To start off, I REALLY like this book. 3/4 of the book is scientific explanations and analysis of mitochondria, with a few flashbacks and some plot. However, that means that last quarter becomes absolutely terrifying because you know EXACTLY what is going on with the characters because of the science behind it. And, really, who thought mitochondria could be so fascinating?
Apparently, someone at Square Enix liked the book too. Enough to make a semi sequel to it in the form of the game, Parasite Eve.
Now, there is another reason why they made the game. You see, while Final Fantasy VII had done extraordinarily well, they wanted to change things when creating Final Fantasy VIII, such as a new area, a new magic system, and - most importantly- a new graphical overview. Add in a desire for a greater understanding of how the PS1 system worked, and Square Soft realized they needed to make an entirely new series.
Now, this isn't a completely original idea. Many companies have done this before and since. Most recently, Atlus decided to create "Catherine" in order to explore the PS3 capabilities and other gameplay options. If the game fails, they don't damage their main series (Final Fantasy, SMT/Persona, etc). If it works, well, they have a new series. Square Enix did it again for the DS. The World Ends With You exists because they wanted to know how the DS runs before they created Kingdom Hearts 358/2. TWEWY and 358/2 are games that involve heavy use of both screens, contrasting to something like Final Fantasy 3 has a more static bottom screen and Final Fantasy 4 only uses the bottom screen to display maps or battle stats, depending on the situation.
So, that's why there is a game called Parasite Eve and this terrifying book is allowed to live on. Square Soft wanted to make sure they got the tech right for Final Fantasy VIII.
Square Enix has this annoying habit of releasing a game for Japan, updating it for it's US release (Fixing glitches, adding bosses) then rereleasing it AGAIN in Japan as a "Final Mix" with an even more updated, and canon, bonuses.
For example: When Kingdom Hearts 1 was released in the US, it added a few cut scenes and bosses to the US version, such as Sephiroth and Kurt Zisa. When the FM version was released in Japan, it added in a Xemnas boss fight.
((The user has dubbed in English lines from else in the series to provide a rough translation.))
That's great, you may say, but why should I care?
Well, those scene made it into the KH2 flashback openings. At the end of each "Day", we see corrupted flashes of KH1 and the scene of Xemnas walking through Sora. This left many US players very confused because it was NOT in the KH1 game they played.
Okay, so why am I going through this?
Square Enix has announced they are releasing FFX and X-2 in HD. Some screen shots were released yesterday.
((Comparison))
but Famitsu has reported that the status of Final Fantasy's X-2 International/Final Mix post epilogue "Last Mission" might not be in the game proper. This mission serves to tie up the lives of the Spira cast and have a conclusive end to the game. It was only available to the Japanese players.
Square, you better fix this problem. It's getting really frustrating.
Do you remember the Final Fantasy Versus XIII trailer? Noctis teleporting to kill guards on the side of a building, the discussion of a political revolution, The guy from Jurassic Park driving a car... (Seriously, didn't he look like Jeff Goldblum to anyone else?) That was the first one, the second one gave a bit more detail, but it was unfinished and disjointed. The characters would flip in between being voiced and not, some things seemed a little unfinished, and the in game sections (while looking amazing) were slightly odd.
And while Versus generated more buzz than the other to XIII titles (Final Fantasy XIII itself and Final Fantasy Agito XIII - later renamed Final Fantasy type 0) but the thematic elements always felt a bit off from the other games. There were no mention of Fal'cie in the trailer, the world looked dramatically different from either of the two other games, even the crystals mentioned in the backstory worked differently from the crystals used in Final Fantasy XIII. (though they might have been more similar to the Type 0 crystals) Either way, it looked amazing
After 2011, there was nothing. No information about story or programming, Noctis didn't show up in any Final Fantasy events. No other trailers were released. Information just stopped. Until now.
A rumor is starting to leak out today. The reason why we haven't heard anything is because there is no Final Fantasy Versus XIII anymore.
It's now Final Fantasy XV, and it's going to be on the PS4. In addition, Sony itself is going to help out. It sounds like they will mostly help out in the art assets, but that is still a big help. Right now, it's all unsubstantiated, even if Gamestop may have leaked it coming out this year, as Versus XIII.
