Live Services fall, long live the industry

 

Yeah I simply had to chime in to talk about my favourite story of the year once again. The answer to the question- "Why is it that video game players feel the need to opine on their entertainment?" It seems like such a loaded question to begin with, and one that I find almost grossly dismissive on the rights of a paying consumer to find their product wanting or impressive- not everyone needs to be a nuanced critic, meanwhile anyone can offer their in depth opinion on a product they brought- I have no idea why these are concepts that need to be fought for and against in some circles. But if you want the slam dunk answer as to why it isn't some great imposition on the universe to allow gamers to give their view once and a while about what they like and don't, what they're tired of and what they want more of, maybe it's because the old adage of "you think you know what you want but you don't" more often than not is a 'get out of jail free card' for people who really should know better themselves. Because literally no one wanted Concord, and now it is quite possibly- if the suspected figures behind are indeed as true as people vehemently claim- the biggest flop in entertainment history. Let that sink in.

Brought about from a bunch of industry 'exs', including some folk from the other end of the multiplayer barrel over at Bungie- Sony invested a prohibitively steep wallet in order to not only buy the project and push it over the metaphorical finish line, but also to keep the studio behind it in-house just to keep the machine running. This being just the latest in the 'Live Service push' that gripped the industry in the wake of the one that changed it all- Fortnite. One must remember the breakout success of that story from a relatively niche-studio to producer to a Rockstar level mega-developer in the space of a mere year. Fortnite really is the kind of northstar that executives go to sleep dreaming about and wake up changing underwear over. Recurrent monetisation with no tie to style or vice paid by other advertising arms in order to expand their catalogue- the lazy dream... but not everyone can substainate that.

It seems bizarre that we have to learn the lesson again and again that 'games are hard to make' but it really does seem like this industry legitimately never learns. Back when World of Warcraft was the biggest thing ands god's green earth everyone and their mother wanted to get into the subscription-model for their own competing MMO's that would sweep the market with a grand total of one single conceptual shift away from what WOW was already doing. How'd that work out for them? A plethora of studios learnt that MMOs are stupidly big, stupidly expensive productions to run and the more of them that exist the harder it is to secure a viable user base. Then we did the exact same for survival games, albeit that was mostly a war waged by indie developers and Bethesda, for some reason. Battle Royales squeak in there too as an honourable mention- largely spurred by PUBG and Fortnite until people figured it was actually the Monetisation model which was the lesson to learn from. We're edging into the 'extraction shooter' meta next.

It is apparently so very difficult to comprehend the fact that maybe there is no easy schematic to success within a creative field were ingenuity and uniqueness are championed. When you catch all those doom-and-gloomers, largely in the public coloum of the Metro, whine about how terrible the industry and how hard it must be to get feedback on your work and how everyone is literally on the verge of transferring to the much more profitable general IT industry- they largely miss the point of why anyone desires to make art in the first place- because they want to create. The reason why seasoned developers flake out of big studios is because they long to make a substantive contribution to projects which is only possible in smaller teams. Developers want to make interesting games, and players want to play interesting games- the only sore point in this relationship is the publishers and the producers that insist a level of formulaic nonsense be stuck in there for good measure.

But the good news is this- recent years have shown the industry get absolutely trounced over their live service drive attempts. Suicide Squad, untitled Last of Us game, Hyperscape (bet you forgot that one), Final Fantasy 7: The First Solider, The Culling 2, Anthem, Radical Heights, The Day Before (if we indeed categorise that as even a game), Babylon's Fall (Wow! There's a blast from the past!), Lawbreakers, Marvel's Avengers, Paragon and now Concord- the biggest flop of the lot. Of any lot. A colossal disaster-piece. And I think that bow on top was Sony making the decision not to try and pave over the wreckage with a free-to-play launch that would have inevitably drawn in a crowd of the curious and made the game seem a little better than the worst failure in entertainment history- they cancelled their plans and even dissolved the studio: Sony let this lesson lie in the history books.

