You're so good at explaining your reasons for liking or disliking something. You could shit on a game I love for like an hour and I'd still be content listening, completely understanding your point of view. Best game analyses I've ever heard.
That's what makes him a good critic. Whether he likes or dislikes something, he will always explain his point of view with valuable reasons. That's why I follow his stuff
4 years late but thought I’d just hop in to say how much I agree with this. It really feels like he properly examines all of a game’s elements in a well thought out manner. Even a lot of very good game critics on UA-cam have trouble with that and tend to push a certain narrative even if just on accident. Like, Joseph Anderson is a well spoken, mature, and intelligent reviewer but for as much as I respect the guy, he falls into that trap quite a bit
lol I was just going to comment sarcastically how much I love a video that's merely about a topic without any main point. I got to what I thought was the end of the video, only to discover it was only half through. His video on 'How Ratchet Lost Its Edge' is so much better. That's got a main point that you can follow for 1.4 hours. This drags on for a century and says nothing.
The hilarious thing is people clamor about the open area section of TLOU2 as the highlight of the game but not realize that EW2 did more of it as almost the whole game and did it incredibly well, if not better.
@@lipsontajgordongrunk4328 Evil Within, right? Fucking love that game. Honestly wished Last of us 2 went that same way. Have side missions that tie into the main plot in someway. Seattle is a good environment for the game they should have used that nonlinear design to flesh out the story more, allowing characters to just chat and internet with the world around them while finding collectibles and equipment.
Jak 1 is still my favorite Naughty Dog game, its so tight and well crafted. It has very little focus on plot because it's more a premise with a world that is really interesting thanks to a poorly understood energy source that was used by a now vanished civilization. The Lost precursor City is a fascinating place man, they got something to happen in that game.
I like Crash 1 the most because of it’s simplicity and how it kinda lends to it’s charm but Jak and Daxter 1 is still a complete fucking jam, it’s the tits.
Nidorino Alliance Tell me about. I can give a good example of where linearity (imo) was handled pretty well in most areas, even if it pissed off older fans of the genre the game is in: *Final Fantasy 13.* I actually liked the Crystarium. Sure it was linear, but it managed to always put a hard EXP cap on the player so that way they wouldn't be able to over grind (which would make the game way too easy). Not to mention that the linearity of the Crystarium meant that you couldn't massively screw up your leveling, meaning that most of your focus on understanding mechanics was put towards the in-depth battle system instead of "how to efficiently level up". That said you can make your life hell with Crystarium if you choose to nab abilities more often than necessary stat increases, so there's still potential for error in the Crystarium. I know this is an unpopular opinion, but I also liked the linear over world. Since the thing I care the most about in RPGs is the battle system, I don't mind having linear level design if it means I get more opportunities to master the battle system.
I still find it a little jarring that the Jak and Daxter series went from this light-hearted no-filler platformer to a "dark n' edgy" story-heavy third-person shooter. Even Jak's character went from a adventurous youth to angst.
Jak & Daxter is definitely my favorite of the series. I even prefer the structure of the world in this one because it actually feels more alive and organic and you feel more connected to it like being a part of that world instead of just dropping you in a huge sandbox in the sequel to fullfill your mission objectives in order to progress further in the game. And it is actually a full fledge platformer instead of an edgy third person shooter with platforming elements for the younger audience.
One of the best gameplay analysis ive ever seen. It‘s all about the „depth of gameplay“ Very rare perspective that most reviewers never analyse as exactly as you 🙏🏼
The answer for Naughty Dog should be simple: real life sucks, and fantasy / sci-fi gives you more gameplay options. Plus, their older games had better stories on top of it, so they really should double down on what made them big.
J&D1 is the peak of Naughty Dog. The game just feels GOOD to play, 100% of the time. Possibly the best 3D platformer of all time, the only real competition is Mario
Toby Hendricks I know it‘s a late reply, but the PS4 and XB1 hardware were both outdated already on their release. They can‘t run most games in 60FPS, because otherwise the console would catch fire lol.
@@dunning-krugerreiner5631 They can run games at 60fps. It’s just that the devs have to make a decision, top of the line graphics or 60 FPS. They just always choose top of the line graphics. But they very well could dumb down graphics a bit and get them running 60fps on these consoles
The ending of the video is the best part. Excellent analysis, and I've been eagerly awaiting you to tackle the Jak series in some capacity. Looking forward to more.
I totally forgot The Last of Us was a Naughty Dog game before you mentioned it in this video. Shit, they're making a sequel to that? Yeah, they should bring back Jak.
Uncharted 2 is one of my favourite games on the PS3. It feels soooo smooth, the levels vary in design, the villain is cartoony, and the online scene was punishing but fast to pick up. I loved it. It's one of the only games I ever cared to go back and get Platinum on.
I'd like to believe that even though there weren't any optional paths in the Uncharted series the combat stages opened up as time went on, with enviroments that would let you get from point a to point b from different paths, like the castle in Syria and Ship Graveyard in Uncharted 3, the Sniper in the abandoned neighbourhood and the hospital in The Last of Us, Madagascar and At Sea in Uncharted 4 and The Western Gaths in Uncharted The Lost Legacy. Also *spoiler alert* Seattle in The Last of Us part 2 (please don't spoil the rest of the game for me, i've only played 2-3 hours past that section)
10 years ago I preferred open world games because I liked the freedom and "do whatever you like" gameplay and side activities and stuff fooling around a bit. Now 10 years later I prefer mostly linear single-player games, Idk why it's just that a big open world seems like a waste of time (idk how to describe it) I just want to follow the story and be done with the game. Yeah I know you could do this in an open world game but it feels wasted. Maybe it has to do with that a lot of open world games are so mediocre and not worth running around in for that long. Only chasing markers on the map.
The problem with exploration in the Uncharted games is that it conflicts with the linearity. Many times when I went outside of the path to collect stuff, I would encounter glitches when going to areas the game didn't want me to go to. In the main path, Drake can jump super high/far to clear impossible gaps. When exploring outside the path, Drake can barely jump 2 feet high. "Do you want me to explore or not!?"
Before my comment gets buried, I want to say I haven't watched the video yet but thank you for your efforts in uploading content. I have thus far enjoyed every video of yours I have watched.
I feel like Rise of the Tomb Raider really nailed that exploration and treasure hunting feeling that a Uncharted lacked. The world was juuust big enough to encourage going off the beaten path but also subtly funneled you towards the next story point. Also the rewards both provided lore and tweaks that slightly improved gameplay giving you multiple reasons to actually want to explore. It was less polished and pretty but an actually fun game to play.
I've always thought that there was a way to implement linear storytelling in a truly open environment and Lost Legacy showed that it is indeed possible, if even it's just small scale.
When I was a kid, I didn’t even know about the forbidden forest until i went to search for 100 power cells. I remember seeing the monster and was like,”U really wanna fight me?”
I think Naughty Dog may be ambivalent on the value of non-linearity both because they like to tell stories and because they rarely do a good job of giving *context* to non-linearity. Crash 2 and 3 are only non-linear because you can skip some levels, not because you have a meaningful choice of where to go or what to do. The levels themselves are still straight-shot platforming challenges which demand that you *live up* to a preset challenge rather than *deciding* what challenge you'll face. To me, Jak and Daxter is the pinnacle of level design from Naughty Dog in a lot of ways. The world feels like an actual world rather than a loose framework connecting set pieces and mini-games; *both* of its sequels feel a lot more artificial and "gamey". But they could only do that when they were confident that the world itself was engaging enough to make up for a hands-off story. They clearly don't feel that way any more, which is why their more recent games feel like interactive movies. Cinematic storytelling is very important to them now; atmosphere and player choice, not so much.
