History YMMV / TheQuietMan

* TrueArtIsIncomprehensible: A literal example. Due to all sound being muted for nearly the entire game, the story is totally incomprehensible on a first playthrough. The NewGamePlus has all the sound, music and dialogue restored. Note: though the protagonist is deaf, he ''does'' know what's going on (there are even instances of him responding to ''[[ReadingLips spoken]]'' dialogue), meaning that this is exclusively for the purpose of making the story harder to understand. At one point Dane even reads something important written on a note, but the contents of the note are deliberately withheld from the player, giving away that the point of the game was never "telling a story with a deaf protagonist", but some pretentious idea of "telling a story that the player has absolutely no chance of comprehending".

* GoodBadBugs: The final fight against [[spoiler:Taye]] [[AIBreaker can be completely broken]] by [[NeckLift grabbing him by the neck]] then simply wailing on his gut like there's no tomorrow, something he has no means of escaping until all his health is gone. [[{{Narm}} Not only does it look hilarious]], but the fight doesn't properly conclude until his health his gone ''and'' he hits the ground, [[VideoGameCrueltyPotential so you can continuously punch him in the chest over and over again]] until you get bored and decide to let it end.

** The Best Picture nomination was nice, but the film lost to ''Film/TheGreatestShowOnEarth''? Granted, they were also up against ''Film/HighNoon'' and ''Film/{{Moulin|Rouge1952}} [[NamesTheSame Rouge]]''[[note]]Not the musical, but a José Ferrer {{Biopic}} of Toulouse-Lautrec[[/note]].

* TrueArtIsIncomprehensible: A literal example. Due to all sound being muted for nearly the entire game, the story is totally incomprehensible on a first playthrough. The NewGamePlus has all the sound, music and dialogue restored. Note: though the protagonist is deaf, he ''does'' know what's going on (there are even instances of him responding to ''[[ReadingLips spoken]]'' dialogue), meaning that this is exclusively for the purpose of making the story harder to understand.

* SpiritualAdaptation: The game is '''THE''' [[TheProblemWithLicensedGames worst video game adaptation]] of Ukrainian movie ''Film/TheTribe'' where the latter does a better job at making a [[RealityHasNoSubtitles subtitle-less]], [[RealityHasNoSoundtrack silent]] [[ShowDontTell narrative]] out of deaf character(s) (and more respectful) than the former ever could.

* UnfortunateImplications:
** [[https://medium.com/@OneOddGamerGirl/the-many-problems-of-the-quiet-man-a47d0edc3ef6 Deaf gamers aren't particularly hot about this game]], since in its attempt to tell a story about a deaf person, it resorts to many negative stereotypes about deaf people, including conflating sign language with gang signs -- an ableist perception that has resulted in [[https://abcnews.go.com/US/deaf-man-stabbed-sign-language-mistaken-gang-signs/story?id=18213488 trouble for many deaf innocents]] -- solely for an attempt [[RuleOfCool to make Dane look badass]], and centrally, [[GameplayAndStoryIntegration the withholding of content and context by making everything mute]] implies that deaf people are bumbling and helplessly useless without the ability to hear.
** [[https://www.gamespot.com/reviews/the-quiet-man-review-silence-is-not-golden/1900-6417030/ Many]] [[https://www.pcgamer.com/the-highs-and-lows-of-e3-2018/2/ of]] [[https://www.gameinformer.com/preview/2018/08/10/the-hair-of-leon-kennedy-the-fists-of-a-hero the]] [[https://medium.com/sdgc/the-quiet-man-review-8aea0af58c6a reviews]] also pointed out the game has an uncomfortable racial undercurrent. Not only is Dane a white guy who beats up throngs of stereotypical Latino and black caricatures, but [[spoiler: his TokenBlackFriend also turns out to be a traitor who abuses his white girlfriend, and who Dane ultimately beats to death]].

* {{Narm}}: Once the sound is unlocked, one will find a lot of the dialogue comes off as cheesy and overly theatrical

** Related to the latter is Square Enix/Human Head Studios' claim that game will come with "flawless transitions between the [=3D=] scenes and [=FMV=]" - only two scenes throughout the entirety of ''The Quiet Man'' hold up to that claim, while the rest goes between inconsistently-shaded cuts and obvious fades between the shots.

