Hi folks!

I don't play Destiny anymore. I miss you all, and, other than Cruel, I never did play with any of you PS4 folks after I made the jump. I'm sorry about that. I'm sure I'll see you when Destiny 2 hits!

I like you guys, and I like talking to you guys, but I don't have much to add to anything here anymore. I don't even know what Destiny looks like right now. I've become the "off-topic" guy lately, and I hope that's not too bothersome--I like talking to you folks!

DOOM got a lot of love every, included here, so I figured maybe this was worth a post, and since I'm already here, I'll throw a few other random things in, too.

I've been championing Danny O'Dwyer and his documentaries over at Noclip. Next week, his three part series on DOOM 2016 will be released. Here's a trailer:

Doesn't that look great? I can't wait to watch it, and the story looks as interesting as I assumed it would be. I really dug his look at Rocket League, and the extended interview he posted with Jeremy Dunham, the marketing director over there, was a really fascinating look at working with Sony for PS+ (even though it is, predictably, short on details of that relationship).

That was the main thing I wanted to point out--I really like what Danny is doing, and I want to make sure people at least see it so it can continue and grow.

But while I'm here, one other thing that's on my mind: Final Fantasy XV.

We know Cody didn't like it, but is anyone else playing it? I have never enjoyed a Final Fantasy game. I played a bit of FF7 when a friend got it for his Windows computer in '98, but, to ten-year-old me, it didn't even come close to the joy of playing Ocarina of Time, so I wrote it off. I never tried another FF until FFXIII on Xbox 360, which I also didn't like. So I have basically no experience with the series.

Final Fantasy XV, for some reason, really piqued my interest. I watched some coverage in the last week or so and decided to jump in. I've only played for about four hours or so, but I am really digging it. I really like the battle system--it's just fun. It's sort of hard to judge, and it's really difficult for me not to compare it to The Witcher 3, which is my go-to standard for open world games. I'm not FFXV comes close to that game in any regard. The world feels large but empty in comparison (even in terms of just landscape design--just the amount of shrubs and other plants in TW3 makes the world feel "real" in a way that FFXV can't compete with. FFXV looks and feels very much like a video game in that regard). The side quests are mostly boring fetch quests so far, but the combat is enough fun that I don't really mind at this point. I really love the car stuff, for some reason. I like not having to drive, and I like customizing the Regalia. Overall, I'm really digging it, and I hope it holds up for the entire game, but we'll see.

I suppose that's it. DOOM, Dishonored, and FFXV.

I really like Doom's multiplayer. It feels a lot like old Halo, despite it having the modern load-out nonsense.

Doom was a good game this year, easily worth $30 IMO. Bethesda did DOOM and Wolfenstine right. Can't wait to see their inevitable sequels.

Doesn't that look great? I can't wait to watch it, and the story looks as interesting as I assumed it would be.

That looks absolutely fantastic. I didn't really know anything about the history of DOOM 2016. Sounds like it had some trouble getting started? I'll be interested to see that. I'm only partway through the game but it's already clear that it's a masterpiece.

Doom was a good game this year, easily worth $30 IMO. Bethesda did DOOM and Wolfenstine right. Can't wait to see their inevitable sequels.

You know about The Old Blood, right?

I've always been a massive Doom fan, but Doom 3 was too scary for me. I stuck to playing custom WADs from the first two games, and since I wasn't playing games when Rage came out, id went off my radar.

That said, here's what I remember. Around the same time they announced Rage, they announced Doom 4, which would be more arcadey than Doom 3. Over time, they talked about it being on Earth and there were a lot of comments about it being like Call of Duty with space marines and demons.

Some time around the time Carmack left it was completely redone and reannounced.
Now we have IMO GOTY 2016.

Doesn't that look great? I can't wait to watch it, and the story looks as interesting as I assumed it would be.

