Entry Magenta: Week 1

Reflection:

One of the class readings this week, focused on the topic of playtesters. It highlighted the importance of having objective feedback; as well as, being able to learn through watching how the players navigate and react during the gameplay experience. Admittedly, a lot of what was expressed, as to why we need to have playtesters, related to me. In my personal process of creating my own detailed ideas of the games, I plan to make; I overlooked the fact that it wouldn't be simply my game, but an experience I am sharing with the players.

This causes me to think:

How will my current game concepts change? What sorts of feedback will I receive from playtesters? And, how will that impact my future games?

Being able to take constructive criticism will be key, especially as I will have to be willing to mold my own vision to fit the issues that come about. I am a bit unsure of how I truly feel about this knowledge; however, it gives me perspective; which ties into the reason why we need playtesters to begin with: perspective. On one hand, as mentioned in the reading, it is frightening to have to shift out of my own vision. On another hand, though, it is exciting to see how players navigate through my games and what I can learn to improve that experience.

And in turn, create an even better game.

Experience:

My newest gameplay experience is with Persona 5 on the PS4. This game's genres are Japanese Role-Playing, or JRPG, and Simulation. I got this game a couple days ago as a gift for my birthday. However, this was a relatively blind purchase as I hadn't done any research nor did I have any knowledge about it, like I usually do before getting a game.

What immediately struck me, was the art style, the vivid colors and exaggerated fonts. They truly went an artistic route with their aesthetic, which led me to truly begin to wonder where the story was headed. This was also my first experience with JRPG's. After the first cutscenes and quick little bits of interrogation, you land right into a flashback Japan. Running around the narrow alleys, and trying to find my way to my new home; it was definitely an already exciting experience, as I personally love these kinds of freedoms certain games give the player. It also is interesting to see the direction of the story and the back and forth of past to present, that takes place. It gives a cinematic, action movie feel, which I truly love and appreciate.

However, I think my main issue, with the game--and it is something I plan to be mindful of in my own games to come is the: tutorial. The beginning process of the game started off simple enough; but, the game quickly spirals out into a bunch of frequent and long cut scenes, explanations, and being forced to sit idly. It was starting to feel more like an interactive story than a game. It became a bit irritating as I felt the game was babysitting a bit too much with little space in between to simply explore and figure it out yourself. Especially, with the lack of being able to save much, initially. I found myself mindlessly skim reading just to find a save point. This turned into me giving up and leaving the game on for some time and coming back later when I felt ready to try again. I definitely think watering down this process and not dragging it on so long, is important--if someone wasn't so invested in the game I can see where that might deter them from playing again. I want players to feel that freedom and exploration as they learn on their own with simple and bearable explanations!