This is where I gotta disagree lol.
I think TLOU2’s gameplay is as engaging or even more as any Xbox first party game that I’ve played. Especially on Grounded mode.
Spider-Man and God of War both feel amazing to play as well. They’re cinematic but the gameplay is top-notch as well. I just don’t think that narrative holds much weight in my opinion.
Hellblade and Horizon Zero Dawn | Forbidden West is where I feel like the cinematics overpower the gameplay aspects.
I think a lot of people would agree that the core gameplay is good but get disappointed when control gets (frequently) taken away from the player for the sake of fancy quick time event set pieces.
Of course there are Playstation games with good gameplay, I just said some of them play it safe in that aspect. It is what makes sense, their model is based around big productions that cost a lot of money so any new idea has to be carefully considered.
Sony recently shut down PixelOpus, a studio that could have brought some gameplay innovations.
Or an unskippable cutscene
@Vivir and @nrXic brought up great points and now that I think about it most of the top selling games of all time have a character attached to it. I think only major top selling game I can think of with no character attachment is Skyrim.
When you look at top selling games there is a character attached to it and people will resonate more with a game if there’s a character attached to it. As awesome as Mass Effect is there’s a reason why I feel more people are attached to that game compared to other bioware games because they’re attached to Sheppard.
On the flip side I feel character attachment can be dangerous and can hinder progressing a story. I know Halo 5 was a polarizing game, but I remember the thought of no master chief made people lose their mind due to attachment of the character and we never really got to give Locke a chance to become a main character imo.
Anyways, would be interesting this gen if Microsoft can get some characters to create attachment with audiences. I thought Hi-Fi Rush was a good start with its main characters
That’s fair. I’m more so talking about people who dismiss them as walking simulators. It’s like ehhh, that doesn’t really hold up at all haha.
Mmh I don’t think it’s as clear cut. Some of the biggest games out there have faceless characters. Cod/fortnite, the various mobas, minecraft, apex, roblox, tetris.
I’m not disagreeing with the sentiment that well written characters help with attachment though. Just wanted to offer a different view point.
We won’t have to wait much longer. I have a feeling Senua is going to be one of the faces of Xbox when Hellblade 2 drops.
I think COD does have some characters and moments in the campaign that people have memories of. I think with multiplayer focused games it’s trickier because it’s mainly about gameplay, but spending wise I see people go crazy if there are skins for characters they like. So, I feel attachment to characters for multiplayer focused games work a bit differently because it’s done through microtransactions.
I do agree it’s not that clear cut because at the end of the day gameplay and well written stories/characters are what matters.
Yeah, I think it’s lined up well with what they have planned. I think for games like Avowed, Fable, and Starfield well written quests and story is what will create attachments for these games.
I am hoping The Initiative/Crystal Dynamics knock Joanna Dark’s return to the gaming space out of the park. Anyone who has played the original knows she was basically female 007 , I kind hope the new game doesn’t make her too grounded and serious. We don’t get too many main characters like her in gaming these days .
I think 343 get too much grief for their decisions, but this one is kinda on them, in my opinion. They bought back MC too soon after H3 for starters, then, rather than really developing the MC/Cortana situation in H5, interrupt that by introducing a whole new bevy of characters and devote less time to MC dealing with Cortana.
Locke & Co should have had their own spin-off title.
Yeah, I’ve always felt Halo 4 should’ve introduced a new MC, so 343 can tell their own story. However, unsure how that would’ve went among fans.
TLOU 2 definitely has way better gameplay than the original and probably has the most engaging gameplay of any first party Sony/Naughty Dog game.
GOW 2018 is competently made and looks good. But it represents most of what I dislike about many first party Sony titles. The original GOW trilogy was no Devil May Cry, but it managed to have its own identity in the genre. Now its just like everything else Sony puts out.
Ghost of Tsushima is just Assassin’s Creed with Samurai. These aren’t bad games by any stretch of the imagination but for me they don’t live up to the insane amount I see people hyping them and I really don’t feel like their gameplay is anything special.
Unless we’re talking about Bloodborne. Now that game deserves every bit of praise and out of all the games Sony loves to re release it should have been at the top of the list. ( Gravity Rush is amazing too tbh. )
Say what you will about Gears, its still the standard when it comes to third person shooting and nothing else plays quite like it. Same can be argued of Halo and Forza. Games like Grounded and especially State of Decay have very addictive gameplay loops. I still feel like Xbox caters more to my "gameplay first " sensibilities than the modern Playstation brand does if that makes any sense.
Perhaps, but it’s all opinions at the end of the day. I don’t think these games are lesser or better than the other when it comes to design philosophy.
Like to me, TLOU2 is way more engaging in terms of gameplay than gears is. Like it’s not even close to me. Others feel the direct opposite it. There’s no real wrong answer.
I would highly disagree, gears has a lot of intricacies, especially if you play multiplayer, that TLOU doesn’t have. TLOU is 3rd person action game light compared to a game like gears or even stuff like Metal Gear Solid, it’s the reason imo that the multiplayer in the first last of us or in other naughty dogs games like Uncharted 4 isn’t engaging at all.
I mean define engaging lol.
Gears multiplayer has been dying a slow death for the last 15 years or so ?
I don’t think it’s the gold standard to point to lol. Especially when Factions is getting some big investments.
How about we wait for… literally anything of actual proof that the game is actually existent and being released, before we start making baseless assertions, perhaps?
Hopefully they don’t have a pay to win element like most Naughty Dog MP games. I can’t believe they got a slap on the wrist for that
I’ll take Neil Druckmann’s word on it.