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Let's have a thread to discuss events, game announcements, releases, and whatnot-- about the gaming industry. It would be cool if discussion here could fluctuate from one news bit to another depending on what is happening.
Industry News / Upcoming Games
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I will open it up by mentioning the upcoming release (February 4) of Dying Light 2, an action RPG developed by Techland. It's a sequel to 2015's Dying Light - an acclaimed first-person survival horror game about zombies.
Dying Light 2 has a bit of a difficult development history but for now, it seems like the developers have solved the majority of their issues and the game looks promising.
Contrary to popular belief, Chris Avellone didn’t write the whole story and just did a few quests for the upcoming game. Chris Avellone was the one who presented Dying Light 2 at E3 2018, so maybe that’s why a lot of people thought that he was the face of this game.
However, with or without Chris, the game sounds like an ambitious project. PC Gamer's Wes Fenlon got hands-on with Dying Light 2 for a four-hour preview of what's to come. "Every conversation I had was overwrought and amusingly melodramatic" Wes said, "...the writing and acting for story beats feel like they belong to a game from a half-decade ago that hasn't aged particularly well." He also detailed further that the characters all feel morally ambiguous, but in a fairly obvious way we've come to expect from anything painting itself with the post-apocalypse color scheme. These choices do have concrete results that can be worth your time, though. As you sway the groups who control an area, you may find parkour aids from helping out the survivors, or traps for killing zombies if you work for the more militaristic and ironically named peacekeepers. We don't yet know how the smaller sample will add up in the larger story—and access to the other districts of the city—and there could be far more compelling characters and choices ahead. But for the moment, the most exciting part remains the gun-free melee combat and running wild-and-free on the rooftops and ruins of Dying Light 2's massive city.
We need to remember that Techland was also joined by at least one member of The Witcher 3 writing team: Karolina Stachyra, known for her work on the Bloody Baron questline. I like that quest VERY much, so this sounds promising.
Dying Light 2 has a bit of a difficult development history but for now, it seems like the developers have solved the majority of their issues and the game looks promising.
Contrary to popular belief, Chris Avellone didn’t write the whole story and just did a few quests for the upcoming game. Chris Avellone was the one who presented Dying Light 2 at E3 2018, so maybe that’s why a lot of people thought that he was the face of this game.
However, with or without Chris, the game sounds like an ambitious project. PC Gamer's Wes Fenlon got hands-on with Dying Light 2 for a four-hour preview of what's to come. "Every conversation I had was overwrought and amusingly melodramatic" Wes said, "...the writing and acting for story beats feel like they belong to a game from a half-decade ago that hasn't aged particularly well." He also detailed further that the characters all feel morally ambiguous, but in a fairly obvious way we've come to expect from anything painting itself with the post-apocalypse color scheme. These choices do have concrete results that can be worth your time, though. As you sway the groups who control an area, you may find parkour aids from helping out the survivors, or traps for killing zombies if you work for the more militaristic and ironically named peacekeepers. We don't yet know how the smaller sample will add up in the larger story—and access to the other districts of the city—and there could be far more compelling characters and choices ahead. But for the moment, the most exciting part remains the gun-free melee combat and running wild-and-free on the rooftops and ruins of Dying Light 2's massive city.
We need to remember that Techland was also joined by at least one member of The Witcher 3 writing team: Karolina Stachyra, known for her work on the Bloody Baron questline. I like that quest VERY much, so this sounds promising.
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The biggest news of the month that just finished involved 2 major acquisitions: Microsoft acquired Activision Blizzard ($68.7 billion), while Sony acquired Bungie ($3.6 billion).
"Unlike Microsoft’s deal with Activision Blizzard, it’s not particularly clear what Sony is getting from this partnership. Whereas we can reasonably assume that Activision series will eventually become Xbox exclusives a la Bethesda, it seems that Sony has instead acquired Bungie for different reasons outside of producing PS5-only games. Perhaps the studio is working on another, non-Destiny IP that Sony is interested in, or maybe Sony just wants Bungie around to help it with the development of a first-party live service game considering Destiny‘s success. At this point, we’re not really sure." https://www.playstationlifestyle.ne...pinion-sony-buys-bungie-microsoft-activision/
What are your opinions about these deals?