One of the most interesting, nuanced game analysis videos I've ever watched. Really inspiring. As someone who has loved all of Naughty Dog's work for different reasons, it is amazing the inner conflict this brings up. At what point is a tight narrative worth player choice, and exploration? And at what point do we fall dangerously into "open world" territory where lackluster meaningless side objectives and an abundance of down time overshadow some cool key moments? Naughty dog is one of the few developers that have the talent, budget, time, and trust of their publishers to pursue a dense, rich, detailed balance of gameplay freedom vs thematic urgency, and as someone who worries if they can replicate some of the narrative magic of the first Last of Us, I completely agree and hope that they do make more bold gameplay choices. I especially hope they go in a bold direction for a new IP, something that they are particularly good at when compared to their peers. Fantastic video, really.
While I can respect the views in this video, I personally, never had much attachment to Jak and Daxter. They were being released when I was a baby, so by the time I picked up games in 2004 (as a 4 year old), I was mostly just playing stuff that was already lying around the house. I got my start playing Tomba, Spyro 2, Crash Bandicoot, Battle For Bikini Bottom, Hit and Run. As such, when Jak 3 came out, I wasn’t interested in buying games because I still had such a wide catalogue of games available at any moment. When I got my PS3 in 2009, it was different. I no longer had a large catalogue of games because my parents never really bought PS3 games outside of the Resistance Trilogy, and the occasional other shooter here and there. So I began ravenously devouring any upcoming video game news. Watching E3 press conferences, etc. and while I did miss the pre release of Uncharted 2, when 3 was coming out, I couldn’t afford it and bought 2, instead. And to 11 year old me, you can give me 1,000,000 Crash bandicoots and Jak and Daxters, but for my money, nothing will ever touch the train shootout, jumping cars on the convoy, being chased by tanks and helicopters, solving puzzles, and running and gunning. That was the pinnacle of gaming besides Little Big Planet 2. So then I played 3 for Christmas that year and was amazed, but still let down for the end and went back to playing the uncharted 2 campaign. But if you ask me, having lived and replayed all the naughty dog games besides the cart racers since Crash Bandicoot, their linear stuff is the stuff I grew up with. I didn’t grow up around running and jumping to collect power cells, I grew up watching children get shot in their dad’s arms and with husbands lying about their adventures to their wives. That’s the Naughty Dog I grew up, and I wouldn’t trade the amount I’ve invested into these stories for the world because I feel like I carry the themes and lessons from them to this day. I didn’t learn anything from Crash Bandicoot, besides thinking it was weird that his girlfriend was so well endowed and getting mixed reactions from it
God damn, hearing that uncharted music brought me back... I remember always loving it, especially since I had just recently gotten into band in school, and music was something I started to pay more attention to, but it's just so epic, and just makes you feel like it's time to explore.
I don't know about anyone else but after playing The Last of Us I thought it was the most polished average game I've ever played. I have no idea why it's praised so much as if it's some legendary game.
mjc0961 ok so coming from a guy who plays all systems & games i prefer nintendo better exclusives & when it comes down to video game systems the exclusives are what matter nintendo is the best at that but honestly sometimes i think sony has the best exclusives but i prefer nintendo more but if somebody who actually plays video games(not your fortnites or fifas/gambling & Call of duties) tells me that they prefer sony & they also have played nintendo games then i wouldnt frown an eye sony makes amazing games God of war series,Uncharted series,The last of us,horizon zero dawn,spiderman(ps4),the last gurdian like come on! Nintendo has Mario,link,smash bros,metroid,kirby,donkey kong & xbox has...........gears of war.........halo...............& um.........crackdown...look microsoft isnt bad....just the last few years haven’t been kind to them gears 1-3 great to awesome to good but 4&5....oof.Halo i love halo in my opinion one of the best video game trilogies of the new millennia but also 4&5 were just....ok crackdown 3 was laughably bad sunset overdrive was good but nothing new in years & xbox cancelled scalebound & Don’t really have anything for the future while sony & nintendo have Tlou 2,ghost of tushima,metroid prime 4,god of war 5,hzd 2 & so much more no i am not a fanboy i like to see things for myself without any bias but i have to 100% disagree with you unless you have any contradictories(i say this in a nice manner not threatening) but opinions are opinions but i want to see what makes you think like this
Its because of its story. The relationship between Joel and Ellie has such a strong development, that with its all-around gameplay is what adds to the whole experience along with its environments, its characters and enemy types. I think you need to play it at a higher difficulty to really see the gameplay shine on how you manage resources. The Clickers become more of threat if you just waste resources cuz why not
Totally agree about open, large areas just meaning more dead time, that "padding" is why I prefer a game like Devil May Cry over something like Darksiders (besides the superior combat system and lack of terrible puzzles, I mean).
When it comes to game worlds, the ability to interact with it in different ways matters a lot more to me than size. Ocarina of Time is my go-to example for this: in that game, you can talk to pretty much every NPC you meet and almost every building you see. The same cannot be said for many "open world sandbox" games whose worlds are much larger than OoT's.
We really need another Jak & Daxter title, I'm sick of these dark and brooding scenarios that involve gameplay that's fun for only a bit. I could watch someone else play a game like Last of Us and wouldn't be missing out on anything revolutionary.
I haven’t played The Lost Legacy yet (didn’t particularly care for Uncharted 4) but your description really reminds me of the reboot Tomb Raider games that also had an emphasis on hubs and side content.
What you described for TLOU2 is exactly what *S.T.A.L.K.E.R. games* do. Scavenging and surviving is the core gameplay there. And the downtime adds to the tension, that lasts till the late game. I also like Assassin's Creed II design of "letting us do whatever we want, and continue the main story later" thing.
I have to disagree - which is rare, most of the times I listen to your points and find myself on the same boat. But comparing all those games really boils down to "bring Jak back". Uncharted or The Last of Us are games which generate momentum and interest by three things: Atmosphere (which includes music), characters and visuals. As much as I LOVE choices (even if they are marginal or just an illusion, I still often dig them), they do not belong into every game. There is not the one formula to make a good adventure title. And even though Uncharted and The Last of Us are similar in many aspects, they have big differences gameplay-wise in pacing and of course in terms of exploration. In the end you liked Jak more than Uncharted - or at least the philosophy behind Jak more than that behind Uncharted. And that is of course absolutely okay, still you out of all people shouldn't make the mistake to judge a game by your taste alone, and all your arguments can (as I said before) get cut down to that one thing: Jak was more fun for you, because of reason X, Y and Z. Let me tell you how I see those games: I would hate to have a choice here, because I am not Nathan Drake. Nathan is Nathan, and I accompany him on his journey. This is a movie that goes the extra length to suck me into the action, Nathan depends on me to survive, still he is his own man. I don't have a choice about what he says, what he wants, his motivations and goals are his own. In The Last of Us it is the same thing entirely. Those (pardon for the subjective choice of words) masterpieces are not like Crash or Jak. Crash is not really as much a character as he is a plot device, he has no real motivations or a life whatsoever. Jak might be much more story driven, but as you said: The world is not as "realistic". While Uncharted has magic and so questionable plots, the characters itself are grounded in our logic. Jak is far from human or logical, his stories therefore less of a simple tale, but a fantasy. That makes his development a little bit freer from the linearity Uncharted NEEDS to function. The Lost Legacy changes nothing at all, it just dips a little bit into what you liked without changing the core elements. It didn't become a different game, it just added something. To make that the formula for the next titles that are Uncharted-Like would misunderstand the point of "extras". It wouldn't be a natural development, too, instead just a change of game types. I hope I made my opinion clear, English is sadly not my native language - please forgive spelling and grammar mistakes. I love your work and am always happy to challenge my views with yours, and in this specific incident I see you in the "wrong" (if that is even possible in a clearly opinion-driven conversation). Best of luck! EDIT: I have to make another point, I am sorry if it is already getting too long, but you also said that you don't get the feeling of exploration through linear gameplay. But there is a difference in having a game about explorers and letting the player explore. Both are of course a natural match, still it is not necessary to combine them. I explore with Nathan exotic places, I see them through the beautiful visuals and listen to his thoughts. The exploration is the variety of locations. Let's say it this way: There always have to be a cut. Yes, you can argue that exploration in terms of gameplay is needed to feel like an explorer, and many will agree. Others say I just need an explorer in the game that explores to feel like that, even though I myself don't explore. And again others will say that all of that is wrong, only a game like Pokemon Go can be a real explorer game because you have to leave the house - you will not agree to that, but why not? It is the same valid point: A natural match. In the end, Marco Polo will laugh at all of that. How far does something need to go to be a valid and authentic experience. It is just opinion based. And that is why I criticize you here: You sold your opinion as some kind of factual guideline. But those rules you made are in the end nothing more but "I want Jak to come back, I didn't like the other games as much" - and that i hardly a good base for a video like that (in my opinion).
