Lol this made me laugh, and is also kind of true.A movie industry friend of mine once said that Christopher Nolan was attending the world's most expensive film school, because every film he made was teaching him stuff he should have already known. But, hey, throw in a messy metaphor for the surveillance state in The Dark Knight or whatever and people think you're a fuckin genius.
My buddy Cory and I finished Gears 5 this morning.
We sat there in stunned silence. I wanted to cry because of something the story absolutely earned. I was thrilled and gobsmacked and heartbroken and so much more. It is the best game I played this year. Cory, as we recovered, kept describing it as 'lean.' There was nothing unnecessary in the game. If it was there, it's because it had to be there.
Gears 5's design was so thoughtful, so aware of what it was doing and how to accomplish that. It's a thoroughbred of a game, a brilliant thing, a truly special game. It felt like playing an AAA game for the first time, seeing what that was truly like
My buddy Cory and I embraced when we reached Gear's credits. Just like the jaw dropping conclusion of the final scene, this hug felt completely earned. The embrace of our hug was also surprisingly tight, unlike the gunplay mechanics in Uncharted 2.
Gears 5 rocked me to my core. I was pimp slapped by the quality, shellshocked by the audacity of a game daring to defiantly be a game-y game, and I was honored to be strong enough to withstand its relentless onslaught of good game design.
Cory continued to cry. He was utterly broken by the goodness and trueness of Gear's 5 campaign. He was hysterical. He left the room and ate a bunch of frozen pizzas, raw. He just refused to heat them in the oven. I was pissed.
-Anyway, Gears was a religious experience. Was akin to looking into God's eyes. His benevolent form looking back at yours, shaking his head in agreement as if to say "The Last of Us is just the Road. We have PS4s in Heaven. Played it and it was a 7 at best. One and done type game, wouldn't play it again tbh. Thinking bout selling my PS4, I'm overwhelmed by my Switch anyway..."
It's fucking nonsense though. I don't feel "validated" for enjoying Uncharted and The Last of Us. I play them because they are enjoyable and speak to me.i find that's an accurate description of a subset of movie and game fans, and i don't think there's anything wrong with pointing that out.
e. the rick and morty fandom is maybe the most perfect example of this.
My buddy Cory and I embraced when we reached Gear's credits. Just like the jaw dropping conclusion of the final scene, this hug felt completely earned. The embrace of our hug was also surprisingly tight, unlike the gunplay mechanics in Uncharted 2.
Gears 5 rocked me to my core. I was pimp slapped by the quality, shellshocked by the audacity of a game daring to defiantly be a game-y game, and I was honored to be strong enough to withstand its relentless onslaught of good game design.
Cory continued to cry. He was utterly broken by the goodness and trueness of Gear's 5 campaign. He was hysterical. He left the room and ate a bunch of frozen pizzas, raw. He just refused to heat them in the oven. I was pissed.
-Anyway, Gears was a religious experience. Was akin to looking into God's eyes. His benevolent form looking back at yours, shaking his head in agreement as if to say "The Last of Us is just the Road. We have PS4s in Heaven. Played it and it was a 7 at best. One and done type game, wouldn't play it again tbh. Thinking bout selling my PS4, I'm overwhelmed by my Switch anyway..."
Is the quoted section an excerpt from the article?My buddy Cory and I embraced when we reached Gear's credits. Just like the jaw dropping conclusion of the final scene, this hug felt completely earned. The embrace of our hug was also surprisingly tight, unlike the gunplay mechanics in Uncharted 2.
Gears 5 rocked me to my core. I was pimp slapped by the quality, shellshocked by the audacity of a game daring to defiantly be a game-y game, and I was honored to be strong enough to withstand its relentless onslaught of good game design.
Cory continued to cry. He was utterly broken by the goodness and trueness of Gear's 5 campaign. He was hysterical. He left the room and ate a bunch of frozen pizzas, raw. He just refused to heat them in the oven. I was pissed.