"Unlike Microsoft’s deal with Activision Blizzard, it’s not particularly clear what Sony is getting from this partnership. Whereas we can reasonably assume that Activision series will eventually become Xbox exclusives a la Bethesda, it seems that Sony has instead acquired Bungie for different reasons outside of producing PS5-only games. Perhaps the studio is working on another, non-Destiny IP that Sony is interested in, or maybe Sony just wants Bungie around to help it with the development of a first-party live service game considering Destiny‘s success. At this point, we’re not really sure." https://www.playstationlifestyle.ne...pinion-sony-buys-bungie-microsoft-activision/
What are your opinions about these deals?
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To be honest, at first I thought: "Doesn't concern me, I don't play on console anyway", but of course in case of Microsoft any acquisition means PC players won't need to fear, their games will always be available on Windows even if labeled Xbox exclusive.
Sony is a different matter, but I haven't played any of Bungie's games, so I don't have a passionate personal opinion on the matter.
I would be very upset if, let's say, Sony instead of Microsoft had acquired Bethesda last year, but in that case I would have needed to wait longer for Starfield, not bought a Playstation.
As for Sony and Bungie, in this article https://www.gamesindustry.biz/artic...journey-with-multiplatform-live-service-games Sony Interactive Entertainment CEO Jim Ryan explains in an interview that it's indeed about life service games, and that Bungie games won't become Playstation exclusives.
Skimming other headlines on the subject like "Microsoft has Minecraft, Epic Games has Fortnite, and Sony now has Destiny" they seem to agree with that reasoning.
I have never played the Halo games, or Destiny, or Fortnite for that matter, (and only my children play Minecraft) so I don't have a horse in that race, but there's no denying that they are apparently very popular and lucrative, and that there's a huge market for life service games.
[Edited. Going to continue that line of thought in the other thread to avoid derailing this one too much]
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Sounds like the game is getting lots of positive reviews from players, and the main draw is fun people have while playing the game. An underwhelming story but a massive, exciting sandbox of parkour and kinetic combat.
Dying Light 2 Has Shambled Onto Steam's 25 Most-Played Games of All Time by Concurrent Players - IGN
Dying Light 2 appears to be off to a strong start, as it has already shambled its way onto Steam's top 25 most-played games of all time with a peak concurrent player count of 274,983.
I'm glad to see how the initial promise actually turned into a real game here.
One thing that needs to be added: Dying Light 2 is a good example of a game where adding RPG genre elements didn't seem to make it better:
I really wish Dying Light 2 wasn't an RPG
Please just let me enjoy the parkour, Techland.
www.pcgamer.com
alice_ashpool
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An open world action game with lite rpg mechanics... quelle surprise
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That's apparently exactly the problem, as the author in the PC Gamer link describes.
They added the RPG mechanics part of leveling and earning skills in a game that isn't fun to play like that, but why?
RPG mechanics make sense in a game that's developed in a way that fits into the world and the story.
Having to accumulate XP to level up and develop your skills is perfectly alright in a game that gives you skills, weapons, opponents and areas adjusted to your level to have some fun while progressing, and maybe even a good story to go with it.
But if the whole game is a citywide, zombie infested obstacle course where the main fun is the parkour and flashy fighting skills, it seems like a punishment and chore if you are forced to spend the first 20 hours crawling, walking and punching zombies until you can finally leap, climb, roll and kick properly. That doesn't look like natural progression that gives an adequate challenge at every level as I'd expect from a true RPG, it sounds more like having to earn your entry into the game or to artificially increase gameplay hours before you can finally start having fun.
So, why? Mixing elements of different genres to try to appeal to the biggest possible audience but only finding the lowest common denominator?
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Phil Spencer wants to make Starfield the ‘most-played Bethesda game ever’ | VGC
The sci-fi title is coming to Xbox Series X/S, PC and Game Pass in…
www.videogameschronicle.com
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A little bit of politics:
The base game had already been rated Adults Only in Russia, for the same reason:
https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2014/05/russia-hangs-adults-only-rating-on-the-sims-4/
But back then, it was just part of the game content. Now for the expansion, the promotional effort is focusing on a female couple. Apparently that is justified reason enough for EA to fear a complete ban if they release My Wedding Stories in Russia. It's either risking that, or changing their advertisement campaign just because of a law from the Dark Ages, or not releasing the expansion there.
