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What are you playing? [SPOILER TAGS PLEASE]

Started by Sabby, May 31, 2009, 12:45:35 PM

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Hemingway

Oh, Jagged Alliance. How addicted I am to you.

The game isn't without its problems. Enemies do occasionally seem vastly overpowered compared to your guys. And enemy squads are a little too fond of taking back locations you've taken from them. Which basically means you have to do the same mission twice ( or repeatedly! ) because you lack the equipment to arm the militia and you lack the funds to recruit a second squad that could hold locations from attackers.

Also, aiming and line of sight can be tricky. Occasionally, the enemy gets to fire at you without you being able to shoot back. I suspect this has something to do with some sort of advanced 3D line of sight mechanism, where enemies may be able to hit your legs while the rest of you is in cover. It's annoying, because it never seems to work to your advantage, and it's really hard to tell when you're safe and when you aren't.

But all in all it's an absolutely fantastic game. It has all the addictiveness of X-COM.

Brandon

Quote from: Sabby on August 16, 2012, 02:16:34 AM
Brandon, it gives me a sentence and then get's praised for the book it never wrote :P And it thinks it's deep and intelligent for this, and everyone is just so happy to reassure it. Forgive me for not buying into it. It's the kind of crap that's dragging indy games down into the same mire of blandness that they were made to escape. Oooh, interpret this for us! Come to your own conclusion, so we don't have to make one.

I mean, I've read GLOWING reviews for Lament... and if it weren't for it puffing it's chest out thinking it's so clever and thought provoking, it'd just be a bad platformer on Newgrounds.

I dont understand how you think Shadow of the collossus wants to be deep. It isnt. Its a very simple game. Your girlfriend dies. You enter a forbidden land and make a deal with a god/spirit thing to revive her if you go and slay 16 collossi. Only to find out that

Spoiler: Click to Show/Hide
the god/spirit thing is really an evil overlord who's power was fragmented in 17 parts and you just let it out, allowing it to consume your body. It fulfills its part of the bargain and after the evil is sucked out of the hero and back into its home realm the hero earns a second chance for redemption as he is reborn. Literally

That isnt a game trying to be deep Sabby. Unless you count the sixteen collossi as having some meaning in the
Spoiler: Click to Show/Hide
god/spirit things physical, philosophical, and supernatural make up.

That would be hard to argue though. Other people interpret the game differently from its outlooks on life & death, fair trade, the supernatural, and second chances. Thats the same thing Bioshock does, it makes you question it to form your own outlooks and understanding of the world and symbolism within the game. Yet it already has clear themes of its own. Its not an artistic game, its a game that is art

Calling it pretentious when it inspires others to look for different meaning rather then force others to look for different meaning is kind of missing the whole point of games that are art vs artistic games
Brandon: What makes him tick? - My on's and off's - My open games thread - My Away Thread
Limits: I do not, under any circumstances play out scenes involving M/M, non-con, or toilet play

Hemingway

I forgot to mention the most annoying part of Jagged Alliance: Back in Action.

Civilians.

Unlike enemies, who behave remarkably intelligently ( covering doors, taking up defensive positions, that sort of thing ), civilians try their hardest to get shot. They never run away if they see you coming, they often run into your guys which results in getting stuck in them and hitting civilians instead of enemies ( which then results in you getting killed ), and they take cover in front of people who are shooting. And I could buy that if enemies used them as human shields and that sort of thing, but it's completely random. They just run around aimlessly, taking cover wherever it's convenient, be it in a doorway or in the middle of the street. Why are they so stupid!?

Wolfy

Quote from: Hemingway on August 16, 2012, 06:22:53 AM
I forgot to mention the most annoying part of Jagged Alliance: Back in Action.

Civilians.

Unlike enemies, who behave remarkably intelligently ( covering doors, taking up defensive positions, that sort of thing ), civilians try their hardest to get shot. They never run away if they see you coming, they often run into your guys which results in getting stuck in them and hitting civilians instead of enemies ( which then results in you getting killed ), and they take cover in front of people who are shooting. And I could buy that if enemies used them as human shields and that sort of thing, but it's completely random. They just run around aimlessly, taking cover wherever it's convenient, be it in a doorway or in the middle of the street. Why are they so stupid!?

