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Half as long, half as bright?


Grace5959

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3 minutes ago, Crispy78923 said:

In all seriousness though, I completely agree with your sentiments; 'Second Son' was a big step down from the majesty of what I call 'The Cole Saga. 

Mind you, a lot of PlayStation developers that once made great video games later went on to make questionable products after the hardware jump after the PS2 days. 

 

Oh and, impressive pun title. It sent a real shock pulsating through the network that is my brain. I approve and I wish I had thought of it first.

 

you past a current through it, and the energy will release into the nearest conduit

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12 minutes ago, Crispy78923 said:

Mind you, a lot of PlayStation developers that once made great video games later went on to make questionable products after the hardware jump after the PS2 days. 

 

I'm SO happy to see that I'm not the only one feeling this way. I've been thinking this a lot lately. From time to time I turn on my ps2 playing the great titles it has to offer, and being a Crash Bandicoot speedrunner for the original PS1 trilogy, I seemingly can't get tired of it, or CTR for that matter. I even played Spyro 3 recently and it felt like a whole lot of fresh air after playing shallow PS4 titles like, well, Second Son itself. It's good, but it's not AS good as those PS1 and PS2 titles in my opinion. And don't worry if you don't see said titles in my trophies list, I kinda wanna keep my completion rate high here, I play most of the stuff on a separate account (named CR8Online if you wanna check it out because yeah, my creativity is THAT advanced haha)

 

Btw, I'm gonna go as far as calling it the "graphics frenzy", since starting from the PS3 everyone was basically trying to impress the consumers with graphics and graphics only, never showing how the gameplay was while it was the other way around with PS1 and PS2 titles. Now all games feel not only shallow as I said, but also...not colorful as the PS1 and 2 era. All of the colors are just not there, it's just a part of them and when there's colors there, they're not "strong" as they used to be. Even with the PS4 Crash collection, in which they also botched hitboxes and physics but that's something where I need to get a bit too much into detail, and I'll probably go out of topic.

 

I'll follow OP's advice btw and try to get my hands on Infamous 1 and 2. But for those who are wondering what Sucker Punch did before Infamous, go check the Sly games. The entire trilogy is incredibly fun to play.

Edited by crashratchet
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On 3/14/2018 at 7:19 PM, crashratchet said:

I'm SO happy to see that I'm not the only one feeling this way. I've been thinking this a lot lately. From time to time I turn on my ps2 playing the great titles it has to offer, and being a Crash Bandicoot speedrunner for the original PS1 trilogy, I seemingly can't get tired of it, or CTR for that matter. I even played Spyro 3 recently and it felt like a whole lot of fresh air after playing shallow PS4 titles like, well, Second Son itself. It's good, but it's not AS good as those PS1 and PS2 titles in my opinion. And don't worry if you don't see said titles in my trophies list, I kinda wanna keep my completion rate high here, I play most of the stuff on a separate account (named CR8Online if you wanna check it out because yeah, my creativity is THAT advanced haha)

 

Btw, I'm gonna go as far as calling it the "graphics frenzy", since starting from the PS3 everyone was basically trying to impress the consumers with graphics and graphics only, never showing how the gameplay was while it was the other way around with PS1 and PS2 titles. Now all games feel not only shallow as I said, but also...not colorful as the PS1 and 2 era. All of the colors are just not there, it's just a part of them and when there's colors there, they're not "strong" as they used to be. Even with the PS4 Crash collection, in which they also botched hitboxes and physics but that's something where I need to get a bit too much into detail, and I'll probably go out of topic.

 

I'll follow OP's advice btw and try to get my hands on Infamous 1 and 2. But for those who are wondering what Sucker Punch did before Infamous, go check the Sly games. The entire trilogy is incredibly fun to play.

I could not agree more. I had a fellow PSNprofiles member calling me dumb because I said graphics are less important than other aspects that make up a game (I think his post may have been removed for being overly aggressive). My enthusiasm for gaming has slowing lessened over the years, as once great developers, including Naughty Dog and other PS2 era developers. I've felt lonely being the only one I knew of that had these views, glad to meet someone who shares them. 

