OH THANK GOODNESS. I am terribly afraid I'll earn somebody's hate with this opinion one day. ♥ If it's all right with you, I'd prefer not to talk about it - I'm tired and incoherent and I'd probably say something ridiculously stupid and offensive.
That community's...wow. Er. Wow. Hey, come on, there's no shame in thinking Sweeney's hot! He's Johnny Depp! He sings! ...Although I'm very pissed off by the person who said he was Jack Sparrow/Edward Scissorhands all over again, because 1) he's not and 2) could you have possibly chosen two roles that were less alike?
I find myself desperate for some nice long action-adventure gen fic and nowhere to turn to.
Nnn, I know that feeling. Myself I'd like to see two characters interact without it having anything at all to do with sex.
...Except Tanith and Stephanie, of course, because they are meant to be (once they get a bit older). :D (Does the secret perv handshake involve surreptitious groping?)
Oooh, that would be great! I'm going to be totally poverty-stricken once I properly move to Brisbane, so I'd love to preview a bit before I save up and splurge on the set. Plus everyone seems to talk about how great it is, and I don't want to be left out. (I have your copy of Grim Fandango but everything is crazy and I seriously cannot even think about finding time to get to the post office right now and I am so, so sorry. D:)
In Common: ...It's two things, I think. No, three.
One is humour. I'll forgive an awful lot about a game if it can laugh at itself, because really, so many video games are just ridiculous; the whole medium practically embodies the sort of mentality that adds together zombies, ninja, robots and Nazis and calls it THE MOST AWESOME FANTASTICAL THING EVER!!!!111 For example, Thief is an extremely dark series. It's about a lot of the very worst aspects of human nature; what depravities extremism can drive us to stoop to, all the while believing we are absolutely in the right. There are lots of moments that send shivers down my spine in their quiet creepiness. It also takes time out to have two guys argue about bear fights. Metal Gear Solid is another example and just fantastic about this. "It's like it was my destiny to be here, in the box." And I didn't realise why I loved the Jak series so much until I replayed it and remembered how self-aware it was.
The second thing is views. I love views. I love being able to stand still and go, "My god, it's full of stars!" It's not enough that the graphics are good; there has to be genuine beauty there. In Bioshock, I found a room ankle-deep in water where somebody had grown roses at the foot of a waterwheel, lit with jewel-like splashes of colour from some nearby paper lanterns, and it was so beautiful I stared at it for a good minute, awed by the way the roses glowed with light and almost tangible softness. In Shadow of the Colossus I openly gaped at the sight of some flooded ruins; the reflections in the water and the colour of the sky and the peace and solitude took my breath away. In Jak II I climbed a tower and beheld a city spread out beneath me in exacting detail. I love that those moments are so very personal - you find them, you notice them, and so they belong to you alone.
The final one is motion. I'm trying very hard to phrase this so it doesn't sound insane: I like to feel like the character I'm controlling, especially quick, nimble, clever characters - Garrett, the Prince, Ico, Jak. Even Altair - I'm really annoyed at Assassin's Creed for a lot of reasons, but I cannot fault Altair's moves; I really did feel graceful and precise and deadly while I was parkour-ing it up on the roofs of ancient Jerusalem. This is primarily the reason I'm holding out so much hope for Mirror's Edge. If they can pull off a game based around motion in first person and not have it suck or cause one to be ill, then...well, I might just have to hand in my empty social life so I can play it without interruption.
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timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2008-02-09 12:26 pm (UTC)That community's...wow. Er. Wow. Hey, come on, there's no shame in thinking Sweeney's hot! He's Johnny Depp! He sings! ...Although I'm very pissed off by the person who said he was Jack Sparrow/Edward Scissorhands all over again, because 1) he's not and 2) could you have possibly chosen two roles that were less alike?
I find myself desperate for some nice long action-adventure gen fic and nowhere to turn to.
Nnn, I know that feeling. Myself I'd like to see two characters interact without it having anything at all to do with sex.
...Except Tanith and Stephanie, of course, because they are meant to be (once they get a bit older). :D (Does the secret perv handshake involve surreptitious groping?)
Oooh, that would be great! I'm going to be totally poverty-stricken once I properly move to Brisbane, so I'd love to preview a bit before I save up and splurge on the set. Plus everyone seems to talk about how great it is, and I don't want to be left out. (I have your copy of Grim Fandango but everything is crazy and I seriously cannot even think about finding time to get to the post office right now and I am so, so sorry. D:)
In Common: ...It's two things, I think. No, three.
One is humour. I'll forgive an awful lot about a game if it can laugh at itself, because really, so many video games are just ridiculous; the whole medium practically embodies the sort of mentality that adds together zombies, ninja, robots and Nazis and calls it THE MOST AWESOME FANTASTICAL THING EVER!!!!111 For example, Thief is an extremely dark series. It's about a lot of the very worst aspects of human nature; what depravities extremism can drive us to stoop to, all the while believing we are absolutely in the right. There are lots of moments that send shivers down my spine in their quiet creepiness. It also takes time out to have two guys argue about bear fights. Metal Gear Solid is another example and just fantastic about this. "It's like it was my destiny to be here, in the box." And I didn't realise why I loved the Jak series so much until I replayed it and remembered how self-aware it was.
The second thing is views. I love views. I love being able to stand still and go, "My god, it's full of stars!" It's not enough that the graphics are good; there has to be genuine beauty there. In Bioshock, I found a room ankle-deep in water where somebody had grown roses at the foot of a waterwheel, lit with jewel-like splashes of colour from some nearby paper lanterns, and it was so beautiful I stared at it for a good minute, awed by the way the roses glowed with light and almost tangible softness. In Shadow of the Colossus I openly gaped at the sight of some flooded ruins; the reflections in the water and the colour of the sky and the peace and solitude took my breath away. In Jak II I climbed a tower and beheld a city spread out beneath me in exacting detail. I love that those moments are so very personal - you find them, you notice them, and so they belong to you alone.
The final one is motion. I'm trying very hard to phrase this so it doesn't sound insane: I like to feel like the character I'm controlling, especially quick, nimble, clever characters - Garrett, the Prince, Ico, Jak. Even Altair - I'm really annoyed at Assassin's Creed for a lot of reasons, but I cannot fault Altair's moves; I really did feel graceful and precise and deadly while I was parkour-ing it up on the roofs of ancient Jerusalem. This is primarily the reason I'm holding out so much hope for Mirror's Edge. If they can pull off a game based around motion in first person and not have it suck or cause one to be ill, then...well, I might just have to hand in my empty social life so I can play it without interruption.