Gaming Confessions & Blasphemy

MilkmanDanimal wrote:

6. I have discussed the ME3 ending before with Glanton, and, not only is he still wrong, but one day I will set him on fire for his opinion. CLEANSING FIRE, I TELL YOU.

There's something about Bioware games mean develop a bloody ororboros of game discussions, going around and around, eating themselves and going nowhere. I occasionally have something written out in reply to posts and tell myself "just no. don't feed the monster", and it's mostly in Bioware game threads. Even so I manage enough posts to be thoroughly ashamed of myself.

I'm trying to think of one for adventure games and my tendency to acquire them when I don't really like them so much. I think I just want to be told a story, but really don't like the way most of them just boil down to a cycle of 'try everything with everything else, move onto next location'.

I hated Planescape: Torment
Admittedly, I only tried it a few years ago so it was definitely showing its age. I decided to give it a try after hearing all the praise people heap upon it, but I gave up on the game after about an hour. I'm sure there's a great story buried in there, but the gameplay is awful and most of the dialogue is overly long and tedious. It was probably impressive when it came out, but it has aged very, very poorly.

ClockworkHouse wrote:

I prefer to play games made for children or young adults. When I look at most games aimed at adults, I see a bizarre obsession with violence and aggression that doesn't appear even remotely entertaining. That's the crux of my issue with calling Darksiders "Zelda for grown-ups": it's insulting to assume that what makes something "for grown-ups" is fountains of blood and more killing. I have the same problem with movies, comic books, and novels, so don't take it personally, babe, it just ain't my story.

I agree, although I do play violent games sometimes. I prefer to feel like a hero. I don't like realistic violence.

I don't like it when a game forces you to do something, and then criticizes you for doing it. Examples include making you walk into an obvious trap and then having the villain taunt you, and making you do something terrible and violent and then pointing out how terrible and violent you are.

My big one that I only recently came to terms with: I don't actually enjoy traditional 2D Mario platformers. This includes pretty much everything from Super Mario Bros, through Super Mario World, and including NSMB*. I can recognize why people like them and can acknowledge that they are really well designed, but I get more frustration than fun out of them.

Strangeblades wrote:

What I didn't like about [TF2] was the pressure. I decided since I'm not great a shot in this game I'll play the medic. That's when the requests and suggestions came in on how to play the class. Oh, the pressure, meaning the pressure to do well. Drove me batty-catty.

You should probably stay as far away from DotA as possible.

HansomB1derful wrote:

I go from mowing down rooms full of splicers to being killed 7 times by a Big Daddy before I've worn it down enough to finish it off. Maybe I'm not tactical enough, or I'm using the wrong plasmids/ammo, or maybe I'm just bad at the game. Whatever it was, ultimately, it just stopped being fun, so I stopped playing.

I had the same experience with Bioshock, that is until I realized there was really no consequence for dyingl. At that point I switched all my perks and upgrades over to support the sole use of the wrench, entered the zergling mindset, and threw myself at anything that didn't like me. Running into a Big Daddy might cost me my life 3 or 4 times, but I was ultimately making progress (and with that play style the final boss seemed like a huge pushover).

kuddles wrote:

The original Deus Ex is a terrible game. I thought it was bad then, and I think it's bad now. Would you like to shoot your way through, in a game where the shooting is unfun and the level design and A.I. don't support it well? Maybe you would rather be sneaky, where the mechanics feel poor and the A.I. doesn't support a stealth game very well either? Maybe you would rather be involved in the incredibly tedious hacking? It will help flesh out the competely asinine storytelling! Don't forget to put points into various skills and pretend that it seems to be doing anything of value. Deux Ex - Where you have so many options, none of which are remotely fun!

Obsidian Entertainment has the worst writing of any video game company ever, which is why I find the praise heaped about them confusing beyond belief. In Alpha Protocol it felt like none of the dialogue choices mattered because you came off as the same smug, sarcastic dork no matter what you chose. New Vegas was like Fallout 3 without any heart in it. Don't get me started about the utter tedium that is KOTOR 2.

Oh man
I'd like to hear what you don't like about KotOR 2's writing

strangederby wrote:

Today I learned that myself and kuddles are complete polar opposits :-)

It's something I realized long ago, Kuddles is basically anti-me. Consistent, directly opposed opinions on everything related to gaming. If we shook hands the explosion would be catastrophic.

That said, here are mine:

Obsidian is the best Western developer currently in the business. Rough diamonds will always be worth more than polished turds, regardless of what sells better. They are also one of the few developers that is pushing the envelope on gaming being something more than disposable escapist entertainment. KoTAR II was a savage deconstruction of the Star Wars universe, Alpha Protocol is at the highest level of reactive storytelling, Mask of the Betrayer is up there with Planescape: Torment in quality of video-game writing. I was only too happy to put my money where my mouth is with their kickstarter, we'll all see if it puts the publisher issue to rest.