And now we've just received word that Warner Bros. has seen the writing on the wall. Their recent best seller was a single player only game- the live Service push has only cost them money. There's even an unspoken surliness towards Multiversus being discussed as though the re-release isn't doing as hot as people might have expected. (Which I personally contribute to terrible marketing that failed to convey that the original release was a beta and that this is supposedly the true launch.) For once the consumer has finally won out with the shear strength of apathy. Leaving the idiots to flounder in their waste and empowered by actual developers out there releasing banger alternative purchasing options in better genres has left it's mark. 'Live Service' is now the scarlet letter.

The only hope now is that the wrong lesson isn't learn from all this- which is not helped by the doomsayers attempting to manifest gloom with their portends all over the shop. The amount of interviews I've seen from previous industry officials condemning the modern games industry as a death spiral is alarming- considering there is seldom a point in all of the games industry history that could be considered 'swimming'. The conversation about the strangling of game budgets is not a unique one, and we'd have to be certifiable idiots not to acknowledge that bigger bets into less risky releases are scoring more failures than wins- but the market appears to be teaching that lesson soundly enough- whispering doom from the rafters is only going to serve to scare off your Warner Bros. or your Disney's who see this entire venture as a side-gig to begin with.

Still, it's good to actually win one for once. At the cost of untold millions lost in waste- unfortunately the case when we're dealing with hairbrained suits so desperate not to do their jobs it's painful, but the hopeful result is that we can move towards a future with a bit more hope where further billions can be saved. Make more games for less, sanitise scope, stretch out the big blockbusters a bit more, throw away the saturated ideas. Make more games for the younger generations so that they get into this industry! Maybe this one stone rolling down the hill can pick up traction and lead to something great. That's how I'm choosing to look at all this.

A coming change

 

I have been at this blog game for a while now- and with a body of work behind me I'm going to make a change. Starting from today there will be a drastic reduction of blogs on this channel as I split my free time towards creative writing efforts and the development of more essay-style blogs up here- so I'm not going to just be abandoning this blog or anything- just toning things down quite a bit.

 I expect to keep a monthly visit quota, but anything about that can change as I move into a new cycle. Still expect reviews and the odd off-the-cuff topic blog about something that catches my attention, but don't expect this to remain my daily diary blog space. Thanks for reading.

Gaming's newest enemy has dropped

 Or a returning one?

So even though I am not of the country and pointedly never speak of it- I am very aware of who Donald Trump is and the goings-on of the Election he is currently barrelling towards with all the grace of an elephant riding a Big Wheel. Those yanks and their crazy conundrums are just across the pond from little old me, as such it behooves me to stay abreast. Not least of all because theirs is the home to 99% of the video game developers in the world right now. (Although it should be noted that many of the best are further afield.) As such when rumours start to spread that, according to the allegedly words of Donald Trump, that territory might soon be going to war with Video Games- I get a little worried. But not before I gawk at the sheer gall of such idiocy.
 

I get the need for incendiary rhetoric in a position such as his. The man is a hairs-breadth away from an election just clear of two assassination attempts that no one seems to care about and a supreme dud of a VP choice he clearly made when he thought his opponent was too much of a dementia riddled fading mind to notice. Now all of a sudden all of his directed attacks at age and how doddering Joe Biden is have bit him in the ass, and people are taking more notice of his meandering speeches that shed away the larger rally crowds, or the concentrated thirty minute dance break recess he took for absolutely no reason a week or so back. How do you convince people you're not falling out of your saddle? Double down on the rhetoric! Let people know you stand for things and hopefully it's the kind of things they will decide they care about- because that's modern democracy, baby!

Still, even with all that readily apparent in my mind- sometimes the targets he picks are so stupid you wonder if the man even knows where he is half of the time. To be clear, I'm talking about the comments Trump made about the "glorification of violence" in society which "includes the gruesome and horrible video games that are now commonplace." (I see that, once again, a popular dictator from a foreign country has slipped their rhetoric directly into his mouth- what a shocker!) Although not clear on any plan of 'banning' or taking any action whatsoever, making this not so different from his video game violence mix-tape from a few years back, he did foretell a need to "stop or reduce this substantially." Which falls just short of a promise so the man can happily forgrt about this the moment he waddles back into the Oval Office.

