Zero Punctuation: Hellblade

Jacked Assassin

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Jun 4, 2010
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Canadamus Prime said:
"Independent AAA"? Isn't that an oxymoron?
So is Science Fiction but not enough people complain about that.

As for Hellblade it looks like no one is missing out on anything if they don't play it.
 

Canadamus Prime

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Jun 17, 2009
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Jacked Assassin said:
Canadamus Prime said:
"Independent AAA"? Isn't that an oxymoron?
So is Science Fiction but not enough people complain about that.

As for Hellblade it looks like no one is missing out on anything if they don't play it.
Yeah but Science Fiction is a literary genre, while indi and AAA are sectors of the game industry and the AAA sector is rubbish.
 

Jeroenr

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Nov 20, 2013
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darkrage6 said:
I'm not cool with the devs flat out lying about a certain mechanic in this game.
Well, yes and no.
Well, yes and no.
Although the suspense the perma dead adds feels artificial now, i found knowing it was a bluff relieving as well.

Having to replay a level can sometimes be annoying enough, but restarting the entire game.
I just beaten the first 2 bosses, but if i perma died now, sorry i'm done.
Like Yahtzee sad, match the runes was a nice puzzle, but only once.
 

Igor-Rowan

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As soon as I heard the perma-death thing I had to get the game ASAP, because the back of my head told me the possibility of them just bluffing to get the game attention and scrutiny from the "video games are art" crowd.

What I got is a hack and slash with masterful animations, especially Senua's face. It's no Silent Hill 2 levels of storytelling, but it certainly is unique.
 

GamemasterAnthony

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Isn't the erase your save progress something they did for Nier as well once you got a certain ending? Odd that it's a punishment for this game rather than a "reward". It reminds me of ye olde games that only gave you so many continues before you're screwed or ye olde days of the arcades where you only had so many quarters in your possession.
 

EscapeGoat_v1legacy

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Canadamus Prime said:
"Independent AAA"? Isn't that an oxymoron?
Sort of. The idea behind it was to make an independently developed and published game that looks and feels like a AAA title. So, with Senua it obviously looks very flashy and polished and plenty of money has been poured into it so it can stand among the bigger AAA releases rather than looking like most indie games (i.e. it doesn't look cheap it what Ninja Theory were getting at) but because it wasn't funded or marketed by a publisher Ninja Theory didn't have to deal with any executive meddling and could make their game about things most AAA publishers consider difficult to market, like mental illnesses and women as main characters.
 

MonsterCrit

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Canadamus Prime said:
"Independent AAA"? Isn't that an oxymoron?
Only if you're a morron.

Independent - Is short-hand for Independently Published or self published. WHere the work is published without the aid of third parties or from larger studios. And yes that does Ironically make games like WoW, Overwatch and Hl2 Independent since the publisher is also the developer.

AAA - Is basically a marketing term that refers to the production Value of the game and the budget going in and labour.


Saying Independent AAA is disassociative or an oxymoron is like saying you can't be White and Short., Or Black and Skinny. Or RIch and Famous. The two terms are entirely unrelated. Some people jsut misassociate independent with retro pixel art.

Also is it just me or is Yahtzee been getting a little boring these last few reviews. I mean let's be honest. ...SPlatoon 2 wasn't a game that needed a review or commentary. Same for Pyre.
 

Silentpony_v1legacy

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Jun 5, 2013
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I watched some of the stream on the Escapist channel, and wow is she annoying. All she was doing was screaming uncontrollably and clawing at her face and arms for entire minutes at a time, and I couldn't tell if it was gameplay or not. It looked like a bunch of cutscenes playing out, with the occasional bit of walking to the next cutscene.
 

Darth_Payn

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Aug 5, 2009
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I watched Yahtzee play the game on Twitch, and the art style looked more Celtic than Norse too me. Eh, they might be mixing both for it. And Yahtzee's right, the game takes itself WAY to seriously, and the main character's face looks too, uh, weird. Did she have voices in her head? I thought I heard two different narrators talking about her.
As for the rune puzzles, they sound like these puzzles from Assassin's Creed III and IV, where Connor and Edward had to match these shapes to objects in the environment (rocks, tree stumps, what-have-you) to unlock some secret location. For Connor, it was a cavern on Oak Island to find that ring that made him almost bulletproof; Edward had to find these stones to open the chamber to the Mayan Armor in a pyramid in Tulum.
MonsterCrit said:
Canadamus Prime said:
"Independent AAA"? Isn't that an oxymoron?
Only if you're a morron.

