LogFAQs > #933197009

On one hand, game development is easier than ever for anyone to jump into and that's led to a lot of excellent throwback titles like Stardew Valley. These are experiences that are hard to come by as the gaming space keep evolving. I haven't played Descenders, but it looks like Downhill Domination minus the combat aspects - just focusing on racing downhill at incredible speeds.

But the AAA space is lacking, because everything has to be pushing the envelope for realism and immersion. We saw this problem emerge in the 7th gen of consoles with games like GTA4 and 5 - incredible games in their own right, but incredibly resource-intensive. The time frame between game releases is getting further and further away because of this.

Nowadays, you have one open-world game dominating the genre at a time - and that game is Grand Theft Auto. The 7th gen had competitors like Saints Row which kept the selection fresh, as well as a hearty dose of failures. Same with FPS games - the 7th gen had so many third party FPS or third-person shooters to go around. Now you have your big players and that's about it. Modern open world games feel like even crustier Metal Gear Solid 5 clones, like the Ghost Recon games. Far Cry is in the trash. The AAA market is dominated by a handful of big titles by the biggest businesses, and while there are some indie and AA studios filling the gaps along with ports, those big game experiences that came out to compete with your CoDs and GTAs are all but gone now. I don't think there'll ever be another GTA competitor for years, if ever, because the barrier for entry (read: budget) keeps getting higher and higher.

That's not even taking microtransactions into account. Modern games tend to be pretty cohesive experiences on their own, but countless amounts of games sabotage themselves and sell you the cure to their dysfunction. Those games are going to be all but unplayable in another 30 years, and it's not slowing down. This started with the 7th generation, but it's only been getting worse over time.

I appreciate the rise in quality, from indie titles as well as AAA titles, but the road games have been on since the 2010's is not a good one.

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Now Playing: Borderlands 2, Skyrim, Assassin's Creed