Kena: Bridge of Spirits

[otbr87]

Interesting review for sure. But I really wonder which modern games the reviewer is playing that really uses the gameplay to tell some story concepts. Story and game play are not connected in games at all. We just have open world game today that are terrible at telling a story. Because it is impossible to connect story and gameplay because the worlds are too big and bland to tell a story at all.

I like old games more to certain extant anyway so negative aspect the game has some old school gameplay is a badge of honor to me. But still curious how different the reviewer rates modern games.

I have not to say much good stuff about your modern day open world driven game. They do not feel more sophisticated at all in story telling to me. In fact they are way worse than the older stuff. The older stuff had way much better environmental story telling and so forth. In your average modern game you ran from a to b and after a long running way you reach the next cutscene and that is pointless because due to long running way you have forgotten the story anyway.

I have to respectfully disagree with the majority of this statement as I find modern games to be the only ones that have been able to tell a compelling story, with very few exceptions to some of the titles pre-2012 or so. I would apply this opinion to both open world and linear modern titles. What I can say about Kena without giving anything critical away in the plot since I know you're not going to play this for a few more months (there really isn't much of a plot anyway) is that it does feel very very much like the older titles, which is why I figured you'd enjoy it more given your preference to retro games. From my point of view regarding my preference towards the newer story driven style of gaming versus no/little story with more basic gameplay of the retro eras I can't say that Kena's gameplay is bad even by the standards of older titles, but it isn't anything special either. I'll compare to retro for now and put my issues with the lack of story development aside: Kena's gameplay isn't anywhere near the retro style gameplay enjoyment of GTA 3 and GTA Vice City back in 2001/2002, it's no where near as enjoyable as any of the Splinter Cell titles from the early 2000s, its not as good as any of the PS1/PS2 Tenchu titles. Those were all exceptional games for their time, even if those are something I couldn't get into now because they are so dated and old, but they are classics for sure. If the retro style gameplay at least felt somewhat immersive like those aforementioned early 2000's titles I'd be more into Kena so far. It's severely lacking in story telling and the issue with that is that Ember Lab marketed it as story heavy with basic platforming. No matter our preference or disagreements the game (so far) does not live up to what they advertised. It's by all means (so far) worth the $40 USD because it has nice music, nice graphics, mostly nice but somewhat generic beautiful environment and enough gameplay to get it by. If you think about all of the $50 USD games from 20 years ago that weren't worth the money, Kena in 2021 is worth the money, it just isn't what they presented it as, at least in my 5 hour experience so far.

 

[9dragons]

It is ok to disagree. I just see it differently. Modern day story games are walking simulators to me with characters that start to talk all of the sudden during gameplay and I do never get what they are talking about. It is rather annoying. I prefer the old style. Gameplay is gameplay and story is story. The only environmental story telling that works for are text documents are searching some stuff in the world. The talking while running stuff like in every AAA title is nothing for just confusing.

The production quality of modern games is good though. Writers take their job seriously. Voice actors too. They are real actors and sound like that. They do not sound like random strangers that were just picked up on the street and were than taken to the voice recording studio.

 

[otbr87]

I'd like to add in regards to the feel of Kena being a little off so far: Shenmue 3 felt very retro and very early 2000s much like the original 2 titles, which was mostly a good thing because we Shenmue fans like the nostalgia feel for it, at least from what I've observed around the Dojo. The biggest gripe I've seen from most Shenmue 3 fans, and really my only personal gripe with it as well is that the story progressed only about 15 minutes worth over the course of the whole game. It didn't move along even a fraction of story telling the way 1 or 2 did, which was no excuse even with the budget. Regardless of feeling somewhat disappointed in that I still loved it because the game still has a lot of heart and doesn't feel hollow, which to some extent Kena does. Shenmue 3 had enough cutscenes and interesting dialogue to move what little story it was telling along and the environments didn't all look very similar to one another. Shenmue 3 for better or worse in all it's retro glory was still a great game, regardless of its setbacks and some people feeling disappointed after the long wait. Kena just doesn't have the 'it factor' so far. I can't explain why I feel that way yet fully, much like many people reviewing this game were all feeling something a bit off with it, even outside of the misrepresented marketing aspects.

