Invalid characterset or character set not supported Tired of gaming? Don't be.





Tired of gaming? Don't be.
March 22, 2011

Since I talk to people in real life once in a while - about games, I mean - I get to hear things like this pretty often: "you know... I'm kind of losing interest. It's not fun to me any more. I think I'm going to sell my collection and do something else". "I'm gonna buy a DS.. you hear me, Jostein! A DS!!! I NEED HELP!!".

How could this happen? For different reasons, the most profiled games lately have been first person murder simulations with bad story-telling, single-player games where you achieve status as king by farting impressively in public, sequels to games that once were fairly successful. And not to forget - not that you could, thanks to the advertisement - tremendously overhyped action-games with no soul and recycled dialogue.

There's also the problem that good developers who actually make good games end up simply not selling, either discs or reputation - and are forced through the fire at games-magazines for not having online fans to generate hits on their front-pages. And therefore also remain on the publisher's short list for cutting when there's time for that.

And if they want to avoid this list, then that developer will change significantly, and start to create what the publisher believes is more popular games. Based, very often, on internet hits and buzz (this sounds crazy, but I can name a major developer who has had people crawl forums and "sum up" the opinion - which then is used as cheap focus-group feedback - no joke. This helped scuttle an entire product-line of very good phones, along with an "Apple Store" three years early).

In other words, when DICE has their concept for Mirror's Edge 2 rejected by EA - while they are ordered to spend all their resources on making Medal of Honor and yet another first person shooter, on top of yet another first person shooter set in a modern warfare setting.. then that's just business as usual. In fact, we may very well never see a Mirror's Edge sequel even if the developer would like to make one. And if we do, the game would very likely look and feel nothing like Mirror's Edge 1. So no sequel, in this case, will mean a good thing.

And yet - how many half-finished new IPs are we going to suffer through? Great concepts, that just didn't receive the polish required to be sold as a AAA title?

Bioware had a similar process. Dragon Age, like Mass Effect, was bad enough from a rpg-perspective - it had no real town-areas or history hubs. There were no real choices to make, very little role-playing. Lots and lots of action-effects, and not enough spell and ability interference. And when there were role-playing, it tended to be extremely black and white. In my Dragon Age review, I go through a couple of examples that explain pretty obviously that the game had more branching separate story-lines at some point, but that some of it was cut - or just not fleshed out in time for the release of the game. What happens here is evidently that individually, writers are pouring in content - but the directors and lead writers can't fit the writing into the main buffet, or structure it to let the content interfere with each other.

In the same way, Mass Effect 1 had tremendous writing - occasionally. While most of the time, it really is extremely trite. And the best writing - the Canderous/HK47 type of writing - is literally hidden on an ice-planet, or on a side-mission that isn't necessary to complete. The tendency continued in Mass Effect 2 - the main storyline is even worse. The narrative isn't very good, it's increasingly just tropes pulled in to make the game be associated with other sci-fi series - and that this is used exclusively as a means to make the segments move on.

No more do we have that extreme amount of random stuff that made Bioware's games enjoyable. Instead, we're getting the action-game with excessive amounts of talking. Talking that, obviously, is completely linear. And where the choices have absolutely no bearing on the events that follow - as well as break immersion by it's absolute woodenness. Dragon Age 2 embodies all of this, and stands out as the best example of a developer going under over publisher pressure yet.

It means that perhaps it's good that no sequels are made. As well as that new games that turn up tend to be really, really bad popcorn fluff that's marketed to the point where it feels insulting to even the most unashamed hit-list music-lover. And this sense of finality is what makes gaming lose it's appeal.

---

Of course, some of us always liked quirky entertainment that don't appeal to the "mass market". Some of us like nice things. We like Sandman (Neil Gaiman), Transmetropolitan (Warren Ellis wrote that - he was also the concept writer on Dead Space), Discworld, Kurozuka, Gintama. It's never going to be something a publisher will "believe" has mass market appeal. But it's nevertheless entertainment that without a doubt has quality as well as drives a profit. And even that it has literary value that isn't geared towards a specific and existing niche - it means the product may very well expand appeal in the future.

