The second half is a boring poorly paced mess, save for a decent ending. Once the major twist happens, there is little reason to slog through it. The first half is waaaay better than the second, so I suppose you're half right.
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Media Videogame Thread
- Thread starter Bummer
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The second half is a boring poorly paced mess, save for a decent ending. Once the major twist happens, there is little reason to slog through it. The first half is waaaay better than the second, so I suppose you're half right.
big daddies will absolutely destroy you in about three seconds if you don't have a plan. You really don't need to fight them unless you need lots of plasmid upgrades--I always did though, so I can't speak for how necessary it actually is.
You really have to keep a rhythm when you fight them though. Electroshock, shotgun, repeat is how I did it (it gets easier when you have special shotgun ammo). You can just keep pumping them full of bullets and dying, because while it feels a bit cheap death actually doesn't mean much in the game
You really have to keep a rhythm when you fight them though. Electroshock, shotgun, repeat is how I did it (it gets easier when you have special shotgun ammo). You can just keep pumping them full of bullets and dying, because while it feels a bit cheap death actually doesn't mean much in the game
If by better you mean more filled with tedious fetch quests and with a much less interesting or even coherent backstory due the fact that you haven't yet collected enough audio logs to form anything close to resembling a larger picture, then I guess your latter statement is correct. Pretty sure that's not what better means, but w/e
By contrast, that plot twist is one of the greatest moments of gaming, and you finally get enough pieces of backstory to reflect on its themes in great depth, particularly those surrounding the power struggles that shaped the city
Oh, I forgot, video game storytelling is all about collecting audio logs now. Forget creating a gripping atmosphere and stringing the player along with intrigue, or the rising tension leading up to said plot twist. No, clearly the better half of the game is the one where badly modeled npcs exposit the whole plot then send you on just as many fetch quests only this time with no more plot, nothing interesting to learn, and no more fascinating characters.
You're "reflecting" on the events of the first half because the interesting collection of story bits becomes a cohesive whole right at the halfway point (and then dries up). Arguing that the second half is better for this is like arguing that reading sparknotes is better than reading the actual book.
Fuck, googling "2nd half of bioshock" turned up more than one result bitching about it. I hadn't even really considered that given the statement the twist makes about game players blindly following linear orders, the 2nd half has the newly awakened protagonist still blindly following linear orders.
Anyway, I think at this point it's clear that we got a fundamentally different experience from the game- you talk of all this mystery, intrigue and discovering new things- this was a complete non-factor for me, and consequently I found the first half of the game to be an ocean of tedium. I played this game expecting the same kind of experience that I would get out of a classic novel- where the situations that arise in the narrative challenge me to contemplate various concepts in new ways. This experience is met in the later stages because the fact that you have a decent idea of Rapture's story gives you a more complex and nuanced pool of content to think about, and the game is imo effective in pushing you into exploring these ideas. Also idk how you can say there's no plot or nothing to learn when you have the main character changing in a very significant way and off the top of my head you learn about the power struggle that went on in Rapture, something that is only barely touched on in the first half of the game
As I mentioned above, you're seriously misrepresenting the game by saying there's nothing new in the second half of the game, there's a lot of interesting new content to be found. As for the whole reflections thing, first of all no I'm not reflecting because there's nothing more to learn, that is objectively false and I just gave you an example why, it's because as the game progresses into its later stages I'm more and more able to engage in this reflection due to their being more content available to me. As for your sparknotes analogy, that's a shitty analogy and you know it. I mean just look at some of the novels listed in your signature for instance. It takes all of 5 minutes to come up with a couple good reasons why Brave New World is better off being fiction and not an essay- you could even write an essay discussing this if you like irony flavoured tedium, that seems like a relatively easy essay to write. But I'm sure you'd agree that that novel's strength lies in the "reflection" it provokes
yeah fair enough
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The faceless voiceless main character never changes. Not only does he not stop being a tool for other characters, but at that point you're already committed to either saving little girls or killing them. If you mean a certain setpiece, then that's just another fetch quest. If that's your example you tout below, then you still have yet to show me any merit of the second half.
But that IS the analogy. You are writing off the first half when your experiences in it inform the second. You can spend the whole second half of the game reflecting on the first and have a good time, or you could turn it off and do the same thing.
Obviously you've had a different experience with the first half than most people, but when people vastly overrate it it's generally over the first half.
Either way, I really enjoyed the Bioshock series. I hope they now leave it the fuck alone and do not do anymore.
I picked up The Last Remnant and a few other games in the latest Humble Bundle. First "proper" JRPG I've played and I am enjoying it so far. Only issue I have is the game doesn't exactly explain a lot to you. Every unit seems to have a Unique Stat, Like the main character has "Bravery" and one of the other leaders has "Management" etc. No one really knows what these stats do apart from maybe influencing how units react in combat. Story is pretty good so far too, I think I am about half way in terms of Story, I'm now trying to go around and level my squad doing side quests. Some of those are convoluted to the max, though some of them are very easy. I especially like how it instantly teleports you to where the mission is, you do the mission and then you are back to where the quest started.
It's actually tempting me to go back and play FF Tactics or something, or maybe try some other stuff like this. Any recommendations outside of the usual FF/FE stuff?
