gdf

Recently completed video games

Recommended Posts

Haha, rape, am I right? Haha, such biting satire.

 

But yeah, thanks for telling us that. Now I have a better reason not to play it.

 

From what I've heard, when you actually reach 'Princess Kenny', none of the kids actually knows what rape is, it's just something bad that's done to women, so Kenny and the "rapist" are just kind of standing in the room waiting. If that's the case, I'd read it as punching up; rape is intensely traumatic, and it's been trivialised so much that the kids think it's something they need to include to make their game more 'epic' without even knowing what it is. I don't know how people who've gone through with it would feel about it, and their reaction is a damn sight more important than mine.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

How is rape, or the implication of it, funny, though. I mean this as a general question, not just in South Park.

 

EDIT: Also, I'm fucking sick and tired of the whole "If you didn't like X, you wouldn't like differently presented or made version of X!" This fucking sentence has been used to excuse the content of a bunch of truly revolting bullshit, whether it be GTA5 or South Park. Just because I'm not a fucking fan on whatever truly problematic thing I'm criticizing doesn't mean that my opinion or critique on it should be invalidated to be "Oh well duh, of course you won't like it, and that's fine, it's not for everyone!" Bullshit, rape is rape and it's not fucking cool to reduce it to a fucking punchline, no matter what the fuck you are doing. And if you are, how about take a shit on the actual fucking people who perpetrate it rather than the victims?

 

Look: If South Park was actually insightful and satirical (which it was, but not anymore/barely is now), I'd still not fucking buy it because of how they fucking treat oppressed people and make light of rape. I forgot who said it (I think it was Chris Franklin), but in satire, you don't punch down at minorities and belittled people, you punch up to those who are oppressing them. 

 

I apologize in advance for my harsh sounding tone and for bringing this issue in this thread, of all threads.

 

Jimmy Carr explains it best I think: 

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rzb_p1mRW1M

 

Tl;Dw Anything, anything at all can be the subject of a joke.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

How'd you feel about the collecting enemy equipment and stuff to sell back to your employer so you can buy other guns from him? (Still seems weird to me.) I remember the end of mission search of every room and the inventory tetris being oddly hypnotic for me, but I can see that being really annoying to others.

I kind of liked it. Since you're working as a mercenary, it makes more sense you'd be buying and selling things than it would've in the original. But still, apart from the beginning of the game, I constantly had so much money it was never an issue. You need $100k for a thing to unlock the final mission. I had over $150k left after I'd bought some top-tier equipment for my crew.

 

Another thing regarding loot I liked about Sentinels that wasn't present in the original, was the Loot Screen. After you've completed your mission and chosen to leave the area, you're presented with a screen displaying all the loot you've seen during the mission. That makes the inventory tetris part rather quick. If you're a person who is not going to fill every last square of your inventory with the most valuable items, the loot screen makes it quick and easy to grab just the most valuable guns. Considering my massive wealth during the game, I think it would be completely sufficient to get you through the game.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I beat the Doctor Who games, which came in a season of 4 minisodes that are OK-ish and most puzzles are solved with the sonic screwdriver and an extra one called the Gunpowder Plot which feels more like a full game, still way too easy. In this game you solved most problems with the sonic screwdriver AND the psychic paper!

 

The fact

The Silence

pops out of nowhere did make me jump a bit... The games are almost educational since it's keeps teaching you science-y or historical facts depending on the episode.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I kind of liked it. Since you're working as a mercenary, it makes more sense you'd be buying and selling things than it would've in the original. But still, apart from the beginning of the game, I constantly had so much money it was never an issue. You need $100k for a thing to unlock the final mission. I had over $150k left after I'd bought some top-tier equipment for my crew.

 

I think PK's are supposed to eat into your late game surpluses through repair and weapon upgrades, or at least create a choice between the regular squad and them, but I only ever really used one, really situationally, to draw the attention of other PK's so I could flank them and shoot their hapless pilot from behind. I had the same surplus (basically after base defense you're set, I found) in my playthroughs, put it into grenades and mines when I could (There is nothing in this world as satisfying as having a scout and engineer rig all the doors and windows of an occupied building and leveling it without the enemies inside discovering you. Or really just mining all doors and then turkey shooting them through the windows as the AI just experiences the weirdest Sophie's Choice ever. Neither of these seemed so sadistic until I typed them out.)

