Horizon's Broadening Project -- A Reckoning

Frankly, I’m surprised it’s taken this long to reach a real crisis point with my Horizon’s Broadening Project. I made it almost half a year before coming to the conclusion that perhaps this is all a fundamentally flawed effort, and for a person generally with the gaming attention span of a distracted gerbil, I think that’s quite the accomplishment.

That said, I don't think the answer is in abandoning the effort. Instead, I simply wonder if I’m approaching it all in the right way.

For those not following along in your handy Playbill, the Horizon’s Broadening Project was conceived as an expedition of discovery into heretofore untrodden realms of gaming nirvana and, with any luck, eventually a platform from which I could plumb my own depths of self discovery. Thing is, self discovery is much easier when you’re eighteen than when you’re thirty five. I’ve pretty much seen it all from myself, and at this point “what I didn’t know about myself” has transformed into “what I have avoided having to admit about myself.”

Ideally this should be an article about my experiences with April’s HBP game — The World Ends With You. Those of you who listen to the podcast already know that my attempts to peel back the onion layers of this particular game can best be described as a cataclysmic failure. For those of you who do not listen to our humble show, surprise! I hated it!

Actually, hate may not be the right word, because that implies I spent enough time with it to elucidate an informed opinion. I did not. Repulsed might be a better descriptor. I reacted in much the same way that I would had I discovered that my Ham and Cheese Hot Pocket were stuffed with raw sewage instead of the foodstuffs to which I am accustomed. To be fair, I really should have just looked at the box, because it said right on the front Raw Sewage Hot Pockets.

The fault is mine.

I am hesitant to say much more than that, because I realize for one that we have a lot of people here who hold the game in high regard and for another because I simply can not speak from a place of objectivity. You might as well ask me why I am so hostile to the works of Zamfir, Master of the Pan Flute, and while I can find no functional flaw in his artistry I can’t get over the driving rage that makes me want to break his reedy instrument right across his blow-hole.

It was an experience I do not wish to repeat, like eating bad shellfish.

But, on to the broader point which is that so far what I have discovered about myself is that I like the things I pretty much already knew I liked. I feel somewhat like a guy who suddenly sat bolt upright in a chair, announced to a roomful of strangers that he was going to investigate whether water actually flowed downhill, rushed outside and sometime later that year shouted, “Yup! Definitely downhill!”

This is disappointing, not only because I had really hoped that I would quickly find something I’d heretofore been missing out on, but also because I am rapidly finding my existing biases a real barrier. I mean, we can talk all fluff and nonsense about overcoming prejudices and sticking with what at first seems unapproachable for the big-happy cultural growth of it all, but when you’re a guy with a mortgage, a job, two kids and a wife who would occasionally like the passing nod of vague recognition, that becomes a luxury of staggering commitment.

Square this scenario for me.

“What are you playing?” asks my wife as I grimace over the DS.

“A game I hate,” I respond.

“Why?”

And the implications of that resonate in the deep waters. After all, there sits my five year-old ever interested in some precious daddy time. There waits the office with half the border stripped waiting for some fresh paint. There is the lawn, the public shame of the neighborhood, aching for some seed and care. There are the games I actually like to play, their endless siren call ringing ever true. Oh, and look at that, my wife who doesn’t ever actually say, “so you’d rather play a game you hate than have a conversation?”

And, she doesn’t say it now either. Hell, she probably didn’t even think it, though she really should have.

Then again, the Horizon’s Broadening Project was never intended to be a forced march through the hell of games I hate, and I think that is where I’ve slowly gone wrong. Looking back at the debacle of TWEWY, I think the moment I chose a game that I knew I wasn’t going to like, no matter how highly recommended it was, proved a poor decision. Ideally, if we look at this from the self-discovery angle, this needs to be more about playing games that I otherwise have no prescribed existing bias.

As I reach the halfway point and reevaluate my experiment, I find this line of thought gives me much more enthusiasm for carrying forward. The point is not to knock down walls, but explore out the fog-of-war covered areas of the gaming landscape.

And, it is with that impetus that I enter May. Long live horizon’s broadening.

Comments

Repulsed might be a better descriptor, as I reacted in much the same way that I would had I discovered that my Ham and Cheese Hot Pocket were stuffed with raw sewage instead of the foodstuffs to which I am accustomed. To be fair, I really should have just looked at the box, because it said right on the front Raw Sewage Hot Pockets.

