@nyran125tk: I have played Halo 1 one year ago and i though it was a good game.
But i have also played Quake 2, some Doom games, Unreal Tournament, Medal of Honor (a couple), Wolfenstein 3D, and many more FPS games.
Obviously Halo 1 or Halo 2' gameplay wont be as awesome as some of the best multiplayer games in the history of games (ex Doom, Unreal, Quake). It was good enough though for to be considered close though to be considered in the list.
IMO the best parts about Halo was its Forerunner/Covenant/Flood plot.
I think it made a good choice about all the enemy types. By characterizing them as various races, it elevated its lore and games that do that deserve a praise.
Another good thing about Halo was its use of vehicles. By having multiple vehicles (tanks, transport troops, aerial fighters, bombers, etc) for each warring race (Humans vs Covenant) was a good choice.
@Tegorian: Game was good, just the ending was mediocre.
To be fair, the whole ME3 was mostly dealing with each race's problems. It didnt provide any story answers about the Reapers at all until the ending. Which is why the ending has such a big disassociation with the main game.
ME3 was mostly action game, not an exploration/action game like the previous ones. It even has 100,000 words less than each of the previous ME games.
I would say ME 3's ending suffered because all the original ME team had left from ME2 (Only C.Hudson had remained).
And now he has left as well. Of the original core writers none remain.
Because of special circumstances Kojima has gained much more recognition than usual (the Konami situation gave him a LOT of visibility over the years, with the apex of that visibility in the recent Konami scandal plus the fact that he was always kinda mainstream with his movie making background & Holywood ties he has developed in the last years).
And then the media escalating the whole situation and giving him overexposure. Despite all that overhyping, Kojima is a really good developer that influenced the stealth game genre in many ways.
Sadly thats the way things work. I doubt many knew Karmack (from Id, creator of Doom, Quake, Wolfenstein 3D, Rage) despite being a more visible dev than usual unless that Oculus/Facebook/Bethesda scandal hadnt occurred.
@Antarte: I think you are fixated a bit on Kojima, the real "catastrophe" was that Konami doesnt care that much about gaming anymore (which was happening for a while), just the Kojima situation sealed the deal.
And the 4th possibility is that the media who have that power. They decide to follow Kojima around and post endlessly about him. Kojima's marketing strategy also helps. I mean he went to bbc to talk about games? really? And you see BBC's tag "Spielberg of Gaming"???? Really?
If you cant see how the media (especially Kotaku/Polygon, Gamespot a bit less) have that power, i will direct you to this example: how they were overhyping Gone Home for a lot of time as a "genre innovator", completely disregarding Dear Esther (a Half Life mod) who was a lot better (had much better visuals too, despite being a much older game) and started this particular "sightseeing" genre.
And after overhyping it for so long with near perfect scores, at the end the truth came out. Dear Esther, the game with much less visibility and despite being a free game for a lot of time, has sold x2 copies more than Gone Home...
@Antarte: I think you should chill out. Yeah we all know about overhyping games from the mass media (everyone remembering the Gone Home "hype"? sheez..) At least Kojima's games have some sense of gameplay at least.
And comparing an RPG game with a stealth action 3rd person shooter game is really unfair to the latter.
By definition RPGs have way deeper lore, deeper gameplay, often innovative mechanics (and if they arent innovative and you have seen them again, it means they have stood the test of time), and awesome stories/plots. Plus they have actually tons of hidden stuff (like megadungeons, mega bosses, extra sidequests beyond the endgame etc).
Kojima "sells" now because of the Konami scandal, his unique gaming approach and a couple other stuff. Its just the way some video gaming sites work (remember the endless NoMan' Sky praise from Gamespot?)
@Antarte: I think its like DoTA, in a sense spawned a genre by itself. Although ofcourse not as successfully. DoTA spawned the MOBA games, and when the 2 devs parted ways one of them went and designed LoL. But then again the whole concept of MOBA is something that can be easily replicated in other games as evidences by the many games that are similar in concept (Heroes of Newerth etc)
But Metal Gear is Metal Gear, i mean you instantly recognize if a game is from this franchise if you see it. You may see influences of the franchise in other stealth games (like all successful franchises do), but MGS is in many ways unique.
