Support NeoGAF

[blastprocessor]

Can't believe the hype generated around this (which l never fell for) and not surprised with the metacritic average given the poor Alpha build.

 

[Trey]

Somehow this thread still isn't as bad as uncharted review threads.

 

[Jarate]

To those saying Bungie made a mistake with review embargo, I really dont agree.

Most games sell huge day one and week one (then drop off dramatically) and we basically had almost an entire week before the bad reviews came out in force (and yellow'd the metacritic)

I think poor reception will hurt it in the long run given the 10 year plan, but it looks like the game is a big sales success regardless.

Personally, I think the game is great in some ways, bad in others. I have this urgent need to play it however, which I cant really explain since in practice I am using same guns against same enemies but its so addictive.

Only mistake I think they made is to piss off the game reviewers.

Honestly, do you think that game reviewers were coming into the Destiny review happy that they had to wait the day before to play the game.

I honestly think that's a huge reason for why this game is getting such bad reviews.

 

[Netherscourge]

People keep saying "review what's in the box," but the raid unlock's a mere week from launch and is included in the cost of the game.

MMO fans, if reviewers were scoring games without even doing a raid, wouldn't you consider that extremely uninformed?

We have no idea how Destiny is going to handle in a 6-man fireteam setting, which could potentially be a huge gamechanger.

Well, it better be one hell of a raid!



Honestly, the best part of this game right now is the character creation screen.

 

[VanWinkle]

I haven't read through that post, but just because you may find one example doesn't mean your statement "I love how *all* the people" is true.

I didn't mean every person defending it uses every excuse. I'm just saying that there is always an excuse that peoples' expectations were wrong from defenders of the game, no matter what their expectations were.

 

[antitrop]

So when do we start bumping the threads that asked 'What if Bungie is just a one trick pony that hit lightning with Halo?'

They should go back to making real-time strategy games.

 

[ArkkAngel007]

Most of the "issues" with the game were evident from the Alpha and Beta and may not necessarily bother everyone. Those who were expecting the full game to be "so much more" were either making unfounded assumptions about the game or engaging in wishful thinking. Those who purchased the game without playing the Alpha or Beta almost certainly did so on the basis of word of mouth or media hype. Word of mouth is forgivable I suppose, but swallowing the media hype goes back to the original issue I mentioned.

Out of 66 pages of comments, how many GAFers do you think were NOT influenced by the media the hype and did NOT play the alpha or beta, yet still ended up very disappointed in the game? Without the hype why would anyone set their expectations for the game so high to begin with?

I'm not saying there aren't legitimate flaws with the game, I'm just saying that the flaws should have been expected given we knew about them months ago. Expecting the game to fundamentally change in a two-month period is what is unreasonable.

I can't and won't try putting people under a current mindset, because only they know where they are coming from. I just know my own position, and can read the words being said. My position prior to the game's release being that I played the Alpha and Beta and really enjoyed it, and didn't have any expectations for the game aside from that Bungie was developing it and what the Beta offered.

The problem here is that the beta being the entire rest of the game sans exotic gear and different backdrop is setting a bar lower than what I think any person worth their salt expects when coming into a game, let alone with the pedigree behind it. There was no real growth to the game, outside of better loot opening up. The missions don't build off of each other, introducing elements or putting a distinct twist to them aside from the Sword of Crota, which otherwise from wielding a sword is the exact same structure. The story didn't seem to build on itself, and there wasn't any reason for me to be doing missions except to check off that box and feed into that core gameplay loop. There is a nonexistent structure to the game, despite the game attempting to have one. And that's barring how poor the communication systems actually come off and the server side issues of public events (which were more apparent in the Beta than in retail for me so far).

And that's something that doesn't speak to me for any game, regardless of genre or exposure. And I don't think any of the above was unreasonable to expect to be part of the whole game as the game itself builds itself up like most other games out there.

I haven't heard of any other game to be given such an excuse in the past, and I don't understand why it's acceptable now.

 

[Alienous]

Shadow Fall is quite honestly one of the worst first person shooters I've ever played in my life. Destiny stands up pretty well compared to that, lol

.

 

[NullPointer]

That is perfect.

