Image from Resume PlayDante's Inferno hits my soul in a very weird spot. I don't even care about actually playing any of the games in the same category of Dante's Inferno, because it's just not my thing. From everything I've heard about its gameplay, it plays competently. However, I've been thinking about this game for quite a bit over the last year because I absolutely hate the thinking behind this game.
If there was a game that you could say a marketing team had too much control in making, it's this one. In my head, I think the thought process behind the game went down like this:
Marketer A: "Hey, our sales are down. How can we make more money?"
Marketer B: "How about if we make a game like God of War? Those games sell like crazy, and if we make one just like it, we'll sell like crazy too!"
Marketer A: "Genius! Ok, where do we start?"
Marketer B: "Um...We need something like Greek mythology but not exactly Greek mythology."
Marketer A: *goes on Google* "How about the Divine Comedy and Dante's Inferno?"
Marketer B: "Awesome! Does he fight in it?"
Marketer A: "Not really. But maybe in our version, Dante can be a warrior. And he can carry around a giant scythe that works like the God of War chain-blade thing! And he'll fight through the seven layers of Hell, named after each sin."
Marketer B: "You're on a roll! But I just wanted to say one thing. This has to sell to teenage males, because our demographic research show that they spend the most money on these types of games."
Marketer B: "Ok, this is just a thought. How about, in the Lust level, we have giant demon women and when you cut off their nipples, spiders come out. And they have 8-foot vaginas that you have to grab and throw into other 8-foot vaginas?"
Marketer A: "That's what the kids would call, "Cool.""
Marketer B: "Isn't "cool" an old expression by now? Why don't you find the new word for cool on that Urban Dictionary thing."
Pardon me for being pessimistic, and maybe a bit condescending towards marketers (even though I've worked in both advertising and marketing), but this game is creatively bankrupt and conceptually a blatant cash-grab first and a game second. I'm not a communist, I understand that people make games to make money, and I understand that not every game needs to push the medium forward, but how can you not see what Dante's Inferno is at its core? Even the great reviews for this game call it a rip-off of God of War.
Maybe the game plays just fine, and if you enjoy it, great. But my sentiments against the product's existence are so strong that I already feel insulted as a gamer from knowing this product is available now and will probably sell well. If there's any statement I can make to show my displeasure, it's to not buy the game and not talk about. I won't be buying Dante's Inferno, and I'll stop talking about it...now.
If there was a game that you could say a marketing team had too much control in making, it's this one. In my head, I think the thought process behind the game went down like this:
Marketer A: "Hey, our sales are down. How can we make more money?"
Marketer B: "How about if we make a game like God of War? Those games sell like crazy, and if we make one just like it, we'll sell like crazy too!"
Marketer A: "Genius! Ok, where do we start?"
Marketer B: "Um...We need something like Greek mythology but not exactly Greek mythology."
Marketer A: *goes on Google* "How about the Divine Comedy and Dante's Inferno?"
Marketer B: "Awesome! Does he fight in it?"
Marketer A: "Not really. But maybe in our version, Dante can be a warrior. And he can carry around a giant scythe that works like the God of War chain-blade thing! And he'll fight through the seven layers of Hell, named after each sin."
Marketer B: "You're on a roll! But I just wanted to say one thing. This has to sell to teenage males, because our demographic research show that they spend the most money on these types of games."
Marketer B: "Ok, this is just a thought. How about, in the Lust level, we have giant demon women and when you cut off their nipples, spiders come out. And they have 8-foot vaginas that you have to grab and throw into other 8-foot vaginas?"
Marketer A: "That's what the kids would call, "Cool.""
Marketer B: "Isn't "cool" an old expression by now? Why don't you find the new word for cool on that Urban Dictionary thing."
Pardon me for being pessimistic, and maybe a bit condescending towards marketers (even though I've worked in both advertising and marketing), but this game is creatively bankrupt and conceptually a blatant cash-grab first and a game second. I'm not a communist, I understand that people make games to make money, and I understand that not every game needs to push the medium forward, but how can you not see what Dante's Inferno is at its core? Even the great reviews for this game call it a rip-off of God of War.
Maybe the game plays just fine, and if you enjoy it, great. But my sentiments against the product's existence are so strong that I already feel insulted as a gamer from knowing this product is available now and will probably sell well. If there's any statement I can make to show my displeasure, it's to not buy the game and not talk about. I won't be buying Dante's Inferno, and I'll stop talking about it...now.