the beginner's guide - 10/10
davey wreden demonstrates that the stanley parable's yin does have a harrowing yang
one of the most beautiful pieces of media i have ever had the privilege of experiencing. a truly evocative piece, that questions the very prospect of video games, both from the perspective of a creator and as the consumer, the nature of interpretation, the misconstruing of elements of people’s creative works, looking for deeper meaning when truly nothing is there; arguably, an ideology applicable to the game itself in some capacity, and one that is deeply fascinating to explore. even if it fucking hurts.
it’s even better when contrasted against davey’s work on the stanley parable - whilst that game is whimsical, fun and a tickling way of exploring and breaking down games in a farcical manner, focusing on narration in particular, this is an infinitely more serious affair, which fixates on finding narratives where truly, there are none.
a comedy, juxtaposed with tragedy. whimsy vs reality. uplifting spirits meet depressed souls.
joy to misery.
the two are complementary to one another, whilst being polar opposites.
part of me wonders how much of this self-hatred and loathing that wreden feels is reflected within stanley subtextually - perhaps the least subtle example would be the suicide ending, which originally, i thought may have just been a dark joke, but perhaps it was a hint at a similar scenario to the one featured in this game? perhaps, even, there is an argument to be made for stanley representing wreden’s safe space, his mental fortitude, his strength and his coping, whereas beginner’s guide shows his emotions on his sleeve, his true feelings and ultimately, his deepest insecurities. much like how coda treated his original games as his own safe spaces, prior to feeling ‘poisoned’.
this is being written immediately after i finished the game; my mind is swimming, my eyes are streaming, and my stomach is a pit. i think it is no large stretch to say that wreden is a genius. i already thought this following my playthrough of stanley, but to see that his writing can be things other than just the farce i adored so much about that game? well, it makes me adore this game, in turn, too. a true juggernaut of metatextual narratives, if not narratives overall. i could just keep gushing about it for so long.
also, i will be entirely honest; if one truly argues that this game promotes nor engages in any deeply fascinating ideas on premise alone… well, frankly, i’m not sure that we played the same game. if you do not walk away from this game with your perspective on video games as a whole changed, then you are either incredibly stupid or incredibly evil.
