The Most Important Game of 2017

there's plenty of contention that surrounds the state of the gaming industry on one hand the infection of microtransactions remakes reboots prequel sequels refold and unn originality leads to some declaring an inevitable crash to descend upon us while on the other we've gotten loads of top-notch games in a wide variety of genres doom Dark Souls overwatch hitman Resident Evil seed Zelda project cars and justice XCOM Witcher and titanfall and not only in the triple-a space in ten years indie games went from flash projects on Newgrounds to rocket League inside witness star do fire watch super hot beds fury hyper light shadow run spelunking Meat Boy reign world rim world transistor euro truck and so much more it doesn't seem to be a lack of selection and heavily celebrated titles that are enthralling thousands of players around the world but will always be missing something key to our past and in the current landscape it's the middle market game developers in the current age have found themselves locked into one extreme of the industry dumping copious amounts of cash into the biggest games on the market aligning and compromising your work to the tune of investors and bosses breathing down your neck wanting assurance that you'll be catering to the widest demographic possible or writing coding designing networking promoting testing fixing and releasing your work for pennies a week to be shared across less employees in a hotdog stand until now ninja Theory our development team founded in Cambridge England frequently confused with those who popularized boob physics they've been around since 2000 and as a result have fought their way through this brutal industry that have claimed so many other Studios but it didn't immediately begin this way their first project kung-fu chaos was indicative of the way the industry used to function each console had their mascot and system sellers but a great deal of releases found themselves in the middle market these are releases made and produced by teams that included the most prolific creating games that were elevated beyond prototypes without insane budgets and marketing Microsoft Sony and Nintendo didn't build themselves on two extremes their markets were supported by healthy ecosystem of the near guaranteed successes that led a steady flow of new projects the magic that came from this is when one of these men market titles broke out into the mainstream the owners could turn them into a triple-a property plenty of franchises we love to this day can be traced back to this system Rainbow six hitmen battlefield mafia dead space beyond good and evil Guitar Hero Just Cause Witcher crackdown call of duty and even Grand Theft Auto and those are just the brands that are still being used today that's not mentioning the one offs and franchises left behind time splitters battle stations driver aggressive inline Eternal Darkness Neverwinter Nights dark cloud blood rain Sly Cooper no one lives forever Jet Set Radio 13 manhunt legacy of kain Rise of Nations freedom fighters Gunn Valkyrie and if I keep going we'll be here all day and these aren't all made by teams you've never heard of timesplitters is by many of the former employees behind Goldeneye imperfect dart and went on to work on the canceled battlefront 3 never witcher nights was done by Bioware and its sequel by obsidian dark clouds developer went on to make ninokuni no one lives forever is by monolith manhunt was also done by Rockstar North freedom force and SWAT 4 were developed by Irrational Games Sly Cooper is by sucker punch and the same team who made this witcher went on to make this witcher but after the devastating market crash of 2008 the frequency of metal market release is plummeted and the handful left were mostly relegated to smaller and less experienced developers the rise of indie games through new avenues such as the Xbox Live Marketplace promoted smaller teams but the strong core of the metal market was ceasing to exist developers were put on do-or-die projects such as haze rage hitman absolution and Kingdoms of Amalur the change in structure was catastrophic with dozens of Studios falling to the big budget storm free radical Bizarre Creations 38 studios zipper interactive studio Liverpool 989 black rock evolution flagship chaos Lionhead LucasArts pandemic real-time world Silicon Knights snowblind zombie and more some studios managed to survive but it doesn't mean they weren't wounded in the battle eating games was reopened but with only 15 employees it's softer were hit with a slew of layoffs after rage Neversoft merged with Infinity Ward and Raven Software locked in to assisting with Call of do instead of making their own excellent titles the gaming industry is brutal and ninja theory is well aware of it Heavenly Sword enslaved and DMC had enough of a cult following for the studio to remain in business that none made a substantial profit after completing their work for Disney infinity the time came for another big-budget release to begin development the no publisher agreed to assist and was scrapped this is why hell-blade is so important slowly over the years the metal market has made a return with franchises like payday stick Sniper Elite Divinity stellaris killing floor and rising storm these smaller teams were able to find enough success that bigger developers and publishers began to take notice and test the waters Square Enix published dealt nods life is strange obsidian brought back the C RPG with pillars of eternity and tyranny and in this same week lawbreakers led by cliffy B was released hell blade is an important milestone in this push for a more healthy and prominent middle market to assist the triple-a industry in a way that indie games simply can't for other developers to argue this point a ninja theories efforts need to succeed creatively and financially presentation is often used to refer to graphics and while raw visuals may be