390°

Embracer’s CEO disappointed by Saints Row’s ‘polarising’ reception

But Lars Wingefors suggests it’s too early to make any calls on the future of the franchise

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videogameschronicle.com
crazyCoconuts615d ago

I'm not sure the definition of polarizing applies when the vast majority of reviews have been sub-par to terrible. Not like there's a group of people out there pitching this for game of the year.

Christopher614d ago

Polarizing doesn't mean one side hates it the other side loves it. Could just be hate and people who find it okay.

It is definitely one of those games that gets more attention than normal from people who have never even touched it (see metacritic use scores). I personally wouldn't call those fans.

I see a lot of potential in what they've done for the future but would like better developers and writers behind it.

crazyCoconuts614d ago

I think it's used to highlight extreme differences...polar opposites are as far apart as possible. Magnetic polarity, North Pole south pole kinda stuff. But semantics aside, honestly asking here because I haven't played it due to the reviews: have they built anything new and innovative that creates a foundation for the future? From the reviews it sounded like a regression compared to earlier games on all counts except for graphics

Christopher614d ago

***I haven't played it due to the reviews: have they built anything new and innovative that creates a foundation for the future?***

1. I love having to explain the game to people who haven't played it but have an opinion on it just based on reviews.

2. There's world building where you set up different enterprises in areas you decide on. Some of these have movie influences on the world and they could go much heavier on that. In an area where you set up fraud business they could have had evolved that region to show more people committing fraudulent activities, for example. There are over a dozen businesses that you can put down in any region of the map.

The fact that the full cast is directly tied to all the players in some way before you even start the game is great set up for a coherent story where it's not just this hang over here but there's a tie to those gangs on a personal level. But they could have gone way more adult rather than teen youth in writing this stuff.

They removed ranked side mission things from past games and I think they made it too easy. Example is a ride along mission where you are in the passenger seat shooting as someone else drives off, they all have 3 accomplishments that essentially just mean play the mission 2 or 3 times to accomplish, it doesn't take into account actual skill since they're really easy to accomplish. The old games had those really hard missions you had to work at and it felt like an accomplishment, this just feels like more time but not hard.

Too many missions involve driving. It's not fun. They need more to what is there but I think the used driving as a crutch.

They had some interesting ideas for side missions with your companions, but they dragged on for too long. They need more ideas so they don't run a gag into the ground and beyond and have other ideas to move onto.

The hunting for collectibles you could put in your hideout church should be rewards and not time wasters of taking photos of them in the world of you find them. Some are rewards but most aren't and it's a time waster that doesn't add to the game other than waste time.

They could have gone as hard on customizing you church hideout like they did your character. It's mostly just anchor points for various sized collectibles, which are nice, but would have been nicer to do more.

Having to waste time selecting your favorite car rather than always have it spawned at your church hideout is annoying.

3. There's a ton in the game that showed that the developers either had very little time or were not experienced.

Very few cars on screen at once and definitely cars popping in and out.

The graphics are early PS4 quality.

AI could have been better. The game isn't easy all the time, but you only have a handful of different combat elements. More variety would be much better.

Repeating missions is a pain and it should give you the option afterward to immediately restart rather than the time waste of travel to the start point you have to go through.

Many missions also have the habit of forcing you to drive to someplace to actually start it when it could just teleport you there.

0hMyGandhi614d ago

When people speak of "polar opposites", they mean opposite ends of a spectrum.
I don't see many if just clamoring at the bit to claim this game is GOTY material (which, if they "loved" it, they would be doing).

The reception has been negative, with some of the more middling scores giving faint praise while ultimately giving it a mediocre score.

z2g614d ago

its actually at a 62 on metacric which would mean the vast majority of reviews are in the 6s. maybe thats what they mean by polarization. the ppl that don't like it think its worse than it is and the people that like it are just trying to defend it. i think its worth about a 6 personally speaking.

neutralgamer1992614d ago (Edited 614d ago )

Hopefully we can get SR 1-2 remastered collection. Do it like Capcom treat this reboot as booted and start a proper sequel after the 2nd. Capcom funded DMC and realized fans wanted older style DMC and took few years and then released DMC5

glennhkboy614d ago

Please be carful what you've wished for..... Remember GTA-The Trilogy remake?.......

Snakeeater25614d ago

A bad game is a bad game that’s all

Pyrofire95614d ago

Wow, I've never seen so many agrees and 0 disagrees.

+ Show (2) more repliesLast reply 614d ago
-Foxtrot615d ago

Polarising?

“but I’m with one hand happy to see lots of gamers and fans happy”

Don’t spin shit man, most people hate it

“I think we need to wait for the quarterly report in November to have more details around this”

Case in point where if you want change, don’t buy it, money speaks louder than words.

Profchaos614d ago (Edited 614d ago )

Agree it looked like a dumpster fire so its the first ever saints row game I've skipped I even brought gat out of hell.

Good for them on making a return on investment however when 90% of your animation work was copy and paste from sr3 it's hardly surprising not even joking its 100% the sane for ao maby movements like throwing grenades. The game was made in a shoestring budget and I bet the reboot had more to do with paying the voice actors less than they would have to bring back the original cast.

