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Are Games Better Than Ever?
- Thread starter Patrick Young
- Start date
Spieler Eins
Member
Nah, many genres are underrepresented outside of shallow indie knockoffs. Bloodborne might be the only HD game I put into my personal top 10. 2017 was the first standout year since like the PS2/GCN/Xbox generation. SNES Mini games that I haven't played yet blow me away more than current gen consoles.
Magic Mushroom
Member
2015 was fantastic as well with Bloodborne, Splatoon, Ori, Witcher 3, Phantom Pain, R6 Siege and Rocket League.
Last year had The Witness, Inside, Doom, Hitman, Overwatch, Titanfall 2, Dishonored 2, The Last Guardian, Overcooked, Dark Souls 3, Uncharted 4.
To name but a few.
This gen is doing really well I'd say.
For me personally, the golden age was late gen 6-early gen 7. PS2 JRPGs out the wazoo, Nintendo was doing really unique stuff with their first party and stuff like Twilight Princess, SMG1, EBA/Ouendan, and The Fire Emblem Radiance duology are GOAT-tier, tons of unique DS/PSP games (especially with the imports with these platforms being region-free), last true period of time for mid-tier Japanese games, indie games beginning, start of the modern AAA era on 360/PS3 when those kinds of cinematic games and modern FPS games were more novel. There was so much out there across so many different platforms, all of them with very different games being released for them (aside 360 vs. PS3 which were pretty similar).
Gaming right now is good, but not great IMO. The first half of this year was one of the best periods of time for video games in a very long time, though quality tends to fluctuate more especially with longer development cycles. 2015 was one of the worst years of gaming ever for me, so much of what was released didn't interest me outside of a small handful of games. Also the prevalence of digital games and games as a service makes me worried about not being able to play the games I buy today 15 years down the line.
Keep in mind that I'm immensely biased towards a few genres though (JRPGs, fighting games, rhythm games, platformers, and visual novels). I also care more about quantity of the stuff I like than quality, if all I cared about was the quality of the cream of the crop then 2001 would be the permanent GOAT for me probably.
Gaming right now is good, but not great IMO. The first half of this year was one of the best periods of time for video games in a very long time, though quality tends to fluctuate more especially with longer development cycles. 2015 was one of the worst years of gaming ever for me, so much of what was released didn't interest me outside of a small handful of games. Also the prevalence of digital games and games as a service makes me worried about not being able to play the games I buy today 15 years down the line.
Keep in mind that I'm immensely biased towards a few genres though (JRPGs, fighting games, rhythm games, platformers, and visual novels). I also care more about quantity of the stuff I like than quality, if all I cared about was the quality of the cream of the crop then 2001 would be the permanent GOAT for me probably.
Playing games since the C64, I have to say PS2 was the best era. I could make a list long enough to break GAF with the incredible diversity and quantity of sublime games there were on that console. Many genres of game we just don't see much of any more either, arcade racers for example. And proper big budget 3D platformers that weren't Mario.
I suppose it depends what types of games you're in to. But as a single player gamer, I don't think PS2 can ever be topped. The only saving grace is the rise of smaller downloadable titles and indies. But what we've lost is mid-budget games - we've got the low budget and big budget but nothing much in between these days. Sadly those games that fell in the middle were usually my favourites.
I suppose it depends what types of games you're in to. But as a single player gamer, I don't think PS2 can ever be topped. The only saving grace is the rise of smaller downloadable titles and indies. But what we've lost is mid-budget games - we've got the low budget and big budget but nothing much in between these days. Sadly those games that fell in the middle were usually my favourites.
Nah. Harder than ever imo, especially with indie games.
There's such thing as evolution in the video game industry. Tech advances. New tech = new possibilities/new ideas (depends on what kind of tech it is). People copy others' ideas and turn 'em into something better or mix em with something else. Other people copy those mixed ideas and mix 'em even more, or better 'em. Sequels try to be better than their predecessors. Etc. Games do get better. Ofc some games don't get better due to reasons (lazy, cash-in, incompetence, low budget, mismanagement, copycat, etc).
Magic Mushroom
Member
You think games like Rocket League, Cuphead, Ori, Doom, Bayonetta 2, Breath of the Wild, Prey, Hitman, The Witness, Nioh, Nex Machina, Tropical Freeze, Thumper, Monster Hunter, Super Mario 3D World, Dark Souls 3, Hollow Knight, Divinity Original Sin 2, X-COM 2, Shovel Knight, Hyper Light Drifter, The Phantom Pain, Forza Horizon 3 and many others have crap gameplay or are too hand holdy?
