Game Review: The Shivah
2017-Sep-14, Thursday 17:49![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dorchadas
Why do bad things happen to good people? What purpose does suffering serve? Is there some greater end, some trial through which G-d is putting us with the ultimate goal of tempering us, like steel hammered out on the forge? Or is it just a part of life that we have to learn to deal with, and maintain our own composure and avoid temptation while doing so? Does G-d understand the compromises that we have to make to exist in the imperfect world, or does He gaze sternly upon us and demand better?
And if you think there's a lot of questions in the preceeding paragraph, you should see some of the dialogue in this game.
The Shivah is the first commercial game by Dave Gilbert, of Wadjet Eye fame, though I wouldn't have guessed that just from playing it. That's partially because this is the "Kosher Edition," with voice acting and revamped graphics, but also because it's polished and very well designed without a lot of the pitfalls that adventure games usually fall into. I felt more like an investigator during the Shivah than I ever did during Gabriel Knight, and without any of the latter game's sleaziness. The Shivah is grounded, which is its greatest strength.
Adventure games.
Playing this game makes me feel guilty about not going to synagogue.
Rabbi Russell Stone is the rabbi of a dying congregation, and at the beginning of the game, he's leading a service for two people, one of whom is the cantor and the other of whom is asleep. In the middle of the sermon, struck by the futility of his situation, he abruptly announces that services are cancelled and storms off into the synagogue's office. When a knock comes on the door, he assumes that it's the cantor coming to try to dissuade him from giving up entirely, and he's right that it's the cantor, but wrong about the reason. It's actually the police, here to talk to him because Rabbi Stone is the beneficiary of a will in the amount of ten thousand dollars from a man who was just found murdered. Jack Lauder was a member of Rabbi Stone's congregation many years ago, until the rabbi threw him and his family out. And so begins Rabbi Stone's quest to clear his name by determining who murdered Lauder and why Lauder would name him in the will.
I really thought I would hate Rabbi Stone, and thus the game, after the opening section. He has the kind of cynical pessimism that pessimists often think make them more clearsighted than the people around them. That we are the ones who understand how the world really works, and those daydreaming fools would come to our viewpoint if only they would see.
In reality, of course, unbridled cynicism is chic but easy, so I'm glad that it's not an essential part of Rabbi Stone's character. I took the high road every chance I could and, while I wasn't rewarded with rainbows and puppies, I did at least get the sense that the clouds will not obscure the sun forever.
It's a rabbi-off!
The Shivah is an adventure game, but it lacks the expansive inventory that's historically characteristic of the genre. Instead, all the major interactions in the game are through dialogue, but the game doesn't provide the ability to choose Rabbi Stone's exact phrasing.
There are two types of conversations, seeking clues and back and forth dialogue. Conversations where Rabbi Stone is questioning people are listed as various "Ask about [X]" lines that lead to new information, and almost all other conversations lead to a decision point with three possible responses which fall into the categories of kind response, harsh response, and the "rabbinical response," which is always a question. This is especially amusing in the conversation with Rabbi Zelig, where the two rabbis go back and forth with questions until Rabbi Stone gives up, but it plays a role in the two conversations later on that don't fit this mold. They're obviously inspired by Monkey Island's insult swordfighting, though here, Rabbi Stone has to pick the proper questions to throw his opponent off guard. It's a nice change of pace in a mostly investigative game.
And the investigations actually feel like investigations. It's snooping through emails, piecing bits of conversations together, and interrogating people to learn new facts. There are only three inventory items in the game, two of which Rabbi Stone has in his inventory at the very beginning, and a secondary inventory of "clues." This is the biggest missed opportunity of the game, because it's only used once early on. Even though the Shivah is not a very long game, clocking in at maybe an hour and a half, there are several missed opportunities for clues and it makes it seem like an extraneous feature. If it's only used once, why have it at all? Just have Rabbi Stone make the deduction himself, since the player almost certainly has already done so.
At least the guess-the-password puzzles weren't too obscure. All the passwords chosen were extremely obvious and easy to guess, but that's true to life. I mean, the two most common iPhone passcodes are "1234" and "0000." Anyone who puts effort into a secure password is unusual.
