If any other studio had delivered a month ago and little something like Uncharted. The lost
We would speak of the unbridled action, of the ingenious puzzles and still for all the publics, of how good the dialogues are and how credible the characters are. From how good it feels to a genre Indiana Jones have an exclusively female role.
But of course, as it happens, this game is from Naughty Dog. And that is an Uncharted . In fact, the Uncharted that follows its extraordinary fourth chapter, chosen by this house as the fifth best game of 2016 . And that marks that the excellent becomes assumed.
In all aspects. With which it does not arrive, far from it, with arriving at the outstanding one. For critics and audiences to be surprised with something that takes the paw of Nauhgty dog, we must ascend to Olympus, give birth to a masterpiece. And that is not always possible. Not for Naughty dog or anyone.
This study of Santa Monica follows a trajectory parallel to that of Pixar. Each one in its middle. Both have accustomed the public to such a high level in everything they do that they find it increasingly difficult to overcome. Pixar hooked an unrivaled streak perhaps in all the history of cinema: Ratatouille, WALL-E, UP and Toy story 3 .
Four stratospheric films followed. It gave the impression, especially after Toy story 3, that the flexo company was touched by the gods, that it did not matter a sequel to a radical project like UP or Wall-E . Pixar, for using a very Yankee simile, would always take her out of the stadium.
Then, evidently, reality put things in their place. We’ve had seven films since then and none, however good they may have been, are up to these four. And, of course, the owners are cemented with it to convey an idea that we love, because the human always likes to be mythological, epopéyico. And if we love living the rise of heroes, we like it as much or more to experience its fall.
So it was said that Nadal would no longer be what he was or how M. Night Shyamalan’s career was buried, with a lot of bad temper, mockery and derision that they have had to swallow, both with and with great success and amazing quality. of Multiple.
What I’m going to is a reflection that is not original, but I think it’s not too much of a pilgrim, when it comes to evaluating the studies from which everything is expected and specifically this Uncharted. The lost legacy. Excellence, even if it seems to be an autopilot, never is.
If someone reaches a level of remarkable high or even outstanding, although we know that in the past he signed honorary enrollments, we must overcome that feeling of loss of quality. Because reaching the highest level, as a wise man like Nadal has said on more than one occasion, is something that has not a little chance. What you can do is reach, and it is not easy either, the highest level in each one’s trade. And reaching that level should always be congratulated.
The lost legacy reaches that level. His combat, his exploration, his puzzles, his design, his characters, his script, everything is 8, at least. There are a couple of moments of 10 and they have to do with something more and more common to the enjoyment of an overproduction in videogame.
The contemplative interaction, which is not passive but its rhythm and what the player gets out of it has nothing to do with getting involved with shots, it seems to me more and more essential. Even in unlikely games, such as a Call of Duty, I find myself on many occasions contemplating my surroundings, subjugated.
The video game can take a much greater game than the cinema of space and time. Cinema is always limited by editing, so the director will have to decide when an image has to die. In the video game it is not like that. If we want to spend a minute, or ten, merely observing, nobody stops us.
When a blockbuster realizes this and exploits it, memorable moments are reached, moments to treasure from our experience as players. In The Lost Legacy these are produced by the awe of observing beautiful ruins. I remember two moments that I know I will not forget. One is with a double statue of Ganesha , the divine elephant of Hindu mythology that is central to this story.
Another, with Shiva, in the most spectacular puzzle of the title, which requires breaking light into its primary colors. Naughty dog orchestra these prints so that the player is speechless and have time to take advantage of that unique quality of the tenth art, the sense of presence, the possibility of inhabiting the virtual worlds that are presented to us.
From the script and, above all, from the transfer of the leading role to this duo of veterans of the saga, Chloe Frazer and Nadine Ross, I only have good words. Naughty dog already demonstrated in that wonderful DLC, The left behind, who knows perfectly how to write the female characters.
Without reaching the level of that jewel, the tense professional relationship that slowly evolves into something more than a friendship, in a twinning between members, is perfectly written.
I believe it. And it also does something very interesting that we do not usually see in any medium. Actually, even if we only control Chloe, nobody shares the leading role with parity.
The player does not feel that he is the essential motor of the actions, except perhaps in the last act of the adventure, but this is lived in pairs and that the victory is, therefore, shared with our partner. It is true that as an individual hero I believe that Nathan Drake had a greater charisma, perhaps because he has always been an Indiana Jones still more attached than the archaeologist of Spielberg to his infantile side, the child who seeks fascination.
Chloe and Nobody
The biggest problems of The Lost Legacy is that everything lived during its nine hours of play does not catch the guard down at any time. It is an Uncharted , nothing more and nothing less. But even in his brilliant set-piécè of closure he makes us relive moments that we already experienced in the previous chapter, a tracing, with train of by means, of the trepidante flight of Marrakesh.
And the problem is also that we are in 2017, a year that seems intent on overcoming the incredible harvest of 2016. The year of the new Zelda , the new Mario , the Everything , the incredible Hellblade , the Persona 5 , by Nier Automata. Too much to compete with. It is true that the remarkable or outstanding deserves all the respect and applause. But in a year like this it is no less true that only excellence makes one be in the bunch of elect. Because we are living, for the second consecutive year, an era of wonders. And just as we can not judge Naughty dog by this standard, we can not judge the video game when the level inevitably falls in the coming years.
Too much to compete with. It is true that the remarkable or outstanding deserves all the respect and applause. But in a year like this it is no less true that only excellence makes one be in the bunch of elect. Because we are living, for the second consecutive year, an era of wonders. And just as we can not judge Naughty dog by this standard, we can not judge the video game when the level inevitably falls in the coming years.
