"So bad it's good" and how Deadly Premonition is being sold short
By Turtlemayor333 26 Comments
So everyone is throwing their two cents into the ring on Deadly Premonition and I figure it's my turn. Like many I've been religiously keeping up with both Endurance Runs, which takes a bit of time I might add, as well as recently purchasing the game for myself. This is a good time to note that I haven't even reached the hospital in my own playthrough, so you'll see no spoilers here beyond what either Run has already seen. I'm just sharing my experience with this title and addressing those that maybe aren't satisfied with the ironic praise from trolls like Jim Sterling.
I ask this to anyone who believes the value of Deadly Premonition begins and ends with the "so bad it's good" mentality. Have you ever seen such overwhelmingly positive reaction to shovelware on the Wii? In all likelihood, no, you haven't. Game Party (and nearly all its ilk) despite selling over three million copies and receiving two sequels is a terrible video game made only to fool children, mothers, and otherwise ignorant customers en route to dollar signs. My point is that Game Party should be a perfect candidate for the same "so bad it's good" logic, yet this clearly isn't so. Something else, in my opinion the very attitude of the developers, separates the two.
Hopefully this isn't coming across as an angry rant criticizing anyone who thought, for instance, the frame rate during the chase sequence was the funniest thing they'd seen all day. The game is funny, and whether it's accidental or intentional shouldn't be the major concern. What I'm saying here is that the lasting appeal is a different animal entirely. "So weird it's good" seems more appropriate, although as someone who never got into Katamari Damacy I don't think this phrase tells the whole story either. I was thinking of ending this by asking everyone to buy the game but at the risk of sounding like a commercial, just open your minds a bit instead. Explaining the genuine appeal of Deadly Premonition isn't easy, but it does indeed exist.