Current events

[Riot]

I actually liked the linearity in FF13. Like all the other JRPGs were pretty much the same except with an illusion of freedom. To me FF13 was just cutting the bullshit and wasting less of my time since I know each branch off the main path will be a treasure chest instead of me checking 8 different paths cautiously advancing too slowly to advance the story, but still scouting for items that will outdate themselves in the next dungeon.

That's how I felt. Everybody rags on JRPGs this generation but I think they've been pretty solid overall. There's so much more that goes into game production these days to stay current and competitive that a lot of people seem to ignore or now think about. The "linearity" in FFXIII kept the story moving more briskly and let the battle system be more challenging with the retry option. I care more about the characters and storyline than spending 45 minutes wandering down random side paths to find two potions, getting hurt by a ton of random battles, going into the menu after every battle to heal up, etc. etc. A lot of the elements people complain are "easy mode" are just more convenient and lets games focus on the game instead of micromanagement.

[Fluffyumpkins]

http://progressquest.com/subs/haanz/SimpleRPG2.html

[Merk]

Oh my God.

Just fucking look at Xenoblade. You can make a game streamlined, not carebear, and NOT one 30 hour tutorial through a giant corridor in this generation and have it be a great game. It's not hard to make your environments not one giant corridor but Square fucked up real bad with FFXIII. It's called aesthetics, yes all JRPGS are effectively one giant corridor but the beauty is in how they hide it, walking down a literal corridor for a giant chunk of the game is a slap in the face. I mean holy fuck Riot, would you rather play a fighting game where the characters are just solid colored blocks with different hit boxes and movesets? DURR I'M RIOT I JUST SMASH BLOCKS TOGETHER THE GAMEPLAY IS SO DEEP BECAUSE THERE IS NO FRILLS I LIKE CORRIDORS DURRRRR

God damn it. Writing this post makes me mad that Xenoblade did so many things right but we won't see a billion copy cats of it and instead we're gonna have to strap in for corridor-cutscene-fest 2013. Imagine that the entirety of Earthbound was just your dudes walking down the bridge to Fourside and fighting random enemies along the way while random words and proper nouns with no context got thrown at you -- that is the FFXIII experience.

[Pokebis]

lol Merk I bet you don't play fighters with sprites/models disabled and just hitboxes.

[Riot]

Oh my God.

Just fucking look at Xenoblade. You can make a game streamlined, not carebear, and NOT one 30 hour tutorial through a giant corridor in this generation and have it be a great game. It's not hard to make your environments not one giant corridor but Square fucked up real bad with FFXIII. It's called aesthetics, yes all JRPGS are effectively one giant corridor but the beauty is in how they hide it, walking down a literal corridor for a giant chunk of the game is a slap in the face. I mean holy fuck Riot, would you rather play a fighting game where the characters are just solid colored blocks with different hit boxes and movesets? DURR I'M RIOT I JUST SMASH BLOCKS TOGETHER THE GAMEPLAY IS SO DEEP BECAUSE THERE IS NO FRILLS I LIKE CORRIDORS DURRRRR

God damn it. Writing this post makes me mad that Xenoblade did so many things right but we won't see a billion copy cats of it and instead we're gonna have to strap in for corridor-cutscene-fest 2013. Imagine that the entirety of Earthbound was just your dudes walking down the bridge to Fourside and fighting random enemies along the way while random words and proper nouns with no context got thrown at you -- that is the FFXIII experience.

Suck sidewalk! Xenogears had big maps but does that make it more fun? It sure made it longer to run through!

[Merk]

Ballz sucked barrs.

Xenogears had a bevy problems but it definitely didn't have you walking down a hallway complete with a giant "GO HERE, DUMBASS" arrow pointing you to the nearest cutscene. The story was a clusterfuck, the game had the most obvious signs that it was super rushed, and it had probably one of the worst dungeons imaginable but man did they create an interesting world. The characters and shit were compelling in a superficial anime sort of way but Square at least tried in that game.

I have a hazy memory but other than giant walls of text I don't remember a whole lot of padding in that game as far as dungeon design is concerned.

[Riot]

I actually meant Xenoblade, but whatevs. Xenogears was awesome because the battle system was fun and the characters were cool. The dungeons were really really bad though. I really HATE giant maze-like dungeons with multiple paths. I don't really like getting lost and wandering in games. Skyrim has a really cool giant world, but storylines suffer the larger the game gets. It's impossible to really have a compelling storyline when you can go anywhere whenever, forget about certain characters and plot points while you spend 15 hours doing sidequests, multiple paths and choices that make certain parts of the game unavailable (meaning developers have to program branching paths, watering down one or two good ones), and makes for lots of bugs. Sometimes tighter, "linear" games are better for it.

The new Call of Duty games are a good example. It's basically an on-rails shooter, but it allows for a ton of cinematic moments and exciting little mini cutscenes to interact to. It makes for a more movie like atmosphere where the developers can pack a bunch of adrenaline in instead of a game like Arma 2 or something where it's so realistic you have to walk for 15 minutes til you find an enemy standing around. It makes a Call of Duty single player experience shorter and the player has less freedom, but a lot of people would rather have an exciting 8 hour experience than a plodding 30 hour experience.

[Merk]

[Fluffyumpkins]

I totally agree with the design choice of linear gameplay. I've been playing Deus Ex: Human Revolution lately, and one of the coolest things about it is how they wrap up choice with a linear game. You are given lots of opportunities to tackle the same problem (combat-stealth, combat, sneak-stealth, hacking) and each path gets you to the same end with roughly the same amount of experience. The story doesn't branch out beyond some dialogue and minor game play changes. There's nothing to permanently miss (god do I hate that mechanic.) However you want to play, the game creates a very fun and rewarding experience. In fact, at almost seems to make the play style you've chosen, regardless of what it was, appears to be the best option.

Sandbox games have always had the problem of weaving a main story arc alongside a countless amount of fetch quests that don't contribute to the story. What you end up with is minor irrelevant fights that feel required if you want to have the right levels and gear to progress the story. Books don't do this. Movies don't do this. Plays don't do this. It doesn't make for interesting narrative. I don't like GTA, Skyrim, Fable, ect for giving the illusion of choice and freedom when all you've done is restrict players to playing with GameFAQs open in another window. That isn't fun.

Merk is right about a game's ability to hide corridors. That's polish. Having a long hallway with a giant door at the end is as entertaining as watching a progress bar.

Unrelated, but in Quake people did set their graphics to look like total garbage in the interest of gameplay. All walls look like flat slabs of rock, and all enemies look like bright green targets.

[Potter]

Deus Ex: Human Revolution

great game amirite?

[Fluffyumpkins]

Hrm. 3.5 out of 5. 7 out of 10. A good game.

[SoDeepPolaris]

Deus Ex: Human Revolution

great game amirite?

Boss fights were pretty lackluster but the main part of the game was a lot of fun. I'm doing a replay to get all the stealth achievements. It's pretty damn hard to never get detected or kill anyone.

[Fluffyumpkins]

Deus Ex: Human Revolution

great game amirite?

Boss fights were pretty lackluster but the main part of the game was a lot of fun. I'm doing a replay to get all the stealth achievements. It's pretty damn hard to never get detected or kill anyone.

Can you alarm people, or does it have to be 100% undetected?

[Potter]

u guys playing on pc? games like those are ruined for me wen I try to play them on console. 90% of the fun for me is being immersed in another n33t environment that i can explore, dat spatial perfection

[Fluffyumpkins]

PC. FPS games need a mouse and keyboard. What should I play next?