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Jimmy Carr explains it best I think: 

 

Tl;Dw Anything, anything at all can be the subject of a joke.

 

Oh hey, I love it when a) someone links or references that video or any other video like it as a hand waving rebuttal to the serious discussion of how some things passing of as humorous and/or satirical are bigoted in nature and context, and B) when someone takes my being bothered at an offensive joke suddenly means that I'm all against the idea that jokes can be about any subject. There IS humor in anything. Some of the best comedians and works of comedy have been about being making fun about taboo subjects in society, but ya know what those comedians and works of comedy usually were? Smart, considerate, and actually analyzing/critiquing the topic they are roasting. 

 

Read:

 

Bullshit, rape is rape and it's not fucking cool to reduce it to a fucking punchline, no matter what the fuck you are doing. And if you are, how about take a shit on the actual fucking people who perpetrate it rather than the victims?

 

Louie CK talks about sexual assault in his comedy acts, but he fucking dismantles and destroys rape culture and masculinity in his stand up acts. For fucks sake, the rape joke in that Jimmy Carr videos takes a piss at the rapist and how people are stupid to not get them jailed, not making fun of the actual victim. Taboo subject? Yes. Borders on offensive? Yes. But is it a joke on the victim? No, and that's fucking fine, you can make fun of monsters and shit heads as much as you like. They deserve it.

 

A smarter, more sharp-tongued comedian would utilize the subject of rape as a form of deconstructing society's ignorance and unwillingness to deal with that issue in a public and reasonable manner. A more rebellious comedian would, as I stated, take a shit on the people who actually commit rape as a way to comment on humanity's depravity or whatever. Because ya know, satire is about fucking making fun of the unjust, the absurd, the idiocies of mankind. How is making a "lol that guys is getting rape lol" level joke in any way a commentary on rape or making fun of it in a non-sophomoric way? 

 

This will sound uber douchey of me, but please, no one bother responding to this question and continue this convo in this thread, because I've derailed it enough. I'm already too agitated by this to even care continuing an actual conversation, tbh. I apologize for the harsh tone again.

 

TL;DR: Everyone in the world please stop posting videos as substitute for an argument, any subject can be funny but you gotta be smart about it, no I don't wanna continue this convo, specially in this thread. Sorry if I sound angry, I am, but not at you but those who you think are insightful but aren't really. The End.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Can we please stop talking about rape in this thread? If you want to talk about this so much, start a thread about the game itself, offensive comedy or rape culture.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

If you're going to argue about whether or not a game is horribly offensive being familiar with the specific content in question seems like an obvious prerequisite.

 

In non-rape-related news I also beat Dark Souls recently. Like a previous poster I also got stuck at the Gargoyles for a while. Put the game down for a long time, then picked it up again after a friend helped me beat them and slowly went through the rest of the game. Other than the Gargoyles I beat everything without the help of a summon, either PC or NPC. Feels good. Ornstein and Smough were ridiculously hard, given that I had nobody to distract them and at the time I was using a lightning weapon that did almost no damage to them. Gwynn was also pretty hard but not nearly as bad. I beat him mostly via riposte. Hard to describe the joy I felt when I successfully riposted his last attack when he was at 5% health and knew all I had to do was press one last button to win the game.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Personally, I think TheCineaste is a little out of line with his profanity-laden rants on this subject. Even though I agree with the point he is trying to make I think it is poor form to come into this thread and start screaming and yelling about why a game some people like is so horrible without actually experiencing any of the context behind that stuff for himself.

Let me repeat, I do not disagree with the point he is trying to make. I just think handling yourself in that fashion is more likely to piss people off and is never going to convince people to reconsider their point of view.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
 

Gwynn was also pretty hard but not nearly as bad. I beat him mostly via riposte. Hard to describe the joy I felt when I successfully riposted his last attack when he was at 5% health and knew all I had to do was press one last button to win the game.

