toxicitizen

I never finished Wild Arms 1 but I found it to be an enjoyable JRPG. You can't really go wrong for 99 cents, honestly.

That's weird... Yeah, some PSOne and PSP games aren't on the Vita store because they might have some issues. Most of them seem to work just fine but I know MGS isn't on the Vita store because it has a pretty serious audio glitch. I really hope they fix those emulation problems at some point.

That's your own preference, though. The concept of "better" can still be objective. Just depends how you look at it. I'd never seriously suggest you're wrong for liking DA2 more than DA:O. I would argue with you all day if you claimed DA2 is better than DA:O, though. It can be subjectively more fun for some but it's unarguably a rushed and lazily made game. And that's a big part of the problem with DA2 right there. If Dragon Age: Origins is "pure tactical bliss", then don't you see how there's a massive problem with the way Dragon Age II turned out? Dragon Age II cannot be judged on its own merit because it's a sequel to a game that was "pure tactical bliss". It's the very definition of dumbed down, to the point where it might as well have been a different IP altogether. I mean, it's fine to adjust and refine in an effort to appeal to more people. See Mass Effect. The sequels disappointed me but they're still alright games and are admittedly better made. They retain enough of the spirit of the original and I understand why they turned out the way they did. But DA2 stripped away pretty much everything that made people love Origins so much.

Well, it still affects the ending you get. You just don't get to make the final decision yourself. But yeah, I get what you're saying. I'm with you there. I'm not trying to suggest I'm anywhere near smart enough to make the kind of criticism I've been describing. I just enjoy reading/watching it. I've mentioned it before but check out Errant Signal on youtube if you haven't. That guy knows his stuff and he's way smarter than me. That's the stuff I'm talking about, not SuperGoku69 going on a rant on Neogaf because he thought Resident Evil 6 was so very bad. I've only seen a few eps but they were pretty good. Not quite the same thing I thought we were discussing but whatever, maybe I just haven't seen the right ones. But Anthony Burch is a smart guy, yeah. I've seen a vid of a lecture he did at some uni a while back, dude knows his stuff.

Yeah, like I said, oversimplification. I wouldn't take seriously someone complaining about HUD elements any more than I would someone saying any of those examples. Choices not having an impact isn't really what ludonarrative dissonance is. Well, maybe it is in some way, I'm not an expert on the concept. But my understanding of it is it's when the story is saying one thing and the mechanics are saying the opposite. Uncharted is more of a funny/weird contrast because Drake still cracks jokes as if he hadn't just murdered three dozen guys in the last 20mins. But it doesn't really contradict the story, it's Indiana Jones. Yeah, he's gonna fight people. It's just that it's a shooter, so yeah, the amount of people he fights and kills is going to be ridiculously disproportionate. Indiana Jones doesn't get all bummed out over killing a few nazis but he didn't kill literally hundreds of them over the span of a trilogy. A better example would be the new Tomb Raider. The story is all about Lara being weak and innocent and gradually becoming the Lara we're already familiar with. But in-game it's pretty much a switch that gets flipped, she gets a gun and right away starts mowing down dudes by the dozen. Then you get a cutscene and she feels bad about killing a deer or is all scared because bad guys all over the place. Then gameplay starts again and she literally screams "I'M COMING TO GET YOU ALL!!!". That's a more stark contradiction. edit: I probably shouldn't play my Vita sitting at my desk. I'm trying to start Ys: Memories of Celceta but I just keep refreshing this thread instead. I've literally been in the tutorial for like an hour and a half...

As opposed to discussions about... what? It's a hobby, discussing it is as healthy as anything else. What might not be healthy is obsessing over it to the point of getting furious about asinine shit. Making thoughtful criticism of games isn't obsessing and neither is discussing them between enthusiasts. I spend more time thinking and talking about games because they're my favorite form of art/entertainment and I know more about them than I do about movies or music. But I like to look at those other two in the same way. A proper film analysis can be pretty damn interesting to read or watch.

Not everyone is a programmer, game designer or musician or filmmaker. What's your point? Just because you're not going to make a work of art yourself hardly means you shouldn't criticize them. Some people study those things and never go on to make them. Their interest in them is purely academic. How is a medium supposed to improve if no one ever voices their problems with it? Again, what you're saying just strikes me as intellectually lazy. Analysis isn't useless, looking at and thinking about things academically isn't useless. And just to be clear, I don't mean the average gamer here. Those guys tend to be idiots who have no idea what they're talking about. You're not going to find thoughtful game analysis on reddit. I mean smart people who are actually thinking critically about games and writing books about it. Dismissing those people as "whiny nerds" says more about you than it does about them... It's not about "becoming art". That very concept is absolutely ridiculous. Things don't become art. They are or they aren't. It's about mainstream acceptance, not some kind of binary state. Movies were always art, even before Citizen Kane and Casablanca and what have you. They just became widely accepted as art, no one flipped a switch. I've never watched that. It sounds like more of a talk show. Again, when I talk about real game criticism I don't mean the fucking IGN podcast here. That shit is worthless, no argument there. But creators are hardly the only ones with insightful things to say about their own work.

