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  • Hon
    Member
    • Dec 2017
    • 33

    Hey Monoral,
    I was criticizing mostly the multiplayer end of games, not the story-telling single player aspect. To clarify what I said above, I only played single player games until I was about ten years old, then got into multiplayer games with the addition of Xbox LIVE. I left Battlefield 1 for months and came back recently when the Premium Pass was 15 dollars. I now have access to around 87 weapons and 40 maps. I have been thoroughly occupied for about six months, and still having fun whenever I can play. Truly remarkable, if you like weapon variety and great infantry play I would recommend it. In terms of viewing a certain game as a favorite of all time, I try to look at it in the moment. Battlefield 1 for me is my favorite shooter at the moment, nothing depicts war and chaos like this game for me. So, I would deem this my favorite shooter at this moment, I wouldn't compare it to DOOM or even Battlefield Bad Company for example. You have great points about nostalgia, and I also believe it's very hard to compare the new games with the old. My ultimate problem is the loot box systems implemented in almost every multiplayer game as well as the distinct separation between players with the DLC and those without it. There are lots of brilliant indie horror games on Xbox, for example, so I do not think games are falling out in terms of a plot; there will always be new ideas, just like for movies, music, and fashion.

    Comment

    • Ahimsa
      Vegan Police
      • Sep 2011
      • 1879

      Mmm yeah as above, I thought we were talking about competitive games as opposed to story driven ones, where plot really has no bearing, and in terms of sports would be more akin to Football vs. WWE vs. Theater to which I assume you were speaking more so of the middle of the three.

      Although the potential for games has gotten better, I see little better in terms of games or story telling because of it. The huge teams and cash cow that it is has really ruined a lot of companies. (Bioware for instance being bought out by EA or Bethesda's growth). This is akin to movie making, as for instance del Toro's Pacific Rim which had proper funding vs. Pan's Labyrinth which was an independent film and subsequently far better as he had no checklist to adhere to or profiting bottom line.

      Games like the new God of War and The Last of Us are basically just interactive movies/long cutscenes. I mean if video games are to become this for the most part I'd rather just watch a movie. But in terms of a younger generation with a debatably shorter attention span? Interactive movies might make more sense in this way in order to hold their attention. So are games beholden to telling stories instead of pure enjoyment? Perhaps this is the evolution to those who no longer wish to read books and like to watch copious amounts of Marvel films (of which I’ve seen all of them so who am I to judge) and can grab their attention long enough to infuse some life lessons and deeper thoughts by being a character in that story and persuaded by way of reward and advancement to make the "right" decisions.
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      • Nestor
        Junior Member
        • Jul 2017
        • 26

        Played video games most of my life so I figured I should chime in. I haven't really played competitive online games for years, but I can still enjoy playing single-player story games if they catch my attention. Those are few though because as mentioned the writing and storytelling in games is usually pretty terrible regardless of funding. Big studios and developers are concerned with the bottom line and making sure the game is palatable to teenagers so there isn't much room for anything too deep. The Marvel film comparison is pretty apt, but film has a much more established and larger network of people also making films with a bit more substance. And this is something that isn't so established in the gaming industry; at least for story games. Sure there are some gems from indie developers; however, even those usually have issues with poor voice acting, animation, art, etc.

        The truth is that making video games is fucking tough and tedious. More so than many other creative mediums and if every part is doesn't done well enough it can take you out of the experience even if the story is well written. There are new ideas out there, but it's often underestimated how difficult it is to create a decent game . Perhaps in the coming decades it will improve as the technology does. I still respect it as a creative medium like film or music and hope to see it grow.

        Personally I've just lowered my standards a bit when it comes to games. I can even play a single-player game if the mood is dark and immersive enough like Bloodborne, Darksouls, or some horror games. Senua's Sacrifice was probably the last really good game I played.


        A little off-topic, but just the other day I was talking to a friend about how it seemed that a lot of people in the avant-garde fashion community were introduced through their interest in things like techno, punk, or anime - while my own interest was probably fostered from things like the Elder Scrolls, WoW, and Magic: the Gathering. Curious if anyone else is similar.