And it used to be that these types of entertainment products were fairly frequent in gaming. Now they're not any more.

So - here comes the point, dear reader - this will be a short list of upcoming titles that - in spite of all kinds of reasons such as new publishers, sequels, prequels and tie-ins - may end up being good games. And perhaps it will explain why I'm still playing games rather than do something else for entertainment - even as Nintendo launches Dogs in 3d, and the best selling applet on the Apple store is a game for squeezing virtual pimples.

1. Infamous 2. Sucker Punch made the Sly Cooper series - a strangely charming experience of the kind that fits for children of all ages. It's a game that isn't particularly difficult, but still is a challenge to complete. And the plot achieves the standard of a good animated series, as does the visuals. Meanwhile the story-telling has that raw quality that engages you rather than make you uncomfortable. Just like the Ratchet and Clank games, it has politically incorrect content that isn't boring - but at the same time it's not grating or alienating, or.. you know.. some cerebral journey or other.. So it's a series of games that you can easily play with your niece or your kid (or they can play it with you).

The next gen Sucker Punch ended up with a more adult version of a comic book serial. Though the "adult theming" is more in line with how modern comics have evolved. And it's still done with the care that makes the game still appropriate for children. In fact, inFamous is one of those games that have the "darker tone" that Batman managed to achieve back when the first animated series turned up (with Mark Hamill as The Joker). Meaning it's not actually more adult, even though it does feature more adult world themes.

There's a commentary on people's conduct in open-world games in inFamous - ever since GTA dropped making the swat-teams move in on you if you shot people down randomly, and blew up buses, etc - open world games have been sandbox games where you kill people indiscriminately. I know "allowing you to go ballistic" sounds cool to impressionable young mid 30 somethings who enjoy fucking hookers, then beating them to death with a pink dildo. But it's just bullshit. It drops the immersion that Vice City for example would give you. Or what was in the original GTA - where you know that if you run people over and blow shit up, then the police is going to turn up and arrest, or kill you. It makes sense - as well as increase the tension and emotion involved when actually pulling the trigger on a random pedestrian. It means something when you do something wrong.

Without the emotional suspense - then what's the point? You just shoot, and you feel nothing. No regret, no remorse.. [sidebar: those were good games :D Crusader - anyone remember those?].

And inFamous had that emotional suspense. Just as Sly Cooper. You don't have particularly many choices to make, but the ones you do make are meaningful, and stay with you as you run through the game-world outside the story-events and missions.

Infamous 2 (inFamouser? ..more inFamous?...) is perhaps going to follow this overall direction (although they will keep this hidden from their "fans" in the gaming media, who will happily write about "cool ice-powers").

2. Dungeon Siege III. Obsidian, after Troika (which is no more), is without a doubt my favourite developer. And it's also the most unfortunate developer in the business. Alpha Protocol was marred by publisher "concerns" about the game not having enough Mass Effect. NWN2 had publisher problems for not having appeal, and was not advertised for. It actually had a better and deeper toolset compared to Bioware's NWN, and improved upon it in thousands of different and important ways. The game itself also was great. The graphics were fantastic compared to NWN. Even the add-ons were unbelievably good. But it failed to sell, since "the business" had basically moved away to consoles and more streamlined titles. The PC it required at the time was expensive. Toolset builders - which were extremely active with the original NWN - had moved on. And the "hadcore rpg-er giant" Bioware was no longer - so suddenly no one else should make good games either. Now it was only streamlined console-titles.

KOTOR 2 was even worse - it was a tremendously good and deep game. But was destroyed by the early Christmas release (thanks a lot, LucasArts), and came with so many console shortcuts and design problems that the game almost became unplayable. With Team Gizka's patching/restoration, it did become a good game.

