Anthem Review (Part 2): Post-Mortem

Jason Schreier's article detailing the deeply troubled state of Anthem's development process seemed to book-end my review (and those of others). As a huge Bioware fan and supporter, the article gave me a degree of closure about that lingering question 'Is the real Bioware still there?'. It's clear that it isn't, and if it's to ever make a return, new leadership is needed.
The Jason Schreier article: www.kotaku.com...
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[@TheHippoCreative]

Anthem had nobody to tell them to make it more blue.

[@reginaldmeta2762]

then it might have too much water

[@DanielSan1776]

*chuckles

[@PlaceboZypresse]

- DICE Art Director when making Battlefield 3

[@thegrouchization]

It worked for the Asari...

[@naenaeman1135]

Well someone did, you see the cataclysms

[@NathanCassidy721]

Angry Joe put it the best: The setting: E3 2017 The Audience: “Oh shit, that’s the game.” BioWare: “Oh shit! THAT’S THE GAME!”

[@MiorAkif]

Lmao

[@lukecotton3076]

Best comment

[@browntaxi7158]

His comment basically summarized the whole article that was written. If anyone ever asks what happened to Anthem then I will simply quote what joe said. E3 2017: *Trailer Plays* Audience: “Oh shit that’s the game!” BioWare: “Oh shit that’s OUR game!”

[@sinw88]

Laughed so harf when he said that

[@carlosfer2201]

I wonder if Angry Joe got as much hate backlash from fanboys like Skill Up did.

[@quickunit426]

The fact that a senior EA executive had to tell them to keep flying in the game absolutely boggles my mind.

[@polygon4399]

From a developer perspective. Keeping flying in causes a host of problems in development. I understand why they wouldn't want to do that. Wayy more work

[@AndragonLea]

@@polygon4399 Yeah, but it's also the only thing in Anthem everybody agrees is absolutely spot on. Like, I get not wanting superfluous work or making a job harder on yourself, but that only applies when you try to cut out the shit. Flying was the meat of the experience. If Anthem had launched without it (and without anyone Houdini'ing a whole host of new gameplay features into it instead), it'd have had an even worse reception. You don't get to not put a roof on the house because that'd be a whole bunch of extra work - houses need roofs and Anthem needed SOMETHING to put it apart from the rest of the market. Flying was that thing and I sincerely wish they had done more with it. Add some more verticality to the map, have flying enemies and levels where having flying disabled shows you just how much of a hassle traversing the world becomes if you can't just lift up and soar through the sky. The only problem I have with the flying is that they didn't go far enough.

[@polygon4399]

@@AndragonLea ah yeah I agree. Making a game with flying mechanics is fine. But adding and removing features like that is a total no no. No time for polish.

[@polygon4399]

Also having flying enemies is a total nightmare. Lol

[@polygon4399]

@@AndragonLea ya? you can add and remove features to your hearts content. That's what the protyping stage is for in game development. But knowing your deadline and still fucking around with core mechanics that late in the game, which is what I think they were doing... is something you do not want to do. They should delayed it another year. Instead they rushed it out without any fully fleshed out ideas.

[@mcevets135]

Dear Ralph, I am guilty of giving you crap for your initial Anthem review. I was wrong. I sincerely apologize. Steve.

[@dannyboy_m3821]

God bless you for realising your fault and owning up to it

[@hawkingseye8464]

I'm not Ralph, but I forgive you.

[@soyUsernameWasTaken]

You are a rare breed. May more of you exists.

[@Kuhmodo]

Glad you could admit that. Remember, criticizing a game isn't a bad thing. I consider myself a true Destiny fan, but there's times where I can't agree with what they do because overall I know that it's not good for the game. No one wants games to come out bad, but dealing with publishers like EA or Activision you can hope for the best when they release these type of games, but you have to expect and prepare for the worst. It seems like everyone is trying to take a jab at this live services bullshit but no one so far has got at least 90% close to what people expect from these games on initial release. It sucks that the team at BioWare said they had no vision or inspiration for Anthem and they still tried to push this out in the state it was in. Like this is people's money that they're bullshitting with!

[@soyUsernameWasTaken]

@@Kuhmodo monster hunter world got 120% of what people expect from capcom's latest "live service". Just sayin. No hate here. They actually could make it work, capcom has done it, so it's not impossible.

[@ape9863]

Blind support for anything is dangerous.

[@DaSquareful]

Cult hype

[@jamesvu5504]

Basically TLOU2

[@ravipathak4614]

Basically Religion

[@CrazyCracka831]

James Vu: Don't forget Borderlands 3

[@nelzelpher2088]

Always thought Anthem was shit.

[@Goofyahhh_x]

The irony of seeing this 4 years after it’s made, you were so spot on, on your critique that it’s almost foresight lmao. Good video

[@Hotshot2k4]

Yeah it really feels like he captures the medium-term sentiment on just about every major project with his reviews, but he gets there early.

[@pattraverse778]

I wonder if he still gets hate messages from delusional fans. I bet that they blame his toxicity for Anthem's failure.

[@SkillUp]

Note: I mixed up Edmonton and Austin when talking about SWTOR development/feedback. Sorry about that. Thanks for watching. If you enjoyed the video, be sure to hit the like and subscribe buttons, and if you REALLY liked the video, consider supporting me on Patreon. You get a fancy script every time I do one of my big 'The Review' reviews: www.patreon.com/skillupyt

[@kalplays9922]

Excellent video, as always. Bioware's immediate inclination to turn Jason into a Straw man to more easily dismiss his article, I believe, sums up the attitude of the poor leadership in place over at BioWare pretty succinctly. No criticism allowed. All will be mischaracterized as a personal attack and ignored.

[@PlayerSalt]

Forget the haters , thanks as always for the content !

[@TheGlassSword]

Hey skill up how do you feel about marcostylez doing vendor reset videos? Or is it true that he’s the dark pvp self that you cast away in a dark demonic ritual of parting of the the soul! Also thank you again for years of great content

[@NT-jh6xw]

Brilliant part 2 review! Well done!

[@1knownasgream]

Just wanted to share my appreciation been watching since your division 1 days. Keep up the great work . Your a true and valid voice on youtube.

[@cjt2727]

So the only thing that looks like fun, flying around like Iron Man, came from the demand of EA itself. Never thought I'd say that sentence.

[@bonedoc4556]

Wouldn't doubt it if EA set this piece up to save thier stock and throw Bioware user the bus. Wouldn't doubt if it's accurate either.

[@pegasusdrive12]

@@bonedoc4556 it's accurate. EA didn't make the article, ex employees of BioWare as well as some current members spoke about it. Plus Jason Scheirer did the article, regardless of your feelings about him as a person, he is genuinely one of the most credible voices in games journalism. Also why would EA call a article as "tearing others work apart" if they fabricated it.

[@elcidS15]

EA knows what’s flashy and gets attention. Apparently BioWare don’t. If you need EA to point out the obvious, your devs are behind the curve.

[@raklibra]

Yes, and EA depended on the rest of the game structure such as story, phantasy, and themes on BioWare which they correctly assumed would know better. I mean I don’t understand how BioWare dropped the ball on those points. They churned their writers. Just imagine this happening on GoT or RDR. Writers are the basis of games. Tough way to learn the lesson. The reason the game is hollow is there’s no solid story foundation.

[@originalsinquirls1205]

EA was also the one who forced a niche engine down bioware's throats, so it's not like they're the good guy. PLUS, a lot of the game is wasted because the flying is such a core mechanic. A lot of the AI needed to be redesigned, and encounters too, but apparently that didn't happen. Flying might feel good, I dunno, but clearly if you only care about that feature you're not going to be prepared to make a good game.

[@bostontowny4life744]

This is why when people say "Oh the game is gonne be great, it's been in development for years" I automatically lose faith.

