The two largest parts of a videogame experience are the narratives that they tell, and the enjoyment players get from them.
Digital Foundry : Bethesda's Starfield was generally a well-regarded RPG, but the game's 30fps target on consoles was the subject of some controversy. The game's massive scope arguably justified that 30fps refresh rate, with only high-end PCs capable of hitting 60fps and higher, but now Bethesda has changed course and opened the floodgates on Xbox Series X consoles following significant optimisation work. Players can now independently select performance and visuals modes at arbitrary frame-rates. How exactly do these new combinations fare, and is 60fps really a possibility after it was explicitly ruled out before?
An inside look at Assassin's Creed Shadows, Ubisoft's ambitious open world Japan where your every move is affected by weather, season, and lighting systems.
Assassin's Creed Shadows digital storefront pages are up, and it confirms the game will require an internet connection, and MTX.
Avatar only had an online requirement to install the disc version, not to play.
This AC really does have Online Play Required marked on it.
One thing that's messed up about this, is there will be people playing pirated versions of this without that restriction, while the paying customers will suffer. Just like how some games will have lower performance on PC due to DRM, while pirated copies don't.
Anyone that wants to say something like "Who doesn't have internet access in this day and age?" There's plenty reasons people won't always have access, such as living in rural areas with spotty coverage, for example.
Three single-player games in a row they've done this with now. Those f***ers weren't kidding when they said gamers need to be comfortable with not owning their games. As a physical collector, and somebody who enjoys Ubisoft's open worlds, this is a nightmare scenario for me. Absolute scumbag company.
There are actually more than just a few games that blend both gameplay and narrative. You kind of have to define what you mean by gameplay though - since gameplay can mean different things to different games. Take strategy games - lets say X-Com for example; the gameplay is excellent, and it could be argued that the narrative is inconsequential - by that I mean that the story is a bonus. People play X-com for the gameplay, and not for the story. However, the story (especially how it progresses from X-Com to X-Com 2, is actually very well done).
Then you have games like the SoulsBourne series, where the story is deep and intriguing, but essentially has to be discovered through gameplay. Then there are outliers, like Oxenfree, Inside, Braid etc etc that have uniques blends of narrative and gameply
However the obvious examples of a near perfect marriage of narrative and game play, I would say the Mass Effect series (not counting Andromeda). The fan outcry due to the ending of ME3 was a testament to the impact and importance of the ME narrative, specifically as it related to gameplay. People felt cheated with a cheap narrative hack because through gameplay they had made specific choices that didn't seem to carry over narratively.
Would you kindly allow me to name just one more game that is an example of near perfect narrative and gameplay balance - Bioshock.
The Last of Us nearly perfected this balance in its campaign which is what made the game so enjoyable and immersive to play, then there's the MP which is so much fun to play. That and Infamous 2 are my mold of what AAA games should be: Fun, have a great narrative, and improve upon the 1st game in all aspects. Love these 2 games to death... Gimme a Infamous 2 remaster Sony NOW
Sacrificing gameplay for narrative... Playing a video game is simply mashing buttons at the very distilled analysis of the term in video games.
If you're trying have the argument that video game designers put more effort into the narrative at the cost of engaging gameplay mechanics then that's another story.
There's something to be said if Narratives suffer due to the fact that developers often develop them seperately due to budget and scope and time then try to meld them together at the last minute, as that for the longest is normal industry practice. But if the Game is developed with Narrative that lends itself story to emergent and engaging gameplay mechanics then we get games like God of War, and Uncharted and Horizon and The Last of Us where every form of game play mechanic ties into the lore, and story the world itself is telling.
But let's not kid ourselves, Narrative heavy games like God of War and ND's PS3-PS4 era games don't suffer because of their Narrative. Not have they sacrificed gameplay for narrative.
At the end of the day you're simply pushing buttons to trigger contextual movements and actions on screen. And that is the very basic interface of playing a game on consoles and handheld machines.
Geez ,that's garbage. Narrative and gameplay are not two elements that goes on the same balance. The fact that your gameplay is awesome does not mean that your narrative must suck. They are correlated, but the lack of one does not complement the other. It's a very narrow way to see development.
You do have to have equally experienced and committed people working in both sides, that understands and love the project.
I dont want waste my time with this article but GOW seems the opposite of that. Its strenght is precisely the gameplay.