WWGW - The Shapeshifting Detective - an examination

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Weird & Wonderful Game Watch

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Published on November 19, 2018 10:45:51 AM ● Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZmH3HyVUzU

Game:

The Shapeshifting Detective (2018)

Duration: 32:53

2,368 views

6

Ah FMV gaming. A lot of people tend to look at fashion with a cyclical approach, and recognize that what's hip today--but trash tomorrow--will be back again the day after, and with a vengeance. Well, maybe thats decade instead of days, but but the principle holds.

Video games are still a relatively new medium for that level of trend-spotting, but perhaps we've got one great early example with the resurgence of FMV gaming that shows genres and styles aren't merely functions of what technology enables at the time. They're subject to come and go with the times around them. The genres and popularity of them are similarly representative of changing styles and tastes, with specific selection more dependent on the best way to convey any given message or experience. FMV is back, and it's gonna stay that way as long as players are less swayed by the prettiest pixels than what the next generation and latest innovations can accomplish in a story-dense medium. They've turned back the clock and brought back an experience which manages to tap into a childlike sense of roleplay and immersion that just can't be mimicked with 3D models.

Like all the greatest FMV games of yesteryear, the acting is wonderfully off-balance. Yes wonderfully. Sure, there will always be an awkwardness from the necessity of edits and structuring conversations, but that's less an issue than an attribute. The true purpose of any FMV experience and its real crossover with gaming occurs in mimicking the fundamental ROLE PLAY experience. You of course know that you are not the detective, but the intimate style of FMV gaming is all about putting you in that position where you're at least along the lines of an actor pretending to be this detective. Your absorption is about playing the part in the story like everyone else. An FMV game isn't true immersion, but instead immersion like you're on the Holodeck from Star Trek and warped into a genuine roleplay environment where all the other actors are playing their parts as well. This is the heart of the entire genre.

The central hook of "The Shapeshifting Detective" revolves around the titular principle. You're a shapeshifter and a detective. Slip on the skin of your suspects and play them against each other to progress the ordinary detective's journey. It's certainly a unique and fascinating approach that gives a lot of life to both FMV gaming and the detective genre itself, yet there's another element of brilliance in how it utilizes the genres inherent limitations to further the fundamental storytelling purpose.

This adjustment of your silent protagonist to these other character fully realizes the ultimate purpose of these games in crafting yourself as this other character and embracing the child-like or acting-equivalent roleplay experience described earlier. With any videogame there's always a disconnect between you the player and you the character. A voiced protagonist is still always far superior to the silent ones (despite what some developers keep thinking), yet its also true that the voice will forever present some gap for the roleplaying experience. Here the silent protagonist stands in for yourself while also accompanied by these fully voiced performances for each of the "characters" that you will come to play while Shapshifting. (The adjustment scene after transforming where Sam tries out his new voice is a nice touch as well, though it does get old after a few times). While the neutral silence Sam stands in for this default state, his own adjustment to each of these characters mimics the players and helps reflect this roleplay journey in an brilliant fashion. As easily as Sam the Detective slips on the skin of the suspects, you the player are furthered in your own ambitions and ability to slip on the skin of Sam The Detective and each of his incarnations to follow in the skin of others. Its truly a brilliant approach and reflects the sort of commitment and understanding of the genre that the developers
D'Avekki Studios Ltd poured into this work.

The resurgence of FMV isn't just a retread of the past, its a tribute that builds on the foundation that was with love and respect while also forging the way with new approaches and utilizations that take the format to new heights.

check out the shapeshifting detective available on Steam now
https://store.steampowered.com/app/898650/The_Shapeshifting_Detective/?curator_clanid=32660416

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