So, has Versus XIII been saved? Or was it always on track and they just wanted to finish KH 3D before they put their effort back onto Versus? What do you think?
The Bechdel Test is really more of a guideline, but it is quite important. The rules are exactly as stated. There are some alterations (some rules require the women to be named. Others refuse men to be mentioned even in the abstract) but as guidelines they are vital.
Why am I saying guidelines? Because Lesbian porn automatically qualifies and (keeping with the movie theme) Movies that take place in World War II men's prison camps do not. For example, Stahlag 17. A BRILLIANT movie about a captured American soldier who is trying to find the German spy in his bunk area. While Women appear, it is for a few comedy routines and are seen through a telescope.
While games are a bit MORE likely to fit in the rules, it is still a bit hard to accomplish.
Final Fantasies? Generally they accomplish it. There are traditionally 3 female characters and with the saving of the world being something on the forefront of people's minds, they talk about getting it done. The most obvious examples are Fang and Vanille talking, since they talk a lot. InFamous 2 has Kuo and Nix, and while they often talk about Cole, the also discuss powers and how to react to situations. And when Shanoa takes the lead with Castlevania, she talks to all sorts of people about many different things, Dracula and her brother being just two options.
But, that's just three options. Sly Cooper? Nothing. There's only one main Female Character (Carmelita Fox) and she's not playable until this game. As it stands now, I don't know if she will talk to any of the female characters and - while she is quite devoted to the law- her arc also revolves around Sly Cooper himself.
Kingdom Hearts 2 does have Selphie and Kairi talk to eachother briefly, but they only talk about Sora and Riku. All other female characters do not cross paths with eachother, or if they do, they don't talk to eachother.
While Peach has her own Arcs in the Mario RPG series, independent of Mario and the other male characters, she generally does not talk to other female characters.
This will need more research, but the next time you play, keep an eye out for this. The standards are low, but how many pass does say a lot.
No, no, you must be mistaken. I didn't miss Musical Monday.
Happy?
I am, sort of. I really like this theme. But I'm not here to talk about the theme.
Final Fantasy VS XIII was announced at E3 in 2006. The trailer, seen above, knocked everyone's socks off. It was more desired then Final Fantasy XIII itself, and then it fell off the map.
This is understandable. The Final Fantasy XIII trilogy of the time (XIII, Agito XIII (later became Type 0) and Versus XIII) were being developed in one office, and XIII then Agito/Type0 had more of the focus. XIII would be their basic title, and Agito was in turmoil. It first started as a mobile phone game before switching to PSP.
Agito came out to rave reviews. XIII was... mixed. (For the record, I liked it. I am at the final level. I can see some complaints, but anyone who claims all the character are unlikeable did NOT give them a chance to develop. Especially Hope.) So Square Enix decided to create XIII-2. That's also been... mixed.
Which brings us back to Versus. Very little has been released about Versus since it's announcement in 2006. Things have been mentioned, like there will be airships and cutscene and ingame models will be practically identical, and a few very incomplete trailers have been released.
And they have explained that not only has Noctis' clothes changed, they ended up switching the entire engine to another one, and the lighting effects changed so they were very realistic.
(I have since found out that that article was an April Fools Day joke. My apologies)
Admittedly, he says it's because the fans are frustrated, but this is just stupid and sets a REALLY bad precedent.
May I direct your attention to Capcom and Valve?
Capcom had announced post release DLC for Street Fighter. People were annoyed, but accepted it. Then people started digging into the files and found fully working models, costumes, and sound. To say people are spitting mad is an understatement. It might have been better if they were incomplete, but you could hack them in no problem. At this time, several people have registered reports with the Better Business Bureau and Capcom has stated:
"While Capcom is sorry that some of its fans are not happy about the
chosen method of delivery for the DLC, we believe that this method will
provide more flexible and efficient gameplay throughout the game's
lifecycle. There is effectively no distinction between the DLC being
''locked'' behind the disc and available for unlocking at a later date,
or being available through a full download at a later date, other than
delivery mechanism."
Valve for Half-Life 2 switched to an episodic model in order to save development time. Half 2 Episode 2 was released in 2007 with NO updates since then. At least XIII releases trailers.
Square Enix, if you want to relieve frustration, the answer is very simple.
