Well, I guess there's a chance by then that I'll actually manage to get it from a sale then.
Specifically looking to play this with a friend we've played all Halo co-ops with.
Developers these days sure have some weeeird practices when it comes to release and priorities. I don't understand wtf is happening and how the industry is just... degressing.
I find this to be the most up-front and accurate review there is tbh...
I also feel like there's a disconnect between the world set shown and the world we are actually in interaction with. The world's sinful look on every corner starts seeming like a facade when there is no interaction with such a world, or inspection of such a world.
The city LOOKS one way, but seems to be another... not to mention how looking any npc's and their behavior closer gets rid of any immersion, when there's very little rhyme or reason to any of their movements or doings. No interaction outside of quests; everything can be found after going to mapmarkers and really nothing of substance can be found if not going to one of em.
The RPG side seems to also fall quite flat tbh... some additional dialoque choices that result in the same thing. Your lifepath is something that spices up the lines your character says one way or another, but doesn't CHANGE the context being said or the function of those conversations.
So far, certainly a disappointment. Will be waiting for patches to go and dive even deeper into the story itself and multiple playthroughs, as right now the state of the game is so broken it doesn't really let me relax and sink into the world either, making the whole experience seem... restless, inconsistent, unreliable and unimmersive.
@Leodious: Well yeah, that's true. It's not that entertainment could just ... come from a total vacuum of nothing. It's also a good point.
But I suppose what has started to get under my skin about it, is when people not only interpret game meanings (like we all do with any art or entertainment, as we "should"), but assume something of the intent and then insist that they are correct. That their interpretation isn't just an interpretation, but insight into what the devs must've wanted to say, or so.
Like if someone insisted and spread the claim that creators of Mario Bros hate turtles.
Even more bothersome (to me) if that same person makes an example of it (no longer treating it as fiction, but "evidence" for something) for some bigger agenda or a narrative of their own.
Seen it many times that some people go through a whole lot (often called "mental gymnastics" in the buzzwordy online world of today :P) just to fit an interpretation to a piece of fiction and then insist that it is so; that it must be evil because they could interpret it one way. Like the CyberPunk 2077 interpretation about transgender people, that many insisted it means that the developer wants to ridicule that group. (I never got that impression)
Though at this point I want to remind (any possible future reader) that this article isn't really an example of what I mean. Certainly not a negative one. Just talking about how some criticism against politics/agendas/narratives etc. in my opinion isn't about people being annoyed at the topic of the politics (like genders), but annoyed at the common insistence that there IS an agenda to be found here, there and everywhere.
Sure, many people aren't good at aiming their anger or expressing it well, that's for sure. I just reject the idea that it's about [insert name of discrimination here] as often as people/media declare it is, but mostly just annoyance about what people feel like are lecturing politics and then start lashing out against it. (Though might be that I'm naive in believing so.)
I absolutely love great stories, great characters, even good morals to the stories.
At least when they are written for the story, work well with the story and all that.
However if it starts to feel like everything is crammed with (or spun to be) an agenda, or when it feels like these stories are no longer discussed as the fictional entertainment media they are, but used as tools and examples to further people's own agendas and values - it just becomes something else. Something that, instead of providing escapism, provides something akin to indoctrination.
(Hah, big and awfully dramatic word, I know, but that's the most descriptive one I came up with. I'm Finnish, so there might be a word more suitable.)
But now I'm of two minds about the article .. and myself;
One side is rolling eyes at how gamespot just had to write about the characters and cast interview from the angle that's so politically charged.
The other side is somewhat disappointed in myself for doing exactly what I wish people wouldn't; Seeing injected politics every time the topic just so happens to be reminiscent of recent political topics.
After all, I wouldn't want to start viewing everything through "some lense".
Hmm hmm. Anyway, glad there was a good chat about this.
Damn, how did I write such a wall of text again. :S
@irishplusfour: Thank you. Seems I might've done the same assumptions beforehand and setting up defenses heh. (In saying you'd lump all criticism under the incel tag or so) Sorry about that.
But yes, I do know the kind of trolls you mean. Those kind of people have managed to shut many ears of listeners on many topics, when they go so hard with their trolling, all valid criticism is lost in the toxicity and it is then chalked up as nothing but hate. (Battlefield 1's case seemed to be like that. Many had criticisms about the overall direction of the game, but since the "women in frontlines" trolling took the main stage, the devs wouldn't hear any of it.)
But thank you for the refreshingly decent interaction. :)
@Roach: Yeah, it's the political spin that's so often squeezed out around here that is tiring to see.