Analyzing doesn't mean comparing everything together. I'm not sure where you got that from. And it's not just about tearing it down, either. If you go to the trouble of analyzing something then it must be doing some things right otherwise why would you even bother? As for not analyzing things that don't mean to be analyzed, well that's just irrelevant. Creators don't get a say in whether or not their work is placed under scrutiny. And their intended meaning is hardly the only one that has value to it.

I don't get people who feel the need to be so defensive about games. I mean, shit, I love games too but that doesn't make them above criticism. You do realize it's fine to criticize something you love, right? That's a massive oversimplification and you know it. Immersion is about more than just any one element, it's about believing enough in the fake world you're spending time in to "forget" that it's fake. Suspension of disbelief is another way to look at it. It's like watching a movie and the acting is so bad you can't take it seriously anymore. Why in the name of fuck would you want to limit what people can think about? If people can look for messages and hidden meanings in Michael Bay movies, of all fucking things, then they can do so in games too. It's fine if you don't care about it but to suggest it shouldn't be done at all? I don't even know what to say to that... It's just intellectually lazy. I don't know where you stand on the whole "games are/aren't art" thing but if we want games to be taken seriously then we need to start thinking about them seriously at some point. Cinema started out in a place much like where games are today. How do you think it made the jump to becoming a respected art form? A great work isn't enough, there needs to be people to think about and analyze that work. The people talking about ludonarrative dissonance are doing just that. And I mean people who actually understand it and do proper analysis of games, not just idiots on reddit who are trying to sound smart.

I'm not one to needlessly hate on FFXIII, it wasn't the greatest but I enjoyed it for what it was. But you are out of your goddamned mind, son! Dragon Age: Origins was better than FFXIII. It was better than Skyrim (I mean, what game wasn't???). It was better than Uncharted 3!

Immersion isn't a buzzword, what are you on about? Lack of immersion can kill a game pretty quickly, especially exploration-based ones like RPGs. Also, cognitive dissonance is a very real psychological concept. I think you meant ludonarrative dissonance? Also not a buzzword. Not exactly something to brag about. I can already see the bullet points on the back of the box: Side quests! Guns! Game mechanics completely at odds with the narrative!

You should play Dragon Age: Origins, then!

I'm confused. How exactly is "not at all" equal to "in every possible way"?

I can accept that there's an argument for the first one, but this is just false. Yeah, ME is mostly a matter of genre preference. You'd have to be out of your goddamned mind to actually think DA2 is better than Origins, though. Quite possibly the only opinion that can actually be wrong!

I don't really know what to tell you, man. I mean, I get disappointment or if you honestly thought they were bad games, for some reason. But not being able to enjoy a game in a genre you normally like because it actually makes you angry? That's... kind of an unhealthy way to feel towards what's supposed to be a hobby?

Writing them off entirely does seem like a bit of an overreaction, yeah. There's room for games to be disappointing and still be worthwhile. Comparing them to Gears of War is definitely selling them short. I made it a point to say they're still good games for a reason. Dragon Age II is unredeemable garbage, though.

I'm just gonna go ahead and say Bioware. I used to think they could do no wrong. I should be thankful, really. They single-handedly made me realize how silly of a notion that is to have towards a game developer. I absolutely loved Dragon Age: Origins but couldn't bear more than 10 hours of Dragon Age II. Basically, I came back from the Deep Roads and realized I just had to re-explore Kirkwall. That's when I quit out of the game and uninstalled it. It just struck me as the epitome of a lazy cash-in. It came out a mere 18 months after Origins and it really shows. As a result, I have no interest whatsoever in Inquisition. I might give it a shot if the reception is good once it comes out but there is zero hype or anticipation for now. Then there's Mass Effect 2 and 3. They're hardly bad games but I couldn't help but be massively disappointed by the direction the series took with ME2. ME1 was a legit RPG that just happened to have cover shooting mechanics in it. ME2 and 3 are very much the opposite: cover shooters that just happen to have light RPG mechanics in them. Most of the major locations in the original were these massive hubs that you explored and completed quests in. The Citadel felt like a real place then, you could go from almost any point A to any point B entirely on foot and I loved that. In the sequels, you pick a mission on the space map and get teleported to a corridor shooter level. No exploration whatsoever and you're never going back there again. The story was entertaining and, even if they were ultimately meaningless, the choices were fun to make. But the sequels lost a lot of what made me love the original so much. ME2 and 3 are unarguably better made and designed but, even though it was pretty rough around the edges, I still like the original better.

Most of Nihon Falcom's games are developed for or ported to PC. They're pretty popular in China, apparently. Those versions just rarely get localized. I love that XSEED has been changing that. As for the plats, I think I was stuck at 16 for a while? I only did Hotline Miami a few weeks ago and Metal Gear Solid 3 on Vita this week. The PS3 version has a separate list so I used that transfarring thing to transfer my save and it automatically unlocked most of the big ones. I just had to do another quick speed run to get the platinum a second time.

