Stray observations in gaming

[Nightingale]

Basically a thread for you to talk about things that have caught your attention while gaming, but that wouldn't necessarily warrant their own topic otherwise.

Everything is alright, from sightings of very oddly-placed assets to your own theories regarding the existence or characters and/or inventory objects. Go nuts

Since this is Spooketober after all, I'd like to kick things off by talking about something that I just can't seem to stop focusing on while playing --or, well, trying to-- Resident Evil 3: Nemesis.

Man, Raccoon City would be a pretty awful place to live in, zombie outbreak or not.

Everything on that place seems to have fallen to a state of complete abandonment, with assets not having been maintained in what looks like ages (and I don't think that's because of the zombies; the amount of dirt in some areas seems to have been created since long before that came to be). I also find it rather interesting how the city is laid out, with key areas being seemingly out of the way regardless of which direction you approach them from, and the amount of very narrow streets covering pretty much all areas (at least, early on) seem to suggest that the whole thing would be repulsive for those not particularly in love with small or cluttered places.

Funnily enough, I didn't start realizing any of this until I got to the park, which takes a big of a walk around in the first place and doesn't look particularly coherent in design once you are in it. I know this was made this way to prevent the player from wandering around in what otherwise would have been a very open map, but the realization came with the subtlety of a brick: Raccoon City wouldn't be able to stand having more than 30 people on the street at any given time. Some city (although, I guess "Raccoon Village" wouldn't sound nearly as cool)

It's funny how I never started questioning any of that when I was younger and it's only now that my gaming time is limited that I can point at the maddening level design and realize how unreal it all feels.

Absolutely great game, though

Well... that went on for longer than expected xD But tell us, what are your Stray Observations in gaming?

[Moonface]

Your observation on the world of Resident Evil 3 makes me think of my views on some of the world of Nier: Automata. I can never get my head around how there's a city in complete ruins, which sits next to a barren desert and a pretty intact theme park. I can't understand how there's a desert right next to an area full of lush forest and water, or how there's a working theme park next to a demolished city. I understand the factory in the area is in good condition because the machines are using it, but I don't know what purpose a theme park would provide for them. I know there are machines living in it, but I still can't get how the buildings are all in such decent condition and in a way that looks like they weren't repaired either.

[Nightingale]

Something that's always bothered me about The Last of Us is that human life is constantly treated like this important, almost emptied resource that we should probably preserve, yet you spend more than half the game gunning down people. I know that this is great for variety and that the related comic "American Dreams" makes it clear that rogue elements are abandoned to their luck, but I could never stop feeling like I was going against the game with every bullet that found a person.

It also doesn't help that the freaking Fireflies think they are doing good while massacring people.

And this is more of an opinion of mine, but I have been talking to several members from here and reading quite a few articles on the subject, and they all seem to agree that The Last of Us II fucked up and has enraged the fanbase beyond reconciliation with its trailer alone. At first I was gonna brush it aside as the media being the media, but then I realized that all of the YouTubers I follow made the game fall into one of two categories: Played the demo for a while, then stopped forever; or never, ever played it at all (they would post all sorts of things related to the original LoU). Man, it takes talent to screw up LoU if they did.

I hope I'm wrong, but the trailer also made me feel like the game wasn't probably gonna be up there after watching it again.

[queenzelda]

For me it's when a character makes a random odd comment, like in Paper Mario: Paper Splash when Toad says that the paint can Huey is ugly crying in the empty paint fountain. I mean what the heck is ugly crying supposed to mean anyway? Is his mascara running, or something? He's a paint can, he has no make up on Toad guy. What the flip man? xp

[Dragon Lord]

but I don't know what purpose a theme park would provide for them. I know there are machines living in it, but I still can't get how the buildings are all in such decent condition and in a way that looks like they weren't repaired either.

The machines are trying to emulate human life. They learned that the humans used theme parks as a way to enjoy themselves and have fun, so they either built one themselves using parts they found, or they restored the theme park to a point that things would be operational again.

[Moonface]

but I don't know what purpose a theme park would provide for them. I know there are machines living in it, but I still can't get how the buildings are all in such decent condition and in a way that looks like they weren't repaired either.

The machines are trying to emulate human life. They learned that the humans used theme parks as a way to enjoy themselves and have fun, so they either built one themselves using parts they found, or they restored the theme park to a point that things would be operational again.

I know this is super late to ask but I was in this thread and wanted to ask. Is it explained why they are doing that when the machines wiped out the humans to begin with? Why would you destroy a species to then try and be that species?