It's literally what the character would say if you put them in that scenario. If you are immersed in the game, it doesn't come off as out of place. It wouldn't make sense for the characters to not comment on it.
Meh, I never found so much of a problem with the 'nice view' thing, it's probably just about the most natural piece of small talk you will ever find in those given situations, who WOULDN'T compliment those views seeing them in real life?
yea what a terrible nit-pick. its gorgeous, quit whining over something for no reason. and he complained about the truck sequence that had like 5 stages of excitement.
exactly, i once drove to italy for a vacation, and every time me and my family saw like a mountain we had small talk similar to "wow that looks amazing huh", its probably the most natural thing to have small talk about
It's funny because I DON'T get that vibe from him usually, except this video. ESPECIALLY the first 5 minutes it sounds like any second he's about to crack up and I love it.
It's stupid tho. It seems super natural for the characters to actually react like a person to the environment around them. I wish more games had characters that reacted to the environment in a way that seems like the obvious reaction in that place
My favorite trophy in this game is 'Ludonarrative Dissonance' which I believe you get for killing 1000 enemies. Look up the term and chuckle and naughty dog making fun of themselves.
I think a good fix for the combat would be for enemies to have decreased accuracy while Drake is swinging on ropes and for defeated enemies to replenish some of Drake's "luck" to reward more reckless play. I've always hated how the harder difficulties forces you to play pop-a-mole behind cover instead of the death-defying action movies ND tries to emulate.
I know this is an oldass comment but it reminds me of a thing joe said in his tomb raider video, that cover shooters dont inherently suck, but rather its the players fault if they choose to play reverse wackamole because the game doesnt technically force you to. I dont know how true that criticism is for tomb raider but it absolutely doesnt apply to harder difficulty uncharted. like no, you have to hide in cover, the games mechanics all tie together in a way to make that the only reasonable way to play. Im not saying uncharted needs to be doom, but if the devs want you to play in an action oriented way, they should be making the game mechanics actively encourage you to play the game at a fast pace. It was such a bizzare comment in that game, again idk if it makes more sense in tomb raider but he said it like it applies to all cover shooters. Dude gets so much right so often it was bizzare to hear smth like "idc if the games mechanics encourage you to play in a boring way, if you play in a boring way then you are playing the game wrong."
The shots going for enemies inconsistently with normal dead on aiming at a wall is just bullet magnetism. It's just a form of aim assist where the game will pull bullets towards the enemies when the crosshair is aimed withing a certain distance of their hitbox. It's a relatively common feature in many console shooters to help further compensate for imprecision of controller aiming.
@@JosephAndersonChannel Sometimes bullets get stuck in certain invisible collision zones. This basically means that you're bullets could be absorbed by an invisible wall without the player realising it when you shoot bullets from certain angles.
I don't know guys, I didn't even notice it as self-complimenting, it just felt natural as dialog. Because, as many have pointed out, it *does* look stunning.
Hanfgurkenhasser yeah. A real punishment to endure the several seconds they make these comments when they've spent several years painstakingly making it. These comments in the game made me not being able to sleep for several weeks because it was so hard on me and my life. Those seconds were so painful never endured such agony ever in my life as that.
You know... one small little thing that i liked them adding to the climbing, letting you reach your hand out and his hand opening slightly when you are pointed to a climbable object. I cannot count the amount of times i tried jumping to ledges that were not actually ledges in that first 3.
I think you're spot on about Naughty Dog intentionally making simple and unobtrusive gameplay designed for people who don't play a lot of games. I really get the sense that it's meant to be the underlying current that makes the player feel like they're playing a game while the main focus is on the set pieces and story. I'm also glad that you briefly brought up the disparity between the intended audience and the reviews. I really feel like the professional review sites often get caught up in the glamour of the spectacle and tend to overlook whether it's objectively strong in every aspect.
I love Uncharted. It's definitely worthy of criticism, but the games are simple and fun, and give me everything I love about action stories: good-looking protagonists, beautiful locations, fun action, and charming humour. I don't want anything complex from Uncharted. I want simple fun.
@@craftingranger7552 you're overthinking a game parodying dumb action movies, Uncharted isn't supposed to be realistic, nothing about it is realistic, realism isn't the end goal of media, it's fun for how over the top it is
A lot of critiques I watch point out the climbing sections as boring or too simple, but I always look forward to long climbing sections for some reason. It may not be hard but I think the game gives you this feeling like you’re doing something cool, traversing all these treacherous mountains and what not and it feels entertaining
I feel like a lot of your criticisms are spot on, but I must say I'm rather disappointed with your fanbase. They seem to ignore your suggestions, critique and overview of the title, and latch on to the fact that you think these games score too well. Just scrolling down reveals a plethora of comments detailing how they think other games are better/more deserving, how others should stop praising these games altogether, how annoyed/ashamed they are about other people enjoying these games, how because the gameplay is mediocre anything with superior mechanics is automatically a superior product. It's highly insular, and I suspect that they don't hold their own favourite games up to the same exacting standards, and only say these things because they dislike the franchise/developer in the first place.
