Ilosar said:
You quoted my damn post, and then you said ''you guys'' which isin't exactly precise. It's not my fault you can't write clearly and come across as socially inept even on the internet.
I also like how my opinion is 'gibberish'' and verifiable facts about the game are ''utterly false''. Your posts are entertaining if nothing else.
And I followed up that post with a response directed at you, then followed that with a new paragraph that expressed succinctly who I was moving on to. Did I have to make some kind of visible barrier to denote that? No. Your lack of reading comprehension does not equate to my lack of writing clarity.
Verifiable facts indeed. The facts CONTRADICT your points, that's why I said your "opinion" was complete gibberish. Fine, you wanted more, you got more.
Here's your entertainment (at your expense).
- - - - -[Visual Divide #1]- - - - -
"Evil religion, complete with creepy iconography and armies of faceless mooks, has overtaken mankind because everyone being turned into ravenous monsters is such an incredibly awesome prospect."
You equated ALL Unitologists (including Danik) and their beliefs to Mercer and his beliefs, which is simply and utterly wrong. Unintentional? Well that's what you did. You claimed that they ACTIVELY believe that the Necromorphs are their salvation, when this is entirely not the case. Even in
Dead Space- the ONLY game we encounter this, in the form of Challus Mercer -it's made abundantly clear, again and again, that Mercer is the ONLY Unitologist who sees the Necromorphs as his religion's promise. His fellow Unitologists are repeatedly displayed to not share this in the slightest. Verifiable. Examples, the
Dead Space comic, logs found in
Dead Space,
Dead Space: Downfall. All the rest, besides Kyne, see the Necromorphs as just some hostile alien lifeform that coincidentally inhabited Aegis VII, where their precious Marker was located. Verifiable- the
Dead Space comic, logs found in
Dead Space,
Dead Space: Downfall. They REFUSED to believe that the two were in any ways related. Those few who suggested that the Marker be left behind because it "gave them the creeps", or directly or indirectly implied that the Marker was to blame for the colony going to hell, were treated with utter admonishment from the Unitologists, because they COULDN'T ACCEPT that the Marker was anything but Divine, and the notion that the Marker had ANYTHING to do with Necromorphs was utter blasphemy, to them. Example, Captain Matthius, in all of his depictions. When Mercer tried to share his new beliefs that the Marker's plan was for them to "join" the Necromorphs, they spurned him and considered him a lunatic. Verifiable,
Dead Space Chapter 10. Kyne was the only Unitologist (that we're aware of) who saw the Necromorphs, and readily accepted (but not before considerable research) that they were the biproduct of the Marker, and his reaction to this was anything BUT welcoming with open arms. He stated, quote, "The Church is WRONG!" and recruits Isaac to try and stop the Necromorph outbreak by returning the Marker to the planet and pacifying the Hivemind.
This trend of Unitologists staying in denial over the correlation between the Markers and Necromorphs continues in
Dead Space 2 and
Dead Space (mobile). When Daina expresses at the end of
Dead Space 2 Chapter 5 that her church intends to use Isaac to, quote, "Spread glorious convergence to the entire galaxy", this is in reference to Unitology's belief in their depiction of the afterlife, not ACTUAL Convergence, as we discover it to be in
Dead Space 2 and
Dead Space 3. Her behavior while guiding Isaac and the Unitologists who come up against the Necromorphs in both games (including the exceedingly zealous Inner Circle- Danik's army) consistently treat them as a scourge.
In the case of the Inner Circle, even its members cannot accept that the "blessing" of the Markers is, in fact, the Necrormophs. Verfiable- Unitologist Artifacts found in
Dead Space 3 and Danik's own comments throughout the same game. Its members respond to the horrors of each and every Necromorph outbreak that they unleash as either total proof or at the very least a possibility that Unitology is wrong. In several instances, Unitologists have to reason that the deaths shouldn't be worried over, because EVERYONE will be reborn, if they succeed in their goal, not just the faithful. (This is in stark contrast with their religion up until this point, which "demands a tithing" to get reborn, and this is because they had to rationalize a reason for why they could be correct in doing what they were doing, despite all the evidence that they were completely mistaken.) Even Danik has no such illusions that becoming a Necromorph is his and everyone's gift from the Markers. He repeatedly expresses that his twisted rationalization (although he doesn't perceive it as twisted) is that the Necromorphs are the result of mankind "tampering" with the Markers. Verfiable- Unitologist Artifacts found throughout
Dead Space 3. Danik refers to the Red Markers as, quote, "aberrations - these copeis", and blames the Necromorphs they spawn on humanity having tread on God's domain. He expresses at every opportunity that he truly believes that the Black Marker had no such defects (though this is false-
Dead Space: Martyr) and that succeeding in his goal will bring about the enlightenment of mankind. He doesn't equate the Necromorphs with this, otherwise, he would have commanded his army to sacrifice themselves to them. Even when faced with the facts of what his actions will bring about, by Isaac (
Dead Space 3, Chapter 17) he refuses to accept this, and claims that Isaac simply "fears what he doesn't understand" and again shortly before the finale.
