@alienvangarde: I dont think that you are right mate.
Lets say that your Hypothesis is true-> Sony did indeed pressure mr. Murray.
If that was true, then he shouldn'nt constantly adding features with each interview. At some point he should say, guys we may not have that. it will be added as expansion/DLC, etc.
Point is he overhyped the game by going even to major US TV shows, speaking with video game noobs.
Steve Colbert probably heard for the first time buzzwords like "proceduraly generated".
@oldman54: Ofcourse the consumers should blame themselves PRIMARILY.
BUT:
the official trailers are quite misleading, showing footage that didn't make it in the game. That is indeed serious.
PLUS:
The Devs promised many stuff with each interview that eventually didn't make it into the game. (Famous quote;
IN DEFENSE OF THE DEVS:
The flood at their offices caused them a major setback. In the end though, they should have told the truth.
POSSIBLE OUTCOME:
Lawsuits by the consumers are inbound and it is quite possible that they might succeed (based on the trailers showing features that werent in the game). The company should have a good excuse and focus on adding the missing features AT LEAST.
KINDA SIMILAR SITUATION
Lawsuits also happened in Mass Effect 3. Developer C.Hudson comments about the supposed 18 ending choices were used as proof. BUT Bioware responded with the Extra Ending and the lawsuits caved in. To clarify: the Extra Ending wasn't made for the lawsuits, but it was used against them as a bonus. The Lawsuits vs No Man's Sky have a much stronger claim.
GAME STATE CURRENTLY:
If you have PC, it is much better since the Mods made by players improve the game by a LOT.
Examples (more variations, huge or tiny variations, land your spaceship where you want ie. no auto landing pilot, more respawning enemies/pirates so the space isnt that empty and in general customise your game how you want it.
You sound like a troll or someone who hates FF/these type of RPGs, but i'll bite.
You are confusing media coverage with gameplay transparency.
If you have 0% gameplay transparency, 100% media coverage = Overhype is definately possible, since you if what you bought is good (easy thing to happen if you are not informed)
If you have 100% gameplay transparency, 0% media coverage = With no media coverage, nearly all games would be doomed to failure since we would know everything about the gameplay/story/mechanics before the game was even out.
So a balanced outcome must be achieved. The player should know the basics of a game he is purchasing, the videos shown by the devs should show a hint of mystery/anticipation
Since FF 15 is made by a big corporation, it has more money for media coverage than an average indie game. Plus its a mega franchise with over 50 PLUS (FIFTY PLUS games), so it is quite well known by that point.
Media Coverage: 4 short anime episodes, releasing a expensive tie-in movie.
Gameplay Transparency: constantly uploading videos talking about the mechanics, releasing a demo, patching a demo to add extra quests (LOL)...
Stongest point for Gameplay Transparency
You played a 3 to 6 HOUR DEMO!!!!!! I mean what more do you want really?
Demos are near extinct in this age. If you are lucky you will play a beta of a game. And thats about it.
Your example applies to No Man's Sky. It has quite good media coverage (The dev even went to the Colbert Show LOL), but their gameplay transparency was mediocre (no beta/demo available).
@regulas: You should play Dragon Dogma. It has the same feel as FF12 (that sense of journeying in deep dungeons and mystical locations and fighting epic enemies). It also has a hidden mega-dungeon (like the Necrohol of Nabudis) and hidden superbosses (like Hell Wyrm, Yiazmat). the game has even a new game plus where the world/enemies/locations/bosses change!
Vanillla game you can buy and have up to 10 Portcrystals which you place down and fast travel with Ferrystones.Portcrystals can be picked up &placed w/e you feel like it.
You buy Ferrystones from the Black Cat/Fournival/find them in chest.. They are fairly common to find especially in the Post-Game. They are much cheaper in the DLC.
I played the Vanilla game and always had a lot of Ferrystones.
Vanillla game you can buy and have up to 10 Portcrystals which you place down and fast travel with Ferrystones.Portcrystals can be picked up &placed w/e you feel like it.
You buy Ferrystones from the Black Cat/Fournival/find them in chest.. They are fairly common to find especially in the Post-Game. They are much cheaper in the DLC.
I played the Vanilla game and always had a lot of Ferrystones.
In fact i understand you since i had/currently have consoles. But you could make a good PC that plays most of the top games at full graphics with a minimal price.
You just need to have a bit experience or the advice of a friend to buy the components and not just buy a pc that is premade at the store because they overcharge you.The PC is not only for games though, it serves for many other jobs, plus with a good monitor you can also watch movies crystal clear.
The PC is all about OPTIONS. You want graphics? You can easily surpass the consoles with few money, and you can surpass them by a wide margin if you spend money.You want multiplayer? Dont have to pay Xbox Live/PS Network etc.Want older games? Hook up an emulator and you can play w/e you want. ALL the best platformers are in your plate.Want cheap games? There is Steam, GOG etc.
I feel that you got overwhelmed by minor problems.Anyway Path of Exile Loading times means they were constantly adding things, which is of course always good in a game.
Consoles have a Seal of Quality. That means that to apply for a game/DLC means that as a developer you have to pass a lot of checks in order for your game to make it.Because if they dont pass, they are going to answer to Sony/MS/Nintendo.Unfortunately, that also means that passing those checks take a LOT of time. SO in general, console games have very few bugs because of that clause.
The PC doesnt have that luxury, since its not only 1-2 systems but a whole lot of them. But that also means, that the Developers will solve this with a quick patch witch can take x10 time in the consoles. Or not at all.
Also the PC is blessed by wonderful community of programmers/modders. They enrich the games with mods, they help with bugs, add more features, add graphic updates etc.
They even make full conversions of games (ex Enderal, conversion from Skyrim), add whole chapters to the story. Really, there is little they can do.
In fact, some of the things they do are so good, they even get praised by the devs.
@Oinker: Recommend that you stay away from Open-World Games and RPGs then.
Most of them have at least an average completion time of 30-50 hours, 60-80 hours if you take your time and 100 plus if you do the extra stuff.
God help you if you are a completionist, as they can take even longer.
For example GTA5 (the game has fast travel) has 30 hours average for story, 47 hours for taking your time, and from 80 hours to 250 hours for completionists/extra stuff.
I would recommend to you Limbo. It has a duration of 2 hours on average,and since it came in 2010 it will not be as overpriced as it was back then. Other than that, its a good indie game.
Seriously some of the Bad points dont make sense at all!
1."Core gameplay seems dated"
Does every game has to be innovative? Seriously you subract points for that? What we really want?
a) Completely new systems that reinvent the genre? (like many indies do, but ultimately most of them are memorable, they in fact aa gimmick and they cant really stand the test of time and as such their core mechanics or parts of their mechanics are never used by other games.)
b) OR tried and proven systems that stand the test of time? And what a 3rd person shooter can do to reinvent the genre anyways? There is a reason all GTAs have the same gameplay.
I just saw a couple of minutes from the polygon video, and it was enough.He seemed to use only the movement controls and the attack button. Thank you for making my day.
This is a glorious monument to the skills of journalists, up there with the Kotaku journalists playing Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 and trying for 4 hours for a 10 minute puzzle, and then of course posting in their review how difficult it is. (Yes i know Kotaku reviews & their YES/NO system is a joke, but still...)
Geogyf's comments