Critical acclaim in this medium used to mean something. A game like Ocarina of Time, Metal Gear Solid 2 or Dark Souls would arrive and feel like they pushed the whole medium forward, now acclaim is easily banded out for any superficially impressive bore, such as The Last of Us and God of War: Ragnarok.
Or maybe I'm just a miserable jaded video game hater these days.
Or maybe I'm just a miserable jaded video game hater these days.
8 Comments
I think people naturally get excited about a new thing and it can skew opinions, I've definitely been victim to this in the past and then realised later that I was far too positive about something.
Maybe the best way to play a game, watch a film or read a book is to wait until the hype has died down, that way you can look at it more objectively.
Maybe the best way to play a game, watch a film or read a book is to wait until the hype has died down, that way you can look at it more objectively.
I feel like the countless clones of Sony's "over-the-shoulder movie-game" formula legitimately bring nothing to the table whatsoever. Like, every game doesn't need to push the envelope or be this medium-shattering masterpiece, but I don't think the endless Playstation games even do what they set out to do in the first place well. If all you've got going on in your game is the story, maybe the script should be above student-film level? But the game has shiny graphics, so it's gotta be a 10 out of 10, right?
It's really such a shame Sony closed down interesting companies like Japan Studio to go all in barely interactive snoozefests.
It's really such a shame Sony closed down interesting companies like Japan Studio to go all in barely interactive snoozefests.
I agree with you.
I had fun with many of these Sony exclusives at the time, but a couple of years later and they've barely left an impression. I appreciate that they're trying to produce good single player experiences, but they're very cookie cutter and wide of the mark for me.
Nostalgia can certainly have an impact on how I feel about the stand out games from previous generations, but I've actually gone back and played them again over the years and gained deeper appreciation.
I had fun with many of these Sony exclusives at the time, but a couple of years later and they've barely left an impression. I appreciate that they're trying to produce good single player experiences, but they're very cookie cutter and wide of the mark for me.
Nostalgia can certainly have an impact on how I feel about the stand out games from previous generations, but I've actually gone back and played them again over the years and gained deeper appreciation.
I'm in the film industry and if you think these games have stories anywhere even close to student film level you are absolutely delusional and so fucking pretentious lmao. Games like this or The Last of Us have better stories than 90% of professional films, let alone student films. C'mon bruh.
I don't agree that this game has the storytelling standards of a student film, as I've seen enough of those to know better. My agreement was that these PlayStation exclusives aren't bringing anything to the table.
I'm generally not somebody who appreciates when a video game is trying to tell a story in a so-called 'cinematic' way. Video games aren't films or television to me, and I don't like it when I have to put my controller down to sit through cutscene after cutscene. If I'm enjoying the gameplay, I'll skip every single one once they feel intrusive. Unfortunately, in the case of God of War Ragnarök and The Last of Us, I got tired of the gameplay too, and so switched them off. In both cases, I was really excited to play, but wasn't having a good time.
Ultimately, it's all preference. I tend to enjoy games where the story is predominantly told through interaction and environment. If I'm putting the controller down, I might as well be watching a film, where this style of storytelling can be more impactful.
I'm generally not somebody who appreciates when a video game is trying to tell a story in a so-called 'cinematic' way. Video games aren't films or television to me, and I don't like it when I have to put my controller down to sit through cutscene after cutscene. If I'm enjoying the gameplay, I'll skip every single one once they feel intrusive. Unfortunately, in the case of God of War Ragnarök and The Last of Us, I got tired of the gameplay too, and so switched them off. In both cases, I was really excited to play, but wasn't having a good time.
Ultimately, it's all preference. I tend to enjoy games where the story is predominantly told through interaction and environment. If I'm putting the controller down, I might as well be watching a film, where this style of storytelling can be more impactful.
I’m going to have to disagree with this. The story in this game is phenomenal. I’m not gonna whole essay about this like I did with my own review. All I’ll say is that yes there are some poorly paced bits but those are few and far between and still service this story very well. I do sort of agree with about the last of us though.
I enjoyed the first of these new style God of War games, so I was surprised to not have enjoyed Ragnarok at all. Maybe it's because the first one felt like such a refresh from a gameplay perspective, with the sequel feeling more like a retread, I'm not sure.
I will likely give this game another go if it becomes available on PS Plus in the future.
I will likely give this game another go if it becomes available on PS Plus in the future.
cybermodules
1 year ago
heavy rain got a score of 76 or something on metacritic. devil may cry (the weird reboot, not the other ones) was beloved even tho fans consider it a mistake. resident evil 5 got critical acclaim despite it's weird racism and leading to the mess known as resident evil 6. nearly every COD game got good reviews starting from the beginning despite being LITERALLY COD. hitman absolution was considered "good" even tho IO ended up making the sequel the EXACT OPPOSITE of what absolution was due to fan backlash.
do these count as "the good old days"? or "THIS is exactly when everything WENT TO SHIT!" because I can look for more examples if you want.