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Soma
Sept 24, 2015 6:15:03 GMT -5
Post by derboo on Sept 24, 2015 6:15:03 GMT -5
www.hardcoregaming101.net/soma/soma.htmThe creators of Penumbra and Amnesia: The Dark Descent return with another disturbing survival horror masterpiece, set in a bleak future at the bottom of the sea.
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Soma
Sept 24, 2015 8:10:32 GMT -5
Post by TΛPETRVE on Sept 24, 2015 8:10:32 GMT -5
Now that came quickly . The protagonist's unrelatable nature is a bit of an interesting issue; him being an unlikeable piece of shite is very much consistent with the game being strongly rooted in Harlan Ellison's trademark literary misanthropy, but the great mistake the game makes is to create a rift between the player's and the protagonist's knowledgeability. Id est, Simon is ignorant about or refuses to acknowledge things the player is well aware of, which leads to an ending that will very likely be frustratingly disappointing to many folks.
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Soma
Sept 27, 2015 4:30:36 GMT -5
Post by Gendo Ikari on Sept 27, 2015 4:30:36 GMT -5
The protagonist's inconsistent characterization, coupled with a questionable voice acting, actively lessened the impact of some scenes and dialogues. Simon didn't need to angst the whole time about his situation (would have been even worse), and at first his attitude of denial is justifiable, but after a while it becomes just grating; he under-reacts excessively to some situations, and doesn't even comment on some others. I was curious to know if the choices given during the game had some long term consequences, and they don't. The entire last part and ending were anticlimatic because at that point you already know what's going to happen. The monsters were quite varied and creepy, but their AI felt idiotic and the only difficulty and frustrations came from putting them in very tight environments, so most encounters weren't as good as the first robot/mutant, and can easily go from frightening to annoying, especially the part near the end where you escape from the fish monstrosity (last time it grabbed me, it swung in circles 3-4 times, and then... dropped me at the same exact point).
And yet, it's got some of the best environments and atmosphere I've ever seen in a game, the puzzles while simple are enough to keep yourself invested, and contrarily to Amnesia I wouldn't have minded if it lasted longer, since it manages to strike the fine balance between tension, calmness and moments of terror. Even without need to hammer them now and then, the themes the story gives are very interesting and, intelligently, it avoids giving a "definitive" reply to them. As a pure "experience" it's great, an another excellent work by Frictional, and they deserve praise also for not wanting to retread Amnesia's ground; but it's also nothing so groundbreaking or worthy of the gushing I'm seeing from many reviews online.
Will be interesting to see what the fanbase will do with SOMA's modding capabilities, I dare say it'll also show the quality of such fans: will they craft something in line with the game's spirit? Will they be able to be very creative (provived it doesn't limit the modders to be strictly contained within the base game's gameplay)? Or will they show they only wanted a next gen Amnesia?
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Soma
Oct 3, 2015 8:26:27 GMT -5
Post by Woody Alien on Oct 3, 2015 8:26:27 GMT -5
A couple of mistakes:
-the forum link at the end is missing -first paragraph: "but it's hardly Fricitonal" - also, "in order to everything right again" ("do" is missing) -third paragraph: "abberations" --> aberrations
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Soma
Oct 3, 2015 12:33:57 GMT -5
Post by hudakj on Oct 3, 2015 12:33:57 GMT -5
Yes, that is a sort of issue with adaptation unique with video games. Characters like these are intended to be more detached in the 3rd person and thus their erratic and/or misanthropic behavior is much less of an issue because they are the ones in control (narratively speaking).
But games have this unique aspect of the player "being" this sort of character so some people really take issue being forced to play guys they don't like. This is something I don't take much issue with, since the alternative is either always playing an outspoken white hat or a silent protagonist. It only becomes an issue when the game tries to pretend it's the player making these decisions when it's really the the scripted character, in which it's pretty fair to cry foul.
The comments present a more interesting issue. I don't mind the player detachment in this sort of case but, similar to what you state, the game tries to have it both ways. The protagonist in some ways reacts counter to how one would normally react (which is fine if handled right), but other times seems to go into avatar-mode and leave things completely up to the player to react to and learn info that the character himself does not retain. So you end up with the protagonist that has some sort of odd unspoken narcolepsy he was apparently sleepwalking through certain moments of the game.
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Soma
Oct 4, 2015 9:06:45 GMT -5
Post by TΛPETRVE on Oct 4, 2015 9:06:45 GMT -5
Precisely.
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Soma
Aug 9, 2016 13:14:32 GMT -5
Post by Gendo Ikari on Aug 9, 2016 13:14:32 GMT -5
Over the next weeks, SOMA is the "early unlock" game of September's Humble Monthly Bundle - while the full contents will be revealed early next month, you immediately get SOMA if you decide to get it now already. For $12, it may be worth to subscribe to the HMB for a single month (hoping the rest of the bundle will be up to par).
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