End of Gen: Your Hot Takes

[Neon Ignition]

We're in the last true current gen year now and are able to cast a fair eye back on how things have panned out since those early days of Kinect 2.0 and derubbered DS4 sticks.

Looking back, what are your Hot Take gaming opinions?

[Neon Ignition]

Open Worlds
Plenty of them haven't been bad but I'd wager the opinion that this generation none of them have been truly great. I give some leeway towards RDR2 because of the nature of the setting but otherwise I can't think of one that I have a fondness of.

[QualityChimp]

Before we progress, could you elaborate what a "hot take" is, please?

[Asura]

My hot take for this generation is that VR was amazing, most other stuff was disappointing by comparison. Seems like I'm being harsh, but it's true.

None of Ubi's open-world stuff has appealed to me, and I generally don't like single-player FPS games so the range of those didn't really appeal either. I love MMOs, but the last one that impressed me was Guild Wars 2 over 7 years ago; none of the newer crop really appealed that much, and SWTOR was my biggest gaming disappointment of recent years.

Street Fighter V didn't grab me. Going from III to IV was a huge jump; IV to V felt like an incremental change, and I didn't like the way it was structured as a "live service" game. I never even bought it, despite having bought all the major iterations of IV along with sticks for both consoles.

Too much of the start of the generation had straddling third-party titles, and as a PC owner, that doesn't sell me a console. Then, we hit the head of the wave of games which were unfinished, cut up and sold in pieces, season passes for stuff that was made before the game was put on the disc...

This isn't to say that I disliked everything. I've enjoyed loads of games - Splatoon 1&2, Steins;Gate, Mario Odyssey, Smash, MK8, Deeprock Galactic, Sea of Thieves, Xenoblade 2, tons of stuff for the Vita and Switch. In the end, I only got a PS4 for VR, and I sold it once I was done with the better VR experiences.

I was sad to see Starlink was such a colossal flop. I really enjoyed it and would've loved it as a kid.

No new Armored Core or Ridge Racer.

Conversely, the leaps and bounds VR has made have made it all worthwhile, for me. My favourite game of the generation is probably Blood & Truth despite its simplicity; because when I remember it, I remember being in it. It was just fantastic fun. I'm totally sold on VR experiences and I really want that momentum to continue.

Open Worlds
Plenty of them haven't been bad but I'd wager the opinion that this generation none of them have been truly great. I give some leeway towards RDR2 because of the nature of the setting but otherwise I can't think of one that I have a fondness of.

A lot of people loved Zelda's... I actually have yet to play it. I should probably fix that soon.

[Neon Ignition]

Before we progress, could you elaborate what a "hot take" is, please?

Typically an attention grabbing or controversial imo comment that isn't particularly qualified with something to back it up



Zelda's open world is, for me, in the same bracket as Witcher etc - i.e it does the job. Like so many games it lays out a vast open field to traverse but I find them utterly lacking in memorable features or noteworthy distractions. They feel to me like they exist for scales sake. It's the old GTA3-GTA4 issue. The latter had an open world that utterly dwarfed its predecessors in terms of detail, physics, visuals, scale, effects etc and yet felt about 5% as fun to play in

[Junko]

Unfortunately digital download seems to be the way forward for mainstream consumers .
Don’t take your user base for granted and assume 3 or 4 exclusives will be enough to keep them loyal .
Nintendo can still pull it out of the bag
VR at home is pretty phenomenal

[Cassius_Smoke]

I agree with Asura.
The only thing i'll add is that this generation will be remembered for the introduction of loot boxes and gambling thus souring the image of video-games forever.

[QualityChimp]

People are obsessed with getting the latest consoles, when the ones we have are still more than adequate.

[Team Andromeda]

I haven't ejoyed a gaming generation so much since the 6th Gen of Console and the OG XBox/Cube/PS2 days.
So many great games, also loved the HD and Remasters too how many games looked to get back to 60 fps. Also, been nice (on a personal level) to see SEGA Japan producing some nice, to decent stuff; like with Jackie Chan their best days may well be behind them, but I will never stop cheering them on LOL

Highlight of this generation for me has been Resident Evil 7. Not only did get the IP back to its roots, its also been the best game this gen and well one of the best I've played in any gen.

[Cassius_Smoke]

Hands down I've played more games and more variety of games this Gen then any other...ever.

[Team Andromeda]

People are obsessed with getting the latest consoles, when the ones we have are still more than adequate.

Once we all here used to be like that. Couldn't wait for that new console to launch in Japan . I don't see what's so wrong with looking forward to new tech and new systems. So many people I know simply can't wait for the next mobile phone to launch

[QualityChimp]

Once we all here used to be like that. Couldn't wait for that new console to launch in Japan . I don't see what's so wrong with looking forward to new tech and new systems. So many people I know simply can't wait for the next mobile phone to launch

That surprises me, actually TA.
You're frequently saying how beautiful modern gaming is and how great they look in 4K HDR and whatnot.
I was thinking you'd agree that the current consoles have more life in them before updating.

The only console I've ever bought at launch was the XBox 360.

All the others I've happily bought years into their cycle and still got loads of gaming out of them.

I just don't get the rush for new consoles when it's not like the gameplay and controllers will change (excluding Nintendo) and the graphics won't be much shinier.

It just doesn't bother me. Hence I was playing Half-Life last week.

[QualityChimp]

The only thing i'll add is that this generation will be remembered for the introduction of loot boxes and gambling thus souring the image of video-games forever.

Microsoft had a crack at taking away all your consumer rights when they launched the XBox, had to u-turn and have been playing catch-up ever since.

However, they've all done little things to chip away like only 360 are kept in Games With Gold. One games need an active subscription.
Sony used to be free to play online, but you need a sub now.

Loot boxes are never going away.
Taking part of the game out to resell back as DLC is now standard.
Day 1 patches, empty carts that trigger a download and digital-only deleted games means that in years to come, you won't be able to play your old games like you can with a SNES because Microsoft gave up making consoles and turned the servers off.
The Vita won't run unless you update, but Sony don't support the patches any more.

Nintendo will still be making new consoles with the same 6 IPs but a different controller every time.

[Team Andromeda]

That surprises me, actually TA.
You're frequently saying how beautiful modern gaming is and how great they look in 4K HDR and whatnot.
I was thinking you'd agree that the current consoles have more life in them before updating.

And It does, but I want more and always look forward to new consoles and new tech. This gen has gone on long enough. I grew up in the era was when consoles had 4 to 5-year life span before its successor was launched. Can't remember a huge change in gameplay or controllers from the move to PS to PS2 or PS3 to PS4 myself.

Even in the 16 bit days, it was still much the same gameplay as than seen in the 8 bit systems only done better with more flashier graphics and better sound. I don't think it really mattered that Mario IV or Ghost N Ghouls was more of the same on the 16 bit systems to what Mario III, Ghouls N Ghosts did on the older systems.

[teddymeow]

My hot take is that the next-gen is Sony's to balls up.