Lets take witcher 3 for example. Even simple fetch quests are interesting and i never considered any of those a chore. Its when a dev can take old thing and add something so that even a hardcore gamer can still enjoy, then it deserves all the praise. This uncharted 4 is same shit just with latest graphics.
its a channel that reviews videogames. Uncharted 4 isn't a videogame so yes, everything else that IS a game is a better video game than uncharted. That being said, I watched all the cutscenes one night and it was a hell of a time
I agree, games are a subjective medium and have built various "acquired taste" from different audiences overtime. so people should be able to like or dislike what they want. and just because a type of game doesn't fit your "taste", that should be okay. Its just kinda pointless to be going around declaring "this is a game standard" in a ever-growing and constantly changing medium.
While Naughty Dog didn't improve the combat mechanically, just having the guns sound and feel so much better made a huge difference IMO. Combined with the better combat arena level design in these areas, I personally enjoyed combat a lot more than in any other game of the series (for what little of it 4 had, at least). I played on Hard difficulty, which generally felt like a decent balance between difficulty and fun.
About it focusing on the spectacle and as nate would say “the view” , its kind of the point, isnt it? The game developers specifically designed it to be a fun adventure and have a vacation feel to it. Also, the game in itself thrives in putting the player in a superhero/action/adventure movie. thats why they focus on the witty banter and the cool action sections, its all made to make you feel like ironman.
A really common theme in his videos is that more options for the player + more gooder game, so you have to bare his own biases in mind, he's looking for a game with more complex gameplay and options for you to choose from in how you finish levels. But it's not inherently better or worse. Idk, personally, I'm burnt the fuck out on open world games, I don't get why every single game nowadays HAS to be open world, they just get fucking exhausting to play after a while, I don't mind just having a linear game as long as it is still fun, which Uncharted is, it's about the spectacle, sure the combat isn't great but that's why you just don't bother playing on crushing, I don't think having more options for the player in levels would really make the game all that much better as that was just never really the point of the Uncharted games.
I agree that the game is never really hard, and it's a great entry point for those who don't play much. But god damn, the last sword battle. For some reason my brain had some serious trouble getting the left and right swings right with correspondent buttons. Is is harder on crushing or is it the same?
the thing is that i search for a different experience than what tomb raider has to offer. doing stealth, hunting, upgrading weapons and skill trees is boring and it feels like it draws me out of the experience. Uncharted makes me forget about all that stuff and gives me the opportunity to just have fun shooting people in action packed sequences, enjoying the locations and the amazing story. That's all i want from a game.
shooting hundreds of people in the face doesnt take you out of this disney bradley cooper adventure flick?? I sure though it was strange how violent nate is as a person, never connected to the story. Nate is a likeable dude who also has a severe problem of killing 1000s of people. The tomb raider is meant to be doing those things, therefore it immerses more than retracts
@@SG710 This comment is old and i don't really know what was going through my head as i was typing it. I honestly enjoy all kinds of different games. however, does such game preferences make me shallow with low standards? No, not at all. Enjoying specific type of games doesn't make one shallow, it just makes one an individual with a personal preference. If you emphasize on graphics, gameplay, story, voice acting, production value and length, your standards aren't exactly low either. Anyway, good luck in these difficult times my dude, cheers!
You know what, I deleted the comment because I was a piece of shit suffering from cabin fever venting my frustration and you're a nice chap who didn't deserve it.
Very excited about this. I haven't played U4 but have watched a couple of playthroughs and have developed some fairly complex feelings on it as a result. Can't wait to hear your perspective.
I don't think its the game complimenting itself when the characters talk about the views. Its always done in places with great views and it feels like natural dialogue that these people would have. They're going to amazing places and seeing amazing things, it really is a great view.
I think comparing it to movies like Pacific Rim and Avengers is pretty apt. They're not great games in terms of mechanics or story telling, but they're simple and enjoyable for what they are. I think most of the hate comes from how overpriased they are. To be clear, the games are absolutely overrated but that doesn't mean they're not fine for what they are.
Overrated is such a stupid term, but there's nothing else that fits for this situation, is there? They score too well. I don't understand why. The games absolutely accomplish what they set out to do, but that goal isn't that interesting. It doesn't seem right to me that scores should be based on whether or not you succeed with a concept. Whether the intended idea is good or not should be a strong factor for weighing it as well.
Joseph Anderson I try not to use the term liberally since it's something that people say too much but yeah unfortunately that word pretty much sums up the series. I've noticed some reviewers put a lot of stake in the idea that a game should be considered an overall success if it accomplishes what it sets out to do. I never bought into this because what if the intention is to make a bad game? There's a show I hate called School Days that I am utterly convinced was made specifically to piss people off. The show is infamous so it more than succeeded in that goal but that doesn't suddenly make it good, the show is still poorly written garbage. Going back to Uncharted, I think it feeds into this weird idea some people have that for games to be respected on the same level as film they need to emulate them. It's high production, good directing and witty dialogue that act as smoke and mirrors for the glaring flaws. I think that's why it gets so much praise, it makes those that play it feel like games will start getting the respect it deserves. If anything it's regressive and doesn't play on the strengths that gaming offers.
