|
AndrewP posted:My favorite comment about this game so far has been the one where the guy says he "beat it in 10 minutes". How exactly do you "beat" a game like this? Talk about missing the point. That's one of the really common ones too. Hell I didn't even really like the game but that's gotta be one of the most braindead complaints possible. Like if the game's average run-time was legitimately 10 minutes then yeah, that could be a valid complaint, but if you're just trying to ram-jam speedrun through something then hell, you can make even usually lengthy games a lot shorter than usual if your entire goal is just reach the ending and nothing else.
|
#
?
Dec 30, 2013 20:31
|
|
|
|
| # ? Jun 1, 2024 21:10 |
|
|
A lot of people in this thread keep mentioning that it's a 90 minute game, but I spent almost four hours playing through it the first time. I think you guys are going too fast through it.
|
|
#
?
Dec 30, 2013 20:32
|
|
|
My playthrough was just shy of 3 hours and I even missed one of the journals which I later went back to check out. Edit: I tend to take my time with these kinds of games though, my first TWD playthrough is something like 22 hours which I'm pretty sure is longer than average. Yardbomb posted:you can make even usually lengthy games a lot shorter than usual if your entire goal is just reach the ending and nothing else. I think some people do think of games that way which seems like it's missing the point in this instance. I feel like the idea of "it's the journey, not the destination" really applies to this game. Then again, a lot of the game experience is piecing together bits of the story yourself as well as your emotional reaction to the game. If it doesn't hit any emotional notes for a player then yeah I guess they would just be interested in getting to the end. BattleCake fucked around with this message at 20:47 on Dec 30, 2013 |
|
#
?
Dec 30, 2013 20:41
|
|
|
This game. I really like it's mode of storytelling and I think it was valuable to the field in that it is genuinely interactive story-telling. Something that wouldn't translate well to a movie or written adaptation. And its effective, insofar as you really did get to know the characters. They also really give the house a lived in feel, like you could believe this was a place that people just recently occupied. Really messy people, but okay. I just wish the actual story they were telling was interesting or compelling. Maybe its age or whatever but teenage OH MY GOD WE'RE SO IN LOVE WE'RE GOING TO RUN AWAY TOGETHER is just uninteresting because realistically they're going to run out of cash in like a week in come crawling home to mommy and daddy, or they'll realize love is never enough when you have to also deal with making a living or just generally existing as an independent person. I was actually much more interested in the side stories surrounding the parents and the uncle and wish they explored those more. That being said, I did spent 4 hours playing through this game, looking all over the place and finding more about the family. In that sense, it was worth the sale-price cost ($6 on Steam) but just barely.
|
|
#
?
Dec 30, 2013 20:42
|
|
|
I enjoyed this and hope people make more. I'll buy them all! I do wish they'd fleshed out the mother and father more. The only sense you get from them about their personalities is what they've done, rather than who they are. What do they do in their spare time? What were their hopes and dreams? I was hoping for more as I dug through their strangely empty closets. I mean, "Forest Conservationist" and "Writer". I don't know if that was intentional, since it's the exact opposite of Sam's primary story. Maybe I missed a journal or something, talking about everything from their perspective? Other than the 'understand your child' books, of course. That note on the book was pretty brutal. I want more of that. Also, I missed two journal entries. Dammit.
|
|
#
?
Dec 30, 2013 20:49
|
|
|
Sivlan posted:I just wish the actual story they were telling was interesting or compelling. Maybe its age or whatever but teenage OH MY GOD WE'RE SO IN LOVE WE'RE GOING TO RUN AWAY TOGETHER is just uninteresting because realistically they're going to run out of cash in like a week in come crawling home to mommy and daddy, or they'll realize love is never enough when you have to also deal with making a living or just generally existing as an independent person. I was actually much more interested in the side stories surrounding the parents and the uncle and wish they explored those more.
|
|
#
?
Dec 30, 2013 20:50
|
|
|
Timeless Appeal posted:I don't really know how that makes the story uninteresting. That's what actually makes it strong for me. There is a bittersweetness to the fact that you don't know that they're going to be okay. I think it is overly cynical to say that they're definitely going to fall flat on their faces. I know people who did similar things, and the story takes place twenty years ago. The barrier of entry to work was a lot different. Either way, the parents were being lovely about their homosexuality. Even if they break-up, at least it's on their own terms. Yeah, that was exactly how I felt, too. It probably won't work out. But maybe it will. Most importantly, though, they're at least taking a chance to find themselves out there, and when you look at that versus the stifled marriage of your parents and their complete dismissal of their daughter's sexuality, you have to root at least for her trying something. Or at least I did. Besides, they're two young runaway lesbians in Portland in the 90's. They're gonna be fine.
|
|
#
?
