needs a faster SSD

I can't remember the last time I though "You clever bastard" when it comes to an NPC. However there have been plenty advancements in game AI. Remember when enemies routinely got stuck or couldn't figure out how to get places. Pathing issues are mostly a thing of the past.

AI comes in many forms and most of the innovation is in animation. Blending motions together, adapting to the terrain. Watching an AI ally traverse the terrain is highly impressive and keeps getting better all the time. It has to, since the terrain has gone from straight corridors to highly cluttered open areas.

I picked up TLG again recently (smooth playing on ps5) and no matter what I do I can't trick Trico into stepping on me, while the animation stays perfectly natural. It feels like a real animal, conscious of its limbs and where you are, constantly shifting balance to avoid stepping on you, and he never clips into the scenery. Very impressive stuff. (And no wonder it couldn't run on ps3) Yet when it takes him a bit to respond to what you want, people call it dumb... (There was one bug where he did become unresponsive / stuck)

The AI of the marines in Halo Infinite is pretty good. Ally AI has improved a lot over the years, sometimes so much I feel like ditching them as they keep kill stealing lol. It's just the enemy AI that has to remain dumb.

Realism isn't the same as fun. Make it too good and it becomes frustrating and difficult. Easier for us to memorize patterns in behavior than something unpredictable. Cheap deaths in the game and losing progress. I'm not saying AI needs to be braindead. Should be well designed in most games and offer a challenge but still have the player understand the pattern.

You have to keep in mind that at the end of the day, publishers/developers wanna sell to the widest possible audience. They're trying to make money. Even among incredibly avid gamers, many of them will struggle to complete games on difficulties beyond the normal/standard difficulty setting. Now, you might argue that most higher difficulty modes in games don't actually make AI smarter, so much as they make said AI stronger/tankier, or perhaps handicap the player. This is true, but the fact that these buffs are applied to such ultimately basic AI, which is specifically tailored to be dumb enough to outplay, and that's still enough of a deterrent to prevent the vast majority of players from mastering these modes, proves that players would probably get VERY frustrated VERY quickly if forced to play AI that was designed to be more competent in their behavior. A smart opponent is much more difficult to master than a dumb tank.

Typically you're facing an amount of enemy AI that outnumber you, have more hp/health and generally hit just as hard.

Imagine that group realising this, rushing you to take advantage and maybe losing a unit or 2... Curb stomping you every game.

No thanks. It's a delicate balance.

I feel tlou2 did something special with AI. I haven't seen a game since that changes the game.

One of my favorite things in the past was to beat each Halo game on Legendary. Don't know if it was because I thought it was more fun, or if I just enjoyed the psychotic challenge of it all... but it was definitely entertaining lol. 

I love when games focus on amazing AI, however as mentioned before, AI needs to find a good balance between the player and the enemies. FPS games especially have to be careful with the AI compared to other style games. A good example is Halo. When put on Legendary, the frustration begins with overpowered Elites and Jackles that never miss. I am hoping the new Perfect Dark lives up to the OG AI however i believe Rare stated that the AU was too smart in Zero that it ruined the Gameplay and once seen, enemies knew where you are and it was impossible to re-stealth etc. I think Halo has decent AI with a lot of charm and humor.

Realistic AI would be a guaranteed bad review if done wrong. There a constant balance between challenge, fun and realisism that all game developers must deal with when making their game. I do think that the AI wasnt as goood in Halo 4 and 5 after 343 took over. But in my opinion the AI in Halo infinite is the best Halo ever had.

I always thought Vex teleportation in Destiny was at times a "you clever bastard" moment.

Though they're dumb and weak enough in other ways that it's not very frustrating.

Plus you just Ghost rez if you die most of the time anyway.