Is Davey Wreden trying too hard ?

[Billy]

First of all, great game, great ideas !
But the experience was a little bit (not much really) ruined for me, particularly towards the end when Davey Warden's own "Persona" (double?) says that all he wants is being loved trough games he exposes to the public. And I felt it was exactly what the "real" Davey Warden was trying to achieve with all the grandiloquence and drama he puts in the storytelling. It felt like a crave for recognition trough trying too hard to emotionnally reach the player.
Don't get me wrong, I really think all the recognition he can get, but asking loudly for it is another thing.
I beleive The Stanley Parable works better as a master piece by being humorous and thus conveying a sense of humbleness whereas The Beginner's Guide is maybe too serious.
Also, the voice acting was far better in TSP (even though I would understund why it's important that Davey Wreden voices himself) wich always helps. And finally, the problem might also come from the fact that I thought Davey Warden's "persona" was a dumb human being, having no understanding of himself whatsoever and thus I had a hard time feeling empathy for him. More Pity I'd say.

[Pola]

I was feeling regret in buying the game due to the positive reviews and the great game that Stanley Parable was after playing this one for a while I was like "this is kinda boring, I'm wasting my time". Kept at it though and started to feel a bit of a connection, could relate to what Coda was going through. It can be a real struggle at times, but no one really cares, over time your work can sorta consume you, you do feel a bit trapped, you don't feel too confident and don't share your work due to fear, eventually you might get to a point that you share the work, and you get some validation.

When it's no longer this hobby thing you do for your own interests but you've become rather invested in it, that validation can be a nice thing, yet at the same time rather bad. I have projects that I'd make and it'd achieve something I'm happy with, I want to share it with others yet I'm afraid about the quality, this daunting list of tasks that need to be done to polish it up so I don't look bad suddenly appears as a huge weight/wall, I'll try push through it but it's the most difficult part.

When you go through this sort of experience, people like like the OP want the work to speak for itself, being straightup and honest about how you really feel and expressing such tends to be something discouraged, this doesn't just happen with development/hobby stuff, plenty of life interactions where you'd like to really be you just isn't acceptable, you have to put on a facade.

[highflz]

I couldn't really relate to that feeling. At first maybe a bit, but after the mail with hundreds of "playable games" that contained empty boxes or something, that it was clear that Coda is trying to make art and not games which are made to be played. I found the thought interesting: "if games are considered a form of art, do they still have to be playable?" Same with movies there's art-movies that are basically unwatchable, at least they are definitely not entertaining.
Allowing the player (i.e. me) to play through those games by cheating is modifying/destroying the art (which is another interesting thing to ponder).
Some of my frieds saw the game as a lesson in friendship (don't "help" your friends my doing something against their explicit wish, maybe you are just judging the situation incorrectly), but thinking about games as art was what made this title interesting to me: This game is not really enjoyable or using great assets or effects, it's an experiment, it's art and with art often you love it or you hate it. The main thing is: it touches you and changes the way you think about something. And that's exactly what this title does.

[doctor crouton]

I think the beginners guide works really well as a follow up to the stanley parable. The stanley parable does a lot to make the player feel smart for getting the game and all its in jokes and makes the player feel mischievous for irrating the narrator while at the same critizing the ways game developers validate their work as game designers talking constantly about how wonderful player choice is while limiting it to create the experience they want. Then in the beginner's guide it does the opposite with davey representing a video game player parasiticly seeking validation from the developer and the developer creating simply for the joy of creating with no audience or external validation in mind. So I think it worked really well for davey to try the complete opposite of the stanley parable. If he had followed that game up with another stanley parable complete with witty in joke laden writing and professional voice acting then I would think he was trying too hard to be relevant

[Billy]

I thought again about what didn't convince me as much in this game as in the stanley parable and I've come to beleive that it's due to the voice acting. Davey Wreden is not half the actor in the stanley parble and his performance negatively impacts the game imo.

[Ricardo]

Very much my thoughts. I finished the game just now, and I enjoyed it in general, but there are some moments when it gets a bit pretencious or a bit cheesy, and this is because we have the author himself saying: "oh, to create art is so deep and complex and hard... but I just want people to love me"...

