QUOTE
While I understand where you're coming from, I think your mentality is applied too broadly. What's the purpose of a video game? What's the purpose of any game for that matter? It's to win.
It is entirely possible, and occurs quite often, when people play games for reasons other than 'to win.'
Many people derive value from a game simply from the experience of it. Others derive value from its themes or aesthetic presentation.
For this reason, I completely disregard the notion that if I'm not playing a game for the same reason that it was invented, then my appreciation for the experience should be ignored or rendered invalid or somehow less worthy than another person's.
Now I see your point when it comes to series like Metal Gear. Part of my enjoyment of the series comes from the narrative and the rich story. Though that doesn't make it a fun game. It's the seasoning to the meat of the gameplay. It's also a big part of the reason I enjoy Mass Effect. That being said, not every game is going to have an amazing narrative or compelling emotional motivation. I don't play Neo Turf Masters because of the intricate story of a golfer and his club. It's an amazing golf game that's a blast to play with nice music.
Neo Turf Masters is an ARCADE game that does not require the mythology of a shared universe to be developed. They wanted to make an arcade golf game, so they did.
Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance is a game that heavily depends on the theme of the previous series to even exist. It is connected to Metal Gear, and thus carries the weight of that franchise's expectations whether it wants to or not.
Kojima and Platinum both knew this when they got in on it.
They wouldn't be complaining that 'people aren't accepting it for what it is.' They know that the expectations are there.
And you can bet they're crafting a game that they hope will be embraced both for its deviation from MGS as well as its connection to it.
Since all of this is true, it's not unfair to expect something out of MGRR other than 'pointless ninja death simulator.'
It's interesting you see all of these themes and ideas presented in Devil May Cry, which I see story and context wise as a vapid experience, yet can't see them in the demo for Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance.
You missed the point.
And you also are arguing a completely different thing.
Devil May Cry's story is stupid. No one can argue that it's worthy.
But the theme of the combat revolves around the character's flashy style. Dante is IN the DNA of the combat engine. I all but guarantee you Hideki Kamiya would say this very thing, and he directed the game.
And the game rewards you for living up to that theme with a higher ranking at the end of your death combo.
I'm not even talking about the story.
I'm talking about the GAMEPLAY.
You are rewarded for living up to the outlandish style of the character through the actual combat.
The theme of who Dante is becomes evident in how stylish you play.
The same exact argument could be made for Bayonetta, your favorite game of all time. Kamiya was aware of who Bayonetta was, what she was about and what her theme was. And the combat engine in that game is a strong gameplay representation of her themes.
I'd argue it's what makes the game so good-the director's attention to ensuring that this is the most important part of the engine.
That is the 'gameplay context in theme' I am talking about.
Why does slicing enemies fly against the theme? This is after all Raiden, a child super solider whose was created with the purpose to kill. Slicing enemies into a thousand pieces seems like a perfectly logical thing for a character known as "Jack The Ripper".
He WAS known as Jack the Ripper, and he spent a couple of games trying to get away from that.
So if Raiden is the ninja now, I just don't see him as a guy that would overindulge in violent excess.
Having said that, if the theme of the character changes through the course of the game and those gameplay mechanics (slow motion, slicing enemies into briquettes, etc.) reflect some kind of angry evolution in Raiden, then they will not become boring to me because I see them as virtual manifestations of the theme as realized by the dev team.
It's called 'Revengeance' for a reason. It's a violent title. That violence is reflected in the theme. But it is still Konami's, and Platinum's, job to make me feel the soul of the theme.
If that stuff is just in there because gamers will like it but it is not reflective of the actual theme of the game or the dev team's mission statement for experience they want us to have, then it will lose me emotionally and I just won't care. Then it WILL just be boring and monotonous.
Beyond that, you don't have to play the game slicing enemies into a thousand pieces. You're using my unique gameplay experience as a case for character inconsistencies when in reality you could play the game very differently.
You're presuming that your footage is the only basis for my opinion, and you need to stop leaping to this conclusion.
I've watched all the gameplay footage on the internet and watched all the trailers.
It is clear that they are crafting a game around the narrative. This isn't just a robot death simulator. They are advertising it as more than a 'battle mode.'
Therefore, I am going to take ALL those things into account when I play and judge the game.
Not just the gameplay. That is YOUR way of enjoying the game. But you need to stop telling other people how THEY should enjoy the game or telling them what their purpose should be.
Furthermore, THEME is very important to the best of Japanese developed games. Back when Japan was making the best stuff, they never strayed from the theme/soul of the game, and they were very careful in crafting a game that was cohesive based on its theme.
I sincerely hope this game does NOT go down the pandering route, the way RE 6 did.
My issue is people over thinking this game and getting meta on it. I know that's ironic talking about not getting to meta on a Metal Gear game, but this is Metal Gear Rising, not Metal Gear Solid (something many fans of the series still don't understand). Enjoy a game for what it is, not for what you want it to be.
This comment is not directed at MGRR because no one can know, but...
There is nothing wrong with calling a game a disjointed experience that lacks cohesion or direction, losing me emotionally and therefore failing to create a compulsion in me to keep playing.
That may or may not happen with with MGRR. Like you said, it's just a demo.
