River Of Slime |OT| Mission: Impossible

[benjipwns]

lol Need For Speed Payback has a better story simply because the police have an EMP in their helicopter to stop the street racers

[benjipwns]

She learns of two gold plated cars, a Mercedes-Benz G-Class and a Lamborghini Aventador, fitted with illegal tech that The Collector, the head of The House, is putting on display, and plans to steal them with Tyler and Mac. However, Navarro and The Collector have anticipated this and plant bombs on the cars. With the police in hot pursuit, Mac, Tyler and Rav transport the cars out of town using a semi truck. After smashing through several roadblocks, Tyler and Rav manage to detach the bombs and throw them at the pursuing police cars, ensuring their escape.

Jess, going back undercover, learns more about the House's activities with the help of the Underground Soldier, who goes under when his cover is blown. Nevertheless, Jess manages to get the data to The Broker, where she learns The Collector is just a pawn and of something called Arkwright. Meanwhile, Tyler and Mac race against the final three leagues: Mitko Vasilev's Diamond Block, Holtzman's Hazard Company and Natalia "SuperNova" Nova's One Percent Club, all of whom are on The House's payroll.

wickedly moving and deeply funny

[HardcoreRetro]

Driver: San Francisco asks you to go kindly fuck yourself.

[Pissy F Benny]

The ‘story’ in the first need for speed this gen was incredible. About as insane as the story mode that spike lee did for nba 2k.

[Nintex]

Mafia isn't a fucking racing game lol

wasn't it?

[GreatSageEqualOfHeaven]

liek if u cry evrytime

[benjipwns]

There's still a hackneyed story about crooked cops and racing crews that take themselves far too seriously; it's full of corny dialogue, farfetched stakes, and irritating characters that wouldn't make the cut in earlier Fast and Furious movies. Story missions occasionally crop up, too, forcing you to follow a character while they talk at you, and there's even one instance of a dire tailing mission. Aside from this, however, the narrative is mostly relegated to background noise that's easy to ignore, especially if you opt to skip any of its cutscenes.

Story-wise, it’s yet another ‘rookie racer looks to make a name for themselves’ narrative that’s so well-trodden it’s down to bedrock. You can choose any of the preset avatars be the lead role, even if what appears to be a spunky protagonist turns out to look like a complete idiot and hilariously out of their depth. Cut scenes like the ‘hiding behind stuff in the same room to eavesdrop’ bit are completely unbelievable,

I swear by Vin Diesel's right foot, the fighting roster of Mortal Kombat XI is less inherently punch-able than Need for Speed: Heat's pathologically irritating racing drivers. They don't so much talk smack as talk grievous bodily harm, all macho posturing and narcissistic self-absorption. At one point early in the game, Ana, a female racer who is supposedly your best friend says to you "You don't understand. When I'm my car, I got power." They're so vacuously awful that the game's writers have to make the police full-blown cartoon villains so there's no risk you might accidentally start rooting for them.

It’s not so much the narrative arc as its execution that represents a step forward here. We’ve been passively and often reluctantly digesting stories about street racing crews since the venerable Need For Speed Underground in 2003, but what matters about this one is that it’s not intrusive. You’re only ever forced into driving through narrative setpieces in the prologue, and where 2017’s Need For Speed Payback had you stealing hypercars off lorries in tightly scripted quasi-races, Heat wisely leaves creating the spectacle to you. The most you’ll get mid-race to spice things up is a bit of radio chat from angry rival crews or pursuing cops

I think these reviewers should have tried watching the cutscenes on YouTube instead to better appreciate the themes.

[Tasty]

There's still a hackneyed story about crooked cops and racing crews that take themselves far too seriously; it's full of corny dialogue, farfetched stakes, and irritating characters that wouldn't make the cut in earlier Fast and Furious movies. Story missions occasionally crop up, too, forcing you to follow a character while they talk at you, and there's even one instance of a dire tailing mission. Aside from this, however, the narrative is mostly relegated to background noise that's easy to ignore, especially if you opt to skip any of its cutscenes.