[tazamiga]

Originally posted by Pola:

I was feeling regret in buying the game due to the positive reviews and the great game that Stanley Parable was after playing this one for a while I was like "this is kinda boring, I'm wasting my time". Kept at it though and started to feel a bit of a connection, could relate to what Coda was going through. It can be a real struggle at times, but no one really cares, over time your work can sorta consume you, you do feel a bit trapped, you don't feel too confident and don't share your work due to fear, eventually you might get to a point that you share the work, and you get some validation.

When it's no longer this hobby thing you do for your own interests but you've become rather invested in it, that validation can be a nice thing, yet at the same time rather bad. I have projects that I'd make and it'd achieve something I'm happy with, I want to share it with others yet I'm afraid about the quality, this daunting list of tasks that need to be done to polish it up so I don't look bad suddenly appears as a huge weight/wall, I'll try push through it but it's the most difficult part.

When you go through this sort of experience, people like like the OP want the work to speak for itself, being straightup and honest about how you really feel and expressing such tends to be something discouraged, this doesn't just happen with development/hobby stuff, plenty of life interactions where you'd like to really be you just isn't acceptable, you have to put on a facade.

If they are having personal issues can't they just work it out on their own without feeling the need to charge people to hear them. The dialogue often ruined the game for me. That voice is just terrible. it wans't too bad just looking at the artwork but that stupid lever puzzle was boring from the outset.

[Pola]

Originally posted by tazamiga:

If they are having personal issues can't they just work it out on their own without feeling the need to charge people to hear them. The dialogue often ruined the game for me. That voice is just terrible. it wans't too bad just looking at the artwork but that stupid lever puzzle was boring from the outset.

Well they could try make it more clear what you're buying, I'm only ok with the purchase due to being able to relate, but then again I get that sort of experience all the time with others I've met :) I was hoping for something more stanley parable myself.

[tazamiga]

Originally posted by Pola:

Originally posted by tazamiga:

If they are having personal issues can't they just work it out on their own without feeling the need to charge people to hear them. The dialogue often ruined the game for me. That voice is just terrible. it wans't too bad just looking at the artwork but that stupid lever puzzle was boring from the outset.

Well they could try make it more clear what you're buying, I'm only ok with the purchase due to being able to relate, but then again I get that sort of experience all the time with others I've met :) I was hoping for something more stanley parable myself.

Yeah i requested a refund so i won't go on about it anymore anyway.
I thought it might have had some cool twist like other walking simulators have had before.
I just found this rather offensive and it reminded me too much of scientology.

[Tom Hanks In The Movie Castaway]

Originally posted by Money Mouse:

I thought again about what didn't convince me as much in this game as in the stanley parable and I've come to beleive that it's due to the voice acting. Davey Wreden is not half the actor in the stanley parble and his performance negatively impacts the game imo.

I get that. At the beginning, the voice is kind of charming, the reading of the lines not the worst. But once you hit the "turn" in the game, it really does get to be uncomfortable. Mostly due to the subject matter, but a lot of it is the sound of absolute desparation in his voice at the end.

So is the voice less pleasant than Brighting's? Absolutely. But terribly acted? I felt uncomfortable during the parts of the game I believe were intended to be uncomfortable, so I can't say that.

[tazamiga]

Originally posted by HosesMalone:

Originally posted by Money Mouse:

I thought again about what didn't convince me as much in this game as in the stanley parable and I've come to beleive that it's due to the voice acting. Davey Wreden is not half the actor in the stanley parble and his performance negatively impacts the game imo.

I get that. At the beginning, the voice is kind of charming, the reading of the lines not the worst. But once you hit the "turn" in the game, it really does get to be uncomfortable. Mostly due to the subject matter, but a lot of it is the sound of absolute desparation in his voice at the end.

So is the voice less pleasant than Brighting's? Absolutely. But terribly acted? I felt uncomfortable during the parts of the game I believe were intended to be uncomfortable, so I can't say that.

It sounded at best along the lines of a poorly done school play.