The Beginner's Guide Review - Reviewing Myself

[MyLifeIsAnRPG]

The Beginner's Guide Review - Reviewing Myself

The Beginner's Guide is about the furthest thing from what I expected from Stanley Parable creator Davey Wreden.

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[Black Fire Dragon13]

Well that was nice. From the title I expected you to start rambling on about your own life with no sense of direction, as a couple reviews on other sites have done rather than actually reviewing the game in front of them.

Instead I got an actual review of the game. For this, I thank you.

 

[Dreph]

I usually don't do this, but pay for and play this game. "Walking Simulators", a term which I hate by the way, aren't my thing, but this is one of the few "art games" that I would recommend everyone play.

If you don't want to pay for the experience at least watch Quill18's Let's Drunk of it [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zUm9T8fosPU]. He goes in expecting it to be a game along the line of Stanley's Parable and is pretty caught by surprise when it doesn't end up that way.

Seriously though buy the game, because more games like this need to be made.

 

[freaper]

If you're the type of person who can step into a game (book/movie/whatever) with no expectations, this might pleasantly surprise you.

I'm also glad you pointed out that Wreden himself was actually but a character.

 

[RedDeadFred]

I really don't see how this game is asking any big questions. To me, it was just a story about

Spoiler

a somewhat ordinary man who felt the need to project his own issues onto others. He ended up coming across like one of a million psych 1000 students who suddenly feel that they can analyze everyone around them based off of the random shit they do. Personally, I find those kinds of people insufferable so when the reveal occurred, I didn't feel a whole lot of remorse for the narrator.

People act like this game is some kind of important work of fiction. I don't really see it, but I do think it's one of the best examples of how this medium can be used to tell compelling stories in a unique way.

 

[klaynexas3]

I actually ended up streaming this game when I played it. I had started out assuming it was something along the lines of the Stanley Parable, and had my mate watching me because he's my only audience member, and we both basically had an existential crisis, him watching and me playing. It was probably one of the most memorable games that I have ever played, and if I had never played this game before I would play it again. I wish I could forget just to play it again, because it almost seems more necessary at this point for me to have something like that hit me like a ton of bricks again.

 

[Pepsik]

I really don't see how this game is asking any big questions. To me, it was just a story about

Spoiler

a somewhat ordinary man who felt the need to project his own issues onto others. He ended up coming across like one of a million psych 1000 students who suddenly feel that they can analyze everyone around them based off of the random shit they do. Personally, I find those kinds of people insufferable so when the reveal occurred, I didn't feel a whole lot of remorse for the narrator.

People act like this game is some kind of important work of fiction. I don't really see it, but I do think it's one of the best examples of how this medium can be used to tell compelling stories in a unique way.

There was a story?

Spoiler

There was guy talking and then there was ending about the fact, that the guy is talking out of his "behind", making the whole game up to that point kind of pointless.

But perhaps it's just not my kind of game, glad to see I'm not the only one, who thinks this game is overrated.

 

[friend called 'Five']

I thought this was a pretty good review but I really resent that it was so spoilerific. I am glad I played the game through to completion before reading the piece because I feel like, with this "game", the fewer preconceptions you have as you sit down to play, the better the experience (assuming that you are going to like the experience).

 

[friend called 'Five']

If you're the type of person who can step into a game (book/movie/whatever) with no expectations, this might pleasantly surprise you.

This.

 

[Dalisclock]

I admit, I liked the Beginners Guide. Even after I learned the Truth about Coda(There is no Coda). It's very much a walking simulator and an Art game if there ever was one. But I was drawn in for the 3 or so hours it took me to play it and enjoyed it.

 

[Callate]

I had a weird relationship with this game. On one hand, it's definitely an interesting and thought-provoking piece, so I can't be sorry I bought and played it. On the other, I felt that working out that the "reality" of the game was a contrivance was a distraction, and that effectively calling out people who review and analyze work for trying to do so (as some have interpreted) amounts to a kind of smug, self-satisfied logic circle: "You dare interpret it? Ha! You're missing the point."

 

[KissingSunlight]

I watched half of the "Let's Drunk" Let's Play of this "game". The reason I put the word "game" in quotes is that I don't really think it should be classified as a game. Walking Simulator does sounds condescending. Maybe call it "Interactive Video Story"?

As for the "game" itself, it does present an interesting look into a mindset of a videogame developer. Does it get a little too clever with it's ending? Probably. I think developers need to warn consumers that they are not purchasing a game as much as an interactive story.

 

[Dalisclock]

I watched half of the "Let's Drunk" Let's Play of this "game". The reason I put the word "game" in quotes is that I don't really think it should be classified as a game. Walking Simulator does sounds condescending. Maybe call it "Interactive Video Story"?

As for the "game" itself, it does present an interesting look into a mindset of a videogame developer. Does it get a little too clever with it's ending? Probably. I think developers need to warn consumers that they are not purchasing a game as much as an interactive story.

It's definitely more of an interactive art piece about games then an actual game, though most of the reviews I've seen are pretty up front with the fact that it's not a game in the traditional sense of the word.