The problem is that the packaging is nearly identical to the Meatball & Mozzarella ones.

"The unexamined life is not worth living," Socrates said. He never said that examining it would reveal anything you didn't already know.

It's a shame. After hearing your grim, frustrated, halting attempt on the podcast to elucidate your feelings on a game you found to be both mind-bogglingly inexplicable and utterly loathsome, I was looking forward to hearing something that entertaining every month. As a fan of the game, it was like watching a non-drinker knock back a particularly strong shot of liquor, twist their face into hilarious contortions and declare, voice filled with betrayal and accusation, "You drink this on purpose?"

Then again, the Horizon’s Broadening Project was never intended to be a forced march through the hell of games I hate, and I think that is where I’ve slowly gone wrong. Looking back at the debacle of TWEWY, I think the moment I chose a game that I knew I wasn’t going to like, no matter how highly recommended it was, proved a poor decision.

Yeah, both TWEWY and the Witcher are pretty divisive games, as there are probably as many champions as there are detractors. I think a refocus on classic games from genres less traveled (like Birth of America II) makes a lot of sense, though it might be useful for everybody to have a general idea about what you haven't played for recommendations. Or maybe a general direction - "this month, Tower Defense!" or whatnot.

TWEWY is kind of like experimental music. You need to develop a taste for it, and at first it's hard. Grating, even. That said, there's nothing wrong with people who don't like experimental music, and there are some things that TWEWY did just plain wrong.

Don't make me control two different characters on two different screens in two different ways simultaneously. Anyone who ever tried to play both 1P and 2P knows that doesn't work.

Unless you're this guy:

I mean seriously. Holy sh*t.

Then again, the Horizon’s Broadening Project was never intended to be a forced march through the hell of games I hate, and I think that is where I’ve slowly gone wrong. Looking back at the debacle of TWEWY, I think the moment I chose a game that I knew I wasn’t going to like, no matter how highly recommended it was, proved a poor decision. Ideally, if we look at this from the self-discovery angle, this needs to be more about playing games that I otherwise have no prescribed existing bias.

That's probably a better tack to take. I would imagine you'll have both more fun and more success gaining ground gradually on the frontline, so to speak, as opposed to the parachute drop right into the enemy base that TWEWY is. I'm guessing you already enjoyed RTS games when you played Birth of America, which is at least comparable to the genre. Maybe that's why you liked it?

Okay, off-topic, but that Ikaruga video is insane.

Just so you know, I beat this a few days ago and started it as a result of your horizons being broadened.

Not great, but not horrible. I can definitely see why someone would dislike it.

OzymandiasAV wrote:

Okay, off-topic, but that Ikaruga video is insane.

I wish I had magical fingers

So... what you've discovered is that you've become an old-man who's stuck in his ways.... possibly like your father before you?

Soon you'll be muttering under your breath as your kids come home with spikey dyed hair about how no one acted that way when you were their age and how the quality of TV and games has come down hill over the years. Next thing you know, you'll be one of those people who only plays one game and its sequels - undoubtedly a brainless FPS where you shoot everything and anything that moves.... no longer able to even tolerate having to sit through dialogue trees or any form of choice.

Or maybe this is all just an overreaction and these are my fears....

No worry about the HBP, Elysium. It was a noble ideal.... long live the new Expanded Horizons Project!

As someone who suggested TWEWY, I'm sorry for steering you wrong. I think it's brilliant, but I can totally understand where you're coming from.

Research I read about Socrates years ago led me to believe he was killed because the leaders at the time were sick and tired of him telling them that he was better than them because while he claimed to know nothing, he also claimed they knew nothing and at least he admitted he knew nothing as a starting point to learning.

They say to write what you know, and the same goes for critically assessing games and for being able to spotlight a game that deserves recognition. Specialization is not a sin. It is actually a sign of a diverse game industry because there are enough genres and games within them that we align with a genre or two.

Congratulations: you are not an omnivorous gamer. This your good, Socratic first step, and unless I'm misreading the above it looks like you're going to build on your expertise -- something readers want -- instead of trying to take baby steps in genres lots of readers know backwards and forwards.

