The first game I played that really wanted to talk about racism and it decided to spend it’s time saying is “black people can be bad too”. I didn’t think much of it then and I don’t now.
I enjoyed Bioshock Infinite a lot back on the Xbox 360. The whole city in the clouds but also it’s the early 20th century setting was really attractive to me, and I enjoyed it pretty much throughout. Elizabeth being an actually useful NPC sidekick that you don’t have to do endless shitty escort missions for was a great move. I don’t understand the hate it gets after a few years have passed.
It was criticized when and after it came out, so it isn’t something that’s come up recently. But as you mentioned, there were some praises as well, as NPC escort missions were a bane in gaming at the time and this game did get praise for Elizabeth for that.
However, much like the comment “the medium is the message”, I think also Bioshock was a series that was very close to people’s hearts and they had a specific idea about what exactly made it feel like that atmosphere. My stance has always been, Bioshock Infinite is a phenomenal game that isn’t quite Bioshock, and there’s nothing wrong with that, but it’s like… It’s like the entirety of the series Metroid, and then Other M. Had Other M been literally any other name and character, it would have been a perfectly fine game.
But since it, and Bioshock Infinite, are tied to their namesakes, staying in line with that atmosphere that they create is imperative for a fanbase. For all of the faults that Bioshock 2 had, they still nailed the thematic portion of the world that appealed to so many people in Bioshock 1. They’re dark, gritty, a musk of musty air fills the entirety of the game and characterization. They’re also quite creepy, with that setting on top of the insanity and tight enclosed spaces under the oppression of the ocean.
Bioshock Infinite seems to abandon that thematic element almost entirely. And mind you, they did the bright and airy world very well, I can only imagine what it would have been like if they had been able to complete the entirety of their vision! I suspect something like Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom size was always the goal, given all the details shared about what they had to cut out.
That tonal shift I am almost certain is a majority of the cause for the issues with Bioshock Infinite - as this was the sentiment I gathered upon release and the coming years. It was two-fold though too, because by changing the nature of the tonality of the game, the gameplay itself seemed to be “brightened”, maybe in an attempt to make it more accessible, maybe to make it more engaging, but it seems pretty commonly agreed that Bioshock Infinite is just easier. The puzzles seemed toned down (IMO almost more of a point a -> point b puzzle), and while yeah the ending was a very well done version of this, I think many also felt like it somewhat removed the agency the players were struggling with, just to toss in a “you have and always will be” multiversal moment.
Anyway, all this to say, these aren’t explicitly my opinions on Bioshock, I’m just an analyst. I enjoyed most of Bioshock Infinite, but it is clear to see that there is a difference in the show-don’t-tell of Bioshock and the tell-show-tell of Bioshock Infinite. I actually am able to replay Infinite, where I have a hard time replaying 1 and especially 2, just because they’re so goddamn scary for me, lol. Much of the gameplay of Infinite is also just slightly more modern, with 1 and 2 just being slightly slower and clunkier without the movement option of the grappling hook.
I think another way of putting this is to look at an entirely different game, We Happy Few. It seems to me that We Happy Few wanted to make the atmosphere of Bioshock 1 but with the brighter narrative style of Bioshock Infinite, which inevitably resulted in the clashing of those two themes. In the case of Bioshock Infinite, it is that very same clashing of themes which I think heavily affected the players perception of the game. Again, had it been named, like, “Sky Cultist: Enigma” or something like that, it would have been perfectly well received and would have maybe even gone down in gaming history positively. Instead, it was tied to Bioshock and is kinda seen as “it’s good but meh” as a byproduct of such a drastic shift. I also think the desire to go from sea to sky is just a little cheesy, and while it was done well enough I’m also sort of hmmmeehh on that whole side of it. Fun areas to play in, but… not very Bioshocky, even with the steam punk elements.
