Xi: Continuum — the First Week
by SealWyf, HSM Editor
I keep checking the calendar.
We already know that the main gameplay of Xi: Continuum will last 47 days. You can choose to play at your own pace, but the game itself has a fixed duration. After that, it’s just re-runs. nDreams has precisely 47 days to knock our socks off.
I have now completed Day Seven. And, so far, my socks remain firmly in place. About fifteen percent of the game is gone, and there’s little to show for it. I have to wonder what they’re waiting for.
As a writer, I understand the lure of slow beginnings. You concentrate on deliberate world-building — let the reader get a feel for the place before Gandalf arrives with a pack of dwarves, or Alice falls down the rabbit hole, or the tornado carries Dorothy off to Oz. Except, it doesn’t work that way. Not in good writing. A good story grabs you by the scruff of the neck, drops you in medias res, and lets you scramble to play catch-up. We had a taste of that at the beginning of Xi: Continuum — a literal dropping down a rabbit-hole, which deposited us in the game with enough hints of what was to come that we paid to see the rest of it.
It was a grand, dramatic beginning. An epic beginning. But, let’s admit it — since then, it’s been pretty dull.
We’re getting some world-building, to be sure. We now know our way around the labyrinthine Continuum — mostly because there’s not much to do each day except explore it. We can find the Axiom HQ, the Snowcrash Bar, EatFlamingDeath’s laser-shielded hideout, and our own vertiginous cyber-apartment. Along the way, we have discovered the mysterious necktie stand, the miniature Stonehenge, the cryptic hexadecimal signposts, various colorful vending machines and graffiti, and the ephemeral blue cubes of the Fragments. We’ve read some emails and played a couple of card games. We’ve debated whether to buy the rest of the cards, or just muddle through with the default set. We’ve poked at an external website and played a Flash-based game — at least those of us who have access to a Flash-capable browser have played it. Those who don’t have complained about it, and rightly so. It’s simply not fair to assume that all Home users have access to other hardware.
We’re also seeing some unreliability from the narrator — our old friend Jess from the first Xi game, who communicates through the convenient medium of our personal Aeropal. Unreliable narrators are a grand tradition in fiction, and I was pleased to see one here. It adds some depth to a story, if you don’t know whom to trust.
Jess told us that the Continuum must be destroyed, though she wasn’t specific about the reasons. And then she seems to have changed her mind, for equally hazy reasons. She and the other Axiom staff radiate a “don’t worry your pretty little head about it” attitude when it comes to the big questions. That’s not a vibe you want from your boss.
We are supposed to accept that Axiom is the good guys, and that the other side — EatFlamingDeath, her associates Stickman and Malachi, and the mysterious DivineZero gang are Up To No Good. But the other side wants to preserve the Continuum, and this automatically makes them sympathetic. As a writer, I predict a major shift in moral perspective in the near future. And if there’s not, there should be. Because this is literature, although it’s disguised as a video game. And literature is all about changing your perspectives — the more violently, the better.
Here’s another observation: have you noticed that EatFlamingDeath looks a heck of a lot like Jess? Granted, we don’t see much of her face under her rogue’s hood. But she and Jess could be sisters.
Or even the same person.
So that’s my prediction: there will be a change in loyalty, with EFD and her associates becoming the good guys, if only temporarily. The Continuum will not be destroyed, though it may be changed. I think it should be changed, in some unpredictable, spectacular way. Change makes good storytelling. The plot will heat up, and may even become exciting.
And I predict all this will happen over the week of Christmas vacation.
I can sort of see why this might be the plan. Many of Home’s users are students, and with school out, they’re going to be home (lower case) looking for something to do. And so they’ll end up in Home (upper case), at loose ends. And nDreams is going to make sure they are amused.
Trouble is, some of us have family obligations, and the people we are visiting don’t own gaming consoles. Even if they did, they suffer from the totally irrational delusion that holidays are about quality time in what passes for the real world, rather than immersion in an alternate reality game. And so, from day eleven through nineteen, the Continuum will be in eclipse for me, as inaccessible as the dark side of the moon or the top ranks of Home’s leaderboards. I’ll just have to catch up over New Year’s.
In the meantime, I can fantasize what would be happening if I were driving the plot. Is this fair to nDream’s creative staff? Perhaps not, but it’s normal. Every writer alive plays the game of “if this were my story.” We all think we know better. It’s what drives a lot of fan fiction — you cast yourself in the starring role, and rebuild the universe to your own requirements.
And in this alternate version of what is already an alternate universe, I am EatFlamingDeath, heroically defending the Continuum against Axiom, a conglomerate of evil software executives who want to monetize it for Sony, in league with GloboSyn and Dread Cthulhu. With the aid of some Homeling glitchers, assisted by secret agent VICKIE from the Sodium universe, we uncover Axiom’s dark-and-dirty secrets and forward them to DivineZero, who is really Julian Assange, with the understanding that they will be splattered all over the Internet and the PSN if we disappear. Jess, my long-lost estranged twin sister, sides with me against Axiom after a tearful reunion in the GZ Burger Shop. The forces of darkness cave, the Continuum becomes a permanent part of Home, free rewards are handed out all around, and everyone looks forward to the next installment.
That’s how I’d do it. When I return to the PSN in January, we’ll see how ludicrously wrong I guessed the upcoming plot points. But I think my version has a certain emo swashbucklery that’s appealing. Hey, it’s my imagination — I can do whatever I want. “The mind is its own place,” and all that. Yay, Milton!
Meanwhile, I mope around the Continuum and wait for my socks to be dislodged. Will Xi: Continuum become a page-turner? Will Seal finally lose her socks? Time alone will tell.
But it’s been seven days already. Honestly, nDreams — it’s time to get things moving!
December 19th, 2012 by SealWyf_ | 5 comments
SealWyf is a museum database programmer, who has been active in online communities since before the Internet, and in console gaming since the PS1. In games, she prefers the beautiful and quirky, and anything with a strong storyline. She is obsessed with creating new aesthetic experiences in PlayStation Home.
This is a fair enough concern I suppose. From what I can tell it’s a new team working on this Xi, but they’re trying to tie in stuff from the last Xi that even they probably weren’t part of. Ever seen the Borne Conspiracy? As a writer, imagine being tasked to write the second movie’s script -- without getting to see anymore than clips from the first movie. Cant be easy huh.
Besides, I think this is just scene setting. Saying that, you’re right about the timing, what an awkward time for releasing an ARG! As for the stuff about people not having a flash enabled browser, heh, I’m sorry but most phones can handle that kinda thing and if you cant get access to a laptop, PC or public library then how did you end up with a PS3!?
The last Xi had people in London hunting billboards in the Underground, now having Flash is too much of an expectation!? the new comers don’t know how far we had to go for Xi out in the real world, and the Xi vets are grumpy about having to pay for something. I feel sorry for nDreams, must be like Rich Hall trying to entertain a bunch of 2 year olds at a birthday party.
Great comments, Krazy. I agree with the article as well.
I’m happy that I purchased Xi just to experience the spaces. I’m still eagerly waiting for the game itself to pick up. The combat game is just ok and there really has not been much else to do.
It’s a shame that Sony couldn’t have updated the browser on the PS3 for Flash. Sometimes projects like Xi can be a driving force for bigger innovations.
I know what you mean Seal, it is like waiting for the other shoe to drop and wondering if it is going to be a heavy work boot or a feather light slipper. I had qualms about this being over the Christmas season as well, also about people having access to an outside computer. I think they should have done it so people could use the PS3 browser for all of their computer activities in the game, would have been a better choice.
I am liking the fact you can play at your own pace though and also that the days so far haven’t taken up too much of my precious Home time to complete. I am sure this will change though as the plot thickens.
I couldn’t agree with you more about the time frame involved here. My excitement turned to disappointment when I heard about the game cycle happening right over the holidays. I bought the game and will give it all I got, but the time restraints of the holidays means I can’t finish the game and will miss much.
Still looking forward to playing though!