I don't get it.
Gitaroo Man is okay. Those are the strongest feelings I can muster towards it.
I'm left grasping at what people actually like so much about this for it to have the reputation that it does. I've heard a lot about the story, and the gameplay, and the music, and I'm wondering what it is here that connected with others and didn't with me. It's as if we've all played different games. What I've seen isn't worth much celebration, but that hasn't stopped the party from raging on without me involved. I'm lost. What is it about Gitaroo Man that I've missed?
The gameplay is finicky. Timing windows feel just a little out of sync no matter how much I fiddle with the delay. The Dualshock 2 analog stick was not designed for the precise movements that the game implies you're meant to be doing. Every whammy bar sequence where the line wobbles actually fails if you try to wobble along with it; you just keep holding the stick down through the middle of the the line, and the game automatically compensates and wiggles it for you. The Charge/Attack/Final sequences are an interesting touch, but all they are in effect is the ability to prematurely end a song if you play it well enough. It's still an engaging and difficult enough loop to justify playing through all ten stages, but it's not something that impressed me.
I feel as though any piece of Japanese media with a child character in it will immediately have a legion of fans who give it acclaim as "a story about growing up", even if that doesn't apply in the slightest. I don't mean to vaguepost about any reviewers here — Lord knows I probably am anyway, but I've very purposefully avoided reading anyone else's words on Backloggd about this — but everything I've seen elsewhere online is full of people who can't stop insisting that it's about maturity, or the joy of being a child, or whatever. I don't see it. A loser kid gets powers and goes on an adventure where he comes back a little cooler. You couldn't have a more basic Saturday morning framework if you tried, and this one is as simplistic and boring as a wall painted beige. Gitaroo Man gets unduly hailed as one of the most moving stories in video games solely for the reason that there are two good songs planted right at the end of it.
The soundtrack is...fine, mostly? The Legendary Theme fucking rocks, as does Resurrection, but there are some pulls on here that are just mediocre. Twisted Reality, Born to be Bone, and VOID are the especially goofy-sounding songs. Flyin' to Your Heart has the double dishonor of being the worst track here and being the longest by three entire minutes. If we're being honest, the last two songs in the game are good enough to justify the existence of the entire soundtrack, but they're pulling a lot of weight.
And that's it. There isn't anything left to talk about, and there isn't anything here that I've loved. I don't know. I get the distinct feeling of being stupid. Of missing out. But I really just don't see what everyone else sees in Gitaroo Man. I'm disappointed, but it's probably my own fault. Maybe I just had unrealistic expectations. Everyone else got a pleasant surprise, and I created an unattainable standard in the wake of its reception.
I wish I'd gotten the same experience as everyone who loved this.
Gitaroo Man is okay. Those are the strongest feelings I can muster towards it.
I'm left grasping at what people actually like so much about this for it to have the reputation that it does. I've heard a lot about the story, and the gameplay, and the music, and I'm wondering what it is here that connected with others and didn't with me. It's as if we've all played different games. What I've seen isn't worth much celebration, but that hasn't stopped the party from raging on without me involved. I'm lost. What is it about Gitaroo Man that I've missed?
The gameplay is finicky. Timing windows feel just a little out of sync no matter how much I fiddle with the delay. The Dualshock 2 analog stick was not designed for the precise movements that the game implies you're meant to be doing. Every whammy bar sequence where the line wobbles actually fails if you try to wobble along with it; you just keep holding the stick down through the middle of the the line, and the game automatically compensates and wiggles it for you. The Charge/Attack/Final sequences are an interesting touch, but all they are in effect is the ability to prematurely end a song if you play it well enough. It's still an engaging and difficult enough loop to justify playing through all ten stages, but it's not something that impressed me.
I feel as though any piece of Japanese media with a child character in it will immediately have a legion of fans who give it acclaim as "a story about growing up", even if that doesn't apply in the slightest. I don't mean to vaguepost about any reviewers here — Lord knows I probably am anyway, but I've very purposefully avoided reading anyone else's words on Backloggd about this — but everything I've seen elsewhere online is full of people who can't stop insisting that it's about maturity, or the joy of being a child, or whatever. I don't see it. A loser kid gets powers and goes on an adventure where he comes back a little cooler. You couldn't have a more basic Saturday morning framework if you tried, and this one is as simplistic and boring as a wall painted beige. Gitaroo Man gets unduly hailed as one of the most moving stories in video games solely for the reason that there are two good songs planted right at the end of it.