Story-wise, it’s yet another ‘rookie racer looks to make a name for themselves’ narrative that’s so well-trodden it’s down to bedrock. You can choose any of the preset avatars be the lead role, even if what appears to be a spunky protagonist turns out to look like a complete idiot and hilariously out of their depth. Cut scenes like the ‘hiding behind stuff in the same room to eavesdrop’ bit are completely unbelievable,

I swear by Vin Diesel's right foot, the fighting roster of Mortal Kombat XI is less inherently punch-able than Need for Speed: Heat's pathologically irritating racing drivers. They don't so much talk smack as talk grievous bodily harm, all macho posturing and narcissistic self-absorption. At one point early in the game, Ana, a female racer who is supposedly your best friend says to you "You don't understand. When I'm my car, I got power." They're so vacuously awful that the game's writers have to make the police full-blown cartoon villains so there's no risk you might accidentally start rooting for them.

It’s not so much the narrative arc as its execution that represents a step forward here. We’ve been passively and often reluctantly digesting stories about street racing crews since the venerable Need For Speed Underground in 2003, but what matters about this one is that it’s not intrusive. You’re only ever forced into driving through narrative setpieces in the prologue, and where 2017’s Need For Speed Payback had you stealing hypercars off lorries in tightly scripted quasi-races, Heat wisely leaves creating the spectacle to you. The most you’ll get mid-race to spice things up is a bit of radio chat from angry rival crews or pursuing cops

I think these reviewers should have tried watching the cutscenes on YouTube instead to better appreciate the themes.

The thread has to be self parody...

[GreatSageEqualOfHeaven]

https://www.resetera.com/threads/wapo-baton-rouge-police-officer-crashed-corvette-speeding-at-94-mph-killing-a-baby-officer-wont-be-charged-with-anything-not-even-with-speeding.153461/

I hope they don't confiscate his vehicle, as that would just be disproportionate

[VomKriege]

Living life a quarter of a mile at a time.

[Nintex]

https://www.resetera.com/threads/wapo-baton-rouge-police-officer-crashed-corvette-speeding-at-94-mph-killing-a-baby-officer-wont-be-charged-with-anything-not-even-with-speeding.153461/

I hope they don't confiscate his vehicle, as that would just be disproportionate

These Need for Speed viral marketing campaigns tho 

[benjipwns]

Can't wait for when Nepenthe finally catches half an episode of The Wire.

[benjipwns]

I actually went to twice as many sites as I quoted reviews of, but the other four sites either didn't even mention the story or simply had a sentence describing it.

[Great Rumbler]

(44:02)

Isn't this just a deleted scenes from Crash?

[GreatSageEqualOfHeaven]

I believe that it sheds a critic light on something on people exploiting gray areas.

THIS "EXPLOITING GRAY AREAS" SHIT DOES NOT HAPPEN IN REAL LIFE. It only exists in bigoted, alt-right propaganda. Stop spreading this crap like a card-carrying transphobe.

https://www.resetera.com/threads/canadian-human-rights-tribunal-rules-against-transgender-woman-over-refusal-of-waxing-services.152120/

[pizzashit]

Can't wait for when Nepenthe finally catches half an episode of The Wire.

”I’m not sure who was whistling and why since i couldnt catch the rest of the episode but even a good whistle is too close to a dogwhistle and I won’t be swayed by cops. ACAB.”

[benjipwns]

https://www.resetera.com/threads/south-park-mocks-trans-athlete-with-a-transphobic-episode.153068/post-26523068

You're hitting like three or four of the squares on the bingo board in one reply.  Please don't tell trans people to fuck off after coming in uninformed and receiving an emotional response.

(Image removed from quote.)

[ResetBanBot]

So does gender dysphoria have strong comorbidity with mental and personality disorders? None of these trans folks on Resetera seem to have otherwise normal lives outside of being transgender. It always "I'm transgender......and schizophrenic, bipolar, manic depressive" etc.

Gender dysphoria is a mental illness and is a symptom of several other mental illnesses (eg. autism). It used to be considered a contraindication but it was determined to be gatekeeping.

[Nintex]

Ree still doesn't understand that the only thing standing between them and some dude with a MAGA hat stealing their Amiibo and Nissan Versa is the cops.

[Potato]

When your entire understanding of the police is shitty Twitter takes, World Star videos, rap music, anime and kid's cape movies, then no wonder you'd be impressed by the cut scenes in fucking Need for Speed.

Neopetenthe is the kind of person who says they cried during a videogame unironically.