The person who saw your seething and floudering with this DS game as comedy basically had it right. It was funny to listen to you bang your head against this game and rail against its basic conventions, but folks who like/play RPGs and JRPGs probably didn't learn from your experience with the game.

Switchbreak wrote:

It's a shame. After hearing your grim, frustrated, halting attempt on the podcast to elucidate your feelings on a game you found to be both mind-bogglingly inexplicable and utterly loathsome, I was looking forward to hearing something that entertaining every month. As a fan of the game, it was like watching a non-drinker knock back a particularly strong shot of liquor, twist their face into hilarious contortions and declare, voice filled with betrayal and accusation, "You drink this on purpose?"

To which you reply: "Once you get used to the urge to vomit, and feeling like cold diarrhea the next day, It's awesome!"

To continue on with drinking analogies, TWEWY seems akin to a non-drinker choosing 21-year scotch, assuming that better booze meant he'd be more likely to like it.

As for the Hot Pocket analogy, you should know better than to eat Hot Pockets. Sewage might be healthier.

kuddles in the original horizons broadening thread wrote:

I think the important thing is to make sure that even if it's a genre you're not usually into, it needs to be one you at least have an inkling that you could enjoy it. After all, sometimes we create a comfort zone because we just know it's just not our thing, and forcing yourself to spend a month with it isn't going to change your mind.

You should have listened to me, Elysium.

In fact, everyone should always listen to me about everything.

kuddles wrote:

In fact, everyone should always listen to me about everything.

What a frightening world that would be.

I actually disagree with you that it shouldn't be a game that he has to have an inkling that he could enjoy it - I just think that if he's not enjoying it, he should stop sooner. As soon as you realize you hate the game, put it down. Move on to something else.

I think the Project might have been better shaped like this: instead of picking something every month that Elysium felt committed to play for that month, maybe pick 12 games from 12 different genres, all of which he had to at least TRY. If he hated it, he moved on. If he liked it, he could spend more time with it, with no particular mandatory set timeframe or commitment.

kuddles wrote:
kuddles in the original horizons broadening thread wrote:

I think the important thing is to make sure that even if it's a genre you're not usually into, it needs to be one you at least have an inkling that you could enjoy it. After all, sometimes we create a comfort zone because we just know it's just not our thing, and forcing yourself to spend a month with it isn't going to change your mind.

You should have listened to me, Elysium.

In fact, everyone should always listen to me about everything.

And lo! The world was filled with Ally McBeal fans seated at barstools across the country, sipping away at their golden cadillacs and making uncomfortable passes at the waitresses. So it went, and it was good.

Stylez wrote:

And lo! The world was filled with Ally McBeal fans seated at barstools across the country, sipping away at their golden cadillacs and making uncomfortable passes at the waitresses. So it went, and it was good.

I was going to go down this route too, but decided against it. You also forgot that Joss Whedon would be getting the Salmon Rushdie treatment.

Wait, Hot Pockets aren't filled with raw sewage?

Perhaps the problem is that you purposefully chose games so far out of your comfort/like zone. You need to find some titles that aren't your usual thing but might touch on areas that you like. Much like when you tell someone you like Band X they say, "Oh, then you might like Band Y because they kinda have a similar jangly screeching sound with lyrics about evil kittens." That's much more palatable than "Oh, then you should listen to Band C who sound like everything you hate in music." Eventually, you might find yourself listening to Band J, who aren't that far from Band C...

I've gone on too long, but you get the drift.

I dunno, I see this as a valid episode of the HBP. Isn't the intent of the project as a whole to push at the boundaries of your usual gaming tastes? TWEWY was simply a boundary that pushed back.

It's all well and good testing one's biases, but sometimes a bias is well-founded. I could watch nothing but period drama for a month, but I'd likely still think they sucked at the end of that month. For you, TWEWY is to videogames what Jane Austen is to me - no matter how much everyone else tells us it's amazing, it remains anathema to us.

And that's OK. You've merely confimed that your hatred of Japanese flavour of RPG is not misplaced, and in fact, is very well founded.

Job done. What's next?

Why worry that your horizons are too thin? The point is to enjoy yourself, not to engage in some painful intellectual exercise to prove your inherent eclecticism.

