Disclaimer: No nuns were harmed during the writing of this column.
Perhaps this isn’t necessarily something that needs defending, but now’s as good of a time as any to discuss moral choices in games. They seem to be popping up everywhere these days, especially in games that don’t really need them. They allow for developers to give players multiple endings, but those endings (like the choices that precede them) are usually on complete opposite ends of the spectrum. What if you don’t want to be as good as Superman or the incarnation of evil?
RPGs are often huge, sprawling endeavours. With limited playtime, we have to choose wisely, so here's the best western RPGs available today.
"I started playing games yesterday" the List... Meh!
How about a few RPGs that deserve some love instead?
1 - Alpha Protocol - Now on GOG
2 - else Heart.Break()
3 - Shadowrun Trilogy
4 - Wasteland 2
5 - UnderRail
6 - Tyranny
7 - Torment: Tides of Numenera
And for a bonus game that flew under the radar:
8 - Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden
Not only glorious jank, but the idea that the story can completely change depending on what you do, or say, or side with, makes it one of the most forward thinking games ever. The amount of story permutation is the equivalent of a Hitman level but in Story Form. And it wasn't just that the story changed, no, it was that you met completely new characters, or missed them, depending on your choices. Made Mass Effect feel static in comparison.
Alpha Protocol was absolutely glorious, indeed. And it was, and still is, more Next Gen than most anything out there these days. In this regard at least.
Pity.
Based on one narratively fitting ending in Mass Effect 3, Prothean squadmate Javik is highly unlikely to return in the next Mass Effect game.
He was one of my least favorite characters. I wish they would have done the Proths different.
The inFamous games are an important part of PlayStation history, but the series is in limbo and playing older entries isn't exactly easy.
Would like remasters of 1 and 2. I enjoyed them much more than Second Son.
1 & 2 had more of an emphasis on climbing and the traversal requires a bit more effort in a good way. It was rewarding. Second Son made climbing mostly obsolete so they put little effort into it. The traversal was just great in inFamous 1 & 2. There's a reason Sunset Overdrive copied and improved upon the induction grind mechanic.
Reminds me of how I felt about the decline of parkour and the well designed tombs (basically Prince Of Persia levels) that we saw in the Assassin's Creed games.
The story and atmosphere were also much better in 1 & 2.
Electricity is just a brilliant superpower for an open world city. It perfectly fits just like webslinging does in New York and it has many applications.
I enjoyed Second Son but it was too short. The first 2 were great though
Second Son was alright but didn't touch the first two games
It felt short and lacking in comparison
Also I really thought Reggie would have made a better protagonist, someone who is anti-conduit as much as him and ends up becoming one would have been interesting to see. I kind of enjoyed his character throughout the game as his development.
why is it right now, the thing I want the most from Sony is to release remasters of inFamous (1,2 & SS), KZ (1,2 & 3), Resistance (RFoM, 2 and 3) and Motorstorm (1,2 & 3)??
All great choices. I would like to add Warhawk/Starhawk to that. The multiplayer in Warhawk was amazing. I am surprised Sony hasn't looked into MAG either. That game was ahead of its time.
Maybe Sony should make an internal studio like Bluepoint games and all they do is remake/remaster these amazing games, even going back to PS1,PS2,PSP, Vita portfolio. And because of the recent articles suggesting cost cutting, budget issues and releasing more games on PC, they could do that with these remakes/remasters. Do a day one on PC and PS5. At the end of the day Sony or any other company is going to do what makes them the most money.
Wouldn't the onus be on the consumers? If they bought the Infamous games, then we'd have more games from that series.
Infamous has sold millions of units. People have been asking for more. They aren't interested. Just like people have been asking for more Resistance or even a remaster collection, but insomniac isn't revisiting that either. Likely never getting a new sequel since they're a Marvel studio now.
No. Infamous was successful. But after a few entries (which are taking longer to make these days) a lot of Sony studios move on to new IPs. That's not a bad thing at all. They don't need to make inFamous games forever, just like we didn't need new Sly Cooper games forever.
But people would like to be able to easily play them on current hardware which is reasonable. Same for Killzone, Resistance, MGS4, etc. Good games shouldn't be trapped on old hardware. It's good that Bluepoint ported Uncharted 1-3.
I'm not saying it wasn't successful. I enjoyed playing all 3 entries and DLC. But like you said, people move on, studios move on. But I don't think I've heard people asking for more Infamous in a long time.
The franchise was popular we got quite a few games but Suchet punch wanted to beach out I think that's why we got ghost of Tsushima over infamous 4
Tbh ghost is a fantastic game I'm not complaining about that but I'd love to see infamous handled by another team
Id take GoT2 over Infamous right now but after GoT2 or maybe 3 if they go trilogy I’d like a new Infamous.
that's the problem with Sony that puzzles me A LOT! they have studios specifically specialized in remastering and remaking old games for new gen hardware, but we are getting very few of them. SoTC, Uncharted collections, Demon's Souls Remake, TLoU Part 1...and?? that's it? why aren't they giving their old games new lease of life on the PS5 for the new generations of gamers to enjoy? they clearly have the expertise. for god sake, I can even accept lazy porting like Nintendo are doing for theirs if I have to.
There are a lot of games that consumers have been asking Playstation for, Playstation won't do it, so a lot of these developers have gone and made it themselves by any means possible such as Kickstarter (e.g. Armed Fantasia, Penny Blood, Ratatan, 100 Heroes, ect...). Developers have even asked if Sony could help them out with porting/remasters some of these older games for Playstation, they said no.
Um...dude like you say that as if nobody bought them....the devs went on to do ghosts after 3 infamous games....3
People ask for new resistance and new infamous at every moment where it makes sense to mention it.
Having a remake of 1 and 2 would be very welcomed I'm sure.
I would love to see a new game but a feel that would get a response similar to Saints Row.
If they keep any of the characters from the previous games I think it would do fine unlike Saints Row which decided to replace fan favorites with less likable replacements. I wouldn't be surprised if that decision caused a majority of their buyers to be new to the series rather than returning players. I will say though, if Infamous Second Son or the first two Infamous games were remade I would be a day one buyer on PC.
Loved all 3 of them. I couldn't get on with the vampire spin off though. Wish they didn't move away from cole but I didn't mind the other character.
I hate blatant moral choices in games. They're never done well, ever. Some games handle them better than others, but I still know the consequences of each choice. It's a real shame that most "gray" moral choices are "do a good thing but lose a good thing" or "do a bad thing and something you don't want to happen, happens".
spoilers for the first fallout
I'll admit that I never played fallout 1 and 2 until after 3 got me into the series (which then allowed me to realize what a misfit 3 feels like in the fallout series). When I played the first one, I arrived at junktown, and after talking to some NPC's I realized that the gangster casino owner was basically running the town. Before even talking to the sheriff, I decided I was going to make him extra happy. I walked straight into the boss' office, and shot him and his bodyguard. I reported to the sheriff, expecting a cheery reception, but what I got amounted to "what the fuck are you doing? i'm happy he's gone, but you can't just roll into town and murder someone. we needed to mount a case and gather evidence. you have to leave and never come back."
As someone who didn't get into RPGs until the KOTOR era, this blew my mind. I did the "right" thing, but got a reaction as if it were the "wrong" thing. Then I realized, there wasn't a black and white, a dark side or a light side, just a situation and the way people reacted to how I handled it. After playing other old-school RPGs, it really feels like games have devolved in terms of the spectrum of the choices you have. This is why Witcher 2 was a breath of fresh air for me-- no morality scale, just your choices and the meaningful consequences they bring about.