Topic: Push Square Game Club Spooktacular: Resident Evil 4

I just finished the main story and have gone back to read the more spoilerific comments now, I avoided most of them particularly the ones about bullying as I kind of wanted to make my own mind up on that. It certainly seems that all aspects of the game have divided opinions and I am sure mine will be no different!

I don't know why the game didn't click with me for the first few chapters. It could be the poor performance I experienced, the motion controls, maybe the pacing just dragged a bit. Or it could have been me, I was really burned out by the last game I played so I wasnt really up for playing games this week and also I've been feeling the need to do something productive in my day times such as exercise which I often procrastinate on for ages and do it very late which doesn't leave much time for gaming.

I had a much better time with the second "half" of the game this evening but unfortunately I don't know why for certain! I had both a productive day (9 or so mile walk) but also felt like the pacing of the game picked up and the mechanics became less tedious. So it's that classic "it's not you, it's me" thing except that I am not entirely sure that it is!

My problem with the motion controls is that it's a two handed affair. If I could hold the DS4 in any other way and have a more natural "pointer" than the light bar, then it would have been way better. Even the sideways spray can position from Infamous: Second Son would have been more appropriate for the intricacies of the painting in this game. (I thought it was dumb in the otherwise excellent Second Son because you just spray a predefined tag.) Either way, I ended up using the right stick exclusively just so I could progress through the game.

I think as some others have mentioned, it may have been better to combine both styles of play from the get go. It would just add more variety. Part 1 is stealth, painting and exploration, part 2 is combat and different kinds of exploration. It just would have broken it up a bit more and stopped part 1 from becoming tedious and part 2 from becoming too action oriented.

The bullying one is a tricky one as discussed by @Kidfried @LieutenantFatman @Th3solution and @RogerRoger which is why I didn't read your comments before finishing the game. My immediate thought of the backstory and ultimate redemption of the bullies was a positive one. I did certainly think that in the worse bullies at school, this sort of beleaguered upbringing was often the cause. I did also immediately think of workplace bullying too and how while this can at least explain the behaviour in children that it absolutely cannot justify it in adults. I've been on all sides of the fence of this in my life, I've been treated very (very) poorly by both the most troubled individuals and also picked on by the "group" and I've also been part of the "group" that's picked on others. You can call it a vicious cycle or you can just call it what it was, which was bad behaviour and bad form on my part. So I definitely see where you are coming from Kidfried when you talk about the ringers in the group that don't really have the tragic backstory.

I don't think conformity is cool, especially as an adult. I value differences of (actual) opinion massively. But I also know the value of having friends. I can sit here and be into my comic books and video games, be a total movie and TV nerd etc and I don't feel like I have to give any of that up to actually have friends. There's an economy to it, hobbies give you something that you need and social interaction gives you something else. So while I may spend an evening not speaking about or thinking about Captain America's pyjamas or Batman's jockstrap, I'll satisfy another itch I might have by having a drink down the pub with friends. Sometimes you can just let go of your differences and enjoy the time you have together now before you go to war with your opinions another day.

It's funny that I have experienced two facets to this. My worse enemies have become best friends and my best friends have become worse enemies. All of it has been learning experience as to where my limits for various things are. I've let go of a lot of my sensitivity and learned to take a joke which is very rewarding but at the same time I will try to speak up if a joke goes too far, which has occasionally resulted in broken friendships. But if someone can't respect your limits then I guess they aren't a true friend. Likewise, friends who enjoy it will receive more banter from myself than a friend who has clearly stated that their limit for that sort of thing is much lower than others. You just kind of treat people how they want to be treated and unfortunately this is something that most people don't properly understand until they are an adult (if they even do then). It's true there are very mature people that are like that from a younger age but my experience with that at school was limited.

Having said all that, even with some of the total BS I put up with school, I wouldn't change it for the world. I look back at it very fondly even if it is through the rose tinted spectacles of time and in terms of the respect I eventually learned for others as well as stamping out any BS before it becomes a problem, it has shaped who I am today. Unfortunately some of the worse aspects of this learning came when I was an adult. About ten years ago a "friend" very seriously threatened to kill me, which meant I was too afraid to leave the house for about 3 years. Even when I did, if I even thought I saw or heard this guy then I would break down into a panic attack. Luckily Ive not seen him since though and generally that mind state has faded over the last decade even if it doesn't truly ever go away.

My main experience of work place bullying was a manager who would basically just pick on me, be nice to me, pick on me, be nice again and so forth. Totally inapropriate for the work place and it was worse working under him because you always felt like your job was in peril should you speak up. It was both words and physical. I can take and laugh at someone saying something like "oi (my name) ya fat c***" but this guy would really dig into my lifestyle choices and pick everything apart, not to mention just throwing things at me and hitting me. Basically it was the abuse of power that I had a problem with, the feeling of helplessness. Frankly, when my contract at that place was up, I was completely done with working in any kind of corporate environment, anywhere where you would have to put up with or even feign sucking up to those who are deemed above you. My perception of it was that it was just pathetic way of living and not for me.

More recently, I had to put up with an actual friend becoming increasingly nasty to me and my partner. I understand why he was like that, we met through him so there was a sense of jealousy at our relationship even if it wasn't a romantic jealousy. But after telling him to stop and it not stopping, I just had to end it with him. It was hard and it sucked but there is a limit that needs to be respected by all parties. We shared friends too so it was even worse in that respect and affected them poorly. Obviously there's no totally removing yourself from that situation so our relationship has mended to the point of politeness and civility which is probably about as far as it will go.

So yeah what was my point lol, apologies for that emotional vomit through my life 😅. My point was that everybody has limits and your limit with one person will be different to your limit with another which is why you treat different people differently and you are willing to accept insults jovially from one person but become all frosty to the same insults from another. I did have perhaps a naive optimism from the end of this game but honestly, the kids experience being friends with the group that bullied him could go either way after the end of this story. It could go balls up and they go their separate ways or it could be marvelous and they could become really tight. The key thing is that they took their first step to a path of redemption and conciliation by letting go of the negative aspects of their previous status quo and hopefully move toward something that is more rewarding for all involved. I mean it might not work out but that's life, at least they are going to give it a try. So no, bullying is not OK but embracing the situation (as gut wrenchingly hard as it is) can teach both the bully something and the victim something and that's the general takeaway that I got from this story. Of course you don't have to go that way in real life and there is absolutely nothing wrong with cutting all ties with a bully and sometimes/mostly it has to be done. It really depends on the person and again, such is life with all its contradictions, an olive branch you may be willing to accept from one person for whatever reason you may decline from another.

It's interesting that you mentioned about friends crossing that line and having to make the difficult choice to part ways, I had to do that recently myself. I was part of a group where one individual kept spreading a lot of misinformation and denialism about a particular type of hate crime and stating that it wasn't important. After trying to talk some sense into her on several occasions in the friendlist way possible, it got to the point where I just had to leave the group. Must admit, I did lose a lot of sleep over that. I didn't create any drama, I just left after challenging the behaviour one last time, so I think most people in the group just pretended nothing had happened. My mental health really did take a downward spiral, I think I've come to terms with it now but it was hard.
Really sorry to hear you felt afraid to leave your house for so long, that sounds horrendous, that must have made life really difficult.