Games are scarier when they cause you to scare yourself, usually by doubting yourself. Shadows just out of vision. Noises that you aren't quite sure are ambient. Silhouettes in the distance that vanish as you approach. That aching fear that you're going to interact with something against the wall, turn around, and OH SHIT IT'S RIGHT THERE AHHHHH!
But if it is actually there, you get surprise. To get fear, it must never appear. The longer it is not there, and yet the fear of it is maintained, the more your dear player will start to doubt himself, dread turning his back on doorways, and scurry like a rat along walls.
Games are scarier when they cause you to scare yourself, usually by doubting yourself. Shadows just out of vision. Noises that you aren't quite sure are ambient. Silhouettes in the distance that vanish as you approach. That aching fear that you're going to interact with something against the wall, turn around, and OH SHIT IT'S RIGHT THERE AHHHHH!
But ifitisactuallythere, you get surprise. To get fear,itmust never appear. The longer it is not there, and yet the fear of it is maintained, the more your dear player will start to doubt himself, dread turning his back on doorways, and scurry like a rat along walls.
This is what is doing it for me. So many survival horror video games end up being you with a gun blasting things that jump out at you. What is scaring the piss out of me in Amnesia is that there is absolutely no way to fight back. You have to haul ass and hide. The fact that the monsters, which I have yet to see, are only hinted at so far and the fact that I am constantly peeking around every corner and door knowing that something out there wants to do serious bodily damage to me is what intensifies the experience. It's the constant worry that something will suddenly appear and try to eat my face. Like I said, all that's been really actively scary is the environment. The ambient sounds and subtly warping camera are great tools, and the active things that have happened, like I said, are that two doors have creaked opened on their own. I, being certain something was going to step out and try to murder me, froze each time in a shadow and waited for several minutes,convinced that the second I approached the door, death would be right there with a "how-de-doo". That's why the game is scaring the piss out of me. I got into it. Scott's argument will likely be that a game should require no 'getting in to' and a good game will do it by itself.
If you don't like that I pass judgement on a demo, and you think my judgement of the full version will be different, then blame the demo, not me. Or better yet, don't have a demo at all.
Wait, Why would we blame the Demo? You're the one being presumptuous and arrogant enough to pass judgement on games after just playing the demo. Nobody asked you to play every game ever published - Just stop being a jackass and passing judgement on something you haven't actually played.
Or, to pose it back to you in the same manner you pose it to us - If you don't like being called out and made fun of for passing judgement on a game after only playing the demo, then stop doing it. Don't blame us, Blame yourself for doing it, or better yet, don't do it at all.
TL:DR BIT THAT ISN'T ENTIRELY NECESSARY FOLLOWS
You can play a very small sample of a game and understand its mechanics completely. And from that, you can pass a judgement.
Except, as the example from when you played the Arkham Asylum demo and though it was a beat 'em up shows, that's not really the case - as has been mentioned, it's not even a Beat 'em up. If the demo was enough to pass judgement, you'd have known that beforehand.
Now, it is not unheard of for a game demo to not actually resemble the real game in any way shape or form. Imagine a demo of Actraiser that did not include the town portion of the game. Or imagine a demo of Earthbound that consisted of just one turn-based combat. A demo can leave so much out that you really don't know what the game is about because the demo was too extremely limited. In these cases, I will knowingly do the unfair thing and judge the game by the demo anyway.
Absolutely. That's the point, Scott - to show off a little bit of the game and the mechanics of the game, to hopefully get you interested enough to buy it. But the point is, they don't give you everything that's in the entire game, not just by length, but most of the time, the mechanics.
The publisher/developer put that demo out there intentionally. They are saying that that is a sample of their game.
Oh, Good! You've got it now! Let's see where you're going with this.
If they are lying, that's not my problem.
Oh. Just when I got my hopes up. No, Scott, Let me lay it out for you - If you play the demo, and Pass judgement on the Full game because of that, and your judgement is wrong or inaccurate, then that's YOUR fault, because YOU were dumb enough and Presumptuous enough to pass judgement on a game you didn't play, because you played a small sample of some of the things it had to offer.
That demo is what I have to go by. If I don't like it, I'm certainly not going to pay for their game, nor am I going to invest any time into that game. I have thousands of other games to play. If a demo sucks, that's pretty much game over right there. Will I misjudge a game now and then? Probably, but it's no loss. I have a zillion other great games to play, missing a few will not hurt.
