Zero Punctuation: Destiny - Always-On Grind

[Shamanic Rhythm]

Okay, so most of the review is fair, but there was one criticism that bugged me - and it's a criticism that bugs me in general.

It's when the reviewer complains about the environment in one of several ways:
A) The game brings too much attention to its environments by forcing you to pay attention to their detail.
B) The game brings you on a linear path and it makes the environments feel like a theme park.
C) The game makes you revisit the same place over and over again and it's boring.

Seriously, reviewers, stop this. These are all petty complaints. You are literally complaining because the environments are too good. It makes no sense.

C) has nothing to do with how good the environments are; in fact it can be the opposite. Dragon Age II was distinct in that it offered both shitty environments and very few of them to boot.

Neither is B) an indication that the environment is good: it's an indication that the environment inspires exploration but that opportunity is quashed by the level design.

A) might seem strange to complain about, but in these cases it depends on what type of game you're playing. You wouldn't make this complaint about an exploration game like Myst forcing you to look everywhere, but if a fast-paced action game suddenly starts expecting you to hunt around the environment for clues, it kills the flow.

Obviously, if a huge amount of development goes into the environments, they will tend to be 1) important for gameplay, 2) critical to include, and 3) expensive and time consuming to produce.

There's no question that all environments are important to gameplay on some level, but game designers tend to favour graphical fidelity over breadth and depth, despite the latter being arguably more important to gameplay.

Think about it this way: would you rather play a game of football on an expansive but scruffy and uneven stretch of local park, or on your neighbour's tiny but neatly manicured front lawn? Video games are constantly forcing you to do the latter.

 

[Strelok]

The story will be in a DLC coming next year!

No the story is on the wiki and in books to be published later, have you never played a Bungie borefest before?

 

[Saika Renegade]

I think the most damning thing about this game is that I genuinely gave it a shot, tried to get invested on my own or a couple of friends, and in the end, I found myself entirely uncompelled to continue on after a few hours.

Is there stuff to do? Yes, but that stuff is really lacking in ability to make me care about the game's circumstances. I won't hold grind against it, seeing as how grind is integral to the MMO structure, but I really found it hard to enjoy it here, which is particularly worrying when I managed to find grind entertaining in older MMOs and even non-MMO shooters with a leveling mechanic, specifically the first Borderlands. I'll be the first to say it, Borderlands 1 was basically average on its best day. It doesn't have the graphical fidelity, multiplayer options, or pedigree of Destiny, but even when I was just grinding out gear and levels, I had more fun there than I did in Destiny.

It certainly looks nice, I'll warrant, but what do those looks serve? If a game can't engage me, even the best visual direction becomes so much shiny foil over a styrofoam core and sadly, like Styrofoam, just doesn't last after you put some pressure on it.

 

[Elfgore]

You know, I've played this game for about ten hours now. Got a hunter to level 14 and I must say, I can no longer bring myself to play this game. It's repetitive, boring, and overall uninteresting. PvP is the only decent part of the game. Strikes are total bullshit. The "bosses" are nothing but total bullet sponges. Difficulty only occurs because they send endless waves of weak to moderate units at you non-stop, while you fight the boss. Missions bore me to death. I have no idea why I'm doing anything. Loot is bullshit. Classes seem to lack any decent amount of diversity. The game is just "meh"

I do regret spending sixty dollars on it.

 

[truckspond]

Apparently this game had a total budget of about $500 million. Meanwhile GTAV was able to do everything it does on the previous-gen consoles with only $265 million to play with.

The main problem I find with online games like MMO's and the increasingly worrying online only psedo-campaign over multiplayer is that it is impossible to write a good story when you have to involve more than 4 people in the gameplay and even that is stretching it. This story could have been done so much better had it been an offline single player experience however due to the very nature of an MMO it is impossible to tell a good story without a wiki telling you what is happening

 

[gridsleep]

I want a Pinhead Yahtzee doll.

 

[ghalleon0915]

My friend bought the PS4 Destiny bundle and he enjoyed it for about a week. I've watched him stream it, and he had a lot of fun with it along with our other friends. Unfortunately, they got bored of it and said it reminded them too much of WoW and even Diablo ( I suppose because of the grinding). It wasn't a terrible game, and they had fun. I do wonder, though, if they would have enjoyed it as much if they paid $70 + tax instead of being bundled. They certainly whinged enough about the loading times...

