Support NeoGAF

[CGNoire]

I know she’s toxic but does anyone else find Anita Sakizian pretty fucking hot.

She’s like the British conservative priti Patel (sp) I hate everything about her but find myself physically attracted to her.

If im being honest I think she looks hot in her popcorn .gif

 

[Bernardougf]

I'm ok with that. Let them burn.

Seriously, just leave FROM Software alone to cook and the rest of the entire pop culture can go down in flames for all I care.

Yeah .. feels like ill be playing japanese games almost exclusively from now on ... thats a damn shame

 

[BadHaircut]

That’s the sad part about it, i really enjoyed the first one on PS4 and this one looks as fun gameplay wise. Sadly it's injected with poison.

I played the game and grabbed the platinum. I genuinely do not think it's as bad as the posts in this thread would suggest.

At the risk of a few mild spoilers, I can only think of a few moments that stood out as potentially clumsy or on the nose. The male X male prom proposal that has been mentioned in this thread is one of them. But I thought the actual mission itself was pretty interesting, particularly given that 90% of the game is the standard combat and stealth arenas. In fact, most of the school missions were decent.

The other, also mentioned in this thread, is Miles hunting down a bunch of musical instruments tied to famous black artists. The missions themselves were uninteresting, and the 'twist' was obvious. It really just plays like any other of the side quests, with dialogue taking place while you're swinging. The final quest line mission is a bit slow so it's potentially more noticeable there. I'm not sure if I'd class it as woke (although I struggle to really define what that even means). It felt like a decent bit of history on display and that's about it.

Finally, please skip this next paragraph if you want to avoid mild spoilers.

Spoiler: Playable Character Spoilers

There is a part where you play as the deaf girlfriend of Miles. Potentially this could be perceived as an effort to be woke, I'm not sure. What I would say is that as someone who plays with surround sound headphones at all times, it was done quite well. They did a good job at basically dulling your sense of hearing while you solve a few platforming puzzles. I thought it was a good surprise (hence the spoiler tags), though I'm glad they only do it once.
The most offensive part of it is that her graffiti mechanics are awful. You basically shake the controller, use R2 and follow a simple directional input. Then she steps back and had painted a huge, impressive piece in 3 seconds. It felt a bit clumsy.

As for MJ, you play as her and she is more capable this time around due to a gadget. But I'm not sure where the commentary is coming from around her being super strong or anything. When you play as her, you're basically set up to navigate slowly and take enemies out 1 by 1. 99% of the time these are the basic enemies that Peter or Miles kick the shit out of in waves of 10-15 at a time, with a single special/gadget move knocking out several at a time. I just don't see what the fuss is about. MJ uses Peter's high tech gadget to take out weak enemies over time, and can take 3 hits before death. Spider-Man is destroying waves of these enemies in seconds and can eat shots all day.

It's a long post, so the tl;dr is that the game is great and it feels like this thread is attracting some overblown takes. Particularly when you consider this was an internal video that was leaked, and not some public facing statement.

 

[K2D]

Hopefully GTA VI has enough resources to actually get this right and not forced like we see in a lot of Hollywood media.

Props for some of the people in the interview actually calling it out.

 

[Ass of Can Whooping]

At the very least, the men who literally pretend. 95% of the people who call themselves trans aren't even trans - they're clout chasers or perverts. Those can fuck off. The real trans people just want to live their lives without making their transition a fucking social movement.

What's a real transperson?

 

[Audiophile]

That's another company on the eBay purchase list.

 

[Bernardougf]

What's a real transperson?

Im because I really trully believe im a fucking billionaire living in this medium class body and its sux

 

[Ev1L AuRoN]

Frustrating to see Sony succumbing to this nonsense, being a Japanese company I was hoping they continue a-political, but I guess Playstation is now primarily an American company with American culture.

 

[Punished Miku]

What's a real transperson?

Someone with legitimate gender dysphoria assessed by a trained mental health specialist. Some people just seem to find it trendy. Some people are probably just gay and like the fashion or are experimenting. I dont particularly care. But to begin any kind of hormone therapy you have to get mental and medical clearance first so they are trying on some level to assess how genuine it is, even if that is now heavily politicized.

 

[Shane89]

Pathetic

 

[Nickolaidas]

What's a real transperson?

Someone with legitimate gender dysphoria assessed by a trained mental health specialist. Some people just seem to find it trendy. Some people are probably just gay and like the fashion or are experimenting. I dont particularly care. But to begin any kind of hormone therapy you have to get mental and medical clearance first so they are trying on some level to assess how genuine it is, even if that is now heavily politicized.

