Hey Vinny. I have a degree in Gender, Sexuality and Culture and I'm working on my PhD. You're alright at this stuff. You do something a lot of people don't with your coverage: you're aware of your own ego. You are very good at recognising how little insight you or anyone has on these individual cases. I think a lot of reporters treat situations like this as an opportunity to prove their own righteousness. No one individual can get their head around all of these issues without leaving room for doubt. I think it is important to make these stories known without insisting on a singular narrative. Keep up the good work.
I don't think that the divisiveness itself is a problem, I just think that most reviews have failed to separate Kojima himself from his fan base. All of Kojima's games are self-mocking throughout, and while I think the messages themselves are meant to be taken seriously I do not think the delivery (pun not intended) mechanism is. What I mean is that there is value in melodrama and overwrought storytelling--and there's also value in ignoring convention and seeing what happens. Kojima never calls himself a genius, an artist or a philosopher; he calls himself a craftsman. He's just a guy with a hammer, some nails and a few ideas who he wants to make something for people to enjoy. I personally respect the hell out of him, because I do think that the games are filled with so much love and care that their flaws come off as endearing more than anything else.
I think Giant Bomb has failed to present a clear-headed critique. To call something pretentious, insecure or self-indulgent really just serves the critic, as if to say 'I am a serious-business writer who is immune to this game's evil tricks' without actually engaging with the game on its terms. A critique is stronger when you attack it from multiple angles even if that means swallowing your pride here and there. I feel like there is a pervasive close-mindedness that is defining culture at the moment. I don't understand the impulse to protect oneself from being perceived as a 'dupe'. It's a given that we're just trying to have fun here, and it's okay to entertain different paths to enjoyment with a game, even if it didn't work for you. I think Jeff and Brad get that. I'm not sure everyone else does.
I feel like I'm a little disappointed with Giant Bomb's coverage of this whole thing. Now, given the fact that there's no way I can divorce myself from the fact that I am a fan of most of Kojima's work, and that I've yet to finish Death Stranding, there is a certain petulance going on here. (Petulance might be too harsh a word but I cannot think of a more appropriate word, anyway.)
Most of this centres around the narrative. I think the critique of the gameplay comes from a very honest place, and there's no accounting for taste. Personally, I've found the first 3-4 hours thoroughly enjoyable, even the BT sequences, which I found to be very tense. What I think annoys me most, though, is the 'accusatory' tone that a lot of the coverage has taken. In this review, particularly, suggesting that the game is 'insecure' or that Kojima just 'read a Wikipedia article' feels directed like a takedown of fan's expectations even though Kojima himself never claimed to have a PhD in philosophy, or even that he was intending to be incredibly deep with anything he's ever done.
In fact, I'd go so far to say that there is no such thing as 'depth' in the broad principles of a particular subject, only obfuscation. That is to say that philosophy, like physics, is not that complicated. Nor is it that profound. I'm reminded of Adorno, an anti-fascist philosopher from the first half of the 20th century: ‘philosophy is the most serious of things but then again it is not that serious.' He means that philosophy is a pale imitation of understanding, but it's about as close as humans can get to making sense of things that can't be proven empirically. So you end up feeling stupid for even trying. Am I reading too much into the fact that the game opens with a song imploring us to not be so serious? Probably, but if Kojima were trying to be subtle how would we know?
There's something to be said for accessibility of language, and the recognition of the absurdity that we have to live with. So Kojima's hitting you over the head? It's equally likely he'd be criticised for being inscrutable, or even trying to make you feel smart by being part of the exclusive club that 'gets it'. I think if this were not a Kojima game, the impetus to take him--or his fans--down a peg would not be present. I want to defend this review by relegating it to 'purchasing advice', but it's not just that. It's kind of an indictment of something that wears its passion on its sleeve. Kojima may or may not be a genius--not that that term is in any way useful--but he is almost joyful in his open exploration of big themes. MGSV was orders of magnitude more disappointing to me than Death Stranding because it felt burdened, dispassionate and tired even as it played so sublimely. I still really like that game, but was never moved by it. Death Stranding feels different.
Nobody has to like this game, but why does Giant Bomb's coverage feel so mean?
I really need to see the story in this game for myself--I have incomplete data! I feel like I usually disagree with Jeff and Ben on narrative decisions in the hardest possible way, but Jeff seems to understand a lot about MGS did well. If I find more than surface-level philosophy in Death Stranding it's because I have such an extensive background in the subject, and people shouldn't be expected to need that. I don't really think I can expect critics to pick up on some things if they're buried under a layer of academic cruft, so anything that claims by inference that it's deep is hard to review.
That said, that's all hypothetical and for now, I just have to assume that the game's story is just disappointing nonsense until I play it for myself.
This seems like an instance of personality-driven gaming journalism functioning as intended. I love it when a game sends Jeff into an endearing little spiral because it's often a good sign that I'll enjoy it.
I've been thinking a lot about this lately and I don't know if anyone has codified it, but I really like 'patience mechanics' in games. My favourite moments in Breath of the Wild were picking my way up mountains, trying to spot where I could take a rest. Rather than making me frustrated it made me stop and think: "how can I do this?"
If a game wants me to be patient, I'll often enjoy it. If a game is dull and tries to make up for that with tiny hits of dopamine, I'll start to feel manipulated. Breath of the Wild strikes a very good balance in that regard, and so probably appeals to a mass-market a little better. I'll have to wait till I play Death Stranding to see if this bears out, obviously, but I'm encouraged!
Speaking of bad, neck related shit, I have a great personal story. Warning, medical nightmare ahead:
A few years back, I had a cyst suddenly appear on my neck. Doctor sent me to the hospital and after a bit of poking and prodding, they decided they needed to drain it. This consisted of a large gauge needle, and an ultrasound machine being used simultaneously. I was fully conscious for the procedure, and could clearly feel the cold metal in my neck. I could see the needle on the ultrasound machine as they used it to guide the needle in a few inches to where it needed to be. At some point, I had to swallow some saliva and could feel my muscles contracting around it. They sent the fluid for testing and luckily, it was benign and never returned.
It actually didn't bother me at all, but the experience will definitely stick with me. Not traumatic, just...memorable?
@purpleoddity: Not gonna quote the whole thing, but your last comment here was excellent to read. It gives me a lot of hope to see these topics discussed with such nuance in any gaming community, even one as relatively nice as Giant Bomb. I don't have much of anything to add, I just very much agree with what you posted, you hit all the notes very nicely in a way I wouldn't have been able to articulate. Cheers.
Thank you! I'm glad the many years of academic training have paid off. :)
You don't really need to bathe kitties unless they're unable to groom themselves for some reason. We only started bathing our cat this year and he's 16--he's old, grumpy and smelly.
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