Your video game hot take(s) thread

BrawlMan

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Rising had a more goofy tone? The series that has a villian team named for emotions and has a guy whose COVERED IN BEES? Where one of the main characters of the series was possessed by the disembodied hand of a dead Big Boss clone(until he wasn't but then kept on faking it anyway because reasons)? The series that unironically has characters named BIG BOSS and HOT COLDMAN?

I mean....okay, I guess.
I forgot to mention he assumed it would be too goofy, because of the two trailers Platinum released at the time back in 2011/2012 when the game got announced. The fact that the stealth would not be the main focused rustled his undies. Dude was a strange one. He never bought the game and refused to support it. I bet he regrets it now. I have not seen him since 2013.
 
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Hawki

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-Was the first human in space, because she volunteered to test the untested mercury capsule, almost died and spent months in recovery, only to be completely fucked out of the credit of even being in the program(because Gagarin got to space a few hours earlier then she did).
I thought it was classified because of sexism (sending a woman into space? Madness!) and the fact that they'd sent someone into space without radiation shielding, which might have raised a few eyebrows.

And of course, her "The world used to be united" because Russia, China and the US were briefly on the same side during WW2 due to a common enemy, except that really doesn't count at all. It was mainly that 3 future superpowers(the UK got left out of this weirdly, because China future rise was more important to the philosophers then the UK's world spanning empire for a century or so prior to WW2) were very briefly fighting the Axis powers(and the US was late to that particular party).
Well, there's that, but even then, IIRC, part of her desire to see the world united was her seeing the Earth from space - one world, no visible borders, etc.

I mean, taking Metal Gear seriously is the wrong approach to start with. It's a series that has a lot of stupid parts with the occasional brilliant one. It's just some people seem to forget all the stupid ones because of the occasional brilliant bit.
I think it's the other way round. Metal Gear treats itself seriously, even if the plot is convoluted. The "stupid bits" may be memorable, but they're scattered throughout the games and in the background, rather than being the focus.

You be surprised how many people I've met at a game store, that took metal gear100% seriously. Some of them were teenagers, but you had dudes in there 20s and 30s that love the series unironically. One Game Stop employee through a biatch fit, because Rising had a more goofy tone than what it was originally going to be when Platinum games took over. Oh, and he hated Raiden a lot.
Disliking Raiden isn't exactly a fringe position.

But I would have certainly been in the guy's camp, or at least, adjacent to it. I haven't played Rising, so I'm reluctant to comment too much, but based on everything I've seen, Rising is a case of where you took a series that was serious with comedic bits, then ran with the comedy and ratched everything up to eleven. I mean, yes, cyborg ninjas were in the series prior to this, but compare this:


To this:


Bearing in mind that the former is already a scaled-up version of the original cutscene, and that the latter depicts Raiden going up against what is arguably the most powerful Metal Gear model in the series.

Rising is really in a league of its own, for better or worse. I think even Platinum knew it, considering it was called "Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance," rather than "Metal Gear Solid: Rising."
 

Hawki

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Rising had a more goofy tone? The series that has a villian team named for emotions and has a guy whose COVERED IN BEES? Where one of the main characters of the series was possessed by the disembodied hand of a dead Big Boss clone(until he wasn't but then kept on faking it anyway because reasons)? The series that unironically has characters named BIG BOSS and HOT COLDMAN?

I mean....okay, I guess.
That's more a question of context rather than tone. I mean, here's the intro to Metal Gear Solid 4


And here's the intro to Metal Gear Rising:

 

Hawki

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Bearing in mind that only 4 years pass in-universe from Guns to Revengeance, and in that time, war has changed...from a grim battlefield where PMCs fight because the entire economy is based on war, to cyber ninjas and US senators having "nanomachines!"

Rising shares the DNA with Solid, but it's DNA that more or less mutated into its own species. Which isn't inherently bad or good, but Rising is a very different game from the ones that preceeded it.

(Sorry for the multi-posting, site won't allow too much 'data' in a post it seems.)
 

