TNMFTW *spoilers*

[Johnny Angel]

I'm halfway through Tactics, and I keep having NPCs die off spouting about what a big mistake I'm making and do I think I could fight off "The New Menace from the West"?

First of all, I just kicked your ass. If I can't take "The New Menace from the West", what does that tell you about your chances?

Second, I'll buy one NPC choking out "The New Menace from the West" with his dying breath. But when four of them in a row use this awkward phrase, it reeks of pedantic contrivance to withold information. Now I've got enough clues that I know this "The New Menace from the West" is a bunch of zombie cyborgs or something -- big goddamn suprise -- it just looks stupid that four different boss NPCs in a row will say, "The New Menace from the West" instead of "The Zombie Cyborgs".

It's alright to contrive to withold information to create suspense. It's not alright to make it embarrasingly obvious that you're contriving to withold information to create suspense. If multiple characters insist on using the same vague, awkward phrasing instead of spitting out "zombie cyborgs" while they are dying, it's embarrasingly obvious contrivance.

 

[Guest]

Oh man, I completely agree. You have no idea how much I dreaded coming back from each mission and hearing, "We found something new to fight...zombie cyborgs. Go git 'em cowyboy." I was actually enjoying the small sembelance of a plot until it turned into an enormous Terminator rip-off. The robotic arm in mission 3 was enough to make me groan in disgust.

When I actually hit the robots, I ended up not playing the game for nearly a week. lol.

And I like how everyone seems to have encountered this "new threat to the west" except you.

Maybe excessive melodrama is a side effect of radiation? x_X