Getting through the backlog

I have a one-game policy, mainly because I’m old and have a family and bills and taxes. So I basically just play The Finals every night. You’d think I’d be pretty good at The Finals by now!

You’d think.

My one-game policy is like any good policy, it’s a rough guideline. Here are the games I’ve been breaking my rule for lately.

Arc Raiders

Arc Raiders was my overtime for a while. Everyone goes to sleep, it’s Arc Raiders time. Stratospheric highs and the deepest, darkest lows. Every interaction a dance.

I like to think I’m pragmatic and principled, but Arc Raiders made me question that self truth. I see myself as a friendly raider! Sure, I’m here for me, but also for you. We’re in this together. But after getting shot in the back a few times... sorry friend, turns out I’m not feeling very friendly any more.

The game feels different these days — the magic is still there — but the racists, sociopaths and cheaters have well and truly arrived. So I stopped playing.

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33

I’m pretty sure Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 basically won every “Game of the year” award when it came out. It was hard to not hear good things, but all I knew going in was “cool game by small French team”.

Within the first few minutes I was like: “Oh my, yes, this is absolutely the most French game I’ve ever played” and switched to French voice acting, for the complete experience.

When the first combat tutorial popped up I closed my eyes and sighed. Turn based? Thanks, I hate it. But I persevered, and boy, did that pay off.

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is a complex, layered, superbly written and beautifully realised story about grief.

The voice acting and writing is just [chef’s kiss]. The combat ended up being... really fun!?? I ended up with around 40 hours under my belt, did the main story and team side missions. It felt like the game had a lot more to give, but I was ready to move on.

Mixtape

I don’t really pay close attention to the discourse, but from what I could tell, Mixtape released to widespread critical acclaim, followed by a somewhat predictable backlash from the “Gamers”.

Knowledge of a backlash was nestled in my mind for my play through. I was sure I’d be able to spot the moment that the “Gamers” didn’t like. As the credits rolled, I was like, what the hell? Why are people mad about this game? I went to sleep, and the next day I listened to the Mixtape soundtrack (it’s great). Turns out I’m not that interested in what the “Gamers” are angry about. I don’t have space in my life for that nonsense.

Was the game life changing? Not really! The main character is kinda annoying and pretentious, like, uh, I was? When I was a teenager? The friend group dynamic looks pretty straightforward on the surface, but body language shows it isn’t. And I really like how sometimes, the game isn’t interested in going into any of that (sorry Slater).

At some point, you end up drunk in a Blockbuster. The mission: pick out a few movies and get back to the car. At this point I was still playing the game like how I’ve been trained. Get task, do task, get reward. But as I’m stumbling through the store I bump into a shelf and tapes go flying. Finally! It only took half the bloody game, but finally, I got it. Yes! You can carefully walk in, pick the videos and move onto the next scene, but you’d be missing the entire point. You are a drunk teenager in a video store. The point is chaos! Teenage angst and confusion, rage and joy: The Video Game. After this, I started to really appreciate Mixtape a lot. I might not play it again, but that’s okay. I loved my handful of hours with it.

The backlog is a little smaller, my heart a little more full.

On to Pragmata!