Maybe they're panicked from being in a war zone?

Hemingway

Quote from: Wolfy on August 16, 2012, 07:23:45 AM
Maybe they're panicked from being in a war zone?

I'm pretty sure it's just poor AI.

Sabby

Quote from: Brandon on August 16, 2012, 05:48:13 AM
Calling it pretentious when it inspires others to look for different meaning rather then force others to look for different meaning is kind of missing the whole point of games that are art vs artistic games

I'd agree, if SotC was the former, which it is not. The concrete narrative is no stronger then that of Limbo or Braid, so it still demands you interpret in order to have an actual plot linking the opening and end credits. It is not at all the same as a full, complete game with symbolism or writing that invites a deeper discussion for those who want to. It requires you actually do it in order to have a story at all, not to entertain theories or speculation that only adds possible dimensions onto something that stands on it's own.

And I dislike that because it's like giving everyone participation awards which all double as 1st Place. Come and join the activity! But no need to try too hard, because everyone's a winner when the game has no rules :3


Brandon

Quote from: Sabby on August 16, 2012, 03:52:14 PM
I'd agree, if SotC was the former, which it is not. The concrete narrative is no stronger then that of Limbo or Braid, so it still demands you interpret in order to have an actual plot linking the opening and end credits. It is not at all the same as a full, complete game with symbolism or writing that invites a deeper discussion for those who want to. It requires you actually do it in order to have a story at all, not to entertain theories or speculation that only adds possible dimensions onto something that stands on it's own.

And I dislike that because it's like giving everyone participation awards which all double as 1st Place. Come and join the activity! But no need to try too hard, because everyone's a winner when the game has no rules :3

Im just going to have to disagree with you Sabby. From where I stand SotC has a clear and simple narrative spelled out in its very few cutscenes and its gameplay. Its people that excersise their minds as they look into the game more closely and come to their own conclusions.
Brandon: What makes him tick? - My on's and off's - My open games thread - My Away Thread
Limits: I do not, under any circumstances play out scenes involving M/M, non-con, or toilet play

Sabby

Okay, what happened? Explain to me SotC plot without using any of your own interpretations.

if you end up with x goes to y to save z via f, then it requires you fill in the template. Give me something, anything, that stands on its own.

Brandon

Quote from: Sabby on August 17, 2012, 12:43:48 AM
Okay, what happened? Explain to me SotC plot without using any of your own interpretations.

if you end up with x goes to y to save z via f, then it requires you fill in the template. Give me something, anything, that stands on its own.

Look at my earlier post Sabby. I explained the games plot without interpretations pretty clearly
Brandon: What makes him tick? - My on's and off's - My open games thread - My Away Thread
Limits: I do not, under any circumstances play out scenes involving M/M, non-con, or toilet play

Sabby

Your description is intrepreted. It never tells you any of those details. Deal with demon to save girlfriend is your interpretation. The identities of all the characters, their motivations, and the backstory leading up to it is all left blank.

It could be a boy trying to revive his aunt, or a father whose being chased because he's rendered his sister in law ready to unbind a wrongly sealed spirit. The people pursuing him could be mislead into keeping it sealed. Or he could simply be an orphan whose stolen a mother look a likes corpse, because he's mentally ruined.

My interpretations is as valid. That is my point.

Brandon

You have a point there, we dont actually know what the relationship is its just assumed to be girlfriend because it makes the most sense in the context of the story.Although given the apparant ages of the protagonists (the hero and his girlfriend, not Agro) I would say girlfriend, friends, sibling are the only relationships that make sense. That said, I thought this would be a good oppotunity to review the opening of the game and get the facts straight for what is interpretive and what is laid out. Sooooo...

