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Xbox portfolio team on TLOU2

onesvenus

Member
From the court documents on the case about Epic vs Apple comes this image. A review by the Xbox portfolio team (whoever they might be) about the last of us 2.

There are some curious tidbits there as them downplaying the gunplay (which I agree has never been ND biggest point) and them saying that should be what they aim to do on the next gen.

LkfPmoS.jpg
 
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cormack12

Gold Member
Seems fair? Their gun mechanics aren't bad or terrible but they probably don't stray into 'good' and certainly not excellent. Best gun sequence in the entire game is Tommy as the sniper, and its controlled by an NPC.

It was better than TLOU and worse than UC4 imo.

Rest of the review is full of praise.
 
lol they have a team dissecting Sony exclusives.

That last paragraphs The Last of Us part 2 is the exceedingly rare video game where it accomplishes in moving forward the art of narrative storytelling in video games as a medium ultimately outweights whether or not everyone “likes” it or even has “fun” playing it. That said we loved it, had a great time playing it, and we find ourselves still thinking about its characters and stories even after finishing the playthrough.

same.
 
From the court documents on the case about Epic vs Apple comes this image. A review by the Xbox portfolio team (whoever they might be) about the last of us 2.

There are some curious tidbits there as them downplaying the gunplay (which I agree has never been ND biggest point) and them saying that should be what they aim to do on the next gen.

LkfPmoS.jpg

Seems fair? Their gun mechanics aren't bad or terrible but they probably don't stray into 'good' and certainly not excellent. Best gun sequence in the entire game is Tommy as the sniper, and its controlled by an NPC.

It was better than TLOU and worse than UC4 imo.

Rest of the review is full of praise.

Well, gunplay in TLOU 2 is praised by critics
 

Dick Jones

Gold Member
From the court documents on the case about Epic vs Apple comes this image. A review by the Xbox portfolio team (whoever they might be) about the last of us 2.

There are some curious tidbits there as them downplaying the gunplay (which I agree has never been ND biggest point) and them saying that should be what they aim to do on the next gen.

LkfPmoS.jpg
Microsoft's internal review team is more objective than the actual reviewers. Games media should be fucking ashamed.
 
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Arun1910

Member
This might seem strange to some people, but console wars are not a thing in a business environment.
Well, not in that direct sense.

Competition and drive to be better than the "opposition" forces both companies to do better.
 

DenchDeckard

Moderated wildly
I wonder is Sony did a review of recore?....

result.....if we pretty much change everything this could be a great game...get housemarq on the phone...

seriously, how were fanboys even trying to compare those two games haha.
 

geary

Member
Well, not in that direct sense.

Competition and drive to be better than the "opposition" forces both companies to do better.
Yes, but you are doing better by being objective and acknowledge what the competitor does good and what does not and also correctly asses what you are doing good and what you are not.
 

Rolla

Banned
When you consider that this is a classified review document and was written for internal distribution at Microsoft, there's a ton that jumps off the page but some of the most notable quotes for me were...

"The visual quality and attention to detail are absolutely best in class in basically every area and the overall presentation is significantly ahead of anything that other teams are producing on console and PC"

"Naughty Dog have crafted and delivered a story that THEY wanted to tell. Not every game's designs can support the level of visual fidelity they produce, and not every team has the money or talent to produce it"


Since this is a Microsoft internal document, I think it's safe to assume that when they say ND is "Significantly" ahead of other devs teams on console and PC, they're talking about themselves.

Naughty Dog right now be like

giphy.gif
 
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FranXico

Member
I would very much like to see Sony’s opinion on Forza, Ori 1&2 and Flight Simulator.
Ori I can see them recommending finding an indie game in the same vein.

My point was, this is pretty standard. Games get reviewed as soon as they come out, and hardware gets reverse engineered too. Companies always do this kind of thing to keep tabs on the competition.
 
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ManaByte

Member
I thought GoT was a MUCH better game than TLOU2 and deserved all of the GOTY accolades that people seemed to toss on TLOU2 just by default because it was ND and TLOU.

Aside from the gameplay, which was just richer and a much larger part of the game in GoT, TLOU2's narrative came off as lazy. That's right, lazy. The story basically ends at the halfway point in the theater. When the game switches to Abby, it's just telling the same time period from a different perspective, until she gets up to the theater as well. TLOU1 was a road trip that went through the seasons. It felt longer and it felt like they had it more planned out. In TLOU2 the switch to Abby just felt like padding out the playtime under the narrative guise of showing revenge from a different point of view.

Again, Ghost of Tsushima is the real 2020 GOTY. It's like how Shawshank was the true best picture of 1994 but everyone praised Gump for reasons.
 

kyliethicc

Member
I thought GoT was a MUCH better game than TLOU2 and deserved all of the GOTY accolades that people seemed to toss on TLOU2 just by default because it was ND and TLOU.

Aside from the gameplay, which was just richer and a much larger part of the game in GoT, TLOU2's narrative came off as lazy. That's right, lazy. The story basically ends at the halfway point in the theater. When the game switches to Abby, it's just telling the same time period from a different perspective, until she gets up to the theater as well. TLOU1 was a road trip that went through the seasons. It felt longer and it felt like they had it more planned out. In TLOU2 the switch to Abby just felt like padding out the playtime under the narrative guise of showing revenge from a different point of view.

