Board 8 > Weakest year in gaming this decade?

(+) Yeah! (+)

This year is making a very strong case for weakest year in gaming since 2014. Only Sekiro has been an all-time phenomenal experience for me, with Resident Evil 2, in 2nd place, being an amazing one too.

Then there is a pretty huge rift between these two and the rest of the games that came out this year.

KH3, DMC5 were good to great games but nothing truly extraordinary. They were just standard-fare high quality games in their series but doesn't really do anything ground breaking or push the series to new heights.

FE3H was the only pleasant surprise this year. I expected it to be just an ok Fire Emblem game but it turned out to be my favorite one in the series. Still wouldn't put it in the same league as Sekiro and RE2 though.

Now the rest of the games that came out this year. Yikes. So so many promising titles an

Roughly 100% of the games you mentioned fit under at least one of three categories:
- AAA
- Action
- Japanese

Perhaps you know that is all that you like, but if not, I encourage you branch out as there are dozens and dozens of good games every year. You just need to find them.
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2012, 2015 and 2019
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KCF0107 posted...

Roughly 100% of the games you mentioned fit under at least one of three categories:
- AAA
- Action
- Japanese

Perhaps you know that is all that you like, but if not, I encourage you branch out as there are dozens and dozens of good games every year. You just need to find them.

This

Indie games normally don't do it for me. The most highly acclaimed ones are the ones I usually I play and while they are mostly good, none can really compare in quality to the best AAA games out there. So yeah, unless something really gets good reviews and recognition, I'm most likely gonna remain oblivious to the fact that it even exists.

My motto is, if it is good, I'll hear about it without having to search for it.

Some AAA and/or highly acclaimed games I recommend:

Apex Legends
Control
Outer Wilds
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Axl_Rose_85 posted...

none can really compare in quality to the best AAA games out there.

You.

You are the people Capcom market researched that convinced them to make RE6.
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Axl_Rose_85 posted...

Indie games normally don't do it for me. The most highly acclaimed ones are the ones I usually I play and while they are mostly good, none can really compare in quality to the best AAA games out there. So yeah, unless something really gets good reviews and recognition, I'm most likely gonna remain oblivious to the fact that it even exists.

My motto is, if it is good, I'll hear about it without having to search for it.

Ah, I have found my exact opposite person I guess

KCF0107 posted...

Some AAA and/or highly acclaimed games I recommend:

Apex Legends
Control
Outer Wilds

Played Apex Legends.

I'll try Control and The Outer Wilds sometime along the way.

Guess I'll play Trails of Cold Steel III instead of Shenmue III now.

FFDragon posted...

Axl_Rose_85 posted...

none can really compare in quality to the best AAA games out there.

You.

You are the people Capcom market researched that convinced them to make RE6.

Sorry dude. Most Indie games are fucking overrated. There is a reason why half the indie fanbase are pretentious "gaming is an art" people who praise walking simulator garbages like Journey and What Remains of Edith Finch as the greatest games ever created.

I don't say this with ignorance. I've played most of the highly reviewed Indie games. Some are good even great, some are average and bad. And of course the AAA market has its fair share of average, terrible and uninspired games.

What is the difference though is that there is a glass ceiling for Indie games. None have been truly amazing or reached the heights of the best AAA games out there because they are much more limited in budget and has a much smaller developmental team.

Kindly name 1 indie game that remotely comes close to the quality and depth of Persona 5, Breath of the Wild, Super Mario Odyssey or Bloodborne from this generation of games.

I will wait. And whatever answer you come up with will be objectively false.

Axl_Rose_85 posted...

Kindly name 1 indie game that remotely comes close to the quality and depth of Persona 5, Breath of the Wild, Super Mario Odyssey or Bloodborne from this generation of games.

Outer Wilds is better than all those games except maybe Bloodborne

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Indie games I've played during this year through word of mouth.

- Celeste - fun addictive gameplay and challenging but nothing special or ground breaking.
- INSIDE - Alright game. A step up from LIMBO but still waaaay too simple and short to be considered anything great like its overrated predecessor.
- Hollow Knight - Fuck the map and traversal in this game seriously. I beat it about a month ago and boy am I glad I'm done with it. The boss battles were the best part of the game but my god was the map a fucking mess. Unacceptable for a metroidvania to have terrible map and travel mechanics.
- Ori and the Blind Forest - Really good metroidvania and fun to play. It kinda feels repetitive towards the end but I liked my time with it. Way way better than Hollow Knight.
- Rocket League - Fun to play but I much rather prefer playing Pro Evolution Soccer.
- Return of the Obra Dinn - Liked my time with it but holy hell is it overrated as hell in this board.
- Baba is You - Alright game to play but didn't really grab me.

