Hugh Grant is in this?!
I honestly couldn't agree more
That sums up my thoughts just about perfectly. I can see where the criticism is coming from (on the rare occasions when people online deign to be constructive rather than vitriolic), and I also can't deny that it's enjoyable to play. Smoothest gunplay since Call of Duty 4, easily. The game feels oddly unfinished, which is kind of inexcusable given how much time and effort went into it. It's certainly not bad, but part of me hopes that the online patching and rebalancing that modern gaming makes possible eventually results in something like Diablo III: Reaper of Souls, where it's still recognizably the same game, but the balance, content and overall "feel" have been retooled into something fantastic rather than just fun.
I just want to bring something up. Bungie never said that it was an MMO. They called it a shared world shooter. That is why alot of people that are playing it because it is an MMO end up being disapointed. I do agree that it feels unfinished and everything, but that is Activision's fault not Bingie's.
While I may not agree with what you say, I'll defend to the death your right to say it. -Voltaire
People aren't comparing it to an MMO because Bungie said it was one, and they aren't saying 'MMO' as a good thing. It's the bastard child of an MMO because it copied the frigging grinding, story delivery and encounter management from MM Os. Like the things which everyone hates MM Os for doing.
You can play it for ten minutes and the word 'MMO' should be screaming into your ear. When was the last single-player game you played where the monsters all stood around in plain sight, not reacting to you, not doing anything, in a clearly artificial way and only fighting you when you get too close or initiate? And then they respawn in the exact same spot after you kill them.
Because I can't remember the last single player game I played like that, but World of Warcraft sure frigging does that
That might be true, but I have been hearing alot of grumblings along the lines of how I put it. Most of the people that I have talked to about Destiny has been comparing it to MM Os by saying that Bungie fail to make it an MMO and that they like MMORP Gs. But the other side of your comment, I see a lot of grinding in any game that is called an ARPG (Fallout, System Shock, Deus Ex, Mass Effect, Borderlands, etc... and most of those are single player games) which is how I see Destiny. And honestly most games that don't call them selves AR Gs that have respawning enimies have the same flaw. But I do agree with you on the fact that I hate those aspects of MM Os.
While I may not agree with what you say, I'll defend to the death your right to say it. -Voltaire
I also forgot to add two things; 1) I agree that Bungie did a crap job of copying the grinding, story delivery, and the encounter management (like you said). But I blame that on Activision, not Bungie! LOL 2) I don't want you to think that I am arguing with you because I am not. I am just stating things how I have seen them. For all intents and purposes, you could be 100% correct as I have not been able to talk to everybody about this. So the majority might not like MM Os and hate the fack that Bungie did that to this game!
While I may not agree with what you say, I'll defend to the death your right to say it. -Voltaire
As a side note Fallout, System Shock, Deus Ex and Mass Effect don't have grinding (and it's actually impossible to grind in Deus Ex and Mass Effect because the enemies don't respawn).
I think 'Destiny' isn't MMO enough is still a valid complaint, because if it's going to be laden with all the terrible MMO tropes then they should also bring the positive ones in too. If we're going to have static unchanging worlds then we should have player shops and guilds and housing too. If we're going to have an always on-game that kicks you out whenever it wants to update, even if you're not playing with other people, then it should have a decent chat system. I think people can still say that even if Bungie didn't actually say it was an MMO.
Destiny is very comparable to Borderlands and you make a really good point about the ARP Gs. I think Destiny is either a failed MMO hybrid or an ARPG that isn't very good at some things compared to other ARP Gs (but does have fantastic visuals and combat). I love your comment about Bungie doing a crap job trying to copy the grinding =D
The one thing other ARP Gs do better thatn I wish Bungie copied, is how they lay out their enemies. Borderlands and Diablo manage to have respawning enemies that don't feel quite so MM Oish. They don't often have multiple groups of enemies standing around in a densely packed field, instead the maps are really large and the enemies often rush at you almost as soon as they come into vision.
