What the hell is going on with game devs? (Gollum rant)

[emothxughts]

Graphics and performance issues aside, the very premise of this game is just absurd. Who tf wants to play as the fricking Gollum in a $70 full length game?? Gollum would work as a couple of side levels in a proper LOTR full length game, but a standalone Gollum game?

 

[Bomby569]

i've been playing a lot of insanely great indies lately so have to complain, the title should be

What the hell is going on with AAA game devs? (Gollum rant)​

 

[AusWolf]

Graphics and performance issues aside, the very premise of this game is just absurd. Who tf wants to play as the fricking Gollum in a $70 full length game?? Gollum would work as a couple of side levels in a proper LOTR full length game, but a standalone Gollum game?

I think the idea sounds excellent for a £20 game.

 

[Vayra86]

Graphics and performance issues aside, the very premise of this game is just absurd. Who tf wants to play as the fricking Gollum in a $70 full length game?? Gollum would work as a couple of side levels in a proper LOTR full length game, but a standalone Gollum game?

That's exactly how it plays: absurd. I had the 'opportunity'.

Its like a really, REALLY bad version of Styx, minus all the cool things. The gist is, you're Gollum, and that's so special you don't need anymore game around it other than ultra limited near-guided stealth 'exploration' which really is a long string of 'do this now' scenes. Even the immersive qualities just fall flat because honestly, level design is retarded, unrealistic, and Gollum's 'stealth' must be supported by all sorts of weird environment choices you'd never see IRL. As if they built the dungeon/cave/whatever so Gollum could play his shitty game. There are many games that have this, those super obvious 'oh this ledge I can definitely climb' things, but here, its just yet another bit of salt in the wound because its almost all you get. That's when you realize EVERY element is poor.

I lasted just under 2 hours, and not because of a refund policy or anything. I just couldn't; even watching it getting played was quite annoying.

i've been playing a lot of insanely great indies lately so have to complain, the title should be

What the hell is going on with AAA game devs? (Gollum rant)​

Got Darkest Dungeon 2 yet? oh man... its so good

 

[Shihab]

I'm just going to point out that the awful-to-awesome ratio in the indie scene is probably much, much worse than the AAA.
I like my Bastions and Stardew Valleys as much as anyone, but they are a drop in an ocean.

Gollum would work as a couple of side levels in a proper LOTR full length game,

But this isn't a LOTR game. It's a *checks official statement* a "Lord of Ring" game.

 

[sepheronx]

I'm just going to point out that the awful-to-awesome ratio in the indie scene is probably much, much worse than the AAA.
I like my Bastions and Stardew Valleys as much as anyone, but they are a drop in an ocean.


But this isn't a LOTR game. It's a *checks official statement* a "Lord of Ring" game.

And yet the indies sure got it better in quality than these messy "AAA" games. I think only one that came out that wasn't a horrible mess of bs was RE4R. So the % of good indie games vs AAA games I would wager is in favor of indie games.

 

[Space Lynx]

Graphics and performance issues aside, the very premise of this game is just absurd. Who tf wants to play as the fricking Gollum in a $70 full length game?? Gollum would work as a couple of side levels in a proper LOTR full length game, but a standalone Gollum game?

there is a game called Styx that pulled this concept off a long time ago, and it has good reviews. Gollum I think was meant to be done in a similar fashion, but cash grabs are cash grabs, so eh...

Save 90% on Styx: Master of Shadows on Steam

Styx: Master of Shadows is an infiltration game with RPG elements taking place in a dark fantasy universe, where you sneak, steal and assassinate your way through as Styx, a Goblin two-centuries of age.

store.steampowered.com

And yet the indies sure got it better in quality than these messy "AAA" games. I think only one that came out that wasn't a horrible mess of bs was RE4R. So the % of good indie games vs AAA games I would wager is in favor of indie games.

yeah indie games are great these days. another reason I love my Steam Deck so much

 

[Shihab]

And yet the indies sure got it better in quality than these messy "AAA" games. I think only one that came out that wasn't a horrible mess of bs was RE4R. So the % of good indie games vs AAA games I would wager is in favor of indie games.

