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seriousficSo I just finished The Force Unleashed and it's a really good game. It has its tedious bits, but every game does, and there's nothing as bad as the Hades climb in God of War. The thing that I think cheesed a lot of gamers off is the ending, and I think the only person who couldn't be cheesed off by it is George Lucas and his retard-o-sophy. Let me get into the spoiler nitty-gritty.
So we've followed Starkiller as he goes from Vader's apprentice to a warrior for the Light Side and, in an admittedly wince-inducing fashion, helped form the Rebel Alliance. You know in The Patriot, how someone said "It's a free country, or at least it soon will be" in response to something said at the First Continental Congress. Lots of stuff like that. Yeah, I saw Star Wars too, I know they're going to be the Rebel Alliance, you can come off it.
Finally, end of the game, Starkiller infiltrates the first Death Star and rescues the leaders of the Rebellion. He beats Vader, beats the Emperor, and is about to kill Palpy when his erstwhile Jedi Master Kota says no, don't do it, don't give in to the Dark Side. Starkiller says Palpatine deserves to die and Kota admits that he does, but if Starkiller does it, he'll be right back where he started.
While all this namby-pambying is going down, Palpatine proves Starkiller's estimation of his prowess correct and lashes out with Force Lightning. Starkiller resists him long enough for the good guys to escape, but dies in the process.
Now, I understand that canon-wise, you really can't have another Jedi running around when Luke is supposed to be the last hope. So I don't have a problem with the death.
What I do have a problem with is this: You know how in Batman comics, the reason Batman doesn't just snap the Joker's neck is always "if I kill him, then I'll be as bad as he is." We try to turn a blind eye to it because if we didn't, all the really cool villains would be dead and we'd be left reading about Batman fighting the Riddler every month. But basically, Batman is placing his own self-righteousness above the thousands of Joker's future victim.
Admittedly, that's a sarcastic read on things, but The Force Unleashed takes my sarcasm and makes it canon. Okay, so Palpatine lives and he's going to blow up Alderaan and for the next 4+ years the entire galaxy is going into the fresher, but that's okay, Starkiller is one with the Force.
Excuse my French, but that's fucking retarded.
Yeah, violence is bad, but if violence manages to save billions of people, then it's better than the alternative. This downward spiral, this character derailment of the entire Light Side, started in Return of the Jedi, but only became really pronounced with the prequel trilogy and its EU counterparts. Remember how we all thought the Jedi were, well, Space Knights of the Round Table? Well, as it turns out, they're a bunch of self-righteous virgins who kidnap kids to replenish their numbers.
Yeah, by all means, if you're the Light Side, you should hold yourself to a certain standard, but you're still at war, and in war, people die. That's why they call it war. I hate when any hero, from the Doctor to Luke Skywalker, declares that feeling good about himself trumps saving lives or bringing evil to justice. To me, a hero is someone who's willing to sacrifice for others. Doesn't matter if they feel like shit in the morning. Doesn't matter if they risk losing themselves to the Dark Side. A hero makes the hard choice, always.
And to be forced to play a character who chokes at the last minute, it rankles. I wouldn't have minded if it'd been something like "without Palpatine, the universe will descend into civil war, we don't have people who can take over for him yet, his minions will take over and they'll be just as bad." That would've been a good conflict, contrasting Starkiller's desire for personal vengeance with the greater good of the galaxy. You could even have backed it up with "I've seen it through the Force, we can't win this way" or something like that. But to go out like a bitch is just not a satisfying ending.
So we've followed Starkiller as he goes from Vader's apprentice to a warrior for the Light Side and, in an admittedly wince-inducing fashion, helped form the Rebel Alliance. You know in The Patriot, how someone said "It's a free country, or at least it soon will be" in response to something said at the First Continental Congress. Lots of stuff like that. Yeah, I saw Star Wars too, I know they're going to be the Rebel Alliance, you can come off it.
Finally, end of the game, Starkiller infiltrates the first Death Star and rescues the leaders of the Rebellion. He beats Vader, beats the Emperor, and is about to kill Palpy when his erstwhile Jedi Master Kota says no, don't do it, don't give in to the Dark Side. Starkiller says Palpatine deserves to die and Kota admits that he does, but if Starkiller does it, he'll be right back where he started.
While all this namby-pambying is going down, Palpatine proves Starkiller's estimation of his prowess correct and lashes out with Force Lightning. Starkiller resists him long enough for the good guys to escape, but dies in the process.
Now, I understand that canon-wise, you really can't have another Jedi running around when Luke is supposed to be the last hope. So I don't have a problem with the death.
What I do have a problem with is this: You know how in Batman comics, the reason Batman doesn't just snap the Joker's neck is always "if I kill him, then I'll be as bad as he is." We try to turn a blind eye to it because if we didn't, all the really cool villains would be dead and we'd be left reading about Batman fighting the Riddler every month. But basically, Batman is placing his own self-righteousness above the thousands of Joker's future victim.
Admittedly, that's a sarcastic read on things, but The Force Unleashed takes my sarcasm and makes it canon. Okay, so Palpatine lives and he's going to blow up Alderaan and for the next 4+ years the entire galaxy is going into the fresher, but that's okay, Starkiller is one with the Force.
Excuse my French, but that's fucking retarded.
Yeah, violence is bad, but if violence manages to save billions of people, then it's better than the alternative. This downward spiral, this character derailment of the entire Light Side, started in Return of the Jedi, but only became really pronounced with the prequel trilogy and its EU counterparts. Remember how we all thought the Jedi were, well, Space Knights of the Round Table? Well, as it turns out, they're a bunch of self-righteous virgins who kidnap kids to replenish their numbers.
Yeah, by all means, if you're the Light Side, you should hold yourself to a certain standard, but you're still at war, and in war, people die. That's why they call it war. I hate when any hero, from the Doctor to Luke Skywalker, declares that feeling good about himself trumps saving lives or bringing evil to justice. To me, a hero is someone who's willing to sacrifice for others. Doesn't matter if they feel like shit in the morning. Doesn't matter if they risk losing themselves to the Dark Side. A hero makes the hard choice, always.
And to be forced to play a character who chokes at the last minute, it rankles. I wouldn't have minded if it'd been something like "without Palpatine, the universe will descend into civil war, we don't have people who can take over for him yet, his minions will take over and they'll be just as bad." That would've been a good conflict, contrasting Starkiller's desire for personal vengeance with the greater good of the galaxy. You could even have backed it up with "I've seen it through the Force, we can't win this way" or something like that. But to go out like a bitch is just not a satisfying ending.
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no subject
Date: 2009-03-03 02:08 am (UTC)It's either that or assume "bad writers who forgot that it's entirely possible to kill people while remaining on the Light Side, even in anger, and killing probably the most evil being in the universe would definitely qualify". Go hide in a swamp later if you can't face it, but just get 'er done.
no subject
Date: 2009-03-03 04:31 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-03-03 10:57 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-03-03 12:30 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-03-14 06:47 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-03-15 04:33 am (UTC)Admittedly, that'd be a greater possibility if I trolled... or if we went to the same comms. Maybe it was time travel??
no subject
Date: 2009-03-17 12:23 am (UTC)