Kentucky Route Zero owes its performances to Final Fantasy VI’s Opera House scene. It has all the hallmarks of an actual stage performance: you’re given a libretto to memorize and have to hit your marks as the show continues. In it, the player must impersonate a singer on stage, while also preventing her from being kidnapped during her performance. There’s probably no instance of theater in video games as influential as the Opera House scene in 1994’s Final Fantasy VI. You may not even notice it, but by playing any game, you position yourself as actor, director, and playwright of your own immersive story. It highlights the indivisible bind between video games and theater. You’re frozen under the watchful eye of the faceless audience. You’re a performer on stage, but you’re given no lines, no blocking. The Entertainment makes for a stark contrast to the immersive feel of the rest of the game. Along the way, he makes friends, explores local landmarks, and uncovers dark secrets. Released in five installments between 20, Kentucky Route Zero follows an antiques delivery driver Conway on one last delivery - accessible only via a mysterious highway known as the Zero. Kentucky Route Zero is a game punctuated with performance. The Video Games Issue 2021 is an Inverse celebration of retro favorites, forgotten gems, and the latest and greatest in interactive entertainment. And it’s a trick that more video games should aspire to. 3?) But Kentucky Route Zero relies on theatrical techniques to underscore just how little control we have over our own life stories. (Remember the rising curtain at the start of Super Mario Bros. Games have made players both the star of the show and the privileged observer since at least the 1990s. But The Entertainment highlights how video games use theatrical techniques to transform players into someone just like the bar-fly - an actor and a spectator all at once. It’s an even stranger way to play a video game. You can hear the dialogue around you, read the director’s notes and even the reviews, but you are locked in place. You are a member of the audience, but also an actor playing a mute bar-fly. This interlude between acts of Annapurna Interactive’s lauded indie game Kentucky Route Zero is a combination of two plays produced in a small, cramped theater. The curtain rises on a performance of The Entertainment.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |