A Sledgehammer Is Not Fucking Chill.
Sep. 10th, 2019 06:13 pmI really need to stop getting into videogames that are constantly put down in comparison to the developer's previous output. Everyone complains that Life Is Strange 2 isn't as good as Life Is Strange; everyone complains that Man of Medan isn't as good as Until Dawn. Every new Final Fantasy game is accused of being the worst one in the series.
What do these games have in common? They set out to do something different from their predecessors, rather than being direct sequels with the same themes, gameplay and characters. A lot of the time, they're not actually being criticised for being worse; they're being criticised for being different.
I don't think Man of Medan is as strong as Until Dawn in its writing or its characters. But it is vastly more ambitious in its branching; there are a lot of things that can vary across playthroughs, both small and large, and I'm really impressed by what it's achieved. I've seen some people complain that it feels low-effort, which is just bewildering to me. It's clear that a phenomenal amount of effort went into this game: considerably more than I'd expect from a five-hour game that I bought on release day for the cost of two cinema tickets.
( Spoilers for Man of Medan (and Until Dawn). )
I forgot to mention that Man of Medan has the most bonkers mechanical oversight I've seen in my life: inverting the Y axis also inverts the dialogue wheel. I had to hold the analogue stick top-left if I wanted the bottom-left option. On the first dialogue choice I was just screaming helplessly, desperately and unsuccessfully trying to make Brad say something before the timer ran out.
What do these games have in common? They set out to do something different from their predecessors, rather than being direct sequels with the same themes, gameplay and characters. A lot of the time, they're not actually being criticised for being worse; they're being criticised for being different.
I don't think Man of Medan is as strong as Until Dawn in its writing or its characters. But it is vastly more ambitious in its branching; there are a lot of things that can vary across playthroughs, both small and large, and I'm really impressed by what it's achieved. I've seen some people complain that it feels low-effort, which is just bewildering to me. It's clear that a phenomenal amount of effort went into this game: considerably more than I'd expect from a five-hour game that I bought on release day for the cost of two cinema tickets.
( Spoilers for Man of Medan (and Until Dawn). )
I forgot to mention that Man of Medan has the most bonkers mechanical oversight I've seen in my life: inverting the Y axis also inverts the dialogue wheel. I had to hold the analogue stick top-left if I wanted the bottom-left option. On the first dialogue choice I was just screaming helplessly, desperately and unsuccessfully trying to make Brad say something before the timer ran out.