* SoBadItsGood: While the actual game as a whole has not been looked kindly at all -- appearing on many, ''many'' "Worst Games of 2018" lists (and even topping some of them) the general consensus is that ''The Quiet Man'' is straight-up bad-- the story has this reputation for being hilariously difficult to understand due to aspects of the story that work against the narrative, and the ''Answered'' patch only made the game's attempts to be serious [[{{Narm}} even funnier]]. This came to a point that [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cY-JkAYa5zk one of the post-game]] trailers was done "accolades" style, but the first half being done with reviews that ''hated the game''.
* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot: Many critics are of the opinion that a narrative-driven game without sound -- built around idea of "communication beyond words" -- is an intriguing, if ambitious concept, but got completely screwballed here due to the clunky, repetitive gameplay, the near-incomprehensible storytelling choices that [[{{Irony}} ironically]] completely fail to communicate the proper narrative, and the incredibly poorly-written narrative itself.
** Rerez suggests the plot would have made more sense if Lala was made Dane’s sister instead of merely an IdenticalStranger to his mother.

* {{Narm}}: Once the sound is unlocked, one will find a lot of the dialogue comes off as corny and overly theatrical

* {{Narm}}: ''Like you wouldn't believe''. Several moments intended to be dramatic fall completely flat and end up as laughable due to the game's infamous incomprehensibility. The NewGamePlus where the audio turned on makes things ''[[UpToEleven even worse]]'', as now you actually get to hear the ridiculous dialogue and [[ChewingTheScenery scenery-chewing performances]].

* RelationshipWritingFumble: Due to the relatively youthful appearances of Dane and Lala, as well as a lack of dialogue or definite framing helping confirm matters until a second playthrough, it's very unclear as to whether or not Lala is supposed to be Dane's mother that frequently appears in flashbacks, giving their relationship (as well as much of the overall emotional conflict in the game) [[{{Squick}} very awkward]] [[ParentalIncest incestuous]] subtext as a result.

* WhatAnIdiot: The flashback that finally reveals the full context of Lorraine's death just makes everyone look dumb. Dane and his mother walk around a corner and see Taye in plain view [[spoiler:pointing a gun at Isaac]].\\
'''You'd expect:''' Dane would at least react in shock or horror, and Lorraine would try to get her kid out of there.\\
'''Instead:''' Dane smiles and waves at his friend. Lorraine does nothing. This even ends up as [[spoiler:a distraction to Taye which Isaac takes advantage of]]. Dane and his mother continue to react in no particular fashion for the next several moments until [[spoiler:the gun accidentally goes off]]. It's only then that Dane reacts in a way that implies he realizes that guns are dangerous, while his mother continues to give off a reaction that's more or less DullSurprise.

** The part of Thornton was practically Creator/JohnWayne's first role as a romantic lead, and while he's pretty much acting as JOHN WAYNE, he's [[SugarWiki/HeReallyCanAct surprisingly good]] as the romantic-at-heart Sean Thorton. That he wasn't even nominated for Best Actor stands as a minor injustice.

** In general, the behind-the-scenes short and several interviews seem to indicate that most everyone developing the game was fully aware of how ambitious and potentially disastrous their concept of a soundless game was, and were at least ''attempting'' to make it into a challengingly unique, but still entertaining experience. [[TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot It's almost tragic that it ended up turning out as what casual players and critics alike consider a disaster]].

* GoodBadBugs: The final fight against [[spoiler:Taye]] [[AIBreaker can be completely broken]] by using [[NeckLift grabbing him by the neck]] then simply wailing on his gut like there's no tomorrow, and he simply takes it until his health is all gone. [[{{Narm}} Not only does it look hilarious]], but the fight doesn't properly conclude until his health his gone ''and'' he hits the ground, [[VideoGameCrueltyPotential so you can continuously punch him in the chest over and over again]] until you get bored and decide to let it end.

* MexicansLoveSpeedyGonzales: The film lays on the Irish stereotypes thick, but it's beloved in Ireland. It's viewed as a Christmas classic and is frequently played on TV.

-->''"You're blinded by grief! Me...by ambition!"''

