So RE8 is a straight up sequel to 7 I take it then? I don't really know how I feel about that game, I think it dropped the ball super hard in a lot of ways, but I enjoyed my time with it.
It seems crazy to kill off Mia when so much of the first game's motivation was about Mia right. Not that we haven't seen shit like that before.
So RE8 is a straight up sequel to 7 I take it then? I don't really know how I feel about that game, I think it dropped the ball super hard in a lot of ways, but I enjoyed my time with it.
It seems crazy to kill off Mia when so much of the first game's motivation was about Mia right. Not that we haven't seen shit like that before.
You play as Ethan again and go to a village. Supposedly it is supposed to feel very paranoia inducing so it is possible you will see things that aren't what they are. There are also talks of Ethan turning into an Ash from Evil Dead kind of figure.
I really doubt Mia is actually dead in RE8. I had a really visceral reaction to her getting shot, and I still do (I've skipped that part whenever I've rewatched the trailer cuz I'm a big squeamish baby about scenes like that), but in my mind I feel confident that she's not actually dead. Characters dying but not really is par for the course for RE. And Mia has already survived seemingly fatal blows a bunch already.
Maybe she genuinely dies during the story, but I fully expect the scene in the trailer to be a fakeout of some sort.
I really, really hope you are both right. I don't think fakeouts are necessarily the height of quality writing, but that would be far preferable to the ruthless fridging of Mia.
So RE8 is a straight up sequel to 7 I take it then? I don't really know how I feel about that game, I think it dropped the ball super hard in a lot of ways, but I enjoyed my time with it.
It seems crazy to kill off Mia when so much of the first game's motivation was about Mia right. Not that we haven't seen shit like that before.
Yep, straight sequel. I really love VII as an RE fan but yeah it has issues and Zoe deserves better. Since Ethan is barely a character it, sadly, makes sense for them to do something like kill off Mia (or at least make him think she's dead) and steal his child for his motivation.
Will be interesting to see how people take Chris dying or becoming a bad guy or hell if Ethan forgives Chris for killing his wife if she really is dead.
My heart tells me people will not attack the devs or actors no matter what happens unlike the game you mentioned.
Will be interesting to see how people take Chris dying or becoming a bad guy or hell if Ethan forgives Chris for killing his wife if she really is dead.
My heart tells me people will not attack the devs or actors no matter what happens unlike the game you mentioned.
That game is not a narrative safe space and I loved it for that very reason. That's why I'm very anti anybody that bounced violently hard off that game, but I guess there are people out there that want another 20 years of boring shit.
That game is not a narrative safe space and I loved it for that very reason. That's why I'm very anti anybody that bounced violently hard off that game, but I guess there are people out there that want another 20 years of boring shit.
The game was really bleak and while good, I felt tired after playing it with a friend. When I thought about it afterwards I loved how bold it was and appreciated it way more.
It reminds me of Spec Ops The Line where it feels like your soul is being drained, in a good way.
The game was really bleak and while good, I felt tired after playing it with a friend. When I thought about it afterwards I loved how bold it was and appreciated it way more.
It reminds me of Spec Ops The Line where it feels like your soul is being drained, in a good way.
The whole "hero of past games showing up and killing people and seemingly being evil" is something Capcom has done before with Dante in DMC4. The marketing and PR was the same as with Chris in RE8, all like "what's up with Dante? Why is he all evil-looking and murder-y and stuff? Could he really be a villain" and yadda yadda wakka wakka. And the first person Dante "kills" it turns out wasn't really dead, and the rest were all demons.
So RE8 is a straight up sequel to 7 I take it then? I don't really know how I feel about that game, I think it dropped the ball super hard in a lot of ways, but I enjoyed my time with it.
It seems crazy to kill off Mia when so much of the first game's motivation was about Mia right. Not that we haven't seen shit like that before.
I forgot that was an option. That is also really weird right? Pick between your longtime girlfriend and woman you just met. I don't remember that part of the game very well though, how the choice is framed. You say you did it accidentally?
I forgot that was an option. That is also really weird right? Pick between your longtime girlfriend and woman you just met. I don't remember that part of the game very well though, how the choice is framed. You say you did it accidentally?
Yeah, it's a weird design choice they made. Kind of a dick move since if you pick Eve you don't realize it's the bad ending until it's too late.
