Are all your gaming desires met?

With billions of dollars being poured into gaming, tens of thousands of developers crafting new games and a never ending supply of video games, do you feel that all your gaming desires are met?

Or is there something missing from video games? If so what do you feel is missing?

Videogames have become relatively stale. We are playing the same games, with the same tired story tropes and developers are for some reason hell bent on making the gaming experience less interactive in favor of mediocre storytelling. But, that is what gamers want so.🤷🏽‍♂️

I would like for more experimental ideas with gameplay but that shit doesn't sell. Same old same old sells millions. Fortunately, there are some Indies that have enough funding to meet this need.

Yes, yes they are. Not only is Dragon's Dogma 2 announced, its coming out in two months. My life is now complete.

Nope. Still need a new Chrono game.

maybe when elden ring dlc lands. or naughty dog make a full on survival stealth game based on tlou2 mechanics with relentless pacing and without all the cinematics and heavy handed storytelling

Theres waaayyy less game release now than before.

Yeah. I haven't been wanting for games in a while, I have a queue of things I want to get to. I enjoy the games I'm playing but at the same time I look forward to moving on because I'm excited to get to the next thing. Elden Ring DLC is coming soon too.

I'm completely satisfied and I can only think of one thing I could ask for.

I don't look too far ahead, just enjoy what I currently have and don't expect too much. It ensures I never have any regrets. So, yeah, pretty much.

The only thing I want right now is the HFW PC release date.

I'm happy with state of games, lots of great games to play not enough time to play them. Those people out there who act impossible to please, who can't enjoy anything fun by focusing solely on a games imperfections are just losers. People who play what other people tell them to and not what interests themselves. I'm rather shocked how high brow people act like they only play quality stuff, then every annual "what did you play this year" thread most people only play a few games, not a few dozen, and what they do play at the end of the day is just Tiddlywinks. Yet they feel qualified to voice their arrogance on everything like they have some unique enlightened perspective. And they most just want to jump on pecking parties in hopes to see a developer/publisher go out of business. They don't want to enjoy gaming, perhaps they're incapable, and with so few games they play they aren't even trying, and the things they could enjoy they act too good for it to even try. Gaming is fine, gamers are not.

Other then really wanting a new Chrono game I’m very happy with the current state of gaming. So many great games coming out these days and not enough time to play them all.

There is also waaayyy less games your pc can handle.🤡You hyped AW2 for half a decade, and didn't even play it because you can't. Who even does that?

That’s so great to hear. Capcom is an awesome developer and seems to have both the talent and knows what it is doing.

Dragons Dogma and Rise of the ronin releasing on the same day, I’m torn which one to play first.

@lamprey263: 🤜🤛

Yes, games take more time than ever, with AAA games taking upwards of 5 or more.

This represents the perfect opportunity to replay some older games: Half life 2 with 4x AI textures, Dishonored with 2x AI textures. I personally love playing both older and newer games.

Very true. After playing a couple of Ubisoft games where the stakes were... non-existent and characters didn’t really go through arks, I was surprises by need for speed (heat) of all games having characters with genuine emotions and motivations in their storylines. It’s also a game where the gameplay doesn’t really get interrupted by cutscenes... it’s also an older-ish game

Too many games want to be the same these days. And we no longer have the risk taking and creativity we had in the 80s... on the flipside we do have gameplay mechanics that have become more refined.

of course will do soon but AW2 is not what I want. I was hype when it was about Alan wake being primary character and not side kick.

Not really. I see a lack of ambition in modern video games. Developers spend millions of dollars in the development of a game, which is a lot, so they want to make a game that they know will sell. Practically every game these days is an open world game. Moreover, micro-transactions can GTFO. If you don't actually want to play the game you bought and you want to have a Dodge Viper as soon as you start, developers are more than happy to take some money from you in a micro-transaction. "You don't actually want to play the games you buy, you just wanna drive around real fast, so just give us some extra money to race with the Viper right away." *facepalm*

This is why I love indie games with all my heart. They are far more creative because the developer(s) has a small budget, so they've got nothing to lose (if their game flops). We as gamers need to start buying indie games to show the big developers, like EA, that their stupid micro-transactions have no place in this industry.