 

[otbr87]

It is ok to disagree. I just see it differently. Modern day story games are walking simulators to me with characters that start to talk all of the sudden during gameplay and I do never get what they are talking about. It is rather annoying. I prefer the old style. Gameplay is gameplay and story is story. The only environmental story telling that works for are text documents are searching some stuff in the world. The talking while running stuff like in every AAA title is nothing for just confusing.

The production quality of modern games is good though. Writers take their job seriously. Voice actors too. They are real actors and sound like that. They do not sound like random strangers that were just picked up on the street and were than taken to the voice recording studio.

I appreciate the difference of opinion with others and I respect yours as well in our discussions, it picks my brain to think differently and attempt to see anothers point of view. I can't think of too many games from the PS3/360 and older eras before that where theres even a story of any kind, with exception to some of the AAA titles from those eras like GTA, Splinter Cell, Halflife, Halo, etc. It seems like every single game that comes out in the last 10 years except for indie stuff, a lot of the anime stuff and of course the Call of Duty lets kill everything that moves just for the hell of it shooting titles all have a story no matter what the gameplay, whereas the retro stuff never seemed to have a story, or its something as basic as any Mario game. Princess gets kidnapped, Mario goes to save her. Boring. I understand the tech was very very limited in those times, yet it was still innovative for its time, but compared to now its unbelievable what can be done.

The voice acting is a major part of everything for me too. I can't think of any great voice acting pre-2012 era with maybe exception to Splinter Cell. It seems as games do more live action mocap and they use the body models as the physical actors and voice actors as well that it drastically improves the quality of the overall performance since they're not just reading from some script. I also feel most so called voice actors of the retro eras didn't take things as seriously which is evident in their voice performances since it was associated with the stereotypical stigma, that has a lot of weight to it really 'just video games, kids stuff' back in those days whereas now they can get actual actors that bring passion to their performances.

 

[9dragons]

Well story driven games have been around for quite some time. Also complex stories well done. The old 2d rpgs told their story with text though and no real cut scenes. But it was done well. FF6 or Chrono Trigger for example. All around 1994 or 1995. PC graphic adventures also told a story already In crude text form of course but the story was there. There also some nice point and click adventures in mid to late 90s with good voice acting. Even good in German. Like Broken Sword or the Longest Journey. The Longest Journey was especially impressive. It had 2 worlds to explore and all the puzzles were connected to story.

There are lots off hidden gems off the past out there concerning games with a rich story.

 

[otbr87]

Well story driven games have been around for quite some time. Also complex stories well done. The old 2d rpgs told their story with text though and no real cut scenes. But it was done well. FF6 or Chrono Trigger for example. All around 1994 or 1995. PC graphic adventures also told a story already In crude text form of course but the story was there. There also some nice point and click adventures in mid to late 90s with good voice acting. Even good in German. Like Broken Sword or the Longest Journey. The Longest Journey was especially impressive. It had 2 worlds to explore and all the puzzles were connected to story.

There are lots off hidden gems off the past out there concerning games with a rich story.

Games like Dreamfall seemed to be few and far between during those eras. While I personally cannot sit through any RPGs, especially the ones in the 90s I can appreciate the artistry for its time with the limitations of the consoles at that time. I'm not suggesting that all modern games have good stories, in fact I lean on the side that most of them do not, the overwhelming majority of video games in general either don't have a compelling story or don't execute it well in my opinion, there's a handful of gems out there of course. What I'm expressing is that with the power of the XBX/PS5 and even the power of the XB1/PS4 last gen consoles there's no excuse anymore for companies to not be able to tell the games story in an elaborate way while preserving the gameplay elements. I'm all for having a mixture of different styles of gameplay and not everything needs to be open world or AAA (look at True Colors, thats a fantastic game that doesn't fall into those categories), but if a game that isn't super low budget was released in the 2010s or 2020s with the text on screen early 90s style SNES RPG games I have to question why someone would do that? Same goes for the style of games from the PS2 era where its just a bunch of walk around look for things shoot this pull that lever, etc. If a game has a solid story and plenty of story elements in it, even if the story itself isn't original or amazing the game has the potential to carry much more weight than just something elementary or basic like a Tetris style game. Obviously, not 100% of the games need to be story driven as there are different strokes for different folks that enjoy all different genres, but when it comes to the formulaic 3rd person or 1st person type games be they AAA or lower budget, there's no reason not to take advantage of the real graphics, voice acting, physical method acting and all of the perks that come with the modern tech. Why release any new consoles at all every 5-7 years if the games don't evolve at their best potential with those consoles? Innovation over the console eras got us this far to where games have the potential to be damn near perfect in any capacity, yet theres still a lot left to be desired in the actual content thats being released, rather than how its being released.

