Obviously, video games are capable of provoking an emotional reaction
Nail on the head for me there. For me, evoking an emotional reaction is what stories are all about, and a successful story is one that makes me feel -- angry, happy, sad, anything.
Psychonauts et al: I confess that the video games I used as examples might not be the best picks to illustrate my points but I'm limited here to what I've actually played/seen. All the games you listed are on my to-play list (some of them are staring accusingly at me right now from the coffee table), but I think you have a great point about how accessible Psychonauts is. The game isn't exactly easy -- parts of it kind of made me want to put my fist through the monitor -- but the game feels really accessible because the controls are simple (if sometimes frustrating) and the art style is, well. Friendly. Kind of. It's at least... child-like (not childish) and kind of lulls you into a false sense of security.
Anyway, yeah. Psychonauts is brilliant like that. Curious: did you read that article I linked that addressed Psychonauts as art? Do you know of any more such discussions?
PS: SPOILER SPOILER did you ever find Mia's nightmare? If you find her slide shows and see what happened to her kids with the fire, and then you find her nightmare? I'm trying not to give too much away here but that was one of the most chilling moments of the game for me >.>
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Nail on the head for me there. For me, evoking an emotional reaction is what stories are all about, and a successful story is one that makes me feel -- angry, happy, sad, anything.
Psychonauts et al: I confess that the video games I used as examples might not be the best picks to illustrate my points but I'm limited here to what I've actually played/seen. All the games you listed are on my to-play list (some of them are staring accusingly at me right now from the coffee table), but I think you have a great point about how accessible Psychonauts is. The game isn't exactly easy -- parts of it kind of made me want to put my fist through the monitor -- but the game feels really accessible because the controls are simple (if sometimes frustrating) and the art style is, well. Friendly. Kind of. It's at least... child-like (not childish) and kind of lulls you into a false sense of security.
Anyway, yeah. Psychonauts is brilliant like that. Curious: did you read that article I linked that addressed Psychonauts as art? Do you know of any more such discussions?
PS: SPOILER SPOILER did you ever find Mia's nightmare? If you find her slide shows and see what happened to her kids with the fire, and then you find her nightmare? I'm trying not to give too much away here but that was one of the most chilling moments of the game for me >.>