Exactly, I agree with the whole view on this, Curse is amazing in its own way, the only let down is the rushed ending, which has been confirmed many times by the people who worked on the game, the fact that the last two chapters barely make up a quarter of the game leaves the rest of the game to shine.
People say this all the time, but I'm not personally convinced that it was simply due to it being rushed. To be honest, I find the whole concept of the Carnival of the Damned to be flawed in the first place, and even if it wasn't rushed there'd still be the whole annoying "Big Whoop is just the gates of Hell, MI2's ending was a curse, and we're stamping out any ambiguity and mystery" retcon. If anything, the longer runtime would draw more attention to them. I would have preferred to have the climatic showdown on Blood Island (or even better, on the seas), and to have the odd thing thrown in to keep us guessing as to whether the MI world is real or not. The great thing about the ending was that it was open to interpretation rather than All Just A Dream or LeChuck's Curse, and LeChuck's long exposition scene in Chapter 5 ruined it.
Agreed. The most subversive and maybe best solution would've been for monkey island 3 to have just carried on as if absolutely nothing had happened, except for maybe the occasional enigmatic reference to keep people on their toes. MI3 wouldn't have the burden of awkwardly providing closure, and MI2 would be even more of a classic mindscrew than it was before. It would drive a lot of people up the wall, but that's all part of the fun.
I met this guy at a convention because I'm a fan of his Chzo games and I can't say he was happy to recieve me even though I was dressed as Guybrush at the time.
what? you want a comedian who uses fast talking as part of his act to do easy listening variations for english disabled listeners. would you like him to release transcripts as well?
And that IS my whole point. The fast-talking isn't even FUN. I'm apparently not the only one with that same sentiment, even native English speakers think it's becoming old REAL FAST.
what? you want a comedian who uses fast talking as part of his act to do easy listening variations for english disabled listeners. would you like him to release transcripts as well?
Are you trying to phrase his complaint in a way that makes it sound ridiculous? Because that sounds entirely reasonable. The transcript part, at least. Letting more people access your stuff is generally a good thing.
Not a Yahtzee fan here. In fact, just bashing everything is in my opinion neither informative nor funny.
The only good thing I can remember was the Painkiller review, because during this review he basically makes fun of himself and reviewers like him. He does his usual bashing routine but ends it with his version of "But you know what: don't listen to me or people like me. There are a thousand good reasons why this is not a good game. But there's one why you should still play it. One that reviewers like me don't like to say, because it proves our entirely rambling is totally and utterly pointless. The game, despite all its flaws, is just plain fun."
An entirely useless review. Trying to be funny but doesn't succeed and oh, how I want to tell him to shut up or just to stop talking that fast. It's so annoying that I can barely watch it till the end.
Yahtzee used to be so awesome, he made some absolutely incredible adventure games (the Chzo series in particular). The early Zero Punctuations were actually legitimate reviews, they just usually had a negative slant. Nowadays he just slags off everything because that's what he's paid for. They still make me giggle, but I no longer hold his opinions as highly as I used to.
Anyone watch Charlie Brooker's Screenwipe? Yahtzee is basically a big fat rip off of Brooker's style, only Charlie is actually a decent critic rather than just a "professional troll".
I think Yahtzee did mention he was "inspired" by him in an interview once. I can't say I hate Yahtzee (thought the wolfenstein review he just did was pretty good actually) but he doesn't hold a candle up to Charlie.
Just thought I'd pop up to point this he posted in his written column.
"Erm...Tales of Monkey Island's design director is Dave Grossman, one of the "big three" to work on the first two MI games you apparently worship."
- SHODANFreeman, from last week's XP comments
And yet, Tales is an infinitely worse game. Funny, that. You'd almost think the original Monkey Islands were created by more than one dude.
I often find his reviews funny. That's why I watch em. Some are better than others. Most of the games he reviews I never heard of, but I still like watching the reviews and just laugh at his humour. Even if he burns down a game I'd like/love, I'm not getting mad. I'll laugh just as much about his review if it's a good one. He can have his opinion about it and I'll have mine
I really don't know where people get this idea that MI was always so "dark" and whatnot, it's always been a comedy game with a "serious" plot that only existed to facilitate comedic situations.
Monkey Island's plot is actually very serious at its core, and it's driving the entire game. It's a boy's story of coming of age, finding his place in life and the one true love. That's one reason why countless copycats failed, on top of attempts at humor gone wrong: Guys like Tony Tough or Gilbert Goodwhatshisname aren't characters, they're adventure game cliche's shuffling around adventure game dialogue trees and subquests pretending to be the adventure of their lifes. The only conflict the developers ever bothered with is making an adventure game, asap.
