Voting with your wallet is a sham. The kinds of people who care about this shit don't buy these games in the first place. I haven't played CoD since Modern Warfare 3 because of my personal ethics. The kinds of people who watch these videos and who care about gaming, more than just playing whatever their friends seem to play at the moment, don't or very rarely play these games. I also disagree with the idea that game development has become more expensive which was expressed in the video. It's a question of scale. Indie games prove that games with a similar scale to ps2 era games are much much easier and cheaper to produce than ever before. Of course if you always go big the costs are gonna spike.
@@dominokos well going big is kind of what is expected from AAA games, as always was. So while it's true you can make small scale games cheaper than ever that doesn't really help the AAA market in any way which was always about going, well, big.
@@ketrub Yes, that is true. That's why I don't set these expectations. The problem isn't the tech, the tech is super duper powerful, but people are people. One productive team member can only contribute so much to a project. But with the scale of todays' AAA games the contributions and therefore the employment costs necessary to create all these assets and content etc. is immense. But it's their fault. I don't think people care about the scale of a project or how good the tech is. The most succesful games out are Minecraft, Fortnite and GTAV. How are consumers to blame for game devs and publishers painting themselves into a corner.
I still buy games, but only from russian key resellers sites. If im spending money (albeit less than on regular sites) atleast its gonna be sent towards the third world, not epsteins and weinsteens.
“The slow cancellation of the future has been accompanied by a deflation of expectations". Under the current state of capitalism we have lost the ability to imagine a different future, new technology is used to repeat the past, dooming us to an infinite pastiche of remakes and "new" versions of already proven products. Tomorrow is no more. We have cancelled the new, the different. The future is lost.
@@OjoRojo40 very dramatic. Maybe true for the AAA industry, but innovation doesn't have to be related to technology and there is still some out there. Being a doomsayer wont help anything
@@Kralchen It's true not only for the game industry, just have a look at the movies and how we are flooded by infinite remakes and superhero movies. This remark is anything but a fatalist, quite the opposite, it's a call to action.
I watch a fair bit of video game content on RUclips. A large portion is rather reactionary, pessimistic, and lacking in legitimate critical analysis. You, on the other hand, do an excellent job of remaining unswayed by the tide of public opinion. Your videos express a level of authenticity and critical analysis rarely seen in gaming commentary today. In an ironic turn of events, gaming commentary culture has become very similar to the industry that it so vehemently lambasts (derivative, safe, and toxic). So many of these channels somehow don’t see how hypocritical they are when putting out opportunistic, unoriginal content. Given the landscape of gaming commentary, your channel stands as a shinning example of intriguing, self-determined observations and analysis. You may not get the recognition your quality warrants, but those that do watch appreciate your videos incredibly. At the very least, I certainly do.
Dont know what youtube channels you are watching but I didnt really get that impression from the people I watch at all. At worst they are passionate and agressive towards unsavory antics of bilion dollar companies and people in charge. Critical analysis isnt the goal of every video.
Maybe instead of searching for those kind of channels try to look for some actually good content, like for example razbuten isna really good channel that does análisis of videomage mechanics or stop skeletons from fighting who is happy just reviewing weird and unknown games
I only bought games after at least one year after their initial release. I know there will be dlc, definitive/goty/editor’s cut edition. Besides any modern games are likely to be full of bugs, or even crashes on their release(why pay for testers when we can have testers pay us?) some studio even had the audacity to sell a patch as an independent ‘remaster’ when the community patched it day one. (dark souls) seriously, buy games that can stand the test of time and enjoy the 75% discount.
Same here. I usually get games once I can get a cheap complete version. Now that I look into it, 6 of my last 7 games are that way. There's a lot more GOTY* editions I have yet to play. No need to rush for new releases.
“The slow cancellation of the future has been accompanied by a deflation of expectations". Under the current state of capitalism we have lost the ability to imagine a different future, new technology is used to repeat the past, dooming us to an infinite pastiche of remakes and "new" versions of already proven products. Tomorrow is no more. We have cancelled the new, the different. The future is lost.
The change in quality of AAA games over the past 2 decades really is staggering. A perfect example of this is when you read reviews and articles of Sonic '06 when it first released. People were baffled back then at how bad it was, and rightfully so, it is a very bad game. But the key detail is that they were /surprised/ at how bad it was. In that time, everyone just didn't expect a developer as big as Sega and a franchise as beloved as Sonic could produce such a game of this low quality. Notice the difference? Fast forward to today, AAA developers and publishers are pumping out mediocre to bad games on a consistent basis and it's basically expected now. Battlefront 2, Anthem, ME Andromeda: All games published by the largest and richest games publisher in the world. This is a company that should have all the resources a game could ever need to become great. But what did these games become? Terrible. And how did everyone react? "Just par for the course." And this is just one publisher out of many.
triple A games went from quality to basically paying 40$ more for graphics alone. They're riddled with far more bugs then indie games resulting in a much riskier purchase. and seem to be borderline nostalgia baiting by using either IPs or advertising themselves as from the developers of (...). I don't think i'm alone in saying outside of a few triple A Ips like rockstar's gta, fromsoft, nintendo there's a severe lack of trust in triple A games being worth their asking pricetag when we've been an increased in jp localization of portable games onto mainstream platforms that are really good games costing a fraction of what the triple a shovelware costs
@@kavinh10outside of a few developers but we could list around a dozen AAA devs. There are around as many AAA devs who make shit games as well, but the thing is they publish more frequently it feels like they’re the vast majority of the market. How many Assassins creed games came out in between Baldur’s Gate 2 and 3? Or hell even between the first and Second God of War reboot games? How many Fifas, Pokemons, CoDs?
@RedToa94 You're just parroting some lame public opinions. For example, Andromeda and Battlefront 2 are not nearly as bad as Sonic'06. The first was slammed just for the some technical issues at release (some animations and facial animations), the second was bashed for microtransactions. But the games are not great, but solid overall. You're just mindlessly repeating some stupid memes.
The state of gaming is very similar to that of the music industry right now: mainstream music is absolutely abhorrent, yet there's never been more good music being produced than there is right now, you just have to go out of your way to find it.
@jocaguz18 When there is so much media, it gets harder to find the good ones. They still exist, but they are blocked by the oversaturation of produced media contents.
That's exactly what I came here to post. As a metal fan, most of the mainstream labels are fucking awful and the AAA games of this decade mirror it almost perfectly in terms of the decline in overall quality, but at the same time you have so many smaller labels that feature a lot of hidden gems and the internet makes discovering it so much easier, much like it's the case with the indie developers in gaming nowadays. Those that bitch about how terrible things are nowadays just like to bitch, as opposed to putting a little effort into finding stuff that's worthwhile and enjoying that, as opposed to hopping on various hate bandwagons and what have you. There will always be worthwhile shit out there, you just have to put in the effort to find it instead of expecting people to spoonfeed you the answers. Internet is a valuable tool, so learn how to use it and stop screeching already.
I could say the same about the movie industry. As a grown adult by now, I now understand what movie critics have been saying for years because whatever happened to that media happened to mine.
I see your point, but at the end of the day you really need a big team and a lot of money to do real AAA games. There's gems out there like Minecraft or Factorio, but no indie will deliver Read Dead Redemption, Forza, NBA 2K, Tekken or God of War. In contrast, producing high quality music has become more accesible without needing to go to big studios.
@jocaguz18I'm aware making games has become more accesible too, but there's no way around needing a huge multidisciplinar team to achieve top notch results. A single guy with a computer can do electronic music as good as it gets.
I seriously feel like I've found a unicorn with this channel. I can't believe you have less than 27k subscribers! Amazing and deep, thoughtful content, a badass voice and a serene analysis style that's like a well-sourced documentary. Hope this channel blows up!
I just discovered you channel two days ago and am binging your content. I'm extremely impressed with the quality! Please keep it up, you deserve lots of success
I don't have a problem with them talking about patreon. We wouldn't have a lot of the content or creators we do now without a platform like it. Especially with ad blockers destroying adsense revenue.
“The slow cancellation of the future has been accompanied by a deflation of expectations". Under the current state of capitalism we have lost the ability to imagine a different future, new technology is used to repeat the past, dooming us to an infinite pastiche of remakes and "new" versions of already proven products. Tomorrow is no more. We have cancelled the new, the different. The future is lost.
Sadly nowadays a channel like this is 'odd'. Remember the time when people used to put videos actually for free on RUclips for stranger things like 'fun', 'being interested in specific topics', 'entertainment' or 'information', not to evade a job and make money? Some youtubers are literally offended, if you don't pay them enough for free content on a free hoster and want to black mail their audience by threatening to not make videos anymore.... Well, then just don't do it, if you don't do it for fun or interest. Goddammit...
