The Tragedy of Ryse: Son of Rome - Luke Stephens

2006 a year in which gaming was just starting to mature significant media publications were beginning to take the industry seriously major corporations were beginning to put serious money into r d surrounding future technological innovations that could fundamentally transform how gamers experience their products nintendo wii was launching to immense fanfare sony was working on motion controls for the playstation 3 and xbox was secretly developing an augmented reality system with the help of an israeli startup company that would eventually become known as the connect frankly it was a pretty exciting time to be a gamer even today when we're seeing unprecedented levels of fidelity load times and in-game maps that are the size of entire countries we seem to have grown accustomed to the quick pace at which the technology pertaining to our hobby develops but this was not so in 2006 sure things were advancing but the world was about to see a surge of innovation that we are still benefiting from today at that same time the game development studio called crytek decided to begin production on what they meant to be one of the most graphically impressive games ever released it was going to be built from the ground up with this intention and they weren't going to release it until they felt as though it was truly ready for prime time having just released a relatively successful title called far cry the studio felt as though they had the wind in their sails and had the talent to make this dream a reality so they approached xbox after a few years development which was pouring money into publishing deals with promising studios to try and negotiate a deal where microsoft would fund the development of two new projects in exchange for exclusive rights to release the games on their platforms the first project that they pitched to microsoft was going to be called kings it was to be an mmo set in an expansive and dynamic world with loads of dynamic content something that they felt confident they could achieve if they partnered with microsoft thanks to their already established server infrastructure that already spanned the entire globe bear in mind this was in the golden age of world of warcraft a time at which everybody wanted a piece of what blizzard had crafted but also a time in which major corporations understood just how unyielding blizzards hold on these mmo gamers really was though initially interested in the project microsoft decided to pass considering it too great a risk when taking into account the extreme expense that the development of one such mmo project would demand so they asked about the second game that crytek was interested in pursuing and this one seemed much more doable it was called kingdoms i know kings kingdoms not that creative their code names give them a break it was to be a first-person action role-playing game with groundbreaking graphics and an incredibly cinematic world that aimed to blur the lines between gaming and major motion pictures and you can see this intention in the early concept art that we have of the game there's not much which has made its way to the public eye but still what we do have demonstrates just how precise their intention really was they didn't know what this game was going to be how it would play what the systems were going to be at the core of it and even whether or not it was going to be historical or entirely fiction and fantasy based but they did know that they wanted to push the boundaries of what a video game could be as far as the storytelling was concerned and for xbox this seemed like a fantastic idea after all if you are trying to sell consoles by saying that your company is offering the most high-tech product on the market what better way to demonstrate that point than to be able to show off the most graphically impressive title anyone has ever seen so xbox decided to fund the game's production and heavy development began though it would take a long time before anybody would see significant results you see the team began working in 2006 on prototypes and it took years and a couple of other games released in between before they got to the point where they felt as though xbox would seriously look at them as a candidate for investment but in 2009 they reached this agreement with xbox and heavy development began quite optimistically especially in hindsight they were targeting a 2011 release date hoping to utilize the hardware on xbox's new motion detection system and also understanding that they would have to push the xbox 360 to its absolute limits to achieve their goals but even with these lofty goals the game's development wouldn't turn out to be so straightforward and would actually end up being one of the clearest examples of corporate intrusion and micromanagement in the last few console generations and we're going to delve into all of this in just a minute but first thank you to our sponsor manscaped it's the most magical time of the year the time when 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take shape two things became very clear for one the connect motion controls were extremely polarizing within the studio and with everybody who tried the prototypes of the game at the microsoft testing center and as a result the second point arose which was that the targeted launch date of late 2011 was grossly optimistic the control scheme left players drained fatigued and left many wishing for an alternative after just half an hour of play furthermore navigating through the game's world with the motion control system was incredibly clunky effectively asking the player to run in place for extended periods of time just to move forward something that doesn't even sound like a good idea and this is where the game's conflict between visions began xbox executives wanted a game that