Jimquisition: Jimquisition Awards 2013 - The Last of Us

PunkRex

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I'm gonna guess Saints Row for your last one maybe... possibly GTA... wow, I really didn't play much outside my 3DS this year so, I don't have a clue really.
 

Casual Shinji

Should've gone before we left.
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Goliath100 said:
Warning! This is a personal opinion.

I hate The Last of Us, not the game itself, and not the developer (despite the fact I can't stand anything they made in 7th gen). I hate what it represent: The idea that a "great" game can have all it's "great" parts being non-interactive. All the "great" part, they are all cutscene, or an equivalent to a cutscene. And gameplay is standard shooting mechanics and lazy stealth mechanics. The gameplay is not very good, or in other words: Sterling gave a game award to a movie.
That's what the game represents to you then.

Walking around abandoned houses and observing the history that took place, following the story of Ish, the deer hunt. All of those were not cutscenes.
 

Church185

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Akichi Daikashima said:
I still think that the ending wouldn't affect me that much now that I know it, nihilistic media has desensitized me slightly to such endings, also TLoS might've stood out to me more if it wasn't so constantly nihilistic, even in The Walking Dead there were moments of peace, quiet, even humour sometimes, but TLoS just seems like a long, continous slog of negativity*

*[small]At least based on the walkthroughs I have watched so far of it(in terms of theme, not ending)[/small]
Eh, something might have been lost when watching a let's play, but there are a ton of moments throughout the game that are peaceful, sometimes even beautiful in contrast with the hellish things that Ellie and Joel have to go through. I'm not sure how far you got into the game but humor is occasionally used as well. I would site specific examples, but most of them are spoilertastic, so if you want to know PM me and I'll fill you in.
 

Sigmund Av Volsung

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Dec 11, 2009
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Church185 said:
Akichi Daikashima said:
I still think that the ending wouldn't affect me that much now that I know it, nihilistic media has desensitized me slightly to such endings, also TLoS might've stood out to me more if it wasn't so constantly nihilistic, even in The Walking Dead there were moments of peace, quiet, even humour sometimes, but TLoS just seems like a long, continous slog of negativity*

*[small]At least based on the walkthroughs I have watched so far of it(in terms of theme, not ending)[/small]
Eh, something might have been lost when watching a let's play, but there are a ton of moments throughout the game that are peaceful, sometimes even beautiful in contrast with the hellish things that Ellie and Joel have to go through. I'm not sure how far you got into the game but humor is occasionally used as well. I would site specific examples, but most of them are spoilertastic, so if you want to know PM me and I'll fill you in.
Not a let's play, a silent walkthrough, and while yes, the game is sometimes nice, quiet and serene, I still don't think that it weaves in humour or levity as well as it could.

Also, go ahead and PM me about those moments, I am around the bit where:

Their car breaks down in a city (Pittsburough, I think?) of bandits
 

Goliath100

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Casual Shinji said:
Walking around abandoned houses and observing the history that took place, following the story of Ish, the deer hunt. All of those were not cutscenes.
No, they go under "equivalent to cutscene", also known as a scripted event.
 

Casual Shinji

Should've gone before we left.
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Goliath100 said:
Casual Shinji said:
Walking around abandoned houses and observing the history that took place, following the story of Ish, the deer hunt. All of those were not cutscenes.
No, they go under "equivalent to cutscene", also known as a scripted event.
How so exactly? Because by that definition, every non-sandbox game is a scripted event. Half-Life 2 and the Silent Hill games are a scrited event "equivalent to cutscene" too then, I guess?
 

Goliath100

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Casual Shinji said:
How so exactly? Because by that definition, every non-sandbox game is a scripted event. Half-Life 2 and the Silent Hill games are a scrited event "equivalent to cutscene" too then, I guess?
I don't why they would be any special exception. Why does games? They are both old, and pre-Resident Evil 4.
 

00slash00

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Brilliant story? Apparently Jim has never seen a zombie survival movie because the story was basically just every cliche from a zombie survival story, thrown in to a big bowl and mixed together. Also, mixing stealth and action can be fun...but only when they're done well. The shooting controls were garbage, even after upgrades, and made the action sections extremely frustrating for me to play. Every time I entered a section where use of guns was required, my fun level immediately dropped to zero. It isn't a bad game. The characters were great and when the game stuck to stealth, it was fantastic, but the shooting sections really brought the game down for me and I can't help feeling like the game was extremely overrated
 

Arslan Aladeen

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Flexible game filled with options in combat Jim? Sure, except when the game bends over backwards to try to force you into situations I guess.
 