 

[SmallHatLogan]

Am I crazy or is Yahtzee a talking a bit slower today?

Wait, Yahtzee doesn't have PS Plus? Isn't that, like, a plumber who doesn't own a screwdriver? Yeah, fuck screwdrivers, fight the power!

Trolling of this kind reminds me of the bloke who told Yahtzee that people that didn't own high end spec PC's had no right to play certain games. And we all remember what Yahtzee thought of him.

I'm pretty sure that bloke also said that if you don't know how to edit Unreal Engine ini files you have no business being a PC gamer.

 

[Hawki]

Am I crazy or is Yahtzee a talking a bit slower today?

No, it's not. I've noticed it too for awhile now.

 

[Rozalia1]

Heard of the boredom aspect from other reviewers yes. Regardless brother actually wants me to buy him it (I'm a generous guy unlike my parents), so I set him the task of playing one of my old classics and finishing it if he wants me to get it for him. At least even if Destiny is terrible he'll at least get the experience of playing a good game.

Wow. Yahtzee references Halo as a positive example. The world has turned on its head.
Or Destiny is just extremely shitty. One or the other.

Or more likely he didn't find Halo all that bad and was playing to his crowd/marks[footnote]Folk who believe that his videos are honestly 100% real/serious, and not in any way played up for a better video. No offence of course.[/footnote] with his hate/dislike/whatever of Halo. That is the problem with these characters with fan followings, you can never tell if they honestly dislike the game, or if they are saying as such because they know their fanbase will love them ripping on it.

 

[European Uppercut]

Apparently this game had a total budget of about $500 million. Meanwhile GTAV was able to do everything it does on the previous-gen consoles with only $265 million to play with.

The main problem I find with online games like MMO's and the increasingly worrying online only psedo-campaign over multiplayer is that it is impossible to write a good story when you have to involve more than 4 people in the gameplay and even that is stretching it. This story could have been done so much better had it been an offline single player experience however due to the very nature of an MMO it is impossible to tell a good story without a wiki telling you what is happening

Let's debunk this one right here, right now.

It didn't have a 500 million dollar budget... for this release alone. They have 500 million for the next ten years of DLC, Destiny 2, etc..

 

[Makabriel]

But you can do the main story missions etc. as long as they're single player and as long as you have an internet connection.

Which begs the same question Yathzee had. Why should someone need an internet connection to play single player?

And this isn't just a Destiny issue. Assassins Creed/Ubisoft has this problem too, last I checked.

Because that's the way the industry is moving? From cartidges, to CDs to DVDs, downloads.. it's just the way of things..

 

[Punkster]

I liked the review, what I don't like is the growing fanboism that keep defending a game that is, at best mediocre. Still though it is nice to see fanboys move away from just consoles to fight over, they seem to be branching out into more games now too. lol.

Is there any games that have came out on the new generation of consoles, that has actually delivered what the hype suggested? I can't think of any.

 

[sc1arr1]

*sigh*
I hate being a videogame hipster..

But I -like- Destiny!!

Same here. I honestly love destiny. The only issue I have with it is that the loot system isn't the best, and downright blows in crucible. Other than that my friend and I have played it for a few hours every night since release, so in my eyes..good job bungie.

 

[Sanunes]

I liked the review, what I don't like is the growing fanboism that keep defending a game that is, at best mediocre. Still though it is nice to see fanboys move away from just consoles to fight over, they seem to be branching out into more games now too. lol.

Is there any games that have came out on the new generation of consoles, that has actually delivered what the hype suggested? I can't think of any.

The problem with Destiny isn't that it didn't live up to the hype for people were talking about how disappointing it was even during the beta, but how it didn't live up to the Marketing. Bungie/Activision kept talking about how "revolutionary" the game was going to be and that was because of how great and revolutionary Halo was.

The funny thing to me is that if Bungie made this deal with EA and released Destiny in this form what the comments towards the game would have been? They have some good parts as the combat itself, but the game is probably some of the most repeatitive I have ever experienced while leaving a player with a feeling they didn't accomplish at the end of a mission/fireteam content if they didn't get loot.

I know this is purely anecdotal, but out of my circle of friends almost all of them have stopped playing Destiny now and the ones that said they would go back is only because they got the Season Pass included with the game. Personally I think Bungie is going to have to rethink Destiny and do what BioWare did with Dragon Age: Inquisition and stay away from the press as much as possible and rethink their strategy, otherwise I can see issues down the road with the franchise.

