Worth Reading: 11/17/2014

Patrick Klepek
Updated

I achieved a certain feeling of zen last night. While I was technically playing Assassin's Creed Unity, it's unclear if I was actually conscious for the experience. Hours were spent progressing through the story, but I can't really tell you what happened.

For the record, the reason I'm continuing to play Unity is two-fold. One, as part of my job, it's important to keep up with the biggest releases, even if you'd rather spend time elsewhere. Knowing where the conversation is going lets me ask the right questions in the future. Two, understanding why games are bad is just as critical as understanding why games are good.

If you're enjoying Unity, good on ya. I'm struggling to the finish line, but it's in sight. Plus, finishing Unity the night before Dragon Age: Inquisition launches feels like homework, and vacation is almost here.

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I don't know a thing about BioWare's Dragon Age universe. There are...elves? Dragons. I mean, it's called Dragon Age, so one assumes there are dragons running amok. There have been a few in the trailers, too. Being the third game in a lore-heavy series, Dragon Age: Inquisition is intimidating for all sorts of reasons. This time, the gameplay looks to have changed (evolved seems like the wrong word, as hardcore Origins fans might not like the new action-y gameplay) in a direction that's newb-friendly. In any case, Kotaku's Kirk Hamilton has an excellent guide for learning the ropes, providing an onramp to the game's nuanced world for people like me.

"Some of those sound weird. Let's start with elves. I like elves!

Cool. In Thedas, elves look more or less like the elves you've become familiar with in other fantasy stories. They're small, thin, have big eyes and pointy ears. They can use magic, and are often good with bows and arrows.

So, they're like Legolas?

Not really. I mean, a little. No. They're not really like Legolas.

I like Legolas.

Yeah, I mean. I like Legolas too.

That part where he shield-surfs down the stairs, you know?

It was pretty cool.

Okay, so what makes Dragon Age elves different?

Mostly, it's the way they're treated by the rest of the world. Elves have been grossly oppressed over the centuries, subjugated by just about every ruling human power. In cities, elves live in ghettos called alienages where they're denied access to the rest of the city and frequently live in filth and disease. They're not kept as slaves anymore outside of Tevinter, but they're often mistreated or fall into indentured servitude."

While Ubisoft's embargo for Assassin's Creed Unity was a bit shady, the nature of game reviews is definitely shifting. The Guardian's Keith Stuart points out how we're moving from a world in which games can be accurately judged on day one. Not every game is Destiny, but more and more games are interconnected in ways that make declarative statements a bit questionable. Stuart's most important line is about how critics are becoming tourist guides, a way to give players a sense of where a game stands at a fixed point in time. There's every reason to expect a game might be completely different in the months ahead. How do you score that?

"The industry is always telling us that games aren’t products anymore, they are services. You get the initial release, but after that, you get updates, downloadable content, new modes, missions and experiences … So what are you reviewing when a game comes out? Its potential? Its raw functionality? You are not reviewing the complete experience anymore.

Perhaps games reviewers should think of themselves more like TV critics from now on. When a game is released, it’s like the first episode in a new series: you review elements of that--the set-up, the acting, the direction--but you also assess the possibilities in a frank and open way. Games evolve now; they are shaped as much by player activity as by design ambitions. This is why YouTubers have become so popular and valuable--they are part of games and convey the ever-changing experience--they report from the frontline of engagement."

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