Deadly Premonition
Game » consists of 11 releases. Released Feb 23, 2010
An open-world action-adventure game following an eccentric FBI agent as he investigates a series of bizarre murders in the small rural town of Greenvale.
I got a T-Shirt in Greenvale (No spoilers)
Edited By cornbredx
Just gonna start by saying, while I'd love to take the time to put pictures and what not to spruce this up- due to the content I am not going to in order to not run into spoilers (as pictures I'd want to use would be considered as such). Also, I am not going to spoil Deadly Premonition in anyway, mainly because I dont want to spoil anyones enjoyment of the ER. This is merely a look back on my time leading up to Deadly Premonitions release, playing Deadly Premonition, and how I feel about it. I promise I will not spoil anything, and if anything will only mention things already seen in the ER. If you are not watching the ER (why not?) and dont want even that spoiled- read no further. Also, I tend to write ALOT but I will keep my thoughts as brief as possible.
To begin, I just finished playing Deadly Premonition (the way that I do, just playing and enjoying the game; I didnt 100% achievement it. Sorry. I finished the main story) only an hour ago. There is something to be said for this game. I dont think I've played a game like this in years. Yes, its bad. I think the designers even knew that (it only costs 20 bucks- which to me, I think is acceptable) but they put alot of effort into what they had and that also shows.
When I first heard about this game, I assumed it was just another Japanese "Survival Horror" game. It looked to be... not very interesting, and being that there was very little about it (other then its delay and subsequent reasons for the delay) I let it slip away. As time approached that the game would launch (finally) I started to become intrigued by it. There was very little in the way of hype for the game. I found that very odd, as even the worst games these days have some sort of hype surrounding their release. Yet, Deadly Premonition had maybe 2 trailers (1 actually put out the week of its release) and a website that doesnt really do much for the game (to be fair, though, most game websites dont do that much). I was perplexed at how a game in development over 5 years seemed to be quietly releasing with the hope that people like me would find the trailers to suggest it be so old school we'd want to play it. Of course, I did want to play it but I couldnt get it until a couple months after its release.
Anyway, I was also intrigued by the limited availabilty of this game. I always tend to buy my games from amazon these days, so for me it wasnt that bad, but I did notice that none of my local retailers had it... at all. I found that perplexing as the cost alone suggests it'd do at least mildly well in retail stores. I'll move on from this oddity though.
So I played the game following along at first with the ER. I found myself remembering a simpler time in gaming. When 3D sprites were becoming polygons, controls were janky and frustrating, story telling was often weird (disjointed, not that great), voice acting in games wasnt all that special, but experience alone was enough to keep us playing. That was really all we had in hindsight with alot of games. That's not to say there were no superb games. Those games are now legendary in their own right, and crafted very well. Looking back, or playing these games now, though, I can see more flaws in even the greatest of games from that time in my life.
Resident Evil, for example. If you played for the first time today, knowing about the games we know of now, is almost like taking a time machine back and seeing a game in its prime that would now be considered low budget. Yes, it has its charm. There was something about it that made it so special- so unique. We enjoyed playing it, and I dont think any of us regretted it either. At the time, I remember thinking those awful grainy sprites were actually scary. I couldnt sit and play it for more then an hour at a time. To me it was a truly horrifyingly fun experience with awful acting that made it kinda funny even when it was getting scary. If you play it now, aside from the hilariously bad acting, it has some really odd controls, frustrating mechanics, tons of jump scares, and a story that honestly doesnt make sense. Of course theres also the fact that it has very old graphics (which are grainy) but we'll leave the obvious stuff to your imagination.
Deadly premonition reminded me alot of that era's charm, though. Somehow, it captured what was both the good and the bad for me about those games.
I cant say it was a legendary experience that will go down in history. If they get to make another game I will both be shocked and excited to see how they pull that off. However, I wouldnt replace my time playing the game with anything else. I enjoyed the story, and if it wasnt for how loathsome the controls are and how tedious the combat is I would probably have gone for all the achievements (that would be torture. I feel for those that have done this already).
