True Gaming Should all games strive to be fun? Is this a limitation of the medium? Is this what prevents games from reaching the status of works of art? |
- Should all games strive to be fun? Is this a limitation of the medium? Is this what prevents games from reaching the status of works of art?
- What criticism do you have for God of War, or other recent, high profile exclusive Sony games (doesn't mean you didn't like them)?
- Is The Phantom Pain worth picking up considering its unfinished state?
- Looking for games with a solid narrative that show the cruelty of war
- There is something so magical and unique about the Hitman series
- Gaming Conundrum, stick with Mac and PS4 or try switching over to PC?
- Played my childhood favorite again like I do every couple years, and am glad to report it is still amazing (Defender/PS2)
- Four years later, how do you feel about Gamergate and its communities?
| Posted: 24 Jul 2018 10:02 AM PDT I have just begun playing Pathologic (aside: currently it's about $2 on Steam). I know a bit about the game coming into it. I know it gets brutal. I know that it is slow and painful and punishing. Very hostile to the player in both tone and gameplay. So far, I can see why. There is little guidance, you move slowly, the world is oppressive and strange. But I also know that it has become a cult classic. People adore this game, as evidenced by the three part RPS article, the two hour YouTube dissection / analysis video, etc. I picked it up on the basis of this acclaim. Knowing what little I know about it, I'm finding myself sucked in to the experience. I have an urge to return to the game and uncover more secrets. If I had come to this game blind, though, I probably would have already bounced off of it. You're slow, combat is clunky, there's endless dialog, I'm constantly lost. These are things I generally use as signs that I should give up on a game. That there will be very little 'fun' here. I keep encountering the idea when I read about the game that Pathologic's lack of fun is deliberate. The designers want the player to feel the desperation of survival in a dying, plague ridden town. It's interesting because part of it may be a lack of resources to smooth out some of the rough edges (poor combat, for example), but at the same time aspects of the design are undeniably deliberate, like the constant march of the narrative and the ability to easily have opportunities for progress slip through your fingers. It seems that the game intends for you to fail. I guess I don't fully know what to make of this. I deeply admire the ideas at play here. I wish more dev teams would have the drive to make experiences that are so narratively and mechanically synchronized. But if I stumbled across a game blind, and it made me feel strained and confused, I doubt I would be able to stick it out. I can't really put myself into the mindset of someone who was encountering Pathologic without any background information. There are things at play from the very start that are compelling for their unabashed strangeness, like the Executors and Tragedians. Would this have been enough to intrigue me and get me to want to see more? Impossible to say. I saw someone, in a post on the remake/spiritual sequel Pathologic 2, saying that they are unsure about some of the design decisions, because being tied to survival meters and having long crafting sessions take away from the fun of the experience. He was called out as having never played the original and told that these mechanics are necessary to the experience. I can see both sides here. I think a game like Pathologic is wonderful, but I don't know how it finds its audience. I can't think of many games that are highly praised despite a lack of traditional fun. But that's probably because of inherent difficulty in convincing a player to, from the start, endure difficulty and monotony for potentially 20+ hours. A bleak movie comes and goes in 2 or 3 hours, so whatever value is there can be found without a massive time commitment. Books ask for that sort of time, but the medium has developed a respect that will make people put the time in in hopes of a higher reward than pure enjoyment. It feels like games have not reached that status yet. I wonder if they ever will and what it would take. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 24 Jul 2018 02:22 PM PDT Sony has been on a roll lately. Many of their recent first party games have scores above 88 on Metacritic, and have been warmly received by consumers with matching sales. What did you NOT like about particularly God of War, and also titles such as Last of Us, Uncharted 4, or Horizon Zero Dawn? I loved God of War, would rate it four and a half stars. My issues with the game are there could have been more enemy variety (there was still plenty IMO despite what people say), Atreus' "douchebag phase" was a bit contrived, and the textures weren't as good as they could have been (no tessellation and geometry of many terrain textures/objects seemed to "simple"). [link] [comments]  |
