Your video game hot take(s) thread

Dalisclock

Making lemons combustible again
Legacy
Escapist +
Feb 9, 2008
11,244
7,023
118
A Barrel In the Marketplace
Country
Eagleland
Gender
Male
I don't think that's true. What I mean isn't that the story needs to be about some kind of non action plot or something. 'Leiningen Versus the Ants' is a classic short story that's just about trying to save a farm plantation but the sacrifices and plans to do it are exciting and engaging. 'Spirited Away' is perhaps the most popular Ghibli movie and the stakes are very personal, with maybe 4 characters in real danger of losing or gaining something by the end.
Along the same lines, "My Neighbor Totoro" barely has a plot. The biggest bit of drama is the bit where Mai disappears and everyone is worried that she's drowned in a lake or something(Spoiler: She's fine). It's still really good.
 
Last edited:

Casual Shinji

Should've gone before we left.
Legacy
Jul 18, 2009
19,638
4,442
118
Along the same lines, "My Neighbor Totoro" barely has a plot. The biggest bit of drama is the bit where Mai disappears and everyone is worried that she's drowned in a lake or something(Spoiler: She's fine). It's still really good.
That's actually what makes it so good; the chill 'no, everything's fine' atmosphere. There's a bunch of scenes that seem built up for drama or tragedy, but then it just defuses and everything's fine. You got Mei maybe being missing after the first time she meets Totoro, but then she's just asleep in the bushes. Then you have Satsuki and Mei waiting for their dad at the bus stop, but it's getting late and dark and oh no, but then he shows up and everything's fine. And all of it culminates in the end with Mei actually being missing, but with the movie refusing to give in to it.

It's just a big comfy blanket of 'what if things just worked out well'. I guess in that way the movie is tragic in that it highlights how our own world rarely functions that way.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Specter Von Baren

Dalisclock

Making lemons combustible again
Legacy
Escapist +
Feb 9, 2008
11,244
7,023
118
A Barrel In the Marketplace
Country
Eagleland
Gender
Male
Ugh, no. I have zero sympathy for the Quarians.

If your solution to *not* enslaving a emergent sentient race is to try an exterminate them then you don't get to play the victims.
Iterestingly, the Matrix arguably has a similar dynamic if you take the Animatrix "2nd Renissance" as canon. BAsically, humans created AI, AI wanted to be treated equally, AI even started it's own nation to be self deterministic, Humans got mad about this, and eventually humans wrecked the planet to prove the point. It's even worse if you believe the entire point of the matrix(at least to begin with) was to save the human race from extinction in a world that can no longer support human life. The fact the first matrix was apparently a paradise supports this.
 
  • Like
Reactions: RhombusHatesYou

Specter Von Baren

Annoying Green Gadfly
Legacy
Aug 25, 2013
5,632
2,849
118
I don't know, send help!
Country
USA
Gender
Cuttlefish
Iterestingly, the Matrix arguably has a similar dynamic if you take the Animatrix "2nd Renissance" as canon. BAsically, humans created AI, AI wanted to be treated equally, AI even started it's own nation to be self deterministic, Humans got mad about this, and eventually humans wrecked the planet to prove the point. It's even worse if you believe the entire point of the matrix(at least to begin with) was to save the human race from extinction in a world that can no longer support human life. The fact the first matrix was apparently a paradise supports this.
Bleh. It exhausts me to see people try to write AI in a serious way only to make stories where they're nothing more than a race. It completely glazes over just how alien, self-destructive, weird, or (And I say this as one) autistic real artificial intelligence will be if we ever make it. So much of what makes us and other animals what we are is based on thousands upon thousands of years of traits focused on survival and reproduction, and AI isn't going to be starting from the same place and depending on what we have it do, it could act in any number of ways, even with sentience.
 
  • Like
Reactions: RhombusHatesYou

Dalisclock

Making lemons combustible again
Legacy
Escapist +
Feb 9, 2008
11,244
7,023
118
A Barrel In the Marketplace
Country
Eagleland
Gender
Male
Bleh. It exhausts me to see people try to write AI in a serious way only to make stories where they're nothing more than a race. It completely glazes over just how alien, self-destructive, weird, or (And I say this as one) autistic real artificial intelligence will be if we ever make it. So much of what makes us and other animals what we are is based on thousands upon thousands of years of traits focused on survival and reproduction, and AI isn't going to be starting from the same place and depending on what we have it do, it could act in any number of ways, even with sentience.
I mean, fair enough, the Matrix really isn't a particularly interesting take on AI or a simulated reality because it's basically an action movie with some basic philosophy 101 thrown in. My issue is that the movies try to pull this "Machines bad, they just want us for our warms" when there's evidence that there's more going on here and the movies just fail to do anything interesting with them. I mean, the whole "they need us to make power" line makes no fucking sense because just running the matrix requires so much power that they could easily just grow a bunch of braindead clone humans if that's REALLY what they need us for(rather then using fusion or geothermal which both exist in-universe) and dispense with the whole facade. So clearly if the machines want us alive and cognizant, it's for more than a power source and if they hated us so much, they wouldn't bother with trying to create a paradise in Matrix v1. So there's some other reason they want us alive and conscience that's not stated in the films and we either go with "They feel an oligation to keep us alive and not genocide us" or it's a giant plot hole because the writing really isn't that good.