Now you're starting to get the point back - If you don't like a demo, you think it's not for you, More power to you, brother. Shit, I've lost count of the demos I've downloaded, played, and then deleted because it just wasn't my thing, and I didn't like what was presented to me in the demo. But If someone asks me my opinion about that game, or I have the opportunity to offer it, you know what I say? I say "Yeah, I played the demo and didn't like it much, but I haven't played the full game, so I don't really know." You know why? Because that's quite simply the truth. I didn't like the demo, and I haven't played the game. It doesn't mean the game is necessarily bad, or good. Just that the demo is good or bad.
Most importantly, it's not like I'm those people who get paid to review games who only played one level and then wrote a review for a magazine. I'm just some guy on the Internet, and I also happen to be fully disclosing that I played only the demo. That's more than you'll get from most so-called video game journalists.
Err, if you're actually employed as a game journalist, and you're not honest that you only played the demo, then you're A)Not a journalist and B)Probably not working for anything bigger or more serious than "Bob's game blog", readership three, including you and bob. Not disclosing that sort of thing is just not done by any professional journalists, because unlike yourself, they are actually obligated to hold themselves to a standard of honesty and disclosure, because as you said, you're not a journalist. I will add, I don't think you've ever really been one, either.
I beat Arkham Asylum. It needs to be more open. Other than, that A+ for controls and mechanics.
I'll agree on that. Some of the areas do get a wee bit stale, too, and the final boss battle is a joke. All in all, good game, and admirable for a first time outing, but not perfect.
Went to a friend's house for new years and we saw in the new year by finishing off The Gaurdian of Light. Good game, though I think they need to make the enemies more puzzly and less spongey, e.g. Enemies that only die from a particular combo but do so quickly.
I can admit that Golden Sun DS is pretty easy, but there's a certain amount of charm that comes with it. It really gives you a somewhat visceral feeling of power over your opponents.
For some reason, it doesn't necessarily feel cheap. It just feels explosive and fun.
I got Pokemon HeartGold recently, and have put four hours into it so far. Not much yet, but I really can't understand why it took me so long to ever play these games. I also just got Tatsunoko vs Capcom. Is it just me, or is the one player mode hard? I have it on the lowest difficulty, and still had to use multiple continues on Arcade mode. It's probably just because I'm not used to Capcom fighting games (this is the first one I've ever played), and I just need to practice.
I completed Bioshock. Now on to Bioshock 2, and Torchlight, and Amnesia, and all the other games I have to finish. I probably won't be done until the next Steam sale.
So I beat Witcher, which had a very satisfying ending. (I'm going to wait a bit before I do the extra content) and now I'm moving through my backlog to Jade Empire. Where I sent like 45 minutes trying to beat the opening major fight.. on NORMAL.. this maybe a long game for me ^_^. (on the Queue after that is KOTOR)
Playing a bit of BF2:BC, random Call of duty games and Super Meat boy. So many games so little time.
Apparently I need to stop playing Assassin's Creed II on weeknights. I just can't stop playing that game once I start, and the next thing I know it's 3am. It's been years since a game has done that to me.
Apparently I need to stop playing Assassin's Creed II on weeknights. I just can't stop playing that game once I start, and the next thing I know it's 3am. It's been years since a game has done that to me.
Good thing is that, that way it doesn't last too long so you can't do that for too many nights.
Apparently I need to stop playing Assassin's Creed II on weeknights. I just can't stop playing that game once I start, and the next thing I know it's 3am. It's been years since a game has done that to me.
Good thing is that, that way it doesn't last too long so you can't do that for too many nights.
I actually stopped playing because I was reaching the double-digit chapters and didn't want the game to be over. ^_^
Way too much stuff to do in Red Dead Redemption (playing it on PS3). It's easy to get immersed and just ride your horse and do side missions forever. This type of sensory overload is why I never really got into any of the GTA games, but for some reason it doesn't bother me in Red Dead. Maybe because John Marston is so chill. Like me :-p
Way too much stuff to do inRed Dead Redemption(playing it on PS3). It's easy to get immersed and just ride your horse and do side missions forever. This type of sensory overload is why I never really got into any of theGTAgames, but for some reason it doesn't bother me inRed Dead. Maybe because John Marston is so chill. Like me :-p
I'm trying to change my life away from being a murdering son of a bitch, and I'll murder every son of a bitch in the southern united states and mexico to do it! OOOH! LOOK, Wild sage.
