Again, they say they're not necessarily taking a stance or trying to be serious about it. It's all deliberate. The distinct message isn't "corporations are bad, rebellion is good." Or that video games are too violent and lead to obesity. It's holding up a mirror and taking it to the extreme and having fun with it. A similar game which does the same thing is GTAV. Now whether or not they should've toned it down or taken it further, (actually they did, the hero saves the day and now is supposed to get the girl like in every other game right?) or if it's edgy is pretty subjective.
I actually think you bringing up GTA V helps my point (btw, I think GTA V's story is rubbish, the game goes to shit the moment Trevor is introduced, so this is by no means just me trying to say "no it's totally different, GTA V is actually good!"), the population doesn't come to an epiphany when they find out about the hidden evils of our society in GTA V, you don't save the world from the evil Monster Energy Drink and free humanity of the behind the scenes "slavery" they've been subject to through corporations and the media manipulating them to follow consumerist patterns that benefit them, dictating what they should like, and who they should be.
When you transform those aspects in the villains and you defeat them, you save the world from them, and open everyone's eyes to it, it's very clear what the message is. In GTA V, nothing changes, nothing is supposed to change, the world's fucked up, always was, always will be, this is just those three dudes' story in this fucked up world that doesn't give a crap about them.
GTA V just uses this mirror you referred to in order to amplify our society's flaws (or at least what the writers perceive as such) and create this overblown parody of our world, and then the game takes place there, DmC uses this mirror in creating the world, but it's very clear who the villain and the good guy are. They even get into the necessity of the Leviathan to "save us from ourselves", ffs, and freedom wins, of course. Removing our freedom is bad, even if it's arguably for our safety.
Wow, what a deep social commentary.
Not saying GTA V never does stuff like that either, btw, of course it does, and I also find it quite stupid most of the times. YEAH LIKE, PEOPLE DO ANYTHING FOR FAME AND GLORY, MAN, WE LIVE IN THE AGE OF SOCIAL MEDIA, AND LIKES AND FOLLOWS AND SHIT.
Ah, come on, shut the fuck up. I wish we could get social commentary on how open world game design is homogenized garbage these days. Everything is Ubisoft open world with Batman like combat. 60 bucks 10/10 best game ever IGN.com, pls pre-order.
Shit, I should do social commentary myself. I'd be a great writer.
EDIT: You know a game that does the whole human nature and society's weight on our behavior discussion amazingly well? The Last of Us.
I don't think they need to, though. Just putting players into the shoes of a person who has such a condition should already be enough to change people's perspectives and opinions on the matter. That's something I think games have a huge potential for in general which still largely goes unused. Gamers tend to identify with their playable characters much more strongly than readers of books or viewers of movies or TV shows do with the protagonists in those forms of media and that makes games a unique way of opening up people's perspectives and letting them see the world from a different point of view. The question is whether the historical setting is not too far removed from our own everyday lives for people to actually make the connection. But still, I don't think the game actually needs to say anything meaningful about mental illness. It merely needs to portray it in an accurate and respectful way.
You know what? I'll give you that, you're 100% right. If they don't even try to, that could work perfectly.
But what mental illness causes frequent, persistent visual hallucinations in this fashion? They are trying to play it up like she has PTSD, but I'm not sure if actual PTSD sufferers want to be depicted as hallucinatory nutjobs.
Eh, I see your point, but I wouldn't consider that such a big issue.
DmC depicts fat people as brainwashed corporate slave-morons who will almost literally drink shit because the media told them it makes you a cool person.
I can agree with the whole "mentally ill as villains" complain, but just being depicted as the way Senua is, even though she's the hero you're supposed to like and identify with? Eh, not an issue.
That said, I didn't suffer from PTSD myself, so my opinion on this doesn't mean much, of course.
) but at least the constant criticism of the dialogue and writing is something I don't quite understand. It's not meant to be taken seriously. It's supposed to be silly and tacky and in-your-face. Maybe it's one of those cultural difference things? I've read before that US-Americans tend to not get this sort of mix of humour and serious topics as well as Europeans do (no idea if it's actually true, though).