1 good game out of two dozens is better performance than a 100 out of 10,000. There are much more indies than what's listed in the "top rated" section of your favorite store.
It's one thing to appreciate indie devs who make great games, it's another to disregard the tons of shoddy clones and meme crap pushed by anyone who can afford Valve's $100 publishing fee, or the time to create a page for their over-glorified gamejam projects on itch.

 

[sepheronx]

1 good game out of two dozens is better performance than a 100 out of 10,000. There are much more indies than what's listed in the "top rated" section of your favorite store.
It's one thing to appreciate indie devs who make great games, it's another to disregard the tons of shoddy clones and meme crap pushed by anyone who can afford Valve's $100 publishing fee, or the time to create a page for their over-glorified gamejam projects on itch.

What you saying? Cuckold simulator isn't triple A?

Well yeah, there is plenty of shit in indie. Most triple A games are also shit too. I rather have hundreds to choose from and pay less than have lot less options and pay 90 for some bullcrap

 

[Shihab]

What you saying? Cuckold simulator isn't triple A?

No. Not enough "diversity" and marketing theatrics.

I rather have hundreds to choose from and pay less than have lot less options and pay 90 for some bullcrap

It's not an either-or situation, fortunately.

 

[Space Lynx]

What you saying? Cuckold simulator isn't triple A?

Well yeah, there is plenty of shit in indie. Most triple A games are also shit too. I rather have hundreds to choose from and pay less than have lot less options and pay 90 for some bullcrap

I think we have both right now. we have a lot of AAA's some good most shit, lot of indies and a LOT more, so some good but most shit. but since its so many, some good is still a lot.

meh. its all good, just have to learn to filter out the bad from the good, or reverse that.

 

[sepheronx]

Thankfully it isn't a case of one or the other. We do have options. My point is, the options from indies just seem far greater and more interesting than triple A.

 

[64K]

I think we have both right now. we have a lot of AAA's some good most shit, lot of indies and a LOT more, so some good but most shit. but since its so many, some good is still a lot.

meh. its all good, just have to learn to filter out the bad from the good, or reverse that.

Either way it's most likely going to get worse before it gets better (if it ever does). We've still got 7 more months to get through this year. Who knows what manner of bug infested, garbage performance, half-assed game turdness dumpster-fires await us still.

Me, I'm still hiding out in the 1990s through the mid 2000s with games.

 

[Space Lynx]

Either way it's most likely going to get worse before it gets better (if it ever does). We've still got 7 more months to get through this year. Who knows what manner of bug infested, garbage performance, half-assed game turdness dumpster-fires await us still.

Me, I'm still hiding out in the 1990s through the mid 2000s with games.

yeah my backlog is so vast, it honestly doesn't bother me any.

and when I say backlog... I mean games I actually am still excited to play, that is another reason I love my Steam Deck so much, it may be weak in actual processing power, but it manhandles so much of my backlog just fine... heh (plus I like playing games in bed cause of my scoliosis issues)

 

[Frick]

Graphics and performance issues aside, the very premise of this game is just absurd. Who tf wants to play as the fricking Gollum in a $70 full length game?? Gollum would work as a couple of side levels in a proper LOTR full length game, but a standalone Gollum game?

I'd play the jewels out of a good Gollum stealth/survival-game. Sneaking from Moria to wherever he goes, strangling orcs and eating whatever comes across your way while madness eats away at his brain? Yes please. Maybe not an AAA game, but a mechanically sound indie game with good auidou design (the madness) and visual design yes. Oh yes. It's something I've wanted even before learning about this game.

 

[AusWolf]

I've just checked the Steam reviews of this game, and I got really sad - not just because of the state the game is in, but also because of the expectations people have. Most of the reviews were like "the game is fine, but the graphics are trash - NEGATIVE". Are we really so obsessed with superficialities that we can't have a positive experience unless our eyes are watering from all the shiny things on screen?

 

[Frick]

I've just checked the Steam reviews of this game, and I got really sad - not just because of the state the game is in, but also because of the expectations people have. Most of the reviews were like "the game is fine, but the graphics are trash - NEGATIVE". Are we really so obsessed with superficialities that we can't have a positive experience unless our eyes are watering from all the shiny things on screen?

