Cinematech Episode 255: “Optic Nerve”
Timecode: 0:53: Ooh, look, it's the trailer for Shin Megami Tensei: Digital Devil Saga 2 (Atlus, PS2). This is more of a traditional RPG for the SMT series. It lacks the negotiation and demon recruitment systems of other games, as well as Multiple Endings that are determined by your allegiance to the usual Law/Neutral/Chaos factions. There are only a handful of characters to level up in both games, and all have fixed elemental strengths and weaknesses, which can be kind of a pain to cover for with spells that repel or absorb the offending element. The two games used a skill tree system called the Mantra Grid, which gave characters the ability to unlock and use new skills and spells. The title of the game may have been inspired by Megami Tensei: Digital Devil Story, the novel that inspired the game of the same name that kicked off the franchise way back on the Famicom.
The trailer for DDS 2 shows the games' main character, Serph, leader of the Embryon tribe, walking in a wasteland that looks to be the ruins of a long since destroyed city. A black sun beats down on him from below. There is evidence that people were turned into statues. One such statue shows a man who apparently tried to avoid his fate by attempting to eat his gun, but he didn't do it in time. Suddenly, five hostile wanderers surround Serph, who launches into action to defeat the armed antagonists. One turns into a demon, and Serph responds in kind by transforming into his fanged demon form, Varna.
The trailer shows characters new and returning alike, and features a pretty cool J-pop song. One stunning sight in particular shows another character's demon form flying through the sky, with missiles in pursuit. One pair of missiles leaves a swirling trail of smoke that resembles a DNA double helix. It fails to catch her as she transforms into a glowing white bird. There's also a mysterious black cat named Schrodinger in this duology of games. I don't know what part he has to play in them because I haven't played through the games yet.
11:35: A montage of early PS1 games, such as Warhawk (remember those super-cheesy live-action FMV cutscenes?), Twisted Metal, Battle Arena Toshinden, Ridge Racer, Tekken 2, Destruction Derby, and WipEout.
16:25: The intro to Gungrave Overdose, a cel-shaded action game featuring character designs by Yasuhiro Nightow (or, depending on the translation, Naito). The intro theme song is pretty jazzy.
G4 actually aired the entire Gungrave anime. The whole series was basically about how the main character, Beyond the Grave, AKA Brandon Heat, was betrayed by his one-time best friend, culminating in their tragic confrontation and his friend's far too late Heel Realization. Probably one of the better anime that they ever aired, and it was fittingly based on a video game, to boot.
Cinematech Episode 257: '”Metal Gear Solid 4 Trailer”
...but not before showing a bunch of other trailers first!
4:09: The trailer for Bone: Out from Boneville, a PC graphic adventure from Telltale before they got really famous with The Walking Dead. The game is based on the comic by Jeff Smith. I've only read a little bit of the Bone saga, only the first volume, but I really like it. The story feels natural, yet very fantastical. A true adventure. Will Eisner and Neil Gaiman liked it.
The story was about the three Bone cousins: level-headed Fone Bone, greedy and selfish Phoney Bone, and the tall, happy-go-lucky Smiley Bone. The trio gets run out of town thanks to townspeople getting angry at a scheme that Phoney cooked up. They wind up following a map that Smiley drew up, and get lost in a valley full of strange creatures such as a laid-back dragon, cute little talking possums, and ”STUPID, STUPID RAT CREATURES!!” As the cousins attempts to survive and reunite with each other, they are unknowingly being watched by a mysterious, dark entity that claims to have struck a deal with Phoney...
The game is not cel-shaded, but decently retains the look of the comic.
9:37: Forbes: Corporate Warrior, a PC FPS developed by Byron Preiss at the behest of the financial magazine. A robotic female voice says stuff like “ Stock performance critical.”, possibly as a Critical Annoyance? PC Gamer has more details in one of their “Saturday Crapshoots” here
.
10:06: A trailer for Fallout2, the sequel to the original post-nuclear adventure. It shows tips on how to leave the Vault for Vault Dwellers. It warns that years of living in a Vault can leave Vault Dwellers' eyes sensitive to sunlight, and suggests wearing goggles outside of the Vault. “Without eye protection, extreme eye damage could result!” They then show a Vault Boy's eyes actually burnt out of his skull, leaving smoking eye holes.
Though I've only played Video GameFallout3 and Fallout: New Vegas extensively, I love the Fallout series and their unique style. I love period stories, so I also love the North American 1950s derring-do of the games.
12:44: A clip from Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, which shows the young Revolver Ocelot loading a single bullet into his revolver before spinning the barrel. He then tells Naked Snake, “This is where it ends.” Well, not quite. This is a pretty cool way of segueing into...
