I don’t have much of an opinion on the bioware forums, but man - it’s crazy to think about this period as the collapse of web2. I mean, I’m aware of it, but somehow, giving it that title seems so real.
The online spaces I’ve spent most of my time in are collapsing, and all that’ll be left is the shambling, soulless husks of bankrupt cryptocurrencies. I guess we can just go ahead and skip straight to web4?
If they are dumb, they bring the forums back in form of Subreddits. If they are smart, they bring them back in the Fediverse. Using Twitter as a discussion platform is a dumb idea. The most likely thing that would probably happen is, they bring discussions to Discord…
Oh boy, the odds are not good. Too many shiny alternatives to fail and only one way to make it right.
Metroid Prime has to be pretty far up there. It was a bold step forward for an established franchise that could have gone wrong so many different ways, but holy cow they nailed it. The controls are probably the only weak part, but to be fair dual analog controls hadn’t really caught on yet. Every area of the map has character. So many of the boss fights are memorable, from Omega Pirate being fueled by raw Phazon and destroying its own soldiers, to Thardus whiting out the whole arena, to Meta Ridley wrecking the shit out of the Artifact Temple. The music is great, bringing back bangers from previous games, subtly remixing in other motifs from the past as well to give the game a familiar feeling, while adding beautiful new ambient music of it’s own. The plot progresses forward with only a limited amount of cut scenes and dialog. It combined two genres in an innovative new way that 20+ years later still hasn’t really been recreated yet.
And then once you’ve finished playing everything and finding every last thing as intended, there’s still more fun to be had in learning some of the more basic glitches to get items way earlier than intended. Giving the devs the middle finger by getting items the first time around without taking a long backtracking trip later to come back and get it. Speeding through areas and blasting through boss fights with equipment and weapons you’re not supposed to have yet. It contributed in large part to the birth of the modern speedrunning scene as people came up with more and more creative ways to get around formerly impassable obstacles.
20+ years old now, and it still holds up (as long as you play Primehack or Remastered to get more modern controls).
I know the scale is different but I’m surprised more AAA companies don’t take note. You don’t need to have to most polished game out the door but the fundamentals DO need to be there and you can iterate and make money.
The evolution and items system layered on top add a ton of replayability. I agree that it needs to come to steam, I’ve played a bunch on my steam deck and it feels like a hit if they can get a bigger audience to see it
For me, probably Half-Life 2. Especially at the time? It was such a leap ahead in both technology and overall world immersion. I still revisit it sometimes and get sucked right back in.
I’ll agree with you on Beatles Rock Band too, though. It’s a work of art.
The original Half Life is pretty fun, but I’d recommend checking out Black Mesa. It’s a remake of the original game in the same engine that Half-Life 2 uses, and changes some things for the better.
gaming
Top
This magazine is from a federated server and may be incomplete. Browse more on the original instance.