# The most pretentious games you've ever played



## UltraHurricane (Feb 27, 2013)

any notable examples? other then maybe a ton of metal gear games


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## Veho (Feb 27, 2013)

Heavy Rain.


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## Engert (Feb 27, 2013)

Pretentious?
Well, this comes to mind: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superbrothers:_Sword_&_Sworcery_EP
I want to punch the developers in the face.


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## Elrinth (Feb 27, 2013)

I haven't tried it myself, but I've got a feeling alien: colonial marines is one of those games 
How about Duke Nukem Forever?
Maybe a few Kickstarter projects. There's alot of hype by the developer for games which usually just appear sorta "Meh" to the common person.


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## Gahars (Feb 27, 2013)

If we can broaden the topic a little bit and include developers, pretty much the cast of Indie Game: The Movie. You can throw in Notch while we're at it.


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## emigre (Feb 27, 2013)

Call of Nietzsche : Modern Ubermensch 2


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## xist (Feb 27, 2013)

UltraHurricane said:


> any notable examples? other then maybe a ton of metal gear games


 
I'd like to call you on that. Other than 4 which i've not played, where is Metal Gear pretentious? Yes the games use over-arching ideas and technical concepts, but i think you're misunderstanding the general definition of pretentiousness. Metal Gear is too well written and researched to fall into that trap.


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## Snailface (Feb 27, 2013)

Angry Birds


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## Psionic Roshambo (Feb 27, 2013)

emigre said:


> Call of Nietzsche : Modern Ubermensch 2


 
I haven't had a chance to play it yet, loved the first one but I am not sure I would like the second one... lol


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## Gahars (Feb 27, 2013)

Psionic Roshambo said:


> I haven't had a chance to play it yet, loved the first one but I am not sure I would like the second one... lol


 
Eh, it all adds up to nothing anyway.


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## TheJeweler (Feb 27, 2013)

Elrinth said:


> I haven't tried it myself, but I've got a feeling alien: colonial marines is one of those games
> How about Duke Nukem Forever?
> Maybe a few Kickstarter projects. There's alot of hype by the developer for games which usually just appear sorta "Meh" to the common person.


I resent that, Its not Dukes fault, once development changed hands it was rushed through. Imagine if duke was as cool as what it was originally meant to be


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## duffmmann (Feb 27, 2013)

I'm gonna say (unfortunately), LA Noire.  This game looked like it would be fantastic, but didn't turn out to be the greatest.  Consequently you were left with a game that asserted itself to be better than it really was.


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## Hadrian (Feb 27, 2013)

Dear Esther and Proteus.

I bought those because I'm a dick but those are titles that make me feel good about myself not being a total indie hipster douchebag.



Engert said:


> Pretentious?
> Well, this comes to mind: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superbrothers:_Sword_&_Sworcery_EP
> I want to punch the developers in the face.


You are now my mortal enemy for you cannot see the beauty of that game.


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## Engert (Feb 27, 2013)

Hadrian said:


> You are now my mortal enemy for you cannot see the beauty of that game.


 
You also sir. En garde.
For you are now nothing but another prey of marketing tactics.
I prefer Death than to be tortured again by the sights and sounds of that snobby game. I have been scared forever since i've played that game. Forever !


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## Jaems (Feb 27, 2013)

LA Noire, the Assassin's Creed series, and Heavy Rain (or any David Cage game for that matter).


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## Depravo (Feb 27, 2013)

Any and all of the Myst series.


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## Rizsparky (Feb 27, 2013)

Call of Duty, it promises so much change but turns out pretty much the same


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## DS1 (Feb 27, 2013)

Pretty much every indie platformer/RPGMaker RPG I've ever played.


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## Guild McCommunist (Feb 27, 2013)

Minecraft.


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## taken (Feb 27, 2013)

CRISIS CORE FINAL FANTASY VII enough said.


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## Guild McCommunist (Feb 27, 2013)

For the record if anyone says Bastion I will punch them in the face so hard they'll get their recommended daily value of calcium from their teeth.


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## rayword45 (Feb 27, 2013)

Minecraft for 5 minutes. That's first to mind. Possibly 999 but the last time I played it I was 13 and always sleepy (still am) so I'm considering giving VLR a shot in the summer.

Also, I consider COD overrated as shit and despise Angry Birds but I would never call them pretentious (although in the latter case, does having developers with enormous fucking egos count?)


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## DinohScene (Feb 27, 2013)

Bastion.

Hi Guild.


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## FAST6191 (Feb 27, 2013)

I am not quite sure what definition of pretentious we are operating under here and the dictionary and the informal definitions do not quite match it seems.

