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[GymWolf]

Sure, but you leave out the massive RE success and soon to be Onimusha. I didn't say they were perfect, none are, but averages wise. The major western devs have to climb out of the woke/dei hellhole they put themselves into first.

From has those two smaller projects, and will just drop another bomb and business will be per usual.

I mean if you only consider the big ones you have to left out the major success of kc2, bg3 exp33 and all the great western games we had...

People just shit or praise devs based on the games they like, i have 100 hours in the demo of half sword and i know for certain that no japanese dev is ever gonna even attempt to make a game like that so no, i'm not gonna just bash the entirety of the western developers because some of them were infected by the woke virus, lately we saw nintendo and capcom also giving up to make the retards happy with censorship and dubios gender stuff.

 

[DeepEnigma]

I mean if you only consider the big ones you have to left out the major success of kc2, bg3 exp33 and all the great western games we had...

Yes. Those big 3 out of every western studio.

Says more about every western studio, compared to just one or two Japanese ones I mentioned, doesn't it?

 

[vaibhavpisal]

Yes. Those big 3 out of every western studio.

Says more about every western studio, compared to just one or two Japanese ones I mentioned, doesn't it?

Good smaller stuff as well.

Playing Atomfall currently.

Completely hooked.

 

[Gripsx]

100% most Western Studios lost their touch

 

[RetroGamingUK]

You are not bitter. You just have standards.
This decline mirrors the decline of the West.
Most people are not aware of the growing cognitive gap between us and the rest of the world.

Indeed, the standard of education in Japan, Korea and China is far better than America.

This is being reflected in the cultural output, American content can get by appealing to the typical slack-jawed redneck.

A lot of Americans haven't caught on that this is the Asian century and the world's centre of power is shifting across the pacific.

 

[Punished Miku]

Indeed, the standard of education in Japan, Korea and China is far better than America.

This is being reflected in the cultural output, American content can get by appealing to the typical slack-jawed redneck.

A lot of Americans haven't caught on that this is the Asian century and the world's centre of power is shifting across the pacific.

Is American content woke or appealing to slack-jawed rednecks? Please use small words in your reply so we can all follow.

 

[RetroGamingUK]

Is American content woke or appealing to slack-jawed rednecks? Please use small words in your reply so we can all follow.

Me no say woke in thread.

You must think me said that but no did not.

Woke not my point.

That good for American brain?

 

[Punished Miku]

Me no say woke in thread.

You must think me said that but no did not.

Woke not my point.

That good for American brain?

Yes, please keep talking like this in all your posts. Lot of Americans on here. Really appreciate it sir.

Remember, you can't sound too stupid. We're extremely cognitively limited. If you're ever in doubt, try to sound even more stupid.

 

[Elfstar]

It's America.
Their kind of capitalism is basically "FUCK LONG TERM WE NEED TO MAKE ALL OF THE MONEY NOW NOW NOW", they don't give a shit about keeping the market diverse, healthy or sustainable, they just endlessly saturate it with the same identical crap untill everything crashes. Not like the others are saints, but they kinda tend to show a little ounce of restraint once in a while.

They're also not rewarding talent, and approach game development with their childish, dogmatic, bidimensional political thought doing everything they can to make their games the most preachy, performative, ugly and unappealing torwards their audience.

 

[RetroGamingUK]

It's America.
Their kind of capitalism is basically "FUCK LONG TERM WE NEED TO MAKE ALL OF THE MONEY NOW NOW NOW", they don't give a shit about keeping the market diverse, healthy or sustainable, they just endlessly saturate it with the same identical crap untill everything crashes. Not like the others are saints, but they kinda tend to show a little ounce of restraint once in a while.

Today's news about Warner and Discovery being split up is a great example.

 

[Gamer_By_Proxy]

It's almost like pushing DEI agendas and MTX/GaaS was a bad move. No that can't be it. Let's blame rising costs to make games and AI!!!

 

[Zacfoldor]

Both make the same game over and over again.

From games are fucking hideous and only getting uglier with every release.

China >>>>>>

GTA 6 >>> Japan output this gen

Such a terrible opinion.

Your subtitle says, "Represent(ative) of bad opinions."

It has warned me not to engage like the color red on a spider. Thanks to whoever made that subtitle(even if it was you) as I know this is a pattern and not a one off opinion.