I feel like now a days games are made on a recipe by business people rather then gamers. They are implementing money making schemes instead of fun for the gamer. EA - Ubisoft - 2k - especially
love the background music choices. my goodness i hope everyone can see this video. VERY high quality :) This is the type of video that shows how i feel about the video gaming climate in such a nice and calming voice. while bringing up all good points that i agree with.
Sorry, but i have to rant now: Why is every RUclipsr that talks about increasing development cost and micro transactions seemingly utterly unaware of the fact that the number of players/customers also keeps growing. In general, like more females that are into games these days, or the Chinese market opening up... Live services in single player games, micro transactions and the like in full priced games are pure greed and have nothing to do with increasing costs. Nobody asked for development teams to be this large, especially if they keep on messing up, sabotaging their own games time and time again, by starting over 1 year ahead of release (Destiny, Anthem), or just releasing the same cookie cutter sequel each year without any innovation or refinement. We pay for poor management and the CEO's annual bonuses, 20 times their actual salaries. Customer retention is achieved through FOMO (fear of missing out), abusing addiction and empty promises of finishing the game some day, if you just buy the season pass and enough cosmetics. No product quality, respect towards the consumer and fair prices... quarterly earnings trump long time strategy every time. Scale your shit down, set a goal and stick to it, manage it properly and finish the fucking thing before you sell it! Smaller teams achieved so much more with way less than these AAA-wannabes have. Rant over.
@@5chneemensch138 I wouldn't even mind that much if the money was going towards the ppl developing and their needs (e.g. office space, software and such), but the larger the publisher the more money is just reserved for overpaid executives and also marketing. If half of your budget is needed for advertising your doing it wrong. If your game is good, it'll promote itself through word of mouth. Sure, you might sell less units, but you also spent way less money.
Oh, and I almost forgot. If you needlessly turn EVERY game into an online only live service abomination you need ppl to take care of that unwanted infrastructure. It's just a vicious cycle of spending more and more to make more and more until this practice can no longer work. There isn't an infinite amount of consumers out there, that could spend infinite amounts of time and money on these games that all seem to want to be the last game you'll ever play. Games like this aren't a product, we are... and the share holders are the actual customers.
@@se7enhaender can i be your friend? you seem like one of the few sane people around. Also I need you to recommend some games to me because I cant seem to find any
Virtual Reality. VR will be the next frontier for gameplay improvement, we are in the Atari age of VR and when we start leaving this stage there will be so much room for the same kinds of growth we saw in the 2000s!
The issue I can see with this is cost. The only truly impressive and immersive VR systems (headset, treadmill/racing chair, and a computer to run it all) are exclusively expensive. Maybe we'll have VR establishments that people can buy a subscription for, but a 3k entry fee won't attract many people (especially when they see all the goofs in headsets waving their arms about.)
VR is expensive in ways that are hard to make cheaper. Processing power was growing exponentially and software is relatively cheap to produce and optimize so it was to be expected that graphics improved exponentially. It's not impossible that it becomes cheaper, but it's not "the same". The production of hardware has become increasingly expensive with how much it improved and companies are no longer supporting exponential growth (Moore's law was mantained artificially by companies forcing the growth, not naturally by demand) so it's anybody's guess if it will work or not. Think of it as 3D. People thought it would be the future but there were implementation issues.
“The slow cancellation of the future has been accompanied by a deflation of expectations". Under the current state of capitalism we have lost the ability to imagine a different future, new technology is used to repeat the past, dooming us to an infinite pastiche of remakes and "new" versions of already proven products. Tomorrow is no more. We have cancelled the new, the different. The future is lost.
Some of my favorite games ever came out this decade- Skyrim, subnautica, divinity original sin 2, the Witcher 3, and fire emblem three houses. There were many misses, but damn were there some hits. I really appreciated your fair and balanced view.
Great Video! One of the most interesting events of the decade for me was the rise of mobile gaming and the death of Portable handheld systems like the DS and PSP. The 3DS was successful and lasted a long while but the Vita died before it even began. Sad considering how many amazing titles were release in the mid 2000'2 for handhelds.
It´s just somewhat dystopian to see the way things are going whit the triple a market where this is now a billion dollar industry but somehow the games get just worse and you never see there anything unique but just the same old shit polished. But at least the more Indie side of things keep pushing things forward even when some of the good old developer like Blizzard changed for the worse. Also great channel btw.
To me this is a too pessimistic view. The fact that games are getting worse isn't true. The bad may be bad but the good ones are better than ever before.
@@miditi1816 Yeah i was more talking about the big developer and not games in general, seems kinda like when i am think about it as if the big publisher just milk the mass market of causal gamers because there sells seem actually be pretty good even when you never hear anything good about them. In general i am also not to negative, the big ones maybe do at the moment some damage to the market by turning players of but in the long run i see this more as there business problem that they will lose there uninformed customers ether complete or to the better concurrence which is great for us. Think the worst thing that could happen is when things stay as they are where they keep to somehow milk the casuals while we still get a absolute ton of great games. It´s more that it would be pretty nice to see some creative destruction because the big ones seem to have more only a advantage whit the store shells and advertisement but not so much game play wise and take whit this resources from real development away. But yeah your maybe right lol people just like to complain.
You seriously put out great quality videos, I love watching them and I honestly hope you keep putting out more of these really enjoyable, high quality and well put together videos. Thanks mate :)
Great content, amazing commentary, superb editing, well presented points, small subs/viewer count. One must love youtube's algorithm. Keep it up bro, the best is always yet to come.
There was a point in this video where I felt a pure kind of joy because I was watching a channel named after an FLCL reference, eloquently discussing the current state of video games, showing footage from Dark Souls and with Undertale music playing in the background. Like my life has not been pointless. Thank you!
Thank you for making this video. It has highlighted for me that this decade in gaming has contained both all time lows and all time highs. It leaves a bittersweet taste in my mouth, and I'm excited to see what the next generation has in store for gaming, particularly whether VR will truly take off. On another note, your channel has become one of my favorites. Keep it up.
NeverKnowsBest, you have some of the best video game analysis videos out there. Your insights and ideas really make me think and understand so much better. Thanks for making these!
That is just awesome. Every single video is so well researched and the information is so well explained. It's almost definitive. I'm not exactly a fanboy type, but I honestly believe that your channel is just the single best gaming resource on any platform
Wonderful video - and I agree with a lot of what you said. I don't know if you read your comment section but I'd like to offer my .2 cents and background based on the excel spreadsheet at 5:12. I am what I would consider a devout sports fan of all the major titles listed (Madden, NBA2k, even if it's not listed there you could include FIFA as well). I remember playing these games on my PS2 and GameCube ages ago and being utterly immersed in what is known as their "Franchise" modes. Essentially - you get to run a team like a real life general manager - dictate what players you want, etc... it is unbelievable to say but the major gaming titans have damn near killed these modes - SPECIFICALLY EA with Madden. Another RUclipsr by the name of "SOFTDRINKTV" dives into this regarding Madden. It shows the complete butchering of this mode in favor of "Ultimate Team" which is naturally the mode with player picks that you can pay real life money for, lootboxes essentially. I remember when they first rolled out the mode in the early 2010s I actually enjoyed it. It was like real life card collecting that I enjoyed in real life. But an initially innocuous game-mode soon became the plague that has infected every sports game to this day. From the console jump of Xbox 360 / PS3 to Xbox One / PS4 - the games were stripped down to their barebones Franchise mode wise and all of the development team's efforts were concentrated on Ultimate Team. To this day you will find a more in-depth and engaging Franchise Mode from games in 2005, 2006, 2007 than in ANY of the modern Madden titles. Of course - Ultimate Team caught on with a lot of the newer generation and for many kids it's the only mode they play - why would EA have any need or desire to change given the truckloads of money they're making off of it? Each year chipped away at my jadedness and for the first time this year I didn't get the new Madden despite myself still love watching the sport and watching it every weekend. I just couldn't justify making a $60 purchase for a product I hated but it was the closest thing I could get to a proper experience of something I enjoyed in real life. I think that's why you see the unbelievably awful ratings on that excel spreadsheet. NBA2k20 gets a 0.8 rating because there's a lot of people who love basketball and it has become so ingrained in their everyday life, even if they hate the CASINO-like mechanics implemented into it - it's still the game they need to get that fix in and play with their friends. Sadly - due to exclusivity rights and the sheer manpower required to making a proper sports equivalent - I don't think my woes can be solved via indie gaming (vs other genres that have been able to be salvaged). Still - in the past 2 years I've broadened my horizons with gaming and played a huge amount of stuff I never would have bothered with previously. My favorite games from the past 4 years have been Unravel (indie platformer), Stardew Valley (indie farm/villager RPG), Dead Cells (indie roguelite), and the Supergiant Games (indie studio with Bastion/Transistor/Pyre/Hades). In other words, I think I'm going to be alright through the 2020s due the brilliance of smaller teams. Cheers!
same garbage went into most modern shooter loadouts that need to be unlocked a bunch of cards for X and Y I cant enjoy that crap anymore. I don't want to spend 50h to unlock basic option for my loadout just to be able to then actually play the game competitive on an even footing if even that
I accidently stumbled upon your Elder Scrolls analysis and binged almost all of your reviews. You‘re one of my favorite content creators on this plattform. Thank you for your great and insightful reviews!
