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[Ultimadrago]

Bioshock Infinite, Broken Age and Alice: Madness Returns are all really good answers I've read in the thread.

As for Dragon Age Inquisition and Xenoblade, I don't even find their settings particularly interesting. I mean the base, base concept behind Bionis and Mechonis from Xenoblade perhaps, but that's about it.

 

[Tuck]

I came in expecting this to be a thread entirely about the Ratchet and Clank series.

Wdf

 

[Deleted member 59090]

I actually thought the TF2 style graphics took a lot away from the setting and atmosphere, on top of forest being inhabited by birds only.

You didn't meet the raccoon?

 

[unity of the void]

El Shaddai

Came to post this

 

[Arklite]

Remember Me:

Screenshot credit: Drunken Master

Just finished this game and I was absolutely floored by Neo Paris. Remember Me has to be one of the best if not best looking settings I've ever played. It's painful how mediocre the actual game is, and the chances of getting a sequel seem minimal. AC Unity seems like another obvious one but I've never played it.

Quoted the whole thing because Neo Paris was absolutely gorgeous. There aren't enough cyberpunk games around, and even rarer with European architecture. There's a few odd design choices here and there, but the fantastic art keeps it all in check. It's a shame the dev's didn't get a chance to improve Remember Me with a sequel.

 

[Adaren]

El Shaddai

My answer as well. Mediocre in every way (not bad, but not great) except for it's beautiful art.

 

[Fine Ham Abounds]

Quoted the whole thing because Neo Paris was absolutely gorgeous. There aren't enough cyberpunk games around, and even rarer with European architecture. There's a few odd design choices here and there, but the fantastic art keeps it all in check. It's a shame the dev's didn't get a chance to improve Remember Me with a sequel.

I'm glad they didn't fold and Life is Strange has made them some money. I'd play another Remember Me provided they got someone in the lead willing to prioritize performance, combat, and fleshing out the memory hacking parts with more agency and possibilities.

 

[Tangled Up in Blue]

My pick is Enslaved. Game was mediocre but man... that setting is amazing.

It also has some of the best mocap I've ever seen in a game to this day, but overall it is very meh.

 

[wild wild rice]

No one said Red Dead Redemption? The evocation of the American west is great, yet the gameplay is your typical braindead Rockstar monotony. Maybe not bad, but certainly mediocre.

 

[Off-Kilter]

Hm... going to put Limbo into the mix.

Gorgeous visual design but the actual puzzle-platforming was nothing special IMO.

 

[SmokedMeat]

Tales of Symphonia.

Gorgeous sugary sweet artwork wasted on such a boring game.

 

[FunkyDealer]

If the setting were mediocre as well then the games would be worse. Why would that be a good thing?

 

[twobear]

wouldn't the basin just....fill up with water anyway?

 

[SmokedMeat]

Good call OP. Remember Me had a great setting.

I'll throw in:

The Order
Bioshock Infinite
Titanfall
Destiny

Titanfall??! Seriously???

I think some GAF members need a dictionary to look up the word mediocre.

 

[kuroneco]

Gravity Rush. Gorgeous game but severely lacking in the gameplay department. Hoping 2 has more depth.

It needs more of a lot things, but first of all, they better make 2 a complete story!
Can't believe 1 ended just like ???

 

[lame gag]

Jet Set Radio Future (Actually worse than mediocre but whatever)

Considering your name is taken straight from the soundtrack of JSRF, I think you're joking. I'm on to you.

 

[Trace]

Titanfall??! Seriously???

I think some GAF members need a dictionary to look up the word mediocre.

GAF Mediocre: Any game that hasn't won at least 5 Game of the Year awards and had a AAA or AA budget.

Or won 5 Game of the Year awards but wasn't GOAT.

See:
Uncharted 3
Bioshock Infinite
Titanfall
Destiny

etc etc.

 

[Gentleman Jack]

Sooner or later everyone on GAF knows tek isn't kidding about JSRF.

But he loves Ollie King, so he's good people.

 

[KORNdoggy]

Remember Me:

Just finished this game and I was absolutely floored by Neo Paris. Remember Me has to be one of the best if not best looking settings I've ever played. It's painful how mediocre the actual game is, and the chances of getting a sequel seem minimal. AC Unity seems like another obvious one but I've never played it.

