Sunday, January 22nd 2023

This Week in Gaming (Week 4)

Jan 22nd, 2023 10:27 Discuss (61 Comments)

We're already approaching the end of January and this coming week we're looking at both a new AAA title and a remake of an older AAA title that also gets a collectors edition. In other words, a lot of exciting things are happening, if you're looking at getting a new or old game with improved graphics to play.

Forspoken / This Week's AAA Title / Tuesday 24 January
Mysteriously transported from New York City, Frey Holland finds herself trapped in the breathtaking land of Athia. A magical, sentient bracelet is inexplicably wrapped around her arm, and Frey discovers the ability to cast powerful spells and use magic to traverse the sprawling landscapes of Athia. Frey nicknames her new golden companion "Cuff" and sets off to find a way home.

Land of Towers (VR) / Monday 23 January
Land of Towers is a VR adventure game for the whole family. Reality-based quests, distinctive architecture, intuitive controls, creative workshop, picturesque locations for relaxation.

Warlander / Tuesday 24 January
Harness the almighty powers of god-like Warriors, Clerics, and Mages, with a unique style that mashes a Medieval-inspired setting, Fantastical items and abilities…and…even powerful robots! Master siege weapons and cataclysmic spells to control the battlefield and destroy the enemy's core!

Handyman Corporation / Wednesday 25 January
In Handyman Corporation you become the owner of a business where you handle a variety of jobs in cleaning, maintenance, design, and construction. Accept contracts, play minigames to perform every task required. Then expand your company - buy spare parts, tools, train skills, and manage employees

Death in the Water 2 / Thursday 26 January
Dodge and carve your way through swarms of terrifying sea creatures controlled by Death, a vicious giant mind-controlling Kraken that haunts your every move. Scavenge for hidden treasure to unlock weapons, and upgrades to help you in your fight for survival. Every dive reveals a new nightmare.

Dead Space (remake) / Friday 27 January
The sci-fi survival-horror classic Dead Space returns, completely rebuilt from the ground up to offer a deeper, more immersive experience. This remake brings jaw-dropping visual fidelity, suspenseful atmospheric audio, and improvements to gameplay while staying faithful to the original game's thrilling vision.

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61 Comments on This Week in Gaming (Week 4)

#26

Chrispy_

I'm hopeful the Dead Space remaster isn't a fustercluck of rushed deadlines and poorly-optimised porting,.

It's probably blasphemous that I never played the first one. I got it free with EA's Origin but then went on a multi-year EA boycott because EA were being massive dicks. Suffice to say, I have about 15 minutes playtime in Dead Space and I'd be willing to play it with all the new 4K RTX DLSS goodness.

#27

AusWolf

R-T-BGordon Freeman's sole personality trait was that he didn't talk.

True, but we love Half-Life for other reasons. :)

#28

sepheronx

Chrispy_I'm hopeful the Dead Space remaster isn't a fustercluck of rushed deadlines and poorly-optimised porting,.

It's probably blasphemous that I never played the first one. I got it free with EA's Origin but then went on a multi-year EA boycott because EA were being massive dicks. Suffice to say, I have about 15 minutes playtime in Dead Space and I'd be willing to play it with all the new 4K RTX DLSS goodness.

I really hope they didn't do much unnecessary changes. I heard they modified the necromorphs and not in a good way but I still have hope (hope dies last afterall).

#29

Dr. Dro

the54thvoidThat's ridiculous. 30fps with that hardware?

Yeah man, it's insane, they're also recommending that minimum spec targeting 720p 30... To me this raises a major red flag. I hope it's greatly overstated.

GarrusI thought the writers must be terrible after seeing the trailer and first impressions.

But actually the writing talent is quite good here. Amy Hennig (Uncharted). Gary Whitta and Todd Stashwick (Star Wars and more).

I guess they all did great stuff in the past and Amy Hennig will be out after this next flop. She did incredible stuff 10+ years ago (Uncharted 1,2, and 3), but nothing has succeeded since then.

----------

Looking forward to the Dead Space Remake and Fire Emblem Engage.

Well, having solid writers doesn't mean much if they're under heavy direction, I suppose. I just have a very hard time seeing this game's story and mechanics work.

From the very beginning it seemed wildly out of character for Luminous to me, and an aggressive westernization to see if the studio produces something that has a very high budget but is more marketable to the West than FFXV and its bros on the road thematic was.

#30

Garrus

Dr. Dro

Yeah man, it's insane, they're also recommending that minimum spec targeting 720p 30... To me this raises a major red flag. I hope it's greatly overstated.

Well, having solid writers doesn't mean much if they're under heavy direction, I suppose. I just have a very hard time seeing this game's story and mechanics work.

From the very beginning it seemed wildly out of character for Luminous to me, and an aggressive westernization to see if the studio produces something that has a very high budget but is more marketable to the West than FFXV and its bros on the road thematic was.

It definitely looks like a "westernization" attempt by the studio, after the very "Japan-eezy" and not in a good way FF15, which felt like a weird Japanese game that also tried to westernize. I personally don't want a game that follows an annoying Bronx kid that likes to swear the F word. That's just me. SquareSoft hired Hennig to try to make the story appeal to us, don't think it will work. Gamers are not average kids. Nerds that like D&D and girl from the Bronx with an attitude are not the same market.

They they study up their target market? The people that liked FFX and FF13? I like Princesses, Dragons, and Knights lol.

#31

AusWolf

GarrusIt definitely looks like a "westernization" attempt by the studio, after the very "Japan-eezy" and not in a good way FF15, which felt like a weird Japanese game that also tried to westernize. I personally don't want a game that follows an annoying Bronx kid that likes to swear the F word. That's just me. SquareSoft hired Hennig to try to make the story appeal to us, don't think it will work. Gamers are not average kids. Nerds that like D&D and girl from the Bronx with an attitude are not the same market.

They they study up their target market? The people that liked FFX and FF13? I like Princesses, Dragons, and Knights lol.

I don't think even average kids want a story with a hero that effs and jiffs all the time. Or at least I hope not.

#32

samum

thesmokingmanIs Forsaken a play on isekai?

Or The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway.

#33

sepheronx

AusWolfI don't think even average kids want a story with a hero that effs and jiffs all the time. Or at least I hope not.

American culture.

#34

AusWolf

sepheronxAmerican culture.

Has it got that bad?

#35

sepheronx

AusWolfHas it got that bad?

Been living under a rock?

I'll leave it at that.

#36

AusWolf

sepheronxBeen living under a rock?

I'll leave it at that.

I'm not American. I know Hollywood has recently become the biggest trash heap I've ever seen, but I don't suppose it represents mainstream culture (or does it?).

#37

KrazyT

I've just watched the Land of Towers trailer ...
Given the screeshots, i was believing a Tomb Raider like adventure or someting like that.
It's more or less a survival game, build an axe, cut wood, make fire, build nails, build a ladde with wood and nails ...
Seems as boring as the real life :laugh:

#38

AusWolf

KrazyTI've just watched the Land of Towers trailer ...
Given the screeshots, i was believing a Tomb Raider like adventure or someting like that.
It's more or less a survival game, build an axe, cut wood, make fire, build nails, build a ladde with wood and nails ...
Seems as boring as the real life :laugh:

How is that different from Life is Feudal: Your Own, except that it's in VR this time?

Speaking of LIF:YO, I've tried it once thinking that I would be having the time of my life building a medieval town, but instead, got a headache trying to level the ground to make the base for a hut for two hours.

#39

Argyr

GarrusI thought the writers must be terrible after seeing the trailer and first impressions.

But actually the writing talent is quite good here. Amy Hennig (Uncharted). Gary Whitta and Todd Stashwick (Star Wars and more).

I guess they all did great stuff in the past and Amy Hennig will be out after this next flop. She did incredible stuff 10+ years ago (Uncharted 1,2, and 3), but nothing has succeeded since then.

----------

Looking forward to the Dead Space Remake and Fire Emblem Engage.

Neil Druckmann is the brains behind Uncharted. She probably only wrote dialogue for side characters or something. Her writing career came to a suddent halt in 2015 until someone re-discovered this amazing talent for Flopspoken. Doesn't look like an unchallenged genious with a full calendar if you ask me:)

Todd Stashwick has been parachuted into gaming straight from Hollywood, a medicore actor/voice actor and I have no idea who's idea it was to convert him into a game writer, but this is his first, and probably last game job. nepotism? just a guess.

Extremely talented gaming writers like Chris Avellone get cancelled but untalented, inexperienced hollywood voice actors get top writing jobs... that's why modern games are where they are... in a sad state.