[@Takato2527]

If some1 says that, I’ll respond “is that how you judge the quality of the game?”

[@TheHeavyshadow]

As someone who played Duke Nukem Forever let me tell you: It is NEVER a good indicator for anything except for how chaotic the development process was.

[@dmal1709]

I think Ace Combat 7 is a counter to your statement. It got put off multiple times but when it came out it was already a well refined game. To me them delaying the game was the developers saying that it was not yet at an acceptable state so they wanted more time to refine it for the player. I think it is dependent on the ways that each dev team works. For some a delay could be a bad sign but for others it is a good sign that they care.

[@ihatethatyoutubedisplaysyo8106]

@@dmal1709 this may be a stupid correlation, but here goes. I feel like when Japanese games are delayed, its due to the game not being at an acceptable standard. However, when a game gets delayed in the States or something, the development process always seems to be in shambles. I know AC 7 is counter to this, since development was a literal 5000 piece picture puzzle mess, but it seems to be a trend i keep seeing.

[@Ryattt81]

"CDPR liked your comment"

[@gamedesignwithmichael]

The fact that they weren't allowed to talk about Destiny just shows how lost they really were. Imagine if Apex Legends devs said we aren't allowed to talk about Fortnite or PUBG

[@Vladislavaklyma]

not even Warframe, imagine!

[@ArsSymphinity]

@@chrissteve2595 Those were probably sound engineers m8. Not the leadership that Schrier referenced. Just because the leadership didn't want to acknowledge Destiny doesn't mean everyone on the team didn't.

[@InnanetBaby]

Chris Steve yeah you’re full of shit

[@Iosifavich]

@@chrissteve2595 Keep in mine that in a business like Game Dev, the decisions come from leadership. The workers may talk among them self's about Weapons or ability design and try to have meaningful conversations with their leads. It for leadership to take a high level view of the space in the industry this game is going to occupy.

[@palpaladin315]

No one said they weren't allowed to talk about Destiny. -- They were just steered away from jumping to conclusions about what the leads actually wanted. -- It's like me wanting to build a radio tower, and you talking about the Eiffel Tower? -- I'm gonna say, "We're not building the eiffel tower". -- No special cache of devtools exists that let's you somehow, not run into the same sorts of problems competition has made. Your software is unique and so "problems gonna happen". Maybe exactly the same, maybe slightly different, maybe totally different! -- Now given Bungie heavily leaned on Bioware in the first place -- What are they likely to learn from Dedtiny, anyway? Not much.

[@Frigeotherat]

9:00 You mix up Edmonton and Austin. Austin made SWTOR. Edmonton didn't listen to Austin. Austin became resentful of Edmonton for not listening to feedback.

[@casimir2985]

Yep mixed up the 2 locations. But good vid non the less

[@Shft-T4b]

Edmonton believed themselves to be the "A-Team" since they were behind the original Mass Effects and Austin to be the "B-Team" so there was some kind of superiority complex behind the scenes and Edmonton believed themselves above taking on advice and feedback from the "B-Team" despite their years of experience already working with Live service Online RPGs, something Edmonton didn't actually have.

[@zipzopzoobitty]

I am waiting on Skill Up and the other disappointing content creators taking one guy, Jason Schreier's piece, at full face value, to actually apply a bit more of a skeptic observation. Just straight up swallowing the narrative that EA is not to blame.... yeah nah Huckleberry. How do they think Schreier, Kotaku critter and corporate bootlicker supreme, who shills for premium microtransactions and bashes youtube content creators for calling out corporate greed and exploitation by these companies, gets these oddly exclusive expose's? No way could it be by being a Limited Hangout hatchet man, employed to play softball and direct attention off the actual elephants in the room. Claiming EA not being to blame for Anthem's turnout when a EA mandated Battlefront 2 style monetization foundation was planned for Anthem alone, is pure and utter contradiction. Bioware being in love with Frostbite also sounds quite off and flies in the face of the reality with EA mandates on their other big games. And why would Bioware be so adamant on using it when they claimed having to fight with it anyway? That nonsense does not add up at all. Plus, most of the Bioware leadership left(I wonder why, certainly not due to EA meddling, no way.), so the only real leadership was EA tools like Patrick"These gamers or just uneducated"Soderlund, and their subsequent appointed crunchman, Mark Darrah. Its pretty clear that it is EA themselves that have the hardon for Frostbite to save on having to pay royalty money to someone else and possibly licensing it out for a profit, and it was no doubt indeed demanded to be used for anthem. Its not something Bioware would logically be concerned with sticking to if they don't have to, using a non proprietary engine and paying fees for an outside engine is something that would only truly concern EA. Purporting the contrary that Bioware simply was so in love with Frostbite that they wanted to handicap themselves with it for no reason, sets off my bullshit alarm something fierce, and just looks like yet another not so clever attempt to direct any blame off of EA. Bioware is expendable to EA afterall, they could generally give a fuck less about Jason Shiller writing a piece that blames the failure of Anthem solely on them. Even Soderlund is an afterthought for them at this point as he already got his golden parachute and is no longer with the company.

[@DivinityOfBLaze]

@@zipzopzoobitty He gets it because he actually tries unlike the rest of the "journalists" in the gaming space. You see, the sad thing with gaming journalists is that they do 0 investigating ever. They review a game, they complain about something. If it involves actual work and research they will avoid it like the plague. Unfortunately Jason is the only one in this space who ACTUALLY does investigations into things which, of course, results in devs being more willing to talk to him. Especially due to his built up reputation of not disclosing WHO talks about things. And thats the important thing here. He ended up building up a reputation of not revealing who says what, which makes people more willing to talk to him about it. He is in the official gaming journalist space, which gives him more credibility. Not to mention its more of a spotlight on his work. Aye, hes a shitler when it comes to youtube and he is the only journalist in Kotaku who could even be called a journalist. But his work speaks for itself and I feel like that's how it should be. He didn't even imply Bioware loves frostbite. The higher ups though? I wouldnt be surprised. It doesnt sound like they listen to their team at all and them pushing for frostbite and ignoring complaints about it fits quite well into that.

[@90lancaster]

@@zipzopzoobitty I would expect the Micro Transaction stuff was dictated by the closer. The fella who told them to get their sh** together.

[@Olemrac11]

Developers who wouldn't study and learn from other games is like a football team not studying the plays of another team for the upcoming game.

[@vivamexico254]

Alpha energy right here

[@umphreak9999]

And that football team stubbornly refuses to admit it's a football team

[@MrCipasa]

14:28 skillup: Cataclysms, we still do not know what they are. me: i bet bioware doesn't know either...

[@ChuckFinley33]

that's what I was thinking

[@azninvasion]

It's been confirmed that Cataclysm is a dark thing in the sky and more titans spawning in freeplay.

[@HistoricalConflict]

azninvasion2000 wow...awesome. Shit I’ll buy 8 copies now! Oh wait ...nah no I wont

[@azninvasion]

@@HistoricalConflict lol well it's still a few months away, it might be free to play by then

[@Psychoangel-d23]

@@azninvasion Thats a huge fucking stretch man. EA? turning a triple A game into F2P? Yeah not happening as fun as it sounds.

[@skoopsro7656]

If the ea gamechangers are mad about something you said... you said something right...

[@malcomyoung2240]

This sentence is full of win.

[@JerryCanTheThird]

AMEN! Also, content creators that get banned from EA Gamechangers instantly earn a bit of credibility in my view

[@MakoHazard]

That Arecks guy was the biggest anthem shill of them all. Awfuly quiet now. Just goes to show how big of a shill people like that guy are now that we know the gaame is literally a disaster and incomplete.

