I wrote about my experiences with Sunset; that I found it thought provoking and moving. Since then, the creators Tale of Tales have announced that they are giving up on creating games (at least commercial ones), after Sunset only sold a bit over 4000 copies as of about a week ago. Their full post is worth reading in my opinion. I'd summarize it as saying that they tried to make 'a game for gamers', along the lines of the more successful Gone Home (which I also thoroughly enjoyed), hired various advisors and PR people, and it all failed to produce sales. So they're unlikely to bother anymore, especially as funding for artistic games dries up in their home country of Belgium.
Lots of people have had opinions about this, and it ties into some interesting discussions about whether governments should subsidize art, whether their games were good, whether they were games at all (that endless debate), and so on. Since I am apparently one of fairly few people who have tried the game, and my opinion of it is so different to many other people, I thought I'd try and respond specifically to some of the criticisms I've seen of the game - not necessarily trying to counter them, but at least explaining why they didn't occur to me, or if they did, why I didn't think they mattered all that much. You could loosely consider some things below as spoilers.
Lots of people have had opinions about this, and it ties into some interesting discussions about whether governments should subsidize art, whether their games were good, whether they were games at all (that endless debate), and so on. Since I am apparently one of fairly few people who have tried the game, and my opinion of it is so different to many other people, I thought I'd try and respond specifically to some of the criticisms I've seen of the game - not necessarily trying to counter them, but at least explaining why they didn't occur to me, or if they did, why I didn't think they mattered all that much. You could loosely consider some things below as spoilers.
Since I've just linked to their post, I'll start with a mention of the creators themselves, and how their personalities have likely led to people taking strong positions on the game even before they play it or learn more about it. I haven't followed Tale of Tales closely, but they seem to have a reputation for being opinionated and strong tempered - some of their tweets around the time of making their post certainly seemed to get some people riled up. I can't find any of the strongest worded ones I'd seen reposted elsewhere, so they may have deleted them or perhaps they were even made up by some of those revelling in the news about them moving away from games. In any case, they have other more recent tweets that make their position pretty clear as far as the 'gaming community' goes (whatever that really means).
Ever since we demonstrated our new freedom by cursing gamers in jest they haven't stopped proving how correct our choice to self-censor was.
— Tale of Tales (@taleoftales) June 28, 2015
Such a sad, deliberately stupid, mean-spirited community, clinging to a childish hobby for a sliver of identity. Games deserve better.
— Tale of Tales (@taleoftales) June 28, 2015
Strong opinions like these will influence people's view of their work, so the fact I wasn't familiar with their social media presence before playing Sunset meant I was only judging the game itself. I knew Tale of Tales did arty games, and it's not like Sunset ever tried to hide that part of its nature, but that was about it. If I had come at the game with the opinion that the creators had extremely naive/infuriating political views, or just weren't people I liked, it would have coloured my feelings about the game (having read a bit more of their blog/twitter, I don't have strong opinions about them either way). I'd be coming at it with a cross examining mindset, rather than the open mind I actually had. Worse, it would probably make me think of the characters differently - rather than judging them on their actions and thoughts, I might end up looking at them as avatars or puppets of their creators - which they are, of course, but it would be the difference between giving someone the benefit of the doubt and twisting everything they do as some plot to annoy and inconvenience you personally.
The second big criticism I've seen was that as a game, it wasn't good - the mechanics were bad, your choices didn't really matter, it was assumed that you'd mostly choose the warm and flirty interaction options, and so on. Many of these are valid points. I mentioned the clunky controls in my post, and there are some valid technical complaints as well - the lighting did seem odd at times (especially problematic for atmosphere in a game so connected with the sunset), and while the game is clearly not aiming for realism, it sometimes felt off even within the visual style of the game. For me the controls didn't matter - it was a shame and sometimes detracted from the mood, but I was never blocked from doing something I wanted to do by it. I'm not hugely interested in the details of 3D art, so issues here with lightning or general quality were never going to be a deal-breaker for me unless it was something especially egregious. I could look past any failings here and focus on the apartment filling itself with things (mostly artwork) and how the choices you get can change how it looks (not many of these, but enough to get across the feeling they were aiming for, in my opinion).