While I personally don't own a lot of the referenced PS2 classics I love, I have had many opportunities to play them under various conditions over the years (Hence why if you check my Backloggery.com page, you won't actually see many of them listed since I haven't had personal playthroughs from start to finish) so I've still played enough to adore them.

Edited by Beyondthegrave07
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On 15/03/2018 at 1:19 PM, crashratchet said:

I'm SO happy to see that I'm not the only one feeling this way. I've been thinking this a lot lately. From time to time I turn on my ps2 playing the great titles it has to offer, and being a Crash Bandicoot speedrunner for the original PS1 trilogy, I seemingly can't get tired of it, or CTR for that matter. I even played Spyro 3 recently and it felt like a whole lot of fresh air after playing shallow PS4 titles like, well, Second Son itself. It's good, but it's not AS good as those PS1 and PS2 titles in my opinion. And don't worry if you don't see said titles in my trophies list, I kinda wanna keep my completion rate high here, I play most of the stuff on a separate account (named CR8Online if you wanna check it out because yeah, my creativity is THAT advanced haha)

 

Btw, I'm gonna go as far as calling it the "graphics frenzy", since starting from the PS3 everyone was basically trying to impress the consumers with graphics and graphics only, never showing how the gameplay was while it was the other way around with PS1 and PS2 titles. Now all games feel not only shallow as I said, but also...not colorful as the PS1 and 2 era. All of the colors are just not there, it's just a part of them and when there's colors there, they're not "strong" as they used to be. Even with the PS4 Crash collection, in which they also botched hitboxes and physics but that's something where I need to get a bit too much into detail, and I'll probably go out of topic.

 

I'll follow OP's advice btw and try to get my hands on Infamous 1 and 2. But for those who are wondering what Sucker Punch did before Infamous, go check the Sly games. The entire trilogy is incredibly fun to play.

YES.

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  • 2 years later...
  • 4 months later...

Late to the hate train as I have only decided to play this now, for whatever reason, while waiting for the PS5.

 

I guess I decided to play it because I'd heard just how "amazing" the game is from work colleagues, friends, and the internet. Googling the title alone yields a 96% positive rating... gotta be good right? I also find it incredibly bland in many ways. I'm currently headed to the last mission on my first playthrough and I'm not really looking forward to platting this one.

 

Delsin is very generic. Seattle, I enjoyed it at first. It's fall right now, and it's fall in the game. I enjoyed the quaint coffee hipster aesthetic at first, but more and more it seems that's all I see. Lantern District is the only one that really stands out amongst the rest... Fetch and Eugenie, it seems you meet them once and never again. The game itself feels very shallow and rushed, like they wanted to seal a 'big and known' title for PS4 launch. Even trying to keep a retrospective in mind that this was PS4 launch title, and I'm playing it at the end of the current generation, it's hard to say that it is particularly impressive.

 

This is also coming from someone who didn't get very far in inFamous 1 and didn't play 2 or FoB.

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A friend lent me this game a few years back. I platinumed it and... honestly, I barely remember a thing about it. I remember enjoying it at the time - at least as much as the PS3 games - but in retrospect, I have to assume that it was utterly unremarkable. The same goes for First Light, actually - got the plat, but barely remember anything about it. 

 

In fairness, I was never in love with the series in general. Infamous 1 and 2 made bold narrative choices that I totally respect, but I felt the overall tone was far darker than the rest of the game actually warranted. But those games had real vision - they tried to do something. Second Son and First Light are very by-the-numbers in comparison. It's no wonder the series has been on hiatus ever since.

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  • 1 year later...

Playing through it now, and I genuinly don't get how this game is considered good. The chracters are terrible, the story is mediocre at best, the boss fights are tedious, enemies are bullet sponges, the city looks way too dark and gloomy, the side quests are repetitive and unoriginal. I regret ever starting this game, because I don't look forward playing through it again on Expert.

Edited by TheNarrator-23
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I don't remember this game being THAT bad, I actually remember having a LOT of fun. I agree that in terms of storytelling it doesn't do it justice, but by then I was probably pretty entertained by the superpowers and particle effects that at the time should have been the pinnacle of the industry.