The first time I played it I almost didn't pick Mia since you don't have much reason to trust her, but she is Ethan's wife and knows what's really going on.
To be fair, God of War explores both sides of the toxic parenthood aisle. If Freya is an overprotective mother, Kratos is the toxicly (toxically?) masculine father with all the shitty "man up" attitude, emotional stuntedness & unavailability, and violent aggression that comes with it. True that Kratos develops once he sees his kid being out of control while Freya doesn't, but I'd chalk that down to this being somewhat typical "ancient family of gods" tragedy, so of course the antagonists can't have the same positive character development as the protagonist. The bad guy is essentially what DaBoy would become if Kratos didn't change his ways of parenting.
I forgot that was an option. That is also really weird right? Pick between your longtime girlfriend and woman you just met. I don't remember that part of the game very well though, how the choice is framed. You say you did it accidentally?
Well, we were playing it as a group and we were all intoxicated and so went with "let's pick the choice that makes no sense because why not" without knowing that it would cause Mia to die. I think we thought it would just result in some awkward dialogue because of course Mia was going to go with you and not this other girl. AND THEN...
To be fair, God of War explores both sides of the toxic parenthood aisle. If Freya is an overprotective mother, Kratos is the toxicly (toxically?) masculine father with all the shitty "man up" attitude, emotional stuntedness & unavailability, and violent aggression that comes with it. True that Kratos develops once he sees his kid being out of control while Freya doesn't, but I'd chalk that down to this being somewhat typical "ancient family of gods" tragedy, so of course the antagonists can't have the same positive character development as the protagonist. The bad guy is essentially what DaBoy would become if Kratos didn't change his ways of parenting.
I really disagree with most of this, and I'm not even a huge fan of the game or anything.
Krato's wife isn't "fridged". She's just dead, of natural causes, before the story starts. Not every dead female character is "fridging".
"Fridging" is a trope about when a woman, often nameless and/or undercharacterized, dies (often in gruesome or brutal ways), in order to drive the male character forward, usually on a quest for vengeance. It's a cheap trope because it reduces a woman to a disposable victim status and uses cheap shock value in order to justify violence and/or toxic masculinity from the male protagonist.
You can probably find lots of discuss and criticize in Freya's arc, but saying "oh she just lets herself get choked to death by her son" like that, is really reductive IMO.
A good counterpoint to Faye is Kratos' dead wife from the Greek saga.
For 3 entire mainline games, all we get in terms of characterization for Lysandra is described by Gaia one time as being "the only one who could weather Kratos' fury", which knowing Kratos implies abusive elements to me, but the games meant that she was...er, brave? Or something? As in, she stood up to him and he loved her for that for some reaosn even though his usual response to people standing up to him is to stick a sword in their eye. And it's worth noting even this is tied to Kratos. Like, was she brave in other instances? Did she stand up to other people? Who knows. And for three whole games, that's literally it, that's the only detail we get on her because any time she appears in flashbacks, she's distorted by either Kratos' psyche or is an illusion by other gods, so it's not even really her we're seeing. In fact, we don't learn her name is Lysandra until a comic book actually names her that released in 2010, 5 years and in a different medium than the game that she first appeared in. She isn't even verbally named in the games either. The most she gets is her name in the credits of God of War: Ascension. So, if you didn't read supplementary material or look it up on the internet, if you only played the games, you'd only be able to call her something other than "Kratos' dead wife" if you carefully watched the credits of a unpopular spin off game that came out 8 years after the original game that she appeared in.
This is more akin to traditional fridging. To the GoW games, Lysandra doesn't really matter as a character, only as a symbol. She was a woman who Kratos married and cared about and then she was gruesomely murdered and that made Kratos upset and that's literally all we have on her despite appearing in every game as a flashback because that's all any Greek GoW game wanted her to be. Her personality, her beliefs, her likes and dislikes, her view of justice and her history in the world, none of that is commented on. Who she was doesn't matter, her only value is how she is a source of pain for Kratos.
In comparison, we know tons about Faye. We know she's highly respected by numerous people that knew her, that she was a great fighter, that she protected the weak. By the end of the game (more serious spoilers) we also know she was a schemer, had secrets, and greater plans past the point of her death. We learn she is part of Jotun culture and why she is against the gods and why she is the way she is. Now, I don't want to be disingenuous, the very nature of characters who are dead before the story starts means their ability to have agency and represent themselves on their own terms is limited - that's what being dead means. Not being able to tell your own story. So, in that sense, yes, Faye will not be the active agent in the story Kratos and her son are.
