On Progression in Games

So how big is your backlog?

I’d like to think that the answer to that varies from one gamer to another, but there are some constants.  Not to open myself up for a heaping helping of Foot in Mouth Stew, but I’d imagine that there’s at least one game that everybody has on the backburner.  Then again, that might be a conservative estimate; with Steam long since established -- along with some pretty generous sales -- maybe plenty of folks are drowning in games.

I’m not in so dire a situation, but there’s a healthy list of games from the past year that I seriously need to get to.  Honestly (and distressingly), there are games from years long since passed that I need to get to -- which by extension means that I need to start over on several games, because they’ve got more dust on them than intact memories.  That makes me wonder if I can be relevant if I talk about games between “recent” and “classic” -- inasmuch as I can be relevant -- but based on my gaming recently, I think I might have figured something out about myself.

D.O.X. is Dead #9: Coolness and Drive

Wait.  Who is writing this?

Such a lust for page views…WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO?

Oh, wait.  It’s me.  I’m writing this -- post #666, as it so happens.  So let’s make it special, shall we?

PS4nukkah: Metal Gear Solid V

You know, there’s something that’s been on my mind recently.

If you’re reading this post, then you’re probably aware of the current trends in the game industry.  One of the biggies right now: open-world games, for better or worse.  It makes sense for the subgenre to gain some traction, though; setting aside graphical power, the best way to prove the evolution of the medium (technologically or otherwise) is to increase the scale.  We’re thirty years out from the left-to-right stages of Super Mario Bros., so the assumption is that a bigger world = a better game.  And I mean assumption.

By now, gamers have caught on to the issues.  Sure, worlds are getting bigger and players can explore more of them -- but so what?  On one hand, you’ve got the Assassin’s Creed franchise, which puts out these massive, lavishly-rendered, intensively-researched historical cities one year after another -- and instead of being playgrounds that sate the mind and soul, they’ve long since devolved into repetitive chore simulators and window dressing.  Meanwhile, the recent Batman games went from the tightly-knit and small-scale Arkham Asylum to the bank-busting and bloated Arkham Knight; it had a big world and sheer graphical horsepower, but at the cost of a good story, good gameplay, and a game that didn’t have to shoehorn the Batmobile into every situation.  (Again, WHY do you have to drag the Batmobile up a building when you have the Batplane?)

I guess what I’m getting at here is this: are video games getting too big?  And of course, MGSV is here to provide one possible answer.

It’s Super Dynamic Controversy Time!

Oh wait, what am I saying?  It’s always Super Dynamic Controversy Time.  I’m just taking time out to highlight it because -- well, why not?

Obviously, I’m prone to thinking about video games, and thinking hard about them.  I want the medium to evolve and reach its full potential, even if the journey to that ideal form is rough and sluggish.  Certain mindsets and practices aren’t helping, though; big businesses aren’t always the most eager to explore the art forms, but it’s not as if we can blame the suits for all of gaming’s ills.  Problems exist on, and are exacerbated by, people on every rung of the ladder.  The sooner everyone understands that, the better off we’ll all be.  Self-reflection, open-mindedness, et cetera, et cetera.

I’ll come back to that later on.  But for now, let’s talk about Metal Gear and gigantic asses.  Given sneaking suits of games past, those two are far from mutually exclusive.

ShootStravaganza!! MGS5: Ground Zeroes

Cripes.  How do you even talk about this game?

The only way you can is the obvious way -- by bringing up the fact that it’s a forty dollar demo.  And it IS a forty dollar demo, without question.  That’s literally the only reason it exists, even if it’s got a spiffy title independent of the upcoming The Phantom Pain.  And it’s not a justified existence by any means, believe you me.  Remember, I’m the guy who raised a stink over The Last of Us and its DLC -- fifteen dollars for maybe an hour and a half of cutscenes, and maybe thirty minutes of gameplay.  So I can’t in good faith recommend Ground Zeroes to anyone.