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        • Hon
          Member
          • Dec 2017
          • 33

          Nestor,
          In regard to your last stanza, are you saying your fashion interests grew slightly while playing games like The Elder Scrolls, and World of Warcraft? I think that is an excellent, intriguing question. If that is the question, video games definitely inspired me as a youth to express myself, which in turn lead to the eventual obsession with fashion. In games with character customization I would go out of my way to make my character look pleasing to me. So I certainly relate to that.

          I have something optimistic to add regarding the greed and arrogance of big video game corporations. I am extremely optimistic about Red Dead Redemption 2. In my opinion, Red Dead Redemption set the bar so highly in terms of an open-world game. It obviously wasn't the first, but the gorgeous graphics, story, side quests, and the fantastic DLC really showed what games companies could accomplish. With this being said, Red Dead Redemption 2 has been in the works since 2012. The map was leaked and then confirmed by Rockstar sometime in 2016. One of the employees confirmed they had to completely redesign an entire region of the map because a mountain range was 90 degrees off or something. This attention to detail is what we need. While the game has been delayed twice, I am hopeful it will release on its new intended date, October 28, 2018. There has been more and more information coming out about the game: character biographies, detailed trailers, pictures, and even a brief summary of the plot. They intend to immerse us completely in this new world, and I believe it will be a game that sets the bar even higher than it already is.

          Also, Nestor, I know you mentioned playing Soulsborne games and I have played them as well, along with many horror and indie games. With this said, I hope to be thoroughly occupied by Dark Souls Remastered from its release date (May 26) until at least August. Dark Souls 1 is my favorite Soulsborne game tied with Bloodborne, and it is an excellent starting place for new players. Dark Souls is known to have the ability to replay it many times, to achieve a different ending or side with a certain NPC. Ultimately, this last main stanza is to encourage any video game enthusiasts on here to try Dark Souls if you have not yet. It is very dark indeed, but the environment has a certain beauty to it when you realize you are standing in a world of despair that was once a beautiful kingdom (I could be confusing DS with DS3 here). The NPCs talk with old English, making it cryptic but oddly satisfying. Not to mention the indescribable feeling of beating a boss that kicked your ass multiple times. You gotta just try it for yourself, most of its' beauty cannot be put into words, you simply need to experience it.

          To summarize, I am happy and optimistic about two upcoming games in particular: Dark Souls Remastered and Red Dead Redemption 2.

          Comment

          • Nestor
            Junior Member
            • Jul 2017
            • 26

            Originally posted by Hon View Post
            Nestor,
            In regard to your last stanza, are you saying your fashion interests grew slightly while playing games like The Elder Scrolls, and World of Warcraft? I think that is an excellent, intriguing question. If that is the question, video games definitely inspired me as a youth to express myself, which in turn lead to the eventual obsession with fashion. In games with character customization I would go out of my way to make my character look pleasing to me. So I certainly relate to that.
            Yes, definitely. I was an avid reader as a child; always interested in fantasy and once I discovered video games it gave me a way to further immerse myself in it. The attention towards fashion within those worlds came naturally as well and manifested in reality eventually. I'm always looking for clothing that's just dark, immersive, and irreverent. It probably explains my infatuation with a designer like BBS and similar designers since discovering them. It sometimes feels like he's just world-building on a Tolkien level and it's so appealing to me. Much more so than designers that fill the runway with cultural references, social observations, or political statements. I can understand them and respect them, but they usually aren't my taste.


            On the note of immersive worlds the Souls game are amazing. Even ignoring the story one could probably be taken away by the art and environment alone. I sometimes see at it as a portrait of that broken world that you get to view from countless angles. Also excited for the upcoming remastered edition.


            About Red Dead Redemption though I don't think I played much of the original. Never enjoyed the GTA series so at the time I was probably just avoiding Rockstar games in general. I remember playing a bit at a friend's house and was impressed with the open world at least. Something about being an outlaw roaming the desert on horseback is so empowering and sates that thirst for individualism too. Might be something to revisit before the sequels releases.

            Personally interested in the upcoming Detroit: Become Human game coming out this May. Optimistic is a bit generous since I'm sure the story will be sanitized, but I'm intrigued at least.

