Why does Croc evoke loneliness and Rayman 2 give majestic wonder?

[Specter Von Baren]

So the other day I found this video on the old PS1 game, Croc.


And I noticed something interesting in the comments, where many many people talked about how they felt very lonely while playing Croc. Now if you look at the premise of the game and its characters, you wouldn't think that that's what you would feel, but as someone who themselves has played Croc and experienced the same, I can vouch for that indeed being a feeling you get while playing it. But why?

Another example of a weird dichotomy between the intended mood of a game and what people feel, is Rayman 2: The Great Escape. Given the style of the games before and after it, it seems clear to me now that their intention was for a game that's goofy and comical, yet when I played it, it didn't feel that way to me. Sure I recognized humorous bits, but the overall feeling I got was a mixture of fairy tail like wonder at the beautiful areas and and an encroaching menace at the dangerous ones. The pirates, despite trying to be portrayed as goofy and weird, came off as dangerous and threatening. Then there's things like The Cave of Bad Dreams, that were pretty spooky for me as a kid. But why?

Why do these and other games end up with a feeling that was at odds with its intention, and why do we not see this anymore in most good games?

 

[CriticalGaming]

Josh Strife Hayes makes fantastic videos. You should Subscribe.

I don't know enough about Rayman 2 to comment on your actually question though sorry.

 

[Jarrito3002]

I played Croc growing up and I can guess why that is the reason is combo of story and tech limitations. The story of Croc is a cute little gators adopted family is kidnapped and you have to save them. So from the jump despite minimal story you feel like it's Croc against the world. Plus that early 3D had some growing pains. Levels felt empty despite typical platform collectables and enemies scattered. The level felt less like a world and more of a mind prison with challenges. Gives a introspective feeling of isolation for the player that was not intended but I see as a happy accident.

Rayman to me always had this case of whimsical menace. Even the first one on the first level those enemies are so goofy and barely threatening but they still creeped me out with how out of place they are. When the bad guys clash with the whimsical nature so good they will be off putting regardless. My best example was Klonoa when Ghadius showed up creeped me the fuck out.

 

[Worgen]

Josh Strife Hayes makes fantastic videos. You should Subscribe.

I don't know enough about Rayman 2 to comment on your actually question though sorry.

I wish I didn't find him annoying since he covers so many interesting games.

 

[BrawlMan]

I couldn't answer either one for you. Croc I have not touched since 1999, and only rented a few times. Rayman 2 I remember even less, because I only played PS1 version, and all of them are different from each other.

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I will say Rayman Legends gives me a majestic wonder and feels really dreamlike for many levels. This emotion I felt in 2013, still applies today.

 

[CriticalGaming]

I wish I didn't find him annoying since he covers so many interesting games.

BOOO this man!!!!!

 

[Specter Von Baren]

I played Croc growing up and I can guess why that is the reason is combo of story and tech limitations. The story of Croc is a cute little gators adopted family is kidnapped and you have to save them. So from the jump despite minimal story you feel like it's Croc against the world. Plus that early 3D had some growing pains. Levels felt empty despite typical platform collectables and enemies scattered. The level felt less like a world and more of a mind prison with challenges. Gives a introspective feeling of isolation for the player that was not intended but I see as a happy accident.

Rayman to me always had this case of whimsical menace. Even the first one on the first level those enemies are so goofy and barely threatening but they still creeped me out with how out of place they are. When the bad guys clash with the whimsical nature so good they will be off putting regardless. My best example was Klonoa when Ghadius showed up creeped me the fuck out.

Hhm. I think looking at Croc 2 confirms this, as that game has hub worlds that are actually populated by other characters you can talk to, which made it feel like more of a lived in place. In the first game you'd rescue all these Gobbos but then never get to see them actually saved or happy. Then there's the scenes where Dante transforms some hapless creature into a monster to fight you that also have no music playing, making it seem like a serious scene where some poor being is being distorted by his magic.

 

[Xprimentyl]

Not sure if this is in the spirit of your discussion, but So Many Me. On the surface, it looks like a cute, whimsical, and casual 2D puzzle-platformer, and for the first couple of levels it is just that. But as you progress, it becomes brutally hard and intensely frustrating as the puzzles become more and more convoluted and unintuitive. It begins to demand that you juggle the skills you've acquire on the fly, often at a rapid pace, necessitating exact timing and pinpoint precision to the point that sometimes, even after you realize what you're supposed to do, the issue becomes "am I capable of doing it?" It drove me insane, which was in VERY stark contrast to the adorable façade it puts on. I 100%'d it, but only because I needed to reconcile the dissonance between all the cuteness and the teeth-gnashing frustration it caused me.

​

 

[Jarrito3002]

Hhm. I think looking at Croc 2 confirms this, as that game has hub worlds that are actually populated by other characters you can talk to, which made it feel like more of a lived in place. In the first game you'd rescue all these Gobbos but then never get to see them actually saved or happy. Then there's the scenes where Dante transforms some hapless creature into a monster to fight you that also have no music playing, making it seem like a serious scene where some poor being is being distorted by his magic.

Never got a chance to play Croc 2 but hub worlds do help even during the 2D side scrolling days. And you make good point how the monster transforms are pretty sinister despite the happy framing.


Like no music like you said just background ambiance and this evil bastard changing these woodland creatures against there will and going about his evil business.

 

[Elvis Starburst]

Rayman to me always had this case of whimsical menace. Even the first one on the first level those enemies are so goofy and barely threatening but they still creeped me out with how out of place they are. When the bad guys clash with the whimsical nature so good they will be off putting regardless. My best example was Klonoa when Ghadius showed up creeped me the fuck out.

Man, that whole game was just a downward slope of "Awww this game is adorable!" to "OH MY GOD I'M SCARED/SAD NOW"

 

[Hawki]

Another example of a weird dichotomy between the intended mood of a game and what people feel, is Rayman 2: The Great Escape. Given the style of the games before and after it, it seems clear to me now that their intention was for a game that's goofy and comical, yet when I played it, it didn't feel that way to me. Sure I recognized humorous bits, but the overall feeling I got was a mixture of fairy tail like wonder at the beautiful areas and and an encroaching menace at the dangerous ones. The pirates, despite trying to be portrayed as goofy and weird, came off as dangerous and threatening. Then there's things like The Cave of Bad Dreams, that were pretty spooky for me as a kid. But why?

Well first, was it even intended to be goofy and comical? I checked the wiki, couldn't find any indication either way, but while RAY2 certainly has goofy/comical elements in it (see the teensies and Globox for instance), as a whole? Well, bear in mind that in the opening scene, it's established that the world is screwed, its people enslaved, the lum core destroyed, etc., so at the least, clear stakes are established. That, and while the game isn't what I'd call story-driven, it does have a reasonable amount of story and lore (e.g. how you unlock the world's history through collecting lums, IIRC, meeting with the world's creator). By the sounds of it, your take on the game seems to be the 'correct' one, at least in terms of tone.

 

[Drathnoxis]

Because your brain was crazy as a child and your imagination put a lot more into the game than was actually there. When looking back you still remember those feelings as an adult.