So, we clearly see the Unitologists are not nearly as absurd as you offhandedly portrayed them. They're certainly MEANT to come off as exceedingly stupid, to players, because we have the benefit of knowing things that they- and even Isaac -are not aware of.
- - - - -[Visual Divide #2]- - - - -
"
'Romance'' story nobody gives a fuck about (talking of Ellie here)."
This is ENTIRELY your opinion, and yours alone. I didn't call this "false", so forgive the ambiguity of it being lumped up with the rest in my previous response. It's not false, it's just not true. You don't care, but I and many other fans sure do. Granted, it directly caused SEVERAL of the game's "WHAT ARE YOU DOING???" cutscene moments (which were a glaring flaw of the game, but not unforgivable) and it could have certainly be portrayed better. But the relationship between Isaac and Ellie was explored very well. They never came off as childish, or illogical, and the love triangle felt natural. "The scene" in Chapter 15 was an especially powerful moment in the game. It was infuriating to watch the jealous boyfriend be a jealous boyfriend, sure, but this is no different than watching the Unitologists march to their own destruction. We see things from our perspective as the player, not from the character's perspectives. With the benefit of hindsight, even the irrational behavior exhibited by Captain Norton can appear to make perfect sense, in his emotionally-stressed perspective.
"
Almost every single NPC that's not Isaac or the sane ally du jour is trying their best to get killed by being as stupid as humanly possible."
Kinda follows the same logic as the above point, hence the lack of a third "Divide". Again, they look stupid from our perspective as the player, but this is no different than watching any horror, suspense, or thriller flick, and screaming at the screen, "HE'S RIGHT BEHIND YOU, YOU DUMB BITCH!!!" The character's don't have the benefit of the omnipresence as the viewers/players do, so unless we place ourselves in their shoes, we can't claim that they're being "as stupid as humanly possible". Norton's behavior, as mentioned above, made perfect sense to him, but he was strained because of the situation. Even the brief character Rosen expresses his rational- not too unlike Norton's -to Isaac, quote "Some of us just wanna go home." (
Dead Space 3, Chapter 7)
The death of the 2 "minor characters" aboard Norton's ship were NOT the result of any form of mental deficiency. One gets taken out by an explosion, the other gets partially decapitated by a piece of debris. Neither of them could have anticipated this. The "more important characters" suffer no bizarre deaths as a result of incompetence, either. One plays an uplifting role as they converse with Isaac throughout the opening Chapters of the game, and ultimately because of an injury, decides to sacrifice for the benefit of the group. The other succumbs to a moment of panic from a phobia, ultimately leaving them vulnerable to a Necromorph. The latter instance FEELS like another "WHAT ARE YOU DOING???" moment, but this is simply the "player knows what's coming" instance, yet again; not the actual character being stupid. It's like blaming the black characters in 80s films for dying so early. It's not their fault they were part of the establishment of a stereotype that the black guy always dies first.
- - - - -[Visual Divide #3]- - - - -
"
A lone engineer scared out of his mind kills a shipload of Necromorphs, but an entire craft of trained soldiers with Stasis modules gets owned by one. basic. space. zombie."
This is what made me lose any respect for the integrity of your response. This is just blatant stupidity. You described a TYPICAL "zombie movie scenario", and derided it for being the result of "one. basic. space. zombie." Yeah, society gets destroyed overnight by the apocalyptic plague of [insert whatever] but a few very resourceful protagonists make it out against all odds, despite everyone else failing to do so. This is the "zombie plot model", so why are you even complaining about it? Several times throughout the series, it's openly stated "a single [one] can take out an entire..." and they showed this to be the case. In
Dead Space: Aftermath, it was a SINGLE Necromorph that brought down the USG O'Bannon. In
Dead Space it was 2 scientists who became infected with the recombinant DNA they were experimenting on, and the escape of one that resulted in the loss of the entire Aegis VII Marker labs. In
Dead Space: Downfall, it was a single Infector that snuck aboard the USG Ishimura that led to the Planet Cracker becoming overrun. This is standard "zombie pandemic spreads" scenario stuff, so why are its flaws exclusive to
Dead Space and not the genre as a whole?
- - - - -[Visual Divide #4]- - - - -
"
Coming to terms with your inner demons (via shooting the crap out of them)... apparently blows up the ominous all-purpose evil plot device somehow."
You clearly misinterpreted the events of
Dead Space 2's finale, but you've misinterpreted the entire series thus far (from what I can tell) so this is to be expected. For starters, the final battle was NOT "coming to terms with your inner demons (via shooting the crap out of them)" at all. Isaac had come to terms with his inner demons much earlier, when "Nicole" encountered him with open hostility for the last time, questioning him what she meant to him. Just as Stross was unable to face the truth that he had murdered his wife and child and ultimately snapped, resulting in his death (thus failing the Marker's objective), when Isaac admitted that he felt guilty for Nicole's death because he "made her go" to the Ishimura, and that he couldn't let her go, because she was everything to him, "Nicole" accepted this response, and began helping guide Isaac, rather than haunting him any further. This was the moment Isaac came to terms with his inner demons, and no shooting was involved. Of course, it was likely more to do with the Golden Marker changing its tactics of manipulating Isaac, after it witnessed the failure of its harassing methods on Stross, rather than a genuine "Step 3: Acceptance" as "Nicole" claimed.
