Molyneux's Unfocused Innovation
- Thread starter Yahtzee Croshaw
- Start date
Boo-hoo. I think they still make good games. Or maby I am a fanboy of shiny graphics that I won't get to see since my computer can't take that much punishment.
Or maybe it's the fact that when warez is not illegal where you live, you tend to complain less.
That's right, fuckers, I actually enjoyed Bioshock 2. I finished it 3 times. I'm a terrible, terrible person.
Or maybe it's the fact that when warez is not illegal where you live, you tend to complain less.
That's right, fuckers, I actually enjoyed Bioshock 2. I finished it 3 times. I'm a terrible, terrible person.
And my favorite game OF ALL TIME is Planescape: Torment. This may change of course, but I don't see that happening easily. Fanboy and all that.
I hadn't realized he had made Dungeon Keeper. that was a fantastic game.
Great article although I'd point out that all established big names come from bygone eras; that's sort of the point... there could be some today but they are still in the process of establishing themselves
Great article although I'd point out that all established big names come from bygone eras; that's sort of the point... there could be some today but they are still in the process of establishing themselves
Man, I wish Monlynuex would make Dungeon Keeper 3. A freaken loved the first 2. I still remember some of the matches I had with my brothers. Nothing is worse then having your entire army captured, only to have those same guys switch sides while prisoner, and coming to attack you.
Dungeon Keeper 3 was promised, I remember the trailer on Dungeon Keeper 2!
11 years is a good enough gap isnt it .
In anycase, that game was amazing, I wish there where more games like that, I especially loved the spell that lets you control your own guys, so you could see your duengon from their point of view.
Bullfrog was an amazing company, so sad Molyneux couldn't stay with it .
Dungeon Keeper 3 was promised, I remember the trailer on Dungeon Keeper 2!
11 years is a good enough gap isnt it .In anycase, that game was amazing, I wish there where more games like that, I especially loved the spell that lets you control your own guys, so you could see your duengon from their point of view.
Bullfrog was an amazing company, so sad Molyneux couldn't stay with it
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Perhaps the best thing to do is let Fable come to an end. After being the king and introducing all these new (well, not that new) features where now. Remove them and dismiss them as a failed experiment? Or keep the franchise alive? Honestly, I would want to see Fable go now rather than carry on. It has fun moments but many parts of Fables gameplay are negated because you becoma a monarch.
I'll explain, buying a house and living in it is redundant because the player probably knows they will become King or Queen and live in the castle again. So houses are only there to buy and rent out. Making sure that the player doesn't get the best house for free is not a great idea in my opinion.
Marrying NPCs is another part where the game shoots itself in the foot (and in other Fable games too) because they all look the same. In 3 especially, this is a poor choice because most NPCs don't fit into the King or Queen role. Most look poor and they also look like 10 other NPCs in the area.
Also, get rid of hats for some NPCs. Is everyone in Albion so self conscious that they have to hide their hair or cut it off? It makes them blend into the crowd if they wear the same hat as everyone else. In games a hairstlye/colour of hair can be a distinguishing feature.
I guess I just prefer RPGs that don't try to please everyone by becoming action adventures. Also I prefer to communicate with NPCs by talking with them, not farting in their face. Shaking hands before conversation is ok but when it is the only way to communicate there is a lack of real interaction.
I'll explain, buying a house and living in it is redundant because the player probably knows they will become King or Queen and live in the castle again. So houses are only there to buy and rent out. Making sure that the player doesn't get the best house for free is not a great idea in my opinion.
Marrying NPCs is another part where the game shoots itself in the foot (and in other Fable games too) because they all look the same. In 3 especially, this is a poor choice because most NPCs don't fit into the King or Queen role. Most look poor and they also look like 10 other NPCs in the area.
Also, get rid of hats for some NPCs. Is everyone in Albion so self conscious that they have to hide their hair or cut it off? It makes them blend into the crowd if they wear the same hat as everyone else. In games a hairstlye/colour of hair can be a distinguishing feature.
I guess I just prefer RPGs that don't try to please everyone by becoming action adventures. Also I prefer to communicate with NPCs by talking with them, not farting in their face. Shaking hands before conversation is ok but when it is the only way to communicate there is a lack of real interaction.
Spot on, Yahtzee, spot on. The state of the industry is depressing to be sure. I find myself purchasing less games every year because of the increase in samey, mediocre "Triple A" titles. Is there something to be said when I find I enjoy my time gaming with my Commodore Amiga 500 or NES more than my Xbox 360 or PS3? I'm rather biased towards old games actually, little to no "narrative" setup required and straightforward objectives that make for hours upon hours of engaging entertainment. For all of the millions spent on big name budgets for bleeding-edge visuals, they always seem to die of cardiac arrest when you bring up the notion of "engaging gameplay."
On a retro note, I just bought a like-new Colecovision from eBay and am awaiting it's arrival. It was one of the first consoles I ever owned and saw it thrown out in a basement clean up by my parents some 15 years ago. It's sure to be a wonderful reunion.
On a retro note, I just bought a like-new Colecovision from eBay and am awaiting it's arrival. It was one of the first consoles I ever owned and saw it thrown out in a basement clean up by my parents some 15 years ago. It's sure to be a wonderful reunion.
I've had fun with both Triple A and indie games alike. What I need to be smart about is knowing which ones to buy. My little brother is a big CoD and Halo fan and buys every single new game for both, mostly because his spazzy friends constantly demand he buys them. I think it's mostly peer pressure that so many people buy these games upon release since most of their friends will too.
