Thread for Gamers VIII: Revenge of the Sh**

[The first Galactic Republic]

I finally got Fire Emblem Fates: Conquest. This is my first playthrough of Fates, and I'm enjoying it quite a lot so far. I don't think it's quite up to the standard of Awakening, which I really adore, but good nonetheless.

Did you ever play Shadow Dragon?

[Philjia]

I finally got Fire Emblem Fates: Conquest. This is my first playthrough of Fates, and I'm enjoying it quite a lot so far. I don't think it's quite up to the standard of Awakening, which I really adore, but good nonetheless.

Did you ever play Shadow Dragon?

I freely admit to being a sentimental old bastard who will point blank refuse to play a Fire Emblem game with no option to remove permadeath.

[The Huskar Social Union]

So TB has a like near two hour WTF is... on Mass Effect Andromeda, alright watched the first half an hour or so, really keen to watch the rest later and see what he thinks on everything.

[Neo Balka]

So TB has a like near two hour WTF is... on Mass Effect Andromeda, alright watched the first half an hour or so, really keen to watch the rest later and see what he thinks on everything.

"millions of dollars, yeas worth of development time and we get shitty facial animations....

GG Bioware"

[The Huskar Social Union]

So TB has a like near two hour WTF is... on Mass Effect Andromeda, alright watched the first half an hour or so, really keen to watch the rest later and see what he thinks on everything.

"millions of dollars, yeas worth of development time and we get shitty facial animations....

GG Bioware"

Animations are honestly not that bad most of the time in my experience, some are horrendous but it does not bother me that much honestly with how much ive played of it.

[Abserdia]

Almost done with the first ending of NieR: Automata, but I'm holding it off for a bit to do some side quests.

[The first Galactic Republic]

Did you ever play Shadow Dragon?

I freely admit to being a sentimental old bastard who will point blank refuse to play a Fire Emblem game with no option to remove permadeath.

You won't like to hear that when I get the game I'm planning to do a Marth only run where every other character will die.

Plot armor no more.

You actually get a special ending for it.

[Ameriganastan]

Yeah, I'm too scared to do the permadeath mode. I thought I wasn't, but then Miriel died in the tutorial level of Awakening. And it turns out I was.

[The first Galactic Republic]

You know what bothers me about a lot of Japanese games? Many of the main characters are teenagers but they're not portrayed realistically. All of their faces look like perfect Greco-Roman statues and everyone is clean and beautiful.

But in real life teenagers are covered in acne. I'm talking greasy pus filled acne. Whiteheads, blackheads, comedones, papules, pustules, nodules, cysts, horrible red irritated skin, none of it is there. In real life a teenager's body is in the midsts of imploding. A teenager's face is a barely contained morass of pus and dead skin.

Do you ever see acne on these teenagers in these Japanese games? Never. Furthermore a lot of the games take place in the Middle Ages and or involve fighting and adventuring. These teenagers would constantly be stressed and sweaty and they'd be in a time period without great hygiene. They should be riddled with acne, but are they? No. It is completely and utterly immersion breaking.

[Reploid Productions]

You know what bothers me about a lot of Japanese games? Many of the main characters are teenagers but they're not portrayed realistically. All of their faces look like perfect Greco-Roman statues and everyone is clean and beautiful.

But in real life teenagers are covered in acne. I'm talking greasy pus filled acne. Whiteheads, blackheads, comedones, papules, pustules, nodules, cysts, horrible red irritated skin, none of it is there. In real life a teenager's body is in the midsts of imploding. A teenager's face is a barely contained morass of pus and dead skin.

Do you ever see acne on these teenagers in these Japanese games? Never. Furthermore a lot of the games take place in the Middle Ages and or involve fighting and adventuring. These teenagers would constantly be stressed and sweaty and they'd be in a time period without great hygiene. They should be riddled with acne, but are they? No. It is completely and utterly immersion breaking.

Not a flaw unique to just Japanese games. Pretty much any form of fiction that features teenage protagonists will similarly have said teens free of many of the puberty woes like acne unless it is one of those slice-of-life type dealies where "puberty woes like acne" are actually relevant to the plot.

