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So good it's bad

Last posted Sep 17, 2024 at 02:19PM EDT. Added Sep 13, 2024 at 09:14AM EDT
15 posts from 8 users

With things so bad, they're good, you have things that miss the mark so hard that they become something unique and extraordinary that can be enjoyed in a different kind of way. The Room, Zelda CDi, Chargeman Ken!, all things that can be enjoyed in a meta, ironic kind of way despite being technically poor.

You are asking for the inverse, so something that hits the mark so hard that it loses anything that makes it enjoyable, despite high technical quality. Am I understanding you correctly?

Nox Lucis wrote:

With things so bad, they're good, you have things that miss the mark so hard that they become something unique and extraordinary that can be enjoyed in a different kind of way. The Room, Zelda CDi, Chargeman Ken!, all things that can be enjoyed in a meta, ironic kind of way despite being technically poor.

You are asking for the inverse, so something that hits the mark so hard that it loses anything that makes it enjoyable, despite high technical quality. Am I understanding you correctly?

Yes. EXACTLY THIS!

FatmanAss wrote:

Yes. EXACTLY THIS!

I'd say the closest thing to that is your commonplace mainstream slop. Formulaic, high budget productions with big-name actors and familiar IPs which tick all the boxes, and which reliably make back their budget and then some despite having no legacy and minimal cultural impact. The bread and butter of modern Hollywood and Disney. Well made products designed to be consumed and then forgotten.

The only thing I could think to add are obvious Oscar bait films, movies intended to sweep at the award shows. Typically attached with prestige directors, star studded casts, usually competent cinematography, musical scores, etc.

If I had to pick one, The Revenant. It's a beautifully shot film and a stellar performance by Tom Hardy, but I was let down by needless melodramatic fluff that was added. Made it more shallow I guess. It soured the film for me, more so since the "based on a true story" tagline was greatly embellished. Besides the opening, I've never felt the urge to ever watch it again.

Adding to the bit about Oscar bait films, I'll also add some of the worst superhero films/ sci-fi films. Maybe even add 'the Hobbit' trilogy? Mainstream slop as Nox Lucis mentioned.

It's on the opposite end of spectrum of pretentiousness from Oscar Bait, but the sheer greed and creative bankruptcy it represents is pretty bad. There's also a lot of money spent on special effects, big name actors and production values so the issue is rarely that it's shoddily made.

I didn't play Concord, but I watched someone who did and that's exactly what he said. Mechanically it was a solid game, but so painfully generic and bland that people just didn't have an excuse to play it. And I think that goes for a lot of AAA games, especially over the last decade. They look pretty, they have polished game mechanics and controls, but don't offer anything to really make them stand out. Ubisoft games are a good example, I rarely see anyone bringing up Assassin's Creed for anything except controversy nonsense.

Relating to games, then I would say Skyrim. It's a beautifully handcrafted and scenic open world that immediately fill you wanderlust to explore every nook and cranny. But everything about Skyrim is so shallow and I do mean everything. From its narrative, characters, quests, mechanics, and general gameplay. It's as wide as an ocean, but deep as a pond.

martinprince12345 wrote:

I feel like that's been a regular criticism aimed at Bethesda games in general

You're right, I think it's why Starfield has gotten so much shit. You take away the only thing Bethesda is competent at and you're left with nothing but absolute mediocrity and nothing to mask it with. The decision to go with procedural generated worlds was a irrevocable mistake. Not even the modding community can salvage Starfield's core issue, exploration is boring. I never liked Skyrim, but I'll admit it's neat to walk around in.

Maybe overly technical artists like Yngwie Malmsteen, Necrophagist, Meshuggah or Dream Theater whose music sounds impressive but it's so mechanical and soulless it becomes boring.

GeneHunt wrote:

Maybe overly technical artists like Yngwie Malmsteen, Necrophagist, Meshuggah or Dream Theater whose music sounds impressive but it's so mechanical and soulless it becomes boring.

>Dream Theater
Lol, only reason I know for them because someone claims Ride the Lighting song from Fortnite: Save the World sounds like one of their songs "Pull Me Under".

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