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Sep 25th, 2018 at 21:36:38 - Nier Automata (PC) |
Although the introduction to Nier: Automata had its flaws, the game really begins to pick up during thereafter.
The last run ended on a strange introduction to the options menu, in which 9S calibrated my systems and I adjusted settings as indicated. Why this wasn’t at the beginning of the game is beyond me. At the beginning of this run, new interactions were introduced that had incredibly vague tutorials, and required me to figure my way out through them. An example includes shops being located at distinct terminals, as well as how to access the map itself.
Thereafter, 9S and I entered the hangar, and soared down to Earth. It was here that the game became open-world, with mission markers, explorable buildings, and all that jazz. Where to go in the beginning was obvious, but it seemed as if there wasn’t enough substance to locations traveled. Besides resistance bases that contain NPCs, there were enemies, and access points to save, but nothing else. There were no NPCs to talk to in the explorable world, just the Earth and its violent inhabitants. Alongside this, the world was separated into “districts”, each with their own introduction, including a dramatic camera pan.
What I found to be extremely enjoyable regarding the game was its combat. I am a large fan of “Ocarina of Time-ish” close-combat systems that involve locking on to an enemy and attacking by utilizing simple button combinations. This game fulfills that taste amazingly. There are three types of attacks: light attacks have a higher rate of fire, but deal less damage. Heavy attacks have a slower rate of fire, but deal more damage. Shooting attacks have an extremely high rate of fire , but deal an extremely low amount of damage. The player can evade attacks by pressing the right trigger, and pressing it rapidly will lead to quick evades in succession, allowing the player to avoid attacks with a large duration.
The story has certainly improved quite a bit from the last session. I now understand that I am part of a group of androids, who are responsible for intermittently heading to Earth and clearing it of a multitude of enemies, which, in this run, include cylindrical robots and humanoid beings with no genitals. After meeting a group of “resistance” androids, I am commanded to head out to a Desert and eliminate a group of machines, with each exemplifying what seems to be human emotions, resulting in 9S denying their ability to do so throughout. Things only get stranger when we follow a lone survivor of an assault to a hidden enclave full of dressed-up robots, each displaying detailed human emotions. Thereafter, the robots suddenly group together in a giant ball, and spit out a human with no genitals, possessing supernatural powers, for us to fight. At this point, I just forget that this game is investing in extensive lore and just go with what it’s presenting me.
So, that last part regarding robots and human emotions certainly had a moral interpretation to it. Robots displaying human emotions caused some reasonable doubt in 2B, as it seemed as if their happiness was being interrupted, which ties back into the concept of Utilitarianism. We could analyze the incidents in which 2B and 9S attack these robots:
The stakeholders are 2B, 9S, and the robots that displayed sadness and anger.
To rate happiness on a scale of 1-10, 9S and 2B are achieving, overall 7/10 happiness. Although 9S is enjoying the mission, 2B has already experienced this many, many times over, so her happiness is not at maximum capacity. The rating of happiness for the robots, however, is 1/10, as they are literally being massacred.
Since there are a greater amount of robots than androids, it would seem that the overall incidents result in overall unhappiness, meaning that they are unethical for the most part. Yet, YoRHA still labels these actions as the complete opposite.
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Sep 23rd, 2018 at 02:05:58 - Nier Automata (PC) |
I’ve heard nothing but good things about Nier: Automata from several friends over the past year, so I decided to choose it for my next GameLog.
My praise is directed towards the game’s mechanics. Although they were a bit difficult to get use to within the introduction, I grasped the essentials quickly. Combat effectively combines a third-person shooter with a hack-and-slash, something that I never thought was possible. The controls are intuitive and incredibly fun to play with.
An extremely satisfying aspect of this game is that of a constantly shifting camera perspective. I started out controlling a flying ship from a top-down view, avoiding fast-moving projectiles as they destroyed my allies. Thereafter, the scenario was predominantly played from an over-the-shoulder perspective, in which the camera followed me directly behind my player model, in a manner that also permitted me to see enemies ahead of me for me to shoot at them. The camera would then shift between these top-down and over-the-shoulder views, within certain locations, allowing the game to keep the player engaged.
What I don’t find particularly appealing, however, is the game’s story. I’m only an hour into it, however, so I shouldn’t start being incredibly critical yet, but I’ve found many things to be critical of.
I am not a fan of the writing so far. The lines used throughout the prologue came off as very cheesy, with such instances including:
The “attempted-but-not-too-tragic” death of 2B’s allies at the hands, or in this case, beams of cylindrical flying robots.
The initial conversations between 2B and 9S. The whole bit on the word “ma’am” was not necessary whatsoever.
2B’s sexualized maid outfit. The outfit she wears greatly contrasts her tough, persistent personality.
I was greatly intrigued towards the end of this run, however, when YoRHa, was introduced. It is revealed that the game is set incredibly far into the future, where all humans have fled Earth because of an alien invasion, and robots are left to clean up all the mess on the planet for them.