DeepsPraw posted...

Axl_Rose_85 posted...

Kindly name 1 indie game that remotely comes close to the quality and depth of Persona 5, Breath of the Wild, Super Mario Odyssey or Bloodborne from this generation of games.

Outer Wilds is better than all those games except maybe Bloodborne

Yeah well I can just come in and say Superman 64 is better than all the games in your top 10 but that would be an opinion and wouldn't hold much weight now would it?

If I said it had more quality and depth, would you take that as an answer?

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And if you want me to define why those games are objectively better than all your indie games

The games I have mentioned have a metascore and user ratings of:

Persona 5 - Meta: 93 User: 4.59/5
BotW - Meta: 97 User: 4.58/5
Super Maroo Odyssey - Meta: 97 User: 4.52/5
Bloodborne - Meta: 92 User: 4.45/5

Outer Wilds: Meta: 87 User: 3.32

So no. But nice try.

inb4 fuck reviews. Who cares about metacritc. User Reviews don't matter.

lol you're insufferable

Yeah well. God forbid I try to bring a discussion about 2019 being a disappointing year for video games, try to give some context and the next thing I know, oooohh b-b-but you haven't played 'insert indie game'. All the games you have played are AAA.

Well, I should have known better.

Well, I sincerely hope 2020 is a better year for you, and that you'll come to appreciate a wider array of experiences someday

I actually come closer to agreeing with you on indie games than not but I'd never pull out these wacky objectively better type statements.

It just comes down to what you prioritize in games. If you just want a well produced and refined take on an existing concept then AAA is likely to do better by you. If you value unique experiences then you're more likely to find something in indie games.

It's not really a conversation where 'objective value' is a thought that has much weight.

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Axl_Rose_85 posted...

and the game I'm currently playing (that is leaving the most sour taste in my mouth): Shenmue III. LOL, if you thought Death Stranding was a chore: the game then you haven't played Shenmue III yet. A game that I have waited for a verrrry long time. Tedious as **** to play with some of the most annoying mechanics in a video game (like who thought the poorly implemented slog of a eating mechanic was a good idea?).

it's a shenmue game

if it were any other way it wouldn't be true to the franchise

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like oh damn, this game with a meta score of 87 can't possible hold a candle to this other game with a score of 92, how could I have been so mistaken

Axl_Rose_85 posted...

objectively

get out
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LeonhartFour posted...

Axl_Rose_85 posted...

objectively

get out

This.

/topic list
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Honestly, each year this decade has been pretty shit. Only thing these days worth playing are maybe 1 AAA game each year on average, and a few indie titles that are fun but kinda quick

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2015 cant be the worst just because of Bloodborne and Undertale
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Axl_Rose_85 posted...

Shenmue III. LOL, if you thought Death Stranding was a chore: the game then you haven't played Shenmue III yet. A game that I have waited for a verrrry long time. Tedious as **** to play with some of the most annoying mechanics in a video game (like who thought the poorly implemented slog of a eating mechanic was a good idea?).

Everything I've seen just makes it look like more Shenmue. I don't know the last time you played the first two, but they are 100% slogs. I enjoyed the first one when it came out, but I think there's a strong argument that the Shenmue series is what has aged the worst in terms of games from the turn of the century.

They should have done the obvious thing and just make it a more serious Yakuza clone.

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This year and 2018 had very little that appealed to me personally. 2012 was not especially good either. It really did turn out to be a solid decade for gaming overall, though - better than the 2000s IMO.

2017 might be the best year in gaming history, that Switch launch-year lineup was truly something else.
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Looks like Axl has a major axl to grind with indie games and as a result is going on some ridiculous tangents.

Objectively speaking, of course.
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I don't know why you guys even bother. Guy likes his AAA games, let him be. It's a shame that's how he feels, but it's like someone who goes to the movies just for the big blockbusters. I find their taste hard to understand but it is what it is.
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we've been getting like 1-2 good indie games every week since about late 2013, and they serve a lot of broad interests if you feel like you're not getting what you want as the AAA market moves more into service games. it's kinda ridiculous how many great games come out a year now. it's simply unparalleled.
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I don't find his taste difficult to understand (as I'm not big into indie games either), but I do find how he goes about expressing it rather unsavory and somewhat perplexing.
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The position isn't bad, the attitude is. Don't crucify people for not deep-diving into every medium. There's so much content out there for consumption. Crucify them for being proud that they don't deep-dive into every medium.