Games I have played that you got the impression that the developers felt they were a work of outstanding quality with such an important message that their merely existing..... none at all actually though I will confess to letting "art games" pass me by.

Games that more or less mock that point of view.... I fear I would be here all week by which point I might just have started on the PS1.

If we are going with games that heavy handedly espouse a message, especially ones where the message is of possibly of dubious merit or in a contentious issue, then I am unsure; it seems symbolism flows right over my head until it reaches "National Treasure" levels and I want to chin something or I treat it as a satire.

If you just want a game that is bound to cause a near existential crisis then pick up "The Void".


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## Deleted_171835 (Feb 27, 2013)

There are so many indie games I can name here. For one, Minecraft.


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## Hadrian (Feb 27, 2013)

Guild McCommunist said:


> Minecraft.


We used to like it and then it sold millions, it became too popular for us douches.


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## UltraHurricane (Feb 27, 2013)

xist said:


> I'd like to call you on that. Other than 4 which i've not played, where is Metal Gear pretentious? Yes the games use over-arching ideas and technical concepts, but i think you're misunderstanding the general definition of pretentiousness. Metal Gear is too well written and researched to fall into that trap.


 
i know that, it would probably be everyone else's default choice though, to be honest the only thing the MGS series is guilty of is being self-indulgent


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## Guild McCommunist (Feb 27, 2013)

Hadrian said:


> We used to like it and then it sold millions, it became too popular for us douches.


 
Well I never really liked it. I bought it at $25 or so a while ago and it was just really bad. Combined with the pretentious aura of Notch, I just really regretted purchasing it. Especially with Terraria at $10 and just being better.


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## tbgtbg (Feb 27, 2013)

Braid is a great game, but all that shit in the books in the game comes off as kinda pretentious.


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## UltraHurricane (Feb 27, 2013)

Elrinth said:


> I haven't tried it myself, but I've got a feeling alien: colonial marines is one of those games
> How about Duke Nukem Forever?
> Maybe a few Kickstarter projects. There's alot of hype by the developer for games which usually just appear sorta "Meh" to the common person.


 
i wouldn't really call Duke Nukem Forever pretentious at all, it's way too crude and silly to be taken seriously by any means, that would be like calling Family Guy pretentious


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## Hadrian (Feb 27, 2013)

Guild McCommunist said:


> Well I never really liked it. I bought it at $25 or so a while ago and it was just really bad. Combined with the pretentious aura of Notch, I just really regretted purchasing it. Especially with Terraria at $10 and just being better.


I could never get into Minecraft either, never bought it thankfully. Terraria all the way.


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## Nah3DS (Feb 27, 2013)

any Final Fantasy game that came after VI


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## Issac (Feb 27, 2013)

I do not see Minecraft as pretentious. I like it myself, but I do see what others mean when they say it's over hyped and what not. But not pretentious.

But pretty much any (indie) game trying to be so fucking deep and dramatic, like some gothy goth kid... Unless they do live up (down?) to the deepness ofc. Like Sword & Sworcery, that game's ace! So is Bastion. and Terraria.


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## Elrinth (Feb 27, 2013)

Yeah sorry I kinda mixed up overhyped with pretentious regarding Duke.


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## ComeTurismO (Feb 28, 2013)

Scaler.


taken said:


> CRISIS CORE FINAL FANTASY VII enough said.


Black-Ice, where are you!


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## MelodieOctavia (Feb 28, 2013)

Every MOBA game ever made.


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## triassic911 (Feb 28, 2013)

Guild McCommunist said:


> Minecraft.


Seriously? I thought everyone loved Minecraft. It's a game that can suck you in for hours.


Anyway, I would have to say Final Fantasy. All of them.


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## geoflcl (Feb 28, 2013)

UltraHurricane said:


> i wouldn't really call Duke Nukem Forever pretentious at all, it's way too crude and silly to be taken seriously by any means, that would be like calling Family Guy pretentious


 
I dunno, Family Guy is pretty heavy on the "I'm so totally popular and great, look how awesome I am" side. And let's not even _start_ on how douchey Seth MacFarlane is! 

Of course I'm digressing a bit by talking about a show. But leading up to its release, Duke Nukem Frever was certainly giving off all sorts of pretentious vibes that were comparable to Family Guy. Of course, that's just my opinion! And when all's said and done, one would do well not to take either too seriously.


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## Depravo (Feb 28, 2013)

Hadrian said:


> I could never get into Minecraft either, never bought it thankfully. Terraria all the way.


