I can't believe we are having an argument for PC Cheats trainers as a good option. Like lol.
I love trainers. I have used them a lot of times just as much as I have used the console on other games.
I just find it very funny people could be all about trainers now just because of this exaggerated mtx nonsense, but I am very sure they would have jumped at it as if it was stealing/piracy etc if it was another time.
It is very ridiculous too because the message basically is "I do not want to beat the game the way the devs intended so let me cheat". I am perfectly ok with this but I am sure many of the people saying it would frown on using cheats in other cases.
Partially, but developers can easily work around that. I just listed Persona 5 earlier, which enables God Mode (you can't game over) and also gives you crazy XP/money/damage modifiers if you select safety difficulty. Games can still lock "Complete game on hard mode" to a... hard mode trophy. So there is a bit of truth in what to do with the /god console command in a world where people see great value in achievements, but it can be done.
The bigger talking point here isn't necessarily a lack of cheats in every game, it's when developers begin to start charging silly amounts of money like $10 for what are essentially "cheats of days gone by". Or as many would say, charging for cheats full stop, especially in $60+ games. F2P games have long been stuffed with progression based boosters and time skips. It's somewhat more credible to argue F2P games have a bit more of a "right" to try and monetize patience/instant gratification or incentivize some gamers towards it. Then again, being "F2P" is not some blanket defence either. Many F2P games do things far better than others.
We're not talking about F2P games here though, so, yeah...
For sure there are still games that give out stuff or cheats for achievements, but that is not the case. We no longer see "big head mode' unlock after beating a stage in hard, we just get the pop-up and empty reward.
About the bigger talking point, I disagree. You already have a $60 that gives you 60+ hours of content without the need of any DLC/MTX. That is a great value and reading some impressions from people it seems the gating and RPG elements are not really a hindrance to progression as some make it seem.
AC Odyssey does not seem like a F2P game in any manner other than having MTX and because of that then it is compared to the F2P model, but other than monetizing some content there is nothing about the game I'd say is F2P.
I still think it is an overreaction to the change in gameplay style mixed with the fake outrage from a few youtubers. Impressions from real people have been good.
Forced gating is an issue in normal RPGs as well.
It is a design choice, not an issue.
They have always had it and people are ok with it. They know what they are getting into.
Maybe for some, it is a feature that turns them off and that is ok, maybe they are turned off about the direction AC is going to but cannot accept it.