Problem is that A) some of the people who *claim* they're trans haven't been checked by a mental health specialist and just declare their transition (and in actuality they're just crossdressing as a fetish), and B) many 'health experts' are not shy about agreeing with the diagnosis in order to start putting the person in puberty blockers and surgeries in order to make a quick buck.

Honestly, the lawsuits that will be flying off the shelf in the next five-ten years are going to be insane.

 

[Nickolaidas]

Lol they're treating minorities like some kind of exotic pets

Sacred cows, actually.

 

[Punished Miku]

Problem is that A) some of the people who *claim* they're trans haven't been checked by a mental health specialist and just declare their transition (and in actuality they're just crossdressing as a fetish), and B) many 'health experts' are not shy about agreeing with the diagnosis in order to start putting the person in puberty blockers and surgeries in order to make a quick buck.

Honestly, the lawsuits that will be flying off the shelf in the next five-ten years are going to be insane.

Yeah its a mess. I think it'll work itself out eventually. Trends pass eventually and then people actually wanting to seek medical / mental health remain.

 

[RickMasters]

I always knew they had to be doing this kind of shit .... I look at a few of sonys releases over the last few years and could see this all creeping in. ....the ugly female leads...the constant reminders of a characters sexuality.....undertones of modern feminism...the signs were all there..... I think it all started at TLOU, to be honest. I would not be surprised if ND and guerilla have similar 'pep talks' about diversity and sexuality. how else do we explain alloy being an unattractive lesbian? it shouldnt even matter but they wanted it to matter. They want these kinds of talking points...makes them feel like they are leading a social crusade with their game. makes em feel like they are doing something different. A lot of these people in the games and movie industries (oh trust me i've met a few...) make me cringe...they are a bunch of try hards.



Im saying this a british black man of jamaican descent.....they have some kind of issue with the portrayal of strong white males, almost as much they do with strong black ones. They are out to supress masculine energy. but they cant...we are men. They can and NEVER will be more combatative than us. The woke left will lose this war they have waged on traditional men. that is certain. sony would be wise to not get mixed up in all this woke nonsense...it will pass, like all fads do...and they will have to do a sharp 180, on certain things. better too be neutral and represent all. Which is the irony of all this woke shit....It only represent who is pushing these agendas at the expense of everybody else.. Im glad disney is failing hard and seemingly not learning. they will burn themselves to the ground and apple will buy them for peanuts when the time comes. let that be a lesson to all these companies who pursue these kinds of agendas

 

[Nickolaidas]

I played the game and grabbed the platinum. I genuinely do not think it's as bad as the posts in this thread would suggest.

At the risk of a few mild spoilers, I can only think of a few moments that stood out as potentially clumsy or on the nose. The male X male prom proposal that has been mentioned in this thread is one of them. But I thought the actual mission itself was pretty interesting, particularly given that 90% of the game is the standard combat and stealth arenas. In fact, most of the school missions were decent.

The other, also mentioned in this thread, is Miles hunting down a bunch of musical instruments tied to famous black artists. The missions themselves were uninteresting, and the 'twist' was obvious. It really just plays like any other of the side quests, with dialogue taking place while you're swinging. The final quest line mission is a bit slow so it's potentially more noticeable there. I'm not sure if I'd class it as woke (although I struggle to really define what that even means). It felt like a decent bit of history on display and that's about it.

Finally, please skip this next paragraph if you want to avoid mild spoilers.

Spoiler: Playable Character Spoilers

There is a part where you play as the deaf girlfriend of Miles. Potentially this could be perceived as an effort to be woke, I'm not sure. What I would say is that as someone who plays with surround sound headphones at all times, it was done quite well. They did a good job at basically dulling your sense of hearing while you solve a few platforming puzzles. I thought it was a good surprise (hence the spoiler tags), though I'm glad they only do it once.
The most offensive part of it is that her graffiti mechanics are awful. You basically shake the controller, use R2 and follow a simple directional input. Then she steps back and had painted a huge, impressive piece in 3 seconds. It felt a bit clumsy.

