I also haven't played Last of Us, and have no intention to.
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Giant Bomb #6 | You'd be hard pressed to find 10 better threads this year.
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I also haven't played Last of Us, and have no intention to.
Antiwhippy
the holder of the trombone
All except 1 really liking the game is being down on it now?
Objection
razgriz417
Member
Hahaha that sounds like an awesome idea
yeah
i can sit here and say i BLAME anyone for stopping playing a game they dont like
but i was super down on the first bit of the last of us, and it ended up being one of my favorite games of the year
LackingSaint
Neo Member
Jeff's response regarding whether he'll actually finish TLoU.
Definitely on two sides for this one. On one hand obviously Jeff shouldn't feel forced to complete a game if he genuinely isn't enjoying it, but on the other hand I love the GOTY Podcasts and I do agree things will be hindered if he has very little to say about a game everyone else seems to like quite a lot. Also, the events of the plot either will have to be talked around so it isn't spoiled for Jeff, or they'll just tell him what they are and he'll probably never even try to give the game another shot.
Definitely on two sides for this one. On one hand obviously Jeff shouldn't feel forced to complete a game if he genuinely isn't enjoying it, but on the other hand I love the GOTY Podcasts and I do agree things will be hindered if he has very little to say about a game everyone else seems to like quite a lot. Also, the events of the plot either will have to be talked around so it isn't spoiled for Jeff, or they'll just tell him what they are and he'll probably never even try to give the game another shot.
Perhaps I'm not remembering this correctly but wasn't he also dismissive of Red Dead even though he'd barely played any of it? It's one thing to play a bit of a game and stop because you don't like it but another to shit on it without having fully played it despite the fact your peers liked it a lot.
WrenchNinja
Member
Seriously. He should be psyched to get comments that he looks young.
SteveWinwood
Member
I have a really young face.
You just gotta keep reminding yourself you're gonna look 20 when you're like 40.
You just gotta keep reminding yourself you're gonna look 20 when you're like 40.
While GOTY means absolutely nothing outside of a few forum posts and such, it's definitely a shame that he won't get around to completing it. Essentially, if Jeff hasn't played it, it's got little chance to be in their #1 spot.
We shouldn't expect everyone to play every game released, that's a bit much, but we do know that this is a high profile game with a lot of support behind it - different perspectives should always be welcome - and the reasoning that his time is better spent elsewhere is an odd one to me, primarily because I don't recall this ever being the case. Hearing good things about AC4 caused all of the members to pick it up so they can share thoughts and compare criticisms. That would seem like it should apply to TLoU.
Antiwhippy
the holder of the trombone
Eh, it was the same thing with the walking dead last year.
Seriously though, if I actually care about having my favourite games be nominated for GOTY, I wouldn't visit giantbomb at all. The discussions still make it interesting, and I'd rather they have their own perspectives rather than be forced by the zeitgeist. Jeff in particular has always been... particular.
When those assholes barely even talked about botanicula I just sighed and moved on.
forgeforsaken
Member
I just hope Patrick got at least one other person to play The Swapper to completion. I think that game has an ending that is right up there with Gone Home and The Last of Us.
It did apply to TLOU. They all played it, and Jeff really disliked it.
I certainly cannot say how much he has played of the game, nor would I even speculate that. The game itself should be seen as a whole package, in my opinion, because of the narrative and where that goes. There are certainly games out there that can be played for an hour or so, you can get a feel of the mechanics, and be completely disinterested. I believe that this game only improves as it progresses though. The first few hours are not indicative of the rest of the experience.
I don't ever wish to force somebody to play/finish a game. I'm just saying it's disappointing that it may not be completed - especially when the harshest criticism of the game is that it gets better after the first few hours.
If a game doesn't resonate, then it just doesn't resonate. No harm, no foul.
EmCeeGramr
Member
i forget which year it was where nearly every award they discussed outside of goty and a few others went to games that only one of them played and had to convince the others that it was worthy
i know someone's going to say "every year" but i remember one year being particularly bad about it
i know someone's going to say "every year" but i remember one year being particularly bad about it
Mechanized
Member
Maybe it's because some people won't take someone seriously if they look too young. People correlate age with experience.
Yeah but then we're in a weird space where big budget games are being given priority.
Baron_Calamity
Member
I wonder who will keep things on track during the GOTY discussions without Ryan? I could see a single category going on for days.
mattiewheels
And then the LORD David Bowie saith to his Son, Jonny Depp: 'Go, and spread my image amongst the cosmos. For every living thing is in anguish and only the LIGHT shall give them reprieve.'
As a reporter/interviewer, I guess Patrick has a job that being taken seriously or looking seasoned is important. But everybody knows he's one of the best there is at what he does, so I doubt he thinks like that.
funkystudent
Member
We should move on from TLOU and start yelling at them to play Tearaway.
Or are they not in the mood for something that happy right now?