My knee jerk reaction is "hell no", but I haven't played a new game in four years, so my opinion probably doesn't hold much weight. But at the same time, very little of what I've seen has excited me; so who's to blame for that?

It's a generic statement at this point, but all entertainment (music, movies, games) has become risk averse, and because of that we keep getting 'been there, done that' output'. There are probably some decent efforts that are getting tossed out with my cynical bathwater, but the years of broken half-assed releases have dulled my willingness to even try. That, plus the all the other bs; mtx, loot boxes, subpar equipment, drifting thumb sticks, crappy batteries, no actual data on the disc, digital only, subscriptions, state of plays, directs, live service, rampant online cheating, incessant cinematics, tech pushing graphics over gameplay, loss of LANs and local gaming, paid online, on and on... It's not fun anymore.

Now that doesn't mean everything is bad. But it's also not all daisies and roses like some claim. I think most of you yahoos are fully aware that these problems exist, but instead of admitting it, there's a weird head-in-the-sand, toxic positivity that takes over. It's like looking at a bunch of battered housewives going "he'll change" or "I fell up the stairs". It denies reality, and fixes nothing. And on the opposite end of the spectrum, I'm probably being overly pessimistic. I need to dial back the Chicken Little, and they could ease up on the Ned Flanders. And maybe somewhere in the middle, we can find something better.

Rise of the Ronin will be far behind in quality. Its also gonna have technical issues, and a copy paste job from Nioh. The choice ain't hard.

What matters is the gameplay, not the character you play as. And when you're playing as the fbi agent, its the same as with Alan, so i am not seeing your problem.

I’m sure the character that people play as matters a fair amount to most people’s overall enjoyment of a game. Look at what happened to Marvel vs. Capcom Infinite and the whole “Magneto is just a function” fiasco. It’s also why guest characters are a thing.

@Archangel3371: Yup, I can no longer find myself enjoying online shooters as it's turned into an array of clown skins and fortnite skins and it's just immersion breaking and distracting, on top of the predatory nature of microtransactions.

@hardwenzen: fair enough, DD2 will be of a lot higher quality. But Rise of the ronin might have it beaten in setting for me.

@R4gn4r0k: I love guest characters myself, well as long as I’m interested in the character of course. Seen Fortnite get a bunch of characters that I’d enjoy playing as. Unfortunately I’m just not really interested in Battle Royale games in general.

Perfectly stated. Gamers wet themselves over more power and then give developers a break when they do absolutely nothing to advance gameplay... Enjoy your tired games with pretty trees everyone!

I actually don't feel bad about modding games and getting this "standard" content for free. Especially when it should be there for the base price that you paid.

But another example is that most of the times when I do have deluxe or premium content I don't even want it really because they skip some of the good parts of a game.

It's also a case of, even if games today aren't the ones you want (exhaustive open world games, excessive microtransactions, silly online grindmills) aren't there a ton of games out there from previous gens that absolutely fill your wants?

it's more of a broad question like: with all of the games out there, there must be a game in every genre that you like and enough to make you happy that these experiences exist. In fact there should be multiple in every genre that you like.

I do think Fortnite does guest characters well, it's not my cup of tea but I don't find it offensive.

But seeing Krusty the clown in WW2 games or Pennywise in Vietnam games just doesn't sit right with me. Older games weren't perfect by any means, but going with this general/anything goes/fortnite style absolutely makes games lose style.

@R4gn4r0k: Fair enough. For me though I’m all for the crazier the better.

That's cool, I like Sega soccer slam as I like my football crazy and over the top. But I could understand how a FIFA fan would be upset if a clown suddenly ran up the field and started playing along, catch my drift? ;)

Lots of great games out there (hell, lots of great games just in my backlog), and not much time to play them. So, my needs are being met. However, I do have some desires:

I wish there were more new 3D fighting games. 2D fans have had years wanting for nothing, but 3D fighters come only on occasion, and with a fairly high number at the end. Been a while since we had one smaller than a 6. I get it, these are complex things to make, and the 2D fan base is substantially bigger. Still a bummer.