+Joseph Anderson I think the reason these games score so well is because gaming criticism hasn't come even close to the level of critique and understanding that movies have in general. There's such a large disparity between the reviewing of games and the reviewing of movies that I feel like the average score for a movie is actually a 50% (on Metacritic) while the actual average for games is somewhere between 67-75%. The easiest way to see this disparity is to just go on Metacritic right now and look at how many movies are below 65-70% and how many games are above 71-74%. It's the reason that critics like you and Matthewmatosis, who I am almost positive you take inspiration from, are a blessing to video reviewing because not only do you provide entertaining content but you truly critique almost every facet of the game, something that incredibly few other reviewers do for videogames. The issue stems from movies being far shorter than videogames and possibly the fact that we're still reeling from the old "videogames are toys, not art" stupidity from the advent of videogames, but it's definitely a massive issue when comparing these two humongous forms of entertainment media. As an aside, if you ever end up reading this content, thank you so much for making such ridiculously well-made content that it blows any other review of some of these games clear out of the water. Even when I find myself disagreeing with some of your critiques, you bring up so many and you've brought up such fantastic critiques that I can't help but be blown away by your attention to detail.
Daniel Santos I disagree with the use of “overrated” here because not only did it accomplish what it intended, but the degree of difficulty was such that it accomplished it at a higher level than others were able to emulate. It may not be your favorite kind of game, but there is a level of accomplishment to making it that should not be denied. I’m trying to better understand your argument that a game can be trying to do “the wrong thing”. Are you saying that it would be fair to call an exceptionally made horror game “overrated” if you didn’t like being scared? I have no interest in fighting games (or most other multiplayer oriented games), but I will still admit that Injustice and most of the Call of Duty games I’ve played are great because they accomplish a thing which other people like, and which is hard to replicate. In short, I think a game is great if it accomplishes what it is trying to do, what it accomplished is something that some people really like, and very few other games accomplish it as successfully.
Overrated is meaningless without specifying who is doing the rating. There are 10/10 reviews for Uncharted 4, but there are also 4/10 reviews. Ratings and scores are just people's opinions, so why even place emphasis on them by using the term "overrated"? Rather than try to objectively determine how good a game is, it's more meaningful to focus on subjective elements of how playing the game made you feel emotionally. It's far more interesting to hear why you didn't enjoy a game, rather than why you think its overrated.
My personal favourite solution to the target reticle thing: Instead of a circle of probability, you get a much smaller icon showing exactly where the bullet will go at all times. However, when moving around or getting shot or doing anything that causes the body/weapon to move, the reticle will also bounce around. So you are always visually shown exactly where your shots are going, but your weapon is difficult to control if you are moving quickly. So you have an incentive to stop moving and line up your shots (since this will steady your reticle). But the reticle should also bounce around in ways that are kind of predictable. So as you play more you will learn how it moves in relationship to how you're moving, so you will naturally be able to pull off much quicker snapshots while moving. I think this would be much more engaging, since it would let players develop their own in-game marksmanship skills rather than forcing them to rely on RNG. There's a game called War Thunder which does this when you're controlling tanks. While that game has a lot of problems, I think that feature works really well and would totally be usable in a game where you controlled a human (like Drake for example).
"It's a real shame it took so long for the [gameplay] complexity to reach this point." Sadly, you can say this about every game in the series as well as The Last of Us. The gameplay is only ever really engaging when all of it's various components are brought together. Separately they're a little boring and not very challenging. Hopefully they'll work on fixing this issue, because the games have improved in so many other ways.
@@Pedro_Le_Chef I mean....not really? The actual mechanics about it are what makes it casual, there's nothing complex or hard to learn about the gameplay, having an optional setting where all you do is lower your health and up enemy damage a bunch doesn't make it a non casual game, it makes it a casual game with a hard mode
I was scrolling through the comments as you were giving the outro, so I was caught off guard by the final seconds of this video, which made me chuckle more than I'd like to admit lol
I love how well you can explain your views on things where others struggle or sometimes outright forget. I have to say that this isn't your best work, mainly because it feels like you already said most of this in your previous video, but that might be because I rewatched that video in preparation of this one, and it's still great, especially production wise. If you're going to do that indie marathon that you were talking about I have a suggestion: Hyper Light Drifter. It has a lot of exploration, atmosphere, and some fun combat, and like pretty much every game out right now it's being compared to dark souls, and if anything I think that you could be the one to shed light on why that is/isn't true. I don't know if you take suggestions but I thought it'd be better to put it out there.
Yep there's a fair bit of repetition. I don't always like having to set up some of the same arguments in each video (some of my Dark Souls stuff has the same issue), but with a channel as small as mine I have to assume with each new video I put up that there are going to be a massive amount of viewers that are seeing it as their first video from me. Plus it makes the argument stronger when they have a foundation in the same video. Hyper Light Drifter looked really cool but I skipped it because I was too busy with Bloodborne or something. I can't remember what game it was. Same for Enter the Gungeon. The indie list I'm kicking around with right now are: Furi, Necropolis, Hyper Light, Inside, Brothers, Subnautica, Bastion+Transistor, and Ori. Obviously I wouldn't do all of them. I'd pick a few and see how it goes. But I really want to be ready for a quick video on No Man's Sky so a lot will depend on how long it takes me to get through Dark Souls 3 and Far Harbor this month.
