Most commercial triple A video games are a waste of time. When I play video games I want to feel fulfilled, I want the experience of playing the game to feel unique and that it could have only been done or done best in this medium, I want it to make me feel things, I want its narrative to explore meaningful topics and be on par with the stories of other mediums like films and books and I want it to shape the way I think and the way I think about art like works of other mediums do, to have a lasting influence over me.
“Un Jardín Propio” is a multimedia, interactive web page project made by Ecuadorian investigator María Rafaela Palacios Correa and Mexican artist Casandra Sabag Hillen. The web page showcases the cosmovision of indigenous people of the Cañar province in the southern Andes of Ecuador. The page mostly focuses on the ancestral knowledge of its indigenous population about botanical medicine, which is still being used. The web page also has many recipes for all your natural botanical medicine needs. The page is currently only in Spanish but for those that want some background into the history of the Cañar people I wrote the following introduction into their history:
What Remains of Edith Finch surprised me because at certain moments I witnessed a boundary moving creativity for this medium. Throughout the game you play various small vignettes that tell the story of different characters and each vignette has something that makes it stand apart from the others mostly through the mechanics or the visual style. The way that Giant Sparrow, the development team, connects the input from the controllers, mouse and keyboard, with the game mechanics, and the mechanics connect with the story narrative, create a surprisingly strong connection between the player and the character he is supposed to inhabit for that section of the game. When it works well you experience a unique emotional connection with the computer character, like when you play the guy working at the fish tannery.
Created by William Chyr (game developer and installation artist) Manifold Gerden boast a detailed and hypnotic Escher visual style. The game looks like a cerebral puzzle game blended with some first person exploration gameplay.
This list will highlight in no particular order the games that I am the most exited to play in 2017 (hopefully there are no delay). I think that the games I have picked show interesting, original and innovative: visual art styles, narratives and mechanics.
The video game industry has become predictable and most games done by the big publishers are sequels to successful franchises.
In recent years the indie movement has created the most personal, artistic, innovative and creative games. The indie movement has revitalized the range of experiences that can be played in video games. Big publisher games must make a profit and thus take no risks. The independent developers are taking the risks necessary to advance the medium into territories not yet explored. Most people when they think about independently made games think of: Cave Story, Braid, Journey, Limbo, Minecraft, Gone Home and Super Meat Boy, all of which have been important in establishing an independent movement and showing that the tools are available for anyone to create their own games, and that there is a marketplace for different types of video game experiences.
Knuckle Sandwich is an turn based JRPG indie game by developer Andrew Brophy, based in Australia. The game takes place in a contemporary western city and features many wacky characters and a chiptune soundtrack by Gyms and Captain Beard. This game is heavily influenced from the Mother/Earthbound franchise and Undertale. This game is also coming out in a period of a trend of Earthbound-like games by indie developers: Lisa released in 2013, Citizens of Earth in 2015 and Undertale in 2015. All of those game have gone on to receive critical and fan acclaim worldwide. “Muse: Together Is the New Alone” is another upcoming Earthbound like game by Baiyon, art director of “PixelJunk Eden”.
Pokémon Sun and Moon is the new and seventh generation game of the franchise, the second one on Nintendo 3DS handhelds. Developed by Game freak, and releasing worldwide November 18 as commemorations for the franchises 20th anniversary. Hawaii is the new setting for this generation and the name of the region “Alola”.
