The COVID-19 pandemic posed unprecedented challenges to the real estate industry, which is primarily reliant on agents to organise property roadshows for new developments and facilitate physical visits, communication and transaction terms between a homeowner and a potential buyer for resale flats. During the early days of the pandemic, governments of countries worldwide imposed lockdowns, restrictions and safe distancing measures to stem the tide of infections, causing inconvenience for agents to organise property roadshows for new developments or schedule in-person viewings for resale flats. In a bid to stimulate the economy and prevent an economic recession during a drawn-out pandemic, central banks have reduced interest rates. The low-interest rate environment makes borrowing money cheaper as a potential homebuyer can get a cheaper loan from the bank to buy a property. This creates a huge demand since the borrowing cost is lower, thus driving the real estate market and boosting asset prices.
Despite the real-world inconvenience caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the Extended Reality (XR) industry is booming. The global XR market size reached 28 billion U.S. dollars in 2021 and is estimated to rise to over 250 billion U.S. dollars by 2028 (Alsop, 2022). Given the projected increase in the market size and improvements to XR and its accessibility, agents can leverage VR to show homes to buyers and gain more exposure for their listings. One company that leverages the benefits of VR technologies in real estate is Atlas Bay VR.
Atlas Bay VR: Virtual Reality (VR) for Real Estate
Atlas Bay VR uses VR technologies to deliver solutions and services for real estate developers and marketing and property managers. They can custom-make high-end VR experiences that can be delivered to clients or customers on HTC Vive, which comprises a room-scale headset and tracked controllers. There are various attractive features in this idea, which makes it engaging. However, there is also some scope for improvement.
Why do I like it?
I like this idea because it enables us to experience a computer-generated simulation of a real estate property without being physically present there. We can experience how the property would look and feel even before it has been completely constructed. This way, we can try different property layouts for an apartment and make an informed decision about which of these would be best even before these layouts are implemented. This would save both time and money.
Why is it engaging?
This would be quite an engaging experience because, although it is a simulation of reality, we feel as if we are gaining real experiences of performing various activities. These include opening doors and entering different rooms, customising things such as changing the colours of walls, seating on the couch and getting outdoor views of an apartment from the different storeys of the building.
What features are well done and what can be improved?
The application is well-implemented because it provides the users with the ability to perceive how the property would appear if they change the layouts according to their choice. However, further improvements can be made by adding features to make the experience of customisation more flexible. Currently, only simple customisations, such as changing a wallpaper are allowed. The customer may want to experience more customisations, such as putting some furnishings. Since an apartment is usually handed over to the customer without any furnishings, it would be beneficial for customers to have first-hand experience in furnishing the apartment virtually, as this adds a personal touch to their apartment viewing before deciding whether the floor plan of the apartment is suitable for their design aspirations.
Conclusion
XR technologies allow users to perceive various scenarios in digital simulations in such a way that the perception is quite close to real-world experiences. These technologies are successfully being used by some real estate companies, such as Atlas Bay. The users can experience how a property would look and feel even before it has been completely constructed and can also perceive how some changes in the layouts would appear. A further improvement can be made by adding features to make the experience of customization more flexible. With advancements in science and technology, it is expected that there would be more applications of XR technologies.
References
Alsop, T. (2022, July 27). AR/VR market size worldwide 2021-2028. Statista. Retrieved January 20, 2023, from https://www.statista.com/statistics/591181/global-augmented-virtual-reality-market-size/
Atlas Bay VR. (n.d.). Virtual Reality. Retrieved January 20, 2023, from https://www.atlasbayvr.com/services/virtual-reality
Raft is an open world survival game developed by Redbeet Interactive. It started as a prototype on Itch.io in 2016 and has since been developed into a full game with over 11 million units sold. In this post, we will explore the uniqueness of Raft and how it had garnered such a positive response in its release.
Lens 9: The Elemental Tetrad
Mechanics
As a survival game, Raft brings a twist to the genre through a unique take on the core gathering mechanic. As the player is thrown onto a raft drifting along a seemingly endless ocean with nothing but an old plastic hook, the player utilizes it to grab onto floating debris as a means of gathering resources. Through this, the player can craft various items such as survival equipment, crop plots, cooking pots, grills and much more to help with survival. Collecting blueprints drifting along the ocean will also unlock new technologies to be crafted and progress the game.
There are many more mechanics which make Raft an enjoyable experience. Some of these mechanics include:
Navigating to new destinations, solving their puzzles to uncover fragments of the story.
Diving into the depths to gather rare metals and materials.
Fighting various creatures as part of protecting the raft and making it through the islands.
Farming and cooking by catching animals, growing plants and collecting recipes.
Story
The intriguing story behind Raft takes center stage in the game to pique the player’s curiosity. As the player explores the world submerged by water, they discover new parts of the story through notes left by characters who lived on the islands. These notes allow the player to gain new insight about the world and humanity’s attempts at survival on the island that ultimately failed. The story behind Raft and its many characters serve as a motivation for the player to continue exploring the world – to uncover the eventual fate of the characters and perhaps find life in a utopia beyond the endless ocean.
Aesthetics
The game goes with animated graphics which works well within the theme. It allows the game to have wacky-looking creatures such as the Poison-Puffers and for players to don them as hats when killed and looted.
Not to mention the amazing sunsets players can enjoy in the game as well as the amazing rafts they could build.
Although the aesthetics of the game are not as realistic as others, its animated graphics are able to give players a wacky and fun experience with the designs of various creatures while still providing an immersive and scenic experience when given the opportunity.
Technology
The game is built on the Unity game engine. It has excellent animated graphics that runs smoothly on minimum PC requirements. It has since only been released for PC, although release for consoles have been confirmed with no release date yet.
#3 The Lens of the Venue
The main venue of Raft and where the player spends the most time is, well, the raft. The venue in itself brings about much of the game’s story, mechanics and goals.
Being stranded at sea, struggling to survive creates the goal of gathering resources and finding a way to build a renewable source of food and water. At the start of the game, the sea currents act as the primary way of moving the raft, bringing resources to the player and enabling the player to progress.
All the elements of the game harmonizes well with the venue. The story revolves around how the world ended up in this state and humanity’s attempts to survive. The mechanics revolve around gathering resources from the ocean and various islands, crafting tools and devices on the raft to survive and thrive. The venue in Raft is of utmost importance as it acts as the overall theme of the game that unifies the various elements.
#6 The Lens of Curiosity
Following the unique venue, the player is immediately prompted with questions regarding the origin and backstory. How did the world end up this way? Why am I suddenly placed on a raft in the middle of the ocean? Why is this shark constantly following me and attack me whenever I dip my toes into the water?
