Posts made by DIPSET

I think this news will have some pretty interesting ripples throughout the industry with time:

https://opencritic.com/news/1090/ubisoft-is-revamping-its-editorial-team-to-help-make-more-diverse-games

For two decades, the creative direction of Ubisoft's games and IPs had been overseen by the editorial team, a group of around 100 signers and producers who would advise on everything from game design to script writing. While the team did not create the games themselves, they had a huge impact on development teams across the company. It was this team that drove the company towards open-world and systematic games, pushed online elements, and insisted on narratives that had a thematic basis in the real world.

Under the new system, chief creative officer Serge Hascoet will continue to lead editorial. There will be several vice presidents who will report to him, each of whom will lead their own franchise, with the authority to make their own independent decisions on future directions. It is believed that by spreading editorial's responsibilities across a group of leaders, the team can bring a more distinct identity to their respective games.

Damn. DBZ is getting solid ratings. Sitting at 76%. So that’s like -6 points I think for my Counter Pick

Sometimes I forget that Cyberpunk 2077 was announced before The Witcher 3.

Despite how much I love The Witcher, I was anticipating this more because its something new. I wonder what history would look like if they stuck to Cyberpunk and did TW3 after? I think this game is going to be bigger and better than ever because of that decision. What's another few months I guess...?

@inustar

Well, even Halo 4 & 5 landed in the 80s and there is no way Halo Infinite will be worse. I mean low relative to the 10/10 that Halo 2 and 3 got.

I just sent my list in.

Despite not entirely finishing every game on my list, the ones I couldn't wrap up were battling for the #4 spot anyways. I had one omission that seems to be appearing on everyone's GOTY but I'm just not feeling it nearly as much as everyone else.

I’m not biting on VR yet but I have faith that Half Life Alyx will be a system seller and a universally praised game. I think we’re looking at the bar for VR FPS with this one.

Traditional FPS:

I’m rooting for Halo Infinite but I am very very sceptical. Since Halo was dethroned, 343 Industries approach to Halo been chasing their own tail. They made Halo 4 & 5 have some Halo DNA but also injected a bunch of generic mainstream FPS traits into it as well. The final result were nothing games. Nobody remembers them or thinks of them fondly.

Whereas Overwatch took the class based FPS and spun it into something new, Titanfall sped up FPS games again and Call of Duty copies them. Other developers were trying new things while Halo was just confused in its own identity.

Now with Halo Infinite, they know something needs to change and rather than necessarily being original and innovative, going back to their roots as an arena shooter with weapon pickups would really stand out in the market in 2020. No multiplayer is like that anymore and it could create a renaissance if done well.

Add on a full Campaign mode which will likely have co-op and you’ve got the full package.

I have HOPE but not necessarily FAITH that Halo will be the best FPS in 2020.

FYI, you can track for yourself if you have an OpenCritic account. I never felt more proud than when I guessed Person 5 spot on. I haven't used the guessing system in forever though.

The Last of Us Part II - 98
Ghost of Tsushima - 84
Ori and the Will of the Wisps - 86
Final Fantasy VII Remake - 91
Animal Crossing: New Horizons - 89
Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2 - 89
Spongebob Squarepants: Battle for Bikini Bottom – Rehydrated - Delay
System Shock - 79
Trials of Mana - 74
Cyberpunk 2077 - 94
Marvel's Avengers - 74
Dying Light 2 - 75
Wasteland 3 - 80
Phantasy Star Online 2 - 84
Halo Infinite - 82
Psychonauts 2 - Delay
Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga - 77
No More Heroes 3 - 70
Tales of Arise - 72
Skull and Bones - Delay
Yakuza: Like a Dragon - 94
Nioh 2 - 94
Doom Eternal - 91
Half Life: Alyx - 99
Resident Evil 3 Remake - 94
Fast and Furious: Crossroads - 85
Bravely Default 2 - 75
Deadly Premonition 2: A Blessing in Disguise - Delay
Godfall - 68
Streets of Rage 4 - 68
Super Meat Boy Forever - 90
Gears Tactics - 74
Microsoft Flight Simulator - 92
Predator Hunting Grounds - 59
Sable - Cancelled

I hate betting low on Halo because I have some faith, but at the same time, 343 as an adept studio is still entirely unproven to me. By taking on Halo, they've essentially taken it in no direction up to this point. Added some mainstream features like customization, lots of sprinting, loadouts, simpler maps. They've been so safe an inoffensive with Halo that they've inadvertently become generic and many people looked away.

I hope they reel it in but I'm doubtful. I guessed 82 but I'm hoping for a 99...

@oscillator

Yessss you're the man! Time to dive in.

@oscillator

I need a Eurobeat 101. I love it but don't know what to look for. My inner Italian is fist pumping right now.

1917

This is a fantastic yet gimmicky film. It’s funny because it plays out like each scene exists to make you feel tense, scared, sad, but the director has you wrapped around your finger and he gets you feeling the way he’s aiming for every scene.

