Heavy Rain- a sadist's dream

Did I miss the existing topic of Heavy Rain or was it never made?

Because this awesome game surely deserves to be posted as an antidote. Oh man, I have never loved a game like I love this one, it's so super cool!

Soo, I had almost finished Final Fantasy and reached the final boss. I kicked his first form's ass and then prepared to do battle for another half hour to kick his final form's ass too, when the asshole cut me down in two lazy swipes. Not looking forward to grinding another twelve hours, I picked up Heavy Rain and it's like tasting freshly roasted chicken after munching week-old spam for a year.

I love the story!

I love the main character! Hell, I love every character in the whole game!

I love the suspense and most of all I ADORE the choices I get to make Ethan more miserable. What a sadist nightmare this game is, and oh, how I like!!!

Oh, yes. The 18-hour-long series of quick time events. Heavy Rain has a neat story and all, but don't ever say it has "choice" in it again. You can intentionally fail a quick time event, but no. Every "choice" in the game is performance-based.

Spoiler:

There are loads of choices. Of course I'm still playing my first round, so I don't know what happens if you, for instance,

Spoiler:

I don't know.

Still, I get the feeling I have ample choices.

And even if I don't...Wheeeee! Love the game. I really hope they make another one! Not a sequel, that would be cheesy, but another crime/mystery/thriller would be much appreciated.

I'm watching a Let's Play of this game.

This is horrible. I literally cannot believe there are people out there jumping to defend it or even call it good in the first place.

From the female character that seems to exist only to tend to Ethan's booboos and get almost raped/murdered twice so far to the fact that David Cage seems to think that "poverty" means you can only afford one big screen TV in your house to the fact that the murder must be an expert in electrical engineering, automobiles, reprogramming GPS systems, setting up working gas lines and be a bazillionaire to boot to the fact that the facial animations and voice acting are horrific and bland to the fact that the plot just fucking sucks and is filled with more holes than our holy holy Lord, this game blows.

I JUST LIKE THE ARI OKAY

Also relevant:

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I'm getting the prequel DLC to it right now. Since it's Madison-centric, hopefully it adds more to her story than "yet more exploitation."

YOUR OPINION

IS

BAD


GRRRRRWARRRBBBLWARBBLBLB

No, yours.

Anyway, the game isn't perfect (vis-a-vis, Madison's purpose for existing,) but it's hardly terrible. It's pretty clear that they made a conscious decision at some point to limit actual choice in the first half of the game for the sake of the narrative. Considering the absolute genius of the reveal, I don't think it would've been a better game if they'd focused on replay-value instead of first-playthrough punch.

I'm sure glad I can piss so much in this game piss piss piss

GOTY!

ARI, comment: Have only found two usable toilets in the entire game so far. Uninterested in finding any more. Not relevant to the case.

There are at least 4 IIRC. That's 4 times too much videogame character pissing.

In case you were wondering Madison doesn't wipe.

Well, if that's your thing, piss away. Me, I took a piss once as Ethan, was happy he both shook, flushed and washed his hands, and went on with the AWESOME GAME!~!!!!! You don't NEED to use the bathroom every time you see one, you know. I don't know if you that in real life but you must spend an awful lot of time on the john if you do.

And no, you will not convince me it's bad, because it's awesome. Even if Madison does almost get murdered and raped two times--once, if you're smart and don't stay while the doctor's gone. Besides, the rest of the characters get (almost) murdered several times, too.

Nope, if you're only watching a Let's Play and haven't played it yourself, sorry, you don't know shit about the game and you can't convince anyone it's bad.

So there!

Goes back to see what ending will roll if all characters besides Jayden, who is FUCKING COOLtm, with his fancy glasses and his drug habit, die in a horrible way.

kleine_kat wrote:

Nope, if you're only watching a Let's Play and haven't played it yourself, sorry, you don't know shit about the game and you can't convince anyone it's bad.

And why not?

Mafiosa wrote:

I'm watching a Let's Play of this game.

I watched one update and then killed myself.

My mates like it, though!

InkWeaver wrote:

kleine_kat wrote:

Nope, if you're only watching a Let's Play and haven't played it yourself, sorry, you don't know shit about the game and you can't convince anyone it's bad.

And why not?

I imagine that because watching someone else play a game while they bitch constantly about it might color one's perceptions in a way unconvincing to people who played the game and enjoyed it?

From what I've been told by people who've played and enjoyed it, rent, don't buy, it's good for about one play through but afterwards it's not really worth it as most of the little changes don't add much to the overall plot, kinda like Time Hollow then I suppose.

Penguin wrote:

InkWeaver wrote:

kleine_kat wrote:

Nope, if you're only watching a Let's Play and haven't played it yourself, sorry, you don't know shit about the game and you can't convince anyone it's bad.

And why not?

I imagine that because watching someone else play a game while they bitch constantly about it might color one's perceptions in a way unconvincing to people who played the game and enjoyed it?

The guy doing it isn't bitching about it at all. He cracks silly jokes every once in a while and is playing through on a perfect good run and a very very bad run to show how circumstances change. The people who liked it in the thread have become Heavy Rain apologists because they're really nothing positive to defend in this game.

Quote :

You don't NEED to use the bathroom every time you see one, you know.

but

why

is pissing even
an option

Quote :

Nope, if you're only watching a Let's Play and haven't played it yourself, sorry, you don't know shit about the game and you can't convince anyone it's bad.

Defend this.

Also the scene with the therapist st the beginning. Jesus, Cage literally did NO RESEARCH for this game where it counted.

e: whoops it help if i give you the right link

e: Also what was up with that scene where Shelby saves the mom from killing herself and then he just leaves like "Whelp, see ya". What the hell.

