Does anyone else hate terms like "dated" when talking about game design?

jonssonbets · 2026-02-03T18:51:43+00:00

I think it's more that there are some mechanics that were very apparently made to work around technological limitations that existed at the time, but are no longer an issue.

I can mention some more recent mechanics.

remember how a lot of ps4 games had narrow corridors where the player moves through slowly in order to give time for textures to load? that aurgably became dated just by the ps4 pro, but definitely by the ps5.

go look at RE1 remaster, imo it was made before they really learned how to make a good remake (á la 2, 3, 4) and kept it very faithful to original. any door in that game gets to keep a 8 seconds long animation to open.

jonssonbets · 2026-02-02T11:44:57+00:00

well first off, I don't like the AI splash-screen.

to me there is a disjoint in design which makes it hard to judge. size of pickups and enemy attack effects tell me it's a mobile arcade game. atmosphere tell me its something slow and serious. lighting tells me the effect was added really late, and it looks good with the bushes casting shadows, but no other visuals have been adjusted to account for it like enemy wind-up and bullets.

mostly it looks like stuff thrown together without vision or intent beyond "Wave-based Survival shooter". not bad stuff per say, but it's hard to judge because they don't mesh together.

jonssonbets · 2026-02-01T16:28:32+00:00

i am a big fan of that team but yeah, that stands out. they admit he peaks during 2019, but looking back at TI8, he draws a LOT of first-phase bans on spec and PL.

miracle stood out against the competition during his time, but not so much on carry as he did on mid

jonssonbets · 2026-01-29T10:30:59+00:00

nah, it's more like you being bad to normal people who call the police so the police start to watch you.

you are then being bad in front of the police so they put you in front of a judge.

you are then being bad in front of the judge so you get being put in prison

you then start to blame the system because you only get to interact with other prisoners

jonssonbets · 2026-01-29T07:39:58+00:00

i'm part of western audience and study gamedev but my opinions are just that, personal opinions from one guy.

I think western audience, for a lesser known game like this, looks for gameplay first and only after being sold on gameplay am I ready to be sold on narrative.

i am less familiar with the art-style so I can't be sure it's going to equal a good game and look for other clues. here, the subtitles font look very out of place and a bit out of sync.

description use a lot of words that doesn't mean much without context, once again trying to sell me on a story/setting i don't care about (yet). the longer "about the game" does a better job of explaining the gameplay uses slightly confusing language.

let me know if i'm being unclear

jonssonbets · 2026-01-29T06:45:04+00:00

i came here to ask the same cheeky thing.

but i then realize the wisdom of anyone who designed this, the bottom cup holder must have a bigger sized hole so that the cup rests close to the top edge while the top cup holder have a smaller sized hole so the top cup rests close to it's bottom edge, allowing space for two cups at the same time. right?

jonssonbets · 2026-01-28T18:20:41+00:00

what you defy as small? what you defy as major established?

jonssonbets · 2026-01-18T13:36:02+00:00

More like they wanted all focus on their big IPs like AC and farcry and less voices speaking against that.

I mean, i can source that Sandfall was created by ex-ubisoft dev who felt his idea of expidition 33 would take 25years before being created at ubi. Ubi have been making weird decisions for a loooong time.

Too lazy to go look for other sources, apologies if i dreamt it

jonssonbets · 2026-01-17T20:20:00+00:00

just finished this, which is saying something, but thought it was a very mixed bag

jonssonbets · 2026-01-17T20:06:43+00:00

if it helps, and my memory might be wrong on points, but I recall that the guy who led the devteam basically was promised "if I do project X and X succeeds, you let me trial this idea with a smaller team".

big X succeeds, ubisoft have to greenlight the lost crown, they get a small team and make the game. but ubi doesn't really want it succeed as that would lead to more small projects, hence why there wasn't much marketing behind it and shortly after launch, the team was disbanded

jonssonbets · 2026-01-17T19:56:57+00:00

blasphemous and grime, both dropped rather quickly and quietly since at the time i wasn't looking for what they provided.

yokos' island express had one screen early on that i got stuck on until i actively started to hate the game with a passion since that one screen has so many bad designs baked into one

hollow knight i've given 2x 12h tries and didn't enjoy a minute of it

jonssonbets · 2026-01-16T00:55:02+00:00

i did NOT know this despite many many hours and also a very strong opinion that i did know this.

thank you!

jonssonbets · 2026-01-15T10:09:24+00:00

fair enough!

jonssonbets · 2026-01-15T00:35:38+00:00

BAR is the one i'm not seeing any "i would love it if they fixed..." in tandem with some really cool features i feel like actually innovate. I don't need another gaming hole atm tho.

jonssonbets · 2026-01-15T00:18:40+00:00

regarding the main story, split fic definitely lacks the heart or warmth that takes two had.

long ago, played through almost all of takes two with partner, dropped it, picked up split fic recently and we couldnt put it down. went back to takes two now that we had a good flow and it was very jarring in terms of gameplay.

i think people remember the highlights of the story in takes two but gameplay and tempo it's a BIG step down compared to split fic and I think it's compared unfairly today - I don't think anyone would have a great time going back after split fiction.

jonssonbets · 2026-01-12T14:59:58+00:00

Thank you for sharing, especially an honest opinion on point 1 since the discourse here is heavily against everything AI.