Or are they not in the mood for something that happy right now?
RepairmanJack
Member
I know this happened one year with Brad convincing everyone how good the Wii Silent Hill game was and Ryan convincing everyone about a Rabids game. Other than that I can't really remember if that happened with other categories that year.
Vinny seemed kind of meh on it.
That's an excellent point. I'd definitely want the smaller games to get some love too!
Vinny's playing through it right now but on the Bombcast he's sort of seeing it as a glorified demo
ShockingAlberto
Member
Patrick said his wife likes the goatee, what more reason does he need?
When a significant other says they like you clean-cut/with a certain facial hair, as long as it's not unreasonable and you like it, why not keep it.
When a significant other says they like you clean-cut/with a certain facial hair, as long as it's not unreasonable and you like it, why not keep it.
funkystudent
Member
Vinny's playing through it right now but on the Bombcast he's sort of seeing it as a glorified demo
Aww. Havent listened yet.
Thats a bummer.
There is no need to keep things on track. The madness shall runneth over and spill forth in to the ears of the unsuspecting.
It's an odd criticism to me only because, for the last year, we hear concern that the Vita has no games that are only playable on that platform, but when one finally shows, it's a tech demo! I should be getting it today so I'll be able to speak from personal experience soon.
I really hesitate to be mean, and maybe it's unfair, but compared to other video game journalists, yes, Patrick is one of the best there is. But compared to some of the more demanding general print publications out there (not video game centric), he has a lot to improve. Or, well, he wrote some things that would simply not fly there.
But hell, I guess 95% of all journalists ever cannot compare to those view elite magazines and newspapers, so whatever. The state of journalism in general seems pretty terrible to me.
Oh, and in case someone wants to know what I think he shouldn't do anymore, I think he is improving already, but he really needs to be careful with some of the words he uses. "systematic misogynist gamedesign" is one that I have a hard time believing someone would seriously use. So there is a system in place that results in games being designed in a women hating fashion? Or how else am I supposed to understand that?
Also less calling other peoples games, interests creative works "disgusting", please. It's not helping anyone.
Jeff basically said on the podcast that he was hooked by the story early on, but found the game tedious to play. If that's his experience, that's his experience. The blame can be laid squarely at Naughty Dog's feet for failing to make TLOU more engaging as a game (at least early on). You certainly can't fault Jeff for not wanting to keep playing a game he didn't find enjoyable.
I've had a similar experience with it, and part of me wants to power through to see the better parts of the game, but most of me wants to spend my time playing games I actually like. Either way, I don't have to finish it to know that it won't be on my personal GOTY list, for the simple fact that I found the first half of it to be pretty unenjoyable. It's extremely unlikely that the back half can completely redeem it, at least for me. When all is said and done I might end up liking it as a whole, but when 50% of a game is a chore to play, I'm probably not ever going to count it as a favorite.
I've had a similar experience with it, and part of me wants to power through to see the better parts of the game, but most of me wants to spend my time playing games I actually like. Either way, I don't have to finish it to know that it won't be on my personal GOTY list, for the simple fact that I found the first half of it to be pretty unenjoyable. It's extremely unlikely that the back half can completely redeem it, at least for me. When all is said and done I might end up liking it as a whole, but when 50% of a game is a chore to play, I'm probably not ever going to count it as a favorite.
Since you are talking about the first half of the game being a chore, I assume you mean the entirety of summer? Have you seen the transition to fall?
Remember him and Syndicate? lol
Typographenia
Member
I went into Last Of Us as a rather exciteable spirit. I forced my way through that entire game, after a month long break at some point, because I felt I must be missing something that the rest of the world had seen. Also, because it cost me $60. Anyway, got all the way to the end, credits rolled and all that jazz.
Last of Us is middling at best. The things in the story people praised are either forced too much or are just okay. The stealth gameplay mechanics frustratingly disobeyed and fought with me the entirety of the game, despite playing on easy and trying to take my time. I mean, I guess it was pretty, but I found it to be a rather dissatisfying and disappointing experience, despite going into it ready to see what it wanted to offer me.
I think I left off in the University, turning on generators to power a door. :/
I'm sure I'll get around to giving it another try, as several people have encouraged me to do so. It's just that the thought of it gives me the same sort of unwelcome feeling one would get from being asked to work on a Saturday. I don't want a game to make me feel like that.
Fantastapotamus
Wrong about commas, wrong about everything
For the GotY stuff I think:
Jeff - Bioshock Infinite
Brad - Hard to say, Dota 2 is the obvious one but I don't know...(It's not Brothers and everybody will make stupid jokes because of it )
Vinny - Last of Us(?)
