My most hated game review line: 'Its a brand new game from the original, all new gameplay!"

jbskaggs

I hate it when game companies take a wonderful game and have to change everything- then wonder why they get panned by the fans of that franchise. I hate it even more when the critics give high ratings and praise them for it, and users give them horrible ratings.

Sometimes the best game is 'Just more of the same. No groundbreaking trends here.' is how the critics phrase it - but if I like a franchise that is music to my ears.

cybereality

Well yes and no. It should be new enough to make a sequel worth it, but also not change the formula. I think Assassin's Creed was a good franchise because they experimented and added new stuff and locations and characters, but the core of the game was mostly unchanged. Or you have something like Mario, which is almost a completely new game every time but somehow Nintendo makes it work. So I think as long as the game is good, and better than the first one, it doesn't really matter much.

jbskaggs

@cybereality said: Well yes and no. It should be new enough to make a sequel worth it, but also not change the formula. I think Assassin's Creed was a good franchise because they experimented and added new stuff and locations and characters, but the core of the game was mostly unchanged. Or you have something like Mario, which is almost a completely new game every time but somehow Nintendo makes it work. So I think as long as the game is good, and better than the first one, it doesn't really matter much.

Nintendo Mario was essentially the same just new challenges and methods-

Warhammer is the best example for me. When they were a blockbuster (dawn of war) they really were baffled when they went to squad combat and was hated for it. It was like hey lets take the RTS base builder and turn it into mobile phone style squad game that no one asked for.

This is why 20 years later people still play Dawn of War and very few still play the squad based sequals. It wasnt that the squad based games were bad- they actually were fun. It was that as you said- they thru the formula out the window. There are still mods being released for soulstorm an winter war for dawn of war.

The final fantasy series went a similar direction- though not as extreme the expansions never made the impact that 7-10 did. The later versions just moved too far away from the original style and humor.

I must be feeling better if Im griping about game play again.

My kids and wife want me to get elden ring. It looks like a Dark Souls game and that game was not fun I think I died just clicking the start button.

cybereality

No, you don't want to play Elden Ring. I don't have it, but I watched some people play and it's basically impossible. Not sure why people like those impossible games. My real life is stressful enough. If I play a game I want to relax.

jbskaggs

@cybereality said: No, you don't want to play Elden Ring. I don't have it, but I watched some people play and it's basically impossible. Not sure why people like those impossible games. My real life is stressful enough. If I play a game I want to relax.

Thanks that helps. Your right I prefer RTS, and old fashioned crpg and casual games. Not really into horror or very intense action games.

fire7side

I think that's why I like hidden object games. No matter who makes it, the mechanics are exactly the same, or close enough. Of course, it helps that I get them in electronic bargain bins for about 1 dollar a piece. They usually have about 6 or 7 hours of game play, which is just about right. Otherwise I would get bored and just quit. I would never pay 50 dollars for any game because I would play it for less than an hour on average. I can get the demo most of time and I'm sick of it before I finish.

cybereality

I honestly have a lot of fun with the weird games on itch. Most of them are short and/or amateur, but they are more interesting and unique than most AAA games. Plus, I'm totally fine playing a game for 30 minutes and beating it. I have other stuff to do with my time.

jbskaggs

@fire7side said: I think that's why I like hidden object games. No matter who makes it, the mechanics are exactly the same, or close enough. Of course, it helps that I get them in electronic bargain bins for about 1 dollar a piece. They usually have about 6 or 7 hours of game play, which is just about right. Otherwise I would get bored and just quit. I would never pay 50 dollars for any game because I would play it for less than an hour on average. I can get the demo most of time and I'm sick of it before I finish.

I love hidden object games and have written a few. I was a Big Fish games fan and have played hundreds of hidden object games. Really loved the Mystery Case Files series.

Kojack

@jbskaggs said: My kids and wife want me to get elden ring. It looks like a Dark Souls game and that game was not fun I think I died just clicking the start button.

Elden Ring is basically Dark Souls 4 with the horse mechanics from Dark Siders. Most of the outdoor world (which is rather large) is vastly easier than Dark Souls 1-3, you can roam around for many hours without worrying about a single boss. Many bosses are optional too, you can bypass them.

The horse also means you can outrun pretty much every enemy you encounter, or just tear through an area ignoring everything around you. Or use the horse for mounted combat, which feels better than the Witcher 3 horse combat. There's a lot more "Lost Grace", the new name for bonfires (respawn checkpoints, for those who haven't played a Souls-like).

It's not bad. It has a lot of stuttering on my PC (RTX 2080TI, Threadripper, bunch of NVME M.2 drives), but I'm almost 40 hours in and it's ok. I much prefer Nioh 2 though. That's a Japanese mythology inspired Souls-like with a lot faster and more complex combat.

Oh yeah, they also made the pvp invasion thing opt-in. Unlike Dark Souls where other players can invade you in certain areas, Elden Ring only lets that happen if you are in a multiplayer co-op game or use a special item to enable it.

Also, I now have an urge to play Dark Siders 1-4 again. That's a series that changes the style a fair bit for each game.