The Kickstarter effect and popularising the 'walking simulator' genre
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Edge #340 celebrates the 12 defining games of the decade
- Thread starter Naga
- Start date
You are describing Minecraft....XD. Though I find it boring and prefer BOTW.
On BOTW, they do mention a resurgent Nintendo but the focus is on the chemistry of the game - the emergent gameplay, dynamic systems working together in ways that other games haven't really done, especially in an open world, it's open world level design, that a lot of devs have been taking notice of the game since release and that while there's still nothing quite like it in that regard, we'll see the effects over the next few years
I think the distinction that needs to be made is more like BotW is "alive" while Minecraft is not. Interesting things can happen independently of the user, things can react to the environment in the absence of your actions (although the game is designed in a way where these volatile elements are mostly isolated from each other before you start messing with thing)
If I had to make an analogy, the statement you replied to could be used to describe both a chemistry set and pile of clay but these two things are not really the same in practice.
Also, I don't know how I feel about GTAV on this list. I guess there's a kind of argument for saying it was impactful because it got noticed outside the bounds of the industry or games as a hobby. I'm just wondering where the waves of its splash are still felt today.
I question the inclusion of BotW. While it's admittedly a little too soon to see AAA games which crib from it in a big way, I haven't really seen/heard many industry discussions about which specific mechanics are so compelling. It was well received by people in the industry, yes, and many people say they like it a lot, which I don't doubt, but I don't really see anyone being like "We like it because it has [unique system X], which we are taking as influence in our game". It's not like it has to be that obvious, but I don't really see anything even along those lines.
Honestly, even then, like even if someone included the elemental interactions in their game, I don't know if I'd call that influential on the scale of "Kickstarter can work for games" or "difficulty isn't anathema to enjoyment" or "causes streaming explosion" or "GaaS is a viable business model" effects that other entries had. I can't think of anything BotW does that would be influential at that level of an industry seachange.
I also don't know about Fortnite. Obviously, it's both hugely popular *and* influential, eclipsing games to just being a straight up pop culture phenomenon, I'd maybe put ArmA 3, DayZ, pr PUBG there first. Less reach, and less of a means by which games become more than just themselves, but clearly very popular games which served as direct influences on Fortnite and arguably had far larger impact on the likes of streaming in general, which Fortnite is also heavily tied to.
Honestly, even then, like even if someone included the elemental interactions in their game, I don't know if I'd call that influential on the scale of "Kickstarter can work for games" or "difficulty isn't anathema to enjoyment" or "causes streaming explosion" or "GaaS is a viable business model" effects that other entries had. I can't think of anything BotW does that would be influential at that level of an industry seachange.
I also don't know about Fortnite. Obviously, it's both hugely popular *and* influential, eclipsing games to just being a straight up pop culture phenomenon, I'd maybe put ArmA 3, DayZ, pr PUBG there first. Less reach, and less of a means by which games become more than just themselves, but clearly very popular games which served as direct influences on Fortnite and arguably had far larger impact on the likes of streaming in general, which Fortnite is also heavily tied to.
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Thanks for the info. Sometimes people close their eyes in favor to something they really like. Imo the biggest thing BOTW brought to the table was the chemistry system and it was great. Other than that:
Emergent gameplay - Minecraft(not fan of it but the only reason to play is because of the make you own fun concept)
Open world design - Skyrim(a direct inspiration for Aonuma and Zelda team, like BOTW you have a tutorial area and after that go whatever you want)
Dynamic systems working together - GTA (Imo this is GTA core. To the point the only game I bothered doing the story was San Andreas)
Not even saying that those games I listed are pioneer just saying it was done before. The only mechanics I see as influential are chemistry system(in a good way) and climbing(in a bad way).
Well no one has ever said that BotW is the first to do any of those things or a pioneer. At best, people have expressed that BotW is among a few to bring all of those elements together so well while also doing it's own thing in the open world genre, which is a fair sentiment
I'd say the open world design is a lot more sophisticated than Skyrim's - there's a GDC talk about how it was designed that elaborates on it further and talks about spatial composition and how various techniques were used in order for the environment to entice a player somewhere without them really realising. Out of curiosity, why did you think the climbing would be influential in a bad way? Outside of it being affected by the rain (which is either a love it/hate it dynamic), I'm pretty sure the climb anywhere idea was massively well regarded?
Not sure what you're referring to about the dynamic systems interacting in GTA, as this point relates directly into the chemistry system facilitating that and I really don't remember anything remotely similar in that series.
The biggest direct influence coming up for BoTW in the AAA space is looking to be Gods and Monsters (at first glance, anyway) so we'll see what happens there, bit I'm sure there will be a lot of other games that pick up on other things in a smaller way that show off why a lot of people (including a ton of game devs) are saying how influential the game will end up being.
"Double Fine Adventure" was the first gaming Kickstarter to break a million, $3,336,371 that is:
The list is solid but I don´t get what Spelunky is doing here. It´s a bit too close to the 2008 original to belong on a list for games of the 2010s.
Star Citizen has to be missing as it may or may not come out next decade, I guess. That budget will overtake Endgame in a year if the money keeps flowing as is.
The list is solid but I don´t get what Spelunky is doing here. It´s a bit too close to the 2008 original to belong on a list for games of the 2010s.
Star Citizen has to be missing as it may or may not come out next decade, I guess. That budget will overtake Endgame in a year if the money keeps flowing as is.
I agree with it being more sophisticated than Skyrim and I really like that talk. At the same time my experience with the two of them were really similar.
