Corpse Run 996: The right time
Doodle-y comic today. Generally when there’s a game I’m really interested in playing I try to play it as soon as possible. In the age of the internet, spoilers are around every corner and I feel the best way to avoid them is to consume the content as soon as possible. I managed to not touch any Horizon Zero Dawn spoilers at all until picking it up earlier this month when it released on Steam, and I’ve got to say that I’m glad it took me a while to get to this game.
While the gameplay is great and the world is visually gorgeous, HZD absolutely excels in the narrative to the point where I see it as so strong a story and so wonderful an adventure that I may never play it again, once is enough and honestly I imagine a second playthrough would lose the magic of the awe inspiring feeling of discovery the first playthrough had.
I think I played HZD at the right time for it to be most effective, the message of hope in the face of hopelessness feels extremely close to home in the face of the global pandemic and teetering on dictatorship, foundational institution eroding state of the US political climate. In order to make things better, even if you never get to see the fruits of your labor, you need to put in the work. The future depends on it.
That’s a hallmark of a truly great narrative; after you finish it, you can’t start anything else for a while. Just have to sit there stunned for a while.
Nice to see that the game resonated so powerfully! The themes you talked about are really important, especially these days.
Speaking of those themes, another deep game that touches those points is Death Stranding. While yeah, it could be venemously referred to as a ‘walking simulator’, the underlying narrative is so powerful (if pretty labor-intensive to prize it out of the game) that it’ll mess with your head. Maybe something for the pile!
I loved this game when it first came out, it is one of the few games I even got plat on with achievements. The DLC even just added onto it nicely. I loved the story and world, so rich and lovely. Been suggesting it to friends without spoiling the story for a long time.
I’ve been waiting for the next game since then, and am hyped for it since the trailer.
It is such an amazing game! I bought it earlier this year and was just taken with it from the get go, every hour made me love it more and more. The robotic animals, the story, everything was wonderful to me. There is no greater thrill in riding along a cliff at the sunrise, climbing one of the scanner-dinosaurs and staring out at the world.
Also, some of the stories in the background, like the viewpoints of the past, the dlc carry weight and a heavy weight of grief and awe.