[Potato]

In light of Dragon Quest XI S's poor sales, I'd like to see the Western DQ fanbase get loud and remind Square that we love the franchise.

I think a focused hashtag campaign of some sort would be great. Or a charity donation gig named after Horii or whatever. Something. I'd be happy to assist with the process but I don't have much media presence so we would need to rely on "bigger names" with broader reach. And as for the logistics, I can't say I'm a mastermind on that front either! It needs to be something that Square Enix simply has to see, however. Maybe tack on a physical letter-writing campaign with a targeted send-in date; those are so rare these days that I feel like even if the fans could convince ~200 people to mail something somewhere it might turn a few heads...

You’d think this was brought about because the director got a cancer diagnosis or something, not spurred because a game sold below the expectations of Nintendo fanboys.

Perfect

[benjipwns]

I'm handwriting a personal typed letter to be e-mailed to Electronic Arts to thank them for producing Need For Speed: Heat which led to Nepenthe's thread about how moved she was watching the cutscenes for a racing game on YouTube. #DualityOfLoveAndConflict

[OnlyRegret]

Ree still doesn't understand that the only thing standing between them and some dude with a MAGA hat stealing their Amiibo and Nissan Versa is the cops.

There is definitely an issue of accountability and class favouritism inherent in policing that can't be swept under the rug. But yeah, some of these people fail to realize a non-insignificant portion of the population that would absolutely delight in assaulting women and robbing randoms that can only be deterred through the threat of organized violence and confinement.

[TVC15]

This has been the best 36 hours of my life.  I had lost hope thinking we’d peaked with the Cyberpunk 2077 trans apocalypse, that we’d never reach that pinnacle again, but here we are.  God is good.

  What if Cerium false flagged this crisis in order to salvage cogent discussions about Cyberpunk?

[EchoRin]

Mafia isn't a fucking racing game lol

(Image removed from quote.)

wasn't it?

This mission OMG 

Nintex you son of a bitch!

When I was thinking about Mafia yesterday (ok that sounds weird to think of Mafia randomly in 2019, but I was posting non-weeb music in the VGM  thread) this mission completely was blocked from my memory  .

[TVC15]

would mean big profits for ResetEra Clear

[Potato]

Mafia isn't a fucking racing game lol

(Image removed from quote.)

wasn't it?

This mission OMG 

Nintex you son of a bitch!

When I was thinking about Mafia yesterday (ok that sounds weird to think of Mafia randomly in 2019, but I was posting non-weeb music in the VGM  thread) this mission completely was blocked from my memory  .

Riiiiiiiiiiiiight

[ResetBanBot]

Bruh the mods are totally deflecting responsibility to the admins. Cerium needs to take care of these wavering mods who fail to hold the wall of silence.

[Potato]

Bruh the mods are totally deflecting responsibility to the admins. Cerium needs to take care of these wavering mods who fail to hold the wall of silence.

I think the mods have suddenly developed a history of histories.
 

[ResetBanBot]

ResetEra was built with trans bodies, but look at how they're disposed of when they become inconvenient for their desire to merely exist.

Donkey Kong says trans rights.

[Nintex]

Mafia isn't a fucking racing game lol

(Image removed from quote.)

wasn't it?

This mission OMG 

Nintex you son of a bitch!

When I was thinking about Mafia yesterday (ok that sounds weird to think of Mafia randomly in 2019, but I was posting non-weeb music in the VGM  thread) this mission completely was blocked from my memory  .

I believe they made it skip-able with a late patch

But in the original this was akin to the Battletoads turbo tunnel 

[EchoRin]

there was some way to cheese it where if you got to a certain part of the track and took a small detour and pressed the "put me back on the track" type button it would place your car in front of the finish line and when you went through it would count as a full lap. Never did complete it the normal way. Mafia is fine for city driving. It sure isn't even close to being a good racing game though haha.

[tiesto]

All this talk of racing games with stories makes me wish Racing Lagoon got translated back in the day...

(trigger warning: kotaku)
https://www.kotaku.co.uk/2018/04/26/remembering-racing-lagoon-squares-weird-street-racing-car-pg

[HaughtyFrank]

All this talk of racing games with stories makes me wish Racing Lagoon got translated back in the day...