 

[Variahunter]

European games are still good, even great, some of them at least.

American games are completely lost. Copy pasted slop with metrics of success like "engagement" and "how to retain players forever".

But let's not act like Chinese gatcha games are better than this. They shamelessly prey on lonely men (with no experience with women of course) and the genre should be called "Gatcha boobs/pedo" at this point.

TLDR : Japan and European games are great. Some Chinese and Korean too if gatcha is out of the equation.

 

[Bloody5]

Indeed, the standard of education in Japan, Korea and China is far better than America.

This is being reflected in the cultural output, American content can get by appealing to the typical slack-jawed redneck.

A lot of Americans haven't caught on that this is the Asian century and the world's centre of power is shifting across the pacific.

Yes. But it's not just a matter of education.
Today, the western societies have almost no collective discipline, no sense of shared purpose and a growing number of people pretend that the basic laws of reality dont't exist or don't apply to them.
Impossible to learn, organize and create something of value with that mindset.

 

[PlayStaytion]

I enjoy 6s & 7s just like enjoying the Hobbit Trilogy the same way I've enjoyed The Lord of The Rings Trilogy. F to all Nominees and Awards.

 

[Represent.]

Such a terrible opinion.

Your subtitle says, "Represent(ative) of bad opinions."

It has warned me not to engage like the color red on a spider. Thanks to whoever made that subtitle(even if it was you) as I know this is a pattern and not a one off opinion.

So you think Japan makes good looking games these days? Other than Kojima, who?

 

[Black_Stride]

Yes. Those big 3 out of every western studio.

Says more about every western studio, compared to just one or two Japanese ones I mentioned, doesn't it?

• HellDivers 2 from Arrowhead
• Prince of Persia Lost Crown from Ubi, yes it bombed but it was an incredible game killed probably by Ubi reputation not the games fault.
• Balatro from Thunk, yes its based on poker, the fact it works out shows how clever the game is.
• Silent Hill 2 Remake is technically a western game from Bloober.
• Hades and Hades 2
• Alan Wake 2 from Remedy, was it a 10 outtta 10 game, no was it a great game yes.
• Lorelei from Simogo damn.
• South of Midnight....fuck the haters this is a great game, enjoy the local and interesting story, the gameplay isnt the deepest but it never tries to be, its just a fun romp for the few hours it lasts...ill easily replay this game again.
• The Plucky Squire from APF such a smart idea for a game.
• I know im gonna get clowned but the BLOPS6 campaign is legit good.
• Staying with the theme of games hated on merit, Diablo 4 and its Hatred expansion.....umph if you arent just a nonconformist and liked older Diablo games, get into Diablo 4 and hide your credit card, youll have a blast going through the campaign.
• Oft not talked about genre on GAF but Frostpunk 2 from 11bit is a great great game you can sink hours into.
• Indika from Odd Meter was an unsung puzzler from last year no one talked about.
• Sea of Stars from Sabotage....im sure people have an excuse for why this isnt a good game, but thats clearly a you problem.
• Space Marine 2 from Saber Interactive I know Warhammer is seen as kinda niche, but you really can jump into this game without knowing the lore and have a great time.
• Haste from Landfall Games steam randomly recommended me this game and im hooked.

Thats just what I got off head from last year.
This year I still have a ton of western games to get to, Assassins Creed Shadows and Outlaws are still waiting to be played as I finish off EXP33 and wait for patches and/or an inevitable GOTY edition.
Split/Fiction im waiting for my vacation time so I can play it with my cousin.
Doom The Dark Ages also on the backlog.
KCD2 not for me but my understanding is that people really digging it, might try it down down down the line just cuz of FOMO.




How people say gaming is the worst its ever been or say they have nothing to play is so beyond me, cuz my backlog even just looking at western studios could probably last me till the end of the year......but good games keep coming out and it keeps getting longer and longer

Whenver people tell me how bad gaming is or whatever, I really want to ask them, what game do you want, describe it to me just so I understand what the industry is missing that people have such disdain for it, cuz maybe they are on to something and their idea of the game they want to play doesnt actually exist and they arent a minority.

 

[Punished Miku]

So you think Japan makes good looking games these days? Other than Kojima, who?