This video was really good. It actually outlines exactly what I think about games right now. It's really nice to see a positive voice when there are a whole bunch of people doomsaying and trying to convince everyone another video game crash is coming.
honestly the 2010s in gaming has truly been the rise of the indie gems. While mainstream games have a certain appeal, most of the "classics" of this decade seem to be indies. Things like undertale, super meat boy, five nights at freddies, minecraft(earlier on) and anything the people behind the stanley parable make, etc. with the disappointment of the triple A industry being a disappointment for a lot of people are going to indies for the things that are more experimental or harder hitting
You made Dark Souls game of the decade. Could not agree more. Best 1st (blind) play through I've ever had. Also, your content is highly appreciated. Really good stuff!
Times have changed indeed. This video catches much of my feelings about gaming industry. I really like graphics on games. I remember being astonished by 1080p when a bought a new computer and played Assassins Creed Revelations for the first time. This happened on other occasions, like when I played Super Mario 64,, Crysis, Skyrim, GTA V, Red Dead 2, among other titles. But after all, gaming is about fun and repeating formulas over and over go against it.
I agree with you on the whole about video games slowly getting worse, but I'm not sure that review scores paint an accurate picture of whats going on. In the early 2000's, scores above 90 were much more common than years in recent years (2017). I think this may have something to do with the proliferation of the internet. In the early 2000's, publishers relied on games journalism for marketing. These companies would place a large stock in the review of the game. They might even pay for a better review (citation needed tho). While paid reviews may also be common today, marketing strategies can take place outside of the journalism sphere. Another reason for low review scores is that it's much easier to become a game journalist and get featured on metacritic than in the past. As a result, a journalist needs to be provocative to be seen. A game that everybody loves can stand to be "panned" by a journalist in an effort to stand out. I just think that using this as a principle reasoning for the video isn't super airtight. But honestly, what do I know. You've actually done research on this, and I'm sitting here nitpicking (ironically, I'm doing exactly like my previous point states). Thanks for coming to my TED talk. Also, footage of Rimworld when you're talking about rare but great games? I see you're a man of culture as well.
Hey neverknowsbest, I recently discovered your channel and subscribed after watching some of the rpg-reviewing videos, you make exceptionally high quality content on them, thank you
ohhh dude, I love your transition to hotline miami soundtrack when you start talkin about how indie games are KILLIN it! Bro, it's like you made these videos for me.
This is truly a quality video. I cant feel your love and worry about the industry . I am not playing that many games this days but is nice to know the channel of someone that truly love games. Keep spreading the word , even if only 1 person do not lose money to loot boxes or half bake games will be worth it.
I am so happy that I found your channel, I just had to binge watch all your previous videos in a very short amount of time. I love how you manage to be comprehensive in your analysis, while still being concise. Hell, you managed to talk about 10 years of gaming evolution, while missing very few trends (A note about Pokémon Go would have been relevant), and managing to build a cohesive narrative out of it all.
"The burden on finding a good game that appeals to your tastes is on you now..." - True but it also means its more on my wallet, because now I have to check a hundred games instead of five or ten.
You are so fucking underrated man -- I just discovered you a couple days ago. Your videos are seriously masterful. They are interesting, as well as well made and well-presented. Keep up the great work
just went over your channel again to see which videos performed really well and I'm sad to see that this one is below average since I think this is one of your most important works so far.
It is also true that mid-budget indie are taking a big spike recently Risk of Rain - Slay Spire - Dead Cells I know those are all roguelikes but similar examples are in every non-mainstream dominated genre
Thanks for making this beautiful video, I enjoyed every second of it. Substance, editing, and sound are on point, with a healthy lookout towards the negative/positive changes that happened and are yet to come.
Great video man! Too many people focus on the negative sides of the gaming industry of late. While it is important to take notice, I am enjoying so many more games of all different kinds of genres than I did 10-20 years ago. I couldn't even think to list all the amazing games I have played in the last couple years both big and small.
I love looking back and providing some long lens perspective, sometimes we are too close to current events to remember that it was not always like this
Excellent video. I may not always agree with all of your statements, but I appreciate how thoughtful your videos and opinions are. Please, keep making insightful content!
I say, back in 2001-3 these were years where most of the games still had creative vision leading them. Today, companies seek creative vision from performance results and revenue maximizing in the AAA arena. Good videos! Keeps it up
As someone who love digital distribution, it also has negative effects for me and literally gives me anxiety when I want to play games now. There are so many games , all available with 0 effort required, tons of games being put in my face on youtube, news, twitch etc. so it becomes very hard for me to pick anything and then stick to it. And with more limited free time these days it becomes even more difficult, so now choosing what to play when I get home becomes a multiple hour long ordeal and then my game time is gone lol. I know this is a personal/mental issue, but it never used to be an issue when I was relying on holidays or birthdays or having to go out to a store to get a game and play it. It took more effort, and you spent more time with each game whether you wanted to or not and it was just much more simple to have a few games, and sit down and play them. I think that is what I miss the most from the Xbox360 era. Not to mention everything being half finished and on a live service model now demanding all of my time to "keep up" or earn everything.
This makes me think about how much I loved gaming to when I was a kid in comparison to my teenage and adult years. All the incredible innovations of graphics, consoles like the Nintendo Wii, genuinely great mainstream titles. It isn't really suprising how I fell out of love in my teen years put rightly just abandoning buying the latest console because I couldn't justify getting a really expensive updated console for something pretty lackluster quality wise. It is only in the last 2 years as an adult that I have had some genuinely really fun times playing games again. With almost all of those titles being from indie games and at a more reasonable price as well. Reinstalling the kind of pick up and playability of games on my PC rather than needed to dedicate a lot of time to witness a game to its fullest. And seeing some friends go into the gaming industry, in retrospect I am really happy to what has happened for the gaming word and it is nice to see everyone really touting for the underdog devs than a lot of corporate overloads. It has been a great decade I think :)
An excellent analysis. Despite all the problems you discussed, you still found good reason to be positive at the end. You take a much broader view than most critics/analysts, a larger context, and are willing to find the good in the bad, as well as the bad in the good. Thank you again.
Have you played Ancestors The Humankind Odyssey? It was released a few months back. It's a game that takes genuine risks and doesn't hold the players hand. It didn't review so well, but I personally think it's done some awesome stuff. I think it deserves support from people who think games need to take more risks nowadays.
No I haven't but it was actually a game I was following during development and really liked the sound of. I might try to check it out if I see it on sale for a good price because while i'm sure its a game with some flaws, I still want to see how well it executes its vision.
@@NeverKnowsBest Awesome! I was following its progress right from the start because I was a fan of the earlier AC games. People underestimate the developer Patrice Desilets. Prince of Persia Sands of Time had a bunch of elements that were seen in some of the most famous action games that came afterwards, and assassin's creed changed open world games forever. Hope you maybe make a video of it once you've played it because your videos are awesome! :)
@@kbg12ila did it not have a generic open world? and a shallow skill system? and some more typical big game trademarks? I was mildly interested in it at first but it just looked like a generic open world with a slight twist to it
@@peddazz2365 Well it is open world and has a skill system but for me the risky part of it is to leave a lot of things to the player. Like in Dark souls and reality lol you have to make mistakes to know how to survive but you have to also use forward thinking to know how things would realistically be. It doesn't hold your hand like every other big budget game does nowadays. You have to identify every single thing in the world. You have to plan your journeys before you make them so you don't die. You have to put your clan into consideration. Just use logic and it'll help you. If you have a rock and a stick... you can make it sharper. It isn't difficult, if you play smartly. The biggest problem most people had is the fact it was difficult. Which I think is slightly unfair considering Dark Souls gets so much respect when this does a similar thing. Yes it's frustrating when you die after having reached so far into the game, but it's usually a mistake you made and so it's exactly how it was in reality. The humans only survived and evolved because they used logic. I guess people would rather be told to pick up a rock and smash it into a branch. When they technically don't need to be told that. It definitely has flaws, but it is not flawed form a conceptual level. It's flawed because the control scheme isn't always intuitive, and also it first launched with absolutely no tutorial. They wanted us to be completely blind which, I think is a nice intention but didn't work out. It's fixed now. Like some games have a difficulty level, this game has you choose to play with a full hud and tutorial or none. It's different and I wonder if itll still be difficult in a good way if I play through with no HUD and tutorial after I've already played through with a tutorial. I guess I'd recommend this game the way I recommend Dark Souls. I can't expect just anyone to spend money on Dark Souls because they may not give it time and it may not be for them. Same with this. Although I do hope it does well enough so that the developers can make 1666 Amsterdam. Patrice may have a bit of an ego but he listens to criticisms. He improves. Just look at AC1 - AC2. The developer of this game is literally the creator of the modern open world formula. We say it's ubisoft but it started with assassin's creed. Ubisoft took his designs and put it everywhere and it seems everyone else did too. The way AC pioneered the open world genre we know today, he pioneered a lot of action game elements we know today from Prince of Persia Sands of Time. That's why I'm always excited to see what he does next.