(trigger warning: kotaku)
https://www.kotaku.co.uk/2018/04/26/remembering-racing-lagoon-squares-weird-street-racing-car-pg

But does it even address police brutality? 

[benjipwns]

(trigger warning: kotaku)
https://www.kotaku.co.uk/2018/04/26/remembering-racing-lagoon-squares-weird-street-racing-car-pg

Kotaku UK

[benjipwns]

https://www.resetera.com/threads/its-trans-awareness-week-nov-13th-19th.153146/post-26524796

Hello everyone. Just wanted to pop in and say a few things.

First, I appreciate the knowledge and insight the trans community brings to the table. Most times I'm in relevant threads just reading what you all have to say to gain better knowledge not just about your lived context, but how to spot and confront transphobia when it rears its head. However, I hope this silence has not compounded upon the issues that I know have been brewing and expressed for months. If it has, I sincerely apologize for my failure, and if there's anything you personally want out of me going forward then don't hesitate to tell me however you need to. You all deserve a community to feel welcome in.

But first thing's first: I'm going to read that article Kyuuji posted earlier, and I'll wear the Hangzhou Spark avatar for the rest of the week since the colors are dead-on perfect. It's the least I could do.

Godspeed to all in the fight, and I want to finish by saying: Trans rights are human rights.

you can start by unbanning ketkat

Agreed

#FreeKetKat

spoiler (click to show/hide)

Definitely an important week. Been meaning to post these two links for a while. Really drives home the point that society needs to do infinitely better at assisting the community in all aspects. At any rate, hopefully people are having a blessed weekend.

Trans Clothing Closets
https://www.wellandgood.com/good-looks/transgender-clothing-closets/

And while many people take for granted that they can walk into a store and leave with a garment that reflects how they feel on the inside, it’s not so easy for those who identify as transgender or non-binary. Cost and sizing of clothes can be a barrier, as well as stares from other shoppers (or worse), and many dressing rooms are still labeled as strictly male or female, making it awkward to try on new things. With this in mind, a growing number of LGBTQ+ resource centers and universities are opening free clothing closets for trans and gender non-conforming people, giving them a place to explore and express their identities through fashion.

https://www.wellandgood.com/good-looks/size-inclusivity-in-fashion/

[close]

[BisMarckie]

How could someone buy non-binary clothing when the very idea of it is rejecting the concept of gendered clothing?

[Chim Richalds]

Once I got home I YouTubed the rest of the cutscenes and oh my god, I loved it.

First off, give it up to the Rivera siblings for being awesome. The first time you enter the garage and Lucas is setting up an appointment you are hit with their sense of history and personality: the driving awards, the decorative graffiti, and most importantly the family picture with a yellow Camaro on the table. When they're together, there's an appealing duality of love and conflict: Lucas is a passive dude who rebukes racing to run the garage while Ana is a feisty college dropout who wishes to uphold the family racing legacy (this dynamic is made all the more interesting because of the flipped gender representation in ostensibly traditional roles.) If they're not prodding each other over their life decisions, Lucas is probably smothering her with tempered, big-brother guardianship or embarrassing shows of affection in Spanish. It's adorable. However, things come to a tense head when she crashes the aforementioned Camaro trying to escape Shaw after a race, with Lucas insisting she needs to go back to school and Ana dismissing his advice as a cowardly has-been who is willing to throw away his talent and their legacy.

This is another scene that took me by surprise, because I didn't land squarely on Lucas' side despite understanding he was right. "He built this car to be raced!" asserts Ana. The awards on the counter and the town talk of the Riveras makes it clear that the father was as much a gearhead as the daughter, to say nothing of Lucas' previous guarantee into The League. So I could easily sympathize with Ana and her desire to not only race for her own self-fulfillment but to try and continue upholding their father's legacy, and Lucas' inability to recognize that spark in her. However, Lucas' retirement comes back to the front after the police chief Mercer realizes you and Ana were tipped off to the police's chop-shop operation. Mercer roughs up Lucas to try and exploit info out of him, only for you and Ana to run up on the scene and get arrested. Lucas breaks free and saves you from being murdered, seeking refuge in a secret garage he built up over the years as a safe space from his father, the broken relationship implied over the course of the game to have resulted from his own racing antics. It turns out their father had a heart attack the night he was jailed, and Lucas puts this on himself, believing the stress of his youth got to the old man and killed him.