CobraKai614d ago

I feel like that’s how they spun DMC

Terry_B615d ago

The Fans wanted Saints Row..they didn't get it. It's that simple.

senorfartcushion614d ago

They got Neo-conservative Fast and Furious: the game

Terry_B614d ago

Hah, that's a funny and pretty accurate comparison ;)

glennhkboy614d ago

Nooooooo! Fast & Furious series are WAY better than this.... thing!!!

614d ago Replies(1)
chicken_in_the_corn615d ago

Shame that it has been hated on since it was first announced as being in development just for being a new game. What has happened to gaming?

glennhkboy614d ago

If the new development team think they have a better idea, a better taste, a better social commentary, why don't they create their own game series? The new SR game basically throw away all the things the old SR players love (be it the serious gang-sim of the 1&2; or the crazy si-fi 3&4), and try to "update" the series with their own taste.

LordoftheCritics615d ago (Edited 615d ago )

Even if 99% hate it and 1% like, that's still ''Polarising'' somehow in corporate speech.

615d ago
Btf_1991614d ago

And that 1% is Embracer themselves.

Show all comments (63)
250°

Neil Druckmann clarifies true intent of new Naughty Dog game comments

Following a recent interview with Sony, Naughty Dog head Neil Druckmann claims the original intent was “unfortunately lost” in the process.

just_looken3d ago

He can take dog shit put it in a oven with seasoning then call it waistland cookies the sony fans will pay $40 a cookie give them a medal of cooking.

No mater what trash this sobs puts out/talks about it will sell.

The true fact in the 8 years sense uncharted 4 his first time in the main seat to a point all this "amazing" team did was get 2 dudes to fuck in a van then destroy a franchise they never created.

But being a port studio they are decent at they should keep in there lane at being just that a glorified port studio.

fr0sty3d ago

Salty Bots... gotta love it.

just_looken3d ago

@frosty

Over what? naught dog under his command is a glorified port team tlou2 was mostly tlou 1 asset's with the same game play loop but forced a trans down your throat.

I would gladly help pay for this blight and his team to get removed from gaming in general.

fr0sty3d ago

Seeing a LGBT person exist in a work of fiction isn't "forcing them down your throat". Nobody is forcing you to play it. Nobody is forcing you to agree with it. If you think that just seeing a LGBT person exist is "force", it sounds like they make you very uncomfortable, and maybe you need to be doing some serious reflecting on exactly why... looks to me like you're suppressing something with all that fear.

just_looken3d ago

@fro

When i think of the last of us i think of a group of survivors crossing the apocalypse wasteland with a growing bond between 2 people that end up with Joel making ellie his new daughter.

Then you fire up the 2nd one bang joel is dead oh that comic series? bang dead

Oh you want to continue all that we grew in the first one? na f that toss it in the trash

Now here is a trans woman so strong superboy would blush go out there kill all what made tlou1 then halfway get a forced sex scene that you can not skip between 2 dudes.

The gameplay? just like the first game the combat/backpack system crafting sytem? 0 changes/improvements.

I could go on but lets face it they copy pasted that tlou 1 assets bin a shit ton of times.

There is nothing on the box or the ads or anything before the game that said you would going to spend most of the game controlling a new trans character that has no ties to anything of the first game the only existence was to kill what the first game made.

Oh but hey there is a mp mode coming out before 2022 wait what is that? oh we made it its own game then cancelled it now go but the game again as we port it a few times.

https://www.youtube.com/wat...

mkis0073d ago (Edited 3d ago )

What has Straley or Henig released since they left ND? Not a thing! stop scapegoating! Which of them is credited with co-writing a majorly successful show?

just_looken2d ago

@mkis007

You bring up Bruce Straley really? someone that gave us 4 generations of amazing games and was there in the creation of 4 legendary franchises but was tossed in the trash for the pos niel druckmann not 7? years ago

So yeah in those 7? years you right all he has done is get 2 awards one is a game award for a puzzle game he made oh boy right like for fuck sake's all niel has done is one game that was a overhyped fan boy orgasm underneath all that ps jizz was just a typical 5/10 game.

Then you drag Amy Hennig that poor woman was also kicked out then became this century's Brendan Fraser with her sexual misconduct information coming out.

We all know how horrible people are treated behind the scenes she might have been sexual attacked groped or something.

So yeah all she did after was battlefield hardline forspoken now that new marvel 1945 game but hey Brendan Fraser was a great actor till he also said he was sexually attacked just now he is allowed back in no doubt she also had to take a leave of absence out and or was forced out on ice.

Man there are way to many out there that look at niel at the new gaming jesus when all he had done is some work on uncharted 4 then tlou2

Oh also the tvhshow? for real all they did was use stuff from the 2013 game its like saying GOT was a 10/10 but never watching past season 3

-Foxtrot2d ago

@mkis007

That's highly unfair to them both

Amy Hennig got messed around working on projects that got cancelled by the publishers (EA) and then ended up on a awful game (Forspoken) where you had 4 other writers working on it which is just a recipe for disaster. She is now working on Marvel 1943: Rise of Hydra. Not her fault she was pushed out of NaughtyDog, something both Nolan North and Richard McGonagle have both said in interviews.