One could say that with its stealth gameplay influenced Assassin's Creed & Splinter Cell series.
As for why this guy is a celebrity this is easy to see. First of all MGS is franchise that has a lot of Western Influences (especially from movies). That meant after its success, people would naturally inquire to find out how these games meant to be.
In a similar sense, many people found out about Kenji Inafune's influence on the Megaman series.
That said why is Kojima more famous than Inafune, aside from the fact that MGS has a lot more western/ movie influences and thus a plot that is much more recognizable? (Megaman was pure gameplay).
Primarily, Kojima earned more influence when he made his own studio (Kojima Productions), originally as subsidiary of Konami (and now independent). This meant that this guy's name was very visible..
Secondary, you have to understand the situation of Konami (we will also get to that later). Konami was never a simple gaming company. It has casinos, health & fitness centers, trading cards etc. Gaming for Konami was was a side project (one that got way bigger at some point). Kojima was even vice president of Konami gaming for a point.
Thus when Konami decided to cut gaming costs and only focus MGS series a few years back (thus limit creativity) , Kojima wasnt happy about it which is why we have the whole Konami scandal where they didnt permit him at his team to speak to interviews, sent emails to journalists etc.
That scandal (and the whole P.T. situation, or the "possibility" of an awesome game) gained him even more publicity than before.
But it wasnt marketing in the sense that he paid/arranged for it. So before that point no real marketing strategy. The various instances made him much more visible to the public
After that (when he left Konami) there is some form of marketing strategy involved (his journey to meet other Holywood film-makers, as he is a fan of Holywood movies - Kojima is essentially a video game designer with serious film-maker influences).
@Antarte: You are trying to compare RPGs with other genres like FPS, stealth, action games. You know that is really difficult right? RPGs have usually very deep lore and the plot and story are intertwined with the world.
There is a mantra why Sci-Fi & Fantasy genres have the best potential. By definition plots can be story-driven, character-driven & world-driven. Usually most movies/tv series/graphic novel games are story-driven & character-driven. But Sci-Fi & Fantasy genres offer the best of all all: story-, character- & world-driven plots.
For example consider explaining Pillars of Eternity to someone. You have to tell them about Dyrwood/Eir Glanfathan/Defiance Bay politics, tribes, animancers, Waidwen's Legacy, the 12 gods (world-driven). Then you have to explain what the Watchers are, their interactions with souls, the Leaden Key, more info about the 12 gods & Woedica (story driven). Then you have to tell about your character & your party members and their motivations for joining (character driven).
Now consider doing the same for example lets Say Last of Us, a game that has roots on graphic novels and feels a lot like a cinematic experience, having extremely good presentation. Its basically one man & his "adopted daughter" and their bond they are forging and their journey through the apocalyptic wasteland. Plus the possibility of a vaccine.
The game has minimal lore (standard post apocalyptic world with scavengers who prey upon each other, fungus monsters instead of zombies, the military occupying the city & the resistance against the army called Fireflies). Instead Last of Us focuses primarily on character-driven (meet other characters, bond between protagonists) and secondarily on story-driven plots (prologue & epilogue basically).
That disassociation you are feeling is exactly the stuff i mentioned.
But IMO your tone in the above articles may come to other people as pretentious/condescending (possibly without your intent, otherwise you wouldnt write so long posts.).
That said i think you give Metal Gear a BIT LESS credit than it is worth. As a franchise it has entered a bit into sci-fi realm material has introduced very strange characters and equally crazy plots and somehow it manages somehow to take itself both seriously & being entertaining and usually not campy at all (which is very difficult to achieve).
Genome soldiers, cyborg soldiers, psionicists/mentalists, indian shamans, mechs, giant mechs, A.I., cloning, sword fights, you name it, almost every encounter in this franchise is really memorable. (btw i have played only MGS 1)
PS: Also do you like the JRPG titles? While many dont have the freedom of WRPGs (creating your own character for instance), they compensate with equally deep lore and more personalised story. They usually also give you better means to travel the world (ex. airship). They are certainly awesome games too. Plus their origins were clearly from D&D and this shows even in today's games.
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