- 9 minutes ago
When fan feedback ruined great games
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00:00Ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh-ooh. Yep, that's the right tone I want, okay.
00:04All right there, you little demons, Jules here for WhatCulture.com, back with another episode
00:10of the awesomely named and awfully hosted Choose Your Own Adventure, the weekly medieval-themed
00:15format where I, the Crown Jewels of WhatCulture.com, take a list chosen by you, yes you the person
00:20who's gearing up as of the time of recording to do one of the biggest streaming events that
00:25I've personally ever done. You see, over on FGS, the main channel that I do all of my work for,
00:31I am going to be streaming from Monday through to Friday across the entirety of the Steam Next Fest
00:36and I'm going to be trying to play as many demos as I can. How many is that, Jules? Well,
00:43it's probably going to be between 50 and 100 games and I'm probably going to be mad by the end of it,
00:47so tune in on the FGS channel to see me descend slowly of what's left of my sanity just being
00:53eroded away. Yes, you get the side of what list I dial out to you each and every week and this
00:58week we have none other to thank than Full Metal Soldier, or MTL Soldier if you want to get technical
01:06about things, for their suggestion of times that video games were improved by fans and they came out
01:13even worse. You see, here's the thing, we're a very particular bunch us gamers really, aren't we? We
01:19know what we like, we know what we don't like, and sometimes what we think we like isn't actually
01:23what we like when we've delivered it in a way that we don't like but we thought we did like.
01:26And sometimes we're very loud about those points and we go onto message boards or make YouTube
01:31videos or just stand in the street in our underwear yelling at anyone who will listen
01:35about what we want from our games. But here's the thing friends, sometimes we're not right.
01:41Where am I going with this? Oh yeah, it's eight times that listening to fans made video games worse.
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03:148. Getting Rid of the Timer, Dead Rising 4
03:18One of the most divisive gameplay aspects of the original Dead Rising trilogy is the in-game timer
03:23which places a hard ceiling on how long players have to actually finish the main story. Many felt
03:28that this made the game less fun because it discouraged exploration and put pressure on
03:34them to race through the core story as fast as possible. Capcom listened to the complaints and
03:39made the timer more forgiving in Dead Rising 3 in particular, but because some fans still weren't
03:44happy they ditched it entirely for the series' most recent entry, Dead Rising 4. And yay it, perhaps the
03:52single most vocal complaint about the fourth game was that the lack of an in-game timer robbed the experience
03:58of its overarching tension and unease. Capcom's just like, oh my god, shut up. Okay, we're taking
04:03it away. What do you mean you're now crying that you don't have it? What do you want? What do you want
04:08from me in my silly zombie game? Some felt that the sequel tried too hard to streamline and even
04:15casualise the gameplay to its overall detriment, where a fair compromise would have probably just
04:20been including the option to toggle it on or off. Surprising how such a simple thing would have
04:25saved so much hassle. Capcom's just there like, you don't want it? Fine, I'll take it away.
04:30I'm ripping it up. I'm burning it. You want it back? Christ, if only we'd made a toggle. My kingdom
04:38for a toggle. 7. Make It Harder
04:42Devil May Cry 3, Dante's Awakening
04:44The early days of the Devil May Cry franchise are evidently defined by Capcom's struggles to
04:49balance the series' difficulty. Case in point, some just absolutely moaned until they were blue
04:55in the face that the first game was too challenging, and so Capcom responded by making Devil May Cry 2
05:01hilariously easy, to the point that most of the fanbase cried foul that they had massively course
05:06corrected in the wrong direction. Capcom once again, what do you want from me, my silly devil game?
05:13Capcom, I love that Capcom in my mind is just like a parent who's got like so many screaming kids
05:20around and they just do not know what to do with themselves. They've gone a little bit loopy.
05:25Just give daddy affection. Don't actually, don't you, cut that. That's not right.