Release information. I will NOT buy a game like this in installments. You have no idea how much I was looking forward to it, but putting 2/3 of the game as DLC has pretty much killed my interest. The game looks fascinating, complex, has a heavy focus on relationships, and... it will mostly be DLC. If you want people to get excited, start by saying EXACTLY how far you are along. The most recent trailer did not have complete voice acting! VAing is all or nothing for trailer cut scenes, otherwise it just comes across as unprofessional. You can release screenshots, talk about characters, over view the battle system, etc.
This also sets a VERY bad precedent. Valve at the very least has been upfront with how they were going to do episodes in the beginning and how the idea that it was supposed to cut down on development time didn't work. But look at something like Kingdom Hearts, the other FF's or just games in general. "We know you wanted it out sooner, so here is a third of the game. The rest is $20 DLC on top of the $60 price tag". "You can't beat the game unless you pay us more money" I'm sorry, but gaming does not work that way, especially for a longer game. You will lose your customers. People buy DLC. I've bought some. But changing a game style to mostly DLC is frustrating and insulting. (This also ties into getting rid of used games). You'll make money now, but you'll lose your customers in the long run. Capcom may often talk to it's community, but this DLC issue is using up a lot of good will very quickly. Square, you will lose even more. And what about Kingdom Hearts? People are getting VERY frustrated waiting for that, will you release that mostly as DLC?
This is coming out negative, but one point remains. If you want to reduce frustration, SE, don't release the game in installments and release more (non trailer) information in the mean time. I love trailers, but I'd rather an interview that gives background to the characters more then a new trailer right now.
I'm really excited. I LOVE video game music, especially the Final Fantasy music. After Elite Beat Agents, I'll give rhythm games a shot. And LOCKE is in it. VI and VII are my favorite FF's (I'm going to try to play all of them.) Cyan is my favorite, but SE FINALLY gives VI some love. (It and IX were the only non NES games kept from gaining extra characters. VI has the largest cast in FF history. They couldn't pick ONE person to add? Especially weird since Locke was almost put in the original Dissidia instead of Terra. But then they realized Cosmos needed some more girls non sword users.) Anyway, this is good news. SE decided to localize, and it's the MUSIC.
(SPOILERS FOR MASS EFFECT 3, BIOSHOCK, AND FINAL FANTASY 7 ENDINGS AHEAD!)
Still here? Great!
If you have been following gaming sites since Mass Effect 3 was released, you should have noticed something. Namely, people are complaining about how no matter what you choose up to that point, Shephard blindly accepts 3 options and each have stock endings.
Admittedly, there are a few minor differences between the three endings, but all in all, they are the same.
However, I was thinking, if the choices were more limited -or the choices were generally acknowledged to have no effect on the endgame- would there still be the complaints?
Bioshock (and Bioshock 2) had several endings, but these all varied on your choices up to that point.
Unlike Mass Effect, these are your only choices in the game. In Mass Effect, almost every bit of the story depends on your choice and your reputation (Paragon, Renegade, etc) In Bioshock, you can save or harvest Little Sisters. That is the only time you are given a choice. (One exception is granted for if/when you kill Sander Cohen, but that has no effect on the ending and it isn't set up as a choice like the Little Sisters are.)
In Bioshock 2, the Little Sister choice survives, but you are also given a choice on how to deal with many of the "Boss" characters. You can kill or save people like Grace Holloway and Stanley Poole. They are not attacking you, but they have offended you or betrayed you. If you choose to spare them that also has an effect on your ending.
When the ending does come around, Eleanor spells out why she is doing what she is doing, and names your treatment of the Little Sisters and people like Grace as shaping her philosophy on life. While the choices are limited, you do feel like they have some effect on the ending.
(2K has admitted to dropping the ball on the Bioshock1 ending by making it an "All or Nothing" type of ending, but the end result still applies. Killing the Little Sisters gives you a worse ending then saving all of them.)
In Final Fantasy 7, you can make several (non gameplay) choices through out the game, but all of them are minor.
1) Your party when you enter certain areas. The only thing you miss is character reactions. They may give some additional backstory, but no matter what, the story still continues unchanged.