[@blabibuu]

@@MakoHazard You don't read replies apparently but hey, arekks is a good guy cmon. He even released a video explaining why he kept praising the game when it was sinking, saying basically that it was because he was having fun. You can't call someone a shill because he enjoys something you don't, even if this thing is shit lol.

[@Maximo69]

nah man, he is a trend seeker, specially with looter shooters. you can like his content but that doesn't mean he is with the good guys.

[@vasred4265]

9:00 you mixed up Edmonton and Austin. Edmonton refused to listen to advice from Austin, as Edmonton was regarded as the A-team.

[@trygveplaustrum4634]

This needs more likes, as Austin needs more credit.

[@marilandgrebe928]

Yup, that was a defo mixup. I worked at BioWare Austin on Star Wars: The Old Republic, an MMO still going strong after ~8 years.

[@jmoa5758]

@@marilandgrebe928 lol bet Edmonton's ego is doing well... about as well as a ripped grocery bag

[@sicskillz12]

Anthem plebs are leaving dislikes while sitting at a loading screen

[@DYNB]

This genuinely made me laugh out loud. Nice one.

[@galacticwarlock2271]

The average Anthem player spends one third of their lives staring at a load screen. - FACT!

[@arcadescrub5138]

Damn.... That free time😂😂😂

[@tommunist10]

Having fun only being able to crouch when you’re attached to cover? (Division) Or are you the type of guy who likes games with 7 hour campaigns and nothing else? (Resident Evil 7 & 2) Oh, you’re the type who likes having to pay $5 for each and every new Super Smash Bros character they release? Don’t forget to get some amiibos too! Oh wait you’re into COD? Oh, so you’re into $110 games with no campaign? Cool. Wait, wait, wait, ohhh. You like Red Dead Redemption 2. Okay, cool. Yea, their P2W Online is so good. People still looove that game, right? Oh, Overwatch kid? Having fun fapping to it more than you play it? Loot boxes in a $60 game really your cup of tea, eh? Ohhh, OK, you like Sekiro? Yea, most notable thing about that game is how half of the fan base is, quite literally, disabled. Def not a game for weirdos and weebs who think that parrying isn’t something that video games have had since ‘96. Nope. Meanwhile, Anthem, this game with top of the line: graphics, physics, and sounds, and with completely free DLC, where you can fly anywhere and with dozens of more enemy types and weapon types than The Division, is TRASH. Have fun crying while EA rakes in money from: this, Battlefield, their sports games, Battlefront (still strong base), and Apex. Y’all hate Battlefield because they included women hahahahahaha. Y’all hated battlefield 1 because they had a black guy in the cover lmfao. Y’all are disgusting lol. Seriously though y’all got nothin left. Just capitulate; you lost. EA is at the top, and Anthem sold well; it was Bioware’s second best release and the best selling game of February. Every game that you guys say is better, you’re no longer playing. None of you are playing God of War, Resident Evil, or Red Dead anymore. This is the same thing that happened with BotW and Horizon Zero Dawn. These games have no multiplayer, so they can focus extra on things like graphics. Then y’all are amazed by the things that they focused extra on, like graphics. In the end, it’s the same thing you’ve played a million times; that’s demonstrable by how quickly y’all were done with those games lol. TL;DR: I see y’all who play “good games” like God of War or Resident Evil drop those games after 20-40 hours; that’s all the game had to offer. Whereas people already have 400 hours in Anthem... You can pretend like you’re winning out when you’re paying $180 per every $60 that I spend for the same amount of entertainment, but you’re not lol. That’s pretty patent. Have fun paying for DLC and then calling EA greedy for not charging for DLC pfffft hahahaha.

[@allisonwright1622]

Look at that ultimate fanboy comment holy cow what a boner

[@shadeparker5922]

"You can't run a studio on crunch and pixie dust" This. This is a quote people should remember.

[@Vertutame]

To white and western people,maybe. Pretty common in Asia though.

[@spiralviper8158]

@@Vertutame crunch has been normal in the games industry since at least the PS2

[@MASdestroyer]

SpiralViper Normal doesn’t mean ok. Think of the amount of games that are truly phenomenal, not many of them are done under what I would call ‘extreme crunch’.

[@spiralviper8158]

@@MASdestroyer but a lot of them were. but back then, deadlines were met and games were released complete. lots of people interested in working in games get turned away by the infamous crunch. it's never been ok

[@spiralviper8158]

@@MASdestroyer my fate in the industry was a solid blacklist haha - #antifeminist

[@SoulCharter]

Hey Skill, Never forget, people who do not accept critique speak louder than those who do. For every toxic fan you encounter, there are hundreds of people who appreciate your content. Keep it up.

[@DagothDaddy]

You mixed up Edmonton and Austin bioware Austin are the ones that made SWTOR

[@HenryDorsettCase]

Austin gets the shaft once again.

[@twebb1985]

Ye

[@moonmessiah9368]

I believe Edmonton worked on SWTOR in the beginning and Austin came in at the end to help and then support the game after release so Edmonton could go back to other projects. I remember a lot of Edmonton Devs were working on SWTOR in the beginning.

[@asain3586]

@@moonmessiah9368 Nah, Ralph admitted he accidentally swapped both

[@NeOmega83]

Came here for this reply.

[@infinityhand6569]

Borderlands 1 remastered, a 10 year old game has more content and better loot than Anthem, a AAA 2019 juggernaut

[@linhza501]

Borderlands came out as a finished product, while Anthem came out nearly as an early access, $60 beta

[@infinityhand6569]

@@linhza501 And that's ignoring the fact that Borderlands was a game made by a fairly indie studio, the fact that Borderlands (Not even counting the glorious BL2)has a more coherent plot, more memorable characters, and with an actual personality

[@linhza501]

@lgd661 I think because mainly Anthem was aiming to be a live-service, they want to drip feed the content to keep the players around for longer. On the other hand Borderlands came out as a complete game like I said. Makes more sense if they had learned from Destiny. That said this is a prime reason why I dislike live service games.

[@solid_snake9708]

@lgd661 Borderlands still had Problems with its loot, it was very hard to notice tho as the loot system was very good.

[@Zer0Hour17]

At least Anthem can hold onto the fact that Borderlands 1's ending was just as anti-climactic as it's own.

[@carl779]

Having now read Jason Schreier's article as well, I think this is just a very very sad story and my heart goes out to all the current and former Bioware employees who suffered as a result of poor management essentially. As always Ralph, your observations are reasonable and compassionate.

[@yukiomishima33]

You need to read the news more if you have such a sentimental response to this type of thing. Jeez it's just a bad development story of a video game my man. This stuff happens all the time in office life.

[@chiefinasmith]

@@yukiomishima33it’s called empathy, normal humans have it

[@lordofdarkness4204]

@@yukiomishima33 and it is bad every single fucking time. Just because worker exploitation is widely accepted it doesn't make it alright.

[@tartatovsky]

​@@yukiomishima33spoken like a sociopath

[@peterclarke7006]

​@@tartatovskymore like a teenager who's never worked a day in their life but thinks trying to act like a dollar-store Patrick Bateman will make girls fancy him 😂

[@Rhyas9]

Everything's fine! People are overreacting! After all, we have a ROADMAP! Guys? Hello? Anybody?

[@tunnar79]

*Star Citizen flashbacks intensify*

[@lsfaraone]

That even the devs themselves have expressed are just "goals", not guaranteed commitments. The fanboys trying so desperately to defend this are blind as hell to reality.

[@Jpowell760]

L Faraone Wait really I haven’t played anthem since the end of February but isn’t the point of a roadmap to tell the fans when the new content is coming out? That’s totally BS.

[@lsfaraone]

RaptorPack Yup. I've had fanboys argue that roadmaps aren't even about that, which is flagrantly incorrect, but whatever. If we consider their latest updates, it's unlikely we'll see anything interesting if they manage to pump most of the shit on their "roadmap".

