February 2016: What’s On
GX Australia
GX Australia actually marks a big moment for Australia, for it will be bringing the highly successful GaymerX/GX convention to our shores for the very first time. Taking place at the Australian Technology Park from Saturday February 27 – Sunday February 28, the convention aims to celebrate diversity in all its forms, offer a great place to talk about issues of diversity and queer content in games and pop culture, and most of all just present a really good time. As a result, it’ll be an ideal chance to check out some new and upcoming games, battle a few tabletop foes and even check out some of the event’s special guests. Tickets start from $85, and can be found via gxaustralia.com.
The Consouls: Video Game Jazz Live
Yes, one of Play Bar’s most popular bands is back for yet another round. In case you haven’t heard of The Consouls, they’re a six-piece group of gamers who have chosen to put down the controller in favour of playing sultry smooth jazz arrangements of popular video game tunes. From Super Mario Bros. to The Legend Of Zelda, and everything Pokémon in between, they’re all rearranged in spectacularly impressive jazz fashion. The group takes to Play Bar’s stage again this Wednesday February 17, and the best part is that entry to see them in action is absolutely free. Doors open at 5pm but the music won’t start flowing until around 8pm. For more information visit playbar.com.au.
Review: The Witness PS4, PC
It’s rare that a video game can leave so much to be desired yet still be so good, but then again, you should expect nothing less from Jonathan Blow, the man behind Braid. The Witness,the follow-up to his indie platformer darling, does not possess a heartfelt soundtrack, there is no real vestige of narrative and no proper sense of direction. It’s just you, an island and a whole lot of brain-teasing.
The basic concept of The Witness is rather simple: navigate the game’s 3D world in first-person in search of a plethora of game panels that feature some variation of a two-dimensional maze. Do so and you’ll be able to open doors, restore power to cables and a whole lot more. To solve said mazes, though, you must draw the correct path from a circular starting point to the maze’s highlighted end point. At first, they are deceptively easy – acting as incredibly basic puzzles that can be solved with a quick glance. As you continue to progress through The Witness’ astounding 700-plus head-scratchers, however, things steadily escalate.
Discussing the ways in which the puzzles constantly chop and change direction is a difficult endeavour without entering into spoiler territory, but rest assured that the warm-up efforts designed to help you grow accustomed to but a few of the game’s rules are just the tip of the iceberg.
Frustration will inevitably set in during the game’s later stages, but thankfully it never becomes overwhelming thanks to the ability to walk away at any time. With a whole island at your disposal, tracking down a conundrum that you can actually work out is never too far away. But that’s not to say that they’ll be easy. Make no doubt about it, the further you delve into Blow’s labyrinth, the more borderline obsessive your problem-solving will become. Taking pictures of your television, scrawling notes or replicating drawings will quickly become the norm – all necessary measures in order to succeed. Perhaps The Witness’ biggest compliment is that you are never irked by doing so, largely because you’re too busy working on the next big solution that will drive you forward.
The fact that Blow is able to get so much out of one concept isn’t so much impressive as it is absolute genius. And that’s probably one of the best ways to describe The Witness. Complex. Tough. Fulfilling. Genius.
★★★★★
Adam Guetti
Review: Unravel PS4, XBO, PC
‘Breathtaking’ is an understatement when it comes to describing the visual and emotional feast that Unravel immediately unleashes on players. For a relatively short game where the protagonist is a faceless creature, the immediacy of the connection is staggering.
In Unravel you play as Yarny, an anthropomorphic character who is born out of an old woman’s ball of yarn. Your adventure takes you through the truly beautiful Swedish countryside, and using your increasingly unspooling yarn and a variety of techniques, you traverse the local terrain. You will also find yourself having to escape the perils of the local fauna, including my new personal nemesis, gophers.
Despite appearances, Unravel is undoubtedly a puzzle game masquerading as a platformer. Although it only consists of nine levels that amount to roughly eight hours of game time, it proves to be rather challenging. One of the advantages of Yarny as a character is being able retrace your steps, recollect your wool and try again. However, when you’re having to replay sections repeatedly due to unclear mechanics, some obvious physics issues became frustrating. Plus, some of those puzzles are just straight up difficult. Between this and my recent foray into The Witness, the urge to rage quit becomes overwhelming at times.
However, what cannot be denied is the unique nature of the game design, the story and the pure love that has been poured into Unravel. This is enough to placate any issues with the gameplay, understand creative director Martin Sahlin’s tears when he revealed it at E3, and explain why EA took a gamble on such a small dev team. I dare anyone to not feel horrified the first time they accidentally drown Yarny, as well as be punched right in the feels during the final level in particular. This game epitomises the notion of games as works of art that can profoundly move their audiences.
★★★½
Tegan Jones
