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For those that played The Medium, did the story go "too far"?

baphomet

Member
Been saying this for the past 10 years but here we still are

Unfortunately GAF is the only place I see this happen too.

Memes or just pointing out how fucking stupid some people are is one thing, but using a reply by some random retard as some sort of discussion or rumor is too much.
 

CatLady

Selfishly plays on Xbox Purr-ies X
He speaks about his struggles with mental illness and criticises a video game.
How is that self-absorbed in any way.
He's not telling you your bad for liking the game

No, he's saying the devs they are bad for making the game and Xbox is bad for expressing "positive toxicity" for not being negative about the game. He also talked about how he couldn't finish Disco Elysium or Hellblade. And why is he saying that .......................... because this woke whining "game journalist gets triggered by video games. It's all about HIM. Maybe this self-absorbed attention whore should seek another profession since video games are so debilitating for him.
 
If pixels hurt someone's feeling, then yeah, he surely has some serious mental issues.
That's not even it. I for example can't really play super immersive horror games like RE7, I'm a pussy like that. But you don't see me whining on Twitter about how the game is too scary and therefore shouldn't exist. I'm not a narcissistic dickhead after all, if people enjoy getting scared to death, so be it :messenger_beaming:
 

tommib

Member
No, he's saying the devs they are bad for making the game and Xbox is bad for expressing "positive toxicity" for not being negative about the game. He also talked about how he couldn't finish Disco Elysium or Hellblade. And why is he saying that .......................... because this woke whining "game journalist gets triggered by video games. It's all about HIM. Maybe this self-absorbed attention whore should seek another profession since video games are so debilitating for him.
I would be happy if they just stop crying and getting offended. But it’s all engagement they’re looking for. He writes for a big newspaper. It’s a mix of business-101 with false controversy.
 

ZywyPL

Banned
That's not even it. I for example can't really play super immersive horror games like RE7, I'm a pussy like that. But you don't see me whining on Twitter about how the game is too scary and therefore shouldn't exist. I'm not a narcissistic dickhead after all, if people enjoy getting scared to death, so be it :messenger_beaming:

TLOU2 hurt many peoples feelings.

I mean, it's just video games, you can always turn them off instead of trying to convince entire world that the game is pure evil and the devs should burn in hell.
 

Garibaldi

Member
It's a AA game. It has no combat and only story, lots of exploration and light puzzles. But it's not terrible. I think it's just not for you. :lollipop_worried:
Agreed but surely I don't have to put 'in my opinion' at the end of a post.

The mechanics were janky, the world was boring and devoid of anything interesting artistically after the first visit to 'the other side'. Exploration was non existent because it was basically on rails, and the puzzles were so 'light' they might as well have been transparent.

It wasn't scary, at all either.
Which was supposed to be it's one quality. It also ran like absolute dog droppings at max settings (even on a 3090RTX) so technically it was terrible (on PC) too.

Plenty of better places to spend your money. Especially on chilling games.

Just terrible (in my opinion).
 

Bartski

Gold Member
I have no idea what he means by "medium is a violently and ugly portrayal of how to live". How exactly were mental illness themes mishandled there? I found their previous game Blair Witch way darker on that front
 
Agreed but surely I don't have to put 'in my opinion' at the end of a post.

The mechanics were janky, the world was boring and devoid of anything interesting artistically after the first visit to 'the other side'. Exploration was non existent because it was basically on rails, and the puzzles were so 'light' they might as well have been transparent.

It wasn't scary, at all either.
Which was supposed to be it's one quality. It also ran like absolute dog droppings at max settings (even on a 3090RTX) so technically it was terrible (on PC) too.

Plenty of better places to spend your money. Especially on chilling games.

Just terrible (in my opinion).
Fair enough! I dont think its a masterpiece and get how someone could not be into it.
 

Garibaldi

Member
Fair enough! I dont think its a masterpiece and get how someone could not be into it.
No worries. Dunno what it is about that game. It just rubbed me the wrong way (which possibly gives it merit in a weird way, I feel the same about the original Grudge movie).

I've played loads of messy, janky, poor games and happily forgotten all about them. Something about The Medium though...
 