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For the most part I'm in the same boat I avoid most indie games until a critically acclaimed one hits, but even then I'm usually not blown away. They're fine though I don't actively dislike them.

Disagree about 2019 though a ton of great games this year.
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imo every even year has been worse than this one tbqh
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2019 is honestly close but for me the answer is 2014. Transition years after a new console release are generally pretty bad, since there are so many games that accommodate both the old and new systems, so you end up with pretty muddy visions of what those games could've been, like Watch_Dogs as a stark example.

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Probably either 2014 or 2016, I'd have to look through the full lists to decide which. This year may have paled compared to the absolute god tier 2017 and the very strong 2018, but there was still a crapload of great stuff this year.

I definitely agree that anyone feeling this year was anemic is simply narrow in either what they enjoy or (more likely) what they're looking at.
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2017 is so overrated

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2012 and 2016 were the notably weak years for me.
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2014

back to the question it's whatever year Shadow of Mordor won a lot of awards

2014 indeed

poor Bayonetta 2 shafted
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I feel that judging the quality of a year's worth of games based on awards or review scores is a pretty inefficient means about it. Like the games you like, without letting PR guys do the talking for you.

In any case, 2014 was the weakest by far due to lackluster indies, Wii U's sputtering lineup, and the awkward first full year of Xbone and PS4. Other than [Super Smash Bros. for Wii U and 3DS], I can't think of much else that made a splash in 2014. Bayo 2? Alien: Isolation, apparently? Eh.
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Place posted...

In any case, 2014 was the weakest by far due to lackluster indies, Wii U's sputtering lineup, and the awkward first full year of Xbone and PS4. Other than [Super Smash Bros. for Wii U and 3DS], I can't think of much else that made a splash in 2014. Bayo 2? Alien: Isolation, apparently? Eh.

2014 was one of the Wii U's best years! It had Bayo 2, Smash, Mario Kart, Hyrule Warriors, Donkey Kong, and Captain Toad! I think 2014 was a solid year in a lot of categories - Nintendo had a very good year, fighting games had Smash, Guilty Gear, and Lethal League, three of the best mobile games ever in Threes, Monument Valley and 80 Days came out, for RPGs there was Divinity: Original Sin, Dark Souls 2 and a pretty good Diablo 3 expansion. Just some really cool stuff all around unless you only owned a PS4/Xbox One.
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2014 had Mario Kart 8. It's automatically better than most of the others.

I went with 2016. I spent most of that year playing older games rereleased on current systems. FF7 on PS4 and Pokemon RBY on 3DS.

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If you don't like indie games, that's fine, you enjoy what you enjoy

But treating them as if they don't factor into a year's gaming quality at all just isn't a good thing to do. Especially if you're going to challenge people to try to prove you wrong when evidently, even if the perfect indie game came out, you've already made up your mind that you're right and everyone else is wrong, that you have only the finest taste and everyone else is willing to lap up garbage.

Maybe it's not that a lot of indie games are overrated, but that you have too high a standard for what's worth playing.
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Axl_Rose_85 posted...

Kindly name 1 indie game that remotely comes close to the quality and depth of Persona 5, Breath of the Wild, Super Mario Odyssey or Bloodborne from this generation of games.

I will wait. And whatever answer you come up with will be objectively false.

Rocket League

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Worst year is either this year or 2014, which was the first year for the new generation of consoles, pretty sad year when Dragon Age III and Shadows of Mordor are basically the two Games of the year across most publications.
Those are two legitimate good games, but neither are must play or hold any real cache today. Hearthstone is probably the actual GOTY from that year, a card game...
Farcry 4 was worse than 3 (or basically is exactly the same 2 years later after several other games have mined it's mechanics), Watchdogs was a disappointment, Dark Souls 2 is less acclaimed than 1, Destiny launched poorly, Titanfall was underwhelming. Shovel Knight and Divinity: Original Sin are legit good, but still like not in my top 100 or anything.
And I just listed the best games, year was full of stinkers as well.
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What does AAA stand for
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Triple A games (also known as AAA) are simple games (console or PC) that were developed under the highest development budget of that current time AND are highest promoted. The ranking has nothing to do with how good/bad the game is. It can completely tank in terms of sales.

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SpikeDragon posted...

What does AAA stand for

American Automobile Association
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