Aesthetic Reflection - The Room 4_ Old Sins Final Draft.docx

Lynn Burgess PAH 230 August 28, 2023 Aesthetic Reflection The Room 4: Old Sins Gamescape Murray states that “ Video games encourage the observation and exploitation of everything within a game space in terms of potential use-value for the player.” This could not be truer than in The Room 4: Old Sins. As an environmentally driven puzzle game, the player must fixate on every angle and minute detail to progress forward. Every aspect of the many rooms must be picked through with a fine toothcomb to discover needed tools, codes, and lore. An important aspect of the game is the dual views of the rooms and dollhouse, with things looking different through the eyepiece, a tool that is carried throughout the series. This eyepiece reveals a myriad of things, such as hidden symbols, codes, and even enter objects to see the inner workings. There are also images and writings that don’t work toward the progression of the game but rather build up the environment and story. The maximalist appearance of the game greatly encourages players to take in the small details throughout the room. The Room of Curiosities has fewer puzzles than some of the other rooms, however, there is an overwhelming amount of visual information given all at once. One of the puzzles involves matching two masks to each other, however, it’s easy to not notice the second one and assume that the eyepiece is the only tool the player needs. Throughout the

gameplay, the eyepiece is taught to be the player’s primary tool, however, in the case of this puzzle, noticing the small details on the other mask is the only way to complete this puzzle.

Another puzzle within this room is to get an artificial heart to beat within the chest of the medical model. While focused on this puzzle with or without the eyepiece doesn’t make the answer clear, zooming out to see the entire room shows a heart diagram on the far wall that shows the orientation the arrows need to be in. This focus on the room as its pieces and as a whole is used throughout the game. It’s a key part of the “rules” that are set up. To progress, the player must look at everything in many different ways to see things. This extends to its story. Murray’s “Horizons Already Here Video Games and Landscapes” focuses on gamescapes being spatial stories that drive a player toward the end goal and even comments on the cultural texts that video games have become. The Room 4: Old Sins follows the player attempting to find an unknown element that has been identified as the Null by this point in the game series. Within this entry of the series, the

player views the turmoil the Null has created within the Waldegrave Manor and its residents. To fully understand the story the player reads diary entries from the two residents, Edward and Abigail, a husband and wife. The player is effectively viewing this story from the rules of the game, in two different perspectives. The Room series has long been able the Null and its horrific effects on those that encounter it, with the Circle, an organization, attempting to collect as much as possible. There is a clear cultural commentary in this game, warning against pursuing knowledge that is clearly dangerous. Visuals It’s easy to see from a simple glance at The Room 4: Old Sins that the developers are aiming for a realistic look to the game. As shown in this screenshot light affects objects in a natural way, casting dark shadows further back on the dollhouse with the direct light catching on the front of it as well as objects in front casting shadows onto those behind it, such as the gate pillars casting a shadow onto the facade behind it.

All of this plays into the idea that the player is fully immersed in this world to solve these puzzles and break the seal on the Null. The hyperrealism forces the player to constantly take in a large amount of information, pushing them to pick through these details to find what is truly important. This overload of information makes the puzzles a tad more difficult, as it is hard to determine what is an object that can not be interacted with and what can be interacted with. Even so, the environment is a great indicator of what needs to get done to progress. In the image above there is a seal on the attic of the dollhouse, each of the symbols on the seal must be destroyed to continue. This is done by gathering artifacts from each of the rooms. As shown in the screenshot below, a symbol is visible through the eyeglass piece on the face of each room.

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