Do you know that there is one effective way to determine whether a game looks really good or not? Ask a non-gamer and I have an easy access to one in the form of the spouse. Non-gamers look at video games differently than us and that also makes them very attentive to flaws in both gameplay as well as graphics because we as gamers are used to being somewhat forgiving and accepting of the gaming norms. For example, turn-based battles in role playing games, how my spouse despises them. "Oh why are they just sitting there while they are being attacked?" The Soul Calibur series also couldn't escape the spouse's keen observation: "Hey, he should have died from that stab. Why is there no blood?" Basically, it's almost impossible to impress my non-gaming spouse with my video games. Then, Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm Generations by CyberConnect2 for the PlayStation 3 arrives yesterday...
Ryu and Ken are at it again... Oh wait!
After I booted up the game, I called the spouse to watch me play like I would normally do when I start playing a new game just to entertain myself with the non-gamer criticism:
Spouse: "Is that a game that you're playing?"
Me: "Yes, it is, I am controlling the character."
Spouse: "Wow, it looks like a cartoon. Is that a real game?"
Me: "Yes, it's the actual in-game graphics. They are using cell-shading but the character art makes everything pop."
Spouse: "Stop using your fancy terms, I just want to know if that is a game."
Me: "Yes honey, it is. Looks good eh?"
Spouse: "Yeah, that's really nice. I think I want to play that with you sometime. Hey that nasty girl just used some fart wind from her mouth."
Even the game's menu screens are looking incredible.
Oh my galaxy. I never thought that the spouse would ever volunteer to play a video game with me just because of how nice the game looks. I myself consider the Ultimate Ninja Storm series to be impossibly beautiful visually but to actually hear it from the spouse? I would never have guessed that in a billion year. Generations is another one of those games that will stay beautiful forever and it is another testament that we truly don't need new consoles to generate majestic, hardware defying, high quality graphics.
The skull is not going to recover from that blow to the head.
1 comment:
This was a fun read. My wife's never gotten interested in a game due to really nice graphics, but sometimes she sees something that catches her eye for some reason and I wind up handing the controller over for awhile.
Interestingly enough, I like the Naruto games I have played, and have one I've been meaning to review for awhile now, but don't follow the series in the least. My kids will comment on the authenticity of the graphics or voice, and I'll just smile and nod cluelessly.
I also liked the comment on not needing a new generation of consoles. I'm so thickly invested in this generation that I hate the idea of the next one so soon.
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