Trevor of GAMElitist.com - "Though a bit cynical, Friedrich Nietzsche is right: morality is not black-and-white nor universal. It is shaded with grey and ubiquity, and in between the cracks is a void filled with suffering where the unfortunate, but necessary few fall in."
The most disappointing and infamous video game endings even sour the overall thoughts of a game. Most of these titles represent some of the finest entries in their respective series, marred by an ending we can't quite forgive.
There is no game called Final Fantasy VII Remake Part 2, but Rebirth had a great ending imo. Felt robbed by the ending at first, but the more I've seen it and during my 3rd playthrough, I started to understand and realize a lot more that make me appreciate the ending.
I was enjoying FFVII Remake, even though those whispers throughout the game were annoying. But the ending was so bad that I don't even want to play Rebirth. On top of that, from what I saw on reviews, the ending of Rebirth is even worse.
Also, I'm glad to see Zero Time Dilemma being recognized as the trainwreck it is. After the amazing two first games (especially the near perfect second one), the low quality of the trilogy end is baffling. The new characters are bad, the old characters don't feel like themselves, a surprise "alien technology" pops out of nowhere, the big twist was like "eh?", and it doesn't really finish the story nor explains the loose threads from the second game.
Based on one narratively fitting ending in Mass Effect 3, Prothean squadmate Javik is highly unlikely to return in the next Mass Effect game.
He was one of my least favorite characters. I wish they would have done the Proths different.
It's game time!, or is it hacking and slashing time? Doesn't matter! Enjoy the best hack and slash games on the Xbox 360
Ninja Gaiden 2 was never multiplat. NG Sigma 2 is a remixed game not the same game at all
Dante's inferno... such a great GoW inspired game. So sad the sequel was canned, it sounded like it was going to be even more epic than the first.
Yeap, classic GoW is still better mechanically. But the aesthetics and atmosphere of Dante's Inferno were just top-notch. Shame it never got a PC port, but at the very least is available on modern Xbox.
I just can’t get into the devil may cry series. In my opinion you never feel powerful in those games. The guns are pointless as they only serve to be a flashy part of a combo. DMC was the only one that I could tolerate long enough to beat.
*** To us, shes an unlikable, idiotic bitch who we could care less about. The only thing we care about is how it affects Cole because we actually like him.***
Disagree. Sure, I get what you are saying, but blanket statements like this won't do anything to support your statement.
***Alyx is just a much more developed, likable, and better character then Trish, who barely has a personality and then dies before we could even possibly care.***
Is this about your opinion on writing to care about characters or the effect of moral choices on us versus our characters?
***It also is the difference between painting a world in grey and painting a world in black-and-white.***
I believe your logic is flawed. I do not need personal attachment to a character to require a world of greys as opposed to a world of black and white. I never cared for Jack of ME2, for example, but my choices provided me with white, grey, and black options. It didn't necessitate that there be an emotional bond present in order for the decision to be harder or easier to make.
***For all of the terrific writing, suspenseful gameplay, and excellent voice-acting, [Bioshock] fails to deliver on the premise of a moral choice system that really makes us think***
Bioshock was about revealing the lack of any moral choice. It never attempted otherwise. Every action was pre-ordained and had to be accomplished prior to advancing. The shock was in finding out that the story itself was even more restricted in that when you thought you were just acting out something your character had control of, it actually was in control of another character. The player had no control in this at all.
***The game tells us it’s the “good” option and that making those will save people, so we do it. Why wouldn’t we?***
Again, that would be your personal opinion. Look at most games where player's have a choice in morality, you will find that it's unlikely that people make moral decisions solely because they believe it will lead to better rewards. Most go with the decisions that they feeel suited to at the time.
***Ultimately, most people will always choose the good option;***
You sure you know your fellow gamers that well?
*** We need a game that paints a world of gray and then asks us to make difficult decisions, ones where evil is rewarding and easy and good is tough and unrewarding; after all, altruism is based on the idea of good being its own reward.***
Flawed logic considering that those who chose the evil side of systems in real life greatly increase their chances of being imprisoned or worse. The risk must always equal the reward. If you have an increase in rewards, the risk must increase along with it. Basic game design concept.
So, what you're essentially saying is that it should just be harder to be good but ignore the fact of the risk there is to being evil.
***When you steal something in Fallout 3, the reward is often junk and the punishment is often being chased around by people you could easily kill or fend off. ***
And don't forget the faction change. You steal something, you may lose the option to buy/sell from a merchant as well as interact with specific quest NPCs.
No. Wrong. Choice is an illusion, created between those with power and those without.
Well, it is more than having no choice.
Reality is many shades of grey.
But, those morality systems are much more complex. Devs would have to devote more resources to this. I'm not saying that there shouldn't be a game that takes this into account. But, devs have to decide what's best to spend their time on.
The simple evil bad. Or Deus Ex (where there's not good or bad, just options to advance the story, that sometimes lead to other options) make the game more interesting. To say that it's no choice at all is a complete disservice towards the advancement of morality systems in videogames.
Interesting article, glad to see some analysis.