Inside

Retr0gamer

Pickpocket wrote: »

You wanted it to mean something. You were looking into the game for something of significance, for "importance, worth or stature", and then criticising the game because it wasn't there. You built the game up into something that I honestly don't think it was meant to be, then labelled it pretentious because the very things you sought weren't present.

At least that's how I see it.

No. I didn't go in looking for a meaning to it. But I felt without it it was a decent puzzle game with some badly designed puzzles later on. And then there's the sense of gravity around the ending which was ultimately meaningless.

Pickpocket

Retr0gamer wrote: »

And then there's the sense of gravity around the ending which was ultimately meaningless.

There you are looking for meaning again. I'm not saying that's not important. Of course it is. It just strikes me that your issues with the game come back to some supposed importance that it ought to have delivered on. Clearly the game is about something, but I don't feel that the overall execution was poor, much less a product of pretentiousness.

Anyway, you didn't like the game. Fair enough.

johnny_ultimate

Kill Screen named it their game of the year, and I agree wholeheartedly with what they wrote about it:

The clues never stop. But the answer still doesn’t come. It’s likely that there isn’t one. Inside makes a canvas out of its ambiguity. What you see in it is a reflection of your own worldview. Some might see it as an essay on the modern Orwellian circumstance. Others will remember it as a videogame about videogames. Perhaps the only certain statement that can be said is that it’s an exercise on control. And an exquisite one at that.

Inside, if anything, a testament to the value of truly great mood and atmosphere building. As I said in an earlier post, I think you can poke at Inside and definitely find things the game is about - some vague, some a little deeper. It has almost certainly been designed to elicit discussion - hints for those who just want to find out a little more about the literal plot, and fodder for those keen to dig deeper into its philosophical or thematic intentions.

But really that's of secondary to me compared to the sheer fluidity and artfulness of its design. The sense of dread it conjures up; the stark beauty of the art design; the polish and thought put into every interaction the player character makes with the world. Formally it is a masterpiece, the art and sound design near peerless. It is pretty much wordless - and the absence of explicit explanation achieves the impressive trick of being both intensely evocative and deeply mysterious. It's gloriously visceral in the moment, but also one of the few games that truly understands the power of ambiguity and absence.

Style over substance is a critical cliché I don't like much. Especially because sometimes the style can be so accomplished that it really and truly is the substance at the same time. There's a few examples of that sort of thing in film: Eraserhead, Tetsuo: The Iron Man, more recent films like Under the Skin or Evolution. There's 'stuff' going on in all of those films to varying degrees, of course, and all are friendly to interpretation and analysis. But even if there wasn't, the sheer confidence of the form carries the work even if you don't choose to pick them apart. That's a real rarity in games, and Inside is one of the few I would genuinely feel confident putting in that category.

Retr0gamer

Pickpocket wrote: »

There you are looking for meaning again. I'm not saying that's not important. Of course it is. It just strikes me that your issues with the game come back to some supposed importance that it ought to have delivered on. Clearly the game is about something, but I don't feel that the overall execution was poor, much less a product of pretentiousness.

Anyway, you didn't like the game. Fair enough.

No I wasn't looking for meaning. What's wrong is that without it it's just a decent puzzle game with nice art. And as a puzzle game it kind of fails at that a few times before the end.

Pickpocket

Retr0gamer wrote: »

I found Limbo to be pretentious rubbish

Retr0gamer wrote: »

many puzzle elements hidden from the player to make them tougher than they actually were

Retr0gamer wrote: »

What's wrong is that without it it's just a decent puzzle game with nice art.

Retr0gamer wrote: »

It meant nothing and was ultimately vapid

So Limbo is fundamentally a (artificially) "tough", "decent puzzle game" with "nice art", but it's still "vapid", "pretentious rubbish" because it failed to deliver on a more meaningful level, bearing in mind that it's the developers attempt at meaning that makes it pretentious.

I think you know how ridiculous that sounds but I'm not gonna kick a man when he's down. I'll leave it at that.

Retr0gamer

Try not taking my quotes out of context and putting words in my mouth next time.

Pickpocket

Retr0gamer wrote: »

Try not taking my quotes out of context and putting words in my mouth next time.

I'm perfectly happy with how I formulated that post.

pablomakaveli

Just finished playing this. Really impressed. Loved the minimalist approach and not spoonfeeding the story to the player. It's the first game I've played in ages that creates a really tense and uneasy atmosphere and that made it more enjoyable experience.

Also really loved the human wrecking ball bit at the end. It was very WTF but also a very fun way to end it.

Zero-Cool

Playdead tweeted a screenshot of their next game. Looks like it's set in space. I ****ing hope it's set in space! and also hope it's not delayed on PS4!

https://twitter.com/Playdead/status/822455316277239809

Billy86

Just got this earlier this evening and have barely been able to put it down. This is incredible, the look, sound and feel for something so minimalist are just amazing. And I

just encountered some freaky zombie baby/troll doll in the water!? :eek: took a little bit to figure that one out!

Pickpocket

Billy86 wrote: »

Just got this earlier this evening and have barely been able to put it down. This is incredible, the look, sound and feel for something so minimalist are just amazing. And I

just encountered some freaky zombie baby/troll doll in the water!? :eek: took a little bit to figure that one out!

[/quote]

Take my advice and make sure you finish the game late at night, or, even better, well into the early hours. You'll thank me when it's over.

BelovedAunt

I've just finished this game for the fourth time after picking it up on the psn sale. If anyone hasn't picked it up yet, €8 is a brilliant price for it.