Here's a thought: why don't you NOT do what you just did?

[trinityvixen]

I'm only three bosses into the game, but just in case, a cut-tag for minor spoilers in The Force Unleashed as I nitpick it.

So. Turns out, the Emperor has not been lobotomized, totally knows what I've been doing, and has Vader kill me. Only he doesn't, see, he just lets the Emperor think that so I can then go out and undermine the Emperor, safely disguised by the fact that I should be dead.

On the one hand, this plot development? AWESOME. Vader himself starting the rebellion? I love it! On the other...couldn't we have come up with this idea before I killed a mess of powerful Jedi? You'd think we could have used them to battle the Emperor--or at least used them to force a conflict with him sooner...

Also, having been responsible for the deaths of Jedi is bound to make me unpopular with the laymen, 's all I'm saying.

Okay, okay, so it's not much of a nitpick and there appears to be actual story to this hack-and-slash. Not that it's much of a hack-and-slash. I've been killed far too many times now for that. I was telling people that there's no shame in dropping a game down into easy mode, so no one shame me if I end up doing that, all right? Seriously, if it hadn't progressed straight into ugly mode when I spent AN HOUR trying to beat one boss, I would have dropped the difficulty right there and then. But you don't kill me over and over (and over and over and over) again that many times for that long without really pissing me off to the point that I won't drop the difficulty out of spite. Because victory was that much sweeter, you COCKFACE.

Comments

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

Yeah, one of those instances where the gameplay (woohoo! cool lightsaber duels!) doesn't help the story much. It's here that I will confess I got a copy of TFU's novelization from PaperBackSwap awhile ago - still haven't read it, but I'm curious if it addresses this kind of thing at all.

You're going to have to let me know if that explains anything. I mean, I could buy just about any explanation, just that none was given. Like "Well, even if he wants to succeed, Vader's not above slaughtering a few Jedi 'cause he can." That would have been okay.

Oh, and you sound exactly like me at the end there, except I'm fond of the word BASTARD while fighting bosses. I absolutely refuse to turn off the console until I beat them. It is a matter of principle.

I use all sorts of fun epithets for characters. If it hadn't been 1:30 am before I beat that goddamned spider-fetus Jedi, I might have screeched myself hoarse at how fucking awful that cockhole was. I just...I can't not beat him. Last night, I wanted to stop before finishing off Shaak Ti because I thought for sure that it would be another hour-long battle. That was the only time I can remember recently where I've been able to want to stop. (But, of course, I didn't, since the roommate was distracted just long enough for me to make another attempt that eventually worked. Then we watched a movie because NO MORE.)

[saikogrrl.livejournal.com]

Lol, I'm the same with swearing at bosses. Even non bosses: in Zelda Spirit tracks, this pirate woman runs a mini game where if you beat as many monsters and bosses as you can, and she gives you a prize. Level one prize the first time was a heart container, extending my life. Fricken sweet! So I go back and try level 2, but it has like three levels and I die just before killin the last boss. You know what she says? Go home and cry to your mommy kid, and gives me NOTHING. I used up two regeneration potions on that! FUCK YOU, BITCH!!

[trinityvixen.livejournal.com]

I remember trying to get the 100% completion ending on Final Fantasy X-2. Which involved going into a dungeon where every single boss had a 9999-hp damage hits. Like, constantly. And yet, I tried. Oh Lord, how I tried.

This is when I realized there is no shame in going to fucking YouTube and watching the damned ending because WTF this shit is nuts.

Friends and I were discussing video games and how we don't finish them all the time and fuck that noise. If you get to the goddamned boss and can't win, look up the ending on Wikipedia. That's one of the things that frustrates me most about games. If you know how to beat the bad guy but can't, you're screwed. It entirely rewards people based on their hand-eye coordination. While that's fine to a point, there are enough games worth playing for story alone to make preference for skill alone extremely obnoxious. Especially when, as you point out, the rewards are bullshit (or worse).