Curiosity serves as the main driver and motivation for players to progress. Utilizing the Lens of Curiosity, Raft sets itself apart from being simply an open-world survival game. It becomes an adventure for the player to uncover the secrets held by the once inhabited islands in Raft.
The player starts off seemingly aimlessly, drifting along the ocean’s waves. Then, they’d start to see other abandoned rafts or shelters on islands – evidence of humanity. After crafting the first navigation item, the receiver, the player can finally start to seek answers to their questions and satiate their curiosity. Following signals and coordinates, the player journeys from island to island, following the footsteps of various characters. The game places the player in the shoes of these characters as their stories are told through notes and saved in the player’s journal. The completion of each island reveals part of the story, but sometimes even more questions. They can’t help but wonder – “What happened to them? Are they still alive? Did their plan for survival succeed?”
“Will we finally find humans on the next island?”
#21 The Lens of Flow
Raft starts off with the clear goal of survival. The player is thrown onto a raft with nothing but a hook and rubbish floating in the ocean around them. From there, the player focuses on learning how to gather resources to survive.
Once the player becomes adept at this, simple survival would no longer be an issue. Food and water become readily available through distillation devices and crop plots. Resources from the ocean can easily be gathered using collection nets, no longer requiring the player to constantly gather the basic resources manually via hook. Instead, the player now focus on researching new technologies and mechanics – gathering recipes and using the cooking pot to make better forms of sustenance, crafting and learning the navigation system, exploring and solving puzzles on islands to progress the story.
Through these progressions, the game continues flowing and provides the player with new challenges and mechanics to focus on before the old ones get dull.
#44 The Lens of Cooperation
Just like many survival games, Raft is designed to be both a single player and a cooperative multiplayer game. There are more than sufficient types of tasks and mechanics for players to split up and work in parallel.
Although the given characters aren’t any different, players often self-delegate roles when cooperating. This happens due to the nature of survival games and how players have different preferences to tasks and resource management. For example, a player might be in charge of gathering resources, building the raft and decorating while the other focuses on navigation, maintaining the farm and fighting off the pesky shark.
However, the split in taskings converge when the players reach an island. They start working on the same tasks to figure out puzzles or to fight off certain creatures. Namely, the rhino shark fight where it is much easier for one player to capture the attention of the shark while the other positions the explosives on the pillars.
However, as the game is designed to be playable in single player, none of these tasks force cooperation between players.
#96 The Lens of Friendship
Similarly, Raft has all the qualities of a game you’d like to enjoy with friends. More than just the element of cooperation mentioned before, the entire immersive experience of Raft feels like it was made to be experienced with others.
The fear when you first get attacked by the shark after falling off the raft.
The excitement of picking up a new blueprint and discovering new technologies.
The anticipation of possibly finding humans and uncovering the next part of the story upon reaching the next island.
The satisfaction of overcoming obstacles and figuring out the solution to various puzzles.
As a game rich with many of such experiences, players are guaranteed to find many memorable moments to share with their friends.
Conclusion
The experience of playing Raft was fresh as the game was able to keep delivering new mechanics and events before it got dull. Playing through this game with a friend was certainly one of my fondest memories of playing through a game as there was a good balance of calm moments to zone out and talk while gathering resources and intense moments to focus and cooperate to overcome challenges. All in all, Raft has a unique and creative take on the survival game genre and its story acts as an excellent driver for players to progress the game.
League of Legends (LOL), commonly referred to as League, is a 2009 multiplayer online battle arena video game developed and published by Riot Games. It is inspired by a modified version of Warcraft III:Defense of the Ancients (DOTA). In League of Legends, there are two teams. Each team has five players. Before the game begins, each player chooses one champion. A champion is a character with special abilities such as damage and shield. There are about 150 champions to choose from. To win the game, one team should destroy the enemy base. When born in the Summoner’s Rift, each champion starts at level 1 and begins with 500 gold coins. Champions become more powerful by leveling up and buying items with gold. Champions can level up and earn gold by killing monsters and enemy champions.
Link to game’s website: https://lol.garena.com/
Game Play Demo
Story
The League of Legends is set in the fictional world of Runeterra, of which Valoran is a supercontinent, and the League of Legends on Valoran has a diverse cast of characters with their own backstories, often related to political struggles on the continent. The “League of Heroes” on Valoran has a variety of characters with their own backstories, often related to political struggles on the continent. In addition, there are heroes who come from islands outside of Valoran, or from worlds outside of the Rune Lands. These heroes conflict with each other and are reflected in the “League of Heroes”.
Aesthetics
1. Champion
Champions are designed carefully with beautiful original skins and Splendid skills. Besides, this game has many skins that can be used after paying and they are much more attractive. LOL’s skin designing sometimes interacts with traditional Chinese culture, as in the demo below.
2. Map
The map of this game is characterized by three lanes, each defended by several turrets. Summoner’s Rift is almost symmetrical. It has been overhauled aesthetically and graphically, and some vegetation has been added/reduced, but most of the basic design of the map remains unchanged. The details of the entire map were further optimized。 The map is becoming more and more appealing and bright. It is worth mentioning that when winter arrives, the map will also be designed to include elements of Christmas.
Technology
LOL’s hardware requirement is relatively lower than many 3A games. The minimum configuration requires a CPU i3-530, 1GB of video memory and 16GB hard drive, 2GB or more of RAM, system win7, win8, win10 are available, and both 32-bit and 64-bit can be run. The low requirement makes it easy to be access by many players.
Mechanics
It is team-based and 5v5 MOBA game. Players control champions with keyboard and mouse to destroy the enemy base. Players in the game try to kill minions for gold and use the gold to buy items. They should find a way to get gold effectively while preventing their opponents from doing the same thing. There are about 150 characters to choose and many in-game items to purchase. It requires team members to act quickly to avoid attacking and attack the opponents. At the same time, good decision of teamwork is also very important.
However, in my opinion, there are too many champions to choose from in the game and new champions with hard-to-learn skills are still popping up all the time. This makes it even harder for beginners to join in the fun of the game.
Lens of Surprise
Each champion has only a few skills. But the skill sets of the same champion or different champions are magnificent and surprising. Many skills can be released in unexpected combinations. Teamwork in the game can sometimes lead to unexpected results that people cheer for. With further research by players, many combos have been developed by players to surprise people. The game also surprises players with its blast settings. Sometimes even if you have a very low probability of hitting a blast, you can still hit several blasts in a row if you are lucky
Lens of Challenge
The game’s ranking mode gives players a challenge, and players will improve their game proficiency in order to achieve a higher ranking. Players are generally improving their skills, and this presents a challenge for every player. At the same time, many of the newly developed champions are hard to practice, and this challenge makes the game even more appealing.