Why worry that your horizons are too thin? The point is to enjoy yourself, not to engage in some painful intellectual exercise to prove your inherent eclecticism.

Sure it's not.

psu_13 wrote:

Why worry that your horizons are too thin? The point is to enjoy yourself, not to engage in some painful intellectual exercise to prove your inherent eclecticism.

It doesn't have to be painful, and horizons broadening does more than prove eclecticism - it can lead to discovery of something new that you legitimately enjoy in and of itself.

This article resonates with me, because I also recently picked up The World Ends With You, and I also feel rather repulsed by it.

I'm disappointed. I thought I would like the game a great deal. I'd been told it has a good story and good art and it does. But the problem is that I don't feel like I'm playing a game. Having to tap through the endless screens of dialogue feels like work to me. I want the information conveyed while I'm playing the game, not in these set cut-scenes in which I can't interact.

And it probably doesn't help that I find the combat baffling.

I have learned, though, that story is the traditional sense is not a important to me as I thought it was. It is not just the quality of the writing that counts. It has to be weaved deeply into the gameplay in order to interest me. Otherwise I find myself wondering why I'm not picking up one of the many novels I have on my list but never seem to get around to reading.

You're very consistent in your misplaced apostrophe, but the Broadening Project does not belong to the Horizon.

Faceless Clock wrote:

And it probably doesn't help that I find the combat baffling.

I say stick with it. The combat gets so much better around the second in-game week, when you start getting really cool abilities. And the story becomes more fun. Once you get into collecting the pins (of which there are MANY), and all the myriad ways you can level them up, the combat becomes this really fun combo-rich playground.

Dysplastic wrote:
psu_13 wrote:

Why worry that your horizons are too thin? The point is to enjoy yourself, not to engage in some painful intellectual exercise to prove your inherent eclecticism.

It doesn't have to be painful, and horizons broadening does more than prove eclecticism - it can lead to discovery of something new that you legitimately enjoy in and of itself.

That sounds like some hippie BS right there.

Switchbreak wrote:
Faceless Clock wrote:

And it probably doesn't help that I find the combat baffling.

I say stick with it. The combat gets so much better around the second in-game week, when you start getting really cool abilities. And the story becomes more fun. Once you get into collecting the pins (of which there are MANY), and all the myriad ways you can level them up, the combat becomes this really fun combo-rich playground.

You could even get "experience" for not playing. My favorite method was saving my game, setting my DS clock ahead a week, loading up, saving again, setting the clock back, loading up, saving, repeat. Lots of fun, that.

I'm really afraid I may be joining the ranks of JRPG haters except that, where Sean and others were resistant to giving the genre another go, I'm desperately searching for something that will bring me back into the genre I formerly loved above all others. It was a short love affair beginning at Final Fantasy II (US) and beginning to wane with FF7. I still enjoyed many JRPGs throughout the PSOne and PS2 generations, but I'm having a lot of trouble getting back into the genre after a hiatus of a couple of years. For a while, I have been feeling a developing repulsion to games in which I play primarily to advance to the next cut scene and my "playing" consists of choosing attacks from a text menu. I decided to give Lost Odyssey a go since it is a recent release and was well received by the critics. That game held no redemption for me.

I have also found a growing love for Western RPGs whereas in my JRPG days, I hated the fact that they didn't clearly direct me through the experience. Now, I relish this convention. I still don't mind being taken through a linear story which makes me think there may yet be a JRPG that could bring me back into the fold. At this moment, however, that JRPG remains elusive.

What is wrong with me? Does anyone have any suggestions? I want to play and enjoy the genre again, but I'm afraid that may be impossible.

It's been said, but you dove too deep too fast. And you were in the wrong pool.

Remembering the thread where folks were recommending TWEWY I was initially excited by the abundant enthusiasm about the game, but then I saw the screenshots/cover art, and thought seriously? Perhaps it is a generational thing (I'm 36), but I just don't see the appeal that such story/style has to folks.

Given that abject failure of horizon broadening to date, perhaps you should just redirect the experience. How about building upon your what to do in end-game WoW and take a tour of the freemium mmo scene for the next project? Or for a particular fps/rts/rpg you like, explore any mod community around that particular game. In short, take the games/genres you do like, and see what else is out there that do to low visibility/marketing you might not otherwise play.