            Comment

            • Hon
              Member
              • Dec 2017
              • 33

              I was oblivious to the game Detroit: Become Human until you mentioned it but it certainly looks unique. I thoroughly enjoy games that present choices with known repercussions to follow depending on your choices. This is what made me enjoy the Fallout franchise so much, most notably Fallout 3 and Fallout: New Vegas. Games that present a set story with no variation can certainly get old, and as a horror game fan, I see this a lot. It would appear that this is a PS exclusive, which is a shame because I play on Xbox. However, this is no problem because I watched the Last of Us and Bloodborne with no commentary and felt at least somewhat immersed. The next sentence relates back to one of Ahmisa's points. The Last of Us was a phenomenal game, I look forward to the sequel, but it is essentially a movie. I thought it would have been better as a movie or TV show.

              Soulsborne games offer a lot in terms of customization, more than just the initial character creation screen. I feel like Souls and dark fashion walk hand-in-hand for a select few people. The armor and weapons provide a gloomy, yet intriguingly beautiful appearance that you cannot get anywhere else. I'm thinking of Oblivion and Skyrim and laughing at the armor and outfits you can equip, as they are more bland in most cases. I feel like silhouette is important too, especially in Souls. I'm thinking of a few armor pieces in particular, like Artorias the Abysswalker's armor, but you can tell the game designers spent time and money paying attention to tiny details like that. Not to mention the phenomenal soundtrack. For whatever reason, I'm picturing a few female characters in Souls and their outfits and am reminded of the designer Marc Le Bihan. That just shows there are some good games out there. However, I feel like you have to be somewhat intellectual to truly appreciate the beauty of games like Dark Souls.

              Comment

              • Monoral
                Senior Member
                • Mar 2014
                • 375

                Be wary about Red Dead Redemption, It will likely have microtransactions and probably lootboxes up the wahzoo.
                It's Take2 and Strauss Zelnick we're talking about here, in term of these sort of things they're up there with the likes of EA and Warner.

                My First foray into video games was Chrono Trigger on the SNES. In term of games that inspire my fashion style is probably Shin Megami Tensei series.

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                • Ahimsa
                  Vegan Police
                  • Sep 2011
                  • 1879

                  Some highlights of E3 for me so far:







                  I'd seriously much rather see FromSoftware make Armored Core games again honestly, the amount of Dark Souls clones I saw announced is pretty tired to me besides seeing Miyazaki just reference Berserk over and over again...take that left artificial arm in the trailer above for instance...

                  Elder Scrolls VI looks to take place in High Rock, which is kinda boring considering they could've gone for the High Elves in the Summerset Isles or the Black Marsh with talking trees cause the settings for Oblivion (which was retconned to be bland) and Skyrim were pretty basic fantasy fanfare. Morrowind still holds out as my favorite. The Orcish kingdom around High Rock has potential though.
                  Last edited by Ahimsa; 06-13-2018, 10:57 AM.
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                  • Nestor
                    Junior Member
                    • Jul 2017
                    • 26

                    Most of the same highlights for me as well. Ghost of Tsushima and Sekiro I'll definitely pick up. I've never read Berserk so I'm still excited for Sekiro, though I'm hoping the setting is a bit darker than what's shown in the trailer.

                    Finally the next Elder Scrolls at least! The Fallout series has never appealed to me at all so Bethesda hasn't been on my radar for a long time. Was hoping for the Black Marsh, but I'll take anything in the Elder Scrolls universe as long as we get a damn game.

                    I couldn't take the Death Stranding trailer seriously. Kojima stories are such nonsense to me. Another announcement that stood out to me was Ninja Theory (Senua's Sacrifice) was acquired by Microsoft. They seemed to be really proud of their independence, but I guess money talks. I can only hope this isn't the death knell for the studio...

                    If you haven't seen it I recommend watching the Devolver Digital "conference" for some laughs. Best part of the event for me.

                    Comment

                    • Ahimsa
                      Vegan Police
                      • Sep 2011
                      • 1879

                      Originally posted by Nestor View Post
                      Most of the same highlights for me as well. Ghost of Tsushima and Sekiro I'll definitely pick up. I've never read Berserk so I'm still excited for Sekiro, though I'm hoping the setting is a bit darker than what's shown in the trailer.
                      You really should. It's been going on since like '89 and has some of the best art in manga ever. Basically all the Souls style games are loosely based on it.



