By: Liam WorcheckBeing a follow up to the extremely successful and wonderfully simple game, the Stanley Parable, the Beginner’s Guide had big shoes to fill regarding the public's expectations. However, while the Beginner’s Guide is an easy going, thought inducing experience. The game is much more of a personal experience, and seemed very real and close to the maker of the game, Davey Wreden. The game uses a combination of simplistic mechanics/gameplay, a linear plot and a short run time (roughly 90-100 minutes) to better highlight the true meaning of the game. Gameplay: The Beginner’s Guide uses delightfully basic controls that, while minimalistic, are very fluid and satisfying. The level design is interesting, but sometimes boring. The game, at some points, becomes very slow and boring, and the game is even characterised as a “Walking Simulator”. One way this type of gameplay helped the game was that whenever something exciting ever happened, it meant much more than it would for an ordinary game. This type of gameplay has it’s strengths (most notably shown in the Stanley Parable). However, the Beginner’s Guide falls short on this behalf as it’s linear gameplay and simple controls make a (mostly) boring combination. Plot: As stated above, the Beginner’s Guide seems to be more of a movie than a game. As expected, this would lead us to believe that the plot would be Beginner’s Guide strong suit, which it is. The plot much like it’s gameplay, is fairly linear. This is very good and necessary since, while the plot should still be thought provoking, a complex storyline would diminish the player’s view of the actual purpose of the story. The player is taken through a chronological compilation of short, meaningful games created by an old “friend” of Davey Wreden (also the narrator), Coda. The games are simple, and take basically no effort to complete. The narrator takes the player through often talks about his reaction when he first played the games. Davey does a wonderful job at highlighting the important aspects of each game, making it easier for the player to understand the meaning of the game and, as stated in the game’s trailer, “Try to imagine, without ever having met this person, who they are.” This line refers to Coda, and he is the center of the Beginner’s Guide. Between the game’s repetitive, meaningful symbols Davey (vaguely) explains who Coda is as you desperately try to imagine what he/she is going through. The final minutes of the game do eventually connect Davey and Coda, and this interaction gives the story a dissatisfying plot twist. Iit’s convention of a personal bond between the narrator and the Beginner’s Guide. With a plot that is both calming, thought provoking, and fun, the Beginner’s Guide is easily one of the greatest interactive storytelling games of 2015. Theme: Throughout the majority of the Beginner’s Guide, Davey Wreden does a fantastic job at portraying Coda as lonely, depressed and as a victim. This leads the player down a thought path that would lead most to believe that the theme of the game is indeed those characteristics through both Davey’s constant talk of how he always wanted to help Coda and the often gloomy and dark games that Coda had made. *spoiler* However, at the end of the game you are taken through Coda’s final game in which he essentially tells Davey, the narrator, to leave him alone. This is a major, and frankly depressing, plot twist as Davey had spent the entirety of the Beginner’s Guide explaining how he always wanted Coda to become happy. Through this, the player is taught lessons about self validation and insecurity. The major lesson I took from the Beginner’s Guide was how Davey thought that he had been helping Coda, when the whole time Davey had only been helping himself. This is emphasized by a heartbreaking quote from Coda, “The fact that you think I am frustrated or broken says more about you than about me.” The Price, is it Right? When first finishing the Beginner’s Guide, it came to my surprise that it only took a grand total of 89 minutes. After looking through many reviews, I found that this was a common complaint. Being an indie game, it isn’t surprising that the game is $10. While this may seem steep for a game that (for most) won’t even last two hours, I believe that for the right type of person, this interactive storytelling game is well worth the price. After all, most movie tickets are equal if not above the price of the Beginner’s Guide. The Verdict: If you are interested in a deep, movie like game, buy it. Otherwise, wait for it to go on sale. If it ever drops to around $5, it's no question, buy it. The Beginner’s Guide is a phenomenal game that conveys great meaning, includes conservative gameplay, and overall stimulates the player in a spiritual experience that is well worth the affordable price tag.
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