When Double Fine is dropping a AA game that looks 3 generations ahead of From Software, Atlus and Koei Tecmo, you know something is seriously wrong. SQEX is trying to hang in there at least with XVI and FFVII-2 but they're pretty much at PS4 level still, like a lot of developers are. Capcom I would say also still looks crossgen. Sega is probably in the lead at this point, aside from Kojima. Even Silent Hill and Metal Gear have to be remade in the west to be graphically modern at all. A lot of people here are delusional. Silent Hill f is primarily from Hong Kong.

Donkey Kong Bonanza is probably going to be the most graphically impressive game from Japan so far this gen. I'd say Mario Kart World is up there. This is on PS4 level Switch 2.

 

[PeteBull]

• HellDivers 2 from Arrowhead
• Prince of Persia Lost Crown from Ubi, yes it bombed but it was an incredible game killed probably by Ubi reputation not the games fault.
• Balatro from Thunk, yes its based on poker, the fact it works out shows how clever the game is.
• Silent Hill 2 Remake is technically a western game from Bloober.
• Hades and Hades 2
• Alan Wake 2 from Remedy, was it a 10 outtta 10 game, no was it a great game yes.
• Lorelei from Simogo damn.
• South of Midnight....fuck the haters this is a great game, enjoy the local and interesting story, the gameplay isnt the deepest but it never tries to be, its just a fun romp for the few hours it lasts...ill easily replay this game again.
• The Plucky Squire from APF such a smart idea for a game.
• I know im gonna get clowned but the BLOPS6 campaign is legit good.
• Staying with the theme of games hated on merit, Diablo 4 and its Hatred expansion.....umph if you arent just a nonconformist and liked older Diablo games, get into Diablo 4 and hide your credit card, youll have a blast going through the campaign.
• Oft not talked about genre on GAF but Frostpunk 2 from 11bit is a great great game you can sink hours into.
• Indika from Odd Meter was an unsung puzzler from last year no one talked about.
• Sea of Stars from Sabotage....im sure people have an excuse for why this isnt a good game, but thats clearly a you problem.
• Space Marine 2 from Saber Interactive I know Warhammer is seen as kinda niche, but you really can jump into this game without knowing the lore and have a great time.
• Haste from Landfall Games steam randomly recommended me this game and im hooked.

Thats just what I got off head from last year.
This year I still have a ton of western games to get to, Assassins Creed Shadows and Outlaws are still waiting to be played as I finish off EXP33 and wait for patches and/or an inevitable GOTY edition.
Split/Fiction im waiting for my vacation time so I can play it with my cousin.
Doom The Dark Ages also on the backlog.
KCD2 not for me but my understanding is that people really digging it, might try it down down down the line just cuz of FOMO.




How people say gaming is the worst its ever been or say they have nothing to play is so beyond me, cuz my backlog even just looking at western studios could probably last me till the end of the year......but good games keep coming out and it keeps getting longer and longer

Whenver people tell me how bad gaming is or whatever, I really want to ask them, what game do you want, describe it to me just so I understand what the industry is missing that people have such disdain for it, cuz maybe they are on to something and their idea of the game they want to play doesnt actually exist and they arent a minority.

Bro, be real, silent hill 2 remake came from bloober which is polish dev studio, not western, its eastern eaurope.

South of midnight is big flop.

Only 2 proper games with success are space marine 2(which is from western studio but goes against the grain aka wokeness/modern audience), and helldivers2, which is so antiwoke that sony didnt want to buy it despite crazy success game had and tencent had to swoop in

About diablo4- im series fanatic with over 6k hours among the games(most in d2:lod and its remaster, d2r, including mods) and its terrible diablo game, its ok if u only wanna play 30-50hours/beat story(aka what reviewers did) but diablo games are far more than that, it should provide hundreds if not thousands of hours of quality gameplay, d4 was so bad i didnt even buy expansion, and believe me i wanted to love it, i spent 150h+ in it wanting it to be good but it simply is worst in the series- yes, its much worse from first diablo, and its even worse from diablo3 before expack too(which till now was considered worst in the series coz of AH and its candy graphics/setting), compared to d4 that launch version of d3 is a fricken masterpiece.

Saying all that its almost 100% sure i will buy d5 at launch whenever it appears(likely 2030+ maybe even 2035+) im series fanatic like mentioned above, cant be helped- it would really have to have as much wokeness as TLOU2/concord to stop me from supporting my beloved hack&slash series

 

[Punished Miku]

South of midnight is big flop.