Independent - Is short-hand for Independently Published or self published. WHere the work is published without the aid of third parties or from larger studios. And yes that does Ironically make games like WoW, Overwatch and Hl2 Independent since the publisher is also the developer.

AAA - Is basically a marketing term that refers to the production Value of the game and the budget going in and labour.


Saying Independent AAA is disassociative or an oxymoron is like saying you can't be White and Short., Or Black and Skinny. Or RIch and Famous. The two terms are entirely unrelated. Some people jsut misassociate independent with retro pixel art.

Also is it just me or is Yahtzee been getting a little boring these last few reviews. I mean let's be honest. ...SPlatoon 2 wasn't a game that needed a review or commentary. Same for Pyre.
I don't count WoW as Independent, because it's DEVELOPED by Blizzard Entertainment, and PUBLISHED by Activision. By your logic, all Ubisoft games are Indie, too.
 

BloodRed Pixel

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Jul 16, 2009
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How Ninja pulled their "delete savegame"-PR-stunt makes we wish people would just torrent the shit out of them, just to show them 'if you mess with us, we mess with you'.

Of course I don't condone piracy, so I watch a Let's Play instead, if at all, since gameplay-wise there seems not much going on, anyway.


PS: 2nd worst PR-Stunt after 'GOG.com has shut down', IMHO.
 

josemlopes

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darkrage6 said:
I'm not cool with the devs flat out lying about a certain mechanic in this game.
BloodRed Pixel said:
How Ninja pulled their "delete savegame"-PR-stunt makes we wish people would just torrent the shit out of them, just to show them 'if you mess with us, we mess with you'.

Of course I don't condone piracy, so I watch a Let's Play instead, if at all, since gameplay-wise there seems not much going on, anyway.


PS: 2nd worst PR-Stunt after 'GOG.com has shut down', IMHO.
Shit, I dont like the game but I have to disagree on this, the game doesnt actually punish you for anything and the fear of loosing the save adds to the story, as in it actually makes sense to make you feel anxious.

Here, switch the bomb with the deletion of the save
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DPFsuc_M_3E

So yeah, its called building tension.
 

Erttheking

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BloodRed Pixel said:
How Ninja pulled their "delete savegame"-PR-stunt makes we wish people would just torrent the shit out of them, just to show them 'if you mess with us, we mess with you'.

Of course I don't condone piracy, so I watch a Let's Play instead, if at all, since gameplay-wise there seems not much going on, anyway.


PS: 2nd worst PR-Stunt after 'GOG.com has shut down', IMHO.
*Rolls eyes*. A single mistruth that builds into the narrative and you want people to take the game without paying for it. (Except you backpedal five seconds later, because I guess you want bad things to happen to the devs but you want other people to do the dirty work.). Way to fight the stereotype of gamers being petty and spiteful.
 

ToastyMozart

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Darth_Payn said:
By your logic, all Ubisoft games are Indie, too.
I guess that depends on whether you consider subsidiaries to still be a part of the same company. But in simple terms: yes they would be.

Far Cry 3 was developed by Ubisoft Montreal, and then published by Ubisoft; the game was funded and published independently without having to rely on a third party.
 

BloodRed Pixel

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Jul 16, 2009
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erttheking said:
BloodRed Pixel said:
How Ninja pulled their "delete savegame"-PR-stunt makes we wish people would just torrent the shit out of them, just to show them 'if you mess with us, we mess with you'.

Of course I don't condone piracy, so I watch a Let's Play instead, if at all, since gameplay-wise there seems not much going on, anyway.


PS: 2nd worst PR-Stunt after 'GOG.com has shut down', IMHO.
*Rolls eyes*. A single mistruth that builds into the narrative and you want people to take the game without paying for it. (Except you backpedal five seconds later, because I guess you want bad things to happen to the devs but you want other people to do the dirty work.). Way to fight the stereotype of gamers being petty and spiteful.
You are familar with the conditional 'would'? Yes?
http://www.ef.edu/english-resources/english-grammar/conditional/

Rarely my wishes come true - for the better of everybody, LOL.

Ninja had all the respect but decided to cause a controversal in their audience, for the sake of a pointless PR-stunt because it's oh so important what they have to tell.
GOG.com did the right thing after they knew they fucked up - they apologized. Ninja - nothing. Way too much their head in their butts, IMHO. I wish them luck, they need it.

Anyway, we all move on to something else by next week. Just had to vent it, while it's hot.
 

Aiddon_v1legacy

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Nov 19, 2009
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Yet another attempt by NT to work out their insecurities over being in the gaming industry. Weird how it's guys like them and David Cage whining about narrative in gaming, but having no clue how to write.