Until Dawn earned itself a cult following, but subsequent titles by Supermassive Games haven't found the same balance between cinematics and gameplay.
Final Fantasy VII Rebirth publisher Square Enix has declared a $140m loss based on a shakeup of its internal development pipeline.
What are they doing over there? Sounds like they canceled something big. I read a rumor a while back about ff9 remake . Here "Final Fantasy IX has gone through a very challenging development, the game is still in progress but may undergo changes drastic enough that we won't hear about it for a couple of years."
This could be one of the reasons if the rumor is true. That was Silknight i don't know how credible he is but it's something and it would make sense.
The industry implosion is continuing. Sky high budgets, prolonged development windows, stagnant sales numbers, and falling currency values (inflation) are wreaking havoc on the legacy industry. AAA games will slowly become the rarity.
Danish from eXputer: "The Witcher's upcoming sequel needs to overhaul the series' combat system if it wants to make a big splash among gamers."
after what we see ( 2015 - 2024 ) in dark souls 3, blood borne , sekiro , dragon's dogma 2 , rise of the Ronin combat they should really careful and bring very good combat in Witcher 4 this time
Saad from eXputer: "After suffering from massive financial hits, Square Enix & Bandai Namco appear to be turning over a new leaf but I'm still unconvinced."
I was talking about games with some Japanese guys here in Japan, and it seems like around here Bandai Namco has a fame of making low-quality games, with the occasional gem.
About Square Enix, I believe they lack the capacity to improve. They should learn with Capcom (although even Capcom still makes some bad mistakes), but I don't think they ever will. They keep chasing whatever is new at the time (blockchain, AI...) to say "we innovate", without considering the public perception and if these things actually improve the games or not. Them releasing too many small games with no advertising also shows a lack of trust in its own products. Even with their biggest games, like turning FF into an action game with XVI and the very divisive plot changes regarding whispers and timelines in VII Remake, shows them trying to attract a new generation of gamers without understanding what made the series so big in the first place.
I don’t know why NOW they decide on this, but I guess later is better than never.
I think it all comes down to two things: characters and story. People that play these kind of games already know that the gameplay will be limited and play out much like an interactive movie or "choose your path" kind of thing. Create an engrossing story with engrossing characters and no one will mind, fail at that and it'll be a chore.
IMO, they backtracked a lot from Until Dawn. They should've taken what really worked on that game and build upon it: characters like Ashley had completely different archs depending on your choices (she could be a bitch or a sweetheart that did no wrong), and some scenes really did play out differently based on character traits (a character could open up options to engage the killer if they had sufficient courage, for example, or open new options based on relationships and other points).
Also, to this day I don't understand why/how they did not implement a system where a character simply replaces another and the story plays out similarly, but with a new viewpoint: I always wondered how Jessica would behave if Mike was the one pulled by Wendigos in the cabin, or how Matt would fare down the mines instead of Emily. I know it's more recording sessions and more motion capture, which means more resources, but hell, it's all there, just go the extra mile, create a few new lines to keep it fresh, recycle scenarios, movements... Maybe ditch paying high profile actors and put that money into better areas of improvement.
Just my two cents.