A Study of Tim Schafer

[Yahtzee Croshaw]

A Study of Tim Schafer

Tim Schafer is a big games industry name - but do his games justify his popularity?

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[mklnjbh]

I didn't really enjoy that article. It's just sounds a bit whiney.

 

[Jaqen Hghar]

I still say Brutal Legend is awesome. I beat it the other day, but still play it with my brother and such online. But hey, each to his own.
Psychonauts was better, but only just, and only because it was longer.
Brutal Legend has two points which make it awesome, and that is the landscape and all that, and the music. With those two things, you can use this game as an interactive metal music video or something. Which I have, kinda, while talking to my brother on Live.

I hope this game earned enough money for Schafer to make a new game. 'cause the game is without a doubt something special. You haven't seen something just like this before. And that is what Schafer is good at. Making something unique.

(BTW, I am in the process of reading your story about Articulate Jim. It is pure gold. One of the best comedic reads I have had since reading H2G2.)

 

[Zagzag]

Brutal legend (don't know how to get umlauts when typing into this) definitely lives up to Tim Shafer weirdness standards

 

[sunami88]

Thou shalt not criticize Grim Fandango!!

That small bout of fanboy rage aside, I agree with you. I have yet to play Brutal Legend, but when I do get around to picking it up I sure won't be expecting Psychonauts/Grim Fandango. Because that would be stupid.

From what I've seen/read, it's ambitious, it's funny and most importantly it's original. To me it doesn't have to be the best game in the universe, I just want to play something that isn't fucking NHL-whatever, or Generic Sequel 47 (which I know isn't the point you were trying to make, but it is my $0.02 CAD).

 

[BlueInkAlchemist]

I made a similar blog post about Tim Schaefer, and while I agree he hasn't quite earned his stripes in terms of gameplay design, his unique ideas and excellent writing set him apart from most pen-equipped chimps who call themselves authors.

 

[bue519]

Brutal legend (don't know how to get umlauts when typing into this) definitely lives up to Tim Shafer weirdness standards

Shame it doesn't really live up to his gameplay standards.

 

[Zydrate]

I never got to play Grim Fandago, but always wanted to. I remember seeing it's commercials as a kid, only right after I got into gaming. I thought it was an animated movie trailer.

and I love how he adressed the "very haaaaaaarrrrrr" sound error. His answer was fine, and I think he might talk about Heavy Rain at some point, where the game is nothing BUT QTE's.

 

[randommaster]

What Shafer needs to do is team up with some people who are really good game designers. I think a Mario game that was set in a universe that Shafer creates would be awesome. You know you want to see a Mario game with a good story, and since it's Mario, you can have him do anything and it wouldn't be out of place. Shafer gets criticized on game design and Mario for lack of story or characterization. Sounds like a good fit to me.

 

[Littaly]

I think you're pronouncing Ü wrong. It's kind of hard to tell though ^^

 

[JakobBloch]

Hmmm so a QTE is suppose to be:
1) Player initiated and
2) rewarding beyond what you would normally get?



that works in my head for some reason.

 

[Distorted Stu]

If you ask me i think Tim will become more and more influenced by games out today than with his other titles which were unqiue. In turn making his games less and less orginal. I guess in this day and age everything has been done before.

 

[PhiMed]

Brutal legend (don't know how to get umlauts when typing into this) definitely lives up to Tim Shafer weirdness standards

Shame it doesn't really live up to his gameplay standards.

Isn't the entire point of this article that his gameplay pedigree is suspect? To what game(s) are you referring when you speak of his "gameplay standards"?

Anyway, I agree that Schaffer's games can be difficult to play at times, which can be a dagger in the heart of a game in most cases due to it being interactive media. I think the fact that I continue to buy them unquestioningly stands as testament to his originality, creativity, and writing skills. He's the rarest of breeds in the bland wasteland that is video game developers.

And for the record, I enjoyed Brutal Legend. The RTS isn't my genre, but the imagery, humor, and story were fantastic. That and I didn't feel the need to break things when I was jumping through a circus of meat.

 

[SonicWaffle]

Brutal legend (don't know how to get umlauts when typing into this) definitely lives up to Tim Shafer weirdness standards

Shame it doesn't really live up to his gameplay standards.

Isn't the entire point of this article that his gameplay pedigree is suspect? To what game(s) are you referring when you speak of his "gameplay standards"?

I thought it was that his games were very hit-and-miss, not that his "pedigree is suspect". He's made some excellent games, and he's made some games that really don't live up to the hype. Sometimes he creates brilliance, other time he...doesn't. At the risk of being flamed to oblivion, I'm going to refer to it as Whedon syndrome. I'm a massive fan of Joss' work, but sometimes he really drops the ball. Alien Resurrection, anyone?

