2014: The 'Maybe' Games

When it comes to unreleased games, I tend to veer sharply in one of two directions.

On one hand, I'm stupidly loyal to series that are long past their expiration date. I've been that guy that's chugging down a gallon of curdled Final Fantasy releases for quite a while now, to the point where it's easier to beg them to stop that it is me.

On the other, I'm also pretty good at reading the tea leaves, and knowing when a game is going to be shit. See: Aliens - Colonial Marines. I've been at this long enough now that I can typically get a good feel based on not only what the publisher let's us see in advance, but also what they won't let us see in advance.

Sadly, though, #2 never overrides #1. Maybe we can change that this year.

Fable: Anniversary (Xbox 360)
I really enjoyed the first two Fable games, even if they fell well short of Molyneux's promises that they were going to be full life-simulators and that real children were going to literally burst forth from the original Xbox (it was about big enough to gestate a human embryo.)

I enjoyed them, and then finished them, and never envisioned a world in which I would ever go back and play them. Yes, this looks neat, and it has ACHIEVEMENTS, and yes, as I said, I really did enjoy the original game.

However, it has two strikes right out of the gate. One, I've already played this. Two, I can't play it on my Xbox One. Yes, my 360 is still hooked up in another room, but I don't like playing consoles, especially retired consoles, and while this looks kinda interesting, between my backlog and the crush of new releases this year, I'm leaning toward 'no.'

Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy: XIII: 3: Lightning Again (Xbox 360)
This whole Final Fantasy XIII franchising thing has always had me scratching my head. My two least-favorite non-MMO numerical Final Fantasy games (X and XIII) both got the sequel treatment, and I've never understood this.

I don't think either is outright offensive, nor a bad game, per se, but there are much better Final Fantasy titles out there with which to build franchises.

Rather, there are better Final Fantasy titles out there with which to make true JRPG sequels, and not horrible third-person shooters that make children and cute animals cry tears of anguished blood.

Either way, Lightning is apparently Returning, and it looks like they've revamped the combat to be more action-oriented after 25 years of success with a more menu-heavy system. Why, you ask, would they do this? Well, it's obviously, uh, hmm, I, uh, well, it's obviously the next step in further alienating a once-tremendous fanbase. And we'll all still buy this shit, so there ya go.

But, it might be great. After the horrid story & characters (but awesome combat) that was Final Fantasy X, Final Fantasy X-2 was a pleasant surprise.

Honestly, I'll probably end up being a sucker bitch and buying it, but my logical Vulcan mind says that's a potentially stupid decision.

South Park: The Stick of Truth (PC)
This is one that should be on the 'Curious,' or even 'MUST HAVE' list, given it's blend of pedigrees.

Here's why it's not. Too many delays + change in publisher. Sometimes, when something's allowed to have too many hands changing core concepts over a period of time, the game can end up having a ton of cool features, none of which is particularly polished. This isn't to say it's doomed. It might be great, but I have to wait and see.

Also, it's Ubisoft, so the PC version might get delayed until god knows when.

BUT, it is being developed by Obsidian, which is usually a great thing, and a lot of the marketing has suggested that Matt Stone and Trey Parker are heavily involved.

I actually have a better feeling about this than I do my next game ...

THIEF (PC)
Yeah, it's not really an RPG, but DXHR came close, so I'm counting it.

This game is supposed to be great. It's the same studio, Eidos Montreal, that made Deus Ex: Human Revolution, and you'd think this game would be right up their alley. But ... the tea leaves have me worried. Between the lukewarm previews citing very specific issues with the game, and the studio GM bailing last year because of irreconcilable differences with Squenix ... ya gotta wonder ... it's too bad, because I wanna buy this game and love it. I loved DXHR. I like the Thief series quite a bit, too.

At the same time, some of the issues presented in the previews sounds pretty fucking nitpicky, so it may be alright. We'll find out in less than a month.

Final Fantasy XIV - new content (PC)
My paid time is running out in Eorzea, and as much as I didn't hate my experience there, I'm not sure my subscription to this game is going to survive my summer purge of MMOs, in which only sub will be left standing.

