At what point does homage become too much for you?

Not that I think it applies to this game, because I don’t, but I think about stuff like Signalis and how it wears its inspirations on its sleeve, with a few shots that are nearly one-to-one with other pieces of media, along with other overt references, and yet, it doesn’t remove me from the moment.

>!The arm breaking off ala Ghost in the Shell, and the Evangelion shot of Shinji with images flashing rapidly over the silhouette of his body!<, are two iconic shots that come to mind that are recreated in-game. Also the red save screen and the noise it makes is a pretty overt nod to Silent Hill 2. >!Jump down the hole? YES/NO!< is another reference to Silent Hill 2. Looking into the bathroom mirror at yourself at the very beginning of the game? You guessed it, another homage to Silent Hill 2.

To clarify, I like these references, but it did get me thinking about what constitutes “going overboard”, or whatever.

Obviously, nothing exists in a vacuum, so influences are going to shine through regardless, but that’s not what I’m talking about. I’m talking about intentional references and homages that people in the know would see and go *hey, I know where that’s from*.

When a piece of media wears its influences on its sleeve so heavily (Tarantino films, for example, are known for this, and yet they still have their own style), what differentiates it, for you, from being tasteful homage to *ok, I’m looking at someone’s nerd boner rn*.

Reposted like 10 seconds after I initially did the first time because I made a spelling error in the title :P