Thirty Flights of Loving

SeantheMan

I hadn't heard of this until today.
Seems to be getting great reviews, although it appears to be "extremely short" , maybe too short to warrant the $5 on STEAM.
But they are all commenting on the story, and I did pay $10 for that 'Dear Esther' , so I may have to try it later


Has anyone played or tried it yet ?


http://blendogames.com/thirtyflightsofloving/

When I beat the absolutely wonderful Thirty Flights Of Loving over the weekend, I had precisely one immediate reaction: “Wait, what just happened?” I cannot even begin to tell you how much that excites me.
So why is it one of my absolute favorite games – and yes, I one hundred percent believe it’s a game – of the year? Because it made me think about what happened. No, scratch that. It required me to think.

Rock Paper Shotgun

The sense I get when playing it is that it’s made by someone who has spent a long, long time thinking about how to tell linear first-person stories, and who has found a new way to do it better than anyone else."

PC Gamer

"This is a game that packs more narrative punch into its first startling jump-cut than most can muster across an entire campaign."

Eurogamer

"What's truly impressive is the narrative weight and emotional impact it delivers in such a short span of time."

ign.com

spankmaster2000

Ironically enough, the very first game that springs to mind when comparing this, is in fact Dear Esther.

It's not anywhere near as pretty though. And is actually even shorter. And I didn't think it was as "revolutionary" as some reviews would suggest.

But, that said, I do recommend it. I enjoyed it, and it does leave you with a "huh?" feeling; wishing for more to dive into.

Plus, there's a quite nice developer commentary included.

johnny_ultimate

I've been really intrigued by the reviewers but alas there's no port for us pretentious hipster OSX users yet Must see if its playable in Wine, although seems like a lot of effort for fifteen minutes!

johnny_ultimate

Oh, actually that wasn't bad at all :pac:

Really interesting little game. Fascinating integration of cinematic language with game storytelling. A lot to wonder about. Must go back and check out the commentary!

SeantheMan

Bought it, finished it, it's a bit strange...but Ok. It is very short though.

The thing I liked most was the "developer commentary" part, where you could replay it and he gave insights as to why he did things certain ways, it also helped clear up the story somewhat (similar to L4D2/Portal)

johnny_ultimate

For anyone who bought the package, Gravity's Bone is well worth a go if you haven't tried it already. More traditional in some ways, but has the same tight storytelling and has a few unexpected twists to the first person formula...

I'm not sure what Thirty Flights of Loving should be defined as. It's almost an interactive experiment... I'd be extremely curious to see if the creator takes the 'shorthand' storytelling he established here and makes something larger out of it. I wouldn't like to see it in every game (it is traditionally cinematic rather than gaming language, after all), but it's a fascinating concept and could lead to some very rewarding experiences if integrated into other works.