Now at no point does this actually rise to the point of being a 'ban', but this is the kind of talk that sends a shiver up Jack Thompson's little thompson. Still- let's take a look at this from an objective angle- shall we? Donald Trump essentially just demonised the number one pass time of a lot of middle Americans, at a time when he really needs every vote that he can score in a tighter election then anyone would be comfortable with. Then again his base is the puritanical Right- the kind of people desperate to find an enemy in anything other. Also the base that is rapidly getting aged out as they move into retirement age- mix with with a paranoia over encroaching gun control and literally anything can become a scapegoat. But let's take this a bit further.

Say Donald does start throwing down the legislature against the video game world- that would literally kneecap the single most profitable entertainment industry sector in the entire world: this from a candidate who lionizes their financial savviness. They claim that America is on the ropes and they want to revitalise the economy- though I seriously wonder how crashing a multibillion dollar industry would achieve that. Then again- I'm operating under the very weak belief that these guys are intelligent and think before they act. But uhh... well, that isn't really something you can take for granted, now is it?But just for fun, let's play out how this would go.

So first off, all of the big companies would literally just move out- basically feeding industry to other countries- not very 'American first' of you, eh Donald? Of course, you can bet that most employees won't be able to make such a jump, so this would result in a complete degradation of current industry talent- probably leading to a giant crash. Smaller to medium studios would be absolutely incapable of leaving the country and would be forced out of work. Perhaps their talent would filter into the tech sector- who can say. Either way Donald would end up making many of his own countrymen destitute in order to force a false scapegoat. And is anything more American than that?

Long story short, is Donald Trump the new bad guy of the Games Industry? Nah, but he's certainly much raking in the dumbest areas for a man who is apparently looking to score some last second votes. His base is locked in- they don't need to be catered to anymore- yet all in he goes making hairbrained promises that twist the vast majority of younger Americans out of his grasp. The further this goes on the more flabbergasted I become at the 'strategy' of the man, if indeed such a thing exists. Honestly some morbidly curious part of me would love to see what would happen if he does end up winning- watching to see if the man even remembers any of the enemies he made along the way... It would be funny, you have to admit.

I'm still waiting for 007

 

It has been actual years since IO Interactive first unveiled the fact they're working on a 007 game built off all their learnings with Hitman- and often times that can be cause to worry. We're no longer used to extended reveal, development, expanses outside of Rockstar- thus whenever a title starts to leave our mind it gradually loses it's possibility of ever reaching the finishing line. With all the backroom reporting I don't think anyone is buying it when whoever is currently holding the 'KOTOR Remake' potato promises the thing is still chugging around somewhere- despite how much of a slamdunk victory such a game would undoubtedly be with even the minimal amount of effort put in to bringing it up to snuff. But with recent titters from the IO camp that they are still very much on the grind- my passions are reignited for what feels like the perfect Bond game on the way.

Now first off, I love IO Interactive. Their handling of the Hitman franchise has been straight revolutionary to a brand that felt destined to fall off as we slid into the modern age. It's not that I don't like Hitman, it just seemed like the exact kind of formula game that would be homogenised into being 'just like everything else', in some desperate bid to become some other studio's answer to Uncharted or something, if it hadn't been picked up by IO. Heck, we already saw that attempted with Hitman Absolution, which was not bad by any stretch of the imagination- I actually really like that game- but it doesn't play into the strengths of the brand too well. IO's recent stint on the Hitman trilogy, however? Sublime.

The pursuit of ultimate replayability across their levels challenges a level design mastery I genuinely think few other studios could legitimately match- but the eye that IO interactive's staff has for the manipulation of geometry, contextual interactivity, NPC AI route coding- everything a fantastic stealth games needs- birthed the ideal Hitman experience. Those levels are near endlessly repayable, and even knowing them all as too-heart as I personally do; some remix of the traditional can still trip me up when I least suspect it. I adore the Hitman games and I just know there's a vertical for a fantastically stylish Spy thriller wrapped up in there. Heck, they literally laid out such a framework across their work on Hitman- just give them a half decent budget and let that team cook!

