You know, when you play a game a lot, and realize that you have a lot in common, and you want to take the game a step further? I do.
That's me and Rez.
Back in 2002, Rez and I had something special. I've always been a rhythm game junkie. When I heard about Rez, I knew there was something to be had. I bought it for the Playstation 2, and there was magic. Rez and I had a great time together.
Rez was a masterpiece, a game I proudly displayed on my shelf.
*Sigh*
Lately, I've been hearing that Rez is hanging out with the wrong crowd. It's fallen into the hands of some stoners who abuse it. I can't do anything about it.
Imagine a group people in a museum talking about
Guernica. You love the painting; it's bizarre, it's surreal, but it's still quite an emotional experience. Then, you hear an ignorant young man come along and say "Dude, that shit looks awesome when I'm stoned out my ass". That's how Rez is today.
And, quite frankly, I'm not happy about it.
Rez is a work of art. It is a game where every facet of the game increases the immersion. Mizuguchi made sure that every aspect, from the stylized "coded" graphics to the pulsating trance soundtrack enhanced your experience as you shot targets in sync to the kick of the bass.
According to the kids who were only recently introduced to this game, however,
it sucks unless you're high. The visuals have no worth on their own whatsoever, and the gameplay is easy enough for you to go through the game without sobriety. The fact that people think one of my favorite games of all time is better when you're high leaves a terrible taste in my mouth.
As much as I'd hate to admit, I can understand this rationality when it's pointed at Space Giraffe, which goes out of it's way to obscure your vision as you go through the game. But Rez? Come on. This game is pure unadulterated sex, why enhance (Read: lose) the full experience of something like this?
Ugh.
(In before Jim Sterling provides a simple, yet insulting counterpoint) 
Copyright 2008 Agent Chieftain's blog
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invite to meetup+play
I die a little each time a game is referenced in pop culture or in other media forms just because it's cool.
Also, that Warfare match with the bots we played earlier tonight made me want to stab myself in the balls.
@MrSadistic
Yeah, sorry about that. The bots in UTIII suck shit, so whenever I have to play a game with them (To test out my new skin) I give myself a heavy disadvantage. I wasn't really expecting the game to fill up.
I heard they will rerelease the game with a mystery drug. You inject/snort/smoke it and hope for the best.
Well, it's not surprising, because it surely is a great game to do stoned. However, if someone can't understand that it stands on its own artistic merit, they might as well just go watch a trippy screensaver.
It's cool, I enjoy any game-type form and mutator. It's just those bots really kicked my ass and I felt ashamed. Anytime I need to refresh I just do a bot match on the Godlike difficulty.
I felt better after playing through Morbias with bots and the timer set to 30 minutes with the frag count off. Nothing like winning a match with over 300 kills.
Eh I don't do any types of drugs anyway, if a game can't be good without an untold outside force then fuck it. If, like you say, it can stand on it's own artistic merit, then more power to it, that's how games are SUPPOSE to be made.
oh man no way feck that
Late Night Rage title will be stolen in
5
4
3
2
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Late Night Streets of Rage
Rez is a beautiful game and I love it a LOT, much like you sir, I think it is one of the funnest and most beautiful looking games out. RezHD simply accentuated the amazing graphics and superb gameplay.
But although I appreciate my beloved video games recognize them for their artistic merits, I prefer playing most games while I am stoned. It accentuates colors, sounds, animation, reactions, immersion, characters and gameplay. It makes the game pop out at you and grab your face.
I'm not saying that games are better under the influence, but I know I much prefer playing them while I am.
While playing Bioshock while tripping on acid, it was like I was in the city of Rapture, lurking around, thieving from corpses. It was unlike any experience I have ever had with a video game. Did that make it better? Not exactly. It was a completely different experience, but I loved the game either way.
Just saying, you can enjoy games on both levels. But ignorant stoners will always say everything is better while stoned.
My 2 cents
is this a case of "my obscure band is popular now so i don't like them anymore" ??? I THINK SO
It's a great game on it's own yes. However I do have to say that it's even better when you're tripping the rift of reality and your third eye is plastered open thanks to a hefty does of mushrooms.
@kawitchate
Rez is popular?
I'm with Necros here. It IS enhanced when stoned, but I certainly enjoy the game when I'm sober. I play it sometimes, when there's nothing else to do. I love the game.
I just made a post and it didn't go through, just testing this.
Rez is such an odd and abstract game that those who aren\'t into that kind of stuff immediately dismiss it as a game \'for stoners\'. I can see where they are coming from, what with the trippy visuals and all, but they are a little misguided. If you really think it is necessary to be high while playing it then abstract games/movies/art are probably just not your bag.
As for those who think it enhances the experience, I think Rez is a game that certainly lends itself to playing while under the influence and if you really feel that way then I would bet you feel the same about any game to some degree.
I think I played it high once or something, and it was cool and all and gave me a slightly different perspective on the things happening in the game, but I enjoyed it just as much, if not more when I was straight sober with a clear head. It was just such an intense experience that kept building and building and I was sucked right into the world. I think if I was high and without the full use of all my faculties I might have lost out a bit on the richness of the experience and summed it all up with a \"whoa, cool\".
I had a TL;DR version but it won't let me post it. :(
I vaguely remember renting Rez once but it was too hard and I never played it again.