I have binge watched all of your content in the past weeks and I must say you are one of the most sophisticated gaming discussion channels on this entire website. I'll be celebrating every new upload of yours.
Thanks! I try to strike a balance between being watchable and going into detail. I find that many other critics don't talk about gameplay except in vague terms. So I get into shit sometimes by using specifics but it's worth it I think.
I can't believe that I haven't noticed for 6 whole months that Joseph Anderson actually answered to my comment, I feel like an idiot. In my opinion it's absolutely worth it. There is an infinite amount of channels just rambling about their experiences, masking them as objective criteria for judging games. You on the other hand are even taking into account the different perspectives players might have during their playthroughs, this level of awareness about how games are played and understood is what makes you thoroughly unique as a gaming focused channel (at least up until now) and just let's your videos have that much more value to me as a result. By the way your latest videos have been stellar as well, my opinion of your content improves almost every time you upload something, really you seem like the next Mathhewmatosis to me but with far more frequent uploads.
Skrenja Supernatural shit is what almost ruins uncharted, it does not fit AT ALL, it's like playing cod and suddenly wizzards appear. Or playing witcher and suddenly star destoryer appears in the sky.
Skrenja That actually slightly bugged me out. I agree that it wouldn't be realistic, but I think it could've been addressed the sane way U3 did, as if it was just an hallucination that you get from being drugged. Maybe even a dream.
To be fair, Call of Duty is extremely supernatural and you don't seem to know that... Ever play Zombies? But regardless, I agree with your point that supernatural shit ruins Uncharted almost.
Re: the shooting/reticle outline, did you consider the effects range might have on the bullet's path? Perhaps up close, the bullet is more likely to land in the center of the circle, whereas the further Nate is from the target while aiming, the more chance the bullet will land on the edge of the circle. Just a thought.
In Rise of the Tomb Raider, they had the "grip" card which made the game much more realistic and fun, some people thought it was broken but most of it is not. I wish they added it in Extreme Survivor difficulty in the campaign.
I think it's proof of how much work you put into these and how much I've come to respect you're opinions that, even though I don't agree with what you're saying and almost loath you for shattering the illusions that have allowed me to enjoy this series so immensely (Apart from the first one, that was as meh as you say), I still enjoyed this video and agree with many of the points you make. It's just . . . Explosions are cool.
It sounds like you should've played the game a second time on hard. Crushing is meant to be ball-blistering. Like you said, it does break the game but that's the point of playing it. If you're playing it on crushing you aren't doing it for the story or to have fun, you're pretty much doing it to get your ass kicked because it's so unfair (or to get the trophy). It "crushes" your hopes and dreams. I did have the same issue though with the part where you're running and you can't make it to the door in time. I think that's probably a bug because you don't have enough time to make it over because of Sam's animation, but when it respawns you his animation isn't there so you can make it pretty much unscathed.
The problem is that the game mechanics aren't consistent enough to make playing on crushing entertaining at all, even for a masoquist or a lover of hard games.
Ahh idk I play u3 and u4 both on crushing mode using pistols and punching most enemies and had fun I don't remember using cover unless it was those scenes where u were surrounded like the sinking ship(best level,especially with the docks thing where u swim and kill people on the boats and climb that gigantic ship) or the sand level or the final level for u3(dreamers whatever chapter I forgot the name) but people keep forgetting All the things rolling allows you to do, u don't appreciate rolling until u play multiple coop erena and adventure modes on crushing.
I feel like 4 was a step backwards in a lot of ways. I commend Naughty Dog on massively stepping up their game in the sound & feel of their weapons, as well as animations for enemies getting shot/dying (both of these were extremely weak in some or all of the past titles). That said, this series has always been at its best when its delivering all out, bombastic action. They really toned down the amount of set pieces, and I felt like you spend _way_ too many chapters just walking/climbing/exploring. In a game where there isn't actually anything to find outside of useless collectibles that don't affect gameplay whatsoever, that shit gets boring very quickly. Uncharted 2 had a much better flow/pacing to it overall.
I was really dissapointed in the lack of bombastic action. Thats what the series is known for and I expected them to go nuts since this is the last game. The convoy sequence was amazing but I feel like we should have had at least two more of those and they simply didnt deliver. The rest were just too short to sink in for me. Im hoping the next Tomb Raider can step up in that department because so far they been kinda meh.