the most overt aspect there's a lot more that goes into presenting and this is what I think separates ninja theory compared to dice or Crytek not only are there games visually breathtaking but they're meticulously detailed in all aspects from sound design music and acting to even the transitions in cutscene direction in the opening to enslave the player characters chasing after this woman who made escaping from their cells possible whenever your character is close to her he's desperately begging for her help yet in this same sequence it cuts to her perspective of seeing a brutish man screaming at her while banging on a door were these scenes portrayed entirely in game play we view trips actions as heartless or stupid but because of the intelligent scene Direction players are able to empathize with both characters before they've even formally met one through gameplay and the other through cutscenes they've collaborated with multiple people and groups outside of the industry enslaved in DMC both involved Alex garland famed screenwriter of sunshine Dredd and ex machina where he made his directorial debut Andy Serkis acted an assistant in motion captured action on Heavenly Sword and enslaved noisy and kava Christ made the score for DMC looking at this history the high budgets and talent Ninja Theory worked with wasn't used as a gimmick they were efforts to truly improve the experience they aim for but the lack of this money in expensive techniques and people would presumably hurt their newest release one that doesn't have an oscar-nominated writer a Golden Globe nominated actor or a prolific band touring the world and listened to by millions at first held late fails to impress with an opening that while intriguing in its abnormal narration has so little interaction at visual importance that it doesn't entail what the experience has in store for us thankfully the game quickly improves and is confident to showcase ninja theories talents the only indication that this is a middle market title is the bland main menu compared to DMC and enslaved hell-blade has the breathtaking visuals of its predecessors and only further enhances the effects art and sound design incorporating engine resources motion capture and even live action it all seemed asleep lends to make for an experience that is neither low-budget nor traditionally high budget and feel lending the game a unique atmosphere for the player to immerse themselves what makes the presentation superb is not just its technical witchcraft but how it uses its high fidelity visuals and sound to strengthen its themes in subject matter hell blades player character Sven Uwe is one with severe mental illness specifically psychosis a condition that leads to hallucinations seeing and hearing people or things that don't exist an objective reality the plot may be simple but the depth and immersion is what carries the experience from the opening puzzle your with this suffering character multiple voices are heard constantly repeating themselves and beating you over the head with mixed messages encouraging your actions followed by an insult doubting your abilities triumphs followed by fear you're unable to find silence in the most mentally based sections of the game these voices don't always listen to your character and as a result you also defy them not sense SpecOps has have been a game that's so committed to establishing a thematic tone it's willing to involve the player through this struggle because it understands this is the power of the medium that whether it's the brilliant power fantasy of doom much to teach a commanding of civilization or hell blades unflinching atmosphere we're along for the ride so it utilizes everything to emphasize and inhabit a part of senua I've seen a few people hesitant to play this game due to its camera and how close it is to the character I found this to be only another part of the games commitment the introduction as one of cinema's many voices greeting you as if you're another force within her because as far as its concerned you are to have the camera system from its spiritual predecessor simply wouldn't reinforce the connection between you and sinua combat encounters are intentionally claustrophobic and personal enemies power over you weapons they wield and their screams make two or three opponents seem overwhelming as you're only able to inflict damage on one at a time combat is the opposite of BMC with wide camera weapons designed to crowd control and music that fuels your rage against demons these demons aren't some greater evil the deeply personal to the character and the camera facilitates this the combat itself has its empowerment and satisfaction especially as you progress enemy is that once intimidated are put down with an effortless stream of consecutive strikes and combos and most importantly these are accomplished by the player not from tutorials move lists or unlocks but by the player's own discovery and growth that may be the penultimate accomplishment here its lack of a heads-up display for an intelligent fusion of visual and audio cues in and out of combat the game never says press y to attacker RB to Dodge sandy was ability is never explained to you in a menu it's all learned through the trials you go through with her the only element that is explained to you outside of the character and narrative is something to put the player under the same fear and paranoia senua is in and that leads to this game's most impressive achievement how it portrays mental illness it's a subjective visual media have had trouble executing because it has similar issues of exploring and understanding it in the real world but it's not something that can be understood just by watching somebody to someone who's never experienced hallucinations or hearing voices in their head seeing someone else go through it has an innate disconnect between the audience and character in games there's an entirely new set of emotions