would highlight the power of the xbox 360 and the kinect system that of course they were now shipping with all of their new consoles and that they planned to ship with the xbox one when it would eventually release in 2013. to this point there simply hadn't been a singular title that was so good that gamers felt the system was necessary it was really just an expensive accessory that seemingly nobody wanted and beyond voice commands for navigating the ui or searching for youtube videos and netflix titles many people left their connects shoved in a corner without use though plugged in because for a while xbox required them to be connected executives were hoping that ryze would be that saving grace for the fledgling hardware but the feedback was unanimous even among those who felt as though the system was interesting and could develop into something special eventually playing the game with the kinect simply wasn't fun and it even led to players quitting the game entirely because they found the monotonous jogging and swinging tiresome so after going back and forth on what they should do the crytek team decided that they would remove the motion controls advertised and discussed at length and would instead release the game prioritizing a control scheme that used well a controller this shift opened pandora's box however within a few months the team had also taken the game out of first person and turned it into a third person title with a bunch of cinematic cutscenes all of the role-playing mechanics were stripped out by this point and the only player customization that was left was a collection of minor adjustments to the player's health focus bar and unique kill animations that could be unlocked as you play through the game it was clear whatever this game was going to be back in 2006 even 2009 when it was pitched to microsoft it was completely different now and that doesn't make it bad inherently games do change during development but it is to say that this was a game bred out of focus groups and corporate feedback the designers who had the vision originally had time and time again gone back on that vision for what the game was to be in favor of what microsoft was recommending and what the focus groups told them even something as titular as the game's name was changed under microsoft's recommendation because the large corporation recommended that they retain the copyrights to the franchise and to do so they should in effect make their own word replacing the i in rise with a y which would immediately allow them to file whatever copyrights they want since it would come off much more uniquely but despite all the gridlock and friction of development the game was eventually shown off at e3 2013 in its newest form and it was announced as a release title for the xbox one and on launch day gamers picked up their controllers and began to play and the response from gamers and critics was not great you see most gamers agree that ryze was incredibly repetitive lacked gameplay variety was stiff and was too short to constitute the aaa price and i actually replayed the entire game last week in preparation for this video so let me show you just a little bit of what they were talking about the gameplay loop is straightforward you run from one arena to the next fight a group comprised of some combination of four basic enemy types often they even share the same character models whittling down their health until you're able to use a finisher on them which is going to play out with a color-coded quicktime event that you actually can't fail even if you try to in fact the only thing that happens if you fail to press the correct buttons is that it will result in a lower hp regeneration focus regen or xp payout and once you've cleared the entire arena of enemies you will move on to the next arena and after a while you will have accrued enough points and gold to redeem them for character upgrades which could be something as simple as max hp upgrades focus upgrades which of course is used to slow time in combat to make it easier to deal with large groups or brutes and you can even use these currencies to unlock different finisher animations now in my view the only element of these systems that's even remotely interesting is the ability to use the d-pad to select what you want to be rewarded with at the end of a finisher you can choose between four options so if you need to regain health because you're running low you can switch to that payout complete the finisher and reap the hp reward or if you're getting swarmed by brutes you might select to regenerate focus which you can then use immediately to slow time to better juggle the opponents in effect it reminded me of the ghost of tsushima stance system but instead of changing stances to take on different enemies you're changing stances to change how you're rewarded for completing combat tasks which is an interesting idea but unfortunately even this system is painfully dumbed down likely due to the constant shifts in gameplay direction and that the game enjoyed during its development you see you can change your payout at pretty much any time at all even during a finisher so there really is no strategizing here even if you get low health you just start a finisher which remember you can't actually fail during which you're also invulnerable and before it completes you just select the hp payout and you'll be healed up in no time again it's interesting enough as a gameplay design idea but it is totally ruined by their lack of confidence in developing the system itself if they had confidently implemented the system it would be much less forgiving allowing you to select the payout for specific encounters for instance in effect requiring the player to strategize over the long term for what the payout was going to be for an entire arena fight but instead we have