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Heavy Rain

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Alex C:
Yeah, I can agree with that to an extent. The difference between scary and mundane is often a matter of difficulty and how capable you can be with their character. I've made the Ninja Gaiden vs. Silent Hill analogy before on this forum. The critters that harrass James Sunderland aren't necessarily all that more intimidating than some of the shit Ryu Hayabusa faces, but in the latter game you always have a reasonable expectation of waltzing up to the offending baddie and ruining their shit.

That said, I never liked Silent Hill games. I'm not htat into theatrics.

DarkAvenger:
I remember back when I bought my Gamecube I got a demo disc that had a couple of games on it. Nothing really that great, a Sonic Game among others. Except for one. Indigo Prophecy (or as it may be more commonly known Fahrenheit). Man that demo was a mindfuck. I absolutely loved it. All I remember from it was having to clean up a murder that you committed without knowing inside the bathroom of a diner and then trying to get out without being caught. There were so many different pathways to take in that short ten minute demo. Even though I never actually played the full game and I hear the latter half was pretty shady I still look for it whenever I'm at my local game store in the bargain bins.

I am definitely going to get this game.

KvP:
You might not have been able to find it because it's not out for the Gamecube!

If you've got a 360 and a Live connection you can buy it for download.

Number17:

--- Quote from: KvP on 28 Feb 2010, 21:57 ---Nay, the death of a particular character does not stop the story. I suppose if all 4 controllable characters die that's the end of the game, but the game will play out differently based on whether or not you can pull through with the characters.

I suppose it comes down to what it is you want from your games. Heavy Rain is appealing to those for whom narrative virtues trump gameplay virtues. The whole point of Heavy Rain is the narrative, and choice / consequence variation. That strategy games aren't part of the "the right button at the right time" lineage (and they certainly aren't, I wouldn't dispute that) is beside the point, as the sequence in question doesn't really lend itself to RTS gameplay. It lends itself to fighter gameplay, which has more or less always been "the right button at the right time". How else would you have set up that particular in-game sequence? Include traditional "beat-em-up" gameplay? That wouldn't make a whole lot of sense, as the whole point of the sequence is that the character is supposed to be relatively helpless and only surviving by the skin of her teeth. Gamers are going to be at least competent, most will probably be supremely competent, and thus trying to set up a real-time fighting element to the game will either be prohibitively difficult, or so easy that it will serve to create an even greater disconnect between the character and the player than you would normally find (most games get around this problem by having the main character lack any sort of weakness or fault). Plus it wouldn't be a fraction as interesting, visually. Quantic Dream has absolute control over the game, which is something that you have to accept going into it if you're going to enjoy it.

Ultimately, anybody who can make something like the first few hours of Fahrenheit deserves to be heeded. The problem with that game was that it started off as an experience that was literally unparalleled in gaming before it devolved into a super-condensed mythological clusterfuck. Everything that I've heard suggests that Heavy Rain is the game Fahrenheit should have been. I could give a fuck that it's not Madden or whatever.

--- End quote ---

My problem with Fahrenheit (other than the clusterfuck that was the plot) was the same problem I had with Heavy Rain. I don't consider either games to be really "games". Instead I find them to be overplayed cinematic games where they focus more on the plot and less on gameplay elements.

If that's what you want to fucking call them.

The fact that a narrative virtue trumps the gameplay virtue to most games explains a lot why a lot of games out there are really popular. A great example would be Mass Effect 2. Great plot, but the action gets fairly repetitive after a while. Another would be Final Fantasy VII. Some people found the plot to be great (I didn't) but the RPG elements were dumbed down considerably.

The fact that you are more focused on the plot of a video game than if you are having fun with the game says something about you as a gamer. You over emphasis one aspect of the game that makes up for another one that is really lacking.

The plot and the gameplay must go hand in hand and one shouldn't really have to compensate for the other. I cite Heavy Rain again where I found the "gameplay" to be an annoying triage of random quick time events. I don't really care if the plot revolves around if I press a button correctly at the right time or not. The fact that I have to without any real strategy behind it is what annoys me.

The purpose of the person playing this game is just to advance the plot. You are not playing the game, but rather advancing the plot. It's like if you were watching a TV show and during the commercial break they ask you to pick if you want the love interest to live or die. You make your choice and that continues your TV show. The same thing goes around here only they pretend that if you push the button at the right time then you have more control.

So, again, I hate that. A lot.

I have never played a game where I felt less control over my character than this one.

For the life of me I cannot understand the appeal nor can I understand why everyone loves this game. I can't and I don't think I ever will.

*sigh*

God, Heavy Rain sucked.

KvP:

--- Quote from: Number17 on 28 Feb 2010, 22:46 ---The plot and the gameplay must go hand in hand and one shouldn't really have to compensate for the other.

--- End quote ---
Do you hate Mario games with the same passion as you do Heavy Rain? Because I honestly don't believe that you actually believe this.


--- Quote from: Number17 on 28 Feb 2010, 22:46 ---The fact that you are more focused on the plot of a video game than if you are having fun with the game says something about you as a gamer.
--- End quote ---
I haven't played Heavy Rain. But I have played Fahrenheit, and before the rush job became apparent I had more fun with it than maybe 95% of games I've played. It was really incredible. Great soundtrack, too.


--- Quote from: Number17 on 28 Feb 2010, 22:46 ---I have never played a game where I felt less control over my character than this one.
--- End quote ---
Quantic Dream doesn't seem to condescend to players the way that most developers do. The amount of actual control you have over the player character in this sort of game is not particularly miniscule. In fact I would suspect that it's actually greater than most games, certainly in terms of choice and consequence. If it seems as though you lack control over your character it's likely because you conceive of "control" as primarily concerning control of position and action in a combat minigame.

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