[@blackg450]

Does the roadmap include suicide?

[@NinjaPups]

Hopefully Anthem was a big wake up call for people and especially for BioWare that things need to change. What happened here is not a unique one-time thing and it will continue to happen unless we stop supporting bad products and bad practices. I just don’t want to see BioWare be remembered for this.

[@jcarroll558]

There is no need to make millions. Make games that people want to play.

[@extremelycatty4040]

Sadly, Anthem wont be a wakeup call. There's been numerous big titles games to fall apart before it that people ignored shortly after tearing them apart. People were extremely hyped for Mass Effect: Andromeda. It came out poorly, and people just... Forgot about that. 76 came out poorly, but people are still hyped brainlessly for their next releases. All these companies will still make bank for putting low effort into their game development until there's a serious market-wide change.

[@Haan22]

The exact same thing has happened all along for Bioware, Raycevick's videos on Mass Effect are intriguing because they describe this kind of development hell for all three of the OG trilogy. It's just that eventually luck runs out, the key people that saved the first ones leave and you're left wondering whether to hope they fold the company or make a miraculous recovery. And frankly, Mass Effect Andromeda should have been the alarm bell a long time ago.

[@ethiosalvatori]

The next Destiny will end the same way if things stay the way they do Much more hyped for Borderlands, despite the controversy

[@NinjaPups]

Haan22 that’s why i’m hoping at least bioware realizes their luck has run out. They skated by with mass effect and those turned out to be a success and people were convinced andromeda was a fluke. But they’ve had two disasters in a row now and if they don’t change they will cease to exist in the near future.

[@dearthunderstorm4062]

AAAAND anthem hasn't released cataclysm and it's August

[@heibk-2019]

Didnt they want to release it 3 months ago

[@cl1cka]

EA is probably getting ready to abandon it, just like Andromeda, after their last shareholder meeting....I think they just gave up believing BW can salvage anything from that game.... So yeah....I wouldn't hold my breath...

[@trygveplaustrum4634]

And CCP is still releasing major updates to EVE Online, 16 years after launch.

[@Self-replicating_whatnot]

Then they did release Cataclysm and it was a blue filter over the visuals.

[@kyle857]

The cataclysm is the state of the game.

[@Gigawood]

Wait, wasn’t it BioWare Austin that made SW:TOR and whose comments were ignored by BioWare Edmonton?

[@dethtrain]

Correct. His brain was farting

[@daviddominguez7629]

There are so many Biowares heck I’ll probably mix them up also

[@Volker_A4]

Typo

[@Jadeee094]

Chris Schmidt is the culprit

[@weedbass1263]

@@daviddominguez7629 ass kiss

[@alanschwartz6925]

Cory seems like such a likable dude

[@IndianTelephone]

watch his review reaction for God of War.

[@LordofAoD]

I was one of the 20ish people still enjoying Anthem when Schreier's article came out. I stopped playing when I read BioWare's bullshit, boilerplate response to it. It's clear that the higher ups don't give a shit anymore. So I just moved on to a better looter.

[@bostontowny4life744]

Lol 1 of the 20ish people.

[@dragonbornexpress5650]

Like Division 2? Say what you will about that game, but it at least has a better world, arguably better story (especially if you think of your character as almost Robocop), better content, and the loot is done so well. So many weapons and abilities with clear distinctions, benefits, and trade offs. Not to mention you can customize your own weapons to your liking at any time in any part of the map. It also does environments really damn well. You have parks, open areas, crowded streets, forest areas, buildings, underground, a sinkhole-like location, and don't forget the four settlements of the game world, one of which is the fucking White House for crying out loud! I don't really need to go on. However, if Division is not your thing, I understand, and suggest possibly Destiny, and older looter shooters.

[@alexeibeniuk770]

warframe

[@nateriver7848]

Not only did Cory Barlog have a vision, he stuck with it when people were doubting him (people told him the no cut camera wasnt doable). These massive projects need strong leaders and Anthem didn't have one.

[@hustake4475]

Anthem's "leader" left the company for the middle 4 years LOL

[@kylemelo6921]

Especially Cyberpunk 2077.

[@DurkDiggler]

that dude made a great movie!

[@I_am_ENSanity]

Never preorder, never buy day 1, and never purchase microtransactions. 3 easy rules that have saved me $100's and a great amount of time. PS: I'd rather wait a week and see some reviews/streams and not deal with the "FOMO" bullshit than get fucked over like everyone who bought BF5, Anthem, ME Andromeda, and Fallout 76. I have Witcher 2/3, Vermintide 2, and a bunch of games on emulators to play while I wait for the AAA market to choke to death on it's own bullshit.

[@badalrana10]

Maybe for CD Project Red ❤️😌

[@OgunTheShogun]

@@badalrana10 yeah but they earned that good will

[@slutbunwallah]

It's just amazing on how this logic has not permeated the general mindset of gamers. I really have no rage when I hear about Anthem, Fallout 76 etc. The only game I took a gamble on was Metro Exodus. But it was a calculated gamble and was willing to take full responsibility for my actions. I am so conservative with my purchases, I can see AC On for $30 bucks and I am still thinking twice. Gamers should speak with their wallets, not rage with their reviews.

[@michaeldelcastillo7211]

Yes, I apply this rule to anything EA and Ubisoft

[@bengale9977]

What's wrong with day 1? You can tell if the game is good or not by then.

[@mrbobajango7482]

I wasn't a fan of skill up at first but I actually think he dissects games pretty well. He just points out flaws fan boys don't want to hear.

[@palpaladin315]

Nonsense, be honest he just struck a chord with your current fanatic fetishism.

[@mrbobajango7482]

@@palpaladin315 I'm a fan boy of fallout 76 but skill up is right about a lot of that games flaws

[@thequinndom6250]

@@palpaladin315 opinions can differ you know

[@tezzabhoy1888]

Folk on the Internet think having an opinion is brave. its actually fucking laughable.

[@captainmarvelous7678]

Except when he fanboys himself

[@ChrisX3333X]

I love your reviews but I ask you Skill UP WHY? Why you had to remind me of that Disney song? WHY????

[@obw4945]

Just let it go, man..

[@gamedesignwithmichael]

Let's get your mind off it. What if we went outside and built a snowman? Do you want to build a snowman?

[@ChrisX3333X]

Nooo. I thought I was free of that song

[@Kelitoras]

12:45 SkillUp thumbs up his own videos EXPOSED

[@eraty1]

Politicians vote for themselves too lol. It's not a bad thing to pat yourself for a good job.

[@MonkeyJazz75]

Why would he upload the video if he didn't like it?

[@Blitterbug]

And?

[@ElvisGC]

He's right, this RUINS his videos. It completely destroys the ratio! lol. It's all good. Thanks for pointing it, it's funny. But not a huge deal to me. Barely matters. But fun to tease SkillUp over

[@maz0t]

Imagine if he didnt like what he produced, like a certain developer

[@AsimovBR]

"Think about the amount of time it would take for Anthem to get to where the Division 2 is...It's not worth the human lives to save Anthem" Nice vid

[@Flynnly]

baffles me that they never took notes from warframe and the division

[@tiagopacheco4654]

They didn't have half the loading screens and uselles weapons anthem did, why take notes of products that are clearly inferior

[@gwlaw99]

The article states that staff were shot down the moment they mentioned another game. They literally had a policy not to learn from other games.

[@Overquoted]

I'm not sure The Division deserves any props beyond 'kind of fixed what they fucked up in the first place.'

[@Overquoted]

@Phil Burton Sure, I'm merely speaking of the original though. It was, and remains, far from perfect.

[@Sebal007]

@@Overquoteda failed project can be a good learning source, too. Learning from other peoples mistake is always a good option.