Alex - Mario
Patrick - Mario
Drew - I really don't know
I feel like there really haven't been a lot of games that the crew enjoyed THAT much, so I honestly don't expect a very heated discussion. I think Brad will be satisfied with Dota being among the Top 5 but he won't try for game of the year (I'm not even sure it'll be his game of the year)
Jeff - Bioshock Infinite
Brad - Hard to say, Dota 2 is the obvious one but I don't know...(It's not Brothers and everybody will make stupid jokes because of it
)Vinny - Last of Us(?)
Alex - Mario
Patrick - Mario
Drew - I really don't know
I feel like there really haven't been a lot of games that the crew enjoyed THAT much, so I honestly don't expect a very heated discussion. I think Brad will be satisfied with Dota being among the Top 5 but he won't try for game of the year (I'm not even sure it'll be his game of the year)
MickeyKnox
Member
It'll be Saint's Row IV
Slamtastic
Member
SuperSonic1305
Member
I think Jeff just likes being as direct as possible when he plays games. Watching the Persona 4 ER and seeing how many times he tells Vinny to just attack and how much he dislikes support spells in RPG's. He just wants to get stuff done as fast as possible and stealth is the antithesis to that.
The ending of Gone Home suuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuucks. There, I said it.
LackingSaint
Neo Member
If you're already past Joel's segment with Tommy and you're still not into it, there is a good chance the game might just not be for you. I still recommend giving it a shot but yeah.
Out of interest, are you a fan of games similar to The Last of Us? How do you feel about Resident Evil 4 (which in my opinion TLoU is the evolution of)?
Also yeah, the ending of Gone Home sucks. The story kind of sucks too. The plotline with the Dad's past is super interesting but the main plot and the Mom's thing were both horribly bland to me. I love the way it played around with player expectation, but when it all shook out just blehh.
Hot Coldman
Banned
I'm still bummed out about how much I prefer the Snake in that .gif than the one in VGCW
You aren't wrong...but with an industry that seems so focused on profits and will cut coverage on major projects if public conversations go south, it's not hard to see why it's difficult for games journalists really bring forth hard issues. It's great that important issues like EA spouce got brought up, but that didn't change the practices that EA currently undergoes regarding it's employees. It's tough.
And I agree with the "Systematic misogynist game design" line. I get really frustrated when people call Killer Instinct racist because it has a native american and a woman who is from the middle east with a harem outfit (which is not default) in it.
The last of us has more bite if you have kids. Most of the people I know who have been completely vocal about playing up TLOU are new parents.
Jeff likes dumpin'. Always be dumpin'.
ab.aeterno
Member
Are you sure it wasn't systemic? Because that word in that sentence and context would make a lot more sense; systematic, not as much.
I think most of the essence and philosophy of The Last of Us is defined nearer to the end, and I think that needs to be experienced to fully appreciate what the game is about.
There are glimpses of light here and there in a world that shows how dark humanity can be.
Whether or not the journey to reach that point is worth going on is obviously subjective, but I loved it and consider The Last of Us to be one of the best games I have ever played. I don't expect everyone at Giant Bomb to have played the game or to enjoy it, since everyone likes different things. But it's certainly worth playing and having some exposure to it; if not for today, then for what the game might represent in the future.
There are glimpses of light here and there in a world that shows how dark humanity can be.
It's about surviving after all.
Whether or not the journey to reach that point is worth going on is obviously subjective, but I loved it and consider The Last of Us to be one of the best games I have ever played. I don't expect everyone at Giant Bomb to have played the game or to enjoy it, since everyone likes different things. But it's certainly worth playing and having some exposure to it; if not for today, then for what the game might represent in the future.
LackingSaint
Neo Member
It's strange because Far Cry 3, a game i'm playing right now and was Jeff's 2012 GOTY, actually has a lot in common with TLoU in terms of combat pacing. For the most part, you can either A) go in guns blazing, B) Hang back and pick dudes off, or C) Try to be sneaky then give up and go all-out once you get spotted/whittle them down enough. They even both have a bow!
Maybe 2011 or 2012?
I'm not on the "OMG PLAY LAST OF US OR ELSE" bandwagon, especially given the subject matter and the timing of its release in relation to Ryan's death. But speaking in general - you can't have a "round table" discussion if only one or two people have knowledge of what's being discussed.
Ah, you got me, it was systemic. I didn't know the word, so I heard systematic. It was from his TedX talk (ironically, considering what we talk about, called "A Survivor's Guide to Discourse in the Internet Age") so I didn't read it. My bad.
The word "misogynist" is still unprofessionally overdramatic, imho, and the "over 50% of gamers are women" statistic in the sentence right after that is bad journalism as well, for reasons I am sure we have all discussed before. (Not a whole lot of systemic misogynist game design on iOS and Facebook where those more than 50% mostly are)
But since my last post, I thought about how those "elite" print journalists write, and even when they report on straight up Neo Nazi cells, they avoid inflammatory words like "disgusting".
Patrick is one of the few journalists we have, and I want him to be more than that, I want him to be a really good one. In many cases he is, in some, I think, he stops being a journalist.
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