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[dab0ne]

You mean like in RE4? I don't think that would have worked either honestly. Imagine walking through the game with two characters on your ass... No thanks...

Give the game some slack man. It's still a 10.

Well, the problem with resi 4s followers is that they were on your ass even in safe zones. Let the characters be free during zones where there is no combat/ stealth. Otherwise keep them together or at least tactical in their movements.

It would totally suck if your ai partners could be attacked or killed but I also feel like they're not in any danger. Why do I need to escort Ellie if she can't die? She's invincible!!!

Spoiler

that last part about Ellie is me being sarcastic

 

[JimmyRustler]

Well, the problem with resi 4s followers is that they were on your ass even in safe zones. Let the characters be free during zones where there is no combat/ stealth. Otherwise keep them together or at least tactical in their movements.

It would totally suck if your ai partners could be attacked or killed but I also feel like they're not in any danger. Why do I need to escort Ellie if she can't die? She's invincible!!!

Spoiler

that last part about Ellie is me being sarcastic

She clearly ain't. Once you're discovered she becomes very vincible...

Anyway, I do see what you mean. I was bothered by it too in the beginning but by now I'm ok with it. Like I said, seeing what ND wanted to do storywise I don't see how they could have done it better.

 

[antitrop]

WTF are you talking about op.

There's technical issues. Nothing about the actual game itself.

Exactly.

There isn't even really a backlash. Not yet, at least. This thread is ridiculously premature.

My only actual complaint about the game so far is that I'm playing with Listen Mode off and the there's no way to look around corners.

 

[RooMHM]

Give the game some slack man. It's still a 10

Wow. We ll see if this game influences its genre or video games as a whole as amazing games released more than ten years ago have.

Wonder how people agree when a game is given the perfect mark ...

It s incredible how overhyped and overrated games are nowadays. It s not even about this game or linked to the game s quality.

I often see people using the sarcasm "stop liking what I don t like" as if it was an interesting argument to bring to a discussion. But what I see a lot more often is a case of "what I like is better than everything else, it s the best ever made". This shit is getting ridiculous. Even if trolling or flaming isnt a good solution, this type of method doesn t even begin to counterbalance thesad amount of overpraise almost every big release is getting. And it s a generalized phenomenon, not only one of two reviewers.

It okay to be reasonable and to put your tastesorder your tastes too bh laying back and thinking with hindsight.

 

[Data West]

The internet hates everything now. From new Daft Punk to video games to In-N-Out Burger.

 

[diaspora]

But FFVII is the best game ever made...

Hahahaha, what? It's not even the best FF.

 

[Marjar]

When something gets such critical acclaim as this (10s across the board), there are gonna be people saying it's overrated and bad and all that.

I hardly doubt it deserves the praise it's been getting, but it's most likely not bad.

 

[Ricker]

Probably the one hit/bite deaths that occur after you have slowly planned your stealth approach and killed a few guys for like 30 minutes and you have to start over...the stealth is kinda hard for that,also the release day save bug thing I guess,running out of shivs and going into an area with 4 clickers etc etc...it's a survival game and some want or thought you could play it like Max Payne maybe lol...? I dont know hehe...

 

[Roto13]

All of that universal praise was from reviewers..the only people on the planet whose opinions on video games you shouldn't trust.

 

[AcceptableGhost]

Completed hard mode in about 12 hours with 72 "collectibles" or whatever, so I looked around a bit.

Some notes I guess.

-The biggest thing, this games checkpoints are fucking horrible. This game is literally suffocated in checkpoints. There is no tension to any fight in this game, almost every combat scenario has checkpoints almost every minute - often mid-fight (sometimes the checkpoints.. put me ahead of where I died). Does Naughty Dog have no faith in themselves to make compelling combat sandboxes that last more than 30 seconds? Or do they have no faith in me?

-Got that signature "throw down this ladder!", "help me get across here by pressing triangle" Naughty Dog style. Actually, a lot of holding forward and pressing triangle in this game. Probably more than the Uncharted series actually, but I guess this game at least doesn't have those terrible "puzzles" that the Uncharted series has.

