The Last Guardian was one of my favorite games of 2016. I could not believe how good it was after all the delays. The gameplay has its frustrating moments but overall I felt like it was a solid adventure and the story was way more involved and emotional than I ever considered it would be. Nice write up
You know I remember playing Arkham Origins even though a lot of reviews and people were saying it was a useless money grab and a mediocre game and I actually really liked it. The Christmas setting, the story, their take on Batman and the villains in their younger years. It was all really cool and still a fun game to play. It's definitely better than Arkham Knight (I like Arkham Knight a lot too but more for the story than the gameplay in that one).
I agree with everything you wrote about loot boxes. As someone who has spent money on them, they definitely can make you feel addicted. Even when you tell yourself it's just a digital cosmetic item, it doesn't matter at all, some part of the human brain goes crazy over the idea of "random chances" and "unique items". Our brains love gambling and "rare" things I guess, even if it's silly digital items that really have no value.
I tried to get into Dragon's Dogma but I couldn't and I'm not even sure why. It's one of those games where I always want to go back and try again because I see how cool it can be if you get deep into it but I never do. Also I think about because anything Austin Walker recommends I want to try.
I honestly forgot about DMC 5 for most of this year. Very surprising Game of the year choice! Now you have made me want to play it. Too many games to play!
I totally agree with everything you wrote and I am only about 6-8 hours into the game. I started out really liking it, the first world is gorgeous and the writing is funny. Then I finished the first main quest line of choosing who gets the power and the end of it felt so bland and boring. As I played the game more it started to feel like a game built on a bunch of generic RPG game systems with no innovation or even attempts at innovation.
They kinda just completely made a Bethesda game clone, except they cloned game mechanics, story telling, and AI behavior that feels nearly a decade old at this point. I love SKyrim and I still think thats a great game to play today, but it also feels old at this point. Fallout 4 came out 4 years ago and one of the biggest issues with that game is it felt old and outdated.
The NPCS in Outer Worlds feel mostly like robots on scripted paths and your choices "matter" but really they don't. Everything feels like an illusion of choice and while im not that far into the game it all feels a bit lifeless and bland. It's definitely dropped to "finish last if I have the time" status on my year end gaming crunch, which generally means I won't be playing any more of it at this point.
I'm glad you were able to find fun in the game. I have access to a 10 hour trial through Origin Access and I've only used 5 hours and don't plan on playing it ever again. The flying is cool, the powers are fun, graphically it looks incredible, and the setting/setup for the world and backstory are actually really interesting. The rest of the game however I found to be boring incredibly quickly.
It's certainly unfair to Anthem that I've already played Destiny 1 and 2, Division 1, and some of Warframe so I already know what to expect with Anthem. That interest of getting new loot and seeing where the game goes, what the "dungeons" are like is pretty much gone. I don't have the patience for it, particularly when the loot is boring, the missions are the most generic thoughtless things you could think of for a shooter game, the loading screens are unbelievably long and all over the place, and the "YOU ARE TOO FAR AWAY GET BACK TO THE MISSION" warning pops up every time a teammate runs one room ahead of you. You can't change your gear in the free roam or in a mission. The game has bugs left and right. I assumed the map was "area 1" of maybe 3 or 4 areas but apparently that's the entire game. How were they working on this thing for 6 years and this is what they came up with? It's honestly baffling.
It's crazy to me that after watching 2 full Destiny releases and 2 full Destiny expansions, plus the Division and all its overhauls, that this is still the game they released. Completely bare bones, boring loot, an end game apparently based around just fighting the same enemies with their health multiplied by thousands, and the most mediocre mission design you could come up with. Honestly if they couldn't get the loot right, or the loading screens right, or make unique mission designs, at least they could have written a great Bioware story...nope. I just can't wrap my head around how boring the missions are and how basic and uninteresting the loot is, the two most important things in the game. The shooting also is as mediocre as it gets. I don't know, I guess I hope in a year it becomes a full game with good content, but this just really makes me feel like the great Bioware of old is completely dead.
I mean, there's probably a version of this game that costs $80+ on its own anyway, so a year of Premier is actually really good value when you consider you get all games in the vault and the best version of all EA games coming out in the next year. You even get free Apex Legends paid currency and a discount in the store. Plus, they actually have a fair few non-EA games in the vault like Cities Skylines, Darksiders 3 and They Are Billions.
I actually think services like Origin Premiere are really good for the price considering that some of these games you can sink hundreds of hours into alone PLUS the fact you get the Sims 4 and ALL the DLC is a $400+ value so there probably isn't a better way for more people to play games with massive amounts of DLC than through the service. I didn't know how many games you would actually get from subscribing and the quality of them so it is very impressive. I already own the 2 best games on Origin though - Crusader: No Remorse, and Syndicate. The fact that there is NO way to play Anthem early other than using Premiere is just a bummer when I know there are lots out there who really don't want to spend an extra $15-$100 (for a year if they go that route) and then be forced into buying a game if they don't want the service, but want the game. I'm excluded because I've already got the Origin Premiere just to play early and will be buying the game before it comes out to make sure I don't lose out on the preorder bonuses.
I also see I get a 10% discount on buying Anthem Legion of Dawn, so if I like the "custom armor packs" I can spend the extra $20, otherwise yeah I guess getting the standard edition + origin access is same as getting the more expensive version but just getting the option to play earlier. I just got the issue of knowing for me The Division 2 (I can't stop thinking of how much fun the shooting was in that game) will probably succeed Anthem in terms of fun games to play although owning both and not requiring a subscription to a monthly service is a damn good reason to buy these two games.