This game is probably the weirdest game I have ever played. I have to mention before I continue though, that it I will admit it has some huge flaws that certainly limit the appeal for this game. The janky controls for instance can be frustrating at times (although I think I found it more bearable then some actually popular games). The graphics in the game are seriously sub par. I am not a graphics person but I have to admit, some textures just look awful and they often mix with other awful textures to make an evil blot of colors that shouldnt look as they do. You see this alot when you are on dirt and look at the fences. Its not that graphics matter- its that its obvious and jarring. However, some of the bad stuff is also part of its charm. The really bad animations and motion capture (I am still surprised they even did motion capture, because honestly you cant tell- in a bad way) kind of helps you enjoy the times with the characters even if sometimes its because your laughing at how funny they are emoting or clearly emoting incorrectly.
I have to admit I was pleasantly surprised by some of the acting. While not all the talent is especially good at getting across a range of emotions, and none are oscar worthy performances (not like that even matters actually) I was surprised at how much I was able to actual care about these characters. It became more of an experience as time went on and less about laughing at how awful certain things are about the game. I was also surpsied at how much I enjoyed the story arc, and while absurd I felt it wove a story arc I felt more satisfied by then even (dare I say) its release date contender- heavy rain. At least I dont have to convince myself of this (which with heavy rain I was battling with how satisified i was with the ending) and I truly enjoyed the story the game told me.
It is a shame, really, the game has the flaws it does. The story alone holds the game up the most. I found the game to be very ambitious, as it tried alot of things that didnt necessarily work well... but it tried, and it never apologized for trying something different. There is something to be said for that, even if it was flawed.
So to wrap this up (as I dont want to ramble on much longer) I feel this game was an enjoyable experience that I'll personally remember fondly. While at times I just wanted it to be over, and I couldnt bring myself to drag it out more by doing all the side missions (as for me that would've killed my experience), I did enjoy the story. As weird as they were, the inhabitants of Greenvale are an endearing lot. Whenever I see my Deadly Premonition case I will definitely look back fondly at my time in greenvale... but I dont think I'm ever going back.
Unless there's a sequel.
Just gonna start by saying, while I'd love to take the time to put pictures and what not to spruce this up- due to the content I am not going to in order to not run into spoilers (as pictures I'd want to use would be considered as such). Also, I am not going to spoil Deadly Premonition in anyway, mainly because I dont want to spoil anyones enjoyment of the ER. This is merely a look back on my time leading up to Deadly Premonitions release, playing Deadly Premonition, and how I feel about it. I promise I will not spoil anything, and if anything will only mention things already seen in the ER. If you are not watching the ER (why not?) and dont want even that spoiled- read no further. Also, I tend to write ALOT but I will keep my thoughts as brief as possible.
To begin, I just finished playing Deadly Premonition (the way that I do, just playing and enjoying the game; I didnt 100% achievement it. Sorry. I finished the main story) only an hour ago. There is something to be said for this game. I dont think I've played a game like this in years. Yes, its bad. I think the designers even knew that (it only costs 20 bucks- which to me, I think is acceptable) but they put alot of effort into what they had and that also shows.
When I first heard about this game, I assumed it was just another Japanese "Survival Horror" game. It looked to be... not very interesting, and being that there was very little about it (other then its delay and subsequent reasons for the delay) I let it slip away. As time approached that the game would launch (finally) I started to become intrigued by it. There was very little in the way of hype for the game. I found that very odd, as even the worst games these days have some sort of hype surrounding their release. Yet, Deadly Premonition had maybe 2 trailers (1 actually put out the week of its release) and a website that doesnt really do much for the game (to be fair, though, most game websites dont do that much). I was perplexed at how a game in development over 5 years seemed to be quietly releasing with the hope that people like me would find the trailers to suggest it be so old school we'd want to play it. Of course, I did want to play it but I couldnt get it until a couple months after its release.
