In 199x Éric Chàhi of Délphine made what was to be, along with the original Prince of Persia, the founding father of the modern console adventure game. Both these games stuck out back then due to their incredibly realistic animations (thanks to use of rotoscoping technique), minimalistic storyline, dark visuals and frustrating difficulty (one-hit kills). As acknowledged by Fumito Ueda, Another World is the true videogame precursor of what are the practically undisputable videogame masterpieces of the XXI century, SotC and Ico. But, 15+ years on, how does it test the strain of time? The recent 15th anniversary edition gave the game a beautiful graphical lift, with really smooth HD and high res graphics. I would dare to say, the best graphical remake of this generation, definitely benefitting from having been made by Chàhi himself and not some outsource job, like the incredibly cringy HD remakes on XBLA or the Ultimate Genesis comp. the minimalistic approach is now beautifully rendered and it gives an even more awe-inspiring view of this alien landscape our hero ended up on.
Keeping things ever so simple, only 1 button is used, apart from the directional controls, throughout the game, just another example of spot-on design. The gameplay is of course still deep, with various jumps and shots possible. It can sometimes be, though, extremely tiring as it uses the “trial-and-error” method, even if ways to die are incredibly varied and well animated and directed (I guess as a small treat for the player). Unforgiving, but gratifying, as it makes the journey all the more epic.
The story is mostly non-verbal (very little text) (another thing Ueda picked up on) and even in “alleged” cutscenes you are somehow always in control of your character. Now, this is something that only very recently VGs have picked up on (Assassin’s Creed, Half-life,…). It is also overwhelmingly cinematic, with very smart cutscene direction and a great sense of action and tension throughout.
Keeping things ever so simple, only 1 button is used, apart from the directional controls, throughout the game, just another example of spot-on design. The gameplay is of course still deep, with various jumps and shots possible. It can sometimes be, though, extremely tiring as it uses the “trial-and-error” method, even if ways to die are incredibly varied and well animated and directed (I guess as a small treat for the player). Unforgiving, but gratifying, as it makes the journey all the more epic.
The story is mostly non-verbal (very little text) (another thing Ueda picked up on) and even in “alleged” cutscenes you are somehow always in control of your character. Now, this is something that only very recently VGs have picked up on (Assassin’s Creed, Half-life,…). It is also overwhelmingly cinematic, with very smart cutscene direction and a great sense of action and tension throughout.
Originally published December 2, 2009
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