Bioshock Infinite Review/First Thoughts

The environments in Bioshock Infinite are so well done and beautiful. The world design is unique to the experience of a Bioshock game. You learn a lot through the areas you explore. So many important moments in the game are told through what is present in the world, buildings and statues, the people walking through the streets, and the colouring and lighting of the game are all brought together to tell a story of the world you are in. It's a masterclass in environmental storytelling.

The combat in Bioshock Infinite is chaotic. For some, maybe they will find that fun, but for me, it simply made it feel overwhelming. While Bioshock Infinite is an improvement from the original game, in which the combat truly was too many things happening at once (from drones yelling and firing at you to the unpredictable nature of when enemies would attack you), Bioshock Infinite definitely refines this combat system; however, the game's combat still has issues, Bioshock Infinite makes it difficult to be strategic with how you approach situations, as the game doesn't provide you with any other option besides going into situations gun blazing, stealth isn't really an option in the game, and there's still a lot happening during combat that makes it difficult to focus on. Additionally, part of the issue with the game's combat is it’s very disconnected from the narrative. The two felt so separate that it was hard to feel that invested in the combat, and it ended up just feeling like a drag at points (Alanah Pearce explains this idea in her video).

I thought the story was just ok. While I liked the concept of the game and what it was trying to do, I didn’t feel like it executed it properly. The main story focuses on the protagonist Booker Dewitt trying to complete a mission he is assigned of saving a girl, Elizabeth, while both try and figure out their past (and future) and how they got into the situation they are in. The characters are interesting, and their dynamic has potential, but the story focuses a lot on trying to one-up itself, expecting the player to go along with each new reveal with excitement and personally, I just found it tedious after a while. It felt like the writers were held back from making the story a spectacle because of how much they wanted to try and say something, so much so that it ended up feeling like it wasn’t really saying anything.

In terms of politics, I think this is where I and the game simply disagree. A big part of the game's conflict centres on the fight between Comstock’s people (the religious and racist group who has devoted themselves to the "pure" idea of Colombia) and the rebellion of the Vox Populi, who are the violent underclass rebels trying to take down the order of the city. The game frames this conflict as both sides simply being just as wrong. That both these extremist groups are “meant for each other” with the chaos and hatred, they both ensue. What I find difficult to relate to is both these sides being "equal" in the blame. What we are being shown is a group of oppressors who actively harm those they consider lower than them in society and a group of oppressed people who are angry and are trying to take back the power from those who've oppressed them. The game frames this group as being chaotic in their violence and goes to great lengths to prove they both are at fault, yet the story still centres around the conflict between our protagonists and Comstock because he is the real antagonist and villain of the story. With this, the conflict between the Vox Populi and Columbia's upper-class people is more a backdrop to our protagonist's story than a central plot point. It seems the developers want to prove the narrative they are showing about this fight between these groups is a complex and interesting take. Instead, it felt like a 2-dimensional analysis of modern politics. As well, the violence used to illustrate their point of how bad each side is felt less mature or gritty and more silly and excessive. While I enjoy and encourage stories (and especially games) to be outward in their exploration of politics, I simply didn’t enjoy or agree with this game's analysis of how these extremist groups work and who is to blame. However, I appreciate the effort nonetheless to discuss these issues.

Overall, I thought Bioshock Infinite was a mixed game. Its world design is beautiful, it’s politics is muddy, and it’s gameplay is iffy. It improves on a lot of aspects of the original but also fails to live up to the commentary about politics and culture that made the first game so special to many (though it’s worth noting Bioshock also has flaws in its commentary). If you're looking to get into Bioshock, I’d suggest picking up the original game first and seeing if it’s your speed, but Bioshock Infinite is worth checking out if it sounds interesting to you. Just be warned that it’s got some dated and sometimes offensive ideas.

(I point. Gently, in the voice of somebody who’s mind touched by the outer gods, i whisper truth in your ears:

Your honor the horses are now lesbians

(Anyways here’s the designs)

His palms are sweaty, knees weak, arms are heavy.

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Legend and Sky as a duo is so funny to me!!

Red to the last pic

this is me btw :3 if you even care.. ^_^

"Halsin shouldn't be that big or muscular or look middle aged because he's an elf and the lore sa-"

I actually think he should be bigger and look more middle aged, personally.

peeta did not perform his ass off in every interview for you to say katniss was lucy gray's revenge.

doing one of these cause i think it would be funny !!

If this post gets 5k notes, ill finally completely cut ties with my toxic ‘friend’ who constantly victimises herself and is honestly the most infuriating person on the planet

hello javier red dead enjoyers

edit-- source for one of the screenshots i used as a ref bc i found it again

Spatial horror isn't "I am in a scary place." So much as it's "The place I am in is scary"

This may seem like the most minor of differences but brother trust me when I tell ya this difference is everything.

It's not looking good out here

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[[ All Croissant Adventures (chronological, desktop) ]]

[[ All Croissant Adventures (app) ]]

I know this is just a silly bad quality random screencap of a screencap that I found on facebook lol, BUT it's a succinct enough image to easily describe the concept in a quick/accessible way hopefully :

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(and of course, feel free to elaborate in tags, etc.! (especially elaborating about other senses as well.. can you "hear" in your mind just as well as you can "see"? taste? etc.) It's an interesting topic to me, as someone who's like a 4.5 at MOST lol. I'm curious what option will be the most common :0c )

Anyway I'm still happy to have seen Hrid in FEH recently. Thank you for asking.

their things that will protect them from anything :O

Hi! Your Hollow Knight AU has really cheered me up so I wanted to do a little drawing for it! This got me to get my art tablet out after months of not feeling like it so thank you for the inspiration! I hope the colors look good on any monitor that's not mine sdfsdf

Bugs In the Jingshi wyd?

I am so genuinely awestruck at how well you translated this AU to the hollow knight style! Also obsessed with the height difference.