Things That Bother You About Gaming

[Foggle]

Yeah, I agree with Dr. E-K about experimenting with other forms of media for a while! I'm super into games at the moment after a long period where I didn't play very many. Just finding old titles I've never heard of at a used game store or on a ROM depository is a joy for me right now, even if I never actually buy or play them.

[Mustang]

Will do. My partner at work has been telling me to check out some indies as well, so, hopefully some of those will do the trick, and then I gotta get my hands on the Switch again. There have been some games that I want to try out on there as well.

I definitely need to start reading comics.

[Mustang]

So I don't know how much of an uproar it's causing, but apparently Yakuza 7 is going the turn-base route. I knew nothing about an April fools trailer but this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=noioqCv92hM looks like it might be the real deal. The guys I talk to are upset about it. When I brought up DMC should go open world, I didn't mean going this extreme in changing things up, however, I don't mind it.  I don't know if Sega is at a point where they feel they should change things up to bring in new people or to spice things up (or take a huge risk). I am curious about Foggle's opinion though. I don't have a horse in this race on this one, but I am willing to try it out though. I do wish that it was Kiryu instead of this person I don't know (I'm installing previous Yakuza's as we speak)

[Foggle]

I'm bummed about them taking the next game in this direction since old-school beat 'em ups are so uncommon these days (especially in 3D), but the change is slowly growing on me. Yakuza combat has always been satisfying due to the cinematic HEAT moves but it's never been anything particularly deep or complex, really. They could probably get the same feeling across with turn-based combat but it might be a little harder. The fighting has always been only one of many components that makes the series special so it's nowhere near as big a betrayal as if something like DMC or Bayonetta went in this direction. The team seems passionate about what they're doing here so I'm willing to give it a try.

I don't particularly care for the new protagonist's design but I'm hoping he'll end up being likable personality-wise. Yakuza 6 was the end of Kiryu's story, so as much as I'll miss him and the classic gameplay, it makes sense to shake things up with this one. Thankfully, even if 7 bombs, we'll still have Judgment to continue the franchise's legacy (which honestly seems more like it should bear the Yakuza 7 name to me).

[Foggle]

My old shitpost about Pretentious Arthouse Metal Slug is finally becoming a reality in the AAA space!

fighting other humans takes on a significant note of savagery. Stealth kills are an intense affair in which a person struggles as Ellie slams her knife into their neck, gritting her teeth as she strains against their panicked flailing until blood and life pour out of them. Melee fights often end with a blade embedded in the side of an enemy before they sputter and collapse.

Naughty Dog has also increased the brutality of fighting for your life in another, more thematic way: Every human enemy in Part 2 is named, so characters will often call out to each other by name as they discuss tactics or shout orders. Kill someone, and their friends will call out their name in anguish. The same goes for the dogs; it seems you'll hear a lot of pained cries from dog owners as you kill their companions in Part 2. Hearing your enemies react in emotional pain (in addition to physical pain) is a jarring addition that Newman said emphasizes the core thematic thrust of the series--and it's meant to be unsettling.

"A big part of the theme of the game are the parts of your humanity that are lost or potentially stripped away when you pursue justice," Newman said. "The lengths that you go for justice can have a very high human cost to you personally. And one of the ways I'm really excited about that we're kind of bringing that to life is our named enemies. ...Not only does it show how intelligent they are that they're able to coordinate, but by naming them, they become that much more of a real human."

I really hate this and I'm not entirely sure why.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Funny how he mentions enemies having names as a sign of their intelligence as opposed to....you know, their actual AI. The original game has actually been noted for having way dumber enemy AI than what was shown off in E3 previews, to the point where some argued (quite reasonably) that it was deceptive to market it that way when it didn't even come close to representing the final product. The AI actually had to be limited far more than the showcase demos implied in order to properly run on the PS3's hardware, and Naughty Dog clearly knew this yet still touted how advanced their AI would be in interviews.

Somehow I get the feeling that's not a priority for them this time, either. In fact, everything I'm hearing about them hyping up the game is how much more cinematic it is as opposed to any gameplay improvements.

