Video Game Thread v. Series Xbox One X Series Switch S 5

[TheOutlawXanadu]

I think that the video gaming industry is at a point where the percentage of games that are bad, predatory, or some combination of both is rising but the sheer volume of games being released means that there are more good games in total. Countless bad trends have emerged and become popularized over the last decade but at the same time most of my all-time favorite games were released during that period. It's just a very weird situation with so much good and bad.

[Phoenix87x]

^^^

In addition to that, I am really over games being released unfinished.

[Chino]

^^^

In addition to that, I am really over games being released unfinished.

This is what I don't understand about pre-ordering culture. I understand doing it back in the day. I did it for many games in the PS2 and PS3 era, when there were a limited number of physical copies available (and games were released in working order). These days, time and time again, I see thousands of people in a rage when the game comes out broken. Stop the practice! Even if it means giving up a limited skin or something, just don't preorder. Stop giving these companies money before seeing the final product. The amount of people that pre-ordered that new GTA trilogy remaster without so much as seeing a trailer, let alone gameplay footage, absolutely blew my mind.

[faizoff]

It is interesting to look at the video game industry's growth and evolution as a whole from my perspective as a 45 year old. I started playing video games as early as I can remember. I started with those handheld Game&Watch Nintendos which only had one game on them, I had a couple of them. Donkey Kong was definitely one of them. Then there was the PAC-MAN mini home arcade thing, then countless console attached to the TV, Sega, Nintendo, Atari, etc.. I'm sure there were more. I think even Texas Instruments had one that did both games and coding for BASIC.

Going from that to what PCs now offer is at times bewildering and I get it, it's a very tough market for developers and publishers, you go with what makes the most money.

I know I'm in the minority but I rarely play games on release day. I only got GTA V last year which then prompted a whole PC upgrade cycle. Even now with my PC being capable of playing the latest and greatest at 4k resolution, I have zero interest in buying new games at launch. I'm still plugging away at much older games.

I see all the rage online about loot boxes and mini transactions and other incentive-driven, service-like development of games and while I have zero interest in those and don't see myself ever taking part in it, I do get why it's done. Everything is saturated at this point. Though with choice, it's never been better now.

[cramx3]

I am really over games being released unfinished.

Biggest issue, IMO, with gaming currently. 

[Stadler]

I know I'm in the minority but I rarely play games on release day. I only got GTA V last year which then prompted a whole PC upgrade cycle. Even now with my PC being capable of playing the latest and greatest at 4k resolution, I have zero interest in buying new games at launch. I'm still plugging away at much older games.

I see all the rage online about loot boxes and mini transactions and other incentive-driven, service-like development of games and while I have zero interest in those and don't see myself ever taking part in it, I do get why it's done. Everything is saturated at this point. Though with choice, it's never been better now.

I'm older than you, but I'm with you.  I'm literally playing games that are in some cases 8, 9, 10 years old.  I just got a PS4, so I will cut that number a bit, but not by much.  I too have no interest in in game purchases and what not.  I just want a good, standalone story, and maybe a multiplayer environment that doesn't rely on me being part of a clan to be successful/have fun/get my trophies. 

[Melphina]

^^^

In addition to that, I am really over games being released unfinished.

This is what I don't understand about pre-ordering culture. I understand doing it back in the day. I did it for many games in the PS2 and PS3 era, when there were a limited number of physical copies available (and games were released in working order). These days, time and time again, I see thousands of people in a rage when the game comes out broken. Stop the practice! Even if it means giving up a limited skin or something, just don't preorder. Stop giving these companies money before seeing the final product. The amount of people that pre-ordered that new GTA trilogy remaster without so much as seeing a trailer, let alone gameplay footage, absolutely blew my mind.

Problem is that too many people don't care about the inner workings of the industry. I have a friend who I've tried to explain this stuff to for years, he simply doesn't care, he just wants the game and couldn't care less about anything else.

Rockstar has a good enough reputation with the quality of their games that nobody expected such shitty ports of their own games. They blew up a lot of good faith between that and GTAO's seemingly endless lifespan.

[ErHaO]

Eh, I think people have become way more critical and mostly remember the good things. Sure, some major games are a complete mess these days. But the majority of AAA games are fine at launch, if not polished.. And also a lot more complex.

Many classic (let's say pre-PS4) 3D games would be completely panned if they released in the same state now. A lot of the great classics of past generations run like total shit, at like 15-25 fps. Orcarina of time, Shadow of the Colossus, The Last of Us are some examples that would not be tolerated now by gamers. Actually, a chunk of the N64 library runs at below 20 fps and are filled with weird bugs. Not to mention licenced games. There are thousands pf god awful licensed games based on movies, comics and whatnot that barely worked, all the way from the Atari days to the PS2. And there were hugely hyped releases that ended up being a mess as well, see Daikatana, for example.

