Anyone ever noticed that there are certain things in our beloved gaming world that don't really make a lot of sense but we just kinda ignore it? There's a lot of stuff we really should question but for the sake of keeping the plot flowing or just out of sheer laziness, we ignore it. I started thinking about it while I was playing Final Fantasy 8 last night and there are quite a few examples I can think of. See what you think, and feel free to add any more you think up.
- When you summon something in Final Fantasy, cast some ridiculously overpowered spell such as Ultima or Apocalypse while saving a city from enemy soldiers or something, why is it nobody in the town ever questions that you've basically nuked the town or set a dragon loose, probably causing more damage than the enemy did? I accept that the game can't provide different responses depending on exactly how you beat a boss, but someone really should question this.
- In Final Fantasy 8 again, why is it that the mayor's wife in Fisherman's Horizon has the cheek to lecture you about the stupidity of violence when she's sat two feet away from an Ultima draw point? Nobody ever seems to question this. She's claiming to be a pacifist while sat on a stockpile of what essentially boils down to nuclear weapons. Conflict of interests much?
- Is Princess Peach the only woman in the entire mushroom kindgom? I'm all for romance and going to the ends of the earth for the one you love, but when she's being kidnapped literally every twenty seconds or so by the same bad guy, is it really worth sticking around? Especially when she never puts out. And is it just me or does she seem a little too easy to capture? One might conclude the reason why she never gives Mario any action is because Bowser's worn her out. Would explain why he has seven kids and Mario has none. There are other fish in the sea, Mario. Just a thought.
- Why are the heroes always reasonably good looking? Ever see a ginger swordsman with terrible acne leading the charge against the evil empire? Again I understand the importance of aesthetics from a gaming standpoint but you'd think you'd see at least one ugly team member once in a while. Come to think of it, why does the heroine always have breasts bigger than her head?
- Since when did aircraft hold upwards of 80 missiles?
- Why is it characters in many games have impressive super powers but can't swim?
- The rebounding health meter: what the fuck. What was wrong with the good old fashioned health meter? Curse you Halo for F'ing up every FPS in your wake. Personally I hate it as a gameplay mechanic as well as a concept. I can maybe forgive it in Halo because you could argue the suit has some sort of regenerative technology built in, but what's MW2's excuse?
There must be more than when you really take a close look at it, it makes no damn sense. I recognise that games have to have certain limitations due to gameplay mechanics, but we really need to question these things once in a while. Anyone else got some?
- When you summon something in Final Fantasy, cast some ridiculously overpowered spell such as Ultima or Apocalypse while saving a city from enemy soldiers or something, why is it nobody in the town ever questions that you've basically nuked the town or set a dragon loose, probably causing more damage than the enemy did? I accept that the game can't provide different responses depending on exactly how you beat a boss, but someone really should question this.
- In Final Fantasy 8 again, why is it that the mayor's wife in Fisherman's Horizon has the cheek to lecture you about the stupidity of violence when she's sat two feet away from an Ultima draw point? Nobody ever seems to question this. She's claiming to be a pacifist while sat on a stockpile of what essentially boils down to nuclear weapons. Conflict of interests much?
- Is Princess Peach the only woman in the entire mushroom kindgom? I'm all for romance and going to the ends of the earth for the one you love, but when she's being kidnapped literally every twenty seconds or so by the same bad guy, is it really worth sticking around? Especially when she never puts out. And is it just me or does she seem a little too easy to capture? One might conclude the reason why she never gives Mario any action is because Bowser's worn her out. Would explain why he has seven kids and Mario has none. There are other fish in the sea, Mario. Just a thought.
- Why are the heroes always reasonably good looking? Ever see a ginger swordsman with terrible acne leading the charge against the evil empire? Again I understand the importance of aesthetics from a gaming standpoint but you'd think you'd see at least one ugly team member once in a while. Come to think of it, why does the heroine always have breasts bigger than her head?
- Since when did aircraft hold upwards of 80 missiles?
- Why is it characters in many games have impressive super powers but can't swim?
- The rebounding health meter: what the fuck. What was wrong with the good old fashioned health meter? Curse you Halo for F'ing up every FPS in your wake. Personally I hate it as a gameplay mechanic as well as a concept. I can maybe forgive it in Halo because you could argue the suit has some sort of regenerative technology built in, but what's MW2's excuse?
There must be more than when you really take a close look at it, it makes no damn sense. I recognise that games have to have certain limitations due to gameplay mechanics, but we really need to question these things once in a while. Anyone else got some?