 

[Deadpandas]

This game seems like a big bomba, I bet Bungie are wishing they never left Halo.

I Hoped that Destiny would be the next Halo 2, Halo 3 or even Shadowrun but it turns out it's a smelly turd. Bungie is dead to me, they've fallen so far

 

[Jarate]

What... What in gods name are you trying to get at.

pr companies and marketing are there to make the game sound as good as possible, so you the consumer will want to buy it

other then like 2 examples, they did not lie, and even with those ewxamples, they were told like a year or two before the game released, and things happen during developement that can be cut

it was the consumers who got overhyped for a game.

This game seems like a big bomba, I bet Bungie are wishing they never left Halo.

I Hoped that Destiny would be the next Halo 2, Halo 3 or even Shadowrun but it turns out it's a smelly turd. Bungie is dead to me, they've fallen so far

Yes, it bombed so bad that it most likely sold 10's of millions of copies in it's first few days. Im sure that Activision and Bungie are crying because people on the internet disliked their game and that they got a 74 in "reviews" in which most core gamers dont care about

 

[MormaPope]

Only mistake I think they made is to piss off the game reviewers.

Honestly, do you think that game reviewers were coming into the Destiny review happy that they had to wait the day before to play the game.

I honestly think that's a huge reason for why this game is getting such bad reviews.

So disregarding the contents of the reviews entirely and assuming that?

 

[Marcel]

Shadow Fall is quite honestly one of the worst first person shooters I've ever played in my life. Destiny stands up pretty well compared to that, lol

It's painfully mediocre and boring which is worse than a bad game where you can revel in its badness.

 

[ChawlieTheFair]

Except that Liam Neeson, Ewen McGreggor, Natalie Portman and Samuel L Jackson were completely incapable of salvaging the Star Wars prequels. The Director and writing is crucial. Destiny has no focus or vision in the story department.

These two did.

 

[PanicFreak]

People keep saying "review what's in the box," but the raid unlock's a mere week from launch and is included in the cost of the game.

MMO fans, if reviewers were scoring games without even doing a raid, wouldn't you consider that extremely uninformed?

We have no idea how Destiny is going to handle in a 6-man fireteam setting, which could potentially be a huge gamechanger.

Bungie could have just said that the game is an MMO and been reviewed like an MMO. They didn't say it's a MMO. They even went as far as to suggest that it wasn't an MMO. So, from that perspective, they shot themselves in the foot.

 

[Dirtbag]

Personally, I think the game is great in some ways, bad in others. I have this urgent need to play it however, which I cant really explain since in practice I am using same guns against same enemies but its so addictive.

Carrot on a stick gaming. You basically unlock everything the game has to offer as you go, down to the multiplayer modes, and basic character movement. They had this thing figured out. Its like a psychology experiment

 

[Jobbs]

Yeah a lot of people feel this way. A lot of people are getting the meh feeling to. I don't think anyone would call it a bad game.

I kinda would.

 

[Warm Machine]

Titanfall didn't lie about what content it was providing. They said it was a FPS game that was supposed to blow your mind. At the end of the day It just overhyped its gameplay..

I found Titanfall's amount of content fine. The game had a solid MP with really strong design pillars and meaningful player advancement. I'd rate it about an 8.5. Destiny is a 6 for me at the moment. There has not been a single moment in Destiny that has been anywhere near as impressive and fun as many moments I've had playing Titanfall.

 

[antitrop]

I kinda would.

It walks the line.

I found Titanfall's amount of content fine. The game had a solid MP with really strong design pillars and meaningful player advancement. I'd rate it about an 8.5. Destiny is a 6 for me at the moment. There has not been a single moment in Destiny that has been anywhere near as impressive and fun as many moments I've had playing Titanfall.

I completely agree with this, Titanfall was about an 8.5 for me, while Destiny sits somewhere around a 7.

 

[ViewtifulJC]

Somehow this thread still isn't as bad as uncharted review threads.

The UC3 review thread was pre-release, a really hyped sequel to 2009's GOTY for many, so any "bad" reviews(read: 8/10 *gasp*) were made with a lot scrutiny, to put it mildly.

Destiny is different because various people here have already played the game extensively and the reaction is all across the board from LOVING it to just hating it and everything in between. The mixed/muted reviews reflect the reactions of the users in this thread, so there's no real defense force or anything about a game that haven't even played yet.