Funny that. I bought Terraria in a Steam sale but so far have been unable to play it for more than five minutes without being overwhelmed by apathy. I found Minecraft infinitely more engaging. The only thing pretentious about it is it's creator whose sense of self-importance is bigger than a Minecraft game map.


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## Veho (Feb 28, 2013)

Depravo said:


> Any and all of the Myst series.


The original Myst was just a pretty adventure, nothing pretentious, it was only after its huge success and so many fans lauding it as "zomg deepest gaem evar" that it got to the devs' heads and the sequel was kind of full of itself. And the latter games weren't even made by the original team.


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## Hadrian (Feb 28, 2013)

Depravo said:


> Funny that. I bought Terraria in a Steam sale but so far have been unable to play it for more than five minutes without being overwhelmed by apathy.


Then you haven't gave it a decent shot at all, I didn't enjoy it for 20 minutes until it clicked with me and I got into the exploration and discovery.

A mistake a lot of people make when approaching that game is that they treat it like Minecraft.


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## raulpica (Feb 28, 2013)

Minecraft. Oh gawd, some of the most hyper-hyped crap ever. A game which is an empty shell. You mine, build a house, get diamond then what? Yes, you might spend ages building stupid crap with redstone and such, but I want a GAME to play, not Legos (otherwise I'd be playing IRL with Lego Technic. That shit was ace).

Worst thing of all? There's NO push whatsoever from the game to go "forward". ...If you can call going "forward" building a stupid portal to the Nether which is a mostly unplayable randomly generated inferno in which you have to dig randomly around hoping to meet the Enderdragon. Awesome (not).



Hadrian said:


> Then you haven't gave it a decent shot at all, I didn't enjoy it for 20 minutes until it clicked with me and I got into the exploration and discovery.
> 
> A mistake a lot of people make when approaching that game is that they treat it like Minecraft.


This x1000. Terraria is an infinitely more various and engaging game. You might spend 90+ hours on it and still not have the last equipment in the game.



Engert said:


> Pretentious?
> Well, this comes to mind: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superbrothers:_Sword_&_Sworcery_EP
> I want to punch the developers in the face.


You must lack taste for beautiful things. There can't be any other explaination.


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## Depravo (Feb 28, 2013)

Hadrian said:


> Then you haven't gave it a decent shot at all, I didn't enjoy it for 20 minutes until it clicked with me and I got into the exploration and discovery.
> 
> A mistake a lot of people make when approaching that game is that they treat it like Minecraft.


That's probably where I went wrong then. I will keep trying though because, dammit, that was £2.03 I'll never see again.



raulpica said:


> You might spend 90+ hours on it and still not have the last equipment in the game.


That's nothing new to me. I've played MMORPGs.


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## Taleweaver (Feb 28, 2013)

I don't really know what to answer, as I don't know how to define "pretentious" in a game.

Personally, I'd go with any game that sacrifices gameplay for story*. Especially if that story is just stretching out for epicness or reaching for plot**. And I think that if I were to look that up in a dictionary, I'd see a picture of later final fantasy games.




*keep note: a game like 999 is meant as a sort of interactive novel. As such, there's not as much gameplay in there to begin with, so it's not exactly sacrificing it.

**just imagine your protagonist going to the baker on a normal day. If you picture him/her doing so with overly dangerous music, striking thunder when (s)he's handing out for cash and/or speaking a whole morning worth of monologue with the baker ... then the game is stretching out for epicness or reaching for plot.


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## wrettcaughn (Feb 28, 2013)

El Shaddai


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## Jayro (Feb 28, 2013)

StarCraft Ghost.

Or how about Resident Evil for Gameboy Color? It was 90% complete in development before the plug was pulled... I was PISSED. Until they did a remake for the DS, which was nice. :3


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## Smuff (Feb 28, 2013)

Guild McCommunist said:


> Minecraft.


Absofuckinglutely. A huge steaming pile of pretentious poo indeed.


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## Foxi4 (Feb 28, 2013)

You don't know what the word _"pretentious"_ means until you play _"Flower, Sun and Rain" _by SUDA51.

..._seriously, what the fu*k is going on in this game?_


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## omgpwn666 (Feb 28, 2013)

Guild McCommunist said:


> Well I never really liked it. I bought it at $25 or so a while ago and it was just really bad. Combined with the pretentious aura of Notch, I just really regretted purchasing it. Especially with Terraria at $10 and just being better.


 
I like Minecraft, and really dislike Terraria.  Your comment is a total swing in the opposite direction of my opinion. lol


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## BORTZ (Feb 28, 2013)

Any spinoff into the FF7 universe.


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## Engert (Mar 1, 2013)

raulpica said:


> You must lack taste for beautiful things. There can't be any other explaination.


