May 2016 Community Playthrough - Bully

[MetalFRO]

Between work commitments, stuff at home, and an impromptu vacation we took (and are still on), I've not been able to touch this game at all.  I have it sitting out on the PS2, though, so maybe I'll check it out next month.  Sigh.

[Schlibby]

Just finished the story missions. Now got a couple of side missions left to do and all the little extras that make up 100%

[singlebanana]

Just finished the story missions. Now got a couple of side missions left to do and all the little extras that make up 100%

Nice!  Just hit Chapter 5 last night, so should be wrapping it up soon.

[Schlibby]

I finish this long weekend on just over 90% completion. Should finish it early next weekend if I don't have too much trouble tracking down the last of those damn rubber bands.

As I've now finished the story and May is about over its about time to give my final thoughts:

I really enjoyed the game. I didn't find it as repetitive as others seemed to. The extremely cliched cliques and characters were great. I don't think the game would have been half as interesting if the characters were more realistic.

I also like the attention to detail they put into the game. All the extra little things you can do like give wedgies and swirlies, slide down banisters, start food fights etc. None of these had to be included in the game but they put them in anyway.

I did miss the vehicles from GTA. Constantly tapping X on the skateboard or bike got a bit tiring. It was also a shame not to have the brilliant rock stations you get in GTA games (but this was understandable as you don't get cars). I can see why others would find the game music annoying and repetitive. While I'm not going to say it's anywhere close to a masterpiece I isn't find the music annoying though.

Camera could be a bit slow following you and not very easy to manage yourself but I've known worse. Controls other than that were good.

The lesson mini games were fun while they lasted. Man did I suck at the English mini game though!

The repeating day cycle was very majoras mask. Sometimes it seemed a little short but overall not a problem.

One final thing I would like to bring up is the title of the game you got over there in America. I can see why people would be concerned about a game called Bully made by the people behind GTA. I can see why it was changed over here in Europe. I was expecting to play this game as a horrible thug who does go around bullying people for fun. But the title is actually hiding a game where you go around stopping the bullies and standing up for the nerds and nice kids. Sure Jimmy ain't the best behaved kid but he's got a heart of gold really. I think naming this game Bully was probably a pretty bad move!

[singlebanana]

Thanks for the thoughts on the game Schlibby and especially thanks for playing.  I agree with a lot of what you have to say about the game and that should come across in the podcast.  I finished with a 65% completion percentage. I know that the game can be done in less, but I elected to do a few side quests and purchase a few unnecessary items as I felt it added more to the enjoyment of the game for me.  I beat the game several years ago and have a save file with just over 92%.  Ironically, I sucked at English too....and I went to school for my MA in it!

My only disagreement with you above comments might be the naming of this game. While "Bully" might be a controversial title, let's face it, controversy sales.  I think using this as a title creates this mystic and of course Rock Star is no stranger to using propaganda and defiling what is socially acceptable to sell games.  However, I think that the title has much more significance than what is on the surface.  As we play through the story, we see that Bullworth Academy is overrun with bullies (usually denoted by their white shirts). Within the various social cliques, the heads dominate their peers and also have bullying personas. After dominating these cliques, Jimmy is high on himself and has pretty much unseated everyone through violence and taken over as the head of the school (ironically, through bullying, but with good intentions). It's not until the end that we are able to defeat the supreme bully, Gary, that peace returns to the school and city.  I think the title is pretty apropos. 

[Schlibby]

I agree it's a good marketing move in terms of creating controversy to generate interest. And bullying is obviously a key theme of the game. I guess it's a good surprise for people when they discover they aren't the bully.

On a related topic, if anyone was wondering what the Euro title of Canis Canem Edit means; apparently it's dog eat dog. Although google translate doesn't seem to detect it's Latin

[singlebanana]

I agree it's a good marketing move in terms of creating controversy to generate interest. And bullying is obviously a key theme of the game. I guess it's a good surprise for people when they discover they aren't the bully.

On a related topic, if anyone was wondering what the Euro title of Canis Canem Edit means; apparently it's dog eat dog. Although google translate doesn't seem to detect it's Latin

Yep, on you mentioning that the title was different in Europe (and Australia also), I looked it up for the podcast. Doesn't want to translate well with online translators though. Now they've offended the canine population!

[Schlibby]

I agree it's a good marketing move in terms of creating controversy to generate interest. And bullying is obviously a key theme of the game. I guess it's a good surprise for people when they discover they aren't the bully.

On a related topic, if anyone was wondering what the Euro title of Canis Canem Edit means; apparently it's dog eat dog. Although google translate doesn't seem to detect it's Latin

Yep, on you mentioning that the title was different in Europe (and Australia also), I looked it up for the podcast. Doesn't want to translate well with online translators though. Now they've offended the canine population!

 

[Pam]

I finally finished the chapter I felt like I had been on forever. It was chapter 2, not chapter 3 ><

I decided to retire from the game after that.

I liked the school mini-games the best. Naming US states in geography was a bit tough for me, but what I really sucked at was the art game.

[singlebanana]

Loved the art game....QIX!!!!!!!   I didn't have Geography in my game. You must be playing the Scholarship Edition.

[singlebanana]

We are recording the Bully podcast tonight.  Anything any of you would like us to discuss, or any questions for our hosts?

[Schlibby]

Got my 100% :-)

[singlebanana]

Got my 100% :-)

That's amazing Schlibby, congrats!

[singlebanana]

The new Playcast episode is out today. If you played Bully with us, check it out.