[REVIEW] Proteus

Blaine Arcade

(PC [REVIEWED])

When reviewing Proteus, we have to make the point score mean something more than the quality of the game.  We have to put ourselves on the game’s level by setting aside our goals, and thinking outside the box, but without stressing anybody out.

Proteus is a new Indie darling from Ed Key and David Kanaga that tasks you with… nothing.  The player is simply dropped near an island.  The island is randomly generated each time and brought to life with extremely blocky, yet very natural pixelated models.  It will always surprise me how games (like Proteus and Superbrothers: Sword and Sworcery EP) can manage to make their own art styles using so few pixels.  The island is a beautiful and tranquil place with its own weather patterns (the rain clouds in particular look softer than most dormitory beds).

Think of your player’s feet as a pair of inexperienced hands touching a grand piano for the first time.  The island is an instrument that allows you to generate your own music with your position.  Standing near certain animals will cause them to scurry away with plinking and plunking footsteps and hops; descending into the forest will usually fill the simple wind-like tune of the mountains with birdsong and falling leaves.

After an in-game day (about ten-fifteen minutes it seems), a circle of lights will form and invite you in.  The closer you stand to the circle, the faster time passes.  You can see an entire day complete with sunrise, sunset, light rain, and a starry night in a matter of seconds.  Once you’re finally in the circle’s center, everything will go white and transport you to… nowhere new.  Something is different, though.  The season has changed.

All in all you get to explore the island four times with different music, plants, and animals.  The cycles of the world play out before you.  Then, when the time is right, which only the game knows, it will take you bodily into the sky and return you to the main menu.  Whatever wisdom you may have gained there, you cannot use.

This is why a traditional score won’t be very effective on Proteus.  Whereas the other exploration games of recent memory (Journey and The Unfinished Swan) had known goals from the beginning, Proteus is little more than a magical hike.  The game requires you to change your expectations and when you do, you won’t be disappointed.  It’s the kind of thing that melts the day’s stress away and lets you go to sleep. It’s the kind of thing that should have a federal grant so poor urban school children experience the wholesome culture of it at least once in their lives.

Criticism will bounce off Proteus like acorns off a snoozing turtle’s shell.  So the only thing that I can say about it is that the ten dollar price tag may be a bit much.  While I enjoyed it wholeheartedly, the sheer minimalism of it makes me think you may want to wait until it drops down to five.  Please keep in mind that while I did not give this game a perfect score, that is merely because it is so non-traditional that it doesn’t quite fit into the hole it’s supposed to.  The missing points are merely a representation of the strangeness you might feel when realizing that this game is just… not quite what you know.

[GOTY] Calvin French’s Top Games of 2012

Editor’s Note: We thought it would be fun if we got some of the wonderful people in the industry to tell us their thoughts on this year’s games. Some of these people are developers and, yes, we have reviewed their games. After all is said and done, we hope you enjoy this series of GOTY articles.

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Calvin French made The Real Texas and is currently busily making some other unannounced games. He is currently employed as Main Person at Kitty Lambda Games Inc. where he is responsible for making sandwiches and tea for the lead programmer/designer (also Calvin French).

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Calvin French
GOTY 2012

Disclaimer: I don’t play nearly as many games as I want to! So take this top list with a grain of salt — I’m no game reviewer. The games I do play, usually just look interesting to me for whatever reason, or are made by people I know. I also don’t have any modern consoles, so these are all PC games. There are a ton of major releases, indie and otherwise, that I just haven’t even played!

Also, check out http://twntytwlv.com/. Look at all those fantastic Indie games!

That said, I’ll do this in order because it’s more interesting that way. 

5. The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

I didn’t beat it, but I mucked around for 40 or 50 hours. Or 80. My preferable way to play this kind of game. I didn’t have a PC to play Skyrim last year, so it’s on my 2012 top list. My backlog of AAA games is almost as long as my backlog of Indie games.

4. Analogue: A Hate Story

Can’t easily explain what makes this so awesome, but it’s really good. Christine Love is a master at what she does! Once, I read a book called The Story of the Stone. It’s a classical Chinese novel (sometimes called Dream of Red Mansions) and is just monolithic. Anyhow, I don’t know much about Korean literature (or Chinese, for that matter, apart from having read this book), but Analogue is amazing.

3. Snapshot

This game had quite a lot of attention while in development, but then just sort of released quietly. I expected it to be great, but it’s really beyond what I expected. The HD pixel art is inspiring, the mood is fantastic, the sound design is smooth — the whole thing just feels incredibly polished. But really what drives it home for me are the sheer number of ideas present. Every single level is memorable and many introduce new mechanics or tricks to existing mechanics — and there are a lot of levels!

2. Proteus

Proteus is a really special experience. If you like the feeling of being immersed in games, give it a shot. The whole thing is wordless, but based on sound experience and figuring out the game’s internal logic. One thing that is very satisfying about Proteus is that on the one hand it’s simply a wonder to visit in an open-ended way, but on the other hand, it’s a game. There really are things to figure out and do, and it can be won. And even just the fact that it can be finished is almost a spoiler — that’s how cool it is! So many people will enjoy it without ever worrying about beating it, but it’s really something special if you can figure out the nature-logic present.

1. Phantasmaburbia

Awesome, tight RPG by Banov, who (like Christine Love) is the master at what he does. On the one hand, Phantasmaburbia is definitely an RPG, using many tried-and-true RPG elements (and always in an enjoyable, smart way). On the other hand, it’s incredibly innovative and streamlined, doing away with many other standard mechanics that sometimes seem to bog down RPGs. There is definitely a lot of inspiration from Earthbound, but Phantasmaburbia is its own game and has its own story to tell. Bottom line is that it might “look” like another standard RPG, but in fact it’s a huge cut above the rest and all the pieces of the game come together fabulously. An extravagant gift to RPG fans from somebody who clearly loves them and understands what makes them fun.

Also, Games I’m Looking Forward To That MIGHT be Released in 2012: KRUNCH, Saturated Dreamers, Anodyne.

This was fun!