-Anyway, Gears was a religious experience. Was akin to looking into God's eyes. His benevolent form looking back at yours, shaking his head in agreement as if to say "The Last of Us is just the Road. We have PS4s in Heaven. Played it and it was a 7 at best. One and done type game, wouldn't play it again tbh. Thinking bout selling my PS4, I'm overwhelmed by my Switch anyway..."
My buddy Cory and I embraced when we reached Gear's credits. Just like the jaw dropping conclusion of the final scene, this hug felt completely earned. The embrace of our hug was also surprisingly tight, unlike the gunplay mechanics in Uncharted 2.
Gears 5 rocked me to my core. I was pimp slapped by the quality, shellshocked by the audacity of a game daring to defiantly be a game-y game, and I was honored to be strong enough to withstand its relentless onslaught of good game design.
Cory continued to cry. He was utterly broken by the goodness and trueness of Gear's 5 campaign. He was hysterical. He left the room and ate a bunch of frozen pizzas, raw. He just refused to heat them in the oven. I was pissed.
-Anyway, Gears was a religious experience. Was akin to looking into God's eyes. His benevolent form looking back at yours, shaking his head in agreement as if to say "The Last of Us is just the Road. We have PS4s in Heaven. Played it and it was a 7 at best. One and done type game, wouldn't play it again tbh. Thinking bout selling my PS4, I'm overwhelmed by my Switch anyway..."
I have said multiple times if TLOU was a movie it would be a direct to bargain bin dvd release, as a book probably fan fiction level. It's effectivness isn't due to the stories greatness, it's because no book or movie has ever made me have to bond with the characters like that through controlling them and interactivity.It's fucking nonsense though. I don't feel "validated" for enjoying Uncharted and The Last of Us. I play them because they are enjoyable and speak to me.
They are well crafted and have enjoyable characters. Uncharted is a pulp adventure, and the Last of Us is a thrilling character drama wrapped in a third person shooter/horror game. One inspired by Indiana Jones and old dime novels, and the other inspired by post apocalyptic fiction like The Road and western deconstructions like No Country For Old Men (both Cormac Mccarthy novels).
Whats condescending is the writer's assumption that people who enjoy these games are too stupid to recognize the things they are inspired by. The thing is, it DOESN'T MATTER if a game has pieces of plot or themes that are derivative of some books and movies. All fiction is derivative to some extent. Execution is what makes a piece of media good, and by most people's metrics, they are very good games.
ExactlyBut his opinion is "anyone who likes a certain type of game is an uncultured idiot." He's casting judgement over other people's taste.
At that point it stops being just an opinion.
Fuck what puts you off. You got a problem with games of that style? Ok then go look among the hundreds other games on the market for something else that's best suited for you. That's the beauty of video games today rather than many years ago, we all have options. None of us are allowed to feel shit about any studios not crafting their games to our every liking. If its not for you, move onto something that is.
Just the truth. What doesn't work for one gamer is perfect for another . Unless a game is 'broken' (usually something tech related), there's someone out there that may enjoy it and no one has the right to put his tastes below the others, as happens with this article. In fact that is just elitism or even worse, in fact some political attitudes would really fit that kind of position.You're still doing the same thing. What you consider to be "mistakes" are strengths to millions of people. Why would ND change their approach because of a few outliers, when their current one has brought them massive success, both commercially and critically?
i didn't get "everyone who likes these games is a moron" from the blog post as much as "a lot of people who enjoy these games don't think critically about them" which is so obvious it's almost not even worth saying. and there's a difference between getting inspiration and making a bland derivative work, i'd offer control as a good example of the former.It's fucking nonsense though. I don't feel "validated" for enjoying Uncharted and The Last of Us. I play them because they are enjoyable and speak to me.
They are well crafted and have enjoyable characters. Uncharted is a pulp adventure, and the Last of Us is a thrilling character drama wrapped in a third person shooter/horror game. One inspired by Indiana Jones and old dime novels, and the other inspired by post apocalyptic fiction like The Road and western deconstructions like No Country For Old Men (both Cormac Mccarthy novels).
