For those that don't like Anthony Burch's writing/think he would have butchered Tales...
I'm curious about what Burch's detractors think about the below short film (and I'm talking about the people who genuinely don't like his style of writing, not people who are weirdly obsessed with him as a person and are determined to vilify him whenever and wherever they get the chance - cough cough):
It's called A Meat Bicycle Built for Two, and it was created for the release of the character DLC of Krieg the Psycho for BL2. It was written by Anthony, and as far as I'm concerned, is probably the best piece of narrative created within the Borderlands universe (pre-Telltale). It adds depth and insight into not only Krieg as a character, but the entire Psycho 'race'. It's also funny, charming and pretty damn adorable!
I think the reason why it works so well, and stands out, is the means of delivery. It's not restricted by the FPS mechanics, it's a straight story, where the writing takes central focus - I also think it's the closest comparison to the structure of Telltale's narratives.
You can't compare the writing in BL2 with the writing in Tales, because the games themselves are intrinsically different at their core - they set out to achieve very different things, and each have their own limitations. But viewing the short shows that much like TTAoDK (which is widely regarded to be his best work on Borderlands), when Burch is able to break free from the constraints of the main game's mechanics, he can deliver insightful, affecting pieces that could easily sit quite comfortably within a Telltale episode.
Anyway, let me know what you think:
Comments
I've seen this, its hilarious.
Most of his writing is just fine, just like this.
My main distaste with the writing is when he needlessly tried to cram some kind of agenda into what he has written. Like this (I don't know how to embed video on this site):
A brilliantly funny moment totally and pointlessly ruined with some kind of agenda. Who cares if "friendzoning" is misogynistic or not? It was a funny line, suddenly made un-funny.
The other things I dislike is when he uses the "shouting the obvious" comedy. I don't know quite how to describe this, but a character will yell obvious character traits about themselves over and over again, usually because of their name or otherwise.
Anyway, the rest of his writing was good.
Whatever happened to "THAT SENTENCE HAD TOO MANY SYLLABLES! APOLOGIZE!"?
Huh... Sasha's SMG xD
For me, personally, I actually find the whole Torgue as a feminist thing pretty hilarious because it's just so diametrically opposed to his Macho Man Randy Savage persona and I think a lot of the character's humour comes from that bizarre contrast, but I can also see why some people consider it to be a little ham-fisted.
I definitely get what you mean by your "shouting the obvious" comment, as it's something Burch does in a lot of his writing (in his webseries HAWP in particular), but it's also a matter of taste, either you like the shtick or you don't...
Anyway, two very valid points! Wonder if anyone else will weigh in?
Well, no, it's a Maliwan.
They're both Maliwan aren't they xD They shot the same way and dealt shock elemental damage.
Yep, they're both a Maliwan SubMalevolent Grace:
ayy lmao
Anthony actually gave the Borderlands universe well... a universe worth thinking of the storytelling aspect about.
I really find it crazy how people over-bloat his wrongdoings when he's the one who's given the Borderlands universe (pretty much) a universe to begin with. Which is a major good thing.
Huh, I liked that...that was good. No memes in sight.
You have to understand that the character of Mr. Torgue is that he's this stereotypical meathunk guy - but he is actually quite enlightened when it comes to treating women with respect; it's playing with expectations. In fact, when I played through, I thought to myself, "Hey, wait a minute, that 'friendzoned' line is out of character for Torgue" - and it came back when Torgue brought himself back around telling himself he was in a dark place.