and subjects that are easier and harder to portray what they excel at our experiences rooted and direct feeling control something that happens to lend itself to this what's brilliant about the portrayal here is that for all the horrors that send you a faces her psychosis isn't purely evil or against her in fact the voices in her head are a rather ingenious way of assisting the player without breaking immersion being able to block or evade an enemy who snuck up behind you wouldn't be possible without the voices informing you of them and lead to the player echoing the characters emotional ride a constant rise and fall at once broken and alone and formidable and powerful in the next hell blade is an experienced best played with as little information as possible so I heavily advise skipping to this point of the video if you haven't played it spoilers will begin in three two one this all came to a head in the combat sequence just after the warrior trials I discussed previously than in spec ops it's not the mechanics that sell the combat but the context are put under the same applies to the best of hell-blade the visuals are unnerving to the core but also striking the music carries the surreal and thick layer of dread that you must overcome enemies come in one after another after another after another but you will not stop it was this determination that led to me finally discovering that this long death animation isn't long but you can use focus to recover and inflict significant damage to the enemy that put you down the whole game is about defying illusions to accept the reality and the game itself reflects this story it's why the deaths look like a standard animation you're locked into why the voices constantly discourage you and yes why the game threatens permadeath even though it's not real the finale is the culmination at this point you have done everything that's needed and even though we feel that there is one more deed one more goal the truth is all that's left is to admit it's the end and it's time to move on just like the character we spent our time through this journey with hell-blade isn't important because of its quality the game both in design and tech has problems the visual puzzles that take up a good chunk of the game are very formulaic and can often drag for far too long mainly because of the mental design because the game's linear and environments are littered with invisible walls and long pathways with no room for variation it leads to a lot of time spent walking instead of thinking this comes to a head in the third act that's punctuated even more with combat sections that unlike the rest of the game feel completely arbitrary thankfully it doesn't fall apart here in the vein of Bioshock or alien isolation and the ending is wonderfully effective making up for any errors prior to it the combat is intimate and personal but in the Beast section with tight environments it's just too personal for its own good and becomes frustrating the site mechanic for puzzles is often extremely picky with how you align the site there's a current issue that seems to record a MV video cards where multiple sections suffer from significant framerate drops and finally levels that are dependent on trial and error failed to deliver the emotional impact of combat and boss fights that are far more dynamic and interesting but at the end of the day these are issues that don't make me hesitant to recommend this game for if ii tell blade would have been this year's most important game even without the quality but its success of delivering a unique experience only raises its significance what set it apart the most though is how next to nothing in this game had the tacky tokenistic and lack of personality that's crept into the triple-a industry when playing games is often feeling for the developer doesn't actually care about certain aspects of its game but are forced into making a show of caring as I've said before skins don't ruin Gears of War headgear doesn't ruin siege and wreck packs don't kill the arena but they don't improve any of them every piece of Hell blade is created with passion confidence and love for the experience it delivers and that love is something we all want to see more of [Music] knowing the last video was shorter than normal and had a proportionately large Q&A section I felt that another video was called for I hope that this was a pleasant surprise for you guys what's your favorite video that you made for the channel so far it's really tough stalker was probably the most fun video to make and I loved spec ops for being able to cover multiplayer because of you guys know if I have to pick one it's probably Mass Effect 3 years later simply for the conclusion in that video personally that was my ultimate point and the three videos were kind of just a build-up to it that was probably the most satisfying moment for me have you considered publishing a montage of the worst and most baffling moment from spec ops Alliance multiplayer I've thought about it but the time required it would be pretty vast and ultimately while there's some pretty great and funny moments in there compared to what else I do I'm not sure it's going to be worth of time but maybe I'll hand off to an editor and I do have all the footage still recorded so hopefully that can be used someday what dead multiplayer are we going to revive for a day next probably Neo Tokyo I got a surprising amount of comments mentioning it it might ghost in the shell' video I did play it years ago but sadly the community was so tiny that I wasn't able to find any matches for it however the game does still have a very dedicated following and since it's free-to-play I think it'd be perfect to bring some subscribers on and play for a couple days it'd be a pretty awesome project in the future favorite enemy you've encountered in a video game the IMP simply because I get to do this to it can't stay away I just plain let me friend Oh