Shadow of the Colossus Opening (HD)

I didnt really care of the quality of this one but it was the only one I could find where some Let's player wasnt being obnoxious over the opening. I dont mind lets plays, I mind when someones deliberately trying to hurt the viewers chance of understanding the story but making wise cracks or promiting the channel. That stuff can be done through actual gameplay


Back on topic. So what do we know. We know the girl was sacrificed because she had some cursed fate. We know the hero brought her to the forbidden land to bargain with Dorim in an effort to bring her back from the dead. Thats your plot right there. Now you could make a case that the game forces you to interprete the movtivations of the characters but actually it doesnt. You can, but its not forcing you to do it. Although there's an uglier side to that argument. That being, do you and gamers really need such things spelled out so crystal clear? Isnt it ok to take the position of projecting the self onto the hero or to want to come up with your own explanations for the motivations of the characters?
Brandon: What makes him tick? - My on's and off's - My open games thread - My Away Thread
Limits: I do not, under any circumstances play out scenes involving M/M, non-con, or toilet play

Sabby

Yeah, I was getting ready for that one. I find it annoying to have to piece together a plots basic elements for myself or outright make one, and CLEARLY this makes me stupid. I need everything one dimensional because thinking hurts.

I just reallt, really fucking despise this trend with indy games pretending to be something more. Its cheap, lazy, and I admit I used the word poorly in that last context, but pretentious.

Though I will admit I am wrong on SotC. Sorry about that >.< blame Wolfy! Its all his fault, and his stupid Rain Dx

Brandon

Quote from: Sabby on August 17, 2012, 04:33:14 AM
Yeah, I was getting ready for that one. I find it annoying to have to piece together a plots basic elements for myself or outright make one, and CLEARLY this makes me stupid. I need everything one dimensional because thinking hurts.

I just reallt, really fucking despise this trend with indy games pretending to be something more. Its cheap, lazy, and I admit I used the word poorly in that last context, but pretentious.

Though I will admit I am wrong on SotC. Sorry about that >.< blame Wolfy! Its all his fault, and his stupid Rain Dx

To be fair sabby, enjoyment factors vary from person to person. If you want everything spelled out for you well you arent wrong, or stupid, or anything like that. Its a personal opinion thing. Im far more accepting of people that say "I didnt like this because of x, y, and z" then I am with varying analysis that dont quite make sense

Our medium is still pretty young. I like to think of it as its in its teenage years, struggling to find its own identity, and going through growing pains. That said, talks about the artistic styles of games, how they can grow and improve, and what is and isnt good art (even though thats subjective) can only help the medium grow. I do get the frustrations about expecting more and being disappointed when a game doesnt deliver (although my frustrations usually come from the AAA side of the industry)

In other news Darksiders 2...its a good game but the PC port is HORRIBLE! Horrible horrible, horrible. DO NOT BUY IT AT FULL PRICE! Wait for the first mark down at least. I may change my opinion if patches improve the port but they really should know better by now.
Brandon: What makes him tick? - My on's and off's - My open games thread - My Away Thread
Limits: I do not, under any circumstances play out scenes involving M/M, non-con, or toilet play

LunarSage

I cannot freaking wait for X-Com: EU.  October, get here quick, you bastard!  *shakes fist*

  ▫  A.A  ▫  O.O  ▫  Find & Seek   ▫ 


Brandon

Quote from: Wolfy on August 18, 2012, 08:12:24 AM
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (WORLD RECORD) Speedrun by ZFG in 21:45 [Commentated]

Great Scott!

The timeline is ****ed! D:>

The timeline was already messed up when Nintendo decided to do reboots back in the 90s instead of continuing on with Link's journey. It got even more messed up when they announced there wasnt a time line and Nintendo fans couldnt handle it. Then it got messed up even more when Nintendo contradicted themselves and did a half assed job trying to create a time line out of the games that doesnt make sense with the games that were realeased over the last 3 decades.
Brandon: What makes him tick? - My on's and off's - My open games thread - My Away Thread
Limits: I do not, under any circumstances play out scenes involving M/M, non-con, or toilet play

LunarSage

Anything after The Adventure of Link doesn't exist to me.

  ▫  A.A  ▫  O.O  ▫  Find & Seek   ▫ 

dready

Awesomenauts.

