Quantic Dream tried to create their own genre with this "interactive drama". Is this game movie hybrid a match made in heaven? 411's Justin Weinblatt examines in this week's edition of over or under.
Welcome to this week's edition of the OVER or UNDER. I'm your host Justin Weinblatt filling in for an absent Jimmy Chavez. Here's a quick rundown of how this works. Our esteemed panel (of one) will go through important, relevant, and sometimes not, facts and help gamers come to an indisputable conclusion that more than likely will be disputed. It may be a little bit inconsiderate to jump into another writer's column and change the format, but you'll notice a slight difference from the typical column.
Seems that this is a place where Jimmy likes to speak on some media related topics, so why not. I've been going through Nintendo's newest releases lately. Super Mario 3D Land has been pretty awesome so far. It feels like a cross between Super Mario Bros. 3 and Mario Galaxy. Kirby's Return to Dreamland is a bit lacking in innovation, but offers some great multiplayer. The review for that game should be up shortly. I also finally got a copy of Arkham City, but that will probably sit on the shelf until after I finish Skyward Sword. What can I say? I'm a Nintendo fanboy.
I do enjoy other gaming companies as well, and I finally got around to playing Heavy Rain, the focus of this week's edition. But, before we get ahead of ourselves, let's check out what you guys had to say about a potential Final Fantasy VII Remake.
With a few exceptions, last week's column received one of the more intelligent batches of feedback I've gotten as a 411 writer, so thank you guys for that.
First, we have a comment from andre who is a proponent of turn based combat.
I always prefered my RPGs as turn-based. It gives the gamer a better chance to plot a strategy within battles that way. When you have over 50 spells, some special attacks, summons and add in the fact that you can be dealing with a elemental monster it just makes more sense to leave it turn baed. Besides when an RPG is live action combat then it feels too much like an action adventure game like Zelda. I think the main reason there hasnt been a successful turn based game has more to do with lazy RPG making than it does with the game style itself. Most RPGs now a days dont have creative enough stories to draw in a massive fanbase. The glory days of RPGs were when they were turn based and any top 5 or top 10 list would feature a majority of these. Theres a reason RPG games have been lacking lately and thats the fact that majority of the fans dont care for the new style.
To be honest, I didn't find Final Fantasy 7's turn based system to be anything extremely special. Sure you had over 50 spells, but those spells rapidly became obsolete over the course of the game. How useful was ChocoMog by the North Crater? By the end of the game my characters were beefed up enough that I could get through most battles by simply attacking and healing. That's not to say all turn based combat systems are bad. Pokémon's battle system is great for instance, and I really liked Chrono Cross's battle system as well.
As for why RPGs aren't flourishing, there are a number of reasons. MMORPGs have taken some of the thunder away from traditional console experiences. In addition, storytelling has improved ten fold in other genres. Back in the day, if you wanted a compelling story, you needed a JRPG. Nowadays, games like Bioshock, Grand Theft Auto and Mass Effect 2 provide great storytelling along with more compelling gameplay than most traditional JRPGs. There is also the fact that Japan in general has been struggling to compete with western developers across the US and Europe. I don't think a return to turn based battling would help the JRPG genre reclaim its glory, but it would sure be interesting if someone released a big budget turn based combat game. Thanks for reading and commenting.
A random guest also disagrees with my dismissal of turn based combat.
So what if you can't remember the last mega-popular turn based RPG to grace a console? They're popular on handhelds. And maybe - just maybe - instead of being like everything else on a console, it could actually use the turn based system as it's niche?
The bottom line is, I cant stand the hyperactive battle styles of the newer RPGs that are for people too lazy to actually input commands (i'm looking at you FFXIII) - and I don't care if it's FFVII or not, there's nothing "tedius and boring" about that type of system.
Just because it's old doesn't make it out-dated. A few tweaks here and there to refine it a little and maybe everyone's happy?
I wouldn't say that turned based RPGs are still popular on handhelds. Sure the Pokémon series is popular, but there aren't many other million plus selling games that use that style. There are a few Final Fantasy Remakes, and a couple of Mario RPGs, but that's about it.
The real issue here is that what works on a handheld may not work on a console. Turn based battle systems aren't necessarily bad, but I don't think they'd work on a modern game on the scale of FF7. You could tweak it a bit and appeal to a niche as you suggested, but a quality remake of FFVII could easily cost upwards of 50 million dollars. At that price range, you can't just appeal to a niche.
And here we have one of those exceptions I spoke of.
"I can't remember the last mega popular turn based RPG to grace a console, and there is a good reason for that. They're tedious and boring."
The latest "Civilization" and "Heroes of Might and Magic" is doing alright.
I can see why this gaming section isn't very popular.
OT: I still don't understand why you think this is overrated. All you really blast at is that the graphics are too aged, but what can you expect from a 13 year old game? Is Tetris and Pacman overrated too?
