I’m considering reviewing some narrative games for my first assessment task.
Firstly, I tried ‘Coffee Talk‘ (Steam, n.d.-a) which is described as a “Visual Novel” (Steam, n.d.-a). I played for about 45 minutes and found it relaxing and amusing but the characters were dull and I found myself thinking, “if I were reading this, would I be interested?” the answer is no. It’s not as engaging a narrative as ‘Before The Coffee Gets Cold‘ (Pan Macmillan Australia, n.d.) and lacks the charming idiosyncratic characters of ‘Midnight Diner’ (Wikipedia contributors, 2023, May 21). I’ll probably save that for a rainy or sick day. Arguably, I’m applying a standard of interest or literary merit here.
Next up, I tried ‘Papers, Please‘ (Steam, n.d.-c) for 45 minutes or so. This one was quite stressful, if witty and ironic. You play as a border guard and, even with my limited exposure, it was clear that the rules would get increasingly complex and the moral dilemmas would start to stack up. This game has multiple possible endings and has been praised for teaching empathy and being artistic (Wikipedia contributors, 2023, June 21). It has some promise but I feel I’d need to give it a lot of time to fully experience it. More than a novel? I’m unsure! Some state it can take between 5 and 16 hours (How Long To Beat, n.d.)
Lastly, I gave ‘Legal Dungeon‘ (Steam, n.d.-b) a spin and completed the introductory case. This one is the most recent (2019) and it felt slick and intelligent. My own experience led me to see it as a kind of management simulation for police and legal investigation. I thought it was good but it wasn’t so much the literary experience for me, more of a training or tutorial.
After these ‘toe in the water’ experiences, I’m unsure if I want to use these as my subject of review. I may try some other games of this type but I feel like I’m looking for something that sits further away from games.
References
How Long To Beat. (n.d.). Papers please https://store.steampowered.com/app/914800/Coffee_Talk/
Wikipedia contributors. (2023, May 21). Midnight Diner (Japanese TV series). In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 11:28, July 24, 2023, from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Midnight_Diner_(Japanese_TV_series)&oldid=1156091185
Wikipedia contributors. (2023, June 21). Papers, Please. In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 11:16, July 24, 2023, from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Papers,_Please&oldid=1161158207
Pan Macmillan Australia. (n.d.). Before the coffee gets cold. https://www.panmacmillan.com.au/9781529029581/
Steam. (n.d.-a). Coffee talk. https://store.steampowered.com/app/914800/Coffee_Talk/
Steam. (n.d.-b). Legal dungeon. https://store.steampowered.com/app/1013750/Legal_Dungeon/
Steam. (n.d.-c). Papers please. https://store.steampowered.com/app/239030/Papers_Please/