I'm not seeing it, dude. The art style is alright in spots, but the character models have that silly twig legs/giant torso proportion. Not a fan. The combat looks like the little tikes version of Souls. The enemy design and the world aren't really tickling my pickle either.

My overall impression is that they have a couple decent ideas, but are pivoting away from some of the good ideas in classic arpgs. But it is early, and I thought BG3 would flop when it was first shown. So wtf do I know? Hopefully I'm wrong again, and it turns out great.

I can't speak for all their work, but the fact they had a hand in the Halo CE anniversary edition and MCC makes me highly dubious of their worth.

Haha, a gaming crash doesn't bother me at all. I'm not playing now, so what's the difference. And I agree that a clean slate may just be the best option. I'm no fan of overreaching government, but it would be nice if entertainment focused businesses (games, movies, music, etc) were not allowed to be publicly traded. That way they would be forced to sink or swim on their output. And they wouldn't be influenced by shareholders. But that's a knee jerk idea, and is probably full of holes.

As far as your kids go, I get it dude, but I wonder how much of that is just the way the wind is blowing, and how much is a self-fulfilling prophecy. Like what percentage of people claim to be against these practices, yet continue to pay for it? It sucks sitting on the bench, but I just can't buy this crap. But I also don't have kids to spend time with, so it's easier for me in that regard.

Oh well. It's sad to think I may never play a new game, but at the same time, I've had a great run. But if quality gaming does come back around... I'll be ready, and waiting for you 👍

@WitIsWisdom: I totally agree with a lot of what you're saying, but there are a few things I'm not so onboard with.

Can you explain what exactly you like about leveling up in a mp shooter? And which games do it the best? If that's your thing, fair enough, but I can't think of a single time it actually added enjoyment for me. Same with a battle pass, or really any kind of monetization. Gear customization, in the sense of what are you going to spawn with, can be mechanically interesting, but neon zebra skins, and stupid dangly charms actively piss me off. Even something like a cod gunsmith introduces either a level of analysis paralysis that I have no interest in dealing with. Or it eventually boils down to handful of meta builds. Which again, only gives an illusion of choice. Overall, I just can't see how any of that stuff makes the game better.

Maybe kids are conditioned to desire this stuff, but why can't they be reconditioned? If you're kid is hooked on crack (I hope they're not 😁), they can't get better if you keep giving them more. Right? I dunno. In general, I'm pretty pessimistic and cynical about all of this. But I can't help but to be slightly idealistic about guiding the youngins down a better path.

I 100% agree with that a more sustainable AA focus is exactly what gaming needs. For far too many years, the push for graphics and resolution has been a waste of resources; at least to me. I get that pretty stuff is pretty, but who cares if the game isn't fun, or the developers can't actually deliver it. And getting those production costs down would hopefully open up them up to take some more risks. One of the main reasons I haven't played a new game in four years is because they bore me. And my fear of more live service games is that it will lessen the opportunity for variety. Look at how many games Rockstar put out before they went all in on GTA. They probably make way more money doing what they're doing, but the world has less variety because of it.

I wouldn't be so quick to throw all your eggs in the helldiver basket. The game looks like a solid effort, but I'm not sure it's going to have the staying power people think it will. And should it? I really don't like this idea that these games are supposed to hang around for years. I much prefer to have my fun and move on. That way I can be excited about a sequel down the line. I can't miss something that never goes away.

That said, SOCOM and Helldivers are two different beasts. I would love a new SOCOM, but if it's made with the standard 2024 sensibilities... no thanks.

@davillain: I played Dark Forces for like five minutes at a buddy's house in the 90s. Seemed decent, but for whatever reason we moved on to something else. I've always wanted to try it though.

Yeah, if they charge too much for an almost 20 year old game, that doesn't really have any meaningful improvements... F that.

@WitIsWisdom: Are we spoiled with unlocks and leveling, or are we held back by them? They are basically superfluous right? Just an artificial way to play our skinner-box weaknesses. So if we can't play a game that doesn't include them, what does that say about us? If a game isn't fun enough to play without a bunch of gimmick systems... how good is that game?

As for this game, I've never played it, so I can't say one way or the other. I'll see what people say.

I don't understand how anyone can look at 043's output with Halo as anything but insulting.

I really want to like the idea of mods, but I haven't actually done much with them. Honestly, I don't even care about dlc for games I like. It always feels like the extra scenes in Star Wars; like the fuzzy poop-faced dude singing in Jabba's palace. It just doesn't belong. Adding this stuff to your game only makes me think your game isn't good enough. But that could just be a me problem.

Sorry if this was already posted, but I just bumbled into it. The trailer doesn't list any improvements that I can tell. So are they just re-releasing straight up old games? I never played the old ones, so I'm weirdly tolerant of this. Does this interest you guys at all?

@lamprey263: No doubt. Why mention the death of that thing I didn't know existed?

Oh well. At least people can play Destruction All stars 🤢 and Foam Friends, or whatever the f*ck it's called.

This is hands the worst PlayStation generation.

@gifford38: To be fair, watching isn't the same as playing, but I highly doubt it would change my mind on how little I like the story, the art design, the characters, the protagonist, etc. Honestly, I don't think any guerilla game is that great. KZ1 was awful, 2 was way better, but still not THAT great. I think promoting Herman Hulst over Shuhei Yoshida or Scott Rohde was a poor decision. They seem to have a pretty engine, but I don't hold them in high regard.

If I ever do play horizon, I'll try to remember this and give you my first hand experience.