It's another example of a western game from a small team that looks insanely good. Probably one of the 10 best looking games this gen.

 

[PeteBull]

It's another example of a western game from a small team that looks insanely good. Probably one of the 10 best looking games this gen.

Go say it in the "graphical fidelity i expect this gen" thread and see what happens, u will be looked at like those crazy switch2 fanatics praising mkw for its graphics(it has amazing gameplay, which is most imporant ofc).

 

[Guardian Monkey]

There are plenty good games from the west. The Xbox conference was the best one for this round of conferences so far.

 

[Punished Miku]

Go say it in the "graphical fidelity i expect this gen" thread and see what happens, u will be looked at like those crazy switch2 fanatics praising mkw for its graphics(it has amazing gameplay, which is most imporant ofc).

It's not just pure fidelity. The artstyle is insanely well realized. I'm talking about total visual package. The game looks very good and it's an extremely original style. Reminds me a bit of Puppeteer. Audio is also a standout, and possibly still my OST of the year. Tons of polish and effort went into this game from a really small team.

 

[PeteBull]

It's not just pure fidelity. The artstyle is insanely well realized. I'm talking about total visual package. The game looks very good and it's an extremely original style. Reminds me a bit of Puppeteer.

Artstyle is super subjective thing, for u it looks amazing, for me it looks fugly, and its fine, we buy what we love/want, barely any1 bought SoM tho so u gotta agree at least on that- u are in a small minority of ppl who enjoy that artstyle
https://steamdb.info/app/1934570/charts/ 1438 alltime peak so barely above 2 concords, nuff said

 

[Filben]

Maybe it's more like Xbox/MS published/advertised games, not Western games.

I'm having a blast with a lot of smaller and indie games lately. Can't complain.

 

[Guardian Monkey]

Artstyle is super subjective thing, for u it looks amazing, for me it looks fugly, and its fine, we buy what we love/want, barely any1 bought SoM tho so u gotta agree at least on that- u are in a small minority of ppl who enjoy that artstyle
https://steamdb.info/app/1934570/charts/ 1438 alltime peak so barely above 2 concords, nuff said

Not sure how we get from the way the game looks to sales. But Ok. It has been played by more than 1 million people. If we want to go down the route of how many people have experienced it.

 

[Poplin]

there is an overabundance of artists and engineers, but an extreme scarcity of designers. Its why the vast majority of western games are art direction porn with absolutely zero gameplay. West forgot games have to be fun, and not just a high concept or alternative to therapy.

 

[PeteBull]

Not sure how we get from the way the game looks to sales. But Ok. It has been played by more than 1 million people. If we want to go down the route of how many people have experienced it.

Yup, pretty terrible number, tells u enough even ppl with gamepass ultimate who got the game day1 "for free" thought game is so bad they dont even wanna try it- this topic is about how western devs(NA so US and Canada for the most part) dropped the ball this gen with quality of games, and SoM is one of such games, barely any sales, even ppl who got game " for free" dont bother trying it out- its so repulsive- its artstyle/protag.

 

[Guardian Monkey]

Yup, pretty terrible number, tells u enough even ppl with gamepass ultimate who got the game day1 "for free" thought game is so bad they dont even wanna try it- this topic is about how western devs(NA so US and Canada for the most part) dropped the ball this gen with quality of games, and SoM is one of such games, barely any sales, even ppl who got game " for free" dont bother trying it out- its so repulsive- its artstyle/protag.

Did you play it? What was so repulsive?

 

[DeepEnigma]