2) If/when you recruit Yuffie. This only effects the availability of one side quest (possibly two. I don't know if the Turk sidequest is triggered if she is not in the party), her weapons, some late game materia (as prizes in the sidequests), character chatter, and she has a Gold Saucer date with Cloud.
3) If/when you recruit Vincent. Except for the Gold Saucer date, his effects are the same as Yuffie's.
4) What you do during the flashback in Kalm. When Cloud's party arrives in Kalm, he starts to narrate the story of how Nibelheim was destroyed. This flashback is not mentioned again until Sephiroth starts to tear apart Cloud's psyche. When he does so, Cloud lists what he did in Kalm. Other then what is necessary for the plot (such as visiting the mansion) everything else is dependent on choice. (So, yes, Cloud can boast of stealing Tifa's bra.) This flashback is only mentioned once again, but the choices in it are not mentioned.
5) The second to last Sephiroth fight. Like Bioshock, this is based on what you did previously. Whether or not you recruited Yuffie and Vincent, what level you are at that point, if you picked up the strongest materia, how quickly you beat the final Jenova, and if everyone knows their final limits all influence which version of Bizarro Sephiroth you face. The general idea is the same, but how you defeat him slightly varies. (If you fulfill most of the requirements, he has more HP and he has a more complicated pattern to beating him.) This choice has the most effect on the ending, but it is still simply one of the final boss fights. This does not effect the story in any way, nor does it effect the ending.
6) The Actual Golden Saucer date. Much like Bioshock, your date is picked based on how you treat the other characters during the game. Unlike Bioshock, this has absolutely no effect on the ending.
As a result. there is only one ending.
No matter what you chose, no matter who is in your party, you get that ending. (Admittedly, this is partly due to the fact that SE could not program the four endings that would be required to deal with Yuffie and Vincent, but the point remains.)
So, getting back to Mass Effect...
One of the main issues is that your choices through out the three games are completely abandoned when it comes to the ending. (Other issues include the copy and paste ending, the lack of dialogue, and plot holes.)
If the game had made it clear your choices would not have effected the ending - such as Final Fantasy 7 - or shown how they effected the ending - such as Bioshock- would Mass Effect 3 still receive the complaints?
I'm pretty much the only person who hasn't played Minecraft yet. Looks quite interesting though. When I get the chance (and my computer can handle it) I'll give it a try.
I've talked about DLC before. When I did, I mentioned that SE had basically just found out DLC existed. The previous DLC content (not including their MMO's) consisted of alternate costumes for Dissidia. When Final Fantasy XIII-2 was announced, they also announced there would be some DLC for the game.
Alright, so the game is released, people unlock all the endings and.... it ends on a To Be Continued. I'll note that they did register a XIII-3 trademark a few months before the game was released, and they claimed it was to pre empt any filings, but it's easy to assume they were lying after that ending. But there is one thing that really bugs me.
Like I said, they just found out about DLC. Their first foray into DLC was in Dissidia 012. The DLC consisted of extra costumes and songs on top of their already expanded in game content. However, the newest costumes and songs were only available if you paid. A large number was released in Japan, a lesser amount was brought over to the US (I don't know why, some of those would have been great! Look!)
And that is fair enough. The original game only had 2 sets of costumes, default and alternate. While it was annoying some of it was tied into preorders and so on over here (I only got KH Cloud, which is fine. I love that outfit) it was hard to get all of it before, and then SE just stopped bringing the costumes over even though they had already been made.
Then we get to XIII-2. It ends on a complete cliffhanger, In fact, we see Lightning turn to Crystal on Valhalla, Serah dies, and it's all confusion (even more so for me since I haven't played the game, but I have heard about this) Now, before the game was released they did talk a bit about DLC. There would be costumes (Pre order based. I HATE those.) and then they talked about a Sazh episode. Now, that makes sort of sense for me. It would probably be a minor or pointless side story. Don't get me wrong, I love Sazh I'm annoyed it wasn't in the full release, but it could have been cut but instead it's DLC. Unless Sazh ended up actively involved with the plot and changed it due to him being there then DLC works. It fills us in with some minor details, some fanservice, but won't cause alot of headaches if we miss it. There is another DLC, the coliseum battles between Serah, Noel and various monsters so that you can catch the monsters and use them later. Okay, I can see how that could be used. I would like to have it in there already, but it works.
