The Backlog Check-in Vol. 199: 10/23/21: Fatal Frame: Maiden of Black Water/Guardians of the Galaxy Edition

[Phaseknox]

I would want the physical copy, so I have to wait until December anyway...tons of impressions will be up next month to really understand what this release is.

Do you know why the physical version of the game is coming out almost a month after the digital version? I don’t think that has ever happened with a non-indie game before has it?

I know that I said that I don’t really have an interest in it, but I would probably get it if I could get it for really cheap like $15 or less. However, I’m not sure if it will ever be that cheap physically. I would probably get it digitally for that cheap, but I would prefer to have a physical copy.

Speaking of getting games when they’re a lot cheaper, I’ve noticed that a lot of games haven’t been dropping in price quite as frequently or as much as they used to. There’s quite a few games that I want that have been out for months, but they’ve only dropped in price like $10-$20. In the past games seemed to drop in price 50% or less after being out for months, but that hasn’t been the case lately for some reason. I don’t really like paying more than $20-$30 for most games.

[canedaddy]

Just keep waiting, they'll get cheap eventually. I mean, you probably own a few hundred games you haven't touched, that should tide you over.

I didn't know that about the GTA physical edition. I'll hang on till December... maybe ask Santy Claus to put it under the tree. I'll be playing Diablo 2 into 2022, most likely.

[Phaseknox]

Just keep waiting, they'll get cheap eventually. I mean, you probably own a few hundred games you haven't touched, that should tide you over.

Yeah, I have a couple of games to play in the meantime while waiting for the GTA trilogy to get cheap. I’m not really all that interested in it TBH, I’m just curious to see the changes and improvements made to the games which I’ll get to do from gameplay videos and reviews when it comes out next month. But of course as with any game watching gameplay videos/reviews and playing it for yourself are somewhat different experiences.

I didn't know that about the GTA physical edition.

I didn’t either, and I still want to know why the digital and physical versions aren’t coming out the same day because that just seems odd to me as I don’t think that has ever happened before for a non-indie game.

[canedaddy]

It is weird. Have they offered any explanation?

[Phaseknox]

I did some digging, and found this...

https://guidefall.com/gta-trilogy-physi ... r-digital/

Rockstar themselves haven’t given a reason, so this is just speculation.

[canedaddy]

Huh, I guess that makes sense.

I'm actually OK waiting for another reason: That'll give people plenty of time to figure out all the things that have been changed or left out. If there's too much, I'll pass.

[Phaseknox]

After playing Evoland II for 15+ hours and somewhat enjoying it, I think that I’m going to quit playing because they had to go and incorporate a mandatory Bejeweled/Puzzle Quest type game into it that I can’t figure out how to play nor do I want to play. The fact that you have to win seven games of it including a boss battle in order to proceed is full of nope.

While Evoland II is a retro style top down view JRPG at its core, it incorporates other game genres in it as well such as side scrolling platforming, arcade beat-em-up, one-on-one fighting, flying bullet hell shooting, Professor Layton type riddle solving and the aforementioned Bejeweled/Puzzle Quest type puzzles. These other genres are only incorporated in the game once or twice at certain points, and feel a little gimmicky and out of place. The game is at its best when it sticks to being a retro style JRPG.

I don’t mind the incorporation of some of the other game genres at times because they’re genres that I like, but I don’t like the Professor Layton type riddles or the Bejeweled/Puzzle Quest type puzzles. I wouldn’t want to play dedicated games of them, and I don’t want to play them in this game either. Unfortunately you’re forced to in order to proceed in the game, so my only option if I don’t want to play them is to quit which I’m most likely going to do.

[Phaseknox]

Since we’re close to Halloween, I decided to play some horror games. I started with Red Bow, and finished it in under an hour. It’s a top down view 8-bit pixel art style interactive story with a few key items to collect. While the premise is decent, the whole thing feels like a missed opportunity to be a lengthier point-and-click type adventure game. It ultimately feels unfinished with it ending rather abruptly.