First thing that came to my mind when i read the thread title. One of the coolest worlds i've seen and it was wasted in a horribly written simplistic brawler with automated traversal and wonky controls. Such a shame.

 

[balohna]

I never get the outrage over BioShock Infinite being a violent game. It was always an FPS. I thought the encounter design was really good personally, had a lot of fun with the combat.

 

[LostDonkey]

Far Cry 4
Day Z Standalone
FFXIII
Knack
Drive club
DA:I

 

[PsychoSoldier]

I agree with Alice. The story was okay, gameplay was okay, setting was extremely interesting.

 

[Mister Zimbu]

Elite: Dangerous is probably a good candidate for this. Space is beautiful and awesome, but the game is almost devoid of anything resembling "gameplay".

 

[george_us]

I didn't realize everyone on neogaf had the same opinion about every game out there. The more you know!

It goes beyond that honestly. It seems like people listing games like Bloodborne, Witcher 3, etc. are just trolling.

 

[Skulldead]

Okage : Shadow King

The Tim Burton-esque setting was so amazing, and the music was fitting so well. It was just a short mediocre RPG with ATB battle system.

 

[Raptomex]

I'm going to say Mafia 2. I loved the game but I don't understand why it had such a beautiful open world that wasn't worth exploring. The game is clearly a linear, story-driven, experience.

 

[Astral Dog]

Bioshock Infinite.

Hmn i dont know BI may not be a very good game but its worth to play once,the art direction alone makes it worth playing.

When i see "wasted" on the thread title i imagine a bad game with an interesting setting that cant go anywhere due to how bad the game is. BI is not that bad.

 

[rhandino]

Eternal Sonata

The concept and setting is amazing, the gameplay is interesting and the music is top notch so is a real shame that the story, characters and overall plot is everything that could go wrong in the genre.

 

[SmokedMeat]

Far Cry 4
Day Z Standalone
FFXIII
Knack
Drive club
DA:I

Drive Club and Far Cry 4 are mediocre, while Knack has a beautiful setting huh?

A beautiful setting? Knack?

KNACK? KNACK?? KNAAAAAAAACK?!!!!

 

[SmokedMeat]

Eternal Sonata

The concept and setting is amazing, the gameplay is interesting and the music is top notch so is a real shame that the story, characters and overall plot is everything that could go wrong in the genre.

Aw shit I got my Tales games mixed up. I meant Eternal Sonata, not Tales of Symphonia!

 

[Ultimadrago]

Okage : Shadow King

The Tim Burton-esque setting was so amazing, and the music was fitting so well. It was just a short mediocre RPG with ATB battle system.

Oh my goodness, add this to my list.

So much wasted potential.

 

[timcsavage]

I really enjoyed playing through the world, but the gameplay is just not quite there.

I would say the gameplay was there, it just didn't develop enough over the course of the game.

 

[LostDonkey]

Drive Club and Far Cry 4 are mediocre, while Knack has a beautiful setting huh?

A beautiful setting? Knack?

KNACK? KNACK?? KNAAAAAAAACK?!!!!

Yeah, I thought some of the environments and character details in knack were almost CGI quality. It was a good looking game. But a mediocre one.

Far cry 4 didn't bring anything new to the table over 3, but the setting was beautiful and Drive club looks amazing but to me, as a driving game, it's very mediocre.

 

[Whom_Gods_Annoy]

Good call OP. Remember Me had a great setting.

I'll throw in:

The Order
Bioshock Infinite
Titanfall
Destiny

Let's see, we have people that have said Bioshock, Bloodborne, Witcher 3, all the Assassins Creed games, and even Jet Set Radio Future. Someone just has to say The Last of Us and Mirror's Edge and we can complete the set.

My pick is probably Mafia 2.

 

[Nostremitus]

This is going by my limited experience with the game and the reviews it got (Metacritic 67), but Fragile Dreams: Farewell Ruins of the Moon. I think there are a lot of beautiful aspects of the game, including the setting, but from the little I played and what I read, there are a fair number of sources of frustration.

