what you mean by micro?

Also, how good is the multiplayer aspect?

[Hiro Protagonest]

Can you explain what you mean by micro?

Also, how good is the multiplayer aspect?

Basically combat is just that you've got a button to attack, and a button to do a special attack that takes mana. Your character is fairly fragile though. Your health doesn't regenerate and aside from a finite number of healing items (I'm not even sure if the rare monster drop is random or if it was programmed for that specific one to drop it) it's very rare (although if you get a combo from a combo vendor and then buy the "regen health during combo effect" upgrade that works). You have to kite, a lot, even with the paladin (this is why my favorite class is wizard and my least favorite is warlock).

I have no idea, I haven't done multiplayer. But from what I've seen on videos there appears to be no changes to the dungeons, they become easier but healing is even rarer.

[Tavar]

Sounds interesting.

Oh, and for anyone interested: I have some 1's, 3's, and 6's. They're pretty much up for grabs at this point.

[Grif]

So uh. I have a set of 10 Snow Globe cards. I figured I may as well try to get a badge before the time limit.

Currently have #1, #5, #8 and #9 extra, and looking for #2, #3, #6 and #7.

[Brother Oni]

Dating Sim, then

Given that you can find Ezio's belt near where the brothel used to be in Monteriggoni, it was probably a fairly simple dating sim of 'pay money and get best ending', at least for that night.

[Trixie]

Sigh, so I miss several snow cards to 10 now I guess. I wonder if someone doesn't need theirs and wouldn't want to trade for them, or alternatively, if I have any you miss I can swap to help you get your own set. My steam ID in sig if you doesn't have me yet.

[Morty]

Is there any tangible benefit for completing the set of cards?

[Antonok]

Is there any tangible benefit for completing the set of cards?

craft a badge and get xp? only thing I know of

[Rawhide]

Is there any tangible benefit for completing the set of cards?

Not really. You get an emoticon, a wallpaper, and an in game item for one of a bunch of free to plays. You also get 100 XP towards Steam's XP system. Levelling up in there lets you make cosmetic changes to your profile page. It's kinda lame, really.

---

That said, I'm still looking for a couple for people I know.

Need:
2, 4

Have to give:
7, 8

[Trixie]

I have 4 and 6, I think.

[Tavar]

Going up a level does give you better chances for getting some things, mainly getting more cards for games(and if you complete a set you can also get cupons and items). I agree with the idea that it isn't much.

You can sell the cards, and basically get money that can only be spent on steam(cards don't sell for much, but it can add up).

[Infernally Clay]

Or if you enjoy a good story. You don't have to be so derogatory.

I feel I actually do need to be. The problem many seem to forget is that these are supposed to be video games. While a great story is something that would never negatively affect a game, the fact is that many developers are so engrossed in telling a good story that they forget to make a good video game as well. It's not just software like Gone Home or Dear Esther, but also big budget titles like Beyond: Two Souls or Spec Ops: The Line - they may tell good stories but they're awful video games and that negatively affects everything. If you're not enjoying the game or getting frustrated with it because there's no substance or actual gameplay, the very story they're trying to tell is going to be lost on you.

That's the main reason Gone Home is so divisive. You literally spend the entire game walking around an empty house. You're paying £15 to walk around an empty house and have a story told to you. The interactivity is minimal, there is no skill required to progress and there is absolutely no replayability because even the story they're trying to tell can really only be experienced in the intended way once. Had they added an actual gameplay element, such as puzzles or an enemy you must avoid while piecing together the story, then it would have been a much better video game.

[Hiro Protagonest]

Actually, the gameplay in Spec Ops and Beyond Two Souls fits them perfectly. Spec Ops: The Line is a perfectly mediocre third-person cover shooter, and is meant to be a deconstruction. It's supposed to be an experience. The idea that you can't have crappy gameplay in a deconstruction of a game genre is like saying you can't have crappy story in a deconstruction of a movie genre. The problem is whether you think of story-affecting choices, like the ones available in Beyond Two Souls or The Stanley Parable, as gameplay. Because you certainly couldn't achieve these in movies, yet it doesn't feel like you're playing a game. We really just need a new name for the medium (one that isn't just bland like "interactive experience").

[Brother Oni]

I feel I actually do need to be. The problem many seem to forget is that these are supposed to be video games.

The problem is that 'video game' is an extremely vague term. The dictionary definition is "a game played by electronically manipulating images produced by a computer program on a monitor or other display", which covers everything from Crysis 2 to a Game and Watch handheld.

As you've mentioned, some people don't think the Gone Home genre are video games, others do. If you feel that the dictionary definition is obsolete, what would your new definition be?

We really just need a new name for the medium (one that isn't just bland like "interactive experience").

You could always use Interactive Fiction if you don't think the already existing Visual Novel genre is suitable.

[Hiro Protagonest]

I don't like Visual Novel. That sounds like a name for comic books or an alternative name for movies.

[Brother Oni]

I don't like Visual Novel. That sounds like a name for comic books or an alternative name for movies.

Yeah, I don't like it much either since it has entirely the wrong meaning in English, even if the actual genre fits things like Gone Home to a T.

Edit: Hmm, I just got a 50% off voucher for vanilla Crusader Kings 2. Given what I've spent in the recent sales, I can't justify another game (nor do I have the hard drive space), so it's going free to a good home.