That looks absolutely fantastic. I didn't really know anything about the history of DOOM 2016. Sounds like it had some trouble getting started? I'll be interested to see that. I'm only partway through the game but it's already clear that it's a masterpiece.

Finish it. The end is just hands down outstanding in every way.

Wasn't it also supposed to be a direct sequel to DOOM 3, or am I making that up?

The funny thing is, I have no idea. DOOM 3 was so long ago, and I only played it once (I don't think it really hit the spot for me the way the 2016 version has). I can't remember the story at all.

Also, without really giving anything away... the 2016 version starts its own story anyway. There's some vague references to the fact that the DOOM marine has seen combat with Hell before, but nothing specific enough to be a true sequel to anything.

Oh I haven't stopped. Mass Effect 3 kind of slowed my progress a bunch.

Same universe, and it was supposed to be on Earth after the demons got there, but it wasn't like Iron Man 2, more like Thor.

Like it's implied that we're the Doomguy from the slabs in Doom 3 in the hell levels.

We know Cody didn't like it, but is anyone else playing it? I have never enjoyed a Final Fantasy game. I played a bit of FF7 when a friend got it for his Windows computer in '98, but, to ten-year-old me, it didn't even come close to the joy of playing Ocarina of Time, so I wrote it off. I never tried another FF until FFXIII on Xbox 360, which I also didn't like. So I have basically no experience with the series.

It's fascinating, because the storytelling in the series has essentially shifted from the stage to film. Games Prior to 10 were essentially presented the same way a stage play would be, where we have a mostly unchanging, wide perspective of the characters while they converse. The characters in the old games had to use broad gestures. Jumps and stuff like that in the 16 bit games, and flamboyant animations in the Playstation era. This actually kind of worked well because it distanced you from what was actually going on and injected a certain amount of imagination into the experience. As a player when you have this distance, the lack of interactivity of the world and limitations of the world building are not felt nearly as much.

If you walk into a town in say, FFVII, you will find that there are a very limited number of places where you can go. You can maybe enter 5 houses. Which is ridiculous sounding right? Hundreds if not thousands of people should live there. People just stand around and have maybe 3 or 4 different phrases when you speak to them. But that doesn't bother you nearly as much because the method of presentation does not line up with how we perceive the world.

But when you switch to 3D, now the towns feel small. People standing around feels weird. None of the 3D games have overcome this. We don't get our characters in broad strokes and without voice acting, but we get cinematics with characters than are now more real and can emote much more effectively, which only more highlights the faults with the games.

Like Bioshock Infinite, these games take us to an uncanny valley becoming all the more common with games. The aesthetics suggest a world that the designers can't deliver.

Ratings:

15 - F
14 - N/A
13 - C+
12 - D
11 - N/A
10 - D-
9- B+
8 - A
7 - A-
6 - B+
4 - C

Everything else is shit.

8 is definitely the best one, so give it a try. There's no grinding required, since everything scales according to your level. In fact, being low level can be beneficial, since powering yourself up with the junction system can make you more powerful proportionally at lower levels. You can one hit the final boss at level 10, but not at 99 for example.

In addition, I feel as if 7 and 8 are actually about something.

Yeah I've been really enjoying FFXV a lot. My biggest complaints about it are mostly UX stuff (the icon to indicate you can interact with something shows up a fraction of a second before you can actually interact with it. I can't tell you how many times I've jumped instead of picking up an object). I love the combat system, and the more I learn about it the more fun it is. Magic is ridiculously overpowered, which I appreciate since you can beat some pretty hard enemies with the right use of magic. The quests, while mostly being fetch quests, I've enjoyed just because they give me an excuse to go to a place I haven't been and kill monsters. I'm way overleveled just because I am enjoying the combat, so no grinding for me! And the story is fairly good, and does not ease you in slowly which is a welcome change from the last few games. The random dialogue from your companions is a little too Entourage style brofest for me though.

Anyway, those are my rambling thoughts.

