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Giant Bomb |OT 16| All Your Favorite Personalities Will Be Back Soon
- Thread starter Death Metalist
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That's kinda the thing though: it is par for the course for the series, which is bad 'cause the only Borderlands games that don't have terrible writing are the first one - which mainly just had way less writing than subsequent games, but in a way that made it far more tolerable; they hadn't gone full zany-but-in-a-bad-way yet - and Tales, which is the only Borderlands game with genuinely good writing.
The only Borderlands games I think are actually good are the first one and Tales, so I wish they'd make something more like those.
For what it's worth, BL3 seems like one of those games where there's a bit of a disconnect between critics and general audience. Places like GB and Waypoint seem if not down, at least milquetoast about it. But the game has sold exceedingly well, and appears to have been really well received by consumers.
Yeah, I think that's about the best/most QLs have to offer these days. I tend to just watch QLs of games I already like, just to see how the crew reacts to it. Like the Three Houses is one of my favourite recent quick looks since despite Dan not knowing a lot of the intricacies or story of the game, it's fun to see him excitedly playing while Abby and Vinny are being incredulous about all the anime warfare happening
Sorry to be that person, but I think you mean lukewarm. Milquetoast means something more like cowardly, which I don't think I would say about either GB or Waypoint's critiques!
OP
OP
Dude was on several podcasts during his vacation. He can't stop, I guess.
The thing that gets me about their critique about Borderlands 3 specifically is that, I agree overall it's by far not the best the series has to offer and has problems - the writing is the worst its ever been, the jokes are weirdly heavy on the "topical" streamer lingo that makes this game seem dated as fuck already, the menus are laggy, the environment design is messy, in general it feels like a game that should've came out 5 years ago, but what they want it to be instead doesn't sound like "Borderlands at its core, but better" but rather "shared semi-MMO online space where you can customize your armor and just go on missions with friends from a little MMO hub thing but not like Destiny though (but kinda like Destiny though)."
So, I'm in this weird space where I think the game is largely disappointing and not the best it could be, but my vision for what I want the series to be is running in completely the opposite direction because the last thing I want from BL3 is to be an MMO-like shlooter with endless gear treadmills, item levels, raids, and all those baby's-first-MMO Game-as-a-Service trappings, which seems to be their only competing vision even if as critics they've been critiquing the core concept of that kind of game over and over for the last few years. It's some weird video game version of "easier to imagine the end of the world than to imagine the end of capitalism" thing where you hate the only thing you seem to want but still want it anyway.
So, I'm in this weird space where I think the game is largely disappointing and not the best it could be, but my vision for what I want the series to be is running in completely the opposite direction because the last thing I want from BL3 is to be an MMO-like shlooter with endless gear treadmills, item levels, raids, and all those baby's-first-MMO Game-as-a-Service trappings, which seems to be their only competing vision even if as critics they've been critiquing the core concept of that kind of game over and over for the last few years. It's some weird video game version of "easier to imagine the end of the world than to imagine the end of capitalism" thing where you hate the only thing you seem to want but still want it anyway.
With Puzzle Quest coming out on the Switch today I decided to check out that studio's latest game last night... "Gem of War" on mobile and BOOOYYYYYYYYYYYYY.... That sure is a mobile game....
It actually looks kinda fun and, at first glance, doesn't look like the micro transactions are too bad but that game has SYSTEMS .... Geeeeeezzzzzzz.... There's more menus and sub-menus in that game than in most PC/Console RPGs I have seen... It's a super confusing UI and there's layers on top of layers of stuff.... It's kinda crazy.
Oh also it doesn't appear to work when offline which makes it an instant no-go for me since half of my commute is spent underground without cell signal.
It actually looks kinda fun and, at first glance, doesn't look like the micro transactions are too bad but that game has SYSTEMS .... Geeeeeezzzzzzz.... There's more menus and sub-menus in that game than in most PC/Console RPGs I have seen... It's a super confusing UI and there's layers on top of layers of stuff.... It's kinda crazy.
Oh also it doesn't appear to work when offline which makes it an instant no-go for me since half of my commute is spent underground without cell signal.
Listening to the Bombcast they're right about Borderlands lacking in any real ambition and the humour falling flat but once the game itself clicks I think it's a really good time. Glad Ben and Jason were at least more enthusiastic about it but Jeff was just depressing to listen to and it really shifted the entire tone of the conversation, Ben wound up practically coming across apologetic for enjoying it.
The amount of new games that staff members at Giant Bomb have collectively finished this year will be shockingly low. They just don't give a fuck about being critics anymore, yet still try and wear the hat, so there is a direct conflict that comes through on their content that isn't them playing old games.
I feel like it's a combination of a sort of nostalgia they have for the older days of when they did reviews a lot, and their time being shaped at Gamespot, that the staff doesn't want to fully part with the "critic" or "games writer" part of their job, even if it's practically non-existent at this point, but also the fact that maintaining that aspect of the site in their mind is some sort of extra legitimacy that differentiates them from just basically being YouTubers/Twitch streamers even if that's effectively just what they are now (which is fine).
It reminds me of some time in 2013 when Jeff was making a comment about how they don't do shit like "unboxing videos" and literally within months they were doing exactly that with the new consoles and that realization was just kind of barely acknowledged. They are that.