As far as Pete Molyneux is concerned, giant animal penis. That being said, he did Syndicate?! That game fucking rocked!
I agree 100% about the inconsistent tone in Fable 3, and this comes only from watching my brother play through the introduction. That opening cinematic can't decide whether it wants to be symbolically poignant or rip off Chicken Run. And then the tutorial. Oh the tutorial. The king is undoubtedly the worst-characterised villain in videogame history: his meaningless sadism undermines any attempt to establish a serious Marxist parable, because you can't help but laugh at how cartoonishly evil he is.
As for the rest of the game, well, every five seconds I walk in and think: 'this looks exactly like Fable 2'. And my brother goes "It's Fable 2. But with a menu that makes you walk through doors."
As for the rest of the game, well, every five seconds I walk in and think: 'this looks exactly like Fable 2'. And my brother goes "It's Fable 2. But with a menu that makes you walk through doors."
Couldn't agree more about the tone. If the game made more of a commitment to being serious most of the time, made the faceless NPCs less interactive and important, introduced new characters, extended the map, and just added more quests and what not for added playtime, I think it would have been infinitely better. Especially if they stuck to more tongue-in-cheek humor and left more of the kiddy stuff out. I don't know, maybe have an actual developed character? Seriously, Fable is an RPG in name only, if ol' petey wanted to go all out adventure game, then why not have a more developed main character? Especially considering Fable has such a binary moral choice system. All you would have to do is two recordings for each choice, good or evil. That really wouldn't be that hard. I liked the direction they took the story in, they just should have committed more.
That's an understatement. The most ridiculous thing about overthrowing the king is that by that point you frigging realize that he's been so "evil" because he's trying to friggin' save Albion. The whole thing made me feel like a complete ass for overthrowing him. And then if you actually keep your promises and become a benevolent king, you kill your entire population, not to mention the fact that you would only need to implement the "evil" policies for a year and then you could become a benevolent philosopher-king. The entire thing was completely ridiculous to the point where I had not only lost all immersion in the game, but was openly laughing at it for forcing me to make these retarded decisions. But Yahtzee already summarized most of my complaints in the video.Shamanic Rhythm said:
Not to mention the fact that YOU'RE STILL KING. IT'S NOT ABOUT FREEDOM OR DEMOCRACY OR MARXISM, IT'S ABOUT ONE MONARCH OVERTHROWING ANOTHER. Some revolution eh?
I think part of it is just playing the crowd. Escapist isn't exactly friendly to the Wii, so Yahtzee's videos reflect that. Just like the attitude that says every FPS has you playing as a bulked up spesh mahreene, whereas I find those to actually pale in comparison to the number of shooters reflecting either modern or historical engagements.Electrogecko said:
Anyways, the topic at hand. The biggest problem, in my opinion, anyways, has gone from the companies themselves to the shareholders. Whereas a company head may support trying new IPs, such as EA's venture with Mirror's Edge, the shareholders want games that make money. Which, in my mind, is why we are starting to see games getting churned out with shorter development cycles and bigger marketing campaigns.
Interesting.
I'll be honest in saying that Peter Molyneux bugs me, though I do keep buying his Fable games. I do tend to agree that he tends to run with some really bad ideas. The whole thing about using a series of rooms to manage inventory is a horrible annoyance, but I got the impression it was intended to appeal to the "durrr, I can't be bothered to read" casual demographic who complain about menus and inventory screens. I honestly think Fable 3 was pretty decent overall, but actually suffered from doing things like making eating meat a moral desician, since if your not a vegan your pretty much evil (and this was actually praised by various animal rights groups).
I'll also say that one of the things that I like about Fable is that it demonstrates that you don't have to be tied down by either bright and cartoony and for kids, or grim and gritty and for adults. It covers a lot of material, and that's the point of the whole thing. Just because there are mind-raping cthulhuoid horrors, and sex with women (lol), does not mean that the entire thing needs to be some grim faced hyper-realistic mess, drawn entirely in shades of grey, where it never stops raining.
I'll be honest in saying that Peter Molyneux bugs me, though I do keep buying his Fable games. I do tend to agree that he tends to run with some really bad ideas. The whole thing about using a series of rooms to manage inventory is a horrible annoyance, but I got the impression it was intended to appeal to the "durrr, I can't be bothered to read" casual demographic who complain about menus and inventory screens. I honestly think Fable 3 was pretty decent overall, but actually suffered from doing things like making eating meat a moral desician, since if your not a vegan your pretty much evil (and this was actually praised by various animal rights groups).
I'll also say that one of the things that I like about Fable is that it demonstrates that you don't have to be tied down by either bright and cartoony and for kids, or grim and gritty and for adults. It covers a lot of material, and that's the point of the whole thing. Just because there are mind-raping cthulhuoid horrors, and sex with women (lol), does not mean that the entire thing needs to be some grim faced hyper-realistic mess, drawn entirely in shades of grey, where it never stops raining.
I like artistically driven Triple A games (Just Cause 2 and Arkham Asylum lulwut?) Neither are bad, but neither are exactly artistic, even Arkham Asylum since it's just a good superhero game.
Also, name more then 10 artistically driven Triple A games. No Tim Schafer, he admitted himself he's in it to try and make wildly popular games that earn him a lot of money.
Also, name more then 10 artistically driven Triple A games. No Tim Schafer, he admitted himself he's in it to try and make wildly popular games that earn him a lot of money.