• HellDivers 2 from Arrowhead
• Prince of Persia Lost Crown from Ubi, yes it bombed but it was an incredible game killed probably by Ubi reputation not the games fault.
• Balatro from Thunk, yes its based on poker, the fact it works out shows how clever the game is.
• Silent Hill 2 Remake is technically a western game from Bloober.
• Hades and Hades 2
• Alan Wake 2 from Remedy, was it a 10 outtta 10 game, no was it a great game yes.
• Lorelei from Simogo damn.
• South of Midnight....fuck the haters this is a great game, enjoy the local and interesting story, the gameplay isnt the deepest but it never tries to be, its just a fun romp for the few hours it lasts...ill easily replay this game again.
• The Plucky Squire from APF such a smart idea for a game.
• I know im gonna get clowned but the BLOPS6 campaign is legit good.
• Staying with the theme of games hated on merit, Diablo 4 and its Hatred expansion.....umph if you arent just a nonconformist and liked older Diablo games, get into Diablo 4 and hide your credit card, youll have a blast going through the campaign.
• Oft not talked about genre on GAF but Frostpunk 2 from 11bit is a great great game you can sink hours into.
• Indika from Odd Meter was an unsung puzzler from last year no one talked about.
• Sea of Stars from Sabotage....im sure people have an excuse for why this isnt a good game, but thats clearly a you problem.
• Space Marine 2 from Saber Interactive I know Warhammer is seen as kinda niche, but you really can jump into this game without knowing the lore and have a great time.
• Haste from Landfall Games steam randomly recommended me this game and im hooked.

Thats just what I got off head from last year.
This year I still have a ton of western games to get to, Assassins Creed Shadows and Outlaws are still waiting to be played as I finish off EXP33 and wait for patches and/or an inevitable GOTY edition.
Split/Fiction im waiting for my vacation time so I can play it with my cousin.
Doom The Dark Ages also on the backlog.
KCD2 not for me but my understanding is that people really digging it, might try it down down down the line just cuz of FOMO.




How people say gaming is the worst its ever been or say they have nothing to play is so beyond me, cuz my backlog even just looking at western studios could probably last me till the end of the year......but good games keep coming out and it keeps getting longer and longer

Whenver people tell me how bad gaming is or whatever, I really want to ask them, what game do you want, describe it to me just so I understand what the industry is missing that people have such disdain for it, cuz maybe they are on to something and their idea of the game they want to play doesnt actually exist and they arent a minority.

Helldivers 2 > all.

This is true.

 

[PeteBull]

Did you play it? What was so repulsive?

Didnt play it ofc, and like i said, protagonist and artstyle, last thing i want is playing as a fugly woman, same reason concord bombed too, it was just like SoM made for "modern audience" aka ppl who dont play/dont buy games

 

[Guardian Monkey]

Didnt play it ofc, and like i said, protagonist and artstyle, last thing i want is playing as a fugly woman, same reason concord bombed too, it was just like SoM made for "modern audience" aka ppl who dont play/dont buy games

So wait. You dont want to play it because its protagonist is a woman? lol ffs

 

[PeteBull]

So wait. You dont want to play it because its protagonist is a woman? lol ffs

I dont wanna play it coz protag is ugly woman, yes, fuck that shit
Next time devs gonna make protag either manly masculine man or sexy feminine woman, otherwise my wallet keeps its legs closed

 

[Punished Miku]

It's America.
Their kind of capitalism is basically "FUCK LONG TERM WE NEED TO MAKE ALL OF THE MONEY NOW NOW NOW"

Oblivion Remastered $50
Final Fantasy Tactics Remastered $50

 

[Black_Stride]

Bro, be real, silent hill 2 remake came from bloober which is polish dev studio, not western, its eastern eaurope.

South of midnight is big flop.

Only 2 proper games with success are space marine 2(which is from western studio but goes against the grain aka wokeness/modern audience), and helldivers2, which is so antiwoke that sony didnt want to buy it despite crazy success game had and tencent had to swoop in

About diablo4- im series fanatic with over 6k hours among the games(most in d2:lod and its remaster, d2r, including mods) and its terrible diablo game, its ok if u only wanna play 30-50hours/beat story(aka what reviewers did) but diablo games are far more than that, it should provide hundreds if not thousands of hours of quality gameplay, d4 was so bad i didnt even buy expansion, and believe me i wanted to love it, i spent 150h+ in it wanting it to be good but it simply is worst in the series- yes, its much worse from first diablo, and its even worse from diablo3 before expack too(which till now was considered worst in the series coz of AH and its candy graphics/setting), compared to d4 that launch version of d3 is a fricken masterpiece.

Saying all that its almost 100% sure i will buy d5 at launch whenever it appears(likely 2030+ maybe even 2035+) im series fanatic like mentioned above, cant be helped- it would really have to have as much wokeness as TLOU2/concord to stop me from supporting my beloved hack&slash series

When does the west become the west cuz I thought this was an East vs West debate and East being Asian countries specifically, just like we wouldnt call an Australian studio Eastern.....it would count as the West.
Remedy is also Finnish are they not a western developer?