Lens of Fun
In addition to the traditional Summoner’s Rift map, the designers have designed some less competitive and more entertaining maps for this game, such as Howling Abyss and Crystal Scar. Besides, they developed the Infinite Firepower mode which is played in the Summoner’s Rift map. In this mode, players can release champions skills with very short Cooldown time. It is worth mentioning that the designers have also designed a randomly selected championship mode and a very difficult human-competition mode. These different modes and maps really bring us lots of fun.
Lens of Freedom
lol has a relatively high degree of freedom, players are free to move around the map with purpose, can attack enemy minions and champions, and can kill wildlife. For example, we can often see champions who are in the middle appearing elsewhere. At the same time, champions in the jungle may appear in various parts of the map. The increase in the number of heroes gives players more combinations of champions, which is also a reflection of the game’s high degree of freedom. There are a lot of props that can be freely purchased in the game, and they have different functions. Players can decide which props to buy and in which order they want to buy them.
Rhythm Doctor is a one-button rhythm game set in a hospital that heals patients by defibrillating in time to their heartbeats. Players press the space bar to every 7th beat of the music for each level, and each level expands on that same basic concept by adding interesting poly-rhythms, offbeats, irregular time signatures, multiple patients and also surprising mechanics of breaking the fourth wall.
Lens of Surprise
While the basic premise of Rhythm Doctor is simple, the game introduces many surprising mechanics that aims to surprise and distract the player from the main game play, playing around with glitches and even messing up the audio. For instance, in Level 2-X All The Times, the game minimizes the game window and moves it around the screen to surprise and confuse the player (video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jkXtILc1XUc&t=134s).
In Rhythm Doctor it is easy to rely greatly on the large visual hints (moving beat and red ‘X’s to signal pauses) to help with timing hits. By obscuring these visual hints, players are often forced to break their visual focus and instead concentrate on listening to the music and keeping beat in their head.
From personal experience in playing the game, I was very pleasantly surprised at the ingenuity and creativity in the kinds of surprises thrown at players at every level, and I looked forward to finding out what the next level held in store for me. Being forced to distrust my visual and audio cues was also refreshing, and not something I have experienced in other more static rhythm games.
Lens of Simplicity / Complexity + Lens of Skill
Being a one-button game, rhythm doctor is deceptively simple. The mechanics of the game makes it easy for new players to pick up – just a very short explanation and tutorial is required to get new players started, which draws players in easily. As the game progresses, it increases in complexity through level design and more complicated music rhythms, but the basic mechanism of a single button press remains. This design choice makes the game accessible for almost all casual players.
However, further play will reveal that Rhythm Doctor is not a simple game. As compared to other rhythm games, Rhythm Doctor has a stricter hit timing window, and the surprise elements of the game as described above evolve from level to level, placing a greater demand on players’ focus. Paired with the difficult rhythms, Rhythm Doctor is agreed to be, and through personal experience, a difficult game to excel in. However, the play through for each level does not change, making it easy and satisfying to repeat levels to earn the B+ grade to move on in the story. This design choice gives players the sense that they are developing skill in their game play, with immediate and obvious improvements in performance through practice and repeated play.
Lens of Community
Rhythm Doctor comes bundled with a level editor built into the game. Players are able to create and share custom levels at https://rhythm.cafe/ and it is easy to download custom levels to play too. The in-built support for custom player levels greatly encourages the building of a fan community where players can exchange levels and continue engaging with the game long after they have finished the original gameplay.
There is also a lot of support for people looking to create their own levels, with a tutorial guide https://rhythm-doctor.gitbook.io/level-editor/ and even a discord server for community support https://discord.gg/rhythmdr. This mirrors the community building model of another highly successful rhythm game osu! that has 19.3 million monthly active users in its fan community, whose game content is nearly entirely community-created. While the fan community for Rhythm Doctor is not as large, there is potential for it to grow in the same way.
Conclusion
Rhythm Doctor is a deceptively simple game that is surprising and refreshing in its innovation of game play mechanics. It is definitely one of the most creative rhythm games I have played, and suitably challenging and engaging even for someone like me who gets bored of games easily. By analysing the game through the lenses of game design, it is apparent that Rhythm Doctor is well thought out and carefully designed to pull players in and provide a rewarding and memorable experience.
Rhythm Doctor is a one-button music game, which was inspired by Rhythm Heaven, developed by the 7th Beat Games, and published by both the 7th Beat Games and the indienova on Feb 26, 2021. Rhythm Doctor currently is available on Steam, and it is still in the Steam Early Access stage. The development team is developing more new characters, new levels, and is working to complete the entire backstory.
Mechanics The music game is designed to tap the keys to the rhythm. As a one-button music game, Rhythm Doctor is based on the simple and unique principle of pressing the keys perfectly on the seventh beat of the rhythm. This game can be played as a single-player or as a two-player. Players will receive a rating for each completed stage to determine how well they play and whether they pass the stage. As each stage passed, the story moves forward. The goal of this game is to go through the whole storyline and complete all the chapters. Depending on the player’s performance, additional bonus stages may be available.
Each stage of Rhythm Doctor is presented differently. For example, in some stages, the game will exit fullscreen mode into small window mode, and the small window will scurry across the screen like it’s infected with a virus. This mode affects the player’s line of sight, in which case the player needs to rely more on their sense of hearing, thus getting closer to the essence of the music game.
Furthermore, in some levels, for example, the player will hear multiple vocal parts at the same time, each with a different rhythm. The more complex rhythms evolve from the most basic seven beats. Players need to find the rhythm of each vocal part and press the button at the right time.
Story In this game, the player takes on the role of an intern doctor who treats patients by pressing buttons to the rhythm. Patients have strange and bizarre diseases, and the rhythm will have diverse themes for each character. In the process of treating them, the player is able to learn the unique story of his/her patient. Since the game is still in its early access stage, there is no clear main mission.
Aesthetics The game visually features pixelated art design and each stage is a song of its own. The developers have put a lot of effort into it, treating each song as a separate MV to make. The background of the game will change with the mood of the patient. Additionally, unlike other music games that have sensible visual cues, Rhythm Doctor has a lot of sophisticated visual distractions and gives the player a strong visual impact. The playing of the songs is also interspersed with conversations between the intern doctor (the player) and the attending doctor or patient, which allows the player to have an immersive experience of healing the patient.
Lens of Essential Experience Rhythm Doctor is essentially a one-finger game of keystrokes. The basic experience that most players have is the simplicity and satisfaction that comes from mastering the perfect rhythm. This simple and brutal way of operation can easily bring players a sense of psychological gratification. In addition, the beautiful music, moving story, and exquisite pixel graphics will give players an immersive feeling and make them move for the characters in the story. This is another essential experience brought to players by the game’s aesthetics.
