Assassin’s Creed
Diablo
There’s more, but those two hurt the worst.
Don’t you guys have phones? will live rent free in my head as one of the funniest on stage failures ever.
You can tell they were so far up their own asses by not being able to forsee that. Any gamer would have told you “fine announce the mobile game. But you better be fucking ready to also announce the next actual installment too”
I think Luke on the LTT WANshow has an excellent point about that:
Game devs do not have the PR filter of a (hehe) PR/marketing-person.
So they might pick the most illusioned with the project to present on stage. But those may also drop thse nuggets in the believe that they made a game the gamers would enjoy
I kind of enjoyed Valhalla … but maybe that’s because I’d never played any other AC games in the past, so I didn’t have any expectations to disappoint.
Overall, on the better side of mid. General gameplay and exploration was pretty fun, world was very detailed and beautiful. The AC parts seemed a bit shoehorned in. Hated the arbitrary parkour challenges, and really really hated the modern-day meta storyline. Kind of wish they’d just have let all the AC stuff go and just made a fun Viking game without any of that other bullshit. Still, I enjoyed playing it for quite a while. Maybe I’ll play it again someday, but it’s definitely not on my shortlist of replayable games I keep coming back to.
Yeah, that’s how people started to feel around ACIV: Black Flag.
But during AC1-3, we were all excited to learn more about the modern day mysteries and have more assassin stuff. We all wanted more!
Then Ubisoft decided to make it a yearly thing and kill off any characters with plot points that might hinder their multiplayer battle pass, yearly release dreams. Then it all fell apart and they had to scale back… But the damage was done.
I haven’t even played it the first time but it seems like they’ve made them so long that replay would be a burden.
True. It was quite long, especially if you’re trying to do everything.
But, hey, as long as you’re enjoying a game as you play it, being long is kind of a good thing.
Also, I’m pretty sure it could be much faster if you don’t bother exploring everything and doing everything and just focus on the essential story missions alone. But in that game, exploring the landscape and doing all the things is really the fun part, so you don’t want to skip it.
Borderlands.
Word.
Borderlands 2 had my best game memories beating Vermivorous the Invincible with 3 friends, me playing as Maya. First of all getting it to spawn is tense.
I so desperately want to like BL2 because it has Gaige, my favorite Vault Hunter of all time, but I can’t replay it because the story is so infuriating to me. It’s like the writers are punishing me for thinking the Vault Hunters from the first game were cool.
First time I’ve seen this take. BL2’s story is my favorite of the series, and the best feature of the game IMO. Then 3 happened…
Spoiler tagging this in case anyone still hasn’t played it:
spoiler
It just rubs me the wrong way. Lilith can’t get anything done without your help, Roland dies, you have to fucking kill Bloodwing because Mordecai is incompetent and let her get captured, apparently. I get that they wanted us to take the threat from Jack seriously, but my actual reaction was more like “wow I can’t believe they’re getting Worfed by this loser.”
Also I kind of felt like Roland’s death was a rugpull because I thought the New U stations were diegetic, since Claptrap talks about the save points at the beginning of the first game. And then after Roland has actually died, there’s a quest where Jack pays you to kill yourself, and you obviously respawn to collect the money, and he’s like “Wow I didn’t think you’d actually do that,” so like… are the New U stations actually real but everyone else stopped being able to use them? Does that quest not actually happen? I remember an old article where someone interviewed a dev, where they acted like it was obvious that respawning wasn’t diegetic and people who complained about this were being unreasonable, but like… the NPCs know about them! Other science fiction settings have this tech, why would I assume yours doesn’t when the NPCs have explained it to me???
I will miss those lighthearted adventures…
everything blizzard made.
Blizzard is a corpse being puppeted.
It’s just Activision. Has been for years.
Until you learn about Blizzard’s bro culture that has existed almost as long as the company that resulted in a female employee committing suicide because no one would take her sexual assault allegations seriously.
What “until”?
Blizzards artistic merit was killed by Activision, until you find out they have always had a female-abusive work environment.
