Here I am playing Shadow of the Tomb Raider, when it dawns on me. Lara is a sociopath. She is a killing machine who barely even speaks on it, it’s nothing to her at this point. She doesn’t care about her health, injury nor pain. She just wants artifacts and to uncover ancient mysteries. I like her character but damn she is actually low key the villain of the story when i think about it. Trinity are bad guys but Lara is the boss villain slaughtering all in her way to get to her goals. Lol anyone else notice that?

  • Katana314@lemmy.world
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    2 days ago

    The unfortunate fact is, the conceit of most action games relies on some pretty dumb ideas.

    1. Every opponent is committed to ending your life, even to the point of fighting on when 80% of their unit is dead.
    2. Your hero is skilled enough at combat to win hundreds of fights without any permanent injuries
    3. The “light, casual” quests you’re put on like retrieving a child’s missing doll are important enough to for enemies to relentlessly guard with their life.

    People have pointed this out for everyone from Mario to Nathan Drake, etc. Some games even try to base a “moment of introspection” around it, and it sort of falls flat.

    • DreamlandLividity@lemmy.world
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      14 hours ago

      Trepang2 still has you killing guards like a blender, but adds a fear mechanic to the enemies. Makes you really realize you are a monster.

    • lemonuri@infosec.pub
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      1 day ago

      I think it’s pretty cool this issue is actually addressed in the witcher (action rpg). At the very end you get confronted by Death (personified). He blames you for all the pain and suffering you caused and that he has to follow your footsteps wherever you go and asks you to give up as the world would be a better place without you. You can decide to give in or to fight him, if I remember correctly. It’s really one of my favourite moments in video games history and really worth considering the good you as the witcher have done vs the pain you caused. If you think it’s moral to measure life vs life you can definitely share Deaths opinion.

      The witcher still holds up today and I think is worth playing if you haven’t yet.

      • fading_person@lemmy.zip
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        1 day ago

        In metal gear solid snake eater there’s a scene where we cross a river seeing every enemy we killed.

    • lime!@feddit.nu
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      2 days ago

      uncharted is the worst for this because the fights add basically nothing. the games are great humourous adventure serials occasionally broken up by obligatory murderous rampages. after my first playthrough of uncharted 2 it showed that i had done over 200 headshots alone. friend of mine had something like 1500.

      • cdf12345@lemmy.zip
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        1 day ago

        Didn’t someone get a comment from a dev or read in a manual that Nathan never dies. He just runs out of “luck” or something?

        • NuXCOM_90Percent@lemmy.zip
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          6 hours ago

          Yes

          Looks like it was on twitter so here is a blogspam article instead, but Jonathan Cooper and Amy Hennig both effectively confirmed this

          https://screenrant.com/uncharted-game-nathan-drake-luck-meter/

          Basically the idea is that only the last shot matters. Nathan isn’t actually getting shot by a full magazine from a FAL. He is getting grazed and shitting himself. And when you finally die? THAT is the bullet that hit. Which actually makes a lot more sense since the damage indicators (aside from Nate face tanking a 50 BMG…) tend to line up more with how video games portray suppression and the like. And it is why a single pistol shot to the leg in a cutscene leads to 20 minutes of slow walking and a time skip.

        • lime!@feddit.nu
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          1 day ago

          i think so. i don’t really have a problem with that. as the narrator says in the stanley parable, what kind of story has the main character die halfway through

      • tobz619@lemmy.world
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        1 day ago

        In Uncharted 4 there’s an achievement called “Ludonarrative Dissonance” which is awarded after killing a number of enemies lol.

        • lime!@feddit.nu
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          1 day ago

          don’t make me tap the sign

          pointing out that you’re doing a thing does not qualify as parody of that thing

            • lime!@feddit.nu
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              23 hours ago

              the game would have been better if they took the combat out entirely, save for some one-on-one fights. it’s a shame that they’re done with the series, it was finally approaching “playable indy film” territory.

              the achievement means they knew, and put the monster closet shit in anyway.