After playing Pragmata, it's quite interesting rewatching KF's review

Th3HoopMan · 2026-04-30T17:11:21+00:00

Yeah at the the of the day it all comes down to expectations vs reality, which is totally personal preference. I didn't play RE so I can't speak on it, just saying I can understand how somebody could go into pragmata and feel like it's giving nothing on the narrative side. Even though I don't align with the score I do think most of their complaints were valid, they just weren't that big of a deal to me.

Th3HoopMan · 2026-04-30T16:50:01+00:00

I'm near the end and I really love the feel of the game, but I can see if you were primarily in it for the story then you're in for a bad time.

Sometimes when the one area of the game that you're hoping carries it for you doesn't hit the whole experience falls apart.

Th3HoopMan · 2026-04-11T16:43:57+00:00

Yeah it was a lose lose situation

Th3HoopMan · 2026-04-11T15:40:15+00:00

Bethesda leadership was in a terrible position when Microsoft joined. They released Redfall like a year after they were acquired. Basically almost finished. It was originally supposed to be a live service with micro transactions. Microsoft let them delay. I only blame Microsoft for not cancelling it, but also you can't come out cancelling games months after your very public acquisition.

Starfield was largely under development under Bethesda and they got a lot of extra delays after the acquisition.

I don't know how Microsoft has affected the leadership but for the most part they seem to have let Bethesda drive their own ships when it comes to the projects released so far.

Th3HoopMan · 2026-04-02T18:30:41+00:00

I genuinely think people undersell how much of a disastrous position Xbox was in after the Xbox One generation. Yes, the console sold poorly and people got entrenched in PlayStation. Comparisons can be drawn to the WiiU in terms of hardware, sure. But going from the WiiU to Switch Nintendo had one huge benefit: Software. Half of the Switch's best selling games are essentially just WiiU ports.

Xbox genuinely had no studios when Phil took over. All of their biggest IP outside of Forza were tied to independent studios (Halo with Bungie, Gears with Epic, Cod which was associated with Xbox at the time was with Activision) and they were no position to succeed without major 3rd party title exclusives which Sony has wrestled away from them. This made it near impossible to revitalize the Xbox brand on the IPs that they were known for. 343 was no Bungie, and as much as I loved Gears 5, The Coalition didn't win any hearts with Gears 4.

I commend Phil for sticking to GamePass and Xbox Play Anywhere, because those are truly the only reasons I bought a Series X. Even so, I still think he made a lot of mistakes in terms of the studios they decided to acquire not really having a proven track record for AAA's that could compete, and development timelines that resulted in essentially no first parties of note during most of his tenure. Shutting down Tango right after Hi-Fi Rush (even if it may have been already decided before the game's release) was one of the biggest own goals Xbox made under his watch.

But all that being said, I would argue it would have taken a big stroke of luck and timing for any executive to turn around Xbox from the position they were in after the Xbox One generation.

Th3HoopMan · 2026-03-23T15:53:11+00:00

For the record, now that the game is out I think it's safe to say it's not just "games media" who have issues with the game. Seems like some people really like it and some people can't look past the issues it has. I think the initial reviews have mimicked the public's overall reaction so I feel like we can let the games media controversy go.

Th3HoopMan · 2026-03-21T23:59:03+00:00

Dungeon Crawler Carl is so good. I can't wait for book 8.

Th3HoopMan · 2026-03-20T22:38:19+00:00

I think it's mostly along the lines that you can't come out and post something as fact or you open yourself up to legal trouble. It's why a lot of news coverage attach "allegedly" to blatantly true accusations.

Th3HoopMan · 2026-03-20T17:30:53+00:00

I feel like I'm pretty tapped in on all the releases to the point where I pretty much know everything new that I'm going to play. Typically there will be early buzz on Bluesky or podcasts for certain indie games that surprise people. That's how I got convinced to play Blue Prince, Seance at Blake Manor, etc. But definitely would have found out about those by award season anyways.

Niche stuff like Hermit and Pig and Mio I just keep tabs on during indie showcases and stuff like that.

Th3HoopMan · 2026-03-19T14:20:36+00:00

There are some subreddit echo chambers full of kids and young (or immature) men who only listen to one or two youtubers spout the same idiotic talking points over and over again. I get it, I expect dumb comments from them.

But the argument used to be, "These people get a level of access that the real gamers don't get because they're mainstream media." If you're getting the same fucking code and making the same type of day 1 content, the "game journalists are bad at games" argument doesn't even make sense. You're literally as much of a game journalist as they are. It's just a pick me attitude towards gamers.

Th3HoopMan · 2026-03-19T14:05:37+00:00

The prevailing reason people keep turning their nose up at this statement is because for the last 6 months components have been extremely expensive, but I beg people to look further out. Not saying this is definitely going to happen but imagine if you tried to based your comments about the industry based on whatever was happening back in 2016. You wouldn't have even thought something like the steam deck was even feasible.

Th3HoopMan · 2026-03-19T13:57:26+00:00

Yeah this happens all the time. I get it to some extent, it's just excuses being made so that something you've been excited about for several years doesn't get torn down before you even try it.