#40

the54thvoid

Super Intoxicated Moderator

Argyr... She probably only wrote dialogue for side characters or something. Her writing career came to a suddent halt in 2015 until someone re-discovered this amazing talent for Flopspoken. Doesn't look like an unchallenged genious with a full calendar if you ask me:)

Amy Hennig was head writer and creative director of the first three Uncharted titles before U4 was rewritten (and worse, in the rewrite, I read that Alan Tudyk was replaced. Heresy.)

www.svg.com/106039/untold-truth-uncharted/

#41

Argyr

the54thvoidAmy Hennig was head writer and creative director of the first three Uncharted titles before U4 was rewritten (and worse, in the rewrite, I read that Alan Tudyk was replaced. Heresy.)

www.svg.com/106039/untold-truth-uncharted/

I stand corrected.

#42

the54thvoid

Super Intoxicated Moderator

ArgyrI stand corrected.

Oh, don't get me wrong. I think it becomes difficult to keep a franchise fresh. New blood needs to come along; also from a marketing perspective to attract a new market. I've no interest though (at 49 years-old) in teen-speak RPG games. I'd rather have a fusty and archaic dialogue than 'wowsy cutesy-rebel awesomeness'. But I figure that's the point of Forspoken; they've put a teen from Nu Yoik into a fantasy world. I mean, jeez, if some teen from Glasgow had been transported to a fanstay land RPG, you'd need subtitles and therapy.

#43

Chomiq

I played through entire DS back in the day, enjoyed coop with my friend. Dunno about this remake, I think that it's more targeted toward the people that haven't played the original one yet.

As for Forspoken 30fps thing - character models and particle effects look last gen, environments are nothing to brag about. I don't see any reason for why the game always has "30 fps" listed next to the specs, whether it is "720p" or "1440p" specs. I mean, come on, character facial animations during dialog are laughable for modern standards, that's like OG Mafia level:

It's probably just down the a shitty engine and lack of proper optimization.

#44

Argyr

ChomiqIt's probably just down the a shitty engine and lack of proper optimization.

don't forget about GOTY material dialogue

#45

Chomiq

Argyrdon't forget about GOTY material dialogue

Obviously you're not in the target demo.

Honestly, it looks mediocre at best. Weak effort from Square.

#46

the54thvoid

Super Intoxicated Moderator

ChomiqI played through entire DS back in the day, enjoyed coop with my friend. Dunno about this remake, I think that it's more targeted toward the people that haven't played the original one yet.

As for Forspoken 30fps thing - character models and particle effects look last gen, environments are nothing to brag about. I don't see any reason for why the game always has "30 fps" listed next to the specs, whether it is "720p" or "1440p" specs. I mean, come on, character facial animations during dialog are laughable for modern standards, that's like OG Mafia level:

It's probably just down the a shitty engine and lack of proper optimization.

World looks fine but way, way too much magic. It makes me thing of Call of Duty. Too many power ups and stuff for me. Too many effects which after a while look like a skittles explosion. I'm not fussed about the dialogue, or the voice overs; they dont trigger me to react. But the game looks like a pretty turd.

#47

Argyr

ChomiqObviously you're not in the target demo.

target demo? shouldn't a high budget TPS AAA game be targeting as many age groups as it can? Imagine if Dead Space devs said "nah, this is an adult only game, we don't need your teen money"
I genuinly believe Forspoken devs want to impress everyone with this game, they live in a bubble where cringy urban dialogue and a shallow narrative is acceptable and normal

#48

Chomiq

the54thvoidWorld looks fine but way, way too much magic. It makes me thing of Call of Duty. Too many power ups and stuff for me. Too many effects which after a while look like a skittles explosion. I'm not fussed about the dialogue, or the voice overs; they dont trigger me to react. But the game looks like a pretty turd.

The facial animation is the weirdest thing for me. We're used to AAA games having top of the line motion capture for dialogs and stuff, here it looks like it's all keyframed and makes characters look like puppets. Like wth:

Argyrtarget demo? shouldn't a high budget TPS AAA game be targeting as many age groups as it can? Imagine if Dead Space devs said "nah, this is an adult only game, we don't need your teen money"
I genuinly believe Forspoken devs want to impress everyone with this game, they live in a bubble where cringy urban dialogue and a shallow narrative is acceptable and normal

Obviously they're making game that targets angsty teens that love cringy dialogue. That's what you get when you have a bunch of 50+ year old writers behind storyline worthy of a YA novel at best. As someone mentioned, the core concept behind the story is taken straight out of an Isekai. It's just that no one from the studio seem to got the news that isekai became a meme of its own in the past decade.

#49

Eva01Master

Thank you for this posts! I'll give Dead Space a try, have not played any of them, so, it'll be a good starting point.

#50

sepheronx

Dead space remake and death in the water looks great. Hopefully Dead Space remake will kind of give the genre a boost it needs after callisto protocol.

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