ITT: Cody undercuts his central argument against Destiny

by yakaman, Friday, August 09, 2013, 10:44 (3916 days ago) @ electricpirate

The devil is in the details. The statement Powering Up Character != Player Investment might be better stated as Powering Up Character should not be meaningless Player Investment.

I believe Cody's opinion in a nuanced one. It is hard to specifically define the border between meaningful character growth and skinner-box investment, but I know it when I see it. I think we all do on some level.

Cody has maintained that no good can come from player investment systems, but he's presenting a really compelling argument for why they can be used (IE, modifying character player to draw them deeper into the story)

It seems to me that Cody has been saying essentially the same thing all along...Bungie, please deliver a game I'll enjoy. Do whatever you're going to do, but please get it right. You might think that's a bullshit sentiment, but consider Bungie's games over the last 10(ish) years:

• Halo CE (epic)
  
• Halo 2 (good)
  
• Halo 3 (decent)
  
• Halo ODST (fabulous)
  
• Halo Reach (meh)

Obviously, my opinions are subjective and personal. Reach may have been the most expensive, ambitious, and technically polished of the group but I enjoyed it the least (by far). Halo 3's multiplayer was very successful, but I really hate with every fiber of my being dislike the player controls and response. ODST was the smallest endeavor, but easily my second favorite.

Same developer, same genre, same IP, same universe - but widely varied enjoyment. Halo CE was no guarantee that I would enjoy Bungie's future FPS games.

My hope is that a new universe invigorates, and that Staten and the impetus that defined ODST is in Destiny's DNA. They are going to make a game they love to play - but I'm not sure I love to play the games Bungie loves to play. Heresy, I know.