That said, I miss inFamous 1 a lot, I'd really like to replay it remastered

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On 12/22/2021 at 11:34 AM, TheNarrator-23 said:

Playing through it now, and I genuinly don't get how this game is considered good. The chracters are terrible, the story is mediocre at best, the boss fights are tedious, enemies are bullet sponges, the city looks way too dark and gloomy, the side quests are repetitive and unoriginal. I regret ever starting this game, because I don't look forward playing through it again on Expert.

 

Same.  And IDK if it's just me, but whenever I get hit with that move that traps your feet in rocks, the framerate drops so bad that I think the game will crash.  The controls are a bit goofy and unresponsive at times as well.  The damn speaker in the controller is loud enough to wake my neighbors lol  Had to use system settings to turn it off since the game doesn't give you that option.  I checked out of the story early on, but unskippable cutscenes....hate when games do this.  Got the game without needing to pay extra through the PS+ PS5 thing, but I'm with you in wishing I ignored it also.

 

Not the worst game I've played, but not good either.  Just a whole lot of meh.

 

 

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  • 3 weeks later...
On 15.03.2018 at 2:57 AM, TheEyeOfSa said:

1. Characters - Delsin is a boring, uncompelling, stereotypical edgy asshole.

I had a break from Second Son after playing a few main quests, new games came up, didn't have time for it. It was promising at start. WAS.

Few days ago I decided to platinum it. City "liberation" is by comparison the best thing in the game. Story is short, but unskippable cutscens are making it unnecessary long.

The character feels to be the most annoying a-hole ever. I'd rather play as police-brother, though he has quite flat character.

I'm still gonna platinum it, but playing again on expert will be annoying af

Anyone else feels the same?

Feel free to comment.

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  • 1 month later...

Yes, some of the main reasons I'll never do another playthrough or care about getting the Platinum, it doesn't deserve it. Huge stepdown in all departments (except graphical fidelity obviously) including story, narrative and structural flow and execution. 

Edited by SliK6SiK
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  • 4 months later...

Idk why people hate on the story so much. is it a masterpiece? certainly not but I've seen worse for sure.
 

The characters weren't that bad either, Augustine was interesting but a bit too evil imo, felt unrealistic. The other two Conduits could have definitely gotten more missions so we get to know them more. The dynamic between the brothers was the best part imo.

Unlikable main characters is nothing new either, at least Delsin actually felt like a character to me, compared to Main Characters like in Far Cry or the new Resident Evils who are just blank slates with no reactions to anything. Delsin felt like an undercooked rebel version of Spider-Man

 

I'm gonna start with the evil Expert playthrough now, so far my biggest gripe with the game is unskipable cut scenes and decisions not really mattering

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  • 4 weeks later...

The worst part about second son was the side activities, reminded me of the bland ones in assassins creed 1. Why can't they come up with fun things to do in these huge maps? At least they sort of improved with ghost of tsushima.

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  • 10 months later...
  • 6 months later...

Hmm I haven't 100% the game yet, I just finished my first playthrough and I plan to start my expert/negative karma run tomorrow, but as I played the first 2 games not too long ago, I feel I can give my two cents.

 

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1. Characters - Delsin is a boring, uncompelling, stereotypical edgy asshole. There was no creativity here, a huge drop in quality from Cole. Only appeals to "complicated outcasts" who roleplay. Fetch is close to being interesting, but comes off as a stupid wench so easily manipulated she may as well be a robot. Eugene is a forgettable weirdo whom Delsin should've just killed he's so bloody dumb.

 

I partially agree: Delsin is quite generic as a protagonist, and him becoming a conduit is not as impactful or interesting as Cole, where he became one as accident, and one "hell" of an accident. He started to become a bit better at the end, but by that time it was too late. Fetch was interesting thanks to her backstory, but she disappears after her quests and that's about it, as well as Eugene, for then returning at the end for the final quest. Honestly, this feels like a rushed job rather than a poor design. But at the same time, I don't dislike them. Could be much better but could've been way worse. Would've liked to know more but it is what it is.

 

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2. Story - Delsin's choices have no real impact on how you play the game, you never feel as though you are actually forging your own path. Nothing about the story stands out apart from Delsin bombing everyone he knows, which is so retarded i don't even think i have to explain how stupid it is.

