lux

The only element mentioned by Iside that recalls the gameplay of SH is the "fact of finishing off enemies with a kick" (a technique that, by the way, was already present in Resident Evil, if I remember correctly), and it seems a bit scant to me. Certainly, in terms of atmosphere, it marked a decent turning point compared to RE, but we keep coming back to the same question: how much does gameplay matter in a game? Otherwise, even Metal Gear Solid 2, which allowed you to hide in cabinets compared to the first chapter, would deserve to be remembered. However, rightly so, no one here recalls it, because hiding in cabinets is really not much at all.

Ktulu, if you review thousands of albums (of every genre), a few inconsistencies are bound to happen. He has given 8s and 9s to many rock masterpieces played with 4 chords, so we can forgive him for succumbing to the academic professionalism of the DT.

"Exactly, a game to be a 'Belgioco' averages from 8.8 and up, and that's not enough to be considered art." EEEH? And where is that written?? 7.9... no 8.2... wait, I'm counting 8.6... but excuse me, what do these accountant calculations have to do with artistry? Anyway, just for the record, Forbidden Siren got a nice 9.5 from PSM... not that PSM was the Bible, for heaven's sake, but at the time the game received excellent reviews, that's true.

No no, Forbidden Siren was very well received by various magazines of the time; the reality is that it divided the audience between those who hated it and those who loved it (and I lean more towards the latter). Among the criticisms directed at the game: not "spectacular" enough to be a horror (!?), excessively difficult in the later levels (depending on one's perspective, for me the greater difficulty kept me wide awake and full of adrenaline), cryptic plot (those who didn't finish it missed out on the best). Of course, to use the Sidejack you had to be hidden... Finding yourself in the closet of a Japanese house while you watch a cheerful family of shibito gathered around the table through the keyhole is something that ranks among the top PS2 experiences as far as I'm concerned.

But what’s wrong with Forbidden Siren? Would it even be shameful and nerdy to write a review of that game? I mean, you speak as if there were a scruffy manual for a good video game when there’s still debate over whether the game has any artistic aspect at all (and that’s precisely the reason that prevents the emergence of disappointments)… I’d tread carefully.

Not to mention that Djed develops into an incredible climax, Glass Museum is far from static, A Survey sounds like a piece by Slint... and if you find yourself facing a work by La Monte Young, what do you do? Sue him?

I prefer the atmospheric music of Tortoise (not for every moment, okay) to Load by Metallica, which you rated 4 balls. Perhaps more than in typical video game tracks, the influences of Tortoise would be found in krautrock and minimalism, but I also understand that Millions Now Living Will Never Die is not the most accessible work of the '90s.

BRO Ico, I mentioned you earlier; I haven't played the newer generation games. I would recall the Lemmings, while I generally wouldn’t consider the platformers that Gustavo mentioned.

If you use the term masterpiece for the first MGS, then art is possible in the gaming field too, right? Anyway, it’s well-known that sequels are the backbone of the gaming industry; for me, the important thing would be to remember certain games, not to vote for them. Of course, Forbidden Siren isn’t historically Tetris or PacMan or Golden Axe, but I don’t think it’s an insult to the gamepad either. If originality counts at all in games, I find Forbidden Siren worthy of review. And it’s certainly better to play Forbidden Siren than to listen to certain stuff or watch certain movies, there’s no doubt about that.

Anyway, this whole search for Art stinks to me... if you try to discuss the masterpieces of music artistically, you’re pointed out as a snob pseudo-intellectual who doesn’t experience the product for what it is and doesn’t feel anything, labeled as a true scruffy. A free zone where one could disregard the strictly artistic aspect, perhaps to share adolescent experiences on Snes or Psx or on more recent platforms would be a breath of fresh air on Deb (and it would truly become the most complete site on the web). Instead, there are people who didn’t grow up with video games (perhaps to their good fortune, I’m not debating that), who don’t know what it meant to buy magazines in elementary school like Game Power or The Game Machine and see a review of a Killer Instinct or a Quake, flipping through them quickly to see the rating they received and pestering their parents for money to buy them. Maybe they never opened the cardboard box of Street Fighter 2 for Super Nintendo after making the arcade scene thrive, and found themselves at home witnessing battles like Ken Vs Guile, and so all this could seem childish to them, nerdy memories. Or maybe they played video games as kids and now renounce them as junk for tots, that could be it too. However, the artistic aspect is misleading and contradictory, because it is both sought after and rejected at the same time on Deb.