[@Caine830]

So are you telling me that we have to thank EA for the only thing that is fun about Anthem (flying around like Iron Man)?

[@Aki145]

Mind Blowing isn't it? Makes you question the universe.

[@nuyorker562]

Who would've ever guessed.....🤔🤔🤔😉😉😉

[@NathanCassidy721]

Here's another bombshell that nobody really talked about but is equally mind-blowing: People assumed there were going to be nickel-n-dimed for "marcotransactions" the minute this game was announced and assumed that the delay was to remove them once SW Battlefront 2 EA ruined it. But turns out there were no such items nor was any content cut for DLC as they barely had enough time to make the BASE GAME. It's a good thing for the customers at the end of the day but the thought that this whole thing was mismanaged THAT badly...

[@matchesburn]

Bioware has actually become more "evil," more incompetent and more anti-consumer than EA has been blamed for being. My god. How the mighty have fallen...

[@budthecyborg4575]

Yes, but clearly the death of the studio started with its purchase by EA in 2007. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_BioWare_video_games Look at what Bioware did from 2009-2012, at least four games in the span of three years (depending on how much work they did on ToR). Then a string of cancelled games, and ME: Andromeda, and then Anthem. EA did what they always do, buy a group of productive people and completely suck the life out of them within a few short years. The confusing thing is that EA didn't close the studio after ME:Andromeda launched and Anthem still had nothing to show, that's where EA's behavior changed but it only changed in that they didn't immediately put a bullet to the studio's head even when they knew that by historical standards the studio was definitely wounded beyond repair by that point. Most likely they just wanted to avoid the backlash of closing one of the most beloved studios in gaming history, but all they did was temporarily cover up the consequences of their past misbehavior.

[@RRRRRRRRR33]

In all honesty, they never "rise" imo mass effect started well, then it became a convoluted mess regarding the major threat of the story (also, not a single human character is relatable or decently written). Dragon age the same thing, starts well, went to shit. Kotor and jade empire shared the same story gimmicks to shock the players, etc.. Baldurs gate, idk, never played any of them. It always felt to me that bioware was a better than most developers, but not this holly grail of western rpgs.

[@AnthonyMcNeil]

It's crazy that you called Anthem what it was in your original review and was blasted. I remember when that sub called out every negative review and said that you all were "going for clicks." It was incredibly sad how tribalism works...smh. Great video.

[@MrEuller88]

For an instant I read tribadism, and I was like: "dude wtf, tribbing rocks" but then, I read it again and made sense.

[@Reydriel]

@@MrEuller88 Unfortunately, it's not something men can experience :P lmao

[@arenkai]

I think this reveal makes things even sadder... The devs made this game in around a year without leadership, which is insane. Those people are talented but all this talent is going to waste because of poor management and that's frustrating. Imagine what they could have accomplished were they given a clear vision to follow and work towards. I hope those that left found a job in a company that will treasure their value and that those that stayed will have better working conditions in the future, they deserve it.

[@Verpal]

Yeah, I actually think the ''Bioware Magic'' didn't die, in fact, it is alive and well, just one very important component of it is lost, and that is a functional leadership who will go through hell and high water with the devs. I mean, current Bioware leadership is still ok leader, but if you are going to pull a ''Bioware magic'' instead of normal AAA development, you need best of the best leaders.

[@sulimanthemagnificent4893]

wait so Bioware is like a copy paste of the South Vietnamese military (except the 1st ARVN division), good at what they do, but no direction/leadership. (don't ask it's my job to teach this shit, and no one listens)

[@DonLasagna]

I still rewatch this entire 2 part review like my favorite history channel show or documentary. It's wonderful

[@whomakesthelaw]

I’ve put off watching it this long bc I knew anthem was such a disaster (I was one of the people with immense expectations). But skillup is so good that I had to finally go back and watch

[@regreegg]

I'm personally glad that you're a voice in the gaming industry.; the fact that you got so much blowback from the community just goes to show how far your voice carries. Thanks for all the good work.

[@DanCGe]

You’re one of my favorite game reviewers. You’re hands down one of the best imo, and hope you continue to do this level of quality content for many years to come.

[@Lawgamer411]

I’ve met Corey, he’s literally a genius when it comes to game development. I have immense respect for Corey based on the fact that not only he made GOTY, but the fact that he was able to make it when he changed the entire gameplay cycle and style of the franchise.

[@yme3267]

So...... Terrible leadership. Terrible business. Creators lost jobs and got hurt. And consumers got lied to aaaaaaannnnnnnnddddd screwed. (Good thing I didn't buy the game lol)

[@griffoncs6431]

Aaaaaand that's why you shouldn't preorder a game!

[@gamedesignwithmichael]

And yet the game still has some zealots. Funnily enough.

[@RetroAmateur1989]

@@gamedesignwithmichael the 9 stages of grief start with denial, and some do not go past denial.

[@rvbkiller1]

Skillup small correction, Edmonton was the studio that developed Anthem, Austin developed SWTOR.

[@uniqhnd23]

@@teet5695 Crud joke

[@MrMojo-Jojo]

Coop Media it not about being a “nerd” it’s about calling out the right people for their bullshit and not blaming the ones who tried to help them out

[@this_is_japes7409]

that's not small

[@benjaminlyons5261]

Edmonton developed anthem but Austin was to take over the live service component once it launched. Both are attached to this game.

[@imo098765]

@@benjaminlyons5261 But its Edmonton's fault the game is in such a state not Austin's they were handed the malfunctioning piece of shit. In both development and after

[@Morbacounet]

Less than 2 years later ... Anthem is officially dead.

[@gweetus]

You all are missing the plot entirely. This is Dylan, the game that BioWare wanted to be referenced for years to come. Mission Accomplished, this is going to be a dev campfire story for the next decade. It's practically a point for point list of what not to do.

[@noriks40]

Not practically.. Literally @gweetus

[@renealbrechtsen9743]

@Suspiciously Hard I still find that absolutely hilarious xD

[@DauthEldrvaria]

You could say... T H E Y. G O T. G L I T C H E D....

[@spiralviper8158]

Anthem is pure comedy gold.

[@JustSkram]

IT'S JUST A BETA GUY- oh wait can't use that excuse now.

[@zer0rama572]

Well the whole game is 🤷🏽‍♂️

[@raevenent751]

IT'S A LOOTER SHOOTER THE GAME WILL GET BETTER OVER TIME Of course it will, but a working, playable game isn't a very high standard, it's pretty basic. But you know what else is a looter shooter? Destiny 2. And it's 1st year was bad but not on Anthem's level of bad, if a game made Destiny 2 year 1 look amazing, *there is a problem*

[@BigBossBernie]

@AegisEdge Fallout 76?

[@Exel3nce]

@@jdavis6053 and yet it still deserves every hate or critique it can get. Plus borderlands and especially 2 were fun and pretty great

[@raevenent751]

@@jdavis6053 Oh I have played Anthem, about 150 hours of it. Do I plan to play it again? Yeah, when it's actually out, as is, it needs TLC... A LOT of it. Do some hop the hate train cause "lul EA hurr hurr" with no thought? Yeah, of course. I've formed my own opinions of them, but also the lot of facts such as SkillUp, or AngryJoe bring up that explain it hell of a lot better than I will, I agree with. Likewise with opinions, and of course disagree on some but those two pretty much hit it on the dot. The problem is when the game is getting the criticism, and flak that is 100% well deserved, get dubbed as "toxic" or "hater". No one or no thing, is free of criticism, even if it's something you like. Honest question, even as the beloved Borderlands series, are you willing to answer honestly without looking at it through rose tinted glasses, did it launch in the current state that Anthem did?