Whats condescending is the writer's assumption that people who enjoy these games are too stupid to recognize the things they are inspired by. The thing is, it DOESN'T MATTER if a game has pieces of plot or themes that are derivative of some books and movies. All fiction is derivative to some extent. Execution is what makes a piece of media good, and by most people's metrics, they are very good games.
See, I don't agree with that premise at all. A bargain bin DVD release would have neither the production value, nor the acting prowess of the characters in The Last of Us. If you mean purely on plot alone... well... Then I have some news for you. Just about every blockbuster film is derivative and trope laden. Movies are judged on their execution, not purely on their originality alone. The ending of The Last of Us makes it more creative than the half of post apocalyptic fiction alone.I have said multiple times if TLOU was a movie it would be a direct to bargain bin dvd release, as a book probably fan fiction level. It's effectivness isn't due to the stories greatness, it's because no book or movie has ever made me have to bond with the characters like that through controlling them and interactivity.
My buddy Cory and I embraced when we reached Gear's credits. Just like the jaw dropping conclusion of the final scene, this hug felt completely earned. The embrace of our hug was also surprisingly tight, unlike the gunplay mechanics in Uncharted 2.
Gears 5 rocked me to my core. I was pimp slapped by the quality, shellshocked by the audacity of a game daring to defiantly be a game-y game, and I was honored to be strong enough to withstand its relentless onslaught of good game design.
Cory continued to cry. He was utterly broken by the goodness and trueness of Gear's 5 campaign. He was hysterical. He left the room and ate a bunch of frozen pizzas, raw. He just refused to heat them in the oven. I was pissed.
-Anyway, Gears was a religious experience. Was akin to looking into God's eyes. His benevolent form looking back at yours, shaking his head in agreement as if to say "The Last of Us is just the Road. We have PS4s in Heaven. Played it and it was a 7 at best. One and done type game, wouldn't play it again tbh. Thinking bout selling my PS4, I'm overwhelmed by my Switch anyway..."
i agree that this blog post should have been more sensitive to the enormous insecurities of video game corporate fanboysI imagine that if the writer had use other examples rather than mostly just Sony exclusives (except Bioshock and RDR), and praising other thing instead of Gears (like what he did with Control), the message would have been better recieved.
300% agree.I like games. Sometimes it feels like people are looking for reasons to not like something, be it triple A or indie or rougelike or whatever.
The thing is, Uncharted 4 and The Last of Us DONT have bad writing. That is a subjective value judgement on them. Contrived basic plot outlines. Sure, I'll bite. Most of my favorite films though haven't necessarily been crazy original in their premise. Its how they are executed how they are twisted in their conclusion. Both of those games convey their themes very convincingly and the dialogue/ character interactions are first class and believable.i didn't get "everyone who likes these games is a moron" from the blog post as much as "a lot of people who enjoy these games don't think critically about them" which is so obvious it's almost not even worth saying. and there's a difference between getting inspiration and making a bland derivative work, i'd offer control as a good example of the former.
really when you get down to it all he's saying is that a lot of big budget games try to Say Something Important but are compromised by bad writing and having to include so much that's considered essential to modern blockbusters. set aside the specific games he likes and doesn't like and that's a point i think most people on this forum would agree with.
The thing is, Uncharted 4 and The Last of Us DONT have bad writing. That is a subjective value judgement on them. Contrived basic plot outlines. Sure, I'll bite. Most of my favorite films though haven't necessarily been crazy original in their premise. Its how they are executed how they are twisted in their conclusion. Both of those games convey their themes very convincingly and the dialogue/ character interactions are first class and believable.i didn't get "everyone who likes these games is a moron" from the blog post as much as "a lot of people who enjoy these games don't think critically about them" which is so obvious it's almost not even worth saying. and there's a difference between getting inspiration and making a bland derivative work, i'd offer control as a good example of the former.
really when you get down to it all he's saying is that a lot of big budget games try to Say Something Important but are compromised by bad writing and having to include so much that's considered essential to modern blockbusters. set aside the specific games he likes and doesn't like and that's a point i think most people on this forum would agree with.
ah! high art indeedJust because I enjoy the pulpy stuff of Uncharted doesn't mean that I don't also appreciate a film like Eternal Sunshine, Birdman etc.
I know my opinion is controversial, I am a genre fan and absorb a lot so to me except for the nature of outbreak I have literally seen or read most of it before. And I am not saying that it's horrible. My point is that's not what you see the story as but the experience is from how they tell the story. Mostly through your play. Everything your doing through that game is bonding Ellie and Joel together and you to them. It's woven so deftly into everything from the combat sections, to the ladder looking and water crossing, the use of cutscenes for when truly necessary and not wasting them on parts where they can get the same effects through interaction, and yes I agree on production and acting.See, I don't agree with that premise at all. A bargain bin DVD release would have neither the production value, nor the acting prowess of the characters in The Last of Us. If you mean purely on plot alone... well... Then I have some news for you. Just about every blockbuster film is derivative and trope laden. Movies are judged on their execution, not purely on their originality alone. The ending of The Last of Us makes it more creative than the half of post apocalyptic fiction alone.
I have said multiple times if TLOU was a movie it would be a direct to bargain bin dvd release, as a book probably fan fiction level. It's effectivness isn't due to the stories greatness, it's because no book or movie has ever made me have to bond with the characters like that through controlling them and interactivity.
No. This is just pretentious. The whole thing was pretentious. Games can try to have something to say, or emulate Hollywood blockbusters AND be fun.i agree that this blog post should have been more sensitive to the enormous insecurities of video game corporate fanboys
Ah yes enlightened one
i don't give a single shit about the games he criticizes (i liked uncharted 2 a lot) or the ones he personally likes (a lot of which look like shit to me), i just think his point is salient and in fact the incredibly virulent personal reactions coming from people here proves that they are in fact the kind of people who feel personally validated by the media they consumeNo. This is just pretentious. The whole thing was pretentious. Games can try to have something to say, or emulate Hollywood blockbusters AND be fun.
Uncharted 4 and Max Payne 3 are not "hollow" "soulless" or "pale imitation" games. Both are some of my favorite 3rd person shooters of all time. If it weren't for the fact that he lobs the validation argument at people who enjoy these games, it would be a totally innocuous and reasonable blog post. It makes the whole thing seem "I'm above enjoying these games, and you have bad taste for thinking this games are good".
The fact that he lobs this criticism at them and then props up Gears 5 for its writing as something profound (great game regardless) should clue you in on who is doing the fanboying.
Your taste is fine. I think for some of us, like me I remember most posters that post regularly and have a general idea of what they post, and Seuss has a long history of somehow turning any of his articles or blogs or forum posts, always thoughtfully and well written, sometimes even making valid points, but for some reason his points and criticisms never count or apply to Microsoft and it ends up tainting the whole thing and keeping me from enjoying what I do like about his writing.I get the impression that some simply take criticism either too seriously or too personally.
If you're a huge ND, Sana Monica, Irrational fan then yes, you do need to have a thick skin to take in this blog in good faith. It is tough to watch people nitpick things we're fond of. But the intense blow-back I'm reading here makes me wonder that some feel personally attacked for whatever reason.
I guess in my case I'm used to some of my faves being mercilessly dragged through the mud. I'm a big, dumb Farming Simulator nerd and I know full and well the franchise has problems. The shoestring budget, the jank, the repetitive gameplay loops.
But you know what? None of that bothers me in the least. I think FS is a damn fine IP, warts and all.
That's what's so weird about this thread. It's okay to put something you enjoy under the microscope. It's okay to explore flawed game design in commercial/critical darlings. Sometimes there's interesting takeaways in doing so.
Consumer Identity culture makes people so defensive. It's sad to see when something interesting being said is immediately shot down in a flurry of knee-jerk reactions.
Maybe OP needs an editor to smooth down the rough edges. It's funny, 'cause I was reading the article thinking, "Man there's some legit good criticism happening here. If there were some way to redact specific dev and franchise names, I be people would be a lot more receptive to the points."
But alas, it's hard to make specific points without naming names.
Still a great read either way though. Goes a long way in describing the fatigue & malaise I feel in the AAA space over the past console cycle.
Well said.i didn't get "everyone who likes these games is a moron" from the blog post as much as "a lot of people who enjoy these games don't think critically about them" which is so obvious it's almost not even worth saying. and there's a difference between getting inspiration and making a bland derivative work, i'd offer control as a good example of the former.
really when you get down to it all he's saying is that a lot of big budget games try to Say Something Important but are compromised by bad writing and having to include so much that's considered essential to modern blockbusters. set aside the specific games he likes and doesn't like and that's a point i think most people on this forum would agree with.
Someone saying this is stupid criticism is not seeking validation though. I'm going to go on enjoying the media that I enjoy regardless of what anybody says. The blowback that I'm mostly seeing is to the holier than thou tone of it.i don't give a single shit about the games he criticizes (i liked uncharted 2 a lot) or the ones he personally likes (a lot of which look like shit to me), i just think his point is salient and in fact the incredibly virulent personal reactions coming from people here proves that they are in fact the kind of people who feel personally validated by the media they consume
Someone saying this is stupid criticism is not seeking validation though. I'm going to go on enjoying the media that I enjoy regardless of what anybody says. The blowback that I'm mostly seeing is to the holier than thou tone of it.
Criticism is not valuable for its own sake. It actually needs to say something of value.
Lobbing a baseless accusation at the audience as your form of critique is just bad form and isn't really pertinent to the critique of said games.
my point is that basically everyone here is taking this blog post as a personal attack when all he's doing is accurately describing a certain set of pop culture fans. if your reaction to someone saying these things is angry personal attacks then you are probably one of those fans.Someone saying this is stupid criticism is not seeking validation though. I'm going to go on enjoying the media that I enjoy regardless of what anybody says. The blowback that I'm mostly seeing is to the holier than thou tone of it.
Criticism is not valuable for its own sake. It actually needs to say something of value.
Lobbing a baseless accusation at the audience as your form of critique is just bad form and isn't really pertinent to the critique of said games.
No. This is just pretentious. The whole thing was pretentious. Games can try to have something to say, or emulate Hollywood blockbusters AND be fun.
Uncharted 4 and Max Payne 3 are not "hollow" "soulless" or "pale imitation" games. Both are some of my favorite 3rd person shooters of all time. If it weren't for the fact that he lobs the validation argument at people who enjoy these games, it would be a totally innocuous and reasonable blog post. It makes the whole thing seem "I'm above enjoying these games, and you have bad taste for thinking this games are good".
The fact that he lobs this criticism at them and then props up Gears 5 for its writing as something profound (great game regardless) should clue you in on who is doing the fanboying.
"When a dumb nerd watches a really simple movie like Inception and can follow the plot, they mistakenly believe they are some sort of Super Genius Tactician who is better than everyone. When people play a game like Uncharted and go "wow, it's like a movie," they are inclined to champion it until the end of the world because It Makes Them Feel Valid"my point is that basically everyone here is taking this blog post as a personal attack when all he's doing is accurately describing a certain set of pop culture fans. if your reaction to someone saying these things is angry personal attacks then you are probably one of those fans.
someone who thinks rick and morty is only for super geniuses will get really mad when a critic says it's not a difficult show to understand and it's not out of line to say that they should try to get some self-awareness.
hmm, to me that comes across as "to the extent that uncharted is valued for its blockbuster movie-like qualities, it is defended as an example of videogames as art that insecure gamers have always sought as validation of their hobby as more than just pretty toys"."When a dumb nerd watches a really simple movie like Inception and can follow the plot, they mistakenly believe they are some sort of Super Genius Tactician who is better than everyone. When people play a game like Uncharted and go "wow, it's like a movie," they are inclined to champion it until the end of the world because It Makes Them Feel Valid"
I'm sorry but the section prior this explains that "Uncharted 2 is a bad game with bad encounter design", and then leads into this quoted section. It's completely up its own ass, and is basically saying "I say Uncharted 2 is bad, and anyone who thought it was great and impressive is a simpleton who doesn't know what a REAL game is and is just buying into hype." The author clearly can't just accept the fact that people have plenty of real reasons to enjoy Uncharted 2. Just because he didn't find it appealing, doesn't mean that people are too "basic" and "uncultured".
Using your comparison to Rick and Morty you are basically saying "Those rick and morty fans who think the show is smart are delusional. I'm the REAL smart one for seeing it as "just a show"."
Yeah there are fans of things that are waaaaay overzealous. But the author is using a critique of the fanbase as his validation for his subjective judgement about the game's "quality." or "artfulness".
I realize a lot of people are calling you a fanboy and insulting you (and a lot of it is out of line/unfair), but do you really not see how condescending this sounds? I promise you there are plenty of people who have seen/read/played most of the things you think The Last of Us (for example) is derivative of who still like The Last of Us. Not because they're ignorant about good storytelling, but because....... they just have different taste from you. You would ruffle a lot less feathers if you could explain why you don't like certain games or genres without insulting the people who do.
No, I don't fanboy any company or consumer product, your just pretentious and this post is a good example, you just wrote a small op ed when you could have just said you think anyone who doesn't agree is a Sony fanboy, because for all the flowery words that's all you said.
OK.hmm, to me that comes across as "to the extent that uncharted is valued for its blockbuster movie-like qualities, it is defended as an example of videogames as art that insecure gamers have always sought as validation of their hobby as more than just pretty toys".
the rick and morty equivalent would be pointing at those fans who think the show is actually genius and liking it proves that you are ultra smart, you're downplaying the kind of language used in order to make your point.
hmm, to me that comes across as "to the extent that uncharted is valued for its blockbuster movie-like qualities, it is defended as an example of videogames as art that insecure gamers have always sought as validation of their hobby as more than just pretty toys".
the rick and morty equivalent would be pointing at those fans who think the show is actually genius and liking it proves that you are ultra smart, you're downplaying the kind of language used in order to make your point.
Nevertheless, Uncharted 2 was a milestone for modern gaming. There is a reason so many games have aped it's structure and tone.
The author seems to have missed (or intentionally avoided) its historical context for the medium.
Red Dead Redemption is one of the most thought provoking, well written, fully realized games ever made. I won't stand for the fuckery or slander.
you're misreading my post, try againSaying a game is only valued for one aspect because you dislike something is stupid to begin with .
Lets take GOW for eg some people think because people enjoy the story that game play lower or some nonsense .
When the truth is people enjoy many aspect of any media .
The core idea that wide audiences are propping up these games out of yearning for artistic validation of the medium is highly specious but probably worth pondering none the less.
The part people are laughing at -aside from the horrific writing- is how this conclusion is clearly derived from reasoning backwards. Starting from ' I don't like these games for reasons', and reasoning backwards from there. All to arrive at the conclusion that multimillion-selling blockbuster games designed to appeal to the widest possible audience are only feigning merit, artistic or otherwise.
There's a kernel of discussion in there, but one shouldn't be surprised that its overshadowed by this delightful train wreck of a post.
All that aside, I think this is a lot of scrutiny for a blog post. It just happens to be one hell of a blog post.
I don't believe you hate Sony at all, especially after reading your blog post on Days Gone and open world design.I had a resetera mod tell David fuckin' Jaffe that I was such a good writer I was using my good writerly skills to make good games look bad.