This has been the case for a very, very long time. Bad graphics can be fine, but the art direction has to be good and the game has to be good. This just has the looks of a quite old AAA game, which isn't good art direction.

 

[R-T-B]

Thankfully it isn't a case of one or the other. We do have options. My point is, the options from indies just seem far greater and more interesting than triple A.

Then you have the Indies that became AAA, and went... AAA.

*Looking at you, Kerbal Space Program 2*

 

[Vayra86]

1 good game out of two dozens is better performance than a 100 out of 10,000. There are much more indies than what's listed in the "top rated" section of your favorite store.
It's one thing to appreciate indie devs who make great games, it's another to disregard the tons of shoddy clones and meme crap pushed by anyone who can afford Valve's $100 publishing fee, or the time to create a page for their over-glorified gamejam projects on itch.

Sure but that's where customer due diligence comes into play, and frankly, if you've played a few games those hobby projects are easy to avoid.
They don't exactly have real reach on even Steam, you get there after clicking past three pages of games and still not satisfied with what you found - ergo you're desperate to find game X of type Y and you've played all the good ones already.

That's how I end up there anyway

I've just checked the Steam reviews of this game, and I got really sad - not just because of the state the game is in, but also because of the expectations people have. Most of the reviews were like "the game is fine, but the graphics are trash - NEGATIVE". Are we really so obsessed with superficialities that we can't have a positive experience unless our eyes are watering from all the shiny things on screen?

Its not superficial. See, pixel art games rarely get flak for their 'poor graphics'. Why? Because the art design hits home. It just works. It looks nice, it is immersive, whatever - it works. Gollum, doesn't work. There is no nice art design, and there are no fancy graphical effects either. Heck, even games with fancy graphics but generic art still generally don't get a pass in reviews. Another example: Elden Ring. Its not exactly a graphical masterpiece on a spicy new engine. But the world and art design makes it tick. That's exactly the reason Nintendo still exists despite running games on toasters.

 

[Klemc]

Mod unavailable

This mod is not currently available

www.nexusmods.com

MOD is : main menu tweaked ! credits/quit replacements ! even THAT.

 

[sepheronx]

Then you have the Indies that became AAA, and went... AAA.

*Looking at you, Kerbal Space Program 2*

I forgot about KSP2 honestly. Good thing first one still is fantastic.

 

[Shihab]

Sure but that's where customer due diligence comes into play

If customers had any semblance of diligence, we wouldn't be having bad products on any segment of this market... :|

 

[64K]

If customers had any semblance of diligence, we wouldn't be having bad products on any segment of this market... :|

Very true. Publishers aren't the only ones to blame for the mostly pathetic state of games today. Tens of millions of gamers also share in the blame as well sadly.

 

[cvaldes]

Daedelic has thrown in the towel on in-house game development:

Daedalic Entertainment shuts down internal game development to focus on publishing

The Lord of the Rings: Gollum developer Daedalic Entertainment will end internal game development and focus solely on publishing going forward, the company said today.

www.gematsu.com

Gollum has successfully killed off its studio. They will continue on as a publisher but won't be creating their own content anymore.

This is one of the risks of slapping a $50 price tag on garbage that is in the running for Worst Game of the Year.

This comes on the heels of Luminous Productions shutting down early this year after poor reception of Forspoken. And this certainly won't be the last time piss poor efforts result in a studio's closure.

Gamers suck. Especially PC gamers tolerate too many sh!tty releases. I really wish the video game industry would grow up but a large percentage of the consumer audience simply doesn't want to be treated like adults.

A handful of people care including some folks in Kyoto, Japan.

To put things in perspective:

Lord of the Rings Gollum:

• OpenCritic 43
• MetaCritic 43

An update on scores:

Lord of the Rings Gollum as of 30 June 2023:

• OpenCritic 37
• MetaCritic 39

Since these are aggregates, that means more recent reviews have been trending even worse, bring down the average scores even lower.

Good riddance.

Best of luck to the employees now seeking other opportunities.

 

[QuietBob]

Daedelic has thrown in the towel on in-house game development:

I find this news sad actually.
While their most recent game is downright terrible, those earlier point-and-click adventures are really great. At least the next Deponia is still being worked on by a contracted studio.