It has a story that Tim Schafner would be amazed of and nobody cares about stories anymore because todays games are just too focused on graphics and forgets all about gameplay.
Just look at Final Fantasy XIII, you got wonderful graphics, terrible story and terrible gameplay. What do you get? A disappointment.
Apparently the reader missed the word console over there. He also missed the 50 or so instances of the word remake. If you're going to skim the articles, go ahead. I certainly don't read every word of every article on 411. Still, you might want to at least read enough to get a firm grasp of what is being discussed, especially if you want to bash me.
John Downey doesn't seem to like FFVII all that much.
For my own enjoyment, here's a list of games that came out 13 years ago that don't need to announce that they are 13 years old to be considered good.
All of those games can be picked up and enjoyed by gamers of all ages right now. That they came out 13 years ago is irrelevant to the conversation
-The story, as a whole, holds up well, but I wouldn't call it one of the better stories told in a Final Fantasy game. It takes forever for a likable character to show up, and the game's central conflict remains nebulous until several hours into the game.
The death of Aeris is brought up frequently as a dramatic high point in video game history, but I've never understood the big deal--a character that was useless in combat and had poor characterization gets offed while summoning a spell that conveniently prevents her from taking a step to the right. In essence, the game kills off a character that I have no reason to like in a manner that suggests that she has no survival instinct. Oh, dear me, where's my tissue box?"
While some elements of Final Fantasy VII don't hold up that well, the game is still very enjoyable. It may not be quite as great as Metal Gear Solid or Ocarina of Time, but very few games are. It's still way better than 90% of the games in its era.
As for Aeris *spoilers again*, my interpretation of her death was a self sacrifice. In the ending Aeris is able to utilize the Lifestream to help stop meteor when Holy itself isn't enough. It seems to me, based on her discussion with Cloud in his dream sequence, that she knew she had to do this to save the planet. Not everyone agrees with this idea, but that's how I interpreted the scene.*/spoilers*
I think that's enough for the feedback. Thanks to all of those who commented. Wish I had the space here to address all of you, but we have another game to discuss.
Quantic Dream refers to their creation, Heavy Rain, as an interactive drama. I'm not a huge fan of the term, but I can't think of a better way to describe Heavy Rain myself, so we'll have to go with that. Heavy Rain was one of the most anticipated PS3 exclusives, and was one of the games that made me want to buy the system.
Heavy Rain attempts to blur the line between movies and video games. With a plot straight out of Film Noir and a bizarre control scheme, Heavy Rain is certainly unlike any console game we've seen to date. It's like a bizarre love child conceived in an orgy featuring Shenmue, Saw, Dragon's Lair and L.A. Noire.
In Heavy Rain, your objective is to track down a murderer known as the Origami Killer in order to save a young boy. To accomplish this goal, players can control four characters. You'll play Ethan Mars, a heart broken father, Scott Shelby, a private detective, a young woman named Madison Paige, and an FBI agent named Norman Jayden. The four characters' paths intertwine as they all try to save young Shaun Mars and catch the Origami Killer.
Here is my simple question. Does mixing movies and video games create a new medium that is even more compelling than either medium is alone, or does it create an experience that is too dull for gamers, and too bloated for movie fans. In other words, is Heavy Rain Overrated, or Underrated?
Under- Some of Heavy Rain's haters claim that games should simply be games rather than trying to be movies. However, games have been trying to be movies since at least the Playstation era. Games such as Metal Gear Solid, Final Fantasy VII and even Resident Evil drew heavily from Hollywood's playbook to revolutionize the way that we play games. Heavy Rain is simply the best attempt yet at melding film with gaming.
Heavy Rain utilizes the Dualshock 3 controller in amazingly unique ways to immerse the player in the gameplay experience. Every button and motion is context sensitive. In one segment pressing down on your right analog stick may grab a glass of juice. In another segment pressing down on your analog stick may kick a man in his jewels. Pressing X may be used to try and calm down a witness, or it may be used fire a gun. The game also makes use of the Dualshock 3's Sixaxis motion controls. This strange control scheme is used in wonderfully creative ways to draw gamers into the game.
In one scene, a character is forced to navigate through a field of live wires. As the character is forced to twist his body through wires, the player is forced to contort his finger into strange and difficult positions. Another time, you play as a character who is trying to make his way through a train station despite a crippling fear of crowds. As your character find his legs not functioning despite his will to continue, you find yourself struggling with non responsive controls.
I'd like to share a moment in the game to describe how engaging the controls can be. At one point in the game, you play as Jayden, an FBI officer interrogating a suspect with his partner. Your partner begins to abuse his power by smacking the suspect around. The suspect pulls out a gun, and Jayden reacts by pulling out his own gun and targeting the suspect. As Jayden, I had to do my best to diffuse the situation.