@@kbg12ila from what I heard the flaws were with the core concept there are constant leaps of millions of years yet the world remains the same, I dont remember if even anything changes? also how does 1mio. types of batman esque abilities equal no handholding? for fucks sake, you got a radar and everything is marked with some form of ikons, you can send out some form of "ultrasonic wave" that will show you points of interests or things you can interact with, when you unlock something you get a huge trophy with some big text explaining what you had to do to get it "dodge this animal twice" "poke this one with a stick 3 times" I guess you can turn some of that down but for what end? the core gameplay is repetitive and extremely grindy why would you want to make that process even harder like idk I have not played it, is it even designed in such a way that you can properly play it without all the cancer HUD? because a lot of games which could highly benefit from less cancer HUD, less minimap and similar shit like witcher 3 are simply not designed to be played without the minimap the "combat" looks also horrible also I dont see how pioneering one of the blandest and uninspired open world designs which core design choices go against the very idea of an open world can be considered as a point of distinction what is the fucking point in an open world when all it does is serve as a pretty background and there is no incentive in exploring anything because every piece of shitty content is marked on your map
Back in 2010 I was in the prime of my life, happiest and most successful I’d ever been (which is pretty sad because I was in High School) My life was well on track.... Fast forward to 2020 and my life has no direction, basically a train wreck with no idea where to go But anyways each day as they come
I really enjoyed watching this. Your video inspires me to try my best to be creative, think outside conventional gaming tropes and really try to make something wholly its own. Great work on this one! :)
The xenoblade remaster will at least give me a chance to finally play it. I’ve only heard great things about it. Plus it looks light years better than the original graphically.
Maybe they could use more of the money the games make to fund development, instead of lining executives pockets with enough money per year to pay all 2000 of those employees for 5. Maybe don't throw 15 million bucks at a CFO just for taking the job, then 20 million more for doing literally nothing. It's not, and has never been about the cost of development, that's just the excuse corporations and their mouthpieces use to justify scummy practices. It is, and has always been about ensuring the higher ups get more money in their personal bank accounts, and they have bigger numbers to show investors each year. And pretending otherwise makes you part of the problem.
I must say, one of the most satisfying aspects of the early 2000s was getting ps2 sequels to ps1 games that looked mind-blowing compared to the previous titles. For me specifically, the most impressive case was the Soul Reaver series. SR2 directly continued SR1 and kept most of the game mechanics, so a direct comparison could be made between most aspects of both games, which only made the improvement in all aspects that much apparent. Nowadays, not only are sequels between generations not that much different from one another graphically, they also tend to change a lot of aspects about the gameplay to keep series fresh, which is good, but I haven't felt that wow factor in a while. Only recent game that did that that comes to mind was The Last Guardian. It made me feel like I was playing a ps2 game, but in a good way. The familiarity along with the graphical improvement of 2 generations made me really enjoy the game.
one thing we have to understand about the history any art, is that after a point having new ideas and innovating becomes harder and harder. it's like a tree growing in a room, at one point its branches reach the wall or the ceiling and growth gets harder and slower
It’s crazy to think that my history with gaming started about a decade ago on my 8th birthday with a DS light and new super Mario Bros. Now I‘m in Uni studying games engineering in my first semester and already making a working prototype. And it all started with me struggling to get past the fist level in Mario Bros.
This was quite thorough and well-rounded, nice. But there's a few things I would like to add: 1. This is relatively minor, and you sort of addressed this with Kickstarter, but a bit more emphasis could have been made about the resurgence of long-dead genres like the isometric RPG and, for my preference, the point-and-click adventure. Seeing a company like Cyan, the makers of the original Myst and Riven, finally make their first proper game in years (Obduction) was amazing, as was how the company received enough income to buy back the rights to Myst and republish the games again. Then there was Broken Sword, Syberia, The Longest Journey, and other classics finally getting long-overdue sequels. In the early 2000s, the genre was dead, and now it's back! 2. The increased focus on the PC market. Sony and Microsoft finally releasing their exclusives on that platform is such a treat! Especially after how consoles, in the early 2000s, were overshadowing PC because that system was still standardizing and made development difficult. 3. Yes, it is true that Battlefront 2 had a lot of sales despite the outrage. But, keep in mind that this outrage led to these sales being much less than the prior game and the microtransactions being removed from the game even before its official launch. Battlefront 2 did have to go through a lot of fixes to implement new systems to replace those microtransactions (one developer described it as removing the game's spinal cord and putting in a new one), and there's still some issues, but clearly legitimate change did occur.
Pretty convincing arguments. One thing I will say honestly is that I had a good year as I only bought games without microtransactions or loot boxes. Metro Exodus, Sekiro, DMC5 and RE2 were quite enough for me to take it slow and enjoy.
once you mentioned Kenshi i subscribed so fast i like i might over dose on adrenaline Kenshi is a wonderful game that i found out about in winter and i have been playing it ever since
RDR2 was actually 7 years development (further enhancing the point), sure it wasn't fully in swing but that concepting time should 100% be included in the development timescale.
You can also blame the consumer. We're expecting the wrong things because we don't understand what a good game even is. We're just shelling out for what we're told is good instead of asking for the right things and voting with our wallets. Also, we should expect to pay more for bigger productions.
“It doesn’t matter how many Jim Sterling videos you watch, or how many angry comments you write.”
PREACH BROTHER.
VOTE WITH YOUR WALLETS
The whales brah - they have 1000 votes for your 1 vote, we need other approaches cause your wallet votes ain't count for shit.
Voting with your wallet is a sham. The kinds of people who care about this shit don't buy these games in the first place. I haven't played CoD since Modern Warfare 3 because of my personal ethics. The kinds of people who watch these videos and who care about gaming, more than just playing whatever their friends seem to play at the moment, don't or very rarely play these games.
I also disagree with the idea that game development has become more expensive which was expressed in the video. It's a question of scale. Indie games prove that games with a similar scale to ps2 era games are much much easier and cheaper to produce than ever before. Of course if you always go big the costs are gonna spike.
@@dominokos well going big is kind of what is expected from AAA games, as always was. So while it's true you can make small scale games cheaper than ever that doesn't really help the AAA market in any way which was always about going, well, big.
@@ketrub Yes, that is true. That's why I don't set these expectations. The problem isn't the tech, the tech is super duper powerful, but people are people. One productive team member can only contribute so much to a project. But with the scale of todays' AAA games the contributions and therefore the employment costs necessary to create all these assets and content etc. is immense. But it's their fault. I don't think people care about the scale of a project or how good the tech is. The most succesful games out are Minecraft, Fortnite and GTAV. How are consumers to blame for game devs and publishers painting themselves into a corner.
I still buy games, but only from russian key resellers sites. If im spending money (albeit less than on regular sites) atleast its gonna be sent towards the third world, not epsteins and weinsteens.
I hope you never stop making videos. I love your analysis.
“The slow cancellation of the future has been accompanied by a deflation of expectations".
Under the current state of capitalism we have lost the ability to imagine a different future, new technology is used to repeat the past, dooming us to an infinite pastiche of remakes and "new" versions of already proven products.
Tomorrow is no more. We have cancelled the new, the different. The future is lost.
@@OjoRojo40 very dramatic. Maybe true for the AAA industry, but innovation doesn't have to be related to technology and there is still some out there. Being a doomsayer wont help anything
@@Kralchen It's true not only for the game industry, just have a look at the movies and how we are flooded by infinite remakes and superhero movies.
This remark is anything but a fatalist, quite the opposite, it's a call to action.
I watch a fair bit of video game content on RUclips. A large portion is rather reactionary, pessimistic, and lacking in legitimate critical analysis.
You, on the other hand, do an excellent job of remaining unswayed by the tide of public opinion. Your videos express a level of authenticity and critical analysis rarely seen in gaming commentary today.
In an ironic turn of events, gaming commentary culture has become very similar to the industry that it so vehemently lambasts (derivative, safe, and toxic). So many of these channels somehow don’t see how hypocritical they are when putting out opportunistic, unoriginal content. Given the landscape of gaming commentary, your channel stands as a shinning example of intriguing, self-determined observations and analysis. You may not get the recognition your quality warrants, but those that do watch appreciate your videos incredibly. At the very least, I certainly do.