Here's the thing: I truly appreciate developers with an artistic intent to use the medium of gaming to tell layered stories with a level of depth and nuance that can only be achieved through the kind of interactivity that video games offer. However, if someone like Yoko Taro is your gaming equivalent of Grant Morrison, Naughty Dog is the equivalent of that hack writer who can replicate the appearance of something substantial on the barest surface level, but who's work completely misses the mark under actual scrutiny.

I like the stories in games like Nier: Automata, MGS3, Alan Wake, and so on because they take full advantage of being video games to deliver a great experience in all aspects. The Last of Us feels more like a game that's ashamed of the fact that it's a video game.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

For the most part I've been just ignoring the overwhelmingly polarizing buzz about TLOU2 since it's release since I frankly don't care about the game or series enough either way to have a strong opinion on it. But I did find this video to be rather cathartic: https://youtu.be/QCYMH-lp4oM

It explains in pretty fair and reasonable terms why regardless of it's intentions, TLOU2's themes fall flat in execution (as do a lot of it's contemporaries among AAA titles), and even shows how a 16-year-old game like MGS3 was doing a better job of exploring similar themes with superior gameplay mechanics to boot.

This isn't even to shit on TLOU2 or Naughty Dog. To be frank I find the "anti-woke" crowd campaigning against this game and anyone who worked on it to be far more insufferable than any of it's die-hard fans, and as I said before, I'm personally indifferent to it. But it was still a nice argumentative video essay mixed in with humor to put together a well-reasoned criticism of the game on the whole.

[Mustang]

This is going to be all over the place since I'm still not entirely sure how I want to tackle this.

The mistreatment (don't know if that's the word I want to use) when it comes to fighting games (perhaps unintentionally). I mean I suppose you can throw racing games up there as well as character action to a lesser degree.

Is it time for these journalists to change up how fighting games are reviewed? I mean journalists are only judging fighting games based on the story, which none of the hardcore fans care about. Everyone cares for single player content (tournament players cares even less about that), but casuals only care for story or something like Smash Bros. When it comes to the online functionality I'm more inclined to believe that reviewers are going by word of mouth than actually trying it out for themselves. I actually believe most reviewers are like Michael Huber (EZA). He openly admitted to being very intimidated in going head-to-head against someone else online (which is crazy to me because he has no problem playing COD online), and I think that's the case for most journalists.

And then we have all these "best of", "greatest of" lists coming out all the time and you never see any fighting games on any of them except maybe Street Fighter 2 which is a nostalgic pick, or Smash which are casuals picking it. I don't think you'll ever see any Greatest of All Time lists have a fighting game on that list unless that list is tailored for fighting games only, let alone a modern fighting game.

Racing games are even more niche than fighting games imo. I was watching EZA's 2018 GOTY's and Bloodworth was the only one bringing in Forza Horizon 4 and no one else among them plays racing games unless its Mario Kart or F-Zero. So imagine him trying to convince them when the top contenders that year I believe were God of War, Spiderman and Resident Evil 7.

I have more thoughts on the matter but my thoughts are also jumbling up so I'll stop here.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

I'm really sick of all of the drama surrounding TLOU2, from both sides. I can't seem to go a day without seeing something online either bitching about how the game is the worst atrocity to come out of the medium in years or a misunderstood masterpiece that is only hated on by insecure man-children.

For me personally I have no stake here. I played the first game and it's not really my cup of tea. I get why a lot of other people love it and that's fine. Just for my side of things I knew that the sequel is something that wouldn't interest me. Keep in mind that I'm the same kind of person who would call The Wonderful 101 among the best video games of the last decade, so take that to mean my tastes skew from the norm, anyways.

On the one side of things you have the people who despise this game so strongly to the point that they will hate on anyone who likes it. I say hate a game all you want, but there's a disturbing hypocrisy in people hating something for pushing an agenda but also forcibly demonizing anyone who takes a liking to it for not following along with their agenda. Kind of ironic how that works out. And the people who act like the corporate championing of this game is some new low for the medium genuinely amuse me considering how much the AAA gaming scene has been hampered by corporate BS for the past decade and a half at the very least. It's most hilarious how people are shocked that it won GOTY at the VGAs, as if that whole ordeal hasn't always been a big commercialized joke to begin with for fans of the medium.