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## Veho (Mar 1, 2013)

Daikatana.


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## Veho (Mar 31, 2013)

I don't know if this qualifies since I never actually played it, but this game.


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## Taleweaver (Mar 31, 2013)

Ouch...yeah...If someone revives this thread in 2'000 years, I bet they'll say something like that.

Man...sometimes, publicity really goes to people's heads. If I say I'm writing a story nobody will ever read for 2'000 years (including myself because I'm typing it blindfolded), I'll be laughed at by anyone with half a brain.

If a gaming programmer says it, they'll give him a stage.


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## DiabloStorm (Mar 31, 2013)

Diablo 3
Also: Inb4 "Look at your name durr hurr hurr" Diablo 1-2 were epic, that's where that's derived from


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## Forstride (Mar 31, 2013)

I don't think you guys understand what pretentious means.  An example of a pretentious game would be like Dear Esther, or The Graveyard.  Shit that tries to be all edgy and artsy, when it's really just garbage.


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## DiabloStorm (Mar 31, 2013)

Forstride said:


> I don't think you guys understand what pretentious means. An example of a pretentious game would be like Dear Esther, or The Graveyard. Shit that tries to be all edgy and artsy, when it's really just garbage.


Hmm...nope. Can't get much more pretentious than Blizzard these days. Really, they have their own conventions... I don't see any THQcon or Valvecon...who do they think they are?


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## J-Machine (Mar 31, 2013)

Foxi4 said:


> You don't know what the word _"pretentious"_ means until you play _"Flower, Sun and Rain" _by SUDA51.
> 
> ..._seriously, what the fu*k is going on in this game?_


No wonder I couldn't progress in that game...

my choice however goes to the sonic franchise as a whole. Sega, back when he was introduced, was trying to "bad ass" it's way into our hearts with a marketing campaign that tried to convey a "anything but us is made for losers" mentality. the whole "blast processing" and "sega does what nintendon't" campaigns ring true to this. Not to mention every time Mario did something, Sonic had to give it a try and even tried to force its way into new genres before hand (sonic 3d blast and sonic the fighters, comes to mind) Even now Sonic is forcing himself in the spotlight with cartoons and games more often than the plumber ever had despite loosing both his home and potential relevance.

That being said I still enjoy sonic games but it still feels like he is trying to one up nintendo even from within its ranks instead of trying to simply be unique.


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## Kwartel (Mar 31, 2013)

I will get plenty of hate for this, but: Mass Effect 3. I couldn't even get trough it.. ME1 and 2 were awesome, but ME3 is so slow and boring..


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## DiabloStorm (Mar 31, 2013)

Kwartel said:


> I will get plenty of hate for this, but: Mass Effect 3. I couldn't even get trough it.. ME1 and 2 were awesome, but ME3 is so slow and boring..


I liked ME3, but everything after that little elevator at the end is the line in the sand that separated the game from itself and total horse shit.
Also, not really sure it fits the definition of pretentious though.


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## Kwartel (Mar 31, 2013)

DiabloStorm said:


> I liked ME3, but everything after that little elevator at the end is the line in the sand that separated the game from itself and total horse shit.
> Also, not really sure it fits the definition of pretentious though.


I found it pretentious in the way they were all: "Choices are important for the game." And were all cocky about it and than in ME3,  it didn't matter what choices you made throughout the trilogy.


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## eosia (Mar 31, 2013)

FF: echoes of time, i'd like a remake with the same playing system but changing the story  .


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## XDel (Mar 31, 2013)

Pretentious? Just about every modern offering, not all, but most.


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## Veho (Mar 31, 2013)

DiabloStorm said:


> Hmm...nope. Can't get much more pretentious than Blizzard these days. Really, they have their own conventions... I don't see any THQcon or Valvecon...who do they think they are?


They think they are a company whose games (and accompanying content) are strong and popular enough -or simply have a devoted enough audience - to carry an entire convention, with excellent attendance, something a lot of intellectual properties couldn't on their own. And why _don't_ we see a Valvecon? It could be fun.


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## mightymuffy (Mar 31, 2013)

My definition of 'pretentious' is seeing a stunning looking lass on a night out gliding across the dancefloor knowing full well how gorgeous she is... As a result there's one game that nails this definition for me:  Journey!
Beautiful, gorgeous, perfectly sized game, but boy does it fukkin know it is......


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## Rydian (Mar 31, 2013)

*ITT:* People who confuse "pretentious" with "stuff I'm sick of hearing about".

The.  Entire.  Thread.