Yea, it really does remind you of the moments in the first game where you'd wander for so much time to finally get to a shootout only the difference is the shootouts are better and the set pieces are more intense too which obviously makes it better than 1 but it also reminds of how in 2 you spent the least amount of time wandering and it was arguably more impactful and had more of a purpose like traveling through the city and going into the mountains with tenzin
The invisible center dot sways when you move the reticle, it doesn’t always stay still in the center. Just so you know. The same system was used in Drake’s Deception.
you seen to not understand how the shooting works. the initial shot hits the center of the circle, and subsequent shots land on the white dot that appears when you start shooting. it's not random where the bullets go, you just have to follow the white dot.
The visual examples I show in the video do not match your description. I'm aware that shooting *usually* works that way, but the clips I show in that section do not follow those rules and miss/hit when they should/shouldn't.
Excellent video my man! I think you pretty much hit the nails straight on the head with just about every point you make. It really astonishes me that a title with gameplay as pedestrian and flawed as this one gets received so well. It feels like people are weighing too heavily on it's excellent narrative qualities and its great presentation and forget to take factors such as gameplay into consideration. I respect that you think it's the best entry in the series but at the same time make sure to not paint the game as absolutely flawless, that is a nice and nuanced approach to critique and by god, i think the reviewing industry could use more of this. You're good at what you do, seriously. Have another subscription. :)
Pretty much had the exact same experience on crushing, forced myself to beat it and almost gave up after restarting key fights like 30 times in a row. Almost every one of those deaths felt unearned and like no amount of skill could have corrected.
I know it's cliche to say that you're "playing the game wrong", and I'm not gonna go that far since it's partially the designer's fault for not teaching it well enough, but I feel like the Uncharted games have always allowed for two different combat styles: cover-focused and run-and-gun. Admittedly, I haven't watched your other videos, but I saw no mention of the "steel fist" attack in this one, and it's been in the series since at least the second game, where you can shoot an enemy right before you melee them and it's an instant kill. This makes running and gunning much more viable, especially with machine guns and shotguns.
four years later, but the shooting from an iron sight thingy is because you had autoaim activated, which makes Nathan aim to the enemies on his own while you give him a "range of firing"
I don’t really agree with the game complimenting itself. It’s complimenting its own artwork, sure, but the people writing are complimenting their coworkers. It’s not the same people writing who create the art. If anything I’d see it making those compliments as less boastful and more proud of their coworkers.
14:31 wrong, crushing adds extra enemies and equipment to arenas. Imagine my surprise when I saw a machine gun turret in one of the Scotland arenas where there had not been one before. I expected more and tougher enemies but not that, I welcomed the challenge regardless.
Crash Bandicoot actually had very accomplished platforming for its time. The Jak series had good gameplay too. It wasn't until 7th gen, when they started to turn to shit.
bob hope I don't think I'd call the shooting in Uncharted good. The difficulty tends to be fucked up either way. I haven't played TLoU on its hardest difficulty, but I found the game to have a number of flaws in its lower ones.
This mentality has got to be the most annoying. The game puts it's story and setpieces first and foremost, yes. I would argue however, that there is in fact a learning curve in Uncharted 4 just like in Mario. In Mario you play by Mario's rules, it teaches you from the start the goombas can be jumped on. Uncharted teaches you to follow the story and do what it wants. Once you accept that, it is easy to get wrapped up in Uncharted just like you do with Mario. The fact that Uncharted is more interested in telling a story than platforming gameplay is fine. It is a type of game that deserves to exist, just like horror movie should stand next to porn. One is more interested in being a traditional movie, but the other leaves you with your O face on.
Prince of Persia is a valid point of comparison because the original PoP was the progenitor of the whole "cinematic platformer" genre to start with. Although that genre name is basically dead at this point, all sorts of games going for something movie-like since then has cribbed from Sands of Time. While the platforming is very restrictive compared to something like Mario for instance, I wish Uncharted had gone for something like it as opposed to the completely mindless climbing we got. It's so boring.
Yera Yyyyeah, I would always try too to imagine taking damage, as it actually was just having "close calls". Like you're not actually getting wounded, but the more "damage" you take, the more you risk getting a bullet in your stomach, and when you die, it's only there that you got shot.
I'm glad you mention Sands of Time, because playing that and the jak&daxter series as a kid was what made it impossible for me to play the uncharted games. Still intend on playing last of us, but I really enjoyed your pieces on the uncharted series and i feel pretty satisfied that I don't have to play them myself.
I think the best parts of the climbing gameplay is when it’s time sensitive, or timing sensitive. Like when it’s a setpiece, or when it’s something like the climbing pike or the sliding where it takes specific timing to climb. I think thats why I like BASIC climbing in shadow of the colossus more. The grip meter makes it always time sensitive. I kinda wish uncharted had a grip meter to make the safe climbing sections less boring.
I don't agree that the navigation parts are filler or boring. I enjoyed them very much, even more so because I have never been a fan of the extensive shooting in the Uncharted games. To me, *they* always felt a bit like filler. Sure, the navigation has no real challenges. But for (people like) me, games aren't all about challenges. Or at least not all of them. I played The Witness and it was a (mostly) fun challenge to get through it without looking up any solutions. But when I play a game like Uncharted, I'm in for the fun. For the adventure, for the story, for the visuals, the spectacle as you say. Not for the challenge, which is why I don't like the combat that much, although I liked U4's combat much more than the previous games'. All that said, great job on the video about U1-3 and TLoU! (and I don't think RotTR is better)
I'm still in shock that they never fixed the gunplay in years. Floatiest third-person aiming and spongiest enemies ever. I never got over that the same people made Last of Us but couldnt figure out guns for Uncharted.