Curse is basically rehash of Monkey Island, and everything from thereon then throws you into the thick of situations being played for the lulz. But hey, we're talking sequels of sequels of sequels already... conflicts won't last forever.
i wonder what he would complain about in chapters 3-4 since they are both significantly better than 1-2.
Yes he would, looking at his current run of reviews, he appears to like NOTHING about gaming. Everything is cliche boring shit that people will get bored of, terrible writing and acting and terrible gameplay.
Hey look, he quoted me, and then side-stepped the point of what I was saying, and also ignored my later post on the same thread! How convenient!
The more reason to not like him at all.
If there is one thing I don't like about "gamers" who bitch about otherwise good games are people who think they're so notable they could just skip over a few parts. Yahtzee instantly lost my respect now that you posted this. Thank you.
Eh, maybe Yahtzee is as bitter about gaming, but I always feel like his reviews are more of a shtick. He takes things he sees as legitimate things, and then blows them out of proportion. I also think he might enjoy seeing people's reactions to his reviews, 'cuz he sees it as funny.
Frankly, to me, Yaht's reviews are only as good as the material he's got to work with. Or more to the point, how bad the game is. If there are legitimate flaws, then he goes to town. In the case of Tales, I don't think he hit his mark.
I am somewhat disappointed how he opted to review the game back when it was in its second chapter. I mean, he's played far more awful games to the end, why not Tales?
Yes he would, looking at his current run of reviews, he appears to like NOTHING about gaming. Everything is cliche boring shit that people will get bored of, terrible writing and acting and terrible gameplay.
Check out his reviews for Psychonauts and The Orange Box.
I am somewhat disappointed how he opted to review the game back when it was in its second chapter. I mean, he's played far more awful games to the end, why not Tales?
I think the guy's a nut. You can say he's a failed game designer himself, but he usually gets a chuckle out of me, even If I do not agree with him 100%.
His bit on Web Comics on the other hand..Very true. yes true.
Check out his reviews for Psychonauts and The Orange Box.
Yeah, but the point is, those are his oldest reviews, from over two years ago. It's been quite a while since he's really given anything a favorable review. And I think The Orange Box was the last time I agreed with him on a review, but I still like to watch his stuff even when I think he's completely wrong because I think he's funny. Maybe that could be construed as enabling, but then when's the last time an online boycott accomplished anything?
As for the thing on web comics, that was a low blow at Ctrl-Alt-Del. Apparently in a primarily humor based comic, you're not allowed to turn off the funny and have some actual character development, though you could shoot down Trial and Execution by the exact same token.
'bit amusing to read people are still getting all riled up over Yahtzee's thing.
I mean, even if you like your reviews keeping a straight face all the time, think of Yahtzee as the Ying to the Yang that is that "bad" chunk of the gaming press, which often times tends to gloss over every single major game as if it was merely re-writing press releases pretending to be reviews - at 60 words a second. For some strange reason no one's ever got riled up over that*, but then unanimous praise is rarely something that'd make fans, distributors or designers object.
I mean, even if you like your reviews keeping a straight face all the time, think of Yahtzee as the Ying to the Yang that is that "bad" chunk of the gaming press, which often times tends to gloss over every single major game as if it was merely re-writing press releases pretending to be reviews - at 60 words a second. For some strange reason no one's ever got riled up over that*, but then unanimous praise is rarely something that'd make fans, distributors or designers object.
I particularly hate this apologia of Yahtzee as if he is anything really significantly and substantially different than the adulation given by the gaming press. If anything, Yahtzee and the gaming press are two sides of the same coin: they're both taking a one-dimensional black-or-white view to gaming. To quote Henri Poincaré: "To deny everything and to believe everything are two equally convenient solutions: Both dispense for the need of thought."
His bit on Web Comics on the other hand..Very true. yes true.
Yup, I think that's pretty much the only one that I liked. Maybe it's just because I feel Ctrl Alt Del deserves every low blow it gets, but... *shrug*!!
His other stuff, while it doesn't offend me in any way is just sort of "ehh..." to me. While I like some things that involve people creating videos based entirely off of hating something, even if they like it, (like say, Nostalgia dude or whatever, I don't really like his humor, though I do like Nostalgia Chick) since it's actually nothing hip or cool on the web anymore, it takes something for me to really enjoy it. Someone talking insanely fast with some boring stick figure-like drawings attempting to poorly illustrate the point doesn't do it for me, unfortunately.
