Your video game hot take(s) thread

[Kyrian007]

Shadows of Mordor parlayed the combat system into its Nemesis system and that was what made it fun. I did feel it wore out its welcome by the sequel but the first one ruled.

Shadow of War was a fine game... entirely ruined by monetization schemes. At release it was actually pay2win. In its release form it would have taken thousands of hours to get the "final" ending of that game without engaging with the microtransactions. The combat + Nemesis was as good or even better than ever. The problem was they also tried to integrate monetization as well. And it was the exact wrong time to try that as they caught a high point in backlash to monetization square in the face. Strip out all of the microtransactions and rebalance it as they have in its current form... a little padded but otherwise a good game.

That being said, there never should have been a sequel. And I hope they never try and release another one. I always thought the original was arkham combat gameplay plus new Nemesis system... but rather than see it overlooked because no one was interested in a new IP, they slapped it with a franchise name and flimsy immaterial non-canon story to get it some name recognition. And then when it hit like it did, get a good dev to marry the combat system and Nemesis to an original IP and boom... you have your next huge franchise. Rare did it with Goldeneye. Make your revolutionary console FPS system look a little like a James Bond movie to get eyes on it. And when it hits, drop the tie-in for a brand-new IP in Perfect Dark. Instead EA said "Mordor hit huge, let's squeeze its sequel for every penny we can wring out of its whales until there isn't any drop of goodwill for the product left."

 

[Phoenixmgs]

Shadows of Mordor parlayed the combat system into its Nemesis system and that was what made it fun. I did feel it wore out its welcome by the sequel but the first one ruled.

The Nemesis system helped but over 99% of the enemies you faced were just normal enemies and not buffed up Nemesis enemies (or bosses in a sense). Shadow of Mordor literally just reskinned Arkham combat with the same exact moves and even specials. So I got pretty tired of the combat pretty fast in Shadow since I played the Arkham games before.

 

[BrawlMan]

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EDIT: The AAA Industry does have a habit of not writing their female leads well or have them go through a bunch of unnecessary suffering to count as character development. As he points out near the end of the video, it's usually Western AAA games that fudge this up. Though He doesn't mention Alloy from the Horizon (I get why as she's bland to some people, ut she doesn't go through a whole bunch of misery and either of her or her games) games. There's Cloe and Nadine Uncharted Lost Legacy. Both characters have their own agency and doesn't rely on them going through so much pain and misery. Rivet definitely counts too and works as leading lady, even though she shares it with Ratchet. I do appreciate Yahtzee says that he doesn't like pointless misery nor victimization of a character, no matter if they're male, female, color, lgbtq, etc. It's funny how either the smaller budget games usually get it right or the AAA Japanese games get it right. More so the ones with fan service. It be like at times.

Though big problem with Yahtzee's argument is that he's cherry picking examples. There's plenty of Western AAA games that avoid TR 2013's main issues. As I've discussed with a friend:

• Control​
• Alan Wake 2​
• Various Assassin's Creed games with female leads. This one is not my forte, but I give credit where it's due. Shadows counts even though it's not out yet.​
• Alien Isolation​
• Returnal​

So it really doesn't hold much weight and is not as big issue as he's making it out to be. Even though he is right about some of the games he mentioned.

 

[Drathnoxis]

Most indie games with quirky/humorous dialogue all seem to have the exact same 'voice.' It's getting weirder the more I see it. Like is it the result of growing up with memes that all young people seem to write like this or what?

 

[Drathnoxis]

Honestly, bosses aren't even that hard when it comes down to it. The fact that if you face them with two other buddies you can chop them into kindling shows there's really not that much to them.

What really makes it suck (besides the bad camera and lock-on) is all the bosses that require certain consumeables to make them manageable. Like the Blood Starved Beast in Bloodborne. Eat a pellet to not get poisoned just by being near him. Oops, you got killed, now you have 6 pellets left. Hope you can beat him with that amount, because your supply won't respawn when you die, so if you used them all up during your last failed attempt they're gone, and you'll have to farm them again... and again. Sounds like fun, donnit?

You don't really need poison pellets to kill BSB. Poison is pretty slow and you get 20 heals so you can also just choose to take the poison damage. Also, you can choose to manage your poison meter more carefully and only get close when it's empty. It's slower, but an option.