I just have to say, I have really enjoyed all of your Naughty Dog videos. Really well done. Watching this just reminds me how much I love Nate and Elena and their dynamic. Nolan north and Emily Rose are so good and their chemistry is fantastic. Not to mention the animators and graphic designers that give so much life to the characters.
The combat is better than in most other games as the enemies try to flank you in a merciless and smart way in the "arenas". I often died on crushing but never raged, because the difficulty arose from the flanking mechanics and it was interesting to run from cover to cover in a smart way and having limited amounts of amunition. You feel vulnerable in a good way. In the Tomb Raider reboots the enemies don't act like a team, which leads to a dull fights. What I also don't like is the crafting and upgrade thing in these games, which requires no thinking and overpowers your character and removes gameplay elements instead of adding them.
I played the game on Hard difficulty. It was the right degree of challenge while maintaining a doable pace of the ''action movie'' essence the game has
To be frank, with some games it is usually the higher difficulty setting that was worked on by the developers first and then, later the normal and easy are bolted on.
I liked the combat in 3 more. The linear level design better compliments the feel of the gunplay. You die way too fast on normal if you are getting attacked on multiple sides. The open design doesn't help with that. And in every combat environment I found myself retreating to the corners to take out each enemy one by one. Anytime I attempt pushing up, more enemies appear, I get overwhelmed, and need to go back to the corners to not die. Grenades would help a lot, but in some areas there's about 10 available, while others you're lucky if you find one, so you can't rely on having them.
For the first videogame I played on PS4 (I only played on Nintendo consoles before this) it was really cool. Definitely a great game for people to get into gaming/ more serious games.
I'm so glad you brought up Prince of Persia, ever since I first saw these games I always thought "man, PoP did this kind of stuff way better!". Naughty Dogs older games were also way better at having good gameplay.
Agree agree with your criticisms on combat. I played this game on hard and I was like huh, there's all this cool stuff to do and room to explore, but I can't really do any of it because i'm being bombarded with bullets and will die if i poke my head out of cover for more than 5 seconds. If there was a smart way, like some of the gameplay suggestions you mentioned, so I could take advantage of these mechanics it would be vastly improved. For the most part I still felt like combat was a slog, although I did enjoy the stealth element. I also agree with your criticisms of climbing. After being introduced to our climbing techniques why not amp it up? The game could essentially be a triple AAA version of Temple Run, but with cool physics. Unfortunately, like you said, this is only very briefly touched upon during that one section where you're sliding more and in the very end of the game. However despite all these criticisms the game was still amazing. Having played Tomb Raider as well I found this to be more enjoyable and as far as any game where you wanna have that "cinematic" adventure, I don't think anything comes close to Uncharted. Almost felt like The Goonies.
22:45 yeah I noticed playing on moderate was more fun. I thought I hated a lot of the jungle stealth sections because of crushing but in reality, I really enjoyed them on the normal difficulty. It was fun. It still felt tense at times but I’m not getting pissed off by mr power armored machine gun tank.
It's awesome to know we have the same idea of playing with the hardest difficulty to test the limits of the gameplay. Glad i'm not the only one. It's great to see you do all these lengthy video essays analyzing aspects of the game but here's what i thought. I like playing the game on crushing because it let's the game become more of a shooter. Sure, there are inconsistencies but i take them as a challenge to work around to. The shooting is more of a leaner gears of war, emphasizing on movement, hence, i enjoy the shooter side of uncharted 4 but it makes the shootouts protracted and elongated. Also, you must know that Bruce Straley has a different idea to setpieces. He said that not all setpieces must be elaborate action sequences. They can also be the quieter moments. With that in mind, some "setpieces" are the "a normal life" chapter and the epilogue. I like to know what is your opinion on this.
I don't agree with the combat complain, it's not a quick time event since it's up to the player to know when and where to roll to avoid a punch, the game in no way makes this task easy for the player by not enfacising too much when an enemy is going to punch you, this way the combat becomes more frenetic and makes you feel like you're in an action movie, without taking control away from you
As someone who hasn't played any of the Uncharted games,and as someone who loves Prince of Persia:The Sands of Time...it was nice to see the comparison.....it says a lot that games today are easier and have poorer pacing than POP:SOT which was a the time of its release considered a Very Easy game. I simply don't understand why developers and publishers today are afraid of a little bit of a challenge. Now i know making games is expensive and the AAA part of the industry cant afford to make big risks,and thats the reason why a lot of games feel samey....stick to what works,i get it,but the difficulty of games is something that is sacrificed,which for me makes them less enjoyable,because developers and publishers are not creative enough on solving the problem of accessibility,which they definitely want to achieve. With a proper tutorial any game becomes accessible,and yet developers are making games easy,which is,in my opinion,the laziest way to achieve accessibility of games. Woah i went off topic here,well enjoy the wall of text :P
I just find them a lot less enjoyable,if at all enjoyable,as i'v said in the OP Easy games of the past(POP:SOT)would be considered medium difficulty games of today,and considering most of the AAA games,and in fact games in general, are easy so they can reach the biggest audience,that makes the amount of games i enjoy and would want to play and replay is becoming smaller. I would like if the "Easy" game became just a bit harder,not by a lot,i'm not the biggest fan of hard games myself,but there needs to be some challenge in order for the act of beating the game to feel rewarding.
