Extra Credits

Have you tried updating your viewer?

Problems fixed. But yeah.. Amnesia. He forgot the other reason why amnesia is used. To provide for a plot twist.

I disagreed a fair bit with this video. The 3 act structure is hardly the only storytelling structure and relying on it too much produces fairly generic stories. Memento for example didn't have a 3 act structure and it was an amazing piece of storytelling.

Games, being interactive, shouldn't always rely on such conventional ideas either. Play style should dictate your origin not some boring opening act like Fallout 3's.

Next, The Courier does NOT have amnesia, there was nothing to suggest this at all. Hell there are all these pieces of dialogue that suggest little things about the Courier's past (the rival courier who freaked out, the illegitimate kid in montana etc.) Also, he delivered the packages in a Mojave Express uniform to answer that question they raised, something you'd have missed playing the first time around but it's clear from the opening cutscene that it's what he/she was wearing. Next, you DO get items depending on the questions you answered and possibly the perks you picked.

Gah, I hate having the urge to defend New Vegas so much (makes me feel like a stupid fanboy) but a lot of the complaints they raise about the game sound so ill informed (not to mention the actual story arc is pretty damn interesting and far better than Fallout 3)

As I said in the FONV thread, that was really bad.

Does Memento realy lack a three act structure? It's non-linear, but that doesn't necessairily excuse it from having three acts.

Couldn't he have bashed up on, say, The Witcher? Pointless Amnesia? Check! Pacing all over the place? Check!

Needs to have been played to comment upon? Check.

Maybe none of them have played it, did you think of that?

The main character's face briefly turns up as an example in the video. I'd like to think they'd played the game and therfore knew what they were talking about.

Perhaps a better question: Perhaps they failed to see it in the 26 (I believe) hours of play? I remember that you could say you had a kid if you had a certain perk (Lady Killer?), but I don't remember the fallow up to it. Perhaps they were seeking a more Mass Effect-style of background, where certain events would happen if they had high/low enough stats or certain perks, like the situation I mentioned?

It's possible they weren't paying too much attention with the Courier's background, I mean a few of them were easy to miss (other than Courier 6, that should've been pretty obvious). But it's still weird that they assumed the Courier had Amnesia, I mean there really was nothing in the game to ever suggest that.

Well, being shot in the head tends to do that. That or death, but I'm pretty sure the Courier isn't dead.

You never know.

Beat

You mean my Ps3 died for NOTHING?!!!?

I think assuming that Courier has amnesia makes more sense than role-playing as someone who you don't know the past of except through small hints. I haven't actually played Fallout New Vegas, but that sounds ridiculously unimmersive. "Oh, here's this well developed character with a detailed backstory that you know nothing about. Play him however you like. He has no personality or dialog."

It's like the worst of both worlds.

edited 2nd Feb '11 6:39:47 PM by Clarste

The lack of playing New Vegas is the problem. You're over generalising based on something Extra Credits said, which is a case where they've missed the point by a lot.

The courier does not have a detailed backstory. He's a blank slate. You define his origins based on the perks and dialogue choices you make. You don't have to recognise the guy from New Reno, you don't have a kid in Montana if you don't have the Lady Killer Perk. And even then, you may not necessarily have the kid from Montana if you didn't pick that dialogue choice. The Courier is a pure roleplaying character, one of the more immersive characters I've seen without railroading you with an annoying backstory that forces you into a certain personality like Fallout 3 or even Dragon Age at times (DA:O is not as bad as FO 3 though since they at least give you multiple options with the backstories).

The only part of his backstory that seems defined is the courier 6 subplot but even the Courier himself doesn't seem to be that aware of it, so it's still within the range of what the player can experience and define.

The problem here is that Extra Credits assumed that since we didn't play the character from birth, he has a detailed predefined character but it's the exact opposite, by not having an origin you shape his personality and give him your own biases and beliefs which is an integral part of the plot since the Courier shapes Vegas. Whereas with FO 3 giving you an origin, you aren't so much playing your own personal role but FO 3's predefined character and origin.

edited 2nd Feb '11 7:42:02 PM by ShadowScythe

I demand we make FOO Strategies a trope.

They already are: Boring, but Practical.

Or Game-Breaker. Or Skill Gate Characters.

edited 11th Feb '11 9:44:45 PM by mrsaturn

Hm, Skill Gate Tactic sounds good.

...Sparrow?

FOR SPARROW!

I like Sparrow. And this episode was pretty interesting. I like what they're doing in th Half Life games with achievements, like the one with the gnome.

I want to see more of those. Its always boring when the trophies for a game are just simplistic things that are achieved by playing the game.

Like the achievements for Noby Noby boy. For a game without a purpose, the trophies actually make you want to try this stuff out.

They did put up a great argument for achievements and their purpose, although I still think that self imposed challenges and pacifist runs and other stuff like that are so fun simply because we don't have to do it and there isn't some achievement meter/gamerscore crap that makes us do it or at least makes a competition out of doing it.

Especially since the self-imposition makes it all the more cathartic when you heft out your M60 an yell "Fuck pacifism."

I think this is the first time I've heard him get mad

Ah, Visceral Games, your game ads will continue to be stupid.

Also, I thought it was families of Army troops that were against the Taliban in MOH 2010 (which doesn't change that much, though).

The only two EA ads I've seen that made the games look promising were the French Live-Action trailer for Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit and the "Ascension" trailer for Command And Conquer 4: Tiberian Twilight (which actually sucked, but that's beside the point).