rionaleonhart | Something Better.

Entry tags:

Something Better.

I have now finished Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception! Spoilerless thoughts:

- I find it really endearing that Nathan Drake constantly talks to himself when he's in a dangerous situation on his own.

- I love the tweaks that have been made to the hand-to-hand combat system. In the previous games, I was constantly shooting; in this one, PUNCH EVERYONE ALL THE TIME. In addition to conserving ammo and preventing the enemy you've engaged from shooting you in the face: kind of hot! (Amazing fact: you can get a trophy called 'He's Gonna Need a Sturgeon' by knocking three people out with a fish.)

- The credits felt about as long as the game itself, bloody hell. On the plus side, they were absolutely gorgeous. (I've just looked up how long the credits are. They are fourteen minutes long.)

- What a fantastic game.

Spoilerful thoughts below the cut:

I've seen people complaining that Chloe and Elena didn't have enough of a role in Uncharted 3. I like Chloe, and I love Elena, but it makes sense to me that they had relatively minor roles in the plot; from the flashback at the beginning to the 'never had a son' scene at the end, Uncharted 3 was a story about Nate and Sully.

I am extremely glad that I came to love Sully after our rocky start, because it would have been awful if I'd resented the entire emotional thread running through Uncharted 3. (I've just realised that I've learnt to love every member of the original Uncharted central cast in a different game. Drake's Fortune: Elena. Among Thieves: Nathan. Drake's Deception: Sully.)

I actually got sort-of spoiled for this game shortly after I began playing it. What happened was this: I was trying to look the young-Nate-and-Sully scenes up on YouTube, and a video entitled 'Uncharted 3 Sully Death Scene' showed up in the 'suggested videos' sidebar, and I cursed myself for being so careless. But, at the same time, I couldn't quite believe he was actually going to die. I went into massive denial mode, despite the fact that there was some pretty obvious foreshadowing (Chloe telling Nate he's risking too much in the pursuit of adventure, Elena telling him she's afraid he's going to put Sully in danger (I really like the affection between Elena and Sully; have I ever mentioned that?)) right up to the moment he was shot.

Nate's reaction :(

Having to leave Sully lying there and charge after Talbot because there's nothing else he can do :(

In the period after that, I found myself exclaiming 'I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT'S GOING ON BUT THIS IS AMAZING.' In that scene where you're young Drake and Sully is approaching you with a gun, incidentally, what happens if you shoot him? I couldn't bring myself to and was awfully relieved to find I didn't have to in order to proceed.

When Sully eventually appeared again, in contrast to my denial about his death, I absolutely refused to believe that he'd come back. In the end, it was the fact that he was able to help me operate two-person mechanisms that made me think, okay, if he's a hallucination, he's a remarkably solid one.

If I recall correctly, Sully has now 'died' three times (once in Drake's Fortune and twice in Drake's Deception). I suspect he's distantly related to Rory Williams. Very pleased he's still with us! I do wish I hadn't been spoiled, though, even if he didn't actually die; I'm so curious about how I would have reacted to his 'death' had I had no idea it was coming.

AND NOW I'M GOING TO TALK ABOUT NATHAN/ELENA.

What happened between Among Thieves and Drake's Deception? I freaked out when I realised Elena was wearing an engagement ring. AND IN FACT IT'S ONLY IN THE PROCESS OF WRITING THAT THAT I'VE REALISED IF NATE HAD A RING AS WELL IT PROBABLY WASN'T AN ENGAGEMENT RING; THEY WERE MARRIED.

They got married.

They got married.

They got married.

I am just waving my arms and making stupid noises right now. They got married! GUYS, I WANT TO KNOW EVERYTHING. How did you get engaged? How did you fall out? How did this all happen offscreen?

Seriously, such stupid noises. How often does shouting 'GET MARRIED' at the screen actually work?

And when Nate is lying on Elena's lap, Elena stroking his hair, and he takes her hand and looks at the ring and just says he's sorry? My heart.

How am I still 'shipping this pairing so furiously even after it's been thoroughly made canon? This never happens! I almost always lose interest in a pairing after it becomes canonical, but I still love Nathan/Elena like mad. It is a new and rather delightful experience. Dear Naughty Dog: please make a million more Uncharted games for these two to be adorable in.

Has - has anyone written Nathan/Elena/Sully? Can't lie: I'd probably read that.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"So what were you going to tell me again?"

Nate stares at his burger. It wasn't supposed to be like this. He had booked Elena's favourite restaurant (not that she'd ever told him as such, but it was the one they went to whenever he was in town) but one thing had led to another, like always, and now they were snatching what they could in some roadside cafe in a lull between people shooting at them.

