A Roadblock to Making Better Games

[@tldreview]

Also, just want to point out I really appreciate the non mtg episodes. I know it's not great for the channel but please keep sprinkling them every now and again! Much appreciated

[@thejollyrajamtg9847]

Agree!

[@thejollyrajamtg9847]

I played some of Death Stranding, and one thing it did really well was that it was super transparent about trying to create a unique user experience. It wasn't trying to gaslight you into thinking it was supposed to feel like playing Horizon: Zero Dawn or Assassin's Creed.

[@benjamingerry1752]

Leaving a comment to expand the sphere of people who will see this.

[@turfinat0r]

Helldivers 2 has some of the best feeling controls in a game (for myself and in recent memory). The sluggishness and weight of your actions is subtle but reinforces the fact that you arent on par with the Xenos you are fighting. Helldivers are a desperate measure of high firepower (stratagems) with a weak, fleshy targeting package (the helldiver). I think it bodes well for shooters in the future.

[@colbyhoman7602]

FLESH AND BLOOD MENTIONED

[@crtchicanery9605]

God, I have so much to say on this subject, I can barely even start. We're stuck in this so bad that we keep remaking games to feel like current year AAA experiences out of a fear that current players won't touch anything else. I crave the opportunity to explore new systems with unique tactile properties but so many people reflexively dismiss anything that feels unfamiliar. I say banish terms like "clunky" or "outdated" from your vocabulary. Embrace things that feel a little bit strange. If something really is just bad, be more precise with your language than "clunky." Anyways, play Penny's Big Breakaway.

[@distractionmakers]

In some cases a majority of players won’t touch these unique experiences. It’s important to build a business model that allows for them anyway.

[@SenkaZver]

I will make a few points as an indie dev, A lot of the reasons why games are less experimental and more samey is because we have 40+ years of games. It's hard to create a genuinely new genre as the medium has been explored heavily. We're past the exploration stage and into the city builder stage. It'll be very rare to find a game that is genuinely new and innovative, they'll all be derivative of what has been. Built on these internalized knowledge. Now it's about being able to efficiently maximize and elaborate on these ideas. Imo. That's why things like game jams and GDC are important. And as you two say, these internalized knowledge helps players to learn the game and experience it. Imo I think part of the problem is, players and devs are trying to "explore", find brand new experiences, when the goal should be on creating unique and immersive experiences, even if the core is the same as X other game, how you experience it, the atmosphere, ludonarrative, the story, the presentation. That's what developers should aim to deliver. With RDR2 and Dark Souls, I think they do capture this idea of leaning on known norms but pushing the player to have a specific, unique experience. I do agree with Forrest's takes on the industry a lot too. It's funny because YGO is one of the most unique TCGs and few lean on any of the elements it created. Even funnier that YGO slowly went away from some of those unique aspects I love, like trap cards, set cards, ritual monsters, etc.

[@distractionmakers]

It’s interesting to see where the innovation is coming from. Changing the narrative experience is easy, the interaction less so. Games as a medium are strange in that way. You sit and watch a movie, you don’t have to learn to do that every time. I think we’re seeing the stagnation because of that resistance, but learning is what makes games great.

[@christuckwell3185]

Tangential to this discussion on different control schemes for games, would you consider one day touching on rhythm/music games like Crypto of the Necro dancer or Patapon ?

[@mathewshaw1111]

This was the problem I had with the latest Starwars card game. It was mechanically sound but it felt like a bunch of "fixed" ideas with a Starwars skin. Not like the 90's one with it's complex cinematic play style and "the force" being an actual game system.

[@tldreview]

Monster Hunter always seems to be left out of these discussions, so I just want to shout it out as the points presented could bery well translate into that whole series. With that said, shoutout to my man Monster Hunter, new instalment coming whatever of february

[@distractionmakers]

Good point!

[@blithen]

Where can I snag one of those giant growth shirts?! omg

[@distractionmakers]

Forrest will likely be selling them next year.

[@MetallicMutalisk]

Dark Souls wasn't hard to play at the time it came out since Demon's Souls had come out two years earlier...

[@fgnsfgnsfgn]

Very true watching the game awards was pretty depressing... my bias has always been that this naturally occurs when teams get too big. The great designers are mostly great because of the simple fact that their artistic vision survives the process of delegation (normally via extreme micro-managing). The same phenomenon occurs in every creative industry.

[@distractionmakers]

It is hard to execute a unique vision with a large team for sure. You’re also less likely to take risks.

[@cerealboxantagonist]

A kid complains controls being clumsy? Make them play and beat QWOP before you let them back on the game they complained about. Problem solved