In relation to what we are discussing in class, we could employ a view of cultural relativism. Although seen in a brief moment, we can easily understand that YoRHa’s culture is dedicated to protecting mankind from alien forces, no matter the cost. Although YoRHa believes this, perhaps other cultures believe the complete opposite, such as the aliens that invaded Earth, including the cylindrical robots. These forces are incredibly dedicated to eliminating the forces that protect mankind, as well as mankind itself, no matter the cost. Both of these cultures, with their own societies, have their own beliefs, and although it seems that they establish their beliefs to be higher among the other culture, they have no way of improving upon theirs in comparison to the other, as both of these cultures are in active opposition of each other.
Perhaps some exceptions may come up in future logs. There could be instances where individuals within the two cultures come together in harmony, and become aware of how they could improve their own based on the other. Who knows?
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Aug 30th, 2018 at 14:11:54 - Hitman (PS4) |
For this log on Hitman, I decided to move onto the second mission, Sapienza. Compared to Paris, this mission seemed more explorative, as the level itself was interwoven with an actual city, comprised of many civilians. Given its more open-ended nature, I decided to try it out.
The backstory for this mission seems a bit more intriguing compared to that from Paris. Silvio Caruso and Francesca DeSantis are working on a virus that, when spread through some strange means, will attach to the DNA sequences of individuals, no matter where they are located. A disease can then be remotely initiated to infect and/or kill individuals. I have no idea how this works, nor what the targets’ motives are, but this is extremely devious, and as such, 47 is given the task of eliminating them.
The mission’s default starting position is directly outside of the mansion in which operations for the virus are taking place. Although two guards stood in front of the entrance to the mansion, I was able to slip in by disguising as a flower delivery man, conveniently located to the left of the entrance. From there, I began a long process of following Silvio Caruso throughout his endeavors. Utilizing multiple save files on the patio of the building, I was able to take out Caruso’s two main bodyguards, as well as disguise myself as one, but unfortunately, I was not quick enough, and thereafter, he remained in a room filled to the brim with guards who could see through my disguise. Luckily, after this, Francesca moved from a supposed underground lair to the upper floors, and so, I targeted her next. On the upper floors, I used coins extensively to take out several bodyguards, and in the end, was able to eliminate Francesca and almost every security guard located in the upper floor.
In relation to what was discussed in our last class session, this play session can be related to cultural pollution through its disguising mechanic. In the game, 47 can disguise himself to take on the role of a different persona, whether it be that of a fashion model, security guard, or housekeeper. Something interesting to note is that, upon disguising, 47 is perceived as an entirely different person to other individuals, despite retaining the same face structure and iconic “barcode” throughout. NPCs seem to only pay attention to the style of his clothes, rather than his actual face. As a housekeeper, he blends in because people focus on his maid outfit, not his face. This disguise triggers particular lines of dialogue that reinforce his looks, in the sense that NPCs treat him as a servant. From this, it can be inferred that cultural pollution is in effect when individuals have particular reactions to 47 in particular disguises, as he is immediately taken to be from another culture upon disguising.
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Aug 25th, 2018 at 16:01:21 - Hitman (PS4) |
I finished my first run of Paris in a rather exposing manner. Although eliminating Dalia was done with the simple stab of a scissor in a hidden room, the challenge of eliminating Victor was a whole other beast. The game strongly incentivizes taking a target out without civilians knowing, but Viktor Novikov just wanted to wander throughout the areas with the most people. It was quite frustrating, as I spent 10 minutes following him back and forth. It seemed like I was making no progress. In the end, I gave up on the silent act, threw a scissor at his head, and dashed to the exit. Mission complete.
Thereafter, I decided to replay the first mission to complete the “Silent Assassin- Suit Only” challenge. In this challenge, I had to eliminate ONLY the targets provided, as well as not get spotted nor wear a single disguise. For this endeavor, I decided to use a guide. I intentionally did this to see what the most difficult challenge in the game entailed, and if it was even possible to complete without looking up a guide. This is the one I used: https://www.usgamer.net/articles/hitman-paris-showstopper-silent-assassin-suit-only-walkthrough
I was required to enter a bathroom at the far end of a hallway, take an invitation, then head outside to a patio to get into an event held by IAGO. These actions bring up a few questions regarding unaware players: how is it that the challenges do not have a navigation system similar to that within opportunities? Whereas opportunities provide points on the map for the player to reach, challenges must be accessed from an alternate screen to guide the player, which seems a bit unintuitive. Anyways, from here, I am directed by the guide to head in various directions until I reach a diorama, and when the target comes by, I can insert a coin to “play” the diorama, initiating an extravagant presentation that will distract them, and cause them to alternate their normal path to walk through a door for me to garrote them.
In relation to what is being discussed in class, we could say that 47 follows a certain amount of rules to ensure that an assassination does not result in chaos. The game hints at said rules by gifting the player with points when they ONLY kill the targets provided, and not start a ruckus among others within a mission. Based on these, we can infer that Agent 47 has a utilitarian outlook on his mission: he wants to complete his objective in a manner that maximizes the enjoyment of individuals that aren’t his target(s), and along this line, we could say that he wants to maximize the life outlook of individuals around the world by eliminating the leaders of the corrupt organization IAGO. From this description, we can state that 47 has a deductive moral principle: he should kill those who threaten the well-being of people around the world, without intruding the lives of said people.
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