So while it sucks for Russian Sims 4 players, it looks like a reasonable decision.
All the more reason to appreciate that Russian studio Owlcat Games includes diverse relationships in Pathfinder games, but also without making a fuss about it or seeming to be "token characters". Life just is as it is, and in most countries not all people think like their rulers, fortunately.
https://www.pcgamer.com/the-sims-4-wedding-expansion-wont-release-in-russia-because-of-anti-gay-law/
The base game had already been rated Adults Only in Russia, for the same reason:
https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2014/05/russia-hangs-adults-only-rating-on-the-sims-4/
But back then, it was just part of the game content. Now for the expansion, the promotional effort is focusing on a female couple. Apparently that is justified reason enough for EA to fear a complete ban if they release My Wedding Stories in Russia. It's either risking that, or changing their advertisement campaign just because of a law from the Dark Ages, or not releasing the expansion there.
So while it sucks for Russian Sims 4 players, it looks like a reasonable decision.
All the more reason to appreciate that Russian studio Owlcat Games includes diverse relationships in Pathfinder games, but also without making a fuss about it or seeming to be "token characters". Life just is as it is, and in most countries not all people think like their rulers, fortunately.
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It sounds so, so odd about the Sims 4 and Russia. But then again, with that country, non-released DLC is the least of their concerns.
The next big game is Horizon Forbidden West. Its reviews are very good.
The next big game is Horizon Forbidden West. Its reviews are very good.
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One can hope this will turn out to be a proper game. Ubisoft often gets a lot of flak, but I've enjoyed their Assassin's Creed: Odyssey game.
www.nme.com
"In a listing on the Ubisoft careers page (spotted by VGC), Ubisoft says that it is looking for a Senior Brand Manager to “champion the brand marketing and product marketability of a new Might and Magic AAA game. Under the management of the Brand director, join an ambitious team and help reinvent one [of] the biggest fantasy franchise"
Now I have to stop imagining this, but with new quests, storylines and worlds to explore...
Ubisoft is hiring for a new ‘Might and Magic’ game
A new job listing states that a new 'Might and Magic' game is in development.
www.nme.com
"In a listing on the Ubisoft careers page (spotted by VGC), Ubisoft says that it is looking for a Senior Brand Manager to “champion the brand marketing and product marketability of a new Might and Magic AAA game. Under the management of the Brand director, join an ambitious team and help reinvent one [of] the biggest fantasy franchise"
Now I have to stop imagining this, but with new quests, storylines and worlds to explore...
BelgarathMTH
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I've seen the news about Ubisoft's job announcement in our Reddit subs. Those of us who are long time fans of the franchise are not holding our breaths. Ubisoft's most recent release under the "Might and Magic" title was a mobile arena type thing. Most of us suspect there will be some kind of gacha style game or DLC money grab upcoming. Ubisoft has a terrible reputation among Might and Magic fans, of releasing buggy, unfinished products that are outsourced to obscure developers who are fired as soon as the game releases, pulling the plug on servers for online connection required games, and just generally not understanding or caring what fans of the franchise want.
Thanks for helping to spread the news, though. I don't want to rain on anyone's parade. I'd be happier than anybody if they actually released something new in the franchise that was as good as MM 6-8 or HoMM 1-4. I actually enjoyed their Might and Magic X: Legacy, but it had an online DRM check in it to get past the first tutorial town which served as a demo, and they pulled the plug on that server, rendering everyone's copies of it unplayable. I've read they finally went back and did something about the DRM problem, but I haven't tried to play it since then to confirm that it works again.
Thanks for helping to spread the news, though. I don't want to rain on anyone's parade. I'd be happier than anybody if they actually released something new in the franchise that was as good as MM 6-8 or HoMM 1-4. I actually enjoyed their Might and Magic X: Legacy, but it had an online DRM check in it to get past the first tutorial town which served as a demo, and they pulled the plug on that server, rendering everyone's copies of it unplayable. I've read they finally went back and did something about the DRM problem, but I haven't tried to play it since then to confirm that it works again.