I picked up The Last Remnant and a few other games in the latest Humble Bundle. First "proper" JRPG I've played and I am enjoying it so far. Only issue I have is the game doesn't exactly explain a lot to you. Every unit seems to have a Unique Stat, Like the main character has "Bravery" and one of the other leaders has "Management" etc. No one really knows what these stats do apart from maybe influencing how units react in combat. Story is pretty good so far too, I think I am about half way in terms of Story, I'm now trying to go around and level my squad doing side quests. Some of those are convoluted to the max, though some of them are very easy. I especially like how it instantly teleports you to where the mission is, you do the mission and then you are back to where the quest started.
It's actually tempting me to go back and play FF Tactics or something, or maybe try some other stuff like this. Any recommendations outside of the usual FF/FE stuff?
Valkyria Chronicles is probably the closest thing I've found. It def has its flaws, but it's still pretty fun. And if you like that game, you should try XCOM sometime. Also flawed, but fun.
I've got a game of XCOM: Enemy Unknown on the go actually, haven't completed it yet though... It's pretty cool too! Not sure if I am into it enough to get XCOM2 though.
I went and picked up The Long Dark on Steam. And I'm loving it so far! I suck at the game, but the suspense really gets me. Just that feeling of being alone in the snow trying to listen for any sounds of approaching wolves makes me both terrified and excited.
But right now terrified.
I can't find any maple sapling for the bow I need to make to kill all the wolves near the house I decided to use as a base camp.
I also discovered you can take toilet water from houses and drink it without any ill effects, so that's a thing I just thought was hilarious.
But right now terrified.
I can't find any maple sapling for the bow I need to make to kill all the wolves near the house I decided to use as a base camp.
I also discovered you can take toilet water from houses and drink it without any ill effects, so that's a thing I just thought was hilarious.
I just now found out that a new UT is being developed, and it looks like exactly what I want!
https://www.unrealtournament.com/fragcenter
https://www.unrealtournament.com/fragcenter
I have been playing around some more with my steam controller, and I have to say it is the greatest and most versatile controller I have ever had the pleasure to use. I have played Age of Empires, TF2, Mario Galaxy, Minecraft, and a host of other games with it. The combination of the trackpad and gyro makes aiming just as good as a mouse, it's very Splatoon-esque. Mode shifting allows multiple buttons many different purposes. The only other controller I care to use now is my Gamecube pad for smash.
Also in the past few weeks I beat Axiom Verge, a lovely albeit creepy Metroid style game. It perfectly nails the atmosphere and feeling of slowly becoming more powerful, and it isn't afraid to throw a ton of weapons your way.
Also in the past few weeks I beat Axiom Verge, a lovely albeit creepy Metroid style game. It perfectly nails the atmosphere and feeling of slowly becoming more powerful, and it isn't afraid to throw a ton of weapons your way.
I've heard about the Mother 3 siege in the miiverse.
Mother 3 is one of the best games I've ever... EVER played. It mixes earthboundish humor while touching into deep senarios, it has great music, funny NPCs, and above all, a frog riding in a car. It also references the first game, ALOT of cute humor, the only draw back is grinding and 1/128 chances for legendary equips.
Don't take my word for it, play it yourself.
Mother 3 is one of the best games I've ever... EVER played. It mixes earthboundish humor while touching into deep senarios, it has great music, funny NPCs, and above all, a frog riding in a car. It also references the first game, ALOT of cute humor, the only draw back is grinding and 1/128 chances for legendary equips.
Don't take my word for it, play it yourself.
So I got a PS4 for Christmas. What games would be good to get that would be alright to play if a 5 year old is in the same room? Already got Lego Jurassic World which I've been loving so far and the first King's Quest chapter.
If the question is about exclusives then the last of us would be a good idea. Bloodborne is also a must have. And if you like artistic but short games then journey is a really good game
He specifically asked about child friendly games dude
The only thing on my shelf that qualifies is Dynasty Warriors 8 Complete. Pretty good so far.
little big planet, ff7, kh3
I love Little Big Planet, and have every game for it but on the PS3. I'll consider trying Final Fantasy 7's remake when it comes out.
Well, I can't exactly buy The Last of Us or Bloodborne because graphic reasons and I watched a play through of The Last of Us already. But I may buy Journey for the PS4 again.
Final Fantasy 7 has swearing and some other questionable stuff for 5-year-old consumption. The Remake will have it be voice-acted along with higher graphical detail to better see the violence, and I wouldn't want my mother coming in to that with my younger sibling in the same room.
Kingdom Hearts III isn't coming out until 2017 at the earliest. 2.8 is definitely coming this year, and even then HelenTheHero I wouldn't buy it unless you've played the other Kingdom Hearts games or watched Let's Plays of them so you can (try to) understand the plot.
Knack, Rayman Legends, Awesomenauts, any Tales game (I haven't played Zestiria but I'm a fan so I plug these games anyways), Mighty No. 9, iirc there's a recent Adventure Time game that's interesting from the synopsis I read but idr what it's called, Dragonball Xenoverse if you are into fighting games (it has kid friendly graphics iirc), Ni No Kuni when it comes out...
That's pretty much all I can think of.
That's pretty much all I can think of.
The adventure time game is not well-priced but I definitely agree with Rayman Legends
I love Rayman Legends! I've already played the game, but I think it'll definitely be worth it to buy and play again. :D
Thanks everyone for the suggestions, I have a good idea of some games to buy now.
It was made originally in Russian and has some typos but the translation is pretty good. Also paging Acklow because I somehow feel he'll be interested in this.
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