 

[Worgen]

Though big problem with Yahtzee's argument is that he's cherry picking examples. There's plenty of Western AAA games that avoid TR 2013's main issues. As I've discussed with a friend:

His cherry picked examples aren't even really that good. Like the tomb raider one kinda works but the Senuo doesn't.

 

[Dirty Hipsters]

Elden Ring is the worst of the Soulsborne games, and it all stems from the inclusion of Torrent.

Elden Ring is too big, with too much empty space. Yes, the map is dense and there's a lot of content, but a lot of the open world content isn't very compelling. There's a lot of repeat dungeons and repeat enemies, and they're quite boring but you feel compelled to do them because there's a lot of loot that's locked in these dungeons. One of the major selling points of the Soulsborne games is how well designed and interesting the maps are. The way they twist and layer on top of each other. This is mostly lost in the open world of Elden Ring. The legacy dungeons keep this masterful level design, but the legacy dungeons aren't the majority of the game.

The reason that the map is able to be so big is because of Torrent. You aren't expected to walk everywhere like you do in the Souls games. Since you're riding a steed they're able to make the map much bigger, but in making it so much bigger they also filled it with a lot of uninteresting stuff. While it does make the world feel bigger and like a real country/continent (unlike say Dark Souls 1, where it feels a little silly that there's 5 different cities each literally 100 feet from one another), the size of the world doesn't translate to better gameplay.

The fact that the world is so open also makes it easier to ignore or bypass bosses. If you run into something that you can't beat you're encouraged to leave it and come back later. I would actually consider this to be kind of a bad thing. In the other Soulsborne games, when you reach a boss you're usually at the intended power level to beat that boss. Yes, there's occasional difficulty spikes, but you can basically always beat a boss the moment you stumble upon them, even if it takes a lot of tries. With Elden Ring I never know if I'm fighting a boss at the intended time. If I lose several times in a row I literally can't tell if I'm underpowered for the fight, or if I'm just bad, or if there's a gimmick I'm not noticing/understanding. There's also fights that I end up coming across when I'm completely over-leveled with a weapon that's clearly more upgraded than intended because I visited an area out of order. It just makes the pacing of the game awkward.

Finally, mounted combat kind of sucks. Mounted combat is badly designed in basically every game where it's implemented. I've never played a game where it isn't awkward and clunky. Elden Ring is no different. They clearly tried their best with the mounted combat, but it's still pretty bland and I much prefer to fight everything on foot. The problem is there's a lot of fights and enemies that are specifically designed to be fought mounted.

I'm not saying that Elden Ring is a bad game, but it is definitely my least favorite of the Soulsborne games. Most people love the size of this game, but I personally feel that the open world detracts from the From Software formula and makes the game less than the sum of its parts.

 

[BrawlMan]

Elden Ring is the worst of the Soulsborne games, and it all stems from the inclusion of Torrent.

Even worse than Dark Souls II?

 

[Casual Shinji]

Elden Ring is the worst of the Soulsborne games, and it all stems from the inclusion of Torrent.

Elden Ring is too big, with too much empty space. Yes, the map is dense and there's a lot of content, but a lot of the open world content isn't very compelling. There's a lot of repeat dungeons and repeat enemies, and they're quite boring but you feel compelled to do them because there's a lot of loot that's locked in these dungeons. One of the major selling points of the Soulsborne games is how well designed and interesting the maps are. They way they twist and layer on top of each other. This is mostly lost in the open world of Elden Ring. The legacy dungeons keep this masterful level design, but the legacy dungeons aren't the majority of the game.

The reason that the map is able to be so big is because of Torrent. You aren't expected to walk everywhere like you do in the Souls games. Since you're riding a steed they're able to make the map much bigger, but in making it so much bigger they also filled it with a lot of uninteresting stuff. While it does make the world feel bigger and like a real country/continent (unlike say Dark Souls 1, where it feels a little silly that there's 5 different cities each literally 100 feet from one another), the size of the world doesn't translate to better gameplay.

The fact that the world is so open also makes it easier to ignore or bypass bosses. If you run into something that you can't beat you're encouraged to leave it and come back later. I would actually consider this to be kind of a bad thing. In the other Soulsborne games, when you reach a boss you're usually at the intended power level to beat that boss. Yes, there's occasional difficulty spikes, but you can basically always beat a boss the moment you stumble upon them, even if it takes a lot of tries. With Elden Ring I never know if I'm fighting a boss at the intended time. If I lose several times in a row I literally can't tell if I'm underpowered for the fight, or if I'm just bad. There's also fights that I end up coming across when I'm completely over-leveled with a weapon that's clearly more upgraded than intended because I visited an area out of order. It just makes the pacing of the game awkward.