 

[Sethzard]

I agree with this, I loved grim and Psyconauts, and BL wasn't bad, but the RTS element was crap and it massed up sometimes.

 

[PsiMatrix]

"it's very hard...to piss in a shotglass from across the room, but it's a cakewalk compared to well-implemented QTEs."

Agreed. Star Was Unleashed had the insufferable groundhog day version where if you failed the target regained health too.

I think the original point you made stands; at least give us a chance to do it on the first run.

 

[Ziren]

I think you're pronouncing Ü wrong. It's kind of hard to tell though ^^

Yes, he does. At least in the video.

I think Brütal Legend would have worked best with a level system like Mario 64 (the levels are limited in size but you can always go back to visit them at a later time and find all the secrets)and with a lot less, but better sidequests. The only side missions I liked were the races against Fletus, the first mortar canon mission and the batcave mission.

I've like the stage battles because it's simple enough to enjoy from the start and it makes me an actual part of the combat (mostly due to double teams and solos), unlike every other strategy-based game now. Balancing is really poor now, but there's hope they'll fix that later.

 

[PhiMed]

Brutal legend (don't know how to get umlauts when typing into this) definitely lives up to Tim Shafer weirdness standards

Shame it doesn't really live up to his gameplay standards.

Isn't the entire point of this article that his gameplay pedigree is suspect? To what game(s) are you referring when you speak of his "gameplay standards"?

I thought it was that his games were very hit-and-miss, not that his "pedigree is suspect". He's made some excellent games, and he's made some games that really don't live up to the hype. Sometimes he creates brilliance, other time he...doesn't. At the risk of being flamed to oblivion, I'm going to refer to it as Whedon syndrome. I'm a massive fan of Joss' work, but sometimes he really drops the ball. Alien Resurrection, anyone?

To clarify, I didn't say his pedigree was suspect. I said that his gameplay pedigree was suspect. I think Yahtzee would agree with me. Thus the underscore "Do his games (plural, as in all of them) justify his popularity?"

I think that's what Yahtzee's saying, not that his games are hit-and-miss. He's saying that even while his games were enjoyable, well-written, and original, they have a glaring, pervasive flaw. Namely, that none of them have ever been much in the gameplay department.

He criticizes each one of his games in the past for piss-poor gameplay. Two (DOTT and GF) were point-and-click adventures, which have never been much in that department. Then he criticizes Full Throttle for its combat system. He even bashes the occassionally confusing level design of Psychonauts.

Yahtzee implies that he liked all his previous games, so hit-and-miss doesn't really seem to apply if this is (according to Yahtzee), his first dud. Likewise, if the mechanics of his games have always been crap, there's no hit-and-miss there, either. There are only misses when it comes to that aspect of Schafer's games, which was his point.

So from that, I would say that instead of Whedon as an example, Dan Brown would be an example of a Schafer in another medium. Great concepts and great characters with completely retarded interactions. Thus, if you're going to enjoy what he has to offer, you have to accept that (normally deal-breaking) flaw that is pervasive in his work.

 

[bue519]

Brutal legend (don't know how to get umlauts when typing into this) definitely lives up to Tim Shafer weirdness standards

Shame it doesn't really live up to his gameplay standards.

Isn't the entire point of this article that his gameplay pedigree is suspect? To what game(s) are you referring when you speak of his "gameplay standards"?

Anyway, I agree that Schaffer's games can be difficult to play at times, which can be a dagger in the heart of a game in most cases due to it being interactive media. I think the fact that I continue to buy them unquestioningly stands as testament to his originality, creativity, and writing skills. He's the rarest of breeds in the bland wasteland that is video game developers.

And for the record, I enjoyed Brutal Legend. The RTS isn't my genre, but the imagery, humor, and story were fantastic. That and I didn't feel the need to break things when I was jumping through a circus of meat.

I do understand the point of the this article but to be fair there's only so much gameplay for a point and click game. I was just depressed that Brutal Legend's gameplay couldn't match his last outing Psychonauts.(Of particular standout for me is the Gogalor part)

 

[Uncompetative]

"it's very hard...to piss in a shotglass from across the room, but it's a cakewalk compared to well-implemented QTEs."

I disagree. Female gamers seem to be quite adept at games like Dance Dance Revolution and Guitar Hero that involve rapidly copying an exact sequence of coloured buttons (like the old Simon game), but would probably have more difficulty managing the former - not that I have had the pleasure of knowing ladies that are keen to demonstrate their urinary proficiency.