Lens of Freedom Since Rhythm Doctor is still in the early access stage, many players feel unfulfilled after passing all the chapters. Fortunately, players can make their own stages in Rhythm Doctor and can use any background music they like. Rhythm Doctor will provide players with all the rhythms that have appeared in the game, such as the basic seven beats, irregular beats, hemiola beats, etc. Players can make their own dazzling visual effects similar to the official version. Following is an example of play-made stage:
Lens of Curiosity Although each stage of Rhythm Doctor is a separate song, the connection between the characters (the patients) is fascinating and makes players wonder where the story will go next. The game also features advanced stages (night stages), whose songs are made more difficult and complicated on the lower stages (day stages) and can only be unlocked after the lower stages have been perfectly cleared. This game mechanic takes full advantage of the player’s curiosity and desire to win, pushing the player to keep on challenging until the stage is perfectly passed.
Lens of Unification The theme of Rhythm Doctor is consistent, through the title players will know that they need to play as a doctor in the game, their means of cure is “rhythm”. This is constantly emphasized during the game, continually reminding the player of their identity and facing all kinds of patients.
Long Live the Queen is a tough but satisfying stat-building social simulation visual novel, similar to the Princess Maker franchise. The player guides Elodie, the 14 year old princess who will be crowned queen when she reaches adulthood in the game at 15… if you can keep her alive that long. Being royalty isn’t all fun and games when you’re faced with many different factions, enemies at your border, and magical dangers. Through every week until her coronation, the player gets to choose what Elodie studies — and those skills are what she will have to rely on to survive the twists in the story, with the ultimate goal of first finishing the game, and later obtaining the different endings or a ‘perfect’ playthrough.
The game follows Elodie, who is to be queen after her mother suddenly dies. Whisked from her school back to the palace, she is thrown into week after week of lessons…and also, power. Despite not yet being crowned queen, in order to prepare her she gains some control over the fate of her kingdom, and the player’s decisions have a great deal of power, not only to shape Elodie’s fate but that of her court, her kingdom, and her country’s interaction with others. Additionally, part of the story is about the many perils of ruling. There are many ways to fail and never reach Elodie’s coronation.
The story is closely supported by the mechanics. In this game, knowledge is power and all knowledge, from decoration, handling dogs or horses, vocal lessons to military, political and magical knowledge has its uses. (Some however are more useful than others). Certain decisions and choices are locked behind skill checks based on whether Elodie has enough of that particular knowledge, but you need to be prepared ahead of time, which is why what you study each week matters. Furthermore, it leans into the fact that Elodie is young, and hence emotional. Every week her mood will affect her choices on what she is able to study, giving her positive or negative modifiers to what she is able to learn. Time is always linear, and the tradeoffs of every choice become obvious early, making plays feel like their decisions matter. Finally, while the events of each week are linear, the overall player experience is not the same every time, because depending on the way you train Elodie, her abilities and her experience is different. This allows players to learn and anticipate as they go through multiple playthroughs, and really learn about the power of their choices and the many potential dangers of being a young ruler.
Long Live the Queen embraces a simple, cutesy aesthetic and the colour pink. It also provides a clear callback to similar games like Princess Maker, and other female-targeted games. While at first this seems at odds with the darker political themes and dangers in the story, the contrast also serves to highlight how the fantasy of being royalty is very different from the reality. For me, it felt particularly novel and fresh that each potential death Elodie could achieve was immortalized in a cute chibi badge on your achievements page. The urge to collect them all tempts players to replay the game just to achieve particular bad-endings and not just good endings, encouraging the discovery of the different impacts your choices can make. You even have the ability to dress up your princess (though this is actually an additional mechanic, because using the dress-up outfits increases your skills in a particular field, encouraging players to use the different outfits). Being a very story driven game, there is no action and the game is static, 2D screens with a great deal of text. The events in each week are told via short Visual Novel style scenes, in which the stat logic fades away so that you can focus on the story. Parts of the story’s lore is delivered through small text snippets summarizing Elodie’s lessons each week, which gives the player the context to understand what is happening during the story — but these dense snippets are displayed in a different kind of box, so the player can choose to read or not as they wish.
The technology is also in harmony with the rest of the tetrad. The tricky stat-crunching is easily managed for the player, and players can also save at any point. This makes the act of trying different choices at different parts easier and making it more fun to go back and replay different parts. Hence, the technology highlights the story and the satisfaction of building Elodie’s stats in different ways to overcome challenges.
I believe the game could be more immersive with more varied graphics or music, because the aesthetics were simple to a fault. In particular, the music quickly becomes repetitive. The simple graphics also made the deaths and other endings feel more sudden, which can be frustrating to the player. However, overall the graphics served the story, mechanics, and technology well, and might have been a necessary concession to producing the game quickly, and to put the players focus on the text.
Lens of Curiosity
Long Live the Queen excels in applying the lens of curiosity, and encourages players to keep coming back to the game again and again. The first few times you play, you probably won’t win. There are just too many potential dangers. This causes the player to wonder “What will it take to win? What should I make Elodie study on my next playthrough?” The story itself is interesting, where decisions cascade (actions done in earlier weeks affect events in later weeks), which makes a player feel like they want to find out what happens next in the story because they had a role in creating it.
There is a tendency to do completely different things in later playthroughs (for example, studying music in the first playthrough and royal demeanor in the next), leading to different options. You can see every check you fail, piquing the curiosity about what other text you would see if you had passed the check. Once you solve the game for the first time, most players immediately want to play it again to explore more paths. Furthermore the death achievement collecting page gives players hints about what paths they haven’t figured out yet, and that unknown is very motivating.
Lens of time
“Games give us the chance to do something we can never do in the real world: control time”
— Art of the Game Lenses
This lens is interesting to observe the game through, because the main mechanic of the game is choosing what Elodie studies every week — speeding through the time before her coronation. The game length partially comes from these interesting but thought heavy decisions, and figuring out what to study in order to unlock new scenes and discover new things. As choosing individual subjects to study each day would lead to decision fatigue and a very long game, the game restricts the number of activities you can choose to just two. This is where the technology really supports the game. As mentioned in the tetrad, you can rewind time via saved games. Additionally you can actually speed up time. For scenes that you’ve read previously, you can speed through the dialogue, which allows you to get through repetitive content quickly.