The soundtrack is...fine, mostly? The Legendary Theme fucking rocks, as does Resurrection, but there are some pulls on here that are just mediocre. Twisted Reality, Born to be Bone, and VOID are the especially goofy-sounding songs. Flyin' to Your Heart has the double dishonor of being the worst track here and being the longest by three entire minutes. If we're being honest, the last two songs in the game are good enough to justify the existence of the entire soundtrack, but they're pulling a lot of weight.
And that's it. There isn't anything left to talk about, and there isn't anything here that I've loved. I don't know. I get the distinct feeling of being stupid. Of missing out. But I really just don't see what everyone else sees in Gitaroo Man. I'm disappointed, but it's probably my own fault. Maybe I just had unrealistic expectations. Everyone else got a pleasant surprise, and I created an unattainable standard in the wake of its reception.
I wish I'd gotten the same experience as everyone who loved this.
4 Comments
As the self proclaimed #1 Gitaroo Man fan, I'll try to shed a little light, from my own perspective. I can't speak for anyone else, given that I've never physically MET another G-Man fan, and that most people online gush without providing why.
First and foremost, it's how bizarre and unique of a game it is. Rhythm games are already really niche and weird, but Gitaroo Man is just...fucking weird. Obviously a lot it comes down to the fact that it is aggressively Japanese. The gameplay is like nothing any other rhythm game I've played. Tracing the line while pressing buttons, and the charge/attack phases are both completely specific to this game. While I can agree that the phases are just a way to end a song early by playing well, even getting rewarded for playing well is nice. I can also agree that when it comes to the Dualshock 2, results may vary with the accuracy. I personally haven't had an issue with the controls not working correctly, but I have also been playing this my whole life, so I guess I'm just adjusted to the imprecision.
Kinda brings me to the next reason people love it, nostalgia. It's old, niche, and rare. Generally speaking, most people that own it/play it now, played it as kids. Like it or hate it, G-Man is really memorable, if for nothing else than being strange. So of course growing up with it in any way is going to flood you with nostalgia whenever you play it. The story is shallow, predictable, and told a million times by a million different things, 500%. I don't have an exact science for why it sticks with people so much. The way it's presented has something to do with it for sure. Everything is over the top and very comic-esque. (i.e. Kazuya dissing U-1 with a massive "INFINITY IMPOSSIBILITY" floating overhead.) The hilarious feminine "YOUUUU WINNNNN" when you complete a stage sticks out as well. The screens of Japanese text between stages are always uplifting, important lessons that still hold true as an adult. Though there are many coming-of-age stories about losers becoming heroes, how many of them become a Guitar-wielding, space-faring superhero? It's really all about the charm in the presentation for me, and I imagine that's what does it for others.
As far as the soundtrack goes, I both agree and disagree. The mediocre songs I agree, worst in the game. Legendary Theme, literally my favorite piece of music. Flyin' to Your Heart though? Definitely a fan favorite, it just may not be your genre, everyone is different. The opening and credits themes by COIL fucking rule in my opinion, some of the best stuff in the game. Ultimately, the music is gonna be subjective as hell, and there's no way to make someone like it.
At the end of the day, Gitaroo Man is about the little things, and how much you appreciate them. People talk about it like it's the second coming, but in reality it is a simple yet strange Japanese rhythm game. Reading between the lines and appreciating every little part of the barely 2 hour game is what makes people love it. The fact that there is nothing else like it in the world is why people love it. If it didn't elicit and emotional spark from you, it's hardly your fault. Not everyone is going to get that from it like I do. If you do love it, it's usually for a few pretty specific reasons that come down to what your sort of tastes are. I wrote this not to convince you to just shut up and like the thing that I like, but more to try and explain why exactly it is that others like it, so it doesn't feel as much like "well I like it because it's amazing and that's all there is to it." I have literally no idea if this will help, but I feel like you should at the very least get why it's so impactful to a small number of loud people online. I really could've gone into this telling you how deep and emotional the story of U-1 is, but honestly like I said before, he's hardly the most compelling protagonist in the world.
