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[Machina]

This game is straight out of the David Cage "I wanna be a movie director but I'm not" playbook of hot trash

 

[Plum]

The "walking simulator" genre is a weird one. The Chinese Room pretty much invented it with Dear Esther (back when it was just a humble HL2 mod) and, after years of innovation and refinement, they're one of the worst developers in that genre by far. A Machine for Pigs took an amazing premise and dashed it with poor design, little-to-no challenge, awful writing outside of the ending and highly uninspired levels and enemy design that show a poor understanding of horror in general.

Rapture should be held as an example of what not to do when making a "linear narrative experience." It manages to make walking and discovering snippets of a radio play actively frustrating which is a feat I never thought possible. Yes, you can tape down R2 so your context-less invisible blob of a character can move at slightly more than a snails pace but when even that has you asking "do I want to explore that place knowing I'll have to walk back?" then something's gone wrong. The story's not bad, but the choice to make the player "character" nothing more than an observer robs the narrative of any personal motivation; you're just looking at the lives of these characters because... it's a game, I guess.

So, yeah, I didn't like it.

 

[Blablurn]

God it was so bad. It came for free as a ps+ title. Still not worth it

 

[Maxwood]

Stunning soundtrack, though.

This game is straight out of the David Cage "I wanna be a movie director but I'm not" playbook of hot trash

There are a lot of negative things to be said about Rapture but this is not one of them.
It's not "cinematic" in any way.

Besides, there's room for those kind of games in this medium.
I wish there where more of them. With a higher quality then Cage's efforts.
And that doesn't mean putting in more wel known actor's or a higher budget.

 

[K.E. Keith]

I played through this game. I didn't hate it, but it felt like a slog to get through. Especially trying to get all the story bits.

/thread

 

[pixelpatr0n]

 

[groansey]

OP nailed it.

Nice looking environment. Terrible, terrible fucking game. Walk around listening to a sub-standard radio play and try to piece some sort of plot together. No thanks.

 

[fermcr]

Everybody's Gone to the Rapture got overhyped and overpraised simply because it was a PS4 exclusive at the time.
Game is crap.

It's more proof not to trust so-called "professional" reviewers. They fooled everybody with this one.

 

[eot]

I don't get the walking speed honestly. I know the devs say it's because having a higher one would break the immersion, but you know what? Having the walking speed be so low that I become aware for my middle finger getting tired from holding down W, that is immersion breaking. Just because people walk I real life without getting bored doesn't mean it's fine in a game. Walking IRL is not the same as just holding down a button

 

[Daffy Duck]

I loved the atmosphere of the game, they nailed that, but the story was totally forgettable, I couldn't tell you a single thing about the game that stuck with me.

And I'd have no intention of playing through it again, the walking speed was a killer the first time, I couldn't put up with it a second time.

 

[uceenk]

lol i thought i was the only one who didn't like this game

on the other day on another forum i tried to share similar sentiment and most of the posters told me

"yeah, it's not for everyone, maybe played COD game more suitable to you"

the thing is, i like "walk simulator" genre, love Life is Strange, Heavy Rain and Until Dawn to death, even i managed to finish Game of Thrones telltale game when i thought that game was so mediocre with alright story

Gone to the Rapture though, it's so boring, i just can't bring myself to finish it, i actually bit excited on the early story because the graphic was awesome, too bad that feel didn't stick long more than 1 hour

 

[JoeNut]

I got bored after about 45 mins and knew it wasn't for me, sadly

 

[DamagedInc]

I'm glad it's not just me, I thought it was dreadful and I thought I must be missing something because of the hype but looking at this thread I wasn't.

 

[CheesecakeRecipe]

Everybody's Gone to the Rapture got overhyped and overpraised simply because it was a PS4 exclusive at the time.
Game is crap.

It's more proof not to trust so-called "professional" reviewers. They fooled everybody with this one.

It could also be that it is a great game that happens to go against the grain, which is obviously not going to click with everyone. The only people who got fooled were the ones who didn't pay attention to what it was.

 

[WITHE1982]

Well it sounds like I'm in the minority but I loved EGTTR.

I found it quite relaxing with some stellar VO performances which perfectly captured the look and feel of village life in 80s England.

In fact I may play through it again today. I find it a very zen experience.

I do admit the walking speed can be quite irritating though.

 

[Joey Ravn]

It was an OK game for me. It would have been 1000% better if you could actually run from place to place.

 

[Tribes of Trusty]

I enjoyed and played Gone Home to completion.


But this ? I did not like it one bit. One of the most boring things I played on the PS4 alongside Contrast.

 

[Sande]

What a pile of junk.

I was intrigued at first but the unbelievably slow walking speed in a surprisingly large world and a story that kept treading water just killed any desire to keep going. It also didn't help when I read how long the game is and that the ending isn't worth it.

 

[Ludens]

I fully played it on Plus, and while the plot was interesting, the game itself is totally uninteresting. I mean, the story would fit a movie, but in the game nothing happens at all, it's simply useless, and not because it's a walking simulator, but because you are just a viewer of something that happened, you won't interact with the world at all.