I don't like the lack of voice acting, and while the game itself is actually pretty decent, I'm guessing that its lack of narrative hook will end up dooming it for me.

We'll see, though. A substantial story-based release for the game could keep me in. Anything they can do to make it more a true 'Final Fantasy' game, but online, will make it very hard for me to dump. I'd love nothing more than to immerse myself in a real Final Fantasy world, and this game already comes pretty close, but ESO and SWTOR already have made stronger cases for my $15/month.

In closing ...
I don't want to be a negative Nancy, but these are games I want to want, and something about them makes me cautious, or has diminished my interest.

It is worth noting, too, that these games are all coming out soon, away from the releases in which publishers typically have more confidence. If something hits about this time of year, it indicates either a just-missed holiday release, or it's being dumped, to avoid competing with better games. Bigger releases typically crank up from April to June and then September to November. Games released outside of those windows, due to observed publisher habits, typically bear a little more scrutiny.

These could all be fine games, but have all, for various reasons, incurred a 'wait and see' attitude from me.

What say you? What are your thoughts on these games? You gonna take a chance on them, wait and see, or just avoid them altogether? Let me know!

Tomorrow, I'll be back with my 'Curious' games, the games that I'm very curious about, and am somewhat inclined on which to take a chance.

Thanks for reading!

-Blaine

MMOs and Me

I have been the biggest supporter of Star Wars: The Old Republic since before it launched of pretty much anyone I know. Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic is one of my top three games of all time, Star Wars is probably my favorite franchise of any, and I loved that BioWare was bringing their 'fourth pillar' of story to an MMO.

For me, having a 'single player' MMO set in the Old Republic era of Star Wars was a dream come true. I loved that I could solo the majority of the game, and bring in friends whenever I wanted. I didn't even touch the endgame raid stuff for almost a year. I was so caught up in creating new characters and playing their stories, that I didn't really have a need.

Finally, though, having to burn through the same content (the non-character story side quests) started to wear on me a bit, and I joined a buddy's guild, and started dabbling in the endgame stuff. It was cool, I did enjoy it, but it didn't bring the same exhilaration that seeing new content brought.

Looking back, I think, for me, where things really started to fall apart was the transition to adding a F2P model. At that point, new development stopped being about adding more expansive story content, and became more about adding small bursts of new content, and a ton of nickel & dime microtransactions.

I've weathered this for two years, and over time, I've come to the conclusion that I'm much more willing to put time into an MMO if it's subscription-based, rather than an F2P microtransaction vehicle.

I've had an incredible amount of fun in SWTOR, and have gladly sunk more time and dollars into it than any other game I ever have, but I think my time with it is approaching its end. I plan to wrap up a couple character stories, and then call it a day by some time this summer.

Barring a substantial announcement from BioWare, I'm pretty sure I'll be jumping over to Elder Scrolls Online for my MMO fix. Between my new adoration for the franchise, and something I can't talk about, I'm very excited for this game.

I like having a go-to story-heavy MMO, and everything I know about ESO tells me it's going to fill that role nicely. Also, having all the areas of Tamriel opened up to me is tantalizing.

 

What really fills me with confidence, though, is that it's a subscription-based model. As I said, aside from the Guild Wars series, having an F2P, microtransaction-driven model discourages big releases, in favor of lots little nickel & dime releases. I'd rather pay a regular fee and get more substantial updates.

 

We'll see what happens, though. Turbine has done some okay things with the F2P model, with both Dungeons and Dragons Online and Lord of the Rings Online, but they also don't feature a deep story the way SWTOR does, and the way ESO appears to. My guess is ESO is going to build on the what's come before in the series, which isn't a grand, overarching story, but a main story thread that you can leave and come back to at your own pace, while tackling really interesting side quests. If anything, the Elder Scrolls structure is ripe for being imported into an MMO.

 

Of course, a good friend over at Galaxy Next Door reminded me that the Secret World is still out there, and I really enjoyed the little bit of time I spent in that game. I like their model of regular expansions that are bought outright, or received as part of a sub.