* LoveToHate: [[SoBadItsGood It's for the precisely wrong reasons]], but Isaac is seen as one of the funnier moments of the game even despite his rather difficult fight. He's absolutely ''obscenely'' cartoonish and LaughablyEvil both in flashbacks and the main game, coming off as a LargeHam {{Jerkass}} that was clearly intended to be hated, but instead comes around as almost ''likeable'' in his idiotically exaggerated evil. He also is the presenter of one of the stupidest glitches of the entire game, where his TurnsRed limping animation plays in ''very fast motion'' if he's far away. He even delivers one of the corniest lines in the whole game:

* LoveToHate: [[SoBadItsGood It's for the precisely wrong reasons]], but Isaac is seen as one of the funnier moments of the game even despite his rather difficult fight. He's absolutely ''obscenely'' cartoonish and LaughablyEvil both in flashbacks and the main game, coming off as a LargeHam {{Jerkass}} that was clearly intended to be hated, but instead comes around as almost ''likeable'' in his vileness. He also is the presenter of one of the stupidest glitches of the entire game, where his TurnsRed limping animation plays in ''very fast motion'' if he's far away. He even delivers one of the corniest lines in the whole game:

** Moreso, despite having FMV cutscenes, most of the game is rendered in real time with... not the most organic recreations of the characters' respective actors -- particularly Taye. That, and Dane's 3D model emotes very little, if at all. Combined with the inconsistently-shaded environments, the "seamless" transitions are instead [[ConspicuousCGI extremely conspicuous]].

** [[https://www.gamespot.com/reviews/the-quiet-man-review-silence-is-not-golden/1900-6417030/ Many]] [[https://www.pcgamer.com/the-highs-and-lows-of-e3-2018/2/ of]] [[https://www.gameinformer.com/preview/2018/08/10/the-hair-of-leon-kennedy-the-fists-of-a-hero the]] [[https://medium.com/sdgc/the-quiet-man-review-8aea0af58c6a reviews]] also pointed out the game has an uncomfortable racial undercurrent. Not only is Dane a white guy who beats up throngs of stereotypical Latino and black caricatures, but [[spoiler: his BlackBestFriend also turns out to be a traitor who abuses his white girlfriend, and who Dane ultimately beats to death]].

** [[https://medium.com/@OneOddGamerGirl/the-many-problems-of-the-quiet-man-a47d0edc3ef6 Deaf gamers aren't particularly hot about this game]], since in its attempt to tell a story about a deaf person, it resorts to many negative stereotypes about deaf people, including conflating sign language with gang signs--something more associated with pig-ignorant, ableist {{Knight Templar Parent}}s who think the presence of this strange person who may or may not be aware of their bigoted tantrum threatens their baaaabyyyy than people who actually know anything about the deaf community--solely for an attempt [[RuleOfCool to make Dane look badass]], and centrally, [[GameplayAndStoryIntegration the withholding of content and context by making everything mute]] implies that deaf people are bumbling and helplessly useless without the ability to hear.

* UnintentionallySympathetic: Taye is a very confused sort. While his poor treatment of Lala is crucial to the plot, it's the only unprovoked villainy we actually see on screen. The first half of the game treats him as a shady, yet supportive friend and ally of Dane, but he slowly becomes an antagonistic force you have to fight. However, [[DesignatedVillain much of this antagonism is driven by him feeling pretty justifiably betrayed by Dane going behind his back]] in his convoluted plot of rescuing Lala (and Dane never tries to clear up his accidental rampage), and Taye even offers a chance to end things peacefully [[ButThouMust that Dane has no choice but to reject]]. Even when Taye finally resolves to kill Dane, his hesitation, choked up voice, tears, and violently shaking hand imply pretty strongly that he's sincere toward Dane.

** [[https://medium.com/@OneOddGamerGirl/the-many-problems-of-the-quiet-man-a47d0edc3ef6 Deaf gamers aren't particularly hot about this game]], since in its attempt to tell a story about a deaf person, it resorts to many negative stereotypes about deaf people, including conflating sign language with gang signs--something more associated with pig-ignorant, ableist {{Knight Templar Parent}}s who think their baaaabyyyy is being threatened than people who actually know anything about the deaf community--solely for an attempt [[RuleOfCool to make Dane look badass]], and centrally, [[GameplayAndStoryIntegration the withholding of content and context by making everything mute]] implies that deaf people are bumbling and helplessly useless without the ability to hear.