 

[Tsukuyomimagi99]

It honestly depends on what the audience wants. I believe there are always going to be innovative works created that push the medium forward but they will be few and far between. It also depends on the intent of the artist and what ties they may have to their corporate overlords.

Given how risk-averse enterprises are nowadays it is no surprise that entertainment has become stagnant relying on nostalgia pandering. Then again, given how high the production budgets are to please an audience that demands instant gratification in a world with limitless choice, it comes as no surprise that corporations are very cautious. And video games unlike other media demand a significant amount of one's time.

This is why I believe that creators need to work outside the system and create content that will resonate with countless individuals. After all, even the giants of today had to start somewhere. Personally, what I want to happen is for individual artists to go back to the fundamentals of great storytelling. With today's technology, anyone can create a spectacle, but if the intrinsic components are lacking then it does not matter how high one's production values are.

 

[9dragons]

The gaming industry just serves their target audiance. Most people leave gaming behind after they have reached certain age and new generation of gamers follows. Hardcore gamers like myself that have part of the game (pun fully intentend) for almost 30 years now and still keep gaming with almost 36 years and beyond are a rare breed. The younglings of gaming out there love the stuff how the industry is handling stuff. So the industry serves the intrest of their target audiance. They do not care about old gamers.

It would be great if there would be another revolution in gaming with trying out new stuff but that is unlikely. The same old gameplay concepts sells well so why change them. People do not mind that every Third person game is just a clone of Assansins Creed gameplay wise. So I can understand why the industry is not changing. It is also too risky to change stuff. Game takes 5 years to make now. So one screwed up project would mean the end of the company.

It is not like in the 90s were a a studio gets second or even third chance when one game does not sell that well. Today it is go big or go home.

 

[Tsukuyomimagi99]

The gaming industry just serves its target audience. Most people leave gaming behind after they have reached a certain age and a new generation of gamers follows. Hardcore gamers like myself that have been part of the game (pun fully intended) for almost 30 years now and still keep gaming for almost 36 years and beyond are a rare breed. The younglings of gaming out there love stuff how the industry is handling stuff. So the industry serves the interest of their target audience. They do not care about old gamers.

It would be great if there would be another revolution in gaming with trying out the new stuff but that is unlikely. The same old gameplay concepts sell well so why change them. People do not mind that every Third person game is just a clone of Assassins Creed gameplay-wise. So I can understand why the industry is not changing. It is also too risky to change stuff. The game takes 5 years to make now. So one screwed up the project would mean the end of the company.

It is not like in the 90s where a studio gets a second or even third chance when one game does not sell that well. Today it is going big or go home.

I guess it depends on what one considers to be innovative. For example, I think Virtual Reality is something quite innovative, and perhaps in the future become a staple of gaming culture as a whole. But you raise an interesting point as a player of the old guard. So if you do not mind me asking, how do you keep gaming fresh and interesting in your mind? I know my reasoning, but I am interested in your astute perspective.

 

[9dragons]

VR is quite nice that is true. But I doubt it will get mainstream.

What keeps gaming fresh for at the moment are retro games most of the time. There are plenty of games and even systems I have missed back then and still want to experience so I will be busy for the next couple of years.

Modern gaming is a different animal. Not everything is bad of course but a moment there is not a single game at the moment I fell hype about.

That Video describes my feelings pretty well lol



the baby is the hype about upcoming games and I am the cat.


The only modern games I look really forward playing besides Kenna do not even exist yet (Shenmue 4, or another Sakura Wars ) or do not even have a release date FF 7 Remake .


Of course there are other games I am interrested in playing like House of Ashes, Project Eve, Quantum Error, Bright Memories but there Is no real hype. no wow factor that these games will bring gaming forward.

I expect them to be nice and funny games but no masterpieces.

In general I feel disconnected to the current trends in gaming. The Last of Us, Horizons, God of wars, Forzas and Halos and so all the other games the big companies spend all their money are not for me. Technically they are fine games they are just not made for me.

Will be interessting to see how things will turn out in a few hours.