"Well, that was...legitimately rough to get through— Why the fuck am I feeling this way over a Need For Speed Game?" Again, is this normal?

All in all, Need For Speed: Heat should not be slept on. It wasn't just it's ability to tell a fun adventure story with appealing characters, but to do so while skillfully weaving in themes regarding police corruption, race, and power into the workings of an arcade racing game that is relatable and worth commending. I was pleasantly surprised, I remain enthralled weeks after the fact, and I'm hoping like hell we return to Miami in the next installment with these same characters to see how Torres will lead the fight and how the Rivera siblings will respond to her department.

How's the racing?

Again, I've got no real knowledge of the series beyond, like, the first Most Wanted way back in the day, so I wouldn't be able to give a fair rating in that regard. If you're talking about in general games that have good writing, that's hard to say, mainly because I think different games have different intents and thus approaches to good storytelling. To be honest, I can't think of another high-profile game off the top of my head that is firmly in the camp of how police affects minorities. And I think this game's narrative has enough substance and compelling drama to it that it doesn't really need the NFS moniker to stand on its own, or you could more cynically say that the NFS moniker is so low-key in 2019 that it's the only reason why a game company would have bothered with it in the first place. I think anything higher profile and we would've been having bigger conversations on ERA both about "forced representation" bullshit, and also how minorities- particularly Latino people- would take to the Riveras. I personally think those siblings are lovely, well-rounded characters and play off each other well.

And the racing?

Mmm, no. A lot of real cheesy dialogue happens during the gameplay sections. Like, a cutscene will happen, and after that the characters will talk about it as you're playing. Also there's a lot of generic and silly cartoon character acting to punch up the races; Initial D like shit of characters boasting about their skills. But when it comes to the actual cutscenes and the drama, there is no perceivable line between the scenario writers and the dialogue writers.

The game can't get anymore perfect.

Thanks.

I'm actually playing the fucking thing and the racing is great, probably the best it's been since Underground.  The story and voice acting are garbage, with even less nuance than you'd expect in a fucking EA racing game.  It's hackneyed bullshit, with cops saying, over their loudspeakers, shit like "Alright, busting this fancy ride is about to turn this boring night around!"

In other words it's exactly what someone like Nepenthe would think is groundbreaking, because they have the brain of a particularly stupid ant.

[Pwnz]

I believe that it sheds a critic light on something on people exploiting gray areas.

THIS "EXPLOITING GRAY AREAS" SHIT DOES NOT HAPPEN IN REAL LIFE. It only exists in bigoted, alt-right propaganda. Stop spreading this crap like a card-carrying transphobe.

https://www.resetera.com/threads/canadian-human-rights-tribunal-rules-against-transgender-woman-over-refusal-of-waxing-services.152120/

PC babies minds are already made up.

[Switters]

ya'll slept on Astro Vs. Merc in the Death Stranding thread. It was petty, benign, and most of all not interesting. I would post a link, but I'm old and feeble.
The cliff notes are: Astro won because he/they is the biggest swinging douche in a sea of bleached sidewalk condoms... and Merc has less spine than a fleshlight made of yogurt.

[ShutUp]

Nepenthe writing that much about the story in a racing game is some amazing shit 

[Potato]

Nepenthe writing that much about the story in a racing game is some amazing shit 

Neopethe getting up in the morning and managing to put her shoes on the correct foot without her parents' assistance is some amazing shit.

[Tripon]

https://twitter.com/RetroEmil/status/1195769958711648257

 

[BrokenEchelon]

If I was gay, I would be so pissed off that these demented lunatics hijacked a legitimate movement to promote their mental illness as a good and normal thing that should be nourished and not treated.

[Tripon]

https://twitter.com/RetroEmil/status/1195783208648007681
https://twitter.com/TimeCommando/status/1193634749153198080
https://twitter.com/RetroEmil/status/1193976043452977152

[team filler]

If I was gay, I would be so pissed off that these demented lunatics hijacked a legitimate movement to promote their mental illness as a good and normal thing that should be nourished and not treated.

what you think about mandalorian?