But then, a big part of escapist fantasy entails getting away from reality, why would we want to drag the unpleasant elements of reality into the escapist fantasy?

[Onekawa-Nukanor]

You know what bothers me about a lot of Japanese games? Many of the main characters are teenagers but they're not portrayed realistically. All of their faces look like perfect Greco-Roman statues and everyone is clean and beautiful.

But in real life teenagers are covered in acne. I'm talking greasy pus filled acne. Whiteheads, blackheads, comedones, papules, pustules, nodules, cysts, horrible red irritated skin, none of it is there. In real life a teenager's body is in the midsts of imploding. A teenager's face is a barely contained morass of pus and dead skin.

Do you ever see acne on these teenagers in these Japanese games? Never. Furthermore a lot of the games take place in the Middle Ages and or involve fighting and adventuring. These teenagers would constantly be stressed and sweaty and they'd be in a time period without great hygiene. They should be riddled with acne, but are they? No. It is completely and utterly immersion breaking.

Not a flaw unique to just Japanese games. Pretty much any form of fiction that features teenage protagonists will similarly have said teens free of many of the puberty woes like acne unless it is one of those slice-of-life type dealies where "puberty woes like acne" are actually relevant to the plot.

But then, a big part of escapist fantasy entails getting away from reality, why would we want to drag the unpleasant elements of reality into the escapist fantasy?

Hey, gritty realism is in vogue. And if we're gonna have gritty realism, then I think we can all agree that teenagers with bad acne are an absolute MUST in any games that feature them.

[Reploid Productions]

Not a flaw unique to just Japanese games. Pretty much any form of fiction that features teenage protagonists will similarly have said teens free of many of the puberty woes like acne unless it is one of those slice-of-life type dealies where "puberty woes like acne" are actually relevant to the plot.

But then, a big part of escapist fantasy entails getting away from reality, why would we want to drag the unpleasant elements of reality into the escapist fantasy?

Hey, gritty realism is in vogue. And if we're gonna have gritty realism, then I think we can all agree that teenagers with bad acne are an absolute MUST in any games that feature them.

Yech, I'll pass. I got sick of gritty realism pretty much as soon as it first really became a thing. If I want to see oodles of cratered teenage acne face, I'd go into teaching, thx.

[Onekawa-Nukanor]

Hey, gritty realism is in vogue. And if we're gonna have gritty realism, then I think we can all agree that teenagers with bad acne are an absolute MUST in any games that feature them.

Yech, I'll pass. I got sick of gritty realism pretty much as soon as it first really became a thing. If I want to see oodles of cratered teenage acne face, I'd go into teaching, thx.

I guess it just depends on what a game wants to be and what it wants to convey.

The Last of Us wouldn't have been half as atmospheric and immersive if Naughty Dog used the cartoony Warcraft aesthetic, and Overwatch might not have been half as light hearted and fun if they decided bloody and grey Gears of War should be their inspiration for the art design.

[New Naephak]

The Ringed City is pretty fucking good.

[Philjia]

I freely admit to being a sentimental old bastard who will point blank refuse to play a Fire Emblem game with no option to remove permadeath.

You won't like to hear that when I get the game I'm planning to do a Marth only run where every other character will die.

Plot armor no more.

You actually get a special ending for it.

[Screams internally]

[Altito Asmoro]

Almost done with the first ending of NieR: Automata, but I'm holding it off for a bit to do some side quests.

Forest King's story and Pascal's story are not recommended for those who have hearts and empathy. You will cry hard.

Personal experience.

[Ameriganastan]

It's a sucky game.

[Abserdia]

It's a sucky game.

You're just calling it that because you looked at the main character and went to conclusions.
And that's the problem people had with the original NieR. People played it for 30 minutes or just looked at the first hour and said "It's just a generic fantasy 'save your daughter' plot. Why do people like it so much? It kinda sucks."
Then they never got to the second half of the game, which is where it shines. The 3 main characters are all amazing, and the girl who gives you most of the fan service actually has an explanation as to why she wears her revealing clothes. It's an important part of her story that is revealed only in the second play through.

So just watch a let's play of the original NieR and then play Automata. If you haven't done either, you'll thank me later. I suggest the Super Best Friends' let's play.