Dec 30, 2013 20:55
|
|
|
Yardbomb posted:That's one of the really common ones too. Hell I didn't even really like the game but that's gotta be one of the most braindead complaints possible. Like if the game's average run-time was legitimately 10 minutes then yeah, that could be a valid complaint, but if you're just trying to ram-jam speedrun through something then hell, you can make even usually lengthy games a lot shorter than usual if your entire goal is just reach the ending and nothing else. I remember when Dishonored came out. There was some story going around about a guy who speedran it and beat it in 7 hours. Apparently the point was supposed to be that it is a short game. For a speedrunner, a 7 hour game is really long. Like, only certain JRPGs are that long. It turns out that as a speedrun, dishonored is actually 40 minutes long. On the other hand, a game like assassin's creed is a 5 hour speedrun. How long a game takes to beat is more or less independent of the amount of content in the game. Assassin's Creed has a bunch of padding and unskippable cutscenes. Dishonored doesn't. In my mind, this makes dishonored a better game. People seem to be trapped in the mindset of More Time = Better Game. Sometimes a game is best when it is short. Gone Home would be a worse game if it was padded out to be 10 hours long. Bhodi posted:I enjoyed this and hope people make more. I'll buy them all! There's definitely a lot more there than what you noticed.
|
|
#
?
Dec 30, 2013 20:58
|
|
|
I wouldn't want the game to be any longer. You're exploring a house - it could have been VERY short but they added some secret passageways, locked doors, etc. Anything else to make it longer would have been kind of forced, I think, unless they added an outdoor section or something which was completely out of the scope of the game. I think it's pretty much perfect length, though I only paid six bucks for it and I took my time sneaking around.Sivlan posted:This game. I pretty much agree with all of this, though I liked the story more than you. The conclusion was fine, but the tale of Sam's growing acceptance of her sexuality and relationship with Lonnie was told and paced really well.
|
|
#
?
Dec 30, 2013 21:41
|
|
|
Bluedust posted:Are there even THAT many people who are saying it isn't a game? All I've read the last few pages are everyone saying there's a ton but, at least in this thread, I'm not seeing any. All I've seen from all the reviews and everything is almost universal praise. If you're purposely looking at GameFAQs or GAF forums or something then yeah, but you take those as serious as Youtube comments. I know Totalbiscuit is quick to jump on both this and Dear Esther as being 'not games', even if he admits Gone Home is 'more' of a game whatever that poo poo means, and he has a pretty sizable following of sycophants. The very mention of Gone Home also seems to send Jesse Cox into a fit, but he's pretty much the youtube celebrity embodiment of reddit.txt these days so...
|
|
#
?
Dec 30, 2013 22:42
|
|
|
I also feel like the game probably would have been worse if it was padded out to be much longer. I don't really feel like game length has much to do with how good a game is. It felt to be about an appropriate length, maybe a little bit longer would have been ok but I have no real complaints about that aspect of the gameBhodi posted:I enjoyed this and hope people make more. I'll buy them all! You may enjoy this (massive spoilers to follow regarding the father, be sure you've finished the game before reading this): http://clockworkworlds.com/post/58411117679/the-transgression-you-can-do-better
|
|
#
?
Dec 30, 2013 23:02
|
|
|
I think the length for this game would be perfect. I also looooooove games where you just explore cool environments and unlock hidden secrets and stuff, so I wouldn't mind if somebody made a game like Gone Home, but put it in a huge castle and gave it a bit less focus so I can get more excited when I stumble across the one book in a massive library that opens up a secret tunnel or something.
|
|
#
?
Dec 30, 2013 23:05
|
|
|
Crappy Jack posted:I think the length for this game would be perfect. I also looooooove games where you just explore cool environments and unlock hidden secrets and stuff, so I wouldn't mind if somebody made a game like Gone Home, but put it in a huge castle and gave it a bit less focus so I can get more excited when I stumble across the one book in a massive library that opens up a secret tunnel or something. I really want someone to make a Gone Home-esque game that just has some bog-standard plot so that when the Internet praises it for being a masterpiece of environmental storytelling and writing it will be abundantly clear who the homophobic manchildren are.
|
|
#
?
Dec 30, 2013 23:08
|
|
|
Crappy Jack posted:It probably won't work out. But maybe it will. Most importantly, though, they're at least taking a chance to find themselves out there, and when you look at that versus the stifled marriage of your parents and their complete dismissal of their daughter's sexuality, you have to root at least for her trying something. Or at least I did. And in any case it's better than getting sent to a gay-away camp. Seriously, gently caress 'em for even considering that poo poo.
|
|
#
?
Dec 30, 2013 23:10
|
|
|
Rasamune posted:And in any case it's better than getting sent to a gay-away camp. Seriously, gently caress 'em for even considering that poo poo. Did they though? We don't know if they tore that piece out of the TV guide because they were considering it, or if Sam tore it out because she was afraid of them seeing it.
|
|
#
?