And jeez, does this set one hell of a bad precedent.  Konami and crew likely only did it because they needed to restock the war chest, and they figured with the MGS name attached, they could get away with it.  And they did.  Even if some people raised complaints, others -- and plenty of them, by the sound of it -- spoke with the one thing that mattered: their wallets.  So I guess this is the new standard now.  I take issues with games like Destiny offering access to its beta demo solely by preordering the game (and “subtly” pushing a thought-free purchase under the idea that “eh, I already preordered it, so I might as well keep it”), but that’s a saintly practice compared to Ground Zeroes. 

Now.  Let’s talk about the actual game.

"War has changed."

It’s not about nations, or ideologies.  It’s not even about profit, resources, or…et cetera, et cetera.

You know, it really says a lot about the mindsets behind certain development teams -- and to some extent, entire cultures -- when you’ve got Metal Gear Solid 4 claiming that “war has changed” and Fallout 3 claiming that “war never changes”.  And it’s almost funny how the first lines of two really good games start with words in complete opposition from one another.  It’s enough to discuss at length in a well-planned and in-depth blog post…at least, it would be if MGS4 wasn’t about five years old and it’s already been talked about to the point of excess.  Ah, if only I’d started blogging a half-decade earlier…and I had the power to pre-empt every discussion ever to appear on the internet.

Well, whatever.  As you can probably guess, I finally got around to trying Metal Gear Solid 4.  I didn’t have a PS3 when it first came out, and while my brother borrowed a copy of the game from a friend once we did have one, I didn’t even get around to touching it.  I was content with watching, laughing along with him, and falling asleep during a cutscene that had to be about an hour long.  (I seem to be really good at falling asleep on floors.)  But as I’ve said in the past, I’ve always had a fondness for the Metal Gear franchise, even if every experience I’ve had with the games has led to sequences straight out of a Hanna-Barbera cartoon.  MGS4 is no different.  I’ve just scratched the surface of it, but I find it incredibly intriguing.  Stealth-bungler or not, I’d definitely like to play it at least a little more.

Because whether or not you think “war has changed”, there’s even more to think about.  Maybe something everyone should think about.

I Hraet You, Revengeance

Confession time: this was originally going to be a post dedicated solely to I Hraet You.

I’ve been thinking about the story a lot recently and what I want to do next.  I have a pretty solid idea of where this next chunk of chapters will go; whereas the first part was all about Lloyd discovering his powers and the stakes and consequences, this one will have him put his skills to the test.  He’ll have to become aware of his weaknesses -- even those that he didn’t know existed (and if you’re savvy enough, you’ve probably figured out what one of them might be).  He’ll have to put himself out there to “save” people he couldn’t save before.  And most of all, he’ll take a step forward in realizing his dream…and building the unbridled world of love he so…uh…loves.

There are still things that I need to do, though, and I’ll get to them in a moment.  But there’s been a slight change of plans.  See, I tried out Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance not too long ago, and if you’ve been following this blog you may know that I’ve been very concerned about it.  I’ve been worried about its quality, its reception, its status relative to the less-than-pleasant DmC, and its effect on me.  Would I end up hating it?  Would I end up being ousted as a hypocrite?  Would I tear apart a game that seemed like the last bastion of stylish crazy action?

Several times in the past -- and here on this very blog -- I said something like “Let’s see how Metal Gear Rising turns out.”  Well, it’s out.

And it is amazing.

Let’s discuss a whole bunch of video games.

In the immortal words of Chef Gordon Ramsay, “I’m going to do something I’ve never ever done before.”  How often that’s the case is up for debate, but who am I to deride such a well-renowned chef?  And by the same token, a man whose rage constantly keeps him in Super Saiyan mode?

In any case, there are a number of things that I’m in the mood to talk about, but only tangentially; that is, I don’t feel like there’s enough meat right now to turn any one of the games into a three-thousand word dissection.  Plus I’m working on some other projects right now -- I Hraet You, The Manly Song Repository, and a “certain something” especially -- so I’d prefer not to get too distracted.

So let’s get this thing going, yes?  Expediency, ho!