Wednesday, June 22, 2016

Reus - 7/20 hours

Damned ungrateful humans! After all I've done for them, they turn around and attack my giants. Seriously, what the hell? Of all the petty, self-destructive, wickedly unjust things you could have done, this has got to be the worst.

It broke my heart to see the tiny human armies swarm around my giants and riddle them with arrows. And I'm not at all exaggerating for comic effect. I was literally moved to tears seeing those gentle creatures cringing in pain. For all of Reus' colorful, cartoony appearance, it doesn't shy away from showing cute characters being tortured. That's not a line that is often crossed.

It's weird the way video games can blindside you with an emotional reaction. You think you're doing one thing and then BAM! out of nowhere there's a whole new element introduced that changes the context and meaning of the whole experience. Usually, the emotion provoked is anger. You think you're succeeding, but then a sudden difficulty spike stops you cold. Sometimes, the opposite happens, and you think you're in a hopeless situation and then you discover some new piece of information that helps you win. That feeling is often the best part of playing games. And then you have times like this, where your investment in the story, the world, and the characters is turned against you.

I guess, from now on, I'm going to have to be extremely careful about managing my villagers' greed levels. I don't think I could stand to actually lose one of my giants. This new and unexpected danger certainly gives the whole "seed the Earth with natural resources so human civilization can thrive" premise a bittersweet feel to it, though.

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