The Video Game Thread v3

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by DownInFlames

I didn’t play TLOU2 because I didn’t like the first one (not my type of game), but Heather Anne Campbell on the Get Played podcast said she loved it, and cried while playing because, as a lesbian, it was the first time she felt represented in a video game. So maybe throwing in “woke” elements isn’t such a bad thing.

I'm not saying the woke elements were a bad thing. The people that wrote the story clearly hate the human race so it seems like the woke elements were more token than sincere. I don't care if characters are white, black, straight, gay as long as the story is engaging. This story was simply joyless and sapped the fun out of what is technically a very good game.

[DownInFlames]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

I'm not saying the woke elements were a bad thing. The people that wrote the story clearly hate the human race so it seems like the woke elements were more token than sincere. I don't care if characters are white, black, straight, gay as long as the story is engaging. This story was simply joyless and sapped the fun out of what is technically a very good game.

You sounded like that was only thrown in for reviewers and it doesn’t add to the story. I’m just saying that, for some people, it does.

[OutOfTheCube]

The dumbest part was when they made a 900 mile trip on horseback across a post apocalyptic zombie infested world that was basically just a fade to black and fade back in with “nothing interesting happened”.

[KelVarnsen]

Originally Posted by devo22

I've been replaying RDR2 the past few weeks and while I really loved Ghost of Tsushima and the Horizon games especially, the open world in RDR2 is just something else ... just crazy how alive the whole map is. Just falling in love with that game all over again, and makes me resent Rockstar's path of the last few years even more. Oh well.

I started playing RDR2 again because it was better than watching the Flames.

Spoiler!

I left Micah in jail until I had to do that mission at the end of chapter 2. Was really satisfying to ride into Strawberry and keep going.

[CorsiHockeyLeague]

Originally Posted by OutOfTheCube

The dumbest part was when they made a 900 mile trip on horseback across a post apocalyptic zombie infested world that was basically just a fade to black and fade back in with “nothing interesting happened”.

I dunno, it had quite a bit of competition for the "dumbest part"... Anyway, just not a well structured game, even though it had a lot of good things going for it. I still think for people who haven't played it, especially if you're getting it on sale these days, it's definitely a worthwhile play.

On a related note about people feeling "represented" in games, that's all well and good, but it makes me think... have I ever felt "represented" in the sense that I actually think a video game character reflects who I am as a person? I seriously cannot think of any protagonist in any game I've ever played who fits that bill.

[DownInFlames]

Originally Posted by CorsiHockeyLeague

I dunno, it had quite a bit of competition for the "dumbest part"... Anyway, just not a well structured game, even though it had a lot of good things going for it. I still think for people who haven't played it, especially if you're getting it on sale these days, it's definitely a worthwhile play.

On a related note about people feeling "represented" in games, that's all well and good, but it makes me think... have I ever felt "represented" in the sense that I actually think a video game character reflects who I am as a person? I seriously cannot think of any protagonist in any game I've ever played who fits that bill.

Of course you haven't felt represented. You'd have to feel unrepresented first. Video game protagonists might not be 100% relatable to you, but can you imagine if they (along with the hero in nearly every other form of entertainment) were black women? How hard would it be to relate then?

As a straight, white, dude you've been the default template your whole life.

[CorsiHockeyLeague]

Silly, sophomoric comment, considering you don't know anything about me other than my gender, skin colour and sexual orientation, as if those superficial traits are central to who I am as a person. Maybe I have plenty of other characteristics that make other straight, white men totally alien to me in terms of their mindsets and motivations. You have no idea.

... But not worth an argument. I was just asking the thread in general if people can think of any video game protagonists that they found easy to identify with as a video game discussion topic, I wasn't trying to start a an ideological debate about identity politics.

[TorqueDog]

Originally Posted by DownInFlames

Of course you haven't felt represented. You'd have to feel unrepresented first. Video game protagonists might not be 100% relatable to you, but can you imagine if they (along with the hero in nearly every other form of entertainment) were black women? How hard would it be to relate then?

I look forward to the TEDx talk about how women of colour experience zombie apocalypses differently due to systemic racism amongst the undead population.

[chemgear]

It's nice to see that video games can tell varied stories and gameplay that would have been impossible even just a few years ago; it's early days and continued evolution in the industry is awesome to see.