That being said, I will say there's not exactly a recipe for what would make a great James Bond game out there. I mean sure, you would throw up your hand and announce that literally one of the most influential games of all time was a Bond game in GoldenEye, were this a test environment- but I'll push back on that a little. Whilst undoubtedly revolutionary to the shooting genre- is the spirit of James Bond really conveyed in a full blown shooter? The intelligence of spy work, the occasional subtlety offset by bombastic explosiveness? I've said it before and I'll maintain it- the single best video game on the market right now that perfectly captures all a Bond story can be doesn't even have the brand stamped to it's cover. It's 'Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater'.

Bringing us to the beginning of James Bond's legacy is something that hasn't really been attempted since the days of Young Bond- the novel series by Charlie Higson; (Which I love, by the way.) IO really are stepping into grounds all of their own, presenting a gameplay loop of honing one's spy skills until they become that iconic superspy everyone knows. I can just picture how neatly that concept marries their 'repeat into mastery' loop of design. Revisiting the same missions, becoming more insightful, gaining new equipment, learning the extent of your ability to manipulate the world to your own ends- all whilst your own Bond builds their legacy and talents. I assume this is IO's next multiyear franchise and if they perform it right I am absolutely hear for it. Especially if they go in with some of the cooler aspects of Hitman that they started experimenting with after the series was done.

Who remembers the whole Hitman 'Freelancer' mode? A very clever rogue-like spin on the formula that gave you challenges, random targets and a death consequence built into gear acquisition - this mode deftly reworked the base Hitman game with an entirely new progression system built around the same basic loop. Getting to slowly fill of Agent 47's house with increasingly grand accoutrement's feels like entirely inconsequential fluff but it provides a fun little glimpse into the home life of a character we've grown so very close to- and getting to unwind between extremely stressful missions wherein a single mistake can scupper giant chains of planning and set-up missions is a welcome addition to the formula. I hope that can rub off on this Bond game somewhat.

Now we already know that the plan is to shoot for a trilogy with these games, similar to how Hitman was a trilogy. This actually marks itself as something of an uncommon approach to typically serialised Bond stories, and I wonder how an ongoing metanarrative will end up effecting the quality of the Bond fantasy. Sure, Craig's tint was proposed to present us with an ongoing narrative but that shaped up to little more than stapled on narratives atop each last movie creating a disjointed feeling story where at the end of the day the majority of the progress felt like it was being made in his love life... despite Bond's love life constantly being reset to zero every movie too. It was a bit of a mess, to be honest- and how funny would it be if the video game ended up nailing the narrative better than the actual movie did. Oh I would giggle!

As it stands IO interactive are some of the best high quality niche developers on the market and as long as they stand as beautifully pro-consumer as they are I don't think anyone is going to begrudge their continued dominance of the puzzle-stealth-sandbox market: whatever you call a sub-genre like that. I shudder in excitement to see what they'll do next, how they'll expand and evolve into bringing their action gameplay up to snuff, or moving towards other forms of engagement all together! Bond is big into his cars, right? Can we except maybe a little bit of car combat? Set pieces? Role Playing? The possibilities, like their future, is bright and endless

Pokémon and the leak of the century

 

We all want to be the very best, that no one ever was- as famously uttered for the very first, and very best, Pokemon theme song. But what if I told you that Pokemon was not, 'the very best'? They were not the very best at their own genre of game having been recently outshone by a random go getter indie project so disastrously that daddy Nintendo is having to slit throats in a pathetic display of legal manipulation to supress competition. And now neither have they been the very best when it comes to computer security after suffering a leak so horrific this is has been effectively dubbed the 'Teraleak' in reference to the franchises latest gimmick-feature in Terastallization. Very droll, I'm sure Gamefreak just loved seeing that across the headlines. (I know some others are saying it's because there's over 1 terabyte of leaked info- but that's the boring explanation, live a little- will ya?)