                      Bloodborne hunter's mark vs. Berserk's Brand of Sacrifice
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                      • Monoral
                        Senior Member
                        • Mar 2014
                        • 375

                        I was excited for Sekiro up until the Activision logo popped up.

                        Death Stranding: Kojima is great when Kojima care (MGS 1,2,3 and P.T) When he doesn't care oh boy... (MGS 4 and 5)and he's clearly care this time. Plus i get a feeling that he's dying to proof himself and get out of Konami/MGS shadows. With the all the money that Sony has clearly bee firing at his direction i think it will turn out great.

                        Why are we excite for Elder Scroll games again? Do we want more vapid and pointless experiences a la Skyrim again? cos you know they'll stick to that formular due to how massive success Skyrim turn out to be in the sale department.

                        Ninja Theory: Oh man... jesus.. Remember the last time Microsoft bought a creative independent studio? remember Rare? remember those guys? they made tones of spectacular games during the 90's. They pretty much got delegated to making crap games immediately after their first 2 games fail to meet the sale expectation.
                        I hope Microsoft learn their lesson or take a clue from Sony on how to manage your first party studio.

                        I commend Sony for showing their confident and Demoing all their first party games. We get to see how the game looks and play. Common consensus on the internet is that Bethesda and Microsoft "won" this year E3 which i am a little purplex over. What did Bethesda show really outside of Rage 2 (which looks bonkers)after Oblivion, Skyrim and Fallout 4 i cannot muster any excitement for anything they do anymore.

                        Cool that Microsoft investing in games again but 3 out of 4 of those studios works exclusively with Microsoft anyway so did their acquisitions matter?

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                        • Ahimsa
                          Vegan Police
                          • Sep 2011
                          • 1879

                          Originally posted by Monoral View Post
                          Why are we excite for Elder Scroll games again? Do we want more vapid and pointless experiences a la Skyrim again? cos you know they'll stick to that formular due to how massive success Skyrim turn out to be in the sale department.

                          I commend Sony for showing their confident and Demoing all their first party games. We get to see how the game looks and play. Common consensus on the internet is that Bethesda and Microsoft "won" this year E3 which i am a little purplex over. What did Bethesda show really outside of Rage 2 (which looks bonkers)after Oblivion, Skyrim and Fallout 4 i cannot muster any excitement for anything they do anymore.

                          Cool that Microsoft investing in games again but 3 out of 4 of those studios works exclusively with Microsoft anyway so did their acquisitions matter?
                          Yeah, exactly. I've been disappointed with all post Elder Scrolls III attempts. Morrowind was a beautifully alien world a la Iceland, whereas Oblivion/Skyrim were just basic LOTR fanfic.

                          Don't know why anyone is excited for any of the new Xbox stuff. Halo isn't done by Bungie anymore (but we can all agree they got bad pretty early on there), Gears of War's original head cat Cliffy B. (who really made Unreal Tournament the beast that it was) left Epic a while ago, Bioware's good employees all left after getting bought out by EA...it's like everyones looking forward to direct to DVD sequels with a new director and cast.

                          I really do wanna mention though that I am super pumped for the new Battletoads game.
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                          • Monoral
                            Senior Member
                            • Mar 2014
                            • 375

                            Did you ever finish the first Battletoads for the NES?

                            As for Cyberpunk 2077, don't expect it to come out in a few years and definitely not on the current console. But why do you wanna play CDPRojekt games on console anyway?
                            Get a gaming PC and gawke at the beautiful graphic instead :D

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                            • Ahimsa
                              Vegan Police
                              • Sep 2011
                              • 1879

                              Originally posted by Monoral View Post
                              Did you ever finish the first Battletoads for the NES?
                              Naw, I used to play the arcade version a lot at the local roller rink though and had it for the gameboy and all the TV show VHS' haha
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                              • Monoral
                                Senior Member
                                • Mar 2014
                                • 375

                                I finished it solo when i was younger. Nowadays i just cannot for the life of me get past the second level. I guess old age starting to catching up

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