As for South of Midnight flopping, so did Prince of Persia the Lost Crown, so did Control......doesnt change the fact they are good game.
South of Midnight is a great jaunt.....sure it aint winning my game of the year, and i dont think anyone claims that but its a good game well worth the time to complete.
If sales are so important to games quality then wouldnt FIFA/EAFC constantly be nominated for GOTY?
Sales figures are practically useless for gauging whether a game is good or not.

If all you play is 9s and 10s then sure I can see why someone would think western devs have lost it or whatever the premise of this thread is.

 

[Fake]

So wait. You dont want to play it because its protagonist is a woman? lol ffs

I don't think he said that. I wouldn't play a ugly man as well believe you or not.

These rare cases when you do have a character creation and the sky is the limit.

I mean, you can argue whatever you want, but people around the world have differents reasons to not play a game or not.

 

[LavitzSlambert]

As someone who works in the biz, yes, Western developers (AAAs mostly) are particularly terrible right now and it's fucking exhausting. The games are bad. The art styles are bad, the gameplay is clunky, and there's typically no originality or spark of creativity you need to be an effective twist on a well-trodden idea. The bigger problem is that there's an insane insistence on throwing in more mechanical systems or bigger worlds, or other shit that a focus test might've suggested was a good idea, but that few people in reality actually want. And ironically, that's what's massively amplifying the cost and thus, the risk, of developing said game. This is because the exec teams are typically not gamers and most don't even have a casual interest in or basic knowledge of gaming. This is especially true with big tech, where everyone wants to make a fuss about how they're "all in on gaming" but everyone staffing the project is just some reject from that company's app store or video platform. I'm rarely impressed with the actual dev teams I've met with at the big studios. I'm most definitely not saying there isn't talent there, but "go along to get along" is 10000% the order of the day. If you are really good at what you do, you should probably not be working at one of these farms.

And the Western devs are the ones that get all the airtime. You hear the industry is dying, because you will typically only hear their bullshit message parroted. The sky isn't falling. They're just fucked. But it doesn't matter - you run that line of bullshit enough times, and the whole industry starts to believe it. I think the success of Clair Obscur might have finally driven the message home that you can have a highly profitable game that actually goes all in on a novel concept, especially because that success is arriving on the heels of Helldivers II, Manor Lords, Palworld, and of course, Baldur's Gate 3. These dipshits are finally starting to pause and say "hey wait, you mean I'm a fucking imbecile?"

Anyway, Western indies are a lot better. They've also gotten into a rut of just copying the same roguelike deckbuilder piece of shit we've seen a trillion times, but there's still a genuine creative spark there for a lot of teams, and that's encouraging. I'm glad that Japan figured their shit again out at some point, because my God, somebody has to be able to deliver good games with a decent budget behind them.

The point is, you're completely right, OP.

I am getting the feeling that many aspects of the world are falling underneath the weight of complexity nowadays. The decision makers and customers both don't understand how including these systems complicates development by magnitudes. And most of the time they don't add anything to the game either. Expedition 33 succeeded by cutting out unnecessary things without detracting too much from the experience of the game. Even some basic things you would not have thought, like level maps. All of that is one less thing they need to worry about building, testing, balancing, debugging.

 

[Gaiff]

When Double Fine is dropping a AA game that looks 3 generations ahead of From Software, Atlus and Koei Tecmo, you know something is seriously wrong. SQEX is trying to hang in there at least with XVI and FFVII-2 but they're pretty much at PS4 level still, like a lot of developers are. Capcom I would say also still looks crossgen. Sega is probably in the lead at this point, aside from Kojima. Even Silent Hill and Metal Gear have to be remade in the west to be graphically modern at all. A lot of people here are delusional. Silent Hill f is primarily from Hong Kong.

Donkey Kong Bonanza is probably going to be the most graphically impressive game from Japan so far this gen. I'd say Mario Kart World is up there. This is on PS4 level Switch 2.

FFXVI is not PS4-level in graphics. What an awful take.

It's one of the best-looking games at the moment.

 

[Punished Miku]

FFXVI is not PS4-level in graphics. What an awful take.

It's one of the best looking games at the moment.

Some parts are. PS4 had The Last of Us 2 so I don't know what you mean exactly. Most games are PS4 level with only a handful of exceptions.