***** Thats a pretty good way of putting it. Easy games are not inherently bad,but when you require less of your players they can be bored or worse completely lose interest.
Games are easier because devs are trying to make as much money as possible and they have the stats on what sells and we dont. Why do you think CoD is so damn popular? Easy to pick up and play and its funny that you would mention Sands of Time. Ubisoft rebooted the franchise and it basically plays itself with little player input. Guys like you and me, we like a challenge but a lot of casual gamers get frustrated and quit.
I agree with a lot of what you are saying,although SOT has very interesting platforming areas which require good timing on the players part and thats what makes them fun,plus the rewind mechanic in the game removes almost all frustration. I still think a lot of frustration can be alleviated with a good tutorial,but they are not easy to design and create,a lot of developers dont even try,and they resort to the lazy option.
Gotta say, I'm loving your videos. They are really entertaining as well as educational, exploring and dissecting games as media. That being said, what would you think about doing a retrospective on the Assassin's Creed series? It's an obviously flawed franchise but it such a mainstay in games media that I'd love to hear you thoughts. Either way you've got yourself a dedicated sub here :)
I've played Assassin's Creed 1, 2, and Brotherhood. I have Revelations and Black Flag. There's so much busy work in those games that I find them frustrating. The story in the first one was intriguing. It got a bit better as it went on and then took a nosedive off after that. Black Flag looked like a lot of fun but it ran like dog shit on my computer when I got it (was a birthday present actually). I don't think I'll do videos on those games anytime soon but I'll never say never.
Okay, amazing video but i realised points wherein you emphasised the fact that there are limited or few options when playing action sequences .the other point which is how most choices lead to a specific path. Well it is a game but remember that you are in fact roleplaying Nathan drake and sort of reliving what he did through this game. So you're in for a journey which belonged to Nathan drake, not you as another person or as yourself. So all paths lie to what happened with Nathan; he defeated the shooting trucking which was chasing him via on a bike, killed Rafe in a sword fight, followed a specific path to get to where he wanted... You get me? Great video though outstanding effort.
i hardly disagree that the chase scene in Uncharted 3 (on horses) is the best, it´s way too empty and its the one where you have the least freedom of them all. Great work on the video tho, you have a lot of good points
Those "look at that view" moments were probably the writers complimenting the graphics people.
its more like a queue to guide the players to enjoy the vista in that moment imo.
Well, it's one of the most visually appealing games out there, so I don't find it wrong.
It's literally what the character would say if you put them in that scenario. If you are immersed in the game, it doesn't come off as out of place. It wouldn't make sense for the characters to not comment on it.
Clickpwn I think you mean cue.
It's the devs giving themselves a good 'ol handy. If it's done in excess it becomes grating and super obnoxious.
Meh, I never found so much of a problem with the 'nice view' thing, it's probably just about the most natural piece of small talk you will ever find in those given situations, who WOULDN'T compliment those views seeing them in real life?
lmao ikr
Considering how many good views this game has, it has the right to self-compliment at least once.
yea what a terrible nit-pick. its gorgeous, quit whining over something for no reason. and he complained about the truck sequence that had like 5 stages of excitement.
exactly, i once drove to italy for a vacation, and every time me and my family saw like a mountain we had small talk similar to "wow that looks amazing huh", its probably the most natural thing to have small talk about
You always sound like you're smiling or on the verge of laughter while commentating
It's really endearing!
LuLu OH MY GOSH I ALWAYS THOUGHT THE SAME THING!
pause
It's funny because I DON'T get that vibe from him usually, except this video. ESPECIALLY the first 5 minutes it sounds like any second he's about to crack up and I love it.
onecrazyguy 25 p
i always get that vibe
can't stop laughing at 'THE GAME IS COMPLIMENTING ITSELF'
"Wow, this is a nice view," comments Nathan while staring at a wall. (9:42)
Those analytics don't look to good bud. Why's the old channel floundering?
It's stupid tho. It seems super natural for the characters to actually react like a person to the environment around them. I wish more games had characters that reacted to the environment in a way that seems like the obvious reaction in that place
My favorite trophy in this game is 'Ludonarrative Dissonance' which I believe you get for killing 1000 enemies. Look up the term and chuckle and naughty dog making fun of themselves.