What?
It’s another valid reason to boycott blizz… But you’re adding that factoid as if it counters mine? It’s also not relevant for why their IPs are souring. It’s another reason why they don’t deserve customers, even if the games were still good, but its not the reason their games are suffering in terms of quality.
What “until”?
It’s just Activision.
You think it’s all Activision’s fault until you learn that Blizzard was toxic from the get go. Blizzard products had issues before Activision bought them, they cut content for time, overworked & underpaid people, killed what could have been great games, all on their own.
Activism is just a corporate scapegoat for the mess Blizzard has always been. Separating Blizzard into its own company won’t fix any of its problems.
I didn’t say it was all Activisions fault. Blizzard had to be the kind of company that would join forces with Activision for the merger to happen. I’m well aware of the smaller details.
I’m saying the Blizzard that created the IPs people love, has long been dead (in that the people who made those things are no longer in positions to do so again).
What’s left, is “a corpse being puppeted by Activision” in that actiblizz is lead by the type of people and decision-making that Activision is a lot more known for.
It’s a really short way to express to people who still have nostalgia goggles for Blizzard, that the things that allowed them to make good things, are gone. Replaced by profit motivated suits that have no respect for art.
Blizzard doesn’t need saving. It’s a rotting corpse of a brand. Remove activision, and you still have just a rotting corpse.
I wouldn’t say that about World of Warcraft. Its certainly a roller coaster with many ups and downs but I would say its up right now and Midnight is lots of fun.
Halo Infinite killed the franchise for me.
I still get my friends together to play Halo a couple times a year. But finishing Infinite was the first time I was no longer excited for the next installment.
Ever since Halo 2 dropped my best friend and I have co-opped each one in one sitting. Infinite is the first time in 2 decades that we couldn’t get through an installment. Open world was fun but empty, and they tried to have it cover for a plot. The entire 4-5-6 “trilogy” is more disjointed than the star wars sequels. Story was not compelling, no emotional pulls. Halo was legit top tier sci fi and infinite felt like it was written by a committee ina meeting room. Just sad.
Hmt I might say the story of 4 and 5 was halfway decent.
In a vacuum.
While not comparing it to Reach (or 3. But that hasnt stuck hard in my memory. CE was peak for me. I remember getting lost as a little kid in the hallways on the Pillar of Autmm on the way to the rescue capsules)The story for 4 was great. It’s the only aspect of 4 that gets praise (although I think the graphics are underrated AF, those cutscenes on 360 are unreal).
5 had a shit story, but it had phenomenal world building. Evil Cortana was actually a really cool villain (if you can get over them semi-resurrecting Cortana) and the Guardians should have been the new Halo. Also, the combat was awesome and they fixed the Prometheans to actually be fun to fight against.
BTW, I have a special affinity for the stand-alone stories. CE, ODST, and Reach are my top 3 in the series.
Halo. Still holding out a sliver of hope that something cool in the universe will be made one day.
The Bungie Halo era games had problems, sure, but overall were a masterpiece of a series. Everything since then has been ok at best, and borderline insulting at worst.
So much retconning, characters with zero arc, contempt towards the fandom, and build up with no onscreen payoff.
From what Halo Studios has announced regarding Campaign Evolved, and how they’ve dug in their heels in response to fan feedback, I wish I were as hopeful as you.
In my opinion, Halo should have always remained a Bungie property with connections to the Marathon universe, and neither series should have ever been a live service game.
I found some of 343’s multiplayer fun, but yeah their storytelling has been dog water
I really liked the multiplayer of Infinite, it actually felt like a Halo game again. But by then the damage to Halo’s reputation was already done.
Halo
The games? Yeah, eh, one of these days I’d consider Infinite single player if it’s like $10.
The series? I can’t remember if people said Season 2 was…watchable…but that makes me sad…
I remember liking the books, though. The books were rad.
I didn’t even make it through more than a handful of episodes in season one. The books are solid, yeah. I did fall off after the Forerunner trilogy, though.
