"A delayed game is eventually good, but a rushed game is forever bad."
Feb 22, 2019 18:34:18 GMT
MPApr2012, SofaJockey, and 16 more like this
Post by biggydx on Feb 22, 2019 18:34:18 GMT
That Shigeru Miyamoto quote serves as a good principle for both developers AND publishers to abide by. We've seen numerous games in the past few years that have released in either an unpolished or unfinished state; with Anthem - unfortunately - joining the ranks. With an emphasis on ever growing profits, recurrent monetization, and the annualization of beloved franchises, a number of franchises have experienced swaths of negative feedback from their respective communities.
Anthem has drawn mixed feedback from a majority of the gaming community. The story and gameplay loop is stuck between a love/hate relationship for those who've played it, and a number of poor design choices, technical bugs, and a lack of content, has put the game in the spotlight as another unfinished AAA game. Not only does it bolster the statement of not preordering, but also serves as another blow to both EA and BioWare's reputation. For BioWare in particular, this is the second game they've produced that hasn't scored above an 80 on metacritic, and will go down as their worst reviewed release title to date. With EA anticipating the game to make between 5-6 millions units sold by quarters end, it's up in the air in terms of whether Anthem will be able to achieve such high goals; especially among all the negative (but largely justified) press.
Compounding this, Anthem has also shown - once more - the ugly side of the shared-world, looter-shooter genre; in addition to Games as a Service (GaaS). With other games in the genre releasing in similar unfinished states, those who enjoy the looter shooter genre are once again placed in a position of having to wait several months - if not years - for the game to finally reach its potential. Worse still for Anthem, is that even after the 6 years of development time and multiple other releases in the genre prior to it, it commits many of the same mistakes other games in the genre have; and then some. Ultimately, Anthem was simply not ready to be launched so soon...
...However
Anthem's mixed launch reception does not instill doom for the franchise. Crippled, yes, but that Miyamoto quote (while a good principle to have) is not an axiomatic truth that can't be broken. Games such as Crackdown 3, FFXV, Too Human, and Duke Nukem Forever, are examples of games that were delayed multiple times, but still came out to mixed feedback. On the other end of the spectrum, not all rushed games that were perceived poorly remained that way. Games like Rainbow Six Siege and For Honor have seen a turn around when it came to winning back their respective playerbases. ESO and SW:TOR have also made gains in improving player perception. In the shared world genre alone, with games like Destiny 1, The Division 1, and Warframe, they were ultimately able to right the ship and produce a much better experience in the long run.
The biggest case for games making a comeback is epitomized most by FFXIV. When the game initially launched, it was so lambasted that Square Enix literally had all retail copies of the game pulled from store shelves, and the game had to be built up again from scratch; into A Realm Reborn. Today, FFXIV is now one of the most played MMO's in gaming, and has been enjoying several content updates; with another on the horizon. What's mostly common among all these redemption stories I've listed is that:
1) Their developers were determined enough to want to continue to improve the game
2) The playerbase was committed and passionate enough to want to see the game evolve into something better
3) The publisher was willing to give these games the time and resources they needed
4) The updates to these games - overall - continued to improve the game.
It's clear that BioWare wants to make something of this franchise, even though they have a mountain of a hill to climb, which is a good thing. They're responsive enough with the community, and even though they may not answer every question the way everyone wants, or release details that people want to see, they are in touch with the community. Supporting them is a fanbase who stills enjoy the game, and to a noticeable degree, will defend the game no matter what.
The two important parts of Anthem's story lies in whether BioWare can continue to provide quality updates to the game (either with new content or QoL improvements), and if EA is willing to allow Anthem grow over the next few years. On the former, BioWare (though not addressing all the problems) has made strides to try improve the most vocal gripes about the game. On the latter, though EA intends for Anthem to make a lot in sales, what might be BioWare's saving grace here is the launch of Apex Legends. If Apex Legends has been able to rake in far more than EA anticipated, it'll likely keep EA off BioWare's back for the time being; since any lost revenue is made up elsewhere. There's also an argument to be made that EA, for as much as they're known for closing studios, is also still willing to allow it's premiere studios to keep working on games that weren't received well; like DICE with Battlefield V and Battlefront II.