Finally, mounted combat kind of sucks. Mounted combat is badly designed in basically every game where it's implemented. I've never played a game where it isn't awkward and clunky. Elden Ring is no different. They clearly tried their best with the mounted combat, but it's still pretty bland and I much prefer to fight everything on foot. The problem is there's a lot of fights and enemies that are specifically designed to be fought mounted.

I'm not saying that Elden Ring is a bad game, but it is definitely my least favorite of the Soulsborne games. Most people love the size of this game, but I personally feel that the open world detracts from the From Software formula and makes the game less than the sum of its parts.

Oof, complete opposite, when it comes to Torrent at least. That frikking goat was the only thing that made the Soulsborne combat finally engaging to me. The ability to zip away and dive in and out of combat was a joy. No panic rolls away from danger on a low healthbar eating even more of the stamina you desperately need for swinging your weapon and blocking. No need to babysit it because you see something on terrain it can't traverse, like in every other open-world game (with a mount). You dismount it vanishes, you need it it simply materializes between your legs. Slicker than snot.

The mounted combat is bland, yes, but then most combat in Souls games already is bland. Atleast with Torrent it's smooth. Nothing in a Soulsborne game has been as excting as having a mad giant right on my ass as I'm galloping away on Torrent.

 

[Dirty Hipsters]

Nothing in a Soulsborne game has been as excting as having a mad giant right on my ass as I'm galloping away on Torrent.

If the most exciting part Soulsborne combat for you is completely avoiding it then maybe the Souls games aren't for you.

 

[Dirty Hipsters]

Even worse than Dark Souls II?

Dark Souls 2 has it's problems, but I've still beaten it multiple times. I've never actually bothered finishing Elden Ring. I got 50 hours in, then something else took my attention for a couple of months and then I just never bothered getting back into it. Everyone is going nuts for the DLC right now so I figured it was a good time to put my thoughts out there.

 

[BrawlMan]

Dark Souls 2 has it's problems, but I've still beaten it multiple times. I've never actually bothered finishing Elden Ring. I got 50 hours in, then something else took my attention for a couple of months and then I just never bothered getting back into it. Everyone is going nuts for the DLC right now so I figured it was a good time to put my thoughts out there.

You should post this on the Space Battles controversial gaming opinions thread. They'll love it! I have no stake in anything Souls style, so I avoid the games. They're not for me.

 

[Casual Shinji]

If the most exciting part Soulsborne combat for you is completely avoiding it then maybe the Souls games aren't for you.

Yeah no, I mean during a fight. Instead of clumsily trying to roll away from a giant sweeping attack I can use actual speed and agility to dodge attacks and make the combat fun.

But you're right, the combat in these games isn't for me, because they never make you not feel like you're controlling a fridge on legs. And Torrent actually helped to alleviate that.

 

[hanselthecaretaker2]

The above dialog kinda reminds me of the MGS series, since what I’d consider the most playable game in that series in terms of player agency is also the open world one. Many would argue it’s the worst, because of that, and they’d certainly have a point if the tightly crafted design is what is most valued. For me, I welcomed the change in landscape, added freedom of approach, etc. because we’ve had a half dozen games already that weren’t that. Did I enjoy the old games? Bet your ass I did. But it’s been tougher to go back to them. Part of that is because the gameplay iterations have made them more playable, IMO. Yeah, I’m gonna say besides Sekiro, Elden Ring has the best feeling mechanics, with the benefit of also being more varied.

MGS4 could arguably be more technically keen on combat mechanics, but hoo boy are the plethora of toys in V fun to flex in more open environments and enemy setups, with easily repeatable missions structure to try different tactics. With Elden Ring it’s kinda the same thing. To me it’s primarily a character building game (the lore hunting, environments, bosses, etc. a bonus), more-so than the others before it. Once you know where stuff is, the map design facilitates getting a killer start on any build type within a couple hours.

Now with Shadow of the Erdtree, I’ve read that one of Miyazaki’s intents was to make the map design more granular, with better use of space and better blending between the open field and “dungeon” fare. It may be big, but might also be a better compromise of the old and new since a lot of people missed that Lordran feel. If they can pull that off in larger environments then I’m all for it.

