semroolvink
This review contains spoilers
I don't think any sequel deserves to be called "GAME 2" more than this one. because damn, that sure is a second spider-man game. more of a decent but ultimately kinda generic narrative; more collectathon sidequests; more mary jane stealth sections for some reason; more combat so overstuffed with enemy variations it becomes a fucking math equation by the end.
seriously though, the one thing i wanted from this sequel was normal sidequests like the arkham games. the moment he picked up a sandman crystal and said "i should find more of these around the city" i wanted to walk directly into the ocean.
and to the guy on the dev team who played a fromsoft game and wanted to include parrying, fuck you
seriously though, the one thing i wanted from this sequel was normal sidequests like the arkham games. the moment he picked up a sandman crystal and said "i should find more of these around the city" i wanted to walk directly into the ocean.
and to the guy on the dev team who played a fromsoft game and wanted to include parrying, fuck you
I had a debate with a friend once about whether writing can be taught. She was convinced you could and mentioned stuff like the Hero's Journey, all these templates for stories and this (annoyingly false) idea that in the end all stories are based off of that. It scared me that she, a fellow creative, could think like that; that stories can just be made of building blocks, that there's a 'logic' to twists or reveals. Because when you think that way, you're thinking of a story like a technician, not anyone who's actually interested in creating any real emotion or character.
I get what you're trying to do. But outside of the idea just being tired at this point -- we've had so many revenge stories in the past decade, let alone the larger pantheon of storytelling -- it's just not a well-written story and its told even worse. Every twist or plot development feels like a poorly executed trick with no soul or weight to it.
The idea that this won prizes for its story proves Hollywood's idea that AI can replace writers. It's a low point for narrative video games, and probably video games in general.
I get what you're trying to do. But outside of the idea just being tired at this point -- we've had so many revenge stories in the past decade, let alone the larger pantheon of storytelling -- it's just not a well-written story and its told even worse. Every twist or plot development feels like a poorly executed trick with no soul or weight to it.
The idea that this won prizes for its story proves Hollywood's idea that AI can replace writers. It's a low point for narrative video games, and probably video games in general.
2023
Yes, I'm one of the ones who started FE at Three Houses. And if Engage is a "return to form" like so many say it is, I think I'll stick to Three Houses for the time being.
Gameplay's fine, it always is. But God this game is fucking boring. It's the most basic, banal story you could come up with for a fantasy world. It feels so dreadfully uninspired and derivative, it blows me mind to think this came out in 2023. I gave up when they did the "bad guy stunned by villain's evilness and sides with heroes" gag for like the 17th fucking time.
It's also extremely linear which is hugely disappointing after 3H's replayability. With a story like this that lacks any weight and only ever develops into the most predictable and uninteresting plot revelations or twists, there's absolutely nothing to make you want to move forward.
And those character designs. Fucking hell. At least Genshin Impact is free.
Gameplay's fine, it always is. But God this game is fucking boring. It's the most basic, banal story you could come up with for a fantasy world. It feels so dreadfully uninspired and derivative, it blows me mind to think this came out in 2023. I gave up when they did the "bad guy stunned by villain's evilness and sides with heroes" gag for like the 17th fucking time.
It's also extremely linear which is hugely disappointing after 3H's replayability. With a story like this that lacks any weight and only ever develops into the most predictable and uninteresting plot revelations or twists, there's absolutely nothing to make you want to move forward.
And those character designs. Fucking hell. At least Genshin Impact is free.
2015
I'm joining the war on narrative games, and I'm on the side of narrative. Before I ever really got serious about video games, I was serious about books and film, and like those mediums it's story that piques my interest.
Undeniably, Undertale is one of the most interesting narratively-driven games of the last decade. It's probably the most I've ever played a game I did not like, having done several playthroughs, neutral or pacifist or genocide, waiting for it all to "click". But it just won't. Why not?
I'll say that I thoroughly enjoy the gameplay and think it works perfectly as an example of narrative gameplay integration, and is used consistently and intelligently throughout. But paradoxically, in a game that encourages you to avoid combat, it's these moments where the characters get the most personality; their attack patterns and even their projectiles say more about them in a language unique to this game than their dialogue ever could.
It's appropriate that this game is so strongly associated with an auteur, because even moreso than the amount of times you'll see his name pop in the credits as composer or designer or writer or caterer, it becomes very obvious very fast that this game is only really meant to appeal to one kind of person. (Well, two kinds of people. Furries also exist.)
As someone else said in their review of this game, you should indeed not let one annoying fandom ruin your perception of a game, and I wish it was as simple as ignoring Tumblr's collective opinion. The problem is that this game was only ever meant to be FOR Tumblr, or more specifically the kind of person that Tumblr has cultivated; someone who thinks a character's likeability comes from them being 'adorkable' and not any kind of dramatic pathos or arc or actual character, someone who calls dogs 'doggos' and 'puppers', someone who spends six dollars on laptop stickers that say inane phrases like "why be moody when you can shake that booty".
A difference in humor is one thing -- though I'd argue it's still justifiably off-putting, considering how much of this game is reliant on its humor, to the point of stopping gameplay dead in its tracks to dedicate time to the kind of weak character skits you see in rejected SNL auditions -- but within this setting, it is crucial that you enjoy such humor and characterization if you hope to get any kind of mileage out of the game's narrative.
