The Gamer's Quarter

[david]

[helicopterp]

The lady bug was probably talking to him.
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Like you thought you'd seen copter perverts before. They were nothing compared to this one.

[OtakupunkX]

Possibly giving him advice on foreign policy, even.

[dmauro]

[Ketch]

Update: Ooh, the 8th and 9th colossii are actually quite exciting. I'm using a guide to get to the colossus then working it out on my own.I'm looking forward to seeing the rest. I'll let you know what I think of the rest of the "game".

[internisus]

[Shapermc]

[silentmatt]

[extralife]

[chompers po pable]

[internisus]

no, i think he's referring to a guide.

[extralife]

Beyond Good and Evil is worth playing if only for the amazing first ten minutes.

[chompers po pable]

[internisus]

yes, we just will at that.

[vision]

--

[chompers po pable]

Ketch, you're not alone.

[chompers po pable]

[Shapermc]

[Mr. Mechanical]

What does matter if Ketch is using a guide. There's no wrong to play the game so extralife and internisus, you guys need to stop being cockfaces.
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Mr. Mechanical

[silentmatt]

[extralife]

[Mr. Mechanical]

Dude, this is the kind of shit that made people despise the ic forums ok. Stop being such a prick about this, it doesn't matter.
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Mr. Mechanical

[Cycle]

Yeah, I really hope the IC forums come back soon

No offense, extralife. Well, maybe a little.

[chompers po pable]

hate proves love ppl :sunshine:

[Perseus]

[internisus]

It's perfectly legitimate to feel mildly horrified at the thought of someone using a guide to find the colossi in a game like SotC, whose wonder lies in exploring the landscape as you hunt, only roughly directed by the sword's light. There is nothing wrong with a small outrage over this, as it is indicative of a way of approaching the game that destroys what makes it special on a basic level. It is not cause for a "go back to IC or stop being elitist" outburst.

[Dracko]

But maybe it should be.

We're talking about a game here. Do you get infuriated when people watch a cinéma vérité piece with subtitles or read a play while watching it on stage?

If anything, I just think this points out that games still require linearity on a basic level.
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"This is the most fun I've ever had without being drenched in the blood of my enemies!"

[dessgeega]

someone's using a guide to help reduce the amount of time spent on the boring portions of a game - important to the game though they may (perhaps) be. this is totally alright. not everyone has a lot of time to spend being bored. people are busy, and have families and friends and loved ones whom they would like to spend time with.

if this really offends you - to the point even of "outrage" - go scream in a pillow for a while. jump up and down and stamp your feet. then come back to the computer and post something civil. there's no reason to make someone feel like an infidel for having priorities other than videogames.
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[Shapermc]

I used a guide for Digital Devil Saga.

And Final Fantasy Tactics*.

*-for maps only
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“The average man has a secret desire to be a swaggering, drunken, fighting, raping swashbuckler.”
-Robert E. Howard in a letter to a friend circa Decmber 1932

"There is no place in this enterprise for a rogue physicist!"

[Mr. Mechanical]

[zebadayus]

hm

[antitype]

zeb nails it, though I totally understand where internisus is coming from.

Also, my favorite part of Beyond Good and Evil is when your photos are broadcast via screens in the city and you feel like you've really played a part in the unfolding of events — you've actually made a mark on the world you've been playing in, and the game acknowledges this. It's sort of the opposite of explicitly breaking the fourth wall, in a way, though a bit similar. I mean, the game never addresses you, the player, but it takes something you did — through Jade — and integrates it meaningfully.

I also really liked the final battle, where the controls are reversed, subverting the flow you've become so comfortable with, and you have to do a mental flip-flop to execute the correct maneuvers.

The part where you fly up the moon was pretty awesome, too.
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antitype.livejournal.com | last.fm

[Harveyjames]

Wait, why do you need a guide to find the Colossi? How hard is it to follow a straight line?

[helicopterp]

[Shapermc]

[helicopterp]

I was talking about Beyond Good and Evil, not SotC.