 

[RJ Dalton]

Wow. Yahtzee references Halo as a positive example. The world has turned on its head.
Or Destiny is just extremely shitty. One or the other.

Or more likely he didn't find Halo all that bad and was playing to his crowd/marks[footnote]Folk who believe that his videos are honestly 100% real/serious, and not in any way played up for a better video. No offence of course.[/footnote] with his hate/dislike/whatever of Halo. That is the problem with these characters with fan followings, you can never tell if they honestly dislike the game, or if they are saying as such because they know their fanbase will love them ripping on it.

That was partly a joke, but honestly, I've never found it too difficult to tell Yahtzee's actual opinion of a game from his reviews. You do have to read between the lines sometimes, but when he does like a game (or at least had fun playing it), he usually does tell you straight out at some point in the review. Even in his Halo review, he said clearly "Halo is by no means bad. It's average, boiler-plate, run-of-the-mill, a competent shooter, it's only outstanding feature is how far its stuck up its own ass." And that, honestly, I think is the most accurate statement about Halo you can get. It *isn't* bad, it just doesn't do anything truly spectacular and how seriously it takes itself occasionally comes off as pretentious.
So, yeah, that was a bit of a joke, but considering how everyone seemed to think Yahtzee called Halo a horrible game because he dared not to be in absolute love with it, it was too obvious not to.

 

[Insideout Ink Demon]

Wait, Yahtzee doesn't have PS Plus? Isn't that, like, a plumber who doesn't own a screwdriver? Yeah, fuck screwdrivers, fight the power!

do plumbers use screwdrivers often. wouldnt a wrench be a batter analogy?

 

[geizr]

I feel that this video [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9yXs0R370LU&list=PLswVJ_e2AEzlrULSPhdAcGm7hoNYFdCeN] may help with understanding the plot.

Okay, that was hilarious...and a sad, sad, sad commentary on triple-A video game story writing.

I hadn't learned about this game until after it had been released, and I was watching Towellie play it on Twitch. It actually seemed interesting and actually had me thinking that I may want to buy a PS4 someday just for it. However, now after Yahtzee's review (while I often mentally stamp Yahtzee's critiques as "for entertainment purposes only", this time had a ring of sincerity that I just couldn't deny) I no longer have any real interest in this game or a PS4.

Then I went and watched the above video. While hilarious, it also made my heart sink. Fucking hell, game developers, take a creative writing course or something. Don't just throw together a bunch of "cool" stuff until everything looks "cool". Make it actually DO something and have a PURPOSE. Give actual explanation and reason to the elements you put into a game, give it some depth. You know, try actually THINKING about the game for at least 2 shits! Hi-resolution textures, high polygon counts, eye-searing special effects, and computational prowess does not impress. There needs to be cohesion, coherence, continuity, consistency, harmony, balance, and equilibrium dynamics. There needs to be an energy and drive that lends purpose to the pursuit. Yes, I know that all sounds like BS, but the point that I'm getting at is stop just throwing stuff together that seems "cool" and, instead, have some artistic sensibilities beyond just making highly detailed, pretty pictures. Any trained monkey can just make highly detailed, pretty pictures, but it takes an artist to create something that truly inspires, awes, and gives question and interpretation to the human condition. Make the elements of the game work together toward a coherent, cohesive purpose and message, rather than just being an assemblage of pretty-looking "cool" stuff that just shows-off how much you got the computer to calculate harder.

ADDENDUM: Maybe I'll put the game on my GameFly queue for PS3, since it has a PS3 version, and see for myself if the game is as insipidly shallow as being made out to be.

 

[Zetatrain]

But you can do the main story missions etc. as long as they're single player and as long as you have an internet connection.

Which begs the same question Yathzee had. Why should someone need an internet connection to play single player?

And this isn't just a Destiny issue. Assassins Creed/Ubisoft has this problem too, last I checked.

Because that's the way the industry is moving? From cartidges, to CDs to DVDs, downloads.. it's just the way of things..

There is no problem with change as long as its for a good reason.

Games moved from cartridges to CDs because developers needed more space to fit their games on. Downloads allow companies to cut costs and not have to worry about making enough to meet demand. It also makes the games easier to acquire (amusing your internet isn't ass).

But what benefit is there to making single player content online only?