But it was too late, and 1up and Gamespot had already declared, forever, that Obsidian would always make games with too many bugs in them. (... then they would go ahead and ignore bugs in Fallout3, Mass Effect, Mass Effect 2, Dragon Age, Modern Warfare, Black Ops, etc). It's one of those things, I guess. Where reviewers who treat their job as just a job feel they are excused when creating their opinion out of chat-threads on Neogaf. "Fans say it, so therefore it can't be wrong!".

If we go further back, Troika's Bloodlines was a similar affair - a very good game with an extremely compelling story, and unbelievably high level of writing. Not just as set pieces, but integrated into the game. If you compare this to "story telling genius" like what you see in Half Life 2, you can't hold back the scoffing even if you try. It's just not comparable - Bloodlines has writing that brings the game in line with other good entertainment, and should be rewarded for that. Of course - no such thing happened. And Troika ended as a developer. No publisher could defend hiring them.

Obsidian has now ended up with Square Enix as a publisher for their latest game, Dungeon Siege III. That license is - apart from being one of those early failed "action-rpg" attempts, from back when turn-based was raving genius - not a real presence. In truth there's absolutely no expectations for a sequel. And while I'm sure gaming media folks are going to dredge up their expertise in Dungeon Siege, along with proclaiming how there's some inherent flaw with Obsidian's approach here - it's all going to be complete bullshit. Because this is a standalone title, and it's made on a new ruleset, along with a new in-house built engine (which is a first for Obsidian). The writing as well, while set in a known universe, has no ties to anything, and it will be interesting to see what Obsidian can do with this.

The graphics - while casting certain shadows from earlier titles such as Icewind Dale in terms of overlay effects coupled with game-world animation - also seems interesting.

Obviously, the game will be compared to Dragon Age 2 - and I think it's safe to say that it will win out. If it's depth, role playing aspects, ease of control, or gameplay complexity. Which isn't saying much, compared to DA2's "hit X for anything, except when traversing infinitely cumbersome menus that never will give you the options you want". But I think it's time now that Obsidian stops being on the game-magazines' shit-list.

3. The Last Guardian. Ok, so I admit it. I've never played ICO. I've played parts of Shadow of The Colossus. Basically, it was a game that I couldn't finish. I knew that what I was doing.. destroying the Colossi.. was wrong. And I couldn't do it. I couldn't continue. I knew that if I managed to revive my girlfriend, it would be wrong. I decided this even as I felt the resolve of the main character. This game made me boil on the inside when I played it. I almost despaired and cried. When I show this game to someone else, I dread what's going to happen. Either because they will go "hur-hur, kill beast, stupid horse run faster". Or because they too will be struck with a tremendous sense of guilt, and we will go and kill ourselves or something. This isn't a good "game". But it is a digital experience that no other medium can hope to accomplish.

The Last Guardian will be Team ICO and Ueda's third game. And it will very likely be a game that happens once. Nothing like it is ever going to be made again. Technologically and in terms of narrative, it's going to be unique. The question is how obvious this will be made to "everyone", and to what degree it's going to be possible to ignore the "game-like" features such as edge-detection, ledges to climb on, health-bars, etc. And if it's going to be possible to simply play it, and experience what's going on, without making an effort.

Ueda apparently had made a "special" presentation for the gaming press at GDC where they had put a grating coloured overlay on top of your toon that said "health bar". Obviously - just a complete demonstration of how stupid it would be. Which then everyone apparently was embarassed enough about to not write about. Wimps.

The truth is that Team ICO knows what they're doing. And they're not going to take cues from an internet forum when deciding on last minute additions - if any.

4. Deus Ex Ultimate Nanite super-sequel-prequel thing. So, for some reason the original Deus Ex (Deus Ex Machina - God (made) out of (a) Machine) has gained notoriety in even the normal gaming press. It's in spite of using the Unreal Engine at the time (over Id's Quake engine, which was sexier and .. stuff.. at least back then. Now, Epic is made of Win, apparently, so now Deus Ex is AWESOME!). Of course - what made it a good game was that it had branching story-lines and narrative that provided fantastic context - and then let you continue the story as you progressed yourself. In other words, you made your own story. Valve could certainly learn from this.

