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Avowed makes me worry about future releases from Xbox.

I think the PS fans are so toxic it's honestly for the best that they get them, because whatever they can't play day 1 will get destroyed through nonstop trolling and it's been that way since Tomb Raider on 360.

I never got why so many Dreamcast fans avoided PS2 out of bitterness, you missed out on so many great games, many of which were from Sega.
 
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DeepEnigma

Gold Member
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panda-zebra

Member
Well, you know I poke fun at my man adamsapple adamsapple for a living but this time nope, I don't think Xbox had much of influence on the creative decisions on their first party studios. It's obsidian themselves.
Engagement über alles.

"xbox" might not have had direct influence on the game by poking fingers into its production, but you can be sure Obsidian know exactly what was becoming expected of them as an entity serving Game Pass when they steered the title a different way.

A dark, gritty, complex, difficult, proper RPG isn't going to appeal to everyone, whereas a bright, clean, simple, superficial, RPG-lite action game with static NPCs, abundant loot and all the edges rounded off is going to appeal to a wider spread of subscribers and for longer. Then it'll be forgotten as just another game that was perfect for Game Pass once upon a time.
 

DeepEnigma

Gold Member
My most hyped game from M is fable and the team is pretty talented so i'm cautiosly optimistic.
Agreed. Hopefully the writing is in a better place than same cringe "safe" gen z FH5 personalities, however.

And it matures mechanics wise over the first 3 which to me, felt like "My First RPG" in nature compared to others games out at the time.
 

Roberts

Member
I just don't want politics in the fantasy game that reflect real issues happening in real life. Just keep that kinda shit out of my games. Regardless of where you stand on the issue, I don't like that it's in the game to begin with.

Like there aren't even children in the fucking game so far as I have seen. Why are we even talking about this?
Art has always been political. If video games are art then they can be political too if developers have and want something to say. Actually, a narrative based game without a political or social subtext most likely will be dull, imo.

There are always going to be politics-free games so you have something to play, too. Everybody’s happy.
 

Esppiral

Member
My issue with this game is the missing german VO.
Its 2025 and Microsoft is the publisher. Why are there no multiple VOs for all the different languages?
Exactly my main complain about the game, you can't release a big budget very story focused game from the biggest publisher in the world and expect your audience to read constantly that takes you out from the immersion, they can GFT I hope it bombs hard.
 
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Punished Miku

Human Rights Subscription Service
A lot of American jumped to Xbox for the Shenmue 2 exclusivity.

Didn’t quite happen in the UK as we had it on Dreamcast here. I loved the original Xbox but didn’t know anyone else who had one here.
Yeah, OG Xbox was awesome and did feel at launch like a bit of a Dreamcast successor. PS2 was great though, and Gamecube.
 

adamsapple

Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?
Agreed. Hopefully the writing is in a better place than same cringe "safe" gen z FH5 personalities, however.

And it matures mechanics wise over the first 3 which to me, felt like "My First RPG" in nature compared to others games out at the time.


You know there's gonna be a still contingent of folks who are still gonna complain that it's nothing like the previous fable games -_-

Can't please everyone.
 

Jigsaah

Gold Member
Art has always been political. If video games are art then they can be political too if developers have and want something to say. Actually, a narrative based game without a political or social subtext most likely will be dull, imo.

There are always going to be politics-free games so you have something to play, too. Everybody’s happy.
I would argue that the number of people who look for these type of political topics to be included in their games are in the minority. I don't even think it's close.

If this is the case, then why are so many of the major games coming out pandering to this minority? Shouldn't it be more reflective of the ratio?
 
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Punished Miku

Human Rights Subscription Service
No way Fable won't be incredibly divisive. Anything going for humor is, British humor even more so. I think it'll be nothing like the previous games. People will either go into it with an open mind and play it for what it is, or they'll likely hate it.
 

iQuasarLV

Member
No, you allowed a group of peoples to take ownership of a color which is dumb as fuck.

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Maybe they were influenced by BG3. The double standards are out of this fucking world.
Two things.
1. BG3's tone was not dominated by purples. You pictures prove that. Certain races had sometimes purple hues, yes. Magic mechanics are purple. A lot of the color in there are misrepresented as they appeared blue on my playthrough. Certainly that summoning circle. BG3 had class in its representation. It did not slap you in the face with a LGBTQ flag or create scenes expressly for preaching. They let those flow naturally. You knew who was gay, bi, pan and if you persued that thread you were rewarded. Personally my favorite was Shadow Heart being open to a brothel. I was shocked and surprised she was into that. It was funny to watch all the different reactions of characters in that situation, and I knew then everyone had their personalities and preferences and that was *cheffs kiss*.