I am bad fortune teller and so far no console turned out that way I have expected. So the future is not set. Maybe this generation will be more boring for than the last one or things fully change and we get some new stuff I might have never expected.

We will see.

 

[otbr87]

It honestly depends on what the audience wants. I believe there are always going to be innovative works created that push the medium forward but they will be few and far between. It also depends on the intent of the artist and what ties they may have to their corporate overlords.

Given how risk-averse enterprises are nowadays it is no surprise that entertainment has become stagnant relying on nostalgia pandering. Then again, given how high the production budgets are to please an audience that demands instant gratification in a world with limitless choice, it comes as no surprise that corporations are very cautious. And video games unlike other media demand a significant amount of one's time.

This is why I believe that creators need to work outside the system and create content that will resonate with countless individuals. After all, even the giants of today had to start somewhere. Personally, what I want to happen is for individual artists to go back to the fundamentals of great storytelling. With today's technology, anyone can create a spectacle, but if the intrinsic components are lacking then it does not matter how high one's production values are.

I agree wholeheartedly. Look at The Last of Us for example. AAA budget and expectations and while the first one was technically a solid title, and I personally enjoyed it (7.5/10 or so for me) they absolutely destroyed the franchise with the sequel. I don't think TLOU 1 was a masterpiece, but it's an example of modern cinema style gaming that doesn't go too deep but still tells a compelling story, then TLOU2 aside from nice graphics derails all of the work put in from the first one from start to finish. Literally nobody who responded to the game wanted to play a character that kills one of the lovable main characters, and the Anita Sarkeesian influence on that studio ruined that franchise from having anything more to offer. Innovation often suffers when some artists start letting outsiders(corporate or otherwise) influence their work.

 

[otbr87]

The gaming industry just serves their target audiance. Most people leave gaming behind after they have reached certain age and new generation of gamers follows. Hardcore gamers like myself that have part of the game (pun fully intentend) for almost 30 years now and still keep gaming with almost 36 years and beyond are a rare breed. The younglings of gaming out there love the stuff how the industry is handling stuff. So the industry serves the intrest of their target audiance. They do not care about old gamers.

It would be great if there would be another revolution in gaming with trying out new stuff but that is unlikely. The same old gameplay concepts sells well so why change them. People do not mind that every Third person game is just a clone of Assansins Creed gameplay wise. So I can understand why the industry is not changing. It is also too risky to change stuff. Game takes 5 years to make now. So one screwed up project would mean the end of the company.

It is not like in the 90s were a a studio gets second or even third chance when one game does not sell that well. Today it is go big or go home.

I mostly agree with you here. I'd say though that now in the current gen for the first time ever gaming companies are pandering and marketing to all ages. The Nintendo Wii in 2006 starting pulling in the baby boomers who were pre gamer generation and of course Gen X, Y and Z all being the gamer gens are being taken a little more seriously. They now have a demographic of people who will most likely enlist their children into gaming and it's more profitable than ever. Whereas I'd agree during the 80s, 90s, 00s and early 2010s...Basically anything pre-PS4/XB1 they only targeted children (Nintendo and Sega) or teens/early 20s (Sony and Microsoft) because gaming was looked at as an immature kids hobby, and for the most part it was. I think it also had to do with the baby boomers as a whole being anti video game, anti tech and anti anything that they didn't understand from the 1950s era so gen X and Y really had a difficult time making gaming feel like something bigger than what it was, also the limitations of the consoles back then didn't help. As much as I don't care about the Wii since it didn't do jack shit with the motion controls after Wii Sports, there's no doubt it innovated and pulled in some boomers. As a seller of tech I can say that Wii Sports pre pandemic was about $12-$15 USD and would sell like hot cakes, I sold hundreds and hundreds of copies. During the peak of 2020 covid I was getting $50-$60 USD for it and now it lingers around $40-$50 still. People of all ages from kids to grandparents loved the Wii. I think cinematic gaming that started mostly around the launch of the PS4/XB1 pulled in a lot of the boomers and has maintained a lot of the X, Y and Z age groups as well.

 

[otbr87]

I guess it depends on what one considers to be innovative. For example, I think Virtual Reality is something quite innovative, and perhaps in the future become a staple of gaming culture as a whole. But you raise an interesting point as a player of the old guard. So if you do not mind me asking, how do you keep gaming fresh and interesting in your mind? I know my reasoning, but I am interested in your astute perspective.

