The star of MindsEye and Mafia 3 has spoken about how being the protagonist in two crucial disappointments affected his confidence.
In an interview with the FRVR Podcast, Alex Hernandez – who performed Jacob Diaz in MindsEye and Lincoln Clay in Mafia 3 – spoke concerning the abuse he obtained for his roles in every sport, and his response to the unfavorable reception every sport obtained.
Talking of the web discourse following the disastrous launch of MindsEye, Hernandez stated he obtained abuse from strangers on-line that he knew they’d by no means say to his face.
“Video players are a singular species, and I’m one among them, the place the attachment to the expertise and the product is so robust, the emotions are so robust,” he defined.
“The web is an nameless place the place folks will share issues they’d by no means say to your face, ever. Even when they really hated it, even when they thought it was a pile of trash, they only wouldn’t look you within the face and be like ‘everybody who labored on this sport deserves to die, that is fucking terrible, you persons are idiots, how may you’ve completed this’. Nobody would ever say that to your face.
“And I feel on the identical time, you’re entitled to that. You paid your $60, your £60, no matter you paid for the sport, it’s the web, you’ve your opinion, you wish to share it.”
“I feel for like 48 hours I had allowed the anticipation and the joy of ‘it’s lastly taking place, it’s lastly popping out’. And I’m not even going to lie – I’ll say this right here, I’ll say it wherever – the trailer was hearth as fuck. The trailer they put out, whereas folks did have the criticism, which was legitimate, that there wasn’t a lot gameplay within the trailer, however the precise trailer itself, I used to be like ‘this shit is hearth, it seems to be superior’.
“And so while you see that, you go ‘alright, perhaps that is gonna pay a return, it’s gonna be the factor’. And when folks have the response that that they had – with the entire criticism, legitimate and in any other case, that that they had – as resilient as I’m, and as a lot in my profession I’ve developed fairly thick pores and skin, it was two days of ‘fuck’.
Hernandez stated the response to the sport made him fear that he would by no means get one other online game position once more, as a result of folks would affiliate himself with an enormous flop.
“Simply based mostly on the response – not based mostly on the work itself, not based mostly on the work of the cinematographer, the sport designer, of anybody, it’s not the precise work – however the response, I used to be like ‘I would by no means work in one other sport once more’,” he stated. “As a result of one of many caveats of being the face on the field is that folks, rightly or wrongly, will affiliate all of their opinions and extra importantly their feelings about this sport with my face.
“And sooner or later, as they buy video games, as they maybe go on to develop their very own video games, as they critique and share with their mates what video games they need to and shouldn’t purchase, and their experiences with them, my title will now be related to one thing that many individuals have considered fairly fucking unhealthy.
“And as an artist, as a person, as a gamer, that hurts. It’s like wildly painful. And after about two days of permitting myself to wallow and my spouse being very supportive and really like ‘I get it, this was one thing you had lots of enjoyable doing, you had been actually into, you thought it was going to be nice, it seemed superior’, you progress on. As a result of for me to take a seat in that wallowing, it doesn’t permit me to be taught.
“For me, most necessary is that the whole lot in life is a progress alternative, the successes and the failures, and also you be taught extra from failure than from success. And so on this specific occasion, the largest progress alternative for me is that serenity prayer about accepting the stuff you can not change, the braveness to alter the issues you possibly can, and the knowledge to know the distinction, this for me was a type of moments.
“As a result of whereas there have been quite a lot of individuals who have felt for no matter motive that I used to be the suitable web page, the suitable Instagram account, the suitable Fb account to vent about gameplay and efficiency bugs and their graphics card which is one yr outdated isn’t adequate to run this sport – I don’t know why they thought I of all folks was the one to take that on – that’s nice, I welcome that.
“As a result of there have additionally been a a lot larger variety of those that, in the event that they’re going to hunt me out particularly, [give] feedback of ‘the sport is trash however you’re nice’, ‘your efficiency is superior, I want you had been in a greater sport’, and [I have to learn] that I did my job, I can’t be answerable for the entire thing despite the fact that my face is on the field.
“I’ve to just accept the fact there are some quantity of players who’re going to hold that negativity with them, and let’s say I get forged in some huge mission from (mockingly of all locations) Rockstar or one thing like that, an enormous mocap mission the place once more it’s my face. And I can already see the web, the YouTube trailer flurried with ‘that is the man from fucking MindsEye and Mafia 3, each sport he was in was fucking trash and blah blah, it’s trash, it’s trash’. And like, that’s nice, and to that every one I can do is say ‘yeah, that’s a legitimate critique, that’s the way in which you are feeling’.”
Regardless of taking learnings from the expertise, Hernandez stated he did really feel at occasions like he had one thing of an unfortunate contact, having been the star in two separate poorly obtained video games, however that he’s pleased with his accomplishments whatever the reception to the completed merchandise.
“I’m not a superstitious man however there can’t assist however be some Spidey Sense tingling that’s like ‘is it simply me? Do I’ve the alternative of the golden contact? Just like the fucking shit brown contact? Every part I contact turns to poop?’” he defined. “It’s the flipside of the blessing that it’s to be the man on the field.
“However right here’s the fact, and I say this with no ego connected to it. I’ve two bins in my home which have my fucking face on them. I started working on video video games. I used to be a 13-year-old child taking part in video games who was like ‘I wanna try this at some point’, after which I fucking did twice. In truth, I’ve completed it 20 occasions, it’s simply twice it’s truly my face, the remainder of the time it’s simply my voice. I’m blessed to work in a job that I really like with people who find themselves extremely proficient and clever, and even when issues go off the rails there’s nonetheless some wonderful work.”
