Xbox Series X's cross-gen approach is robbing players of the next-gen thrill

[Mr Puggsly]

d21lewis said:

Mr Puggsly said:

I'm not just making a blanket statement, I'm looking at individual games.

We were looking at titles like Ryse, Killzone:SF and Infamous:SS in particular. The goalpost seems to be moving to all games could work on 7th gen.

Anyway, I think we agree some constraints are just due to typical game design. When developers get better specs to work with, much of it often just goes to better presentation. I mean the UE5 wasn't boasting about a new gameplay experiences per se, it was showing us how dank rocks look with advanced lighting effects.

I don't know about goal posts but I've gone on record several times saying that this entire gen felt like gen 7.5. I watched Ryse on Twitch and it actually made me NOT want an Xbox One. I just wasn't impressed. And Second Son was my second PS4 game. Just like the PS3 (and PS2 now that I think about it--that's why I bought The Bouncer) I wanted my second game to be a graphical monster.

Maybe I just had unrealistic expectations but I was disappointed with both. It took a long time for me to be happy with the 8th gen. It was a slow evolution. The PSVR, on the other hand. I was blown away on day one. That's the "wow" I wanted from a new machine. I think I've said Until Dawn was the first game that looked next gen to me--but thinking about it, it may have been The Order. Never played Killzone even when I could have gotten it for free. 

Maybe it's less about moving goalposts and people genuinely not being amazed.

*Edit* I actually wound up buy Ryse three different times 😂

Yep, I've called it gen 7.5 as well. I mean the biggest change seems like it was in the multiplayer experiences. I suppose PSVR can perceived as something fresh, I just feel the games are fundamentally not impressive or could be enjoyable without VR.

Quite honestly, I played all the launch era games of the 8th gen. Forza 5, Dead Rising 3, Ryse, Killzone:SF, Infamous:SS... and a few minutes of Knack. These were okay or solid games, not next gen experiences. Although, Dead Rising 3 impressed me because we never really saw something of scale pushing so many on screen enemies with decent physics.

The market mostly went with cross gen games. Which might be why 1st parties are seemingly focusing on cross gen content. As long as the games push 9th gen specs in performance and visual improvements, I think I'm fine with that early in the gen.

I'm saying the goal posts moved from people wanting next gen exclusives for new experiences. To better graphics is fine, even if cross gen games could deliver that.

I beat Ryse twice. Wouldn't be surprised if I beat again eventually likely on PC. I can't argue its a notable game, it just a shallow enjoyable experience with a cool story. However, I probably would have enjoyed it on 360 as well. I suspect it could have looked decent on 360 specs given the good job Crytek did with Crysis 3.

Last edited by Mr Puggsly - on 19 May 2020