Random Gaming Thoughts II ~News Items Beware~

I'm only referring to the forced stealth bits with the soldiers near the start. When I choose stealth I think it works excellently.

Buska wrote:

However, I don't think "story should take precedence over gameplay". Nor do I think "gameplay should take precedence over story."

Totally agree on that.

It really bugs me when folk let a games ending ruin the entire experience for them, the most recent for this seems to be MGSV without getting into spoiler territory it does have obvious plot holes but the ending isn't terrible & it actually ties most things up nicely. (Given that it's a prequel you know where things are headed anyway)

----

andyman949 wrote:

I also think that Telltale get a bad rap for their gameplay, sure QTEs aren't revolutionary or as challenging as other styles but a good action scene can be just as exciting as any other games combat

That shoot out in season 1 of TWD wouldn't have nearly been as tense if the controls were like a third person shooter.

Great response chaps! Especially Drunka's and Jay's. I can't give as detailed a response now as I'd like to, but I do want to respond to those two especially (less so Andy, who essentially said, "That thing that doesn't work for you works for me," which is fair enough; or Mas, who focussed on the Telltale games, which I'd class under "genres where story is paramount"; although obviously I'm grateful to both for chiming in!) later.

One thing I do want to pick up on is this thing I said:

Balladeer wrote:

Is the fact that I don't relate to a character I've been controlling more, just because I've been controlling them, emotionally stunted on my part?

which I feel is a bad way of phrasing what I wanted to say. It sounds like it's either asking for pity, or almost emotionally influencing y'all to take my side.

Let me clarify, therefore: I don't think I'm emotionally stunted. In the last three years, I've gone from hardly crying at all to tearing up at the drop of a hat. Finishing a game (crucially, often not a story-driven one, just one I've really enjoyed), finishing a book, listening to music, watching that fanmade Pollyanna video (seriously, I watched that twice in a row, and then had to have a lie down)... I reckon I'm more in touch with my emotions than many men, which makes it all the odder that such games seem to have such an effect on people in general, while I feel they're a waste of a genre.

Proper response when I have the time to give it.

Balladeer wrote:

watching that fanmade Pollyanna video (seriously, I watched that twice in a row, and then had to have a lie down)

Said video, if anyone's not had a chance to see it yet. Definitely an emotional watch for any fans of Earthbound.

I love that Earthbound video. *sniff*

Going back to the story thing, I think I'm about to ditch playing Bioshock, probably for the reasons Balla's suggesting. The world is amazingly well-realised, and the story that is unfolding does leave me to want to know more, but it's actually quite a generic FPS. There seems to be a big juxtaposition between what the audiologs are telling you and what's actually going on. Portal however shows you the interesting bits as you're playing them. Same deal with Dark Souls; on the rare occasion you meet a friendly face, they usually talk about the thing you've just seen or are about to see.

Wait, Bioshock or Bioshock Infinite? If it's Infinite I can kinda understand that point - the game does devolve into a bit of a shooting slog at points - but if it's the original then I think it's anything but a generic FPS.

Er, the first one. I know, I know, it's probably as wrong as an opinion could be!

I'm surprised by that! I only played Bioshock last year and I found the shooting really fun on its own. Lots of weapons, lots of freedom and all the various plasmids and whatnot made every fight really exciting and fresh. But hey, each to their own. Can I ask what difficulty you're on? I stayed pretty low so it didn't wind me up.

JayMoyles wrote:

Wait, Bioshock or Bioshock Infinite? If it's Infinite I can kinda understand that point - the game does devolve into a bit of a shooting slog at points - but if it's the original then I think it's anything but a generic FPS.

I agree with this. I found the gameplay frustrating, because it is just relentless shooting. What's worse is the only way you can interact with the wonderful world they have created is to shoot at it and the shooting just isn't all that.

I should clarify, I've only played Infinite.

I'm playing on the medium / default setting. I'm aware now that, in this day and age, I won't have time to play through a game twice.

Bioshock is one of the best games ever!

I don't think I'd go that far, the setting is superb but one of the best ever? Not quite.

(side note: I didn't finish the game due to losing my save data)

It definitely is one of the best ever, something I can actually agree with mas on, a terrible day indeed.

The_Jaster wrote:

I don't think I'd go that far, the setting is superb but one of the best ever? Not quite.

(side note: I didn't finish the game due to losing my save data)

It's 6th in my top 10 games, which me and Drunka were talking about on the way back from EGX but not sure if that would stay the same now as kinda would want to fit Bayo 2 and MGSV in some where.

1. Mass Effect Trilogy
2. The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker
3. Shenmue II
4. The Legend Of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
5. Super Mario 64
6. Bioshock
7. Resident Evil 2
8. Halo: Combat Evolved
9. Super Mario World 2: Yoshi Island
10. Resident Evil 4

You can easily free up a space by booting Yoshi's Island right down to 99999999999999999999999999999999999999999999 where it belongs.

Thus making it worse than several games that haven't existed yet...

Yoshi Island is the reason I wanted a SNES, that's why it's in and still to this day is better then others that have come out since with Yoshi in the title from a gameplay perspective and also looks better them then. Ohh and it's the best 2D platformer from Nintendo.

Also it's in as a Classic with 5-0 for the SNES.

Whoa whoa whoa. I don't agree with Andy, not at all, and I agree that it remains the best Yoshi game, especially from a gameplay perspective. But "looks better than them"? Art's subjective, but



Surely not.

Yeah YWW looks great but SMW2: YI is how old now and still looks amazing and I would sooner have that 2D art style like that then the Woolly aesthetic which is just there to cover up an average game.

True, but we've just said that we're not talking about gameplay, and while YI's art holds up surprisingly well, it's not better than the lush woolly textures of YWW in this day and age. The woolly look's an art style too, and it's a beautiful one that made me want to love the game based on that alone. Ultimately, sadly, I couldn't.

It is aesthetically pleasing YWW but I much prefer the art style of SMW2: YI.

"Farts"



A travesty. The visual style on the front cover and in the electronic manual is my favourite of any Yoshi games, Woolly World and SMW2 included.

andyman949 wrote:

It definitely is one of the best ever, something I can actually agree with mas on, a terrible day indeed.

masofdas wrote:

The_Jaster wrote:

I don't think I'd go that far, the setting is superb but one of the best ever? Not quite.

(side note: I didn't finish the game due to losing my save data)

It's 6th in my top 10 games, which me and Drunka were talking about on the way back from EGX but not sure if that would stay the same now as kinda would want to fit Bayo 2 and MGSV in some where.

I probably just need to play it a lot more than I did, but I've personally got a high bar when it comes to games classed as "the best ever" perhaps you could even call it the Dark souls scale.

That's... actually terrible. Congratulations, Arzest, you've outdone yourselves.

Dark Souls is part of Drunkas joint top 3 along with SMG & Mass Effect Trilogy but I would of thought you Jas Bloodborne might of been the top of the scale.

I get why all three top of Drunkas and Souls yours even if it's not for me.