Last night Sony really threw down the gauntlet. The opening salvo of announcements really amazed. But they also made me think.
There's no denying that Naughty Dog is one of the best studios in the gaming industry. Uncharted is always upping the bar, and The Last of Us is one of the greatest games ever made. But does everything need to strive to follow Naughty Dog, or be The Last of Us?
God of War looked amazing. It's a reboot on every level, rebuilt from the ground up.The franchise needed to reinvigorate itself. There are plenty of easy to spot variations, like the lack of the Chains, the brighter color palettes, or Kratos having a son. But what's a little more odd is what looks like the choice to abandon the fixed camera perspective and incorporate more exploration, possibly at the expense of the hack-and-slash. Granted it's hard to say from the demo if this is completely representative of the title, but it would appear so. To me, God of War has always had some of the best graphics, and visceral gameplay, thanks in part to the fixed camera. I think they rival, and often exceed, Naughty Dog. There's no denying the PS4 game looks good, and I'm really excited for it, but it does make me wonder if they've tweaked the formula a bit too much. There really aren't that many isometric, hack-and-slash games anymore. Why lose one of the best?
Then there was Days Gone, by Bend. It's post-apocalyptic. It's zombie-ish. It's got that same over-the-shoulder camera. Again, it looks good, but it look a lot like everything else too.
Even Horizon shares some similarities.
I'm extremely happy they aren't all brown, desaturated shooters, but the predictable trend is now vibrant, foliage-filled, exploratory, action adventure games. Yes, for every one of those there is a No Man's Sky, or a Detroit, or a Last Guardian, but it seems like more internal studios are following, or being encouraged to follow, in Naughty Dog's footsteps.
The AAA industry is at a very dangerous point. The time and cost of development have only continued to increase. With that, the amount of risks a studio or company is willing to take will decrease.
Sony has always been really strong with their variety of games. The PS3 was home to Uncharted, The Last of Us, God of War, Resistance, Killzone, Infamous, Ratchet & Clank, Sly Cooper, Little Big Planet, and Puppeteer - all amazing titles in their respective genres. That variety is what has continued to keep me a huge Sony fan. It's great that The Last of Us exists. It's great that it got like a bajillion perfect 10s, and sold so well. But it's also equally as great that Ratchet & Clank still exists. It was great that God of War provided it's own unique experience in a different genre. Are we at risk of losing some of that uniqueness?
Also, speaking of uniqueness, where were my indies, Sony?
There's no denying that Naughty Dog is one of the best studios in the gaming industry. Uncharted is always upping the bar, and The Last of Us is one of the greatest games ever made. But does everything need to strive to follow Naughty Dog, or be The Last of Us?
God of War looked amazing. It's a reboot on every level, rebuilt from the ground up.The franchise needed to reinvigorate itself. There are plenty of easy to spot variations, like the lack of the Chains, the brighter color palettes, or Kratos having a son. But what's a little more odd is what looks like the choice to abandon the fixed camera perspective and incorporate more exploration, possibly at the expense of the hack-and-slash. Granted it's hard to say from the demo if this is completely representative of the title, but it would appear so. To me, God of War has always had some of the best graphics, and visceral gameplay, thanks in part to the fixed camera. I think they rival, and often exceed, Naughty Dog. There's no denying the PS4 game looks good, and I'm really excited for it, but it does make me wonder if they've tweaked the formula a bit too much. There really aren't that many isometric, hack-and-slash games anymore. Why lose one of the best?
Then there was Days Gone, by Bend. It's post-apocalyptic. It's zombie-ish. It's got that same over-the-shoulder camera. Again, it looks good, but it look a lot like everything else too.
Even Horizon shares some similarities.
I'm extremely happy they aren't all brown, desaturated shooters, but the predictable trend is now vibrant, foliage-filled, exploratory, action adventure games. Yes, for every one of those there is a No Man's Sky, or a Detroit, or a Last Guardian, but it seems like more internal studios are following, or being encouraged to follow, in Naughty Dog's footsteps.
The AAA industry is at a very dangerous point. The time and cost of development have only continued to increase. With that, the amount of risks a studio or company is willing to take will decrease.
Sony has always been really strong with their variety of games. The PS3 was home to Uncharted, The Last of Us, God of War, Resistance, Killzone, Infamous, Ratchet & Clank, Sly Cooper, Little Big Planet, and Puppeteer - all amazing titles in their respective genres. That variety is what has continued to keep me a huge Sony fan. It's great that The Last of Us exists. It's great that it got like a bajillion perfect 10s, and sold so well. But it's also equally as great that Ratchet & Clank still exists. It was great that God of War provided it's own unique experience in a different genre. Are we at risk of losing some of that uniqueness?
Also, speaking of uniqueness, where were my indies, Sony?
