Do the games suck, or is it just me?

[RancidLunchmeat]

So, I've been having a little bit of difficulty with games lately.

For starters, Borderlands 2. I loved the first game, couldn't play enough of it and couldn't wait for BL2. When it first came out, I played it fairly religiously, but something along the way just wore me thin. I don't know if it was the reduced quality of the loot drops, the reduced difference between weapons, changes to the game mechanics or what. I've never been able (motivated) to finish the Captain Scarlet's DLC, and when they released the two latest downloads (including the increase in skillpoints) I just kinda shrugged my shoulders said "Eh." and haven't even bothered to downloaded them or play again.

Does the game suck? Is it the mechanics? Is it redundant? Is it just not as clever? Or was all the clever used up on the first BL and the following DLC?

Second... Bioshock Infinite. Bioshock is probably my favorite game of all time. I simply loved that game, it was amazing. The gameplay was great, the environment was just fantastic, the story was amazing. Bioshock 2, I never finished. But I had a great "Return to Rapture" time for the first couple hours of playing the game. It was great to go back to the underwater city and roam around in the environment. The story left me wanting, though. While Bioshock was an epic tale (ala a liberal's view of the logical extension of Atlas Shrugged), Bioshock 2 didn't have a unique story to tell and the game just wore on me eventually to the point where I didn't care about playing it or not.

Bioshock Infinite has a great environment as well, but the story is just kinda.. again, "Eh." and the environment isn't good enough or doesn't seem to help suck you into the story. Now, I've only started playing the game (haven't rescued Elizabeth yet), so maybe it gets better. But to this point, the story isn't pushing me along. I don't really care about what happens next, which is why I'll play for a bit and then decide I'd rather watch a movie or poker in RDR instead. And the main "neat factor", the skyhook, just seems forced somehow. As if it almost (and it literally does, ha!) put the game "on rails" so you know where you have to go, rather than being more open and allowing you to explore.

So, I don't know, but two games whose predecessors I loved and played for probably hundreds of hours that I was really excited about and I have to force myself to continue to play either one of them, hoping at some point the game will get better and actually become fun to play. Maybe with more skillpoints and if I level up in BL2, the game will be fun. Maybe if I spend more time in Infinite, the story will finally reveal somethings that will make me want to find out what happens next, or I'll get to a point where the skyrails actually OPEN the world rather than SHRINK it. But it's actually a tough going for me to spend the time to see if those things will happen.

Am I the only one? Anybody else have any thoughts? Are these actually really good games worthy of their predecessors and I'm the one who has changed somehow, or are these games really (despite their praise), falling short?

 

[manux]

I got similar feeling after playing original unreal tournament to death. I feel most if not all fps games are just repetitive crap. I tried both games you mentioned and their predecessors and couldn't finish any of them as I felt those games are just plain boring. I couldn't appreciate deus ex, system shock, half life or any other run, rinse, repeat and repeat same levels again crap games.

I'm in gimme 6hours of non repeating fun boat and I'm happy. Give me 20 hours of running and backtracking in a mace and I will not appreciate or buy that game.

 

[patsu]

Isn't that's why we have Heavy Rain, Catherine, Demon's Souls, Valkyria Chronicles, LBP, Starhawk, Journey, etc. ? Might want to try a different game.

 

[manux]

Isn't that's why we have Heavy Rain, Catherine, Demon's Souls, Valkyria Chronicles, LBP, Starhawk, Journey, etc. ? Might want to try a different game.

At least for me those games are why I'm still gaming

 

[patsu]

Me too !

 

[RenegadeRocks]

@Rancid: you are not the only one here. Newer games are being made easy to the point that one feels no pirpose in playing them. There seems to be no challenge, no motivation, no thinking involved, just instant gratification. Press X for rewards, move to point A for rewards, start the game for Trophies. The whole point of learning and then conquering a game seems to be gone. Its all rewards now, which feels meaningless after a while, because they are meaningless anyway as they are just virtual stuff.

Sme games here n there provide releief, but they sell so abysmally that no one wants to continue that work. To people who think Heavy Rain is an interactive movie: Well, 99% of the FPSs today, including COD, is nothing but an interactiv movie. Te games just play themselves, mostly, rewarding you for just being there and pressing buttons at given times.

 

[Billy Idol]

I think you guys are a bit harsh. Games always where 'press a button to make something happen'.

I would even say that it is the exact opposite:

games these days have reached such a high level of quality and entertainment, that sometimes it 'might' be boring to play another near flawless piece of software...game dev'ing has reached imo a super high level of quality.

In past you are used to battle more the errors in gameplay and design in lots of the games. Games where not difficult because of an actual challenge, but because of actual bad quality software.

Imo best example is the Ninja Gaiden (never played the others, but vids show the same problem): game is fairly standard with respect to difficulty, except for the constant battling of the terrible camera work. But still you see this game getting praise everywhere for being a real challenge.

