The Overrated Games Irony

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Author	Comment
TaroSH		#21	[-]
Posts: 2952 (01/10/09 11:34 PM) I Ain't Afraid of No Ghost Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	The most outstandish* things about ICO's graphics for me was how the color, size, and arrangement of the tiles on the walls around the main gate makes that area look like a giant bathroom, and the way Ico holds the stick/sword like an extension of his penis when he runs while holding Yorda's hand. * I say "outstandish" because while I think "outstanding" would work and sound better, it's also ambiguous. And the soundtrack was forgettable ambient noodling. And I'm sorry, but when Yorda puts Ico in the boat, pushes him off, and says something in her language, I imagined her saying "Go down the stream an' tell 'em. Go down the stream an' rot an' tell 'em that way. That's the way you can talk." That said, I don't hold ICO with nearly as much contempt as I do Shadow of the Colossus. Both offended me, but ICO didn't do it maliciously. It was like it said something offhandedly that I happened to find offensive, wheras Colossus basically told me "fuck you" to my face. Last Edited By: TaroSH 01/10/09 11:37 PM. Edited 1 times.
greybob		#22	[-]
Posts: 1249 (01/11/09 12:45 AM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	Even funnier is the animation if you're carrying a bomb and holding Yorda's hand at the same time. Although I stand by what I said about the animations between both Ico and Yorda, some of Ico's animations alone are kind of weird, like when you pull a crate (which you end up doing ALOT. :P) The part of the ending I found most effective was when you defeat the Queen. Ico stabs her through the chest, then she says "You can't save her... Even if you take...my life!" Chilling. I've still yet to play SotC, like I said I already own it. But the more I read your comments, Taro, the more my expetations drop. Thanks alot. :P
TaroSH		#23	[-]
Posts: 2952 (01/11/09 1:34 AM) I Ain't Afraid of No Ghost Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	Scroll down to #1 if you want to see me really tear into it.
greybob		#24	[-]
Posts: 1249 (01/11/09 4:28 AM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	I haven't played many of the games on your list, but of the games I have played, I have to disagree with you on all of them but one: Portrait of Ruin. I agree that this game was okay, but it really could have been much better. All I ever heard about the game was "You can jump into the paintings!" like this was some sort of feature never before seen in a video game. That, and Charlotte is completely worthless except for over-powered tag attacks and the boss of the pyramid painting. I hate it when games give you multiple characters, but you only ever end up using one. Although I disagree with your list, you're entitled to your opinion, but I don't think you need me to tell you that. About the camera in SotC: Is it worse than the camera in any given Tomb Raider game? I think that's the bar for which every game should be judged. Those comments you mentioned about people taking the flaws in the game and turning them into praise were hilarious. Have people actually told you things like "It's supposed to look like shit! That's the beauty of it!" and "The stiff controls are just because it controls like a real horse!"
TaroSH		#25	[-]
Posts: 2952 (01/11/09 4:04 PM) I Ain't Afraid of No Ghost Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	This review has the line about justifying the horse's controls by saying it controls like a real horse. On the second page: That's the extent of the control you have, but it's an intensely interesting thing because he doesn't control like most other steeds in gaming. Instead of being able to turn on a dime or controlling with perfect precision like a car, riding on Agro actually feels like riding a horse. Two GameFAQs reviews I read also said it, but I'm not slogging through them to figure out which two they were. (Side note: There's other problems with that review I could go on about, like his use of bullshots and a few stellar lines Crawl has picked out like "gives off the impression of being literally tragic without actually being so," but I won't. I also have to wonder if that guy has ever driven from the line "controlling with perfect precision like a car", because cars can't turn on a dime either) And yes, people have told me things like "it's beautiful because it's so damn ugly" or "it's not ugly, it's STYLE" and have tried to justify the out of control bloom by telling me that's what the sun actually looks like which tells me they don't leave their houses that often, because the only two things I can imagine bloom simulating are a supernova and light diffusion through glass. One example was an arguement I had with the guy who wrote that review at a forum I haven't been to in over a year, so I'm sure you can find an example of it in the review. I'm personally not going through it because I've read it before and he probably thought people were going to take the "don't read this review, just go play the game" line at the top seriously and didn't bother to make it any more readable than your average GameFAQs review. To be honest, I've never played a Tomb Raider game and the only one I have is Tomb Raider Anniversary for the 360, which I believe is the remake of the first one. That said, Colossus has the worst camera I've yet dealt with in a game, but to be fair Mario Sunshine gives it a run for its money. (Worst camera I've ever dealt with was Cloverfield) Last Edited By: TaroSH 01/11/09 4:12 PM. Edited 3 times.