Again, Ghost of Tsushima is the real 2020 GOTY. It's like how Shawshank was the true best picture of 1994 but everyone praised Gump for reasons.
Cope.

 

DeepEnigma

Gold Member
I wonder is Sony did a review of recore?....

result.....if we pretty much change everything this could be a great game...get housemarq on the phone...

seriously, how were fanboys even trying to compare those two games haha.
The funniest thing I saw about that disingenuous comparison.

Were the fanatics throwing their favorite brand's 1P game under the bus like it was a diss against PS fans.
youtube lol GIF
 
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Dick Jones

Gold Member
They failed to learn the use of R1, which allows quick swapping between weapons.

They specifically say this was needed, but it literally exists. No need to use the D-dap to switch weapons. Just tap R1.

0t4LMsO.jpg


cEa3jHu.jpg


And I love the guns in Part 2. Feels great.
I played part 2 and I didn't know that. At least they also look for ways to improve the game they are assessing, whether or not mechanics were noticed by the reviewers.
 
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Guilty_AI

Member
Internal appraisal of competing products for research purposes? Tell me it isn't so! /s

I assure you that Sony also has people playing and dissecting Xbox exclusives. The conclusions they arrive might be different though.
the conclusion, dont copy MS exclusives
MS titles have excellent coop, often even being designed around coop experiences.

You can be damn sure Sony is taking notes on that front considering "play with your friends" games are rising in popularity.
 

cormack12

Gold Member
I played part 2 and I didn't know that. At least they also look for ways to improve the game they are assessing, whether or not mechanics were noticed by the reviewers.

I think it's only a weapon cycle. Not inventoried items. So you can't press R1 to change from revolver to pistol. Or from shotgun to rifle.

You can use it to cycle between throwable, pistol in slot, long in slot.
 

Tripolygon

Banned
When you consider that this is a classified review document and was written for internal distribution at Microsoft, there's a ton that jumps off the page but some of the most notable quotes for me were...

"The visual quality and attention to detail are absolutely best in class in basically every area and the overall presentation is significantly ahead of anything that other teams are producing on console and PC"

"Naughty Dog have crafted and delivered a story that THEY wanted to tell. Not every game's designs can support the level of visual fidelity they produce, and not every team has the money or talent to produce it"


Since this is a Microsoft internal document, I think it's safe to assume that when they say ND is "Significantly" ahead of other devs teams on console and PC, they're talking about themselves.

Naughty Dog right now be like

giphy.gif
Someone is not going to be very happy about a Sony game being called best in class. Lol
 

MrS

Banned
No lies detected. The game is a stunning work. Xbox should strive to make games like this if they wish to propel this medium forward.

Their best is Gears and even that's just what i'd call adequate. Guns feel good but it's still using the same sluggish controls since the first game

Vanquish, TLOU2 and MGSV

Nothing else comes close to those three
As somebody who has platinum'd Vanquish, I gotta say that I think Returnal has usurped it. The game controls phonemically well and the combat is incredible. IMHO.
 
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mxbison

Member
They are perhaps comparing to their own games. Gunplay in MS games is as good as it gets.

Comes down to preference I guess. I was really disappointed by gunplay in Gears 5 (which I guess most people here are referring to).

Still very static combat just sitting behind those cover walls and pumping out hundreds of bullets.

For me TLOU2 was perfect in that regard. Very dynamic encounters and the weapons felt really impactful.
 

kyliethicc

Member
I played part 2 and I didn't know that. At least they also look for ways to improve the game they are assessing, whether or not mechanics were noticed by the reviewers.
Its a nice improvement over the 1st game. Just tapping R1 cycles between the 2-4 weapons you can have equipped. Like Ellie's pistol, revolver, shotgun, rifle.

It cycles left to right endlessly and can be used while aiming, or even when sprinting. Makes swapping between guns very easy.

Its funny that they literally say the game needs a mechanic... that it has lol.
 

Maxwell Jacob Friedman

leads to fear. Fear leads to xbox.
Seems fair? Their gun mechanics aren't bad or terrible but they probably don't stray into 'good' and certainly not excellent. Best gun sequence in the entire game is Tommy as the sniper, and its controlled by an NPC.

It was better than TLOU and worse than UC4 imo.

Rest of the review is full of praise.
I'd say tloup2 has the best gunplay mechanics along next to mgsv. It's not just pop pop move on its the systems in place. Its the animations, the attentions to detail of said weapons, is the ways enemies react when shot either a limb and they take weight off of their leg or shriek when their arm falls off, or the gurgling of blood when an enemy dies etc is what makes it the best, top tier and probably never beaten. Naughty dogs attention to detail is second to none, and as much as they say it's not good what are they comparing it to, Gears? Where Every enemy are bullet sponges and just flip over after?
 
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Warnen

Don't pass gaas, it is your Destiny!
Given you like to make throwaway comments like this very often. People can just as easily dismiss what you have to say about Sony games by responding with a "it's not a MS game".
Should be if it’s not destiny 2 then….

If you actually look at my post I mostly play that and compare everything to it.
 
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