Twig

Yeah, that probably happens in the world itself. But within the stories, the characters are undeniably affected. That is a flaw, but I don't think it's a big one, especially when you're comparing it to Square Enix games. Or just Squaresoft, as they were during LoM's release. I am the first to admit the Legend of Mana has a buttload of flaws that, should they be addressed in a proper sequel/spiritual sequel, would make the game go from potentially amazing to actually amazing. Unfortunately, that will never happen, because people hate the game. Though, I would argue they hate the game because it was too different, not because it was inherently bad. And I say the same thing about your hatred. It isn't what you want or expect out of a JRPG. But it is good. It is very good. :3 And the sproutlings are just a bunch of crazies.

Why do you care if you save the world? That is quite literally the least interesting story in the entire game. Seriously. As to the rest, I haven't played it for ages, but I don't remember "nothing happening" at the stories' ends, so uh.

Legend of Mana is my favorite Playstation RPG, hands down. :3 You have it backwards here. That's the game's greatest strength. The main story is pointless drivel that no one gives a shit about, because it's boring and it's been done a million times. Oh no, the world is in danger! SAVE IT. It's all of the side stories (small, or big, like the Starcrossed Lovers, I think it's called) that make the game great. You're approaching it all wrong if you want to be the most important character in this game. It is strange and interesting. You keep using the wrong words!

Infinite is still extremely similar in style, setup, etc. It's like Final Fantasy, but even less offensive because Infinite isn't Bioshock 3. Bioshock as a theme, rather than a setting. There may very well be a Bioshock Infinite 2 (for better or worse), but Infinite by itself is completely inoffensive. Prey, if what you say that article says is true, isn't really a theme. It's purely a marketing strategy. Which is pretty shameful, I agree. Stupid developers. )':

It's all related, though. There's no reason whatsoever to separate these points of discussion, as long as there is still discussion to be had. There is reason to get rid of the dumb personal arguments. J:

Yeah, absolutely. I don't really think this whole "blue skies" (i.e., "happy games" or whatever) really depends on art style as much as that article-thing would like. I think it's more about tone than it is about looks. I mean, sure, looks play a big part, but not the ONLY part.

I would argue that Bulletstorm is kind of "feel good" and/or "blue sky" in that it (intentionally) goes so far beyond grimdark/offensive/whatever that it becomes humorous. Duke Nukem is kind of the same, but much less so, oddly. Although I've only ever seen previews of either game. Haven't played 'em.

Lead & Gold is a surprisingly pretty game, in no small part due to its willingness to have color, instead of being the stereotypical brown 'n' dusty Western wasteland. It's a shame it never caught. I really like that game, and I'm beyond sick of TF2, which I never thought would happen. ): Part of it, I suppose, is that it's got only 12 people per server, and didn't have dedicated servers to begin with, and even now, the server browser kind of sucks. It's got a kind of jank to it, but in a different way from the Eastern European games discussed earlier. Jank in a multiplayer game is so much worse than jank in a singleplayer game. Ahh. Jank is a fun word to say. U: But that has nothing to do with blue skies or whatever. So ends this tangent.

I'm going to do something incredibly out of character for me and pretend this whole hilarious tangent isn't happening. No. I'm saying that "Western" games as a whole include BOTH American AND European games, and that you can't just say Japanese developers, when attempting to cater to Western audiences, are exclusively emulating American games. The other point that I am trying to get across is that American and European games are not so different as to be necessarily separately categorized, with some exceptions - such as the previously-mentioned jankcore, which Chris did a pretty good job of describing. For simplicity's sake, I am going to consider those hardcore PC games a different "genre" from what a Japanese developer would typically emulate. They might go after GTA or Gears of War or what-have-you (though I can't think of any specific examples), but they won't necessarily go after Madden. Similarly, you can find plenty of Japanese genres that Western developers never try to emulate (most notably the visual novel nonsense that are so popular over there), and plenty that they do emulate, or at least draw inspiration from.

No. What? You've lost me. What?

My point was that "American" games aren't the end-all be-all of Western influence on gaming, even as it concerns Japanese developers trying to appeal to a Western audience. Also, "Eastern European" games are generally generalized as: janky but super hardcore PC games for super hardcore PC gamers.