You talk about Uncharted and Last of Us as if they're movies instead of games. This is totally fine. But to me, I want more GAME to my award winning games. Games like Uncharted feel more like roller coasters than actual games where I feel like I'm actually being taught skills and game mechanics and then game actively tests them throughout. I also have to disagree with your point about Nathan Drake as a character. Nathan isn't his own character, he's just Indiana Jones who himself was meant to just be a self insert for the audience. Those movies aren't about his development as a character, they're about seeing him get into fights, big action scenes, and seeing him win the girl in the end. The same applies for Nathan Drake. Uncharted 3, arguably the most railroaded and story heavy entry was my most disliked for how much it focuses on its uninteresting story and characters. Why shouldn't I as a player be able to make choices for Nathan? Like not life choices or things like that in cutscenes. How about like I'm in an ancient jungle and I can choose to go deep underground into a tomb or try my luck trying to climb it from on top? How about I get to choose what set pieces I get into? Well it's likely cause Naughty Dog doesn't want to make big elaborate set pieces that half a player base might miss. Naughty Dog's recent output just don't interest me as a player on any level. Either make the gameplay more interesting or make the writing better.
Pepsi Man I think most of your problems with their newer games are pretty subjective. I certainly see your perspective and how thoughtfuly you put it out there, but I think when that critique is made people tend forget that games can't do everything to please every type of gamer. Currently, games just aren't at the point where they can tell enthralling and emotional stories and also be mechanically and systematically dense. It's more like the developers have to chose 2 or 3 aspects of their games that they have to focus on and often the choices are gameplay, visuals and "content". Story is often left out and isn't given nearly the required amount of budget and room to be developed. Games like Tomb Raider and Destiny, which promised great stories that ultimately were pretty mediocre or down right atrocious. This isn't because games can't tell good stories, its just that developers don't value that aspect as much and come under the impression of "gameplay is King - everything else is nil". Which is incredibly strange because as it stands, videogames are the only truly interactive medium and have the potential to tell beautiful stories than can rival popular literature. That's where Naughty Dog comes in, they are one of the few that focus their efforts on telling great stories. It's a shame to see you don't like them, but the vast majority do because their stories achieve what they set out to do. Nathan Drake is a character that is meant to be that wanna be Indiana Jones, exists for that purpose. There's people who love Indiana Jones and find him to be a strong character that they relate to and can aspire to be. I think the writing in Uncharted 1-3 was pretty good, but I think Uncharted 4 defied the series' own conventions to showcase Nathan Drake as a highly vulnerable man and I actually found it to be wonderfully crafted, especially about how they showcased the conflict between an individual's passion and family. In my humble opinion, the writing is better than a massive majority of games and I applaud Naughty dog because it is much harder to combine elements of 2 mediums and find the perfect in-between than just focus on one medium. It's a concept that on paper sounds incredibly flawed, but somehow they manage to make it work. In it's current state, games can't tell this movie like story that many people love and also provide options in gameplay that you seek. These games use everything they can to tell that story, just like other games use every other aspect to strengthen that gameplay. Whether you like it or not, there is a massive market (me included) that wants these kind of stories and have loved Naughty Dog games because they feel like this is the best breed between a high budget story and a videogame. I know one of the arguments against that is that RPG can tell amazingly meticulous stories with incredible scope, but not everyone wants those kind of stories. Sometimes they don't want to spend hundreds of hours to learn about the story. They would much rather a focused, liner and concise story which is visually on another level and gameplay wise can provide a decent pick up and play experience which is servicable. These games are made for a certain audience and the developers recognize it, and with every iteration I feel like they get closer to creating a strong bridge between that movie like story and gameplay. It will be a while, but the game that combines both those mediums and please both audiences will come. As the industry grows, technology gets better and more talent comes in, videogames will definitely reach that point. I'm sorry this comment being terribly long and also it shifting off topic on occassion. It's a little sad that you can't enjoy these games as much as me and many others like me do, my only advice is to suspend expectations and take these games as is to enjoy them the most. Games exist to give options to the player in what they want to play, that's why I like them so much. There is something for the lightest of gamers and something all the way to the most dedicated and hardcore ones. Games like Uncharted and The Last of Us exist to please people from both parties, but only find the most recognition and liking from the people that lie somewhere in between that spectrum.
CerealKiller that may be true and I'll say this as someone who loves Jak 2 so much more than 2/3 of the PS3/4 gen Naughty Dog games but the quantity of things to like doesn't come close to the quality. Lotta people prefer Sly 2 over 3 because they find more enjoyment out of 2's better focus on core gameplay than 3's amount of variety.
Wah Luigi Are they mutually exclusive? I can watch a movie for the visuals and atmosphere and story, having fun whilst doing so. Why cant the same be true of games, even if they’re not particularly mechanically interesting?
Maybe I've watched too much Farscape, but at 0:24 when the character said "I'm taking you with me", I thought "Huh... is that Claudia Black?" I've never played this game, but sure enough, it's her voice.
+Matthew Lee I don't think he was saying cynicism is good, just that Tgbs is good at using it to analyze. I wouldn't say this video was cynical either, didn't get that vibe at all it seemed the opposite to me.
you can tell how that 512MB of RAM limited devs last gen in pursuit of other things. the 5GB ram of PS4 really allowed ND to keep their cinematic quality going while branching out level design appropriately
Just found this video thanks to Mark Brown. It's great, thank you! I loved original Jak and Daxter, sequel not so much (probably because of difficulty). Original Jak and Daxter was something amazing to play in 2001, going from one point to other with no visible loading times, was incredible. And about Uncharted, I really liked the route Naughty Dog took opening the levels and I think that The Western Ghats in The Lost Legacy they really delivered, perfectly mixing classic Uncharted gameplay with a more open and non-linear approach that feels perfect for an adventure. Can't wait to see what they are preparing for The Last of Us Part II.
Footage is jacked up after 2:25, unless you intentionally didn't add anything or my cpu is fucking up. Edited: I got it working again, had to refresh the page. Randomness -_-
what if you rode around on a horse and had to clear out like 3 or 4 bandit camps and infected neighborhoods and at the end of the side quest you came upon a or a few keys and they open a cage of a trained attack dog that can gaurd you and distract enemies and also snif out secrets like in the lost legacy i think that would be fun cool and innovative as well as provide you with an inventory's item
Pausing video to add that yes hero mode basically reverses the order of unlockables so you can get the crazy OP stuff first. That being said the turret mission with the crimson guards and the on-rails turret stuff (kill 40 guards without dying) was INSANELY hard for me and I only ever got past that once and forgot to make a permanent save-file to make new ones off of. Never did get past that ever again on hero mode, so i'd be forced to quit game at 50% or so from then on :(. Turret missions really suck in platformers for me *squints at A Hero's Tail's turret missions/sergeant bird missions*.
Jak and Daxter 1, Crash 3, Uncharted 4, and The Last of Us are my favorite Naughty Dog games. They will always have a special place in my heart, especially J&D and Crash 3. CTR is on another level though, best Naughty Dog game by a long shot.