The actual final confrontation that ended the game, on the other hand, was NOT Isaac "coming to terms with
his inner demons (via shooting the crap out them)". This was Isaac LITERALLY battling the Marker, itself. Throughout the series, it has been stated with clarity, time and time again, that part of the Markers' mystique is that for an object that can be naturally made, they are unnaturally resilient to any and all damage. It took dropping a "continent" on one simply to shatter it (
Dead Space), and it took throwing one such fragment into a nuclear fusion reactor core to destroy it (
Dead Space: Aftermath). All verifiable facts.
For all intents and purposes, Markers are "indestructible", so it was a big deal that Isaac was able to destroy one, on his own. This wasn't done by shooting at it, although from his mental battle with the Marker, it appeared to players (and perhaps Isaac, as well) that he had to shoot at the shadowy images attacking him, "Nicole", and at the "Heart of the Marker" to stop it. This was Isaac literally breaking its control over him, and the effects of this effort are plainly visible in
Dead Space 3. He no longer suffers from his dementia-induced hallucinations, and Marker's no longer have an effect on him (unlike Carver, who begins to hallucinate shortly after coming within proximity of a single Black Marker), although his mind is permanently altered. He can read and write Marker script, and is more sensitive to Marker signals, witnessing "visions" as a result of them, but these are Isaac literally translating the psychic information with perfect clarity, not coming under their manipulative influence. But his battle with the Golden Marker was more than freeing his mind of its control; it was disassembling the Marker, itself. Because the Markers are such phenomenal objects of unfathomable power and resilience, entirely due to the signals they are receiving, by Isaac breaking apart the MARKER'S "mental capacity", he effectively rendered it an inert, harmless object. Ironically, what actually destroys Markers was sicking the very same methods against them that they used to manipulate human beings in the first place, into creating more of them, and supplanting dead bodies to allow more Necromorph outbreaks to spread.
The ending is even left with ambiguity (just as with
Dead Space 3's ending) as it's never outright stated if Isaac can CONTROL- or indeed, is even aware of -this "ability" to destroy the Markers. It may have been totally unintentional, but it served his purposes, and benefited him in the long run, so we never see him dwell on that.
- - - - -[Visual Divide #5]- - - - -
[spoiler:eb721ca243]"
A moon is a giant necromorph you kill by flinging Markers at it??"
Just plain wrong about that. Not the "moon is a giant Necromorph" part, obviously, but the notion that Isaac "kill
by flinging Markers at it". How is poking its eyes out killing it? It's not. The battle with the Moon didn't result in the Moon's death, it resulted in Isaac and Carver recovering the activation module of The Machine. It was the activation of that, which led to the Moon being drawn into the planet, and crushed, that killed it. It's unreal that you missed that.
Now part of that complaint was also THAT the Moon was a giant Necromorph, and this crops up very often, which I find curious. How is this such a deplorable thing? As I previously mentioned, Necromorphs are an HOMAGE (not rip-off) of several other sci-fi plagues/aliens, including Xenomorphs, The Flood, The Thing, and Zerg. While the Zerg Overmind wasn't a plot twist, The Flood Gravemind was, so allow me to compare the two.
Both the Gravemind and Moon served IDENTICAL roles in their respective species. Both were assembled by amassing countless tons of dead biomass. Both were collective consciousnesses that psychically controlled their underlings. Both aimed to devour all life in the universe by spreading their contagion. Both manipulate series protagonists to help free them of their imposed confines. There were multiples of both, so neither of them were the true omnipotent controllers of their respective race. Halo (if not the entire franchise) is largely considered one of gaming's storytelling masterpieces, and the manner in which The Flood were introduced (and an unexpected stint of Survival Horror following it) were part of that. The Gravemind rivals only the series' co-protagonist Cortana as the fans' favorite character of the series, because of his personality, which complements (and foreshadows) his sinister intentions. Yet even without his ability to speak, his introduction was neither sudden, nor was there a lack of clues hinting at it, and his role in the story was never one that was questioned like how fans are questioning the role of the Brethren Moons.
Again, the circumstances of the Moon mirrors that of the Gravemind, yet the reception from fans still differs. The Moon was hinted at both in the actual game Dead Space 2 and by developers afterward, and its true nature was insinuated on multiple occasions throughout Dead Space 3 before it was finally revealed, so its revelation was never sudden and unexpected. Although it doesn't have an audible voice, it does communicate just as the Gravemind does (telepathically) with its potential prey, and simply looking back at its subtle manipulation is bone-chilling to think about. The Moon serves as an excellent antagonist for Dead Space; it simply seems that it's not liked nearly as much as its contemporaries, such as the Overmind, because it's never heard speaking, directly, just as Pocahontas was criticized for having animals that couldn't speak. But such a criticism is childish to make.[/spoiler:eb721ca243]
So, there you have it. All of you points, which I'd claimed were "false", proven untrue, and all with the very same verifiable facts that you insisted coincided with your "opinions". Enjoy!
