Platinum induced Brain rot (Side Quest #4)
Games Played: The Light in the Darkness (2024), Back Then (2024)
The other evening I was looking over my notes for 52 in 52 and my estimated projection for where it might end. In short, I was going to miss the mark. Now the following two days I was on ‘Late Late shifts’ as they are later than the lates. These shifts are 12:30-21:00 and by the time I get home and eat it’s around 10. Doesn’t give much time to play but I try to fit some short sessions of longer games or short games. I was doing extra time in the morning on one of these days so I knew I would be extra tired. Looking through my potential options, I stumbled upon A Light in the Darkness in my PS Library (Both literally and figuratively). It was a game I saw on the store that was free, and had a platinum upon research otherwise I might not have bothered.
The next day rolls around, I had an awful day at work – long, busy, tiring. Come my lunch, I knew I had the negative perseverance to get another game done, this time it was another short title with a platinum, this one being £12. I said to hell with it and went with it.
Only problem is, the two games – One is about Jewish Persecution in the Holocaust and the other is about an elderly person with Alzheimer’s. I’m playing these games purely because I’m already in a bad mood and its two easy Platinum’s. It did make me stop and think though, am I losing the point of these two narratively potent art pieces by using them as tokens towards my arbitrary goal of fake glory? Should I really compare my shit day to mental degradation and racial persecution? The answer to the second question is no, but the answer to the first is slightly more complicated.
There’s a lot of games released every day, vying for attention. An edutainment game about WW2 probably wouldn’t have garnered a second look if I didn’t look up the trophies. Until Then cost me £12, but deep down did I really buy it just for Platinum? I know I was in a bad mood and it was probably an impulsive decision but there’s plenty of free shovelware games that have Plats.
What of the actual games then? Well first was The Light in the Darkness which was the free educational game about a family of French Jews in WW2. I understand why it exists and appreciate that it does exist but I’m really not sure who the target audience is. Too basic for adults, not interesting enough for kids and the walls of text that intersperse scenes aren’t a great way of conveying text. Maybe the budget here might have been better served elsewhere in a different media format, perhaps a short animated film.
Back Then faired a bit better on the virtue of being an actual game. Definitely a walking sim ala Gone Home with more out there visuals and set pieces as they were. The choice to cast you as a wheelchair bound man is certainly unique and added thematic obstructions to movement but I wouldn’t say it was fun. This is highlighted more when you play sections as other characters who can walk. The script might be a bit flowery but the story was good and well told with some genuine sounding voice acting.
After playing the two, I felt a bit better than I did in regards to the Platinum stuff . Games are supposed to be fun after all. Anything else is bonus.
