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John's avatar

Epic article. The game that first actually "disturbed" me is outlast trials that you mentioned.

Extremely gory but as you said it is fun, especially with the pals.

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Flynn Hams's avatar

Gaming is in the midst of its own maturation, similarly to film at the turn of the 1930's. Once colour and sound were introduced, the commercial apparatus around them began to balk at the prospect of fully realised hedonism and violence - that's what led to Hollywood's Hays Code. VR, in particular, adds a confrontational culpability to the player: you're looking through the eyes of the protagonist, their hands are your own.

Triple A can be quite disquieting, but their content is mostly disturbing as a work of graphic viscera. Cyberpunk, however, had a mission where you could crucify a convict, which I was utterly disarmed by. I find CD Projekt's approach to morality to be a pretty effective subversion on the inherent solipsism of single-player titles. When the implication is greater than the act, I find its provocation to have resonance. I think indie and VR titles will change the form, rather than challenge it - one for its statement unbound by commercial expectation, the other for the directness of its message.

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