By Virtual Reality do you mean VR headsets like PSVR or Oculus?? I have literally zero experience with those type of consoles so far, they look interesting but I've yet to see any games that have made me want to run out and buy the console for. I do have experience with the PS motion controls though from playing Sports Champions on PS3, which from that era was the only motion game I played along with Wii Sports that I felt did an exceptional job.

 

[otbr87]

VR is quite nice that is true. But I doubt it will get mainstream.

What keeps gaming fresh for at the moment are retro games most of the time. There are plenty of games and even systems I have missed back then and still want to experience so I will be busy for the next couple of years.

Modern gaming is a different animal. Not everything is bad of course but a moment there is not a single game at the moment I fell hype about.

That Video describes my feelings pretty well lol



the baby is the hype about upcoming games and I am the cat.


The only modern games I look really forward playing besides Kenna do not even exist yet (Shenmue 4, or another Sakura Wars ) or do not even have a release date FF 7 Remake .


Of course there are other games I am interrested in playing like House of Ashes, Project Eve, Quantum Error, Bright Memories but there Is no real hype. no wow factor that these games will bring gaming forward.

I expect them to be nice and funny games but no masterpieces.

In general I feel disconnected to the current trends in gaming. The Last of Us, Horizons, God of wars, Forzas and Halos and so all the other games the big companies spend all their money are not for me. Technically they are fine games they are just not made for me.

Will be interessting to see how things will turn out in a few hours.

I am bad fortune teller and so far no console turned out that way I have expected. So the future is not set. Maybe this generation will be more boring for than the last one or things fully change and we get some new stuff I might have never expected.

We will see.

I'd like to clarify that I'm laughing at your cat video, quite hard actually. Otherwise I'd give your post a 'Like' for the rest of what you're saying. I actually find the cat to be my reaction towards the majority of video games released during any console generation, but I can honestly say more so during the current and last gen or maybe the last 10 years overall. In the 80s, 90s and 00s we didn't have a choice of whether the graphics were going to look realistic and good, we didn't have a choice to have comfortable controllers like the later gens, there was no cinematic photo realism like now and games could mostly only serve as entertainment outside of exceptions like Shenmue, yet now the technology is damn near limitless, and at the very least it's potential is amazing and they're still making games like Kena that feel 20 years out of date when there's no excuse for it, I'm referring to the AAA studios of course. Indie developers with limited resources can't be faulted for their budget restrictions but if a game company has technology to make a photo realistic cinematic game then why do we keep getting Assassins Creed and God of War over and over and over again when Hellblade Senuas Sacrifice delivered an incredible story and solid gameplay at the same time on a shoestring budget. The risk aversion is definitely a big issue in modern gaming. New gen AAA games feeling like PS2 era AAA games with only better graphics and poor gameplay and even worse story telling existing in the modern times is like choosing to watch a movie on VHS instead of 4K, it makes no sense to me. It's interesting how many of the 80s and 90s era franchises outside of Nintendo branded stuff didn't survive into the 2013 and 2020 generations, yet all of the mostly uninspired PS2 and original Xbox(and some PS3/360) franchises like Call of Duty, Halo, God of War, Assassins Creed, etc are on their 5th or 10th sequel, zero innovation from that aspect.

 

[9dragons]

We also have to consider that we are all bit biased. My gaming taste was forged in the 90s and I am still there. Especially in Story Telling I cannot say anything really good about modern games. They all play and feel the same. The same goes for the story telling. All stories are so predictable and rather lame. The presentation is better and the acting yes but not the spirit. IN that regard that we will never agree @otbr87 that modern games tell better stories or have better gameplay. These elements in gaming are getting worse with each gen. Running form point A to b in big but empty world until the next cut scene? No thanks. Dealing with chatty video characters that talk out of the blue about a thing that I do not even have a clue no thanks.

The only real good thing I can say about modern story games is the production value. But that is not the most important thing in games. They lack soul. If you know one you know all.

Nothing against Ghost of Tsushima for example it was a very good game but it was nothing special. Just a re skinned Assasins Creed. The game would work with a different Skin as well. That is the problem. There is no varity anymore.

You either have your Assasins Creed clones with good graphics or you have your 2d or 2.5 games Metrovenia Games that's it.