As for MJ, you play as her and she is more capable this time around due to a gadget. But I'm not sure where the commentary is coming from around her being super strong or anything. When you play as her, you're basically set up to navigate slowly and take enemies out 1 by 1. 99% of the time these are the basic enemies that Peter or Miles kick the shit out of in waves of 10-15 at a time, with a single special/gadget move knocking out several at a time. I just don't see what the fuss is about. MJ uses Peter's high tech gadget to take out weak enemies over time, and can take 3 hits before death. Spider-Man is destroying waves of these enemies in seconds and can eat shots all day.

It's a long post, so the tl;dr is that the game is great and it feels like this thread is attracting some overblown takes. Particularly when you consider this was an internal video that was leaked, and not some public facing statement.

The fact that a normal civilian is able to outmaneuver, outfox, outwit, OUTHUNT trained individuals who make it their business to be stealthy predators simply because of Mary Sueism is woke cringe bullshit. It's like watching Aunt May infiltrate Dr Octopus' hideout and take out the Sinister Six with a taser.

At this point, why even need Spider-Man? What's so special about him when a normal civilian can take out an entire super-villain hunting gang or an army of extraterrestrials?

 

[Ass of Can Whooping]

Someone with legitimate gender dysphoria assessed by a trained mental health specialist. Some people just seem to find it trendy. Some people are probably just gay and like the fashion or are experimenting. I dont particularly care. But to begin any kind of hormone therapy you have to get mental and medical clearance first so they are trying on some level to assess how genuine it is, even if that is now heavily politicized.

I agree, but we have to becareful with how we're defining gender dysphoria. I've seen too many cases of people just applying it to the extreme end of the spectrum "i'm going to end up killing myself if I stay in this body" when it's a lot more nuanced than that

 

[darrylgorn]

I don’t want men pretending to be women normalised.

I'm not sure if you've been around lately, but you're walking an uphill battle here lol

 

[Roufianos]

Honestly, this is the most unapologetically woke game you'll ever play. Mostly white dudes are enemies, 3 gay couples to just two heterosexual, deaf sign language in your face nonstop, jazz hands clapping.

Worst of all, it feels very much like a safe space for the depressed and mentally challenged. Almost everyone is overly nice and lacks any kind of edge. Same problem as R&C. It feels like playing Dora the Explorer in places.

'My boyfriend loves you Spidey'

 

[TheShocker]

I want so badly to enjoy SM2, but at every turn I’m having this bullshit shoved down my throat.

On the flip side, the miles morales game had some of these same undertones that did not feel like pandering at the highest level.

 

[Herbspiceguy]

You're playing with the big boys now, so you you'll have play by their rules and agenda's pushed by influential 'philantrophists' like Soros.

 

[Ogbert]

I'm not sure if you've been around lately, but you're walking an uphill battle here lol

Doesn’t mean you give up.

In 30 years’ time we will look back at this movement and wonder how the fuck we indulged in such objective madness. The loudest supporters will claim they had nothing to do with it.

 

[Rien]

Yeah Spider-Man 2 was much much woke. All tough I thought the missing saxophone from Charlie Parker mission was the best side mission. But I am a huge Charlie Parker fan so that helps

 

[aclar00]

Nothing to see here, just woke American imperialism at work infesting the arts.



Insomniac if you're so principled then why did you remove all the pride flags and more from the Middle Eastern version of the game, rather than just not release the game in those territories like Square did with Final Fantasy 16?

Not so sure Insomniac has much of a say on where their games are released. Im sure they can give an opinion, but theyre not decision makers.

 

[Ass of Can Whooping]

Doesn’t mean you give up.

In 30 years’ time we will look back at this movement and wonder how the fuck we indulged in such objective madness. The loudest supporters will claim they had nothing to do with it.

How exactly are you going to fight against self identity? If it's true the majority of it is just a trend it'll die down on its own. But if it's not then your only hope is try to gatekeep people and you've become your worst enemy

 

[aclar00]

Because Japanese devs either make games about Japanese people and culture or the character design is done to appeal to white folk in most instances. Unless I'm going going blind,why is that an issue?

It appears to me that Japanese devs do often enough go out of there way to appeal to a western audience primarily by location and character design. Resident Evil or Final Fantasy 16 for example. IMO their characters often come off ambiguous a bit too, as if to preserve some cultural level, but just enough to leave it open to make it more palatable in other countries. Just my opinion though.

 

[TGO]

Take off the blinders ffs. Saga is black because she is

Spoiler: Aw2 spoiler

Mr Door's daughter. The same character as Martin Hatch from Quantum Break as Lance Reddick was confirmed to be casted as Mr Door before he passed

.