 

I think that, in almost any game, riposte/counter mechanics represent the most satisfying and empowering point of player interaction. It's a way to take something the game is doing and say, "Nope, I'll have the exact opposite thing happen instead, through my own practice and skill." I'm sure there's more to it than that, but damn. One thing that's turned me off Dark Souls is actually my inability to grok the timing of the riposte, but that's on me.

 

Personally, I think TheCineaste is a little out of line with his profanity-laden rants on this subject. Even though I agree with the point he is trying to make I think it is poor form to come into this thread and start screaming and yelling about why a game some people like is so horrible without actually experiencing any of the context behind that stuff for himself.

Let me repeat, I do not disagree with the point he is trying to make. I just think handling yourself in that fashion is more likely to piss people off and is never going to convince people to reconsider their point of view.

 

My gut was that it belonged as a linked rant in the Feminism thread, but who am I to tell people where to post their stuff? I can understand getting mad about the cavalier treatment of rape in popular culture, though. It's gross and I hate South Park for it, too.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I beat Storm in a Teacup, a very obvious mobile game port, but an enjoyable one nonetheless. It's pretty basic, you're a teacup that can fly for a while and has to dodge saws and other obstacles until you reach the goal.

 

Since it's a mobile game, it has a star rating system and the physics seems a bit off, but my only real complaint is that the game had some simple physics puzzles in the first levels only to not have them again for the rest of the game. The bonus levels seem to be about this though.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

One thing that's turned me off Dark Souls is actually my inability to grok the timing of the riposte, but that's on me.

 

It's a narrow window but generally earlier than you would think. I didn't use riposte at all until getting to Gwynn. He doesn't have a lot of attacks and their timing is pretty predictable, he's probably one of the easier people in the game to riposte.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

It's a narrow window but generally earlier than you would think. I didn't use riposte at all until getting to Gwynn. He doesn't have a lot of attacks and their timing is pretty predictable, he's probably one of the easier people in the game to riposte.

 

Yeah, if you get the parry & riposte down Gwynn is really easy. Also just thought I would add that there are shields that increase the parry window that might help with practicing, it's probably the most satisfying combat mechanic in DS. 

As for the thread topic, I finished Attack of the Friday Monsters and Super Mario 3D Land recently.

Attack Of the Friday Monsters: super charming, but it just didn't work for me in the end. I think I would have liked it more if they had gone for one of the extremes. Have the monsters

really just be projections that inspire the imagination of the local children and tell a more human story, or really have weekly kaiju attacks and tell a story around that.

Also the card game is TERRIBLE! It's super unbalanced (and not in a cool like asymmetrical way) and doesn't make any sense as a game two people could actually play at any moment. Luckily there only seemed to be one point in the game where you are actually required to play the game to advance. There are some special cards that start showing up that seem like they would change the way the game works pretty significantly, maybe enough to make it work, but I only ever got one of those and it was right at near the end so it really doesn't change anything.

SM3DL: Super good, as jake has mentioned all the SMB3 stuff is fantastic. Everyone knew this already. I'm totally stuck on the "Crown" level or what ever it's called, it's the bonus level you unlock by playing through all the levels as mario and luigi. I'm starting to hate it, I had to put it down for like a month. Trying at it again today was what reminded me to post this. Just for reference I have around 500 deaths total for the 95 levels, and at LEAST 200 of those are on this one level.

 

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

I think that, in almost any game, riposte/counter mechanics represent the most satisfying and empowering point of player interaction. It's a way to take something the game is doing and say, "Nope, I'll have the exact opposite thing happen instead, through my own practice and skill." I'm sure there's more to it than that, but damn. One thing that's turned me off Dark Souls is actually my inability to grok the timing of the riposte, but that's on me.

 

Did you play Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance? It is a character action game that is pretty much entirely centred around two things: slicing shit up with a sword, and parrying to launch into your rad combos. If you go in without thinking about a proper counter, you're fucked. It's a very interesting system, and Platinum made it pretty damn fun to do as well.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

"Completed" might be a stretch since the game tells me that I'm 8% of way through the content, but I've beaten the title mission of Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes and really enjoyed it. However, I've been playing Dark Souls for the last few months which has given me an immense tolerance for games not explaining themselves properly, so I'd imagine a normal person might find it pretty frustrating and off-putting to have to go through the crazy terrible manuals on screen (which I'm pretty sure are literally the PDFs they'd print for the physical copy) to figure out how the game systems work.  