 

[captainraincoat]

People raved about this game when it came out....i think it was when the ps4 didnt have very many good exclusives and people just latched onto this.....i personally think its shit as well.

 

[Lonely1]

I like Walking simulators. A Machine for Pigs and The Vanishing of Ethan Carter are legit good, SH:SM is great and Dear Esther and Virginia are interesting. But I do consider EGTTR to be a weak entry in the genre. Is poorly paced and has no objective or mystery to solve.

Edit: And Gone Home is appealing to a very specific group of people. I get all the comments that goes "Man. this is like the house I grew up, X-Files tapes and high-school love! This really speaks to me", but my high school experience was way different, so I found the experience lacking.

 

[pbsapeer]

Loved the graphics, the atmosphere and the story. I really wanted to find out what was going on in the village and areas and completed it pretty quickly. The walking was frustrating but I enjoyed looking at the environment so wasn't too bad. I loved it.

 

[Tribes of Trusty]

Edit: And Gone Home is appealing to a very specific group of people. I get all the comments that goes "Man. this is like the house I grew up, X-Files tapes and high-school love! This really speaks to me",

This is like the opposite of my high school life lol

 

[Rolf NB]

This should have been a short film on TV. I want my half hour back.

edit: 78 Metacritic, how is that possible?

 

[Emerson]

It's the best The Chinese Room game but it still sucks shit. Their writing is pretentious and overrated, and they seem incapable of making mechanically enjoyable games. I wouldn't recommend any of their work to anyone.

 

[angelic]

OPs title feels overly rude

Reverend Tiddlesworth the vicar was shocked. Absolutely shocked. He'd never ever been spoken to by Mrs Puddleduck in such a manner. He picked up his copy of the parish newsletter, drank his tea slightly faster than usual, and bid her a good day.

 

[Deleted member 10571]

Loved the graphics, the atmosphere and the story. I really wanted to find out what was going on in the village and areas and completed it pretty quickly. The walking was frustrating but I enjoyed looking at the environment so wasn't too bad. I loved it.

Yeah, it's a great game. I really wonder how many of the "It's shit!" people really actually played it instead of dismissing it completely after 5 minutes, watching some walkthrough or just go by opinions of others. I get the criticism when it's valid, but so much of this thread seems completely overboard.

 

[Peroroncino]

Calling this a decent contribution to the discussion is a stretch IMO.

Jfc like the ONLY good thing to come out of Gamergate was the acknowledgement that 'games' are by their nature fluid and come in many different forms, and STILL we have to put up with shit like this.

Are you chinese room dev? Because you sound way more angry than you should be.

To me, a game requires some sort of mechanics and somewhat engaging gameplay loop in order to actually be a game, in EGR you just walk at a snail's pace and listen to audio recordings, in my book this doesn't qualify as a game, even among walking simulators it's bad, like one of the worst pieces of shit I've ever saw in my life bad.

I'm glad this not-a-game was in PS Plus, I'd be really pissed if I bought this.

 

[Chittagong]

I don't disagree on your frustrations, but I found the story compelling, it was fun to patch it together and hypothesise on what happened. So while I was frustrated, the payoff was good enough that I didn't hate the game.

Dear Esther is quite similar, but without the buggy glowing orb mechanic.

 

[Majmun]

The slow walking speed ruined it for me.

I'm patient, but this game really tested me

 

[nOoblet16]

I played it for an hour and couldn't tolerate it more than that. The game that put me off walking simulators for life.

It's just so dreadfully boring.

Edit - similarity to above post is purely coincidental.

Same here.

Everybody went to rapture, including my interest in these kind of games.

 

[pbsapeer]

Yeah, it's a great game. I really wonder how many of the "It's shit!" people really actually played it instead of dismissing it completely after 5 minutes, watching some walkthrough or just go by opinions of others. I get the criticism when it's valid, but so much of this thread seems completely overboard.

Inclined to agree with you. Seems quite a bit of criticism.

 

[Daggoth]

Great atmosphere, easy platinum, shame about absolutely everything else. It was just so dull and uncompelling.

Gone Home did nothing for me either. Maybe I just have no interest in these games. But I played SOMA immediately after EGTTR and loved it, so 😕

 

[-SG]

I typically enjoy this style of game and really wanted to like this one, however, the walking speed just ruined it for me. I played for maybe 30 mins before giving up and uninstalling it.

 

[angelic]

SOMA is so much better it's not even a contest, unbelievable game.

 

[Fried Food]

I thought it was extremely obvious that you had to follow the ball of light for the game to progress.

 

[The Guy In Red]

I also thought it was horrificly boring. Same with Gone Home. Also I got lost so many times because that light streak was going where ever the fuck it wanted.

 

[angelic]

Yeah, it's a great game. I really wonder how many of the "It's shit!" people really actually played it instead of dismissing it completely after 5 minutes, watching some walkthrough or just go by opinions of others. I get the criticism when it's valid, but so much of this thread seems completely overboard.

I beat it, I still despise it. It didnt give me a single trophy either, not one.

Are you chinese room dev? Because you sound way more angry than you should be.