I had several options to resolve this issue, represented on screen by different button cues. These cues swirled over my character's head. As I tried to assess my options, my partner was yelling at me to shoot the suspect, and the suspect was spouting psychotic religious mumbo jumbo. As the scene went on, it became harder and harder to keep my cool. Eventually, the R1 button appeared as an option. Of course, I didn't need the game to tell me what pressing R1 would do. Everyone who's played a PS3 shooter this generation knows that R1 is your standard bust a cap button. In a panic, I squeezed down on the R1 button and dropped the victim, despite my intention of not killing him. I don't think I'll ever be in such a standoff in my real life, but Heavy Rain did the best job possible of creating that experience in any form of media.
Sequences such as the one above help connect you to the game's characters in a way not possible in movies and a way that is very rarely achieved in gaming. Even if you've seen a million noir films and played a million action games, Heavy Rain will be a completely fresh experience.
Over – For every moment that Heavy Rain makes amazing use of its unique control scheme, there is another moment where it utilizes the scheme poorly. In one scene, your female character, Madison, is putting on lipstick. Do I really have to apply the lipstick with the right analog stick? Can't she just do that on her own?
Heavy Rain also throws a fairly gratuitous and oddly timed love scene at you. I have no problem watching some well animated pixels getting it on, but becoming an active participant in the proceedings made me feel more than a little bit sleazy. The scene was even more awkward when I replayed it a second time. Hey, I had to replay it to earn a trophy. Back off. By the way, I could have happily lived the rest of my life without knowing that I can unhook a virtual bra more easily than I can a real one. My point is, some things just shouldn't be interactive.
Worst of all, the game makes far too liberal use of quick time events. I enjoy a quick time event as much as the next guy, but that doesn't mean I want to engage in a 5 minute long QTE fight. Quick time events are best when they're kept short and used sparingly.
In addition to an iffy control scheme, Heavy Rain doesn't have the most original story. Without ruining too much, there is a killer out there forcing someone to complete a series of dangerous tasks to save someone he loves. Yeah, I think I've seen this one before. Heavy Rain sticks close to thriller clichés. You have your killer giving orders through a robotic voice. You have your crooked cop who tries to beat people into a confession. You have your picturesque suburban life destroyed by tragedy. You have your street smart heroine who repeatedly finds herself trying to wriggle out of sexual situations with her virtue intact. The story is so cliché that I wouldn't be surprised if the butler turned out to be the killer.
Heavy Rain suffers from some surprisingly shaky voice acting. Some characters like Scott Shelby and Madison have phenomenal voice actors. Other characters like Ethan Mars and Lauren frequently deliver their lines in a rushed or sedated manner. Heavy Rain features many child voice actors, and they are universally awful. In a project like this, it seems that some more effort should have been put into ensuring consistent voice acting.
So after taking a look at Heavy Rain, let's see if it's truly OVER-rated or UNDER-rated.
Quick Time Events- I don't hate QTEs as much as some people, but Heavy Rain goes over the top with these. Controls are sometimes finicky.
Cliches- Heavy Rain's story isn't the most original. The Origami killer feels like the Jigsaw Killer's less successful little brother.
Inconsistent Voice Acting- Some of Heavy Rain's voice acting is great and some of it is very poor.
Unique- In a console landscape made up of sequels, remakes, and repackaged ideas, it's nice to see something that truly pushes the envelope.
Control Scheme- Heavy Rain's control scheme makes the most creative use of a standard controller that I've ever seen.
Movie Influence- Everyone has fantasized about living in a movie at some point or another. This is your chance to be an active participant in a pretty solid crime drama.
Processing……………………….
Final Verdict :
Heavy Rain isn't quite as amazing of an experience as fans and critics led me to believe. For a game that wanted to mimic a movie, its story just wasn't strong or original enough. The game's quick time event based control scheme was interesting, but some scenes could have worked just as well with a traditional control scheme, and certain scenes could have worked better as regular cinematic scenes.
Despite all of this, Heavy Rain features a few of the most intense moments I've ever experienced as a gamer. There were times when I actually noticed my heart beating a little bit faster. That's an incredible achievement for any piece of media. Quantic Dream tried to make you feel like you were an actual part of the events that unfolded. I'm not sure that they completely succeeded, but they sure as hell came close.
While Heavy Rain was heavily praised by most people who have played it, I simply don't feel that the interactive drama got the audience it deserved. Heavy Rain sold respectably, but considering how gamers constantly moan about the lack of new IPs and fresh ideas, it seems that more of them should be flocking towards this kind of product.
So what do you think Readers? Agree or Disagree with our Panel? Have a game or game aspect that needs to be looked at? Let the panel know.
Jimmy Chavez is still out of commission right now, so I'll be your host for at least the next week. I have a few topics in mind, so let me know what you'd like me to discuss next week. I was thinking of doing an article about the Kinect, the Wii, the Wii U or the Vita, so let me know what you'd be interested in for next week.
Post Comment | Email Justin Weinblatt | View Justin Weinblatt's 411 Profile
Source:
No comments:
Post a Comment