Now this is of course considered a 'Hack', but before you start summoning up images of multiscreen hacker-men typing at three thousand words a minute, cutting through firewalls like paper- let me give you the image. According to the Discord leaker who detailed the incident, this was entirely a failure on behalf of internal security who left a big vulnerability in a very not-secure location that ended up providing a back end into Gamefreak's network. And this leak is bad. Not just for the security of whatever slop Gamefreak are planning to feed us for the next few years, but for the actual employees there because, yes, this is one of those 'personal details leaked' kind of security flubs. Always a stressful time for the people just trying to make good games out there who really don't deserve this kind of headache on them. If they wanted their personal details leaked, all they needed to do was sign up for a PSN account in the UK.

So what did people get? Everything. Literally everything. We now know the production codenames for every Pokemon title across the past twelve years, alongside what is widely understood to be the codename for the Switch 2- whenever that is expected to show up. (At this point it's going to competitively launch with the PS6) We also have the codename for the next mainline Pokemon game and a spin-off which I won't mention a single detail about not to keep it's secrecy clear but because I just don't want to invite that kind of chaos into my life. It's like letting in a vampire from the chaos realm through the front door- better off just pretending you didn't read that stuff. What is much more inline with my own personal interests are the various concepts arts and old sprite sheets that have leaked. Some of the unused art is viscously cool, and another reminder of how hard it is for studios to convey the dynamic excitement of a great piece of concept art into even a 2D animated sprite. Square Enix are the only one's who can reliably put it off, Pokemon's just make me feel sad for the missed opportunity.

Next, good lord above- Game Freak actually has an internal lore diary! I'm not sure why that surprises me but with how haphazardly new conceptual deities appeared to be thrown into Pokemon I just kind of assumed that only the fans were putting in the work to make sense of it all but no- Game Freak literally have a kabbalistic-reminiscent creation graph detailing the inner workings of the universe, including what legendary trios are ranked in the overall Pokemon pantheon. Impressive and humbling. (Feel like Rayquaza should be higher than Kyogre and Groudon considering he literally stands between them as a balance- but I understand why he would be considered betwixt the pair.)

One provision I will never understand from the corporate world is the incessant requirement to hold onto every little insignificant chunk of nothingness that literally no one would ever need to reference again in their lives, which incidentally is how the minutes of various important Nintendo meetings got leaked. One such involved the discussion to end Ash's run on Pokemon and cited the direct reasons why. Declining viewership was a factor- as well as the very reasonable approach of bringing in new characters that a new audience can connect with rather than this weirdo kid who seem to rebirth himself every few years or so. Surprsingly levelled headed of Nintendo here, I was impressed.

But where things get less level headed would be in relation to some of the 'background lore' that people have allegedly dug up. Now I will say that I have not personally delved into the leaks but rather seen several databases that has collated the important and interesting parts, which means I haven't personally seen this Typhlosion lore dump that set the world on fire- but assuming this is as real as the rest of the leak- I can understand both why people are so up in arms and why it even exists in the first place. It's a matter of the context of both the story and Pokemon as a whole- but that doesn't make it any less weird to the literal observer.

For yes, in as-of-yet unreleased Folk-lore regarding one of the dullest four legged Pokemon of all time- (Yeah, I don't like Typhlosion- fight my, Ty-heads!) people have found themselves yet again confronted in horror about how very close Pokemon and Humans actually are. And I don't just mean that personably. Within the Pokemon universe Humans and Pokemon are literally cousin species, both birthed by the first born (first made?) children of the literal almighty god. The four legged Dailga created Pokemon and the upright Palkia created humans, both supposedly in their own image but I think we've seen plenty of bipedal Pokemon who would put that under the microscope. But at least now you know what is meant by 'a time back when the line between Pokemon and human was blurred'.

