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[adamsapple]

Avowed was announced in June or July 2020
Hellblade II in December 2019
Indy was announced about 3 years ago
Ara was the only one announced in 2022.

Sony is criticised for announcing games too way in advance.

ok ?

Didn't Xbox claim ever game would release in 12 months at E3 and that was a major lie. They have made this promise before and failed, so maybe wait until they actually do it on a more consistent basis (more than a once off) before pulling them off.

Ok, if any of them miss 2024, you can @ me. Right now, they announced today that all these games are coming out this year. That's what we go on.

I agree, but I think it's time we accept that we just aren't going to see many (if any) graphically insane, tech pushing visuals on Xbox.

Not because Series X can't do it, but because Xbox seems to have an in-house policy that they need to, First and Foremost, make sure that the game looks and runs great on Series S. That alone will almost always assure that we won't be seeing Series X pushed to its limits...

They showed Hellblade in this same show, which is also coming to both the Series consoles tho.

 

[adamsapple]

Btw spotted on Era

The Indiana Jones segment had a very quick Quake 6 tease as well. If you're wondering where Quake 5 is, it's probably Quake Champions.


Even the Logo's there.

 

[Humdinger]

I just watched the Avowed, Indy, and Senua reveals. My quick impressions:

Senua - looks beautiful. I'm sure it will be a quality game and review as well as the first one did. I'm not as drawn to it, though, because it seems more external than internal. By that I mean, I thought the first game was fascinating, because it was basically her internal paranoid schizophrenic, traumatized life externalized, brought to life in the form of external foes and challenges. In this sequel, they said that Senua is more at peace with her inner demons -- not that they are gone, but the element of agonizing internal struggle is turned down. It seems to be more about fighting external foes, not externalized internal ones, if that makes sense. The psychotic elements are still there, but they seem to be more like intrusions, rather than defining features of the landscape. In the first game, I felt like I was battling with Senua's internal, psychotic reality come to life. In the sequel, I feel more like I'm battling external enemies. I hope that makes sense, lol. It makes it less intriguing to me.

Avowed - The dual-wielding combat looks potentially fun, and the environments look good. I didn't like Outer Worlds that much, though. I finished it but found it kind of uninspired. My mind is open, but I'm just not 'feeling it' for Avowed yet. I'm going to have to wait for reviews and impressions.

Indiana Jones - looks fun. I think Xbox has a winner on their hands here. I did cringe when I saw Todd Howard featured in the trailer and listed as Executive Producer. I hope he let Machine Games design the thing and mostly stayed out of it. Based on what I saw, it looks like a fun game. I enjoy these types of games (Uncharted, recent Tomb Raiders).

 

[Gambit2483]

They showed Hellblade in this same show, which is also coming to both the Series consoles tho.

And the scale, scope and length seem to have been drastically cut in service of that visual fidelity. It's somewhat telling when one of the best looking games is basically played on linear tracks ala FF13

 

[adamsapple]

And the scale, scope and length seem to have been drastically cut in service of that visual fidelity. It's somewhat telling when one of the best looking games is basically played on linear tracks ala FF13

Drastically cut ? compared to what lol

Have you played the first game?

 

[Ozriel]

And the scale, scope and length seem to have been drastically cut in service of that visual fidelity. It's somewhat telling when one of the best looking games is basically played on linear tracks ala FF13

- Visuals are directly related to game length
- scale and scope have been cut even though it’s bigger in scale and scope than it’s predecessor
- Linear games cannot be considered visual masterpieces.

Amazing how all three points you made are hilarious BS

 

[adamsapple]

- Visuals are directly related to game length
- scale and scope have been cut even though it’s bigger in scale and scope than it’s predecessor
- Linear games cannot be considered visual masterpieces.

Amazing how all three points you made are hilarious BS

Surprised there wasn't a "each hour of game play is for one year of development" bingo in there.

 

[Gambit2483]

Drastically cut ? compared to what lol

Have you played the first game?

All indications when they first announced this game made it sound like it would be a bigger experience than the first game...and now they litterally say "shorter narrative experience" to temper expectations.

Usually when you make a game sequel you try to expand a bit on scale, scope and/or length...but here we have them telling us it's going to be a shorter narrative experience, i.e. it's been cut and is more movie focused than gameplay focused.

Edit: Yes I have played the first game. Its a very cool yet niche adventure game. I was hoping and expecting them to expand on the experience, not slim it down into a budget narrative focused experience

 

[adamsapple]

All indications when they first announced this game made it sound like it would be a bigger experience than the first game...and now they litterally say "shorter narrative experience" to temper expectations.

Usually when you make a game sequel you try to expand a bit on scale, scope and/or length...but here we have them telling us it's going to be a shorter narrative experience, i.e. it's been cut and is more movie focused than gameplay focused.

