What games are you currently playing?

[Icemage]

Re: What games are you currently playing?

I know people loved this game, but I could never figure out why. The story is slow and predictable. The characters are almost all shallow and throw-away. The game-play is a mangled abomination; I would have been content with an interactive movie. I could never force myself to complete the whole thing.

I'm 2 episodes in, and I'm enjoying it for exactly what it is: excellent storytelling.

The story isn't "that" predictable, nor is it slow, and if you think the characters are shallow (even Clementine?!), I'd hate to think what your opinions are of less well developed characters in games (read: nearly all other video games). Even where you know something is going to happen, it's often done in a tasteful and suspenseful way. There's a level of dramatic polish here that's just sadly lacking in many other games.

Compare and contrast the characters in The Walking Dead versus, say, L.A. Noire, for instance.


Icemage

[Malacite]

Re: What games are you currently playing?

What I didn't like was the lack of real choice, how utterly stupid some of the cast is (missing really obvious clues...) and how ultimately, a lot of what you do doesn't matter worth a damn.

For example (and I'm trying to avoid spoilers here) it doesn't matter how often you side with Kenny - he still acts like a jerk and treats you like shit, so why even side with him on anything? If the game actually had diverging paths, then that'd be great - but it's more like viewing the same scene with a slightly different flavor. Yeah yeah voice acting is expensive bla bla bla I still don't buy that excuse.


That said, I really did enjoy the game regardless and they've confirmed a 2nd season is currently in production ^_^

[Icemage]

Re: What games are you currently playing?

For example (and I'm trying to avoid spoilers here) it doesn't matter how often you side with Kenny - he still acts like a jerk and treats you like shit, so why even side with him on anything? If the game actually had diverging paths, then that'd be great - but it's more like viewing the same scene with a slightly different flavor. Yeah yeah voice acting is expensive bla bla bla I still don't buy that excuse.

Actually I got a message in one conversation in Episode 2 that told me I would have gotten a better reaction from Kenny had I done things differently in Episode 1. I still wouldn't go back and change my reactions on those, but it's possible.

Also, I did something that made him happy at the start of Ep. 2 that got a good comment out of him, so Kenny isn't always adversarial. He's just not very bright and takes it out on you when you disagree with him (which is perfectly in character).


Icemage

[Malacite]

Re: What games are you currently playing?

uh huh, you'll see what I mean eventually.

[Omgwtfbbqkitten]

Re: What games are you currently playing?

Super Metroid stabbed me in heart.
FFVII had a similar effect for a generation of gamers.
FFVI's spirtes had effective writing to back the simplest animations and the message was sent.
Ico and SotC hardly needed intelligible spoken words to convey their stories.
Deus Ex Human Revolution explores the loss of privilege, classism, inner-torment and that's really just the window-dressing.
FFX's ending still gets me.
Link never has to say a damn thing - his eyes always say what he thinks.
Persona 4's Inaba feels like home.
Halo 4 made me feel bad for Master Chief's loss.
The Walking Dead's Lee Everett feels liks a guy I would know.


David Cage could play those, hell, he could play Thomas Was Alone or Dys4ria and he'd be better for it.

[Icemage]

Re: What games are you currently playing?

Switched gears and purchased Guacamelee! this evening.

Amazing, amazing, amazing Metroidvania style game with great art and music and awesome brawling gameplay.

If you own a PS3 or PS Vita (it's cross-buy so you get both versions), you owe it to yourself to buy this game. It's really special.


Icemage

[Firewind]

Re: What games are you currently playing?

Made me giggle

[cidbahamut]

Re: What games are you currently playing?

I was amused until I saw the Dorkly watermark on that. It would have been more amusing if that level of sarcasm was a legitimate statement from EA.

[Firewind]

Re: What games are you currently playing?

Posting stuff like that on the internet kind of needs it though. But I still expect BBQ to take it seriously and rage about EA for a bit anyway.

[Armando]

Re: What games are you currently playing?

Made me giggle

Hilarious, but not nearly as much as them trying to shift the blame on homophobes and people complaining who's on the cover of Madden, while casually mentioning that SimCity's always-on thing totally isn't DRM. That's really hard to beat.

[Firewind]

Re: What games are you currently playing?

I know but worst company in America? Really? There's plenty more that I would call outright "Evil" than just simply "Greedy".

[cidbahamut]

Re: What games are you currently playing?

Yeah, but think about who's going to be voting in those online polls? Angry people on the internet. Who best fits that description? The gaming community.

It's really not that difficult to figure out why EA got the award again.

[Armando]

Re: What games are you currently playing?

I know but worst company in America? Really? There's plenty more that I would call outright "Evil" than just simply "Greedy".

The competition wasn't about the most harmful, evil, or unethical company, it's about "the worst"; and on a site called Consumerist, "the worst" means "the most anti-consumer." If this had been on a social activism site, then "the worst" would mean "the most evil."

Besides, the point of the award is to send a message. It would be wasted on a company like Monsanto. They don't need you; at the end of the day they'll still have farmers' balls in a vicegrip. EA's in the entertainment business, which means their livelihood depends squarely on getting you to buy their crap. They might think they can afford to piss people off, but I'm not so sure.

[Omgwtfbbqkitten]

Re: What games are you currently playing?

I'm not exactly surprised over the internet's lack of priorities.. Even if EA deserves all the shit it gets. Peter Moore's problem this week was being disingenuous and from his past he's better than that.

I mean, I'm totally behind EA being a pro-LGBT business and using that power make change happen in the corporate world and also using that weight to do right by their employees, put pressure on legislators alongside other companies to make laws more inclusive and protective for the LGBT community. Their weight, along with that of other companies, helped change the minds (not necessarily hearts) of some elected officials (as they might not have hearts). I Don't think these corporations or said politicians do these things to be totally genuine about it either, but because they know their generation is on the way out and have to concede that the views of the generations generations have grown more dominant and influential if the old timers wish to remain relevant at all. For the few old-timers that mean it, good on them.

EA as a game maker? I'd say there are mixed results on being pro-gay. The Mass Effect and the first Dragon Age game got it mostly right, but then DA2 just totally blew it my making too many people forced bisexuals and recycled the same exact tranny joke from the first game - this on top of the recycled areass- and it wasn't funny the first time. So, yeah, Dragon Age needs some new writers there. I can give Skyrim a pass in the "weirdly bi" thing as there's hundreds, of not over a thousand NPCs walking about that game and I think making LGBT character scale to a population like that would be maddening from a design and player standpoint. Plus TES puts lore well ahead of story and character. People buy Bioware games for story and character (it sure as hell isn't the gameplay), so you gotta make those characters seem real. Mass Effect gets it right and Dragon Age is kind of a big fuck-up there.

EA is not the worst company ever, but they're far from the best.

[Malacite]

Re: What games are you currently playing?

I was amused until I saw the Dorkly watermark on that. It would have been more amusing if that level of sarcasm was a legitimate statement from EA.

EA responds to 'Worst Company in America' poll: 'We can do better. We will do better.' [update] | Joystiq


We Can Do Better - EA News


This made me laugh ^^

neveauxor

+79-13

Want to know why Activision didn't win? They don't have Online Passes.