The last few games you beat and rate them 5

[Ceremony]

No need for attitude. It was a sincere comment, not intended as sass or anything. I remember the names, I just forget which personalities/post histories/identities belong to certain names. I'm not sure how you guys keep track of internet nicknames like that over a long period of time, when you encounter so many and there's no face to them. It's actually an unfortunate problem that annoys me, because there are actually posters that I admire the thoughts of and agree with/view as a good litmus test for what's out there that's likely good, whose names I've simply lost track of (Tame Impala actually could have been one of them, I'm not sure, I'm actually kind of curious if he had a different nickname before-- Edit: He's not BonMorrison or something, is he?).

Bottom point seems kind of meaningless to me. I value what I value. I'm not expressing these feelings out of some intellectual principle that goes against my base instinct to have fun or something. Spiderman wasn't fun to me, so I tried to reverse engineering the likely reason why, when asked. When videogames are like that, I don't like/care about the medium as a whole. If that means that they only fly on my radar and become something that feels worthwhile to me when I "take them that seriously" (whatever that even means), then so be it. I can only express my sincere thoughts. I wouldn't tell you to "take things more seriously" just because I disagreed with your judgements. You take them how you take them.

And for the record, I have tried having a more light-hearted/forgiving attitude when rating/reviewing when I was younger, and I found it way less personally satisfying and way more like I was just being disingenuous/compromising about how I actually felt (like I was just giving into peer pressure precisely to avoid THIS type of reaction). Hell, I still subconsciously catch myself doing that (incidentally, about games such as Spiderman, which I've probably given a more normal/agreeable score to in the past).

I was only teasing, I've been here for long enough to know how you post. I enjoy/value them and wouldn't interact with you if I didn't. It was just funny the way you said that.

My point about the gameplay is more related to your thoughts on something like Downwell. Obviously that's much more distilled than a AAA game but you enjoyed that predominantly for the gameplay because it was well done and satisfying to repeat over and over. It's not something that you seem to look for in the games you play. (This is also why I asked you about your music the other day, I don't know what your process is for picking out new things)

That's what I would see as the reason Spiderman games are popular, plus whatever attachment people have to the character/world already. I've not played them but I have played and enjoyed Prototype a long time ago which is a guy in New York with powers, so I understand the appeal in just launching yourself from building to building.

 

[Shareefruck]

I was only teasing, I've been here for long enough to know how you post. I enjoy/value them and wouldn't interact with you if I didn't. It was just funny the way you said that.

My point about the gameplay is more related to your thoughts on something like Downwell. Obviously that's much more distilled than a AAA game but you enjoyed that predominantly for the gameplay because it was well done and satisfying to repeat over and over. It's not something that you seem to look for in the games you play. (This is also why I asked you about your music the other day, I don't know what your process is for picking out new things)

That's what I would see as the reason Spiderman games are popular, plus whatever attachment people have to the character/world already. I've not played them but I have played and enjoyed Prototype a long time ago which is a guy in New York with powers, so I understand the appeal in just launching yourself from building to building.

I legitimately think Downwell is masterfully designed, creatively/originally conceived, and methodically precise in a way that I find 100% inspired-- that's the meat of its appeal for me. Its satisfying addictiveness (which it is as well) isn't really a big reason why I think highly of it. I think it's brilliant the same way that Tetris or Chess is brilliant-- Just absolute elegance. Or Celeste. Or Into the Breach. Or to a lesser extent Balatro. I also attribute a lot of value to things that are great in a minimalist way (for the same reason)-- the "more distilled" aspect is what I place great value on. None of these qualities really apply or are remotely in the ballpark of something like what Spiderman offers. I don't know if these other games are "transcendent works of art" either, but I find them creatively brilliant and deftly crafted in a way that I appreciate within striking distance of something like that, at least.

To go a bit further, I actually generally tend to outright hate things that are repeatedly addictive/compulsive without those more substantive qualities to go along with that (not that I really agree that Spiderman is even that addictively repeatable in the first place). When I hear that, I think of shitty exploitative habit-forming mobile games or something.

Frankly, I think "not everything has to be some deep transcendent philosophical masterpiece" is framing that's way too generous to games like Spiderman, personally. Even just as modest entertainment and nothing more, I feel like it lacks anything genuinely endearing, charming, infectious, or striking (these aren't exactly "transcendent work of art" terms). It doesn't really have a memorable identity or personality, and kind of feels like the videogame equivalent of a soulless/bland generically produced pop song that's merely fine/serviceable in a lot of areas, in my view.

I'm not sure why you're explaining why Spiderman is popular or why others enjoy it. I agree with your explanations for why that's probably the case, they're just not things that I value or find relevant in my own assessments/value judgements. Plus, I did give credit to how good web slinging feels, as the sole positive I could give it. It's just not a lot, to me.

 

[Andrei79]

No need for attitude. It was a sincere comment, not intended as sass or anything. I remember the names, I just forget which personalities/post histories/identities belong to certain names. I'm not sure how you guys keep track of internet nicknames like that over a long period of time, when you encounter so many and there's no face to them.

It's called having massive, massive brain power. Almost too much for my skull to contain, but somehow I manage.