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An update! EA reversed its decision. My Wedding Stories will be released in Russia, and it will be “unaltered and unchanged.” As first reported by VICE, in a letter posted to the game’s website, the Sims development team told its community that “we’ve reassessed our options and realized we can do more than we initially believed.” Since the studio has decided to release the wedding expansion in Russia, the worldwide launch date for My Wedding Stories has been pushed back from February 17 to February 23. EA promised that the game’s content would not be changed for the Russian edition.
Sims 4’s Queer-Friendly Wedding Expansion To Be Released In Russia After Community 'Outpouring'
EA will release My Wedding Stories in Russia unaltered despite the nation’s homophobic laws
kotaku.com
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Yeah, I heard about that Might and Magic X: Legacy problem when it first appeared and didn't like the initial reaction to take down the whole game. However, as the article says, "Ubisoft later fixed the issues and returned Might and Magic 10 to storefronts. Players also received The Falcon & The Unicorn downloadable content for free as an apology. In a statement, Ubisoft said, “our teams have spent the last few months investigating and testing the different solutions to make sure players’ experience lives up to our standards in terms of quality of service.”
Over the last 2 years, Ubisoft has seen a lot of leadership changes in response to harassment & bad culture complaints. I think these changes have already started to influence their games positively, with AC: Valhalla getting tons of free DLC and even a free DLC for AC: Odyssey.
I know and share the same thoughts about how Ubisoft handled the M&M franchise in the past. I played Might & Magic Heroes VI on its release and saw how that 3rd party developer was fired. M&M Heroes VII developers had nearly the same fate. Can't say I didn't enjoy any of these games, I think VII is pretty decent. But of course, neither of those games became the true heir to HoMM III or V. But there is hope the lessons have been learnt.
You can look at this list of games developed by Ubisoft Shanghai: https://www.igdb.com/companies/ubisoft-shanghai/best A pretty good list, to be honest.
So there might be some hope for the next M&M title.
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Horizon Forbidden West has been out since last Friday, and I want to quote this review by Kotaku which I agree with. A few snippets:
"It is perhaps unfair to measure Horizon Forbidden West against the lofty expectations established by Zero Dawn. Let’s rewind for a second to the 2010s, a not-exactly-halcyon era that saw the big studios of the world caught up in a cycle of sequels and threequels and prequels. Here we had a brand-new series from a studio (Guerrilla Games) best known—and perhaps written off by some—for a quintessentially generic series of sci-fi shooters known as Killzone. But this new game…man, it wasn’t just good. With its distinct action and unforgettable enemies, it was phenomenal, setting a standard for what an ambitious big-budget video game could accomplish. How fun! How fresh! How pleasantly unexpected.
From the jump, Horizon Forbidden West could never pull off the same hat trick. Its biggest gimmick—that it uses fossilized behemoths from the Mesozoic as blueprints for artificially intelligent war machines—isn’t a novelty that can be replicated. You know how it goes: You see one robot T. Rex, you’ve seen ‘em all.
To compensate for a lack of what experts call “holy shit!”-ness, Horizon Forbidden West distracts by throwing more at you—more giant robot dinosaurs, more Hollywood A-listers, more lens flare, more skill trees and upgrade materials and weapon variations and categories of optional activities, more, more, more, more, more."
"Five years ago, Horizon Zero Dawn stood out among the crowd by openly challenging what we’d fairly come to expect from the insatiable serialization machine. Horizon Forbidden West has succumbed to the same machine."
"But behind every small convenience hides a slightly less-small inconvenience, showing how the Horizon series—yeah, it’s a series now—has failed to keep pace with advancements made by open-world game design over the past half a decade."
"I thoroughly enjoyed Horizon Forbidden West, and I suspect anyone who loves open-world RPGs will thoroughly enjoy it as well. But despite getting a kick out of fighting robot dinos, despite the enthralling time sink of “Machine Strike,” despite finding myself ravenous to return to this rich, inspired open world, I can’t shake how plainly Forbidden West misses the one philosophical throughline that helped its predecessor ascend to greatness: Sometimes, the question is more interesting than the answer."