And yes, within the- honestly messy and confused- story we see Typhlosion impregnate a human girl who then gives birth to... a Slakoth for some reason? The Typhlosion also shape shifts, which fits the Yokai inspiration of the creature but not the actual Pokemon itself who holds no such ability- that's Ditto's gaffe. It's just an understandably off-the-mark addendum to Pokemon lore that never made it to print. And yet remained attached to Gamefreak archives because, like I said, corporations have this annoying tendency to cling hopelessly onto absolutely frivolous junk that no one benefits from. How long as it been since they were actively writing lore for Typhlosion? And yet this story was just allegedly pinging about? Bizzare!

Overall I think the biggest take-away from the Gamefreak Leak is not some crazy reveal about their upcoming schedule. You know like how when Insomniac was hacked and their next decade worth of truly ambitious projects were leaked so we really know the heights they're attempting to reach for over the next generation and beyond? Yeah, Gamefreak have none of that. There's no ambition. No excitement. Nothing grand in the pipeline they're working towards, building up their skills to achieve. In fact, as far we can tell, Gamefreak literally plan their core games only one in advance. And doesn't that just sum up the Pokemon company perfectly? No grander plans, no rumbling ambitions. Just taking the blows as they come and shrugging with the times. No wonder Terapagos sucked so bad. 

ReFantazio tops the top

 

When it comes to ATLUS I truly do consider them to the pinnacle of modern day JRPGs, and I play quite a bit of them to make such a claim! Modern Day RPGs all throw truly commendable acts of creative fruitfulness to make their genre feel original whilst familiar, sometimes coming up with truly original spins on the basics, othertimes depending a bit too heavily on gimmick systems that don't quite achieve everything the developers want it to do for a full video game length's worth- which is why I don't begrudge it when a studio like ATLUS finds a niche and kind of just develops that, rather than trying to reinvent the wheel over and over. On it's surface ATLUS just presents the 'weakness hunt' gameplay loop, but it takes just a little bit of familiarity with really any one of their games to know that system is really just the basis for a largely foundational RPG slice they've explored exhaustively.

Though I consider them always improving, in terms of the core of the game and how ATLUS handles their RPG elements I really did think they were close to hitting something of a wall- what for the past twenty odd years of doing this. Persona 5 pretty much rewrote the trajectory of the company and how they worked- honing in on presentation and style- cranking up playability and accessibility. Persona 3 Reload really hammered down on that sensation of 'we've hit our peak', what with a lot of design concepts borrowed from 5 in UX speed and personability- as well as gameplay variety like Theurgies and Shift attacks that were introduced new into the remake. Which is probably why 'gameplay' was the last place I expected to be surprised by when it came to Metaphor ReFanazio.

What blows me away with Metaphor is all the number of what that the team essentially took what wasn't objectively broken and works on it anyway because the team simply can. Because that team feels some insatiable urge to challenge their own boundaries whether they feel their backs rubbing up against the wall or not- (Can you imagine Ubisoft ever feeling something like that? Passion for their craft? Neither can I.) The Persona formula wasn't broken, activities in the daytime and hunting in the nightime- the classic superhero dichotomy- and I very much expect that to return for Persona 6 and I would be happy to engage with it again when it does- but despite being very drawn from the same mould as Persona, with some Shin Megami Tensei mixed into the pot for good measure, ReFantazio takes the formula further.

Now we have a narrative based around forward momentum, where the team is on a world wide adventure and visiting new lands- activities are visited between day long trips spanning them out to feel like treks- the environments change, the routine feels dynamic. Of course, this is natural evolution upon the Roadtrip concept for Persona 5 that was originally scrapped, which would have seen returning locations across the franchise as well as at least one old character reintroduced as a potential companion. Metaphor takes that idea to a new world and fresh genre spin, proving their ideas relied on solid bones and not nostalgic gimmicks like some assumed.

