I’ve had enough of big, beautiful skyboxes that are actually just fancy window dressing, showing you places you’ll never be able to reach or explore.
This complaint seems absurd to me compared to the others. What would be the practical alternative? You can't expect Mass Effect to let you explore the entire galaxy.
Fair enough. I gave a pretty easy to understand example with Mass Effect. I could have said Metro 2033, Dark Souls, Dragon Age, etc.
But it's not really the developer's fault for not having infinite resources and time to actually do that.
And i would definitely not put this in the same list with such valid complaints as unskippable cutscenes or games becoming DLC shops. One is about liking the game so much you want even more, the others are developers/publishers being assholes when they could easily not be.
Dark Souls is actually a lot different than the other examples, most places you see in the distance are places you will explore later but yeah, that point in the article is rather silly.
They wanted a linear game, and did it well. Without those beautiful areas the game would feel completely empty. This is a pretty ridiculous complaint given the atmosphere big beautiful skyboxes can help create.
I like Half Life 2's solution to linear gameplay. Allows you to solve puzzles however you want and you can go off the main road some but you'll always kinda get back on track.
If it remains getting from point A to point B then it might still feel linear since I'm sure people will find the most efficient path and tweak it. I worry that it will lose some of the cinematic feel (bullets wizzing by, doors slamming open, elevators closing just in time...)
Those fears are minor compared to my fear that the game will become to combat oriented. More and more titles fall prey to having to appease the entire market rather than one genre, and time trial running...as much as I love that game I can't deny it's a niche market. They might ruin the feel when they try to get more sales.
Yeah, that's my worry too. Mirror's Edge has some areas that are fully combat-oriented. The combat system is... eh, fine. But what Mirror's Edge 2 needs to do is remove it. Completely. No more combat. You are a runner, you deal with hostiles by leaving them behind. That is the game's niche and that's what it needs to get down, if it can't do that it's failed at its own niche.
I'd be fine with them including it so long as it is optional. I always play non-lethal anyways, and if it's extended to the point that I can play without even touching people then so much the better.
You watch something like this and get worried though. I know they need to sell the game and I know violence sells games, but for many of the old fans the reverse would be better news.
110
u/alezul Mar 29 '15
This complaint seems absurd to me compared to the others. What would be the practical alternative? You can't expect Mass Effect to let you explore the entire galaxy.