Lens of Pleasure
The three main pleasures this game offers (via LeBlanc’s taxonomy of game pleasures) is discovery, narrative, and challenge. For discovery, as stated in my analysis of the lens of curiosity, players enjoy finding out both how to win the game as well as how to win the game in different ways. Discovering new scenes also gives a strong sense of achievement and satisfaction. For narrative, as explained earlier the story is the games core strength. However, noting that narrative is more than story but also a dramatic unfolding of events, the structure of the game actually lends itself to this pleasure in particular. This is because each week is pre-coded with particular dramatic events. There’s rarely a dull moment in this game, because every week has the potential for something big to happen, and as described in chapter 17, the game uses the “string of pearls” method to space cutscenes with interactivity and challenging character choices.
Challenge then, comes from figuring out how to navigate this game in order to discover new scenes, strategies, and endings, and to progress the narrative. And this is quite difficult. The limited time, coupled with Elodie’s moodiness, really limits what you can study — and the games events wait for no player. There is always a time-crunch and a new threat, and the punishing stat checks drive many players to pull out their notebook or excel sheet to map out what future decisions they need to take to survive. But it is precisely this puzzle which makes the game so fun for me. The difficulty in even surviving gives me a lot of pleasure in triumphing over adversity (This is unpopular with certain kinds of players though, and if this doesn’t sound fun to you this probably is not the game for you).
Lens of Emotion
I experienced frustration, joy, surprise, sadness, regret, dread, worry, curiosity, satisfaction and triumph playing this game. The strength of the story experience carried all of these for me, and I would like to highlight what emotions I felt at certain key moments.
Firstly, deaths and failed checks. I almost always felt frustration when my run was suddenly cut short, or my plans for that week were dashed because I failed a skill check. However, I usually also felt surprise about the different outcomes, dread as I waited for Elodie’s bad end, and even satisfaction with the deaths due to having unlocked a new outcome. In some senses, the game made failure fun.
Secondly, I wanted to raise the tangible worry i felt for Elodie. While the player’s journey and that of Elodie are very closely intertwined, there are times where I felt very separated from her character, and I am sure this was intentional. Elodie is young. Elodie is a child, put in a horrible position of having to deal with being queen. At times in her story, I just felt so bad for the decisions I was making, which might put her in a bad place after the story ended — and while I did try to get her bad endings, I also tried very hard to find endings where she would be happy and the kingdom would be well, because of those emotions I felt about her.
Conclusion
Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed Long Live the Queen! I think it is an excellent and novel game, with a tricky puzzle to solve regarding what stats to build and a complex and surprisingly deep story which quickly pulled me in. If you do not enjoy stat-raising games or puzzles which encourage frequent replay, this is not the game for you. But if you’re interested in trying to help a young would-be-queen beat the odds, maybe you’d enjoy this deceptively cutesy princess-raising game.
Outer Wilds is 2019 open world mystery game developed by Mobius Digital and published by Annapurna Interactive. It is a critically acclaimed and award-winning game where you play as a space recruit exploring a solar system trapped in a time loop.
Elemental Tetrad
Story
In Outer Wilds, you play as a Hearthian – an alien race native to the planet of Timber Hearth – who joins the Outer Wilds Ventures space program to explore and learn more about the solar system and its history, mainly, the history of the Nomai – another alien species that previously inhabited this solar system. The Nomai were highly advanced in technology but their race has gone extinct for mysterious reasons.
The story begins with the player preparing for their first-ever space expedition! While exploring the solar system the sun goes into supernova but instead of dying the player goes back in time 22 minutes before the sun explodes. That is when they realize that they are stuck in a 22-minute time loop that ends whenever the sun explodes or the player dies.
The different planets in the solar system contain Nomai remains with clues that link to their history. The main premise of the game is to use these clues to uncover the story of the Nomai and their extinction, understand the cause of the time loop and some of the weird happenings of the solar system.
Mechanics
The player has a spaceship that can be used to fly around the solar system. Although the controls are simple, navigating the spaceship can be quite challenging due to the physics of the game with each planet having a different gravitational pull force, this can cause the player to crash and damage their ship in many different ways.
The player can explore the planets deeper by putting on their space suit, grabbing their oxygen tank, and walking around the planet. They can walk, jump, and interact with some objects by picking them up and putting them down.
Additionally, the player is equipped with a translator that can translate Nomai scripts into a language that Hearthians can understand. These scripts are usually found on walls and they look like curves that glow purple and turn orange after reading them. These texts are dialogues between Nomai that contain hints and information about the solar system as well as Nomai history and technology. These dialogues are the primal source of knowledge in the game and the player is required to connect the dots through different texts found on different planets.
Aesthetics
Outer Wilds uses 3D graphics and goes for a sci-fi aesthetic. The solar system of Outer Wilds contains 6 unrealistically small planets. The game focuses more on the design and details of every planet rather than making the game look realistic. Each planet in the solar system is completely unique and designed to stand out for one reason or another. For example, one planet has a black hole in its core that teleports you to the opposite side of the solar system and another planet has giant cyclones that shoot small islands into its orbits before falling back into the planet.
Technology
The game was developed using Unity engine. It runs on Windows, Xbox One, PlayStation 4/5, and a Nintendo Switch version is currently under development. It is best played using a controller. The game does not run on VR, however, since Outer Wilds is an atmospheric game I believe that playing the game in VR would add to the immersion experience and enhance the atmosphere of the game.
Lenses
Lense of Curiosity
Outer Wilds is purely driven by the curiosity of the player. The game hands the player a spaceship in the beginning and throws them into space with no direction at all, except for one question: Where do you want to go? It could be the weird smoke coming from the moon, some Nomai script they found guiding them to a specific location on another planet, or a strange-looking planet that caught their eye. Outer Wilds rewards its players with knowledge for following their curiosity and more questions start forming with that knowledge, slowly piecing the story of this universe together. This serves as a positive feedback loop where the game encourages curiosity and rewards the player for acting upon it.
Lense of Freedom
Unlike most games, Outer Wilds does not state any clear goals or objectives to the player. It does not have a list of quests for the player to fulfill. Once they get access to their spaceship, every single planet is accessible for them to go to with no restraints. This amount of freedom could be overwhelming to some players especially since each planet has random clues and bits of information about Nomai history with no clear chronological indication. Keeping track of bits of knowledge can be challenging to piece together, so the game balances this out by keeping a ship log in the player’s spaceship. The ship log serves as a log with all the important information discovered so far about every planet. The player can utilise it to make sense of all the information they found and it could help them decide which area they want to explore next.
