Games they should have spent that extra time on?

[Icecoldcynic]

Prototype was dreadfully half-finished.

I agree. So many things about that game screamed of being rushed. I personally hate it when a good game is effectively ruined by lack of polish.

 

[Strategia]

Earth 2160, the game is quite good but if only they had spent any kind of time and trouble on actually making the voice acting not suck beyond belief.....

 

[AcacianLeaves]

Every MMORPG ever made.

 

[Samurai Goomba]

Spoiler

I suppose that begs the question of whether or not there is a hero or villain to this story. Is Dormin a villain? He's just being who he is. Is Wander a hero? He betrays his tribe and destroys ancient guardians for love of a girl, the sort of which (love, that is) is never properly defined. If there is a hero, it's probably the village elder who chases after Wander and fixes his mistake, although even then I'm not sure what was so bad about letting Dormin roam wherever.

Spoiler

It seems to be an issue of faiths; as with Christianity turning old pagan gods into aspects of Satan, perhaps Eamon's religion regards Dormin as a devil needing to be sealed away at any cost, or simply seeks to maintain the status quo. The story is fairly neutral in moral terms, which is one of the reasons it works so well. We never know whether what Wander did was right or wrong, only that what he did was something he believed in to the point he would endure anything to see it through to the bitter end; even to the point he didn't care what that end was if it would save the life of someone precious to him.

I definitely agree that the moral neutrality of the game works in its favor. Without the ambiguity and questionable morality of each of the characters, the game wouldn't be anywhere as effective. Part of the reason Colossi and the environments have the power to instill such a sense of awe (in me, at least) is because there's a feeling of wandering a land untouched by time, a sense of meddling in affairs you have no business in. The fact that several of the Colossi are completely indifferent to your presence further takes away from the feeling you're "fighting a video game boss who will kill you if you don't press 'A'." It's been said many times by reviewers, but the feelings of pathos players tend to develop with Colossi... It's something unique to pretty much this game and no other.

Spoiler

Another thought I just had is maybe the aggressiveness of the Colossi corresponds to the amount of Dormin's power they absorbed? Or maybe they're like totems, and representative of the animal spirit they are supposed to resemble. Although then I'm curious to know why a worm is one of the most aggressive colossi.

Spoiler

I always thought of the Colossi as representing aspects of Dormin, with their size corresponding to how strong those aspects were; the tiny Colossi represent impulses or passions, which a creature like Dormin would barely have, while Phalanx, which never even attacks you, could be seen as contemplation or wisdom. The last, the towering, nightmarish figure of Malus, literally smolders with hate; your final battle therefore with the very personification of Dormin's anger at those tho did this to him.

That makes entirely too much sense. I guess Gaius (my favorite Colossus) could be considered austerity, or maybe nobility. Pride, perhaps?

Spoiler

Malus is a very cool boss, but I find him pretty frustrating from a gameplay perspective. Or maybe the battle is just frantic/manic in a way all the battles before this (minus the sandworm Colossus) were not.

Now, when you kill Colossi, Wander absorbs them (well, bits of Dormin's power) into himself, right? Could we then say that Dormin in his imprisoned state, in addition to lacking his actual power, was lacking most of his emotions as well? Or perhaps his emotions WERE his power? That opens up a lot of interesting subtext. 'Course, a game like this is basically all subtext.