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## Veho (Mar 31, 2013)

Rydian said:


> *ITT:* People who confuse "pretentious" with "stuff I'm sick of hearing about".


Maybe I'm sick of hearing about it because it's so damn pretentious


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## TemplarGR (Mar 31, 2013)

One of the most pretentious games i ever played is The Witcher 2 (and in a somewhat lesser way the original too)... 

It tries so hard to be an "adult" game, with lots of sex, nudity, violence and a macho protagonist, but it truly is targeted to teens at best... It is totally unrealistic for true adults, and i don't mean the fantasy setting...

And it is not only the fake matureness of the game, it also tries to present a false picture of gameplay depth, but it is a truly shallow game. Quite boring battles, NPCs that don't really matter, lore that doesn't really matter, nothing to do except going forward the plot...

And don't let me start on its laughable plot...


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## Wizerzak (Mar 31, 2013)

Rydian said:


> *ITT:* People who confuse "pretentious" with "stuff I'm sick of hearing about".
> 
> The. Entire. Thread.


Roflol. I was actually about to post exactly the same thing. And I mean nearly word for word. 

People here have a funny definition of pretentious. Most of games that are being noted here are brilliant games, it's just you guys for some reason are sub-concious hipsters and don't llike the game simply because it's become too popular (often due to being something different). 

It's a bit like watching a brilliant actor then saying "oh I can tell he's just acting" there's nothing THAT good about it.
As someone said earlier in the thread, Minecraft was liked by everyone who played it in early alpha. Now I'm sure half those people don't like it just because it has so many kids playing and posting shit on YouTube. Like a game for what it is, not who plays it or what a douche bag the dev is (I'm looking at you Team Meat).


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## DiabloStorm (Mar 31, 2013)

Nah, as far as my example goes, Diablo 3 was a puffed up, overhyped scam that sold itself on it's namesake. When old school diablo vets played through the game they realized it was horse shit. It fits the definition.

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pretentious

As an example, the game bragged about being difficult, and then they nerfed it to casual the first month. I made an entire thread noting how pretentious the game was on blizz's forums but I'm not gonna retype all that lol


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## p1ngpong (Mar 31, 2013)

How can a thread about pretentious games go to four pages without any Peter Molyneux projects being mentioned?

_This game will change the way you play games forever.

This game will change the way you interact with characters forever.

This game will change the way narrative in games develops forever._

*Insert twenty more statements about how his next project will change things forever*

*Give game 7/10 upon release*

Oh my poor temp, learn to look at a dictionary once in a while.


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## TemplarGR (Mar 31, 2013)

I think the point is to mention pretentious games, not overhyped ones... 

Molyneux's games themselves don't pretent to be something more than they are: Light hearted "God Emulators" or RPGS... The problem with those games is that more is promised before release than is delivered...

Let me agree with others and add Mass effect 3 to the list. It is an example of a pretentious game.

Why?

Because from the start it tries hard to involve the player in a "Save the Galaxy" fight. It tries to be sad, urgent, melodramatic, larger than life... Remember its begining with tha piano music as the Normady escapes...

And then it fails to be all those things. Never again you feel the threat. You don't fear the Reapers ( pun not intended) at all. You don't feel what is at stake. Citadel is business as usual. NPS'c are truly unaffected by the Armaggedon... It becomes yet another by the numbers RPG in typical Bioware fashion, but without a soul. Character relations are forced, quests are unimportant and lame, and you never really understand your enemy or how you can defeat them. Therefore you remain unattached to the situation as a player.


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## ShadowSoldier (Mar 31, 2013)

Gahars said:


> If we can broaden the topic a little bit and include developers, pretty much the cast of Indie Game: The Movie. You can throw in Notch while we're at it.


 
Motherfucking this!

Seriously, that notch guy has to be taken down a peg (yeah I know, could have used his name too). Seriously, that guy is the most arrogant dickhole I've ever seen in the game industry. They made one game (Minecraft) and he comes off as he's the god of Indie Gaming or something like that. He spouts bullshit opinions and just comes off as a guy who I'd want to punch in the face if given the chance.


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## Rydian (Mar 31, 2013)

ShadowSoldier said:


> Motherfucking this!
> 
> Seriously, that notch guy has to be taken down a peg (yeah I know, could have used his name too). Seriously, that guy is the most arrogant dickhole I've ever seen in the game industry. They made one game (Minecraft) and he comes off as he's the god of Indie Gaming or something like that. He spouts bullshit opinions and just comes off as a guy who I'd want to punch in the face if given the chance.


Woah, really?

Wasn't aware that Notch was released already.  Did they really bring Notch to the PS3 this time?