Dammit, why was that last sentence so normal?

"Well, if you're not going to talk, I am."

Nate feels in his pocket for the box and suppresses a grimace. It's gotten bashed in the chase, he just knows it.

"Elena-"

"Sssh." She holds up her hand and digs around in her own pocket. "I have something of my own to say. I know it isn't very traditional, but-"

Nate, who is, after all, an intelligent man on the quiet, starts to laugh and produces his own ring. After that, neither of them can help themselves. They hoot until tears come to their eyes. Elena wipes her face, cleaning a patch in the dust from the chase, and nods to her box.

"So are you gonna be Mister Fisher, or...?"

aaaaaah adorable adorable adorable

You are the best. I can really see that happening, too, from the getting shot at (of course they end up getting shot at) to the fact that they were both going to propose at the same time oh my heart. Never stop writing these Nate/Elena snippets! ♥

Thank you! I am so glad that I have somebody to share these with, to be honest, because what this basically is is a spontaneous overflow of headcanon. I mean, I can't imagine Elena waiting for Nate to get his act together long enough to propose. She could be waiting forever.

(it's also headcanon that trouble follows Nathan like a bad smell, and he just can't seem to have a normal date like everyone else. It's got to be jungles and drug lords)

Comment-thread-hijacking here, but I just felt the need to go OMFGFLAIL at that, cos EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

...okay I think I'm done now.

eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

THE BIT ON THE SOFA. THE SOOOFAAAAAA. Tears, they were everywhere XDD

I had no spoilers for Sully's shooting, but at the bit just after with the fountain? I had to leave it cos I went to my friends for the weekend D: MOST AGONISING WEEKEND EVER, JESUS. I had to actually put my controller down, cos I couldn't do anything on account of the fact that I was blind from tears. Augh. It was, along with Crisis Core's ending and FFX's ending, the saddest thing I have ever experienced in a video game, and that's a fact.

And let's not mention how many attempts it took me to actually kill those djinni cos jesus, it was a lot. :/

The "gonna need a sturgeon" trophy name just cracks me up so much, I laugh about it EVEN NOW. Oh puns, ilu.

if you should happen to find this, I can't lie, I would probably also be interested... ¬_¬

Oh, dear, that is the worst possible time to go away for the weekend. It was so sudden I was a little shocked despite having been spoiled.

And let's not mention how many attempts it took me to actually kill those djinni cos jesus, it was a lot.

...yeah, me too. It didn't help that I somehow convinced myself at first that they could only be killed by RPGs. Better than the Guardians, though.

It was awful! I am mildly irritated at the bf for finishing the game tonight, and not even being remotely perturbed that Sully could have died. He just used his stupid logical brain and failed to get upset at all. HE'S DOING IT WRONG.

Oh god, the Guardians. :/ I HATED those fuckers, augh. I love the idea of you running round desperately trying to find RPGs though; railing against the game for being immensely unfair and just not giving you enough XDD

When the fountain thing happened, my dad decided to walk in at the worst possible moment (as is traditional with my parents) and I had to pause the cutscene and put down the controller to do something else, and I chanced to catch the shot of Nate's expression as he realised what's happened. So there he was, frozen on the screen, looking as though his entire world had fallen to pieces in front of his eyes, and it was an hour and a half before I could come back to it. I'm dreadfully sorry for leaving you suspended in disbelieving horror, Nate! It was pretty awful for me, too.

Elena stroking Nate's hair and Nate apologising for his entire everything is like somebody gave my heart a chocolate. ...Try not to think too much about that metaphor. Point being, adorable.

Look, they are basically already married with bands forged from GUNFIRE AND MUTUAL DEATH AVOIDANCE AND SNARK, but my suspicion is that Nate wasn't really working hard enough at Being In A Relationship because he's a giant manchild and wasn't being entirely honest about some stuff and then he lost the ring in some crazy stunt and it become this sort of weird half-separated limbo. ...It's not very specific headcanon, I know, but they don't give us much to work with!

I demand your thoughts on The Thing We Learned From Marlowe About Nate! About his past! It explains so much about him and I was all flailing at first because it seemed to come out of nowhere and lead to nothing but it makes so much sense! Demand!

What a horrible moment to have to pause! And you're adorable for feeling bad about leaving Nate trapped in that moment. I do sometimes feel vaguely guilty if I leave a game saved in a place that must be unpleasant for the protagonist. (This was a problem during Silent Hill 2.)

like somebody gave my heart a chocolate.

I DON'T CARE HOW NONSENSICAL THIS SIMILE IS; IT IS PERFECT. I am clasping my hands together in delight just thinking about that scene.