I wont say if Anthem (after a years worth of updates) will become a 9 or 10/10 game, but anything would be better than what it is now. It would also speak well of the developers, as it at least shows they're committed to the game no matter what. I will say however, that with all the problems the game currently has, I would NOT recommend conceptualizing a sequel
This has largely been an opinion piece on my end, but I want to end by saying this. I'm going to end up playing Anthem. Hell, Gamefly already shipped the game to me yesterday, and I hope I can find enjoyment out of it because I did like my time with it in the demo. At the same time, not only do I want a solid product upfront (if I'm ever to put down money), but I also don't want to continue being stuck in a situation where I need to wait for months (or years) on end for a game to become what it should have been. BioWare has now released two back-to-back games that have been their most widely criticized titles, and I can't help but feel that it's largely due to them having ideas that are far too overly-ambitious for what the Frostbite engine can allow for. For me, if they want to get back in peoples good graces with future releases, the first place to start is by ditching that god-awful engine. Don't care how pretty everything looks because as far as I'm concerned, they're 1 for 3 on it; when it comes to making solid games on the engine. Hopefully, the next Dragon Age games delivers at least a good experience, since DA:I has already given them a template to work off of.
Finally, if you're enjoying Anthem right now, then you should continue to do so. Though I know that much of this spiel has sounded negative, I don't ever want to let my words detract people from playing the games they like/love. As someone who's played every BioWare game since Jade Empire (sans SWTOR), I can say that on some level I've always found something I liked about their games. However, even if I do come to enjoy Anthem, it would be a disservice for me to stick my head in the sand and be silent when I see glaring faults. A plant can't grow if you block out the sunlight.
tl;dr: Anthem has many noticeable faults, and should not have released in the state it's currently in. However, if the developers are dedicated enough, fans passionate enough, and the publisher willing enough, to give the game time to grow, it could reach its potential as time goes on. If you're committed to the game, or would at least like to see it improve, then you owe it to yourself to be vocal of your criticisms. It not only helps in delivering a better game for you, but also serves as a lesson for the developer to grow. And if you enjoy the game, then play it regardless of all the negativity.
Anthem has drawn mixed feedback from a majority of the gaming community. The story and gameplay loop is stuck between a love/hate relationship for those who've played it, and a number of poor design choices, technical bugs, and a lack of content, has put the game in the spotlight as another unfinished AAA game. Not only does it bolster the statement of not preordering, but also serves as another blow to both EA and BioWare's reputation. For BioWare in particular, this is the second game they've produced that hasn't scored above an 80 on metacritic, and will go down as their worst reviewed release title to date. With EA anticipating the game to make between 5-6 millions units sold by quarters end, it's up in the air in terms of whether Anthem will be able to achieve such high goals; especially among all the negative (but largely justified) press.
Compounding this, Anthem has also shown - once more - the ugly side of the shared-world, looter-shooter genre; in addition to Games as a Service (GaaS). With other games in the genre releasing in similar unfinished states, those who enjoy the looter shooter genre are once again placed in a position of having to wait several months - if not years - for the game to finally reach its potential. Worse still for Anthem, is that even after the 6 years of development time and multiple other releases in the genre prior to it, it commits many of the same mistakes other games in the genre have; and then some. Ultimately, Anthem was simply not ready to be launched so soon...
...However
Anthem's mixed launch reception does not instill doom for the franchise. Crippled, yes, but that Miyamoto quote (while a good principle to have) is not an axiomatic truth that can't be broken. Games such as Crackdown 3, FFXV, Too Human, and Duke Nukem Forever, are examples of games that were delayed multiple times, but still came out to mixed feedback. On the other end of the spectrum, not all rushed games that were perceived poorly remained that way. Games like Rainbow Six Siege and For Honor have seen a turn around when it came to winning back their respective playerbases. ESO and SW:TOR have also made gains in improving player perception. In the shared world genre alone, with games like Destiny 1, The Division 1, and Warframe, they were ultimately able to right the ship and produce a much better experience in the long run.
