I can't remember a summer this packed with games.

Far from it. We're a community who share opinions and have adult conversation about them. I'm giving my opinion on the games, just as you gave yours.

I care if it's a sequel, because it's same shit, new wrapper. It's old, repetitive and dull. For certain titles, I might be interested, sure (GTA is nice to explore for example, it's usually a new city). However, the only title on that list that would get me EXCITED is No Man's Sky for it's fresh approach. If I liked Mega Man, I guess Mighty No 9 might excite me for the nostalgia... but it's not really one of my favourite franchises.
Don't get me wrong, I played the hell out of COD, but it just gets boring. Doom was awesome and I'm sure I'd play the current one at a friend's house and find it fun, but it's more of the same, really. Multiplayer is nice, sure - but the old games were multiplayer so it's not anything new. Would I spend $60 on a new Doom game? FUCK NO! And I'm sorry, but if that list is $60 a piece, there's NO WAY that I would spend over $700 on those games. For that, they HAVE to bring something new.... not just the same shit I already have. Of course, half of them are pre-Summer releases as I pointed out, but that's still $360 that I won't be spending on games this Summer. Would I pick them up when the price drops? Eh... maybe Doom, if it was around $20. It's ultimately a game where you walk around shooting things and getting different weapons, and there are a ton of those. It's great they're popular, but it's just tiresome now. I'm not going to waste my life playing video games if they're all the same shit over and over again. And games like Doom and COD aren't the type where you can go around appreciating the scenery.

And I always felt this way about fighting games, so King of Fighters FOURTEEN really doesn't do anything for me. Clay Fighters was even just Street Fighter with different characters but the same moves. Meh. And the stupidly long Tekken-style combos don't do anything for me.

What tends to happen for me, funnily enough, is that I'll only really be excited about an upcoming title in a franchise I love, and there are precious few. I love Zelda, I'll give a new Mario a go, GTA is great. There are precious few actual new, innovative titles that I look forward to now. And that's because the industry just goes with what it knows, which has a lot to do with the development costs being so high and investors requiring known sellers. Very sad. It's great the industry has evolved, but it's not necessarily for the better. Also, many games are released unnecessarily - by that I mean it could just have been an expansion. Guitar Hero Aerosmith - did it really need a stand-alone release? That could have been a downloadable pack for Guitar Hero 3.

 

My ears/eyes pique up whenever I hear/read anything regarding DOOM or id Software.

DOOM is a lot more different than you think compared to current shooters. The break-neck pace and exploration are both refreshing given today's current shooter climate. While it does boil down to having a bunch of guns and shooting things, the amount of strategy involved is surprising. For once, the creators were dead-on in interviews regarding the game. Everything they said about it ended up coming to pass, which gives me even more faith regarding id Software.

 

Play More.

 

Doom is pretty amazing.

Don't really care about anything else listed though. Quite frankly, other than SMT IV: Apocalypse and Tokyo Mirage Sessions, I doubt I'll be buying anymore games before FFXV and Gears of War 4.

 

GoW4 I'll at least try to get out of Redbox, but not FFXV. Final Fantasy is a dead/discarded franchise now.

 

Glad to hear you're liking DOOM. Honestly, everybody who's played it has had nothing but good things to say about it. It's so exciting to finally have a modern DOOM game I can talk about and cite the series' excellence with.

While recently FF has been very hit-or-miss, I have a lot of faith in XV. It seems to be doing enough different now. Also, with new direction comes willingness to break the typical mold, so I'm hoping for good things. Episode Duscae and Platinum Demo have both been great, despite the horrendous framerate drops in the former.

 

THAT. IS. THE. PROBLEM.

The project director called out people who want a "real" FF as "misguided" and a "disease" on the community. FF isn't failing (from a critical standpoint) because it isn't staying "modern", whatever the hell that means. It's failing because it is too different from what FF is beloved for: story, characters and compelling TB/ATB RPG gameplay. Now, it's just another Kingdom Hearts game.

Just because it may sell well doesn't mean it's a good FF game. It could be a good game regardless, but it won't be an FF game.

 

Word is No Man's Sky got delayed a month...
whatever

and as for FFXV I have zero interest. I played the Platnium Demo, Said "This is Kingdom Hearts" finished it, never thought about the game again.
Hardcore old school RPG fans have I am Setsuna to look forward to and Star Ocean 5 assuming it's actually good.

 

You know, I haven't played any of the FFXV demos. Maybe I should do that before buying the collector's edition.

That said, I really wish Microsoft had enough sense to throw millions of dollars at Mistwalker for a Losy Odyssey 2. Hell, I'd take a proper Blue Dragon sequel at this point.

 

Lost Odyssey might become a Backwards compatible game soon, there's hope.