It's still crazy to me to see people get so wound up in hate about seeing other people and stories in video games, complaining about some systemic conspiracy and trying fight some good fight to keep "ya gender politcos outta ma vida games".

That game that sold tens of millions of copies, or that one that is so popular they've released a TV show about it, or that one that has the hard difficulty or chunky graphics - it's okay, you don't need to fight against it existing for the enjoyment or presenting the stories of other people. Maybe it's not for you, and it's certainly not about you. And that's alright.

(Though movement for accessibility is always nice for people that need it these days.)

I guess one shouldn't be surprised though, in an age where we people are upset enough to try to ban books out of schools because of their fear. Heck, just look at the wild racists and scum coming out of the woodwork to bitch about something like Obi-Wan and Star Wars even just this week.

[chemgear]

Humble bundle has the full (?) Cities Skyline game with all the DLC in one shot $26:

https://www.humblebundle.com/games/c...sal-collection

I think it's the lowest it's ever been. I haven't followed it a ton but I sorta assume that they aren't putting out more DLC for this new? Have they moved on?

[DownInFlames]

Originally Posted by CorsiHockeyLeague

Silly, sophomoric comment, considering you don't know anything about me other than my gender, skin colour and sexual orientation, as if those superficial traits are central to who I am as a person. Maybe I have plenty of other characteristics that make other straight, white men totally alien to me in terms of their mindsets and motivations. You have no idea.

... But not worth an argument. I was just asking the thread in general if people can think of any video game protagonists that they found easy to identify with as a video game discussion topic, I wasn't trying to start a an ideological debate about identity politics.

I don't know how to reply to this so I'll just say a Corsi role-playing game would be worth checking out.

[CorsiHockeyLeague]

Originally Posted by DownInFlames

I don't know how to reply to this so I'll just say a Corsi role-playing game would be worth checking out.

If you mean a RPG that I created, provided I don't have to do things like art direction and actual development, I actually suspect I could come up with a really good game.

If you mean an RPG with me as a main character... I mean, Disco Elysium already exists.

[chemgear]

Originally Posted by CorsiHockeyLeague

If you mean a RPG that I created, provided I don't have to do things like art direction and actual development, I actually suspect I could come up with a really good game.

If you mean an RPG with me as a main character... I mean, Disco Elysium already exists.

It's in my massive backlog pile of shame . . . the only question I have from from the Steam description:

You’re a detective with a unique skill system at your disposal and a whole city to carve your path across. Interrogate unforgettable characters, crack murders or take bribes. Become a hero or an absolute disaster of a human being.

[CorsiHockeyLeague]

I had never read that summary, but it's kind of misleading and makes the game sound way more simplistic than it actually is... in any case there's no way around the protagonist being a disaster of a human being.

[DoubleF]

Originally Posted by devo22

that's what I meant with "I understand why people hated it". Personally, I felt it was a unique experience because it was a completely different challenge from what you usually see in video games. It puts you into situations where you have to do things that you don't want to do. It's a game that hurts. I fully understand that people don't want that, and heck, I don't want that 99% of the time either. But the game worked for me.

I despise the toxicity around the discussions surrounding this game though. It really brought out the worst in gamers on both sides of the aisle, and it's been pretty tedious online. You don't like a video game? You don't like that other people didn't like a video game? So what. Grow up.

Agree, but I also felt like in that time period, many were just looking for any and every method to vent outrage. TLOU2 along with a few other events in that time period became a vehicle for mobs to spew toxicity.

I agree the toxicity was unnecessary. IIRC, Death Stranding also ended up in the toxicity crosshairs around that time frame. I do think it's fair to say that while there were some major elements that made me feel the game wasn't as good as it should have been, I also felt that the game was dragged through the mud unfairly.

If TLOU2 did not have the elements to be that 9/10 game, I wouldn't have been as annoyed. But because it seemed so obvious and simple and controllable, it ticked me off. Something as minor as swapping which character story you played first would have basically resolved a vast amount of the annoyance most individuals had with the game.

Instead, with how it actually is, we are left with a situation that feels like being told to drink a cup of orange juice after brushing your teeth. No one really enjoys finishing the cup of juice after a few sips due to this order of events being gross. A cup of orange juice before brushing teeth though wouldn't be a problem.