343 hasn’t come close to knowing what the fuck they’re doing
Halo was DoA for me after growing up with twitchy PC shooters like Unreal Tournament, Quake and Starsiege Tribes. The gameplay was glacially slow compared to what I was used to, but it did usher in online multiplayer to the console masses.
I really loved that about halo. The slower TTK makes for more chess like engagements, well with the exception of eating a shotty or a rocket to the face. Still, bouncing a perfect grenade or pulling off a ninja jump just feels so satisfying
It did before they turned it into call of duty with halo skins
Those are fundamentally different kinds of games. Sure, they’re all first person shooters, but there are more differences than similarities.
I feel like it’s the equivalent of saying something like: “Poker was DoA for me after growing up with fast paced card games like Uno, Slap Jack, and 52 card pick up.”
That’s fair. It’s not to say that I didn’t try the multiplayer in college. I was the only guy doing work-study with the network admin team so everyone needed me to configure their Xboxes for the campus LAN.
My favorite thing to do was to find a warthog and barrel around the map like a maniac trying to run people over. Still better than a dirty camper!
The Warthog physics made diving around like a maniac so much fun. Some of my fondest memories are of LAN parties, and Halo was always a staple.
I know you meant Dead on Arrival, but Dead or Alive is 100% on my list. It was so much fun during DOA 2/3. Now it’s just a micro-transaction dress-up store.
Goodbye, Mass Effect.
Replaing the trilogy for probably the ninth time, and it confirmed to me that there is no way a new installment can ever live up to the lightning in a bottle that the trilogy had.
Also, like, the trilogy’s ending was kind of final, and the potential endings veeery different. Andromeda had to happen in another galaxy because that was the only way to be compatible with the drastically different endings of ME3. But they lost so much of the world building. I’m assuming. I’ve never played it. But the Citadel was a big thing in the original trilogy, as was citadel politics.
They could’ve made the fourth Mass Effect franchise game good though. They could’ve had it take place before or between the events of the main series. With different characters as the player’s team. Between ME and ME2 there’s a healthy amount of time for a bunch of events and the crew wouldn’t have to run into Shep at all.
Who wouldn’t want to explore the darker side of the Citadel? Maybe another look at Omega. Definitely the various species’ homeworlds like Sur’Kesh. There’s so many awesome worlds we saw a bit of in the main trilogy that they could expand on. And yes, of course they could still add new ones too.
Completely agree with all points. It’s my favorite gaming franchise and you’re exactly right. The point of the different endings was that it was the end. The galaxy moving forward is what you decided it would be.
As for Andromeda, it’s worth a play sometime. It got a lot more hate than it deserved. It’s not amazing, it’s not trilogy level, but it was a fun romp and a decent way to kill some time. Just go in with those expectations. They didn’t disrespect the cannon or betray anything, it just didn’t have that spark of the trilogy.
The Elder Scrolls
Bethesda is dead.
Its why they’re so afraid of ES6. They know they can’t do it. What I don’t know is does that make them better or worse than the studios who are trying to bring back old franchises
Halo. We’re never getting another real one.
Lol. “Skyrim in space.”
RIP Call of Duty, The Sims, Sim City, RCT, Super Smash Bros, Dragon Age, Halo, and GTA
Wait, what’s wrong with Super Smash Bros? Is it just the DLC characters?
Ultimate is the best entry since melee, and both are still loved and played today. Nothing is wrong with smash bros.
Yes, the dlc chars are usually too strong, but same goes for some base characters and I don’t feel like it’s much if a problem. We get good actual content for the money.
If Nintendo releases a good smash for switch 2, they got me by the balls.
I agree with you 100%. Smash is basically my favorite couch multiplayer game.
Yeah, that and they just haven’t really had the same feel/balance.
I like Ultimate, but it’s not doing it any favors.
Ultimate is doing even less favors for the next Smash Bros game. They make too much money for Nintendo to not make it but Sakurai, who lead all the others, will likely not lead the next on. Idk how you’d follow ultimate even with him on board.
