I'm not sure why you are only mentioning Naughty Dog, when your original comment was about playstation as a whole. Sony has relied a lot more heavily on pretty bland sequels this gen. Gow Ragnarok, spider man 2, horizon forbidden west, ghost of yotei. These are all mostly ok games, but it does feel a lot more iterative and safe than what they were doing ps3/ps4 games.

I could write a thesis on the issues with the last of us part 2. Which is unfortunate the game had a lot of potential and a lot of the ideas could have worked. But unfortunately the game ended up feeling overstuffed and many aspects felt under developed or rushed. Also the story has such a painful over reliance on contrived writing and coincidence to keep the plot going, to a level that just becomes comical at time. Like when Ellie drops a map with the hideouts location circled on the ground in the aquarium, a moment that made me facepalm with how clunky it was, like something from a cheap B movie. The game is littered we these kinds of issues. I guess it comes down to how easily a person can ignore this type of writing.

The story at it's core isn't really anything special, just a basic cycle of revenge story that shows things from the perspective of the other character. If you've read many books, watched much TV, or seen some of the great films this really isn't anything particularly mind blowing. I'm glad you enjoy the game. But for me it unfortunately missed the mark on so many occasions.

So, Naughty Dog has wrapped up the cinematic shoot for Intergalactic, and people are raging over it. To spread the news, someone from the company went to Twitter and made a "Cowboy Bebop" reference with the main character, causing an uproar of rage and memes.

At this rate, I suspect it will be a cross-gen game, since there seems to be quite a bit of progress to do. But seriously, Naughty Dog must be very cautious with Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet, because since the announcement back in 2024, almost all comments are negative.

Either this is going to surprise everyone, or it will be a massive disaster for the company.

I believe their cancelled GaaS project really took a heavy toll on their production pace; at the very least, it set Intergalactic back by about three years.

As for the gameplay and writing, I disagree. I think the story in The Last of Us Part II is excellent—innovative and bold. Yes, it’s divisive, but it’s a powerful story with moments that pack a real punch. The gameplay doesn't try to reinvent the wheel, because it doesn't need to... they simply refined the experience and created something that fits the game's themes. I like it, though I admit it isn't absolutely mind-blowing.

And regarding the reliance on sequels... The Last of Us only has two main games and the DLC covering Ellie's childhood. It’s not like they’re churning out [Insert Name Here] 9 or The Grand Odyssey or The Adventures of Joel, for +30 years and counting. (lol)

They worked on Crash, moved on to Jak and Daxter, Uncharted, and The Last of Us, and now Intergalactic—a new title with a completely different theme! Respectfully, I don't think your claim holds water.

All being considered...I believe that, despite the delays caused by the cancelled project, Naughty Dog still holds a top-tier spot among the world's best studios.

The Last of Us, Uncharted 4, The Last of Us Part II—that’s an enviable track record.

In my book, they’ve earned enough goodwill to go over six years without releasing a new game; their situation is understandable, and it doesn't negatively impact their reputation.

Very well said.

I feel like in terms of gameplay they are pretty basic and very rarely do anything particularly innovative. In terms of storytelling this gen they have been pretty bland focusing mainly on very iterative sequels. I feel like a lot of there recent games have started to blend together tonally and visually. The last 6 years I think they have declined a lot. The writing has gotten very poor. Especially starting with last of us part 2, a game that had lots of ideas but needed a few more drafts to make them work properly within the narrative. Something that has become common for a lot of there games is too many story ideas crammed into a game to a point where nothing ends up feeling as good as it should.

rapsuperstar31 said:

While I've never seen Cowboy Bepop, I've enjoyed everything Naughty Dog has released since Uncharted 1, and I'm pretty sure I'm going to have a blast with this game as well.  My only complaint with Naughty Dog is how long it's taking to release a new game this generation.  Thank you very much Sony execs for wasting their time on the multiplayer game.

I believe their cancelled GaaS project really took a heavy toll on their production pace; at the very least, it set Intergalactic back by about three years.

As for the gameplay and writing, I disagree. I think the story in The Last of Us Part II is excellent—innovative and bold. Yes, it’s divisive, but it’s a powerful story with moments that pack a real punch. The gameplay doesn't try to reinvent the wheel, because it doesn't need to... they simply refined the experience and created something that fits the game's themes. I like it, though I admit it isn't absolutely mind-blowing.

