Zero Punctuation Takes On The World Ends With You

Just the kind of vindication the FPS/WRPG uber alis crowd needed to spew even more bullshit whenever Japan has the gall to release another game.

I'd love someone to touch upon the joys of creating a faceless character, being given a vague idea of plot at the very beginning of the game, and then mindlessly grinding until you randomly stumble onto the next task, all set against a Tolkien-esque world thats about as original as Fighter's History. There it is...your typical WRPG in a nutshell.

And what suddenly became so bad about separating story and gameplay? Just because games like Half-Life and Assassin's Creed will yammer at you from in-game (while still preventing you from taking any other action within that time) doesn't suddenly mean that a more "cinematic" approach is bad. I'd still rather watch a choreographed cut-scene than a couple of schmucks standing at arms length moving and acting exactly as they would in-game (which always makes for some very stilted and dull movement by comparison).

I wouldn't get so frustrated if I felt like Western developers had really pushed the envelope forward that much, but they just haven't. People are simply using the West's new industry leader position as way to bash any and all conventions found in Japanese games while either celebrating or ignoring those found in Western ones. Nothing has changed...the space marines just have more detailed bulges now.

This generation more than any other has really proven to me what a sad bunch of fair weather friends most gamers are.