You're arguing with someone who thinks the 4'33 recording of silence is an avante garde piece of music.

 

[CosmicRomancer]

I liked it. Despite frustrations with the slow walking a lot of the times and the initial difficulty of attaching a voice to a character, I liked the world, the soundtrack, how they conveyed the story, the progression, the set pieces. It was beautiful. Being immersed in the picturesque English countryside was very serene.

Couldn't agree more. I actually kind of had an interest in the story but couldn't get myself to endure the uneventful exploring and slow pace. I actually felt physically unwell playing it too for some reason, not sure why.

I played Everybody .. on launch day. It gave me motion sickness after playing for 15 minutes. Tried 3 more times at different days but i couldn't get used to it. I gave up and proceed to read the ending in the Internet instead.

Funny that. I got motion sickness too in my first session. It made the slow walking extremely intolerable, but fortunately, I got over it and enjoyed my time with it.

I didn't like this and I still roll my eyes at people who attempt to say walking simulators or dialog driven games are non-games.

I don't like this either and neither do I like the liberal use of the word pretentious in here.

 

[Council Pop]

To me, a game requires some sort of mechanics and somewhat engaging gameplay loop in order to actually be a game

Yeah, to you. Not to the majority of people, which is why it's incredibly frustrating when discussions are constantly derailed by comments like yours. We're discussing Rapture on a gaming forum ffs. That should be all you need to know.

But 2001 was pretentious, and rapture is pretentious.

Lol so absolutely everything is pretentious then? I remember kids like you when I was at school, anything in the least bit intellectual, or atmospheric, or theatrical, or feminine, or non-traditional was derided as 'pretentious'. You probably think David Bowie was pretentious!

As I said before, this isn't about what is or isn't a game, it's cultural war crap where you don't want artists and intellectuals (and left wing people) 'taking over' video games etc.

 

[dealer-]

Totally forgot about this one. Think I paid £15 for it at launch too

Digital purchase regrets.

 

[Council Pop]

You're arguing with someone who thinks the 4'33 recording of silence is an avante garde piece of music.

But that's literally what it is. It's not my opinion- it's fact. The composition is part of the canon of avant garde music. You learn about it during A level music at high school in the UK.

I'm not saying "I think silence is music", I'm saying "4'33" is a composition by John Cage and is one of the most controversial and famous pieces of avant garde music ever written."

Edit: I really want you to listen to Lou Reed's Metal Machine Music now

 

[Lord Panda]

I finished the game. It would have been better suited as a BBC mini-series.

 

[Weltall Zero]

For what it's worth, that was an enjoyable read so something good came out of it.

Indeed, and let's add another thing: I've had this in my PS Plus backlog, lacking the motivation to play it (I'm not the biggest fan of "walking simulators", or "non-text interactive fiction") and reading this thread finally prompted me to uninstall it.

 

[Romars202129]

Agree. I couldn't get into it at all. And I did find the premise alluring. I feel taking a walk along a highway in real life while listening to an audio book would be 10 times as interesting.

 

[Proteus Maximus]

I enjoyed it but I used spend quite a bit of time in Shropshire as a youngster which made it much more fun. The ending was head scratching, though.

 

[Crossing Eden]

Everybody's Gone to the Rapture got overhyped and overpraised simply because it was a PS4 exclusive at the time.
Game is crap.

It's more proof not to trust so-called "professional" reviewers. They fooled everybody with this one.

The game has a 78 on metacritic so I don't think people were overhyping it.

 

[SomTervo]

go play What Remains of Edith Finch

Yes. Superior, although i like CR's work.

 

[angelic]

But that's literally what it is. It's not my opinion- it's fact. The composition is part of the canon of avant garde music. You learn about it during A level music at high school in the UK.

I'm not saying "I think silence is music", I'm saying "4'33" is a composition by John Cage and is one of the most controversial and famous pieces of avant garde music ever written."

Edit: I really want you to listen to Lou Reed's Metal Machine Music now

4 minutes and 33 seconds of absolute silence is not music. That is the fact, no matter how much you try to assert your wrongness.

You can take your crazy stance of defending art all you like, I'm not attacking art, but a recording of silence is not music.

 

[joe_zazen]

Yeah, it's a great game. I really wonder how many of the "It's shit!" people really actually played it instead of dismissing it completely after 5 minutes, watching some walkthrough or just go by opinions of others. I get the criticism when it's valid, but so much of this thread seems completely overboard.

I took a film studies class where we watched things like Antonioni's Blow Up, Fellini's 8 1/2, and Itami's Tampopo. I learned three things: first, the more challenging the work, the narrower the audience; second, most dilettante criticism tends toward absurd levels of melodrama; and finally, Richard Simmons was in Satyricon.

I'd like to know why and how 'I don't like X' becomes 'X is garbage and the creator(s) of X are also garbage' (see any David Cage/Tetsuya Nomura ffxiii thread).

Reguardless of the negative judgements of some or even most, I'm sure the creators of Rapture were quite happy with the outcome: they won awards, sold many copies, and touched many people. We should all get to be so fulfilled in our professional lives.