I am a robot who bites people to regain health, and promptly explodes. There's a genetically engineered cowboy, a gangster frog rapper, french chameleon assassin, some sort of fran drescer on a surfboard, and other peeps to fight with or against. ALSO TOWER DEFENSE THAT IS NOT BORING OR SLOW AS BALLS!

*armflails*

Also i missed the fine peeps of E lately. u w u

Wolfy

Quote from: LunarSage on August 19, 2012, 08:58:38 AM
Anything after The Adventure of Link doesn't exist to me.

That's convenient, because:



As you can see, Adventure of Link is at the very end. :D Which means everything actually comes before it!

dready

On the bright side: at least LoZ's timeline makes more sense than Kingdom Hearts. = A =

Sabby

#6296
Playing Transformers: Fall of Cybertron.

I gotta ask, because I really don't know even tough I finished the first game... why the fuck are they fighting? I honestly can only find one reason, and it's that Megatron is a dick. Everything about this conflict comes back to Megatron yelling and headbutting things. He's what you get when you take an uneducated cage fighter with a 2 inch penis and convince him he's Royalty and his crowd to The World is hidden somewhere in the scenery.

There's no motivation for anything he does... Optimus make's it pretty clear all they wanna do is get on their horses and ride off, which would leave Megatron to whatever the hell his plans actually are. And he just backhands him and shoots something.

It's like if Osama Bin Laden called President Bush and said he'd like to turn himself in, and when he asks if he has a pen and paper to take down his address, Bush calls him a pussy, eats the phone and orders all of 'that country he at' be carpet bombed.

Wolfy

Quote from: Sabby on August 21, 2012, 06:33:32 AM
Playing Transformers: Fall of Cybertron.

I gotta ask, because I really don't know even tough I finished the first game... why the fuck are they fighting? I honestly can only find one reason, and it's that Megatron is a dick. Everything about this conflict comes back to Megatron yelling and headbutting things. He's what you get when you take an uneducated cage fighter with a 2 inch penis and convince him he's Royalty and his crowd to The World is hidden somewhere in the scenery.

There's no motivation for anything he does... Optimus make's it pretty clear all they wanna do is get on their horses and ride off, which would leave Megatron to whatever the hell his plans actually are. And he just backhands him and shoots something.

It's like if Osama Bin Laden called President Bush and said he'd like to turn himself in, and when he asks if he has a pen and paper to take down his address, Bush calls him a pussy, eats the phone and orders all of 'that country he at' be carpet bombed.

Which wouldn't have been out of character for President Bush...<_<>_>

*flees*

Oniya

Quote from: Sabby on August 21, 2012, 06:33:32 AM
It's like if Osama Bin Laden called President Bush and said he'd like to turn himself in, and when he asks if he has a pen and paper to take down his address, Bush calls him a pussy, eats the phone and orders all of 'that country he at' be carpet bombed.

*stifling a laugh so that the little Oni doesn't ask what's so funny*
"Language was invented for one reason, boys - to woo women.~*~*~Don't think it's all been done before
And in that endeavor, laziness will not do." ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~Don't think we're never gonna win this war
Robin Williams-Dead Poets Society ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~Don't think your world's gonna fall apart
I do have a cause, though.  It's obscenity.  I'm for it.  - Tom Lehrer~*~All you need is your beautiful heart
O/O's Updated 5/11/21 - A/A's - Current Status! - Writing a novel - all draws for Fool of Fire up!
Requests updated March 17

Sabby

W-wait... what?

Spoiler: Click to Show/Hide
So... Megatron get's punched repeatedly by Metroplex. Metroplex's fist is three times the size of Megatron. He is pummelled into a crater, and is utterly destroyed. Starscream takes over. But Soundwave picks up Megatron's limbs, puts them back together, shocks him, and revives him. He is instantly back to full power. No serious repercussions. And they even mentioned it's not entirely his original body.

Just... how? What? In a story where people are constantly moaning over their comrades getting mortally wounded, you're telling me they can just... do that? Why? Since when? Was it a one of thing? Is it near impossible to repeat? Is there any reason why they can't just do this to any main character? Forgive me if this kind of dulls any impact that comes up from characters kicking it later.