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First Steps: Freedom in the Open World (Part 4)
Welcome to Part 4 of my “First Steps” project which focuses on restrictions, guidance, and freedom in the initial moments of open world games. You may find it helpful to visit Part 1 for an introduction to the project and an overview of my line of inquiry. In previous posts, I talked about The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim…
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First Steps: Freedom in the Open World (Part 1)
“Whenever we proceed from the known into the unknown we may hope to understand, but we may have to learn at the same time a new meaning of the word ‘understanding.” – Werner Heisenberg Welcome to the first post of many focusing on open world games! It’s a project I’ll be working on over the first…
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Map Appreciation
While playing Destiny 2 off and on last week, it occurred to me just how much I appreciate a well-designed game map. In general, I admire a variety of map styles but ones that have clean (uncluttered) design, make use of muted colors, and indicate levels of difficulty in subtle ways interest me the most.…
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Narrative Pull & Engagement: Horizon & Mass Effect: Andromeda
With the release of Horizon Zero Dawn and Mass Effect Andromeda (ME: A), March was a busy month for gaming. I’ve been playing ME:A since it released and have been enjoying the game overall (despite a few frustrations, gripes, and not feeling invested until more than a few hours in). Since Horizon was the last…
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Horizon Zero Dawn
“Damn wind. Never cared for being pushed around.” The above words, spoken by Aloy, perfectly register the impetus for the PlayStation exclusive Horizon Zero Dawn. To break Horizon down into a simple narrative would read as follows: in a world shared by humans and machines, a young outcast seeks her origins and the identity of…