crispy4000

Kind of ballsy to predict that Smash or Pokemon won't make Top 10. There were 3 Switch games in the top 10 last year, even with Nintendo's digital sales excluded.

Another notable game where better technology and an attempt at 'modernization' didn't help. I haven't played FFXV yet, but it doesn't sound like it brought the franchise back to its former glory either.

8 technically wasn't on the SNES. Rockman & Forte was. I actually don't mind 8 as much as 7's style. The sprites and animations in 7 are just really bad for judging jump distances.

Megaman is the big exception in my book. Megaman 7 was so jarring. It took Capcom until X to hit their stride on the SNES.

Reinvention is definitely good for that franchise, but I could also see Infinite being as polarizing to fans as 343i's other entries. If they do go open world with it, it'd be hard to reconcile that with the linear design with open spaces that Halo is known for. The current consoles would allow them to try it, sure. It might also end up being the wrong approach. A larger canvas doesn't necessarily result in a more prized picture. I feel much of the same applies to this talk about technology and modern game design.

I'm actually happy this game is coming this year. It should make up a little for so many games getting pushed for RDR2.

Nothing. I was just wanting to discuss how fun the NES ports still are. It all depends on the nature of what the restrictions mean for the game design. I've beaten both versions of TMNT2, and while I prefer the arcade, I'd still say both games work out similarly enough to each other in the end. Konami did an excellent job considering the power difference. It was a fantastic port. This might appear totally unrelated, but what are your feelings about Halo Infinite potentially being an open world FPS?

And they still ended up being better beat'em ups than pretty much anything else on the system. I bet most people experienced, or beat, TMNT2 at home on the NES.

Well, of course. The NES wasn't as powerful as new arcade hardware at the time. I was thinking more about when arcade to NES conversions resulted in a crap game.

TMNT might not be the best example. The NES ports were still awesome in their own right.

Less limitations and compromises is good, overall. But it's not always a net positive for a particular game or franchise. Or industry trends, depending on what you like. Compare BoTW's reception with previous Zelda games. Nintendo definitely needed an HD console to to pull it off. Lots of people ate it up and called it the best Zelda ever. But there's others like me who really don't think the freedom to make something like BoTW resulted in a stronger game. I might have preferred Skyward Sword on the whole. I'm still glad BoTW is what it was. At least in the context of that series, BoTW's design felt fresh.

I love RE4's campiness, personally. I don't often get into unsettling survival horror games, so the fact that it took some of the edge off was appreciated in my book. The whole Salazar chapter was so much fun.

Basically, what Bjomesphat said. RE4 wouldn't be as good as it is without some breaks too. The only thing I'd really criticize is the last boss, who felt a little too weak sauce. Especially up against the rocket launcher.

For me, I mainly feel that way about classic Resident Evil. Tank controls with static camera angles is where I personally draw the line. REmake still is worth suffering through it for. I'm happy to see RE2 at E3 abandon them.

It's really not though, when pacing encompasses all of that and level design, balance, spacing of plot points, etc. The game has aged wonderfully, IMO, as a result of the way those pieces come together. Not because it did one super-specific thing better than any other game back then, or now. So I'll gladly stick with 'pacing.' That's more about trend-setting than what RE4 is on its own, granted.

Never said it was. But if it's not, it's up there. Totally agreed on Bioshock, btw. Still a fantastic game. I don't understanding why there would need to be something else. Especially when pacing compasses so many things.

I've always felt that improvements in "game-making craft" can be very subjective, with how industry trends change and focuses shift. So for example, if you love open-world quest systems, skill trees and the current microtransaction trends, this generation could be ticking all the right boxes for you. Those have now been iterated on to high heaven. But not everyone's going to feel thrilled about that. The larger canvas that new technology brings also naturally shifts certain design philosophies around pacing, map design, and balance. Sometimes working under forced limitations creates a tighter-knit game. The good news is that we do have indie games to cover the many cracks big-budget retail leaves open. So I do think we're seeing the best of both worlds. It's a good time to play games. Better said than I could.

Broadly speaking, its pacing.

I'd disagree, but my own diatribe could be involved as well for how many more generations I'd want to cover. Wouldn't be worth it either. This gen is not even over yet. I think this conversation might be better saved for then.

Yup. To say it now just feels premature to me. I haven't seen many PS4/XBO games lauded as 'best in class' other than Witcher 3, and maybe Bloodborne and Forza Horizon 3. At least outside of highly iterative genres (ie: racing sims, sports sims). Or new ones like Battle Royale and Survival. It's much harder to make the best X type of game ever these days. Considering there is so much history to compare to. For example: As much as I enjoy a game like Ori & the Blind Forest, there's still a handful of older Metroidvanias I'd recommend ahead of it.

There's no doubt in my mind that this gen will end up being one of the greats. There's a good chance I'll put it over last-gen too, on the whole. Even with my issues with the microtransactions and how open-world focused certain publishers like Ubisoft have become. But the way mikechorney framed this, it isn't just about this gen vs the last. It's if the PS4/XB1's output has resulted in the the best "video games in almost every genre. " In other words: What genres have the PS4/XB1 crowned a new king in? A lot of them, or only a few? He's also excluded the Switch in that, btw.

I think it's relevant to question if there's been a better FPS than Bioshock this gen, a better survival horror game than The Last of Us, a better open world game than Red Dead Redemption, and so on. And that's just looking back one generation ago. Since you said backwards compatibility/remakes don't apply, those are fair questions now. Consequently, this is much bigger than niche or largely dead genres. As for games getting better on the whole, there are some objective improvements, such as visuals, framerate and AI. But most everything else will be subjective, and varies title by title. There's also negatives that can be leveraged against generation's tendency towards open world bloat and questionable microtransactions. I don't think I'm in a great position to give my verdict about this gen just yet, but those things will definitely be discussed in hindsight.

Sure. Those, and more popular ones today like FPSs, survival horror, RPGs, platformers, metroidvanias, etc. It's wide open for debate. Games have gotten graphically prettier this gen and bigger in scope, but that's not always going to be enough to better the previous few gens' highlights.

Chrono Trigger wouldn't look the same if released today for $60, so the point is moot. Regardless, it wouldn't need to in order to get attention. See Undertale. And if backwards compatibility or remasters don't count, there's a whole lot more genres that could be contented: survival horror, FPS, arcade sports, etc.

Again, are you counting backwards compatible games? I wouldn't say 2d platformers, arcade racers, etc are super-specific or dead subgenres. As for Chrono Trigger, it is one of the best RPGs of all time. That game is a timeless classic, and it'd be silly to hold that against it because of when it came out. The game still holds up wonderfully, as many 16-bit games do. I'd say similar things about Radiant Historia actually. And that game still looked outdated as a DS game on release. I think you're putting too much emphasis on modern technology, but that's just me.