Fast forward to God of War: Ascension. The trials. Major meltdown of reviewers first, gamers second. Bla bla bla difficulty spike, bla bla bla unfair no magic, bla bla bla. Sequence was fair, just difficult imo.

Maybe you guys just getting to grown up for games? Maybe it is just that you can't enjoy gaming anymore? I know this happens to me because of less available time: GT5 sits at home collecting dust. No interest in investing hours over hours. But Motorstorm or Blur serves as a fast satisfaction of my driving game needs.

Time changes.

 

[Rangers]

Maybe you guys just getting to grown up for games? Maybe it is just that you can't enjoy gaming anymore? I know this happens to me because of less available time:

Time changes.

Yup. It's not the games that change, we have.

It's not that crazy to think we may love an experience once, (in his case for example, borderlands), but how many times can you repeat that experience before it's tiring (Borderlands 2)

having gamed for a really long time, i've never come even close to the sheer joy i had in my youth with the nes, and i'm sure i never will. you cant be a kid again.

similarly, i'm sure online call of duty might have consumed my life if i was 16. today? not so interested.

that said, some gaming is still worthwile imo or i wouldn't do it. but i am becoming very jaded lately. i'm more into the hobby for witnessing graphical enhancement than anything anymore i think. like wow i never thought the 360 could be pushed that far, or excitement over how good next gen may look.

i can honestly see a time where i may not game heavily all that much longer. i want to see the first 2-3 years of next gen for sure though...

but yeah, if you were 12 or 16 coming into gaming, these games might be simply amazing to you. after many years though, you might become tired of them. i find myself a bit tired of most forms of gaming. it's definitely something i became increasingly cognizant of in the last 3 years, this growing feeling of "is that all there is?"

 

[orangpelupa]

i dont know if its the game that changes, me that changes, or both.

But new games with old title (GAMENAME 3: subtitle 2) feels not as good as the predecessor. But new game title (or reboot) feels good.

bad example
Battlefield 3. I feel really restricted on this game compared to the previous game, BFBC2 or BF2. The single player did not make me want to push forward and i dont understand what the heck happend in SP.

Call of Duty 99999. I got bored.

Bioshock Infinite. I dont feeling like to go forward but i cant fool around, i MUST go forward although i dont want to go forward.

good example
Tomb Raider. This game and Mirror's Edge are the game that make me want to push forward, understand the story, and happily trying again-again-and-again.

Forza Horizon.
Usually i never played racing game more than a few days. But this game make me cant stop playing for about a month. I dont know why.

Enslaved.
i really like the balance beetween cinematic, story, and action on this game. I can go forward because i want to go forward, the story make me cant stop thinking, and the battle are presented in good style and did not disturb my story enjoyment.

i think the main things i dislike on new games with old title are the restrictions that keep increasing.

 

[Prophecy2k]

I have to agree with Rangers and the others on this one.

I think that lifestyle plays and incredibly important role in how much we can and can't enjoy the games we play. I sit back and rememeber my golden gaming years, back in high school when I'd finish school at 15:20 in the afternoon, and game till midnight, and then all weekends. When you had hours upon hours of your time to invest in games like FFVII and JRPGs, you were far more forgiving of game's flaws and you could overlook alot of the limitations and design decisions made by game designers at the time.

As you got older and more responsibility, also less free time, you place a premium on your time available for gaming as a whole. This together with the greater complexity and utterly brimming quality of some games these days has made you into somewhat of a gaming snob. Which isn't your fault, its just that your lifestyle changed, and now you've got such limited time to game, you only really wanna give that time to titles that will give you the highest level of enjoyment and instant gratification that you can get.

To me when people say stuff like modern games have become a product of this new younger generation who wants insta-win in his games with next to no challenge, I ALWAYS disagree. I firmly believe, given that so many AAA developers are gamers around our same age and demographic, that modern games are far moreso a victim of us grown-ups with less time for gaming, who don't want grind and challenge in our gaming lives, when we have such limited time. We want our limited gaming experiences filled with enjoyment and games that entertain and carry us along in an enthralling thrill ride at every moment that we're playing them. It's us that's the problem, not the younger generation of gamers.

Personally however, I feel the same as the OP with some games. I probably still have more time to game than most guys my age and in my stage of life (mid to late twenties and newly wedded - wifey isn't a gamer sadly). But I've certainly found that I don't feel I have time for overly grindly, repetitive, uneventful slogs of a game. I need games that entertain me at every point; even if i only have a couple of hours a session a week I expect to be enthralled and enamoured in that time. That's a really super high expectation to place on developers however. It's why I think we see such success in games like COD and highly narrative-driven games (over the very gamey games of yesteryear). It's also why I think we hear alot of gamers always talking about stuff like pacing, immersiveness and connecting with the games world, story and characters. When 20 years ago such things were never considered when analysing or reviewing games (notwithstanding the advances of technology allowing greater plot and storytelling in gaming).