2. You said one of those pictures is D&D from 70/80s, mofo that shit is To Green Anglel Tower from 1993. I read that series and that was definitely out of context of the story
To Green Angel Tower - Tad Williams 1993
 

Jigsaah

Gold Member
Two things.
1. BG3's tone was not dominated by purples. You pictures prove that. Certain races had sometimes purple hues, yes. Magic mechanics are purple. A lot of the color in there are misrepresented as they appeared blue on my playthrough. Certainly that summoning circle. BG3 had class in its representation. It did not slap you in the face with a LGBTQ flag or create scenes expressly for preaching. They let those flow naturally. You knew who was gay, bi, pan and if you persued that thread you were rewarded. Personally my favorite was Shadow Heart being open to a brothel. I was shocked and surprised she was into that. It was funny to watch all the different reactions of characters in that situation, and I knew then everyone had their personalities and preferences and that was *cheffs kiss*.

2. You said one of those pictures is D&D from 70/80s, mofo that shit is To Green Anglel Tower from 1993. I read that series and that was definitely out of context of the story
To Green Angel Tower - Tad Williams 1993
Sorry to butt-in but this is exactly my point. I had ZERO complaints about color in BG3. Why? Because the theme was still dark and serious and matched the expectations I had prior to the game's release. Yes there were politics in the game, but the politics matched the society in which they occurred. It wasn't about abortion legality or some contemporary IRL wink and nod to shit we debate about in our own lives.
 
So I assume you went on media blackout after the initial teaser? Because anyone who kept up with the game even a little knew what the visuals would be.

In the end turns out it’s a pretty good game. You’re welcome to not like it, but the premise of the thread seems silly.
 

Fbh

Member
Avowed is a victim of the "let's announce shit 5 years in advance with a cinematic trailer" approach that MS really focused on early this gen. If you ever worked on a big creative project, you know lots of things can change in half a decade.

Thankfully it seems like they are moving away from that approach.

Art has always been political. If video games are art then they can be political too if developers have and want something to say. Actually, a narrative based game without a political or social subtext most likely will be dull, imo.

There are always going to be politics-free games so you have something to play, too. Everybody’s happy.

Yeah I think the bigger issue is poor writing and not politics.
For example themes like racism, xenophobia or classism are quite common in works of fantasy. But they are usually explored with a certain subtlety and in a context that fits the fantasy setting. It's usually stuff like "Hide your tail, people in this kingdom aren't welcoming to beastmen like us" or "He is one of Sky People, a powerful race capable of using magic. They consider all non magic wielding races to be inferior" or stuff like that

The problem with a lot of modern writing is that they try to take modern issues and basically just put them 1:1 into the game world. Then you end up with crap like Veilguard where people talk about being "non binary" and pronouns and you literally have the phrase "trans women are women" in the game.
 
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DeepEnigma

Gold Member
No way Fable won't be incredibly divisive. Anything going for humor is, British humor even more so. I think it'll be nothing like the previous games. People will either go into it with an open mind and play it for what it is, or they'll likely hate it.
If it's done anything like Monty Python or The Book of Unwritten Tales game series, then it will be a blast.

I'm just cautious based on current year writing in these games, and the cringe "cool kids" and tropey cast in their last game.
 
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Jigsaah

Gold Member
My most hyped game from M is fable and the team is pretty talented so i'm cautiosly optimistic.
At this point I still have hope for fable. I think I'll be at somewhat of an advantage since I played the original 3 and so my expectations should be in line.
 
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Roberts

Member
I would argue that the number of people who look for these type of political topics to be included in their games are in the minority. I don't even think it's close.

If this is the case, then why are so many of the major games coming out pandering to this minority? Shouldn't it be more reflective of the ratio?
People who purposefully seek politics in game will probably be a minority, I agree. But people who can enjoy stories that are politically or socially conscious are many. This might sound like a weird example but do you think Titanic would make all that money if both Leo and Kate were rich?
 

GHG

Member
ID software is the only Microsoft studio I have any confidence in right now.
Microsoft needs to hire more East Asian studios if they want more games that won’t turn out to be mediocre slop at best.

They had one, but chose to get rid of them.

Considering their continued disdain for proper localisation outside of anglo-centric countries, it might he a communication issue that continues to be a issue for them in the region.
 

Jigsaah

Gold Member
People who purposefully seek politics in game will probably be a minority, I agree. But people who can enjoy stories that are politically or socially conscious are many. This might sound like a weird example but do you think Titanic would make all that money if both Leo and Kate were rich?
If it's done right, sure. That's the problem though. It's not being done right. I don't think Titanic is a good analogy because it's based on real world events and it's of a different medium. People play games to have a temporary escape from reality I thought. Pretty sure that's still true. The last thing I want is to be reminded of topics society struggle with in real life.

I'm not against politics and social issues in games if it fits the narrative. It's when it doesn't fit that I have a problem. When it's forcibly put into a game and it doesn't contribute to the story, it doesn't contribute to the gameplay....it's just there as a random ass reminder not to forget about it or something. It's hard to explain. It doesn't feel genuine.
 
Seems like a western (US mainly) issue at the moment. The Asian east and eastern Europe are going to be eating well.

I mean look at this coming up game. The attention to detail, the fluid animations in combat, the insane physics shaders on clothing/gear and the environmental interaction. This looks "next-gen."



Very cinematic and looks so much more advanced than the slop these western studios have been pumping out.

It does but it also looks like every other souls-like Japanese game on the market.
 
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