this system that results in a painfully easy game over the course of its very short run time now furthermore there are many scenes where you're firing ballistas commanding troops and taking on a tortoise formation to push through enemy lines that archers guard and while these moments are visually stimulating they are mind-numbingly tedious and unfun and this is the tale of ryze son of rome it's a game with some fantastic moments some visually striking set pieces and some serviceable gameplay systems that initially present themselves very well but once any stress or weight is pressed upon them they collapse immediately these moments may be visually interesting but after you've seen the same cool set piece redone five times in the span of a few hours it loses its punch same with the finisher moves during the first 30 minutes of the game i was thoroughly impressed that they were able to match all of these things up dynamically even including amputations and beheadings in the movesets something which is unbelievably difficult to pull off in a cinematic game like this but when the second 30 minutes came around i realized that this was all the game had to offer there wasn't much variety they simply had a few cool systems and concepts that they spent seven years developing and reiterating upon ad nauseam it's far from what's required to make a good game and then we come to the discussion of the game's length and this is perhaps the best thing about it it's short and doesn't overstay its welcome and while i can understand some players frustration at paying full price for this title i view it favorably when contrasted with the alternative which would be an incredibly dull and repetitive game after just an hour that forces the player into 20 hours of tedious monotony instead we have a game that can last anywhere from four to eight hours depending on how good or bad you are or how carefully you're exploring the very tight environments at launch i certainly wouldn't have recommended anybody pay full price for this but nowadays with the game available on game pass and steam for usually incredibly low prices i think it's worth checking out if you have a saturday to spare and a few bucks but all this brings me to the conclusion i can't help but feel as though there's something truly tragic about this game the graphics the story the world building all are so well done and are certainly well ahead of their time especially for being a 2013 title it's awe-inspiring what they did here in a lot of ways and if this game were released today it would hold up graphically with the best of them which is a true testament to the work they did here considering it's been eight years since it released i think ryze son of rome was a victim of constant corporate intervention that looked to micromanage every element of its design and incessant rewriting and reworking on the part of the studio directors who couldn't settle on a definitive direction for the game effectively leaving the team just two years to throw this thing together in its final form usually a game like this which did a few things fantastically well and many others poorly would enjoy a second chance in the form of a sequel after all most of rye's son of rome's issues were a result of the constant shifts in direction and simply the fact that they weren't sure what game they were making until they were at a point in development when they should have just been polishing and xbox tried to give them this opportunity reportedly in the years following rise son of rome's release despite its abysmal critical reception microsoft executives offered to finance the production of a sequel entirely and in exchange they asked to retain the rights to the franchise in effect they wanted to buy rise as an intellectual property by fronting millions of dollars to save this franchise that they saw as having potential so what happened well crytek executives didn't want to give up on the franchise entirely and let it drift into obscurity but they also didn't want to give up the rights to the franchise writ large so they terminated discussions and declined xbox's offer eight years later crytek still owns the exclusive rights to develop a rise son of rome sequel but they reportedly have no interest in doing so at least as of the most recent statement they've made instead they have shifted focus and now are centered on live service titles and free to play games it really is tragic they had a chance to redeem the franchise that they had spent seven years working on with no financial risk placed on them thanks to xbox offering to finance the entire game's development but they rejected it so that they could hold on to their ownership of an ip that was desperately in need of redemption instead of giving it that redemption that it deserved crytek sat on the franchise and has been doing so ever since it is tragic because this series could have been something truly unique what they were able to pull off in 2013 was remarkable it just needed a chance to prove that such a cinematic experience could be implemented with more dynamic gameplay it's something that naughty dog has established three times over since 2013 alone i'm not saying that crytek would certainly have been the next naughty dog releasing cinematic juggernauts and console sellers but still i am saying that we will never know because the studio's upper management didn't want to make a reasonable business decision in my view to partner with the most financially stable and robust powerhouse in the entire industry also they could greedily hold on to a copyright for a franchise that has largely been forgotten and has been abandoned into the annals of gaming history [Music] you

Channel: Luke Stephens

Views: 157,644

Keywords: luke stephens

Id: 3-nj6L2186Q

Length: 19min 16sec (1156 seconds)

Published: Sat Dec 18 2021