But that does bring back fond memories of reading issue #4!
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Like you thought you'd seen copter perverts before. They were nothing compared to this one.

[Shapermc]

Oh, well, in that case, insert credit made a lot of noise about the absense of a French Language option (that was the original language I think) then some people played it and loved it others hated it. Both sides argued.
_________________
“The average man has a secret desire to be a swaggering, drunken, fighting, raping swashbuckler.”
-Robert E. Howard in a letter to a friend circa Decmber 1932

"There is no place in this enterprise for a rogue physicist!"

[helicopterp]

[B coma]

= (

[david]

I'm going to weigh in on BG&E for some reason.

I found it to be an exceptionally well crafted game, with a cohesive vision and affectionate attention to detail that's inspiring. Its social message is well made and unusual to find in a video game. It's pretty linear despite the big open world. I mean you are pretty carefully directed through the story, location by location. It's a little narrow and heavy handed for my tastes, but admittedly it does feel close to playing through a movie, and that can be exciting. It's easy, too; it's meant to be played from beginning to end by everyone willing to put in the hours. The whole experience is really smooth and attractive. Again, the craftsmanship is top notch.

Although Jade is a refreshing game heroine, many of the characters are annoying, as is much of the writing. I mean BG&E really would not receive much praise if it were an animated film. I did not understand the ending, and some of the drama was painfully contrived.

BG&E also commits one of the worst sins of the modern cinematic video game: The first interactive moment (following the opening movie) lasts about three seconds before another movie clip takes over. I don't remember exactly what happens, but I think some bad guys are coming out of the sky, disrupting Jade and Pig's morning Tai Chi, challenging their bucolic pacifism -- now you're in control! What do you do? How are you going to cope? You take two steps, and another movie starts. Oh. I don't have to do anything yet, just watch some more. This happens more than once. The only other part that stuck with me as much was flying around in the bay in a really cool plane.

Overall, it deserved a lot more attention than it got, even though its awesomeness is compromised by dumb characters and irritating mishandling of cut scenes. Maybe if I hadn't had a constant feeling that it was aimed at some demographic group of which I'm not a part, I would have had more affection for it. By the end, I was totally impressed with the care and artistry. But I was also bored and a little insulted by the overbearing movie-ness, at the expense of my ability to influence and discover things according to my own whims.

Anybody feel like I did?
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[antitype]

Yeah, pretty much. BG&E is a game that gets by on being well-crafted and full of heart, making up for its narrative shortcomings. When it succeeds, it succeeds wonderfully (as it does in those parts I wrote about several posts up (to name a few)).

And by the way, I believe the pig's name is Pey'j, but "Jade and Pig" brings to mind a local real estate company called Jade Pig, who took their name from "a souvenir from [a co-founder's] daughter's [1995] trip to China, a pig carved out of jade stone." And 1995 was China's Year of the Pig, "with the pig representing good luck, prosperity and integrity." I wonder if Ancel was aware of this, too, or if it's just a weirdly coincidental pairing of "Jade and Pig"?
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antitype.livejournal.com | last.fm

[simplicio]

The other thing I thought BG&E did really well was capturing an atmosphere- to me it felt like Miyazaki plus HL2 (after HL2 came out and I played it, that is), and it really remained consistent throughout. I think it also tapped into that wonder-of-surroundings thing well before SotC, too.

[dmauro]

[chompers po pable]

wander could totally beat link in a footrace imho uih : \

[dmauro]

bunny mask

[Shapermc]

[Kipple]

[Mister Toups]

so was ketch using a guide or not?
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where were you when nana komatsu got a wii?

[antitype]

[dmauro]

Kipple, I was more specifically referring to when the colossus moves his hands, the way they mesh with the wrists is really crazy such that you sort of glide along the surface, and I found it often resulted in me trying to climb from the bottom part of the hand to the top and getting nowhere at all until I got too tired and fell. It was definitely not a difficulty thing and was more a matter of the game not functioning properly.

You're right about the presentation of the last colossus though. It was fantastic.