| IcaroRibeiro said: Echoes of Wisdom is pretty mid. It would still be mid even if it had 500 million budget But in other hand, you cannot pull off a new Flight Simulator or Horizon without proper workforce I'm not saying every game needs to be a GTA, just like not every movie needs to be a new Avatar. But there isn't anything inherently wrong with neither. If you're confident you can pull a great and ambitious game, then go for it. Avatar itself was special because it had a amazing director who believe 3D could enhance the cinematic experience. Story wise the movie is as basic and shallow as a movie can be, but I still admire James Cameron for his vision. You can say it was a movie made with extreme care instead of just wasting money on mindless CGI But regardless, Pokemon is the most uneventful and uncreative gaming IP in this industry even with extremely low budgets for an AAA game. Read: Smaller budgets doesn't mean more creative or risk games |
The first paragraph: I gotta disagree with you on that. EoW was a very fun and unique experience! Not quite on the same scale as something TotK, but it did end up becoming my most played game last year (~60hr). Plus, experimental games aren’t supposed to be everyone’s “cup of tea.” S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 was critically panned despite being below by its player base, for instance.
Middle paragraphs: I agree that the spectacle of those games would not be possible on a smaller budget… though the fact that Horizon is nearly a decade old and the franchise has barely evolved an inch kinda proves my point. Same goes for GoW since 2018 and Spiderman.
That last paragraph: The Pokémon games of the Switch generation are arguably highly experimental and risky: Let’s Go PE, SwSh, ScVi, Legends Arceus, and Legends Z-A all offer radically different perspectives on game. Let’s Go abandoned the traditional catching mechanics of past entries, SwSh stuck close to traditional turn-based combat alongside “Wild Zones,” ScVi was the first open-world Pokémon, Legends Arceus did a complete overhaul on the turn-based combat system, and Legends Z-A similarly introduced an entirely new combat system to the franchise.
The results have been very mixed, but you cannot deny that the small budgets of these games likely encouraged GF to take these risks.