The 'his name's not really Drake' thing? She said it and I went 'WHAT, YOU CAN'T JUST LEAVE IT AT THAT', but apparently they could because it was never mentioned again. It's not as high up as the circumstances surrounding the Fisher-Drake marriage on my 'MORE INFORMATION PLEASE' list, but it's still on there. Is Nate not related to Drake at all? Did he have cause to believe that he was related to him? Did he just 'adopt' Drake as his ancestor, and if so where did his fascination with Drake come from?

I just want Nate and Elena to cuddle. Like, all the time. Not even sexy cuddles, just fluffy snuggly hugs. (And snark.)

Is Nate not related to Drake at all? Did he have cause to believe that he was related to him? Did he just 'adopt' Drake as his ancestor, and if so where did his fascination with Drake come from?

Okay this got too long to make tiny, SPOILERS AHEAD:

Nate took the name from the state institution he was left in after his mother committed suicide (he was 5 at the time); he read up on the historical figure and decided he was a descendent (and obviously ran away from the institution at some point; it was probably not a pleasant place). His entire life, he's been basing his identity off this "connection" to the point that when he thought Sir Drake had died without finding the treasure in Drake's Fortune, he obviously lost some of his heart until he found out Drake really did succeed. I'm not sure if he genuinely believes that he's Drake's descendant, but he wants to, so badly - and he's lied to everybody he's ever known about it, it's that central to who he wants to be (notice the game's subtitle? Drake's Deception). His attachment to Sir Francis' ring was more than just it being a precious memento - it's his "proof" that he's more than just some scrappy, penniless, homeless dirt-coated street urchin. Sic parvis magna, greatness from small beginnings; that was the one thing he clung to when he had nothing else. To prove he's not worthless. That's partly why he plays up his smarm and confidence, why he's so intense pursuing treasures and secrets. He loves it, sure, but what would he be if he didn't do these amazing things? If he didn't inhabit this personality and astound everyone he knows? He'd be nothing. Poor tiny Nate.

...Anyway the end of the third game suggests he might finally have laid a little of that to rest, since he can accept that if Elena loves him then he's worthwhile (because he trusts her judgement) and the ring-swap symbolises that, but it's still there. He hasn't told Elena, for one thing.

My other favorite pun: if you run around in the pool on the pirate ship you get a trophy called 'Marco Solo'.

And now I am dying for little over-curious Drake-Fisher kids! Seriously, the trouble they would get into with Elena's pragmatism and Nathan's amazing luck. Also the birthday presents they would get. Also the most ridiculous family trips ever omg.

I love that he'll pretend to play Marco Polo even when he's on his own. Nathan Drake isn't just ridiculous for show in front of other people; he is ridiculous by nature.

Also the most ridiculous family trips ever omg.

Oh, my goodness, yes. Those kids would have an amazing childhood. Terrifying, yes, but amazing.

Just go ahead and write copious amounts of fanfiction please

I'm really hoping inspiration comes to me, because I would love to write copious amounts of fanfiction for this series.

I fell in love with Nate in the second game specifically because of how much he talked to himself. And that little hysterical laugh he does, which I missed quite a bit in the third game. COME ON, NATE! You just escaped from a burning building! Now would be an excellent time to give your hysterical-with-relief-and-adrenaline laugh. (I feel kind of bad for liking him the most when he's miserable. It's sort of like how I find him the hottest when his arms and face are all scratched up and dirty.)

I'm glad to hear that you spent a lot of time punching people, because I found myself doing that a lot more this game too. My favorite part, I think, is when you have the chance to grab a weapon out of mid-air after you successfully beat the shit out of someone. Did you find the part in Cartagena where, as you running away from Marlowe's agents for the first time, you run by a refrigerator and open the freezer door on someone's face?

I really like the affection between Elena and Sully

I sort of get the impression that she and Sully kept in contact after Nate walked away. Or whatever it was that he did. There's part of me that thinks it's pretty great that they never specified what really went down between them because it lets the player put their own experiences in, but there's also the part of me screaming TELL ME WHAT HAPPENED, DAMN YOUUUU

I absolutely refused to believe that he'd come back

I did this too! Except for me, what convinced me he was real was the little flick he gives Nate's head and the, "Is that real enough for you?" Only Sully would do something like that. They are so endearing and dorky. <3 <3 <3

I desperately hope that in the next game (THERE'S GOING TO BE A NEXT GAME, RIGHT?) Elena is there for all of the adventures, including the one in the beginning. I would love so much to be able to see a married couple in a video game with a healthy relationship having awesome, badass adventures.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Something Better.

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject