I find it interesting that the choice of games we’ve managed to discuss for this week along with other popular metagames like The Stanley Parable all have a heavy emphasis on distinguishing a non-diegetic voice that is unique from the player themselves. The most obvious case that we are present is the There Is No Game duology where Mr. Game is omnipresent and serves both as a “game guide” (borrowing from the terminology used by Luke in his Soma video essay) and a foil for the player participating. He is central to both games and it makes you consider if all the eureka moments from solving different puzzles would feel more hollow without receiving recognition from the game itself through . I believe it is somewhat of a limitation of the genre as with less explicit direction the greater the chance that players may begin breaking the game in unintended ways.
Doki Doki Literature Club and Save the Date pose a more interesting way of displaying this discourse by having a diegetic character slowly evolve/reveal themselves to have non-diegetic conversations. Even if these conversations are grounded in the game narrative they almost seem to be a mouthpiece through where the author can directly speak their intent. I suppose without a narrator metagames run the risk of having their message taken at face value by particularly hard-headed individuals. Its especially problematic where their indie origin might give the false impression that some puzzles are simply bad execution of common tropes within the genre the metagame is commenting on.
Without something or someone to facilitate meta thinking, games of this nature can come off as obtuse, pretentious, or too nebulous to be worth the effort. To some degree I am reminded of NaissanceE, which although a fantastic game really gives no incentive to complete it other than one’s own curiosity. It presents a unique perspective on virtual architecture and how certain environmental cues are used in games to create atmosphere, yet seems almost cold and self-aggrandizing without a relatable figure to mediate these themes.
