Forbidden West fell very hard into the classic sequel trap of trying make everything bigger, better, and just plain more.

I too was incredibly underwhelmed by FW. It just didn’t do anything new... and to make matters worse, it took a few steps back narratively. 

Zero Dawn was lovely once I returned to it after Breath of the Wild. Forbidden West didn’t hit the same highs for me. The story wasn’t as compelling, the combat was... fine. I hope they can stick the landing with the third.

100%. I work for a fortune 500, and it is the same cycle every time. Our economy is dependent on the myth of unlimited growth. When you lay off all of these people, it frees up reporting cash for shareholders to see. Which means when they actually do have growth, they will need to re-hire anyways and have massive…

There’s also social media isolation, validation obsession, family trauma, jealousy, and mental health issues. 

Why? This and Ascension were just random side projects. They are meant to be different and experimental. I’m a diehard SH fan but neither of these have moved the needle in either direction because they shouldn't. 

Sure, they’re well known in America, due to the cultural history of [gestures vaguely]. But the younger generation (myself included) are often ignorant of the details because we grew up after those stereotypes were plastered all over everything. If Spanish golfers can commit the gaffe during a press conference, then…

I suspect part of the issue is that if you hadn’t explained some of these offensive stereotypes to me just now, I wouldn’t have even spotted them in the mix. Today I learned that fried chicken is somehow offensive, in certain contexts? (???) I mean, sure, maybe that’s offensive to a subculture, but is it bad enough to…

Honestly if you think about it, it’s just all the console war “identify by the Brands You Consume” BS taken to it’s logical extreme.

The problem is how insulated a lot of these communities are. They’re so disconnected from the real world. To an outsider, it’s just pure insanity.

This whole situation with this game and people’s reactions to it has been super embarrassing to watch. So many bad actors all around. You have people on one side deciding that ownership of this game is the only indicator of one’s moral compass, while the other side is doing crap like trying to sic Nintendo’s legal…

I’m so tired of hearing this guy in almost every AAA of the last few years. He does a good acting job but the voice is always the same, I think this is the first time he sounds like he is trying to change it a little. And no, intense whispering doesn’t count as a voice change.

TotK isn't top ten.

This. It’s a flawed game, but a great one nonetheless. Even though I agree that the combat is not the main strength of it, everything else I absolutely enjoyed.

Or people just have different opinions? “One YouTuber hated this game so everyone else is wrong”. Don't be so dramatic.

Can someone explain to me how this is a “scam” and not just a really bad product that didn’t live up to the marketing hype?

I work for the team that builds the testing framework for an app that is on your phone right now and many of my co-workers are ex-QA for the games industry. They all say its the pits. Contractors get the short end of the stick and the job stability sucks. Also have a few friends who work for Microsoft and contractors…

Alan Wake 2 won a pile of awards, including writing and art direction. It got what it deserved.

I’m thrilled that Alan Wake 2 picked up a few. It definitely deserved Narrative, Game, and Art Direction. I would personally have given it Audio and Score as well, but I’m not upset to see Final Fantasy win one of those two, at least. 

For once I think I agree with all of the winners!