Business magazines have been thinking along the same lines. Nintendo have had to split their development efforts between two platforms: handheld and console. But focusing on one system (which they will do. They are dropping the 3DS and WiiU, you'll see) potentially means more software for said system.
The inventory issue is a non issue. They were already veterans of RPG development by the time the first game came out. We have 3 decades, at least, of examples of how to design an inventory, including other Bioware games. wtf
Abilities: I thought the abilities in ME1 were well explained. The come with descriptions on what they do. It's up to the player to figure out how to use them in combat to tactical advantage. This is a solution looking for a problem. Some people just aren't made for certain types of games. Bioware has to decide who they are going to serve.
Shooting: Another "duh." You are playing a military commander, a war hero. A basic level of firearm proficiencey should be assumed. You are not a peasant like in a classic fantasy RPG. Bioware were stuck on stupid with this one. And please, no damage numbers. Looks cheap and spoils immersion.
Planets: Seems like a development resources issue. Maybe they ran out of time and money. Still, we had fleshed out planets in games before ME and NMS, so it's not a matter of technology.
The Mako: Just make it drive normally. The fucking thing was bouncing around like a rubber ball. Why sould this be hard to code? 30 years of driving games. That's a poor excuse. And why keep the original control scheme? I don't think anyone is that attached to it. Another no brainer issue that the geniuses at Bioware can't seem to resolve, but I like some of your ideas.
It's very frustrating looking at the modern AAA scene. Just so many boneheaded design choices and poor solutions to minor or non-issues. Things that were solved many moons ago. I just don't get it...
They are also too long for combat games. In Human Revolution I needed to change my approach from combat to stealth and back again, as each wore out its welcome as the mechanics weren't developed enough to sustain extended play in either direction. I think this hybrid play is the real essence of this game and this series, but we tend to pigeonhole games based on one specific element. The original DEx also had simplistic stealth and combat mechanics, but the whole was greater than the sum of its parts. It wasn't meant to be simply a 'stealth game' or 'first person shooter.'
SoTN has always been an easy game. That's one of the reasons I think a few of the other games are better/more satisfying. You wind up going through the motions to finish the game. You can basically steam roll or cheese the enemies and bosses, no need to think, recognize patterns, master timing, manage resources etc. I think the GBA and DS games took the Metroid-like structure and made more balanced and intriguing games out of it.
Still one of my favorie games of all time, but I don't consider it the best of what Castlevania has been, if that makes sense.
I would like more exansive level design in CoD (think Perfect Dark), but you would lose the visual detail.
Have you played Terraria? It's my favorite of these mining and building games. It's also one of the best action RPGs and side scrollers I've ever played, with some of the greatest loot and itemization I've seen in a game.. Not as immersive as Minecraft of course, but the mining and building are still fun as hell.
I never got on the post-CoD 4 bandwagon. I loved the first two WW2 games. I can be one of those people who is kind of a hipster when it comes to super popular games, but i have to admit that I'm interested in playing more CoD. I know that Black Ops 1 multiplayer has bots, but what about some of the other games?
Problem with the article is it never establishes a concrete definition of grinding. Is it having ceaseless combat encounters, or is it fighting constant encounters to raise your characters to the appropriate level where they can beat a challenge? Grinding is an artifact of video games, not role-playing games as they originated. But even then there are video RPGs, famous example being Baldur's Gate 2, where grinding is not even a possibility due to hand placed encounters. Cleared areas stay clear, no respawns. No coincidence that few video games have felt as much like a pen and paper campaign than that one. It's also no coincidence that the most grinding is to be found in games coming out of Japan, where the influence of pen and paper games is nearly completely absent. For most developers there, their conception of what a RPG comes from other video games.
Back in the Ufo Defense days (original X-Com), you'd recruit soldiers by the dozen. None of this emotinal attachment to a single soldier. They are fodder until they at least get to Lt. rank. Many human shields were sacrificed on those old battlefields.
I want the SFV code...to poop on!
Ok, I could never play SMGs on Dolphin because of the Wiimote requirement. At least I thought so. Going to have to try it now with your suggestion. Have been in the mood for some Nintendo fun recently. I did get Monster Hunter Tri to work on Dolphin, and it kicked ass. My first MH game.