Comments
Games are scarier when they cause you to scare yourself, usually by doubting yourself. Shadows just out of vision. Noises that you aren't quite sure are ambient. Silhouettes in the distance that vanish as you approach. That aching fear that you're going to interact with something against the wall, turn around, and OH SHIT IT'S RIGHT THERE AHHHHH!
But if it is actually there, you get surprise. To get fear, it must never appear. The longer it is not there, and yet the fear of it is maintained, the more your dear player will start to doubt himself, dread turning his back on doorways, and scurry like a rat along walls.
What is scaring the piss out of me in Amnesia is that there is absolutely no way to fight back. You have to haul ass and hide. The fact that the monsters, which I have yet to see, are only hinted at so far and the fact that I am constantly peeking around every corner and door knowing that something out there wants to do serious bodily damage to me is what intensifies the experience. It's the constant worry that something will suddenly appear and try to eat my face.
Like I said, all that's been really actively scary is the environment. The ambient sounds and subtly warping camera are great tools, and the active things that have happened, like I said, are that two doors have creaked opened on their own. I, being certain something was going to step out and try to murder me, froze each time in a shadow and waited for several minutes,convinced that the second I approached the door, death would be right there with a "how-de-doo".
That's why the game is scaring the piss out of me. I got into it.
Scott's argument will likely be that a game should require no 'getting in to' and a good game will do it by itself.
I shall try the full game (sans demo) and see.
Or, to pose it back to you in the same manner you pose it to us - If you don't like being called out and made fun of for passing judgement on a game after only playing the demo, then stop doing it. Don't blame us, Blame yourself for doing it, or better yet, don't do it at all.
TL:DR BIT THAT ISN'T ENTIRELY NECESSARY FOLLOWS Except, as the example from when you played the Arkham Asylum demo and though it was a beat 'em up shows, that's not really the case - as has been mentioned, it's not even a Beat 'em up. If the demo was enough to pass judgement, you'd have known that beforehand. Absolutely. That's the point, Scott - to show off a little bit of the game and the mechanics of the game, to hopefully get you interested enough to buy it. But the point is, they don't give you everything that's in the entire game, not just by length, but most of the time, the mechanics. Oh, Good! You've got it now! Let's see where you're going with this. Oh. Just when I got my hopes up. No, Scott, Let me lay it out for you - If you play the demo, and Pass judgement on the Full game because of that, and your judgement is wrong or inaccurate, then that's YOUR fault, because YOU were dumb enough and Presumptuous enough to pass judgement on a game you didn't play, because you played a small sample of some of the things it had to offer. Now you're starting to get the point back - If you don't like a demo, you think it's not for you, More power to you, brother. Shit, I've lost count of the demos I've downloaded, played, and then deleted because it just wasn't my thing, and I didn't like what was presented to me in the demo. But If someone asks me my opinion about that game, or I have the opportunity to offer it, you know what I say? I say "Yeah, I played the demo and didn't like it much, but I haven't played the full game, so I don't really know."
You know why? Because that's quite simply the truth. I didn't like the demo, and I haven't played the game. It doesn't mean the game is necessarily bad, or good. Just that the demo is good or bad. Err, if you're actually employed as a game journalist, and you're not honest that you only played the demo, then you're A)Not a journalist and B)Probably not working for anything bigger or more serious than "Bob's game blog", readership three, including you and bob. Not disclosing that sort of thing is just not done by any professional journalists, because unlike yourself, they are actually obligated to hold themselves to a standard of honesty and disclosure, because as you said, you're not a journalist. I will add, I don't think you've ever really been one, either.
Anyway, Geometry Wars, Garry's Mod, and Greed Corp are all awesome.
For some reason, it doesn't necessarily feel cheap. It just feels explosive and fun.
Edit: Shpida-man: Shattered Dimensions is also pretty fun. I just like having a pretty cool Spider-man themed platformer/beat-em-up.
Playing a bit of BF2:BC, random Call of duty games and Super Meat boy. So many games so little time.