You know, people...go back and rewatch the review. I watched it a second time, and honestly it's not all that bad or mean of a review. If anything, it gives Monkey Island 5 a lot of praise and I never heard of a reviewer who didn't give his honest opinion about what he considers game flaws.
I reiterate: people get songs stuck in their head without knowing why all the time. Why does it not make sense for Guybrush to have a song stuck in his head and not know why, regardless of what the song is?
You know, I've had THIS theme song constantly poppoing up in my head for the last 20-25 years or so, but I could not for the sake of it remember where it was from.
Until I stumbled upon a dvd collection of it in a store after seemingly disappearing form the face of the earth for all those years.
Yeah, but the point is, those are his oldest reviews, from over two years ago. It's been quite a while since he's really given anything a favorable review.
I think Arkham Asylum got an overall very positive review, though because he's Croshaw, it emphasises the crud bits (boss fights) more.
You know, I've had THIS theme song constantly poppoing up in my head for the last 20-25 years or so, but I could not for the sake of it remember where it was from.
How weird - I've had a very similar experience with that same song/show! I was tiny when it was on TV. All I could remember was that the little girl was called "half-pint" and they had a blue ship.
A couple of months ago I trawled through lists of 80s TV shows to find it... and was very happy when I finally did. Here is the English version of the opening. It was called "Spartakus and the Sun Beneath the Sea" for us.
I think Arkham Asylum got an overall very positive review, though because he's Croshaw, it emphasises the crud bits (boss fights) more.
"Dragon Age: Origins" didn't get such a bad review either, but I agree with him that it's story is quite "Bioware-by-the-numbers". Still, it's no reason for me to not like the game...
(And that guy popping up at your campsite who's basically just one big ad for the "Warden's Keep" DLC is... WHATWERETHEYTHINKING?)
How weird - I've had a very similar experience with that same song/show! I was tiny when it was on TV. All I could remember was that the little girl was called "half-pint" and they had a blue ship.
A couple of months ago I trawled through lists of 80s TV shows to find it... and was very happy when I finally did. Here is the English version of the opening. It was called "Spartakus and the Sun Beneath the Sea" for us.
So... yeah, I concur.
Ah, haha, I live in norway, and STILL we got the french version (I'm pretty sure of it, the french version of the theme song sounds more familiar to me). It was probably subtitled though. Not sure which channel it was on. The voice in the english version seemed a bit less fantastical. I think this was my first love for Final Fantasy-esque stories and themes.
Comments
People say this all the time, but I'm not personally convinced that it was simply due to it being rushed. To be honest, I find the whole concept of the Carnival of the Damned to be flawed in the first place, and even if it wasn't rushed there'd still be the whole annoying "Big Whoop is just the gates of Hell, MI2's ending was a curse, and we're stamping out any ambiguity and mystery" retcon. If anything, the longer runtime would draw more attention to them. I would have preferred to have the climatic showdown on Blood Island (or even better, on the seas), and to have the odd thing thrown in to keep us guessing as to whether the MI world is real or not. The great thing about the ending was that it was open to interpretation rather than All Just A Dream or LeChuck's Curse, and LeChuck's long exposition scene in Chapter 5 ruined it.
Dang right.
And that IS my whole point. The fast-talking isn't even FUN. I'm apparently not the only one with that same sentiment, even native English speakers think it's becoming old REAL FAST.
The only good thing I can remember was the Painkiller review, because during this review he basically makes fun of himself and reviewers like him. He does his usual bashing routine but ends it with his version of "But you know what: don't listen to me or people like me. There are a thousand good reasons why this is not a good game. But there's one why you should still play it. One that reviewers like me don't like to say, because it proves our entirely rambling is totally and utterly pointless. The game, despite all its flaws, is just plain fun."
Anyone watch Charlie Brooker's Screenwipe? Yahtzee is basically a big fat rip off of Brooker's style, only Charlie is actually a decent critic rather than just a "professional troll".
I think Yahtzee did mention he was "inspired" by him in an interview once. I can't say I hate Yahtzee (thought the wolfenstein review he just did was pretty good actually) but he doesn't hold a candle up to Charlie.
But more importantly, what's its processing power?
Hey look, he quoted me, and then side-stepped the point of what I was saying, and also ignored my later post on the same thread! How convenient!
Ouch. You should have mentioned Ron Gilbert helped create Tales.
I did, but he ignored that post.