Lense of Time
Time is an important element in Outer Wilds. First of all, each time loop is 22 minutes long meaning that by the beginning of each loop, the player has to decide what tasks they want to achieve in that limited time. Usually, when you discover you’re in a time loop and each run is time-limited you’d think that you would want to explore a location as quickly as you can before your time runs out and you lose all your progress. However, Outer Wilds uses time to its advantage by making both being fast and waiting rewarding. Some areas require the player to go at the beginning of the loop while others require they wait for some time to pass.
The best example of this in the game are the Hourglass Twins. The Hourglass Twins are binary planets orbiting each other. The first twin, the Ash twin, is a planet filled with sand, and the other twin, the Amber twin, is a rocky planet with a cave system. Due to the change in the gravitational pull of these planets, the sand from the Ash twin moves to the Amber twin filling up its cave system and creating an Hourglass-looking effect when observed from a distance. The player can only explore the cave system in the Amber twin at the beginning of the loop before the sand fills up, otherwise, they’ll get crushed inside. On the other hand, the sand leaving the Ash twin uncovers some structures hidden underneath that they cannot access until some time passes.
Lense of Emotion
Outer Wilds evokes a wide range of emotions in its players. From fear and sadness to hope and happiness. The game is filled with chilling revelations and intense moments that are amplified by the imagery, atmosphere, and soundtrack. One of the more emotional revelations was finding out how the Nomai died. Throughout the game, you can see many Nomai skeletons littered around the solar system on different planets. Seeing their remains, in the beginning, does not have much of an emotional impact because you are told from the start about this ancient civilization that has gone extinct, so, seeing their dead bodies is not surprising. However, the more Nomai dialogues you find and read you, the more you start getting attached to the characters that appear recurrently in these dialogues and their journey in this solar system. Later on, discovering the cause of their extinction and finding some of their dead bodies nearby accompanied by well-crafted emotional music can fill you with complete sadness and devastation.
Stray is a game which I recently played and fell in love with. It is about a cat that falls into an underground city. With the help of some robots, the cat successfully returns to the surface in the end.
Mechanics
The mechanics in stray is basically what a cat would do in daily lives, which by itself makes the game interesting. As a cat, the player can walk on water pipes, jump up to high places, get through narrow passages, sprint on the streets. Using keyboard to move and jump, the player needs to find a way to the target place, solving puzzles and helping NPCs along the way.
Furthermore, walls and carpets can be scratched at, knees can be lovingly rubbed against, objects can be heartlessly pushed off shelves, and there is even a meow button. All these livelily mimic how a cat, without any supernatural abilities or magic power, would behave, thus providing the player an immersive experience when playing the game.
Another essential mechanics of the game is that the player as a cat needs to run away from Zurks, which is the only type of enemy in the game. The player can adopt different strategies to avoid Zurks, such as dodging or making use of surrounding obstacles. After some time, the player obtains a UV light gun to kill Zurks, which introduces some shooting element to the game.
Story
The story is set in a futuristic environment where walled cities were constructed to combat pollution. Humans invented robots called companions to assist with various tasks. However, a plague killed all people in one of the cities and access to the outside was cut off. Being left alone, companions developed their own personalities and consciousness. It is especially touching when the robots tried their best to help our cat against Zurks, mutant bacteria of human time, and to get out of the city. This rich story constantly engages the player, who are intrigued to know more about this world.
Aesthetics
The aesthetic aspect of the game is coherent with its setting and story. It features neon lights, intelligent robots with various styles and design and many other things that give the player a cyberpunk vibe. Different levels also have distinct visual designs. High concentration and warm colours in residential areas are contrasted by cold and dark colours in danger zones, making the game visually attractive to the player.
Technology
Since the game is developed by a small and independent studio, it does not use many advanced game making techniques such as ray tracing and DLSS. The animations are hand-made instead of made using motion capture due to animal rights. The game engine utilised is UE4.
The lens of novelty
An ordinary cat protagonist in a role-playing adventure game? Being a normal cat in a cyberpunk world full of intelligent robots is very rare, but we have to admit that being a cat, doing all “cat things”, such as breaking all glass bottles without considering the consequences, can be very satisfying. This novel concept also appeals to cat lovers or cat owners.
The lens of curiosity
There is a robot named B-12 that contains a scientist’s memories. However, the memories are corrupted and our cat protagonist needs to help B-12 recover them by finding out and interacting with items that are not so easy to spot. This inspires the player to explore and find out what has happened to this world. And there is one more question – “wouldn’t you be interested in what are inside those hidden corners when you are a cat?”
The lens of emotion
The robots in Stray have their own personalities and emotions. They can be depressed when they lose their family members, relieved when an old friend returns, and excited when they repaired a useful weapon. The player can easily relate to their experiences and resonate with them. One thing that most of the robots, if not all, have in common is that they are sincere and accommodating. Sometimes the player may feel that they are more humane than human-beings, especially when B-12 sacrifices itself to help our cat protagonist get out of the slum, which is definitely a heart-breaking moment and appeals to the player’s emotions.
The lens of the puzzles
There are many puzzles in the game, such as opening a door, unlocking a safe, and getting an equipment that is heavily guarded. The player is required to perform “cat actions” to solve these puzzles – toppling a pot of paint to break the glass roof or climbing high up to discover a hint – which are closely related to theme of the game. By giving the player a sense of achievement after solving a puzzle, it makes the whole player experience more enjoyable.
Puzzle and Dragons is a free-to-play match-three gacha puzzle MMO that has RPG and strategy elements. It is developed by Gung-Ho Online Entertainment, a Japanese video-game developer and publisher. The game is currently celebrating its 10th Anniversary and has consistently been one of Japan’s top grossing mobile games. The series has spawned its fair share of spinoffs, like Puzzle and Dragons BATTLE, an augmented reality competitive game with an e-sports scene exclusively for Japan and Puzzle and Dragons X, an 89 episode long anime.
Puzzle Mechanics
At its core, Puzzle and Dragons is a turn-based tile-matching puzzle game, where the number of matches made contribute to the strength of the attacks. Players are given minimally 6 seconds to continuously move an orb across the board, while attempting to make as many matches of 3 as possible. Orbs come in 5 different types and follow a familiar rock-paper-scissors relationship, with monsters taking more damage to elements they are weak against and taking less damage from elements they are strong against. As with games typical to this genre, light and dark are solely weak to the other type.
Those wanting to give the puzzle mechanic a go can visit the website below. Note that the simulation can be run on mobile devices for a more authentic experience.
The Strategic part of the game comes naturally in the form of teambuilding when talking new dungeons. As this is a gacha game with a long history and almost 10,000 units to collect, players will each be equipped with a unique set of monsters each with its own strength and weaknesses, making teambuilding a unique experience for every player.