Which is funny as Saga appears in Quantum Break looking like Willow from CSI

 

[Dr.Morris79]

Yup, LEV was def there to pander Transgender ideology full stop. I mean Druckmann worked with Anita Sakizian and gave her an award and her speech was about how all games should be inclusive etc. This woke garbage didn't start with SM2 lol.

Saying that TLOU2 had these characters just because they "fit into the story" is just plain ignorant when there's evidence against that notion already exist in the open. No leak is needed here lol.
Either way here's a fun YT vid with Anita and Duckmann praising eachother

 

[Fredrik]

Frustrating to see Sony succumbing to this nonsense, being a Japanese company I was hoping they continue a-political, but I guess Playstation is now primarily an American company with American culture.

Yeah the gaming/Playstation side has been US based with the headquarter being in US for quite some time now. I don’t think they can hide behind Japanese norms and politics on these subjects without getting lynched by Twitter mobs and journalists hungry for clicks.

 

[RickSanchez]

 

[Men_in_Boxes]

I'm not proud of what I'm about to say...

I hope Stellar Blade crushes expectations commercially.

My multiplayer homies...I hope you understand.

 

[Ogbert]

How exactly are you going to fight against self identity? If it's true the majority of it is just a trend it'll die down on its own. But if it's not then your only hope is try to gatekeep people and you've become your worst enemy

You fight against the fact that self-identity doesn’t trump material reality.

This is why the Trans question is such a lightening rod. It’s not about the individuals involved (most people would, if asked, simply shrug their shoulders and say let people live in peace and do what they want).

But that isn’t good enough for the hard left. ‘Trans women are women’ is a purity test. It’s communist catechism. It’s getting you to say something you know is not true because it represents the individual bowing to the state.

So, to fight it, you simply say ‘no’.

 

[GHound]

Nah bro, stop being a conspiracy theorist. We're all just bigot sandwiches or something.

 

[hyperbertha]

Ok? Congrats? Happy for you?

I don't tie my masculinity on whether or not the Drake brothers could lose a fight against a trained female soldier who looked in shape. The game did enough to make it believable, it was fun. It made you think it was questioning your manhood, uh, ok... I guess alternate media could be a fix.

I know you are banned but EVERY combatant in uncharted is trained. Drake has no problem dispatching 1000s of fully trained mercs, and soldiers and military dudes but for some reason doesn't stand a chance against some random trained girl. It's pandering. Fullstop.

 

[Terenty]

Sony works in tandem with gaming media/gaming journos. No matter what propaganda drivel with outdated, by the numbers gameplay mechanics crap they pump out they will guaranteed get 9 and 10 across the board.

All the other gamedevs actually trying to put some effort and passion in their games will be met with harsh criticism and animosity reaping all those sweet 6s and 7s.

Sony and game journos are like an evil mob group that put a boot on gaming industry and slowly killing

 

[hyperbertha]

Uncharted at it's core is a Hollywood style action game. Nadine kicking butt makes sense in that kind of world.

Nah. It's not about realism it's about the rules the game universe has set for itself. A world having dragons in it doesn't excuse missing common sense.

 

[ThatPolishGuy]

I always knew they had to be doing this kind of shit .... I look at a few of sonys releases over the last few years and could see this all creeping in. ....the ugly female leads...the constant reminders of a characters sexuality.....undertones of modern feminism...the signs were all there..... I think it all started at TLOU, to be honest. I would not be surprised if ND and guerilla have similar 'pep talks' about diversity and sexuality. how else do we explain alloy being an unattractive lesbian? it shouldnt even matter but they wanted it to matter. They want these kinds of talking points...makes them feel like they are leading a social crusade with their game. makes em feel like they are doing something different. A lot of these people in the games and movie industries (oh trust me i've met a few...) make me cringe...they are a bunch of try hards.



Im saying this a british black man of jamaican descent.....they have some kind of issue with the portrayal of strong white males, almost as much they do with strong black ones. They are out to supress masculine energy. but they cant...we are men. They can and NEVER will be more combatative than us. The woke left will lose this war they have waged on traditional men. that is certain. sony would be wise to not get mixed up in all this woke nonsense...it will pass, like all fads do...and they will have to do a sharp 180, on certain things. better too be neutral and represent all. Which is the irony of all this woke shit....It only represent who is pushing these agendas at the expense of everybody else.. Im glad disney is failing hard and seemingly not learning. they will burn themselves to the ground and apple will buy them for peanuts when the time comes. let that be a lesson to all these companies who pursue these kinds of agendas

Yeah, the same thing happened with GoW Ragnarok, I think. So SMS may not be unaffected.