Monkey Island's plot is actually very serious at its core, and it's driving the entire game. It's a boy's story of coming of age, finding his place in life and the one true love. That's one reason why countless copycats failed, on top of attempts at humor gone wrong: Guys like Tony Tough or Gilbert Goodwhatshisname aren't characters, they're adventure game cliche's shuffling around adventure game dialogue trees and subquests pretending to be the adventure of their lifes. The only conflict the developers ever bothered with is making an adventure game, asap.
Curse is basically rehash of Monkey Island, and everything from thereon then throws you into the thick of situations being played for the lulz. But hey, we're talking sequels of sequels of sequels already... conflicts won't last forever.
It's over 9000!
Yes he would, looking at his current run of reviews, he appears to like NOTHING about gaming. Everything is cliche boring shit that people will get bored of, terrible writing and acting and terrible gameplay.
The more reason to not like him at all.
If there is one thing I don't like about "gamers" who bitch about otherwise good games are people who think they're so notable they could just skip over a few parts. Yahtzee instantly lost my respect now that you posted this. Thank you.
Frankly, to me, Yaht's reviews are only as good as the material he's got to work with. Or more to the point, how bad the game is. If there are legitimate flaws, then he goes to town. In the case of Tales, I don't think he hit his mark.
I am somewhat disappointed how he opted to review the game back when it was in its second chapter. I mean, he's played far more awful games to the end, why not Tales?
Kevin
Check out his reviews for Psychonauts and The Orange Box.
Because he's pretentious, that's why.
His bit on Web Comics on the other hand..Very true. yes true.
Yeah, but the point is, those are his oldest reviews, from over two years ago. It's been quite a while since he's really given anything a favorable review. And I think The Orange Box was the last time I agreed with him on a review, but I still like to watch his stuff even when I think he's completely wrong because I think he's funny. Maybe that could be construed as enabling, but then when's the last time an online boycott accomplished anything?
As for the thing on web comics, that was a low blow at Ctrl-Alt-Del. Apparently in a primarily humor based comic, you're not allowed to turn off the funny and have some actual character development, though you could shoot down Trial and Execution by the exact same token.
Please elaborate...
I mean, even if you like your reviews keeping a straight face all the time, think of Yahtzee as the Ying to the Yang that is that "bad" chunk of the gaming press, which often times tends to gloss over every single major game as if it was merely re-writing press releases pretending to be reviews - at 60 words a second. For some strange reason no one's ever got riled up over that*, but then unanimous praise is rarely something that'd make fans, distributors or designers object.
* untrue of course
I particularly hate this apologia of Yahtzee as if he is anything really significantly and substantially different than the adulation given by the gaming press. If anything, Yahtzee and the gaming press are two sides of the same coin: they're both taking a one-dimensional black-or-white view to gaming. To quote Henri Poincaré: "To deny everything and to believe everything are two equally convenient solutions: Both dispense for the need of thought."
Yup, I think that's pretty much the only one that I liked. Maybe it's just because I feel Ctrl Alt Del deserves every low blow it gets, but... *shrug*!!
His other stuff, while it doesn't offend me in any way is just sort of "ehh..." to me. While I like some things that involve people creating videos based entirely off of hating something, even if they like it, (like say, Nostalgia dude or whatever, I don't really like his humor, though I do like Nostalgia Chick) since it's actually nothing hip or cool on the web anymore, it takes something for me to really enjoy it. Someone talking insanely fast with some boring stick figure-like drawings attempting to poorly illustrate the point doesn't do it for me, unfortunately.
You know, I've had THIS theme song constantly poppoing up in my head for the last 20-25 years or so, but I could not for the sake of it remember where it was from.
Until I stumbled upon a dvd collection of it in a store after seemingly disappearing form the face of the earth for all those years.
Kinda like the Largo song, don't you think?
I think Arkham Asylum got an overall very positive review, though because he's Croshaw, it emphasises the crud bits (boss fights) more.
How weird - I've had a very similar experience with that same song/show! I was tiny when it was on TV. All I could remember was that the little girl was called "half-pint" and they had a blue ship.
A couple of months ago I trawled through lists of 80s TV shows to find it... and was very happy when I finally did. Here is the English version of the opening. It was called "Spartakus and the Sun Beneath the Sea" for us.
So... yeah, I concur.
(And that guy popping up at your campsite who's basically just one big ad for the "Warden's Keep" DLC is... WHATWERETHEYTHINKING?)
np: Funkstörung - Aerogram (Post.Art)
Ah, haha, I live in norway, and STILL we got the french version (I'm pretty sure of it, the french version of the theme song sounds more familiar to me). It was probably subtitled though. Not sure which channel it was on. The voice in the english version seemed a bit less fantastical. I think this was my first love for Final Fantasy-esque stories and themes.