Finding True Freedom In Videogames

Comments · 664

• AR

  @ArchitectofGames · 4 years ago (edited) · pinned

  SMALL CORRECTION: Yu Gi Oh has a three card limit, not four! I added that section last second and now I feel a bit dumb! <br>You are choosing to give me money on the internet of your own free will, it&apos;s such an empowering choice, wow! look at you go!: <a href="https://www.patreon.com/ArchitectofGames">https://www.patreon.com/ArchitectofGames</a><br><br>... On the other hand, maybe freedom wasn&apos;t such a good idea after all: <a href="https://twitter.com/Thefearalcarrot">https://twitter.com/Thefearalcarrot</a>

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• DA

  @DavisGSee · 4 years ago

  Worth noting that the meaningless of grading in Art Sqool seems to be an intentional, scathing critique of actual art school. Doesn&apos;t make the game more fun, but I feel like the dev deserves some credit there.

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• WO

  @WoodlandDrake · 4 years ago

  As a player, I have always wanted more endings, not just more options. &nbsp;Give me the same options I have always had, just make them matter.

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• TH

  @TheMidnighttea · 4 years ago (edited)

  I&apos;m in Dragon Quest Builders 2&apos;s postgame and my god does it feel like I can be or do or make anything. It&apos;s to a degree almost no builder has ever inspired in me, so I feel this video on a deep level. And I had to do it by finding a spark the game nudged me to find on my own, to self-start.

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• JM

  @jmh8817 · 4 years ago

  I design tabletop RPGs and I continuously emphasize in them that the most important thing you can do for Players is to give them a feeling of agency. A lot of GMs are worried that they&apos;ll &quot;Railroad&quot; their group when what they should know is that &nbsp;what matters is respecting their self-expression and preserving the illusion of choice.

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• AN

  @Anonlyso · 4 years ago

  The hypothesis of &quot;freedom via a perceived limitation&quot; reminds me of that Yoko Taro quote that for a player to feel any sense of freedom, they need a frame of reference and to then shatter that. That the game needs to communicate an in-world limitation, then the game actually lets the player subvert it making them feel like a rule breaker and thus more freely.<br><br>Following up on that, I do wonder what the opinion on &quot;subversion&quot; and game twists does for game design, like before Undertale was the big indie darling, I have fond memories of 2008 freeware game Iji that was effectively a 2d platforming immersive sim but was known for having tons of player acknowledged actions from as early as just jumping head first into ceiling lamps to later having Iji herself change voicelines depending on how passive or violent the playstyle of a run is. I&apos;d also say the biggest form of &quot;subvert what the player thinks is a game limitation&quot; is <b>spoiler</b> how the original pacifist run had no mechanics tied to it like Undertale so the player&apos;s entire first run of grief and strife would also push many to actually try to be pacifist (rather than being handed a Mercy option and being lectured about not using it all the time).

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• FR

  @francegamer · 4 years ago (edited)

  the thing is &quot;do anything with zero constraints&quot; just isn&apos;t compelling because then theres nothing to do and no motivation to do it other than &quot;i want to build this cool thing&quot;; the best &quot;finding your own fun&quot; is when you have this deep and interesting story that you&apos;re ignoring to see how many bees you can eat before your character dies

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• LI

  @lizardlegend42 · 4 years ago

  Someone&apos;s been enjoying Echoes of the Eye lol. <br><br>Understandable, an absolutely brilliant expansion to my favourite game of all time

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• MO

  @mohammad111e · 4 years ago

  <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k_YoP_dkMLk&amp;t=126">2:06</a><br>Ah yes the best transition

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• AS

  @ascendeadashell · 4 years ago

  No Man&apos;s Sky is the perfect example of giving players a literal universe to explore, but in the end they&apos;ll want a direction to head towards, a goal to achieve, or a system to abide by.<br><br>I like the game not for solid gameplay loops or well-crafted stories or any of the usual things a game is praised for. I like it because it captures what true freedom is. You can go anywhere and do anything but what are you really doing any of that for?

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• TR

  @trigger_once · 4 years ago

  “Creativity comes from limitation”

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• LI

  @liammurphymovies · 4 years ago

  Hollow Knight has a great sense of this with the huge amount of sequence breaks they are

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