Each unit comes with an active skill, a leader skill and awoken skills. Active skills require afew turns to charge up and gives buffs, debuffs or changes the board. Leader skills boost the health and damage of the team if certain conditions are met, for example a leader skill could reduce incoming damage by 75% of 3 dark matches are made in a turn. Awoken skills improve the damage of the unit if certain conditions are met. An example of this would be the “L” awakening, that multiplies the unit’s damage output when orbs of the unit’s element are matched in an L shape.
Putting both the Puzzle and Teambuilding mechanics together, we get a highly customizable gameplay experience, where players who are more confident in their puzzling abilities can opt for leader skills that are harder to activate, whereas players less confident of their skill can opt for leaders that boost their defensive stats more, or load their team with various active skills to blast away any potential walls they may face.
Dungeon Mechanics
Enemies in the dungeon each have an attribute and health, which are depleted as the player attacks. They also have a small turn cooldown timer to specify how many turns before the enemy next moves. More challenging dungeons see enemies using more special attacks, like voiding/absorbing damage above a certain threshold or imposing hazards like restricting the board size or preventing the player from moving orbs in an area.
Technology
Puzzle and Dragons was made in Unity back in 2012, originally released for iOS devices before being ported to android 7 months later. Since then, the game has been developed for Kindle Fire and more recently for Nintendo Switch.
Story
The story of Puzzle and Dragons consists of numerous side stories without a clear main narrative line. Originally, these side stories were revealed in a discrete way, by revealing bits of background information in the form of Active / Leader skills and short 1-line dialogue when fighting monsters. More recently, the developers have added a story mode to more clearly relate the side stories of numerous original characters and occasionally collaboration events will have a time-limited story mode.
The lack of a story is not a hindrance especially when considering the numerous collaborations that Puzzle and Dragons has had over its long history. Instead of trying to be one coherent story, the game’s side story structure lends itself well into its collaborations that span across 100 different titles including McDonald’s, Seven-Eleven and SoftBank Mobile’s robot Pepper.
Aesthetics
Puzzle and Dragons has not updated its sprites since its initial launch a decade ago. A majority of its character portraits are very vibrant, cartoony and all follow a similar aspect ratio. Characters from collaboration events also follow this scheme while still retaining their original art styles. In a class JRPG style, art in dungeons is limited to the enemies and backgrounds. These usually consist of a simple 2D splash with the occasional animated background and small visual effects.
The menus and UI of the game similar to an arcade style and the font used is big and rounded while still being extremely readable on smaller devices.
The Elemental Tetrad
These 4 elements as mentioned above work with each other to create a mid-core game that is easily accessible and deceptively simple. Being a game played in portrait mode, a majority of gameplay can be done with 1 hand, making it easy to play during commute. Players can also save their premade teams into different slots, allowing one to hop into a game session instantly. Having the aesthetics and story simple also lowers the barrier to entry and the great depth of mechanics and skill expression keeps players hooked for a long time.
The Lens of Reward
While there are numerous types of rewards, they can mostly be boiled down into 2 main categories.
Unit Improvement
In classic gacha style, characters that players obtain have a multitude of ways to be upgraded, which are paramount to the player’s progression. Units have to be leveled to gain stats, awoken skills need material to activate, units need more material to evolve amongst many others. The game routinely hands out these rewards, with dungeons dedicated just to farming them. These upgrade materials all come in the form of special units whose descriptions relay to the player their purpose.
To the new player, all options to improve their unit of choice are displayed when they choose to upgrade their unit. The game also filters out the types of material they will use when upgrading this unit, making it clear to the user despite the huge amount of upgrade types available.
To the more experienced player, meaningful upgrades to their units start becoming few and far between, being mainly locked behind the hardest content. While these upgrades are extremely potent, it is possible for the player to be unable to clear the content without getting better units.
The generosity of upgrades to a meaningful level means that newer players can power through content to catch up with more experienced players and experienced players are able to develop more units to test out their team compositions. As there are so many different units in the game, this frequency of rewards is nice so that players spend more time fighting harder content instead of farming easier dungeons for their rewards.
Premium Currency
The main revenue source of the game is through magic stones which are used to pull for new units in the main, seasonal and collaboration shops. Unlike most gacha games, Puzzle and Dragons does not feature a pity mechanic, meaning players can spend hundreds of dollars trying to chase for 1 unit yet never get it.
Instead, the game is extremely generous in handing out magic stones. In the most recent Player’s appreciation event, the developers gave away $300 USD of magic stones to every player, letting the average player roll for units to their heart’s content.
As a gacha game, more premium currency is always a good thing. More magic stones means more units, which means more teambuilding and more fun. However, too many units can be an issue for newer players — while its a good problem to have, without experience to judge the strength of a unit, new players may find it overwhelming.
Lens of Skill
Puzzle and Dragons is deceptively a skill based game. To the beginner, the biggest hurdle is getting used to the orb moving mechanic, a skill that can be as simple as playing the game Candy-Crush style. The game has a long tutorial that can be skipped as well as multiple training floors for players to develop these mechanics, allowing even the newest of players to get accustomed with the unique gameplay.
As the number of units a player has grows, teambuilding starts becoming a quintessential part of the game. While some players can use their greater skill to crack through harder content, one can also as easily come up with a team specifically geared to combat the mechanics in a dungeon, reducing the skill needed to spin the puzzle.
When approaching hard content, the skill required ramps up significantly. Harder dungeons means more dungeon mechanics and harder enemies means one needs more damage, which normally comes from having leader skills that are increasingly difficult to build a team for. From here on, tougher content can be made easier by having rare units that require magic stones to acquire, or through play testing your team, getting better mechanically and refining it to suit the dungeon’s needs. This is where some players may decide to start spending money, to keep up to date with the newest and strongest units to solve their weaknesses. Players still stuck after this process would face a huge wall of difficulty, being unable to clear harder content to get stronger.
Lens ofInterest Curve
The feeling of finally getting your favorite unit, clearing an exceptionally hard dungeon for the first time, or getting an exceptionally high combo count all add to memorable moments that piques the Interest curve. This is a skill based game with a myriad of random elements so naturally, things may work against or for the player.
A game with as long a history as Puzzle and Dragons would have a challenge keeping the interest of its players. However Puzzle and Dragons keeps players wanting to come back by their numerous collaborations with popular and outlandish titles alike. The developers also routinely buff older units to make it compatible with newer and harder dungeons, giving a boost for players to get past difficult walls.
To keep players sustained with content, the game pushes out harder and harder content every few months, each having more unique mechanics and twists to the standard gameplay loop. To combat this and promote new content, they equip their collaboration units with more and more buffs, resulting in a huge power creep issue over the years.