Which is too bad. It had many technically good qualities about it, from the story arcs, from memory I feel like the pacing was pretty good, I remember the gameplay early and mid-way being fun although I do feel like I remember just a little bit of bullet spongeyness and resource/ammo collection mid-late sections of the game. Obviously the ending was quite good, and I really enjoyed the cult story. However, the bright sky world is very contrasting to the murderdeath cult and gore of it all, and I personally wasn’t as big of a fan of the thematic shift, both in the overworld but also in the march towards the Industrial Revolution. It just felt so out of place to me (specifically the Patriots, or maybe I just hated fighting so many of them) considering we had this entire underwater industrial complex in Rapture. However this is alleviated somewhat by the ending of Infinite, since these are all infinite possibilities oooooohhhh the name makes sense nowwwww!
So yeah, all in all I think it turned a bit underwater espionage revealing the secret project to the world to floating cult investigation revealing the… secret project to the world.
No, there won’t be another xbox. Phil Spencer is angling to get gamepass on nintendo and sony. But he’s going to have to force it through the courts and government legislation, much like epic is doing with mobile stores now.
It’s a play for the consumer’s money, and when the consumer has better options than the traditional console model, the console model breaks down. They’ve got at least one more Xbox in them, whether or not that next Xbox is just a PC with different branding.
The “better option” is subscription services where you own nothing and the bottom drops out of the industry, just like music and film. You can cheer for that if you want, but it is not in the interests of the consumer.
I wasn’t cheering for subscription services. I was cheering that this exclusivity model of walled gardens no longer makes economic sense, while open platforms are on the rise. Microsoft is hoping that their pivot will result in more subscribers to their subscription service, but all signs are pointing to them having a rough time of growing beyond where they stand now, for all sorts of reasons.
No, it’s success is because it’s extremely addicting. Especially for people with ADHD because there’s so many small and easily achieveable dopamine hits that’s easy to get lost for hours.
I’m sad they’re shutting down, but glad it was their decision.
I don’t think there’s anyone who does (did) stealth tactics like them, and there aren’t a ton of games in the genre to begin with, so I’ll miss them quite a lot.
I'd personally recommend Shadow Tactics and Desperados III first, and Shadow Gambit only when you're still itching for more or if you just really love the ghost pirate setting. Shadow Gambit throws in some unnecessary repetition that I felt dragged the game down a bit compared to its predecessors.
Having just finished Shadow Gambit a few hours ago, I can kind of agree.
I loved it, but it did reach a point where it felt like it was going on too long and overusing some of the maps.
Regardless, if people prefer pirates over samurai/ninja or the Wild West, Shadow Gambit plays to its strengths and feels like an actual pirate game which takes a fair amount of inspiration from Ron Gilbert (of Monkey Island fame) and other swashbuckling adventures, which works out pretty nicely.
Quirky crew, pretty lighthearted, and doesn’t take itself all that seriously for the most part.
It’s fun, but can maybe overstay its welcome for some people. Best to play it over several sessions instead of diving into everything and rushing it, otherwise it’s going to feel a bit tedious.
After the several hours I spent on the final mission (which I mostly enjoyed, but for a few frustrating moments), I definitely feel I need a well-deserved break. I’ll get to the post-game later, which I actually do want to do at some point.
(And for the DLC, playing Shadow Tactics first and then playing the Yuki DLC for Gambit after is the best way to experience her character arc as well. I mean, it’s not super necessary, since she works fine standalone. But the relationship between her and Kuma is much sweeter once you know how it came about.)
Oh okay, those mods I don't even get what they are and am much too old to figure out how. I was getting excited over nothing then. Obviously there'll never be an across the board expansion or add-ons for SV - or a sequel either, which is odd given how successful it's been. Haunted Chocolatier looks promising - but obviously isn't actually ever going to come out at this point.
Some people seem to think that 3 years (from when AAA companies normally drop their first teaser until release) is the full game development lifecycle duration, and anything past that must be abandoned.
There is literally only one person developing SDV and Haunted Chocolatier. This is literally an impossible statement. There is only ConcernedApe, and he has not announced any cancelation.
Well I don't, honestly it's just hearsay and I can't say anything more. Not that I wasn't looking forward to Haunted Chocolatier also, who knows maybe it will happen at some point in time.