Dont know what youtube channels you are watching but I didnt really get that impression from the people I watch at all. At worst they are passionate and agressive towards unsavory antics of bilion dollar companies and people in charge. Critical analysis isnt the goal of every video.
@@KaiSaeren good point
Lol what is Lil Wayne doing here
Strat-edgy and mandaloregaming are two other very good retrospective-ytbers imo
Maybe instead of searching for those kind of channels try to look for some actually good content, like for example razbuten isna really good channel that does análisis of videomage mechanics or stop skeletons from fighting who is happy just reviewing weird and unknown games
I only bought games after at least one year after their initial release. I know there will be dlc, definitive/goty/editor’s cut edition. Besides any modern games are likely to be full of bugs, or even crashes on their release(why pay for testers when we can have testers pay us?) some studio even had the audacity to sell a patch as an independent ‘remaster’ when the community patched it day one. (dark souls) seriously, buy games that can stand the test of time and enjoy the 75% discount.
Same here. I usually get games once I can get a cheap complete version. Now that I look into it, 6 of my last 7 games are that way. There's a lot more GOTY* editions I have yet to play. No need to rush for new releases.
Chris Peng I want to play dark souls but when I looked it up on steam I only found the remastered and sequels. Is the remastered the same game?
@@caviaporcellus7253 Yes. Gameplay-wise it is exactly the same. Despite my saltiness, I highly recommend it.
J.C. Denton ty I’m gonna try it
Chris Peng ty I’m gonna get it
This was by far the best piece I’ve seen about the decade in games coming to an end. Thank you for making something so good :)
The only thing missing would maybe be mobile gaming
Even if this video doesn't get a lot of views it doesn't mine that this youtube creator isn't a gold mine for good content.
Proofreading helps.
“The slow cancellation of the future has been accompanied by a deflation of expectations".
Under the current state of capitalism we have lost the ability to imagine a different future, new technology is used to repeat the past, dooming us to an infinite pastiche of remakes and "new" versions of already proven products.
Tomorrow is no more. We have cancelled the new, the different. The future is lost.
@@OjoRojo40 What was the state of capitalism from 2000-2009 that's so different from now?
@@Ace-zb5xr Not much really, apart from the intensification of neoliberalism.
@@OjoRojo40 lol..
The change in quality of AAA games over the past 2 decades really is staggering. A perfect example of this is when you read reviews and articles of Sonic '06 when it first released. People were baffled back then at how bad it was, and rightfully so, it is a very bad game. But the key detail is that they were /surprised/ at how bad it was. In that time, everyone just didn't expect a developer as big as Sega and a franchise as beloved as Sonic could produce such a game of this low quality.
Notice the difference? Fast forward to today, AAA developers and publishers are pumping out mediocre to bad games on a consistent basis and it's basically expected now. Battlefront 2, Anthem, ME Andromeda: All games published by the largest and richest games publisher in the world. This is a company that should have all the resources a game could ever need to become great. But what did these games become? Terrible. And how did everyone react? "Just par for the course." And this is just one publisher out of many.
triple A games went from quality to basically paying 40$ more for graphics alone. They're riddled with far more bugs then indie games resulting in a much riskier purchase. and seem to be borderline nostalgia baiting by using either IPs or advertising themselves as from the developers of (...). I don't think i'm alone in saying outside of a few triple A Ips like rockstar's gta, fromsoft, nintendo there's a severe lack of trust in triple A games being worth their asking pricetag when we've been an increased in jp localization of portable games onto mainstream platforms that are really good games costing a fraction of what the triple a shovelware costs
@@kavinh10outside of a few developers but we could list around a dozen AAA devs. There are around as many AAA devs who make shit games as well, but the thing is they publish more frequently it feels like they’re the vast majority of the market. How many Assassins creed games came out in between Baldur’s Gate 2 and 3? Or hell even between the first and Second God of War reboot games? How many Fifas, Pokemons, CoDs?
@RedToa94 You're just parroting some lame public opinions. For example, Andromeda and Battlefront 2 are not nearly as bad as Sonic'06. The first was slammed just for the some technical issues at release (some animations and facial animations), the second was bashed for microtransactions. But the games are not great, but solid overall. You're just mindlessly repeating some stupid memes.
The state of gaming is very similar to that of the music industry right now:
mainstream music is absolutely abhorrent, yet there's never been more good music being produced than there is right now, you just have to go out of your way to find it.
@jocaguz18 When there is so much media, it gets harder to find the good ones. They still exist, but they are blocked by the oversaturation of produced media contents.
That's exactly what I came here to post. As a metal fan, most of the mainstream labels are fucking awful and the AAA games of this decade mirror it almost perfectly in terms of the decline in overall quality, but at the same time you have so many smaller labels that feature a lot of hidden gems and the internet makes discovering it so much easier, much like it's the case with the indie developers in gaming nowadays. Those that bitch about how terrible things are nowadays just like to bitch, as opposed to putting a little effort into finding stuff that's worthwhile and enjoying that, as opposed to hopping on various hate bandwagons and what have you. There will always be worthwhile shit out there, you just have to put in the effort to find it instead of expecting people to spoonfeed you the answers. Internet is a valuable tool, so learn how to use it and stop screeching already.
I could say the same about the movie industry. As a grown adult by now, I now understand what movie critics have been saying for years because whatever happened to that media happened to mine.
I see your point, but at the end of the day you really need a big team and a lot of money to do real AAA games. There's gems out there like Minecraft or Factorio, but no indie will deliver Read Dead Redemption, Forza, NBA 2K, Tekken or God of War. In contrast, producing high quality music has become more accesible without needing to go to big studios.
@jocaguz18I'm aware making games has become more accesible too, but there's no way around needing a huge multidisciplinar team to achieve top notch results. A single guy with a computer can do electronic music as good as it gets.
I seriously feel like I've found a unicorn with this channel. I can't believe you have less than 27k subscribers! Amazing and deep, thoughtful content, a badass voice and a serene analysis style that's like a well-sourced documentary. Hope this channel blows up!
Well, based on your comment it looks like he's gained almost 100,000 subscribers in around a year.
I just discovered you channel two days ago and am binging your content. I'm extremely impressed with the quality! Please keep it up, you deserve lots of success
This channel is so odd. Amazing content without any references to patreon, twitter, etc.
Ikr and has only like 10% of the subs it deserves THE LEAST !
I don't have a problem with them talking about patreon. We wouldn't have a lot of the content or creators we do now without a platform like it. Especially with ad blockers destroying adsense revenue.
@@AS-rh7mg and youtube having the shittiest monetization system
“The slow cancellation of the future has been accompanied by a deflation of expectations".
Under the current state of capitalism we have lost the ability to imagine a different future, new technology is used to repeat the past, dooming us to an infinite pastiche of remakes and "new" versions of already proven products.
Tomorrow is no more. We have cancelled the new, the different. The future is lost.
Sadly nowadays a channel like this is 'odd'. Remember the time when people used to put videos actually for free on RUclips for stranger things like 'fun', 'being interested in specific topics', 'entertainment' or 'information', not to evade a job and make money? Some youtubers are literally offended, if you don't pay them enough for free content on a free hoster and want to black mail their audience by threatening to not make videos anymore.... Well, then just don't do it, if you don't do it for fun or interest. Goddammit...
The gaming community is the gaming community's greatest weakness.
Damn gamers, they ruined gaming!
I feel like now a days games are made on a recipe by business people rather then gamers. They are implementing money making schemes instead of fun for the gamer.
EA - Ubisoft - 2k - especially
love the background music choices. my goodness i hope everyone can see this video. VERY high quality :) This is the type of video that shows how i feel about the video gaming climate in such a nice and calming voice. while bringing up all good points that i agree with.
The mainstream gaming industry almost rivals Hollywood in how fast it went from consecutive hits to total crap.
Sorry, but i have to rant now:
Why is every RUclipsr that talks about increasing development cost and micro transactions seemingly utterly unaware of the fact that the number of players/customers also keeps growing. In general, like more females that are into games these days, or the Chinese market opening up...
Live services in single player games, micro transactions and the like in full priced games are pure greed and have nothing to do with increasing costs.
Nobody asked for development teams to be this large, especially if they keep on messing up, sabotaging their own games time and time again, by starting over 1 year ahead of release (Destiny, Anthem), or just releasing the same cookie cutter sequel each year without any innovation or refinement.
We pay for poor management and the CEO's annual bonuses, 20 times their actual salaries.
Customer retention is achieved through FOMO (fear of missing out), abusing addiction and empty promises of finishing the game some day, if you just buy the season pass and enough cosmetics. No product quality, respect towards the consumer and fair prices... quarterly earnings trump long time strategy every time.