-At its best the game reminds me of a less interesting Manhunt. The first half of the game has some fairly compelling scenarios, but the more powerful Joel gets the less interesting the game becomes for the most part. A good chunk of the game in the last half almost feels like a cover based shooter - except moving around a little bit makes the enemies forget you existed. The game is at its best when it is stealth with the odds stacked heavily against you (sadly this is limited almost to the beginning where your new to the game, some parts with clickers, and the very, very end of the game where the enemies have both helmets and combat armor). The game is pretty easy from beginning to end, partially due to the enemy AI (on human enemies largely) being hilariously exploitable (sometimes literally moving to another piece of cover slightly adjacent to the one you are attached to will put them back in "don't know where Joel is AT ALL" mode). Also Joel has a shit ton of health which doesn't really seem fitting to the game (considering the crazy lenient check pointing). I think I felt "resource strain" maybe twice in the entire game, so that is almost never an issue.

-I understand they felt the need to change it up but whenever the game switches combat scenarios from "stealth sandbox" to something more straight forward (hordes of infected rushing at you, shooting at stuff with AI companions) it literally could not get any more dull.

-Perhaps survivor mode would address some of this stuff but considering the game I just played I don't think it would scale in any real meaningful way (unless Naughty Dog put a lot of effort into it, which they never do). Also I wouldn't replay this for a long while due to the tremendous amount of "hold forward, press triangle to drop ladder, etc" stuff in the game.

-Anyone comparing this game to Resident Evil 4 needs to be discredited immediately.

-Art is great. Amazing "atmosphere". Love the no load times post launch and near instant reload times. Well written but filled to the brim with tropes. I don't think I was ever really surprised at anything that happened in the game. The game thinks its more clever than it actually is in pretty much everything it tries to do.

-A trophy was bugged for me. I got the Hard Mode trophy, and the normal mode trophy unlocked but not the easy mode one.

Anyway, back to trying to 1CC the arcade release of Ghost 'N Goblins.

 

[Messofanego]

-At its best the game plays like a poor man's Manhunt and at its worst it plays like a poor man's Uncharted. The first half of the game has some fairly compelling scenarios, but the more powerful Joel gets the less interesting the game becomes for the most part. A good chunk of the game in the last half almost feels like a vanilla cover based shooter - except moving around a little bit makes the enemies forget you existed. The game is at its best when it is stealth with the odds stacked heavily against you (sadly this is limited almost to the beginning where your new to the game, some parts with clickers, and the very, very end of the game where the enemies have both helmets and combat armor). The game is pretty easy from beginning to end, partially due to the enemy AI (on human enemies largely) being hilariously exploitable (sometimes literally moving to another piece of cover slightly adjacent to the one you are attached to will put them back in "don't know where Joel is AT ALL" mode). Also Joel has a shit ton of health which doesn't really seem fitting to the game (considering the crazy lenient check pointing). I think I felt "resource strain" maybe twice in the entire game, so that is almost never an issue.

Sounds like the opposite of the difficulty progression in I Am Alive where I had to keep on reloading saves at the amusement part near the end where you need to be mindful of enemy walk patterns to effectively bow and arrow people and combining making the lesser humans surrender with a gun pointed (bow doesnt faze enemies) while keeping the armored dudes in your view to headshot aim. Have you played that game? This sounds like an easier version of that, and on Hard difficulty that lack of challenge or resource strain sounds disappointing.

Don't have a PS 3 right now, but I'll have to keep my expectations in check when I play this game if this isn't as hardcore a survival horror game as people are making it sound.

 

[I'm an expert]

bestiphonegame.gif

My opinion is expert and always right. You should know this by now.

 

[elohel]

Same was with Bioshock Infinite. A high praised game by press doesnt mean its good.

Except infinite really wasn't any good and neogafs first assessment of the game being rushed and unpolished were correct

Though that was barely scratching the surface of how disjointed everything was

I'm really not getting that's sense with this game so far so I call bullshit

 

[FACE]

I discussed this with a friend; we agreed that scores between 80 and 90 are usually fair, scores between 60 and 80 are 10-20 points lower than the game deserves, and scores 90 and above are usually 20+ points too high. Works great when applied to Dark Souls and some of my other recent favorite, and it categorizes BioShock Infinite as merely "pretty good." Nothing scientific, just our way of reconciling our tastes with those of the press.