 

Eh, hope is a terrible thing when it comes to Microsoft. My heart was broken when their big reveal at one E3 was a multiplatform FFXIII as opposed to Lost Odyssey 2. I went through so many E3s disappointed due to a lack of LO2 that I eventually quit caring.

 

RPGs on the XBONE seem like more and more of a pipedream each passing year.

 

Going from IX to X you had the switch over to CTB and a further dramatic shift when you compare IV-IX to XII's battle system. I won't talk about XIII because we all know how that turned out. Obviously changes haven't worked out amazingly recently. Still though, besides gameplay changes there's still a huge focus on characters and story. They'll never neglect that, since that's half of what makes Final Fantasy.

While it may seem like a KH clone, it's actually not, at least it didn't feel that way to me. KH was a button masher. XV honestly feels like they took ATB and implemented it well in an action-type system. You have your basic attack, which you can use over and over just as in the old ones, you have special magic attacks, very similar to skills from the older games, you have your warp, similar to something Kain or Freya would have done, and you decide who you want to attack and how based on that. At first I was disappointed as well about how it seemed too different, then once I started playing it I realized it was a lot more similar than I expected.

 

Pretty much. I think MS has outright given up on Japan. Can't blame them though, they weren't able to crack that market throwing money at Sakaguchi, the Tales team, triAce, Cave, Moss, Itagaki, etc.

 

As of now Raiden V is still XBONE exclusive and one of the main reasons I want the system. The way I see it, to get a full console experience you really need to have both. PS4 for the RPGs, Fighting games and stupid Japanese bullshit everyone loves and the XBONE for it's quality western developed games. Toss in a Nintendo platform of your choice as an optional console and you're in Gaming bliss.

 

Eh, between the Xbox One, Wii U, and 3DS, I'm already developing a backlog. I'm at the end of Dark Souls III, MGSV, Fallout 4, Twilight Princess, Doom, and Fire Emblem Fates Revelation, and I haven't even opened Bravely Second yet...


As for Raiden V, it ain't all that. But I hate lengthy shmups (other than Radiant Silvergun, which is brilliant), and I'm not big on Raiden (other than the Fighters series) to begin with.

 

Break-neck pace and exploration seems a bit contradictory. How can it be fast-paced but allow you to explore, which requires slowing down?

What's really attractive about Doom is that it hasn't been flogged to death. It's basically Doom 4, right? 4 games in over 20 years is nice spacing! If you could keep the longevity of a game for 10 years (which you can't really) and release them that slowly, awesome! In actual fact, it's more that it fizzles out and then gets dusted off, so everyone says, "oh wow, Doom! That was a cool game!"

Whilst yes, the setting and feel is vastly different from combat-based games like COD and Battlefield, it's refreshing that it's got that nostalgia... rather than being the main COD game for the year, or the bi-yearly Modern Warfare game, or next year's Black Ops game. Two COD games a year... meh. They used to be fun, something to play networked with friends. Now it's all about levelling up and basically playing it all the time... then getting the next game and doing more of the same. Perhaps they should be more like WoW - something that'll last you years (and I can't stand WoW)!

Perhaps we've got to the point where we don't need to release a new console every few years. Well, it'd be nice to think that, but wishful thinking, I'm sure. If that were the case, though, the industry could start thinking about longevity of ONE game - how do you make a game last with purchasable expansions, maps, items, songs, teams, subscriptions....?

Anyway, because it's been a long time coming, Doom is more interesting than most on the list. Still not worth $60, though!

 

It sounds that way, but due to the pacing and the level design, it balances out well. It's very similar to old DOOM in that regard. You're put in an environment crawling with enemies which you handle while moving around quickly. Upon finishing these enemies, you can either continue with the level or explore to find secrets. I honestly think new DOOM gets it even better, though. Your pace is very fast and the enemies are also moving with quite a bit of speed. In order to stay alive, you need to maneuver and strategize quickly. Be it either Gore Nests or just a new area, you need to adopt a break-neck pace while grabbing onto ledges and continually moving from enemy to enemy. The levels are usually sprawling, with plenty of secrets and ways in which to accomplish your objective.

 

I like how the pacing feels more original Doom-like, but I don't like the forced chokepoints (i.e. you MUST kill everything in the area to proceed).

 

I come here for momentary escapes from the stress of adult life.

You had me, I was ready to get on the train...

But then it sounded like "I find sequels repetitive and boring, except when I don't."

I completely understand the love for Zelda. I was obsessed. Heck, I bought a boomerang and learned to throw it. However, besides Zelda II and Majora's Mask, the other games were very similar. I was half way through Wind Waker when it hit me, "I've played this game many times before." I didn't play any of the Four Swords. When I started Twilight Princess, I immediately thought it was again the same game (although better done than Wind Waker in my opinion.) The formula works, but I realized I was just playing because it was Zelda, not because it was super fun. I hope the releases after that did something to keep it fresh.