05:30So Capcom promised fans that this issue would be ironed out for Devil May Cry 3. However,
05:36once again, it kind of botched its balancing, resulting in what remains the most punishingly
05:41difficult entry pretty much in the entire franchise. For the game's Western release,
05:45Capcom infamously made hard mode from the Japanese version the normal default mode,
05:50which combined with a brutally unforgiving checkpoint system ensured that even seasoned players of DMC
05:56found it way too challenging for its own good. In fact, the feedback was so vocal that when
06:03Devil May Cry 3 Special Edition was released the next year, Capcom rebalanced the entire difficulty
06:08while also introducing a more amenable checkpoint system. Finally, finally Capcom said,
06:14do you love me now? Do you love me now? Please. I haven't got enough money to pay for you all to go
06:21to college. I just need one of you to like me. 6. Including the Batmobile, Batman Arkham Knight.
06:28Now despite the outpouring of love for both Batman Arkham Asylum and Batman City, many fans were
06:33still a little disappointed that neither game included one of the most iconic facets of the
06:37Dark Knight's repertoire, a drivable Batmobile. But Rocksteady heard fans loud and clear. Not loud
06:46enough that they introduced it in the second game, but loud and clear enough that the third game,
06:50Arkham Knight, got the damn Batmobile. The marketing certainly made the Batmobile look like a fantastic
06:56way to explore Gotham, but once players finally got their hands on that game, it was clear that
07:00Rocksteady had, uh, kinda whiffed it. You see, the Batmobile is far and away the most contentious
07:08and polarizing aspect of the entire game, given that you're largely forced to use it in a number of
07:14tedious and frustrating combat and stealth sequences. Like, just for the record, driving around in the
07:20Batmobile and exploring the city in that way is so much fun. I actually love that aspect of it.
07:27But being told that, hey, whoa, hey, I'm using Batmobile again. I'm just like, do I not have an
07:33option to not use this? I mean, I could actually solve this problem by doing a lot of things that
07:38don't involve the Batmobile. No, no, no, buddy. Hey, you gotta use that Batmobile. You ask for it? You got it.
07:44You got it in everything. It's now a tank. Okay. Uh, whatever. Put simply, it just actually didn't
07:52feel that good to use and was way overused when it came to the gameplay elements, so it ensured that
07:58a badass method of transportation quickly became a massive chore. Pretty much no discussion about
08:04this game is complete without a prolonged rant about how annoying the Batmobile is, and you know
08:09what? That is a damn shame. Number five, more strategy, Valkyria Revolution. Now, 2017's Valkyria
08:16Revolution, a spin-off of the tactical RPG franchise Valkyria Chronicles that I'm just learning about
08:21now, and I'm a huge fan of Valkyria Chronicles games, and I'm actually kind of annoyed that, uh,
08:27I'm finding out this way that there's... I don't know why I'm checking my watch like it's 2017. I'm
08:32going to put a note down for me to check out this game, because I didn't know about this.
08:36How did I not know about this game? Now, 2017's Valkyria Revolution, a spin-off from the tactical
08:42RPG franchise Valkyria Chronicles, which is amazing because Valkyria Chronicles 4 lets you have a dog
08:48as your tank commander, looked to broaden the series' player base and, uh, unfortunately,
08:53it spectacularly backfired. You see, when the demo for the game was released, fans en masse lamented
08:57the greater emphasis on action over the series' expected strategy elements, feeling that a core
09:02facet of his identity was watered down and dumbed down. So the blowback from die-hard fans was
09:08potent enough that Sega promised to retool the combat before launch to introduce more of the
09:13familiar strategy elements, and they definitely did that, but it was a messy, messy implementation
09:20that only made the game worse. Given that the strategy gameplay was only injected into the game
09:25in the final months of development, there clearly wasn't enough time to get it right, resulting in a
09:30clunky mish-mash of mechanics which satisfied absolutely nobody, neither the action nor strategy
09:36crowds. Ultimately, a lot of critics and fans felt that Sega would have been better just sticking
09:42to their guns and going all out on the action front, considering that this half-baked compromise
09:48pleased basically nobody. 4. Tone the cutscenes down. Metal Gear Solid 5, The Phantom Pain.
