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Forums - Gaming - Top 10 Most Overrated Videogame Characters

Squilliam on 26 April 2009
Quickdraw McGraw said:
Squilliam said:

How can you compare a character who by design barely says anything - along the same vein as Gordan Freeman to a character who was created with completely different goals/objectives.

The reason why Gordan Freeman doesn't say much is because its meant to be a representation of yourself and heck even the viewing perspectives are different. In third person games you an entirely different character/player interaction. Halo follows the Half-Life model, the Master Chief didn't even say a single word until Halo 2.

Theres also a reason why Marcus doesn't do much more than grunt, Dom is the one who does all the exposition and stupid "So thats the xxx place we heard about" type comments

Then, by your own omission, they are not good characters. If it is a design choice to make these characters so lifeless, then that is all fine and dandy - but that doesn't make them good characters. I believe the only reason Gordan Freeman is regarded so highly is because he has an interesting background that is actually communicated through the games narrative. Master Chief, unless you read the books (Which, as I discussed earlier, should not be considered), does not enjoy a similar luxury, and the "Action Hero 101" dialogue and space-suit are criminally cliche, it's a shame people defend the concept.

And to clarify, I agree that the perspectives and objectives presented to the player drastically affect the characters personality and overall characterization. However, this doesn't automatically exclude them from this discussion. Master Chief (I don't mean to pick on only him, but he is the most popular) happens to be one of the most recognized icons in gaming today, and in almost every "Best Videogame Character" discussion his name is frequently brought up.
So, yes, he is absolutely overrated, as are Marcus, Sev, Rambo, and whoever else fits that archetype.

Thats not true, it can be considered a very good character trait if you keep your mouth shut.

 



Tease.

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Carl on 26 April 2009

Wait... did quickdraw just call Rambo over rated?

I hope you have an accident involving a porcupine and a tub of lube.



                            

mibuokami on 26 April 2009
Carl2291 said:
mibuokami said:
Carl2291 said:
mibuokami said:
Where the hell is Sephiroth?

How is he over rated?

I'm sorry but I've been surrounded by FF7 fanboy since the PS1 era both in rl and in forum and the only thing a lot of them worship more than mama-boy is Aerith.

 

Okay... so explain how hes over rated then?

As far as villain is concern, he was piss easy to kill in game and has little to no depth, He was the main villain of what is probably the most famous JRPG in the world but as a character he appears 2-dimensional at best, its not until you've played FFVII:CC that he finally gain some character but even then you could probably parot his line without any forethought. The amount of fandom he generates is overrated for what he is.

 




Cheebee on 26 April 2009

Hmm, I actually pretty much agree with that list, except that I think Kratos should be higher up there. :p



Nintendo Network ID: Cheebee   3DS Code: 2320 - 6113 - 9046

 

CAL4M1TY on 26 April 2009

Seriously, this list (i know it's by ign) just seems like it's a shot at the biggest names in gaming. How is masterchief, Kratos, PACMAN overrated? How is donkey kong overrated? No one cares about DK anymore, how does that make him overrated?

In the way this list was designed, Cloud or Sephiroth deserved no. 1 spot. They aren't necessarily overrated, but this list is just taking on the big names in gaming. Pretty sure Masterchief and Kratos are badasses, Pacman is one of the fathers of modern gaming. If you want overrated, pick Mario, Nathan Hale, Marcus Fenix or Link



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Carl on 26 April 2009
mibuokami said:
Carl2291 said:
mibuokami said:
Carl2291 said:
mibuokami said:
Where the hell is Sephiroth?

How is he over rated?

I'm sorry but I've been surrounded by FF7 fanboy since the PS1 era both in rl and in forum and the only thing a lot of them worship more than mama-boy is Aerith.

 

Okay... so explain how hes over rated then?

As far as villain is concern, he was piss easy to kill in game and has little to no depth, He was the main villain of what is probably the most famous JRPG in the world but as a character he appears 2-dimensional at best, its not until you've played FFVII:CC that he finally gain some character but even then you could probably parot his line without any forethought. The amount of fandom he generates is overrated for what he is.

 

So... he should be on the list because hes easy to kill... and because he has "no depth". These excuses are laughable.

1. Hes only easy to kill if you power through the game. An average player would find the fights against him REALLY hard. he only gets easy if you power level and have high level Materia, which takes a lot of time to achieve.