 

I might be able to fully comment on this once I finish my negative karma run. Still, even going for the positive karma, I do have to agree on this: your choice don't seem to really matter, and those few times a choice could've matter it really didn't (why couldn't we choose to go with Reggie instead of Hank for instance?)

But to be fair, Infamous 1 also suffered a similar issue, while Infamous 2 was a little better on this regard and some choices did change certain outcomes and dialogues (I remember one quest where a girl would thank you if you were nice, or lead you into an ambush if you were bad). 

 

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3. Setting - The most bland, disgustingly boring place in a video game that has ever existed. inFAMOUS 2's New Marais was a perfect size, buildings perfectly placed to resonate with Cole's powers, while Seattle is so generic that i can't remember any locations in it except for the Space Needle (because they say Space Needle a million times) and the big tower at the end (which is a rip-off of the junk tower from inFAMOUS).

 

Unfortunately, I have to agree on this one: Empire City and New Marais weren't that great (I really hated the Flood Town in New Marais, especially when a quest required you to carry stuff!), but I still remember WHY I hated them and I remember those places a lot more, giving me a bigger impression. Seattle feels quite the same all over and only a few areas were seemingly unique, forcing me to look at the map often.

No doubt on this one: Seattle is pretty bland, as much as I liked the few references all over the place (me and my sister lolled at the "Panda King Fireworks" store). And the missions are repetitive, yes, but at least they're quick. In the original games, while I appreciated the complexity of some missions, in the end, they were similar too. Just...longer?

 

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4. Gameplay - Controls have been changed, no longer is it the brilliant L1 + (button) control scheme but instead a shitty bootleg version using the PS4's flipped controls. Have fun spending the entire game shooting boring characterless enemies with lackluster dialogue. Smoke was promising, but sucks as the powers are made for the terrible controls. Neon is the best power, but then you can just play First Light (not a good game but certainly better than this crock of shit). Video let's you kind of fly, which is pretty entertaining (especially with such a bloody huge map). Concrete is so irrelevant i'm not even going to mention it.

 

I disagree on this one: I liked the new controls a lot more, being able to throw a grenade without aiming - or a rocket, as well as other things, was honestly a nice welcoming change, plus there is SOME aim assist to help you out this time. I did not like the removal of a "push" ability like Cole did (aka, no sending back rockets) and the melee combat is way worse. Only gripe I had is that I liked Infamous 1-2 using L1+R1 to shoot, since trigger buttons can be tiring. Unfortunately, this is the case here, but at the very least they do this in bursts so it's not so bad. And hey our dodge is finally good so definitely a plus from the awful dodge we had in the previous 2 games!

 

I have to say though, I really like the new "karmic takedowns": the smoke headshots, the neon leg shots, I really like how they make combat faster without making it too trivial: depending on your karma, you should shoot to a specific part of the body, so you gain karma power for your "ultimates". I wasn't a fan of the "random drops" from Infamous 2, but in here, it's a reward for good aiming - and if you do a mistake, you lose all charge: a good punishment considering how powerful they are.

 

But I agree that the smoke powers were potentially interesting but kind of underutilized, while Neon powers are just much better overall (the only downside is the rocket requiring a charge). Video Powers feel very generic, it's a mix of Smoke and Neon, but you can't even do Karmic takedowns with them - except stealth takedowns. And Concrete was a fun idea...but you get it right at the end of the game so you don't even get to experiment with it O.o!!!! Woops!

 

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5. Aesthetic - People's faces look demented, i don't know how you can go from inFAMOUS 2's perfect models to this trainwreck, this is how I picture Skulduggery Pleasant's facade. As i said before, Seattle is bland and the people on the street are forgettable, as is any music.

 

To be honest, Infamous 1 and 2 models weren't that great either, but I can give them some slack for being ps3 games. With that said, while I agree that the models here are prety bland, I don't think it really matters in the long term. Music on the other hand...uhm...did any of them have good music? Because I really have no memories: most of the game is silent already. I'll have to say "no comment" on this.

 

Seriously though, I think the game is fine. It's not better than Infamous 1-2 but not worse either. It's just in the middle. I'd give it a 6.5 or 7. It's good, just not great.

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