Though I'm glad to see at least here it's a positive opinion and luckily also includes commentary that the game story and characters are well written. It's takes like "the story and relationship feel refreshingly current." that again reference current gender politics though and... I don't know if I'd want to compare a Final Fantasy game, it's setting and characters to real world at all. I'd prefer to just ... have it a story. Entertainment.
Not about hating a gender or this topic, just disliking how apparently every game is now taken as commentary about real life. That's something I'd ... pretty much never ask for.
@irishplusfour: I see you've pre-set your provoking bait all ready so you can lump any criticism under the same "incel" insult. Well played I suppose. See this quite often; mind made up before any discussion even starts. I suppose that reflects the mindset of this generation quite well and how that "lense to view things through" is in place at all times - even before any discussion.
For me though, it'd be just as "ugh"-worthy to read about how God of War should teach people of this generation of how to raise or discipline a son or what men could learn about male bonding from Gears of War.
It often feels forced; to find this mirroring to real life politics or lessons-to-be-learned when discussing fiction that, for me at least, has always been mainly about escapism.
I've never needed some anchor to real life to plunge myself into the fictitious worlds of videogames. If the protagonist isn't white, or a guy, or a metalhead or dress like me - I can still place myself in their shoes. That's ... what it's all about for me. That's why I seem to completely fail to understand this "everything caters to the white straight male" claim, since I've never focused on that. Never asked for that. Playing Tomb Raider, I've never stopped to think "Man, I can't just immerse myself to this because I'm playing a female" or when I played Watch Dogs 2, not once did I even consider that the character should be white to make my experience better.
Sure, I admit that maybe (who knows) it's because there has never been a shortage of protagonists like that... but I just haven't even stopped to think about gender or race of the protagonist; I've every single time during these 30 years I've played videogames for, focused on the writing of the character. Who they are as an individual. I doubt a skincolor or gender would... leave me feeling like I lack something.
I also find it absurd if you read (if I understood correctly) articles from the default standpoint that they're catering to white straight men, unless otherwise stated.
But yes, I really dig all the characters in FFVII. I do not dig them because of their genders or think that people - whom are ALL quite unique individuals - should learn from them and try to pursue to be them. It just seems naive and an article like this just YET AGAIN seems like it's using the game as an excuse to inject a topic to the article that the journalist writing it wanted to highlight. Mostly for clicks. Mostly for that outrage that even you both anticipate and poured fuel on pre-emptively.
Sure, it's all good if they did highlight it. They're free to.
But I wholeheartedly wish videogame culture will never grow dependant on needing to anchor itself to real world values, real politics any more than they would need to focus on realistic physics, powers... I wish it remains fantasy entertainment. At least most of the time. Well, I guess I should; At least when it's INTENDED AS SUCH and not meant to be a lifelesson, simulation or a political commentary.
Idk. In a topic like this isn't a bad deal though... good if the cast liked playing the characters! But creating this atmosphere that the fiction in games mirrors real life can also be fairly harmful, as immediately if a work of fiction does portray a character in a purely fantasy manner (like a sexy character) it's supposedly commentary on the real life gender or that the devs must be sexist. Or if an antagonist in a videogame is racist or otherwise horrible, or if a game is violent, it's supposedly teaching people bad values and things to do in real life... Idea which I've always completely been against.
Fiction and reality should not be mixed in people's minds and squeezing and forcing such agendas out of interactive entertainment in games journalism all the time just.. Yeah. I don't know. I just wish it doesn't keep going to that direction year after year and games are allowed to remain entities of their own. Stories, not tutorials, lifelessons or political messages.
If you at least understood my point, thanks for reading... if not... well - I'll just incel myself out of here. :)
So it's the beta, plus one level? Well, I hope the one added level really is big in possibilities. And that new episodes will keep launching at a decent pace..
@oren66: And with that pirate world mostly eating away at the titles of PC gaming, we can ensure things will keep on happening at the pace of the more financially stable platforms (for the developers)
I totally "get this". When I first saw the very first trailers, I immediately went "What? No bouncing boobs?", somewhat kiddingly.
But it has pretty much become a little "trademark" style of the series, so when it went missing, it did stick to your eye immediately. And hey, I don't mind the sexy girl figures/shapes on my screen, even though they're not real people. I actually even got the swimsuit version, just because I think Kasumi is sexy/pretty/awesome ;|
I don't FAP to it, but there's nothing wrong with beautiful characters. And yes, you can relate and respond/emote to their sexiness, just as you do with EVERYTHING in games. I mean if there's a car in a game, it's a car. You don't go "THAT'S NOT A REAL CAR!" when you see one.
Just as you can think a car is cool, you can think a character is sexy.
But yeah, if someone marries a game character.... well that's just unhealthy.
As long as you recognize the characters are just characters, it's all good to admire the "eye candy"... after all, that's what all visual entertainment is, in one form or another.
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