The next big game is, of course, Elden Ring. Here is the release trailer:
"It is perhaps unfair to measure Horizon Forbidden West against the lofty expectations established by Zero Dawn. Let’s rewind for a second to the 2010s, a not-exactly-halcyon era that saw the big studios of the world caught up in a cycle of sequels and threequels and prequels. Here we had a brand-new series from a studio (Guerrilla Games) best known—and perhaps written off by some—for a quintessentially generic series of sci-fi shooters known as Killzone. But this new game…man, it wasn’t just good. With its distinct action and unforgettable enemies, it was phenomenal, setting a standard for what an ambitious big-budget video game could accomplish. How fun! How fresh! How pleasantly unexpected.
From the jump, Horizon Forbidden West could never pull off the same hat trick. Its biggest gimmick—that it uses fossilized behemoths from the Mesozoic as blueprints for artificially intelligent war machines—isn’t a novelty that can be replicated. You know how it goes: You see one robot T. Rex, you’ve seen ‘em all.
To compensate for a lack of what experts call “holy shit!”-ness, Horizon Forbidden West distracts by throwing more at you—more giant robot dinosaurs, more Hollywood A-listers, more lens flare, more skill trees and upgrade materials and weapon variations and categories of optional activities, more, more, more, more, more."
"Five years ago, Horizon Zero Dawn stood out among the crowd by openly challenging what we’d fairly come to expect from the insatiable serialization machine. Horizon Forbidden West has succumbed to the same machine."
"But behind every small convenience hides a slightly less-small inconvenience, showing how the Horizon series—yeah, it’s a series now—has failed to keep pace with advancements made by open-world game design over the past half a decade."
"I thoroughly enjoyed Horizon Forbidden West, and I suspect anyone who loves open-world RPGs will thoroughly enjoy it as well. But despite getting a kick out of fighting robot dinos, despite the enthralling time sink of “Machine Strike,” despite finding myself ravenous to return to this rich, inspired open world, I can’t shake how plainly Forbidden West misses the one philosophical throughline that helped its predecessor ascend to greatness: Sometimes, the question is more interesting than the answer."
The next big game is, of course, Elden Ring. Here is the release trailer:
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Seems like we're witnessing a rather unique (in today's gaming) situation where a game that has been hyped a lot actually not only lives up to that hype but probably even surpasses it. Elden Ring is breaking records on aggregate sites like Metacritic and OpenCritic. On both aggregators, the game holds an impressive 97 score(!). This has positioned Elden Ring as one of the best-reviewed PS5 games of all time on Metacritic and the highest-rated game of all time on OpenCritic.
What is more, it sounds like the game moves the genre of open-world games forward (unlike Horizon Forbidden West for example).
IGN:
"more than anything else I was in near-constant awe–from the many absolutely jaw-dropping vistas, the sheer scope of an absolutely enormous world, the frequently harrowing enemies, and the way in which Elden Ring nearly always rewarded my curiosity with either an interesting encounter, a valuable reward, or something even greater."
Hardcore Gamer:
"Elden Ring is one of the best games in years, with a breathtaking vast world to explore, and one of the most satisfying combat systems in an RPG. This is the accumulation of FromSoftware’s work over the last thirteen years and an evolution on its inspiring formula."
One More Game:
"Elden Ring is the logical evolution in the trademark souls formula, borrowing the best features from previous titles and blending them into a finely-tuned mix of intense combat and high-pressure precision. While veterans will surely enjoy the punishment that comes with it, newcomers are treated to what could arguably be one of FromSoftware's more approachable titles to get into."
What is more, it sounds like the game moves the genre of open-world games forward (unlike Horizon Forbidden West for example).
IGN:
"more than anything else I was in near-constant awe–from the many absolutely jaw-dropping vistas, the sheer scope of an absolutely enormous world, the frequently harrowing enemies, and the way in which Elden Ring nearly always rewarded my curiosity with either an interesting encounter, a valuable reward, or something even greater."
Hardcore Gamer:
"Elden Ring is one of the best games in years, with a breathtaking vast world to explore, and one of the most satisfying combat systems in an RPG. This is the accumulation of FromSoftware’s work over the last thirteen years and an evolution on its inspiring formula."