 

Oh, and Guild Wars 2 is still out there. I'll admit, their model defies everything I've been saying here, and I don't know how they do it. At the same time, though, I pretty quickly lost interest, even though I love the franchise. GW2 isn't a bad game, but ... I don't know.

 

Oh, and Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn keeps tugging at me. I may explore that one a bit more, while I still have sub time. I do plan to only carry one MMO sub after this summer.

 

Will it be SWTOR, ESO, or FFXIV? What do you think?

 

In closing, I am not, by any means, a typical MMO player. I'm pretty resistant to random grouping, and definitely enjoy soloing, if the content is good. SWTOR was perfect for me, but they've refused to release any new class-specific content, and most of their new content, with the exception of Makeb, has been pretty small. Some of it's cool, but I want more. I hope they announce something soon that'll keep me in the game.

 

Either way, I'm really looking forward to the ESO launch in April. I can already envision myself in my recliner, Alienware in hand, stomping around Tamriel, while watching the 2014 Cardinals destroy the rest of the NL Central. Good times, folks.

 

What do you need, story-wise, from an MMO? What's your favorite MMO play style? What do you play? Are you looking forward to ESO?

 

-Blaine

Untitled Gaming & E3

First, we must absolutely indulge in an old tradition:








I never, ever get tired of that. God, I used to love G4TV.

Anyway, so we'll be doing some E3 podcasting and some E3 blogging. We're recording on Saturday, and will have it out a bit earlier than usual, due to some crazy scheduling, and then throughout the week I'm going to blog a bit each day, and I'll try to bug Tony into doing the same. Additionally, you can follow Tony and myself (Blaine) on Twitter, for our fairly-live reactions to each of the pressers and announcements. Somehow, some way, we're going to do a post-E3 podcast. I don't know how, but maybe we can do something cool and different with the wrap-up podcast.

It seems, more and more, like this is the year that a) console makers are justifying the lack of new & more powerful hardware by introducing various waggling methods, b) waggling methods might really catch fire and replace what we know and love as 'fun games,' and c) that my cynicism might take a real punch to the nuts because Bioware & Squenidos team up into a Voltron of gaming awesome and introducing a waggling method for menu-navigation and win my love forever.

So, yeah, it's going to be an interesting year for me, because I have my expectations way lowered. While I'd love to see something about Dragon Age 2 & Mass Effect 3, I'm expecting Bioware to throw all their weight behind establishing Star Wars: the Old Republic as the WoW-killer that EA needs. Now, this isn't a bad thing, but it's something I already know exists ... in the distant future. A release date and pricing scheme would be nice.

Additionally, Nintendo is going to show the 3DS with a handful of awful kids' games, and I'll do what I do with their handhelds every time and wait until they start releasing either original interactive stories or Final Fantasy ports in the system's second or third year.

The PSP2 has the chance to be great IF IF IF there's a second analog control. If there's not, it's going to be a hard sell and Sony should fire every fucking moron that was involved in that decision.

Natal & PlayStation Move also have a chance to be very cool IF IF IF the software is there. They need to demonstrate this technology as something so immersive and accurate that it is truly a better gaming experience than the controller or mouse/keyboard combo. The lack of force feedback is a real problem, though, just like on Wii.

Which leads me to what E3 should always be about, which is the GAMES. I don't think there's anything coming out the rest of this year that I'm really, really excited about, which is a very strange feeling for me. Dragon Age 2, Gears of War 3, Final Fantasy XIV, Star Wars: the Old Republic, Guild Wars 2, and maybe Mass Effect 3 are all next year. I am curious to see if Obsidian can take the Fallout 3 formula and make it NOT painful to talk or fight in the game, with their Fallout: New Vegas.

So, we'll see. I'm pumped for E3, but it's a very tempered, curious 'pumped.'

What about you? How are you feeling going into E3? What's got you pumped? What are totally negative about? Are there going to be any surprises this year? If so, WHAT?

As always, thanks for reading, and expect to see a LOT here over the next week!

-Blaine