Pezen

Oh my discussion got on the list, fun! Thanks! But also, lol, technical graphics? Did no one read what it was about before sharing it? Kind of missed the mark there by a lot considering it had really nothing to do with graphics.

Whenever I find a next gen system I might do a new run, try something different. I was pleased enough with it’s performance on my Ps4 Pro, wouldn’t say no to a prettier version. I really like the world and gameplay, but I am also leaning maybe waiting until there’s some DLC (on top of console) as I more or less scraped the world bare of things to do save for buying all the vehicles.

@efesell: Sure in some regards I would agree with you, but that's also the issue. The parts of the game that's ancient isn't it's core design so much as it is implementation of certain aspects. I mean, Guardians of the Galaxy is basically Mass Effect with a Marvel coat of paint. That's the point I'm making. The game improvements between generations have been user friendly and shine, not core game design in a larger sense. At least from where I'm sitting.

First thing first; this may entirely be a me issue. I recognize this, but I was curious if others felt similarly. Over the life span of the PS4/XONE generation there has been a constant nagging in the back of my head; this all feels extremely familiar in a comfortable way. At first I was very pleased, it felt like a frictionless move from my old 360 into the PS4. I remember playing The Witcher 3 thinking it had a real intangible genetic connection to my experience with Mass Effect. It was also during the 360 generation where control standards started to really gel and continued into the PS4, so a lot of things controlled as expected. Now that there's another generation going (shortages aside), I started to look back on my time with the PS4 while simultaneously seeing releases of remastered hits from the generation before it. Specifically titles that meant a lot to myself, like Alan Wake and Mass Effect. And I couldn't help feel like we have reached some form of dip. Maybe it's a perspective based on generational shifts turning less into leaps and more into general refinement. Or maybe ideas have stagnated. I know some will reply about innovative small games, but that has always been the case, so that trajectory hasn't changed. But bigger than those games?

I started playing that Mass Effect remaster and with the exception of that inventory hellscape, not a lot has happened since then that really makes it obsolete by comparison. And it really solidified for me the sense that the PS4 gen feels like a half step, still running the same ideas only a little smoother and a little more user friendly. But still basically the same games. And as I look at Xbox Series and Playstation 5, I am not seeing a lot of new stuff. I see takes on similar ideas but nothing groundbreaking, prettier versions of the same ideas or simply the same games.

I noted earlier that this might be a me issue, and I say that because I might be looking at the games that appeal to me based on what has appealed to me in the past and as such I limit myself to the same ideas. In other words; I live in the bubble of my own doing. But my only counter argument to that is that I am always open to try new things, I just don't see a lot of new ideas.

So what am I missing? What ideas came up last gen that didn't exist in some form in the previous gen? What ideas have you seen in the new gen that wasn't there last gen? Or to ask something else; am I expecting too much? Maybe we have reached some form of plateu in what can be accomplished with the tools given?

If anything, I sometimes wish eastern games borrowed some design decisions into their own games. Because there are aspects of eastern games I can get really into but not when I am having to fight it’s systems to do so. But also, if the fans of those games like it I’m fine not engaging with them. There are other things to play.

Also, as a side note, what is it about people saying ”I don’t have time for a JRPG anymore” yet will play a western rpg for 100+ hours?

Mass Effect Trilogy is probably the only one. After playing Cyberpunk I have been itching to go back and play through Deus Ex: Human revolution and Syndicate again. But in general, I have a hard time replaying games. Hell, it took me years of trying to be able to watch a movie twice. And games are often a much bigger commitment and competes with ’new/shiny’ games all the time.

We empathize with things we can relate to, either through emotional identification or specific experiences. I don’t think a piece of art having you think about your own experiences is somehow less artistic or in some form predatory manipulation. Really, all mediums are built to elicit emotion using tools that work. And it’s very well known what works and what does not. And certain experiences are, in general, universal.

The artistic nature of these things is not that they’re pushing ’the emotion button’ but that they made people think about and reflect on things outside the game. To me, that’s not a bad thing. In fact, I would argue that’s even more impressive.

Never ruined one, but has certainly helped me realize I was in the wrong one. My ex would often sigh and complain when I said I was going to play, no matter how much time we had spent together. The moment she stopped doing that was the moment she suddenly had her own thing (started studying). I realized at that time that I had spent a few years being argued with over the fact that she had nothing going on in her life, it wasn’t me spending too much time on my hobby it was that I spent ANY time on my hobby because she had none of her own.

My current partner understands that it’s a hobby that I want to spend time on and they even got their own switch recently because they got really into Animal Crossing (they never really played anything else prior). So it’s been a real novel experience to play games with a partner, but more importantly it’s been nice to be able to say ”I’m going to play for a bit” and have a partner that sounds positive rather than negative.

@anderswarming: HAH! That’s hilarious. My brain must be completely shattered today. Thank you.

So far I am really enjoying what they are putting out. I mean, it has a retrofuture GB vibe to it. In that, it feels like they want to do the tried and true by the seat of their pants approach as GB of old. But their visual treatment of the stream has it’s own style that I quite like. From backround color choices to the three of them in hexagonal boxes. Overall I’m just happy they’re sticking around, and I need more podcasts anyway. Overall I feel like this is good, GB is creatively moving in a different exciting direction and some OG folks do something similar to the old stuff but in a new way. I see this as definitely a net positive. Also, between Nextlander, Dan and other stuff I feel like I am seriously considering just start using Twich, a site I never visit. Whatever that’s saying.

Edit: ok I wrote their name wrong twice. First Netlander then Newlander. Jesus.