On the other side of things you have the advocate defenders who insist that anyone who doesn't love this game is somehow a horrible human being who supports misogyny and bigotry. It doesn't even matter if people have legitimate issues with the gameplay; the game has to be treated as perfection in their eyes. I think it pretty much speaks for itself how insultingly stupid these people are.

More than anything, though, I'm just annoyed that I can't escape from hearing people bitching about this game one way or another even more than half a year after it initially released. Seriously, can people move onto something else by now?

[Dr. Insomniac]

Well, the discourse is already on Cyberpunk right now, so the hordes will switch from endless discussion of one game to another.

[Peanutbutter]

I'm not touching TLOU 2 because I already know the story sucks and Neil Druckmann treated his staff like garbage. But I've heard nothing but good things about both the gameplay and the online features. I'd be okay with just an online version if he didn't get any penny from it. Anyone hating on people who like the game are no better than SJW game journalists that overhyped the story. I consider myself Anti-Woke, but I know for a fact there are losers out there who are genuinely racist or Anti Semitic and skirt around it by claiming the word "racist" doesn't mean anything anymore.


Uhhh, it only doesn't apply when it's observably lobbed at someone who makes an innocent joke or remark or some celeb that says one thing out of line with Woke mobs. Being genuinely racist is not a good thing. I sure hope these losers don't somehow gain enough power to become the new censors like the Religious Right and SJWs before them because I can't help feeling a little concerned.

[Dr. Ensatsu-ken]

Neil Druckman comes off as that pretentious college Humanities major that fooled himself into believing he was a good write. In this case he also somehow fooled people in higher up positions to give him millions of dollars to contribute his "genius artistic talent" to the medium of gaming.

As I said I'm more indifferent to TLOU than actively disliking it, but the fact that people hold either game up on a pedestal in the same medium that gave us Silent Hill, Metal Gear Solid, Nier, No More Heroes, Bloodborne, and other games that use the unique aspects of gaming to tell stories in only ways that video games can is frankly insulting.

[Peanutbutter]

I honestly think there was truth to game journalists being paid off by some in the game companies. While I personally didn't hate it, look at the contrast between critics and fans about FF 13.

[Dr. Insomniac]

The contrast is because there's a major difference between people who play games because it's part of a franchise they love and people who play games because it's their job and they need to write a review about it for said job. Of course there will be different mindsets that impact the difference between what the reviewers and the fans think.

[Mustang]

So I'm sure everyone saw the news that Microsoft bought Activision. That doesn't phase me one bit. I applaud everything Microsoft has been doing for the past couple years now. What bothers me is Sony. What in the world is going on over there at Sony? I mean there's just been garbage after garbage I've been hearing about. Having to go back to make PS4's? WHAT? I understand that this "chip" that all of a sudden EVERYBODY needs now is slowing down the world. Cool. BUT producing PS4's when companies are moving on to next gen? Are you bullshitting me? Perfect example. Final Fantasy 7 Remake Intergrade is exclusively on the PS5 last time I checked. I cannot play that on the PS4 which is why I still haven't even bothered playing FF7 in the 1st place. I was already upset with this enhanced edition with the PSPro, but even more enhanced on a PS5 and I can't even get my hands on one but you want to go back to PS4? 

And then on top of that, Sony losing out "some" Japanese studios. I'm not sure who all they lost, but I do know they let some get closed down. Like, come on, you could've bought them just to keep them at work and produce smaller games.

At this point I'm practically done with Sony. I mean sure I'll always play whatever game I'm interested on whatever console (console war means nothing to me) but even then there's not a lot for me to even begin investing in a sony console. Yeah sure there's Spider-Man, God of War Ragnarok, Wolverine, but what else? Outside of Zelda I do not buy consoles for 1 game.

I don't know if Sony's in trouble or not but they definitely got hit and if I'm Microsoft, you're damn sure I'm turning every single game under Activision/Blizzard into an exclusive since Sony fans kept throwing that in Microsoft's face. Like I said I don't know if they're in trouble, but something's definitely wrong with them. Ego perhaps? Thoughts?