Is Anyone Else Bored By Most AAA Games?

[Meg]

I ask because for awhile now I haven't cared about whatever the current big release is, but I don't know why. I didn't bother with Fallout 4, MGSV, or The Witcher 3. I didn't like The Last of Us, and when everyone else was playing Dark Souls 3, I was happily ignoring it in favor of Ratchet and Clank. And no, I have not played Overwatch and I don't want to. Or Uncharted 4.

There are some exceptions to this (Watch Dogs 2 looks great), but for the most part I just can't get excited, or even care about whatever big game is coming out. And I don't know why!

So does anyone else feel this way? I've been trying to figure out what is going on, but I haven't had any luck.

 

[Lain]

I too don't normally bother with most "AAA" games.

I feel like a lot of companies are squeezing out sequels like oop: instead of taking the time to craft amazing games.

Though maybe that's just me. *Shrugs*

 

[Demi-fiend]

I agree with the OP. I don't like most games nowadays, so I'm going back to last-gen.

Unless the Scorpio (and its games) supersedes my expectations, I'm literally dropping out of the console race. No more.

 

[xMobilemux]

How long have I been saying that the AAA market has been getting stale on this forum?

While games like MGS5 and Witcher 3 are well worth checking out, cause they're worth actually playing.
The reason why I understand ignoring games like Last of Us, Fallout 4 and Uncharted 4 is because there's no reason to play them cause you've likely played that kind of gameplay a dozen times over before in the past and their gameplay isn't even worth it on their own.

Fallout 4 is no longer a good RPG game, it's more of an Open World Shooter which we have more than enough of.
Uncharted 4 & Last of Us are generic cover shooters/walking simulators which we have more than enough of.

The reason why I'm ignoring most big time games these days is cause they're focused on being artsy and meaningful instead of being fun to play as well as trying to cater to a casual audience as much as possible.
I wanted God of War 4 to be a fun hack n slash with my favorite rage filled atheist back doing what he does best, not a story heavy Last of Us clone which I've already played dozens of, good Hack n Slashes are hard to come by these days!
It's a sad sad day to call yourself a gamer when a series that was made for noobs is being dumbed down even more.

It's why I ignore games like Spec Ops The Line, it doesn't matter how good the story is said to be, the game was no fun and just boring.

But we have gems like Doom 4 which was gonna be a Call of Duty clone before someone at id Software had a spark in their brain and instead made a damn fun to play Doom game.

The reason why AAA Video Games have gotten stale is because they've forgotten that they're video games.
Video Games are by definition, meant to be played, not watched, not heard, not read, but played and there's not much reason to play a lot of big AAA games nowadays cause we've either played them a dozen times before or their gameplay takes 2nd priority to something else.

I'm no longer excited by much upcoming games because barely any are giving me the "I can't wait to PLAY this!!" feeling.

Apart from Shadow Warrior 2 which is the only game I'm actually am excited to PLAY coming this year cause Doom 4 has already came, saw and kicked ass.
Plus the reason why I'm excited for it is because it's giving me that I can't wait to PLAY it feeling, it's selling itself on how fun it is rather than how meaningful or artsy it is, it's selling itself as.... oh you know......A VIDEO GAME!!!

 

[ReaperHunter]

My interest in triple AAA games varies from time to time, I usually have a few big titles I look forward to. Right now the happen to be Zelda, Days Gone, and Horizon: Zero Dawn. I also have indie games that I keep an eye on, the big one for me there is Pyre.

 

[Angel]

I have found that indie developers tend to try harder with their product and don't have the lack of innovation, vision and passion that seems to be dying in the company giants.

AAA titles, with some exceptions, tend to be the same dog whitewashed, so to speak, with a distinct aversion to diverting from the status quo. I do get the whole if it ain't broke don't fix it ideology but I think gamers deserve more than just some rehashed game which has been brought put year after year with a couple of different locations or items attached to try and project the appearance of innovation.

Whilst there's no denying that a lot of these games can still be fun, I don't think they are truly the best that could be made, especially considering the budgets for them.

Games like Call of Duty, Battlefield, every frigging FIFA title ever and even a favourite of mine, the Sims, are guilty of this.

I do love my Bethesda games and that won't change until they make the fatal mistake of only ever churning out MMORPG titles, but I'm no longer thrilled by the vast majority of AAA's out there.

 

[Foxtrot94]

It's why I ignore games like Spec Ops The Line, it doesn't matter how good the story is said to be, the game was no fun and just boring.

No kidding. I installed the demo for that game and literally the first thing you do when the opening cutscene is over is partaking in a walking and talking segment. Dayum, son. It can stay in the (virtual) shelf.

 

[Chancey289]

Well, that's kind of the reason why I can become bored with video games in general nowadays. Nothing really stands out or grabs my attention much anymore. I think the only games I'm legit interested in playing are the new Spider-Man game (because I'm just a ridiculously die hard Spidey fan) and The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (because I've always had a spot for Zelda in my heart and it's actually changed up the formula quite a bit).