The basic question of the Shivah is "to what degree do we need to accommodate our moral compasses to the flaws of the world?" and what does that accommodation look like? Checking Rabbi Stone's email at the beginning of the game reveals a number of emails from former members who complain about his gloomy, pessimistic sermons and how they will not be returning to the synagogue. Combined with his behavior at the beginning, it makes me think that Rabbi Stone thinks that life is an unending struggle against the petty evils of the world, but one which we are doomed to lose. It's a way of thinking that I'm very familiar with, but fortunately, our tradition provides us with some guidance in this that Rabbi Stone seems to have forgotten:
Though it also leads to one of the most uncomfortable parts of the game. Relatively early on, it becomes clear that the reason Rabbi Stone expelled Jack Lauder was because Lauder wanted to marry a non-Jewish woman and Rabbi Stone viewed that as a betrayal of his heritage. This is a relatively common stance among rabbis, though not often to the point of throwing people out of congregations, even while intermarriage rates among America Jews are at 58% (71% among non-Orthodox Jews). And also as is common, Jack and Rajshree found someone who was willing to perform their marriage, making Rabbi Stone's refusal just a brief speedbump. Rabbi Stone probably thought that he was sticking to his principles, but was it justice pursued justly?
Rajshree asks Rabbi Stone point-blank why he threw out Jack, and his response to ask her if she and her husband were happy. When she replies that they were, he says that his reasons don't matter, and he leaves. And he's right. Does he regret his decision? Does he think it was right? The game provides some answers to Rabbi Stone's opinion on this, depending on the player's choices, but in terms of Jack and Rajshree's love, they don't matter.
It never is.
Being Jewish myself, I obviously had a stronger connection with this game than the average player, but you don't have to be Jewish to appreciate the Shivah. The loss of faith is something that anyone who has ever believed strongly in anything can appreciate, but more than that it's a game about how to relate the world. Terrible things will happen, often to good people, and for no reason. It's up to us in life to decide how we want to deal with that, whether we want to give into cynicism and assume that there is an inevitable downward spiral, or to do our best to continue the work. Even in the happy ending that I got, there's no certainty. The synagogue still needs repairs, and it's not magically flooded with new congregants on the following Shabbat. All it means is that there's another chance for things to get better.
May it be enough.
And if you think there's a lot of questions in the preceeding paragraph, you should see some of the dialogue in this game.
The Shivah is the first commercial game by Dave Gilbert, of Wadjet Eye fame, though I wouldn't have guessed that just from playing it. That's partially because this is the "Kosher Edition," with voice acting and revamped graphics, but also because it's polished and very well designed without a lot of the pitfalls that adventure games usually fall into. I felt more like an investigator during the Shivah than I ever did during Gabriel Knight, and without any of the latter game's sleaziness. The Shivah is grounded, which is its greatest strength.
Adventure games.
Playing this game makes me feel guilty about not going to synagogue.
Rabbi Russell Stone is the rabbi of a dying congregation, and at the beginning of the game, he's leading a service for two people, one of whom is the cantor and the other of whom is asleep. In the middle of the sermon, struck by the futility of his situation, he abruptly announces that services are cancelled and storms off into the synagogue's office. When a knock comes on the door, he assumes that it's the cantor coming to try to dissuade him from giving up entirely, and he's right that it's the cantor, but wrong about the reason. It's actually the police, here to talk to him because Rabbi Stone is the beneficiary of a will in the amount of ten thousand dollars from a man who was just found murdered. Jack Lauder was a member of Rabbi Stone's congregation many years ago, until the rabbi threw him and his family out. And so begins Rabbi Stone's quest to clear his name by determining who murdered Lauder and why Lauder would name him in the will.
I really thought I would hate Rabbi Stone, and thus the game, after the opening section. He has the kind of cynical pessimism that pessimists often think make them more clearsighted than the people around them. That we are the ones who understand how the world really works, and those daydreaming fools would come to our viewpoint if only they would see.
In reality, of course, unbridled cynicism is chic but easy, so I'm glad that it's not an essential part of Rabbi Stone's character. I took the high road every chance I could and, while I wasn't rewarded with rainbows and puppies, I did at least get the sense that the clouds will not obscure the sun forever. It's a rabbi-off!
The Shivah is an adventure game, but it lacks the expansive inventory that's historically characteristic of the genre. Instead, all the major interactions in the game are through dialogue, but the game doesn't provide the ability to choose Rabbi Stone's exact phrasing.
