Indiana Jones Doesn't Take Photos for Granted in the Great Circle

I’m not a big fan of photo modes. They take me out of the context of the game, the filters appear better in concept than in practice, none of this really helps me retain precious memories. Photo modes are essentially curated Instagram feeds replacing phone reels. But I know, I know, some gamers want it. Marketing needs to take pretty pictures and run contests. It feels like a certain checkbox publishers can’t resist. All that.

Now, the fairly recent wave of experiential photo taking, this I like a lot. Toem is one of the best indie games of the past decade. The Good Life is not peak Weezer, but it had great ideas. That party in Mixtape? Great stuff. Umurangi Generation? Let’s talk about it some other time. And who doesn’t like some Fatal Frame or Beyond Good & Evil?

So it makes sense that Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, a rare action/adventure that only brings in the right mechanics and excludes the fluff, lets photography occupy a prominent spot that doesn’t take the spotlight. First, the camera is an actual item that Indy holds in hands, not just a screen overlay, and I can play around with it a bit. Second, it makes sense in the context of the game world and missions. Third, most of the time, I’m able to figure out what can be a photo and what can’t, so I don’t have to constantly bring up the camera just to look around. And of course, there’s a narrative reward for taking photos but no incentive to only take the “right” ones.

Why do I like taking photos this way so much? Well, it’s such an efficient action game verb. I’m doing something, but it’s essentially a screenshot with a couple of hoops. Other characters from the game can recognize what I’m doing. It’s a straightforward way to customize game interfaces and make me feel like I’m contributing to them with my input. They’re silent guides across what’s important in the scene and what’s not without making it too obvious in the environment itself. I’m honestly not sure if there’s a “cheaper” way to add player expression to a video game than let them take photos and showcase those photos in various contexts.