Just watched the trailer for Lords of the Fallen. Looks freaking awesome... if, like, all the Dark Souls didn't already exist.
Your video game hot take(s) thread
- Thread starter Dany_the_penguin
- Start date
Good luck convincing the "hardcore gamer" crowd who need games to be photorealistic so they can say "No, Mom, I'm not living in your basement wasting my life on video games; I'm engaging in a cinematic experience!".
Ironic, considering the "HARDCORE GAMERZ!" crowd are having their backlash against cinematic games, or those with multiple walking sections.
It's funny when Yahtzee is saying how the original Windwaker still looks great, the footage that is showing is from the remaster. Oops.
Maybe this is more a "Shower Thought" than a "Hot Take," but I wanna talk about it here anyway, because I'm willing to fight anyone who thinks they have a logical explanation.
Speaking from a purely logistical mindset: who put all those items in those chests, and those chests in their respective places in every RPG ever? I mean, yeah, I ran the gauntlet of the dungeon, or defeated the boss, and I deserve my reward, but who decided to put that item in that chest, then put that chest there? In Ocarina of Time, who kept currency in vases and incidentally breaking one netted a payout for a vandal? In Dark Souls, who decided the Large Divine Ember needed to go into a chest, and that chest needed to go in a nook in the Tomb of the Giants?
In my mind, I'm seeing people/beings doing jobs. There's a supervisor with a clipboard taking inventory, and a couple of underlings lugging around chests, and someone had to have said "put that in there, then lock the door, and hide the key several rooms away behind some contraptions and puzzles." I know video games gotta "video game," but as I've gotten older and more cynical, I want answers!
And while we're at it, who uses a whole chest for ONE item?? I've got a junk drawer full of entirely useless shit I can barely close, yet these people are using ottoman-sized, lockable chests to hold what? A single ring? C'mon...
Speaking from a purely logistical mindset: who put all those items in those chests, and those chests in their respective places in every RPG ever? I mean, yeah, I ran the gauntlet of the dungeon, or defeated the boss, and I deserve my reward, but who decided to put that item in that chest, then put that chest there? In Ocarina of Time, who kept currency in vases and incidentally breaking one netted a payout for a vandal? In Dark Souls, who decided the Large Divine Ember needed to go into a chest, and that chest needed to go in a nook in the Tomb of the Giants?
In my mind, I'm seeing people/beings doing jobs. There's a supervisor with a clipboard taking inventory, and a couple of underlings lugging around chests, and someone had to have said "put that in there, then lock the door, and hide the key several rooms away behind some contraptions and puzzles." I know video games gotta "video game," but as I've gotten older and more cynical, I want answers!
And while we're at it, who uses a whole chest for ONE item?? I've got a junk drawer full of entirely useless shit I can barely close, yet these people are using ottoman-sized, lockable chests to hold what? A single ring? C'mon...
Maybe it's the same people who put sixteen fucking calipers in barrels in each Oblivion dungeon. Just how much measurement goes on in Cyrodiil?!
That's exactly my point! Who lugged countless barrels upon crates upon chests filled with entirely random nonsense into ostensibly "ancient" ruins behind locked doors and boobytraps?? Who's the guy that thought "okay, put these calipers, a potato, and a pair of common shoes in this barrel, and have "Steve" take it down 4 flights of stairs into this abandoned ruin; I'm going to need all of that later, so I'd like to know where it'll be."
That settles it. I'm starting my own gaming company. First order of business: create an RPG wherein the loot and its placement all make canonical/logical sense!!
This is always been a thing in gaming; not just rpgs. Why is there fresh or cooked food in trash cans, oil drums, or in storage bins when it comes to brawler games? Some games have food stands to get around this, but it's still odd that you would take a perfectly cooked or preserved piece of meat and eat it out of the trash can or wall. Why do the parasitic zombies drop ammo, when none of them are carrying guns? The money part makes sense. In Resident Evil 4, its remake, and 5, that's excusable. You're literally killing the residents or people working there. It would also make some sense to have some type of jewelry on them or some type of money. I will give RE5 some credit, because in the last part of the game you're fighting guys with machine guns, so it would make sense for them to drop machine gun ammo. Provided either of your characters are carrying machine guns. Dead Space I will give somewhat a pass, because at least the people worked or lived in a spaceship or space station. So the money part makes sense, though not so much the ammo again. Unless you're fighting the infected soldiers. Then their ammo drops actually makes sense. For some extra info: in RE4 Remake when you get to Salazar's castle, you are literally stealing from him. It would make sense that he has all his precious treasures hidden or put them behind locks. He's got a castle full of mind controlled servants, so he has them put all his valuables away. There's even a trap that sets up when you get Ashley back and double back past the water room to get the hidden treasure. A parasitic knight activates. At least it's something.
