Viewing entries tagged
sony interactive entertainment
As recently as about a year ago, if anyone had asked me whether I liked zombie games or not, I would have replied with an emphatic "hell no" and left it at that. I've never been big on horror in any form of media, but especially in games, as I find the interactive nature of the experience a little too visceral. That and I never understood how anyone can find it entertaining to be scared and stressed when they could be doing literally anything else.
Hype is a dangerous thing, and it's the main reason I was never looking forward to Death Stranding in any way at all. I'm completely sick of hearing about Kojima and how he's the golden god of game design. It seems like everyone on the internet has been creaming themselves over the potential of his latest game baby, which is enough to turn me off entirely - and for the most part, it did.
Sometimes I find it quite difficult to sum up my feelings on a big budget game from a large studio. Partly because the good studios have a track record of making decent games with few issues and that doesn't really make for much of a discussion. When my opinion of a game is a simple "it's good", I tend not to make much of a stink about it, even though it probably deserves some praise.
These days it seems like there's another game being re-released or remastered every second. It seems like publishers have decided that cashing in on old classics is a much better idea than making something new and interesting. Unsurprisingly, I'm often sceptical when I see an acclaimed title getting the re-release treatment, and Shadow Of The Colossus (2018) was no different.
At times it feels like 2018 has been the year of over-hyped games, but maybe that's just my own perception messing with my mind. After all, I was never going to be all that interested in a Spider-Man game, no matter how well received it ended up being.
Hype can be a double-edged sword, as it's often a result of aggressive marketing that never lives up to its promises. Over time we've learned to avoid buying into the huge swell of praise and applause handed out to big budget "hits", thanks to a long list of disappointing experiences that were supposed to be transcendental. It's a shame then, that when a truly excellent game comes along, it's mired in doubt on account of all the hype built up in its wake.
The name David Cage comes with a fair amount of baggage these days, as he's cultivated quite a reputation for himself. Perhaps notably as the creator of some of the most divisive games in recent memory. Whether you love Quantic Dream's take on narrative cinematic video game story-telling or not, it's hard to deny the impact these games have made.
I wasn't going to say anything about this beloved 90s rhythm game for the Playstation, but then it got me thinking about how valuable nostalgia can be. In fact, after playing the train wreck that is the PaRappa The Rapper Remaster, I can only deduce that nostalgia goes a lot further than I had previously given it credit for.
The last month has been a bit of a wild ride, as I'm trying to complete some of the more time-heavy games from last year. I was hoping to have posted some more, but have been having too much fun finishing NieR:Automata, Divinity Original Sin 2, and today's "focus"… Horizon: Zero Dawn.
I'm always up for abstract ambiguity in games and stories in general, so as I danced my way through the beautiful environments of Bound, my mind wandered to theorise on elements in the game. This Playstation 4 indie darling has a lot of good ideas and hints at a bunch of interesting themes, but I'm not sure if it ultimately succeeds.