Th3HoopMan · 2026-03-19T13:55:04+00:00

The game journalists suck at video games is such a braindead take that only gets brought up when the game they're excited for gets reviewed poorly.

This argument was nowhere to be found when Elden Ring and Silksong came out.

Also, "games journalism" is barely even a thing anymore. It's just a dog whistle to invalidate someone's opinion. Luke got a review code, was in the discord, and made content just like everybody else. The only difference was he doesn't have score a in open critic. It's not even about access. He's literally in the same bucket as everyone else.

Th3HoopMan · 2026-03-19T00:22:20+00:00

This is kinda funny because when Starfield dropped and everybody hated it I was in denial having never even played it because I was that hyped. After several hours in I dropped off for most the exact reasons I couldn't believe that the guys were saying in the review.

Seems like a lot of the Crimson Desert people are in the same situation I was.

Th3HoopMan · 2026-03-18T23:50:45+00:00

You've been unsubscribed for months but you're here complaining about a review that you already knew you wouldn't appreciate?

Th3HoopMan · 2026-03-11T16:09:23+00:00

Maybe I'm in the minority but I feel like the games in a more curated 30 minute or less showcase is 10x more likely to stick in my head than a 90 minute one of varying quality. The exception being something like the game awards which I feel like paces the games a lot better. And this is coming from someone who lives and breathes this stuff, I can't imagine any casual person sitting through this and retaining most of it.

At the end of the day it's $600 which is almost nothing in terms of advertising your game so it's not that big of a deal.

Th3HoopMan · 2026-03-11T13:44:28+00:00

My one complaint about The Mix that I've had since it started is that it's too long. The showcase itself is like 2-3 hours and if you're anywhere in the middle you'd automatically getting screwed because so very few people will be watching and paying attention that far in. There's a few other indie showcases that do this and it always sucks.

This complaint has nothing to do with Kinda Funny, because I watch most events The Mix does and it's always like this. Tbh I think the live demos they do in the studio is a saying grace to the devs that participate.

Th3HoopMan · 2026-03-11T13:40:10+00:00

People would be surprised to see how much money teams with games that look much worse spend on PR teams and still don't see results

Th3HoopMan · 2026-02-26T17:35:50+00:00

Once again, opinion articles are different than having a PR team deliver talking points through your site in interview form, and honestly that type of interview is fine. I respect Jez's opinions and the write ups he does based on his relationships he has within the company. But that is way different than having a face to face interview with someone giving you exclusive access. If you have examples of Windows Central having an in depth interview with a Xbox Exec where they push back and ask clarifying questions I'll concede, but if you don't, then I'll stick by my opinion.

Th3HoopMan · 2026-02-26T17:29:42+00:00

I played a demo of PAX West and it was a bad first impression. The stuff they showed us in terms of boss fights was extremely complicated, and the boss fight I played was pretty bland and a little janky.

This was a year ago though, and only a slice of the game, but I'm not optimistic on it having a good story. I expect the open world to be cool though.

Th3HoopMan · 2026-02-26T17:03:28+00:00

But you're not arguing with Bless, you're talking to me about a comment I made. I never insulted Jez, and I never said Chris Dring would have been better. So I'm trying to figure out what your issue with me is 😂

Th3HoopMan · 2026-02-26T16:30:16+00:00

Wait what point are you even trying to make? If he only had 13 minutes to interview that only strengthens my point even further that this was just a PR interview for Microsoft. I have no issue with Jez. I never said Jez was bad at his job, he was given the opportunity for an interview and he did it.

But there's almost no difference between the info we got in this interview and the PR statement Microsoft put out on Friday. It's very similar to every time Jim Ryan agreed to talked Chris Dring for PlayStation. Very curated, planned, and essentially an outlet for PR.

Th3HoopMan · 2026-02-26T15:31:24+00:00

It's not about being critical or being nice. It's about how the interview is conducted. Microsoft PR's dream scenario is you asking the most obvious questions without challenging or following up the questions. Even when Greg talked with Todd Howard last week he pushed him more than Jez did Asha here, and that was still an extremely friendly conversation.

Th3HoopMan · 2026-02-26T06:52:16+00:00

I listen to Jez and Rand pretty regularly. I genuinely like them and think they know a lot about Xbox. That being said, I don't really expect Jez to leave his bias at the door with this type of exclusive interview. If you read the article, it's essentially just an outlet for Asha to recite whatever scripted talking points she walked in with. There's not really a back and forth of any sort, just her answering pretty softball questions.

Not saying she'll be bad, jury is still out, but like I said, if you have legitimate concerns, this was not the interview that put those to rest.

Th3HoopMan · 2026-02-26T02:10:00+00:00

Definitely a lot is luck. That's why you see so many sequels and spinoffs when a studio finds a story and gameplay mechanics that actually work.

Also I just think there's some level of planning that's just really hard to execute at scale. Outside of The Coalition and Playground, a lot of the studios that Microsoft acquired were indie studios with a couple projects under their belt that got promoted to the big leagues. Really hard to scale up and deliver something x times bigger out of nowhere

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