I was initially quite frustrated with the game, inclined to rail against the mechanics as they punished me for seemingly inconsequential decisions. Two adults and a juvenile (an elephant never forgets) fell to tigers’ depredations and scorching desert sands.
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And you can choose how to carry on and how to carry the next generation with you.Īs I played, I lost several elephants to the perils of our journey. The story asks you to marshal the strength to give hope to the hopeless, to inherit and shoulder great responsibility, to nurture and protect and lead, all while knowing that you cannot be perfect and you cannot control death or fate or time, but you can choose to carry on.
I’ve explained the mechanical reasons for this, but let’s delve into the storytelling at play here. And so problems arise when you’re reminded that you’re sitting in a chair tapping away at mouse and keyboard, not leading a herd in a perilous exodus across the savannah.Īs mentioned earlier, I don’t recommend replaying Shelter 3 immediately after finishing it. The life of a game like this depends on the ability of the mechanics to contribute to the emotional experience without announcing their presence and ripping players out of the story world. So long as tutorials are succinct and clear, and so long as the bar at the bottom of the screen is understandable and conveys the danger of your situation well enough, your brain can fold these mechanics into the story without concentrating on them as easily as it does for WASD. Agency and choice are most significant when they can seamlessly fit into the game’s larger emotional experience.
When the herd begins crossing a stretch of desert in desperate search of food and water, even a slight detour could mean the death of an elephant. One of Shelter 3’s greatest strengths is its ability to immerse you in the narrative with its mechanics.
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