 

[Northeastmonk]

Can't ignore the greats of the golden era. But since that's been said. Yeah, western devs are awful lately. I hate their egos, they're all money hungry, and their ideas suck. Japan has kept gaming interesting.

 

[PeteBull]

If all you play is 9s and 10s then sure I can see why someone would think western devs have lost it or whatever the premise of this thread is.

I still didnt finish(played but didnt finish, will hopefully this year tho 95+ meta games from last gen bro, tons of games are launching every month and they all compete for our time, most 7-8/10 games gonna be forgotten in nowadays market, hell some 9/10 games are too.
And lets not forget how much of a sellouts are so called "professional journos", they gave DA:V 82 metascore while users gave the game 3.9/10, and rightfully so

Dragon Age: The Veilguard Reviews

Unite the Veilguard and defy the gods in Dragon Age: The Veilguard, an immersive single-player RPG where you become the leader others believe in. When a pair of corrupt ancient gods break free from centuries of darkness, the vibrant land of Thedas needs someone they can count on. Rise as Rook...

www.metacritic.com

 

[Gaiff]

Some parts are.

Such as?

PS4 had The Last of Us 2 so I don't know what you mean exactly. Most games are PS4 level with only a handful of exceptions.

Good for the PS4. FF XVI still looks better. Those Eikon battles are some of the most impressive real time set pieces even today.

 

[NeoIkaruGAF]

I really couldn't be in a more different place. There's a ton of great western games right now at all budget levels. Western developers utterly dominate indies. We're seeing more and more western AA games deliver as well, like Clair Obscur, Plague Tale, Avowed, Hellblade 2, and many more all made with small teams but pushing boundaries in many ways that even AAA stuff isn't right now. Looks like Owlcats, a studio most have never even heard of, is about to start showing their version of Mass Effect (The Expanse TPS action RPG). AAA games are a bit less than before, but that's fine with me. There's still some of those too; playing Doom now and it's a lot of fun. Pretty sure Clockwork Revolution is a AA game as well, and that looks like game of the show(s) this year. I can't imagine a Japanese studio getting something like that together right now. They're barely even using Unreal 5 on any level.

I actually think we're in a poor period for Japanese games right now; a fairly significant one. Nioh 3 is going to be fun, but looks 2 generations behind at this point. I'm psyched for Ninja Gaiden 4, but Platinum is seemingly struggling. From Software has put out the same game for 15 years and their tech isn't improving at all. China is loaded with potential, but focusing on anime gacha games and souls clones. South Korea is another bright spot, but still a drop in the bucket in terms of total output compared to western content. Nintendo has been sleeping for a year, so I'm ready for them to get going. Mario Kart is definitely not a bad game, but a bit of a let down and a step back from 8 for me personally. Capcom is good, but overly focused on remakes, rereleases, ports and safe sequels. I will be happy if Pragmata delivers, but so far I'm not completely sold on it. I think if it didn't say "Capcom" in the trailer, people would be a little less impressed at this point. SQEX is in a deep rut like never before, and we know their best team is cursed to put out another large remake before they can start even thinking about pre-production for something new, so don't expect it to turn around for another 7 years. I think one of the few slightly bright spots is Sega, but they also put out way too many extremely safe sequels; though the new Virtua Fighter and (not)Yakuza look very impressive. The worst portions of the worst show this year was Eastern anime content at the Summer Game Fest; and I'm not an anti-anime person. It's just turned into the most derivative and repetitive content in all of gaming right now. It's the rock bottom, and it's not from the west right now. Even Shinobi and Ninja Gaiden Ragebound are coming from western studios this year, and both look pretty solid.

I'm not crazy about western design (both visual and overall game design) in general, but a lot of this post is true.

Nothing personal and this isn't directed at you @Raven117 but I can't wait until 6 months or a year from now when everyone stops riding E33's d*ck.

I just don't get it. It was a mediocre game with easily broken combat, cliche story beats, and some glaring flaws (i.e. lack of mini-map, etc...)

I guess it's the turn-based, JRPG-style RPG for people who only play Final Fantasy, because pretty much everything released by Monolith, Atlus, and Falcom in the last decade beats the pants off of E33 in my opinion.

I really just do not get why this game is as popular as it is. It's great that people love it, but it's not for me.