The biggest case for games making a comeback is epitomized most by FFXIV. When the game initially launched, it was so lambasted that Square Enix literally had all retail copies of the game pulled from store shelves, and the game had to be built up again from scratch; into A Realm Reborn. Today, FFXIV is now one of the most played MMO's in gaming, and has been enjoying several content updates; with another on the horizon. What's mostly common among all these redemption stories I've listed is that:
1) Their developers were determined enough to want to continue to improve the game
2) The playerbase was committed and passionate enough to want to see the game evolve into something better
3) The publisher was willing to give these games the time and resources they needed
4) The updates to these games - overall - continued to improve the game.
It's clear that BioWare wants to make something of this franchise, even though they have a mountain of a hill to climb, which is a good thing. They're responsive enough with the community, and even though they may not answer every question the way everyone wants, or release details that people want to see, they are in touch with the community. Supporting them is a fanbase who stills enjoy the game, and to a noticeable degree, will defend the game no matter what.
The two important parts of Anthem's story lies in whether BioWare can continue to provide quality updates to the game (either with new content or QoL improvements), and if EA is willing to allow Anthem grow over the next few years. On the former, BioWare (though not addressing all the problems) has made strides to try improve the most vocal gripes about the game. On the latter, though EA intends for Anthem to make a lot in sales, what might be BioWare's saving grace here is the launch of Apex Legends. If Apex Legends has been able to rake in far more than EA anticipated, it'll likely keep EA off BioWare's back for the time being; since any lost revenue is made up elsewhere. There's also an argument to be made that EA, for as much as they're known for closing studios, is also still willing to allow it's premiere studios to keep working on games that weren't received well; like DICE with Battlefield V and Battlefront II.
I wont say if Anthem (after a years worth of updates) will become a 9 or 10/10 game, but anything would be better than what it is now. It would also speak well of the developers, as it at least shows they're committed to the game no matter what. I will say however, that with all the problems the game currently has, I would NOT recommend conceptualizing a sequel
This has largely been an opinion piece on my end, but I want to end by saying this. I'm going to end up playing Anthem. Hell, Gamefly already shipped the game to me yesterday, and I hope I can find enjoyment out of it because I did like my time with it in the demo. At the same time, not only do I want a solid product upfront (if I'm ever to put down money), but I also don't want to continue being stuck in a situation where I need to wait for months (or years) on end for a game to become what it should have been. BioWare has now released two back-to-back games that have been their most widely criticized titles, and I can't help but feel that it's largely due to them having ideas that are far too overly-ambitious for what the Frostbite engine can allow for. For me, if they want to get back in peoples good graces with future releases, the first place to start is by ditching that god-awful engine. Don't care how pretty everything looks because as far as I'm concerned, they're 1 for 3 on it; when it comes to making solid games on the engine. Hopefully, the next Dragon Age games delivers at least a good experience, since DA:I has already given them a template to work off of.
Finally, if you're enjoying Anthem right now, then you should continue to do so. Though I know that much of this spiel has sounded negative, I don't ever want to let my words detract people from playing the games they like/love. As someone who's played every BioWare game since Jade Empire (sans SWTOR), I can say that on some level I've always found something I liked about their games. However, even if I do come to enjoy Anthem, it would be a disservice for me to stick my head in the sand and be silent when I see glaring faults. A plant can't grow if you block out the sunlight.
tl;dr: Anthem has many noticeable faults, and should not have released in the state it's currently in. However, if the developers are dedicated enough, fans passionate enough, and the publisher willing enough, to give the game time to grow, it could reach its potential as time goes on. If you're committed to the game, or would at least like to see it improve, then you owe it to yourself to be vocal of your criticisms. It not only helps in delivering a better game for you, but also serves as a lesson for the developer to grow. And if you enjoy the game, then play it regardless of all the negativity.