Something interests me -> I stray from my path -> have a great reward for that. BOTW even had the same problem of Skyrim. A lot of shrines with the same aesthetic placed around the world like Skyrim dungeons. Both drove me nuts with the repetitiveness.
My criticism with climbing comes because of the way I see Zelda and from my expectations after Aonuma's interviews before game was fully revealed. He stated about seeing a place, figure out how to reach it. In the end the figure out step was never a thing as climbing + gliding solved most of situations. I had one frustrated experience in my first playtrough where I reached Zora's Domain without seeing the rain road because of experimenting climbing + stamina potions near the mountains around it. The other time I jumped from Twin Peaks to the forest and when I realized I landed at Serpent's Jaws, the end of an area where entering in a more linear way would be more interesting. In my dream game, climbing would be an item/ability that you get in mid game that changes the way you see all the areas the came before. Though that's the way I see. It had a great reception within the industry so I expect it being influential to other games.
I thought the point was about different systems interacting and resulting in something greater, the concept they called multiplicative gameplay in that GDC talk. And GTA is full of these situations. For example: you see a pedestrian on a crosswalk, then you points the gun to a driver that is waiting for the traffic light, driver accelerates, runs over the pedestrian, cops see that and start chasing the car. Game is full of those situations and that's a result of different system interacting together and my main reason to play Grand Theft Auto.
I saw it too. But the only similarity I saw was the visual when it was revealed. I didn't see the other trailers.
This is very well put. Covers a lot of probable reasons why Dota was chosen over LoL.
I am irrationally upset at the Destiny cover because there is literally no fight or mechanic anywhere in either game where an enemy physically grabs and throws you.
12 collector edition covers as seen here:
So I guess we got:
- Spelunky
- Telltale The Walking Dead?
- Broken Age
- GTA V
- Breath of the Wild
- Amnesia
- Dark Souls
- Destiny?
- Minecraft
- Gone Home
- Fortnite
- Dota 2
(Spelunky popularized the roguelite, but didn't birth the roguelike)
I dont think gone home did shit. Also Broken age + TWD = meh. Where's Gears in this? Gears or uncharted had more of an impact than some of the games on that list. No resident evil or silent hills either? or TLOU.
Yeah, as far as "Defining" goes, I can agree with most of that list. (Except maybe Broken Age). The impact of many of those game is crazy.
I'd say replace BA with Candy Crush and it would be perfect.
I'd say replace BA with Candy Crush and it would be perfect.
It absolutely did, I was in high school at the time and that's exactly when I remember the Let's Play craze starting with Pewdiepie and Markiplier and whatnot.
Broken Age is a legitimately bizarre inclusion if you're already doing Walking Dead. I guess it could be cause if Kickstarter?
No no, the write up was fine; I moreso meant in the "also, it's not eligible for this decade" sense. Curse my lack of clarity!
You are. GTA online is the reason for the continued success and 100+ sold.
Anyone questioning Broken Age or just citing "Kickstarter" needs to watch the documentary series tied to it. I enjoyed the game enough and it was beautiful looking, but the doc series alone was worth the price of entry. It's an in depth and open look at modern game development, and probably something we'll never see again. All of the delays and difficult production decisions play out with weight and drama, and you get to know the people struggling to keep it on track. Every delay and the decision to split the game into two parts that had people online screaming"Trainwreck!" made the behind the scenes stuff that much more interesting and inspiring. It follows the development for years. From concept to final crunch. Hell, they could have done a documentary on the game's doc crew and it would have also been great.
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As a defining game of the decade? Not even a sliver of a chanceScarFall was also a good option over Fortnite.
Something tells me that Scarfall here, with 2/3rds of his posts being about how great the game Scarfall is, and his user image being the app icon for the game, miiiiiiiiiight be a taaad biased...
Ah, only just clocked the username - onto the ignore list that account goes :)
Have you been paying attention though?
It's called most defining games, not most influential. A game like GTAV is also not influential, because nobody blows up the budget to have that kind of attention to detail.
Most of my friends are gamers, not one of them had even heard of Bloodborne before I mentioned it to them.
I tried playing it with some of the more receptive ones of console exclusives, but they hated it.
I think enthusiast boards such as this one over estimate it's impact and "defining" power.
It didn't even sell all that well, if I'm not mistaken.
IDK if you can count league since it released in 2009, but if they chose Dota 2 over league thats crazy (and thats from someone who's played dota since 2007 and doesn't even like league).
The game is just absolutely massive. 4 million concurrent viewers on twitch in the semifinals. That's WAY more than any esports out there - its a phenomenon. It's over 15x the overwatch league season 2 finals, 3.5x the biggest CS majors. And its still growing! Dota 2 in comparison is shrinking, at least in western countries. Dota 2 isn't even the biggest game on Steam anymore -- PUBG has been crushing it for over a year now and CSGO generally has more players too.
I would also put CSGO over dota 2 but thats a much more contentious argument.
LMAO I was wondering...
The game is just absolutely massive. 4 million concurrent viewers on twitch in the semifinals. That's WAY more than any esports out there - its a phenomenon. It's over 15x the overwatch league season 2 finals, 3.5x the biggest CS majors. And its still growing! Dota 2 in comparison is shrinking, at least in western countries. Dota 2 isn't even the biggest game on Steam anymore -- PUBG has been crushing it for over a year now and CSGO generally has more players too.
I would also put CSGO over dota 2 but thats a much more contentious argument.
LMAO I was wondering...
you know, Scarfall, that one video game everyone is talking about
And then there's stuff like this.
Almost like some game showed that having tools for open ended traversal of an open world can be a motivating game in and of itself.
