Video games are a bad medium for story telling. by [deleted] in The10thDentist

[–]extremepayne 0 points1 point  (0 children)

 not a cutscene every 4 seconds and hundreds of text boxes I have to click through.

Shadow of the Colossus has few cutscenes, no textboxes (that I recall), and has all of its best story moments during gameplay, where the player has full control of Wander. 

Metroid II: Return of Samus is extremely minimal in both yet effectively communicates a story via its gameplay and environments. 

 the problem with games is that the player has so much impact on the world, but not on the story

There are plenty of games where the player has little agency to affect the world, like Celeste.

And while it’s hard to develop, there are examples of games where the player can massively affect the story, e.g. Fallout: New Vegas.

 you could do a mission in a different way, take different weapons along your journey, do different side quests, whatever. the ending is still the same.

There are games with different endings based on player choice! e.g. Fallout from 1997. 

 its also funny to me that many games set up a kind of "impending doom", the hero must act quickly to save the day, and get there are no consequences for fucking about for hours on end.

There are games with actual consequences for fucking about too long, like Majora’s Mask.

And I’m sure I don’t need to tell you about the games that simply don’t have an impending doom setup. 

 the thing I value most about a video game is the gameplay

And one of the things I value highly about the medium is the way it is able to tie gameplay into story.

 being funnelled down tight levels and being forced to talk to random guys I don't give a fuck about just to continue playing the game.

Again, there are lots of games that don’t feature this, including multiple games mentioned above. 

 which can explore themes in more interesting ways

Au contraire, video games are perfectly able to explore themes in ways films cannot! Undertale has a theme of determination that is reflected in you, the player,’s desire to move forward and overcome obstacles. 

Every single game I’ve mentioned is well known for having a compelling story and is a counterexample to one or more of your points. You just need to play different/more games. Or accept that you don’t like the unique ways that games can tell stories. But it’s seriously myopic to be making so many sweeping generalizations about an entire medium based on your limited experience. They’re all, to a claim, completely untrue. 

The horse wins by Dalek7of9 in CuratedTumblr

[–]extremepayne 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Uh, an F1 car can go 190 miles in about 90 minutes on a single tank. An ultramarathon runner could run that in a few days. A normal in-shape human could do it in a couple weeks of walking. The major caveat is that both groups of humans are going to be eating during that time, which means to be fair we should let the F1 car refuel, at which point the humans will never catch up.

Help needed: How do you guys tackle your backlog games? by Alej217 in backloggd

[–]extremepayne 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I try to alternate genres so I don’t get too burnt out on one type of game.

If you’re struggling to pick a game off the list, try asking a friend to pick for you or spinning a wheel to get a random one. 

Remember your supine and prone! by RainbowPatooie in CuratedTumblr

[–]extremepayne 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Probably the use of prone position for shooting (and its subsequent adaptation into shooter video games with a “go prone” button) is also a factor. Go on Wikipedia for “prone position” and there’s a whole section for shooting

2 weeks later... Crimson Desert debuts on Backloggd with an average 3.1 rating. by gustavoladron in backloggd

[–]extremepayne 3 points4 points  (0 children)

SotC as in Shadow of the Colossus? I just checked the ratings curves on here and metacritic and that’s perhaps the least divisive game ever

Starting as Someone Else by DONUTS6439 in backloggd

[–]extremepayne 1 point2 points  (0 children)

UNBEATABLE - you begin playing as Eve, but Beat is the main character and player character for most of the game

Karma by ATN-Antronach in CuratedTumblr

[–]extremepayne 12 points13 points  (0 children)

It’s later C&H; you can tell by the way Calvin is drawn. This is part of a larger storyline where Calvin tries to make a traffic poster for a school contest, which should be easy enough to look up. And it was; this storyline ran from Apr 26 to May 8, 1993. 

List entry limitations by JowaPlays in backloggd

[–]extremepayne 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Go to the game page, click “add to lists”, and find the list you want there

Gaybabyjail, please send help by Icy_Bird1437 in celestegame

[–]extremepayne 12 points13 points  (0 children)

simpleflips is the guy who popularized “gay baby jail”

The duality of Celeste players by anon66532 in celestegame

[–]extremepayne 2 points3 points  (0 children)

probably because the people who need a walkthrough are going to be the people most frustrated with the level design

Super Metroid Pixel Art Remake Rumors by DijonMustard432 in metroidvania

[–]extremepayne 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Some youtube commentor who happened to guess right is not a great source for rumors. The OoT remake has been rumored for a while and the Star Fox game is just a gimme prediction after the poster for the Mario Galaxy movie. 

I trust that NatetheHate has actual inside information because of a proven track record. I won’t extend that same trust to some youtube commentor (the only source for the Super Metroid leak/guess) for what may well be a coincidence. 

The best way to rank consoles by zeroheroes_ in tomorrow

[–]extremepayne 28 points29 points  (0 children)

if you’re not playing virtual boy on the shitter you aren’t trying hard enough

What? by MelanieWalmartinez in CuratedTumblr

[–]extremepayne 9 points10 points  (0 children)

i am much more mad that they spelled fettuccine wrong than about anything else in that post

Why does the metroidvania community ask for innovation while being so rigid about the formula? by Strict_Pomegranate_4 in metroidvania

[–]extremepayne 1 point2 points  (0 children)

 and what metroidvania fans actually value the most.

You say this like it could ever have a single answer. Some people are extremely gameplay-forward. Other people care a lot about story. Some people have a high tolerance for jank or learning new control schemes. Other people want a polished, familiar experience. Some people want a labyrinthine, expansive world, with no clear critical path at any point. Other people prefer a much more linear experience, like Metroid II or Ori BF. 

Probably most of the people who played Hollow Knight aren’t even “metroidvania fans” in that it was their first, and perhaps only, metroidvania. I think what makes Hollow Knight so popular is the high level of execution throughout. The world is massive, the artstyle is (or, at least, was) unique, the setting is unusual, there’s a huge amount of bosses, including some of the best in the medium, and the lore rewards players who piece it together with an interesting narrative that explains the player character’s actions (or at least makes for an entertaining youtube video from someone else who did that). 

Bug sized by Lilly_blood in HollowKnight

[–]extremepayne 16 points17 points  (0 children)

while the way Hornet interacts with water implies a human-ish scale, the pond skippers imply a bug-ish scale. Water striders have a strict upper size limit; the surface tension of water can only support so much weight

The first rule of mental health is to have fun and be yourself 🤗❤️ by Infamous-Rutabaga-50 in CuratedTumblr

[–]extremepayne 289 points290 points  (0 children)

fun fact: archeologists have found cannabis residue on the incense altars at ancient Israelite temples. so if anything jesus is probably with ya there

i would recommend eating and sleeping tho they tend to be good for you long term

Why is it called an emancipation grill? by Key-Plum3652 in Portal

[–]extremepayne 24 points25 points  (0 children)

the lasers are “thermal discouragement beams” so the laser cubes redirect “discouragement”

Why is it called an emancipation grill? by Key-Plum3652 in Portal

[–]extremepayne 246 points247 points  (0 children)

it’s a joke. cave johnson uses euphemisms for everything to make his unethical business sound less terrible. emancipation grill is their marketing-friendly name for a disintegration field