10 Amazing Ideas Wasted On Terrible Video Games
10. Silence - The Quiet Man
Despite its weird-as-all-hell marketing, The Quiet Man had noble ambitions at heart. Similar to what Ninja Theory attempted to do for psychosis and mental illness with Hellblade by taking an underrepresented topic in gaming and doing it justice in an experimental indie, Square Enix aimed to deliver an experience that would reflect what it would be like to be a deaf video game protagonist.
Aside from a couple of key sequences, you're put in the head of hero, Dane, with most of the sound being muted and few subtitles shown on screen to let you know what's actually being said. The plot is difficult to piece together then, which could have made for a great challenge on the player's part in, well, in any other game.
Because, while the ideas at the heart of The Quiet Man are solid, Square Enix shat the bed at every level of execution. The plot itself is a shambles even when you know what's going on, told in amateur-hour FMV sequences that do not blend seamlessly with gameplay - which is itself trite, mundane and barely keeps you interested for the two-and-a-half hour runtime.
In fact, the story is so nonsensical that the devs included a "sound on" mode that unlocks for a second playthrough, so you can actually hear the dialogue and make sense of everything.
Kinda goes against the whole point of the game, but... sure?