One thing I love about Fantazio is the renewed take on making challenging and unique boss encounters, specifically for side content. Odd wisdom led to trial and error gameplay where typically you'd be thrown into a battle, figure it's peculiarities through trial and error and then reload a save before the fight and prepare- or just grind through the mechanics. Fantazio totally leap frogs this antiquated system with a new swathe of creatively designed boss mechanics and an intractability with the world. Now you can visit an informant before you ever even leave for the hunt, who teach you about vulnerabilities and potential 'no no's. (Such as equipping a certain class that automatically rages the enemy.) Then you have NPCs throughout the dungeon, some for flavour and some for a last few special clues- such as not picking off all the adds least it makes the chief unkillable. Prep time actually feels purposeful and directed, and mechanics are fun to learn and engage with- rather than the reward to figure out after knocking up against a brick wall.  

Of course little can ever be said of an ATLUS game without bringing up the Music at this point- and I'll agree that this was the toughest sell going in. Previously ATLUS have been so good at mixing contemporary music into their world with stupidly talented artists perfectly conjuring unforgettable soundscapes that marry beautifully with the themes and mood of the game. Bringing us into the Fantasy realm would rob them of the ability to use the contemporary believably, just ask Final Fantasy's bizarre Linkin Park song in 'Stranger to Paradise'- weird. But when it came to being more traditionally orchestral and bombastic ATLUS never loses their unique edge which marks them so very different to their contemporaries in a field you'd expect to me mined dry.

Everyone is going on about the obvious thus far, the throat singing mumble rapper who accompanies the advantage and regular fighting themes- and that is because he is great. Outside of the context it might be hard to figure out why he works so very well but when you're in that moment, facing down the twisted monstrous 'humans' of this world, listening to the deep throaty drone racing alongside your heart- it's impossible not to feel the moment! But even beyond that I want to spread my praise. The background tracks for many of the dungeons you visit on your journey are unique and gorgeous to listen to. Whether it's the haunted broken arias of the Sandworm cave or the ringing cries of the castle dungeon track- the music is absolutely unforgettable once again- I can scarcely believe they pulled it off!

ReFantazio had such an act to follow considering the franchise it spawned from and I think we've all seen similar titles of it's type struggle and fail to capture the magic of their parent franchises. Bethesda's Starfield is a good game, but nothing in the face of Fallout and The Elder Scrolls- but I suppose that was never going to be the case with ATLUS, was it? They managed to effectively spin off SMT into a more successful franchise- and now they're spinning off Persona and SMT into something possibly greater than that. (I'll see how the story builds and improves before labelling any victories or successors just yet.) And I am so happy to see the unreachable ceiling that ATLUS shoots for. Good god, I need to play more right now! 

Looking towards TES VI

 

With Shattered Space out of the way a lot of eyes are not turning towards the horizon. More specifically, to Elder Scrolls VI. I think the consensus was to follow the Starfield yearly train for a while until TES VI was closer- but considering that is what the team consider billable content for their ailing game, I'm pretty sure most people have finally written off Starfield entirely. The game could be saved, no doubt- but Bethesda aren't interested enough in receiving feedback to do it. They're happy with the small base they got and consider them the Starfield fans, who are content with that level of output and thus do not require any catering to. Thus Starfield probably will never be worthy of being considered a main Bethesda franchise. Maybe when 2 rolls around in 2040- who knows? Either way, now the pressure is back on The Elder Scrolls.

Maybe pressure is the wrong word. Too light. It might be more appropriate to say that the weight of all the stars in heaven are beaming down on TES VI with an expectant glare. Bethesda seem to really struggle with developing on themselves, lovers of one of their games will find something essential missing in the next one along and it's making it very difficult for hardcore fans to stay attached to a developer that either doesn't understand what won them over to begin with, or are simply driven by some inexplicable vision that grows increasingly anathema to the rest of the Roleplaying world. I won't deny that Bethesda games truly are unique, but I'm starting to worry that in times to come that uniqueness will be best described in the way they cram endless monetised content farms into their entirely single player RPG worlds.