Scale your shit down, set a goal and stick to it, manage it properly and finish the fucking thing before you sell it!
Smaller teams achieved so much more with way less than these AAA-wannabes have.
Rant over.
ameen
The increase of development costs is kind of a hoax.
@@5chneemensch138
I wouldn't even mind that much if the money was going towards the ppl developing and their needs (e.g. office space, software and such), but the larger the publisher the more money is just reserved for overpaid executives and also marketing. If half of your budget is needed for advertising your doing it wrong. If your game is good, it'll promote itself through word of mouth. Sure, you might sell less units, but you also spent way less money.
Oh, and I almost forgot. If you needlessly turn EVERY game into an online only live service abomination you need ppl to take care of that unwanted infrastructure.
It's just a vicious cycle of spending more and more to make more and more until this practice can no longer work. There isn't an infinite amount of consumers out there, that could spend infinite amounts of time and money on these games that all seem to want to be the last game you'll ever play.
Games like this aren't a product, we are... and the share holders are the actual customers.
@@se7enhaender can i be your friend? you seem like one of the few sane people around. Also I need you to recommend some games to me because I cant seem to find any
Just a comment to help feed the youtube algorithms.
Frag-ile “its not much, but its honest work “
Lmao, also thanks i would not have discovered this channel if it wasnt for the yt algorithm
May the algorithm gods watch kindly on this channel.
Virtual Reality. VR will be the next frontier for gameplay improvement, we are in the Atari age of VR and when we start leaving this stage there will be so much room for the same kinds of growth we saw in the 2000s!
The issue I can see with this is cost. The only truly impressive and immersive VR systems (headset, treadmill/racing chair, and a computer to run it all) are exclusively expensive. Maybe we'll have VR establishments that people can buy a subscription for, but a 3k entry fee won't attract many people (especially when they see all the goofs in headsets waving their arms about.)
I like to think so but a simillar argument was made when the wii released and this still of gameplay kinda went nowhere.
VR is expensive in ways that are hard to make cheaper. Processing power was growing exponentially and software is relatively cheap to produce and optimize so it was to be expected that graphics improved exponentially.
It's not impossible that it becomes cheaper, but it's not "the same". The production of hardware has become increasingly expensive with how much it improved and companies are no longer supporting exponential growth (Moore's law was mantained artificially by companies forcing the growth, not naturally by demand) so it's anybody's guess if it will work or not. Think of it as 3D. People thought it would be the future but there were implementation issues.
Thanks for the Pathologic 2 shoutout!
seconded! pathologic 2 got robbed, it deserved indie nomination for TGA :(
Hey man, just found your channel recently and I've gotta say your content is excellent. Keep up the great work and keep making entertaining videos!
“The slow cancellation of the future has been accompanied by a deflation of expectations".
Under the current state of capitalism we have lost the ability to imagine a different future, new technology is used to repeat the past, dooming us to an infinite pastiche of remakes and "new" versions of already proven products.
Tomorrow is no more. We have cancelled the new, the different. The future is lost.
Some of my favorite games ever came out this decade- Skyrim, subnautica, divinity original sin 2, the Witcher 3, and fire emblem three houses. There were many misses, but damn were there some hits. I really appreciated your fair and balanced view.
Indeed, Dark Souls gave me the feeling that there is still hope for gaming world. A true masterpiece of our time.
@eggs of glory but it isnt, the main character shows hope in defiance of the cruel world they live in
Berserk Guts theme playing
Great Video!
One of the most interesting events of the decade for me was the rise of mobile gaming and the death of Portable handheld systems like the DS and PSP. The 3DS was successful and lasted a long while but the Vita died before it even began. Sad considering how many amazing titles were release in the mid 2000'2 for handhelds.
Nintendo switch?
It´s just somewhat dystopian to see the way things are going whit the triple a market where this is now a billion dollar industry but somehow the games get just worse and you never see there anything unique but just the same old shit polished. But at least the more Indie side of things keep pushing things forward even when some of the good old developer like Blizzard changed for the worse. Also great channel btw.
I miss when AAA games were made with passion
To me this is a too pessimistic view. The fact that games are getting worse isn't true. The bad may be bad but the good ones are better than ever before.
@@miditi1816 Yeah i was more talking about the big developer and not games in general, seems kinda like when i am think about it as if the big publisher just milk the mass market of causal gamers because there sells seem actually be pretty good even when you never hear anything good about them. In general i am also not to negative, the big ones maybe do at the moment some damage to the market by turning players of but in the long run i see this more as there business problem that they will lose there uninformed customers ether complete or to the better concurrence which is great for us. Think the worst thing that could happen is when things stay as they are where they keep to somehow milk the casuals while we still get a absolute ton of great games. It´s more that it would be pretty nice to see some creative destruction because the big ones seem to have more only a advantage whit the store shells and advertisement but not so much game play wise and take whit this resources from real development away. But yeah your maybe right lol people just like to complain.
You seriously put out great quality videos, I love watching them and I honestly hope you keep putting out more of these really enjoyable, high quality and well put together videos. Thanks mate :)
Great content, amazing commentary, superb editing, well presented points, small subs/viewer count. One must love youtube's algorithm. Keep it up bro, the best is always yet to come.
Taking the time not just to put all this together, but also listing all the footage and songs used, that deserves applause. Subscribed.
This is one of the best videos about this topic. Liked and subscribed.
This should be on trending. Great content and editing man, subbed
There was a point in this video where I felt a pure kind of joy because I was watching a channel named after an FLCL reference, eloquently discussing the current state of video games, showing footage from Dark Souls and with Undertale music playing in the background. Like my life has not been pointless. Thank you!
Mate, you blew my mind with those statistics at the beginning. Hope this video blows up, it really captures the zeitgeist of the hobby.
Thank you for making this video. It has highlighted for me that this decade in gaming has contained both all time lows and all time highs. It leaves a bittersweet taste in my mouth, and I'm excited to see what the next generation has in store for gaming, particularly whether VR will truly take off.
On another note, your channel has become one of my favorites. Keep it up.
NeverKnowsBest, you have some of the best video game analysis videos out there. Your insights and ideas really make me think and understand so much better. Thanks for making these!
That is just awesome. Every single video is so well researched and the information is so well explained. It's almost definitive. I'm not exactly a fanboy type, but I honestly believe that your channel is just the single best gaming resource on any platform
Wonderful video - and I agree with a lot of what you said. I don't know if you read your comment section but I'd like to offer my .2 cents and background based on the excel spreadsheet at 5:12. I am what I would consider a devout sports fan of all the major titles listed (Madden, NBA2k, even if it's not listed there you could include FIFA as well). I remember playing these games on my PS2 and GameCube ages ago and being utterly immersed in what is known as their "Franchise" modes. Essentially - you get to run a team like a real life general manager - dictate what players you want, etc... it is unbelievable to say but the major gaming titans have damn near killed these modes - SPECIFICALLY EA with Madden.
Another RUclipsr by the name of "SOFTDRINKTV" dives into this regarding Madden. It shows the complete butchering of this mode in favor of "Ultimate Team" which is naturally the mode with player picks that you can pay real life money for, lootboxes essentially. I remember when they first rolled out the mode in the early 2010s I actually enjoyed it. It was like real life card collecting that I enjoyed in real life. But an initially innocuous game-mode soon became the plague that has infected every sports game to this day. From the console jump of Xbox 360 / PS3 to Xbox One / PS4 - the games were stripped down to their barebones Franchise mode wise and all of the development team's efforts were concentrated on Ultimate Team. To this day you will find a more in-depth and engaging Franchise Mode from games in 2005, 2006, 2007 than in ANY of the modern Madden titles. Of course - Ultimate Team caught on with a lot of the newer generation and for many kids it's the only mode they play - why would EA have any need or desire to change given the truckloads of money they're making off of it?
Each year chipped away at my jadedness and for the first time this year I didn't get the new Madden despite myself still love watching the sport and watching it every weekend. I just couldn't justify making a $60 purchase for a product I hated but it was the closest thing I could get to a proper experience of something I enjoyed in real life. I think that's why you see the unbelievably awful ratings on that excel spreadsheet. NBA2k20 gets a 0.8 rating because there's a lot of people who love basketball and it has become so ingrained in their everyday life, even if they hate the CASINO-like mechanics implemented into it - it's still the game they need to get that fix in and play with their friends.