 

[VanWinkle]

This game seems like a big bomba, I bet Bungie are wishing they never left Halo.

I Hoped that Destiny would be the next Halo 2, Halo 3 or even Shadowrun but it turns out it's a smelly turd. Bungie is dead to me, they've fallen so far

What? It's selling incredibly well first of all, and, secondly, I don't think anybody on earth who's spent some time on the retail game would call it a "smelly turd".

 

[KingJolly]

The needless hang-gliding part? The horrid map design? Rain that looks like milk? Moving orbs and batteries around as an objective? The campaign is absolute tedium. The multiplayer is serviceable but is now drying up as people move on to other things.

Should I go on?

Killzone wasn't hyped to be the second coming of Jesus. Nor did it have the same budget.


Destiny on the other haaaaaaaaaaaaand.

 

[Nipo]

It's painfully mediocre and boring which is worse than a bad game where you can revel in its badness.

Wait, are you talking about Shadow Fall or Destiny.

 

[PerezDeCorcho]

I really don't see this franchise continuing for ten years as Bungie/Activision have envisioned.

 

[Dolobill]

Then the question is (as has been pointed out): should the game be treated as an MMO or shouldn't it?

Many defenders in this thread think its unfair or straight out inaccurate to call it an MMO.

I don't think it should be so black and white. No it's not an MMO. It won't take as long to see all the content, and most likely, a fairly significant player base will see the Raid.

It's also not a typical shooter that you can beat in a day, dabble in multiplayer and have a good understanding of all the content.

Destiny is trying to carve it's own place in the gaming landscape. I just think reviewers should give fairer consideration to what Bungie's ambitions are. I think it's appropriate for this game to do a "review in progress" thing like IGN is doing, but doing so with the expectations of a gigantic, janky MMORPG is entirely unfair.

As it stands now, all of these current reviews will be invalid after the first week has passed, after players have access to a major design pillar of the game.

 

[The Librarian]

But shouldn't reviewers review the game as it is currently available? If meaningful free content is released (and I hope it is) or the weekly events add some new dimension to the game they can update their reviews.

Reviewers are answering the question "how is the game today" they aren't saying the game won't get better or can't improve.

Well, it's kinda tricky, because games that require a lot of time to delve into make it kinda hard to review it in such a short amount of time – which is why I think it was the right decision to have people not review the game before it came out, because they want to have their reviews out by release day.

I do agree that reviewers should review what's there and they can update their reviews, but the problem with the latter is that we're in an environment where it's the day-one reviews that matter so much.

I didn't mean every person defending it uses every excuse. I'm just saying that there is always an excuse that peoples' expectations were wrong from defenders of the game, no matter what their expectations were.

Could you point out some of these defenders? Because it still seems like you're pegging people who like the game with one huge generalization.

 

[cleveridea]

Carrot on a stick gaming. You basically unlock everything the game has to offer as you go, down to the multiplayer modes, and basic character movement. They had this thing figured out. Its like a psychology experiment

Yeah its the reason I deliberately never got into MMO's back when WOW launched. I feared the addiction baked into the game.

 

[Jarate]

Killzone wasn't hyped to be the second coming of Jesus. Nor did it have the same budget.


Destiny on the other haaaaaaaaaaaaand.

those are not criticisms of a game.

 

[Teletraan1]

It would be ludicrous to expect reviewers to wait a week. If it's only a "mere week" then maybe Bungie should have found a way to put it in the box.

I could swear WoW has shipped expansions where the raid content did not start week 1. It is usually delayed to let more people get to the required level and have a bigger pool of people who can actually do said raid. Nothing wrong with gating this kind of content a week. Fuck people are impatient. I personally would find reviews more useful if they did actually wait a week and experience the content and give me their opinion on it. I would be more likely to click on their complete review next week than their uniformed opinion this week. But I guess that is not how this kind of thing works in McSociety.

 

[Leafhopper]

I found Titanfall's amount of content fine. The game had a solid MP with really strong design pillars and meaningful player advancement. I'd rate it about an 8.5. Destiny is a 6 for me at the moment. There has not been a single moment in Destiny that has been anywhere near as impressive and fun as many moments I've had playing Titanfall.