Bethesda hasn't developed a good game since Morrowind. After Morrowind Bethesda jettisoned the complicated elements that made their games interesting to cater towards the broadest possible audience. Everything after Morrowind has been wide, but extremely shallow. Oblivion was an extreme low point, at least they've crawled back to 'decent' with Skyrim.

Half-Life has aged better than Half-Life 2. The technical achievements of Half-Life 2, while impressive at the time, weigh the game down immensely if you try to replay it. The engine hasn't aged gracefully, and the games pace is jittery, slowing down for physics puzzles and vehicle sections with only a few good, memorable action sequences. The original Half-Life is a better experience, not without its problems, but maintaining a better average.

Tannhauser wrote:

Bethesda hasn't developed a good game since Morrowind. After Morrowind Bethesda jettisoned the complicated elements that made their games interesting to cater towards the broadest possible audience. Everything after Morrowind has been wide, but extremely shallow. Oblivion was an extreme low point, at least they've crawled back to 'decent' with Skyrim.

Not to say your point is wrong, but to provide a different way of looking at it I think they're one of very few developers doing that kind of game, or almost certainly the only one doing it in the AAA market segment, which I think gives them a bit of leeway. This is why I really wouldn't mind the graphics 'ceiling' staying where it is and allowing other developers to 'catch up', hopefully it would provide competition and variation if more than one developer was doing that kind of game.

MilkmanDanimal wrote:

1. I didn't care when Aerith died. I thought she was a bland, disposable, forgettable character, and I couldn't understand all the in-game or fanboi hoopla. I'M GLAD SHE DIED.

6. I have discussed the ME3 ending before with Glanton, and, not only is he still wrong, but one day I will set him on fire for his opinion. CLEANSING FIRE, I TELL YOU.

Sometimes, just sometimes, I think you complete me.

Oh, and Ditto on..

I have never finished a Zelda game. I've played two or three, ages ago. An NES, an SNES, and one of the two that's on N64. Not only did I not finish any of them, I just straight up didn't like them. At all.

I have never finished Bioshock. The game told me I had to collect parts for something. I wandered around for over an hour and only found one part. Stopped playing for an hour or so. Went back and tried again. Never found another part. Uninstalled the game and never looked back.

CptDomano wrote:

1. I do not like the Batman games (Arkham City / Asylum)

Strangeblades wrote:

I also tried the demo for Batman Arkham Asylum. Didn't care for it.

Mostly because I think Batman is flawed, as in he doesn't kill.

IMAGE(http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b296/Bonus_Eruptus/lolpics/SHOCKED-KOALA-1327101260.jpg)

SixteenBlue wrote:

That reminds me:

1. I call her Aeris.

I don't have a lisp, either.

I also tried the Batman AA demo and did not like it. The full game is a masterpiece though (for me, YMMV of course). Demos are hard.

I feel like the key to enjoying Arkham Asylum is to ignore the demo and spend some time in the combat and stealth challenge rooms. There's a lot more depth to the systems than you're presented with in the storyline.

Arkham City kinda sucked.

I just didn't grok/get sucked in. I played the Batman demo, the game looked gorgeous (PC) and all but I was like - eh. It's too bad too, because it look gooooood.

Strangeblades wrote:

I just didn't grok/get sucked in. I played the Batman demo, the game looked gorgeous (PC) and all but I was like - eh. It's too bad too, because it look gooooood.

Good lord, that avatar.

But yeah, the demo did not suck me in at all. For some reason I picked it up anyway later and loved it.

"Consolisation" is not always a bad thing
Some times things are too complex. There is great skill about removing things until only the essential parts are left, and what's left is probably stronger for it. I don't need five buttons to do five things, one will do so long as I'm not presented with a situation where I'd want to make a choice between two, and even then there might be sensible ways to handle it. I don't need a HUD that shows all the information all the time.

That word often goes hand-in-hand with "dumbed down", in which case you probably went too far and harmed your game.

SixteenBlue wrote:

Good lord, that avatar.

You should see my desktop.

JRPGs are still fun - Still really dig both the Persona and Tales games among others.

I suck at Wii Sports - I had trouble getting over the habit making full motion swings and movements in the games like tennis and baseball while my friends who flap and flick their wrist around would kick my ass.

I play PC games on a 7 y.o. Mac - It works, kind of.

Demon's Souls was really not that hard - Once I got over the initial hump of the first 3-5 hours it was pretty much smooth sailing.

