I've been catching up with some games I buy for the kids, and recently played Planet of Lana and Gris on the switch. Both show an interesting trend, in that they're very beautiful games, but strangely empty.
I notice this in particular with the first, because it reminds me a lot in how the character steers of @jmechner 's Prince of Persia, or Flashback. And compared to either of these games, there is very little going on in each screen in terms of obstacles or puzzles.
... seemingly endless stretches of landscape that you just run through before you reach the next puzzle screen.
I mean, I'm not opposed to having those. They give a more relaxed flow to playing, and perhaps they also hide loading of assets or something.
When you unlock a new gimmick, it seems it gets used only a handful of times, though - and sometimes you replace everything that goes before with it, instead of adding to your repertoire (that's not so bad in the first of these two).
What I'm not trying to do here, by the way, is complain that the games are lacking. It's more that they seem to shift the focus from playing a game to experiencing an impeccably art directed entertainment experience, which is quite beautiful.
And as something of a trend (too small a sample size to call it that, I guess), I find it interesting.
I recall the first such "experience" game I played, Journey, was still more crunchy with regards to puzzles and obstacles. That's quite old now,...
Add comment