This Week in Gaming (Week 4)

[Garrus]

Writer(s)	Todd Stashwick Amy Hennig Gary Whitta K-Michel Parandi Allison Rymer

I 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.

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

 

[64K]

Dead Space is one of my all time favorite Horror/Shooters. The Line Gun is my favorite weapon.

 

[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.

 

[AusWolf]

Gordon Freeman's sole personality trait was that he didn't talk.

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

 

[sepheronx]

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).

 

[Dr. Dro]

That'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.

I 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.

 

[Garrus]

View attachment 280485

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.

 

[AusWolf]

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.

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.

 

[samum]

Is Forsaken a play on isekai?

Or The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway.

 

[sepheronx]

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.

American culture.

 

[AusWolf]

American culture.

Has it got that bad?

 

[sepheronx]

Has it got that bad?

Been living under a rock?

I'll leave it at that.

 

[AusWolf]

Been 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?).

 

[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

 

[AusWolf]

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

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.

 

[Argyr]

I 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.

 

[the54thvoid]

... 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.)

The Untold Truth Of Uncharted - SVG

Casual fans may not know a lot about what went into making Uncharted the critically acclaimed and best-selling series that millions of gamers know and love.

www.svg.com

 

[Argyr]

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.)

The Untold Truth Of Uncharted - SVG

Casual fans may not know a lot about what went into making Uncharted the critically acclaimed and best-selling series that millions of gamers know and love.

www.svg.com

I stand corrected.

 

[the54thvoid]

I 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.

 

[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.

 

[Argyr]

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

don't forget about GOTY material dialogue

 

[Chomiq]

don't forget about GOTY material dialogue
View attachment 280535

Obviously you're not in the target demo.

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

 

[the54thvoid]

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.

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.

 

[Argyr]

Obviously 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

 

[Chomiq]

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.

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:

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

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.