That's the beauty of current gaming. There is something for almost everyone. Besides, gaming should not just be there for the hardcore elite.
ByWatterson
Member
Been playing since actual floppy discs on MS-DOS.
Yes. Not even a close call.
Yes. Not even a close call.
Magic Mushroom
Member
We do actually. We now have games priced in the middle segment, like Knack, Hellblade, Ratchet and Clank, Uncharted Lost Legacy, Little Nightmares, The Witness, Rime, The Talos Principle, Styx, EDF etc.
It's not just 60 dollar AAA games or cheap indies anymore.
I don't see anything that compares to Battletoads, Ninja Gaiden 3 NES, Ghost n Goblins, TMNT1 NES, The Adventures of Bayou Billy and more today, not to mention today's games usually hold your hands, have unlimited lives and continues. And let's not bring up arcade games which are tough to beat without continuing.
OfficerRaichu15
Member
Oh hell yeah we are
Horizon Zero Dawn
Metroid Samus Returns
Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Persona 5
Nier Automata
Nioh
Mario Odyssey
Mario and Rabbids: Kingdom Battle
War of Mordor
Destiny 2
Player Unknown Battleground
Splatoon 2
Cuphead
Divinity Original Sin 2
Forza Motorsport 7
The list goes on and on.
We are definitely in the Golden Age of Gaming.
Horizon Zero Dawn
Metroid Samus Returns
Zelda: Breath of the Wild
Persona 5
Nier Automata
Nioh
Mario Odyssey
Mario and Rabbids: Kingdom Battle
War of Mordor
Destiny 2
Player Unknown Battleground
Splatoon 2
Cuphead
Divinity Original Sin 2
Forza Motorsport 7
The list goes on and on.
We are definitely in the Golden Age of Gaming.
Magic Mushroom
Member
Play La Mulana. Or play Nex Machina on the highest difficulty. Or 100 percent 3D World. Or Cuphead on Expert. Or Thumper. Or The Witness. There's lots of challenging games.
Not that challenge in and by itself is a hallmark of quality...
Funny that you mention that as I will plan to do that once I get the game.
I'm not denying that there isn't challenge as there is obviously, I'm just saying that many aren't as punishing when it comes to lives and continues. Nothing is worse than redoing an entire game from the beginning and not being able to save either.
Astral Dog
Member
Nintendo needs to be Healthy
Add a save ability/more lives/continues to those games and those games'd be easy. Remove save ability/limit to 2-3 lives/no continues from most of today's games and ramp up the difficult to insane - good luck.
There are some achievements in today games that are hard to obtain.
Gentleman Jack
Member
They're mostly better because I can spend my own money on them instead of being locked behind what my parents could afford. Platform choice drives a lot of what I get out of gaming and having the freedom to pick and choose has opened gaming up to me in a way that was impossible in the 80s and early 90s.
Apart from that games have evolved graphically and conceptually and reached all new highs in the last five years alone.
So yes, games are better than ever before.
Apart from that games have evolved graphically and conceptually and reached all new highs in the last five years alone.
So yes, games are better than ever before.
yes, since now game designers are taking inspiration in way more games and genres tan 20 years ago.
In this day, there are a lots of games for everybody to pick, from time wasters, to retro games, to cinematographic games, to multiplayer, etc, when I was younger I defintely didn't have that many options, and accesibility too
In this day, there are a lots of games for everybody to pick, from time wasters, to retro games, to cinematographic games, to multiplayer, etc, when I was younger I defintely didn't have that many options, and accesibility too
Nothing can make Battletoads easy besides invincibility cheat! Half of it's stages are brutal and some leave no room for error(like stages 6, 7, 9, 10 and 11).
Yeah, you're right about today's games, though I don't care for achievements, to me beating a hard game or game on harder setting is more rewarding(though achievements tend to have that).
Suburban Thug
Member
I'd say 2007 was pretty good
Orange Box
Bioshock
Modern Warfare
Mario Galaxy
GTA 4
Halo 3
Rock Band
God of War 2
Crackdown
Metroid Prime 3
Super Paper Mario
And I'm sure I'm missing a ton
T.Slothrop
Member
This year has been phenomenal. One of the best ever. Maybe the best ever. Forget the big ones we know about. How many indie games that would've been bonkers good in the 16bit days have come out that I haven't even heard about? And that's how I know we're at a new high in gaming.
PendekarRajawali
Member
This.
polyh3dron
Banned
Additional monetization schemes in games is ruining them more and more. It's gotten pretty bad with Shadow of War and Battlefront 2, nether of which I'm buying as a result.
