When the demo for PixelJunk’s latest play on genre convention, Eden, went live on the Playstation Network late last week, I was still knee deep in a country spanning jaunt, my only real gaming time devoted to quick sessions of Shiren the Wanderer and Phoenix Wright: Justice For All. I’ve been following Eden closely since Dylan Cuthber and Q Games started showing it off earlier this year, intrigued by its subdued yet dense pop-art visuals, deep house soundtrack, and its peculiar momentum-based play. Now that I’ve spent some time with the free appetizer hosted on PSN, I am, like Derrick, entranced by Eden.
Beyond the basic satisfaction of moving through Eden’s gardens, its central theme of growth – your actions bring life to the environment resulting with subtle shifts in each garden’s music – is emblematic of the shift in the way games broadly can be classified. Discussing games and game design is no longer limited to mechanical identification; this is a platformer, this is a puzzle, this is a shooter. The boundaries of genre are disintegrating, much as they did for popular music half a century ago, leaving games to be defined more by aesthetics than basic function. Eden, even more so than PSN cousins Echochrome and Everyday Shooter, is an amalgamation of classic genre tropes – platforming, high-score challenges, exploration, and puzzle obstacles among them – that transcends taxonomy through presentation and the way it affects the player’s experience of the game. It’s easier to relate Eden to the electronica that soundtracks it than to other games. Like deep house, play in Eden is a soothing slow burn that can result in ecstatic highs but quickly lead back into a (without sounding too much like I’m writing this while holding glow sticks) groove. It’s a far cry from the traditional escalation of games, especially those not driven by narrative, where prolonged play leads only to increased tension.
PixelJunk Eden isn’t a platformer. It’s trance.
Related links:
Whatcha' (Wish You Were) Playing: How Does Your Garden Grow?
OST: Everyday Shooter
It’s Dangerous to Go Alone