I definitely agree that will help. Putting the porting hysteria aside, I think they positive momentum from releasing top quality AAA titles alongside the likes of Pentiment and Grounded to turn heads. Not saying they’ll suddenly do Switch numbers but having positive noise around the brand would do it a lot of good. Unfortunately 2023 the chatter around the big exclusives were Redfall disappointing and Starfield being “dated”, Forza being a step back.
On paper 2024 looks strong. Personally I’m not overly focused on Metacritic but if their exclusives can come out with strong scores and launch in good states (too many XGS games seem to have a “it’ll be better over time” stigma to them) then that will build some good momentum, something they’ll potentially be able to keep building on with the games outlook for 2025 onwards.
I hope so, the negativity online is just tiring.
This said the media seems to have their own definition for what is considered a high quality release.
The diversity in the Xbox first party portfolio is fantastic, however often it feels like many of their titles ‘don’t count’ because they arent the same as what the competition are offering.
At this point it feels like Xbox has to do their own thing in addition to what the competition is doing. I think games like Hellblade 2 might help turn that tide, however IMO they need those studios like Crystal Dynamics, Eidos, IOI, Remedy and Asobo to keep that momentum.
Hopefully Xbox expand Toys 4 Bob significantly or acquire more studios to help with those family friendly games too.
I have absolutely no faith that Hellblade 2 will gat a fair shake. It will get picked apart like no game ever has and the discourse around it online will be about how bad it is regardless of it’s quality. The sad part is I don’t even think I’m being super pessimistic about this scenario, but realistic. This is the sad, pathetic reality we live in.
Solely because they are now owned by Xbox? The first game was incredibly well received. I can see some sources being extremely weird and pathetic like PCGamer and probably IGNorant too, but I would hope not the majority.
It will definitely be reviewed differently in that it won’t be viewed as an indie game anymore, they won’t be able to get away with simple combat or repetitive puzzles even from people giving it a fair shake outside of the “xbox tax”
Personally I thought the combat in the first game felt really good, hitting enemies felt really impactful and heavy, it’s issue was it was too easy and repetitive, same goes for the puzzles
HB2 needs to feel more “gamey” if it wants to succeed imo
Yep. I have no faith in anyone outside of the Xbox-centric sphere to be fair about it. It’s also because MS has made such a big deal out of the game and have been showing it off since before 2020, so the expectations for what it’s going to be will be astronomical, whether fair or not. Basically, it’ll be Starfield all over again.
I have no idea why this is even a question after we literally watched the media prove every “Xbox-tax” notion this past year… overly-emotional people see a rumor Xbox is doing something they don’t individually agree with and the memory banks of all that knowledge is wiped clean.
The combat indeed feels nice, there is no problem with that. But yeah, the puzzles, if they have changed a few things there it should be great. I know some people are expecting big changes, like how it’s Xbox answer to God of War but it clearly won’t be and that’s fine too. I expect it to play and feel a lot like the first, but hopefully with the improvements it needs.
Yeah, I would love to be optimistic and give people the benefit of the doubt, but I witnessed what happened to Starfield and it all felt malicious and intentional. I would say that Hellblade 2 and Avowed would be a litmus test going forward, but I can’t foresee those games being treated any better.
Honestly, after seeing some of the discourse over Avowed already, I shudder to think what the discourse around it will be here. I may have to “retreat” for a while.
I hear you; I’m getting to the point where I don’t go to any of the outlets (I get enough news elsewhere at this point) and even moderating is becoming something I have to space out… people don’t realize how much effect having to read every baseless, overly-negative, entitled post can have (sorry… I said what I said, 98% of the community doesn’t fall in that category though).
Since we’ve been discussing older consoles recently, I thought I would let you guys know about a cool site that archives old retro gaming magazines called, predictably, Retromags. Every now and then I’ll just dive into one of these old magazines that I read at the time and it’s fascinating seeing how they cover and talk about videogames. It’s a far cry from what we see today that’s for sure. I was actually reading the first issue of EGM the other night and got to read a preview for what would become one of my favorite games of all time, MegaMan 2 and it just put a smile on my face.
Anyway, it’s a great resource for anyone who’s interested in older stuff. Also, reading my comment, it sounds like a fake review you would see on Amazon.
The sad part is they’re going to make so much more money focusing on AI than they will on gaming. At least AMD is still focused on gaming, right? …Right?