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## ShadowSoldier (Mar 31, 2013)

Rydian said:


> Woah, really?
> 
> Wasn't aware that Notch was released already. Did they really bring Notch to the PS3 this time?


 
Uh... sure?


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## Chary (Mar 31, 2013)

Bleh. Some of those Indie game developers are pretty darn pretentious. They make one mediocre game, and then act as if they're Miyamoto.


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## Seraph (Mar 31, 2013)

Rydian said:


> Woah, really?
> 
> Wasn't aware that Notch was released already. Did they really bring Notch to the PS3 this time?


Not sure if serious...although I don't really agree with ShadowSoldier.  Or most of the people in the thread...I mean why buy something like Minecraft when with so much press, you should know what you are getting into?  I'd say you can call the developers pretentious, but not the games as most that get any press are decent.


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## Arras (Mar 31, 2013)

ShadowSoldier said:


> Uh... sure?


"This topic is about pretentious games, not developers" is what I think he means.


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## Rydian (Mar 31, 2013)

Also people hyping games, but Wiz posted about that already.


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## Seraph (Mar 31, 2013)

It seems you didn't read the quote?


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## Wizerzak (Mar 31, 2013)

ShadowSoldier said:


> Motherfucking this!
> 
> Seriously, that notch guy has to be taken down a peg (yeah I know, could have used his name too). Seriously, that guy is the most arrogant dickhole I've ever seen in the game industry. They made one game (Minecraft) and he comes off as he's the god of Indie Gaming or something like that. He spouts bullshit opinions and just comes off as a guy who I'd want to punch in the face if given the chance.


To be fair he pretty much is the "god of Indie gaming". He certainly has the most successful indie game out there and I'd say that Minecraft had a lot to do with the rise on indie gaming. As Minecraft grew more popular and people became aware it was made by one man (to begin with) this undeniably helped the indie community massively. (I'd say HIB also played a big role, also came after Minecraft though).

Also, his game is waaay more successful than most big AAA releases and has made many millions of $ doing so. All from a game starting from just one man. If that isn't reason to brag a bit I don't see what is. (Yes OK maybe he could take it down a bit but tbh I'm sure anyone would be the same in his situation. You're being given the attention, why not take it?).


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## ShadowSoldier (Mar 31, 2013)

Wizerzak said:


> To be fair he pretty much is the "god of Indie gaming". He certainly has the most successful indie game out there and I'd say that Minecraft had a lot to do with the rise on indie gaming. As Minecraft grew more popular and people became aware it was made by one man (to begin with) this undeniably helped the indie community massively. (I'd say HIB also played a big role, also came after Minecraft though).
> 
> Also, his game is waaay more successful than most big AAA releases and has made many millions of $ doing so. All from a game starting from just one man. If that isn't reason to brag a bit I don't see what is. (Yes OK maybe he could take it down a bit but tbh I'm sure anyone would be the same in his situation. You're being given the attention, why not take it?).


The guy who made Cave Story did it on his own, and it's a far better game.


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## Wizerzak (Mar 31, 2013)

ShadowSoldier said:


> The guy who made Cave Story did it on his own, and it's a far better game *in my opinion.*


...and?


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## Gahars (Mar 31, 2013)

Wizerzak said:


> If that isn't reason to brag a bit I don't see what is.


 
Because bragging makes you come across as an arrogant, obnoxious douche?


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## Wizerzak (Mar 31, 2013)

Gahars said:


> Because bragging makes you come across as an arrogant, obnoxious douche?


You appear to have quoted the section of my post that answered your question. 
Yes he may have gone a little over the top but he should be allowed to after having a success like that. How is it affecting anyone else?


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## Rydian (Mar 31, 2013)

Quick question.

Is anybody here actually talking about Notch bragging (as in, articles written by him, words written by him, etc.), or are they still confusing "stuff I'm tired of seeing people talk about" with... Idunno', 50 other subjects?  Like all the articles and shit other people are writing.


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## Seraph (Mar 31, 2013)

This thread is no longer about pretentious games as is the fate of every thread ever to become off topic.


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## mightymuffy (Mar 31, 2013)

Seraph said:


> This thread is no longer about pretentious games as is the fate of every thread ever to become off topic.


Can see your argument, but such is the case with messageboards since 1990-plonk - I'm assuming you've made your contribution to the original topic so why not sit back, chill out and go with the flow??

My 2 cents on the skewed topic: which eejit tried to compare Cave story with Minecraft on a popularity basis? Gawd haha... Notch does come off as a bit of an arrogant prick from what I've read, but he's got nothing on Molyneux, and his game's probably out-sold all of that bald yeded owd tosser's games combined - he deserves to bark off a bit if you ask me!