As for some personal experiences. My main online game back in the day was Socom II and the game was littered with exploits that people used (glitching through the walls, walking on the "unaccessible" rooftops), as well as a whole lot of cheaters using those game genie things. Knights of the Old Republic 2, was barely finished and hanging by threads. I had a (known) game breaking bug on Prince of Persia on the ps2 and could never finish it, with no option to fix it.  And on pc it used to be way more common that a game would not work at all, without steam support forums to save you.

And let's not talk about dogshit hardware. Sega CD add ons, the Virtual Boy, Powerglove etc. All barely supported/functional products people were scammed into buying by scam commercials, by major gaming companies

I disagree that gaming has gotten worse. Looking at my childhood collection, there is a whole lot of meme worthy shit in that.

[ReaperKK]

I personally think it's never been a better time to be into gaming from a choice perspective.

I think you may be right but don't let the people on reddit know that.  Every single game I follow on there is just filled with hate.   And not to say there aren't reasons to be mad at games in general these days, but it seems very few people see that gaming today is such a better experience than it was in the past even with all the modern issues (cheaters, unfinished games, microtransactions).

Yea that's the Reddit gaming mentality, I swear people there have more fun bitching then they ever would actually playing the game

[cramx3]

I personally think it's never been a better time to be into gaming from a choice perspective.

I think you may be right but don't let the people on reddit know that.  Every single game I follow on there is just filled with hate.   And not to say there aren't reasons to be mad at games in general these days, but it seems very few people see that gaming today is such a better experience than it was in the past even with all the modern issues (cheaters, unfinished games, microtransactions).

Yea that's the Reddit gaming mentality, I swear people there have more fun bitching then they ever would actually playing the game

I'm also convinced a lot of the haters don't even play the game, they just pile on for fun.  I know of someone who legit does this to get karma with regards to just shitting on BF2042 but doesn't even have the game.  Reddit karma farming.

[King Puppies and the Acid Guppies]

I personally think it's never been a better time to be into gaming from a choice perspective.

I think you may be right but don't let the people on reddit know that.  Every single game I follow on there is just filled with hate.   And not to say there aren't reasons to be mad at games in general these days, but it seems very few people see that gaming today is such a better experience than it was in the past even with all the modern issues (cheaters, unfinished games, microtransactions).

Yea that's the Reddit gaming mentality, I swear people there have more fun bitching then they ever would actually playing the game

I'm also convinced a lot of the haters don't even play the game, they just pile on for fun.  I know of someone who legit does this to get karma with regards to just shitting on BF2042 but doesn't even have the game.  Reddit karma farming.

That just seems like a waste of an existence. Like seriously, go do something productive with your life!

[MrBoom_shack-a-lack]

I personally think it's never been a better time to be into gaming from a choice perspective.

I think you may be right but don't let the people on reddit know that.  Every single game I follow on there is just filled with hate.   And not to say there aren't reasons to be mad at games in general these days, but it seems very few people see that gaming today is such a better experience than it was in the past even with all the modern issues (cheaters, unfinished games, microtransactions).

Yea that's the Reddit gaming mentality, I swear people there have more fun bitching then they ever would actually playing the game

I'm also convinced a lot of the haters don't even play the game, they just pile on for fun.  I know of someone who legit does this to get karma with regards to just shitting on BF2042 but doesn't even have the game.  Reddit karma farming.

That just seems like a waste of an existence. Like seriously, go do something productive with your life!

Reddit can be a cesspool of opinions and people just pile on and on to no end.

[Chino]

I know graphics aren't everything, but this is a bit ridiculous.

[ErHaO]

Oh wow and I was criticizing Sword/Shield  I really want to like Pokemon games, but they way they have been looking just takes all the wonder out of it for me (especially the combat animations).

[ReaperKK]

It's crazy but not surprising, Nintendo lives in a realm where they can have low effort releases and their base will defend them till the end.

[TheOutlawXanadu]

It's crazy but not surprising, Nintendo lives in a realm where they can have low effort releases and their base will defend them till the end.

Yea, it's wild. They had three of the top-ten best-selling games of the year last year, two of which I believe are quite old (Pokemon Brilliant Diamond/Shining Pearl, Mario Kart 8, Super Mario 3D World).

