@lazerface216 said:

@GeoffZak said:

@bbkkristian said:

@PhazonBlazer said:

Get out, Naughty Dog is the Lindsey Lohan of Video Games.

I may even go as far to say Naughty Dog is the Justin Bieber of video games. They're so full of themselves. In my opinion, Uncharted and The Last of Us are very pretentious.

don't just make a blanket statement like that. what in god's green earth is pretentious about uncharted and the last of us? explain yourself.

That was mostly a joke. But I feel like there is some truth. I don't think any developer can be as bad a Justin Bieber

But their games still have become very pretentious. They're trying to be the Holywood producers that they clearly aren't. Sure The Last of Us and Uncharted have good stories and impressive cutscenes, but that doesn't mean anything when your gameplay is boring!

Metal Gear Rising's epic boss music really gets you pumped:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ULQgMntenO8

I agree, it does boil down to opinion.

I prefer those Japanese games for a reason. Not because I'm a "weeb," but because it just so happens that Japanese developers stick to game mechanics that I find fun.

I've played many shooters. I've played Uncharted, Gears of War, Call of Duty, Halo 3, and so on. The first time I played Call of Duty 4 I was impressed. It was a big step forward. The graphics were amazing, the game ran at a smooth 60 fps, and the gameplay had a simple learning curve that made it easy to pick up and play and have fun....Have fun for about five minutes though. I was impressed at first, but as I continued playing I realized I falling asleep out of boredom.

So Call of Duty wasn't my cup of tea. Maybe Uncharted is?...Nope. What about Resistance?...Not really.

What these games share in common, at least in my opinion, is that they don't have very much substance. The games are short for a reason, because running down linear paths, shooting at generic henchmen is only fun for so long. For me, it's fun for a few minutes. Then after a while, I get tired of popping in and out of cover. Typical shooters can't hold my interest because I don't find the combat very fun at all.

JRPGs typically have combat systems that I find a lot more fun. They do a better job holding my interest because I think that they have more substance.

Most shooters feel very mindless to me, so when I play them, it feels like a chore to me. I never really thought about it at length until I realized that playing Call of Duty legitimately makes me feel tired. lol

@bbkkristian said:

@PhazonBlazer said:

Get out, Naughty Dog is the Lindsey Lohan of Video Games.

I may even go as far to say Naughty Dog is the Justin Bieber of video games. They're so full of themselves. In my opinion, Uncharted and The Last of Us are very pretentious.

"Atlus" on the cover of a box is like a seal of quality. If you ever see their name on a game, you know it's a good game. I've bought games Atlus has developed or published in the past simply because their name is on it. I assume it's going to be a good game, and my assumption has never been wrong.

Even if they were only the publisher, I know the game is gonna be good because Atlus makes good decisions.

I may have to agree. Persona 1 - 4 are all classics, Catherine is an instant classic, Trauma Team makes me want to become a doctor, and Digital Devil Saga and Nocturne are amazing games with amazing atmosphere.

I feel bad for anyone who hasn't played some of Atlus' best games. Anyone who hasn't played Persona 3 or 4 is really missing out.

It's hard for me to think of a franchise that I would consider the absolute worst. I can think of a franchise that was the best though.

I don't pay too much attention to bad games. Uncharted, Call of Duty, Gears of War, etc etc. I just group them all into a general "bad games" category and think of them as if they're all on the same level. I consider them bad games because they're repetitive, uninspired, rehashed, and overall not very fun or satisfying to play. I consider them bad for very similar reasons. None of them are particularly worse than the other bad games, they're all at the same level of "bad" in my opinion.

But when it comes to the best games of this generation, such as Folklore, Metal Gear Rising, Tales of Xillia, etc etc, I pay more attention to them. I think, in depth, about what makes them better than other games. Metal Gear Rising has a better story than Folklore and Tales of Xillia, Folklore has better atmosphere than Metal Gear Rising and Tales of Xillia, and Tales of Xillia has a more enjoyable combat system than Folklore and Metal Gear Rising. Because I look at these "good" games in more detail, I can find one that I consider the best.

If I had to choose a "worst" franchise, I may have to say Call of Duty. The game itself isn't necessarily worse than the other games I'd consider, but what makes the franchise worse in this case is what it has done to the gaming industry. Because of the success of Call of Duty 4, every developer and their mom has been trying to mimic CoD4's formula. It's gotten to a point where most FPSs are so identical it hurts. So many shooters rehash the same formula over and over again, and people continue to buy into it.

Don't blame me. I've been putting my money where my mouth is.

I bought games like Metal Gear Rising, Tales of Graces, Tales of Xillia, Ni No Kuni, The Last Story, Pandora's Tower, Braid, Sonic Colors, Folklore, LittleBigPlanet, and Trauma Team.

Ever since I played Resistance Fall of Man and Call of Duty 4, I knew this generation was taking a turn for the worst.

Why not? For a Japanese franchise, it has a HUGE following in the United States. It's no Final Fantasy but it's up there. Persona cosplayers are very prominent at any convention. The series is gaining steam as of late with the releases of Persona 4 Golden and Persona 4 Arena, and the announcement of Persona 5.

And I actually didn't know Silent Hill Homecoming was made by a western developer. My mistake. Add that to the list of western developed games I enjoyed then. So that explains the shift in game feel...(I still prefer Silent Hill 2 and 3 though, when Konami Computer Entertainment Tokyo worked on the games.)

I heard that Knack outsold Super Mario 3D World. But that's because PS4 owners didn't have much of a choice between the two games there are for the PS4 so far! haha

I'm disappointed in Knack, it's a painfully average beat em up. I thought they would try to make something original and innovative.

But on topic, western games are definitely taking over. It's nothing new. It's all about marketing. I don't see any commercials on TV for Japanese games unless they're for Mario or Sonic.

Eh. I guess I can't really complain. My favorite genre/subgenre is fading into obscurity. All that means for me is that I won't have to spend so much money anymore. And it also means when a good JRPG is finally released, it will be a huge deal! We've got Call of Duty clones being released every day, it's not so often we see a good JRPG with a "pre-order now!' ad.

At Gamestop the other day, I found Persona 3 FES with a sticker but no price. I brought it up to the counter to ask how much it was. The guy looked at it, saw it was a PS2 game and said "I guarantee you not a lot." He scans it and was shocked to see it was $30. If he had known the game series, he wouldn't have been surprised about the price. Persona could be considered one of the most successful JRPG series in the states, but considering how Gamestop employees haven't even heard of it, it just goes to show you how obscure Japanese titles are today. (Unless they're Sonic or Mario.)

I still think Japan makes the best games, I know that makes me sound like a weeb, but my favorite memories playing games on the PS3, Wii, and 360 come from Japanese games. (Tales of Vesperia, Tales of Graces f, White Knight Chronicles, Metal Gear Rising, Silent Hill Homecoming, The Last Story, Xenoblade Chronicles, Pandora's Tower, Sonic Unleashed, Sonic Generations, Sonic Colors, Resonance of Fate, Catherine, etc.) I'm struggling to think of western games for the past generation that I REALLY liked other than World of Warcraft...

Overall, Japanese games fading into obscurity is bad news for me. But I'm trying to stay positive because it means I won't be spending as much money!