Time to Visit Yokosuka - Game Invaders: The Theory and Understanding of Computer Games - page 129

AND ON WITH GENERAL AESTHETICS
We also eventually come up against challenge points—problems we have to solve
in order to progress with the quest. Finding the phoenix mirror is a classic example:
1. W e fi nd out, or come to know somehow, that we have to fi nd the phoenix
mirror.
2. We gain access to the basement below the dojo and know that the phoenix
mirror must be down there somewhere.
3. We note that Ryo is always concerned with light or the lack of it in the base-
ment. He wants to light candles and use his torch.
4. We note that there are large gaps between the fl oorboards. Perhaps the mirror
is underneath these. If we get a light bulb from the Tomato Convenience
Store we might see the mirror' s refl ection when the light is better.
5. We buy and fi t the light bulb but the mirror is not under the fl oor.
6. However, on scrutinizing the fl oorboards we notice that there are some
scratches next to the small set of shelves near the chest of drawers with a
mirror. By examining these scratches closely we enable a PSAS in which
Ryo slides the furniture to one side and discovers a hollow part of the wall.
7. We know there is an axe he can use to break open the wall and retrieve the
phoenix mirror. As usual in Shenmue, selecting the axe when all else is ready
triggers a PSAS that turns into a cut scene.
A classic challenge point, but did the extra light from the light bulb cause the scratch
marks on the fl oor to become visible? However, scrutinizing the scratch marks on
the fl oor enables a red A which offers a PSAS if the red A is pressed.
Co-presence is a major aesthetic pleasure of Shenmue. Talking to people and
discovering the different characters, as well as the information they may or may not
have, is a major pleasure of Shenmue. It is also one of the main reasons for the rich
levels of connotation in Shenmue because conversations and therefore language play
a central role in the information space of the game.
How closely do we associate ourselves with Ryo? As a player one feels more
distance between oneself and Ryo than one does with the characters we take on in
Unreal or Thief. In Shenmue it is not really the player but the player in the sense of
Gibson' s “ sensorium ” (Gibson, 1984 ) or in the fi lm Being John Malkovich . The
player is not Lara Croft, nor is he/she Ryo. Somehow the player is more of a puppet
master who is going to help and enable Ryo to achieve his quest. This is a clear case
of transformation. How will Ryo think? How would he behave in this culture, which
is so alien to most English players, but not to Ryo? This is not the player pretending
to be Luke Skywalker but trying to put him/herself in Ryo's shoes in order to try
and see the world from his point of view. In this sense Ryo, or rather his character
traits, become a sort of fi lter on the world of the game we perceive and on our ability
to exercise agency in it. Ryo's character is a prosthetic consciousness that is our only
way of perceiving this alien world. There is thus a dramatic difference between the