Solace

The way I see it, there are 3 different kinds of video game narrative.  First, there's the kind that explains the plot, setting, etc directly and overtly, like in Mass Effect or pretty much any AAA game.  Then, there's the Oniro kind of narrative wherein you're given a vague idea of who you are and why you are where you are, but the events of the story aren't conveyed by traditional means; they're instead conveyed using symbols in the mechanics.  That's my favorite kind of narrative, personally, but I digress. The third kind of narrative is the one in which there isn't really any narrative at all.  No, I'm not talking about zero-context games like A Series of Tubes, I'm talking about the kind of games that just focus on an emotion or one theme and, rather than expand upon that theme with a story, characters, etc, they skip the middleman and just build their game to reinforce it, like in Shattered Nocturne.

Solace is in the third camp of video game narrative.  It's a top-down rhythmic shooter that consists of 5 stages, each one named after one of the five stages of grief.  For example, "Anger" has you decked out with a crap-ton of weapons from the get-go while super fast and powerful enemies flood the screen as metal music blasts in the background, each of your shots generating another guitar chug.  "Depression" on the other hand, features enemies that pose you no threat whatsoever while your shots, which are almost completely ineffective, generate little acoustic guitar riffs as if played by the world's most depressed country music star. It's nice to see this kind of juxtaposition in the level design.

I only have two minor complaints for this game.  First off, the rhythm in the depression stage needed work.  Player input generating the music was an integral part of the game, and I understand the concept of taking a bit of control from the player in the depression stage, but the guitar riffs are just slightly off-beat, which is hard to ignore.

Second, some of the stages overstay their welcome a bit.  Once again, depression is the worst offender, but really all the stages with the exception of bargaining and acceptance linger just a bit too long.  I feel that the emotion they were trying to build gets built to its capacity a good 3-5 minutes before the level ends.  Maybe I'm just a bit impatient, but timing is very important in a game like this.

Aside from that, though, the game is great.  It's structured wonderfully, the gameplay is fun and varied, and while I won't say it makes you think, it certainly makes you feel.  That's all I got for today.  Until next time, stay comfy.

Links
Sock Lice: https://www.digipen.edu/?id=1170&proj=18525