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What are the best PC games that through narrative or gameplay comment on the state of games themselves?

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Sep 3, 2019

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5 Games Considered

Best PC games that through narrative or gameplay comment on the state of games themselves	Price	Genre	Platforms
-- Little Inferno	$9.99	Puzzle	Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Windows
-- Spec Ops: The Line	$29.99	-	-
-- NieR: Automata	$59.99	Action Role-Playing	Windows, PlayStation 4, Xbox One
-- Stanley Parable	$14.99	Adventure, Interactive Story	Windows, Linux, Mac
-- The Magic Circle	-	Action, Adventure, Puzzle	-

Little Inferno

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Top Pro

Wordplay-based puzzles add intrigue

Certain items may have odd properties or work together with other items to create unexpected results. A list of combinations, where the only hint is the name of the combination, gives the game another puzzle-like layer that you are required to solve to progress further. For example, a somewhat vague sentence (such as Wooden Block Combo) will be given and the player must analyse and choose the correct materials in order to process further. See More

Top Con

No puzzle diversity or large number of mechanics added

The gameplay mechanics in Little Inferno stay the same: you use the fireplace in order to burn materials and create combo's. Even when unlocking newer catalogs with new materials to burn, not much changes in terms of gameplay. The puzzle hints that are provided also are quite similar, which can make the game feel rather monotonous. See More

Specs

Top Pro

Delightfully warped

You spend most of your time throwing things in an ill-conceived invention for kids called the Little Inferno fireplace. By setting things on fire you get money that can be spent on more things to throw in the fireplace. There is a subtle plot that may make you re-evaluate your actions. See More

Top Con

Most of the time is spent waiting and not on puzzles

The game revolves around deliveries that take time to arrive to your fireplace. There are time constraints on these deliveries that force the player to wait, unless you purchase postage stamps by unlocking combo's. As such, most of the time played in the game will be in a more 'idle' situation waiting on the deliveries instead of actually using the deliveries to solve the puzzles. See More

Top Pro

Minimalistic, eerie puzzles, gameplay and narration pointing out how the games we play manipulate us

Top Con

The game is quite short

Little Inferno is a short game. On average, the main story takes a little bit over three hours to complete, while completionists need about four hours to explore everything. See More

Spec Ops: The Line

Top Pro

Gameplay keeps one on their toes

The gameplay is constantly changing with environmental effects to new enemies and weapons that they use. This keeps the player constantly learning and adjusting their playstyle in order to be successful. See More

Top Con

Multiplayer progression is lacking

While playing multiplayer modes there is a progression system where you can unlock new gear and weapons, though it feels a bit contrived and not that rewarding. See More

Specs

Steam Rating:Overwhelmingly Positive

Top Pro

A dark exploration of whether the player has a choice

It is up to the user on how the take in the meaning of the content of the game. There are no cutscenes, everything is portrayed by gameplay, which makes the interpretation somewhat personal. This type of presentation also explores whether the player has any choice in what they are doing in the game, which can be liberating while also weirdly strict. See More

Top Con

Little player agency

Almost an on-the-rails shooter means it reduces some of the impact of the points it makes. See More

NieR: Automata

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An incredible amount of gameplay

You can easily spend 60 plus hours exploring the world NieR: Automata, and still have much more to do. See More

Top Con

Buggy

Some players have been complaining about the game crashing, freezing, save files missing, etc. See More

Specs

Genre:Action Role-Playing

Top Pro

A unique take on storytelling leads to a very entertaining experience

NieR: Automata's outlook on storytelling is great: in order to get the full experience, you've got to do multiple playthroughs of the game. You unlock more chapters of the story as you complete the previous chapters more times: completing the first chapter twice will unlock the second chapter, then when you complete that you will unlock the third. When you begin, you play as an android known as YoRHA. However, subsequent playthroughs will allow you to choose different characters. This lets you experience the story from a different perspective. It's really interesting and certainly serves to make the game more fun overall. See More