They use tried and true techniques to achieve what they’re going for whether it’s horror, action, tension. Nothing is particularly new about this film but it knocks every scene out of the park.

My main problem with the film is that there is this consistent serendipity that moves the plot forward. The events are just as likely as a bird crapping on your head three times in one day but the bird is an airplane that happens to fall out of the sky right above you.

There is also a major annoyance I had with this river that gets introduced in the last 20 minutes and the logical side of my brain was trying to figure out how the movie will play out taking this river into account but then the script throws logic out of the window and I wish I knew that sooner.

It’s a great film. It reminds you that we all have it good and sometimes I need that reminder. From scene to scene everything is working: the set, the action, the horror. Hell, this movie has better horror scenes than most in the genre. That said, the lack of logic in the script at times sort of bothers me and the transitions between scenes are a bit crass.

7.5-8/10 (can’t decide)

I have another dream but it doesn't exist and never will.

We need a new 50 Cent game made by Naughty Dog, made with the same love and attention in all respects just as Uncharted and TLOU are. Now I'm not 100% sure what the tone would be but it needs to be filled with scenes that serve to show how awesome 50 Cent is. Kinda like how in First Blood everybody is like "Do you know who you fucked with?! This is John Rambo - Green Beret!".

Knowing that 50 Cent and G-Unit are already globetrotters, I say this game should be a globetrotting adventure romp kinda like Uncharted but less lighthearted. 50 Cent is a menace to society and pretty unhinged at times. I just don't know what the plot motivation would be. Maybe he needs to extract some ancient berries from the Amazon rain forest to use as an ingredient in his energy drink company back in the US and he'll stop at no end to bring them back home.

Wait what? They are remaking the Gothic series?!

I bought Gothic II on sale last year. Didn't play it much but felt like checking out the game because of its legacy. That's pretty cool but I feel like replacing old Eurojank with new Eurojank isn't going to go over well.

@hanabi

Sounds like solid news to me. It’s like somebody else investing in them without interfering or being beholden to publishers. We’ll see how it goes.

My one dream game would be a proper SOCOM II port to modern consoles or a reboot of the franchise.

SOCOM was a top 25 best selling PS2 series and ushered consoles into online gaming with features that were way ahead for its time. Something happened since SOCOM 3 in 2005 but the industry started producing these XP grind multiplayer games that require no thought, no skill, and MP was usually an afterthought tagged onto the game to add ‘value’.

Now with PUBG, Fortnite, Rainbow 6, and others being the most popular multiplayer games currently, now is as good of a time as any to bring back a skill based tactical shooter because the market seems interested in games with more tactics. It just needs to play a lot like it used to play. It doesn’t need all the extra stuff.

Bring it back Sony

I didn't play too many games this year but I'm getting though the heavy hitters and should have a grasp on my Top 4 ordering by this week.

Unfortunately, I will not have played Disco Elysium in the next few weeks so I can't vote for it but I wish I could play it on time.

I was gonna take Baldur’s Gate 3 in the draft but figured I could get it cheap based on the uncertainty of the 2020 release date.

My logic is that I’ve read in interviews that they got the green light during early production on Divinity Original Sin II years ago and have already done all of the pre-production. It may be further ahead than we give it credit for and I still have space for two more pickups.

knocks on wood If it comes out, I’m guaranteed a 90+

@tokyoslim

Despite how much I’ll enjoy watching Beast Mode on the field tonight, I just need the damn Eagles to lose and my Boys to win. Every Sunday has been torture this season, I just need one gift from God! 😭

I started Death Stranding this weekend and I'm completely gripped. After hearing so many people mention "boredom" in their reviews, even the reviews with praise, I became quite skeptical. I still really wanted to play Death Stranding but I wasn't champing at the bit after the reviews came in.

Now having played 4 hours and being nearly done Chapter 2 (I think), I feel so immersed in the world. I think the set-up for the world does far more showing than telling which is great by Kojima standards but by gaming standards as well. DS throws a lot of buzzwords at you but I'm not lost because its always said in context in such a way that I understand what is meant by: stranding, BB, BT, et cetera.

I'd go as far as to say that I really like the simple - yeah - SIMPLE plot scenario. I didn't expect a game to unify gameplay and story so well where traversing a game world is contextualized so well. That's why its a shame to read @Phbz most recent post. As of now, the gameplay and story is going fantastically for me and I hope it continues on that way. It's refreshingly experimental yet simple in both gameplay and story. I wonder where it detours...

GOTY 2020

The mashup we all asked for: Fast & Furious, Motorstorm, and OnRush. When it reviews well, I'll have the last laugh!

Youtube Video

I have two thoughts on this:

1. I think the Allies bring whatever game they feel compelled to argue on behalf of that quarter, regardless of the games' stature as a "great"

2. They are still ticking off the obvious "greats" before they get into the minutiae of arguing the more debatable "greats" such as Hollow Knight. Sure, its the gold standard for Metroidvania's but they already have SotN, Super Metroid, and Metroid Prime. Kinda a hard sell to add another at this point without some time to pass and more "obvious greats" elected.