Dec 31, 2013 00:01
|
|
|
Sam tearing that out but not throwing it away stretches things even for a game where a lot of these notes seem to have lasted a bit longer than you would've expected, but I suppose it's possible.
|
|
#
?
Dec 31, 2013 00:35
|
|
|
I don't even know if this should be spoilered, but There are some parallels between the end of this game and the last sequence in The Graduate. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ahFARm2j38c(skip to 3 mins if you don't have the time) I imagine Lonnie and Sam having the same facial expressions as Ben and Elaine on the bus.
|
|
#
?
Dec 31, 2013 00:52
|
|
|
I thought I was gonna find someone hanged in the darkroom, instead it was just Thelma and Louise. Good game. edit: The house doesn't seem right. It's large, full of rooms, but just two bedrooms. Three with the guestroom. That's a huge house for three people, there's even a servants area in the basement. Selklubber fucked around with this message at 02:20 on Dec 31, 2013 |
|
#
?
Dec 31, 2013 01:40
|
|
|
E: nevermind, answered on the very previous page.
|
|
#
?
Dec 31, 2013 02:05
|
|
|
Timeless Appeal posted:I don't really know how that makes the story uninteresting. That's what actually makes it strong for me. There is a bittersweetness to the fact that you don't know that they're going to be okay. I think it is overly cynical to say that they're definitely going to fall flat on their faces. I know people who did similar things, and the story takes place twenty years ago. The barrier of entry to work was a lot different. Either way, the parents were being lovely about their homosexuality. Even if they break-up, at least it's on their own terms. It's important that Gone Home ends where it does. The narrative is stronger for both the people who think "happily ever after," and those who think "it'll never work out." Of course in reality neither of those things happen because it's a video game! But it's fun to think about and a sign that Fulbright Co. was effective in making people care about their characters.
|
|
#
?
Dec 31, 2013 02:21
|
|
|
Magmarashi posted:I know Totalbiscuit is quick to jump on both this and Dear Esther as being 'not games', even if he admits Gone Home is 'more' of a game whatever that poo poo means, and he has a pretty sizable following of sycophants. The very mention of Gone Home also seems to send Jesse Cox into a fit, but he's pretty much the youtube celebrity embodiment of reddit.txt these days so... So is Totalbiscuit. Apart from being a great game, this game is even better because it annoys the fedoras of the internet.
|
|
#
?
Dec 31, 2013 02:28
|
|
|
It's weird, TB is old, I'd have thought he'd be A-OK with adventure games being 'real games' or whatever. I mean I never played them as a kid, but anyone old enough or well read on the subject must surely understand their historical importance in the development of videogames.
|
|
#
?
Dec 31, 2013 03:29
|
|
|
WEIRD ASIDES: Every time I read 'The Fullbright Company' I hear it in a neutral female voice underscored by chimes or something like the close of a dystopian ad.
|
|
#
?
Dec 31, 2013 03:30
|
|
|
_jink posted:WEIRD ASIDES: I keep expecting everything to look like a source level without the lighting compiled.
|
|
#
?
Dec 31, 2013 03:31
|
|
|
Did anyone else start humming "The Wall" when playing? I thought it kinda fit the story.
|
|
#
?
Dec 31, 2013 03:50
|
|
|
I never would have complained about the length if it were like $5 instead of $20. Walking Dead was my GOTY last year, I gifted it to *everyone* I knew close enough during Steam sales last year, but if each episode (~2 hours) was $20 I'd be just as bothered. But it seems like the only complaint that ever gets through and obsessed over is when someone says it isn't a game, which isn't even that many people when it's winning awards all over the place. The difference I see between this thread and TWD is this one spends way, way, way more time on being defensive and trying to rationalize why people have negative thoughts on the game instead of just talking about the game itself. In this thread I haven't seen a mass of terrible opinions, terrible in the loosest sense of the word of course. Yet that's all that's talked about. If you only read this thread you'd think half the world was against Gone Home.
|
|
#
?
Dec 31, 2013 03:51
|
|
|
I paid something like $10 during a Steam sale, which seems to me like a pretty good deal. I kind of wish that they would release a floppy disk edition, maybe with Christmas Duck bonus.
|
|
#
?
Dec 31, 2013 04:11
|
|
|
Bluedust posted:In this thread I haven't seen a mass of terrible opinions, terrible in the loosest sense of the word of course. Yet that's all that's talked about. If you only read this thread you'd think half the world was against Gone Home. SA isn't an island, this thread is for discussing everything happening around the game as well as the game itself. Half the world is against Gone Home. Besides, didn't it get closed a short while ago because of some vocal dissidents (and the resulting vocal backlash)?
|
|
#
?