I loved the game. I was so happy it didn't fall on its ass like Indigo Prophecy. I agree about "choices," though; I wish you could do more to really affect the game, and do it earlier in the storyline. There's really very little replay value.

Re: Playing it yourself vs. watching a Let's Play, I agree that it's better to play it yourself. With the quicktime event-style gameplay, a lot of the tension of the game comes from synchronicity between the player's actions and the character's -- for example, keeping a bunch of buttons held down while Norman tries to hold himself together long enough to reach the bathroom. Or trying to search for the right thing to say before the situation goes to hell.

And I can't speak for other people, but trying to maneuver through the crowd near the beginning to find my kid before something terrible happened had me in a panic.

Mafiosa wrote:

Defend this.

Defend what? The presence of live poultry in an urban supermarket?

Mafiosa wrote:

but

why

is pissing even
an option

why

are you abusing

your enter key
while ignoring the shift key

and punctuation

^ uh?

Penguin wrote:

Mafiosa wrote:

Defend this.

Defend what? The presence of live poultry in an urban supermarket?

Did you miss that amazing animation when he failed the quicktime event to go through the door. Or the fact that I'm pretty sure he gets hit by a stationary car.

But the chickens are pretty wtf too. Why are there chickens?

I think what ultimately bothers me so much about this game is that it tries so hard to be DEEP and SERIOUS and GROUNDBREAKING and it just comes off as unintentionally hilarious every time. This felt more like a Benny Hill sketch that got covered in gray paint to make it more grisly feeling. Everything feels contrived and relies way way way too much on suspension of disbelief.

Ah, that must be Jayden's supermarket experience. It had me laughing aloud even as I failed every single quicktime event.

I know that there's a lot in this game that can be improved, and plot-technically there are quite a lot of WTF moments. I notice these more now I'm playing it again for different endings--Yes, I do that, and I still love it.

The following is heavily spoilered, but since everyone in this thread has either played it or refuses to play it because of STUPID REASONS, I'll just go ahead.

It makes no sense that Ethan crawls through first through glass and then an electro-maze and ends up passed out in his hotel room with Madison to take care of him, and Jayden gets his body busted up with a crow bar after the supermarket experience, but is able to function and doesn't even show bruises.

It is to say the least odd that Madison reacts EXACTLY the same way when Ethan either fails to shoot the guy of his last trial, or confesses to shooting him.
Aww, Ethan, I know you're not the Origami killer.
Uh, bitch, I just killed a man.
I know you're innocent, Ethan. Let's make out.

LOL.

The controls suck MAJOR ass at times, and I loathe the way they keep sweeping the view point around. Maybe I'm some kind of super-basic-woman because my sense of direction is shit, but I kept losing my way in both the club and at the cemetery, and that was rather frustrating. I hated that about FF 13, too. They kept turning the map--what the hell is a map about if it doesn't stay the same!!???--and I kept getting lost.

Choices are, indeed, not always of influence at all, and it sucks that you can't kill Shelby. The whole Shelby thing is...not entirely successful, in my opinion, because many of his thoughts and comments simply don't make sense in retrospect.

BUT...

If you play it, the quick time events grab you, and when you feel your character's heart beat thunder in your hands through the controller, that's pretty damn exciting. The story is still better than any other I´ve found in a computer game, and better than most thrillers I´ve read.

Jayden and his addictions and hallucinations is so cool I hope they´ll bring him back in another game.

Madison can TWIST OFF A MAN´S BALLS. :D She puts a drill in a guy's chest. \She's a reporter, she wants to write her Pullitzer, and that's why she sticks to Ethan at first and tends to his booboos.

Ok, and I'm gonna stop now because nobody's reading this anyway, but suffice to say nothing anyone's gonna say will make me not love this game to bits, and if you haven't played it yourself, you just don't know what it's like.

There.

On with the tl;drs, I can take it.

Quote :

and if you haven't played it yourself, you just don't know what it's like.

Ummmmm, I didn't read your post because I'm still following the LP which has not been spoiled yet buuuuut wasn't heavy rain supposed to be an "interactive movie" heavy on the movie part?

So I'm pretty much watching like a movie going "yep this is terrible" and i don't think quicktime peeing events are going to add to the experience much.

Good god how focused are you on the peeing ? You really don't need to pee, you know? Unlike the Sims, who wet themselves if you tell them to stay the hell away from the toilet, none of the HR characters piss their pants when you deny them a visit

Edit: Hmm, now I think about it, the first bit in the house--which IS boring, but also necessary because if I'd have to press buttons for my life I'd have died in the first five minutes--strongly reminded me of the Sims. The only thing I was missing was a big diamond-shape above Ethan's head. Then bad things started to happen and I gleefully forgot all about the sims.

And aren't you contradicting yourself with the "interactive movie" bit since you aren't interacting but simply watching?

Quote :

Good god how focused are you on the peeing ?

Not at all, really? The guy LPing it is making a point of how weird it is that the option is even there.

Quote :

And aren't you contradicting yourself with the "interactive movie" bit since you aren't interacting but simply watching?

Even if I were interacting, would that change the bad voice acting, fight scenes, character dialog and plot?

Not really. I'm just really not impressed with the game's plot and when the plot is all you have to ride on rather than gameplay it better be the best damn plot.

For example the "gameplay" of Phoenix Wright consisted of poking the screen once or twice or pressing a button but the plots are insane fun and keep you moving through all the screen touching.

e: regarding the peeing thing, it was also really overt in Fahrenheit too, for some reason. david cage loves pee i guess! v0v

^ It seriously does change the experience to play it. With PW you can take as long as you want to make your decisions. In Heavy Rain most important actions are on a timer and it really adds to the urgency and thrill. There are a lot of games I'd say watching is just as good as playing but this isn't one of them.