Man, I'm really glad I didn't pick them up during the summer sale. They were twice as expensive! I guess maybe they had further discounts planned but were never picked for a daily or vote? Anyway, Origin is the only one I really needed since it's PC exclusive for some reason and I already own the others on PSP/Vita. But what the hell, I want XSEED to bring more games to Steam so I don't mind throwing some money at them. Also, the next time I feel like replaying Felghana it'll be nice to be able to do it on a bigger screen and at a higher resolution. Even the Vita's OLED can't work miracles, the PSP version kinda looked like ass.

Yeah, the entire concept of a backlog got a hell of a lot more manageable once I adopted that mindset. I went through my entire Steam library and made a backlog category for "I actually want to play/try this". There's probably more I'd be interested in but those are what I'm focusing on for the foreseeable future. Otherwise, it would be a futile endeavor what with the constant indie bundles and sales. That game count is going up at a faster rate than I can play them and besides, who the hell has time to play all those fucking games anyway? I mean, I'm nearing 700 games on Steam but easily a fifth of that is stuff I probably wouldn't even touch. Most of it came from bundles, some were impulse purchases because they were dirt cheap and it seemed like a good idea at the time. I mean, shit, sometimes I'll see a title and literally go "what the fuck is THAT?" or "when did I even get this?!". Like, just glancing over at my list of uninstalled indie games and right away I see AVSEQ, Bientot l'été and English Country Tune and I haven't a fucking clue what any of them are or where I even got them from. I actually made a second category called "summer backlog" with games I intended to play over the summer but I barely touched it lol. I blame my Vita for that. On the plus side, I basically cleared my (retail) Vita backlog! There's still a little under two months left but I'm focusing on my PS3 backlog for now. It's down to only about half a dozen games and I'd like to clear it ASAP since I'm planning to get a PS4 this fall. I'm also a lot less anal than I used to be about finishing games I'm not really enjoying. I'm never going back to finish Nier, for example. And after 20 or so hours of play, Tales of Symphonia can fuck right off. I gave that game more than a fair shot and it bored the shit out of me.

Metal Gear Solid 3. That would be the Vita version. Peace Walker didn't quite scratch the MGS itch I had so I felt like replaying this one. I'm playing them out of order but whatever. I've stopped counting how many times I've replayed it over the years but it's up there with the original Max Payne and Ocarina of Time. Definitely one of my all-time favorites. That ending never fails to give me chills. Man, what a game. It's always a blast to revisit it and doing so on Vita was pretty damn great but also very frustrating at times. See, they kinda mangled the controls pretty badly. But, to be fair, I think they did the best they could with the limited options they had. The problem is, this is a game that made use of damn near every single function the DualShock 2 provided. So, not only does the Vita lack two shoulder buttons as well as clickable sticks, the DS2 actually had fucking pressure sensitive face buttons on top of that. As a result, I was forced to adapt my play style because some things just couldn't be pulled off reliably. For example, when pressed against a wall, there was no telling if I'd be able to move or if Snake would just get locked into place and peek to his sides instead. To say it was frustrating is a massive understatement and I could never figure out what I was doing wrong. It just seemed finicky as hell. Then you had to do these obnoxious swipes on the back touchpad for more "advanced" stuff like interrogations, throat slitting and first-person peeking/leaning. It was a fucking nightmare. But, control issues aside, the port is otherwise pretty solid (hehehe...). The framerate takes a hit whenever there's a lot going on on-screen but that was to be expected. I was actually surprised by how well it ran most of the time, especially considering this is a game that pushed the PS2 to its limits. I was following a guide to get the platinum in a single playthrough but apparently I fucked up at some point. I thought I had done everything right but at very end the score screen said 1 kill. One. Fucking. Kill. I don't even know how it could've happened, I was so careful. So I'm missing just the no-kill trophy before I can get the platinum. Thank fuck I didn't miss any of those stupid Kerotan frogs, though, because fuck redoing that shit. Also, shooting every single one of them unlocks the stealth camo and the EZ Gun, which should make a NG+ no-kill speedrun fairly trivial. Also, turns out there's a camo suit that makes your footsteps silent on top of that, so I can literally just run right in front of enemies and they'll never know I was even there. Kinda gives a new meaning to ghosting. But yeah, those fucking frogs, man. I did a Kerotan run years ago back on PS2 and redoing it now was as much of a pain in the ass as it was back then. Whoever thought it was a good idea to have a bunch of them during the bike chase needs to have rusty nails shoved up his ass. When you miss one (and holy shit are they hard to hit), you can't just restart the checkpoint and there's no easy way to kill yourself. You're forced to quit back to the main menu, go through all the splash screens and reload your game completely. After an hour of that shit, I was ready to throw my Vita against the wall. Ugh... I'm glad that part's behind me.

Bayonetta 1 and 2!

Hahaha, what the hell. Yeah, that doesn't exactly sound like sane behavior...

Oh, I see. If it's still readable then whatever. This forum is a nightmare when it goes into slow-ass mode. We can just make new threads. Also, I didn't know Bouchart had a thing with Ethan specifically. Did they argue a lot or something?

Yeah, you could not poke fun at that guy. I remember at one point he mentioned having an interest in finance-related stuff and people thought it was funny. So they'd randomly bring it up in conversation as a joke and he'd get super pissy and legitimately annoyed by it.