Pebkio

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This could've been easily been a forty second long video:
15 seconds for the intro
20 seconds for the outro
And 5 seconds for "Yep, it's the the Last of Us"

That way, we could've gotten a defended movie.
---
Also, yeah, not my cup o' tea but I can definitely see why it got this award. Everywhere.
 

Lightknight

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Nov 26, 2008
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This is absolutely my favorite game of the year. It sticks with me. Something rare for a game to do for so long.

Casual Shinji said:
So much praise for The Last of Us from critics, yet never a syllable uttered regarding the stunning musical score. :'(

I'm always a bit sad to see this part of the game overlooked so much, because for me the game would probably be 30% less effective without it. It's that good. And that while it's the guy's first video game soundtrack.
Now that you mention it, it was a great score.
 

Smurf McSmurfington

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Hm... my final exam for this year is tomorrow (mathematics). And so is the final Jimquisition game of the year award video.
Coincidence?
I THINK NOT!
 

Jimothy Sterling

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Goliath100 said:
Warning! This is a personal opinion.

I hate The Last of Us, not the game itself, and not the developer (despite the fact I can't stand anything they made in 7th gen). I hate what it represent: The idea that a "great" game can have all it's "great" parts being non-interactive. All the "great" part, they are all cutscene, or an equivalent to a cutscene (aka scripted events). And gameplay is standard shooting mechanics and lazy stealth mechanics. The gameplay is not very good, or in other words: Sterling gave a game award to a movie.

Questions to fans of The Last of us:
1: How do the Mechanics interact with the narrative, specifically the theme or the characters?
2: What is the player arc?
Yeah you are a bit off base there (I'm not sure if you have or haven't played the game).. I loved the narrative, true, a lot of it is given because of the cinematic experience... but I personally thought that one of the biggest strengths of the game was how much the gameplay complemented the tone and the atmosphere of the narrative. How the characters react both coherent with the basic narrative and also with your emerging actions. Jim explains quite well how although the main story is as it is with in the scenarios you are forced to "improvise". There is also a lot of care placed into the characters reflecting the narrative changes: if they have opened up to each other, or started trusting each other the npcs will try to protect Joel ( or ellie ) more effectively Etc.. etc...
While the goal and the cutscenes remain the same, it is the moments between cutscenes that really manage to immerse you int o the universe of the game, make you feel like in the moment to moment gameplay your options matter.

Also, neither the gunplay nor the stealth seem at all lazy to me, the stealth is probably one of the most organic and nerve wrecking designs out there. The inclusion of clickers is profoundly interesting since, they can't see you, but they can hear you, so you can be very close to them without making a sound and they will ignore you. Particularly at the start of the game, it provides a very interesting rock paper scissor mechanic to the combat and exploration.

The gunplay on the other hand, is intentionally frantic, Just like the original resident evil gave you pretty uncomfortable combat systems to crank up the tension. In the last of us, when you have your gun up, and one bullet left... you are almost praying that the bullet will shoot straight and kill that last clicker, so eager to eat your face. It is part of the dynamic. (That is also why a lot of reviewers and fans of the game have recommended to play it in HARD, as it really creates a very tense and visceral experience).

There are many more details like this, that enhance the violence not in the typically glorified manner of many current games, but instead, make you consider if you want to fight at all. Of course I wish some changes could have been made, as not everything is perfect. I would have much liked if enemies would have cowered if wounded or outnumbered. Or if there had been less collectibles breaking the flow off the game, or even if the combat was less "monster closet" based. But all in all it was quite spectacularly executed.

About your last question... I wouldn't want to spoil the character arcs of the game to anyone here.
 

Random Argument Man

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Smurf McSmurfington said:
Hm... my final exam for this year is tomorrow (mathematics). And so is the final Jimquisition game of the year award video.
Coincidence?
I THINK NOT!
You could say that..

It was calculated.

OT: Yeah, The Last of Us is one of my favourite game this year that isn't a bunch of livable misfits stuck in a video game simulation or in a pirate setting.
 

Aardvaarkman

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Jul 14, 2011
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bringer of illumination said:
"People who don't share my opinions are lying."

Jim.

Stop that, you keep doing it.
Gosh, who would have thought that a person who ends his videos with "Thank God for me!" would ever engage in hyperbolic statements? And, naturally, someone whose commentary is frequently riddled with parody always intends his every statement to be deadly serious.