If I were to blanket this with a TLDR; Gitaroo Man is just fucking cool. Sometimes, you don't need to be anything else to be memorable.
First and foremost, it's how bizarre and unique of a game it is. Rhythm games are already really niche and weird, but Gitaroo Man is just...fucking weird. Obviously a lot it comes down to the fact that it is aggressively Japanese. The gameplay is like nothing any other rhythm game I've played. Tracing the line while pressing buttons, and the charge/attack phases are both completely specific to this game. While I can agree that the phases are just a way to end a song early by playing well, even getting rewarded for playing well is nice. I can also agree that when it comes to the Dualshock 2, results may vary with the accuracy. I personally haven't had an issue with the controls not working correctly, but I have also been playing this my whole life, so I guess I'm just adjusted to the imprecision.
Kinda brings me to the next reason people love it, nostalgia. It's old, niche, and rare. Generally speaking, most people that own it/play it now, played it as kids. Like it or hate it, G-Man is really memorable, if for nothing else than being strange. So of course growing up with it in any way is going to flood you with nostalgia whenever you play it. The story is shallow, predictable, and told a million times by a million different things, 500%. I don't have an exact science for why it sticks with people so much. The way it's presented has something to do with it for sure. Everything is over the top and very comic-esque. (i.e. Kazuya dissing U-1 with a massive "INFINITY IMPOSSIBILITY" floating overhead.) The hilarious feminine "YOUUUU WINNNNN" when you complete a stage sticks out as well. The screens of Japanese text between stages are always uplifting, important lessons that still hold true as an adult. Though there are many coming-of-age stories about losers becoming heroes, how many of them become a Guitar-wielding, space-faring superhero? It's really all about the charm in the presentation for me, and I imagine that's what does it for others.
As far as the soundtrack goes, I both agree and disagree. The mediocre songs I agree, worst in the game. Legendary Theme, literally my favorite piece of music. Flyin' to Your Heart though? Definitely a fan favorite, it just may not be your genre, everyone is different. The opening and credits themes by COIL fucking rule in my opinion, some of the best stuff in the game. Ultimately, the music is gonna be subjective as hell, and there's no way to make someone like it.
At the end of the day, Gitaroo Man is about the little things, and how much you appreciate them. People talk about it like it's the second coming, but in reality it is a simple yet strange Japanese rhythm game. Reading between the lines and appreciating every little part of the barely 2 hour game is what makes people love it. The fact that there is nothing else like it in the world is why people love it. If it didn't elicit and emotional spark from you, it's hardly your fault. Not everyone is going to get that from it like I do. If you do love it, it's usually for a few pretty specific reasons that come down to what your sort of tastes are. I wrote this not to convince you to just shut up and like the thing that I like, but more to try and explain why exactly it is that others like it, so it doesn't feel as much like "well I like it because it's amazing and that's all there is to it." I have literally no idea if this will help, but I feel like you should at the very least get why it's so impactful to a small number of loud people online. I really could've gone into this telling you how deep and emotional the story of U-1 is, but honestly like I said before, he's hardly the most compelling protagonist in the world.
If I were to blanket this with a TLDR; Gitaroo Man is just fucking cool. Sometimes, you don't need to be anything else to be memorable.
Ah, but my friend...there is an answer to your criticism of the game being too restrictive with it's timing for prompts: GITAROO MAN RERELEASE FOR PSP ALRIIIIIIIIIIIIIGHT YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!! Now that's a TEN OUTTA TEN port for imo a 10 OUTTA TEN GAME >:)
It's worth mentioning that Flyin' to your Heart is only four minutes long, the upload you're probably looking at just has three mintues of silence at the end for no reason
BlazingWaters
1 year ago
even though I think that one shoots and aims far better. It's backed by the songs being in different genres of Regae, DnB, Eurobeat pop, etc etc in the garage rock featurettes.Do agree about the stick sensitivity and track timing, it's part of the reason I opted for the PSP version via Vita which felt and worked a lot better, doesn't drastically alter the content much for better or worse so if you didn't feel anything here, I doubt that one will change your mind.