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## ShadowSoldier (Mar 31, 2013)

What the hell even is a pretentious game anyways? One thats good?


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## Gahars (Mar 31, 2013)

Wizerzak said:


> You appear to have quoted the section of my post that answered your question.


 
No?

You were saying that he's earned the right to brag and I was just being pedantic.

Or did I misread your quote?


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## hhs (Mar 31, 2013)

The World Ends With You.
I know it's popular on forums like this but it's so ham handedly desperate to sound smart. Every convo with that older guy is such forced "that's deep man."


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## Issac (Apr 1, 2013)

ShadowSoldier said:


> What the hell even is a pretentious game anyways? One thats good?


Pretentious [prɪˈtɛnʃəs] adj. Making claim to distinction or importance, esp undeservedly.

Like Molyneux always claim that his games will change how people play, interact for ever. Or how stories are presented forever. He himself claims that his games are god's gift to mankind. That's pretentious. Especially since it's undeservedly claimed.
Compare this to minecraft which wasn't claimed to be anything other than a fun little blocky sandbox. Alpha released as well, where users could follow the development and even comment on the developers experimentations. Sure Notch may be an obnoxious dude due to the success of minecraft, and he himself might be considered a pretentious person. However, minecraft isn't.


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## ShadowSoldier (Apr 1, 2013)

Issac said:


> Pretentious [prɪˈtɛnʃəs] adj. Making claim to distinction or importance, esp undeservedly.
> 
> Like Molyneux always claim that his games will change how people play, interact for ever. Or how stories are presented forever. He himself claims that his games are god's gift to mankind. That's pretentious. Especially since it's undeservedly claimed.
> Compare this to minecraft which wasn't claimed to be anything other than a fun little blocky sandbox. Alpha released as well, where users could follow the development and even comment on the developers experimentations. Sure Notch may be an obnoxious dude due to the success of minecraft, and he himself might be considered a pretentious person. However, minecraft isn't.


 
So Molyneux is pretentious, not the games.


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## Issac (Apr 1, 2013)

ShadowSoldier said:


> So Molyneux is pretentious, not the games.





Issac said:


> Pretentious [prɪˈtɛnʃəs] adj. Making claim to distinction or importance, esp undeservedly.
> 
> Like *Molyneux always claim that his games will change how people play*, interact for ever. Or how stories are presented forever. He himself claims that his games are god's gift to mankind. That's pretentious. Especially since it's undeservedly claimed.
> Compare this to *minecraft which wasn't claimed to be anything* other than a fun little blocky sandbox. Alpha released as well, where users could follow the development and even comment on the developers experimentations. Sure Notch may be an obnoxious dude due to the success of minecraft, and he himself might be considered a pretentious person. However, minecraft isn't.


 
Molyneux claims that his GAMES are groundbreaking, will change the world forever etc. while they're not.
Notch did not claim that his game is something like that. 

Notch acts like he himself is important. He's not. He's pretentious.
Molyneux, I don't know? He claim his games are. they're pretentious.


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## Wizerzak (Apr 1, 2013)

Issac said:


> Molyneux claims that his GAMES are groundbreaking, will change the world forever etc. while they're not.
> Notch did not claim that his game is something like that.
> 
> Notch acts like he himself is important. He's not. He's pretentious.
> Molyneux, I don't know? He claim his games are. they're pretentious.


Yes this. And I think Molyneux is as good of an example as you're going to get. You can't really get a pretentious game as such. More about the way it's publicised and what it has been pumped up to be.


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## mechadylan (Apr 1, 2013)

Blazing Dragons.  The cartoon series that it was based on was apparently too raunchy for American television at the time and chock full o' British humour.  Terry Jones provided voices and ideas for the game so it was inevitable that you couldn't find a review of the game that didn't mention Monty Python and all things related.  There was so much "campy" hype for this game that I think I convinced myself that it was funny because it was so un-funny.  In the end, you had an overly-simplistic "point-and-clicker" riddled with horrible one-liners being spat out by pompous comedians trying to cash in "one last time."  Years later in an interview, Harry Shearer even said that the game wasn't very good at all, but explained that they never really took the project very serious.


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## machomuu (Apr 1, 2013)

Braid, most definitely.


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## The Milkman (Apr 1, 2013)

Why do people hate on Notch so much? He developed one half-finished game and made fucking millions off of it in less then 7 years.

Shit, he deserves to be pretentious.



hhs said:


> The World Ends With You.
> I know it's popular on forums like this but it's so ham handedly desperate to sound smart. Every convo with that older guy is such forced "that's deep man."