But I think even the basic premise of the story is inherently more partial to true characterization than the excuse fridging is meant to do. Lysandra wasn't characterized because ultimately she didn't matter - the story was about Kratos' revenge, which means it was about Kratos' pain. Who Lysandra was doesn't matter, what matters is that Kratos was sad about it. But GoW2018 is about fulfilling Faye's last will and testament. Who Faye is can't not matter because what Kratos and Atreus are doing is an extension of her, and for this to make sense, her motivations and reasons also have to be meaningful, which makes HER meaningful - this is her posthumous agency and that is in itself characterization because she's acting upon the world, whereas the world acted upon Lysandra and then forgot about her.
This is me. I have yet to play GOW2018 because I just don't buy it. I just hate Kratos too much and I'm not into semi redemption arcs for him (yeah I know he doesn't really have any but he should be put into so much shit that he doesn't..)
This is me. I have yet to play GOW2018 because I just don't buy it. I just hate Kratos too much and I'm not into semi redemption arcs for him (yeah I know he doesn't really have any but he should be put into so much shit that he doesn't..)
I've not played 18 yet, and I'm only partway through Ascension, but I absolutely hate how the games after 2 tried to redeem his character and make him sympathetic, especially since they still keep him as a full blown asshole for everything else outside of the specific sympathetic story parts. It just doesn't work for me, and it honestly makes for a much worse character than the pure grrrr I'm angry and will kill everything to kill the gods and get my revenge Kratos from the PS2 games.
Chains is probably the least offensive due to it revolving around Calliope, but Pandora and Deimos are cheap plot devices to make players go "see, he's not that bad" * throw half naked woman into a gear to open a door*
This is me. I have yet to play GOW2018 because I just don't buy it. I just hate Kratos too much and I'm not into semi redemption arcs for him (yeah I know he doesn't really have any but he should be put into so much shit that he doesn't..)
I absolutely hate GoW1/2/3, story and gameplay wise (3 had some cool setpieces though). Kratos was a big part why I didn't like those games (and the whole host of other issues, like the misogyny).
I enjoyed GoW2018, and I don't think the game ever attempted to redeem Kratos. I never got that impression. I rarely felt sympathetic for him. He was however humanized in that he became an actual character, as opposed whatever screaming, angry mess of tropes he was before.
Its Capcom so in some way I bet Chris shooting Mia is a red herring or she somehow survives. Would have been neat if it was switched around with Ethan being shot and Mia being dragged into this.
This is me. I have yet to play GOW2018 because I just don't buy it. I just hate Kratos too much and I'm not into semi redemption arcs for him (yeah I know he doesn't really have any but he should be put into so much shit that he doesn't..)
I did play a bit of it on a friends console and I couldn't help but side eye what the game was clearly going for right from the beginning. Just couldn't grab me. Fuck Kratos forever.
I absolutely hate GoW1/2/3, story and gameplay wise (3 had some cool setpieces though). Kratos was a big part why I didn't like those games (and the whole host of other issues, like the misogyny).
I enjoyed GoW2018, and I don't think the game ever attempted to redeem Kratos. I never got that impression. I rarely felt sympathetic for him. He was however humanized in that he became an actual character, as opposed whatever screaming, angry mess of tropes he was before.
What's the alternative? Keep Kratos as a misogynistic, raging, abusive asshole? GoW 2018 was essentially a soft reboot that tries to shed off (though not completely ignore) some of the more toxic elements of the franchise in order to attempt a more mature approach to the characters & storytelling.
What's the alternative? Keep Kratos as a misogynistic, raging, abusive asshole? GoW 2018 was essentially a soft reboot that tries to shed off (though not completely ignore) some of the more toxic elements of the franchise in order to attempt a more mature approach to the characters & storytelling.
Yeah that's true. I still can't get over the Moria one, like, what is that suppose to be? Looks like she's in a different game franchise in that outfit.
Yeah that's true. I still can't get over the Moria one, like, what is that suppose to be? Looks like she's in a different game franchise in that outfit.
en.wikipedia.org