There are two types of conversations, seeking clues and back and forth dialogue. Conversations where Rabbi Stone is questioning people are listed as various "Ask about [X]" lines that lead to new information, and almost all other conversations lead to a decision point with three possible responses which fall into the categories of kind response, harsh response, and the "rabbinical response," which is always a question. This is especially amusing in the conversation with Rabbi Zelig, where the two rabbis go back and forth with questions until Rabbi Stone gives up, but it plays a role in the two conversations later on that don't fit this mold. They're obviously inspired by Monkey Island's insult swordfighting, though here, Rabbi Stone has to pick the proper questions to throw his opponent off guard. It's a nice change of pace in a mostly investigative game.
And the investigations actually feel like investigations. It's snooping through emails, piecing bits of conversations together, and interrogating people to learn new facts. There are only three inventory items in the game, two of which Rabbi Stone has in his inventory at the very beginning, and a secondary inventory of "clues." This is the biggest missed opportunity of the game, because it's only used once early on. Even though the Shivah is not a very long game, clocking in at maybe an hour and a half, there are several missed opportunities for clues and it makes it seem like an extraneous feature. If it's only used once, why have it at all? Just have Rabbi Stone make the deduction himself, since the player almost certainly has already done so.
At least the guess-the-password puzzles weren't too obscure. All the passwords chosen were extremely obvious and easy to guess, but that's true to life. I mean, the two most common iPhone passcodes are "1234" and "0000." Anyone who puts effort into a secure password is unusual.
The basic question of the Shivah is "to what degree do we need to accommodate our moral compasses to the flaws of the world?" and what does that accommodation look like? Checking Rabbi Stone's email at the beginning of the game reveals a number of emails from former members who complain about his gloomy, pessimistic sermons and how they will not be returning to the synagogue. Combined with his behavior at the beginning, it makes me think that Rabbi Stone thinks that life is an unending struggle against the petty evils of the world, but one which we are doomed to lose. It's a way of thinking that I'm very familiar with, but fortunately, our tradition provides us with some guidance in this that Rabbi Stone seems to have forgotten:
צֶדֶק צֶדֶק תִּרְדּףand
"Justice, justice shall you pursue."
-Deuteronomy 16:20
"It is not your responsibility to finish the work, but neither are you free to desist from it."The repetition of justice is often taken to refer to the means of pursuit--it is not simply enough to achieve justice, the means must themselves be just. And the line from Pirkei Avot reminds us that small changes are themselves valid. We do not personally have to fix the whole world, or solve the whole problem. The Shivah is about Rabbi Stone working through this problem for himself, and--at least in the ending that my actions led to--coming to an understanding that one's best is enough.
-Pirkei Avot, 2:21
Though it also leads to one of the most uncomfortable parts of the game. Relatively early on, it becomes clear that the reason Rabbi Stone expelled Jack Lauder was because Lauder wanted to marry a non-Jewish woman and Rabbi Stone viewed that as a betrayal of his heritage. This is a relatively common stance among rabbis, though not often to the point of throwing people out of congregations, even while intermarriage rates among America Jews are at 58% (71% among non-Orthodox Jews). And also as is common, Jack and Rajshree found someone who was willing to perform their marriage, making Rabbi Stone's refusal just a brief speedbump. Rabbi Stone probably thought that he was sticking to his principles, but was it justice pursued justly?
Rajshree asks Rabbi Stone point-blank why he threw out Jack, and his response to ask her if she and her husband were happy. When she replies that they were, he says that his reasons don't matter, and he leaves. And he's right. Does he regret his decision? Does he think it was right? The game provides some answers to Rabbi Stone's opinion on this, depending on the player's choices, but in terms of Jack and Rajshree's love, they don't matter.
It never is.
Being Jewish myself, I obviously had a stronger connection with this game than the average player, but you don't have to be Jewish to appreciate the Shivah. The loss of faith is something that anyone who has ever believed strongly in anything can appreciate, but more than that it's a game about how to relate the world. Terrible things will happen, often to good people, and for no reason. It's up to us in life to decide how we want to deal with that, whether we want to give into cynicism and assume that there is an inevitable downward spiral, or to do our best to continue the work. Even in the happy ending that I got, there's no certainty. The synagogue still needs repairs, and it's not magically flooded with new congregants on the following Shabbat. All it means is that there's another chance for things to get better.
May it be enough.