With the amount of money Bungie had I think they should have been able to solve the respawning problem altogether. They should have been able to make a system where the enemy always seems to be doing something, foraging, building, fighting each other. Destiny even does the last one, just not often enough. And then instead of respawning them in the same spot, have them spawn in fairly random locations off screen where the player can't see it happen.
Thanks for how polite you were in your responses by the way. I hope I haven't come off aggressive sounding, because that's not at all the way I meant it, I was interested in what you said.
I really want to learn about how Destiny ended up as it was. I suspect Activision screwed up a lot of it (especially with the DLC), but I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of it was an honest mistake by Bungie too. To me it sounds like Bungie was trying to do something really ambitious and experimental and they spent years working on it, before finding out the idea wouldn't quite work. Then they tried to rework it into something salvageable.
That happens to good studios, Blizzard had to scrap their latest MMO because of that and Valve scrap games that they've worked on all the time. The difference is they have enough money that they can afford to do that, whereas I suspect Activision forced them to finish the game, even if it was broken
Yeah, I deffinetly agree with you on on that. Right now it is a poor copy of both the MMO side and the ARPG side. I know I was hoping for more with this game, as Bungie and Bioware are two of my favorite companies! The chat system is one of the major things I do not like about Destiny, no matter what you call it (MMO/ARPG/'Shared World Shooter') you still have to do the social side of things! No real chat? And you are adding it in 'at a later time'? I haven't played that much of Borderlands or Diablo (stigmatism & the graphics in those games don't really mix) but I did notice the emob spawns are a lot better in those games! And doesn't Activision own Blizzard? Activision should have helped them with that!
I read alot about the Activision/Bungie fiasco on Reddit but have recently been looking into it on some news sites and Bungies site. There is a lot of information out there about what it was vs what it is. I do not blame Activision with all of it, but I know how they treat new I Ps. Of course I see it happening to a lot of new games - 'It's not Co D/BF/World of Warcraft enough so change it'... so we usually end up with the same game just with a different GUI!
And no I didn't think you were sounding aggressive, I just wanted to make sure that you didn't think I was. I am honestly enjoying this conversation!
While I may not agree with what you say, I'll defend to the death your right to say it. -VoltaireLeave a Comment:
EDIT: A cynical swindle and an alarming precedent
"And thus we are left with a strange jack of all trades that is at once fun and boring. "
This is how I concluded my previous review of this video game. I was disappointed with Destiny but still believed that the crux of the gameplay had merit and in general the game had unrealized potential. Well, it's been a about half a year now, Destiny is long since off my shelf, and I've come to view Destiny as an unholy abomination that is an insult to every damn self-respecting gamer.
Don't get me wrong, Destiny is functional. It's not an awful game because of its gameplay or mechanics; those work, and we're not dealing with a Ride To Hell Retribution here. No, Destiny has garnered my wrath on pure principle alone. The entire purpose of Destiny was to surgically separate its victims from their cash through the most cynical means possible. The entire game was constructed to withhold just enough from the player - to lock out just enough content - that the only way players could get a COMPLETE experience (in other words, what you reasonably expect out of a AAA, $60 game) is through DLC. It should come as no surprise that the first two D.L.C.s were announced before the game was even released. From my experience with The Dark Below by the way, these D.L.C.s suck even more than the base game, with even less story and effort thrown into them somehow.
The marketing says all that needs to be said about this game. The only justification for the fact that Activision (no surprise they're behind this corporate BS) spent the GDP of a small country on this IP is because they did everything from slap their damn posters and cut outs over every game store in the developed world to making live action trailers that look like something from Guardians of the Galaxy to getting PAUL FUCKING MCCARTNEY to compose their credits song. They simply created a cult of hype and then greedily soaked up the money from the tricked fools like me who bought the game on day one plus season pass. And they're just going to keep on milking this cow, ladies and gentlemen, you can guarantee it.
This
video puts it into better terms than this review.
AVOID LIKE PLAGUE