Or if you don't want to and you just wanna be willfully ignorant, be my guest. You're just missing out on what may be called the best story on this generation of consoles. Or the best story of the last generation of consoles.

[Liriena]

Turns out my laptop can run Dragon Age: Inquisition. I'm so happy right now... :3

[Czechanada]

Then they never got to the second half of the game, which is where it shines. The 3 main characters are all amazing, and the girl who gives you most of the fan service actually has an explanation as to why she wears her revealing clothes. It's an important part of her story that is revealed only in the second play through.

...You're just missing out on what may be called the best story on this generation of consoles. Or the best story of the last generation of consoles.

That's a contradictory argument to be making; Stories can only be classified as the best if the entire story is good.

For example, the novels Lolita and Ulysses are masterpieces because their stories are great from start to finish, and form a meaningful and collective whole.

No one in literary criticism has ever said: "Yeah, that book's second half is great; It's worth it to slog through." Why shouldn't we have the same expectations of video games?

[Reploid Productions]

No one in literary criticism has ever said: "Yeah, that book's second half is great; It's worth it to slog through." Why shouldn't we have the same expectations of video games?

Kinda depends on what the player (or reader, there have been books/series where I've been all "Oh yeah, X-half is amazing!", too!) sees as being worth it. A lot of gamers don't want to put up with a mediocre first half in hopes of the latter material being mind-blowing and amazing. Some gamers do feel like an amazing late-game is worth a lackluster first few hours. You see the same tolerance pop up in cinema too, with some viewers being okay putting up with a slow/unimpressive start if the climax makes up for it.

[The Blaatschapen]

No one in literary criticism has ever said: "Yeah, that book's second half is great; It's worth it to slog through." Why shouldn't we have the same expectations of video games?

Kinda depends on what the player (or reader, there have been books/series where I've been all "Oh yeah, X-half is amazing!", too!) sees as being worth it. A lot of gamers don't want to put up with a mediocre first half in hopes of the latter material being mind-blowing and amazing. Some gamers do feel like an amazing late-game is worth a lackluster first few hours. You see the same tolerance pop up in cinema too, with some viewers being okay putting up with a slow/unimpressive start if the climax makes up for it.

WW II documentaries come to mind

[The Grene Knyght]

Then they never got to the second half of the game, which is where it shines. The 3 main characters are all amazing, and the girl who gives you most of the fan service actually has an explanation as to why she wears her revealing clothes. It's an important part of her story that is revealed only in the second play through.

...You're just missing out on what may be called the best story on this generation of consoles. Or the best story of the last generation of consoles.

That's a contradictory argument to be making; Stories can only be classified as the best if the entire story is good.

For example, the novels Lolita and Ulysses are masterpieces because their stories are great from start to finish, and form a meaningful and collective whole.

No one in literary criticism has ever said: "Yeah, that book's second half is great; It's worth it to slog through." Why shouldn't we have the same expectations of video games?

I say that all the time lol. In fact, I recommend entire book series based on the second half (anyone read Hyperion Cantos? The second two books are some of my favourite books. The first two, meh)

[Abserdia]

Then they never got to the second half of the game, which is where it shines. The 3 main characters are all amazing, and the girl who gives you most of the fan service actually has an explanation as to why she wears her revealing clothes. It's an important part of her story that is revealed only in the second play through.

...You're just missing out on what may be called the best story on this generation of consoles. Or the best story of the last generation of consoles.

That's a contradictory argument to be making; Stories can only be classified as the best if the entire story is good.

For example, the novels Lolita and Ulysses are masterpieces because their stories are great from start to finish, and form a meaningful and collective whole.

No one in literary criticism has ever said: "Yeah, that book's second half is great; It's worth it to slog through." Why shouldn't we have the same expectations of video games?

NieR can't be given the same expectations as a book if you play it. That would just be unfair to the game.
If you watched it like I did, however, your points are very valid. But I suppose I can't really agree with you fully because I enjoyed the let's play I was watching from start to finish, so it wasn't really a slog I had to suffer through.
And most people don't really call the first half a slog, just... very mediocre.
That's what I hear from most fans of the game anyways.

[New haven america]

It's a sucky game.

So... have you actually played it?

Wait wait wait, let me guess: No.