But.. anyway.. so we have had a couple of good first-person action-rpg games like this. The severely underrated "Dark Messiah", Deus Ex, System Shock 2, and.. Deus Ex. Let's not mention abominations coming from Bethesda. Where you can, if you're lucky, manage to find a good game underneath the tons of murdered random enemies. And abortions such as Fallout 3 - the successful action-rpg/adventure games that rest on immersion and framing story-telling like these are few and far between. (Attempts to tell me differently will fall on deaf ears).

Deus Ex: Human Revolution is Eidos' - now Square Enix - attempt at reinventing this genre a little bit. Anything Eidos is of course always going to have an interesting plus for me because of Soul Reaver and Commandos. But a prequel to Deus Ex - where all the tech involved is the old and clunky prothesis and implant stick. And where we begin to discover the beginning of the use of nanotech to enhance human beings - for good or bad.

It may very well end up being a good cover-based shooter with good interplay between abilities and skills. And on top of that, it will look good as well. It's a license rob, and so on - but like said.. it explores a part of that game that actually was interesting, and a part of the universe that you will think many thoughts about when playing the game. The concept clearly comes from another gamer, is what I'm saying here. Not a hired in Hollywood writer, handily assisted by a producer indulging himself with company money (hi, Guerrilla Games).

5. Socom: Special Olympics. If you read my earlier blogs, you can see the reason why none of the games on this list feature online multiplayer (though Dungeon Siege 3 may have online multiplayer co-op - it's unknown as of yet if it will be or has been implmented, or in what form.. curious, since the game comes out in May). SOCOM 4 nevertheless looks interesting. For four reasons:

-Co-op and random map-generation. Online co-op on randomly generated maps. Now that's genius. I mean, really, where did random level-generation disappear to after Diablo I&II? The code for slotting environments together over various path-finding tresholds is the kind of code you would write to test the maps for consistency anyway - why not make a map with it, and make the game look good (and framerate smooth) by mechanically forcing geometric density at the right angles? With the kind of horsepower the ps3 has (as well as the limited ram) this is a brilliant fit.

-Move-support. So.. I want to throw a grenade by chucking my sub-controller over the shoulder. Ok, look.. shut up. Your mother.

-It has private games, and possibility for setting up competitive clan-games. It's unknown as of yet what sort of clan and matching functions the game will have at launch. And whether Zipper is going to just skewer themselves on the "casual gamer" misnomer. But it's going to have private and custom protected games. Also with the "one life" modes known from the SOCOM games - that of course helped make that game tactical and slow.

-People on the official playstation boards hate it already. This is a great sign. It means the game is tactical, requires thought, and actively punish you for running back and forth while spraying your gun. With the move very likely being the primary way to play the game, and the cover and command-system being prominent in both single and multiplayer - this game will very likely be that sleeper hit that -- yes, I'll even go this far, Zipper -- will one day ascend from the bargain bin to a cult hit. :p

Seriously, though - it looks polished, has a story-line, and solid game-mechanics. It doesn't even seem like it's Zipper that made it. I mean, like... wow, and exclamations and stuff. I still hate you, Zipper, after you crippled MAG. But what the hell - this looks good.

6. Dark Souls. Demon's Souls was - at least to Sony and their favourite gaming blogs - an unexpected hit. From Software, however, succeeded with this game for reasons having to do with "emergent gameplay and story-telling". Such as that you really do role-play your character, and experience something unique to you when walk through the levels. They also integrated well-known gameplay mechanics into the game-world, rather than just add them as mechanical necessities. From also made the most gloriously awesome hand-made animation I have ever seen. The flesh-eating dragon, the Tower Knight, the legs of your character, the Fool's Idol, etc - From Software has a seriously talented team of animation artists on their payroll, and we are no doubt going to see more of this in the second "Souls" game.