To the normal player, chasing these updates would be extremely meaningful to get the most powerful team possible. However having experienced the game from when doing a million damage was incredibly powerful, to now casually reaching the integer limit and still not be able to kill a monster, this cycle can get repetitive. Instead of a challenge, waiting a few months for power creep before reattempting a hard dungeon sometimes becomes a more enjoyable experience.
The Lens of Story Machine
One’s memories and experiences of the game varies wildly depending on the date they started playing the game. With Puzzle and Dragon’s constant updates and seasonal collaborations that may not come back, every player has access to a unique set of monsters with a unique set of solutions for every dungeon. New players with more recently released units may have the raw power to complete harder dungeons, but experienced players can still tackle them by cherry picking the perfect team from their larger pool of units, providing everyone with a unique story.
Conclusion
Puzzle and Dragons is a great game to have while commuting. The constant puzzle solving element gives a constant challenge, and the frequent rewards the developer pushes out allow you to constantly roll for new units even without playing the game frequently. If you are looking for a Free to play friendly gacha, or are inspired by similar games in the match 3 genre like Puzzle Quest and 10000000, this could be the game for you.
NieR: Automata is a post-apocalyptic action RPG developed by PlatinumGames and published by Square Enix. As an android named 2B, players join the organization YoRHa in their fight against machines. The game offers a thrilling blend of hack-and-slash combat, platforming, and exploration, with multiple endings based on player choices.
I was captivated by its emotional story and fully immersed in its world. The soundtrack, visuals, and gameplay all contributed to an unforgettable experience. The story’s emotional moments, such as the tragic fate of 2B and 9s, left a lasting impact in me. The game’s unique soundtrack added to the overall immersiveness.
Mesmerizing Experience
The visuals, especially the amusement park, were mesmerizing and breathtaking. The fast-paced combat and challenging platforming sections kept me engaged throughout the game.
Odd Satisfaction
Lastly, the satisfaction of taking down enemies with the pod’s stream of bullets and the dynamic combat moves made the experience even more enjoyable.
Lens 9: Elemental Tetrad
The Elemental Tetrad of NieR: Automata showcases the game’s exceptional design and execution.
Mechanics:
The game features fast-paced and fluid combat, which is a combination of hack-and-slash and bullet hell elements. Besides, it also features a variety of weapons, each with its unique abilities, which the player can switch between during combat. It also features elements of exploration, puzzle-solving, and platforming.
Story:
In terms of the story, Nier Automata features a complex and multi-layered narrative that explores themes of humanity, identity, and the meaning of existence. The story is told from the perspective of multiple characters, each with their own unique perspective on the events of the game. Besides, it also features multiple endings, which are determined by the player’s choices and actions throughout the game.
Aesthetics:
Nier Automata has also done exceptionally well for the aesthetics. It features a unique and striking visual style that combines the sleek design of machines with the organic beauty of nature. I think another element that is worth mentioning is the soundtrack. It has a good mix of orchestral and electronic music that enhances the atmosphere of the game!
Technology:
According to The Wikipedia, Nier Automata uses the PlatinumGames engine, which is known for its fast and fluid combat. It also makes use of advanced graphical techniques, such as high-resolution textures and particle effects, to create a detailed and immersive world.
Lens 1: Emotion
I think that Nier Automata effectively evokes a wide range of emotions in the player through its story, characters, and gameplay. The game’s post-apocalyptic setting, which reflects on the themes of humanity, identity, and the meaning of existence, creates a sense of despair and hopelessness. The player’s journey with the characters, such as 2B and 9S, creates an emotional connection with them, as they question their own existence and purpose. Its multiple endings and the choices the player makes throughout the game also contribute to the emotional impact, as the player reflects on the consequences of their actions. The striking visual style and fitting soundtrack also contribute to the emotional atmosphere and the player’s immersion in the game’s world. Overall, through the lens of emotion, Nier Automata is a game that effectively evokes a wide range of emotions in the player, making it a powerful emotional experience.
Lens 5: Fun
Additionally, Nier Automata offers a fun and engaging gameplay experience through a variety of mechanics, challenges, and rewards. The game’s fast-paced and fluid combat system, which combines hack-and-slash and bullet hell elements, is enjoyable and challenging, providing a sense of satisfaction when the player successfully overcomes enemies. Nier Automata also offers a variety of weapons, each with its unique abilities, which the player can switch between during combat, adding depth and variety to the gameplay. Its exploration, puzzle-solving, and platforming elements also offer a fun and engaging experience, as the player discovers new areas, solves puzzles, and navigates obstacles. Not only that, its multiple endings, which are determined by the player’s choices and actions throughout the game, also add to the replayability and fun. Overall, Nier: Automata is a game that offers a fun and engaging gameplay experience through a variety of mechanics, challenges, and rewards, making it a enjoyable and satisfying game.
Lens 6: Curiosity
Nier Automata effectively taps into player’s innate curiosity through its story, characters, and world-building. Its post-apocalyptic setting, which is rich in detail and history, creates a sense of mystery and intrigue that drives the player to explore and discover more about the world. The characters are also intriguing, as they question their own existence and purpose, creating a sense of mystery and intrigue that drives the player to discover more about them. The multiple endings, which are determined by the player’s choices and actions throughout the game, also add to the curiosity, as the player wants to discover all the possible endings and the consequences of their actions. Its exploration, puzzle-solving, and platforming elements also tap into player’s curiosity, as the player wants to discover new areas, solve puzzles, and navigate obstacles. Overall, Nier: Automata is a game that effectively taps into player’s innate curiosity through its story, characters, and world-building, making it an engaging and intriguing game.
Lens 71: Beauty
Nier Automata also showcases beauty in its unique and striking visual style, its captivating soundtrack, and its thought-provoking themes. The soundtrack also effectively enhances the beauty of the world, adding to the atmosphere and emotion of the game. The themes, which explore the meaning of existence, humanity and identity, are thought-provoking and they are presented in a beautiful way, making the player reflect and ponder on them. The characters are also presented in a beautiful way, as their design and behavior are visually striking and memorable. Overall, Nier: Automata is a game that showcases beauty in its unique and striking visual style, its captivating soundtrack, and its thought-provoking themes, making it an aesthetically pleasing and memorable game.
Conclusion
In conclusion, as I reflect on my experience playing Nier Automata through various lenses, it is clear to me how the game was able to create such a profound impact on me as a player. The designers behind the game expertly crafted an emotional and psychological journey that captivated me from start to finish. The intricate storyline, stunning visuals, and dynamic gameplay all contributed to my deep connection with the game. Through this analysis, it is evident that the creators of Nier Automata put a great deal of thought and care into addressing my emotional and psychological needs, ultimately leading me to fall in love with the game.