[@andrewmandrona7891]

Spend $60 on this game was an Anthem fan for about 2 hours. Servers started working at 3 hours

[@hiddenshadow2105]

This is rough.

[@TheSupaCoopaGaming]

The article does state that EA took a lot of engineers off the project to go work on FIFA due to FIFA's change of engine to Frostbite. "One was that in 2016, the FIFA games had to move to Frostbite. The annual soccer franchise was EA’s most important series, bringing in a large chunk of the publisher’s revenue, and BioWare had programmers with Frostbite experience, so Electronic Arts shifted them to FIFA. 'A lot of the really talented engineers were actually working on FIFA when they should’ve been working on Anthem,' said one person who was on the project."

[@deidryt9944]

@Rohit Thaosen Right... the engineers who learned how to work with Frostbite with Bioware were pulled off Bioware projects to work on FIFA. So Anthem did have engineers that they fostered to work with Frostbite... and then those resources were taken away.

[@carlosfer2201]

frostbite engineers, not core bioware ones. This certainly affected the performance part of the game, but not the overall failure

[@rogueguardian6684]

@Rohit Thaosen Exactly. They are Dice employees. The creators of Frostbite. Not bioware's.

[@deidryt9944]

@Rohit Thaosen Incorrect -- you are getting 2 different groups of developers confused. "BioWare had programmers with Frostbite experience, so Electronic Arts shifted them to FIFA." These were people that were part of Bioware projects and learned Frostbite while working on Bioware projects. Separately, there was a support team for Frostbite to help with technical issues. "When a BioWare engineer had questions or wanted to report bugs, they’d usually have to talk to EA’s central Frostbite team, a group of support staff that worked with all of the publisher’s studios. Within EA, it was common for studios to battle for resources like the Frostbite team’s time, and BioWare would usually lose those battles."

[@nicholasarchie6440]

Been a subscriber for about a year and never committed, just wanna say I love your in-depth reviews and commentaries keep it up!

[@xminorthreatx]

Skill Up has been on point since his work on Division 1.

[@danherondraws]

"This is where all the magic happens, where everybody has mental breakdowns and shutdowns"

[@KMY17PHX]

I thought at first that you were too harsh on the review but after a while a came to agree totally with you you are not toxic you are one of the best voices of the game industry Keep up the good work mate

[@SeanCrosser]

Hmm, it's almost as if... a project needs a Project Director to direct the project 🤔

[@blanktwilight1345]

Sean Crosser underrated comment

[@euanmackay7362]

Its crazy you got hate for giving an honest, fair and balanced review of a game. Really sorry to hear it, especially as your reviews are always so high quality a credible. You are always the reviewer I trust the most so thank you for all the honesty and balance you always employ.

[@wonkabars6982]

Worry not, Skill Up, my king. We shall defend you from the Anthem cultists once again.

[@Eldenbruh]

No worries, their numbers are diminishing by the second. Even the top shills are starting to give up on the game, so the king is safe.

[@bryanwitherow3710]

And you call anthem fans cultists

[@Lunk42]

*tips hat* m'lady

[@Nannowatts19482]

@@bryanwitherow3710 it's a big yikes move there

[@Lunk42]

@@bryanwitherow3710 They are lol.

[@BubblegumCrash332]

My comment is only viewable on the Epic launcher.

[@specopsshooter21]

Nice try, Valve.

[@skizzlechizzle]

Otha Bojangles hahaha Epic bad hahaha so funny

[@Derjeniche1510]

I'll be back in a year

[@okwhateverlol1983]

I'm burning my phone now

[@lociee]

Now this is epic.

[@jasong.451]

This is fascinating. There's always a story behind what happens, and It's nice to have learned that now.

[@matthewrafter5983]

Thought I'd stop playing Division 2 for 21 minutes to watch this. Great video.

[@user-jy4vl6yi1h]

How is Division 2? Can't be good, it's made by Ubisoft.

[@KidArkx]

@@user-jy4vl6yi1h They made AC2 is that game not good either ?

[@Hzuuuu]

@@user-jy4vl6yi1h Life won't be so hard if you don't stand true to every stereotype you've heard or experienced.

[@MarcoZer0]

d2 reskined d1 same stupid game ;)

[@so.dreezy]

Same. TD2 isn't perfect, but its miles ahead of Anthem.

[@DRPatrikVA]

As they say: "Fanatics will be fanatics." Both reviews are great. You keep doing you, Ralph.

[@AvelierPlays]

Borderrlands 1 and 2 did looter shooters (with a story) very well in 2009 and 2012.

[@DNH17]

Please don't say Looter shooter anymore.. I am going to vomit. Games a service TRASH.

[@dredgen1739]

@@DNH17 Borderlands isn't a live service but it's a looter shooter?

[@S3Cs4uN8]

Eh, BL1's story was super anticlimactic and dragged on a bit too long, no comment on BL2 as I've never played it.

[@josephnmn146]

Yes 1 and 2 were amazing, The pre sequal is garbage though and dont forget borderlands 3 is the sequal to borderlands Pre Sequal (bo2.5) so im unsure how to be hyped about it but we'll see.

[@Never_heart]

Okay Borderlands 2 yes. But Borderlands 1 had a very weak story.

[@dathore]

I'm just gonna quote uncle Wayne here, and remind us of his wisdom. "Overconfidence is a slow, and insidious killer".

[@weekinpreview5661]

Anthem is like a bunch of mismatched puzzle pieces jammed together.

[@Megatronwasright]

Flix Gaming well said!

[@okbVinyl]

And half of pieces missing

[@dromendus]

after the release of Redfall it rly seems like "looter shooter" is where studios default to when they don't have any other ideas

[@RedShadowOfSaturn]

It absolutely is. My favorite part of this video was around 5:00 where SkillUp mentions how the original plan for Anthem was to be a more narrow, mission based ARPG, rather than a live service looter shooter. Honestly, when looking at Anthem in that lens, it's...well...better. Not great still, but when as a near infinitely replayable live service, Anthem is terrible. In a one-and-done ARPG with a beginning, middle and end, it's easier to see that vision, and it's unfortunate BioWare went with the live service model and assumed players would be fine with repetitive crap...rather than heavily curated encounters, a deep story, tons of dialogue, some good loot while it lasted, and a conclusive ending.

[@Mike_Viola]

'Californian Atlas' is a great band name. Just saying.

[@bonedoc4556]

Californian Homeless would draw a bigger crowd.

[@Revan-eb1wb]

or a good album name

[@rruzgarr97]

yoinking that thanks

[@gregrothschilds8453]

I know I sound harsh when I say this but I hope ppl don’t support the game to sympathize with the developers. Anthem needs to and deserves to fail so that EA and BioWare can see the message that what happened with this game is unacceptable. In my opinion they should have just cancelled the project but EA probably had to make them release it to make up for funds. (Which I don’t blame them for forcing them bc the upper management at BioWare clearly don’t know how to do their jobs.)

[@HULKHOGAN1]

Who is stupid enough to sympathize with the developers? Bioware had 6 years to make this game and they failed spectacularly. Anthem certainly deserves to fail even though it didn't since it sold over 7 million copies...

[@Morbacounet]

@@HULKHOGAN1 people defending it. Just because it's Bioware.

[@marcosdheleno]

you would be surprised, i just came from a video where the guy talks about how impressive it was for the development team to finish the game in that time, and ALOT of the commenters were basically "man, if anthem is already this awersome and incredible now, imagine what will happen when they finish it", and no, no sarcasm in them...

[@Daxel134]

It sounds way more like a management and leader problem then a then a Dev problem

[@davidfutterer551]

@@marcosdheleno What the fuck... Some people are so stupid... In which time we are living that people defend such a boring broken Mess ?