I mean I felt something was off with the game. I get the character development and all.

But I haven't have felt immersion with Kratos at all, sure game was fine, combat and all. As I have mentioned in other thread.

The character switching didn't really help.

In 2018 I felt immersion... And I felt manly. Story was I guess coherent in 2018 and in Ragnarok I had this that it's nice but something is off feeling. Like something didn't exactly click.

I'm not butthurt at all. Just saying men want to feel manly. And gamers want to feel immersed. So I agree with your post.

It isn't about diversity.

If there was a game for example with Idris Elba set in space as interdimensional badass bounty hunter. I would play the shit out of it. The game only has to have characters grounded in the story- and not feel like something is forced and coherent story. And it's golden. It's not a rocket science...

Cyberpunk, though I haven't played the expansion yet, judging by reviews and general opinions did it right.

 

[Flutta]

There isnt enough Representation of Handsome people in Gaming. Im feeling Under-Represented.

Post a picture and let us be the judge of that

 

[Ass of Can Whooping]

Nah. It's not about realism it's about the rules the game universe has set for itself. A world having dragons in it doesn't excuse missing common sense.

What fucking rules lmao

 

[AJUMP23]

I just to some part early on where a person comes on my phone and says “free speech is a wonderful thing but saying the same thing over and over doesn’t make it true.”


Fells like a self own or highly unaware.

 

[Flutta]

I'm not proud of what I'm about to say...

I hope Stellar Blade crushes expectations commercially.

My multiplayer homies...I hope you understand.

If that happens. The backlash will be huge, Sony will be thrown under the bus by every gaming news outlet out there, people buying the game will be called all kinds of names. The end results will be Sony will never support those kinds of games anymore or will have a new policy in place that forces none western devs to abide by the new world order or some shite like that.

But who cares amirite

 

[Dr. Samuel Hayden]

Modern Sony is so compromised it's unreal. Playstation is slowly becoming the WEFstation.

 

[Men_in_Boxes]

The end results will be Sony will never support those kinds of games anymore or will have a new policy in place that forces none western devs to abide by the new world order or some shite like that.

The end result of a game smashing commercial projections will be...Sony never making another one?

Da fuq?

 

[wvnative]

If that happens. The backlash will be huge, Sony will be thrown under the bus by every gaming news outlet out there, people buying the game will be called all kinds of names. The end results will be Sony will never support those kinds of games anymore or will have a new policy in place that forces none western devs to abide by the new world order or some shite like that.

But who cares amirite

if steller blade ends up doing 10m plus, unlikely, but if it did, Sony would take the PR hit.

Sony had the marketing deal for hogwarts and they didn't pull back at all on pushing it.

 

[Ass of Can Whooping]

You fight against the fact that self-identity doesn’t trump material reality.

This is why the Trans question is such a lightening rod. It’s not about the individuals involved (most people would, if asked, simply shrug their shoulders and say let people live in peace and do what they want).

But that isn’t good enough for the hard left. ‘Trans women are women’ is a purity test. It’s communist catechism. It’s getting you to say something you know is not true because it represents the individual bowing to the state.

So, to fight it, you simply say ‘no’.

That's a good way of saying something just to say nothing

Saying "no" isn't going to do anything to swade the left to your side. Especially when you present your basis as just simply men pretending to be women. It's all well and good you think you can shrug your shoulders and let bygons be bygons, but the moment a trans person pops up in your video game you condem it with every fibre of your being.

 

[ThatOneGrunt]

I don’t want men pretending to be women normalised.

Why the fuck are some of you guys supporting this comment?

 

[hyperbertha]

But a woman would need to train a whole fucking lot to reach Abby's physique. She won't get there with a couple of push-ups a day. She would need to train a lot and eat a lot and very well, things that aren't exactly easy to achieve in a post-apocalyptic world like this.

What are you even arguing? That it's believable in the world they live in? It fucking isn't.

Women won't reach Abby's physique without some 'help'.

 

[tommib]

What's a real transperson?

Wendy Carlos and Buck Angel.

 

[Nickolaidas]

What's a real transperson?

 

[Ass of Can Whooping]

You think you have to do a full transition to be trans?

 

[peish]

45 consumer and 5 experts, everything in that video comes off as so faked and forced.

what is wrong with american culture these days, wealth people hoarding wealth acting inclusive?