Adding to the "high scores are suspect" train of thought: My friend Sueil, who has very high standards in games, recently got TLOU voiced some of the complaints in the OP in the OT and was accused of trolling, not playing the game, etc.

But this game was labeled as an "enthralling and gut-wrenching experience" by reviewers. How can it be bad?

 

[Shaka]

Don't have a PS 3 right now, but I'll have to keep my expectations in check when I play this game if this isn't as hardcore a survival horror game as people are making it sound.

Ehhh it ain't survival horror. I dont know where people are getting this.

 

[Duxxy3]

Ehhh it ain't survival horror. I dont know where people are getting this.

Stealth survival is closer.

Not stealth in the same sense as dishonored or thief, but to most people anything outside of direct confrontation is "stealth".

 

[Cheesyhobo]

It's pretty much what I expected - a slower, more oppressive version of Uncharted. I guess you might be disappointed if you're stupid enough to fall for review hyperbole saying it redefines video games or whatever.

 

[TentPole]

Ehhh it ain't survival horror. I dont know where people are getting this.

The entire game is built around building tension by limiting the players resources. It absolutely is survival horror.

 

[toastyToast]

Its survival horror with an incredibly lenient checkpoint system. The gameplay is there but it doesn't have that I-don't-wanna-die-aspect to it which usually comes from not wanting to lose progress.

 

[Shaka]

Stealth survival is closer.

Not stealth in the same sense as dishonored or thief, but to most people anything outside of direct confrontation is "stealth".

Stealth action survival to be anal. Some of my battles have been close quarter cover to cover. The A.I. can be a marvel sometimes.

Its survival horror with an incredibly lenient checkpoint system. The gameplay is there but it doesn't have that I-don't-wanna-die-aspect to it which usually comes from not wanting to lose progress.

Nah, it emphasizes quick dirty brutal encounters that you can even avoid. The tension for me comes from the atmosphere. Being thrust into desperate situations, scrounging around and crafting in the heat of battle. It's about these characters fight for survival, they've drawn me into their world. For me the I don't wanna die aspect comes from that, I've put Joel's shoes on.
I feel it's best described as narrative driven survival action.

 

[Fabrik]

I saw the game on a demo station today, and the game is not as impressive looking as I thought. Still good of course but for a game where the main selling point is its presentation it's a bit of a shame. And the change in framerate was very noticeable. Anyway PS3s are still too expensive in Europe for a 7 years old hardware so I've decided not to buy it. I don't enjoy stealth that much after all (Except in Arkham Asylum or Mark Of The Ninja when you have a lot of tools at your disposal)

 

[Imm0rt4l]

Vocal minority some of which haven't played much of the game.

 

[Cheech]

I took advantage of the $45 weird newegg/eBay error and bought this despite misgivings. I'm playing State of Decay right now, and honestly it's the best zombie game I've ever played. If you like sandbox games, it's a winner.

Last of Us will obviously have better production values, but man. I am hoping it delivers. I don't see much talk on the multi; is it any good?

 

[Air Zombie Meat]

Had lots of friendly ai problems. Ellie will disappear now and again (possibly from getting stuck on something) and Joel will have conversations with himself. Also had to reload a save because something wouldn't trigger. Don't mind about the ai not spotting her, would be incredibly irritating if that was the case.

Anyway think I'm about half way through, really enjoying it but 10's across the board seems a bit high. Can definitely see how reviewer hyperbole could lead to unrealistic expectations with this game.

 

[Velkyn]

I haven't played it yet, but the short explanation is haters gonna hate.

 

[Messofanego]

I took advantage of the $45 weird newegg/eBay error and bought this despite misgivings. I'm playing State of Decay right now, and honestly it's the best zombie game I've ever played. If you like sandbox games, it's a winner.

Last of Us will obviously have better production values, but man. I am hoping it delivers. I don't see much talk on the multi; is it any good?

Hell yeah, State of Decay's awesome!