greybob		#26	[-]
Posts: 1249 (01/11/09 4:18 PM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	Damn, now I feel buyer's remorse, and I haven't even played the game. I think the reason SotC got so much praise was that everyone was trying to "make up" for the fact that ICO got overlooked. ICO is a game I'm glad to have played, but overall it's mediocre, and as I said, I wouldn't personnally call it art. In order a game to be "art," it has to be pitch-perfect in every field, including gameplay and overall design, like level design and controls. In order for this to be so, the game has to be shorter so that there's less margin for mistake. But, then the game gets derided for being too short, but it if it's TRULY art, I think the positives would would outweigh this. One can get around having to make gorgeous graphics and music by making these areas minimalistic, but then game designers usually make the mistake of simplifying the gameplay, as well. I don't think I've ever played a game that can truly be called art, but the potential is there. I have, however, played games with art in them, but that really doesn't count.
TaroSH		#27	[-]
Posts: 2952 (01/11/09 4:29 PM) I Ain't Afraid of No Ghost Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	Well, look at the bright side: when it went Greatest Hits, I bought a copy of Colossus for myself and also as a gift for my brother before I myself had even played it. Some time later when got his Wii and wanted some Gamecube suggestions. I told him I really hadn't played many GC games. He said for me to buy any Gamecube game he thinks I would like. I responded "After my experience with Shadow of the Colossus, I do not buy people games as gifts based on what others say"
greybob		#28	[-]
Posts: 1249 (01/11/09 4:50 PM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	I used to buy games based on brand recognition or licenses (I have a tragic past between me and license-based games; it's a long story.) Eventually I started going by magazine and internet reviews, but eventually realized that that didn't work, either, so now I just buy games that catch my eye. There's still problems with this, though. I never rent games, only buy them, and rarely resell them. Whenever I try to sell games, I only get maybe 7-15 dollars for a single game, so just keeping the crappy games seem more worth it. I WILL sell horrible games, though. Games I've sold include: .hack//INFECTION, Pac-Man World 2, Crash: Wrath of Cortex, and Spyro: Enter the Dragonfly. I bought these when I was in my "brand recognition phase." I don't rent games for 2 reasons: Game rental services suck and When I was younger, I'd rent games, hate them, but buy them anyways after returning the rental. Don't ask me why. I was a stupid kid. Speaking of overrating, and video-games as an art form, Roger Ebert's 4-star review of Wall-E is suspiciously devoid of any actual points, arguments, or observations. Very unusual for an Ebert review...
CLOUDBOND007		#29	[-]
Posts: 12352 (01/11/09 4:56 PM) Lunitari Mage Moderator Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	I've found Gamefly to be pretty good. The only real flaw is that they don't take your queue ordering that seriously so it's better to keep only games that you definitely want to play right now on your list. CB007's Review & GPT Archive CB007's Gaming BBS
Crawl and 1OOO		#30	[-]
Posts: 15594 (01/11/09 8:26 PM) Administrator Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite Ignore User's Posts	Ebert gave Wall E 3 1/2 stars, not 4, but I think it's becoming more common for his 4 star reviews to not really say much. I guess that's what happens when you give 4 stars to Ratatouille (which, rather than explain why the movie deserved 4 stars, he used as an opportunity to just make a series of jokes, like, "This is the establishment of Auguste Gusteau, author of the best-seller Anyone Can Cook, a title that might not go over very well in France, which is why the book appears to be in English, and might well be titled, Anyone Can Cook Better Than the English. (Famous British recipe: "Cook until gray.")"), or the remake (of a remake) of King Kong -- a movie a 4 star rating would be indefensible for, regardless of the writer. My (admittedly presumptuous) theory is that after he got cancer, he wanted to value life more, and it makes him less likely to criticize things. Another issue is that movies he gave lukewarm reviews early in his career to movies (The Godfather 2, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest) that became acknowledged classics, and in retrospect he could regret being hard on some movies. Last Edited By: Flying Omelette 01/11/09 10:46 PM. Edited 1 times.

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