BrawlMan

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Disliking Raiden isn't exactly a fringe position.
I know, but it's still petty. I never hated Raiden to begin with, but these certain fanboys can't get the fuck over themselves for not playing as Snake completely in MGS2. Kojima played everyone, deal with it.
 

The Rogue Wolf

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I know, but it's still petty. I never hated Raiden to begin with, but these certain fanboys can't get the fuck over themselves for not playing as Snake completely in MGS2. Kojima played everyone, deal with it.
Imagine how they'd have reacted had Kojima stuck to his guns, and had Snake and Otacon tried and executed for war crimes at the end of MGS4 like he'd originally planned.
 

Dalisclock

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I know, but it's still petty. I never hated Raiden to begin with, but these certain fanboys can't get the fuck over themselves for not playing as Snake completely in MGS2. Kojima played everyone, deal with it.
I honestly liked Raiden a lot more when he was the "Clueless newbie with a crappy backstory tossed into a situation he was not prepared for" then "Breakdancing cyborg Ninja" he turned into later. If nothing else, MGS2 raiden worked as a good metaphor for the player with the "Wants to be Snake, actually a kid raised on violent video games playing soldier" thing going, while he later became this pure ninja power fantasy.
 
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BrawlMan

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I honestly liked Raiden a lot more when he was the "Clueless newbie with a crappy backstory tossed into a situation he was not prepared for" then "Breakdancing cyborg Ninja" he turned into later. If nothing else, MGS2 raiden worked as a good metaphor for the player with the "Wants to be Snake, actually a kid raised on violent video games playing soldier" thing going, while he later became this pure ninja power fantasy.
I love both takes of the character. If anything, Raiden's character in Rising add some extra depth to him.
 

Zetatrain

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Imagine how they'd have reacted had Kojima stuck to his guns, and had Snake and Otacon tried and executed for war crimes at the end of MGS4 like he'd originally planned.
Wait is that actually true?

I mean I have heard that Snake was originally suppose to die at the end, but I always thought it was just by suicide.

Though, considering the ending credits theme song and the movie it's taken from I guess that's not too surprising.
 
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Xprimentyl

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Microsoft's standalone HD DVD player peripheral for the 360 was better than Sony's integrated Blu-ray functionality in the PS3. Change my mind.
 

Zetatrain

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That is God Mode Purity Sue levels of bullshit. It's almost like how the Gungrave anime treated Big Daddy like he was the Gandhi equivalent of the mafia/crime syndacite. Talk about being far up your own ass. I don't know how people manage to take mgs3 that seriously.
Tbf a lot of the sanctification of the Boss comes after MGS3 specifically in MGS4 and Peace Walker.
Rising had a more goofy tone? The series that has a villian team named for emotions and has a guy whose COVERED IN BEES? Where one of the main characters of the series was possessed by the disembodied hand of a dead Big Boss clone(until he wasn't but then kept on faking it anyway because reasons)? The series that unironically has characters named BIG BOSS and HOT COLDMAN?

I mean....okay, I guess.
While the rest of the series has elements that are as silly if not more than those in MGR (on paper at least), they are usually framed in a way that gives them a weird somewhat grounded feel.

MGR doesn't seemed to be concerned with trying to take itself as seriously as its predecessors. As a result the silly elements in MGR feel more outlandish.

Combine this with the fact that the game is a stylish hack n slash that have you performing feats that would put MGS4 Raiden to shame, I can understand why some would consider MGR sillier (not that I think that's a bad thing).
 

Dalisclock

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Wait is that actually true?

I mean I have heard that Snake was originally suppose to die at the end, but I always thought it was just by suicide.

Though, considering the ending credits theme song and the movie it's taken from I guess that's not too surprising.
Apparently the staff working on MGS4 outright revolted at the idea and Kojima decided not to go through with it.

Though it's interesting he decided to use the same song for Ground Zeros, which involved liberating his friends from NOT-Guantanamo and creepy black ops troops in unmarked helicopters.
 