 

[Dirty Hipsters]

Yeah no, I mean during a fight. Instead of clumsily trying to roll away from a giant sweeping attack I can use actual speed and agility to dodge attacks and make the combat fun.

But you're right, the combat in these games isn't for me, because they never make you not feel like you're controlling a fridge on legs. And Torrent actually helped to alleviate that.

I felt like mounted combat feels MORE like a fridge on legs, not less. Having to turn Torrent so you can hit the enemy from the left or right side is way more awkward than hitting the enemy that's directly in front of you.

I would also say that the characters in Bloodborne and Sekiro feel decidedly not like a fridge on legs.

The above dialog kinda reminds me of the MGS series, since what I’d consider the most playable game in that series in terms of player agency is also the open world one. Many would argue it’s the worst, because of that, and they’d certainly have a point if the tightly crafted design is what is most valued. For me, I welcomed the change in landscape, added freedom of approach, etc. because we’ve had a half dozen games already that weren’t that. Did I enjoy the old games? Bet your ass I did. But it’s been tougher to go back to them. Part of that is because the gameplay iterations have made them more playable, IMO. Yeah, I’m gonna say besides Sekiro, Elden Ring has the best feeling mechanics, with the benefit of also being more varied.

MGS4 could arguably be more technically keen on combat mechanics, but hoo boy are the plethora of toys in V fun to flex in more open environments and enemy setups, with easily repeatable missions structure to try different tactics. With Elden Ring it’s kinda the same thing. To me it’s primarily a character building game (the lore hunting, environments, bosses, etc. a bonus), more-so than the others before it. Once you know where stuff is, the map design facilitates getting a killer start on any build type within a couple hours.

Now with Shadow of the Erdtree, I’ve read that one of Miyazaki’s intents was to make the map design more granular, with better use of space and better blending between the open field and “dungeon” fare. It may be big, but might also be a better compromise of the old and new since a lot of people missed that Lordran feel. If they can pull that off in larger environments then I’m all for it.

I would in fact consider MGSV to be the worst of the MGS games, though it's not because of mechanics, it's mostly because the game is basically an early access title that never got finished. The last chapter of the game doesn't exist, so you don't get to play the story conclusion. All you get is some audio tapes and a basic storyboard of what the conclusion could have potentially been. The game ends without addressing a bunch of plot issues like the English strain, or Eli and Sahelanthropus. Act 2 is also mostly lazily recycled nonsense.

I do think that MGSV has a similar problem to Elden Ring in that the open world just isn't anywhere near as interesting as the level design of previous games. I also think that the crafting system and resource gathering in both games only exist because the game worlds would otherwise feel significantly more barren, but I don't think that the resource gathering adds any actual benefit to the gameplay.

As far as gameplay goes though, I think MGS4 is actually the worst, mostly because you barely get to play that game. With the amount of cutscenes it has it very clearly wants to be a TV show. Literally half the game is cutscenes by playtime, with some cutscenes being over an hour long. It's like they were scared of players ruining important moments by playing them "wrong."

Funny enough, I think the massive amount of audio logs in MGS5 partially stems from the criticisms of MGS4 being too cutscene heavy, so you have audio logs instead of cutscenes so that you don't have to break up gameplay. The problem is that the audio logs also fucking suck, and because they're so much cheaper to make than cutscenes that the game is literally littered with them, and most of the time it's difficult to play the game and focus on the audio logs at the same time. You still end up sitting around listening to them instead of playing the game, which is way less stimulating than the cutscenes in MGS4.

 

[hanselthecaretaker2]

I felt like mounted combat feels MORE like a fridge on legs, not less. Having to turn Torrent so you can hit the enemy from the left or right side is way more awkward than hitting the enemy that's directly in front of you.

I would also say that the characters in Bloodborne and Sekiro feel decidedly not like a fridge on legs.



I would in fact consider MGSV to be the worst of the MGS games, though it's not because of mechanics, it's mostly because the game is basically an early access title that never got finished. The last chapter of the game doesn't exist, so you don't get to play the story conclusion. All you get is some audio tapes and a basic storyboard of what the conclusion could have potentially been. The game ends without addressing a bunch of plot issues like the English strain, or Eli and Sahelanthropus. Act 2 is also mostly lazily recycled nonsense.

