I for one appreciate the greater variety of experiences we've been getting as gamers. Its nice to see the medium mature. I can also really appreciate a deep, off-the-beaten-path game like Disco Elysium as a rare gem.
That said, as I've aged alongside the games industry, I have less free time to burn doing 4 playthroughs of a 100 hour game (and I play really slow like Jess). So there are times I just can't wade through "to get to the good bit" because I only get to play a few games per year. That's why I also respect the tighter narrative of something like The Outer Worlds, which another GS editor praised for being concise.
The current Tomb Raider arc always gets compared to uncharted, but I think with good reason. Its not just the gameplay similarities. These big multi-part stories with real character development are rare. It seems like that territory has been claimed by Telltale and the like, no longer appealing for AAA game developers with these kind of budgets. I'm really looking forward to see what they do with this one.
And to think I remember the publisher complaining that the first Tomb Raider in this reboot didn't sell enough copies. Looks like it worked out in the end.
I understand the lopsided economics of AAA games, but I personally find the whole multiplayer scene completely uninteresting. I've only ventured in there a few times over the years and hated it every time. The whole microtransactions in my single player game seems very crass and frustrating as well. I see I'm in good company with a cadre of other old-school single player gamers in this comments area.
I think this is why there has been such an uptick in indie titles shooting for an experience that the mainstream publishers have backed away from. Everything has to be on consoles, and everything on console has to use 100% of the systems capabilities. So they won't release something unless it has high production values. And then the economic ship lists badly. Too much risk. I imagine the market will segregate and there will be different tiers of products made by different developers and under different publishing arrangements.
I think this thing particularly suffered at the hands of our memories of the previous games. The ME series is very likely my favorite game of all time. Then many of us felt very betrayed by the ME3 ending and were primed for detonation. You release a game with some obvious flaws and.... fire meet gasoline.
I've played ME:A for about 120 hours and I've definitely gotten my money's worth. Its mostly good, IMO. But the writing, the dialog, the quests, and the animations are just not quite as good as I expect from Bioware's "A Team." So it ends up as a letdown for many people based on their expectations. I do hope they bring the series back, personally, and not let this game be its final entry.
The ability to outright troll the game was always one of my favorite parts of RCT. Good to see that spirit's still alive and well... unlike the people on that ride.
Couldn't agree more, Danny. I picked a home base in previous fallouts, but nobody ever treats you like you belong there. This feature really drives home a different sense of purpose. You can feel like you are making a more lasting difference. Love the feature, and love your show!
Thanks Danny for another outstanding piece. I really like how you have 20 seconds there in the middle with no talking, just some first person violent scenes to let it sink in. And as powerful as _that_ is, its only more so when I'm the one pushing the button vs. watching your video of you pushing the button.
I also like the effect of having the camera follow real live you around 3rd person style paralleled with in-game footage. Helps blur that line between game and reality for a game that so closely reflects our world in fun-house mirror. Very nicely done.
Personally I have occasionally found even 3rd person GTA a bit disturbing, but I do enjoy a certain level of mayhem. Seeing that in first person is definitely more unnerving, and I doubt I would play the same game the same way in that mode. (Full disclosure, I haven't played GTAV, but a number of earlier entries in the series.)
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