Yeah it is kinda crazy that no matter what version of the game you buy, Premier gets you earlier access that you can't get any other way. I too think I ultimately will enjoy The Division 2 much more - I just happen to have Premier already from Fifa/Battlefield so I'm happy to try this while I can. To be honest, from the couple hours I played this evening my opinion has improved drastically since the demo where I thought I wouldn't like it at all.
I mean you can have the $5 a month version of Origin Access right now that gives you a 10 hour trial, but is Premier like Game Pass in that you get the entire game as long as you stay a Premier subscriber? If so Premier for $100 a year actually seems like a great deal.
- I didn't know anything about Iconoclasts before this. I'd say I should play it but I literally never finish Metroidvania games and if I do try to play one...
-It clearly should be Hollow Knight. I've been meaning to play it for over a year and your write up makes me want to play it even more.
-Vampyr is an amazing game in theory and while I love the idea of what it attempts to do it doesn't really work out like you would hope. I'm probably only halfway through the game but I do love the ideas behind the story and having decide whether to kill people to get more powerful or see peoples stories through but remain weaker. Unfortunately having a mechanic like that in a single player none rogue-like game means the balance needs to be incredible, the combat needs to be fun, and dying needs to have meaning...Vampyr doesn't really do any of that. Perhaps if the game had a Vampire nemesis system it would be incredible.
-Really glad you loved A Way Out so much and I appreciate the Brothers reference.
-Red Dead is definitely the most conflicted I've ever felt over a game. It is at the same time one of the greatest games I've ever played and one of the most infuriating. I'm still excited to see the rest of the story, I just wish the gameplay was better.
-God of War is an incredible game. Perhaps the best part is how low-key they kept it as well. Very few characters, with no appearances (sort of) by gods you would expect, and a more calm, emotional ending. It makes me see this first game as just the beginning in a game series that will be bigger and better with the next game. There is so much they can do now I can't wait to see what they have in store for the sequel.
-Your PS5 prediction is the same as mine. I am fully prepared for Sony to now be the moronic "we can do whatever we want" company again and for Microsoft to take the lead role in the next generation. The tough part about that is Microsoft still has barely any exclusives I care about whereas Sony has consistently maintained exclusive games I love and want to play ever since the PS2.
I don't understand why people are criticizing this game for lacking story and characters/npcs. That isn't what they were trying to make with this game. They were clearly trying to go for a co-op survival/mmo like experience, with tons of samey/repeatable quests, base building, managing meters.
If you don't want that then that's fine but the way people are acting like this is Fallout 5 and Fallout is now ruined doesn't make any sense to me. Fallout 4 is 3 years old. The DLC is less old than that. This is a spin off game focused on something else. They were trying to make a No Man's Sky/Rust type game with all of the base building and what not from Fallout 4.
There has already been some neat stories about players making up for no npcs by being vendors themselves, helping out new players by giving them items and sharing their camp with them. When I hear stuff like that, I think this game can be a success. It just seems like everyone is so mad about it not being single player only adventure. The game just wasn't made to be one in the first place.
What looks like more of an issue to me is how they want it to be a game like Rust but still wanted to try to pull in the single player audience, so you are left with what looks to be a bad PvP system and other weird quirks to try to not penalize players. They needed to go harder into the multiplayer direction in my opinion and it will probably hurt the game that they didn't since the quest design and most of the game design in general seems very mmo grindy and co-op focused.
I think the problem that people have, including me, is that it's the kind of game where you are basically set out to make your own story. The same reason many people, at least me, really disliked Sea of Thieves. If there was more motivation to explore and find other people and see the world then I would 100% be on board. From my personal beta experience and seeing this, it seems rather lifeless unless you have friends playing it with you, but I don't know how long that would be fun for. It doesn't really give you a reason to see all these areas, and exploring on your own or with a team could just lead you to areas you probably shouldn't be at if you are a low level.
I think this is the real issue. They tried to bring in aspects of the single player to get people to play the game, looking to explore and find stuff like a traditional Fallout game. The crux of this type of game is how the players interact with each other and build the world/community within the game. If people aren't having fun running around with friends, building giant bases and taking over the map then that's the problem.
This is why I think their half-assing of both game types is gonna hurt the game. You can't really attack h other players or ruin their base, but being able to mess with people is what drives games like Rust. If the players can't use the games tools to make their own story/create their own fun then that's the real issue.
I don't understand why people are criticizing this game for lacking story and characters/npcs. That isn't what they were trying to make with this game. They were clearly trying to go for a co-op survival/mmo like experience, with tons of samey/repeatable quests, base building, managing meters.
If you don't want that then that's fine but the way people are acting like this is Fallout 5 and Fallout is now ruined doesn't make any sense to me. Fallout 4 is 3 years old. The DLC is less old than that. This is a spin off game focused on something else. They were trying to make a No Man's Sky/Rust type game with all of the base building and what not from Fallout 4.
There has already been some neat stories about players making up for no npcs by being vendors themselves, helping out new players by giving them items and sharing their camp with them. When I hear stuff like that, I think this game can be a success. It just seems like everyone is so mad about it not being single player only adventure. The game just wasn't made to be one in the first place.
What looks like more of an issue to me is how they want it to be a game like Rust but still wanted to try to pull in the single player audience, so you are left with what looks to be a bad PvP system and other weird quirks to try to not penalize players. They needed to go harder into the multiplayer direction in my opinion and it will probably hurt the game that they didn't since the quest design and most of the game design in general seems very mmo grindy and co-op focused.
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