Besides all the mentioned ones, here are few from my side:
Need for Speed - played since 2 SE until Undercover. It is impossible to release the same game each year and the peak was MW’05.
Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater - some may say American Wasteland was good. I didn’t liked it but it was not as bad as anything after.
CODs - that is a pet peeve of mine. Great game, but it overstayed it’s welcome. OG MW1 and MW2 still hold a special place in my heart.
Battlefield - same as above. BC and BF3 can’t be beat.
World of Warcraft - that is an entirely different game to what it used to be imo.
I was (and still is) a Battlefield 2. I found battlefield 3 an alright sequel, though I wish they hadn’t bullshitted with the whole “the game is too complex now for map and mod tools”. But it is unreasonable how much fun Bad Company 2 was. I was one of the early haters of it because they took away prone and the faster paced gameplay. But boy did my opinion on it changed. Even my brother who rarely plays shooters sat and grinded out weapons on it. I know even DICE are questioning why it was such a success.
WOW- if it wasn’t for classic and now anniversary, I never would have renewed my subscription.
Retail is just horrible and getting worse.
Franchises are like bubble gum. If you try to make them last too much they lose all taste.
Honestly used to love Minecraft, still have a soft spot and will likely return to it at some point. All that said, MSoft has made me give up on Mojang and Minecraft. Mojang also just ignores pretty serious feedback about gameplay and don’t seem open to discussion with the community which always creates friction between mojang and the community.
Luanti (luanti.org) (née Minetest) exists!
The world size is much smaller, but as a play system and exploration thingy it is still quite fun. Also has several games (adventures), mods and gamemodes.
But Minecraft’s ecosystem makes it super easy to run any version you like best. Play the Minecraft you loved and ignore the latest versions if you don’t like them. It’s basically just a game engine anyway, the actual game is all the mods you install.
Definitely a good point, Minecraft would have faded without the modding scene, especially performance mods which seem to be the backbone of any Java based playthrough. That’s also part of my problem, I don’t want to have to download mods to turn off the telemetry, chat reports, a button for their servers that are awful. I’d rather invest my time in an open source solution like minetest or other non MSoft options if I’m relying on mods to remove junk.
I’ve never been a big Minecraft fan, but has Hytale reawakened any of that passion in people?
If you enjoyed the survival aspects of Minecraft, maybe you’d enjoy Vintage Story? It overtook Minecraft for me in terms of block games I enjoy, since it feels a whole lot more rewarding getting better tools, weapons or armour in game.
I’ll miss you, dragon age!
Planetside 2, for me.
It was never perfect, yet it’s basically dying of old age. I think that’s quite an achievement for an MMOFPS.
And I’m pretty sure there will never be another game like it, at its scale (and Foxhole doesn’t count IMO).
Planetside 2 at its peak was such a cool and unique experience. Shame it’s withering and dying
100% agree. I was a Briggs veteran for a long time after the peak. My username (not this one) is in the RecordSmash official post recognising the 1158-player world record. The Daybreak takeover was concerning, but we pushed through.
But realistically I just “accomplished” everything I reasonably could have, and then they took my server away from me. My time with the game ended, but I have no regrets. What a phenomenal experience it was at the time.
I miss the days of Briggs’ undefeated Server Smash streak. I led a squad in the first three-way smash (not this username) and I still remember what a rush it was. I eventually got to a point where I had reached BR100 (before they increased the cap), the server population was dwindling, and I just wasn’t having fun any more so I drifted away from the game. I don’t regret the time I spent with it.
Ah man now I’m curious. What faction? We maybe crossed paths. I was dominantly NC in D1RE/SHOK, VS in CIVZ back in my early days.
TR in BOTM, we probably did cross paths since the server wasn’t that big
Good bye Mario Kart… we’ll always have not giving 1st place coins as an item in Wii.
Sonic Racing Crossworlds has been scratching the kart racer itch lately.