 

[Davros]

they are just virtual stuff.

In Anachronox the collectibles were called T.A.C.O's (Totally Arbitrary Collectible Objects) because thats what they are.
Personally I hate collectibles and achievements because they affect the way you play the game. Take BF Bad Company as an example, you start the level, up ahead are some enemy that your a.i squadmates run towards to engage do you join them no because if you do you will have to backtrack to search all the locations near your start point for collectibles, hence you miss most of the action. You could ignore the collectibles with the intention of doing the backtracking after but thats boring and you run the risk of hitting a checkpoint (or in game event) that prevents you going back.
Also take achievements for example "get a 5 run kill streak with the knife" is doing that the best way of playing or the most enjoyable probably not but your psyche pushes you to get the achievement.

 

[orangpelupa]

Yeah, a game that entertain me for the small gaming time I have are nice. Awesome when next week I still want to play it and continue the story.

Hmm maybe that's why mp are so popular? With mp game, a 30 minutes free time can feel good and next week I can do that again. Except when stuck on bad teammate

 

[patsu]

I have a short gaming history. Only owned 2 games on Xbox, GameCube and PS2 each. Even I find many game concepts repetitive.

 

[RancidLunchmeat]

Well, thanks for all your responses. I'm actually surprised that as many of you cared enough to contribute to this thread as you did.

I asked what is really a simple question. Is it the games, or is it me? And it seems like everybody seems to agree that it's me (or us) and not the games. Unfortunately, that is the worst choice and one that I was hoping I wouldn't hear.

I wanted to hear that the games are lacking and that it's not me, it's just that the games really aren't that great and my reaction and inability to be enthralled by them is understandable. Instead, it seems everybody agrees that it's us who have changed and the games themselves are probably fantastic for a different demographic.

Balls.

I'm 39, I've been gaming since my parents first bought me an Atari 2600. And its been a lot of fun, I've enjoyed lots of great experiences playing even up until the past couple of years. Red Dead Redemption, for example, was a complete joy. I expected that same sort of "have to play more" experience from BL2 and Infinite after playing their predecessors but it never materialized.

Sure, I've changed. I'm a different person, and as most of you have said, I have competing tasks that require my time so I'm not so willing to spend 2 hours playing through crap in order to get to something that is interesting. But on the other hand, I'm not so sure I'm willing to just chalk it up to being MY FAULT that I'm not enjoying these games to the same degree as previous ones. I'm not so sure I'm willing to let the designers and developers of the games off the hook when it might very well be THEIR FAULT that I can't seem to care enough to put more than a couple of hours worth of time into the game.

Then again, maybe my standards have become too high. After all, over this entire generation there's only a handfull of games that I really would say were great games. Bioshock, Borderlands and Red Dead Redemption. I have a mountain of games, even more when you count the downloaded games. But those are the only three that I have that I really loved to play and those are the ones that I would show a non-gamer what exactly gaming is about.

So when you think about it, maybe I'm just holding BL2 and Infinite up to a standard they can't possibly reach? But that begs the question.... do you need to have a completely new IP in order to get that same sort of buy-in from veteran gamers? And in the case of Infinite, it has nothing to do with any of the previous games so it is really a new IP, yet it still (IMO) fails.

Here's a question: if Bioshock Infinite was instead called " Battle of the floating City" would it have sold as well and would it have gotten such great reviews?

 

[patsu]

It's both. But did you try the interesting ones ? If you keep buying the same thing, it's hard to blame them.

 

[tuna]

Maybe you should try some new type of games? Maybe you need something with more mechanics than story, like sport games or racers?

 

[Scott_Arm]

I think it's just you. I feel the same way. I've gotten kind of bored with gaming, because I've done A LOT of gaming over the last 25 years. So now I just game a lot less (instead of every day), so when I pick up a game it feels more entertaining.

 

[Rodéric]

Something similar in here, but I find that the quality of game went down a lot.
Too much copying little innovating, but it's changing with independent devellopers coming forward.

I feel like AAA studio just do their yearly blockbusters and don't innovate, like those summer blockbusters movies that don't have anything to sell but actors' names and sfx...
(It's not that bad though, just like the new Batman trilogy was great some AAA are.)

 

[Davros]

you have a point rancid
and your not the first to have noticed it we've had many threads (mainly in pc games section) about the dumbing down of games

 

[patsu]

It's hard to say. Heavy Rain is pretty cutscene heavy, but it's one of the most emotional and interesting games I have ever played.

In a way, Catherine is also pretty linear and structured. But the gameplay and story are interesting. It's basically a glorified arcade/puzzle game to me.