Top Con

Random lag spikes

When walking into an abandoned city, or during cutscenes, you'll randomly experience lag from time to time. See More

Top Pro

Fast-paced and action packed combat

The combat in NieR: Automata is incredible. It has a very hack-and-slash feel to it, with an emphasis on agility and acrobatics. You will have to switch from using small, quick jabs with your weapon, to devastatingly strong attacks. You also have to utilize ranged attacks, as well as the companion that follows you around if you want to have any hope of surviving every encounter. It can be very difficult to win battles sometimes, but it also feels equally rewarding when you finally achieve victory. See More

Top Pro

It's got a hauntingly beautiful environment

NieR: Automata is set in an apocalyptic time where Earth has been overrun by robots, and the artists really nailed what that would feel like. Abandoned and overgrown cities litter the landscape along with old refineries, graveyards, and eerie forests. When you add the beautiful soundtrack to the experience, it fills you with a bittersweet mix of loneliness and hope. See More

Stanley Parable

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Points out narrative limitations in games by encouraging breaking narrative structure through gameplay

The game encourages players to explore decisions that would change the meaning of the presented story. What if you took a left turn where the game asked you to take a right? What if you decided not to push a big red button needed to continue playing because you didn't agree with pushing the big red button? What if you died in a boss battle? How would that affect the narrative of the game? The game rewards you for not following the "intended" narrative structure of the situation in order to point out how the structure is unavoidable in games as a whole. The process of attempting to break the structure can be highly satisfying in The Stanley Parable and can help you better notice limitations of narrative in other games. See More

Top Con

More an interactive story than an actual game

The Stanley Parable is not much of a game in the strictest sense but more an interactive story or interactive "art". See More

Specs

Steam Rating:Very Positive

Genre:Adventure, Interactive Story

Top Pro

Discusses the illusion of choice in games

One of the main themes of the game is the illusion of choice that's presented in games. While a player can make a vast number of decisions in the game, the narrator reminds the player he can only make decisions that the game allows him to and how the game manipulates the player into making them. The narrator points out that not just common choices such as what path to take to get from point A to point B, how to approach a certain situation or what ethical choices are available are limited to the game's designers having thought of and implemented those aspects of the game, but decisions such as purposeful suicide, not taking action, disobeying instructions and even turning off the game are only there if the game allows them to be there. See More

Top Pro

Insightful commentary on state of game design

The game tackles topics such as ludonarrative dissonance, choice in games, narrative limitations, etc while mostly focusing on the relationship between the game and the player in terms of storytelling in a very meaningful, educated and entertaining way. See More

Top Pro

A few nods to other games can be seen throughout the game

References to other games including Half-Life 2, Portal & Minecraft can be found throughout the game. See More

Top Pro

Exceptional narration

Excellently crafted, hilarious writing delivered by a well spoken, charismatic British narrator. Kevan Brighting has become somewhat of a cult success since the game due to its cult like status which just shows how deserving he is due to how well done the narration of the game is done. See More

Top Pro

The game has a lot of different endings to find

There are numerous ending to the game that appear to play out even when the player makes the same choices as their last playthrough. See More

The Magic Circle

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Solid gameplay and puzzles with multiple solutions, and not just an interactive piece of art

There are many ways to play the game, whether that's finding the location of secrets while you're a ghost, or using your resources to scam your way into them while you're alive. Good example? There's a cave across a lava river. You could either make a flat rock fireproof, give it the ability to walk and take orders, jump on it and command it to take you to the other side. OR You can just kill yourself, walk over the river while you're dead, and find a hidden spawn point while in the cave. You find these keys that look important but there's nothing to do with them, along with an old recording log from a former beta tester. You can either be perceptive and find where you need to put the blocks after looking everywhere worth looking, OR You can just read the logs, listening to this tester complain that players don't look up and the puzzle is freakin' stupid and it needs to be erased. After taking the hint, you'll find where you put the keys: Directly above your head. See More

Specs

Steam Rating:Very Positive

Genre:Action, Adventure, Puzzle

Controller Support:Partial

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