kraznor

If you're still exclusively looking to big-budget, major publisher games to satisfy all your gaming needs you're going to have a bad time.

Definitely agree. Back when they did video reviews I got more out of them as they provided a brief summary of what a game's all about, which I still prefer to hour long "quick" looks, but the podcast banter generally provides more valuable insight into how the staff feel about recent games so I could do without proper reviews going forward as well.

@pyrodactyl: Idle Thumbs. It's better. Don't believe me? Listen to Idle Thumbs and then report back.

I agree, as a person who took issue with several of Brad's assertions regarding Far Cry 3 and its granting of a five star rating despite opinions expressed on podcasts by him I felt contrasted sharply with what a 5/5 seems to represent to many people. In this case, I'm much less invested in the franchise and genre so its not my fight, but challenging a person's opinions is absolutely valid and shouldn't be summarily dismissed as one, narrow-minded type of rebuttal as seems to be happening here.

@TheFreeMan: Fair enough, that was by far my weakest point so I admit it was an early judgment based on the volume of fighting I've gone through thus far. I more or less just wanted to say "yo, I don't like this game" and thought this topic was kinda/sorta on a negative enough note to do so without starting a new one and getting all sorts of outcry directed squarely at me.

@believer258: I guess bottom-line, I really dislike this game and find it a chore to play for a number of reasons. The only topic I saw posted that was at all recent indicating a negative stance on the game was this one so I aired some of my grievances and a few minor ones I was a lot less passionate about in regards to what I feel is a generic, uninteresting lead character (who happens to have dragon tattoos, which I found cliched as all get out, but I GUESS a case could be made for a legitimate, honorable reason one might want to get a giant dragon tattoo) and a really goofy game mechanic I find distracting and silly in the shrines. All of this creates a character I don't want to play as, in a setting I don't find interesting in a game I find bland and problematic.

As for gangs knowing how to fight, sure, that was me searching for a third point of contension because two isn't enough for a good sentence.

And saying all open-world games have narrative dissonance doesn't make it any less of a problem here. I found this case especially pronounced due to the conceit of you being a police officer. Yes, the structured narrative may guide you down a path where things get worse and worse, but if the player can do all sorts of insanely violent things right from the story and only get dinged a couple dollars, its still ridiculous.

And while I'm at it, I didn't fancy the writing I've encountered thus far either. The scene where they introduce Emma Stone's character was absurdly hammy.

I didn't like a game you like. Sorry, not trying to troll, just posting thoughts about a game in a forum about said game. Maybe I chose a slightly tangential topic to do so but there it is.

@Colourful_Hippie: All I know is I've run into several gangs of random thugs and they all seem to have some handle on martial arts. It is indeed emulating corny Hong Kong action films but in a way I find at best bland and at worst, kind of disturbing.

@Colourful_Hippie: I thought Resident Evil 5 was kind of terrible, but I wasn't really offended by it on the grounds of racism. I'm not exactly offended by Sleeping Dogs on those grounds either, I just think both are underthought in a lot of ways and I don't enjoy playing them. The glowing Buddhist altars thing is just annoying to me though. Again, not because its stereotyping exactly, just seeing a glowing magic thing you stand in front of to get health bonuses couldn't be less immersion-breaking.

@Colourful_Hippie: Well, didn't want to post a new topic suggesting this game is kind of terrible if there was already one that focused on some of its negative qualities.

@believer258: @believer258: All of those things are true and they are most certainly impacting my enjoyment of the game (the altars glow on top of it all, which I couldn't help laughing at). That narrative dissonance everyone talks about open-world games having is present here as well, only it is either much more problematic or I simply haven't played a game like this in a bit and its standing out because of it. Basically, everything I've played of this game makes me hate it.