Channel: Raycevick

Views: 518,774

Rating: 4.7890563 out of 5

Keywords: Raycevick, CuHnadian, COG, connected, COGconnected, review, analysis, years, later, Hellblade, Senua's, Sacrifice, Enslaved, Odyssey, To, The, West, Heavenly, Sword, Kung, Fu, Chaos, DMC, Devil, May, Cry, Definitive, Edition, Most, Important, Game, Year, 2017, 2016, 2000s, decade, generation, indie, triple, AAA, expensive, big, budget, Ninja, Theory, Tameem, Dev, Diary, Making, Psychosis, mental, illness, middle, market, AA, XBox, Playstation, PC, Nintendo, Permadeath, Save, File, Erased, Erase, Removed, Script, Actor, Motion, Capture, Interview, Digital, Publisher

Id: 7e2zNsfvtUU

Length: 17min 8sec (1028 seconds)

Published: Sun Aug 13 2017

Reddit Comments

[u/MaxOpower]

This "disappearance of the AA game" trend seems to me more like a myth. It was true for a good while. Back when games were either 10-15$ "indei" games or 60$ AAA games, like he mentions in the video. But Lots of games these past few years have moved in-between theses two price points, especially on the PC.

Right now the biggest game on steam is Battlegrounds player unknown. Which sells for 30$, and is developed not by either a huge team, nor a small one man army. It was mainly developed by a 35 person team.

I don't think he is wrong, just very late to the party.

[u/jory26]

I patiently sat through the entire video waiting to hear when "Raycevick" was coming out and what the gameplay looked like.

[u/megaapple]

Good summary of the AA "middle market".

One of the many reasons why I still love the PS2/GC/Xbox era of games. While bigger games still flourished, a lot of other studios jumped into and experimented with what they can do with the medium.
Super Bunnyhop talks about it in his Fatal Frame 1 & 2 review.

This also reminds of what Jim Sterling said about catering to audience and oversaturation in his "Perfect Pasta Sause" video.
The trend-chasing trend of studios and publishers have starved a great proportion of other gamers. This was made back in 2013, though we have come a long way since.

[u/[deleted]]

Eh, the disappearance of the middle market was a thing in the west, but not everywhere: handhelds were always filled with middle-market releases, and the 3DS kept chugging along when western AA game developers were folding.

When it comes to assessing the health and viability of AA games, I'm most interested in the Switch. I'd rather give it a year before making any predictions, but my biggest concern is whether the Switch will maintain the ecosystem of low-budget, low-selling $40 games that made the DS, 3DS, and PSP great.

[u/sunmoonstar]

Can someone remind me the name of the game that is shown at 1:53 with the fan in the bottom right corner? I used to have this game on xbox and I think about it from time to time but can never remember the name.

[u/megaapple]

One thing I feel is missing from many Hellblade discussions, was their rather impressive MoCap.
From their dev diaries, they built the tech in such a way that you can do MoCap sessions in small areas and with lesser equipment and still get good results, instead of paying another studio for it.

Also, IIRC they said they would share this tech with other studios too. That'll be so cool.

[u/HaxRyter]

Would Dragon's Dogma fit this description?

[u/[deleted]]

Well you sold me on the game. Went and bought it after finishing the video. Hopefully it makes a comeback because the familiarity of AAA's is becoming old hat and although I love indie games sometimes it's nice to play beautiful or wonderful sounding games. Middle market is precisely the sweet spot that covers what I've been itching for.

[u/KSabot]

That's a tall order of a title to own up to.

I've played through the game itself and it wasn't anything special.

Me after video: that's it? Talking about a middle market that never disappeared, they just disappeared from your eyes? What a shit title for a video.