I suppose I’ll be the dissenter that prefers the direction they when with DOOM Eternal over 2016 BUT the gameplay in The Dark Ages looks a lot like they found a way to fuse the two while still doing something new. Eternal just feels so good when you enter a flow state but I get some people just don’t jive with that. I’ll miss the movement though.
Shame they did Mick Gordon so dirty. Hopefully the new music team can make some of that magic happen.
This news has me genuinely worried about Clair Obscur now. They have already greenlit a live-action movie.
Has anything that was planned as a multimedia franchise ever been good? (As opposed to something that grows popularity organically and then remains to multimedia)
Maybe too early to say, but we’ll see. I think using references is more like trying to do marketing the product to a certain audience unless you blind yourself with that.
I think the gameplay looks much more solid than the story in itself, which I think it’s going to be bland.
I don’t know the exact timelines, but that feels pretty standard to me at this point or close enough. Not saying it’s not silly, but off the top of my head I’m sure Sifu, Ghost of Tsushima, and Horizon: Zero Dawn were at least having conversations about it before the games launched.
I think this might be the case where it’s less planned as a multimedia franchise, that a low-rent agency story kitchen bought the licensing rights to shop it around, in the same way they are trying to sell a “Vampire Survivors” or “Toe Jam and Earl” movie.
It is kinda funny that everything we know about the plot of Clair Obscura is that it’s the same as Xenoblade Chronicles 3. I hope it is a good game but the hook seems to be the gameplay and having classic JRPG elements with Ubisoft style graphics, and not the story. As I think Esper said on the recent episode, you can’t level up during a movie, so it kind of sounds like a Clair Obscura movie would be very dreary.
I see it as a bigger indication of the video game bubble in film than any indication about the game itself. If I were developing a game, and someone offered me a lot of money to make a film out of it, I might go along with it. This is an extension of what Aaron Stewart-Ahn was talking about on the podcast: as comic book films are in decline, we’re going to see a lot of games being made into films and TV shows.
I’m deliberately not getting hyped on Clair Obscur anyway, so this isn’t wishful thinking. I just tend to regard whatever is going on with film as unrelated to what is going on with the game.
Eternal has such amazing combat once you get a few weapons and gear, but the platforming and stupid stupid lore keep it from being as great as 2016 overall. I just finished a play through (my fourth or fifth) of 2016 two days ago and am now a couple hours in on my second-ish go at Eternal.
I think, in general, thematic cohesion and atmosphere are more important than gameplay to me. So many sequels focus on bigger and better gameplay and level design, at the expense of atmosphere and story.
It’s why I like Super Mario Galaxy more than Galaxy 2, Pikmin more than Pikmin 2, BotW over Totk, and Doom 2016 over Eternal.
(Other examples: God of War 2018 and Ragnarok, Final Fantasy VII Remake and Rebirth)
Yeah, you need the full kit for it to work, but that’s true for any game of mechanical complexity. I think they achieved a sort of mechanical perfection with Eternal’s combat. It’s almost like a character action game in the way the encounters fall into a rhythm.
The goofier tone was better in 2016 however, and Eternal’s cutscene direction was inconsistent. They seemed to have 2 or 3 directorial styles that they flip flopped between. I did read some if the lore. It was campy and kind of interesting. Don’t know why they kept calling DOOM Guy the Slayer. Just use his real name, gosh.
I think my biggest issue with Eternal’s combat is the waiting for cooldowns on the chainsaw and flame thrower. It gets a bit micro-manage-y making it feel even more hectic than it already is.
I do find those can be a little off. I think it’s balanced that way on purpose to add occasional pressure to the player via ammo scarcity.
Obviously nothing’s perfect, so if anything, I’d like if there were a few binds/weapons cut from the game. Once you’re going past the 6 key, the controls start to get in the way of the actual game.
Guns of Fury still doesn’t have an official release date aside from “February” on Steam, and the creator says they will announce a date soon. But the Nintendo eShop lists it as Feb. 13, so the cat may be out of the bag already.
This is another game that seems hyper-tailored to my specific interests. “Metal Slug Metroidvania” is everything I dream of and I will be crushed if this one lets me down.
The creator of Withering Rooms has announced his new upcoming game, Withering Realms.
Honestly, I’m digging what it looks like. I hope I can play the demo when it gets out:
I’ve also reminded myself that the Playdate is getting a Season 2. I hope this makes it live up to Frank’s hopes for a communal experience where we (Playdate enthusiasts) all play the same games together.
So far no info on price, number of games, involved devs, or anything other than 2025 release date.