Sadly - due to exclusivity rights and the sheer manpower required to making a proper sports equivalent - I don't think my woes can be solved via indie gaming (vs other genres that have been able to be salvaged). Still - in the past 2 years I've broadened my horizons with gaming and played a huge amount of stuff I never would have bothered with previously. My favorite games from the past 4 years have been Unravel (indie platformer), Stardew Valley (indie farm/villager RPG), Dead Cells (indie roguelite), and the Supergiant Games (indie studio with Bastion/Transistor/Pyre/Hades). In other words, I think I'm going to be alright through the 2020s due the brilliance of smaller teams. Cheers!
same garbage went into most modern shooter
loadouts that need to be unlocked a bunch of cards for X and Y
I cant enjoy that crap anymore. I don't want to spend 50h to unlock basic option for my loadout just to be able to then actually play the game competitive on an even footing if even that
I accidently stumbled upon your Elder Scrolls analysis and binged almost all of your reviews. You‘re one of my favorite content creators on this plattform. Thank you for your great and insightful reviews!
This video was really good. It actually outlines exactly what I think about games right now. It's really nice to see a positive voice when there are a whole bunch of people doomsaying and trying to convince everyone another video game crash is coming.
Except for the part at the end where he suggested that poeole shouldn't bring politics into videogame culture which is just a bad opinion.
honestly the 2010s in gaming has truly been the rise of the indie gems. While mainstream games have a certain appeal, most of the "classics" of this decade seem to be indies. Things like undertale, super meat boy, five nights at freddies, minecraft(earlier on) and anything the people behind the stanley parable make, etc.
with the disappointment of the triple A industry being a disappointment for a lot of people are going to indies for the things that are more experimental or harder hitting
making games with tight game design instead for buzzwords with strong marketing strength
western AAA is abysmal
You made Dark Souls game of the decade. Could not agree more. Best 1st (blind) play through I've ever had.
Also, your content is highly appreciated. Really good stuff!
Times have changed indeed. This video catches much of my feelings about gaming industry. I really like graphics on games. I remember being astonished by 1080p when a bought a new computer and played Assassins Creed Revelations for the first time. This happened on other occasions, like when I played Super Mario 64,, Crysis, Skyrim, GTA V, Red Dead 2, among other titles. But after all, gaming is about fun and repeating formulas over and over go against it.
I hope this video gives you a big bump. You gave. Fantastic, fair, and thoughtful look at the past decade. You have my subscription.
I agree with you on the whole about video games slowly getting worse, but I'm not sure that review scores paint an accurate picture of whats going on. In the early 2000's, scores above 90 were much more common than years in recent years (2017). I think this may have something to do with the proliferation of the internet. In the early 2000's, publishers relied on games journalism for marketing. These companies would place a large stock in the review of the game. They might even pay for a better review (citation needed tho). While paid reviews may also be common today, marketing strategies can take place outside of the journalism sphere.
Another reason for low review scores is that it's much easier to become a game journalist and get featured on metacritic than in the past. As a result, a journalist needs to be provocative to be seen. A game that everybody loves can stand to be "panned" by a journalist in an effort to stand out. I just think that using this as a principle reasoning for the video isn't super airtight.
But honestly, what do I know. You've actually done research on this, and I'm sitting here nitpicking (ironically, I'm doing exactly like my previous point states).
Thanks for coming to my TED talk.
Also, footage of Rimworld when you're talking about rare but great games? I see you're a man of culture as well.
Hey neverknowsbest, I recently discovered your channel and subscribed after watching some of the rpg-reviewing videos, you make exceptionally high quality content on them, thank you
ohhh dude, I love your transition to hotline miami soundtrack when you start talkin about how indie games are KILLIN it! Bro, it's like you made these videos for me.
This is truly a quality video. I cant feel your love and worry about the industry . I am not playing that many games this days but is nice to know the channel of someone that truly love games.
Keep spreading the word , even if only 1 person do not lose money to loot boxes or half bake games will be worth it.
I am so happy that I found your channel, I just had to binge watch all your previous videos in a very short amount of time. I love how you manage to be comprehensive in your analysis, while still being concise. Hell, you managed to talk about 10 years of gaming evolution, while missing very few trends (A note about Pokémon Go would have been relevant), and managing to build a cohesive narrative out of it all.
Your videos are beautiful. Love you, NeverKnowsBest!
"The burden on finding a good game that appeals to your tastes is on you now..." - True but it also means its more on my wallet, because now I have to check a hundred games instead of five or ten.
I really enjoyed this video man. Keep it up i think you are a great content creator
You are so fucking underrated man -- I just discovered you a couple days ago. Your videos are seriously masterful. They are interesting, as well as well made and well-presented. Keep up the great work
just went over your channel again to see which videos performed really well and I'm sad to see that this one is below average since I think this is one of your most important works so far.
I appreciate the amount of thought you put into your videos. This one in particular was a fantastic summary of the decade. Well done!
It is also true that mid-budget indie are taking a big spike recently
Risk of Rain - Slay Spire - Dead Cells
I know those are all roguelikes but similar examples are in every non-mainstream dominated genre
Thanks for making this beautiful video, I enjoyed every second of it. Substance, editing, and sound are on point, with a healthy lookout towards the negative/positive changes that happened and are yet to come.
Great video man! Too many people focus on the negative sides of the gaming industry of late. While it is important to take notice, I am enjoying so many more games of all different kinds of genres than I did 10-20 years ago. I couldn't even think to list all the amazing games I have played in the last couple years both big and small.
I love looking back and providing some long lens perspective, sometimes we are too close to current events to remember that it was not always like this
Excellent video. I may not always agree with all of your statements, but I appreciate how thoughtful your videos and opinions are. Please, keep making insightful content!
I say, back in 2001-3 these were years where most of the games still had creative vision leading them. Today, companies seek creative vision from performance results and revenue maximizing in the AAA arena. Good videos! Keeps it up
This is the best summation of the decade I have seen, fantastic work mate!
Awesome production, thank you!
Mate, I know you don’t have many viewers, and that you don’t get enough pay-off for your work, but please please please don’t give up!
Dude, really love your content. You're one of my favourite creators! Plz keep up the awesome work!
As someone who love digital distribution, it also has negative effects for me and literally gives me anxiety when I want to play games now.
There are so many games , all available with 0 effort required, tons of games being put in my face on youtube, news, twitch etc.
so it becomes very hard for me to pick anything and then stick to it.
And with more limited free time these days it becomes even more difficult, so now choosing what to play when I get home becomes a multiple hour long ordeal and then my game time is gone lol.
I know this is a personal/mental issue, but it never used to be an issue when I was relying on holidays or birthdays or having to go out to a store to get a game and play it.
It took more effort, and you spent more time with each game whether you wanted to or not and it was just much more simple to have a few games, and sit down and play them.
I think that is what I miss the most from the Xbox360 era.
Not to mention everything being half finished and on a live service model now demanding all of my time to "keep up" or earn everything.
This was a unique essay I watched. This didn’t feel like a typical analysis, it felt like a history lessons.
Nobody I’d rather hear sum up the last decade than you, man. Cheers & thanks for the consistently wonderful content.
This makes me think about how much I loved gaming to when I was a kid in comparison to my teenage and adult years. All the incredible innovations of graphics, consoles like the Nintendo Wii, genuinely great mainstream titles. It isn't really suprising how I fell out of love in my teen years put rightly just abandoning buying the latest console because I couldn't justify getting a really expensive updated console for something pretty lackluster quality wise.
It is only in the last 2 years as an adult that I have had some genuinely really fun times playing games again. With almost all of those titles being from indie games and at a more reasonable price as well. Reinstalling the kind of pick up and playability of games on my PC rather than needed to dedicate a lot of time to witness a game to its fullest. And seeing some friends go into the gaming industry, in retrospect I am really happy to what has happened for the gaming word and it is nice to see everyone really touting for the underdog devs than a lot of corporate overloads. It has been a great decade I think :)
Got me breathing harder, when I saw Noita at the end. Sometimes I feel nobody has recognized this unforgiving masterpiece
An excellent analysis. Despite all the problems you discussed, you still found good reason to be positive at the end. You take a much broader view than most critics/analysts, a larger context, and are willing to find the good in the bad, as well as the bad in the good. Thank you again.
Great essay, it was pleasure to watch, thanks!
I thougth i knew the state of things, but you make dang good points. Also well deserved and good analogy about DarkSouls woof woof !!
Great video man. Lots of good info and revelations.
Have you played Ancestors The Humankind Odyssey? It was released a few months back. It's a game that takes genuine risks and doesn't hold the players hand. It didn't review so well, but I personally think it's done some awesome stuff. I think it deserves support from people who think games need to take more risks nowadays.
No I haven't but it was actually a game I was following during development and really liked the sound of. I might try to check it out if I see it on sale for a good price because while i'm sure its a game with some flaws, I still want to see how well it executes its vision.