 
Who the fuck says TWEWY is deep? Its called fucking mood and theme. Hell if you ask me the story was alright, but what did it for me was the way it was told, not to mention the game had legitimately fun gameplay.


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## Tigran (Apr 1, 2013)

FF7


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## lakota64 (Apr 1, 2013)

The problem with forum threads like these is people seem to take other people's opinions that are the opposite of their own like an insult to themselves.
Everyone has an opinion, Not everybody will agree with it.
For instance: I strongly disagree with a lot of people who think the indie game the movie guys are pretentious. What people see is only what is on the movie, and what is on the internet.
You can't truly call someone pretentious if you don't know them in person.
My personal experiences with The guys from indie game the movie have been great, and they definitely do not seem pretentious about what they make.
But then again, that's my personal experience and opinion so it does not even matter since this is the internet.

I think everyone (Including me) needs to stop taking everything personal and remember that this is the internet, and there is nothing wrong with a good argument.

Anyway, back to the topic.

I would have to say Mass Effect 2 even though i had a great time playing it.


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## Rydian (Apr 1, 2013)

ShadowSoldier said:


> What the hell even is a pretentious game anyways? One thats good?


It's when the game itself pretends it's better than others.  Examples...

Direct references to mechanics of other games and mentioning that this game is better.
"Press X to continue.  Now we'll learn about leveling up.  Some other games think you're stupid and give you points automatically, but in the world of (X) you can distribute them yourselves to suit your own tastes."


Telling you that you need to play it a certain way to "appreciate it".
"Confirm name?  Before the game begins, be sure to play in a dark room with headphones, or you might not get the mind-blowing experience."


Assuming that something blows your mind.
This is often done not in direct words (HAY PLAYER DID WE BLOW YOUR MIND?), but in focusing on certain events, such as making one character's speech really slow or linger on-screen for an unreasonable amount of time, sort of like how when an important character dies in a movie things tend to get all slow-mo.  Sometimes an effect like this is required to make the player pay attention to a seemingly-unimportant detail (that the characters are unaware of at the time), but if a game does it over and over to specifically highlight "deep" moments, it falls into this.


Treating you like you don't understand the concepts it's handing out.
"Well (YOURNAME), I know I just said a lot of confusing stuff, would you like another NPC to hop in and explain in more detail to make sure you get it?"


"This next conversation is going to be deep and probably boring to the uneducated.  Press X to skip it and then we'll just highlight which character you need to kill to continue."


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## UltraHurricane (Apr 1, 2013)

Rydian said:


> It's when the game itself pretends it's better than others. Examples...
> 
> Direct references to mechanics of other games and mentioning that this game is better.
> "Press X to continue. Now we'll learn about leveling up. Some other games think you're stupid and give you points automatically, but in the world of (X) you can distribute them yourselves to suit your own tastes."
> ...


 
THANK YOU rydian for exampling this, i was beginning to wonder how long this thread was gonna go on with people listing games they hate just cause there popular since they had no idea what pretentious really means


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## wrettcaughn (Apr 1, 2013)

Any Final Fantasy game after IX, when Square realized that the title "Final Fantasy" was enough to sell a game in regions other than Japan and gave up on story and complex characters to focus on the newest/hippest battle syztems and graphix.

Pokemon. Because how pretentious is a game that releases multiple iterations of the same damn game at the same damn time with minute differences?

The last decade of JRPGs in general, really.

But let's get to the root of the actual problem...


Pretentious _gamers_
"CoD sucks"
"Casual game is casual"
"Wear da grafix at?"
PC Master Race
Console fanboys

A finicky gaming population where everyone is a critic is the reason we get the drivel that we currently do; why money and resources get focused on a handful of AAA titles a year leaving hipster indie devs to their own devices in attempting to ;o; touch the soul ;o; of the ;o; indie gamer ;o;


Also,
*pre·ten·tious*
[ pri ténshəss ]


self-important and affected: acting as though more important or special than is warranted, or appearing to have an unrealistically high self-image
made to look or sound important: intended to seem to have a special quality or significance, but often seeming forced or overly clever
ostentatious: extravagantly and consciously showy or glamorous


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## xwatchmanx (Apr 8, 2013)

Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Why? Because Masahiro Sakurai (as much as I respect him) has made it clear in the game's design (and in statements) that he thinks he knows more about what's "fun" than the players. Id est, "I don't want you to play competitively! You think that's more fun? Well too bad, you're wrong! Now I'm going to purposely unbalance the physics and characters and add cheap chance elements you can't turn off, to FORCE you to play the way that I consider fun!"


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