We know Cody didn't like it, but is anyone else playing it? I have never enjoyed a Final Fantasy game. I played a bit of FF7 when a friend got it for his Windows computer in '98, but, to ten-year-old me, it didn't even come close to the joy of playing Ocarina of Time, so I wrote it off. I never tried another FF until FFXIII on Xbox 360, which I also didn't like. So I have basically no experience with the series.

It's fascinating, because the storytelling in the series has essentially shifted from the stage to film. Games Prior to 10 were essentially presented the same way a stage play would be, where we have a mostly unchanging, wide perspective of the characters while they converse. The characters in the old games had to use broad gestures. Jumps and stuff like that in the 16 bit games, and flamboyant animations in the Playstation era. This actually kind of worked well because it distanced you from what was actually going on and injected a certain amount of imagination into the experience. As a player when you have this distance, the lack of interactivity of the world and limitations of the world building are not felt nearly as much.

If you walk into a town in say, FFVII, you will find that there are a very limited number of places where you can go. You can maybe enter 5 houses. Which is ridiculous sounding right? Hundreds if not thousands of people should live there. People just stand around and have maybe 3 or 4 different phrases when you speak to them. But that doesn't bother you nearly as much because the method of presentation does not line up with how we perceive the world.

But when you switch to 3D, now the towns feel small. People standing around feels weird. None of the 3D games have overcome this. We don't get our characters in broad strokes and without voice acting, but we get cinematics with characters than are now more real and can emote much more effectively, which only more highlights the faults with the games.

Like Bioshock Infinite, these games take us to an uncanny valley becoming all the more common with games. The aesthetics suggest a world that the designers can't deliver.

So what you're saying is... games made with a bigger budget have made immersive gaming worse... huh... so #codywaswrong according to Cody.

We know Cody didn't like it, but is anyone else playing it? I have never enjoyed a Final Fantasy game. I played a bit of FF7 when a friend got it for his Windows computer in '98, but, to ten-year-old me, it didn't even come close to the joy of playing Ocarina of Time, so I wrote it off. I never tried another FF until FFXIII on Xbox 360, which I also didn't like. So I have basically no experience with the series.

It's fascinating, because the storytelling in the series has essentially shifted from the stage to film. Games Prior to 10 were essentially presented the same way a stage play would be, where we have a mostly unchanging, wide perspective of the characters while they converse. The characters in the old games had to use broad gestures. Jumps and stuff like that in the 16 bit games, and flamboyant animations in the Playstation era. This actually kind of worked well because it distanced you from what was actually going on and injected a certain amount of imagination into the experience. As a player when you have this distance, the lack of interactivity of the world and limitations of the world building are not felt nearly as much.

If you walk into a town in say, FFVII, you will find that there are a very limited number of places where you can go. You can maybe enter 5 houses. Which is ridiculous sounding right? Hundreds if not thousands of people should live there. People just stand around and have maybe 3 or 4 different phrases when you speak to them. But that doesn't bother you nearly as much because the method of presentation does not line up with how we perceive the world.

But when you switch to 3D, now the towns feel small. People standing around feels weird. None of the 3D games have overcome this. We don't get our characters in broad strokes and without voice acting, but we get cinematics with characters than are now more real and can emote much more effectively, which only more highlights the faults with the games.

Like Bioshock Infinite, these games take us to an uncanny valley becoming all the more common with games. The aesthetics suggest a world that the designers can't deliver.

So what you're saying is... games made with a bigger budget have made immersive gaming worse... huh... so #codywaswrong according to Cody.

No that's not exactly it. Case and point Uncharted 4 with the market. Feels totally real. The problem is that they need even MORE money and time to solve these problems if they refuse to design around it. It's a misapplication of the resources on primarily aesthetics instead of a balance between aesthetics and mechanics.

Yeah I've been really enjoying FFXV a lot.

I was literally embarrassed to be playing a game where the mechanic dresses like a stripper.