Edit2: Valid until 1st Feb 2014 08:01:00 GMT

[IthilanorStPete]

I like the term Interactive Fiction, myself; it pretty well encapsulates the genre.

[Triscuitable]

I don't like Visual Novel. That sounds like a name for comic books or an alternative name for movies.

It's literally a novel with pictures. Most of the time with music, some of the time with voice acting. Games like Phoenix Wright (which is a pretty big step away from the genre, in that it's very interactive, but still entirely reliant on text), Saya no Uta (a short but bittersweet VN with only three choices in its entire 3-4 hour duration), and Fate/stay night (the infamous 80-hour epic with three routes the length of a long visual novel and more text than your average Stephen King doorstopper) are good examples of a visual novel.

Calling Gone Home a visual novel is like calling The Walking Dead an action game. The actual elements from the genre that you're trying to argue that are present within the game are so thin, that you might as well just give up. Gone Home is an adventure game. A short one, yes, but it fits the description nicely.

[Forbiddenwar]

TB had a recent video discussing what constitutes a video game. I can't find it now, but I think the heart of it was interactivity and failure states. On that basis, which I agree on, neither Dear Esther, Gone Home nor The Stanley Parable is a game. But whatever they are, I enjoy them. TB called them interactive narrative or interactive art exhibits. Works for me.

[Trixie]

Going up a level does give you better chances for getting some things, mainly getting more cards for games(and if you complete a set you can also get cupons and items).

Actually, you no longer get coupons.

Also, guys, check this out

[Triscuitable]

TB had a recent video discussing what constitutes a video game. I can't find it now, but I think the heart of it was interactivity and failure states. On that basis, which I agree on, neither Dear Esther, Gone Home nor The Stanley Parable is a game. But whatever they are, I enjoy them. TB called them interactive narrative or interactive art exhibits. Works for me.

If in a piece of software, by interacting with something it changes in a way that you directed it to happen, either advancing a story or changing the actors (whether they're beings or otherwise), then it is a game.

You can say Gone Home isn't a game. It is just as much a game as Super Mario Bros. is. It's meant to occupy you while being an interactive medium. Movies can't do that. Music can't do that. TV can't do that. Only video games can do that.

It doesn't matter what TotalBiscuit says. I respect his opinions, but I find it extremely silly when somebody tries to change how something is perceived when it was already clear what it was in the first place.

[Hiro Protagonest]

TB had a recent video discussing what constitutes a video game. I can't find it now, but I think the heart of it was interactivity and failure states. On that basis, which I agree on, neither Dear Esther, Gone Home nor The Stanley Parable is a game. But whatever they are, I enjoy them. TB called them interactive narrative or interactive art exhibits. Works for me.

If in a piece of software, by interacting with something it changes in a way that you directed it to happen, either advancing a story or changing the actors (whether they're beings or otherwise), then it is a game.

But we get into this messy debate of what is and isn't interactive. While TV shows and movies are probably exempt, due to the only interaction being to start it up in the first place, books are technically interactive. You turn the page to read the next part.

I'm with TB on this one. Stanley Parable is a game, it simply wouldn't work in movie or book format (except for CYOA, perhaps, but that would require a ton of pages), while Dear Esther could work in a largely unaltered state. Beyond Two Souls is kinda like a long movie, but there's simply too much cause-and-effect from player choices for it to be transitioned wholesale to that medium.

I loved Asura's Wrath. But I loved it for the story and the action scenes, not for the gameplay (it's actually a dead ringer for the TTRPG Exalted, right down to the fact that enemies don't actually have hitpoints ). I watched an uncommentated Let's Play on YouTube, I didn't play it myself.

Gone Home I haven't actually heard a lot about, so I don't know about it.

[Bayar]

Actually, you no longer get coupons.

Also, guys, check this out

This makes me sad in so many ways. Ways related to money mainly.

[Brother Oni]

I loved Asura's Wrath. But I loved it for the story and the action scenes, not for the gameplay (it's actually a dead ringer for the TTRPG Exalted, right down to the fact that enemies don't actually have hitpoints ). I watched an uncommentated Let's Play on YouTube, I didn't play it myself.

To be honest, it's actually better to watch it since while playing you're too busy hammering buttons or watching out for the QTEs to fully appreciate how completely over the top it is.

Gone Home I haven't actually heard a lot about, so I don't know about it.

It's currently on sale at the Humble Store for 6.80 USD if you feel like indulging.

[Tavar]

This makes me sad in so many ways. Ways related to money mainly.

Depending on the exact method, it could be more like a sockpuppet scheme. He has his main account, and then a bunch of feeder accounts, and uses the feeder accounts to get the free cards. Probably with some automation involved.

[Bayar]

Depending on the exact method, it could be more like a sockpuppet scheme. He has his main account, and then a bunch of feeder accounts, and uses the feeder accounts to get the free cards. Probably with some automation involved.

Considering he would need 3400 accounts at the minimum to get all the cards to gain that (not counting the cards you get by crafting the badge, that would drop it by about 212 accounts), it still is mindjarring.

[JabberwockySupafly]

So, globe trading. I've got a bunch of 3's, 4's, a spare 5 and a spare 7. I need 1, 6, 8 and 9 if anyone feels like trading. I've also got a 50% off Crusader Kings II coupon I'll never use, that's good until Feb 1, if that looks appealing to anyone for trade reasons.

Might help if I let you good folks know how to contact me. My Name on steam is the same as here, JabberwockySupafly.