Lord of Ostia
Member
I would say it's better than last generation, but not better than PS2/GCN/Xbox generation.
Yeah, those might be my thoughts as well.
Northeastmonk
Gold Member
I would say yes and no.
Yes because the technology is there and some games have very fluid controls. There are worlds being created that we dreamed about in our youth. We can now take a robust adventure if we want to. Sure there's always limitations, but everything looks and feels real.
No because there's some burn out with what we've had versus the next game that's coming out.
We've had our Halo years. We went through the Gears of War series. Open world sandbox games are better than ever, but the formula seems to be the same. We've had our favorite game come out and now it sits with the rest of them. The next amazing game is months or years away from now.
Once we've had a taste of an amazing game then it's just a matter of finishing it until the next game comes out. I can't wait for The Evil Within 2, but just like Prey, I love it and then it sits after I beat it.
Games are timeless. I can easily play a modern game as well as an older game, if it's good. A modern game can suck just as bad as a retro one can. Plus, there's a lot of games now days that I can easily forget about.
There's a ton of games that have these cool concepts, but I only want that cool concept from a particular developer. With retro games, technology was being discovered and all the games had something unique to offer. Now a days we could have 3 or 4 RPG's and only 1 of them is worth playing. Those 3 or 4 RPG's could have amazing art, but it's saturation. Only 1 or 2 of them are going to really spark our interest. Yet if you look back on retro RPG's, a lot of them are worth looking into just because they can get our attention due to nostalgia.
I see things like Ivalice in FFXIV and that's awesome. But I'm not that excited. I'm not grinding my way in FFXIV to see some snipet of Ivalice. If I want Ivalice I'll go back and play Tactics. The same could be said about large games that take me to far away places or shooters that take me to a beautiful galaxy. I pick what I want because I have been gaming since I was in kindergarten. I know what I want and what will make me happy.
Yes because the technology is there and some games have very fluid controls. There are worlds being created that we dreamed about in our youth. We can now take a robust adventure if we want to. Sure there's always limitations, but everything looks and feels real.
No because there's some burn out with what we've had versus the next game that's coming out.
We've had our Halo years. We went through the Gears of War series. Open world sandbox games are better than ever, but the formula seems to be the same. We've had our favorite game come out and now it sits with the rest of them. The next amazing game is months or years away from now.
Once we've had a taste of an amazing game then it's just a matter of finishing it until the next game comes out. I can't wait for The Evil Within 2, but just like Prey, I love it and then it sits after I beat it.
Games are timeless. I can easily play a modern game as well as an older game, if it's good. A modern game can suck just as bad as a retro one can. Plus, there's a lot of games now days that I can easily forget about.
There's a ton of games that have these cool concepts, but I only want that cool concept from a particular developer. With retro games, technology was being discovered and all the games had something unique to offer. Now a days we could have 3 or 4 RPG's and only 1 of them is worth playing. Those 3 or 4 RPG's could have amazing art, but it's saturation. Only 1 or 2 of them are going to really spark our interest. Yet if you look back on retro RPG's, a lot of them are worth looking into just because they can get our attention due to nostalgia.
I see things like Ivalice in FFXIV and that's awesome. But I'm not that excited. I'm not grinding my way in FFXIV to see some snipet of Ivalice. If I want Ivalice I'll go back and play Tactics. The same could be said about large games that take me to far away places or shooters that take me to a beautiful galaxy. I pick what I want because I have been gaming since I was in kindergarten. I know what I want and what will make me happy.
Amibguous Cad
Member
These two things might have something to do with each other.
AudioEppa
Member
Sometimes when this topic comes up a lot of replies seem like official statements even if one tries to be polite as they strongly disagree. I feel like gaming is just so different from other types of entertainment that you can never, Or should never have this overall agreeable opinion. Im not a fan of having to silence anyone who thinks differently about what makes video games better years ago, Or right now. With that said.
Once I discovered games like Broken Sword 1 and MGS on PS1, thats where my focused stayed. They are games with simple enough mechanics so the story, characters and atmosphere can be the main event. It doesnt mean shit to me if books or movies do it better. I lost complete interest platformers and side scrolling games. I never liked space shooters. But story games, especially cinematic style ones. I will forever be in love with.
Theres gamers whos will probably say their favorite game is still something from the 80s or 90s.
And thats cool. For myself gaming has only gotten better because of technology to make characters and worlds better to look at. Sound technology is also a very important aspect to how things are better now. The technical part of games matched with a interesting story has only improved over the years and its only going to get better.