09:54Metal Gear Solid 4 was widely praised for its ultra-cinematic send-off for the franchise icon
10:00Solid Snake, which felt like peak Hideo Kojima in every sense of the word. But there were also
10:06fans who saw the game as a step too far in the self-indulgent for Kojima, and that the balance
10:11between gameplay and cutscenes was simply too unwieldy for its own good. Obviously they were
10:16yet to experience what Death Stranding would be, which is the full rotation, the full Kojima sphere,
10:21where he just goes, oh, I'm up my own arse. That is to say that Metal Gear Solid 4's cutscenes
10:26comprised about half of the entire game, with an ending sequence that is shockingly close to being
10:33feature-length. With Metal Gear Solid 5 however, Kojima evidently took that feedback on board,
10:38toning down the rather lengthy cutscenes and ensuring that the player had more hands-on time.
10:44And while the fifth game arguably touts the strongest gameplay of the series, many were actually
10:49ultimately left disappointed by just how infrequent the cutscenes actually were. The grandiose cinematic
10:55sequences from the previous MGS games were desperately few and far between, ensuring that the story
11:01seemed like a total afterthought compared to the sprawling open world gameplay that they got their
11:07hands on. Don't get me wrong, I had a great time with this game, but the more I think about it,
11:11it didn't feel like a totally Kojima experience without being able to sit down, walk away from your
11:17entire console or computer, make you dinner, take the dog for a walk, phone you in hand for a bit,
11:23and she does go on. Oh, she does go on. And then you come back in, and you've only missed about like
11:28two plot points, because they've decided that they were actually going to take a trip to the beach.
11:33They were going from A to B, but they went to the C instead. And then they make some joke about
11:38Princess Mario or something like that. Yes, I used Princess Mario, they had to do it for legal reasons
11:43to change it. But anyway, don't worry about that, because even if you did find that MGS 5 was a bit
11:56short on the old cutscene front, like I said before, you got Death Strand in one and two.
12:01Number three, make it less linear, Mirror's Edge Catalyst. Now, Mirror's Edge was genuinely lauded for
12:06its fluid parkour-infused traversal gameplay and sprightly visuals, though many did feel that it also
12:11felt a little bit short of its full potential by being far too linear. Given that the free-running
12:16gameplay implied a degree of freedom, there was considerable disappointment that players were
12:21largely on rails for the most of the experience, and that there was little opportunity to experiment
12:25or to run off the beaten track, as it were. But for 2016's belated sequel Mirror's Edge Catalyst,
12:31developer DICE seemed to answer fans' prayers by revealing that it would transpire within
12:36an open-world sandbox, which their players were free to explore. However, Catalyst's open world was a
12:42big, fat disappointment. A bafflingly sterile, empty environment which never really feel alive
12:48in any sense, from the somnambulant NPCs to the general environment repetition copy-paste scenarios.
12:55It also didn't help that despite the apparent freedom on offer, many of the core missions still
12:59forced you down a linear path regardless. Ultimately, it feels like a middle ground between the original's
13:05linearity and Catalyst's listless openness that would have probably been the right way to go.
13:10But that ain't where we went, friends. We just went into nowhere, and that game was
13:15so bad that it killed the entire franchise. Sick. The fact that they haven't even brought it back,
13:21even tried anything else in the years between, is mind-blowing. It is mind-blowing.
13:262. Put Anakin in the game. Star Wars Battlefront 2.