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hanselthecaretaker

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  • I necessarily don't mind Sony's "cinematic" approach to its games, but they need to cut out the forced walking sections. They never had anything. Even Gravity Rush 2 had them. Just because your characters do in a slow walking does not add any immersion at all. Just make it a skippable cutscene.
In a way I’d say Half Life 2 is responsible for this, but it’s just that Sony either overdoes it or doesn’t do it properly in a way that respects games as being actual games first vs merely interactive stories.

Apparently the staff working on MGS4 outright revolted at the idea and Kojima decided not to go through with it.

Though it's interesting he decided to use the same song for Ground Zeros, which involved liberating his friends from NOT-Guantanamo and creepy black ops troops in unmarked helicopters.
I recall reading a dissertation on the development that in Kojima’s mind he was so fed up with having to continue the series that he wanted to kill off Snake for good. It was originally supposed to end with MGS2 but Konami kept stringing the series along because it was a cash cow, while Kojima was anxious to move onto other things. It was supposed to have been a symbolic token to how he felt about it, apparently.


  • I think getting good at fighting games requires a similar level of approach and discipline to that of learning a musical instrument. When it comes to combos for instance, it’s unrealistic to expect to nail a 10+ hitter that involves several steps right off the bat, or all at once. You have to often start out just getting the first three or four hits, then add in the next two or three, then the rest. It’s like training your brain to crawl, walk, run, etc.
 
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BrawlMan

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In a way I’d say Half Life 2 is responsible for this, but it’s just that Sony either overdoes it or doesn’t do it properly in a way that respects games as being actual games first vs merely interactive stories.
While HL2 started this, Gears of War really popularized it, and all of sudden, that was the next source of "innovation" and playing copy cat.
 

hanselthecaretaker

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That's more a question of context rather than tone. I mean, here's the intro to Metal Gear Solid 4


And here's the intro to Metal Gear Rising:

As much as Kojima probably hated making MGS4, it is still probably one of the most impressive pieces of entertainment the medium has on offer as a whole. The stuff like interactive cutscenes, to the seamless cinematic transitions into gameplay, and even split screen cutscene/gameplay were like nothing else out, and still has an auteur quality that few games of today possess. And of course you even got an occasionally often cheesy nine hour movie to go with your game which was also chock full of play styles and cool Easter Eggs.

I think that’s where Kojima’s true genius lies; that he can pour more creative and technical effort into a game he hates than most other developers can into a game they love.
 
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Dirty Hipsters

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As much as Kojima probably hated making MGS4, it is still probably one of the most impressive pieces of entertainment the medium has on offer as a whole. The stuff like interactive cutscenes, to the seamless cinematic transitions into gameplay, and even split screen cutscene/gameplay were like nothing else out, and still has an auteur quality that few games of today possess. And of course you even got an occasionally often cheesy nine hour movie to go with you game which was also chock full of play styles and cool Easter Eggs.

I think that’s where Kojima’s true genius lies; that he can pour more creative and technical effort into a game he hates than most other developers can into a game they love.
Kojima's true genius lies in making Johnny shit his pants in every cutscene while pretending he's telling a serious story.
 

hanselthecaretaker

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Microsoft's standalone HD DVD player peripheral for the 360 was better than Sony's integrated Blu-ray functionality in the PS3. Change my mind.
Like the PS2 was for DVD, the PS3 is actually big part of why we’re still watching the Blu-ray format, and why HD-DVD failed right from the onset. It held less data and the discs still scratched too easily. Plus it’s even awkward to say. About the only drawback of Blu-ray was slower read speed.



I'm currently playing through the blu-rays of Batman TAS on my PS3 right now so...
Same (using PS3 for Blu-ray still). It simply shits all over PS4 in terms of both functionality and audio-visual decoding prowess, even including 3D playback. It was also “future-proof” in being able to support Blu-ray 2.0 with a firmware update when standalone players of the time were rendered obsolete. Teh Cell wins over the PS4’s toaster CPU.
 
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