Day 81: The Novelist (PC)

My ongoing efforts to play one title from my 553 game backlog for every day that the UK is in lockdown...

The Novelist for the PC
Previous days' entries can be read HERE.

In a roundabout sort of way the indie game blow up of a few years ago is a large part of the reason why my backlog is quite so big as it is. 

Back then, when the boom was fully booming, my trusty laptop was suddenly unable to play the kind of small independently produced games that weren’t available on consoles.

With the success of Xbox Live and PSN smaller games were getting more attention, XBLIG saw even smaller games get some of the spotlight, and by the time Nintendo embraced this market with it’s ‘Nindies’ showcase coverage of small, arty, games with development teams whose number you could count on one hand were as important to traffic on most games websites as that of the latest COD or [insert name of competitive multiplayer game no-one really cares about].

So to continue playing indie games that weren’t coming to console, or were but at a much later date or hugely inflated price, I had to join the Glorious PC Gaming Master Race. 

I often wonder if people who seriously profess to be part of the Glorious PC Gaming Master Race understand that the name ‘Glorious PC Gaming Master Race’ was actually coined ironically? And that by continuing to describe themselves as members of the Glorious PC Gaming Master Race they are only further highlighting the ridiculous attitudes that the name ‘Glorious PC Gaming Master Race’ was making fun of?

What am I saying…? Of course they know… Right?

Anyway, I bought a PC which meant, at the time, getting games from Steam, which meant Steam sales and Humble Bundles, which meant a huge backlog of games I bought for 50p and never played.

I’ve got in the habit now of regularly ‘Marie Kondo’-ing my digital games but, despite regular pruning, they still make up a sizable chunk of my collection and my backlog.

What was I talking about again? Oh right! The Novelist. The Novelist was one such game.

This is a game where you play as an unnamed, un-shown entity that either lives in, or ‘is’ a modernist clifftop house somewhere in America.

Throughout the course of the game it’s your task to guide the Kaplans, a nuclear family of three, in decisions that will affect their lives during their three month stay and beyond.

This is a game that involves a lot of reading. The central mechanic is that you move around the house, observe the family, read their thoughts, and choose the best course of action for them at the end of each day. 

You can either move through the house in the usual way for first person games or you can zip about by ‘possessing’ light fittings. As you do this you’ll notice clues and story prompts that you can investigate to advance the plot - and they are always letters, magazines, or journal entries. 

Even in the game’s most important mechanic, whereby you explore the memories of the family members, the memories are almost always of them writing or reading something. 

Fortunately, for my sanity and enjoyment of the game, it’s by-and-large very well written and voice acted. There are a fair few tropes in the midst of quite a lot of angst (Why can no-one in fiction ever just enjoy the occasional drink?) but these are outweighed by some genuinely nice wordsmithery - certainly better than the usual video game nonsense.

Having read the family’s journals, letters, shopping list, minds, etc you have to choose whose needs are greatest. Is the father's book more important than the mother's art and the child’s happiness? Is the child's desire for a sleepover of greater importance than a hike in the woods or book reading event? (Note: I don’t think these are actual choices in the game but you get the idea.)

These choices are somewhat softened by having a choice and a backup. You can let the kid have his way and the mum sort of get what she wants, but the dad would still totally miss out. 

Thanks to the quality of the writing and the mostly believable characters, I found that making the decision on who to favour was never about trying to ‘win’ the game, but rather about what felt right for the family.

The only problem with this is, as the story progresses, the mother’s character and plot arc is less developed than that of either the father or the child - she lacks a consistent character and the conflicts she endures are noticeably ‘softer’.

A single playthrough is a short experience, but I think that’s for the best as this kind of ‘passive’ gameplay can easily out-stay it’s welcome; especially as I’m not often a fan of this kind of ‘walking simulator’ game.

The Novelist, however, kept me playing to the ending - or ‘my’ ending at least - and I’d say it’s an ending worth getting to for anyone. 

I wasn’t utterly convinced that the choices I’d made deserved every aspect of the outcome, but on the whole the pieces fit and I was about, oh lets say, 66.6% satisfied.

I don’t think it’s spoiling anything to say that a game about having one and a half choices to share between a family of three is about the difficulties of finding balance and happiness in daily life - and I won’t pretend that these ‘rules’ don’t bring a gameyness to bare that I’m not always sure always completely works - but it is successful in delivering this message, even if I don’t entirely agree with the conceit that someone always has to miss out.

The Novelist - Lovingly crafted and well told; definitely recommended for anyone in the mood for reading a good video game.

FYI: The Novelist is on sale for less than a quid/buck on Steam right now. At that price it's well worth trying for yourself