I was down for the idea of paid mods a long time ago- but they don't care enough to make that idea a respectable one. They've already grown tired of it and are moving on towards the next implementation of the system in the next game. It kind of reminds me of an irritable creative without expectations and deadlines, free to pick up and drop an idea at the change of the wind- never quite riding great designs and concepts to completion. All of which is why personally, I'm expecting The Elder Scrolls VI to break a lot of hearts when it finally arrive and finally tells us all what we don't want to hear- that Bethesda just don't have it anymore. That special spark which made Skyrim a generational masterpiece- which has been slipping since Fallout 4- might be finally gone from their eyes.

But then the stubborn delusional side of me wants to cast all that aside and say no- Skyrim was such a special game and you would have to be a straight fool not to see why! The tangible world space, living stories, space to paint whatever adventure you could imagine on the canvass of creativity. Even before the word 'mods' enters the conversation Skyrim was so very ahead of it's time. But let's talk about mods for a second. Skyrim was so very accessible to mod in a way that Starfield is proving... difficult on. Lacking official animation tools (cross fingers they're coming) animators are currently incapable of even porting old kits over. (Unless they use a tool that relies on the Script Extender, but Starfield's new paid modding system has literally cut a giant swathe through the community that many mod creators are avoiding third party compatibility tools so they might remain compatible with consoles. It's a whole mess right now.)

What I think The Elder Scrolls could do with, going forward, is a change up in their scenario management. Honestly, I think the assumption that a tight and excellent story can't fit into an open world RPG game in the style of Bethesda's is frank under ambition talking. Get a half decent fantasy writer on the payroll and let them go nuts, reign in the delivered product where needed and squeeze the rest of the simulation around that. The impact of a great narrative isn't just a solid boon nowadays, it's expected to get people through the door. Bethesda's best storylines have been Morrowind, which relies entirely on the quality of the world building, and Skyrim's- which is so simple and straight forward it doesn't have a chance to sag. All the others, their Fallouts, Oblivion, Starfield- all suffer under weak writing, soft scenarios or lacking commitment. They're so afraid of railroading players, when what they should be caring about is giving enough motive that players will give their RPG characters into the scenario. Ultimate freedom sounds good on paper- but few games that pursue that end up in the annals of history. 

Of course, we also need a total revision to the way combat works. First person melee combat is always a conundrum to solve- but Bethesda have never been there. Morrowind's combat was a mistake that was realised into the fall game for some reason, Oblivion's combat had some small promise but lacked commitment, Skyrim's was a regression of Oblivion's for some reason. Bethesda's latest games have shown a surprisingly solid grasp of their combat, with Starfield and Fallout's FPS touches- we can't go back to the land of noodle swinging come TES VI. It's just not possible. Give us just some of the basics. Dodges, parrying, stance breaking- I know I'm starting to sound like a Souls-nut but to be honest- Souls has established the bare minimum for satisfying medieval combat- this should be the foundation that a game like TES VI builds from. But considering modern Bethesda and their bar of 'quality', I'm just praying they even hit the industry bare minimum at this point...

 And most importantly I think that TES VI could really use some more focus. As much as Bethesda want to pretend they're making vastly different games between their three series- the truth is that Bethesda really carry the same basic bones from game to game, build upon that and then try and squeeze a new genre out of it on the backend. Most early fundamental working is fixing up the allgame under all the nonsense. Which is why I have to beg Bethesda not to get lost sticking in another superfluous settlement builder mode. It just doesn't fit The Elder Scrolls. Hearthfire was limited and focused- it was designed to fit into the world. Starfield's settlements serve little to no real purpose in the fantasy of the game- keep your focus, Bethesda- please!

I am scared for the next Elder Scrolls game, and that's because I've not really seen the hallmarks of the trendsetting Bethesda for a very long time now. But what scares me even more than that is just how delusional they seem to be internally about that. They still think of themselves as leaders within DLC, despite CDPR soundly trouncing them in that department over two of their most recent releases. They consider Starfield the best game they've ever made in some respects- which defies belief. They call Shattered Space the product of veteran talents who's work really shows on screen- which reads like an actual insult levied against them. Is this the Bethesda who has it in them to change the trajectory of their company and become a leader once again? I hope so. I really do.