DifferenceEngine

I'm extremely disappointed. This turned out to exactly what Civ fans feared it would be, Civ V with a sci-fi coat of paint. This game is almost like one giant mod. I wonder if the folks at Firaxis came out with this barebones Civ template and figured the mod community would do the rest? Was this an unofficial crowd funding project?

As I look over the list of mods I'm thinking to myself, "Why weren't these features included in the game in the first place?" Firaxis completely missed the point of what made Alpha Centauri unique from Civilization. Congratulations Firaxis, the spiritual successor to Alpha Centauri actually has weaker gameplay than its predecessor. Modding of units? Gone. Replaced by affinity upgrades. That's just lazy game design. And the affinities are poorly executed. Ditto for the tech tree.

Speaking of lazy game design, how about that diplomacy? Yep, just as pointless as it was when Civ V was released. I love how my spies get detected and for the most part, no one seemed to care unless it was a Level 2 intrigue op or higher. Oh, and thanks for the reminders about attacking stations from 300 turns ago that I'm still agreeing not to do anymore.

And still using still shots for endings? WTF? I hated that in Civ V and it's inexcusable now. Even Civ II had FMV endings. Lazy and uninspired. We shouldn't have to wait for a second expansion pack three years later for a complete game.

Agreed. Chrono Cross is a masterpiece to some and an incoherent, aimless disaster to others.

Also agreed with nearly every FF game since VII. I would cite the entire Halo franchise rather than any individual installment.

We certainly cannot leave out Resident Evil in this discussion. We'll all be bitching about Resident Evil from now until the end of the franchise using RE4 as the example of when it supposedly all went to hell.

Awesome, Rockstar is unleashing its inner Capcom. What is the point of this? It's not like GTA up to that point was ever big on graphics and detail. And the controls? Sigh.....the flying missions, how I don't miss them.

@extomar:

I think the point just snuck by you there ace.

Nice win by the 49ers, but it was expected when facing the Cowboys and Tony boo boo. Still looking forward to the showdown with SeAdderall.

I'm not sure that a remaster of a 12 year old remake should be included in a so-called resurgence of survival horror. Besides, Capcom shouldn't be rewarded for bad behavior.

The Evil Within looks like one of those "neat concept, flawed execution" efforts so far. But here's to hoping that the finished product turns out well.

As an old school fan of Silent Hill, I should be more excited about the latest announcement and revamping of the franchise, I just wish it would be done by someone else besides Hideo Kojima. He's so overrated.

I was excited for Resident Evil 5 as it was the follow up to the excellent RE4. It wasn't merely mediocre, it was total dog shit. RE6 was a noble attempt to redeem the franchise, but it was an utter disaster which featured the same kind of game breaking glitches as its predecessor.

I'd also have to call out Xenosaga. Old time Xenogears wanted it to be good, it deserved to be good, but it was terrible. The first game was too vanilla and somewhat uninspired. Xenosaga II was an incoherent mess with really shitty gameplay. And don't get me started on Shion's over the top melodrama. Xenosaga III mostly got it right and was by far the best of the series, but by then it was too late. The lack of continuity pushed away most of the remaining Xenogears fans. No one cared anymore as evidenced by its anemic sales numbers.

And how about that Metal Gear Solid 2? The next time Hideo Kojima criticizes the plot of any other game, throw this back in his smug face.

@bones8677:

Wait, what? That's news to me. There are plenty of third party titles or features of third party titles that are exclusive. There always have been. Again, I'm just curious as to why its an issue now all of a sudden? If it isn't bought exclusivity, it's the purchase of a developer who's works become "first party." Sony, Nintendo, and Microsoft play this game.

Is it only bad when Microsoft does it?

Exclusives are the heart of console gaming, have people forgotten this so quickly? It has been this way for three decades.

So it took a mediocre franchise like Tomb Raider to get people incensed over exclusives? Really? A follow up to a reboot of a reboot? And not a very good one at that. Child please, Tomb Raider is so last decade.