Naughty Dog has definitely earned enough financial and critical praise to do just about anything, but I couldn't help but think about how Insomniac by comparison seems somewhat lackluster. The two companies did work close for a time (I'm not sure how the relationship evolved by the time uncharted came out) and have similar directions based on what they released up to a point. They both have roots in cartoon mascot platforming (Spyro and Crash). They had an edgy teenage shift as their core audience grew up (Ratchet&Clank and Jak&Daxter). They went into young adulthood (Resistance and Uncharted). And I can't recall Insomniac really going for something as adult as The Last of Us. The Ratchet phase never died where it arguably should have around the half-way point in the Future trilogy (Crack in Time would have been perfect based on it's ending) to the point where Into the Nexus is a game most people don't even know about ... so they reboot the franchise and lobotomize it in a desperate attempt to get the new generation on board (failing miserably in the most Steve Bushemi way possible). Heck, their most resent property is trying their hand at another movie tie in game: Spider-Man of all things.
I think there is another factor to this: Like you said in the video, the early uncharted games are not very risky products. Especially near the end of the sixth generation of Consoles, those games sold very well, since to the consumer you bought a more powerful console capable of running "Cinematic" graphics, even though that term is doesn't really mean anything and its just the publishers shoving money into the project, and it meant that even if the actual game sucked (I didn't really enjoy Drakes Fortune) at least you have that "cinematic" quality. By the seventh generation, it just escalated. Now they want cinematic games that are also large worlds (or at least the illusion of large worlds). What that meant is that Uncharted 4 is also large, although for most of the game it meant that the drops are bigger and you can go left or right when climbing. And now we're at the time where most gamers are at the "remember the good old days?" point of their life even though nothing really has changed. So naturally they give us a game from the ideas of the good old days.
what if you ride a horse around clear out three or four areas of hunters and bandits also infected and at the end of the sidequest you get an attack dog to command able to Tell it to guard or distract a group of infected fighting or maybe snif out secrets like the lost legacy
Finally played Lost Legacy after being inspired by the Uncharted movie (I bought the game years ago but I have a big backlog). I loved the jungle area, and I didn’t think it was too big. Hopping in the car to drive to another side didn’t feel tedious. If anything it made the area feel small because I could get to the next ruin with ease. While I do think a warp-room style Uncharted that mixed the open and linear sections together will be great, I also don’t see an issue with the current set up. And by that I mean the franchise seems more interested in having the player recreate an Indiana Jones movie. Exploration and discovery is there, but tensions with ancient traps, treacherous terrain, and selfish guys with too much resources all trying to kill our plucky protagonist is more of the heart of those stories.
I would welcome some non-linear sections in The Last of Us 2. I think a mix of non-linear sections with linear story central sections could work out really well.
Honestly! Lost Legacy was such a surprise to me; it was incredible! More of that mechanic (not entirely open world, not entirely linear) creates a good pace, at least for me.
7:40 man I would literally never get away with getting shot 2-3 times in Uncharted due to playing on crushing difficulty. maybe a little bit of that is my fault tho
When Naughty was asked if they would ever continue Crash Bandicoot or Jak and Dacter, they replied: "We only make one franchise per console generation" Oh yeah, that must be the reason we are getting the second PS4 Uncharted title, being the FIFTH Uncharted game produced by them!
Hmm I would love another Jak and Daxter style game from Naughty Dog. I would if TLOU 2 was a Jak style game with a hub/open world area with missions to pick up from different people. Maybe you have Joel's brother's town from the first game and by doing the optional stuff you get different upgrades in defences for the town and in guns you can take with you.
Come at me scrublord, I'm ripped.
underrated channel
Overrated underrated
Ok Dan
underrated overrated
You love uncharted deep down. You are just tsundere.
You're so good at explaining your reasons for liking or disliking something. You could shit on a game I love for like an hour and I'd still be content listening, completely understanding your point of view. Best game analyses I've ever heard.
That's what makes him a good critic. Whether he likes or dislikes something, he will always explain his point of view with valuable reasons. That's why I follow his stuff
It's very true. I enjoyed him shitting on Ratchet 3 a lot, even if it thought those negatives didn't outweigh the positives in that game.
This isnexactly how I was feeling while he was trashing ratchet and clank 3 haha I fully understand his reasons and actually by the end agreed
4 years late but thought I’d just hop in to say how much I agree with this. It really feels like he properly examines all of a game’s elements in a well thought out manner. Even a lot of very good game critics on UA-cam have trouble with that and tend to push a certain narrative even if just on accident. Like, Joseph Anderson is a well spoken, mature, and intelligent reviewer but for as much as I respect the guy, he falls into that trap quite a bit
lol I was just going to comment sarcastically how much I love a video that's merely about a topic without any main point. I got to what I thought was the end of the video, only to discover it was only half through. His video on 'How Ratchet Lost Its Edge' is so much better. That's got a main point that you can follow for 1.4 hours. This drags on for a century and says nothing.
He definitely predicted the open area for Last of Us Part II.
@Big Ben BooHoo cry about it
The hilarious thing is people clamor about the open area section of TLOU2 as the highlight of the game but not realize that EW2 did more of it as almost the whole game and did it incredibly well, if not better.
@@lipsontajgordongrunk4328 Evil Within, right? Fucking love that game. Honestly wished Last of us 2 went that same way. Have side missions that tie into the main plot in someway. Seattle is a good environment for the game they should have used that nonlinear design to flesh out the story more, allowing characters to just chat and internet with the world around them while finding collectibles and equipment.
@@lipsontajgordongrunk4328 The last Metro game did a good job combining both concepts.
Jak 1 is still my favorite Naughty Dog game, its so tight and well crafted. It has very little focus on plot because it's more a premise with a world that is really interesting thanks to a poorly understood energy source that was used by a now vanished civilization. The Lost precursor City is a fascinating place man, they got something to happen in that game.
masterofdoom5000 yep Jak 1 is the cream of the crop as far as naughty go as far I feel. Though Last of Us and Jak 2 are contenders.
I like Crash 1 the most because of it’s simplicity and how it kinda lends to it’s charm but Jak and Daxter 1 is still a complete fucking jam, it’s the tits.
You always gotta put Devil May Cry in your videos somehow huh? Love you man.
DmC 5 when?
DMC 5.
ElegeantFencer wrll
15:00 Oh my goodness. You called it for LoU 2. I mean, it was a pretty small section compared to the rest of the game, but you were right.
Linearity in games like Uncharted, isn't a bad thing. I wish more people would realise the value in linear game design.
Nidorino Alliance Definitely agreed.
The whole point of the video flew over your head.
haven´t heard anyone complaint about half life 2 or god of war.
Same could be said about the Burnout games.
Nidorino Alliance Tell me about. I can give a good example of where linearity (imo) was handled pretty well in most areas, even if it pissed off older fans of the genre the game is in:
*Final Fantasy 13.*
I actually liked the Crystarium. Sure it was linear, but it managed to always put a hard EXP cap on the player so that way they wouldn't be able to over grind (which would make the game way too easy). Not to mention that the linearity of the Crystarium meant that you couldn't massively screw up your leveling, meaning that most of your focus on understanding mechanics was put towards the in-depth battle system instead of "how to efficiently level up".
That said you can make your life hell with Crystarium if you choose to nab abilities more often than necessary stat increases, so there's still potential for error in the Crystarium.
I know this is an unpopular opinion, but I also liked the linear over world. Since the thing I care the most about in RPGs is the battle system, I don't mind having linear level design if it means I get more opportunities to master the battle system.
Nice to see some love for Jak & Daxter. That was just an impeccably made, all-killer-no-filler platformer and my favorite Naughty Dog game overall.
It's the best Jak and Daxter game, that's for sure.
I still find it a little jarring that the Jak and Daxter series went from this light-hearted no-filler platformer to a "dark n' edgy" story-heavy third-person shooter. Even Jak's character went from a adventurous youth to angst.
Jak & Daxter is definitely my favorite of the series. I even prefer the structure of the world in this one because it actually feels more alive and organic and you feel more connected to it like being a part of that world instead of just dropping you in a huge sandbox in the sequel to fullfill your mission objectives in order to progress further in the game. And it is actually a full fledge platformer instead of an edgy third person shooter with platforming elements for the younger audience.