I've tried doing another playthrough several times since I first beat it. I've failed to get through the second half 3 times. I'm not even upset anymore, just disappointed. The game could have been a hands down masterpiece IMO, but in its current state, I don't even consider it a flawed masterpiece. That saddens me because in many senses, I do feel the game does deserve to be a hands down masterpiece.

It's great you enjoyed it though. I have tried several times to try and attempt to enjoy another playthrough and I just can't.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by CorsiHockeyLeague

Silly, sophomoric comment, considering you don't know anything about me other than my gender, skin colour and sexual orientation, as if those superficial traits are central to who I am as a person. Maybe I have plenty of other characteristics that make other straight, white men totally alien to me in terms of their mindsets and motivations. You have no idea.

... But not worth an argument. I was just asking the thread in general if people can think of any video game protagonists that they found easy to identify with as a video game discussion topic, I wasn't trying to start a an ideological debate about identity politics.

I'm sure for a lot of people including me, video games are an escape. I'm not sure I would want to play as a protagonist that represents me because that would be boring. I will say that when it comes to RPG's that are centered around decision making, I typically make decisions akin to what I would in real life which is why I may have not have attained the ultimate Disco Elysium experience as I was trying to clean up that guy's act rather than just go with the flow of being a drunken idiot.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by DoubleF

Agree, but I also felt like in that time period, many were just looking for any and every method to vent outrage. TLOU2 along with a few other events in that time period became a vehicle for mobs to spew toxicity.

I agree the toxicity was unnecessary. IIRC, Death Stranding also ended up in the toxicity crosshairs around that time frame. I do think it's fair to say that while there were some major elements that made me feel the game wasn't as good as it should have been, I also felt that the game was dragged through the mud unfairly.

If TLOU2 did not have the elements to be that 9/10 game, I wouldn't have been as annoyed. But because it seemed so obvious and simple and controllable, it ticked me off. Something as minor as swapping which character story you played first would have basically resolved a vast amount of the annoyance most individuals had with the game.

Instead, with how it actually is, we are left with a situation that feels like being told to drink a cup of orange juice after brushing your teeth. No one really enjoys finishing the cup of juice after a few sips due to this order of events being gross. A cup of orange juice before brushing teeth though wouldn't be a problem.

I've tried doing another playthrough several times since I first beat it. I've failed to get through the second half 3 times. I'm not even upset anymore, just disappointed. The game could have been a hands down masterpiece IMO, but in its current state, I don't even consider it a flawed masterpiece. That saddens me because in many senses, I do feel the game does deserve to be a hands down masterpiece.

It's great you enjoyed it though. I have tried several times to try and attempt to enjoy another playthrough and I just can't.

I think the issue with Death Stranding is that you have extremely high expectations of a game involving a beloved video game developer and very popular actor and many were expecting a game with MGS story elements or quality and it was something very, very different to what gamers have been accustomed to. Judged solely on its intent it's a very good game but I don't think most gamers have an appetite for a walking simulator. It's not like opinions have changed over time in regards to this game as the gameplay is just not going to resonate with a majority of gamers.

[oldschoolcalgary]

hoping Sony shows something that surprises today...

I keep hoping for 1st party updates, but its been a bit of void for much new news

[CroFlames]

Originally Posted by TorqueDog

I look forward to the TEDx talk about how women of colour experience zombie apocalypses differently due to systemic racism amongst the undead population.

They've already done a study about POC and the zombie apocalypse and the results were stunning:

NSFW!

[CroFlames]

Originally Posted by CorsiHockeyLeague

Silly, sophomoric comment, considering you don't know anything about me other than my gender, skin colour and sexual orientation, as if those superficial traits are central to who I am as a person. Maybe I have plenty of other characteristics that make other straight, white men totally alien to me in terms of their mindsets and motivations. You have no idea.

... But not worth an argument. I was just asking the thread in general if people can think of any video game protagonists that they found easy to identify with as a video game discussion topic, I wasn't trying to start a an ideological debate about identity politics.

I identify with Ezio Auditore in that I am a borderline professional athlete with a physique like Cristiano Ronaldo's, and I am a finely tuned killing machine.