The Beginner’s Guide is the next game from Davey Wreden
whose previous work, The Stanley Parable, took the internet by storm and swept
critics off their feet. The games clever deconstruction of video game design
in every form was both hilarious and insightful. An amazing game, of that there
is no doubt. The Beginner’s Guide takes a similar approach in that it is a
first-person narrative game with voice-of-god style narration but apart from that the two games could not be more
dissimilar.
The nature of The Beginner's Guide is, purposefully I would imagine, ambiguous.
As layers of it reveal itself your perspective is going to change, made all the
more confusing when the game leans heavily on that very concept, of perspective
I mean. But that confusion is not meant as derisive commentary, not in the
slightest. I loved this game, I’m just not entirely sure how to feel about it,
but I love that it made me think like no other game has.
The Beginner’s Guide offers a fascinating examination into
artistry, more specifically into the mind of an artistic person. It delves into
why art resonates with those who experience it, why is art so precious to
humanity to our culture and to society. What do we glean from it and why do we
keep coming back. Some people only appreciate it at its most basic, a song is
catchy, a book is entertaining, and a game is fun to play. But others find
something else. They find connection, either to the world or to the creators themselves, whom they've never meet but feel they know due to what they've taken away from the creation. This is something The Beginner’s Guide begins to examine, it
makes no attempt to say it’s going to even approach a satisfactory answer because,
quite frankly, it doesn’t. In fact the game switches gears just as it begins to dwell on these ideas though
that’s all I’m comfortable revealing since it’s an experience best had unencumbered.
Playing the game was on its surface enjoyable but it was also
unnerving, eerie even. As I stated above I’m not entirely sure how to feel about
this game. I’m not sure how much is fictional or deeply personal and possibly
even uncomfortably invasive. I’m bursting with questions, I’m dying to know the
truth, and I likely never will. That doesn’t mean The Beginner’s Guide is
anything but an amazing experience.
I reluctantly admit that this game made me very emotional. As
the game goes on the developers audio commentary goes from insightful to
meditative and I felt like the game was speaking truths so deeply rooted in
every person it was like speaking to a therapist, it gets at a part of you only
deep introspection and potentially professional help can reach.
The word auteur is liberally tossed around when, in most
cases it’s never appropriate. For one, most artists working today have hordes
of collaborators. Be it films, singers, even literary authors at some point
receive input from an outside source. I’m not criticizing, it’s a point of
fact. Video games are like one of the last bastions, at least in popular
media, where an auteur can really shine. Not big budget games, they’re aimed at
making money and have hundreds of incredibly talented people working on them.
But the growing ease and accessibility of game development it is making it
possible for would be artists to make something of their own. More and more
single credit games are making it to consoles, getting heaps of praise and
winning awards.
The Beginner’s Guide feels like a response to this fact. In
every way that it can be a response. A response to the difficulty of
creativity, the potential burden that comes with creating something and having
people view it, judge it. It’s also a response to people’s experiences of
playing something created by somebody else. The game speaks to so many points about
those who create, those who choose to engage with those creations and even that
very creation itself. The game makes no promises that it’s here to be enjoyed
like its creators last game or even be fully understood. But regardless it’s
saying something that could not be more appropriate right now in the video game
landscape. Hell, it's relevant to our current social media obsessed society. A society that yearns for connection but is hindered through glass and ones and zeros. It's relevant to everyone who yearns for connection, possibly attention, or even validation, from others or internal.
The Beginner’s Guide marks another remarkable game this year
to completely break the mold of what a video game is or can be.
Make no mistake video games are art.