Bruce Straley left after burn out, the rest of the story we don't know and will never know just like what happened with Amy Hennig. He decided to take a break and wasn't sure if he wanted to come back to gaming however he had an idea he wanted to make so he founded Wildflower Interactive, a smaller studio where they are currently working on a new game.

Tacoboto2d ago

@the obvious stain of a commenter

The trans character wasn't Abby. Try playing Part 2 instead of gatekeeping what you think Part 1 was about and meant.

Maybe try watching the show while you're at it, because you're terribly off with your opinion on that too

MajorLazer2d ago

Naughty Dog is better than all the MS studios put together.

derek2d ago (Edited 2d ago )

@just he has been behind 2 of the greatest games ever made. Tlou2 was easily the best non-vr game made last gen. Losers just can't get over Joel's death, mixed with the usual console war nonsense. The fact that you so casually call him a sob shows how deranged some gamers have become about Drunkmann.

derek2d ago

@frosty, for people like Just, including anyone that can be categorized as being a minority in any kind of media is "forcing it down his throat " lol. I to don't care for poor "checking box" inclusion for inclusion sake but that was not the case with tlou2.

fr0sty2d ago (Edited 2d ago )

The pathetic part about it is, you can tell just_looken never even played TLOU, because that was the game where Ellie's sexuality was first brought to light... No "that was forced down our throats" to be said about that.

Only terrified folks in the closet that use their hatred as cover from outing themselves fear LGBT people that much. They exist. They will exist in all aspects of life, including popular media. Get over it.

just_looken2d ago

@all

Once again you drag out something like its a big win

Here is my old channel a clip of me playing TLOU on ps3
https://www.youtube.com/wat...

Search my channel for more clips

Proof its my channel? look at this profiles banner that is 7yrs old then look at other vids on that channel like my bf3 clips to see my psn id. But knowing this group that is way to much work.

Also elle being a lesbian is another trump card? one dlc is all we got of that a dlc that took over a year to be tossed out.

Rainbowcookie2d ago

Hey at least we have cookies to eat 😄

+ Show (12) more repliesLast reply 2d ago
Rangerman12083d ago

Glad he clarified it but i'm still somewhat skeptical. Plus, his comments about how Ai will revolutionize storytelling were still pretty iffy.

anast3d ago

No need to bow down, Stan your ground. The AI comments were gross though.

S2Killinit3d ago

Pretty excited as I read these. I just cant wait to see what ND is up to.

Export3d ago

put a chick in it and make her gay !

shadowknight2033d ago

Next they need a diverse couple, and perhaps some climate activists

StormSnooper2d ago (Edited 2d ago )

I would love that if only to piss off all the lunatics. Lol

Show all comments (26)
170°

Naughty Dog Boss Neil Druckmann Says AI Will 'Revolutionize' Development

Druckmann claims the tech could 'push the boundaries of storytelling in games.'

Read Full Story >>
gamedeveloper.com
Jin_Sakai5d ago

I’m more interested in what else he said.

“Neil Druckmann says new Naughty Dog title could ‘redefine mainstream perceptions of gaming’

5d ago Replies(6)
H95d ago

It will be something like "we erased gameplay all together it's just a movie now"

purple1015d ago

every time naughty dog make a game, you play it and get the feeling "this is not possible'

from the boulder running towards you in crash, on ps1,
to the massive open world of jak and daxter, on ps2,
to the QuickTime events sequences of uncharted on ps3/4

and now we will see what they do with ps5,

H94d ago

Press X for doubt at "PS5"

-Foxtrot4d ago (Edited 4d ago )

Arrogant asshole who sniffs his own farts bigs up next game…sounds like typical PR to me

You know what I find interesting? Almost every site reporting this as the main title where the REAL interesting bit of the interview is Neil praising AI and saying it will be used to help push story, characters, dialogue and more.

It’s super shitty to big up AI especially when it comes to story telling and other creative elements.

senorfartcushion4d ago

Just because someone says this type of stuff, it doesn't mean that it's guaranteed to be good news.

You can say this about microtransactions. MXTs revolutionised the gaming industry.

+ Show (2) more repliesLast reply 4d ago
Levii_924d ago

Geez how full of themselves are these guys.

Einhander19724d ago

He also said it has "ethical issues we need to address" but of course that doesn't get the clicks.

CrimsonWing694d ago

I’m all for it. Cuts the time to make a game. Look, Hellblade 2 took 5 years to make, if AI can do that in half the time, as a consumer, I support it.

Chard4d ago

Things will get far sloppier brother

Show all comments (24)
70°

The Witcher 3 REDkit Q&A - CDPR & Yigsoft Confirm Steam Workshop Support; Further Changes Planned

CD Projekt RED and Yigsoft have launched The Witcher 3 REDkit on PC. We interviewed both studios to discuss the release of these mod tools.

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wccftech.com