The scale, scope and production of the game is obviously bigger than the first game, you can tell that by looking at the game play and other assorted clips we've seen.

The game's length is about the same as the first game per the developers, they did not say that it's a shorter game than the first one. The shorter length comment is in relation to it not being a full priced game, the first one wasn't either.

We also took advantage of the freedom that digital-only distribution offered us to create a game of the length that fit perfectly with our intended experience but could be sold at a lower price to reflect the shorter length of our story.

in this new chapter of Senua’s life we have been able to push our production values way beyond what we were able to achieve previously.

Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II will be a game crafted from the heart – a game similar in length to the first Hellblade, with a focused narrative, and sold digital-only at a price of $49.99 USD

So, you can expect more of the same, but this time with the support to push our ambitions for immersion, fidelity and richness far further than before.

Experience a Brutal Journey of Cinematic Immersion in Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II on May 21 - Xbox Wire

Hello, Dom here, Studio Head at Ninja Theory. As I write this, we are now in the final few months of development on Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II, preparing for our launch Day One on Xbox Game Pass and across Xbox Series X|S, Windows and Steam on May 21. It was a pleasure to give you […]

news.xbox.com

 

[EDMIX]

All I wanted was that Oblivion remake news....

 

[Mister Wolf]

All I wanted was that Oblivion remake news....

They probably feel like that would undermine Avowed.

 

[Gambit2483]

The scale, scope and production of the game is obviously bigger than the first game, you can tell that by looking at the game play and other assorted clips we've seen.

The game's length is about the same as the first game per the developers, they did not say that it's a shorter game than the first one. The shorter length comment is in relation to it not being a full priced game, the first one wasn't either.

Is it obvious though? The only thing that showed that alluded to this was that initial troll giant battle. Otherwise it's mostly her walking, tight shots of her talking and an occasional 4 second battle clip.


Nothing about this sequel shows where they have expanded greatly from the first games scope the way, say FF7 Rebirth has or the way SM2 did.


And all those quotes were just a way to counter the incoming complaints of why it's now budget priced, is digital only and no longer the typical sequel that significantly pushes scale scope or length that many thought it would be.

The game looks like it litterally runs on tracks now compared to some of the more open-ended areas the first game had.

 

[adamsapple]

The game looks like it litterally runs on tracks now compared to some of the more open-ended areas the first game had.

Open ended areas in the first game? The only area that isn't a linear path is the beach area.

And why are we assuming the second one won't have similar, or bigger, areas?

You also had 0 NPC's besides Senua in the first game, you have villages, more people and we've already seen that one beach/troll segment that far eclipses anything in the scale of the first game.

Having a hard time seeing how you're coming the conclusions that you are about the games content, especially as we've only seen a couple of minute or two footage from the game, tops.

 

[Gambit2483]

Open ended areas in the first game? The only area that isn't a linear path is the beach area.

And why are we assuming the second one won't have similar, or bigger, areas?

You also had 0 NPC's besides Senua in the first game, you have villages, more people and we've already seen that one beach/troll segment that far eclipses anything in the scale of the first game.

Having a hard time seeing how you're coming the conclusions that you are about the games content, especially as we've only seen a couple of minute or two footage from the game, tops.

If the sequel has more open-ended areas why not  show them?? Why not have a trailer that puts a good deal of emphasis on all of these new npcs and villages? Saying they exist and then showing a 3 second clip of her talking/walking with someone is whack.


If you're having a hard time seeing where my conclusions come from Well that might be because I'm having a hard time seeing where the new content,scale or scope actually is...It's probably because they aren't showing it. They've put in 6 years worth of development but I have yet to see anything (other than the troll giant fight) that wasn't in the first game or anything that suggested this was a full fledged videogame sequel with the full backing of Xbox.

Maybe everything you claim is in this game, is actually in this game but I'm not seeing it. This developer has a serious "show, don't tell" marketing problem.

 

[Exentryk]

Very nicely produced video. The environments for Indiana Jones and Avowed look really good/next-gen. And even though I'm not a fan of first person, might give Indiana a go on Gamepass.

Square Enix Visions of Mana looks great and am definitely looking forward to that. That gamey third person melee and magic combat is just my jam. Bring it on!

 

[MarkMe2525]

I didn't realize Machine Games has a lineage to the team that developed Riddick Escape from Butcher Bay, one of my all time favorite Xbox games. As soon as they pulled away to 3rd person for climbing sections, it immediately reminded me of that game, now I know why. The melee is a dead ringer for Riddick as well.

Coincidentally, a few weeks ago I got my hand on the 360 remake "Dark Athena", and I'm doing a playthrough. It holds up great on my 27" CRT, I can't speak to what it looks like on a modern display (probably rough).