In any case, I thought Silent Hill 2 was a great take on themes of ontological qualities of wanted and unwanted urges. Seeing the genders reversed would be interesting. Stoker wasn't a good example, so I'll retract and suggest that our mythology surrounding vampires in general is better, and I use that phrase loosely.
Yeah, the adaptations tend to be much better than the original. For sure.
edited 3rd Dec '12 5:33:34 PM by Aprilla
I'd just like to say I think I know the absolute worst and offensive portrayal of a man in any video game I've ever played. There might be worse, but I haven't played those games. Oh, and it's been years so my memory might be a biiiit off.
The character in question is Detective Date
from the Ryu Ga Gotoku series.
In the first game, as resident stoic badass manly man Kazuma Kiryu, you meet Date ignoring a call from his daughter Saya while he wallows in sorrow and alcohol. He talks about how he's a shitty dad and that he's never there for her. Which is sorta portrayed by the fact that he just ignored a call from her. Okay, so he's not much of father. But he does stress about it even if he isn't taking any leaps and bounds to get better. Since this game stars Asian Chuck Norris, it's impossible for anyone to help themselves anyway so we need to find someone to beat up to magically make everything better. Action games!
Later in some nondescript back alley (and possibly fifteen seconds later) Kazuma is approached by a pair of schoolgirls who rather naively offer to whore themselves out to him ("No nasty stuff, okay?") randomly. Of course, one of the girls is Saya. Kazuma grabs her hand and gives her a talking too, and learns that she needs money because her boyfriend owes some gangsters money or something. Her boyfriend is a skeevy bastard of course, and Kazuma and Date team up to go beat him and his crew up. Okay.
But here's the kicker. When Date and Saya meet Date basically says "I will always protect you" and... Not much else. He doesn't offer to share more time with her. He doesn't make an effort to rekindle an emotional connection with her. He acknowledges that he's a bad father, but doesn't apologize for not being there for her. He doesn't take any steps towards bettering himself for her. He just says that he'll always be there to protect her, and walks off. And that's portrayed as... Heroic or something.
Honestly fuck that hard sideways. The game basically says it's okay to be a deadbeat, emotionally withdrawn and unsupportive father devoid of any nurturing instinct as long as you uphold the "Men as protectors" angle. It's the most disgusting Aesop I've ever witnessed in a mainstream piece of media.
edited 3rd Dec '12 5:40:13 PM by ShirowShirow
You are not alone.
I suppose.
-Reminds the people on the thread he has not played much Persona 4 again-
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Preeeeetty sure Asura brushes up against the same problems, with the whole "Fatherhood is about protection" angle. Doesn't quite outright fall into it though since there's not much opportunity for him to do anything else. There's demon baboons and super evil space hindu buddha jesus invading. Not exactly take your daughter to work day material.
edited 3rd Dec '12 7:04:41 PM by ShirowShirow
You are not alone....Not really.
He's not lazy, for one. his mantra of wrath just prevents him from being a truly normal father, but he tries harder to be a good parent then anything one else.
Even outright dies for his daughters safety so she won't be used as a puppet anymore. What dad in other games (Hell even a lot of other Mediums) would do that for their loved ones other then just protecting them and reuniting with them, yet at the same, time, Do whats best for other people other then just his own family as well?
He outright even tries to be a real father in certain parts of the game, like eating Mithra's Vegetables because she doesn't want to.
edited 3rd Dec '12 7:10:05 PM by Demongodofchaos2
Watch SymphogearThat's very much not veering away from the protection angle at all.
I didn't play the whole game though, so if there are any touching moments of Asura pushing his daughter on a swingset or something then good on him.
You are not alone.Becoming a protective dad of of a regular family is one thing. Doing the same for Everyone in the world is a whole other story.
Durga even calls Asura out on that, too. Like I said, his Mantra of Wrath prevents him from being a true normal father other then 1. Find out what's causing Mithra to cry, then 2. Punching said reason in the face.
It's still treated as a major flaw, As this nearly kills him and overloads his body without a special Mantra Reactor Surgery.
edited 3rd Dec '12 7:13:30 PM by Demongodofchaos2
Watch SymphogearI think at this point Shirow you need to take a few days off and marathon the rest of P4 so you can take place in more internet discussions. =P
So what are some other good Dads in video games? One that comes to mind is the father from Atelier Totori . He's portrayed as somewhat of a useless layabout, leaving his eldest daughter to run their household on is own, but is ultimately a good person who truly loves his daughters, and is there for them when they need it. Is also probably a ninja.
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Hmm. I need to watch/play Asuras Wrath and pay closer attention. Goofing off with buddies, passing the controller around, trying to reanact Asura's screaming and punching and snorting pixie stix is fun but not exactly the best environment to study a game's strengths and weaknesses.
I agree! However, college. Two more weeks before my first extended break. P4 will have to happen then.
edited 3rd Dec '12 7:18:22 PM by ShirowShirow
You are not alone.Shirow Shirow: I'm sort of glad that someone else noticed the Detective Date... thing. Isn't Saya and her whole relationship with her dad also an example of What Happened to the Mouse? as well?
Do not obey in advance.![]()
Dojima's problem with being a good father isn't a spoiler, really. Though, to be fair to him, the serial murder case probably has him away from home more than usual. Granted, that's only one piece of the puzzle.
edited 3rd Dec '12 8:57:30 PM by JotunofBoredom
Umbran Climax◊That reminds me, I'm not sure what to make of Rorona's dad. On the one hand, I can (on a good day) understand his confidence. On the other hand, he's going on extended vacations in his daughter's hour of need!
Of course, the exact same things can be said of Rorona's mom...
"So... the time has come for you to meet your demise..."I saw it as mostly out of good fun, because Junpei does kind of act rude (Like saying she wouldn't look good as a Nurse when she makes the comment her persona has has healing abilities early in the game).
Yosuke, on the other hand, deserves it a bit more.
Watch SymphogearI hope that you meant that he deserved more kicks in the balls.
Donate money to Skullgirls, get a sweet poster.Critcal Hit to the Nads. It's Super Effective!
edited 4th Dec '12 3:12:21 AM by Demongodofchaos2
Watch SymphogearShould I add Detective Date and Asura to my new "Disgruntled Dad" YKTTW?
Go ahead.
Also, did you watch those videos?
I'm interested in hearing yours and nick's impressions.
Umbran Climax◊I watched them.
I always did hate Sam Witwicky, but that was just because he was taking screentime away from Optimus.

It's mostly famous because the first few chapters are actually pretty good at setting up an atmosphere and Dracula is a really fucking cool villain (He turns into a giant wolf, he crawls on walls like a lizard, he has hypnotic powers over both people and animals, he has sex with beautiful women, he has an actual personality).
You'll notice that most adaptations of Dracula aren't particularly faithful to the plot.
edited 3rd Dec '12 5:30:22 PM by Scardoll
Fight. Struggle. Endure. Suffer. LIVE.