Also, possibly We Happy Few because it looks like a pretty interesting horror game with an intriguing concept. But now that I think about it, I'm pretty sure that it's an indie game.

If you want creativity, and fun, you should really be looking at the indie market. The AAA industry isn't going to take risk or try something new for the most part. And to be honest, the industry AND gamers are to blame.

I do recommend Overwatch though. Amidst all the same, stale, generic shooters, it's one of the only ones out there with some real personality. The characters are all eccentric and fun, while offering diverse play styles. But I also recommend getting it on sales price or something because it is ONLY a multiplayer experience. Still fun while it last though.

 

[Innsmouth]

I think games in general getting stale nowadays. AAA games because they using bulletproof sales tactics and indies because most of them copy pasting old games ideas without any attempt to make them unique. There are still some unique ideas on both ends, like Gravity Rush or Darkest Dungeon. But generally most of them are copy-paste of same ideas over and over and over, unwilling to let go of neither established franchises that sell nor old school inspirations

 

[Meg]

I think you guys are hitting the nail on the head. I think the reason I'm so disinterested in most AAA games is because of how stale everything has gotten. It's not that original or creative, and I've played it all before, so just can't get excited for most games.

Do you guys wanna share some smaller games that you like? It's doesn't have to be "indie," just not some big budget AAA nonsense.

Here's some of mine:
1) Fast Racing Neo (Wii U exclusive)
2) Trackmania Turbo
3) Firewatch
4) Dangerous Golf
5) Hard Reset Redux
6) Stories: Path of Destinies

 

[Lain]

I'm afraid that my gaming tastes may be far too niche for even this forum.

 

[Meg]

I'm afraid that my gaming tastes may be far too niche for even this forum.

*is curious* :smile:

 

[Lain]

*is curious* :smile:

Okay, just to give you a flavour. Let's start with something you've probably heard of:

I've been buying and playing all of the recent Digimon games. Some surprisingly good ones amongst them. Also, I've been playing Dynasty Warriors: Gundam Reborn. I enjoy beat 'em ups like the Yakuza series. The majority of Suda51's games I also like, even the arcade-y ones like "Short Peace." I'm pretty excited to play "Zero Time Dilemma" which is basically a Telltale game meets Saw. As well as this I like "Time Travellers" another Telltale like game made by Level5, which was never released into English.

Oh, and don't get me started on the number of JRPGs I've played.

 

[ReaperHunter]

Smaller games that I like:

• Transistor
• Bastion
• Lone Survivor
• Puppeteer

 

[berto]

Bored is... one of many sensations I get from AAA games.

The thing is they aren't all boring, they're also disappointing, uninspired, badly written or just plain old bad.

Examples....

Batman: Arkham City was a pretty fun game. I couldn't get behind all the decisions and I don't really consider this game a perfect as every reviewer claimed but I had a lot of fun with it. Then comes Arkham Knight... God, so many mistakes. It's got so many good things but then it drops the ball in more, it just... so disappointing. I haven't seen such an obvious plot twist coming from a mile away since Benedict Cumberbatch admitted he was Khan and the rest of the writing is no better. Let's also not forget those poor bastards who paid full price for the Order 1866.

I haven't played a CoD game in years but I remember that the one I did play were all pretty much the same damn game. Year after year with only small alterations to each game and I called quits, I don't care what they promised with this new one or the other, I was out. I'm sure it took a lot of money and talent to make each new one but the truth is they were just more of the same. Same for GoW. They just keep adding to it. I kinda liked 1 but Kratos is just a mass murderer so I was never a fan but the games were just more of the same. 3, specially, was just an uninspired game. It had this strong intro but then it got monotonous and was just the same as the other 2 over and over again...

Well, poor writing is kind of staple of games. The writing quality of most AAA games I've played are on par with B movies or a standard tv show. Most games seem to be written to please people with crap taste and their sequels always have a scene where a character from the original makes a bad ass intro. "No. Mr. President. I'll take care of business. I know it looked like I died but that was what I wanted everyone to think." "Oh, thank god. You are the single only bad ass ever and with you dead everyone was f***ed. But now we are saved since you are literally the only person qualified to do anything." Or the like. Ugh... They all feel like fanboy pleasing stories. It's why when a game has an actual good story it becomes an instant classic.

Yeah, lets go with anual games in general. AAA has become a matter of buying the base game and paying for what used to be included and, to makes matter worse, since they cost so much to make they don't try to do anything interesting. Just follow the formula and stick to it and way too often they don't even do that right. A little polishing can go a long way. Not always about the graphics.

I have a lot of issues with AAA titles, it's why I haven't played any in awhile.