I'm playing on Apocalyptic because I hate myself - and kind of wanted a change of pace, as most other games I've played recently, barring Hitman: Codename 47, have been a cakewalk. I'm not at the tower, yet. But there are quite a few enemies that, if you don't fight them properly, can tear you down super fast. Once you learn the trick, though, and once you remember to use chaos form only when you NEED it, the fights stop being super challenging even on that setting. At least, I think so. J:

Mirror's Edge used UE3, and it's about the farthest from "gritty" you can possible get and still have a serious tone. I still don't agree that Japanese developers who try to appeal to the west exclusively emulate [North] American developers. Ubisoft, as pointed out in the original post, is not [North] American, yet, they are without a doubt influential to a not insignificant degree. Likewise, DICE (of Battlefield and Mirror's Edge (!) fame) are European, and while they are not the biggest cat in town, people still take note when they release a new product. See: Bad Company 2's popularity. I mean, define European. Are we talking about the more mainstream stuff from the already mentioned DICE and Ubisoft (and their buddies)? Crysis is from a German developer, and no one can deny the recognition it received (regardless of whether or not it was deserved!) I should probably also mention Rare, even if they have fallen to the wayside in recent years... Or are we talking the more niche stuff that typically comes from "Eastern European" developers? The Witcher, STALKER, etc.

Do indie games count? 'Cause there're too many to bother listing if indie games count. I also don't really get what you're talking about. Yes, a good deal of Western games (American or otherwise) tend to take themselves more seriously than Japanese games, but that doesn't really make them dark. (I'm going to pretend the "America only" rule doesn't exist, because appealing to "the West" doesn't just mean emulating American games, and plenty of big hits come from Europe or Canada. Plus, I feel like most of the games I really like come from outside America anyway, somehow.) Darksiders is much more like a comic book than it is a grimdark tale of woe and despair. The Half-Life series takes itself very seriously, but would anyone really call it gritty? Prince of Persia, barring the abysmal Warrior Within (and probably also The Two Thrones, but not as much). On the other hand, Portal, I guess, is pretty grim. U: If old games count, I could list a billion super old PC games. But I won't. That wouldn't be fair. Freedom Force. Just Cause 2. Oddworld series. Everything Popcap.

Yeah, I don't really care about that sort of "spoiler" but some people do. Game's been out for so long, though, it's probably not an issue. J: I don't even really see it being useful in those cases. Or, I guess I should say, it's so boring, I won't even pretend it's useful. Does it blow up bomb plants? O:

I just started playing it last night. Bought it with the recent sale because a friend told me to. I am loving it. It is fantastic. U: The only real complaint I have is I fucking hate the aiming controls. Even aiming with the mouse feels awkward. It's so bad. Oh man. I love the combat - especially now that I've just finished the second dungeon and have unlocked a lot more moves - so the constant fighting doesn't bother me. The I got after finishing that dungeon confused me, though. It's insanely weak, and just feels out of place in my arsenal. Why would I ever, ever use it? I do wish the items were used more, and in more versatile ways, but I'm not too fussed. Especially because War is so much more mobile than Link ever is. Being able to jump goes pretty far in making up for a slightly flawed attempt at Zelda.

I really liked Prey. It was better than most "mediocre" shooters by a large margin. Also, it's been so long that I don't remember exactly what, but at the end of Prey 1, I was left thinking, "cool, there's a Prey 2 coming". Was it a cliffhanger? I mean, could be. I don't know. But then it never did come out. Until now! (Trailer is definitely weird, though. What.)

Is it sad that I saw the magazine cover earlier and thought nothing of it until you pointed out that he used to be an awesome - if somewhat hilariously racist - character? Goddamnit. I liked Prey. Gameplay better make up for it. J:

Right, but I'm just pointing out that it does happen in Far Cry 2, too (tutu).

Listen to Famous' story at the end of the '10 PAX Prime episode. Burning Down the Wolfman? I think that's where FC2-grenade-hill happens.

Torin's Passage is my favorite Sierra game. And also one of the most bizarre games I've ever played. I wish it was available on GOG. ):

When I'm actually playing it (I'm not now), WoW. Right now, Minecraft. U:

Is this real? Really real? Amazing. D:

You can already play with a controller, I believe.

The comic is better than the show. x: That's not even a "THE SHOW DOESN'T STAY TRUE TO THE COMIC!" rip, as I appreciate it when stories change for different mediums, and it's nice to not know everything that's going to happen. I just didn't like the TV show very much, in the end. I wanted to, but I didn't.