TGO

Hype Train conductor. Works harder than it steams.
I didn't see anything in it that was offensive
As for the game, I thought it was okay.
I played it from start to finish and would gladly buy a sequel.
Exploration did reminds me of Silent Hill so that's a plus.
It's just everything else needed improvement or a rethink.
I'm kinda shocked by how many people put it down as I bought it because of the praise it got.... until it got a PS5 release.
Then people's opinions changed 🤔
 

Northeastmonk

Gold Member
I’ve never enjoyed Greg Miller’s content. I have no huge issue against the guy. I just get this feeling like his persona is his paycheck. You either enjoy him or you don’t. His comment further proves that I don’t really need his opinion. 😆

I didn’t bother with The Medium because it didn’t come across as interesting to me. I loved Village and I wouldn’t compare the two. A lot of games try so hard to hit at some emotion and it really depends on the person. You have to want to stick around in a game long enough to actually get what the developer is leaning towards. If the game doesn’t appeal to you at all, there’s nothing to get from it. Nothing impactful to actually mean anything.

If you stuck around long enough and something actually bothers you then yeah, I do see their point. Let’s celebrate mental illness and death! Let’s celebrate killing too. Xbox just wants to sell these games. Greg’s comment is like the kid in class who talks over the teacher and everyone laughs at his jokes. The shoe-in kind of comment is why social media and gaming suck so much. I think Gene Park is a good guy. I’ve read his stuff before and I tend to agree with what he says, but I also feel sorry for him. He’s going to be fighting off people left and right for stating his own opinion on Twitter.
 
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adamsapple

Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?
It doesn't do or suggest anything that other games haven't already done (child abuse).

If someone is triggered by those things and doesn't have prior knowledge that this game has that kind of content, I can see it being a bit jarring as it comes out of left field.

But, I wouldn't say this game pushes any boundaries.
 
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DaGwaphics

Member
Should have played it on GP, they wouldn't have felt obligated to finish if it if it bothered them.

I couldn't help myself, my bad.

Seriously though, I watched a few videos about it when it came out and no one was even mentioning this at all. Seems like that would have jumped out at reviewers if it really stood out.
 

BigBooper

Member
It makes me wonder if we're going to get into a future where folks that share an opinion similar to his will attempt to cancel games (or bash them with negative press) based on their story. Something that we haven't really seen aside from games that contained extremely violent or sexual visuals.

The future? Where you been my man.

I didn't sense anything all that different in The Medium than is common in a lot of psychological stories, but then, I'm not an egotistical sociopath trying to make everything revolve around me and my completely unique medical conditions.
 

BigBooper

Member
His tweet left me wondering how someone that can't put together a sentence is writing for the Washington Post. "Violently portrayal" okay bro..

I am so glad that gaming journalism is slowly giving way to independent content creators. They seem to only be able to hire idiot snowflake journos with a shitload of personal issues. Every other day it's some dumb shit about "sexual awakenings" and "mean portrayals on how to live" by games. These mother fuckers can't grasp the concept that video games are made up shit to entertain, not to tell you how to live or determine your development as a human being. The Medium of all things? If it's somehow triggering something in your alcoholic degenerate brain doesn't mean that the game is "insidious" or that the rest of us should give a shit. You are just a fucking loon.
It seems like many games writers nowadays have "journalism" degrees. Used to be, they were all enthusiastic nerds.
 

laynelane

Member
Is he saying the game doesn't portray the lifestyle of mentally ill people in a good way? Is that it? And it's mean because of it? I thought the game was about telling a story and solving a mystery, not about dude on Twitter and his projections. :pie_diana:
 

Clintizzle

Lord of Edge.
As a dog person, I think its really shitty of Sony to potentially be funding a game were you LITERALLY play as a Cat. You see its bootyhole and everything. We can't just let things like this fly because "Jim Ryan is Daddy!".
 

MiguelItUp

Member
The future? Where you been my man.

I didn't sense anything all that different in The Medium than is common in a lot of psychological stories, but then, I'm not an egotistical sociopath trying to make everything revolve around me and my completely unique medical conditions.
The future in THAT way. Yes it's already happening and has been. But not necessarily in this form. At least from what I had seen. But I also don't actively search for this nonsense. The only times I see stuff like that it's because of Twitters stupid algorithm, or because someone is sharing something here, lol.

