Truth is, many people didn't even play the Shepard designed by Bioware, but a totally different person with the name Shepherd. That, and all the different ways you could interact with NPCs means that, for me, the next series could absolutely do well without Shepard as the main protagonist.
Game engine optimization will push the consoles harder. I expect PS5 to be backwards compatible if Sony keeps the same architecture, so, a higher spec console every five years would make sense now. Or even an upgradable console where you swap out a module every five years and not have to pay for a new HDD and blu ray player and controller every console generation.
Just an additional thought, higher ups should Never ever discuss this kind of possibility, no matter how remote, to the press, even for the sake of transparency and honesty towards customers, until the project is rock solid and real. Especially when enjoying such strong sales. Way to kill sales momentum if the 'news' spreads like wildfire.
I would be interested in a better performing ps4. 4 years from now. And while you're at it, may as well call it the PS5. In all honesty, the console market could benefit from having hardware that is upgradeable, if it was a really simple procedure even a two year old could do; there was a clear indication of when the upgrade was released and if there are any better ones on the market; cost between 100-200 at most, and released no sooner than four years from the previous upgrade. If Sony or MS engineered a console like that, it would mean much lower production costs. It would be great not having to pay for a new controller, hdd, and disc player every console generation. Developers could still leverage a homogenous hardware ecosystem against engine optimization to keep software development at manageable costs, and mean a lower risk to The console manufacturer. But, please, don't repeat Sega's mistake of releasing constant console upgrades and attachments. This will drive people away from consoles altogether.
I have an Xbox 1 it's a great console, and not at all underpowered. That said, I also have a PS4 and very sharp eyes, so, I tend to purchase multiplats on PS4.
I'm a Batman game virgin and have to say that this game is exceptional. From the frequent yet unintrusive cinematic moments that constantly pull you into the universe, making you feel like you're literally in a Batman movie / comic, to the exceptionally crafted musical score, character models and animation, every aspect of the game, from outdoor to indoor transitions, and batmobile entry exit, is smooth as butter. The fighting is heavily on the easy side, BUT is fast and fun. Using the Bat gadgets makes up the bulk of the game, and moving around Gotham feels meaningful and is a gameplay mechanic in and of itself.
I'm not one to comment on a reviewer's score. 7 is actually a good score by any measure, and probably doesn't negatively impact the sales of this particular game all that much, especially since there are many other higher scores from game journalists out there. That said, The only way Arkham Knight can be scored a 7 is when it's reviewed by someone who's played the originals, and just isn't so easily attracted to the gameplay mechanics anymore.
The Batmobile gripe, while legitimate if you don't like the batmobile, is entirely overstated. At any time you can simply hop out and travel by gliding over the city, find whatever objective requires the Batmobile, hop in, take out some tanks, and hop back out.
The whole, ''BUT BATMAN DOESN'T KILL" Is really a nerdy fanboy gripe. I never felt like I was on a killing spree, simply because you never directly kill thugs. Batman is overly aggressive in his approach to even small time thugs, though, and I probably would be do in his shoes, as the only people left behind are criminals endorsing Scarecrow and his toxins, and are the worst kind opportunists.
@putaspongeon: He certainly has a reputation, not all good. I'm not certain many publishers will even want to fund his work. He may be relegated to self published titles for awhile, and given his inability to stay within budget, I personally wouldn't fund him through any crowd sourced initiative, even though I love Metal Gear.
@jako998: I'm a little late to the party here, but, games in 'the old days' cost just as much to buy, had 2-4 hour campaigns, and never had additional content released post launch. The ballooning size of game campaigns only followed the increasing market of gamers. The Market is fairly saturated now, which means that devs have to make games with less content. Also, the used games market does affect the size of videogame bugets, and so devs leverage season passes to make up for that decrease in revenue. The fact is, if you take the whole history of videogames into account, there is a very small time frame where games released with more content than they do today.
Compared to the whole history of gaming, games today are much richer in content, music, story, graphics, and gameplay, even before the addition of DLC is taken into account. I personally see DLC and season passes make a .5 version of the game. Gamers actually cried out for such content in the past anyways, to extend the universe of the games they were sentimentally invested in. That content couldn't possibly be released for free and you can bet that Arkham Knight would be just as fun and wouldn't have sold anymore copies than it has if there WASN'T paid content being released.
@slappy54: I was telling myself how Uncharted (wait there's a link to TR here) did wrong by including supernatural elements into its storytelling. Then I wondered, what exactly is the inspiration for the game? While it felt a lot like a modern day Tomb Raider game, Uncharted probably drew most of its inspiration from Indiana Jones, which has supernatural elements woven into every movie.
So, while I'm not a fan of the whole, 'The Mythical legend is true' twist towards the end of Uncharted, and the narrative elements of TR either, I think the developers were basically sinking their teeth in the genre, and maybe took too big a bite. If they can tone down those elements in the sequel, it'll be a better game for it. That said, I played TR for the gameplay and exploration elements in the amazing environment that Crystal Dynamics crafted.
ConsoleHaven's comments