Video
Game Humor (And why it sucks)
This has
been a subject that I've been thinking about covering for some time
now. I was originally planning on saving it until after my Guacamelee
review, but after having played Scott Pilgrim extensively, I could
hold it in no longer. Video game humor is in a bad place right now,
and as long as writers keep relying on references as opposed to using
their actual fucking brains, I don't foresee there being much more of
a future in this damn industry.
Seriously,
enough of this shit.
I
first noticed this while I was playing Banjo-Tooie which I had just
so happened to have finished at around the same time as Guacamelee,
and while it did feature endless shout-outs to other Rare games, it
was never done in a way that seemed pandering or idiotic. They served
merely as cute little asides, as opposed to signs that the writers
are a bunch of internet obsessed retards that wouldn't know funny if
it rubbed its balls in their face.
Going
back to Guacamelee, when I first heard about this game, I was
initially excited because I couldn't wait to see what they would do
with the endless possibilities in the humor that could come as a
result of the setting and it's history, even if most of it would be
tacos and wrestling.
Maybe
that's going a bit far, but it's a start.
Instead,
we got an endless supply of internet memes. When grumpy cat in a
sombrero is the best you can do in terms of a joke, that's when
problems start to rise. After awhile, seeing refrences to Megaman,
Legend of Zelda, Castle Crashers, and the O RLY owl, I was beginning
to wonder whether these were sincere shout-outs or no one at Drinkbox Studios can
come up with any jokes. As a result, I began to wonder which of the
humor was genuine and which of it was capable of falling under
plagiarism. Other games do this as well: Scott Pilgrim vs the World;
Borderlands; Duke Nukem Forever; Jetpack Joyride; just to name a few.
It's gotten to the point where it's not even cute anymore and makes
me feel like all of the creators are a bunch of monkeys that browse
4chan in hopes of finding funny images.
A
hive of scum and villainy
As
a result, it all feels dated and out of place, lacking any form of
cohesion to the overall setting and narrative.
This
made me take a look at other games, I thought were funny or at the
very least funnier than what I mentioned. What I came up with, were a
variety of games that used different techniques to get their jokes
across. One of the best examples was Portal 2, and the “cake is a
lie” is not one of these. In all honesty, most of the humor of the
game comes from being trapped with a psychotic individual that wants
you dead all the while passively aggressively threatening you.
Funny
and Dangerous
Another
excellent example is Paper Mario 2, a simpler title that instead
relied on the ridiculousness of the situations you were placed under
and exaggerated the character's dialogue and actions based around it.
Then
there's this idiot
As
pictured above, Lord Crump is an excellent example of this game's
humor. In all essence, he's an incompetent jackass with little to no
understanding of the depth of the situation and has a tendency to
make things worse. It doesn't make him any less threatening, however,
as he proves constantly that he is a major danger to Mario and his
allies by stealing away the Crystal Stars and standing up to Bowser
of all people. Yet his ridiculous appearance and manner of speaking
create someone that is hard to be taken seriously, adding to the
games humor.
Finally,
the one game I feel did humor perfectly on all accounts was
Psychonauts. What I love the most about this little title is that it
uses the same humor as shows like The Amazing World of Gumball and
Regular Show: taking
abnormal characters and placing them in normal situations, in this
case being a summer camp for psychics. You get characters with
recognizable traits (foreign-exchange kid, preppy kid, the bully,
bully's sidekick, etc.) but they're all given even more varied quirks
with the addition of the setting and overall wackiness of the plot.
Humor
is not an easy thing to write. My attempts at humor have been
lukewarm in the past and I commend anyone that can successfully write
humor of any kind. That being said, please developers, put some
actual fucking effort into your writing. I know that making obscure
references to popular culture is both easy and entertaining, but it's
not what keeps a game's humor lasting and appealing. Just remember
that with wit, you'll keep us laughing forever, but with references,
it'll get old after five minutes.
Think
the difference between this,
And
this shit...
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