That's exactly what I figured. I appreciate everyone's input. I was just genuinely curious about people's opinions that played the game. Again, not surprised by the responses.
 

wipeout364

Member
Never finished The Medium do I don’t know what he’s referring to
I finished the Medium and I don’t know what he is referring to. The settings and story is so out to lunch he must be pretty messed up if he is relating to someone who is psychic, sees and talks to ghosts and walks in a spirit plane.
 

Y0ssarian

Banned
Tbh I gave The Medium up after about an hour or two. Didn't seem particularly offensive. If anything it was milquetoast. Gene is literally mentally ill though.
 
The most "offensive" thing about The Medium is that it's supposed to be a horror game, but it is not scary in any way. One of the most mediocre experiences I've played.
 

Roberts

Member
It is unfortunate he is struggling with mental issues and the game had this reaction on him. That said, in many ways the game is about the terrible legacy Soviet regime left us Eastern Europeans. Most of the countries dealt with it in the 90's by denouncing the regime and its atrocities (I remember the night when the whole city gathered in downtown to watch tear down statue of Lenin way back in the early 90's). Russia itself never did that and here they are again, making the same mistakes. Could it be that the game's ending is purely symbolic in that you can't cure or fix what Soviets have done. You can only destroy it. I could be totally wrong on that, because I don't remember the game all that well.
 
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Arachnid

Member
If it went "too far" at least it'd be memorable. I played the whole game and I can't remember anything other than boredom and disappointment. Same with Layers of Fear and The Blaire Witch.

God, I hate Bloober. Keep them away from Silent Hill. Get them away from horror games in general.
 
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If you are dealing with mental illness, why are you playing games about mental illness and then not satisfied by its portrayal or its "too much for you" ? Just dont play those games. Its like a drug addict asking the worldwide Cartel not to make anymore drugs because he gets addicted to them.

If the game is fucking with your head, dont play it. Instead people want them to outright remove such a game or for people not to make them. Snowflakes.
 

ParaSeoul

Member
The originals covered much worse subject matter so much better. Bloober's writing is just so horrible,I can see why someone would confuse it with hate speech.
 
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BaneIsPain

Member
The medium is offensive? Opinion discarded.

christian bale GIF by Maudit
 

ikbalCO

Member
I enjoyed the medium to en extend. It was a fun little game.

I dont understand where gene is coming from though. How about you dont play the games you dont like. The world doesnt revolve around you.

Why are gamers are such snowflakes, triggered by every little shit?
 

Bo_Hazem

Banned
I'm just worried about this:

texas-chainsaw-massacre-game.jpg


Based on true events... So the ones who had their beloved massacred would enjoy this, indeed. I think it's a bit disturbing.

I think the US media should relax a bit in giving psychopaths more creative ideas of how to torture their victims.
 
I'm just worried about this:

texas-chainsaw-massacre-game.jpg


Based on true events... So the ones who had their beloved massacred would enjoy this, indeed. I think it's a bit disturbing.

I think the US media should relax a bit in giving psychopaths more creative ideas of how to torture their victims.
Nothing is "true events" about a chainsaw massacre, so put your big girl panties on.
 
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fart town usa

Gold Member
Somewhat related bump. Didn't want to create a new thread but also wanted to see what others think about the game.

Is The Medium really as bad as I think it is? I'm not far in it, haven't touched it in a few weeks but holy shit, I played the few 2 hours or so and I'm just not feeling it whatsoever. It's my first Bloober team game and I'm honestly bummed, I've been meaning to try something by them for years because of their relation to Nibris. The vaporware company behind Sadness for the Wii.

The graphics are fine but certainly not impressive. The dual screen mechanic just makes me laugh. Especially during scenes in which your character just kind of stands there while everything else is happening on the opposite side. It just seems like it's unique in that it's not effective and a dumb idea to base a game around. The dual sense implementation is trash, easily the worst I've experienced so far. Even the rumble just seems like everything is firing on all cylinders, no nuance to it.

The jump scares have been effective but they're jump scares, it's a cheap/lazy way to get a reaction but kudos to them for making them effective.

Does the game get better? I haven't even come across the antagonist yet. I'm still exploring some abandoned resort.
 
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