[@meganvincent5381]

I like how you focus on how the staff was fucked over, more awareness needs to be brought to this issue

[@skitch2564]

Skill Up on Anthem: Told you so edition

[@ColeEvyx]

As someone who was very defensive of Anthem and Bioware, this video is the most brutally painfully accurate one and everything from the introduction to the end is horrifyingly accurate. :(

[@heretustay]

Cole Evyx it’s a sad day for fans of BioWare, in any capacity.

[@GiblixStudio]

@@heretustay itrs been a sad day for us Bioware fans for almost 2 decades now. where have you been "fan"?

[@Vinceboten]

Don't be that person in the future ever again

[@ColeEvyx]

@@shishaceo5204 You don't know me if you think I was toxic. I don't handle disagreements like that.

[@shankley_has_a_brush]

@FantomOmega Whoa, take your blood pressure meds. Hahaha

[@donaldw3231]

The ending of Mass Effect 3 showed that Bioware stopped caring about their games, so I stopped, too.

[@kvjbreaker7054]

The only part of Mass Effect 3 ending that I hated was Shepard was killed. I kind of knew that this might happen when I went into the game. However, I felt that the ending, provided that you got the best ending available, was not totally unfulfilling. The good guys won and those who died didn’t put their ultimate sacrifice in vain. I think many went into the game thinking that commander Shepard would have survived and that the game would end in a “...and they all lived happily ever after.” That’s my opinion of them anyways. They didn’t lose their magic at that point, it was just a new trick by a familiar face we haven’t seen yet.

[@Jesse__H]

I really enjoyed the updated/patched ending to ME3. I'll never forget my Madeline Shepherd, and her story is one of my fondest videogame memories, even now after eight years. I never played the unpatched ending, I was busy at the time and didn't get to play the game until it'd been out for maybe half a year. Maybe if I'd played that, I'd feel differently. But the ending **I** got was satisfying ... maybe not the masterpiece ending the series deserved, but, satisfying.

[@klarnorbert]

Original writer of Mass Effect left in the middle of Mass Effect 3 development. One of the reason why the ending sucks ass.

[@Mike-ukr]

@@kvjbreaker7054 If you get the best possible Destroy ending, Shepard survives

[@dragonhitman1071]

Great video bud sucks that a lot of the blind anthem fanbase is gonna call you and everyone else a spicy hater. After walking among them you learn they reach far to denounce all naysayers.

[@lsfaraone]

Dragon Hitman I just hope they stretch before they make all those insane reaches.

[@hytyde4304]

“We should be thanking EA for not making things worse” It’s the end times, isn’t it?

[@wargamingrefugee9065]

Yep. I fought off being Raptured three times to finish watching the video.

[@goodjoejoe]

All this pro-EA sentiment is kinda discomforting. Like the calm before shutting down Bioware. They still deserve equal blame for this shitshow. They should've stepped in 3 years into development and cancelled the project or provided better support.

[@Strider_Shinryu]

Just got this showing up for me thanks to YT's recommendations.. very interesting watch in the wake of RedFall. I don't know if we'll ever get this sort of breakdown for RedFall but hearing all of this sure makes you tihnk

[@Burritobandits]

You mixed up the two Bioware studios. Bioware Austin launched SWTOR not Edmonton.

[@Maximo69]

its not a big deal.

[@tycel2004]

I just noticed that as well

[@chronolumina]

@@Maximo69 It IS a pretty damn big deal. They're two VERY different teams. Edmonton's arrogance is one of the reasons for this anthem debacle since they didn't want to listen to advice coming from the much more experienced Austin team. You can't just lump them all together. Still a good SkillUp video, regardless.

[@TheJokeKing33]

9:00 You have those backwards, Austin were the ones not being listened to by Edmunton.

[@keachweder6217]

Edmonton*

[@definitelynotsnake]

A reviewer that puts out real facts and opinions and understands what makes a game fundamentally good and fun to play. Additionally you can tell he just loves games. Ultra Rare Holographic breed of Reviewer. You've earned my sub man

[@yaidan470]

i said to my friend earlier today "Their Bioware Magic is the equivalent to us starting and finishing a 6 month project on the last week" Procrastination, thats what "Bioware Magic" means.

[@dutchdykefinger]

"necessity is the mother of invention" they say though i guess they never really felt the need lol

[@silversandxo]

Anthem is like being surprised you got an F

[@coldogno7]

CANT WAIT FOR ANTHEM 2!!! u cant wait because its not coming

[@felipebetanzo6011]

Honestly just died

[@dracolerro2592]

coldogno7 anthem 2 development stopped the moment the hate started lol

[@GRITBONE]

@@dracolerro2592 anthem 1 development stopped then also.....

[@palpaladin315]

Well it might, I mean Anthem is contracted til 2028.

[@Redsandjunkie]

It very well might though, they can produce a sequel and convince people it'll be better than the first one.

[@DocHuckleberry09]

SkillUp, you have hands down become my favorite voice in video games. Referencing quality journalism, using stark and interesting comparisons for your reviews, and using your unapologetic opinion keeps me coming back to your channel. Please, don’t succumb to the hate you’re getting. There are silent watchers like myself out there that rarely comment and continue to appreciate everything you’re doing. Keep it up dude. 🤟🏻

[@TehOak]

The best part of this video is Cory Barlog.

[@1RacerXer]

One of the coolest people in the industry in my opinion. I've been a fan of his work since GOW2.

[@soyUsernameWasTaken]

The video just went from 10/10 to 11/10 when cory graced this video with his presence.

[@alfaenergynutricion8688]

How you dare, to compare this thing with warframe!!! Sacrilege!!!

[@abitrubbish]

i played Warframe beta and hated it. I then watched the gushing videos from SkillUp and I'm eternally grateful for my new obsession.

[@carlosfer2201]

he only said they were the same genre though.

[@adamka-1]

Can someone point me to the anthem defenders. I want to laugh at them but i cant find any for a year now.

[@TheRealTanSeeker]

Here in Australia anthem is at EB games (our game stop) for one dollar. Fifty percent off, down from two dollars 😂😂😂

[@RustCohle072]

So Cory Barlog had a pLaN?! *Wait..* wrong game.

[@gabrielkow8867]

hE Had A pLaN, MuNEh and sUm GODDAM FAITH

[@RustCohle072]

Don't forget the mango farm in TAHITI.

[@SwooshJush83]

meanwhile BioWare has LUMBAGO

[@toledochristianmatthew9919]

@@SwooshJush83 A very slow and painful death indeed.

[@RustCohle072]

@@toledochristianmatthew9919 Evidently.

[@Leodigarius]

I don't think they can afford to give up on Anthem. They did that to Mass Effect Andromeda with that exact reason, to make Anthem better. If they do it again, no one will care about them and they might as well shut down the studio. The only way forward is for them to make an upfront massive apology and in depth explanation of how Anthem will be fixed. Take it offline, offer refunds, or whatever is needed for them to fix it. If they spend time and actually fix it to a reasonable state, as well as being as legitimately transparent on a weekly basis about what they are doing, then they have a chance. Anything less makes them an instant write off.

[@dukiwave]

He cancelled Part 2 of his review to fareshadow the cancelling of Anthem NEXT. This is the sort of in-depth critique we desperately need more of.

[@schpleef9395]

They think they’ll make more money by basically liquidating the gameplay into money, but no one buys it and I’m amazed not many developers (DICE) haven’t figured that out yet

[@dutchdykefinger]

they may want to look into making pachinko machines, they could rehash the same game over and over and over lol

[@AWOL_ODST]

If Jason is the penultimate games journalist then SkillUp must be the the equivalent games reviewer. Ignore the haters and keep calling it out as it is otherwise things will never get better without constructive criticism of the industry.

[@TF_Tony]

Penultimate? Who's the ultimate one, then?