I think a big part of the issue with many of these titles is that they are sequels to games that got too popular for their own good. Uncharted 3 and 4 are a great example. 1 & 2 were great, lots of fun, lots of laughs, right amount of action and drama. 3 & 4 had so much unnecessary drama. "oh, I'm not really Drake's descendant" "I wanted to marry you but couldn't" "I kept the ring" "Who am I, really? Am I nobody?" "Am I just a junkie? " "Oh, no. Sully is dead. Oh, wait, he's ok. Now he's dead again. Wait, he's ok again. Oh, no, he died for real this time. No, wait, he's ok" "No, I can't tell her about my long lost brother for whom I am going back into the life I seem to have an addiction to." SHUT UP!! And what is with long aimless walking scenes? It just got too popular for it's own good and ended up with this dumb crowd pleasing plot. Golden Abyss had better balance of drama and action than the other 2 games did.

So, yeah, I feel ya.

• Puppeteer

My man.

 

[Teal]

After lurking around other videogame-related threads, I feel as if I'm the only one who actually enjoyed Spec Ops: The Line. It was not a therapeutic rage treatment like Doom, or a melancholic colorful adventure like Zelda and it was certainly not a generic shooter like Call of Duty. Did it play as a generic shooter? Yes, but its primary goal was to tug your heartstrings and perhaps even make you think for a while. No, it didn't make me quit first person shooters altogether, but it left a void in me that no amount of puppies could fill for like three weeks or so. I also liked how ambiguous it was and how you could draw multiple interpretations from it.

Though in stark contrast to some of you guys, I have no quarrel against games striving to be a legitimate art form and actually encourage that in certain scenarios, so that could have played a part in why I enjoyed it.

But yeah, as for the question, it's no secret that the AAA industry is growing stale and I'd say the blame is mostly on the fans. Sixth and Seventh generation consoles had plenty of innovative and wonderful games which, due to poor sales either because fans didn't give a crap or because bad marketing campaigns (or both), were either swept under the rug or mainstreamed. Ubisoft is especially guilty of that. Their early games like Ghost Recon, Beyond Good and Evil, XIII, pre-Conviction Splinter Cell, Prince of Persia - they were full of potential. Playable and with an amazing plot which kept you guessing. And then suddenly, Assassin's Creed waltzed in and shoved PoP from the chair. Splinter Cell Chaos Theory sold poorly due to the game's unconventional mechanics and it's restrictions that prevented it from turning into a fully fledged action shooter, so they turned it into a Jason Bourne/Taken franchise. Ghost Recon's taken so many forms over the years you can only know those games are related to one another because of their titles, though none of those games were as successful as the original ones. Beyond Good and Evil got the silent treatment for over a decade, though there's news about Ubisoft making a sequel now so...let's hope they don't botch that. XIII fell into obscurity precisely because of low sales.

It's the worst case of a "do what you know" stance taken by the videogame industry since..ever, I'm guessing.

 

[Dark Drakan]

Wouldnt go as far as to say I was 'bored' by most AAA titles, however there are some series that are beginning to get stale. With the amount of money some developers have to pump into titles and production costs these days most companies are simply too afraid of taking risks with their titles or thinking outside the box for fear of failure. All it takes for some companies is to get a little too ambitious and fail to reach the heights of their vision and their game to not sell well and it could mean the studio closing down entirely. So many simply try and walk the line and stick to tried and tested formulas that we have seen time and time again, or copy ideas from games that did sell well.

 

[Lain]

Though in stark contrast to some of you guys, I have no quarrel against games striving to be a legitimate art form and actually encourage that in certain scenarios, so that could have played a part in why I enjoyed it.

I've no problem with Auteur type games, provided that they are actually fun to play as games.

 

[Meg]

After lurking around other videogame-related threads, I feel as if I'm the only one who actually enjoyed Spec Ops: The Line. It was not a therapeutic rage treatment like Doom, or a melancholic colorful adventure like Zelda and it was certainly not a generic shooter like Call of Duty. Did it play as a generic shooter? Yes, but its primary goal was to tug your heartstrings and perhaps even make you think for a while. No, it didn't make me quit first person shooters altogether, but it left a void in me that no amount of puppies could fill for like three weeks or so. I also liked how ambiguous it was and how you could draw multiple interpretations from it.

Though in stark contrast to some of you guys, I have no quarrel against games striving to be a legitimate art form and actually encourage that in certain scenarios, so that could have played a part in why I enjoyed it.

I loved Spec Ops:The Line. I thought it was excellent and had one of the best stories in games. I also believe games are art and love the heck out of Journey. I also really like The Unfinished Swan and Sound Shape. I'm pumped for Abzu as well. I don't even know what the point of the game is, but it looks pretty and peaceful so I'm down.

@Dark Drakan You got it exactly. AAA games are so expensive that it's safer to go with something that is proven to sell rather than try to come up with something new. That's why I applaud Ubisoft's treatment of Dishonored. They started out with a smaller game that promised something great, and now that the first game was a big success they are throwing more resources at the sequel. (Hopefully it's good or this example won't work anymore. :laugh

If anyone is interested, I highly recommend this book:

https://www.amazon.com/Blockbusters...8&qid=1469882123&sr=1-1&keywords=blockbusters

 

[Chancey289]

Journey was so good!

I loved traveling such a cool world as a chirping napkin. He was so cute.

Also, metaphor for the experience of life and all is great, BUT CHIRPING NAPKINS!