Jimquisition: Crying Through The Laughs

Jimothy Sterling

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Apr 18, 2011
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Crying Through The Laughs

Most games are depressed and miserable, but are they truly tragic? Of course not, otherwise there wouldn't be a video asking such a deliberately leading question. The trouble with most games today is that they rush to the sadness without first giving us the happiness.

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portal_cat

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Jun 25, 2009
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what about Mass Effect 3? It was really sad when Thane died (or at least it was for me).
 

gardian06

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Jun 18, 2012
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Jim like Tom Cruise there are things that even the "greatest" can not do.

so basically video games don't understand this thing from theater, literature, and film. called a story arc that is typically more of a valley then a hill, but still an arc.
 

Gizmo1990

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Oct 19, 2010
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So glad you mentioned FF IX. It is easily my favorite FF game and one of my favorite games ever. After VII and VIII it was nice to have a main character who did not make me want to shout 'Cheer the fuck up!' at the screen after every sentance.

And I had forgoten how bad the laugh scene from FF X was. I love the game but that really is one of the worst things I have ever seen. Although it is still better than anything from FF Return of the Jedi XII or XIII.
 

anthony87

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Goddammit Jim! At least warn us before you put up that laugh so that we have a chance to brace ourselves or hit the mute button or something. Ugh....even after all these years it still makes me cringe.

Anyways, about FFIX, I'd always wondered why that bit with Zidane mentioned in the video always had such an impact. The first time I played it I was all "Holy shit....Zidane is pissed!" and it's one of the scenes from the game that's stuck with me through the years. The bitchin' soundtrack for that section more than likely helped too.


That riff!
 

Something Amyss

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Dec 3, 2008
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DVS BSTrD said:
Tragedy is when Aerith cuts her finger
Comedy is when Lighting falls into an open sewer and dies.
Stop! You're killing me!

I'm not sure if my death is funny or tragic, though.
 

SonOfVoorhees

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Apart from all the bullshit "thank god" stuff he says....seriously Jim, its boring. Stop doing that. I agree with you. You bond best with a character when they joke or are having fun. You easily become and identify with the character. If you watch the movie Apocalypto - they make jokes and act nice, so when the enemies treat them like shit you are 100% with these guys. Your saw them happy, shared there jokes, and this negative stuff....you want to fix it so they are back to happy.
 

esperandote

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I was thinking of Silent Hill the whole video and then it was mentioned :) of course I'm always thinking about silent hill and kof.
 

GAunderrated

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Great video as always Jim. Hopefully more games will actually cater to more than one emotion so I can actually care when they pull the end of the world card out of their ass like the other 20 developers did in the same year.

captcha: fairy tale

Yeah something like that captcha. Or even a greek tragedy done right.
 

themilo504

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Personally I think the best example of this is mother 3 and really the entire earthbound series does amazingly same for the mass effect games they can be very dark but they tend to have many funny moments so it?s only worse when something horrible happens.
 

templar1138a

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I'll take your word for it with the Final Fantasy games. I have zero interest in them.

Here's an example of a game I've played that supports your idea.
The death of Hawke's mother was the most tragic moment I've seen in a game. There were plenty of light-hearted moments throughout the whole game that, at worst, had undertones of worry, sadness, or dread in order to offset the deaths of his family members and some of the other tragic moments, such as killing off Merrill's entire clan in self-defense.
 

BabyFaceJer

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Oct 4, 2010
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Great episode, Jim. I totally agree with you. I think a really good recent example of tragedy done right is the Walking Dead game from TellTale. Just like the comic book it is based on, the story is peppered with sweet and calm moments that really make you connect with the other characters. And like Jim said, it is because of those happier moments we become all the more nervous when conflicts within the group arises, and we are devastated all the more when the group gets torn to bits by the undead.
 

The White Hunter

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Oct 19, 2011
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God I need to finish FF9 :z of all the PS1 FF's it deserves that HD remake the most imo, it's so much fresher than the other mope-fests (though I do like 7 and 8).
 

Andy Shandy

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Jun 7, 2010
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HA HA HA HA HA!

Anyway, I do agree. I'm glad you showed The Boss (albeit briefly) as well as Metal Gear Solid has always had that wacky, fourth wall breaking humour mixed in with the tragedy in the games as well.
 

MonkeyPunch

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Feb 20, 2008
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God, the end of that video. I'll have nightmares for sure.

Also, I must say I find it irritating when people only use "emotional" uniquely when it comes to sad things.
I've had this argument a fair few times already.

Emotional is any emotion. Sad or happy or anything in between.

/Stupid things that irritate me #87
 

Scrustle

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Apr 30, 2011
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Damn you Jim, why did you have to put that bit right at the end with Tidus while I just took a mouthful of a drink? I almost choked at the hilarity.

On a related topic, Jim likes FFX? I would have thought he wouldn't like that one.

Maybe I should have another stab at getting in to JRPGs...
 

Sylocat

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Nov 13, 2007
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I wasn't expecting him to name any FF games, least of all FFX. Although, and I have to put on my flame suit, I think FFX-2 did this as well.

Another one that (more objectively) rates a mention is Super Paper Mario, which is easily the darkest and most frightening Mario game ever made, but balances out its darkness with the customary Paper Mario wacky-subversive humor... and a very interesting gameplay change-up. But when it gets sad, it gets sad.

And of course, dare I mention it... LoZ: Majora's Mask.