I’m not sure what you’re saying here … 1.6 is an upcoming full game update for Stardew that will add even more content, which he was simultaneously developing with Haunted Chocolatier. They are a very small independent operation, and game development takes more time the fewer employees you have. The fact that they have continued improving the game for 7 years adding free content at the original price point is actually quite remarkable.
The 1.6 update addresses the ability to create add-ons (mods) more easily, which will aid efforts in the modding community to create things like Expanded with less fussing about in third party programs and tools which currently allow them to work.
In Roguelikes and Roguelike-adjenct games there are also a few games that get close. (I’d even argue some totally eclipse SV/Terraria in that regard, but that depends on your definition.) Some, but not all, of them are even completely free and open source.
Off the top of my head, a few examples would include Dwarf Fortress, UnReal World and Nethack. Maybe some Space Station 13 servers if you count that too.
Terraria. I wanted to like that game but immediately found it unenjoyable and disagreeable in every way. I'm still waiting for a Stardew Valley-like game that is actually good (i.e., has farming without ridiculous missions like "find the cows and build a pen for them) and doesn't require the player to "craft" his own tools with ridiculously complicated mechanics. I hated "My Time in Portia" for the incredibly difficult crafting, that had no tutorial or explanation and was very poorly conceived.
He still working on SV ? I thought he said he stopped to work full time on HC. Guess I’ve been out of the SV loop for too long. I should get back to it sometime soon. I’m getting tired of the same shooter and adventure games all the time and I need to return to the cozy life of SV.
I promise you it’s dead simple to install if you wanna check it out. ModDrop is probably the easiest installation route, just follow the instructions in that link and you’ll be set up!
You were not getting excited over nothing; if you can figure out how to download steam, how to purchase a game with it, and how to open and play it, installing a mod isn’t that much harder. Download some files, put them in the right folder, open the game.
Also, to piggyback onto your comment. Stardew valley without mods is still a very enjoyable game. I had about 300 hours in the game before I installed my first mod. There's a lot of great quality of life ones, but out of the box it's still phenomenal.
Oh I know Stardew Valley is still enjoyable, I bought it years ago and then I even bought the book/guide for it and I probably have played the equivalent of what you've played, I'm sure I'm well into 300 hours by now. But, it does get stale, and repetitive - it does make one wish for more game content, even with the update that brought the "golden walnuts" island expansion to it.
Well there's the problem. I tried downloading Steam, of course it didn't work because some extension or other had to first be installed on this computer. So I installed the extension, now it says it can't open. I did get it open once, but the game I downloaded never worked at all. Steam doesn't work on every computer, I guess.
But my main game system is the Switch (right now), I don't even use the computer. And it "steams" me because there are SOOO many great looking casual games on Steam I wish I could play!!!!
That’s such a little bitch mentality that gets nothing but disrespect from me. You’re never “too old” to learn something, you’re either lazy, scared, or both.
I don’t know who needs to hear this:
Unity sucks, but death threats are not okay.
If you really want to stop shit like this, vote in progressive legislators. So we can codify the fact that corporate actions influence more ppl than just the shareholders and their actions should reflect that.
Edit: thanks everyone for correcting me. I meant not okay.
…Or maybe they mean threatening death itself— As in, like “Stop killing my friends, Death, that’s really not cool, and I’m going to start stealing your Death-beers from your Death-fridge if you don’t stop”.
Answering more to the spirit of the comment, just voting is not really cutting it. Even when progressives are voted in, most of them are too hesitant to defy corporate interests.
Of course, death threats for if a game is not as good as someone wanted is just ridiculous, and generalized death threats involving people who have nothing to do with the decision is a psycho attitude. But this? A disgruntled worker worried about their livelihood, directing it to the people in charge? People who casually find fit to destroy countless careers to get a little bit more money? I find it hard to blame them.
Oh I thought this was a Stellaris dlc, not it’s own game. Sweet! The timeline goals using canon and non-canon branches seems interesting. Sad to see you have to make sure your planets are employed though, that’s the one thing I don’t like about Stellaris. But oh well.
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