Almost no more classic 3d adventures anymore, not pure Stealth games anymore. No pure shooting games anymore.

These days all games try to be a jack of all trades. You can shoot in the game and you can sneak but neither feature is done really good.

They will never emulate the feeling of a pure stealth game where you have to sneak. And they will never emulate to joy to play pure shooting game where are just a bad ass blasting through tons of enmies without worrying about tactics. Shooters these days play slow and try to emulate Call of Duty.

I hope I was able to write down my thoughs as objective as humanly possible.

It is impossible to eleminate bias totally I am aware of that. I do not even exclude the possibility that I would just would praised modern gamen if was born 10 years later. Then the early 2000s would have forged my gaming taste and then I would be happy camper.Because in game design and gameplay we are still in the early 2000s.

But unfortunatly I am a 90s kid. Always was always will be. The 90s are the epitome of gaming for me.

 

[Tsukuyomimagi99]

We also have to consider that we are all bit biased. My gaming taste was forged in the 90s and I am still there. Especially in Story Telling, I cannot say anything really good about modern games. They all play and feel the same. The same goes for storytelling. All stories are so predictable and rather lame. The presentation is better and the acting yes but not the spirit. IN that regard that we will never agree @otbr87 that modern games tell better stories or have better gameplay. These elements in gaming are getting worse with each gen. Running from point A to b in a big but empty world until the next cut scene? No thanks. Dealing with chatty video characters that talk out of the blue about a thing that I do not even have a clue about no thanks.

The only real good thing I can say about modern story games is the production value. But that is not the most important thing in games. They lack soul. If you know the one you know all.

Nothing against Ghost of Tsushima for example it was a very good game but it was nothing special. Just a re-skinned Assasins Creed. The game would work with a different Skin as well. That is the problem. There is no variety anymore.

You either have your Assasins Creed clones with good graphics or you have your 2d or 2.5 games Metroidvania Games that's it.

Almost no more classic 3d adventures anymore, not pure Stealth games anymore. No pure shooting games anymore.

These days all games try to be a jack of all trades. You can shoot in the game and you can sneak but neither feature is done well.

They will never emulate the feeling of a pure stealth game where you have to sneak. And they will never emulate to joy to play pure shooting game where are just a badass blasting through tons of enemies without worrying about tactics. Shooters these days play slow and try to emulate Call of Duty.

I hope I was able to write down my thoughts as objectively as humanly possible.

It is impossible to eliminate bias I am aware of that. I do not even exclude the possibility that I would just would praised the modern game if was born 10 years later. Then the early 2000s would have forged my gaming taste and then I would be a happy camper. Because in game design and gameplay we are still in the early 2000s.

But unfortunately, I am a 90s kid. Always was will be. The 90s are the epitome of gaming for me.

Due to my own bias towards samurai, I am going to have to disagree with you on Ghost of Tsushima as it is hands down one of my favorite video games this console generation. However, I appreciate your honest opinions as they are very well thought out and I see an interesting dichotomy between you and @otbr87, who believes that we should fully harness the power of contemporary technology and is more in favor of modern-day gaming to convey experiences with profound impact on the player.

Meanwhile, you see that video games have essentially become derivative with higher production values. That due to corporations a lot of the creative spirit has been sucked away so to speak. Please feel free to correct me if I am wrong, as I will base my response on how I interpreted your statement. I do not want to misrepresent your views in any way.

Anyways, as someone who has been playing video games since the late eighties, I think that the overall climate of video games has not changed. There was plenty of derivative content and shovelware being made back then as there is now. Also, like any other entertainment media, video games are still subject to the Matthew principle in which only a few titles will rise to the top while others will not get the light of day.

Also, from your past posts, I believe that you are not as closed off to contemporary video games as a whole as you claim. I think you want to keep yourself open to new experiences but can not seem to find any that match your interests. I may be projecting myself here so, please feel free to correct me. All I say is that the mechanics in video games have become much more sophisticated and things have evolved in more subtle ways.

Where I disagree with @otbr87, is due to the point brought up by @9dragons, is that video games have told compelling stories since their inception. That is the whole foundation that role-playing games thrive upon. And I am all for using technology to create even better ones today to prevent stagnation.