The beautiful trailer that made me obsessed with this game. The graphics are fairly limited by the Wii; I wonder what this game looks like in Dolphin.

I loved this game. It was such a melancholy and moving experience. It's one of the few games I've played that actually triggered real emotional responses while playing.

 

[Bloomers]

Apparently mediocre now means 'not the greatest AAA game ever' instead of 'middle of the road'...

anyways, Bioshock Infinite would have been my pick. Truly amazing lore and setting but the game mechanics/genre didn't utilize it in a meaningful way.
Switching it from an shooter to an action platformer would've done it loads of good imo.

 

[Kabouter]

wouldn't the basin just....fill up with water anyway?

Obviously it would.

That makes me sad. I've been waiting on a significant sale before I picked it up. Can you still set up elaborate trade routes to manage multiple supply chains?

Trade is between regions now and is done by simply setting an amount of production to be transferred (instead of quantities), and it's all automatic otherwise. It's nothing more than adjusting a slider.

 

[CollectedDust]

Order 1886.

Came here to post this. First post nails it.

 

[DiipuSurotu]

 

[rhandino]

What does this even mean? Final Fantasy XII and the FFT series are some of the best games in their respective genres.

 

[SerTapTap]

The "alien jungle" area in Killzone 3 is absolutely lovely. Moving spider leg trees and crap. Killzone has some great art direction when it's allowed, but half the time it's wasted on boring concrete block cities.

Super excited for Horizon because of this. I know the team can do amazing stuff. Killzone's been limiting them though.

 

[offtopic]

Just finished Firewatch...so yeah...that.

 

[DiipuSurotu]

What does this even mean? Final Fantasy XII and the FFT series are some of the best games in their respective genres.

??

Ivalice Alliance is a promotional campaign involving specific games starting in 2007. It's not the name of a series. FFXII and FFT are not part of the Ivalice Alliance campaign as they were developed before 2007.

 

[nailbombxx]

Just finished Firewatch...so yeah...that.

Go on then, what is it?

 

[BBQMan]

Let's see, we have people that have said Bioshock, Bloodborne, Witcher 3, all the Assassins Creed games, and even Jet Set Radio Future. Someone just has to say The Last of Us and Mirror's Edge and we can complete the set.

My pick is probably Mafia 2.

He is not wrong about TF it was so mediocre the game died out within a month and was never hyped again.

 

[spekkeh]

Tales of Symphonia.

Gorgeous sugary sweet artwork wasted on such a boring game.

Aw shit I got my Tales games mixed up. I meant Eternal Sonata, not Tales of Symphonia!

okay we good

 

[Piers]

You didn't meet the raccoon?

!?

Eternal Sonata

The concept and setting is amazing, the gameplay is interesting and the music is top notch so is a real shame that the story, characters and overall plot is everything that could go wrong in the genre.

If I had to guess, was the story an insight into what it means to be human? Conflict is bad? You just need to look inside your friends to find what's missing, man.

 

[Whom_Gods_Annoy]

He is not wrong about TF it was so mediocre the game died out within a month and was never hyped again.

It was never hyped again except for the lttp and appreciation threads that come out monthly for the game.

I still play it every couple weeks on PC and can find a good game with people no problem.

No FPS besides maybe Tribes has better movement and momentum.

 

[rhandino]

If I had to guess, was the story an insight into what it means to be human? Conflict is bad? You just need to look inside your friends to find what's missing, man.

ALL OF THIS... I'm no joking, they touched all those themes in the most cringy way possible with some of the most bland characters EVER being conceived in the story of the medium

I mean, there are sections in which the characters speak in a black screen about those things and more addressing the player directly.

Game is literally preaching YOU about its themes instead of letting the story do that but I guess they did not have time to write meaningfull character interactions and plot development when you wasted almost and hour on a death scene that has flashback to the first minutes of said death scene because why the fuck no!?

SPOILERS I guess

https://youtu.be/XKg9wsOqqyk

 

[Pusherman]

Ubisoft: the thread basically. So many fantastic historical and geographical settings wasted on mediocre games. Revolutionary war America! Revolution era Paris! Faux-Tibet! Prehistoric times! Victorian London! Goddamn shit gets me so pissed.