I don't disagree the Matrix could have been a much more interesting look at AI, but that's not what it is and I'm critiquing it on it's own terms.
 
  • Like
Reactions: hanselthecaretaker

Specter Von Baren

Annoying Green Gadfly
Legacy
Aug 25, 2013
5,632
2,849
118
I don't know, send help!
Country
USA
Gender
Cuttlefish
What they should actually be asking for is for Atlus to port Persona 5 to the Switch. A lot of stuff in Persona isn't actual story too, but planning out your schedule and grinding for levels and money and summons, this is all stuff that isn't very involved and is often perfect for idle time but since the series is on PS, you have to sit down to play it rather than being able to use it to fill in the gaps in your day.
 

Gordon_4

The Big Engine
Legacy
Apr 3, 2020
6,107
5,399
118
Australia
Which is a shame that ME3 just completly ignored the complexity of the situation and just boiled it down to "genophage = bad", there's not even any consideration of whats going to happen if the krogan rapidly multiply in a galaxy where every race was just almost wiped out and most infrastructure destroyed.
The Genophage=Bad is only truly present in games where Wrex is actively dragging the Krogan, kicking and screaming, to a new modernity so they can get their shit together. In situations where Wrex dies on Virmire and Wreave is in control and is just repeating the same problems with the Krogan, the Genophage still looks like the best possible idea. Even more so in ME3 if Eve dies because you didn't save Maelon's data. Like there are situations where as hard as it is, keeping the Genophage intact is the right choice from a moral and practical standpoint.

Its just so few players end up shooting Wrex on Virmire that the opposite view point seldom comes up.
 

Ezekiel

Elite Member
May 29, 2007
1,056
558
118
Country
United States
RetroArch has the shittiest, most unfriendly user interface of any emulator ever. :mad:

Can't stand it that it's the most stable one for most consoles now.
 
Last edited:

BrawlMan

Lover of beat'em ups.
Legacy
Mar 10, 2016
26,994
11,310
118
Detroit, Michigan
Country
United States of America
Gender
Male
I can't believe I am saying this, but as much as I appreciate it, I do dislike the RE engine to an extent. I swear that thing is too powerful for itself. If you're on a Microsoft console or on pc, you'll usually be fine. On a base PS4, you're screwed. Even the PS4 Pro can have its issues from the engine. From what I heard in certain cases. Now you can say "just get a PS5", but that obviously has issues of unavailability. But from what I'm hearing even the newer PS5s can overheat, because there's two different types. They cut the heat sink on the most recent one. So the $500 console gets hot quickly. So what's even the point of getting it at that price? You can give it all the open space it needs, and it would still get too hot based on whatever you're playing.

This one's less of a hot take, and more just a minor rant, but there seems to be a lot of backlash when it comes to the opinion of the first or second Evil Within game. I noticed it seems to be the hyper defenders of the first game that bash the second game the most unfairly. Either because Mikami wasn't involved as much and stepped down, or they feel the new blood all sucks which is just unfair on both parts. I like the first game and it's unique design, but it had a lot of cheap moments even with the patches made. As much as I love the man, he ended up doing several things he hated the game industry was doing with horror games at the time, or just threw in stuff for no rhyme or reason. Not to mention all of the one hit kill bosses or enemy types. There's a reason why they had to patch that game so it wouldn't take as long for bosses to be killed. I get it, many of you were burnt from the hype train in different ways, but that doesn't mean just go bashing either games, it's creators, or its fans unnecessarily.

The second game had its own flaws too, but it is a much better experience. While the enemy types are not as creative as the first game, I honestly don't care. There are still creativity in the air and I love how the horror is dealt with in this game. Evil Within 2 felt like a more proper survival horror game, and felt like the best Resident Evil sequel in a long time. Taking the best elements from the second, third, and fourth game. Mainly the second and third game.
 
Last edited:

RhombusHatesYou

Surreal Estate Agent
Mar 21, 2010
7,595
1,910
118
Between There and There.
Country
The Wide, Brown One.
The Genophage=Bad is only truly present in games where Wrex is actively dragging the Krogan, kicking and screaming, to a new modernity so they can get their shit together. In situations where Wrex dies on Virmire and Wreave is in control and is just repeating the same problems with the Krogan, the Genophage still looks like the best possible idea. Even more so in ME3 if Eve dies because you didn't save Maelon's data. Like there are situations where as hard as it is, keeping the Genophage intact is the right choice from a moral and practical standpoint.
Yep, it pretty much comes down to "Have the people running the joint learned a single fucking thing?"