Source: https://venturebeat.com/2022/01/18/npd-the-top-20-best-selling-games-of-2021-in-the-u-s/

[MusicMaker]

I admittedly don't know much about Overwatch. But I would expect something like a battlepass with or without MS being involved, it is the new thing. OW was one of the major games doing lootboxes when that was the hot new thing. And Activision most certainly likes doing the latest things that print money. MS as well, any company really.

Yes and no.  Yes, battle pass is definitely the way most things are going.  But that being said, when Overwatch came out in 2016 (I started playing in mid 2018), free-to-play (with micro transactions) was the new model.  In fact, AAA games like Carbine Studios' WildStar really suffered because they launched under a subscription model right when so many titles were going free-to-play, and by the time they switched, it was too late (and WildStar and Carbine Studios are no more...).  Nonetheless, for Overwatch, Blizzard stuck with an old-school 1-time paid-purchase game and cosmetic-only loot boxes (that were not overly difficult to obtain for free, roughly 1 every 2 hours of gameplay or so).  This model has still generated ridiculous sums of money for Blizzard, despite all the other big multiplayer games going micro transaction.

I realize micro-transactions and battle pass aren't exactly the same, but still.  I think Blizzard (and MS) *need* what remains of Overwatch's user base to stick with the franchise.  And I'd think one of the worst ways to retain them would be to withhold content for 3-4 years (what's currently happening with Overwatch not getting any significant updates while Overwatch 2 is under never-ending development), and then suddenly (finally) release it to the world, but not only with a game price tag but then keep all future additions (beyond OW2 launch content) behind further paywalls (battle passes).  I don't know... I love Overwatch, but I don't think I'll stick around if I can't get everything anymore just by purchasing (and playing) the game.  Especially having sat through this no-new-content limbo mode for a couple years.  I *would*, however, be willing to buy DLC expansions (maps, heroes, game modes, etc.) every year or two or three. I don't expect my software to be free or for developers to go unpaid.  But I *also* refuse to be nickel-and-dimed or be forced into some sort of software subscription.

As for console exclusivity, I expect it. But online focused games may have a chance to remain on other platforms, as their main source of revenue is micro transactions. And for that you need all the audience you can get. Singleplayer experiences will not come to Playstation anymore, of that I am convinced.

But I assume Overwatch 2 is quite far into development when the Activision/MS deal is finalised (somewhere in 2023)?

Overwatch 2 keeps getting pushed out, so who knows how far along it is.  It's been Blizzard's "Team 4"'s main focus for more than 2 years now (and probably longer).  The Overwatch League (pro esport scene for OW) is supposed to be playing on an early version of OW2 this spring.  So yeah, I'd say it should be quite far into development by the time the MS deal is finalized.  Overwatch 2 is supposed have tons of PvE content- hopefully lots of that will be single player.  I still think it's in Blizzard's (and therefore MS's) best interest to keep Overwatch (and future versions of it) going on all platforms (much like Minecraft).  But I have great fears that Microsoft won't do so.

[ReaPsTA]

I know graphics aren't everything, but this is a bit ridiculous.

In the Pokemon screenshot, the way the water is lit vs. everything else....... incredible.....

[Herrick]

^^^

In addition to that, I am really over games being released unfinished.

This is what I don't understand about pre-ordering culture. I understand doing it back in the day. I did it for many games in the PS2 and PS3 era, when there were a limited number of physical copies available (and games were released in working order). These days, time and time again, I see thousands of people in a rage when the game comes out broken. Stop the practice! Even if it means giving up a limited skin or something, just don't preorder. Stop giving these companies money before seeing the final product. The amount of people that pre-ordered that new GTA trilogy remaster without so much as seeing a trailer, let alone gameplay footage, absolutely blew my mind.

I am guilty of pre-ordering a few games for the pre-download or whatever it's called. But I do accept that if the game is bad then that's the risk Herrick takes. Luckily, the last couple of games I pre-ordered turned out to be very enjoyable. For the other 99% of games I check out reviews & gameplay footage before deciding to buy...and usually that ends up putting it on my wish list and waiting for a sale.

[Bolsters]

It's crazy but not surprising, Nintendo lives in a realm where they can have low effort releases and their base will defend them till the end.

You mean the Nintendo that made the highly praised Breath of the Wild a few years ago, and didn't have anything to do with the development of this Pokemon game? At least blame the correct company. I agree that Gamefreak has been lazy and incompetent for years.

[Revenge319]

It's crazy but not surprising, Nintendo lives in a realm where they can have low effort releases and their base will defend them till the end.

You mean the Nintendo that made the highly praised Breath of the Wild a few years ago, and didn't have anything to do with the development of this Pokemon game? At least blame the correct company. I agree that Gamefreak has been lazy and incompetent for years.