Shenyongo The Dragon Slayer At least they gave us a reason as to why he's angsty.
@@dragonphoreal He HASa reasin that he is like that.
THE KID IS BACK BAYBEE
The Sphere Hunter BAYYBBBEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
One of the best gameplay analysis ive ever seen.
It‘s all about the „depth of gameplay“
Very rare perspective that most reviewers never analyse as exactly as you 🙏🏼
The answer for Naughty Dog should be simple: real life sucks, and fantasy / sci-fi gives you more gameplay options. Plus, their older games had better stories on top of it, so they really should double down on what made them big.
J&D1 is the peak of Naughty Dog. The game just feels GOOD to play, 100% of the time. Possibly the best 3D platformer of all time, the only real competition is Mario
And mario is objectively worse than Jak
@Raven Reyes PTZ No it's not Naughty Dog fanboy
@@trevorphilips9065 IKR? Mario destroys Jak and Daxter.
So what we can take from this is that, mechanically, Jak and Daxter is the best game from Naughty Dog
Pretty much, yeah.
Who noticed that the 60fps Jak and Daxter was just sooo much smoother than the 30fps uncharted. 60+fps is the way.
Woah... 60 fps is smoother than 30 fps? Who woulda thought?
Potato Thief It just frustrates me that devs haven't made the same realisation, constantly prioritising visuals over frame rate.
Toby Hendricks I know it‘s a late reply, but the PS4 and XB1 hardware were both outdated already on their release. They can‘t run most games in 60FPS, because otherwise the console would catch fire lol.
Well, at least now we have The Nathan Drake Collection on PS4 at 60fps
@@dunning-krugerreiner5631 They can run games at 60fps. It’s just that the devs have to make a decision, top of the line graphics or 60 FPS. They just always choose top of the line graphics. But they very well could dumb down graphics a bit and get them running 60fps on these consoles
Damn, fake lad Novacanoo finally got a shout out from the legendary TGB.
The legendary feud continues!
Hey, he's gotta get subs some how
I'm confused, there's a feud?
youre not even good enough to be my fake
"I understood that reference"
My birthday was yesterday. I wished for new a GamingBrit video. Prayers have been answered
The ending of the video is the best part. Excellent analysis, and I've been eagerly awaiting you to tackle the Jak series in some capacity. Looking forward to more.
when tgbs uploads a video, I experience many conflicting feelings
But the question is, does it make you want to help the economy by buying a Pixeliser?
I don't. Just glee.
Tenshi Cat I'll buy it once I search the area for skidds agent, he may need my assistance
I get a feeling so complicated*
TheKrigeron I don't think you understand the joke
17:00 Devil May Cry plug in.
I don't blame ya Brit.
Harris Zeboki Charlie always finds a way to shove in dmc
What you illustrated really happened in TLOU2 three years later lol
I did just play a game that's both a linear game and an Open World game. It came out this year and is also a PS4 exclusive. Guerilla games made it.
Should have been a video on the REVOLUTIONARY Knack series of God platformers. Weak stuff Charlie, -1/10
I totally forgot The Last of Us was a Naughty Dog game before you mentioned it in this video. Shit, they're making a sequel to that?
Yeah, they should bring back Jak.
This video is basically Nostalgia the Documentary: Jak edition.
And I love it.
I love your channel, been watching all of your older videos lately, I’m CONSTANTLY laughing out loud. Thanks for making all of this awesome content!
Uncharted 2 is one of my favourite games on the PS3. It feels soooo smooth, the levels vary in design, the villain is cartoony, and the online scene was punishing but fast to pick up. I loved it. It's one of the only games I ever cared to go back and get Platinum on.
I'd like to believe that even though there weren't any optional paths in the Uncharted series the combat stages opened up as time went on, with enviroments that would let you get from point a to point b from different paths, like the castle in Syria and Ship Graveyard in Uncharted 3, the Sniper in the abandoned neighbourhood and the hospital in The Last of Us, Madagascar and At Sea in Uncharted 4 and The Western Gaths in Uncharted The Lost Legacy.
Also *spoiler alert*
Seattle in The Last of Us part 2 (please don't spoil the rest of the game for me, i've only played 2-3 hours past that section)
There's nothing wrong with linear games, especially in an era where more and more developers are shifting to open world.
10 years ago I preferred open world games because I liked the freedom and "do whatever you like" gameplay and side activities and stuff fooling around a bit. Now 10 years later I prefer mostly linear single-player games, Idk why it's just that a big open world seems like a waste of time (idk how to describe it) I just want to follow the story and be done with the game. Yeah I know you could do this in an open world game but it feels wasted. Maybe it has to do with that a lot of open world games are so mediocre and not worth running around in for that long. Only chasing markers on the map.
WHAT HAPPENED TO THAT RE ANALYSIS SERIES?!?!
Matt Walker he's working on RE2. He had an update on patreon 🤔
Matt Walker He's got 6 more to go...
The same thing that happened to the Kingdom Hearts retrospective
The problem with exploration in the Uncharted games is that it conflicts with the linearity.
Many times when I went outside of the path to collect stuff, I would encounter glitches when going to areas the game didn't want me to go to.
In the main path, Drake can jump super high/far to clear impossible gaps.
When exploring outside the path, Drake can barely jump 2 feet high.
"Do you want me to explore or not!?"
Naughty Dog is one of my all time favorite developers. Jak 3 being one of my top ten favorite games of all time.
Great analysis of some great games.
Man, I wish Naught Dog would revive the Jak series. There's so much more that could be done in that world.
I love The Last of Us so much. I don't know why but I love the combat.
Cynical Sheep same
I really agree with this
Before my comment gets buried, I want to say I haven't watched the video yet but thank you for your efforts in uploading content. I have thus far enjoyed every video of yours I have watched.
Bumping this so it doesn't get buried...
The Jak and Daxter games are the best naughty dog ever made.
I feel like Rise of the Tomb Raider really nailed that exploration and treasure hunting feeling that a Uncharted lacked. The world was juuust big enough to encourage going off the beaten path but also subtly funneled you towards the next story point. Also the rewards both provided lore and tweaks that slightly improved gameplay giving you multiple reasons to actually want to explore. It was less polished and pretty but an actually fun game to play.
I've always thought that there was a way to implement linear storytelling in a truly open environment and Lost Legacy showed that it is indeed possible, if even it's just small scale.
Naughty dog is such a good studio. Definitely enjoyed the games when I was young
Well you were right about TLOU part 2!
Best part of Lost Legacy was near the beginning where the villain says to Chloe “You have balls, I like that” and nobody reacts to it.
That was awesome lol
Bor Mik Seriously though, I would have thought that Chloe might have at least said, “uhh...phrasing?”
Awesome video as always GamingBrit. I'll always love your more discussion-based videos talking about ways to make games better.
When I was a kid, I didn’t even know about the forbidden forest until i went to search for 100 power cells. I remember seeing the monster and was like,”U really wanna fight me?”
What's the name of the channel at 3:20? I honestly couldn't pick it up (sorry. my hearing sucks). And it seems the annote isn't there yet.
felman87 Novacanoo.
Am I the only one that prefers Jak over Crash, Uncharted and The Last of Us?
No, but your definitely in the minority.
Specifically Jak and Daxter. Jak 2 and 3 were fun, but Jak 1 was the pinnacle of Naughty Dog for me.
Jack and Daxter 1 was fucking insane back in the day. Moving from ps1 to that was absolutely mindblowing.
Both franchises are excellent but Jak 1 & 2 are some of my all time favorite games
RedFlameFox imo ,uncharted 1 was their worst game . The series was good after that ,but I still think jak is far superior.
Jak and Daxter is still one of my favorite games. I've played through it like 10 times.
17:00 A video about Naughty Dog and it still has a DMC reference. :)
So when is the return of Samus review?