@@NeverKnowsBest Awesome! I was following its progress right from the start because I was a fan of the earlier AC games. People underestimate the developer Patrice Desilets. Prince of Persia Sands of Time had a bunch of elements that were seen in some of the most famous action games that came afterwards, and assassin's creed changed open world games forever. Hope you maybe make a video of it once you've played it because your videos are awesome! :)
@@kbg12ila did it not have a generic open world? and a shallow skill system? and some more typical big game trademarks? I was mildly interested in it at first but it just looked like a generic open world with a slight twist to it
@@peddazz2365 Well it is open world and has a skill system but for me the risky part of it is to leave a lot of things to the player. Like in Dark souls and reality lol you have to make mistakes to know how to survive but you have to also use forward thinking to know how things would realistically be. It doesn't hold your hand like every other big budget game does nowadays. You have to identify every single thing in the world. You have to plan your journeys before you make them so you don't die. You have to put your clan into consideration. Just use logic and it'll help you. If you have a rock and a stick... you can make it sharper. It isn't difficult, if you play smartly.
The biggest problem most people had is the fact it was difficult. Which I think is slightly unfair considering Dark Souls gets so much respect when this does a similar thing. Yes it's frustrating when you die after having reached so far into the game, but it's usually a mistake you made and so it's exactly how it was in reality. The humans only survived and evolved because they used logic. I guess people would rather be told to pick up a rock and smash it into a branch. When they technically don't need to be told that.
It definitely has flaws, but it is not flawed form a conceptual level. It's flawed because the control scheme isn't always intuitive, and also it first launched with absolutely no tutorial. They wanted us to be completely blind which, I think is a nice intention but didn't work out. It's fixed now. Like some games have a difficulty level, this game has you choose to play with a full hud and tutorial or none. It's different and I wonder if itll still be difficult in a good way if I play through with no HUD and tutorial after I've already played through with a tutorial.
I guess I'd recommend this game the way I recommend Dark Souls. I can't expect just anyone to spend money on Dark Souls because they may not give it time and it may not be for them. Same with this. Although I do hope it does well enough so that the developers can make 1666 Amsterdam. Patrice may have a bit of an ego but he listens to criticisms. He improves. Just look at AC1 - AC2.
The developer of this game is literally the creator of the modern open world formula. We say it's ubisoft but it started with assassin's creed. Ubisoft took his designs and put it everywhere and it seems everyone else did too. The way AC pioneered the open world genre we know today, he pioneered a lot of action game elements we know today from Prince of Persia Sands of Time. That's why I'm always excited to see what he does next.
@@kbg12ila from what I heard the flaws were with the core concept
there are constant leaps of millions of years yet the world remains the same, I dont remember if even anything changes?
also how does 1mio. types of batman esque abilities equal no handholding? for fucks sake, you got a radar and everything is marked with some form of ikons, you can send out some form of "ultrasonic wave" that will show you points of interests or things you can interact with, when you unlock something you get a huge trophy with some big text explaining what you had to do to get it "dodge this animal twice" "poke this one with a stick 3 times"
I guess you can turn some of that down but for what end? the core gameplay is repetitive and extremely grindy why would you want to make that process even harder
like idk I have not played it, is it even designed in such a way that you can properly play it without all the cancer HUD? because a lot of games which could highly benefit from less cancer HUD, less minimap and similar shit like witcher 3 are simply not designed to be played without the minimap
the "combat" looks also horrible
also I dont see how pioneering one of the blandest and uninspired open world designs which core design choices go against the very idea of an open world can be considered as a point of distinction
what is the fucking point in an open world when all it does is serve as a pretty background and there is no incentive in exploring anything because every piece of shitty content is marked on your map
Back in 2010 I was in the prime of my life, happiest and most successful I’d ever been (which is pretty sad because I was in High School)
My life was well on track....
Fast forward to 2020 and my life has no direction, basically a train wreck with no idea where to go
But anyways each day as they come
I really enjoyed watching this. Your video inspires me to try my best to be creative, think outside conventional gaming tropes and really try to make something wholly its own. Great work on this one! :)
A midi version of What is Love? You magnificent bastard.
The xenoblade remaster will at least give me a chance to finally play it. I’ve only heard great things about it. Plus it looks light years better than the original graphically.
thanks for mentioning kenshi, that game is great
great content! @ youtube algorithm, look at this, i'm Engaging, this user deserves to be recommended to others now ;)
Hell of a job on this video brother! The amount of information you provided is incredible. You earned a new subscriber.
You deserve WAY more subscribers.
Well you just gained one today!
Maybe they could use more of the money the games make to fund development, instead of lining executives pockets with enough money per year to pay all 2000 of those employees for 5. Maybe don't throw 15 million bucks at a CFO just for taking the job, then 20 million more for doing literally nothing.
It's not, and has never been about the cost of development, that's just the excuse corporations and their mouthpieces use to justify scummy practices. It is, and has always been about ensuring the higher ups get more money in their personal bank accounts, and they have bigger numbers to show investors each year.
And pretending otherwise makes you part of the problem.
Facts
Great video. You are always saying exact;y what I am thinking about these subjects. Its eerie.
I must say, one of the most satisfying aspects of the early 2000s was getting ps2 sequels to ps1 games that looked mind-blowing compared to the previous titles. For me specifically, the most impressive case was the Soul Reaver series. SR2 directly continued SR1 and kept most of the game mechanics, so a direct comparison could be made between most aspects of both games, which only made the improvement in all aspects that much apparent. Nowadays, not only are sequels between generations not that much different from one another graphically, they also tend to change a lot of aspects about the gameplay to keep series fresh, which is good, but I haven't felt that wow factor in a while. Only recent game that did that that comes to mind was The Last Guardian. It made me feel like I was playing a ps2 game, but in a good way. The familiarity along with the graphical improvement of 2 generations made me really enjoy the game.
Well said brother
this video was really good im surprised this doesn't have more views
Really awesome video, and a very good recap of the last 10 years! (and the 10 before!)
one thing we have to understand about the history any art, is that after a point having new ideas and innovating becomes harder and harder. it's like a tree growing in a room, at one point its branches reach the wall or the ceiling and growth gets harder and slower
It’s crazy to think that my history with gaming started about a decade ago on my 8th birthday with a DS light and new super Mario Bros. Now I‘m in Uni studying games engineering in my first semester and already making a working prototype. And it all started with me struggling to get past the fist level in Mario Bros.
This was quite thorough and well-rounded, nice. But there's a few things I would like to add:
1. This is relatively minor, and you sort of addressed this with Kickstarter, but a bit more emphasis could have been made about the resurgence of long-dead genres like the isometric RPG and, for my preference, the point-and-click adventure. Seeing a company like Cyan, the makers of the original Myst and Riven, finally make their first proper game in years (Obduction) was amazing, as was how the company received enough income to buy back the rights to Myst and republish the games again. Then there was Broken Sword, Syberia, The Longest Journey, and other classics finally getting long-overdue sequels. In the early 2000s, the genre was dead, and now it's back!
2. The increased focus on the PC market. Sony and Microsoft finally releasing their exclusives on that platform is such a treat! Especially after how consoles, in the early 2000s, were overshadowing PC because that system was still standardizing and made development difficult.
3. Yes, it is true that Battlefront 2 had a lot of sales despite the outrage. But, keep in mind that this outrage led to these sales being much less than the prior game and the microtransactions being removed from the game even before its official launch. Battlefront 2 did have to go through a lot of fixes to implement new systems to replace those microtransactions (one developer described it as removing the game's spinal cord and putting in a new one), and there's still some issues, but clearly legitimate change did occur.
I haven't played, bought or even "torrented" a triple A tittle game in years. It seems it will continue like that.
And I could not be more happy.
You didn't miss a thing in your analysis, everything you said I deeply agree and resonate with. Keep it up
I dont have too much to say, but I really enjoyed the video. Happy new years man!
The last decade brought us The Outer Wilds, which is essentially a perfect video game. I can’t think of a better game.
2 videos in two weeks? your spoiling us
Pretty convincing arguments. One thing I will say honestly is that I had a good year as I only bought games without microtransactions or loot boxes. Metro Exodus, Sekiro, DMC5 and RE2 were quite enough for me to take it slow and enjoy.
Gotta love the MoonMoon emote when you show twitch, mah small ma and pa streamer
37 minutes hell yeah dude. HELL YE. I'm ready!
Oh the fable music, damnit NeverKnowsBest you know how to pull heartstrings don't you
It's nice to hear someone, who liked the past, but doesn't think everything was better.
once you mentioned Kenshi i subscribed so fast i like i might over dose on adrenaline
Kenshi is a wonderful game that i found out about in winter and i have been playing it ever since
RDR2 was actually 7 years development (further enhancing the point), sure it wasn't fully in swing but that concepting time should 100% be included in the development timescale.
You can also blame the consumer. We're expecting the wrong things because we don't understand what a good game even is. We're just shelling out for what we're told is good instead of asking for the right things and voting with our wallets. Also, we should expect to pay more for bigger productions.