Was Naughty Dog games better before Neil Druckman?

Was Naughty Dog games better before Neil Druckman?


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LordOcidax

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Hot take: yes

I associate him with the TLoU era of naughtydog whereas i preferred naughty dog's earlier crash-jak era

Back when they made games, not playable cutscenes
 
Uncharted 4 is my favorite, I actually can't believe Drucmann wrote it, Sam is so likeable. He's got talent, you need to give him that.
 
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In a lot of aspects, he reminds me of kojima... genius, but should not be the final decision maker. Nadine from U4 is a example of Drunkman's 'strong woman obsession' GOd dam it my mom hates U4 because she automatically knows that when Nadine is in scene, she will easily defeat everyone on screen... (truth be told, Uncharted Lost Legacy was WAY BETTER in this aspect).
 
Season 3 Yes GIF by Friends


ND now makes boring interactive movies with annoying, tired, pandering political agendas. I'm sure there are certain users here who love that, and we all know who they are. They are retards with poor taste. ND sucks now.
 
Uncharted was the end of ND's relevance as a developer for me. With the exception of TLOU 1 (which I generally liked), every game I've played from them since then has been a miss. I really liked their platformer era, though.
 
I personally loved UC4 and TLOU part 1 more than any other ND game( although I do admit their previous games were also excellent). Disregarding my preferences towards story, I think ND has been equally good before as it is currently in Niel's era, just in a different direction.
 
Uncharted 4 and TLOU1 are one of the best games ever made so no.
I agree about TLOU1, but that game was directed by Straley, who forced Druckmann to rewrite the story of TLOU1 at least once (which was originally a revenge story that went "off the rails"….sound familiar?) So there were guardrails in place for him there that really helped mold the story, a guiding force that was a counterweight to Neil's ideas.

Sometimes a collaborative effort in the realm of entertainment somehow produces magic that cannot be replicated by the individual people involved when split apart and do different projects.
 
There is a new ND or Druckman thread on this site every fucking day. This guy living rent free in some heads here holy shit. Let it go
This is Druckman's revenge for (allegedly) not getting the clicks during the golden globes. "All eyes on me forever, bitches".
 
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I agree about TLOU1, but that game was directed by Straley, who forced Druckmann to rewrite the story of TLOU1 at least once (which was originally a revenge story that went "off the rails"….sound familiar?) So there were guardrails in place for him there that really helped mold the story, a guiding force that was a counterweight to Neil's ideas.

Sometimes a collaborative effort in the realm of entertainment somehow produces magic that cannot be replicated by the individual people involved when split apart and do different projects.
He also wanted to kill off Elena in uncharted 2.

Guy is too emo, and needed Bruce Straley.
 
I just wish he would stop putting his woke ideologue bullshit in vidoegames
 
They were a lot more light-hearted, fun and with less focus on cinematics. So yes. And thats before we go into forced DEI, or lack thereof in prevous games.
 
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i liked the 2 uncharted he just scripted (1&2), & i liked last of us, which he scripted/directed. that's about it...
I agree about TLOU1, but that game was directed by Straley, who forced Druckmann to rewrite the story of TLOU1 at least once (which was originally a revenge story that went "off the rails"….sound familiar?) So there were guardrails in place for him there that really helped mold the story, a guiding force that was a counterweight to Neil's ideas.

Sometimes a collaborative effort in the realm of entertainment somehow produces magic that cannot be replicated by the individual people involved when split apart and do different projects.
thanks for this...
 
Yes.
ND peaked with Uncharted 2, when they nailed the cinematic style by making a game that felt like you were playing an action movie.
Now they make the boring style of cinematic games that constantly get in your way and don't let you engage with the gameplay because Niel cares more about the story than anything else.
 
Yes.
ND peaked with Uncharted 2, when they nailed the cinematic style by making a game that felt like you were playing an action movie.
Now they make the boring style of cinematic games that constantly get in your way and don't let you engage with the gameplay because Niel cares more about the story than anything else.
Uncharted 2 was fantastic for its time, but you're talking shit if you think it plays better than Uncharted 4, or TLOU 1 and 2.
 
Uncharted 2 was fantastic for its time, but you're talking shit if you think it plays better than Uncharted 4, or TLOU 1 and 2.

Uncharted 4 and specially TLOU2 have better gunplay and combat than Uncharted 2, no doubt.
But instead of giving you a game that focuses on it, they constantly force you into endless walking and talking sequences, boring 40 minutes long flashbacks and other such "story" sequences where you don't really do anything. Niel puts story above everything, ND during the Uncharted 2 era felt like they thought about cool gameplay sequences first then wrote the story around that.

2,5 hours into Uncharted 4 you've barely been allowed to play it and done almost no shooting except for that brief prison break sequence with Sam.
2.5 hours into Uncharted 2 you've infiltrated the museum, gone through the whole Borneo jungle sequence, which has a lot of combat, and done the early part of Nepal including that awesome chopper chase setpiece.

If ND would make a game with the combat mechanics and gameplay of Uc4/TLOU2 but the pacing and gameplay focus of Uncharted 2 I'd probably still like their games. But Niel is too busy smelling his own farts.
 
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In a lot of aspects, he reminds me of kojima... genius, but should not be the final decision maker.

Mate, you are insane.

If Kojima is a genius, let's say on Nicolo Paganini level (or Bob Dylan for normies) then Druckman is Right Said Fred.
 
If ND would make a game with the combat mechanics and gameplay of Uc4/TLOU2 but the pacing and gameplay focus of Uncharted 2 I'd probably still like their games.

I would go to California myself and lick Druckmann's balls for an entire game development process.
 
Before Druckmann took complete control, of course.

No longer facing push-back on his retarded ideas like killing Elena in Uncharted 2 or making TLOU I a revenge story with Tess as antagonist.. is what basically destroyed this studio.

It's only hard to see for some due to the studio evolution in other aspects, higher budgets and tech advancements granted by the newer machines.
 
Last of Us was one of the greatest games ever. I don't understand where your hate is coming from.
And the Druckmann-only version of The Last of Us would have been a completely different game.

Don't know about you, but I'm glad Straley and company were there to prevent the game from being a revenge story about Tess, as a main antagonist, torturing Joel after chasing him for a year, before being killed by Ellie.

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The fact the entire Part II plot is nothing more than a recycled, rejected nonsense from the previous game, mixed with a total fan fiction tier "NPC #4790 had a family who seek revenge", starring that joke of a character Abby, should make it crystal clear what kind of complete hack he really is.
 
Never really cared about ND games until TLoU2, and Uncharted 4 is the only game from that series I can stomach, so I'll throw out a big fat no
 
Yes. The games became too movie-ish.. I would rather get Jak & Daxter any day.
 
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