Oh I meant to some people I should say, I think the gameplay in Titanfall is fun.

 

[Vespene]

Prime's scanning mechanic would fix 90% of what's wrong with how Destiny presents its world and how disjointed its story is.

 

[Wynnebeck]

This game seems like a big bomba, I bet Bungie are wishing they never left Halo.

I Hoped that Destiny would be the next Halo 2, Halo 3 or even Shadowrun but it turns out it's a smelly turd. Bungie is dead to me, they've fallen so far

lol The hyperbole in this thread is insane.

 

[nomis]

Killzone wasn't hyped to be the second coming of Jesus. Nor did it have the same budget.


Destiny on the other haaaaaaaaaaaaand.

"Destiny had lots of commercials and they spent lots of money on it so I expect it to give me any and all features I want and free blowjobs too"

 

[Marcel]

Wait, are you talking about Shadow Fall or Destiny.

Shadow Fall. I think Destiny met my modest expectations. People who had pie in the sky ideas of what the game was (despite an Alpha and Beta that told you exactly what to expect) are partially to blame but it's also on Bungie for marketing in the way they did.

 

[FeenixRising]

This game seems like a big bomba, I bet Bungie are wishing they never left Halo.

I Hoped that Destiny would be the next Halo 2, Halo 3 or even Shadowrun but it turns out it's a smelly turd. Bungie is dead to me, they've fallen so far

The statements in this thread .... Lmao

 

[JetBlackPanda]

Will there be a weekly update today?

 

[PanicFreak]

I could swear WoW has shipped expansions where the raid content did not start week 1. It is usually delayed to let more people get to the required level and have a bigger pool of people who can actually do said raid. Nothing wrong with gating this kind of content a week. Fuck people are impatient. I personally would find reviews more useful if they did actually wait a week and experience the content and give me their opinion on it. I would be more likely to click on their complete review next week than their uniformed opinion this week. But I guess that is not how this kind of thing works in McSociety.

Bungie could have just said that the game is an MMO and been reviewed like an MMO. They didn't say it's a MMO. They even went as far as to suggest that it wasn't an MMO. So, from that perspective, they shot themselves in the foot.

.

 

[VanWinkle]

I think one thing that needs to happen is Bungie/Acti announcing that some new free DLC areas will come and to lay out what they will be and when they will come. It's very unlikely, I know, but I think it would bring some goodwill back in peoples' minds. There's just not enough content, and I can't help but think that realistically the only CHANCES of new areas will be in the expansion packs (if, even then. The first one is supposed to take place on the moon, and that's not exactly the most environmentally diverse place).

Could you point out some of these defenders? Because it still seems like you're pegging people who like the game with one huge generalization.

I'm not going to waste a bunch of time looking for quotes in this enormous thread. Anyone who's been following the thread closely will have seen similar excuses to the ones I posted. And I'm referring to "defenders" as the people in here making the accusations, not the people who like the game in general.

 

[Celestia]

After everything I've seen and heard so far, I'm glad I didn't get swept up in the hype. It does look fun though. I'll probably pick it up when there's a full edition or it's cheaper.

 

[Sho_Nuff82]

Prime's scanning mechanic would fix 90% of what's wrong with how Destiny presents its world and how disjointed its story is.

I...really like this idea.

I also think Activision/Bungie could have saved themselves a whole lot of drama if they just delayed the game 6 months, with all of the content between now and then being rolled into the Day 1 package.

 

[ViewtifulJC]

It's painfully mediocre and boring which is worse than a bad game where you can revel in its badness.

Ya know, I always said I rather watch a horrible movie than one that's just perfectly mediocre. At least with a really bad film you can learn something from it, or maybe ironically enjoy it, try to figure out what went wrong, tell your friends about it how shit it was, etc.

A mediocre product is really the worst thing, cuz it leaves no strong impression one way or the other. If art is suppose to move you in some kind of way, that's as close to a failure as you can be.

When I think back on Shadow Fall, its a colorful blur of free-falling and touchpad usage.

 

[Afrocious]

I don't think it should be so black and white. No it's not an MMO. It won't take as long to see all the content, and most likely, a fairly significant player base will see the Raid.