Which is a shame, because the game does have some true highs; the combat system allows for an exploration of morality with some genuine weight to your actions, there's clearly been a lot of thought put into the mechanics of this world and how consequences develop throughout the story. But it's ultimately at the service of very little; you will only root for Sans if you enjoy puns, you will only care about Napstablook if you unironically have Daria as your Twitter icon, you will only care for Alphys if you are the kind of unbearable nerd who sees themselves as an anime protagonist and not, you know, a fucking annoying prick.
Differences in humor tend to be the main reason people conflict about melo-dramedy stories like BoJack Horseman or Fleabag. Because humor and drama are interwoven in these stories and end up being celebrate to making each other work, which becomes hard to breach for an audience if they just don't enjoy your chosen method of comedy (pop culture references in BoJack or fourth wall breaking in Fleabag, for example). It works for these shows because, like the humor, the drama is very personal as well. Undertale on the other hand combines very personal humor with large sweeping statements about morality, postmodernism, ludonarrative dissonance, very large lofty themes that have to co-exist with pretty braindead humor like "what if the rock wouldn't stay put, LOL".
At its most egregious it suggests a kind of ego on behalf of the creators, that there never was a true conversation about these decisions concerning the narrative, or even that there was no one around to challenge these ideas. A lot of this feels adolescent and juvenile, especially compared to its successor Deltarune, which has demonstrated far stronger capabilities of self-awareness and actual character development.
In the end, Undertale falls in line with a game like Borderlands; decent to play, but god I wish it was written by anyone else.
Undeniably, Undertale is one of the most interesting narratively-driven games of the last decade. It's probably the most I've ever played a game I did not like, having done several playthroughs, neutral or pacifist or genocide, waiting for it all to "click". But it just won't. Why not?
I'll say that I thoroughly enjoy the gameplay and think it works perfectly as an example of narrative gameplay integration, and is used consistently and intelligently throughout. But paradoxically, in a game that encourages you to avoid combat, it's these moments where the characters get the most personality; their attack patterns and even their projectiles say more about them in a language unique to this game than their dialogue ever could.
It's appropriate that this game is so strongly associated with an auteur, because even moreso than the amount of times you'll see his name pop in the credits as composer or designer or writer or caterer, it becomes very obvious very fast that this game is only really meant to appeal to one kind of person. (Well, two kinds of people. Furries also exist.)
As someone else said in their review of this game, you should indeed not let one annoying fandom ruin your perception of a game, and I wish it was as simple as ignoring Tumblr's collective opinion. The problem is that this game was only ever meant to be FOR Tumblr, or more specifically the kind of person that Tumblr has cultivated; someone who thinks a character's likeability comes from them being 'adorkable' and not any kind of dramatic pathos or arc or actual character, someone who calls dogs 'doggos' and 'puppers', someone who spends six dollars on laptop stickers that say inane phrases like "why be moody when you can shake that booty".
A difference in humor is one thing -- though I'd argue it's still justifiably off-putting, considering how much of this game is reliant on its humor, to the point of stopping gameplay dead in its tracks to dedicate time to the kind of weak character skits you see in rejected SNL auditions -- but within this setting, it is crucial that you enjoy such humor and characterization if you hope to get any kind of mileage out of the game's narrative.
Which is a shame, because the game does have some true highs; the combat system allows for an exploration of morality with some genuine weight to your actions, there's clearly been a lot of thought put into the mechanics of this world and how consequences develop throughout the story. But it's ultimately at the service of very little; you will only root for Sans if you enjoy puns, you will only care about Napstablook if you unironically have Daria as your Twitter icon, you will only care for Alphys if you are the kind of unbearable nerd who sees themselves as an anime protagonist and not, you know, a fucking annoying prick.
Differences in humor tend to be the main reason people conflict about melo-dramedy stories like BoJack Horseman or Fleabag. Because humor and drama are interwoven in these stories and end up being celebrate to making each other work, which becomes hard to breach for an audience if they just don't enjoy your chosen method of comedy (pop culture references in BoJack or fourth wall breaking in Fleabag, for example). It works for these shows because, like the humor, the drama is very personal as well. Undertale on the other hand combines very personal humor with large sweeping statements about morality, postmodernism, ludonarrative dissonance, very large lofty themes that have to co-exist with pretty braindead humor like "what if the rock wouldn't stay put, LOL".
At its most egregious it suggests a kind of ego on behalf of the creators, that there never was a true conversation about these decisions concerning the narrative, or even that there was no one around to challenge these ideas. A lot of this feels adolescent and juvenile, especially compared to its successor Deltarune, which has demonstrated far stronger capabilities of self-awareness and actual character development.
In the end, Undertale falls in line with a game like Borderlands; decent to play, but god I wish it was written by anyone else.
2010
daffy i know you're reading this. when are we playing this again.
bought this once because it was the top-rated VN on steam, at least at the time. not really my thing, but if you like visual novels you'll probably enjoy this. i was expecting more from the narrative, hoping it'd do something new with the concept, but in the end it's all decently predictable. that's not bad per se, much of the game's runtime is spent on building the relationship between you and lucy, which is fine, just not my cup of tea. if you enjoy stories focused solely on one relationship dragged out to hell you might like it.
2020
British.
2012
you people don't deserve the word "pretentious"
all clicks when you find out the annoying one who keeps finding his way into every fucking scene is also the writer
2021
an instant classic!