[@AWOL_ODST]

@@TF_Tony Because Im sure everyone will have their own opinion and I didnt want to be so definite, especially on KZbin comments section. Consider it the option to insert the journalist of your choice to minimise conflicts.

[@TF_Tony]

@@AWOL_ODST so Skillup, considering he's the equivalent, is also just the penultimate games reviewer? Who's the ultimate one in your opinion?

[@AWOL_ODST]

@@TF_Tony Well in my opinion it is Angry Joe, he has been in the game for a decade and was the first KZbinr I have every subscribed to. Jesus, I used one adjective and it gets turned into the Spanish Inquision. Let it go dude.... I just wanted to pay the guy a compliment. Good grief!

[@TF_Tony]

@@AWOL_ODST It's alright, dude. ;) I was just intrigued by the idea of advocating constructive criticism matched with the inability to admit a petty irrelevant mistake.

[@jiaruishe945]

It is rare these days to see a KZbin video with so much useful and thoughtful information. Really learned so much in your 20 minutes video. Had so much thoughts in common. Good video man, appreciated the quality.

[@ultima8229]

Destiny stayed alive amidst its constant tumult for two reasons: - Excellent gunplay - Excellent raids Anthem has no such redeeming qualities. I can always trust that even if a Destiny expansion is generally shit (*cough* Curse of Osiris *cough*), the loop will still be inherently fun and the raid will be good. In Anthem, I can't find any reason to want to play the game. No mechanic or piece of content unique or interesting enough. Destiny was ruined by its poor main story, its shallow endgame, its over-conservative approach to loot, etc. You can fix that. You can't fix the core gameplay loop, engine, and mission design. That's hard baked.

[@ninjk7836]

agreed, where Destiny failed in its story it made up for in gameplay and content(not counting Curse of Osiris, dear god that was a terrible DLC)

[@mixsignal91]

Ultima extremely well said. I was a diehard destiny 1 player and couldn’t make it past the 1st day of the demo for Anthem.

[@MrSolus-ls6us]

@@ninjk7836 Not just that but Bungie is actually doing better with story telling and making cool characters (Drifter gang)

[@proassassin8473]

Exactly. Anthem gameplay isn't good enough to carry it. And Bioware has the nerve to not give loot out.

[@georgepaschalidis9840]

You can get Forsaken with base game + all DLCs with 60$ and get 5 times Anthem's content

[@tylerfigueroatf]

I can honestly say your long format reviews are what drew me to your channel in the first place. That and... THICC BOI

[@franciscomendonca8]

When you mentioned Corey, the first thing I think about is the documentary on GOW and how they made it. They took so long to make just the debut trailer that he had no idea how they could pull off a full release on such a tight schedule. The crunching and hard work of the Santa Monica team was able to do it ONLY due to the unflinching vision of Corey, he did what a great leader does and pulled in the resources needed to make it happen. BioWare just crunched the hell out of their staff with no clear vision, so this is what we got. May it be a story for future developers to remember

[@Horvath_Gabor]

The thing is, now that I've played the game on PC, I could clearly see where they had to cut corners (such as Atreus's character arc in the middle getting condensed to the point of cringe), but I can't be mad at the game, because it's still one of the best, most visually and thematically coherent piece of fiction I've seen in the past decade. I guess that's what happens when there's a competent manager with a unifying vision at the helm to keep everything together.

[@Theron101]

Inb4 fanboys blindly defend the game again

[@axle1717]

GaMe GoOd

[@AdrasAdraki]

[insert blind defense here]

[@Zerba-]

I liked it but there’s no endgame only just 2-3 boring activities

[@Theron101]

@@Zerba- it's fine to like a game it's not fine to completely ignore the criticism and attack the reviewer which plenty of people did

[@EyesOfGehenna]

Not that many of em around anymore really

[@Breadumi]

Hey @SkillUp, I want to point out a discrepancy at 9:00 You say the Bioware Austin ignored the advice of Bioware Edmonton. According to Schreier's it was actually the other way around. Bioware Austin was the studio that primarily developed and supported The Old Republic and provided ignored advice to the Edmonton studio.

[@palpaladin315]

What "advice"? For all you know they might've been telling them what they think is the proper method to wipe ones arse!

[@ramue5749]

To be fair he is Australian, I can see how the mix up can occur when you are so far removed from that region of the world.

[@4FYTfa8EjYHNXjChe8xs7xmC5pNEtz]

Anthem makes me wish that Gordon Ramsay was a games journalist.

[@kvjbreaker7054]

How so? Sorry my phone kept auto correcting this statement.

[@ameeryoussef]

I think you switched Bioware Austin and Bioware Edmonton around the 9 minute mark.

[@obw4945]

Yes.

[@Lexacus_94]

13:50 ish I simply cannot understand people that get hyped so much to play (and even defend) something that is not even decent compared to its competitors. I can get that people want an idea like multiplayer in fallout to be good, but you should never be happy with a game that ships in a horrible state for 60+ bucks and "will eventually be good in a couple years". Especially when you could play games like Warframe and be happy from the start.

[@mAcroFaze]

I think a lot of people who defend it are in complete denial over just how bad the game really is, and after having spent $60 on it, are looking for any justification for having put down that much cash for such a mediocre product.

[@tommunist10]

These are only facts: Warframe is a P2W Xbox 360 era game with archaic physics, engine, and mechanics. The endgame for Warframe is fashion: To make your frame look cute with bright colors, ribbons, cat-like claws, etc. That’s what you’re into hahaha smh. Warframe requires you wait 72 hours to build something (after you paid money for platinum to unlock it) (only way to get platinum is with real money, or by grinding for someone and then trading.) Literally being someone else’s fetcher/lackey dog is the best way to get plat. So, and these all ARE indeed facts: You’re backing an old, 2013, P2W game that requires you wait three real days and nights to unlock things, whose endgame is to make your character look saucy and spunky, and where, if you don’t want to spend $100, you have to be other people’s fetching dogs. The grind is not difficult: it does not require tact, it does not require: effort, focus, ingenuity, etc. Just kill the weak AI. The: engine, graphics, physics, are all subpar. I mean, what would you expect? It’s a free P2W game from 2013 Warframe is a true embodiment of quantity over quality. Have fun with that free P2W fashion 2013 game. Glad I got out of it, though. True waste of time. Can feel your brain liquidating when you play it. Oh and all the maps are created by a (bad and repetitive) algorithm, like Elder Scrolls Daggerfall from 22 years ago. Really awful map design. Assets are reused shamelessly. Again, what more would you expect from a free 2013 game?

[@dascreeb5205]

Anthem is just: What if we took Warframe, but took all the good parts out?

[@5hane9ro]

Glad Mass Effect 3 is the last bioware game I bought and Inquisition I got for free from a friend

[@sinw88]

Sad purchase on inquisition

[@heretustay]

Lol, 5hane9ro exactly the same for me! 😂

[@AniGaAG]

To this day, there's people so invested in their spent money that they still believe Anthem will "pull a Final Fantasy XIV". First off - ah, ha, ha. Uhm, no. Don't anyone even _compare_ these two games. Don't anyone even _compare_ the Anthem situation to a bunch of devs stepping up on stage with tears in their eyes, bowing deep and vowing to make a better MMO. Don't compare that, don't make me laugh. Secondly... really? _Really?_ You people see something here that's worth that?

[@woonam]

Bioware have fallen so far RIP in pieces

[@McGooness]

Rest in pieces in pieces?

[@Sovietskikh]

They fell after TORtanic, only now people are realizing it.

[@RRRRRRRRR33]

@@McGooness oh boy, just wait for the new dragon age lol there's always a possibility for things to get worse

[@kevinlim7265]

Rest in peace in pieces.

[@opticalmoose8091]

9:00 You messed up, Edmonton is the one who was elitist, and Austin made SWTOR.