I do think that MGSV has a similar problem to Elden Ring in that the open world just isn't anywhere near as interesting as the level design of previous games. I also think that the crafting system and resource gathering in both games only exist because the game worlds would otherwise feel significantly more barren, but I don't think that the resource gathering adds any actual benefit to the gameplay.

As far as gameplay goes though, I think MGS4 is actually the worst, mostly because you barely get to play that game. With the amount of cutscenes it has it very clearly wants to be a TV show. Literally half the game is cutscenes by playtime, with some cutscenes being over an hour long. It's like they were scared of players ruining important moments by playing them "wrong."

Funny enough, I think the massive amount of audio logs in MGS5 partially stems from the criticisms of MGS4 being too cutscene heavy, so you have audio logs instead of cutscenes so that you don't have to break up gameplay. The problem is that the audio logs also fucking suck, and because they're so much cheaper to make than cutscenes that the game is literally littered with them, and most of the time it's difficult to play the game and focus on the audio logs at the same time. You still end up sitting around listening to them instead of playing the game, which is way less stimulating than the cutscenes in MGS4.

I actually got the Big Boss emblem in MGS4 and the biggest requirement was skipping cutscenes lol. Also got Platinum in V and yeah there were some grindy trophies, of which most were side missions and waiting for some of those gear developments. Definitely had sore spots including the story stuff being cut short, but the crafting was basically automatic and mostly hassle-free, at least in online mode. I can see how fulton’ing everything could get old, but to me it was simply part of the game, like in Peace Walker but more fleshed out.

The crafting in Elden Ring is similar in terms of being practically the easiest way to acquire a ton of consumables. A big part of the game is exploring so tapping Triangle or Y to gather stuff in the field to me is no different than tapping a button to run or something. Once you have cookbooks it’s pretty painless to make it useable. It’s an extra step beyond simply finding stuff ready to use but still more convenient than before, farming souls ad nauseam then finding the right merchant to buy whatever you need. Most playstyles typically don’t have much use for this, but it’s there for those who might want to use weapon greases, pots, arrows, etc. instead of casting or changing affinities.

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[Drathnoxis]

Open world also killed Legend of Zelda.

 

[Dirty Hipsters]

The crafting in Elden Ring is similar in terms of being practically the easiest way to acquire a ton of consumables. A big part of the game is exploring so tapping Triangle or Y to gather stuff in the field to me is no different than tapping a button to run or something. Once you have cookbooks it’s pretty painless to make it useable. It’s an extra step beyond simply finding stuff ready to use but still more convenient than before, farming souls ad nauseam then finding the right merchant to buy whatever you need. Most playstyles typically don’t have much use for this, but it’s there for those who might want to use weapon greases, pots, arrows, etc. instead of casting or changing affinities.

I also don't care for the vast majority of the consumables (I also barely use any of them in the other Soulsborne games as well). I might toss the occasional fire pot but that's about it. Don't really care for any of the buffs either. I actually get annoyed by the number of buffs that exist in the game. You go into a boss fight and before you get into the room people do their weapon buff, their body buff, their aura buff, their physick, their perfume, then walk into the boss room and immediately drop their ash of war. Fuck all of that min-maxing nonsense. I don't want to stand outside the boss door for a full minute before every attempt to buff myself, but apparently that's the expectation.

 

[BrawlMan]

Open world also killed Legend of Zelda.

Not really. Did you not see the most recent Nintendo Direct? They're going back to another more traditional Zelda game next. Open World only killed the fools who shameless imitated it for little reason or coasted on certain ips for too long with little effort. Tears of the Kingdom may be $70 DLC, but the game sold gangbusters.

 

[hanselthecaretaker2]

I also don't care for the vast majority of the consumables (I also barely use any of them in the other Soulsborne games as well). I might toss the occasional fire pot but that's about it. Don't really care for any of the buffs either. I actually get annoyed by the number of buffs that exist in the game. You go into a boss fight and before you get into the room people do their weapon buff, their body buff, their aura buff, their physick, their perfume, then walk into the boss room and immediately drop their ash of war. Fuck all of that min-maxing nonsense. I don't want to stand outside the boss door for a full minute before every attempt to buff myself, but apparently that's the expectation.

Well sure, that’s an option, but mainly because those people would rather try to just delete health bars instead of actually fighting anything.