| Is The Phantom Pain worth picking up considering its unfinished state? Posted: 24 Jul 2018 03:45 PM PDT Growing up, I loved the MGS series and only as recently as 2013 was I able to play MGS3 and MGS4 due to the 360 port of the former and my friend loaning me his PS3 for the latter. I was also able to play Peacewalker because of its 360 port soon after. Loved the hell out of Revengeance, too. I also played Ground Zeroes with the expectation that I would go on to play Phantom Pain. However, I took some time to get around to it, by which time I heard about its confusing ending...an ending which was confusing because of the whole Konami vs. Kojima controversy which ended in the game essentially remaining unfinished. Since then, my friend has constantly recommended the game regardless of its unfinished state, but I am hesitant. As the last game I will probably ever play in the series (I am not ever playing MG Survive), does the game end on a sour note? Will I leave disappointed in what could have been? Is it better to just leave the core games at Peacewalker? [link] [comments]  |
| Looking for games with a solid narrative that show the cruelty of war Posted: 24 Jul 2018 03:35 PM PDT I just finished LA Noire and (SPOILERS AHEAD), man, one of the last scenes in which you see the civilians burning alive and the soldiers confused, screaming and not knowing what to do really hit me hard. Now I want to play a game like that. A game that shows the true and most cruel side of war. If it could be an action game (either 1st person or 3rd person) it would be great. [link] [comments]  |
| There is something so magical and unique about the Hitman series Posted: 24 Jul 2018 03:28 PM PDT I love Hitman. I played Hitman 2 at a ripe old age of 4, and have been playing ever since. I've played every title in the series with the exception of the original. I'm definitely buying Hitman 2. I just spent the last 5 hours, lost in time, playing Hitman: Blood Money -- which I would argue is the best in the series, but I'll get back to that. First and foremost, the level design. Ignore the graphic quality, but pay attention to the design. This is St. Petersburg Stakeout, mission 2 of Hitman 2. I mean, come on. This game came out in 2002. This map is freaking gigantic when you're playing it. Underground, verticality, snow. It's beautiful. Of course, there's this level from Hitman: Contracts which is like an interactive horror movie. The iconic A New Life mission, with all of its beautiful hidden methods of assassination (and of course, this gem.) The score. Have you ever sat the fuck down and listened to any of the music from Hitman? Exploration is a personal favorite of mine. And of course the use of Ave Maria in Blood Money. And here's an awesome piece from Absolution. I could seriously go on and on and on about the score. Then you have the atmosphere. This could easily be tied with level design (yes, I am talking about the entirety of Hitman: Contracts, how did you know?) but how could I ever forget the death scene in Hitman 2? A dead 47 on a stark white background, leaking a pool of blood. Or the actual dread you feel escaping the hospital in Contracts. Or the beautiful carefree seaside vistas in Hitman 2016, Absolution and... Basically every other Hitman, which also ties into level design. I mean, how the hell do you make 47 different seaside vista levels and they're all beautifully unique? Just compare the first level of Hitman 2 to the Chilean level in Blood Money to the first level of Absolution or the Vista in Hitman 2016 -- really? Seriously. Unique game play and overall game design. Disguising yourself. I wish I could just do that in every game. I mean, wow. What other games on the magnitude of Hitman have that mechanic? How fucking iconic is Diana alone? How iconic are 47s silverballers? His fiberwire? The game rewards you for doing what is expected, but can you just waltz into a place and massacre everyone with an MP5 and a nail gun? Hell yeah! Can you try on nearly anyone's clothes?! Hell yeah! Want to be a bald ass suit man? Go ahead! Hate defaults? Customize your load out and upgrade your weapons! Blend in! Or don't! The developers literally let you do whatever you want, and despite the Hitman series having closed storylines, it sure feels more like free roam than GTA sometimes. A real magnum opus, if you ask me. And it can't be duplicated: the movies have failed. Why? Because Hitman isn't about Agent 47. It's about you, the player, and it's tailor made for the player. What are your thoughts? Agree? Disagree? [link] [comments]  |