I think Naughty Dog may be ambivalent on the value of non-linearity both because they like to tell stories and because they rarely do a good job of giving *context* to non-linearity. Crash 2 and 3 are only non-linear because you can skip some levels, not because you have a meaningful choice of where to go or what to do. The levels themselves are still straight-shot platforming challenges which demand that you *live up* to a preset challenge rather than *deciding* what challenge you'll face.
To me, Jak and Daxter is the pinnacle of level design from Naughty Dog in a lot of ways. The world feels like an actual world rather than a loose framework connecting set pieces and mini-games; *both* of its sequels feel a lot more artificial and "gamey". But they could only do that when they were confident that the world itself was engaging enough to make up for a hands-off story. They clearly don't feel that way any more, which is why their more recent games feel like interactive movies. Cinematic storytelling is very important to them now; atmosphere and player choice, not so much.
One of the most interesting, nuanced game analysis videos I've ever watched. Really inspiring. As someone who has loved all of Naughty Dog's work for different reasons, it is amazing the inner conflict this brings up. At what point is a tight narrative worth player choice, and exploration? And at what point do we fall dangerously into "open world" territory where lackluster meaningless side objectives and an abundance of down time overshadow some cool key moments? Naughty dog is one of the few developers that have the talent, budget, time, and trust of their publishers to pursue a dense, rich, detailed balance of gameplay freedom vs thematic urgency, and as someone who worries if they can replicate some of the narrative magic of the first Last of Us, I completely agree and hope that they do make more bold gameplay choices. I especially hope they go in a bold direction for a new IP, something that they are particularly good at when compared to their peers. Fantastic video, really.
Never change brit. Great video essays
While I can respect the views in this video, I personally, never had much attachment to Jak and Daxter. They were being released when I was a baby, so by the time I picked up games in 2004 (as a 4 year old), I was mostly just playing stuff that was already lying around the house. I got my start playing Tomba, Spyro 2, Crash Bandicoot, Battle For Bikini Bottom, Hit and Run. As such, when Jak 3 came out, I wasn’t interested in buying games because I still had such a wide catalogue of games available at any moment. When I got my PS3 in 2009, it was different. I no longer had a large catalogue of games because my parents never really bought PS3 games outside of the Resistance Trilogy, and the occasional other shooter here and there. So I began ravenously devouring any upcoming video game news. Watching E3 press conferences, etc. and while I did miss the pre release of Uncharted 2, when 3 was coming out, I couldn’t afford it and bought 2, instead. And to 11 year old me, you can give me 1,000,000 Crash bandicoots and Jak and Daxters, but for my money, nothing will ever touch the train shootout, jumping cars on the convoy, being chased by tanks and helicopters, solving puzzles, and running and gunning. That was the pinnacle of gaming besides Little Big Planet 2. So then I played 3 for Christmas that year and was amazed, but still let down for the end and went back to playing the uncharted 2 campaign. But if you ask me, having lived and replayed all the naughty dog games besides the cart racers since Crash Bandicoot, their linear stuff is the stuff I grew up with. I didn’t grow up around running and jumping to collect power cells, I grew up watching children get shot in their dad’s arms and with husbands lying about their adventures to their wives. That’s the Naughty Dog I grew up, and I wouldn’t trade the amount I’ve invested into these stories for the world because I feel like I carry the themes and lessons from them to this day. I didn’t learn anything from Crash Bandicoot, besides thinking it was weird that his girlfriend was so well endowed and getting mixed reactions from it
I really wish that tLoZ: Breath of the Wild did what you described at 12:07 with their shine puzzles...
God damn, hearing that uncharted music brought me back... I remember always loving it, especially since I had just recently gotten into band in school, and music was something I started to pay more attention to, but it's just so epic, and just makes you feel like it's time to explore.
I wish all developers switched between linear and non-linear designs in their games, it would prevent stagnation much better.
I don't know about anyone else but after playing The Last of Us I thought it was the most polished average game I've ever played. I have no idea why it's praised so much as if it's some legendary game.
Because it's a PlayStation exclusive, so the fanboys will act as if it's a holy grail to hoard over gamers who play on other platforms.
mjc0961 ok so coming from a guy who plays all systems & games i prefer nintendo better exclusives & when it comes down to video game systems the exclusives are what matter nintendo is the best at that but honestly sometimes i think sony has the best exclusives but i prefer nintendo more but if somebody who actually plays video games(not your fortnites or fifas/gambling & Call of duties) tells me that they prefer sony & they also have played nintendo games then i wouldnt frown an eye sony makes amazing games God of war series,Uncharted series,The last of us,horizon zero dawn,spiderman(ps4),the last gurdian like come on! Nintendo has Mario,link,smash bros,metroid,kirby,donkey kong & xbox has...........gears of war.........halo...............& um.........crackdown...look microsoft isnt bad....just the last few years haven’t been kind to them gears 1-3 great to awesome to good but 4&5....oof.Halo i love halo in my opinion one of the best video game trilogies of the new millennia but also 4&5 were just....ok crackdown 3 was laughably bad sunset overdrive was good but nothing new in years & xbox cancelled scalebound & Don’t really have anything for the future while sony & nintendo have Tlou 2,ghost of tushima,metroid prime 4,god of war 5,hzd 2 & so much more no i am not a fanboy i like to see things for myself without any bias but i have to 100% disagree with you unless you have any contradictories(i say this in a nice manner not threatening) but opinions are opinions but i want to see what makes you think like this
@@FilthyCasual_YT I mean it's the truth The Last of Us isn't anything special
Trevor Philips ok i respect your opinion
Its because of its story. The relationship between Joel and Ellie has such a strong development, that with its all-around gameplay is what adds to the whole experience along with its environments, its characters and enemy types. I think you need to play it at a higher difficulty to really see the gameplay shine on how you manage resources. The Clickers become more of threat if you just waste resources cuz why not
Totally agree about open, large areas just meaning more dead time, that "padding" is why I prefer a game like Devil May Cry over something like Darksiders (besides the superior combat system and lack of terrible puzzles, I mean).
When it comes to game worlds, the ability to interact with it in different ways matters a lot more to me than size. Ocarina of Time is my go-to example for this: in that game, you can talk to pretty much every NPC you meet and almost every building you see. The same cannot be said for many "open world sandbox" games whose worlds are much larger than OoT's.
Correction: : "in that game, you can talk to pretty much every NPC you meet and ENTER almost every building you see."
We really need another Jak & Daxter title, I'm sick of these dark and brooding scenarios that involve gameplay that's fun for only a bit. I could watch someone else play a game like Last of Us and wouldn't be missing out on anything revolutionary.
Didn't Jak 2 become dark and brooding?
@Raven Reyes PTZ Hey it's me from 2+ yrs ago.. I think I was being hyperbolic there, really all I was saying is I want a new Jak game lol
@@randomduck8679 Certainly much edgier.
@Raven Reyes PTZ It does
I haven’t played The Lost Legacy yet (didn’t particularly care for Uncharted 4) but your description really reminds me of the reboot Tomb Raider games that also had an emphasis on hubs and side content.
What you described for TLOU2 is exactly what *S.T.A.L.K.E.R. games* do. Scavenging and surviving is the core gameplay there. And the downtime adds to the tension, that lasts till the late game.
I also like Assassin's Creed II design of "letting us do whatever we want, and continue the main story later" thing.
I’m so thankful Uncharted didn’t use the brown and grey color scheme that reminds me, could u do a video on color schemes?
I have to disagree - which is rare, most of the times I listen to your points and find myself on the same boat.
But comparing all those games really boils down to "bring Jak back". Uncharted or The Last of Us are games which generate momentum and interest by three things: Atmosphere (which includes music), characters and visuals. As much as I LOVE choices (even if they are marginal or just an illusion, I still often dig them), they do not belong into every game. There is not the one formula to make a good adventure title. And even though Uncharted and The Last of Us are similar in many aspects, they have big differences gameplay-wise in pacing and of course in terms of exploration.