[BrokenEchelon]

If I was gay, I would be so pissed off that these demented lunatics hijacked a legitimate movement to promote their mental illness as a good and normal thing that should be nourished and not treated.

what you think about mandalorian?

Actually just watched the first two episodes earlier today. It's what Disney Star Wars should have been from the start, not the reskin cashgrab "muh subverted expectations" we've gotten from the movies.

Don't get me wrong, it's really superficial entertainment so far, but it captures the feeling of the world really well. That thing in episode two is also fucking adorable.

[Transhuman]

If I was gay, I would be so pissed off that these demented lunatics hijacked a legitimate movement to promote their mental illness as a good and normal thing that should be nourished and not treated.

In regards to what specifically?

[BrokenEchelon]

If I was gay, I would be so pissed off that these demented lunatics hijacked a legitimate movement to promote their mental illness as a good and normal thing that should be nourished and not treated.

In regards to what specifically?

Just their unending cycle of self-pity and projecting the demons in their heads as actual entities out to get them. It seems to reach a critical peak a couple of times each year when people finally say "ok, I can't get on board with this level of delusion just to placate you people anymore" and they flip the fuck out. The South Park episode is a perfect example.

I'm 100% convinced that transgenderism is just a form of extreme narcissistic behavior implemented by beta males who can't get laid. They get rejected by women so much that they literally start to become the focus of their obsession so they can fulfill their sexual fantasies without a partner. It's why there's so many more MtF loonies than FtMs.

[Transhuman]

I think you'll find, no offence, that you're a fucking moron

spoiler (click to show/hide)

"Beta male who can't get laid"

[close]

[Tripon]

https://twitter.com/HIDEO_KOJIMA_EN/status/1195864914549600256

[Potato]

If I was gay, I would be so pissed off that these demented lunatics hijacked a legitimate movement to promote their mental illness as a good and normal thing that should be nourished and not treated.

In regards to what specifically?

Just their unending cycle of self-pity and projecting the demons in their heads as actual entities out to get them. It seems to reach a critical peak a couple of times each year when people finally say "ok, I can't get on board with this level of delusion just to placate you people anymore" and they flip the fuck out. The South Park episode is a perfect example.

I'm 100% convinced that transgenderism is just a form of extreme narcissistic behavior implemented by beta males who can't get laid. They get rejected by women so much that they literally start to become the focus of their obsession so they can fulfill their sexual fantasies without a partner. It's why there's so many more MtF loonies than FtMs.

Yeah, I don't know dude. I think the dysphoria is real, but there is no doubt that there is a disproportionate level of mental ill-health problems in the community, probably because of the dysphoria.

Although, it's clear there are a bunch of people who are just mentally deficient and "identifying" as trans is just a means of getting attention.

[team filler]

[Don Rumata]

Mafia isn't a fucking racing game lol

(Image removed from quote.)

wasn't it?

This mission OMG 

Nintex you son of a bitch!

When I was thinking about Mafia yesterday (ok that sounds weird to think of Mafia randomly in 2019, but I was posting non-weeb music in the VGM  thread) this mission completely was blocked from my memory  .

I believe they made it skip-able with a late patch

But in the original this was akin to the Battletoads turbo tunnel 

I must've tried that turd of a mission 60 times. 
I don't even remember how i got past it, but i certainly didn't skip it. :'(

[benita]

.

[nudemacusers]

https://twitter.com/RetroEmil/status/1195783208648007681
https://twitter.com/TimeCommando/status/1193634749153198080
https://twitter.com/RetroEmil/status/1193976043452977152
(Image removed from quote.)

Oh it’s better, they strongly oppose YouTube’s rollout of COPPA 

Prob makes it harder to chat up Russian teens.

[GreatSageEqualOfHeaven]

So did nepenthe really just try and placate the alphabet gang by buying an overwatch skin?

[Nintex]

I knew ResetEra were a bunch of bigoted, sexist, alt-right fascists when they trampled on my human rights as a minority

However, as always the ongoing genocide was ignored and now they cry 

First they came for the Dutch....

[HaughtyFrank]

So did nepenthe really just try and placate the alphabet gang by buying an overwatch skin?

It's the least she could do! (afaik is it complete coincidence that the skin has the trans pride colors)

[paprikastaude]

https://twitter.com/BenjiSales/status/1195886440170827776

so rough