1085: Don’t (Always) Ignore the Crap

I last wrote about this topic some time ago, so I figure it’s time for a revisit, given what I’ve been playing and enjoying on my PlayStation 3 recently.

My point today is this: you shouldn’t immediately dismiss stuff that is regarded as “crap” because there’s every chance that if you tried it for yourself, you might just find yourself enjoying it. (Note: I’m not saying that stuff regarded as “crap” is always going to end up being good — some stuff we can all agree is shite — but in many cases it pays to go in with an open mind!)

Let’s take Hyperdimension Neptunia as a timely example. Hyperdimension Neptunia received a spectacular 2/10 panning from Eurogamer’s Simon Parkin, by all accounts a well-respected critic whose opinions a large number of people trust. Consequently, a lot of people didn’t even bother to pick it up. This was such an issue that the (apparently considerably superior) sequel only had a limited print run and is now extremely difficult to find a copy of. (I tracked one down from Italy — European console games tend to be in English by default, perhaps with the packaging localised.)

And yet, while I can see its many flaws, I am having a lot of fun with Hyperdimension Neptunia. It’s bright, brash, colourful, silly and rather entertaining despite being the sort of game some people I know would be embarrassed to be seen playing, particularly when the occasional “fanservice” images make an appearance, or every time the character Compa trips over and flashes her panties at the end of a fight. It’s genuinely amusing, though — if deliberately cringeworthy at times — and packed with plenty of things to do. It combines two of my favourite styles of game — visual novel and JRPG — into one package with some really nice features. I love the ability to set custom images on “summon” spells, for example. Seeing the “I HAS A HERB” cat setting off a wind spell never gets old.

Hyperdimension Neptunia is far from the only example of a game which was poorly received but which I have ended up enjoying. In the post I linked to at the top, I mentioned Duke Nukem Forever and Alpha Protocol, both of which endured critical drubbings for various reasons — Duke for its grossout, sexist humour and Alpha Protocol for its broken gameplay aspects and appalling console versions. And yet in both cases — for I played them both to completion — I found myself having fun, being able to look past the flaws or “problematic” material and find an entertaining experience underneath. Am I somehow “wrong” to feel this way?

Well, of course I’m not. Opinions are entirely subjective, after all. I could tell you I found the critically-acclaimed movie Drive to be stultifyingly boring, for example (I did) but that doesn’t stop you from enjoying it, rewatching it a bajillion times or putting it atop your “My Favourite Movies of All Time” list. Likewise, Nier’s heavy reliance on fetch quests and seemingly tedious activities may cause you to switch off completely, while I found the experience to be an interesting example of a game requiring the player to “method act” the role of the protagonist, and found myself playing it obsessively as a result. We both might tell each other about how much we like our respective Things We Like, but it’s unlikely we’ll sway each other around to our way of thinking. And that’s just fine.

The sad thing, though, is the fact that there are people out there who hold a considerable degree of influence over the public’s spending decisions, and their opinion carries an undue amount of weight that might cause some people to miss out on things they might actually like. If Parkin gives Hyperdimension Neptunia 2/10, you better believe that’s going to affect a large number of people’s decisions as to whether they’re going to buy it or not. (Probably the latter in this instance — in the notoriously top-loaded game review score scale, a score of 2/10 is theoretically reserved for an absolute stinker that is completely broken.) How many of those people whose opinion was swayed by Parkin’s review would actually enjoy the game if they gave it a chance? How many people are actually going to give it a chance after reading that review?

The other thing worth mentioning particularly when it comes to titles like Hyperdimension Neptunia and Duke Nukem Forever is the fact that some critics seem to feel obliged to act as arbiters of taste and decency, when in fact everyone’s tolerance for potentially “offensive” content is completely different. Both Hyperdimension Neptunia and Duke Nukem Forever attracted accusations of sexism on their original release to varying degrees of justification — the specifics of which I’m not going to get into right now because that’s a whole other matter, particularly in the former’s case — and these accusations negatively impacted the critic’s view of the game in both instances. That’s fair enough — as I said, everyone’s “good taste” boundaries are different and said critics are entitled to voice those views — but when it comes to interactive entertainment, subject matter is just one part of the whole experience. And more to the point, in all forms of media, enjoying something that contains potentially objectionable subject matter doesn’t imply that the person reading/watching/playing the thing in question is, by extension, a supporter of that particular viewpoint. In other words, you can like anime boobies and still see actual real-life women as actual real-life people. (I say “you” when, obviously, I mean “I”.)

If you enjoy something, you enjoy something; you shouldn’t feel guilt about your own tastes. Unless, you know, your “tastes” involve bludgeoning kittens, puppies and babies to death with a sledgehammer. (In real life, not in video games, obviously.) Or, you know, actively stirring up hate against a specific social group. Or just generally being a dick. Then you should probably feel a bit guilty. Basically, so long as you’re not actually hurting anyone (physically or psychologically) or actively oppressing someone with the things you like, enjoy whatever you want within reason!

Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to plumb the depths of the bottom half of Metacritic to see what awesome experiences I can find to enjoy next…