I don't get why people are excusing the friendly AI in TLoU not getting spotted, when SoD has your allies stealth'ing the same as you and rarely just flat out run around like a buffoon to alert your position. Maybe it's less frustrating because of the open world space, but SoD is lower budget and still ambitious with its systems.

 

[Buba Big Guns]

Still at the beginning, but this game is pretty fucking good so far. Only had minor AI issues, but nothing really worth complaining about. The world they made is outstanding.

Where's the backlash?

 

[Air Zombie Meat]

I don't get why people are excusing the friendly AI in TLoU not getting spotted, when SoD has your allies stealth'ing the same as you and rarely just flat out run around like a buffoon to alert your position. Maybe it's less frustrating because of the open world space, but SoD is lower budget and still ambitious with its systems.

Because the ai in TLOU does run around like a buffoon If the enemy spotted them it would be terrible. Also being spotted in State of Decay usually isn't as big a deal as it is in TLOU.

 

[Seventy5]

About the AI issues, I have seen people complain about the infected ignoring Ellie. That is a stupid complaint. Do they not remember the rage that came from Sheva getting killed in RE5? I would be pissed if my stealth approach was broken because of a character I am not controlling. Maybe that's just me though.

 

[Psychoward]

I have not played it but for what it's worth my friend says there's hardly any actual gameplay, and the stuff that is there is messy. Friendly AI stealthing through dark sections with flashlights, Clickers spotting him even if he doesn't move an inch, human enemies still attacking after getting a brick thrown at them etc.

 

[Moussuki]

i never thought i'd say this but I think Polygon was right. State of decay seems better

 

[CrisKre]

Its called expectations. 5 hours in, it's a great game. Exceptional presentation.
Gameplay is a bit too narrow and it plays itself a bit too much. It's seems even more limited than something like uncharted ( a game that was also criticized for being somewhat limited ) which had platforming to mix things up.
The controls though serviceable are a bit needlessly cumbersome too.

When a game gets many 10s, I expect exceptional gameplay experience aside from exceptional presentation. When on top of that you hear citizen Kane of video gamrs. Well... yeah. No.

 

[CrisKre]

Ehhh it ain't survival horror. I dont know where people are getting this.

Id call it story progression horror. Survival horror doesn't have a trial error gameplay system like tlou presents here.
If you want true survival horror try zombi u.

 

[Absinthian]

Reviewers play through the entire game before making a judgement. People on the internet just have to sit through that first loading screen.

 

[HP_Wuvcraft]

I think people are pissed off so much because of the ending more than bugs and glitches.

Spoiler

It hits you like a ton of bricks, and asks the player to stop being a guy playing Joel and start being Joel as directed by the player. The ending is horrible, and made me feel ill. The player doesn't want to be the bad guy, and more-so, the player doesn't want to feel like the last twenty hours of story, progress, and blood were for nothing. Which is what it amounts to at the end. The player wants to accomplish something, and not only is nothing accomplished, but Joel single-handedly fucks humanity, but also regresses all of his character development and relationship with Ellie.

That being said, the ending was friggin' amazing, but it left me upset at a video game.

 

[Hung_real]

Ehhh it ain't survival horror. I dont know where people are getting this.

have you played the game ?

 

[Vice]

Taste is subjective. Any thing that gets rave reviews in one circle is bound to disappoint someone. It's the hype cycle.

 

[zoukka]

People expected a grand, open hardcore survival game. What they got is a slower paced more modest Uncharted to be honest.

 

[Rickenslacker]

I kinda gave up on Naughty Dog and people's opinions on their games after going through Uncharted 2 and having the whole thing feel highly automated and scripted. I just kinda peg them as the guys that can present well enough to make people gloss over everything else. So I haven't played TLOU, kept up with many previews, or really cared a whole lot about it; but seeing the press throw out 10s and all the hype surrounding the release it seems obvious that people would backlash when it didn't turn out to be the next coming.

 

[Tallshortman]

I haven't heard much backlash, unless you mean the certain numbers of GAF who like to shit on anything that's popular or find out TLOU just isn't the type of game they were looking for it to be.

 

[Zemm]

It absolutely is survival horror.

Not with these checkpoints. There's nothing horrifying about dying and losing 20 seconds worth of progress. Action-survival is a better description, is that even a genre? haha.