It reminds me of some time in 2013 when Jeff was making a comment about how they don't do shit like "unboxing videos" and literally within months they were doing exactly that with the new consoles and that realization was just kind of barely acknowledged. They are that.
takes aren't really hot anymore seeing as they've been going on for years lol. Funny thing is that the humor is completely subjective. My group of friends all playing borderlands absolutely love the humor and references. That want the cheap laughs to unwind (though hearing their partners watch Bob's burgers or american dad through their mics in party chat should have tipped me off that they'd love this type of humor)
GOTY is going to be so weird. Not only because of the low number of games that they've seemingly finished, but also how it seems like most of the staff won't have played a given game when it comes time to talk about it, whereas in previous years you could be damn sure that everyone was going to have at least tried Skyrim or PUBG.
Which games will end up with the most number of staff members that played them? Maybe Control? Maybe Death Stranding? It's going to be an awkward top 10 when games that get in at #4 or 5 haven't been touched by a sizable portion of the staff.
that's the gerstmann special :)
it was fucking WEIRD to hear him unabashedly praise control a few weeks ago
this has been a pretty shit year after the banger that was 2018. 2020 is looking to make up for it with some massive releases during those first 6 months.
GB GOTY 2019 is probably between apex and tetris 99. and control i guess. maybe a little re2 remake and death stranding if it hits those styyyyyyyyyyle notes properly
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Borderlands wishes it were as funny or heartfelt as Bob's Burgers at its best.
(For real tho, I know plenty of people seem to enjoy Borderlands' humour and I don't begrudge them that, but that doesn't mean I don't think it's bad, or could be far better while still appealing to the same people as it does now.)
Ha yeah I was thinking about this earlier. It's kinda funny that GB has always had a general derision of the streamer/influencer thing but have ended up slowly transitioning into that exact style of content. Which is fine! But I kind of wish they'd fully acknowledge that and stop trying to be critical and just focus on making fun videos, because that's where they're at their best. I think East having embraced that more is part of why their videos are more consistently entertaining (imo).
GB Top Three (in no particular order):
Control
Doom
Outer Wilds
I really couldn't disagree more, honestly. The fact that GB still act like they came from a press background on, like, a site-culture level, instead of just like every other YouTuber, is crucial to their unique appeal. Besides, it's an intrinsic part of their identity, and I genuinely don't know how they even could move away from it—it colours their goofy fun videos just as much as everything else, because it's simply who they are.
Control
Doom
Outer Wilds
I really couldn't disagree more, honestly. The fact that GB still act like they came from a press background on, like, a site-culture level, instead of just like every other YouTuber, is crucial to their unique appeal. Besides, it's an intrinsic part of their identity, and I genuinely don't know how they even could move away from it—it colours their goofy fun videos just as much as everything else, because it's simply who they are.
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Sayonara Wildhearts devs complaining about signing a bad deal is both unprofessional and pretty funny
So many indie devs will get taken advantage of with these services
So many indie devs will get taken advantage of with these services
Yo this fire emblem mission I'm gonna start feels like it's gonna be a terror mission from XCOM.
People in the village of Remire are going crazy and it seems like I need to save those that aren't insane. I'll be simultaneously excited/terrified if a Chryssaid like monster gets revealed at some point.
That's the main plot setup of almost every zombie movie and game, heh.
Their most watched videos in recent years are basically those (like the NES/SNES Classic ones) and press conferene streams aka react videos.
Okay out of curiosity I looked into that Death Stranding thread and... there seems to be already a cult of people who signed up to blindly love the game no matter what? I mean one poster refers to "normal players" as in suggesting "those who don't get it" or what?
chill, it's only been out for like a week
/s
is this the handsomest pokemon yet? would you marry him?
They stole the design from the Storks movie:
I would personally love them to play and talk about games on a more critical level more often, but I think the larger point is that, beyond that kind of cultural affectation of being Critics they really dropped any pretense of being functionally different from streamers and YouTubers years ago since by far their most successful aspect of the site at this point is playing videos on stream/goofy gimmick shows/full on let's plays, not to mention just straight up reaction videos. They come from a different place for sure but if the site disintegrated tomorrow and the staff started doing their own independent crowd-funded thing they would just be doing the same kind of videos as they are now.
Years ago I think they had that unique appeal you're talking about - part of what's so unique about the Endurance Run of P4 for example is that Vinny and Jeff are very much not "let's players" or whatever at that point in their lives, they work at a for-real games writing place on a more official level and that extra production value, and their different perspective on the game (in addition to the banter being filled with Jeff talking about going to big review events or even being on TV at the time like X-Play) made it a kind of odd surreal combination. But as production values of YouTube have arguably eclipsed theirs (GB's production value basically peaked with Space Egyptians and the assorted GOTY skits of those days) and they've moved further and further away from even putting thoughts into writing at all, they basically just are gaming YouTubers/streamers now. There was a distinction there a long time ago but basically that's long gone.
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Yeah i love the crew but i cancelled premium, their videos are just too long. Id love shorter form 30 or 20 minute long videos
3D pokemon games in general look like trash. I must have wished on a monkey paw as a kid wanting them to move beyond 2D...
Its that rick and morty mentality where some "fans" feel they are able to understand and relate to the show better than most because of their self expressed "high iq", when in reality they are a bunch of wanna be intellectuals who just want something to gate keep. The fact that we have blind kojima fans reffering to people who still need to be sold on that game as normal players ins concerning
they said on the cast that they would do it today. today is probably the first time west had to record it since they got it on friday I think.
This "at what point did you believe" trend is just the worst. Fucking culty-ass behavior. It's just a piece of media.
Is this smarmy asshole a Farfetchd evolution? It looks great. I've never seen such self-satisfaction on a Pokemon.is this the handsomest pokemon yet? would you marry him?
im trying to not be snarky but it seems to happen to any other game/piece of media, just differing in intensity
No idea if the game is actually good but this looks (visually) amazing
May god help us all if the game gets bad reviews
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