I do get what Reaper's trying to say, though. Nintendo themselves have made a couple Switch games here and there that a lot of people would argue were made with lower effort than should be expected of them, but are still defended to some extent. Most notably, Super Mario 3D All-Stars. But yeah, Game Freak in particular has been putting very low effort into the Gen 8 Pokemon games. ILCA did okay with Brilliant Diamond/Shining Pearl, but much like what I've seen of Sword/Shield and Legends: Arceus, it feels like they could've done much better.

[Bolsters]

Oh don't get me wrong, Nintendo should be criticised for a lot of things. Biggest thing for me at the moment is probably the online infrastructure from 2002 and the new (overpriced) price tier of online that provides buggy emulation of games from the 90's. Games that, as far as I can tell (never owned a Wii U myself), actually worked quite well on the Wii U. But I could probably go on three times as long about all the failures of Gamefreak over the last several years and their mismanagement of the Pokemon games, they deserve all the criticism for where the Pokemon franchise has gone (or hasn't gone).

[ReaperKK]

It's crazy but not surprising, Nintendo lives in a realm where they can have low effort releases and their base will defend them till the end.

You mean the Nintendo that made the highly praised Breath of the Wild a few years ago, and didn't have anything to do with the development of this Pokemon game? At least blame the correct company. I agree that Gamefreak has been lazy and incompetent for years.

Yes the nintendo that doubled their online cost for the ability to emulate n64 games as well as the nintendo that just recently unlocked the ability to use bluetooth headphones with their console.

I'm not anti-nintendo, I'm just stunned and how out of touch they can be at times.

[Bolsters]

Yes the nintendo that doubled their online cost for the ability to emulate n64 games as well as the nintendo that just recently unlocked the ability to use bluetooth headphones with their console.

Valid criticisms. Still not seeing how that makes them responsible for games made by other people.

[MrBoom_shack-a-lack]

I recently did a re-run of Hitman 1-3. I really enjoy those games and I keep coming back. So many ways to finish a contract and I just enjoy walking around scouting and looking for diffrent routes to take.
The maps are lush and seems so alive with all the people walking around and it kinda seems everyone has a purpose for the day.
It's so fun when you kill a target stealthy and stay to see the reaction and dialouge of the npcs and see them dragging the bodybag away.  I went back yesterday at a crimescene at the wineyard and some npc was still arguing and waving his hands at the staff and really put on a scene, I just love details like that.   

[ErHaO]

Hitman trilogy is one of the best gaming packages ever. Will do a rerun again before the new map hits, looking forward to Hitman 3 year 2!

It's crazy but not surprising, Nintendo lives in a realm where they can have low effort releases and their base will defend them till the end.

You mean the Nintendo that made the highly praised Breath of the Wild a few years ago, and didn't have anything to do with the development of this Pokemon game? At least blame the correct company. I agree that Gamefreak has been lazy and incompetent for years.

Honestly for me it is somewhat in line with Nintendo.

I mean, your example, Breath of the Wild, is 5 years ago and as much a WiiU game as a Switch game.

[Bolsters]

Hitman trilogy is one of the best gaming packages ever. Will do a rerun again before the new map hits, looking forward to Hitman 3 year 2!

It's crazy but not surprising, Nintendo lives in a realm where they can have low effort releases and their base will defend them till the end.

You mean the Nintendo that made the highly praised Breath of the Wild a few years ago, and didn't have anything to do with the development of this Pokemon game? At least blame the correct company. I agree that Gamefreak has been lazy and incompetent for years.

Honestly for me it is somewhat in line with Nintendo.

I mean, your example, Breath of the Wild, is 5 years ago and as much a WiiU game as a Switch game.

My point was that game development is something they still do well, maybe the one thing they haven't been fucking up with the Switch. BOTW, Odyssey, Splatoon 2, Super Mario Maker 2, Animal Crossing, Metroid Dread (co-developed with Mercury Steam)...these games have all been well received and in some cases breathed life into their franchises. Arms is the only one I can think of that didn't do so well. If Nintendo had anything to do with development of Pokemon, they likely would have done something to better that franchise too. But, they don't make those games.

The developmental blunders are all the games made by other people. Pokemon? Gamefreak has been fucking that franchise up for years, and Nintendo has no power to take over or remove them as Gamefreak is not a subsidiary but a one third owner in Pokemon overall, the same as Nintendo. Mario Party? Not in a good spot, Super Mario Party was especially bad, but Nintendo has literally never made a Mario Party game themselves; early games were made by Hudson and since I think MP6 they've been made by NDCube (though Nintendo could find someone else to make them). The lackluster Paper Mario? Made by Intelligent Systems. Kirby? HAL Laboratories. Can't remember who made the Yoshi cardboard game but it wasn't Nintendo.