I never finished Zelda - OoT but I enjoyed it a lot and got close to the end. I've played bits of other Zelda games here and there but I guess I also have never finished a Zelda game.

ClockworkHouse wrote:

Arkham City kinda sucked.

I'll go with you on that. It's probably my biggest disappointment of the last few years. The combat was still solid and I liked the more open environment, but the story was more ridiculous than AA, which is saying a lot.

Ending Spoilers:

Spoiler:

Seriously Dr. Strange? Your grand scheme was to make a section of the city into a prison and then shoot missiles at it from helicopters?

HansomB1derful wrote:
ClockworkHouse wrote:

Arkham City kinda sucked.

I'll go with you on that. It's probably my biggest disappointment of the last few years. The combat was still solid and I liked the more open environment, but the story was more ridiculous than AA, which is saying a lot.

Ending Spoilers:

Spoiler:

Seriously Dr. Strange? Your grand scheme was to make a section of the city into a prison and then shoot missiles at it from helicopters?

Spoiler:

The Marvel comic sorcerer?

Arkham asylum and city are examples of where I think games need to know what scale they are, and what do do with that scale. I think that's part of the problem with big budgets, few want to make something compact to medium sized.

IMAGE(http://i.chzbgr.com/completestore/2011/5/8/6cf988d3-da08-4256-9af4-10b922fe0fc3.jpg)

Some of you are dead to me.

Strangeblades wrote:
HansomB1derful wrote:
ClockworkHouse wrote:

Arkham City kinda sucked.

I'll go with you on that. It's probably my biggest disappointment of the last few years. The combat was still solid and I liked the more open environment, but the story was more ridiculous than AA, which is saying a lot.

Ending Spoilers:

Spoiler:

Seriously Dr. Strange? Your grand scheme was to make a section of the city into a prison and then shoot missiles at it from helicopters?

Spoiler:

The Marvel comic sorcerer?

Oops.

I meant Hugo, I guess I assumed he was a Doctor too.

SixteenBlue wrote:

That reminds me:

1. I call her Aeris.

I ALWAYS thought that was her name until I started seeing the "I cried when Aerith died." t-shirts a few years ago. Was the translation different in the original release of the game or something?

Mr GT Chris wrote:

Demon's Souls was really not that hard - Once I got over the initial hump of the first 3-5 hours it was pretty much smooth sailing.

This is true. The hardest part of the game is by far the first couple of areas, and the hardest boss in the entire game is the first one.

Warriorpoet897 wrote:
SixteenBlue wrote:

That reminds me:

1. I call her Aeris.

I ALWAYS thought that was her name until I started seeing the "I cried when Aerith died." t-shirts a few years ago. Was the translation different in the original release of the game or something?

Aerith is the original Japanese version, apparently.

Warriorpoet897 wrote:
SixteenBlue wrote:

That reminds me:

1. I call her Aeris.

I ALWAYS thought that was her name until I started seeing the "I cried when Aerith died." t-shirts a few years ago. Was the translation different in the original release of the game or something?

More than you might have wanted to know. Short version: she was Aeris in the West until Kingdom Hearts.

ClockworkHouse wrote:
Warriorpoet897 wrote:
SixteenBlue wrote:

That reminds me:

1. I call her Aeris.

I ALWAYS thought that was her name until I started seeing the "I cried when Aerith died." t-shirts a few years ago. Was the translation different in the original release of the game or something?

More than you might have wanted to know. Short version: she was Aeris in the West until Kingdom Hearts.

The same applies for Cloud, who is called Ex-SOLDIER in the game, but this is changed when the player gets to the name selection screen where the default on the name selection is "Cloud".

For some reason I'm really happy to learn this.

HD remakes and new games being slavishly faithful to an old classic are generally a bad idea.
Don't get me wrong, I appreciate GOG-like efforts to get the old game running now, and it sucks that console generations are incompatible with each other, but spending time and money to reimplement all that old cruft. You should have developers spending the time and effort learning the lessons from those new games and making something better.

Same here. I played the Arkham Asylum demo after a friend raved about it. I found it tedious.

Bonus_Eruptus wrote:

Some of you are dead to me.

Yeah, Asylum and City are the best 3rd person action games of this generation, by a significant margin. They literally do everything right as far as I'm concerned.

On the other hand, I find the Uncharted titles practically unplayable. It took me 4 months to get 1/3 of the way through Uncharted 3 because usually after 20 minutes of play I am so pissed off I'm ready to throw it out the window. At this point I doubt I will return. (P.S. They also feature terrible dialogue, I put them right behind Obsidian in terms of awful storytelling.)

Don't get me wrong. I played the AA demo and saw gameplay videos and the combat model and modelling looks great. It just didn't grab me. Weird.