In the end you liked Jak more than Uncharted - or at least the philosophy behind Jak more than that behind Uncharted. And that is of course absolutely okay, still you out of all people shouldn't make the mistake to judge a game by your taste alone, and all your arguments can (as I said before) get cut down to that one thing: Jak was more fun for you, because of reason X, Y and Z.
Let me tell you how I see those games: I would hate to have a choice here, because I am not Nathan Drake. Nathan is Nathan, and I accompany him on his journey. This is a movie that goes the extra length to suck me into the action, Nathan depends on me to survive, still he is his own man. I don't have a choice about what he says, what he wants, his motivations and goals are his own. In The Last of Us it is the same thing entirely. Those (pardon for the subjective choice of words) masterpieces are not like Crash or Jak. Crash is not really as much a character as he is a plot device, he has no real motivations or a life whatsoever. Jak might be much more story driven, but as you said: The world is not as "realistic". While Uncharted has magic and so questionable plots, the characters itself are grounded in our logic. Jak is far from human or logical, his stories therefore less of a simple tale, but a fantasy. That makes his development a little bit freer from the linearity Uncharted NEEDS to function.
The Lost Legacy changes nothing at all, it just dips a little bit into what you liked without changing the core elements. It didn't become a different game, it just added something. To make that the formula for the next titles that are Uncharted-Like would misunderstand the point of "extras". It wouldn't be a natural development, too, instead just a change of game types.
I hope I made my opinion clear, English is sadly not my native language - please forgive spelling and grammar mistakes. I love your work and am always happy to challenge my views with yours, and in this specific incident I see you in the "wrong" (if that is even possible in a clearly opinion-driven conversation).
Best of luck!
EDIT: I have to make another point, I am sorry if it is already getting too long, but you also said that you don't get the feeling of exploration through linear gameplay. But there is a difference in having a game about explorers and letting the player explore. Both are of course a natural match, still it is not necessary to combine them. I explore with Nathan exotic places, I see them through the beautiful visuals and listen to his thoughts. The exploration is the variety of locations.
Let's say it this way: There always have to be a cut. Yes, you can argue that exploration in terms of gameplay is needed to feel like an explorer, and many will agree. Others say I just need an explorer in the game that explores to feel like that, even though I myself don't explore. And again others will say that all of that is wrong, only a game like Pokemon Go can be a real explorer game because you have to leave the house - you will not agree to that, but why not? It is the same valid point: A natural match. In the end, Marco Polo will laugh at all of that. How far does something need to go to be a valid and authentic experience. It is just opinion based. And that is why I criticize you here: You sold your opinion as some kind of factual guideline. But those rules you made are in the end nothing more but "I want Jak to come back, I didn't like the other games as much" - and that i hardly a good base for a video like that (in my opinion).
You talk about Uncharted and Last of Us as if they're movies instead of games. This is totally fine. But to me, I want more GAME to my award winning games. Games like Uncharted feel more like roller coasters than actual games where I feel like I'm actually being taught skills and game mechanics and then game actively tests them throughout.
I also have to disagree with your point about Nathan Drake as a character. Nathan isn't his own character, he's just Indiana Jones who himself was meant to just be a self insert for the audience. Those movies aren't about his development as a character, they're about seeing him get into fights, big action scenes, and seeing him win the girl in the end. The same applies for Nathan Drake. Uncharted 3, arguably the most railroaded and story heavy entry was my most disliked for how much it focuses on its uninteresting story and characters. Why shouldn't I as a player be able to make choices for Nathan? Like not life choices or things like that in cutscenes. How about like I'm in an ancient jungle and I can choose to go deep underground into a tomb or try my luck trying to climb it from on top? How about I get to choose what set pieces I get into? Well it's likely cause Naughty Dog doesn't want to make big elaborate set pieces that half a player base might miss.
Naughty Dog's recent output just don't interest me as a player on any level. Either make the gameplay more interesting or make the writing better.
Pepsi Man
I think most of your problems with their newer games are pretty subjective. I certainly see your perspective and how thoughtfuly you put it out there, but I think when that critique is made people tend forget that games can't do everything to please every type of gamer.
Currently, games just aren't at the point where they can tell enthralling and emotional stories and also be mechanically and systematically dense. It's more like the developers have to chose 2 or 3 aspects of their games that they have to focus on and often the choices are gameplay, visuals and "content". Story is often left out and isn't given nearly the required amount of budget and room to be developed. Games like Tomb Raider and Destiny, which promised great stories that ultimately were pretty mediocre or down right atrocious. This isn't because games can't tell good stories, its just that developers don't value that aspect as much and come under the impression of "gameplay is King - everything else is nil". Which is incredibly strange because as it stands, videogames are the only truly interactive medium and have the potential to tell beautiful stories than can rival popular literature.
That's where Naughty Dog comes in, they are one of the few that focus their efforts on telling great stories. It's a shame to see you don't like them, but the vast majority do because their stories achieve what they set out to do. Nathan Drake is a character that is meant to be that wanna be Indiana Jones, exists for that purpose. There's people who love Indiana Jones and find him to be a strong character that they relate to and can aspire to be. I think the writing in Uncharted 1-3 was pretty good, but I think Uncharted 4 defied the series' own conventions to showcase Nathan Drake as a highly vulnerable man and I actually found it to be wonderfully crafted, especially about how they showcased the conflict between an individual's passion and family.
In my humble opinion, the writing is better than a massive majority of games and I applaud Naughty dog because it is much harder to combine elements of 2 mediums and find the perfect in-between than just focus on one medium. It's a concept that on paper sounds incredibly flawed, but somehow they manage to make it work. In it's current state, games can't tell this movie like story that many people love and also provide options in gameplay that you seek. These games use everything they can to tell that story, just like other games use every other aspect to strengthen that gameplay. Whether you like it or not, there is a massive market (me included) that wants these kind of stories and have loved Naughty Dog games because they feel like this is the best breed between a high budget story and a videogame.
I know one of the arguments against that is that RPG can tell amazingly meticulous stories with incredible scope, but not everyone wants those kind of stories. Sometimes they don't want to spend hundreds of hours to learn about the story. They would much rather a focused, liner and concise story which is visually on another level and gameplay wise can provide a decent pick up and play experience which is servicable.
These games are made for a certain audience and the developers recognize it, and with every iteration I feel like they get closer to creating a strong bridge between that movie like story and gameplay. It will be a while, but the game that combines both those mediums and please both audiences will come. As the industry grows, technology gets better and more talent comes in, videogames will definitely reach that point.
I'm sorry this comment being terribly long and also it shifting off topic on occassion. It's a little sad that you can't enjoy these games as much as me and many others like me do, my only advice is to suspend expectations and take these games as is to enjoy them the most. Games exist to give options to the player in what they want to play, that's why I like them so much. There is something for the lightest of gamers and something all the way to the most dedicated and hardcore ones. Games like Uncharted and The Last of Us exist to please people from both parties, but only find the most recognition and liking from the people that lie somewhere in between that spectrum.
"Atmosphere" and "Visuals" are not an alternative to fun.
CerealKiller that may be true and I'll say this as someone who loves Jak 2 so much more than 2/3 of the PS3/4 gen Naughty Dog games but the quantity of things to like doesn't come close to the quality. Lotta people prefer Sly 2 over 3 because they find more enjoyment out of 2's better focus on core gameplay than 3's amount of variety.
Wah Luigi Are they mutually exclusive? I can watch a movie for the visuals and atmosphere and story, having fun whilst doing so. Why cant the same be true of games, even if they’re not particularly mechanically interesting?
Yet another TGBS video with a DMC reference, there's no escape!
Hell yeah! Jak does have a more intricate plot then uncharted any day of the week!
@Raven Reyes PTZ They're not wrong. Uncharted has the plot of a typical action flick movie.
@Raven Reyes PTZ It really does though. It gets more plot heavy in Jak 2 and 3.
Always enjoy your videos.
Maybe I've watched too much Farscape, but at 0:24 when the character said "I'm taking you with me", I thought "Huh... is that Claudia Black?"
