basicallilexi

https://twitter.com/Nibellion/status/1118147700053159938

Mike Mahardy recently tweeted about video game locations and it got me thinking: what are the best confined or limited video game locations. Not the best video game set in a 'bottle' location but the most interesting or coolest location that a game has confined you to for the majority of its run time.

For me the few that stick out are Portal 2's Aperture Laboratories and how it feels like you're peeling back layers of secrecy and history as you play through the game. The Last of Us: Left Behind's two Shopping Centers (Malls) and how despite how both are post apocalyptic remnants of days gone by they both elicit wildly different emotional reactions: you feel like one is a funfair to be explored and meandered through, while the other feels like a prison you can't leave, even as you're being hunted by humans and clickers alike, until you get what you came there for. Finally at the far end of the spectrum of 'one location' (and I'm probably cheating a bit here) but I loved how the mountain in Celeste mirrored the character's journey and only ever enhanced the story while tying into gameplay seamlessly and constantly.

So tell me what are the best locations in video games, get creative beyond the usual mansions, but any answer can be a right answer if you justify it. However their is a correct answer and I'll let y'all know by the end of the week.

Special shout out to the houses in Edith Finch and Gone Home for hiding some serious emotional gut punches in their rooms too!

Mike's tweet: https://twitter.com/mmahardy/status/1117513256527175683

The more I think about it the more I'm thinking that TLOU and Death Stranding will likely come out on PS4 while Ghosts could be pushed out.

However, what I could see happening is: rather than all of them getting remasters, since Sony seem to be doubling down on the 'traditional console' idea while Microsoft and the rest look to get at least somewhat involved in streaming, is that Sony would use TLOU and DS as showcase for backwards compatibility, you'd need huge patches if they were to up-res the games or change anything but if we're all settled on 'Sony is going to do another box', I can imagine it being more versatile in what it offers than what a lot of other machines have offered in the past. It would be backwards compatible with extra bells and whistles because it was built at a system level.

Sony seems really proud of the games they've put out this gen and with not much else announced 1st party games wise and pressure to release new hardware soon mounting AND with the competition seeming so close to releasing their new boxes/services it would make sense for Sony to put out something that uses backwards compatible and ease of use as a selling point. No? Am I crazy and expecting too much? Is this even possible to release a game then patch it later to run better on an upgraded machine?

Some people have been pointing to Death Stranding as something that's almost impossibly far away but think its closer to release than we may realise. It's worth keeping in mind Sony brought Kojma on board to make a PS4 exclusive title, they expect THIS game to sell well but they know it's too weird to ship new consoles. People aren't going to buy a PS5 for Death Stranding, it's a weird new IP. Whereas PS4 has a massive install base who every winter could do with a big-word-of-mouth-recommendation-release to buy, I think casual people have become trusting enough of the Sony exclusive label as of recent (GoW, Spider-man, Horizion etc.) that they'll take the risk on a strange game endorsed by the makers of their primary console at this point but using the same game to convince people to buy a new console is a very different ball game. At worst it'll come out on both PS4 and 5 but I think people have been low balling how close it is.

The Last of Us II can see being held as a launch title; it's a franchise with a fanbase which, even if small, are plenty die-hard enough that they will buy a PS5 just for that game.

Ghosts of Tsushima is interesting because it's clearly been in development for ages but Sony does like to employ Sucker Punch at the start of a console cycle for tech showcases and looking at Ghosts I can see it running on a pro but I can only imagine it causing bases PS4s to commit seppuku.

Am I alone in my thinking that Death Stranding will be the bang to end this console cycle on and bride us to the next one (we know its engine runs well on this gen hardware), will Days Gone be the disappointing wet fart (but maybe mindlessly entertaining) last note, or am I completely wrong and TLOU II and Ghosts are likely to be out before the next refresh?

Also tell me you predictions for Xbox's next gen line up will be (I tend to not have my ear to the ground as much with them) and what you think the third parties are up to, do you think there's many games announced right now that we'll see as cross-gen or next gen exclusives (cyberpunk maybe)? Just some theory crafting fun as to what's going on in the industry at the moment.

@brackstone: I haven't used it yet and since I am outside of America lots of this will likely effect me, so both thanks for the heads up and sorry if I seemed dismissive, a lot of this had just passed me by and I did just want to get the temperature of the room on why its so reviled right now, all this makes sense and I agree with most of it.

Still think attacking game devs for making the best business decisions they can is kinda a shitty thing to do but hey, there is always going to be sit parts of any community in gaming.

Thanks for the concise education!

@imhungry@onemanarmyy@jesus_phish@magnetphonics@gamer_152 All of these are super complying and well reasoned, I think after reading through all this I fall somewhere similar to @zombiepenguin9.

I don't play much on PC so this obviously doesn't impact me massively, however I feel now knowing all this I'll be disappointed to see games go there on a personal game by game basis, but I hope it sticks around purely to pressure Steam to be better. I just hope it doesn't make smaller store fronts stop being viable alternatives. I worry that all these store fronts and publisher launchers could start drowning each and with Epic obviously having enough piles of money to survive the EGS being unprofitable for years it would be a shame if it were to kill better/other/smallerstore fronts.

Given me loads to think about cheers y'all.

I get that it isn't fully featured - neither was Steam or GOG when they first launched.

I understand that exclusives can be a pain in the ass for friends lists - but people are fine with any weirdness resulting from Humble or Twitich Prime codes.

Do people really hate the idea of multiple launchers on there PC that much? - I'm not a PC player I have Steam and GOG on my laptop but I next to never play anything on it.

From the outside looking in it seems to be a lot of conspiracy theories, anger about user reviews (which have always been a turn off for me with steam) and annoyance at an almost over curation of games (too high a barrier to entry)?

Do people hate the lack of features that much? Is it bad for consumers to have more competition somehow? Does having multiple launchers ruin the experience of PC gaming that much (I play on a Playstation or Switch manly with a laptop next to me for discord, podcasts.etc, I can't imagine it being that different)? Or is there something I'm missing here, I get its a bit inconvenient but is this just a mass over reaction on the part of the master race or is there legitimate concerns I should be aware of to consider myself informed on the topic?

PS

I've been having as much fun as the next person watching PC douches fly off the hook whenever this mentioned, which I think is the thing that's been making it hard for me to judge how seriously I should be taking this debate, so I'd really appricate a simple well reasoned explanation as to why this is so bad.

@jesus_phish: It going to become a real sad state of affairs real soon over here.

@jesus_phish I very distinctly remember searching HMV for games and loving them and Extra-Vision compared to Golden Disc because they carried games but what I forgot completely about was how competitive they all were. THe deals they were running even into the first half of the last generation were crazy compared to now; buy one get one half off and actual trade in deals, thats some shit I really miss.

Now in Ireland the only physical place to buy ANY games is GameStop (not long for this world by the looks of it), Smyths (a toy shop so a bit of a pain) and Argos (which is brutal for day one releases or pre-orders). You just made me really sad for the days when there was a booming second hand/trade-in market in Ireland rather than just GameStop ripping people off.

CEX still does exist but often times there prices are hardly any better than Gamestop's new stuff only difference is they have stuff from last gen too and you have to wait for people to trade in new games. I actually fear the day GameStop close because despite how much I hate half there shit, if I want a 60 euro game on release at least I know one place that is guaranteed to have it.

@soulcake: I knew there was a reason I hated that game, it was where we broke one of our original controllers and after that we only ever got crappy third party knock offs. I don't think I even managed to successfully 'do' some of those games in all the time I played it.