Its just so few players end up shooting Wrex on Virmire that the opposite view point seldom comes up.
Why would you gun down a space-bro?
 

Asita

Answer Hazy, Ask Again Later
Legacy
Jun 15, 2011
3,198
1,038
118
Country
USA
Gender
Male
Why would you gun down a space-bro?
Because some people play Mass Effect so they can roleplay a literal xenophobe and humanity first dick waver.
More probably, they didn't have the means to defuse the situation or simply let the conversation go on too long. Remember, Ash was on overwatch to shoot the guy if it looked like you weren't going to be able to convince him, and Wrex will pull a gun on you midway through. You can't resolve the situation with Wrex surviving unless you either A: have 8 points in charm or intimidate and a high enough paragon or renegade score (and you won't on your first playthrough) or B: did his loyalty quest and found his family armor. IIRC, Wrex being dead is also the default if you don't carry over ME1 data.
 

Gordon_4

The Big Engine
Legacy
Apr 3, 2020
6,107
5,399
118
Australia
More probably, they didn't have the means to defuse the situation or simply let the conversation go on too long. Remember, Ash was on overwatch to shoot the guy if it looked like you weren't going to be able to convince him, and Wrex will pull a gun on you midway through. You can't resolve the situation with Wrex surviving unless you either A: have 8 points in charm or intimidate and a high enough paragon or renegade score (and you won't on your first playthrough) or B: did his loyalty quest and found his family armor. IIRC, Wrex being dead is also the default if you don't carry over ME1 data.
I never did any of the loyalty quests in ME1 and I still passed the conversation check on Virmire first time around. But I did do basically all of the other side quests and crap before going to that mission so it’s possible I just accumulated enough points.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Dalisclock

Dalisclock

Making lemons combustible again
Legacy
Escapist +
Feb 9, 2008
11,244
7,023
118
A Barrel In the Marketplace
Country
Eagleland
Gender
Male
I never did any of the loyalty quests in ME1 and I still passed the conversation check on Virmire first time around. But I did do basically all of the other side quests and crap before going to that mission so it’s possible I just accumulated enough points.
As long as you're learning far enough Paragon/Renegade you should be fine. I did a playthrough where I tried to play those choices as I wanted to without regard for P/R points, but got to that part and realized I couldn't get Wrex to stand down and he died. I think I stopped the playthrough there or didn't carry it over because I didn't want to play through without Wrex. And I didn't know about the armor quest before this.

It also made me realize why the P/R scale kinda sucks because you pretty much have to go all in on one side or the other to reap the benefits of it. Trying to play by circumstances basically means you don't get anything.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Specter Von Baren

BrawlMan

Lover of beat'em ups.
Legacy
Mar 10, 2016
26,994
11,310
118
Detroit, Michigan
Country
United States of America
Gender
Male
I got a disagree big time with GB. I would take Metal Gear Rising or the DmC reboot (mainly the updated version) over God of War: Ascension any day of the week. The game has great presentation and level design, but the combat is lacking compared to past titles. As far as 2013 hack and slash stylish action games goes:

  1. Metal Gear Rising
  2. Killer Is Dead
  3. DmC
  4. Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor's Edge
  5. God of War Ascension
 
Last edited:

hanselthecaretaker

My flask is half full
Legacy
Nov 18, 2010
8,738
5,905
118
I got a disagree big time with GB. I would take Metal Gear Rising or the DmC reboot (mainly the updated version) over God of War: Ascension any day of the week. The game has great presentation and level design, but the combat is lacking compared to past titles. As far as 2013 hack and slash stylish action games goes:

  1. Metal Gear Rising
  2. Killer Is Dead
  3. DmC
  4. Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor's Edge
  5. God of War Ascension
Its worst mistake was making parry more unintuitive. The general melee combat still felt delightful though, and the blades never sounded better. Ascension is kinda like the bastard of GoW but I still have fond memories.
 
  • Like
Reactions: BrawlMan

Casual Shinji

Should've gone before we left.
Legacy
Jul 18, 2009
19,638
4,442
118
I got a disagree big time with GB. I would take Metal Gear Rising or the DmC reboot (mainly the updated version) over God of War: Ascension any day of the week. The game has great presentation and level design, but the combat is lacking compared to past titles. As far as 2013 hack and slash stylish action games goes:

  1. Metal Gear Rising
  2. Killer Is Dead
  3. DmC
  4. Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor's Edge
  5. God of War Ascension
Ascension felt like change for the sake of change without the willingness to take the formula apart. So you get this weird game that's sorta more of the same, but with these "odd" changes that trip up that enjoyment of having more of the same. I like some of the new combat changes, like roping enemies with your chains, but it's a detriment to the flow of the combat.
 
  • Like
Reactions: BrawlMan