I would like to use Witcher 3 as a counterpoint... (Gaming)

by cheapLEY , Sunday, November 27, 2016, 13:40 (2725 days ago) @ ZackDark

There would be plenty of counterpoints, but notice that he said "investment elements," which includes damn near every game made any more. RPGs automatically have investment elements by their nature of leveling up, and most multiplayer games have some sort of ranking and unlock progression systems. It seems like a silly thing to call out though, as that's just how games are made now, and having a multiplayer game without such a system is seen as detrimental--I've seen the first Titanfall called out many times for not having enough stuff to progress through. That's just what people want it seems.

I think there's an argument to be made that we're in the middle of the downfall of AAA gaming, but I'm not wholly convinced by that argument. It's not going anywhere, it's just shifting. Maybe that's a bad thing, but I don't know. I still think Hitman is the best example of this. It's easily in the top five games this year, and it's still the best argument I've ever seen for episodic gaming. I can wait for the package of Telltale games or something like Life is Strange, but Hitman, I believe, was an entirely different (and better) experience if it was played as content dropped. Six levels in 8 months, with a few smaller, special stages thrown in, along with the elusive targets--it was an active experience that encouraged folks to play the same level multiple times, something I wouldn't have done if the whole game had dropped at once. I know their games are very different, and the way they make content has to be different too, but I still think Bungie could learn a lot by looking at the way Hitman put out releases. If Bungie kept up with a pace even half of what Hitman did, I'd probably never stop playing it.

Don't get my wrong--I don't want to see every game turn into that. I don't want any more Destinys. I like games that I can say "Alright, finished that one. What's next?" and move on. I just finished the first Dishonored, and I loved every second of it. I also loved that it's traditional video game, and it has a clear end point, and no series of numbers that just keep getting bigger for no reason. But Dishonored 2 just released--those kinds of games aren't going anywhere as far as I can tell.

I've seen multiple posts all over the internet about how bad 2016 was for games, and it feels like a completely asinine statement to me. 2016 was the best year for games in probably ten years, it's just a different landscape. We're not being spoon-fed AAA releases anymore. With the rise of Steam and even the Xbox and Playstation digital stores, it's so easy to find a game to play. There are so many games now that I would seriously be happy if games just stopped releasing for two years so I could catch up and play everything I want (Two years probably wouldn't be enough time!). I would argue that anyone that says gaming is worse than ever just isn't paying any attention, or only wants to play AAA games as they were a decade ago.

I know that's not the argument you were making Cody--that's just a tangent I've been thinking about for a week or two after seeing post after post of how bad gaming is now.