I've never played this game, but sure enough, it's her voice.
Tgbs makes some really good cynical analysis!
Though the comments are always bizarre it seems.
Salokin I agree.
Salokin I wouldn't say this video is cynical in the slightest nor would I say cynicism is somehow good
+Matthew Lee I don't think he was saying cynicism is good, just that Tgbs is good at using it to analyze. I wouldn't say this video was cynical either, didn't get that vibe at all it seemed the opposite to me.
I agree with the smelly small boy!
Maybe you were going for the word "skeptical"?
you can tell how that 512MB of RAM limited devs last gen in pursuit of other things. the 5GB ram of PS4 really allowed ND to keep their cinematic quality going while branching out level design appropriately
Just found this video thanks to Mark Brown. It's great, thank you! I loved original Jak and Daxter, sequel not so much (probably because of difficulty). Original Jak and Daxter was something amazing to play in 2001, going from one point to other with no visible loading times, was incredible. And about Uncharted, I really liked the route Naughty Dog took opening the levels and I think that The Western Ghats in The Lost Legacy they really delivered, perfectly mixing classic Uncharted gameplay with a more open and non-linear approach that feels perfect for an adventure. Can't wait to see what they are preparing for The Last of Us Part II.
Footage is jacked up after 2:25, unless you intentionally didn't add anything or my cpu is fucking up. Edited: I got it working again, had to refresh the page. Randomness -_-
Shoutout to Novacanoo for doing a passable job on Jak & Daxter.
This is an absolutely brilliant video...
what if you rode around on a horse and had to clear out like 3 or 4 bandit camps and infected neighborhoods and at the end of the side quest you came upon a or a few keys and they open a cage of a trained attack dog that can gaurd you and distract enemies and also snif out secrets like in the lost legacy i think that would be fun cool and innovative as well as provide you with an inventory's item
You should do another video on insomniac games.
Great vid my man
I really want to see your review of Jedi Survivor and Fallen Order. Those games are solid action adventure games with ACTUAL platforming.
Pausing video to add that yes hero mode basically reverses the order of unlockables so you can get the crazy OP stuff first. That being said the turret mission with the crimson guards and the on-rails turret stuff (kill 40 guards without dying) was INSANELY hard for me and I only ever got past that once and forgot to make a permanent save-file to make new ones off of. Never did get past that ever again on hero mode, so i'd be forced to quit game at 50% or so from then on :(. Turret missions really suck in platformers for me *squints at A Hero's Tail's turret missions/sergeant bird missions*.
Haha that end. I feel you, man. I just want him back too. Please, Naughty Dog...
Jak and Daxter 1, Crash 3, Uncharted 4, and The Last of Us are my favorite Naughty Dog games. They will always have a special place in my heart, especially J&D and Crash 3. CTR is on another level though, best Naughty Dog game by a long shot.
Naughty Dog has definitely earned enough financial and critical praise to do just about anything, but I couldn't help but think about how Insomniac by comparison seems somewhat lackluster. The two companies did work close for a time (I'm not sure how the relationship evolved by the time uncharted came out) and have similar directions based on what they released up to a point. They both have roots in cartoon mascot platforming (Spyro and Crash). They had an edgy teenage shift as their core audience grew up (Ratchet&Clank and Jak&Daxter). They went into young adulthood (Resistance and Uncharted). And I can't recall Insomniac really going for something as adult as The Last of Us. The Ratchet phase never died where it arguably should have around the half-way point in the Future trilogy (Crack in Time would have been perfect based on it's ending) to the point where Into the Nexus is a game most people don't even know about ... so they reboot the franchise and lobotomize it in a desperate attempt to get the new generation on board (failing miserably in the most Steve Bushemi way possible). Heck, their most resent property is trying their hand at another movie tie in game: Spider-Man of all things.
Meh at least Insomniac doesn't have Neil
Spyro the Dragon = Crash Bandicoot
Ratchet and Clank = Jak and Daxter
RESISTANCE = UNCHARTED
Edge of Nowhere = The Last of Us
In a perfect world, the next Jak game is a sequel (not a reboot) developed by Ready at Dawn.
I think there is another factor to this: Like you said in the video, the early uncharted games are not very risky products. Especially near the end of the sixth generation of Consoles, those games sold very well, since to the consumer you bought a more powerful console capable of running "Cinematic" graphics, even though that term is doesn't really mean anything and its just the publishers shoving money into the project, and it meant that even if the actual game sucked (I didn't really enjoy Drakes Fortune) at least you have that "cinematic" quality. By the seventh generation, it just escalated. Now they want cinematic games that are also large worlds (or at least the illusion of large worlds). What that meant is that Uncharted 4 is also large, although for most of the game it meant that the drops are bigger and you can go left or right when climbing. And now we're at the time where most gamers are at the "remember the good old days?" point of their life even though nothing really has changed. So naturally they give us a game from the ideas of the good old days.
Ending a video with a line from Jak and Daxter. You are officially my favorite gaming channel.
what if you ride a horse around clear out three or four areas of hunters and bandits also infected and at the end of the sidequest you get an attack dog to command able to Tell it to guard or distract a group of infected fighting or maybe snif out secrets like the lost legacy
I was disappointed that you could not make Joel leap in front of a dart thrown by Ellie.
Finally played Lost Legacy after being inspired by the Uncharted movie (I bought the game years ago but I have a big backlog). I loved the jungle area, and I didn’t think it was too big. Hopping in the car to drive to another side didn’t feel tedious. If anything it made the area feel small because I could get to the next ruin with ease.
While I do think a warp-room style Uncharted that mixed the open and linear sections together will be great, I also don’t see an issue with the current set up. And by that I mean the franchise seems more interested in having the player recreate an Indiana Jones movie. Exploration and discovery is there, but tensions with ancient traps, treacherous terrain, and selfish guys with too much resources all trying to kill our plucky protagonist is more of the heart of those stories.
What are your thought on the bluepoint remasters of uncharted 1 & 2?
Naughty Dog Inc.
Is absolutely splendid
I would welcome some non-linear sections in The Last of Us 2. I think a mix of non-linear sections with linear story central sections could work out really well.
Honestly! Lost Legacy was such a surprise to me; it was incredible! More of that mechanic (not entirely open world, not entirely linear) creates a good pace, at least for me.
7:40
man I would literally never get away with getting shot 2-3 times in Uncharted due to playing on crushing difficulty. maybe a little bit of that is my fault tho
Hahah I feel you. There’s a harder mode on the ps4, Brutal mode..
where's that positive Ratchet and Clank video Brit?
His Ratchet Deadlocked video. Although I would like to see a video on Going Commando, and why it is the best of the franchise.
@@Chico50445 agreed
The Jak games were what got me into platformers, their great games especialy 3. As is the video awesome work!
As someone who did not care for the Uncharted/Last of Us series, I'd definitely be more interested if there were more non-linear gameplay sections.
When Naughty was asked if they would ever continue Crash Bandicoot or Jak and Dacter, they replied: "We only make one franchise per console generation"
Oh yeah, that must be the reason we are getting the second PS4 Uncharted title, being the FIFTH Uncharted game produced by them!
That was before they made The Last of Us for PS3 though, they promptly abandoned the "one franchise per generation" idea after that.
So basically the last new tomb raider?
Ergo, we need Jak 4.
We want it, it will happen someday, it's just a question of whether Naughty dog still remembers how to make games or not.
0:52 SPINNING THE BOUNCE CRATES CHARLIE WHY DO YOU TRIGGER ME SO
How about that Resident Evil analysis thing you started?
Hmm I would love another Jak and Daxter style game from Naughty Dog. I would if TLOU 2 was a Jak style game with a hub/open world area with missions to pick up from different people. Maybe you have Joel's brother's town from the first game and by doing the optional stuff you get different upgrades in defences for the town and in guns you can take with you.
Based off the recent developer dives for The Last of Us Part 2 makes it seem like they watched this video lol.