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

"Completed" might be a stretch since the game tells me that I'm 8% of way through the content, but I've beaten the title mission of Metal Gear Solid V: Ground Zeroes and really enjoyed it. However, I've been playing Dark Souls for the last few months which has given me an immense tolerance for games not explaining themselves properly, so I'd imagine a normal person might find it pretty frustrating and off-putting to have to go through the crazy terrible manuals on screen (which I'm pretty sure are literally the PDFs they'd print for the physical copy) to figure out how the game systems work.  

 

What system did you play it on? I've been thinking about giving it a shot, but since I've yet to buy a PS4, I was worried that performance might be kind of shaky on PS3.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Finally, after owning it for a few years, I beat Dragon Age: Origins. I had fun, and the ending was actually really satisfying, but man it was slow in the middle. I kind of want to play the end bit again to change some of my ending stuff, but it just takes so long...

 

My end choices follow:

First off, I lost three different characters (it's cool that's even possible before the final fight.) I never liked Zevran, so it made sense when he turned on me to try and return to the crows. Morrigan left because I refused her ritual. And poor Alistair left when I refused to execute Loghain. Apparently I didn't answer the questions properly after we met with his sister and he didn't become "Hardened." That sucks, he was my favorite character in the game too. 

 

Another thing that sucks is that I missed out on Leliana's romance because I didn't question her about the spy thing, and then she liked me too much for that to be an option later, so I never got her loyalty quest (or whatever you want to call it.) Strange way that whole thing was arranged I guess.

 

Overall, my ending was bittersweet, but that kinda seems appropriate.

 

Edit: So, I've heard bad things about DA2. Any opinions?

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Edit: So, I've heard bad things about DA2. Any opinions?

 

It's got some really interesting things being done with character relationships and with the long-term implications of player decisions, but it's much weaker as a game, just because they clearly were making it on a shoestring budget and schedule. Lots of repeated areas, a heavily simplified gear/stat/skill system (although in some cases for the better, since the first game had a lot of strange give to it), and a rushed third act leading to a facile ending. That said, I enjoyed it immensely and would much rather replay it than the first Dragon Age, since it put me in mind of Alpha Protocol more than anything else in the genre, albeit nowhere near as ambitious.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

What system did you play it on? I've been thinking about giving it a shot, but since I've yet to buy a PS4, I was worried that performance might be kind of shaky on PS3.

 

I was wondering the same thing. Sounds like it takes a hit but all things considered it still does pretty well, if you're ok with 20fps at times (which Digital Foundry appeared to be on this occasion).

 

it's hard not to come away impressed with this Ground Zeroes prologue. The PS3 and 360 releases buckle under the weight of its new-found ambition, with general performance lurking in the 20-30fps range, but on the whole the game is still fundamentally enjoyable as an open-world action game. Visually it's tie between these two older platforms down to the smallest details, though in the end the 360 does hold at the 30fps target more convincingly when stressed

 

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-2014-metal-gear-solid-ground-zeroes-face-off

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

It's got some really interesting things being done with character relationships and with the long-term implications of player decisions, but it's much weaker as a game, just because they clearly were making it on a shoestring budget and schedule. Lots of repeated areas, a heavily simplified gear/stat/skill system (although in some cases for the better, since the first game had a lot of strange give to it), and a rushed third act leading to a facile ending. That said, I enjoyed it immensely and would much rather replay it than the first Dragon Age, since it put me in mind of Alpha Protocol more than anything else in the genre, albeit nowhere near as ambitious.

 

The Alpha Protocol comparison is especially apt because I approached both games with the same mindset: that they are interesting, but flawed games, and came away with a much better outlook than many critics did on release. If you play Dragon Age 2 expecting some of the problems with environments and the like, it is a lot easier to enjoy what is worthwhile about it.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now