Of course - it's not a sequel, and the designers want that to be clear. But no, you're not going to escape that the first game was pure genius, even with it's weaknesses. The second game is also said to improve on particular aspects of magic use, item use, etc. It will give you more opportunities to customize and personalise your equipment. There will be "progression" through the levels with movable camp-fires (spawn-points).

But most of all, the integration between narrative and gameplay will be kept as a focus.

On top of this, the multiplayer experience - the completely unique experience that no one really wrote anything about. The "echoes" of other souls also led through the mist into Boletaria. Some of which may be invited - or simply intrude in your own realm, more or less forcefully. This will also be kept, though in a different form.

I'm looking forward to it, as they say.

--

By the way - if you want to run this on gameroni, Jason, feel free :)

Most recent blog posts from Jostein Johnsen...

Feedback
Halon Halon - March 22, 2011 (06:39 PM)
Despite it's flaws I really liked Mirror's Edge. A very refreshing change of pace to what we see today. Deus Ex 3 has potential to be amazing but I have my doubts.

I'm really looking forward to Brink. It could be crap but there's a good chance it'll be decent. Then there's Portal 2, Torchlight 2 and Red Orchestra 2, which all look interesting to me. Also, if Serious Sam 3 comes out this summer I'll be super stocked. I never get sick of those games.
Felix_Arabia Felix_Arabia - March 22, 2011 (06:45 PM)
Can you please summarize this post in 15 words or less?
fleinn fleinn - March 23, 2011 (09:39 AM)
"In spite of things: Six examples of studio auteurship in current gaming"..? ..or "I rant about sequels and why they suck and make me give up on gaming and buy a DS".

Torchlight.. forgot about that. .. I don't know.. I played Diablo, and thought Diablo 2 was too ridiculous, shiny and gimmicky. :p Red Orchestra as well.. I know someone who played the mod -- when did they end up making it into a full title?

Portal 2 - I don't know anything about it. I mean.. it's an interesting thing .. whether making a game in the way Portal was made. With the puzzles being the entire point with the game. Instead of being something to hold you up while you look at the environment, or instead of being something to slow down the pacing, etc. Whether that can really work. Math-mania with more advanced physics and good gameplay :p Maybe we need another category for that.
CoarseDragon CoarseDragon - March 23, 2011 (12:31 PM)
I'm kind of losing interest. It's not fun to me any more. I think I'm going to sell my collection and do something else

I'll buy it!

I have been gaming for thirt a lot of years and there are times when burnout happens. I think at that time you just need to back up and let it rest for awhile. If gaming is in your blood it will call you back.
Masters Masters - March 23, 2011 (12:44 PM)
Well put. That's probably where I am right now.
radicaldreamer radicaldreamer - March 23, 2011 (04:46 PM)
I bought Red Orchestra standalone through Steam in 2005 or 2006.
Halon Halon - March 23, 2011 (05:32 PM)
I wasn't crazy about the original Red Orchestra but the second game looks promising. The developers really seem to be giving it their all, and based on what they've been doing with Killing Floor seem to really care about the community and want to support them.

Torchlight is a true PC RPG like Diablo or Fate and really is a love it or hate it type of game. I personally love them though they aren't for everyone.
fleinn fleinn - March 24, 2011 (01:29 PM)
..hm. Deus Ex: Human Recklessness trailer:
http://gamevideos.1up.com/video/id/33187.

..I'm really, really, liking the cover-mechanic going on here :D

eXTReMe Tracker
© 1998-2024 HonestGamers
None of the material contained within this site may be reproduced in any conceivable fashion without permission from the author(s) of said material. This site is not sponsored or endorsed by Nintendo, Sega, Sony, Microsoft, or any other such party. Opinions expressed on this site do not necessarily represent the opinion of site staff or sponsors.