The original psychonauts was a cult classic though that got great reviews.
Starfield is in the opposite boat, it doesnt seem to have been a commercial failure, but fan sentiment is really low with the starfield franchise to the point that the hype around a sequel would be nowhere near what it was for psychonauts 2… But this is all my assumption, difficult to find/trust empirical data on fan interest.
Can you think of another commercial failure IP that ever got a sequel? I honestly want to know if this ever happens.
I have to look back and see if Red Dead Revolver was as disappointing as Starfield.
Great point. I agree that people would likely forgive all of the technical and environmental shortcomings(loading screens and bland environments) if the game had even a slightly interesting story. Anything worth experiencing at all. Unfortunately it fails all 3 of those fronts.
The places where it excels (1st person gameplay compared to other B* games, ship building, and graphics imo) are not enough to make it a game worth experiencing.
It honestly should have had another 2 years in the oven to make the lore and universe more interesting. No way Bethesda wastes another 5-8 years on a sequel with the negative reception Starfield received.
Fair, with steam i thing most people got into it years ago before “ownership” was even a concern, back before online games were so frequently shutdown soon after release. Its a good thing GOG and Sailing the 7 Seas are an option for preservation, not that it helps with online only games.
Now i still invest in steam because of its convenience. As soon as it becomes more cumbersome to use, i am done. Tbh if 3rd party app stores/secondary drm become more common i will probably stop investing in them. Its already a big issue that stops me from buying games…(Think denuvo)
Consoles are already to the point where its near impossible to own your game. Xbox overpriced their consoles so we dont buy them and just invest in gamepass. Not to mention their consoles dont work without online accnt. Playstation requires online activation for a disc drive to work with their new consoles. Nintendo doesnt even put 3rd party switch 2 games on the cartridge anymore.
I feel you, but steam is definitely the lesser of the evils here letting you use it on almost any hardware you want, even if you cant avoid the (for most games)
This is a problem that Steam Family Share exists to solve.
Brothers: tale of two sons
Yeah if you never got the red ring of death it was the best console.
Its DRM was more flexible than we have ever or will ever see on a console again.
The avatar system was the gaming metaverse we all wanted and it got abandoned before it could reach its full potential.
The library was the peak that xbox ever had to offer. Uniqueness and passion still showed through in AAA games of this era, and 360 had the majority of quality AAA games. PS3 still managed, but nostalgia for the 360 days is what is still keeping the xbox brand alive today.
The online multiplayer in games of this era still celebrated and enabled community/random encounters with voice chat. This doesnt happen in modern games, nobody is in the game chat anymore. I am not a fan of paid multiplayer so i dont pay anymore, but back in the day, it was worth it for the shenanigans and connections we made.
I’m obsessed with the OG xbox and 360, oh how the mighty have fallen.
As opposed to paying actual real-world currency to respec a character… Like in monster hunter wilds 🙃
Great analysis.
The sentiment around bethesda games among the uninterested rpg fans is “wide as an ocean, deep as a puddle”, which is exactly what you summed up here.
All the systems they’ve introduced over the passed few games have been interesting, but shallow. Whats worse off is that the meat and potatoes of the games (story and rpg elements seem to be in atrophy as well. I dont believe fallout 4 had a bad story, but the games after it(fallout 76 and starfield) have definitely felt lacking in these departments as well.
The oblivion remaster is very beautiful with some much needed combat tweaks, now i just wish they would do the same for morrowind.
I dont have alot of faith that the next fallout or elder scrolls will deliver on the shortcomings of starfield, so i would gladly enjoy more bethesda remasters while another company takes up the 1st person rpg mantle. Who will that be? So far not Obsidian, unless they stop delivering shallow games as well.
People are upset they arent getting the same type of game the IP is known for. Unfortunately the IP is being used to push a different type of product. I do think people are justified to be upset about that.
As a gamer who wants more to play and wants to pay less, i am ok with this particular IP(which i dont particularly care about) becoming ftp, even if it degrades the overall experience. If this was happening to another IP i enjoy, I might be more upset about this.
Hot take: If its a free to play online multiplayer game, its not very upsetting.
Yeah, fans want another skate in the vein of the trilogy and it sucks we wont get that… But if i dont have to buy this game then idc if it will hit a premature death when it stops being supported. Yeah its a waste of development resources and i wish online-only games didnt exist for the sake of preservation, but i wont be upset if i get to play this game and dont have to pay a dime.
Im not entirely sure itll be ftp though, so this take can be completely void.
Looks like a lower budget Scorn ripoff
We will see what the aaaactual gameplay looks like. If the hit detection and subsequent damage effects are at least at Doom’s level, it could be a good game. This video might as well be a mock up.
The article ignores the elephant(s) in the room… Negligible performance improvements year over year, and unavailability of cards at MSRP.
This means the opposite of what the article headline is suggesting. Mainstream PC gaming (on mid tier and/or new hardware) is more out of reach for people than it has been for decades…
Good thing the used market exists and new entry level last gen cards can sometimes be found at msrp. Still alot of people dont want to settle for a sub par experience at PC costs, and console gaming always meets the mark for price to performance.
Yeah i guess it doesnt hurt
The one thing android users want apple to keep to themselves…
Yeahhh… If it has Denuvo like Frontiers i wouldnt consider that verified.
Not being playable/launchable offline contradicts the purpose of a mobile console.
Steam/valve really needs to consider the implications of the preservation-destroying DRM they allow in their games.
Games I have purchased on steam are no longer playable because of their online DRM that was abandoned.
I wont pay for a game with this form of DRM ever again.
The only thing “convoluted” about this whole announcement was pricing. The price of the console The price of the games The price of their online services and upgrades…
All of that is gut-wrenching as Nintendo claws at its dedicated fans wallets.
Otherwise the features and games look amazing, i understand why people are willing to pay those prices.
Fingers crossed we luck out with easy jailbreaks and emulators like we did for the Switch 1.
Setting an $80 standard for games just means nintendo and MS are telling gamers if they want to play on release, AAA game publishers have their blessing to charge more… Not that they couldnt before.
I really feel like nothing will change. Companies like EA and Ubisoft will continue to tier off content until a full game actually costs $120 on release. They’ve been doing that for years at this point. Sure that includes dlc thats released after launch, but these games are essentially released before they are feature complete, with the DLC beginning development before the game even releases. This content is intentionally tiered off to create the system that seemingly justifies charging $120+ for all of the game’s content.
Games that are feature complete can justify whatever price with whatever their perceived value is. The market levels itself out this way, and games will eventually be on sale for their actual value. Example - Ubisofts Avatar complete edition game is on sale for $20 a year or 2 after release.
Patient gamers here will always benefit, although it is possible we might feel the price floor rise slightly along with the ceiling. That alone is enough to be irritated about…
But at the end of the day, what you will hear everyone say is the same thing we have heard 1000 times: vote with your wallet.