I started playing My Big Sister which is made by the same person as Red Bow, and it’s basically what I wanted Red Bow to be. It’s also a top down view 8-bit pixel art style point-and-click type adventure game, but feels much more like an actual game than just a short little interactive story like Red Bow did. I’m actually quite enjoying it as I find the art style appealing, the story and characters somewhat interesting and the key item puzzles creative.

[crimson_tide]

Sup?

I have barely touched anything lately because work and life and whatnot but I finally found a rackable 6 foot barbell for the power cage in my 7x7 shed gym so that rocks!...but fam...we need to chat.

*loosens tie, puts on backwards baseball cap and turns chair around backwards before sitting down to rap with y'all*

So little crim ****ing LOVED Dukes of Hazard. General Lee, stars and bars and all that. Then I learned who General Lee was and what the stars and bars represented. I couldn't get down with dem Duke boys anymore. Especially after the year I spent in deep south Georgia when I was in 5th grade where they refer to the Civil War as the War of the Northern Aggression. Now, am I saying that from historical context we should wipe out all traces of the confederacy? Nope, we need to learn about that ****. But if you can not have it in a game with a simple bit of code, why not do that so it doesn't ruin somebody else's experience?

Another more timely example. An African, Ugandan to be exact, student noticed the baller Sonic watch argyle gifted me way back. He immediately pointed it out and we started chatting a bit. He oddly asked how I felt about Knuckles. Weird. Then I figured out why. The Ugandan Knuckles thing. Turns out he actively hates Knuckles because of what people associate him with, cheap and low effort knockoffs. He said he used to love Knuckles as a kid but this meme really got under his skin. Now, clearly Sega didn't do this but if they did and they realized they could do something about it, I am sure they would. Not because they are good but why affect sales or public perception of the product?...oh wait, Sega did absolutely do this same thing with Yakuza 3 on PS4. They removed the bit about the trans person chasing Kazuma. I just beat the game this year and the absence of those substories did absolutely nothing that affected the game negatively. In fact, it was better off for it. Since Yakuza 3's whole point is how to be a man and how important it is for men to show love and be vulnerable with each other, that substory chain contributes nothing and just muddies the point. Be a great man but please continue punching down on marginalized people?

Which is to say, the flip side of representation mattering is that it is not there to be used to exclude others. If something can be done, it should be done to make people feel better about it. It's not just about putting marginalized people into things, it's about bringing them in to older things as well if possible. The GTA whatever with the Confederate flag shirt guy still exists. You know what else still exists? The GTA where they mission is Kill All the Haitians too. But it won't be in this trilogy collection because that's not ok. And it's ok to change things that are not ok. Confederate flag shirt guy will still be scum, the shirt doesn't need to be there. But if it makes people more comfortable to play the dumb crime game sans a literal symbol of hate, that's cool with me.

*fixes tie, removes backwards baseball cap, fixes chair and exits stage left*

[Phaseknox]

Sup?

I was starting to wonder where you’ve been since it’s not like you to go so long without posting here. I’m glad to know that everything’s good on your end, and that it’s just been busy life stuff that has been keeping you away a bit.

As for the whole GTA trilogy change and/or removal of original content thing, I’m just not a fan of original works of art from the past being altered, changed and/or modified to appease modern sensibilities. It’s a form of censorship IMO, and I dislike censorship. However, I also get where you’re coming from and some slight content alterations, changes and/or removal of things here and there are acceptable if done for the betterment as a whole.

I just personally feel that society in general has become overly sensitive to everything these days, and is way too easily offended. If someone personally finds something offensive in art, literature, or media, then it’s probably best for them to just avoid it. No one is forcing anyone to read certain books, listen to certain albums, watch certain movies, or play certain video games.

Of course some things are not ok no matter the perspective and shouldn’t be a thing to begin with, but that’s not always the case with things that some people seem to complain about or have personal issue with.