Anyway, I was also intrigued by the limited availabilty of this game. I always tend to buy my games from amazon these days, so for me it wasnt that bad, but I did notice that none of my local retailers had it... at all. I found that perplexing as the cost alone suggests it'd do at least mildly well in retail stores. I'll move on from this oddity though.
So I played the game following along at first with the ER. I found myself remembering a simpler time in gaming. When 3D sprites were becoming polygons, controls were janky and frustrating, story telling was often weird (disjointed, not that great), voice acting in games wasnt all that special, but experience alone was enough to keep us playing. That was really all we had in hindsight with alot of games. That's not to say there were no superb games. Those games are now legendary in their own right, and crafted very well. Looking back, or playing these games now, though, I can see more flaws in even the greatest of games from that time in my life.
Resident Evil, for example. If you played for the first time today, knowing about the games we know of now, is almost like taking a time machine back and seeing a game in its prime that would now be considered low budget. Yes, it has its charm. There was something about it that made it so special- so unique. We enjoyed playing it, and I dont think any of us regretted it either. At the time, I remember thinking those awful grainy sprites were actually scary. I couldnt sit and play it for more then an hour at a time. To me it was a truly horrifyingly fun experience with awful acting that made it kinda funny even when it was getting scary. If you play it now, aside from the hilariously bad acting, it has some really odd controls, frustrating mechanics, tons of jump scares, and a story that honestly doesnt make sense. Of course theres also the fact that it has very old graphics (which are grainy) but we'll leave the obvious stuff to your imagination.
Deadly premonition reminded me alot of that era's charm, though. Somehow, it captured what was both the good and the bad for me about those games.
I cant say it was a legendary experience that will go down in history. If they get to make another game I will both be shocked and excited to see how they pull that off. However, I wouldnt replace my time playing the game with anything else. I enjoyed the story, and if it wasnt for how loathsome the controls are and how tedious the combat is I would probably have gone for all the achievements (that would be torture. I feel for those that have done this already).
This game is probably the weirdest game I have ever played. I have to mention before I continue though, that it I will admit it has some huge flaws that certainly limit the appeal for this game. The janky controls for instance can be frustrating at times (although I think I found it more bearable then some actually popular games). The graphics in the game are seriously sub par. I am not a graphics person but I have to admit, some textures just look awful and they often mix with other awful textures to make an evil blot of colors that shouldnt look as they do. You see this alot when you are on dirt and look at the fences. Its not that graphics matter- its that its obvious and jarring. However, some of the bad stuff is also part of its charm. The really bad animations and motion capture (I am still surprised they even did motion capture, because honestly you cant tell- in a bad way) kind of helps you enjoy the times with the characters even if sometimes its because your laughing at how funny they are emoting or clearly emoting incorrectly.
I have to admit I was pleasantly surprised by some of the acting. While not all the talent is especially good at getting across a range of emotions, and none are oscar worthy performances (not like that even matters actually) I was surprised at how much I was able to actual care about these characters. It became more of an experience as time went on and less about laughing at how awful certain things are about the game. I was also surpsied at how much I enjoyed the story arc, and while absurd I felt it wove a story arc I felt more satisfied by then even (dare I say) its release date contender- heavy rain. At least I dont have to convince myself of this (which with heavy rain I was battling with how satisified i was with the ending) and I truly enjoyed the story the game told me.
It is a shame, really, the game has the flaws it does. The story alone holds the game up the most. I found the game to be very ambitious, as it tried alot of things that didnt necessarily work well... but it tried, and it never apologized for trying something different. There is something to be said for that, even if it was flawed.
So to wrap this up (as I dont want to ramble on much longer) I feel this game was an enjoyable experience that I'll personally remember fondly. While at times I just wanted it to be over, and I couldnt bring myself to drag it out more by doing all the side missions (as for me that would've killed my experience), I did enjoy the story. As weird as they were, the inhabitants of Greenvale are an endearing lot. Whenever I see my Deadly Premonition case I will definitely look back fondly at my time in greenvale... but I dont think I'm ever going back.
Unless there's a sequel.
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