| Gaming Conundrum, stick with Mac and PS4 or try switching over to PC? Posted: 24 Jul 2018 03:28 PM PDT Hey, All. As of late I've been having a bit of an internal struggle with how I want the future of my gaming experiences to play out. So to put things into perspective, here's a bit on how my mentality of gaming works. My game library typically consists of 2D indie titles, as I personally find them to be more engrossing, and they take up significantly less processing power. Originally I had purchased a Macbook for cheap for college, and have stuck with it ever since. It's only recently that I had even considered using a computer for games, as I had grown up a console gamer almost all my life. It's only recently that I have learned that this computer isn't the most ideal for gaming of any capacity in the first place. Additionally, I have been using my Macbook for my full time job, which takes up a lot of storage and memory on my computer as it is. As it stands, I don't have the financial stability to fully shift over to a Gaming PC, though I was given a PS4 as a gift from a family member, and have been thinking of sticking with it as my main platform for the indie games that I love, as it is also capable of performing with physical AAA games as well, for a significantly low price reused. I'm only uncertain if the PS4 digital library will be able to carry over to PS5 or other consoles later down the line, or if it's even smart to keep investing in digital games for a platform that will most likely be rendered obsolete within a couple of generations and lose its servers. I know that this may seem like just insipid rambling, but all I'm really looking for here is a little insight on the matter, guys, as well as input on how to best approach this gaming hurdle that I find myself ensnared in. Is it less ludicrous to stick with Mac and PS4 for gaming, or should I just bite the bullet and put my gaming experience on hold until I have enough of a stable income that I'd be able to invest a Gaming PC in about a year? Thanks. [link] [comments]  |
| Posted: 24 Jul 2018 01:43 AM PDT Unnecessary Forward: A few days ago I made a post here about how I went back and played another childhood classic, Dark Cloud, and how I was disappointed in how poorly it aged. I really enjoyed reading the conversations people were having about their nostalgic favorites, and how it is okay to have fond memories of something that you don't care for now. To change things around, I wanted to let people know about an older somewhat unknown game that is still a fantastic experience. Have you ever really liked something, and wanted to talk about it with someone else, but there isn't anyone who knows what you're on about? That is how I've always felt with Defender. Defender is a remake of the classic arcade game released in 2002 on all of the Fifth Generation gaming consoles, and is without a doubt my favorite game of all time. In short, you fly around and shoot things, but I don't think anyone cares to read a longwinded review or a synopsis on what the game is about or a personal history on why I like it so much. I'll leave that in the comments. I want to talk about games you love, that for whatever reason never got into the mainstream or made as big of a splash as you think they should have. Maybe I just don't get out enough, but I have never met another person irl who has ever played Defender, which is pretty insane considering it came out on all three consoles. Even on youtube there are only two reviews of the game (CGR shits all over it and he can meet me in the streets.) Advertising could be a part of it, or maybe there is something else, but why do some amazing games just fly under the radar? What are your thoughts - why does this happen? And do you have a game that you think more people should have experienced? Let's talk about it. [link] [comments]  |
| Four years later, how do you feel about Gamergate and its communities? Posted: 24 Jul 2018 10:12 AM PDT Some prompts:
Full disclosure: I actually used to be pro-gamergate, and posted in /r/KotakuInAction, but now...haha. Couldn't care less, and it is honestly a bit embarrassing. I was always disgusted by Gamestop sacking that editor who later went on to start Giant Bomb because he refused to give Kane and Lynch a good score. I also never liked Anita Sarkeesian, she didn't put out enough quality to match her funding, made unbiased or downright false comments several ties, and stole frequently things from smaller content creators. KiA is now basically a reactionary echo-chamber, far removed from videogames. Although, they admittedly helped a bit by spamming the FTC about disclosure rules (although they were already a work in progress and coming along well before the movement). [link] [comments]  |
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