Final Fantasy has been dead for a while. XI was the first major warning that things were no longer the same as an MMO was the last thing I expected from a mainline entry. XII was okay but it got rid of the overworld map and kept an MMO style of gameplay that felt like a slog to get through. Everything after that has been a disappointment heralded by extremely long dev times.
Agreed in general, Square has turned to shit - but XI and XII were not where it happened, those games are great and XII in particular was peak Square. Part of the problem was Tetsuya Nomura and the slew of spinoff shovelware games with half-baked Kingdom Hearts style stories they started shitting out. The other part was a combo of their embrace of mobile gacha-style bullshit, and the apparent lack of skill and experience that go into their games as they shifted from maintaining their own engines and in-house tools in favor of joining the Unreal and Unity bandwagons.
But don’t worry, another “going back to their roots!” phase is just around the corner.
I bought FFXVI and both VII remake games on PS5 because I was still holding out hope that they could reignite the magic of the previous games. I mostly enjoyed them, but they didn’t feel remotely like the Final Fantasy games of the past. XVI was more Game of Thrones than Final Fantasy, and the VII remake games were more XV/Kingdom Hearts than Final Fantasy.
I feel like the writing was on the wall as far back as X. There is very little variety in the combat, it’s very much a hallway like XIII, the “world map” is a list of locations in the order you visited them, and there are multiple long stretches where you can’t backtrack.
I’ve also tried playing Blue Dragon and Lost Odyssey in the hopes that they would scratch that same itch, but I haven’t been able to bring myself to commit to finishing them. I haven’t played Fantasian, but I’ve heard mostly positive things about it.
I actually liked XVI and the VII remakes better than anything they have made since FF XII, but I suppose that isn’t a tremendous bar to reach. The SNES era of Final Fantasy is still my favorite.
Yeah I agree. The SNES era was definitely a golden time for the series, they just kept getting better with each entry and peaked with the masterpiece that was VI. IX will always be my favorite entry though.
IX is my favorite of the PS1 era for sure.
It’s no wonder the VII remakes feel like KH since they are being done by Nomura.
Yeah, he’s unfortunately had way too much influence over the Final Fantasy series since Sakaguchi left. I also feel like Kitase has been creatively stuck making the same game over and over.
I didn’t get to finish Lost Odyssey due to my 360 red-ringing. It’s a shame too because the story was one of the saddest since FF IX. It really explores the idea that immortality isn’t all that great when everyone you know and love will eventually die and leave you with just memories, but then end up losing those memories too which ends up being half blessing and curse. The industrial setting a la FF VI was just gorgeous with one of Uematsu’s best ever scores going off in the background. The character designs were pretty great overall too with Jansen being one of my favorite JRPG characters because of his dry witty remarks no matter what the situation is.
Everything about the game hit just right and felt like it was a proper FF title in all but name. It hurt to know Mistwalker Studios barely did anything worthwhile after that for a long while until Fantasian.
Oof, I was fortunate to never have a 360 RRoD, but I knew people who did. Were you ever able to get it repaired or exchanged through Microsoft’s extended warranty program?
I didn’t finish Lost Odyssey because I eventually lost interest. The premise was certainly interesting, the music was very good (Uematsu is a genius), the dialog was well done, and the gameplay was fun. What slowly drove me away was how depressing everything in the story was. It felt like every single story beat was trying to be devoid of any hope or joy.
It was already way past its warranty so not much could’ve been done. Yeah the depressing story can be a bit much too but it also felt very real and relatable. We all have loved ones who’ve passed away and I swear that game made me feel that moment it happened all over again. There are glitters of light throughout the story though and that’s what made me keep going because it also does a pretty great job of emulating hope to the player. It’s been so many years since it came out but I’d be willing to pay top dollar for even a basic port of it on Steam.
You know, Lost Odyssey wasn’t on the radar for me but you may have put it on the map. Will have to look into it.
13-2 is still, even now, my personal favorite Final Fantasy.
I’m thrilled to learn that one person liked it. /s