There's an irony to people criticising Nintendo for not making a good Pokemon game, not just because they don't participate in the development of those games but also because, if anything, I'd actually like to see Nintendo be more involved - they'd only improve the situation, not make it worse, and Gamefreak clearly needs the help.

[ErHaO]

Hitman trilogy is one of the best gaming packages ever. Will do a rerun again before the new map hits, looking forward to Hitman 3 year 2!

It's crazy but not surprising, Nintendo lives in a realm where they can have low effort releases and their base will defend them till the end.

You mean the Nintendo that made the highly praised Breath of the Wild a few years ago, and didn't have anything to do with the development of this Pokemon game? At least blame the correct company. I agree that Gamefreak has been lazy and incompetent for years.

Honestly for me it is somewhat in line with Nintendo.

I mean, your example, Breath of the Wild, is 5 years ago and as much a WiiU game as a Switch game.

My point was that game development is something they still do well, maybe the one thing they haven't been fucking up with the Switch. BOTW, Odyssey, Splatoon 2, Super Mario Maker 2, Animal Crossing, Metroid Dread (co-developed with Mercury Steam)...these games have all been well received and in some cases breathed life into their franchises. Arms is the only one I can think of that didn't do so well. If Nintendo had anything to do with development of Pokemon, they likely would have done something to better that franchise too. But, they don't make those games.

The developmental blunders are all the games made by other people. Pokemon? Gamefreak has been fucking that franchise up for years, and Nintendo has no power to take over or remove them as Gamefreak is not a subsidiary but a one third owner in Pokemon overall, the same as Nintendo. Mario Party? Not in a good spot, Super Mario Party was especially bad, but Nintendo has literally never made a Mario Party game themselves; early games were made by Hudson and since I think MP6 they've been made by NDCube (though Nintendo could find someone else to make them). The lackluster Paper Mario? Made by Intelligent Systems. Kirby? HAL Laboratories. Can't remember who made the Yoshi cardboard game but it wasn't Nintendo.

There's an irony to people criticising Nintendo for not making a good Pokemon game, not just because they don't participate in the development of those games but also because, if anything, I'd actually like to see Nintendo be more involved - they'd only improve the situation, not make it worse, and Gamefreak clearly needs the help.

That makes sense and you are not wrong about Nintendo being a great developer.

But they are also a publisher/platform holder and they choose to invest in, market, and release things like Mario Party/Tennis/Golf as they are etc. It ultimately is on Nintendo to invest in AAA games, good remakes/remasters, great online services. Hence my "in line" comment. Sure, when compared to GameFreak Nintendo does actually have some quality stuff, but on the whole that is just not my image of Nintendo anymore.

The whole Pokemon structure seems a mess, one I don't understand. Indeed a different company, but they do own about a third of it, which supposedly is as much as gamefreak (supposedly).

[Melphina]

Finally started Dragon Quest 11. It's like the highest budget SNES RPG I've ever played in the best and worst ways. It confounds me that this series doesn't seem to care about good, compelling stories - literally nothing about it is interesting or seems to feel comfortable breaking the most predictable, cliche, well worn story beats - but it is beautiful and simply delightful to play. Love it.

[XJDenton]

Finally started Dragon Quest 11. It's like the highest budget SNES RPG I've ever played in the best and worst ways. It confounds me that this series doesn't seem to care about good, compelling stories - literally nothing about it is interesting or seems to feel comfortable breaking the most predictable, cliche, well worn story beats - but it is beautiful and simply delightful to play. Love it.

Dragon Quest games are bedtime stories. The fact their narratives hit familiar beats is the series strength IMO.

I've been blasting through the PS4 version of God Of War recently. While its overall excellent, I would like to have a stern conversation with the person who decided an over the shoulder camera where you can't see anything to your left  was a good idea for an arena combat game.

[MrBoom_shack-a-lack]

Crysis 4 (Working Title) Announcement

Bring it on!

[faizoff]

Nice, I have to finish the 3rd one. I loved the first two ones and I remember the first one crashing my computer a ton, turned out my new PC at the time could not run Crysis.

[Sacul]

Even modern PCs can barely run Crysis

[XJDenton]

That's because modern PCs don't have graphics cards due to the shortage.

[Dublagent66]

I haven't played games on a PC since the late 90's.  Consoles have just evolved to be more multi-purpose devices.