Falcom? When has Falcom come close to such production values?
And Atlus? Atlus is a cult at this point. They're thriving on ports, director's cuts and remakes almost on the same level as Capcom. And look, I enjoyed Persona 5, but the people who say 4 is a better game (story and party aside) and who slobbered all over 3's remake, the most unapologetic time-wasting borefest I've tried in at least half a decade, are just incomprehensible to me.

The west needs to embrace artistic creativity again, and learn to trim the fat. Stop chasing detail and fidelity - a game like Clair Obscur is already way overboard with it. Keep it simple and unique. And stop putting enough systems in a single game that would be enough for an entire trilogy, if not more, not so long ago. Everything is overdesigned.

Unfortunately, trimming the fat would mean games would (reasonably) have to cost a bit less, just now that the industry at large has decided that it's finally the moment to increase prices. So it's probably not really feasible to take a step back there. Publishers want all the money, and the games must at least try to justify the money asked.

 

[Punished Miku]

Such as?

Good for the PS4. FF XVI still looks better. Those Eikon battles are some of the most impressive real time set pieces even today.

Virtually every NPC, facial animation element in the game. Level geometry looks extremely flat and simplistic. Some parts look great, I agree. I was actually saying SQEX is one of the only ones competing in the post you quoted. FFVII-2 is also a mix of PS4 level and some great looking stuff. Remake 1 was literally a PS4 game. If you disagree that's fine, but that's how I feel about it.

 

[PeteBull]

Such as?

Good for the PS4. FF XVI still looks better. Those Eikon battles are some of the most impressive real time set pieces even today.

As often as i disagree with Gaiff, gotta agree with him completely, ff16 is defo current gen, u can see it by how hard it is to run it maxed in 1080p native at stable 60 on pc, on ps5 it drops to some switch-like resolution at times and still cant hold 60 durning big battles, its that heavy, even tho it has 0 rt.
Edit: Here timestamped ps5 DF review where u can see IQ and framerate:

 

[Guardian Monkey]

I dont wanna play it coz protag is ugly woman, yes, fuck that shit
Next time devs gonna make protag either manly masculine man or sexy feminine woman, otherwise my wallet keeps its legs closed

I don't think he said that. I wouldn't play a ugly man as well believe you or not.

These rare cases when you do have a character creation and the sky is the limit.

I mean, you can argue whatever you want, but people around the world have differents reasons to not play a game or not.

Most game characters look fucking stupid and god help you 20+ years ago. You intentionally narrow down to a specific subset of games because of this criteria?

 

[Black_Stride]

I still didnt finish(played but didnt finish, will hopefully this year tho 95+ meta games from last gen bro, tons of games are launching every month and they all compete for our time, most 7-8/10 games gonna be forgotten in nowadays market, hell some 9/10 games are too.
And lets not forget how much of a sellouts are so called "professional journos", they gave DA:V 82 metascore while users gave the game 3.9/10, and rightfully so

Dragon Age: The Veilguard Reviews

Unite the Veilguard and defy the gods in Dragon Age: The Veilguard, an immersive single-player RPG where you become the leader others believe in. When a pair of corrupt ancient gods break free from centuries of darkness, the vibrant land of Thedas needs someone they can count on. Rise as Rook...

www.metacritic.com

 

[Fake]

Most game characters look fucking stupid and god help you 20+ years ago. You intentionally narrow down to a specific subset of games because of this criteria?

Dude, I know some people that don't play Elden Ring because you have the ability to get down and sneak just like Sekiro.

Please... there are a vast stupids reasons to not play a game. I'm not even bringing the Hogwarts Legacy 'not gonna play because' motivation.

 

[Danjin44]

Hot take: I don't see difference between western games and asian games.

Then you are blind, you don't need to play that many Asian game to know difference between them.

From character models, aesthetics, gameplay and the way they tell their stories.

Even game like Death Stranding which filled Hollywood actors is still very much a Japanese game.

 

[Bernardougf]

How many game trailers for 2025 / 2026 have a strong-female-protagonist wielding a sword have come out in the last 7 months? I watched YouTube talking head video bringing that point up and it is just, ick, when I see a trailer with it now.

*Edit*
Found it (timestamped).

The age of the girlboss.. I dont think anyone would be called crazy if he/she didnt know anything about gaming and watched the games coming in the next months/years and thought "well gaming is a girl thing right ? " with the amount of girl leads.