It's the last piece of DLC that I've heard about that makes me mad. LIGHTNING'S STORY is going to be DLC. I don't know if it will cover her side of what happened in XIII-2 or it will be a continuation of the game, but that is a MAJOR part of the plot and it SHOULD have been put in the game. Other games switch players around all the time. In fact, Final Fantasy has done it before!
So, why did this have to be DLC? If it's a side story, it's probably going to explain a HECK of a lot. If it's a continuation of the story, then that SHOULD HAVE BEEN IN THE FINAL RELEASE. And then they're going to do it again with Theathrythm, it's getting some Day 1 DLC of songs that could probably have actually been on the cart. Unless they are giving it away for free, it's a complete rip off.
Game companies, clean up your act. It's not just Square Enix who does this.
DLC can be a VERY wonderful thing, as long as you are NOT cutting things out of the actual release and/or restricting it only to people who buy it new. I'm sure it brings in a lot of money now, but people are getting sick of it. Sooner or later, that revenue stream will dry up, and people will stop buying the games.
Please, just give us the whole game. You may have to delay it, but I'd rather pay sixty for it later then pay 100 dollars in installments for something I'm not even sure I own.
I'm going to talk about localization in general today.
Localization is the second part of translation that turns a good translated script into a great one. When you translate, you first translate something literally. "The vodka is good but the meat is rotten" is a well known example of a literal translation of "The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak". What localization does is smooth the words over to give accurate translations. Almost every word we use has an alternate and more specific meaning, or what about context? "Steal" vs "lift" mean the same thing, but have very different contexts.
This is where localization comes into play. They look at the word, it's context, and make sure that they have the best word that fits the scenario. Check some examples out here.
Other problems of localization include slang or references to local events. "Spastic" means excited in the US, but it's horribly insulting elsewhere. Meanwhile, the Ace Attorney games have "Lotta Heart" who speaks in a particular Japanese dialect. The implications of that dialect wouldn't transfer over to the US, so they made her southern instead.
Localization is what makes games more enjoyable. "YOU SPOONY BARD!" was put in because English lacked a current word that expressed what the Japanese said. It's now an iconic line. (For the record, the literal translation is somewhere along the lines of 'you lovesick bastard') Maya's noodles were replaced by hamburgers, Final Fantasy VI's heroine is called either "Tina" or "Terra" (the point was to make it sound exotic to the player's ears. "Tina" isn't exotic in the west) and Pokemon's names are often changed to get the pun or idea across.
Literal isn't always better. There are some things readers just won't get, either due to cultural differences, language subtleties, or a mix of the too. Some things that okay in one language or culture are very insulting in another. Localization sees these problems and fixes them.
Since Final Fantasy VI debuted on the PSN today, I thought I would analyze Terra (spoilers ahead) I should also note, she's not my favorite character, Cyan is. But, I'm saving Cyan for my birthday or something.
Well, Terra is (arguably) the lead character. And she's half human. I know she doesn't look like it, but she's half esper.
This is actually not only critical to the plot but to her personality. Esper's have great control over magic, but in doing so have very little emotions. While Terra can feel emotions, if she does so it is at the expense of her magic. Well, at least initially. Eventually she finds out that emotional disturbances end up disrupting her magic. Like making it ceasing to work.
Or turning her into this:
Which is why the Empire put her in a slave crown at the beginning of the game. She has immense power, but she's also very kind and can not work properly when under stress (like in battle).
So, if she doesn't like battle, why does she fight?
Because she has a reason. She wants to find out who she is, and she knows the empire doesn't want to share it. So, she joins up with Locke to find out... plus now that she's free she realized the Empire is in the wrong. But, she doesn't realize that anything is particularly odd with her, until she uses Magic in front of Edgar. Upon finding out that she is different, she looks to find out what she can do to "fix" her...
But instead, finds out that she can't understand love. She has no idea what it is, or how she should recognize it.
This search is a key part of her character. To quote her, "I want to know what love is NOW!" She wants to know how she's different, she wants to know why, she wants to fall in love.
And she does, but in a wonderful twist, it's not with a person...
Not any one person.