Dec 31, 2013 04:17
|
|
|
Was The Walking Dead a very controversial game? 'Cause, I mean, Gone Home deals with some issues that are all kinds of divisive in the world right now. It only makes sense that there would be more of a furor around Gone Home since equal representation for zombies isn't really a pressing issue.
|
|
#
?
Dec 31, 2013 04:23
|
|
|
Hamshot posted:SA isn't an island, this thread is for discussing everything happening around the game as well as the game itself. Half the world is against Gone Home. Persecution complex anyone? I mean really, http://www.metacritic.com/game/pc/gone-home/critic-reviews Sure it's not science but Fullbright doesn't have the money to bribe reviewers like Microsoft has. The user reviews are worse but again, reading those are akin to picking your half healed scabs and eating them. There's barely anyone against this game. Bluedust fucked around with this message at 04:27 on Dec 31, 2013 |
|
#
?
Dec 31, 2013 04:23
|
|
|
Phylodox posted:Was The Walking Dead a very controversial game? 'Cause, I mean, Gone Home deals with some issues that are all kinds of divisive in the world right now. It only makes sense that there would be more of a furor around Gone Home since equal representation for zombies isn't really a pressing issue. What furor?
|
|
#
?
Dec 31, 2013 04:24
|
|
|
Hamshot posted:SA isn't an island, this thread is for discussing everything happening around the game as well as the game itself. Half the world is against Gone Home. I really doubt half the world is against Gone Home. Even in SA some people were against gone home but it wasn't the epic game that is expanding horizons versus the barbarians at the gate that the thread seems to be arguing for.
|
|
#
?
Dec 31, 2013 04:26
|
|
|
All but one of the reviews featured on the Gone Home steam page are negative.
|
|
#
?
Dec 31, 2013 04:27
|
|
|
Qwo posted:All but one of the reviews featured on the Gone Home steam page are negative. Link? Cause all I see on the Store page is: quote:Gone Home is the greatest video game love story ever told.
|
|
#
?
Dec 31, 2013 04:31
|
|
|
http://store.steampowered.com/app/232430/
|
|
#
?
Dec 31, 2013 04:33
|
|
|
All of those reviews are pretty correct though because they mostly focus around how the game was too expensive at launch.
|
|
#
?
Dec 31, 2013 04:34
|
|
|
It's not, like, an international incident or anything but there was definitely a whole kerfuffle with a lot of gamers down-voting Gone Home on Steam and Metacritic for being about women or lesbians or what have you. A lot of backlash against the good reviews being only because the game is "politically correct" etc. I mean, did The Walking Dead have people accusing reviewers of only liking it because the main character is black? Actually...shut up, don't answer that. I'm happier not knowing.
|
|
#
?
Dec 31, 2013 04:35
|
|
|
Bluedust posted:Persecution complex anyone? Exmond posted:I really doubt half the world is against Gone Home.  Well poo poo, I was wrong. Looks like more than half. I mean sure, nobody's against this game if you ignore all the evidence like the user reviews.
|
|
#
?
Dec 31, 2013 04:37
|
|
|
Oh wow, I never knew they made user review like that. But just reading the front they're saying the same thing I am, it's the price: quote:In the end I found Gone Home to be atmospheric and touching in a simplistic way, but also fundamentally shallow. The asking price of $19.99 is way, way too high. I'd recommend purchasing only when a big sale comes along, and then only if you're a fan of this genre of entertainment. quote:If you really want to play this game and find enjoyment, don't pay more than $5 and keep your expectations for the narrative very low. quote:An interactive short story. There are no puzzles... its a little weird and creepy the whole time but nothing scary actually happens, thankfully. Anyway, it was a sweet, touching story and I liked that it was set in the 1990's... but that's about it. Glad I bought it at 50% off because 20 dollars for this game is REALLY steep considering it's only about 3 hours of play time. I mean, 10 dollars is still pretty steep, because the game isn't particularly fun. It's interesting, but not really fun. Recommend skipping this one. quote:I purchased this game with the expectation of a short, 2 to 3 hour experience, held together with a good story that I would uncover myself, and plenty of 90's nostalgia items to play with as I explored the house and discovered interesting things about the family that lives there. So really it's more being overpriced than hating gays or whatever people try and rationalize. Like I said earlier, $5-$10 is perfectly acceptable for this game.
|
|
#
?
Dec 31, 2013 04:38
|
|
|
|
| # ? Jun 1, 2024 21:10 |
|
|
Bluedust posted:So really it's more being overpriced than hating gays or whatever people try and rationalize. For some people, and then for others it isn't. You're an idiot. Go away.
|
|
#
?
Dec 31, 2013 04:42
|
|