I wish there were more over-the-top AAA arcade racers. At the tail end of gen 7, we got a triple threat of these with Slit/Second, Blur, and Motorstorm Apocalypse. Games that raised the bar for just how big and bombastic this genre could get, and with new hardware around the corner, the sky was the limit for their follow-ups. Follow-ups that never came, because each of these bombed hard. Again, can't get mad at them for not making more of something no one bought, but still a bummer.

I wish there were more 3D Metroidvainias. You can't take three steps in the halls of Steam without tripping on a pile of 2D ones, but 3D not so much. Soul Reaver and Metroid Prime showed the world how it was done like 25 years ago now, and then... that was just kinda it. Control might be the closest thing to a recent example, and we do have MP4 happening, someday. But that's some wide gaps between.

@judaspete: Well put! Have you tried the Tekken 8 demo? I was enjoying it with a friend today.

Yes, I wish there was more variety in the genres we currently have.

In the PS2/gamecube gen we had stuff like NBA street, Fifa street, SSX... but now all the sports games are just of the vanilla regular flavor. I wish we would expand in niche genres again, those that focus more on the arcade, over the top and unserious but oh so fun.

@R4gn4r0k: Haven't tried the demo yet, but I'll get to it. Can't take any 3D fighting game release for granted these days.

And yeah, back in gen 6 we had multiple publishers releasing annual entries in all kinds of arcade sports franchises. Which was probably too much, and part of why the genre burned out, but man it was great while it lasted.

I wish the industry wasn't so all-or-nothing. Like, if we could have one SSX, NBA Street, and Tony Hawk game every 5 years, that would be great.

I'm getting what I need from the non-AAA and large-scale space. I'm seeing a lot of innovation and new ideas, or if it's the same ideas they're being done with a neat spin.

As far as AAA publishers and larger-scale stuff goes, it's a mixed bag.

• We've seen some good titles from Ubisoft, for example, but their business model is continueing to disappoint.
• I can't remember the last time I've been remotely interested in anything from EA, I'm not really sure where they are right now outside of rehashing sports games and upkeeping any service or F2P games. Jedi Survivor was pretty good I guess.
• ABK has WoW and that's been a fun MMO but honestly it's kind of stale as well. Not seeing much new from them, despite the huge amount of IP's they own collectively.

AAA publishers need to get off their asses and start making games, and either coming up with new ones or revisiting older franchises.

Overall I am optimistic, and I see a lot of good stuff from developers, but I am deathly afraid of the direction publishers are taking us. They're making some good money and they're forgetting what got them there in the first place in their greedy desire to make more money.

Yeah. Stale is a good word for it.

@R4gn4r0k: Totally. And that's where I've found the most entertaining stuff recently. Older games, older music, older movies. But that's also a sad outlook, if the past is my only hope for fulfillment. Hoping to find something I overlooked. But what does that say about modern "progress", when it doesn't feel better than shit we did 20 years ago? It's also hard for me to play a lot of 'similar' games. Sometimes a game can have a cool spin on something familiar, or have a cool style/theme, but most of the time, I get bored too soon if it can't best what I've already played.

One of my many problems is that I'm a cherry picker. I only want the cherry, and not the sunday. And in doing so, I'm probably missing a lot of cool experiences. But I can't get really get past the fact that if a new game can't do it better, or at least in a new and exciting way, why should I bother playing?

Like I said, I'm probably being a bit too harsh on some of this, but if the past is my only hope, that's a pretty sad future.

If the upcoming Silent Hill games turn out good, I'll be happy.

But there's always good stuff to play. BG3, Alan Wake, etc. People just like to complain a lot, lol.

Not at all, modern gaming leaves a lot to be desired.