2. He has plenty of depth, a big part of FF7 is about him. And also as you mension, hes in CC too... which builds on his character plenty, more so than a LOT of other characters in gaming.

Better excuses?



                            

mibuokami on 26 April 2009
Carl2291 said:
mibuokami said:
Carl2291 said:
mibuokami said:
Carl2291 said:
mibuokami said:
Where the hell is Sephiroth?

How is he over rated?

I'm sorry but I've been surrounded by FF7 fanboy since the PS1 era both in rl and in forum and the only thing a lot of them worship more than mama-boy is Aerith.

 

Okay... so explain how hes over rated then?

As far as villain is concern, he was piss easy to kill in game and has little to no depth, He was the main villain of what is probably the most famous JRPG in the world but as a character he appears 2-dimensional at best, its not until you've played FFVII:CC that he finally gain some character but even then you could probably parot his line without any forethought. The amount of fandom he generates is overrated for what he is.

 

So... he should be on the list because hes easy to kill... and because he has "no depth". These excuses are laughable.

1. Hes only easy to kill if you power through the game. An average player would find the fights against him REALLY hard. he only gets easy if you power level and have high level Materia, which takes a lot of time to achieve.

2. He has plenty of depth, a big part of FF7 is about him. And also as you mension, hes in CC too... which builds on his character plenty, more so than a LOT of other characters in gaming.

Better excuses?

Not excuses, just opinions, mine opinion. which I shared because you asked.

I did not power level and I find him fairly easy to deal with end game, nor do I ascribe to popularity = overrated. But with the description and characters on the list already, he'd fit right at home.

(And yes as a personal opinion I think Sephiroth is plain vanilla villain - is there a problem with that?)

 




Carl on 26 April 2009

Opinion... how that word is suddenly brought up a lot when people are proved wrong.

Okay, if thats your "opinion" i suppose i cant argue with it.
But the point still stands, i know people who have had trouble with Safer and even Bizzaro Sephiroth. And he has a lot of depth in his character + backstory.



                            

mibuokami on 26 April 2009
Carl2291 said:
Opinion... how that word is suddenly brought up a lot when people are proved wrong.

Okay, if thats your "opinion" i suppose i cant argue with it.
But the point still stands, i know people who have had trouble with Safer and even Bizzaro Sephiroth. And he has a lot of depth in his character + backstory.

Good God, what else do you want me to say? This entire list is someone's freakin opinion.

edit: Lets get over this again:

Me: Seph is missing from list

You: Why should he be in the list?

Me: No character depth, easy to kill

You: No he is hard to kill and has lots of character

Bold = your opinion. (I like how I'm automatically wrong because disagree with you)




Khuutra on 26 April 2009
Quickdraw McGraw said:
Squilliam said:

How can you compare a character who by design barely says anything - along the same vein as Gordan Freeman to a character who was created with completely different goals/objectives.

The reason why Gordan Freeman doesn't say much is because its meant to be a representation of yourself and heck even the viewing perspectives are different. In third person games you an entirely different character/player interaction. Halo follows the Half-Life model, the Master Chief didn't even say a single word until Halo 2.

Theres also a reason why Marcus doesn't do much more than grunt, Dom is the one who does all the exposition and stupid "So thats the xxx place we heard about" type comments

Then, by your own omission, they are not good characters. If it is a design choice to make these characters so lifeless, then that is all fine and dandy - but that doesn't make them good characters. I believe the only reason Gordan Freeman is regarded so highly is because he has an interesting background that is actually communicated through the games narrative. Master Chief, unless you read the books (Which, as I discussed earlier, should not be considered), does not enjoy a similar luxury, and the "Action Hero 101" dialogue and space-suit are criminally cliche, it's a shame people defend the concept.

And to clarify, I agree that the perspectives and objectives presented to the player drastically affect the characters personality and overall characterization. However, this doesn't automatically exclude them from this discussion. Master Chief (I don't mean to pick on only him, but he is the most popular) happens to be one of the most recognized icons in gaming today, and in almost every "Best Videogame Character" discussion his name is frequently brought up.
So, yes, he is absolutely overrated, as are Marcus, Sev, Rambo, and whoever else fits that archetype.

No sir. Wrong.

You will take note that Wander is similarly silent but he is oneo f th best characters in the history of the medium. It's just a different method of characterization.

No, I am not comparing Gordon Freeman and Master Chief to Wander - just saying that that method of determination is flawed.