One More Game:
"Elden Ring is the logical evolution in the trademark souls formula, borrowing the best features from previous titles and blending them into a finely-tuned mix of intense combat and high-pressure precision. While veterans will surely enjoy the punishment that comes with it, newcomers are treated to what could arguably be one of FromSoftware's more approachable titles to get into."
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Microsoft, Activision Blizzard, Ubisoft and Epic Games suspended their services in Russia. They joined big names like Netflix, EA Games and CDPR in boycotting the country over its illegal war.
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The Elden Ring release has sparked a big debate about open worlds in games. Here is the context (I've tried to search for a more or less balanced view on the matter):
Here is the story about the current debate which also has a MEME picture of how the UI "would have looked" if Elden Ring was created by Ubisoft:
screenrant.com
Here is the story about the current debate which also has a MEME picture of how the UI "would have looked" if Elden Ring was created by Ubisoft:
Elden Ring Meme Reimagines It As A Cluttered Ubisoft Game
The meme pokes fun at games like Assassin's Creed.
Chronicler
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Eh, this guy's fear seems to be pretty much just how things work in general.
The Lord of the Rings was popular so for the next few decades fantasy novels were almost exclusively lesser writers trying their hand at Lord of the Rings. Watchmen and Dark Knight Returns were popular so comics had a whole phase of mostly unsuccessful imitators to those two books. So on and so forth.
I don't think debating on twitter with all the nuance in the world could prevent it, and honestly Shitty Dark Souls sounds better than the shitty games they'd be replacing anyway.
The Lord of the Rings was popular so for the next few decades fantasy novels were almost exclusively lesser writers trying their hand at Lord of the Rings. Watchmen and Dark Knight Returns were popular so comics had a whole phase of mostly unsuccessful imitators to those two books. So on and so forth.
I don't think debating on twitter with all the nuance in the world could prevent it, and honestly Shitty Dark Souls sounds better than the shitty games they'd be replacing anyway.
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That's a rather pessimistic view of things. One could also say the huge success of Lord of the Rings was why we got more fantasy books in the first place, and because of the continuing success of those fantasy books we got fantasy games and movies, too.
As soon as something is successful, people start to panic that everyone will imitate it from now on. And of course there will always be lesser copies of everything, but even great artists of the past, be they painters, composers or writers, took their inspiration from those before them, that doesn't mean they only produced cheap copies, it meant they picked up a new style and sometimes developed it further.
Learning also works through imitation, and then innovation comes from improving on it with your own ideas and experiments. Of course something completely new and different can always be the next great thing, but there's no harm in building on the foundation of what's already there, either, as long as it gets its own original touch.
With that said, the main message I take from the above quoted reddit post is that the problem is people dividing into extreme camps. You either love TB and hate RTwP, or the opposite. You either hate games with maps, arrows and quest markers as hand-holding and too obvious and boring and for dumb people, or you hate games that don't give you clues because you spend hours stumbling through the grass when nobody told you where to find that thing and you got lost in the wilderness, have a poor sense of direction, but heaven forbid some pointer shows you how to get back to the village.
With the success of Larian games, people were whining that from now on all RPGs would be turn-based. What happened? Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous offers the choice between TB and RTwP. Is that so bad?
The above mentioned issue with waypoints and quest markers? They can be turned off in several games, or you can add your own ones if you need more.
So, making some things optional is the easiest choice in some situations. In others, it's just that a game studio should decide which direction to take, and to stick with it. They don't owe us anything. There aren't one-size-fits-all games. You can never make everyone happy, so you have to create something you like, something that you're proud of, that you can call yours, and that you would like to play, too. And enough people will like it. Not everyone, of course. But if you try to make everyone happy by mixing in elements of successful recipes without leaving your own mark on it, or make just about everything optional to toggle on or off but then have a game that's totally unbalanced, you'll end up with a meh game that nobody has fun with.
Sometimes it's okay to see games that others love, but where I have to say "I can see what you did there, and it's probably well done, it's just not somethin that interests me" without declaring them horrible or faulty.
We got several cool new games in the last 5 years and will hopefully get many more in the following. I can only pity people who can't bring themselves to enjoy any of them.