Chardok wrote:Perhaps it would be better for me to ask what you define as a "Good title" for a console game. Since you keep going on and on and on about game mechanics and reviews reviews reviews, give me a basis for comparison.
A number of "good titles" have already come up. In the space generally occupied by what I'm deriding as trash there's Jak & Daxter, Ratchet & Clank, and Mario for starters. All games that have good level design, good camera controls, an interesting and varied set of objectives, and a deal of variation in how the player chooses to accomplish their goals.
RE: Harry Potter. I fully recognize that OFFICIALLY it's a "kids" book (ages 9-12, if I'm not mistaken), but typically it's morons who've not even bothered to read the books who will make a "OMFG HARRY POTTER ARE 4KIDSLOL" statement.
I defy you to find another "kiddie" book where the main character is horribly neglected, abused and even imprisoned for fully 12 years, and every single year fights horrific monsters and a man akin to the devil himself after watching said man kill someone right in front of his eyes. Or anything even close to that.
Okay, okay, maybe I should try to get a feel for what you consider a "Kiddie" book, too. Give me another "kiddie" book so I don't blast you for no reason. It may just be your warped perception of maturity I'm fighting here, and, if that's the case, then there's no fight.
You seem to be awfully defensive here. I'm not making a value judgement about the books or you for enjoying them because they were written for children, as you seem to be inferring, I quite enjoyed them, though not as much as some other children's books (and I thought Goblet was poorly edited), I'm simply pointing out that denying that they
are children's books is self delusion. You should stop trying to justify the fact that you like them by attempting to redefine them out of the childrens category and just remember that they're actually quite
good books.
Anyway, it's not the content that defines them as children's books, it's the style. Straightforward storytelling with few to no diversions (I don't mean subplots, but actual diversions into completely unrelated content which either expands on a character in ways unrelated to the plot or simply plays with a concept for a while), the fact that plot elements are heavily telegraphed in advance (for example, in Prisoner, the first time the Firebolt is described you know with absolute 100% certainty that Harry will own one by the end of the book), the plainness of the prose, using simple constructions and word choice, rather than using words for their lyrical qualities and using arcane or unique sentence construction (like Jose Saramago not breaking for speech, even when the speaker changes, which is confusing at first, but very natural once you wrap your mind around it.).
That's what makes them childrens' books. They're easy enough for children to read. It may confuse the issue that much mainstream airport fiction (and especially fantasy fiction) is basically written the same way with more sex and violence, but that's because most people are lazy readers who never rise above the level of children's fiction anyway.
And to answer your challenge, His Dark Materials. Which is still a childrens' book, even though it handles many more adult themes than Harry Potter, and is better written than most adult fiction. (That one was almost
too easy, HDM is pretty much the gold standard for children's fiction). If you want though we could go through Roald Dahl, and look at all the nasty people and nasty things that happen to them for a while. That was always good for a chuckle as a young'un. (In fact, for many of the first few books, Draco Malfoy's brand of petty spifeulness and eventual comeuppances reminded me of Dahl). Or you could try Mortal Engines, or Lionboy (which
is somewhat more "childish", as one of it's co-authors was about
, or even harder children's fiction, like Noughts and Crosses (which is about racial inequality and suicide bombing, and is
still a children's book)...
Seriously man, all you're doing is coming across as if you're trying to justify enjoying the books to someone. Possibly yourself.
(also, to approach somewhat closer to the topic, whatever the books are, the Harry Potter
games, particularly the latest one which is essentially a huge collection of mind numbing fetch quests with endless backtracking in-between, and some shoddy and unfinished looking cutscenes as a "reward", are the definition of kiddy shite, that the developers have simply not put any effort in on the basis that
children will not know any better and are easily pleased.)