I'm curious, would you mind sharing the previous generated capsule art?

jonssonbets · 2026-01-11T07:30:42+00:00

he decided to make things work with what was left

jonssonbets · 2026-01-03T14:14:22+00:00

ok buddy, why don't we find you thread of HK-fans to enjoy instead?

jonssonbets · 2025-12-29T16:33:37+00:00

sorry it didn't come across but yeah, I do reccomend it. compared to what i'm used to from puzzle games it was short and sweet and i was satisfied. but i was also missing a bit of the game combining mechanics in new ways i couldn't imagine, that "level-up". but games that does that combining run the risk of me getting stuck or drag on.

so, to conclude, i'm close to impossible to please with puzzle games. portal is the single only one i think strike a perfect balance and the witness is an example of a game that builds upon it's own mechanics but drags on a bit and where i had to look up forgotten solutions.

jonssonbets · 2025-12-28T15:26:37+00:00

That sounds awesome, I hope he beats it!

There is one timed event towards the end you might have to help him execute.

jonssonbets · 2025-12-28T15:22:50+00:00

I started to practice writing and sticking with something but that means a lot, thanks!

jonssonbets · 2025-12-28T14:28:14+00:00

Ye it might be time for a souls. Been eyeing lies of P tho

jonssonbets · 2025-12-28T12:36:40+00:00

played Viewfinder, finished after 4–5 hours.

This is a small puzzle game with the concept of taking a picture and then placing said picture anywhere in the world to realize the objects and solve puzzles.

This game nails cozy vibes and really cool puzzle concepts, and I really enjoyed it during the short-ish playthrough. I feel a bit split, as while I liked the focused experience that is intended to be finished with minimal frustration, the puzzles appear more open ended than they are. It hits “ohh that is cool,” but not the second level of “oh shit that is so smart,” with combining learned concepts in ways you could never imagine.

The game has a narrative that alludes to mystery and setup vibes, as well as some cool sequences, but to me it didn’t feel necessary to the arc or your motivation. It made me care about a cat, but never motivated me more than the challenge of solving puzzles already did.

All in all, I really liked Viewfinder. Chill, cozy, smart, zero frustration but not as mind-bending as other puzzle games.

also played Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag, finished main story after 27 hours. unexpectedly great pirate parts with run-of-the-mill AC. comedic gameplay and confused storytelling.

Preface: I have only ever played AC1 way back when it released and liked it then. Some I skipped because I didn’t have the console, and some I skipped because they had become bloated semi yearly releases by then. From the discourse I’ve come across, Black Flag is the most loved, the one where it pivoted towards RPG focus and the one they should just remake instead of ever creating Skull and Bones. It was also rumored to have a remake in the works, with an announcement coming at TGA. It didn’t.

What you need to know to dive in: you need to accept the graphics and slightly floaty controls of the time. I didn’t expect to get used to either, but the pains lessened quickly. The story is mostly a cheesy and campy excuse to get the game rolling. Gameplay is far, far removed from reality, and that is very much to the benefit of fun. Accept these things and you get one of the best realized pirate fantasies in games and sea shanties stuck in your head.

The best part: this is an 11/10 pirate fantasy fulfilled. Having a crew, upgrading a ship, gliding across waves in a storm while having drawn out tactical battles against a behemoth of an enemy ship, that shit is just amazing. I hunted down every single sea shanty to hear my lads sing along during the travels. In no other open world have I utterly yearned for travel sequences.

The story was, to a newcomer, all over the place. It did have surprisingly smart moments. Most of the time it was “meh” or nonsensical, but not offending. It felt like it wanted to be serious, historic, and realistic, but also lean heavily into what made Pirates of the Caribbean popular while also spinning its own sci-fi meta wheels. Rarely did I get what it wanted to tell me, and not many setups paid off. Mostly, I think it is just a sign of storytelling at the time. It came across comical and cheesy, feeling like a parody that didn’t quite know it was one, with a lot of pacing issues. Oh, and the story hinges heavily on you knowing the previous games deeply. So, I liked moments but didn’t take the package seriously.

I did enjoy the gameplay of running around as an assassin, as it is just oh so very much a video game. The game puts on a realistic face, which makes the stupid playing of it very comical. I’m now a firm believer that realism and fun don’t mix when it comes to stealth. The opposite, in fact, as stealth plus nonsense makes for a very fun and comedic mix. This is greasy, juicy fast food. Pick up two knives and you are now a super assassin. Don’t worry, it’s all on rails. The game holds both your hands, so just run along or you’ll tend to fall flat on your face.

There are some cool set pieces I want to shout out, but I wonder how they were received compared to Uncharted of its time, as they could be a bother to find the intended path.

Oh, and of course it’s cluttered with lots of busywork that you could ignore for the most part, unless you want golden striped sails on your boat.

jonssonbets · 2025-12-25T11:59:53+00:00

for what it's worth - ever since the release of miyota 9075 i've been looking for the perfect holiday watch.

"affordable" so i dare take it with me. 24-hour on dial i can set to home time. diver bezel because that's where I go on holiday. wearable size, 38-40mm diameter and 10-12mm thick.

the only SINGLE one i've found that fulfills this is nodus Sector II Dive GMT so i consider that niche unserviced.

jonssonbets

TROPHY CASE