Also, yes I was referring to peripherals such as the Oculus Rift. While I am not a fortune teller, I believe that Virtual Reality will be the future of video games. Right now, I believe virtual reality is in its infancy, and once it becomes mainstream, it will take off from there. After all, with the power of our modern technology, it would be criminal if we do not exploit its full potential.

Finally, I want to thank the moderators like @spud1897, @Jibby, @Sonoshee, and @James Brown for allowing this thread to continue even after it has gone a bit off-topic.

 

[9dragons]

@Tsukuyomimagi99 No you are right. I have not given up on modern gaming yet. Despite the rather boring development modern gaming took in the past things can change in a rather unexpected direction in the future. So there is still hope to get new experiences that have not seen in the past yet. I am a optimist and a bad fortune teller. No console generation ever has turned out the way I think it would. So everything is still possible.

And no there is nothing wrong with Ghost of Tsushima. I think it should speak for the quality that even I, a person that is getting bored by open world games rather fast and never finish them because of that , has finished Ghost twice already.

 

[Spaghetti]

Anybody got the PC version of this? How is it?

 

[~ ひかり ~]

@9dragons Correct me if i'm wrong but it feels like you really want to see unique games and have new experiences, experiences that you never saw in the game industry before, something really new, unique and that will make a revolution like Shenmue did in 1999, while i understand you wanting this things i think that is hard to see something like this happening nowadays, to see a game that will be so unique that will make a big revolution in games, that will make people go... "Woooow, i never saw something similar like this in my life."

I remember that you feel that PS5/XBOX Series X don't feel like a new generation. In my opinion we got to a point where graphics will not change drastically like how it was in the past with a lot of changes, when i was a kid i really felt the difference because every generation was a big jump to me, not only about the graphics but the different games and styles that appeared, but now i don't think we will have this big jumps anymore about graphics and things like that, i don't know about the future so maybe i'm wrong about this.

I am a 90s kid as well, i really understand and respect your opinion i just feel that a game that will make a big revolution like in the old days will be really difficult to happen, I feel that today there is something for almost everybody to enjoy, Shenmue III, Kena: Bridge of Spirits and the new Game Boy Advance game Goodboy Galaxy that will release i don't know when is a good examples about this in my opinion, for people that like retro styles indie games have a lot about this, but some game that will make a big impact like a revolution i think is hard to see this today but it is not impossible.

This is a interesting subject, would be interesting to have a thread for this subject.

 

[9dragons]

@Hiki Yes it is an interesting subject for sure. And yeah I either want some new experience that never has been done before (that is unlikely to get) or a t least some more diverse gaming experience. Gaming was not that diverse in the past either we had only a few genres to chose form but in that genres gaming was more diverse and played and looked quite different. Let's give me an example. Sonic the Hedge Hog and Super Mario World are both jump runs and they play different. Sonic is about speed and Mario plays slower and more methodical. you have to be fast in Sonic to get most of the game while in Mario you have to move slower and be more methodical. You have to look around and find certain times like the flowers to shoot fire to progress and beat certain enemies. This diversity is absent in modern games. In modern day story games you have the Ubisoft Formula and all games act like that. You have to all the same stuff in that games. There is almost no difference. Sneaking feels the same, combat feels the same and so forth .

today just with more modern graphics.

To the use the wording of gaming journalists of the 90s every Blockbuster Game of the 2010s and 20s is a AC clone.

But to be frank that is not a new problem. We also had the problem in past. With all the sequels of Tekken Tomb Raider, Resident Evil and any more. But unlike your average AC type game I liked Tekken and the Old Resident Evil and would not have minded to play many many more game with that type gameplay. I would not even mind if that gameplay was still around until today.

I still believe that Game Designers often lack vision today and it is not the tech. You could easily make a bit more diverse gameplay if they wanted. But it seems that almost the whole budget is used for tech so that there is not much room for experimentation. Even these sequels tried to try out something new. Each sequel had new gameplay elements. While main stream gaming these days lacks that improvements.

The core elements, shooting, sneaking, crafting in every of that game remained the same.

I am not saying that game designers of the past were better than they are now but it seems that the technical limits are the main course for better games. Due to the limits they had to be more creative and use the force of imagination of the gamers the immerse them into the game.

Tech limits also led to some iconic elements in certain games like the door open sequence in the old RE games. They had to
introduce the sequences out of necessity and it was also a side effect hat these door scenes made the game more atmospheric.