Instead, once they fail utterly and Kefka destroys the world, she takes over a small village and takes care of the kids. It is there she finds love. Not in one person, but in a village of children that would not have survived if she hadn't stepped in. And she couldn't use her magic until she realized that she loved her kids and she wanted to protect them.
It is also what allows her to survive after the end too.
Love motivates many of the characters in Final Fantasy VI. But, you'll have to play it to find out everyone else's love. (And don't forget to sleep in inns with Shadow)
This is one of my favorite games, and I really can't do an analysis of Terra well enough. She's a very confused young woman who, for all intents and purposes, woke up and had no idea who she is. She spends parts of the game trying to figure it out, only to find out she's not human, and, eventually, does find her purpose. In her new family in the town, and her friends who traipsed across an entire world to make sure no one would have to go through what she did ever again.
Apparently, this was more then a tease for the new ad campaign.
This was, apparently a tease for an ENTIRE GAME.
Yes, Ladies and gentleman, if the rumors are true then Sony is making a Smash Brother's style fighting game that is tentatively called Title Fight.
You can read the rumors here: Title Fight. The page notes that the "Michael" ad was a tease for the game. Here is IGN's Rewind theater that notes the games in the ad.
(I like Rewind Theater's and they can point out more things then I can)
So, IF the rumors are true (and I have no vids to speculate on gameplay) Who do you want to be in it?
Final Fantasy HAS to be represented as it is considered a "Sony" type game recently (All the main titles from 7-12 not including 11 were PlayStation exclusives. 1,2,4,5, and 6 were rereleased on the Playstation and with Dissidia all main games have had characters released on a Sony system) But which hero? I think it would boil down to between Cloud and Lightning. Cloud is iconic and SE has been promoting Lightning lately. Lightning would have more variety (Switching between Commander (Physical), Ravager (Black Magic) and Medic (White Magic) in Dissidia for example) and she has Odin, but Cloud is a normal swordsman and is probably more popular and iconic. Lightning is a bit more over promoted but still a viable choice.
Sly Cooper is in there,so why not Cole from InFamous? He's a really good option for fighting games. He's going to be in Street Fighter X Tekken!
No, really, he's going to be in Street Fighter X Tekken.
So, first player, fighter, he's looking like a good choice, if Sly wasn't already in the game.
Ezio isn't an exclusive character, but he was in the trailer, has a good fighting set up, and is going to be in Soul Calibur V, so he's also a viable option.
Subject Delta from Bioshock 2. Again, not completely exclusive but would be a VERY powerful "Tank" option. Between the plasmids, guns, and iconic drill he could do quite a lot in a fight. Plasmids would probably drift to the more offensive ones. (INCINERATE! Electrobolt, Winterblast, telekinesis, etc) the downside is he can't really talk... but it would still be cool. (While Delta does not appear in the trailer, the Little Sisters do)
Snake from Metal Gear Solid. Much like FF, MGS is a third party series tied to the Sony brand.Snake has a large role in the trailer and has already appeared in a fighting game. Unfortunately, that game is Super Smash Brother's Brawl. While it CAN be done, (he's very good in Brawl) I'm not sure of the legalities.
Ratchet and Clank from... Ratchet and Clank. Playstation Exclusive characters, would compliment Sly Cooper well, lots of gadgets to play with... would be a very fun choice! (Plus Ratchet was in the trailer)
Ico or Wander from Ico/Shadow of the Colossus. I honestly don't know too much about these two, so I can't say much.
Dante from Devil May Cray. So, yeah, talking about White Haired Dante here. Lots of variety, devil may care attitude, would be a good way to mix up play. He was JUST in (Ultimate) Marvel vs Capcom 3 so I don't know if there would be legal issues, but there might be. (Character is exclusive, company isn't)
Ryu from Street Fighter. I don't think I have to explain why.
That's all I can think of right now, but I'm afraid I'm going to have to shoot down Chell. I ADORE her, but she doesn't have much fighting potential and Valve is considered more of a PC company then a console company. Plus, until recently, Gabe Newell hated the Playstation for some reason.
And while the three heroes from Trine would be another good option, it's a downlodable multi platform game. it doesn't feel quite right. Would be fun to switch between all of them though!