13:02: ...the 2005 Tokyo Game Show trailer for Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots. It shows a battlefield from the first-person perspective of a soldier before flashing acronyms based off of FPS such as “Forget Pre-rendered Stuff!” (a Take That! to the speculative next-gen footage shown at the time), “Format? PlayStation Scenes”, and “Finally a Policy Switch?” before the solider turns around and gets knocked out by Old Snake, the clone of Naked Snake/Big Boss that is aging prematurely thanks to his being born a clone in a time when the process was less advanced.
- ”Forget FPS. This is MGS.
Old Snake is unwell and unfit for battle, but he is sent in to terminate Revolver Ocelot (who may or may not be possessed by the spirit of Old Snake's “brother”, Liquid Snake) and his privatized military company, because he is planning to hijack the Sons the Patriots system that monitors nanomachines that enhance soldiers' abilities on the battlefield. Though Solid Snake is aging considerably, he still has the experience to help stop Ocelot. Old Snake's health is supplemented by his muscle suit.
MGS4 came out in 2008 to high ratings, so I find it surprising that there are some gamers who are very critical of it. Then again, it's often said that Kojima never wanted to make any more Metal Gear games after the first one, yet he keeps making them, probably because he knows that no one else could make an MGS game quite as good as him without his close supervision. Reminds me of what R.A. Salvatore is going through with his Forgotten Realms books starring the Breakout Character Drizzt Do'Urden, a dark elf adventurer. Salvatore never intended to do as many books with Do'Urden as he has, but his publisher threatened that they would go forward with further Do'Urden books... with or without him. Pretty sad.
But I Digress. Even if Kojima doesn't want to keep making MGS games for the rest of his career, that does not mean that he doesn't care about making them the best that he and Kojima Productions can. The high level of quality and polish, as well as Easter Eggs in every MG game bears this point.
MGS4 still has several legitimate criticisms pointed toward it, though, especially in regards to how some elements of the story played out. Also, the game trying to reinforce itself as depressing was possibly a bit overbearing and excessive, with its washed-out color palette. There are still funny moments in every MG game, however. Remember the part where some of Old Snake's gallows humor totally bombs in an assembly room full of allies, and it lowers his Psyche gauge a little? That was kinda funny!
Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain could be the most disturbing MGS game yet, as it tells the story of Big Boss' descent into villainy, reveals horrendous fates for allies from Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker at the hands of new villain called Skull Face, and has the most realistic graphics of any MGS game yet with KP's new Fox Engine. In the E3 2014 trailer for The Phantom Pain, one of the clips showed Big Boss killing a child soldier. It also implies going further into Ocelot's relationship with Big Boss, so you know there's going to be drama there.
If it all gets to be too much, may I suggest blowing off some steam with Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance? Besides delving a bit into Raiden's disturbing split personality, Jack the Ripper (which for some reason has a low, growling voice, kind of like Snake's), and the discussion of the morality of sacrificing minor antagonists to defeat major ones, the game doesn't get as heavy as MGS4, and has an awesome, anime-style flair. Raiden's relationship with a reprogrammed cybernetic dog is similar to that of Casshern and Friender from the Casshern anime franchise. And oh, the final boss fight. It's so awesome. Most of the boss fights are, but the final boss and everything leading up to them... it's one time when a longish cutscene isn't minded in the least because it just keeps escalating! Probably the most anime-like that the series has ever gotten.
And what's this? KP is now working on Silent Hills, a project stepped in mystery. First revealed as “P.T.”, or “Playable Teaser”, this is a demo for a new Silent Hill game on the PS 4 made with the Fox Engine. The project is a collaboration between Kojima and Guillermo del Toro (Mimic, Blade II, Hellboy and Hellboy II: The Golden Army, Pan's Labyrinth, Pacific Rim, The Strain), and Norman Reedus from The Walking Dead is starring as the main character (presumably). I wonder how much Tumblr exploded when that little reveal was exposed. I think that KP could make something seriously awesome, but without more story details, it's hard to imagine what kind of game will result from this collaboration, and if it will be worthy of the SH name. It could turn out to be the best thing to happen to SH in a long time.
I know that I feel kind of bad for the developers of Silent Hill: Downpour. It may not have been great, but it was a step in the direction of a next-gen SH game. I wonder if they would have made a better SH game if they had been another chance to do so. Hopefully, KP will give this new game some of the non-linearity of Downpour.
Links of the Patriots
- Caddicarus: "P.T. Makes My T.T.s Flee the C.T."
- Caddicarus: "My Top 10 Most Depressing Games!"
"Snake... had a hard life." - Caddicarus: "My Top 10 Most Depressing Games!"