And regarding the reliance on sequels... The Last of Us only has two main games and the DLC covering Ellie's childhood. It’s not like they’re churning out [Insert Name Here] 9 or The Grand Odyssey or The Adventures of Joel, for +30 years and counting. (lol)

They worked on Crash, moved on to Jak and Daxter, Uncharted, and The Last of Us, and now Intergalactic—a new title with a completely different theme! Respectfully, I don't think your claim holds water.

All being considered...I believe that, despite the delays caused by the cancelled project, Naughty Dog still holds a top-tier spot among the world's best studios.

The Last of Us, Uncharted 4, The Last of Us Part II—that’s an enviable track record.

In my book, they’ve earned enough goodwill to go over six years without releasing a new game; their situation is understandable, and it doesn't negatively impact their reputation.

Very well said.

I'm not sure why you are only mentioning Naughty Dog, when your original comment was about playstation as a whole. Sony has relied a lot more heavily on pretty bland sequels this gen. Gow Ragnarok, spider man 2, horizon forbidden west, ghost of yotei. These are all mostly ok games, but it does feel a lot more iterative and safe than what they were doing ps3/ps4 games.

I could write a thesis on the issues with the last of us part 2. Which is unfortunate the game had a lot of potential and a lot of the ideas could have worked. But unfortunately the game ended up feeling overstuffed and many aspects felt under developed or rushed. Also the story has such a painful over reliance on contrived writing and coincidence to keep the plot going, to a level that just becomes comical at time. Like when Ellie drops a map with the hideouts location circled on the ground in the aquarium, a moment that made me facepalm with how clunky it was, like something from a cheap B movie. The game is littered we these kinds of issues. I guess it comes down to how easily a person can ignore this type of writing.

The story at it's core isn't really anything special, just a basic cycle of revenge story that shows things from the perspective of the other character. If you've read many books, watched much TV, or seen some of the great films this really isn't anything particularly mind blowing. I'm glad you enjoy the game. But for me it unfortunately missed the mark on so many occasions.

For a moment I actually considered that, you talking about all of Playstation. But I didn't see a direct mention of PlayStation as a whole, and there was a direct mention of TLoU... meh... irrelevant.

Anyway, back to the topic.

I have to agree: the lineup of titles was stronger in the PS4 era. I mean, the line of games from 2013 to 2020 is just amazing!

Overall Game of the Year Award Winners (and Runner Ups) from 2013 to 2020:

2020- The Last of Us Part II | Ghost of Tsushima | Hades

2019- Death Stranding | Resident Evil 2 | Sekiro Shadows Die Twice

2018- God of War (2018) | Red Dead Redemption 2 | Marvel's Spider-Man

2017- The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild | Horizon Zero Dawn | Super Mario Odyssey

2016- Uncharted 4: A Thief's End | Overwatch | Doom (2016)

2015- The Witcher 3 Wild Hunt | Fallout 4 | Bloodborne

2014- Dragon Age Inquisition | Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor | Mario Kart 8

2013- The Last of Us | Grand Theft Auto V | Bioshock Infinite

I know some people will say, "I don't value game journalists and awards," but when you see these results, it's impressive... 

8 years... 8 years in, and PlayStation has delivered the Game of the Year 5 times.

5 GOTY wins and 4 runner-up spots! There are sufficient arguments to conclude, objectively, that no other console of the past decade comes close to the PS4 lineup.

All that said, let's go back to PS5 age... It's always worth remembering the COVID years (2020 to early 2023), which heavily impacted game production. Creating entirely new IPs would likely have been a hindrance; besides, most titles were either the first sequel of a new IP or completely reinvented old IP... Imho, I don't see a major issue there.

On top of that, there was the disastrous Jim Ryan "era," which unfortunately created an obsession with GaaS within Sony. Sony went through a phase that—hopefully—is over... (With any luck, Herman Hulst will return the focus to single-player games or step down from leading PlayStation Studios.)

PlayStation's output failed to meet the amazing output of PS4 age, it's a fact... Still, it managed to reach an acceptable level compared to its rivals.

From 2020 to 2026 (PS5 era):

Astro Bot (GoTY), TLoU Part II (GoTY), GoW: Ragnarok (Runner-up), Ghost of Tsushima(Runner-up)/Yotei, GT7, Horizon Forbidden West, Ratchet & Clank, Returnal, Demon's Souls Remake... plus upcoming titles like Wolverine and the next GoW.

I don't think Nintendo or Xbox holds the advantage when comparing releases between 2020 and 2026. When compared to the others, PlayStation doesn't lag behind, it just looks weaker compared to the monster that was PS4.