Limbo (AKA Fun isn't Interesting)

Well, after thinking over my options for three milliseconds, I've decided not to review Limbo. And not simply because I don't want to review it.

Oh wait. That is the reason.

And now that I've gotten the "this is not a review" bit out of the way, I want to say that I do though have something to say about Limbo, and here is what it is: Limbo isn't fun; but it is interesting.

That it is interesting is why we play it.

Limbo is this word "interesting" because of its artwork and its puzzles. It is its artwork that makes you ponder the unhappiness that is your life until you get sex, and the puzzles that make you think the same. (For the record, I don't agree with what I've construed to be Limbo's message. Mainly because said message is a cliche! And all cliches are wrong! WRONG!! ALL CLICHES AND THEIR FAMILIES SHOULD BE RAPED TO PIECES BY MONKEYS!!) Some of you may argue that puzzles, as well, are not interesting to a lot of people. Okay. I agree with all of you; I myself actually think puzzles, in themselves, are boring, which probably discredits everything I have ever said about gaming.

But read the following before you close this page and never visit Stage Zero again!

In my very humble opinion: puzzles aren't anti-interesting. It's not like: "Oh, a puzzle...How boring. I'm going to go do something more interesting, like poison dart frog." Nope. It's more like a developer saying: "Oh, our gameplay or gimmick or whatever has suddenly reached the point of "too much." Let's throw in a puzzle!"

Yes. Puzzles, I am saying, are often just used as a pacing tool. But that's fine, right? Pacing is important. Without pacing, we have nothing....

ICO and Braid are Boring, Yet They Are Good

Ico was tedious. That's a less harsh way of saying "Ico was boring." I reviewed Ico in 2008, telling imaginary gamers to ignore Ico. All it gave me, I said, was a strong emotional experience which culminated in a perfect moment of crying happiness for the horned boy Ico and his obviously-girl-friend Yorda. Too much of the game was a pain. A strong emotional experience wasn't enough to justify eight hours of life.

But now I partially rescind that conclusion. I now think that fun was never the point of Ico and that condemning it because of its lack of fun is folly. I think the point of Ico was to show the world that a game could elicit a powerful emotional response from a gamer. And, of course, there were other concomitant goals, like: create a sublime, castle environment; make a(nother) game comprised of thought-provoking, brain-working-outing puzzles; throw in monotonous shadow monster battles in order to remind you not to stray too far from your mate; and that's it I think.

Ico reminds me of Ian Bogost's Procedural Rhetoric. Ico makes you suffer Ico's world, and you get cutscene rewards. Seeing all the stuff you do culminate into a non-procedural-rhetorikee cutscene of desperate loyalty and love, seeing what Ico is willing to suffer so a girl can have a chance at life, and seeing the final, beautiful ending sequence that is so incredibly touching that I'm not going to write it, is very much the point of this game.

And being fun is also not the point of Braid either. The point of Braid is to give you an excuse to drink wine while wearing a fez while playing a video game, in front of anti-video game wanks, just to show 'em. Braid's pretentious story-telling and 4th dimension puzzle-solving tools and pretty backgrounds and soothing music are ... nice? Yes! That's the word. They are nice. Except for the pretentious, unaffecting story-telling. (Insert Jonathan Blow sex joke)

One of my legs still stands by my Ico review though. Do NOT play Ico or Braid for enjoyment UNLESS you enjoy puzzles. You don't need to play Ico to see how a video game can make an emotional spark. VIDEO GAMES CAN MAKE YOU CRY (and now you know). Braid has a brilliant ending sequence that is half play, half rewind (essentially a cutscene) that makes you think about good, evil, and desire. But hell. Why care? I certainly didn't go to sleep thinking about it, and you probably didn't either.

So yes, those two are good games.