I've been replaying BioShock Infinite the past week as it's my favorite game and it really nagged at me how unloved it is relative to The Last of Us (which, incidentally, is my other favorite game). I couldn't stop seeing the myriad similarities the two games share -
-Both games feature a grizzled brunette survivor haunted by a lost daughter
-Both games are about escorting a surrogate brunette daughter whose name begins "EL"
-Both female protagonists are the "Chosen One" of their respective game
-Both female protagonists' childlike innocence fades throughout their adventure
-Both male protagonists bar their surrogate daughter from combat and then relent as they're saved by them
-Both male protagonists lost their biological daughters twenty years prior to the start of the game
-Both male protagonists barge into life-threatening surgery and kill the surgeons to free their surrogate daughters
-Both male protagonists play guitar
-Both male protagonists are voiced by Troy Baker
-Both games have constant scavenging built into their gameplay systems
-Both games featured art direction from Nate Wells
-Both games feature a faction subverting fascist governments and both of those factions are led by idealistic black women who turn murderous
I've always noticed the superficial similarities the two games share but only replaying it looking for those patterns did I notice that they're so alike structurally.
Do you think that both game just happened to touch on a moment and feature many of the same ideas? Did Troy Baker bring any elements to each game which may have influenced their direction? How do you feel about each years later? Am I reaching and both games are quite different?
-Both games feature a grizzled brunette survivor haunted by a lost daughter
-Both games are about escorting a surrogate brunette daughter whose name begins "EL"
-Both female protagonists are the "Chosen One" of their respective game
-Both female protagonists' childlike innocence fades throughout their adventure
-Both male protagonists bar their surrogate daughter from combat and then relent as they're saved by them
-Both male protagonists lost their biological daughters twenty years prior to the start of the game
-Both male protagonists barge into life-threatening surgery and kill the surgeons to free their surrogate daughters
-Both male protagonists play guitar
-Both male protagonists are voiced by Troy Baker
-Both games have constant scavenging built into their gameplay systems
-Both games featured art direction from Nate Wells
-Both games feature a faction subverting fascist governments and both of those factions are led by idealistic black women who turn murderous
I've always noticed the superficial similarities the two games share but only replaying it looking for those patterns did I notice that they're so alike structurally.
Do you think that both game just happened to touch on a moment and feature many of the same ideas? Did Troy Baker bring any elements to each game which may have influenced their direction? How do you feel about each years later? Am I reaching and both games are quite different?