It managed to top the embarrassment I felt when playing Deponia Doomsday…

I was literally embarrassed

This is a studio whose PR dude thinks that the only reason players would want female party members is for them to look sexy.

"So a lot of feedback from Europe was that Cindy is too sexy. But they do want a female character in the party. It does feel a bit contradictory."

I was literally embarrassed

This is a studio whose PR dude thinks that the only reason players would want female party members is for them to look sexy.

"So a lot of feedback from Europe was that Cindy is too sexy. But they do want a female character in the party. It does feel a bit contradictory."

It's not about being sexy. She could be sexy in attire that's appropriate and functional for a mechanic. It's about being dressed in an absolutely ridiculously inappropriate manner given the story circumstances.

I know. I was emphasizing that the studio has a huge systematic issue.

I know. I was emphasizing that the studio has a huge systematic issue.

It's not even a systematic studio issue, it's a cultural issue. It does bother me with Cindy in FFXV (in fact that's the reason I never fill up the Regalia's tank at Hammerhead), but it's one character out of five or so important female characters, the rest who are dressed fairly normally (for the universe), and happen to be their own, independent, strong characters. Definitely not enough to ruin the entire experience of the game for me.

At least she's dressed ridiculously because the devs (by their admission) just wanted her to look sexy. Problematic, probably. But I'll take that any day over Kojima's half-assed explanation for Quiet.

Just admit you like boobs Kojima.

The first part of Noclip's DOOM series was posted yesterday, with Part 2 to come today and Part 3 tomorrow. I'll post those up in this thread when they hit.

This one covers what DOOM 4 would have been and why/how they rebooted it into just DOOM.

- No text -

I haven't watch it yet, but I'm on lunch and saw it was posted. If I remember correctly from the trailer, he was going to do a video that focuses exclusively on the design of the first level of DOOM--this seems to be it.

I have watched it, and it's really good.

Seconded.

I loved it because it didn't take itself seriously. I loved the attitude and general bad-asserry of it all.

"C'mon. We both know why you're here. You don't need a story. You kill demons. Let's go have some fun"

YES!

DOOM Resurrected: Guns, Guitars, and Chess on Mars covers combat design and the music of DOOM. Very cool. Guys, I need to finish DOOM. I only played the first level, and I feel awful about it. ):

"C'mon. We both know why you're here. You don't need a story. You kill demons. Let's go have some fun"

I cannot wait for Danny to post the extended interview with Hugo Martin later this month. He is an absolute joy to listen to. I love his attitude, and he's hilarious.

I hope this thread isn't low enough to be ignored--I didn't want to start yet another off-topic thread.

Stardew Valley released on PS4 and Xbox One this week. I highly recommend it for those that like a very leisurely experience. It's very Harvest Moon. You manage a farm, dive into caves to fight monsters and find loot, craft things, talk to the folks in town and give them gifts, go fishing, rebuild a community center, discover lots of secrets, etc. It's a very charming little game made by a single person over four years. You all probably remember it from it's release on Steam earlier this year.

The Steam version has controller support which is identical to the way it works on PS4. I'd maybe recommend to Steam version as it's not very taxing (My Surface Pro 4 runs it perfectly) and there are some neat mods available for it. That said, if PS4 is your only option or preferred platform, it's a totally good port and definitely worth a play at $15. FWIW, I have the Steam version, but I bought the PS4 version too and started a new farm.

He looks REALLY familiar to me. I swear I've seen him somewhere before, in some other context, but I can't remember where/what/why.

He looks REALLY familiar to me. I swear I've seen him somewhere before, in some other context, but I can't remember where/what/why.

I thought the same thing, but I honestly believe that maybe it's just the way he presents himself that makes him seem friendly and approachable. I googled him and didn't see anything I would have recognized him from. He's been a concept artist on lots of big name games and movies, so maybe he appeared in some behind the scenes thing on one of those? I dunno.