Uncharted 4 is my favorite game of all time. Beating out a lot of great titles Ive enjoyed over the years. A list of games that dont include certain titles the average Gaf user considers the best of all time. Gaming is like pie. It has many flavors, something for everyone.
And its nice when we can take our slice and have a friendly conversation without somebody looking down at the plate, judging you for liking something different.
Once I discovered games like Broken Sword 1 and MGS on PS1, thats where my focused stayed. They are games with simple enough mechanics so the story, characters and atmosphere can be the main event. It doesnt mean shit to me if books or movies do it better. I lost complete interest platformers and side scrolling games. I never liked space shooters. But story games, especially cinematic style ones. I will forever be in love with.
Theres gamers whos will probably say their favorite game is still something from the 80s or 90s.
And thats cool. For myself gaming has only gotten better because of technology to make characters and worlds better to look at. Sound technology is also a very important aspect to how things are better now. The technical part of games matched with a interesting story has only improved over the years and its only going to get better.
Uncharted 4 is my favorite game of all time. Beating out a lot of great titles Ive enjoyed over the years. A list of games that dont include certain titles the average Gaf user considers the best of all time. Gaming is like pie. It has many flavors, something for everyone.
And its nice when we can take our slice and have a friendly conversation without somebody looking down at the plate, judging you for liking something different.
As long as older games don't vanish or become entirely impractical to play the present should always be the best time to play.
I kind of think the average goes up, and we have certain design obstacles stomped past, but there are some games that are remarkable peaks that at an extreme have yet to be matched, or at least are rarely reached.
Bronetta
Ask me about the moon landing or the temperature at which jet fuel burns. You may be surprised at what you learn.
Bloodborne is probably my favourite game of all time and its just 2 years old. I haven't felt that strongly about a game since Final Fantasy 7, a 20 year old game.
There's timeless classics released every year, this gen is no different.
There's timeless classics released every year, this gen is no different.
Patrick Young
Member
Sorry, I only played WWF Attitude!
Kojirospath
Member
No WCW vs. NWO: World Tour? No WCW/NWO Revenge? No WWF Wrestlemania 2K? AKI wrestling games were the best! Attitude was not made by them. No Mercy holds up the most and is very feature complete with a story mode with branching paths I'd try to track it down somewhere, It's great!
Yes, Forza Horizon 3 & Witcher 3 are the best games ive played this gen, with FH3 being the greatest racer ive ever played.
In general yes things are much better then a decade ago, though, were lacking in some areas, a great Sci Fi RPG, particularly from BioWare DA:I and ME:A were steaming piles of shit.
In general yes things are much better then a decade ago, though, were lacking in some areas, a great Sci Fi RPG, particularly from BioWare DA:I and ME:A were steaming piles of shit.
Shpeshal Nick
aka Collingwood
Yes. They are.
toythatkills
Member
I doubt OP is gonna look back in five years and think "yeah, Uncharted 4 is the 4th best game I've ever played."
I don't think any game's quality can be truly judged unless you add time to the equation. Everything is better when it's flashy and new and there's a hype and community around it, but once that fades and you can look back with no bias you'll have a much fairer opinion on it.
That's not to say there aren't games being released now that won't stand the test of time, but I wouldn't be adding them to "top 100" lists just yet.
I don't think any game's quality can be truly judged unless you add time to the equation. Everything is better when it's flashy and new and there's a hype and community around it, but once that fades and you can look back with no bias you'll have a much fairer opinion on it.
That's not to say there aren't games being released now that won't stand the test of time, but I wouldn't be adding them to "top 100" lists just yet.
petran79
Banned
That was the last great era of arcade games too.
Always-honest
Banned
Certain aspects of games have become much better over the years.
All the experience and knowledge that is gathered in the last decades will lead to improvements. Together with new technology and bigger budgets, it will also lead to other types of games.
In terms of gameplay.... well, not so sure. Some games have great gameplay, some games are boring as hell. It's constantly changing. I think if you weren't there in the beginning, it's kind of hard to judge. What is ancient technology now, was the newest of the newest back then. It was amazing.
Best time to live for gaming, for sure. Since you can also play the old games.
All the experience and knowledge that is gathered in the last decades will lead to improvements. Together with new technology and bigger budgets, it will also lead to other types of games.
In terms of gameplay.... well, not so sure. Some games have great gameplay, some games are boring as hell. It's constantly changing. I think if you weren't there in the beginning, it's kind of hard to judge. What is ancient technology now, was the newest of the newest back then. It was amazing.
Best time to live for gaming, for sure. Since you can also play the old games.