However, I can fully understand how people looking for a more 'typical' game would be turned off by the problems raised above. It wasn't polished in a gameplay sense, and the mechanics were not immediately intuitive to me. They weren't hard to figure out as someone with a lot of gaming experience and having read the FAQ in the game so I knew what I was looking for, but it was not as smooth as Gone Home. I think they did succeed in making something that could appeal more to a regular gamer (I did kickstart it, after looking at their previous output with interest but never quite the motivation to buy anything - a position I might change soon, just to see how Sunset compares with their past games), but it's still an art game at heart, with all the foibles and jagged edges that entails. Some might even accuse it of being a wolf in sheep's clothing here; taking on enough of the trappings of first person exploration games to pass as one, before revealing itself as a rather different creature.
However, I can fully understand how people looking for a more 'typical' game would be turned off by the problems raised above. It wasn't polished in a gameplay sense, and the mechanics were not immediately intuitive to me. They weren't hard to figure out as someone with a lot of gaming experience and having read the FAQ in the game so I knew what I was looking for, but it was not as smooth as Gone Home. I think they did succeed in making something that could appeal more to a regular gamer (I did kickstart it, after looking at their previous output with interest but never quite the motivation to buy anything - a position I might change soon, just to see how Sunset compares with their past games), but it's still an art game at heart, with all the foibles and jagged edges that entails. Some might even accuse it of being a wolf in sheep's clothing here; taking on enough of the trappings of first person exploration games to pass as one, before revealing itself as a rather different creature.
I actually started my post on Sunset saying I wasn't sure what to expect when I loaded it up. That's not quite true now I think about it - I was definitely expecting an arty game. I wasn't expecting Gone Home - a single apartment couldn't allow exploration gameplay like that of Gone Home, and it was clear there was a more explicit story I was going to be told here - even before I figured out that sitting in the easy chair literally has Angela read her diary to you/herself - rather than in Gone Home where the plot is unravelled by your poking and tugging at the contents of the house. Had I been expecting something closer to Gone Home, I would have been disappointed by Sunset.
Finally, there have been people calling the story and general atmosphere clumsy, pretentious, and otherwise lacking. I don't really have a lot to say about this - Sunset touched me more than I expected for reasons I can't quite elucidate, and while I can recognise some of the points people have made, they just don't fit with the experience I had. My mood while I was playing the game was in tune with some of the topics it was exploring, and I'm sure that's a major part of why I got so much out of it. If I'd been feeling differently when I decided to start up the game, maybe it wouldn't have got its hooks into me like it did.
As with any artwork, something like Sunset is always going to be partly defined by the emotions of the person viewing it. With games, you can take a somewhat subjective view and admire the mechanics or technical craft running things behind the pretty exterior, but Sunset doesn't have anything substantial to offer there - it's a game, but only because that's a good form for the arty aspects which are the real point. You can't approach Sunset like a regular game and expect to get anything much out of it - the artiness shines through, and I suspect that's why it hasn't sold much despite more conventional trailers and trying for more accessible and traditional interaction. People can see that, and for better or worse it seems that a lot of folks who play games aren't especially interested in trying games like Sunset. I'd say that's for the worse, but then I haven't bought any of Tale of Tales' previous output either, and I forgot that I'd even kickstarted it or why I had until I got an email about it being released. A case of physician, heal thyself, I think. There's no shortage of indie and artsy games out there, they just want an audience.
Finally, there have been people calling the story and general atmosphere clumsy, pretentious, and otherwise lacking. I don't really have a lot to say about this - Sunset touched me more than I expected for reasons I can't quite elucidate, and while I can recognise some of the points people have made, they just don't fit with the experience I had. My mood while I was playing the game was in tune with some of the topics it was exploring, and I'm sure that's a major part of why I got so much out of it. If I'd been feeling differently when I decided to start up the game, maybe it wouldn't have got its hooks into me like it did.
As with any artwork, something like Sunset is always going to be partly defined by the emotions of the person viewing it. With games, you can take a somewhat subjective view and admire the mechanics or technical craft running things behind the pretty exterior, but Sunset doesn't have anything substantial to offer there - it's a game, but only because that's a good form for the arty aspects which are the real point. You can't approach Sunset like a regular game and expect to get anything much out of it - the artiness shines through, and I suspect that's why it hasn't sold much despite more conventional trailers and trying for more accessible and traditional interaction. People can see that, and for better or worse it seems that a lot of folks who play games aren't especially interested in trying games like Sunset. I'd say that's for the worse, but then I haven't bought any of Tale of Tales' previous output either, and I forgot that I'd even kickstarted it or why I had until I got an email about it being released. A case of physician, heal thyself, I think. There's no shortage of indie and artsy games out there, they just want an audience.
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