I had an easier time finding good games in the 1990's up till 2008 or so. Back then I couldn't keep up with everything I had to play. Now most games are beige as hell, and I just ignore most of them. They can be developed for 8 years and still come out boring.

Take the new Prince of Persia for example. Looks ok and all, but do I want to play Metroid Dread with a PoP skin, you know? Why couldn't they have made another game like Sands of Time where you had this nice pace of platforming, puzzle solving and combat that was a bit puzzle like in itself in that you had to manage the dagger and shit and you could rewind time. It was new and fresh, and hasn't really been done since. Why make another metroidvania where you do nothing but ape other metroidvanias in an already saturated metroidvania market? Was going to play it at first, but now I'm more like "meh, why bother, make something more intersting please".

Soul. Most games feel like they were made by robots. But other than that?

Extreme sports games, arcade racing games, fighting games to an extent, games that don't overstay its welcome, games that try something new, games that push physics, games that just aren't fucking afraid of being games, among things.

Agree with whatever Pedro said. Conan if he posted or is alive.

@Litchie: yup

@Litchie: You are asking to making more interesting games with your Prince of Persia example but in the same breath are asking for more of the same. 🤔

If i could erase everything from the last 20 years.

Just reset gaming to 2004

I'd be happy

I dont like most modern gaming

Yeah good question. The new Prince of Persia is ok, in fact it's more than ok. But they could've just remade (and I don't mean remake, I mean a sequel like you're saying) the original sands of time. Heck do it in those original PS2/Gamecube graphics so the budget is kept in check, people (digital foundry) have praised The Lost Crown's art direction.

But to be the devil's advocate here for a second, Ubisoft is seemingly putting a lot of love into their Beyond Good & Evil remaster, so they have actually not forgotten about the past, and do want to offer up those kinds of experiences.

Hmmm, interesting. I don't like exhaustive open world games but I can say I've enjoyed Valhalla and Ghost of Tsushima purely based on their setting. have I enjoyed 100% of the game? No, but I enjoyed 80%.

I don't think you should mind that you are a cherry picker, you've had those great experiences in the past, you have a great point of reference.

That's why I always feel sad for people growing up on (tablet) games where the point of the game is to waste the players time and to ask for microtransaction purchases. Those people will have a completely different point of reference from us.

@R4gn4r0k: Exactly. As much as I hate what kids are into these days, I don't blame them. I blame the scum that made it, and the slugs that told them to do it. That's why I do my best to show my nieces and nephews that what's being offered isn't all that exists.

But some of my friend's kids are touchscreen zombies, and just watch vapid nonsense incessantly. Not only is it sad, but it has to be crippling their dopamine systems.

@dimebag667: just seeing kids walk around town in daily life, all hooked on smartphones, all watching tiktok videos non stop.

And yeah, I can't blame the folks themselves, laws should be in place to protect people from predatory behaviour.

"Oh people need to smarten up". Nope, didn't work for seatbelts either, nor for drunk driving, nor for any other sensible law in history.

In fact China was about to clamp down on predatory behaviour from mobile developers (daily login bonus, microtransactions) but then chose the capitalism route to protect their compabies/economy. Despicable

Gaming for me peaked in the Dreamcast generation, from the 360 generation onwards it has only gotten worse.

This generation was the first generation that I didn't buy a console day 1. I didn't buy a Series X until 2022.

I've spent more money on retro stuff in the last 2yrs.

I'm over the custscenes, walking segments, video game stories in general.

^

There are a lot of RPGs releasing over the next couple/few years. I would say gaming is on an upswing right now for the first time in at least a generation. That said, mp games are severely lacking right now. Great to see the high A and AA industries really coming alive again though.

Yeah I basically stopped playing MP games. They introduced threadmill battle pass mechanics a while ago.

gaming is pretty great at the moment, a lot to look forward to in 2024. But I really hope we've left the broken/unfinished/buggy games of 2023-2022 behind us. Those were some rough years as a lot of these games were built in peak Covid/working from home days.

No Episode 2 or Portal 2 for you.