I was inspired by this IGN editorial yesterday:Editorial: Shock Without The Awe and it got me thinking about violence in video games. (note: I have not played Modern Warfare 3, so I am taking my information from the editorial)
I'm not going to argue "all violence desensitizes us to real violence" or "It's all fake so it doesn't matter" That is a VERY thorny matter, and one I've bumped heads with alot. I'm going to be looking at something else.
Justified violence.
When do we see violence in games and how does everyone react to it? Is it just there to drum up controversy or does it mean something more.
First: I'm going to look at one of the most famous scenes in video games. (Final Fantasy 7 spoilers)
Yep, Aerith's death. Something that traumatized more then one generation of gamers. You may ask: Why was it put in there? She didn't sacrifice herself heroically to do something, in fact, she may not even had needed to die at all!
That was the point.
Yoshinori Kitase was the director and co writer of Final Fantasy VII. During his work on the story, his mother died. While they had known they were going to kill off one of the characters for a while (It boiled down to either Aerith or Barrett as they were the only other characters besides Cloud created at that time) the circumstances around the death dramatically changed.
They were annoyed with the Hollywood cliche of "sacrifice to save others" and when Yoshinori Kitase's mother died, he realized his own way of coming to grips with his mother's death and how to make the death meaningful in the story.
"In the real world things are very different. You just need to look
around you. Nobody wants to die that way. People die of disease and
accident. Death comes suddenly and there is no notion of good or bad. It
leaves, not a dramatic feeling but great emptiness. When you lose
someone you loved very much you feel this big empty space and think, 'If
I had known this was coming I would have done things differently. These
are the feelings I wanted to arouse in the players with Aerith's death
relatively early in the game. Feelings of reality and not Hollywood."
Tetsuya Nomura also stated:
"Death should be something sudden and unexpected, and Aerith's death seemed more natural and realistic." "When I reflect on Final Fantasy VII,
the fact that fans were so offended by her sudden death probably means
that we were successful with her character. If fans had simply accepted
her death, that would have meant she wasn't an effective character. "
(Quotes taken from the Final Fantasy wiki page on Aerith's death)
This death meant something to the player because it was so random, so unexpected, and so violent. (I do not like Aerith that much(and I knew about her death), but even I was shaken up by her death and I had to take a break when playing it. I'm still very glad that it hasn't yet been made into a HD scene for Advent Children or a PS3 FF7. The closest we've gotten was the seconds before in Advent Children during a brief glance into Cloud's thoughts) and it spurred the characters on. They fought to avenge Aerith and save the world.
Now, bizarre as that may seem, that is a positive portrayal. How about a negative one? (Bioshock 2 spoilers)
Bioshock 1 had set up the expectations of morality but they weren't really fleshed out. (Even the developers admit it) This was fixed for Bioshock 2. This ending is a punch in the gut.
During the game, you see the line "Lamb is watching" all over Rapture. Eventually it is revealed to refer to two characters, the antagonist "Sofia Lamb" and her daughter and your Little Sister, Eleanor.
Eleanor spends the game watching what her "Father" does. But you don't truly grasp that until the end of the game. Your ending is decided upon two factors. How you treated the various non threatening bosses (such as Grace Halloway, Alexander the Great, etc) and how you treated the little sisters. If you had a tendency to forgive and allow the bosses to live, Eleanor saves Sofia. If you both killed or saved, Eleanor lets Sofia drown. If you kill the bosses, she kills her mother. For the little sisters, how you interacted with them deals with if/how Eleanor takes your ADAM. Saving them has Eleanor take your ADAM as her conscious, mixed saving/killing leaves Eleanor confused and waits to see if you will let her take your ADAM. Killing the little sisters has her take your ADAM by force.
Bioshock 2, like Modern Warfare 3, does not dwell on the analysis of these actions. It literally does not have the time. Subject Delta is dying and how his life ends is how it ends. He can not change what Eleanor has become. As a result, some players may not realize what they have done to Eleanor until it is too late. It is very effective because there is little post action analysis. This is different from the Modern Warfare 3 example All the analysis is before. The entire game is about free will. In playing for themselves, players may not realize the little girl they have corrupted.
I'm with the article. More analysis like this can help show what games can actually do for the sake of art. There will be crap, not all art or literature is classic, but if enough gems shine through, our hobby can actually get respect.