 

[AcceptableGhost]

Not with these checkpoints. There's nothing horrifying about dying and losing 20 seconds worth of progress. Action-survival is a better description, is that even a genre? haha.

it is in the easycore genre

 

[Demon Ice]

The Hipster Effect: if a game is universally acclaimed, people go out of their way to find and magnify faults with it. If a game is universally panned, people try to ignore the faults and appreciate the "art" or whatever so they can be a "cult" following

Or, opinions. Pick one.

 

[patapuf]

The Hipster Effect: if a game is universally acclaimed, people go out of their way to find and magnify faults with it. If a game is universally panned, people try to ignore the faults and appreciate the "art" or whatever so they can be a "cult" following

Or, opinions. Pick one.

Not everyone likes every type of game.

Some wanted a single player Day Z, the game is certainly not that.

Others (many) love the narrative driven experiences naughty dog puts out.

And you don't need to nitpick to disagree with some design descicions in the game. What boring discussions would we have if everyone liked the same thing.

 

[Dysun]

Starts off kinda slow but it really picks up the pace and gets great. Checkpoints are good, I dont care for losing progress

 

[thelastword]

The Hipster Effect: if a game is universally acclaimed, people go out of their way to find and magnify faults with it. If a game is universally panned, people try to ignore the faults and appreciate the "art" or whatever so they can be a "cult" following

Or, opinions. Pick one.

Ice, you're on point. It has been that way forever. What I find craziest about a game such as this; is that it will get a million 10/10's but people will focus on some guy who has rated it way below average.

The industry is what it is though, I do respect people's freedom to opinion and for them to voice it, but it's not everytime that a reviewer goes against the norm means that we can trust that viewpoint against a bevy of more positive writeups.

In an industry where even average b-tier action adventure games can garner an 8-9/10, it becomes laughable when a game which is way beyond many titles in terms of graphics, sound and story is rated below an 8 by any publication.

Generally some people like to shit on games which are rated highly, it's the cool thing to do for the last couple of years.

 

[Mr Spliff]

Well, usually people who like the game are busy playing it while those who are disappoinited want to be heard or discuss what they feel is wrong/off/just didn't like. I think its too early to tell if there is genuine backlash or just the vocal minority waiting in cue of a big release.

 

[truly101]

Ice, you're on point. It has been that way forever. What I find craziest about a game such as this; is that it will get a million 10/10's but people will focus on some guy who has rated it way below average.

The industry is what it is though, I do respect people's freedom to opinion and for them to voice it, but it's not everytime that a reviewer goes against the norm means that we can trust that viewpoint against a bevy of more positive writeups.

In an industry where even average b-tier action adventure games can garner an 8-9/10, it becomes laughable when a game which is way beyond many titles in terms of graphics, sound and story is rated below an 8 by any publication.

Generally some people like to shit on games which are rated highly, it's the cool thing to do for the last couple of years.

But he's the one who's right, according to the jaded cynics. He's the one of refined taste and judgement, not some corporate shill with a Doritos hat. When all is said and done, he had a more rewarding experience playing some less hyped less expensive release or by replaying some 10 year old sacred cow. He doesn't like New Thing, and you should be impressed he doesn't like New Thing unlike these other plebes

 

[szaromir]

Ice, you're on point. It has been that way forever. What I find craziest about a game such as this; is that it will get a million 10/10's but people will focus on some guy who has rated it way below average.

The industry is what it is though, I do respect people's freedom to opinion and for them to voice it, but it's not everytime that a reviewer goes against the norm means that we can trust that viewpoint against a bevy of more positive writeups.

In an industry where even average b-tier action adventure games can garner an 8-9/10, it becomes laughable when a game which is way beyond many titles in terms of graphics, sound and story is rated below an 8 by any publication.

Generally some people like to shit on games which are rated highly, it's the cool thing to do for the last couple of years.

The problem is that every other month comes out a game that gets labeled as seminal by video games reviewers. The publisher and the press trying to create that hyperbolic narrative so often naturally causes a negative reaction.

 

[PenaltyMan]

It feels like an overhyped point-and-click-and-shoot adventure really.