13:30Though Star Wars Battlefront 2 had one of the most tumultuous launch periods of
13:34any video game ever, it was eventually shaped into a worthwhile experience through patches and free
13:40content drops. By far the most vocal request from fans was the inclusion of Anakin Skywalker as a
13:46new hero character, and in early 2019 that wish was finally, finally granted. But the joy was
13:54incredibly short-lived, as it didn't take long for fans to realise that Anakin was hilariously
13:59overpowered to the extent of being genuinely broken. I mean, the prophecy does label him as
14:05like the wonder child that was going to rebalance the force, but rebalance my ass, he's tipping the
14:10scale off the entire system right now. Beyond having insane overall stats, Anakin was also the only hero
14:17to have a fourth ability, making him excessively powerful to the point that he was extremely difficult
14:22for other players to take on. Now Anakin, of course, like I've just said, should be a highly powered
14:27force user given that he's the, well, the face of the franchise, but at the cost of the misery of
14:32other players? Well, that's kind of funny, but no, no, come on. After a few months of this, months,
14:40DICE finally relented and gave Anakin a nerve, in turn restoring some absolute balance to the force
14:45to a game that had run chaotically amok.
14:481. Make the World Bigger
14:50Dragon Age Inquisition
14:51Though it was broadly well received by critics,
14:53many fans felt that Dragon Age 2 was a major step down from the original game,
14:58largely because players were constrained within this tiny city of Kirkwall for the entire game.
15:03With recycled assets throughout and a patent lack of environmental variety,
15:07it was painfully clear that this RPG sequel was being rushed to market by EA.
15:12But Bioware undeniably took the feedback on board for 3-quel Dragon Age Inquisition,
15:18which offered up a more expansive, semi-open world structure. Sounds good so far, right?
15:23And while Inquisition was deemed a major improvement in many broad areas,
15:28it was also widely criticised for going too far in the opposite direction and being massive to its
15:33own detriment. The game world is so huge and yet so very empty and lacky and interesting things to do,
15:40likely as a result of the open world arms race that was going on in the early 2010s,
15:44where just about every remotely open world game was trying to be bigger than the next one without
15:49remembering that bigger should also come with better. Yeah, there was just nothing to do in
15:55this. You're just like, wow, this is the prettiest, longest walk I've ever not been on in real life.
16:02It's a textbook example of quantity over quality, for while Inquisition had a lot going for it,
16:07its world was deeply, thunderously dull.
16:12And then we go, my friends, those were eight times that listening to fans made games worse.
16:17Hope that you enjoyed that and let me know what you thought about it down in the comments
16:20section below and put your suggestion for next week's episode down there as well. And just
16:24remember, like I said before, put a mental reminder in for the 13th of October because I'll be over on
16:28the FGS Future Games Show YouTube channel, where I'll be streaming every single day for as long
16:34as I physically can. Which remember, I'm approaching my 40s. It ain't going to be like all day.
16:40My bones ache just being alive. Come on, guys. Just check me out there. I'll be streaming as many
16:44demos as I can throughout the Steam Next Fest. It would mean a lot if you would show up and give
16:49your support. Big love to you, my friends. And also if you want to chat to me on the social
16:52medias, you can do so by going over here where I'm at RetroJ, but the O is a zero. And you can follow
16:56on my lovely editor, Sai, over on her social medias over here. But before I go, I just want to say
17:02one thing. See, this is the thing. We've been talking today about times where listening to fans
17:06make things worse. But you know what? You should listen to me because what I'm about to say is
17:10going to blow your mind. You, my friend. You're a massive ledge. You deserve the best. You deserve
17:17love, happiness and respect. We all do as human beings, all right? So treat yourself with that love
17:22first and push it outwards to your neighbor as well. Start spreading love
17:26in this world because trust me, there's a lot of hate going on here and it's, uh,
17:30it can be very overwhelming at times. But the only way that we're going to get through this crazy
17:35thing called life is together. So make sure that you're building bridges instead of burning them,
17:39going out there with love in your heart for your neighbor as well as yourself. Because at the end
17:42of the day, that's all that matters, that I hope that you're living a healthy and happy life,
17:47all right? Now get out there and smash it. Big love from me to you, all right? As always,
17:50I've been Jules. You have been awesome. Never forget that. I'll speak to you soon. Bye.
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