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I think with Dark Souls the idea is that since it's a decayed world, you're whole journey is about rummaging through the trash and leftovers of people that died thousands of years ago. So the divine ember is in a chest in the tomb of giants because some blacksmith worked there for the people maintening the tomb and it was there and then the age of whatever ended and it's still there, and that's also why it's so heavily guarded- skeletons acting on some residue of extinct and routine to hang around the special spot.
That's kind of the appeal of the whole non-direct lore thing of the Souls games. It lets your brain accept what is clearly just there as a video game mechanic.
Skyrim of course is the opposite- no logical explanation for finding fresh bread in caves.
Witcher 3, the one I keep going back to, kind of is in the middle where it's mostly absurd but allows me to accept it. Like you have guarded treasures spots- chests with some items and a monster you gotta beat to open it. Well I imagine the monster just attacked some traveler who had those things. But then why is someone traveling with a sword, some random alcehmy parts and a decoction recipe... I dunno.
That's kind of the appeal of the whole non-direct lore thing of the Souls games. It lets your brain accept what is clearly just there as a video game mechanic.
Skyrim of course is the opposite- no logical explanation for finding fresh bread in caves.
Witcher 3, the one I keep going back to, kind of is in the middle where it's mostly absurd but allows me to accept it. Like you have guarded treasures spots- chests with some items and a monster you gotta beat to open it. Well I imagine the monster just attacked some traveler who had those things. But then why is someone traveling with a sword, some random alcehmy parts and a decoction recipe... I dunno.
I mean, I know RPG characters tend to be murder hobos who subsist on murdering other people and taking their stuff and sleeping on their still-bloodsoaked beds, but who in their right mind thinks "This healing potion has been sitting in this ruin for four thousand years- I'mma chug it"?
Link, whatever protagonist in the Soul-Borne games, and the Belmont clan, including Alucard. At least he is a half vampire, so he can handle that no problem.
Even better, A castlevania protagonist finds a turkey in a wall...and just decides "That looks fucking delicious. I'm gonna eat the wall turkey".
I don't know. Maybe people were built different in the past and eating century old meat found behind a loose brick just wasn't a big deal.
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Ha! Your need for logic is nullified when realizing that these chests are placed in games full of magic and teleporting and a massive inventory of stuff that's instantly accessible for use out of nowhere.
Oh, and most of the characters are insane packrats and tricksters with tendencies to wander about (like the player character themselves) which goes a long way towards explaining why a key for a door in Anor Londo wound up in a chest in some swamp or lava pit.
Civilization has made us soft.
Okay, but let's agree that someone at some point decided that each piece of Havel's armor set and weapon had to go into its own chest, then each of those chest had to place in an empty basement hidden behind an illusory wall... with an opening in another wall showing you exactly where that hidden path might be accessible from. Who was it? Gwyn? Gwyndolin? Big Boobs lady? Someone at some point requested it be done. Did the Silver Knights put them down there for this mystery person? Can you imagine them performing such a menial task, and for what?? ANSWERS, DAMN YOU!!Ha! Your need for logic is nullified when realizing that these chests are placed in games full of magic and teleporting and a massive inventory of stuff that's instantly accessible for use out of nowhere.
Oh, and most of the characters are insane packrats and tricksters with tendencies to wander about (like the player character themselves) which goes a long way towards explaining why a key for a door in Anor Londo wound up in a chest in some swamp or lava pit.
It's been a while but I've seen it argued that the reason you find Havel's(also worn by his warriors) stuff down there is it was a cache for an eventual coup attempt against the gods. Havel's stuff is insanely resistant to magic IIRC and Havel's ring makes it feasible to wear such heavy armor. There's also an occult club down there and the occult weapons explicitly does extra damage to Gods and Sliver/Black knights. It's also mentioned the guy in the tower(who could be Havel) was locked down there "by a close friend" and hated Seethe, who was made a duke for switching sides in the dragon war. Also Seethe is kind of a creepy fuck based on what we find in the Dukes Archives.
So taking of this together, you can make an arguement that Havel was pissed that Seethe got a special position in Anor londo, began plotting a Coup and planting weapons and armor in Anor Londo, close to the main cathedral, but at some point was found out and locked away in the tower where he went hollow.
I've been trying to remedy that by eating the brains of my enemies.Civilization has made us soft.
But now my head constantly burns.