Imagine having dozens of people messaging you to tell you that you're a stupid dumbshit for honestly liking some games and honestly disliking some others and doing your best to talk about it. Maybe you'd be a bit sour too after 17 pages of discussion, half of which act like you aren't even here, about a post you made on your personal blog to try to understand why certain games weren't working for you.
Think about the overwhelming onslaught of directed negativity and tone policing and what that might make someone feel. I mean, there was a guy in this very thread, on page five, digging up an interview I did ~half a decade ago~ to argue that it represented my present maturity. There was a guy posting in this thread arguing that this thread was 'masturbatory' when some person just linked a blog post they thought was cool. I didn't even know this thread existed until it got to like 5 pages.
Think about how fucking shitty people are being, how frustrating it might be to get constantly mischaracterized by assholes on a forum who just really want everyone to believe you can't be trusted--so they perform the untrustworthy action of lying about you and saying "he hates sony games" when, literally, in this thread, you can get a link to my EVEN LARGER post on how i LOVE a sony exclusive game a whole lot.
you might be a bit fucking grumpy too
nah, several people in this thread are absolutely sony fanboys and they're willing to lie about me and my motivations to do it. a resetera staffer did it on twitter to david fucking jaffe.
and here's the thing: david jaffe disagrees with some of the things i said and we had a nice little conversation about it. like polite adults. because that's how adults interact.
people going around going "doc just hates sony games" are fuckin liars, i don't give a shit what they think
I'm not talking about control schemes or anything as concrete as that. Merely the goal and demonstration that a game can create compelling dialogue and characters and have big bespoke memorable setpieces. I've been playing games since the NES days. Uncharted and Uncharted 2 were absolutely some of the first "holy shit, we are in the future of videogames" moments I experienced.what games? please show me these games.
I haven't missed it, I just happen to think you're wrong. Crystal Dynamics' tomb raider games were the biggest uncharted-influenced games out there. Much more of last gen was influenced by Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare--it's the defining game of the generation, with the most obvious influence out there. Uncharted 2 was influenced by Call of Duty 4 (the guy who led Uncharted 4's gameplay design was actually a former Infinity Ward guy, haha)
it's not. it's a game with inconsistent characterization, that apes sam peckinpah without really understanding him, that uses the housers' shitty misanthropy to no real affect. It's a game where you have a cliche sequence of a Native American character going "white man doesn't understand nature, that bear would not have attacked if not fired upon" but also in the game, bears are super super aggressive entities that will absolutely murder your fuckin horse.
Rockstar is great at ~performance~ and ~dialog~ but they are terrible at narrative; there's nothing Red Dead Redemption does narratively that is new, interesting, or brilliant. It's all cribbed from elsewhere, and it's never as good. A friend just linked me to a really cool video showing how the early train robbery from RDR2 rips off the Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford and, like... yeah, rockstar's version is shit in comparison.
I don't believe you hate Sony at all, especially after reading your blog post on Days Gone and open world design.
I thought it was thoughtful and interesting.
I guess I just think for this most recent blogpost, your frame of critique at certain points comes off odd and wrongheaded for a lack of a better term. My main critique would be that its a fruitless criticism of a piece of media to use its fanbase or their sense of "validation" as your justification for thinking a game is bad or "not actually significant". It takes the tone that you are somehow an arbiter of taste, rather than just analyzing the actual aspects of the games that make you think they "soulless" etc.
I'm not talking about control schemes or anything as concrete as that. Merely the goal and demonstration that a game can create compelling dialogue and characters and have big bespoke memorable setpieces. I've been playing games since the NES days. Uncharted and Uncharted 2 were absolutely some of the first "holy shit, we are in the future of videogames" moments I experienced.
You can argue whether you think filmic language is a worthwhile endeavor or not, but nevertheless a lot of games started taking story development into much larger consideration after Uncharted 2 came out.