It's also not a typical shooter that you can beat in a day, dabble in multiplayer and have a good understanding of all the content.

Destiny is trying to carve it's own place in the gaming landscape. I just think reviewers should give fairer consideration to what Bungie's ambitions are. I think it's appropriate for this game to do a "review in progress" thing like IGN is doing, but doing so with the expectations of a gigantic, janky MMORPG is entirely unfair.

As it stands now, all of these current reviews will be invalid after the first week has passed, after players have access to a major design pillar of the game.

I'd like to see if what you say stands. I personally don't think Bungie should be given leniency all because they touted this game to have all this epic stuff in it over the course of a decade. If that was the case, perhaps the game shouldn't have been 60 bucks out of the gate.

MGSV Ground Zeroes wasn't 60 bucks and that game, too, served as a sample of what's to come later. Sure, there's no 10 year grand plan going on with Konami, but if anything, that justifies how absurd it is for Destiny to be released at that price tag with the current amount of content and issues it has.

 

[Marcel]

"Destiny had lots of commercials and they spent lots of money on it so I expect it to give me any and all features I want and free blowjobs too"

Yep. If someone is dumb enough to buy into the hype train and dreams of chocolate waterfalls, it's at least partially their fault.

 

[The Librarian]

Prime's scanning mechanic would fix 90% of what's wrong with how Destiny presents its world and how disjointed its story is.

yo, that's a really cool idea actually.

 

[Deleted member 752119]

I think, if you take the extreme views at both ends away, that GAF finds the game to be beautiful visually and artistically and it has good gunplay, but is lacking in content and variety. There's a solid foundation there for future iterations in the franchise to build upon, but some building needs to take place, for sure.

Definitely my take on it. I'm loving it, but it definitely feels like a first effort in a new franchise that could have used a lot of polish.

The core gameplay is fantastic. Great shooting mechanics, shooter/loot gameplay combined is awesome (I love Borderlands), great art design, setting, lore etc.

It just needs more mission variety, better bosses and a better story that's told in a much more engaging manner. And of course a lot of little tweaks like making cut scenes skipable on repeated missions, better load times etc. Hopefully some of the DLC expansions will fair better on those fronts.

 

[Timmay]

lol The hyperbole in this thread is insane.

More or less insane than your assertion that people who dislike the game are "concern trolling"?

 

[KingJolly]

those are not criticisms of a game.

No, but Killzone didn't fill you with hype BS.

It could be seen from a mile Killzone was going to be be a just average game but nice looking which it was.

Destiny promised a lot more and did not deliver making it far more dissapointing

 

[Anton Sugar]

I don't think it should be so black and white. No it's not an MMO. It won't take as long to see all the content, and most likely, a fairly significant player base will see the Raid.

It's also not a typical shooter that you can beat in a day, dabble in multiplayer and have a good understanding of all the content.

Destiny is trying to carve it's own place in the gaming landscape. I just think reviewers should give fairer consideration to what Bungie's ambitions are. I think it's appropriate for this game to do a "review in progress" thing like IGN is doing, but doing so with the expectations of a gigantic, janky MMORPG is entirely unfair.

As it stands now, all of these current reviews will be invalid after the first week has passed, after players have access to a major design pillar of the game.

I see what you're saying, but I don't think it excuses the fact that the game doesn't have much going for it until you reach level 20 and put X number of hours into it.

Compare that to actual MMOs, at least in terms of low level exploration. A lot of MMOs have some of their most enjoyable areas and content in the lower levels, as it helps draw players in and keep them (yes, I know there are also lots of "kill 20 spider" missions at low level, too). Players have a good time, start investing in their characters/the world, and develop a mindset that can tolerates the longer endgame (and raids/loot).

It's almost the opposite with Destiny. "Get through this really boring 15-20 levels and then the game really begins!"

It's not a great experience. I don't think Destiny is shit, but there are a lot of puzzling design choices here.

 

[Coulomb_Barrier]

I really don't see this franchise continuing for ten years as Bungie/Activision have envisioned.

Maybe you should wait and see the sales figures first.

 

[Gigglepoo]

So, did Bungie "earn the right" to make a sequel?