*at naughty dog
He talks about this in the previous video, you should watch it it's worth the 3 hours
I remember looking it up it really gave me a kick haha
My favourites the stage fright one, great reference
I think a good fix for the combat would be for enemies to have decreased accuracy while Drake is swinging on ropes and for defeated enemies to replenish some of Drake's "luck" to reward more reckless play. I've always hated how the harder difficulties forces you to play pop-a-mole behind cover instead of the death-defying action movies ND tries to emulate.
Seriously. A blood-borne system where are you hit someone to get your health back and hip fire is much more accurate
I know this is an oldass comment but it reminds me of a thing joe said in his tomb raider video, that cover shooters dont inherently suck, but rather its the players fault if they choose to play reverse wackamole because the game doesnt technically force you to. I dont know how true that criticism is for tomb raider but it absolutely doesnt apply to harder difficulty uncharted. like no, you have to hide in cover, the games mechanics all tie together in a way to make that the only reasonable way to play. Im not saying uncharted needs to be doom, but if the devs want you to play in an action oriented way, they should be making the game mechanics actively encourage you to play the game at a fast pace. It was such a bizzare comment in that game, again idk if it makes more sense in tomb raider but he said it like it applies to all cover shooters. Dude gets so much right so often it was bizzare to hear smth like "idc if the games mechanics encourage you to play in a boring way, if you play in a boring way then you are playing the game wrong."
The shots going for enemies inconsistently with normal dead on aiming at a wall is just bullet magnetism. It's just a form of aim assist where the game will pull bullets towards the enemies when the crosshair is aimed withing a certain distance of their hitbox. It's a relatively common feature in many console shooters to help further compensate for imprecision of controller aiming.
Hmm. That makes sense but why is it so inconsistent about happening then? Does it have some randomness tied to it?
@@JosephAndersonChannel Sometimes bullets get stuck in certain invisible collision zones. This basically means that you're bullets could be absorbed by an invisible wall without the player realising it when you shoot bullets from certain angles.
That river current gag is inexcusable. Just make the character drown and reset, ffs...
What a nice view.
a nice re-view
Hey fuck you abby
Get golfed.
i dont see a problem with them complementing itself on the graphics and how it looks. It is very beautiful scene
It's just nakedly masturbatory and rather cringeworthy. We know it looks beautiful, just let it be beautiful.
Not even that, it's simply the amount of self-wanking compliments they put in there, it's just too. Damn. Much.
I don't know guys, I didn't even notice it as self-complimenting, it just felt natural as dialog. Because, as many have pointed out, it *does* look stunning.
Hanfgurkenhasser yeah. A real punishment to endure the several seconds they make these comments when they've spent several years painstakingly making it. These comments in the game made me not being able to sleep for several weeks because it was so hard on me and my life. Those seconds were so painful never endured such agony ever in my life as that.
/sarcasm.
You know... one small little thing that i liked them adding to the climbing, letting you reach your hand out and his hand opening slightly when you are pointed to a climbable object. I cannot count the amount of times i tried jumping to ledges that were not actually ledges in that first 3.
9:30 I think this one is to be forgiven as it seems to be complimenting Nathan's rear more than anything else. That's legit bonding right there.
I think you're spot on about Naughty Dog intentionally making simple and unobtrusive gameplay designed for people who don't play a lot of games. I really get the sense that it's meant to be the underlying current that makes the player feel like they're playing a game while the main focus is on the set pieces and story. I'm also glad that you briefly brought up the disparity between the intended audience and the reviews. I really feel like the professional review sites often get caught up in the glamour of the spectacle and tend to overlook whether it's objectively strong in every aspect.
yeah but the hardest difficulty offers plenty of challenge for those who want it. especially the new brutal mode on the remasters of 1-3.
@@Jack_80
Brutal mode is trash lol yet I'm still drawn to it. Being a gaming masochist is tough sometime 😅
I love Uncharted. It's definitely worthy of criticism, but the games are simple and fun, and give me everything I love about action stories: good-looking protagonists, beautiful locations, fun action, and charming humour. I don't want anything complex from Uncharted. I want simple fun.
Agreed
Thats why it's one best games
Except there completely unrealistic puzzles that never make sense.
@@craftingranger7552 you're overthinking a game parodying dumb action movies, Uncharted isn't supposed to be realistic, nothing about it is realistic, realism isn't the end goal of media, it's fun for how over the top it is
I agree
Then get rid of crushing.
A lot of critiques I watch point out the climbing sections as boring or too simple, but I always look forward to long climbing sections for some reason. It may not be hard but I think the game gives you this feeling like you’re doing something cool, traversing all these treacherous mountains and what not and it feels entertaining
I enjoy cinematic games like Uncharted, no wave point, no crowded Hud, just ammo counter gun symbol and the world to be immersed in, I appreciate it
I feel like a lot of your criticisms are spot on, but I must say I'm rather disappointed with your fanbase. They seem to ignore your suggestions, critique and overview of the title, and latch on to the fact that you think these games score too well.
Just scrolling down reveals a plethora of comments detailing how they think other games are better/more deserving, how others should stop praising these games altogether, how annoyed/ashamed they are about other people enjoying these games, how because the gameplay is mediocre anything with superior mechanics is automatically a superior product.
It's highly insular, and I suspect that they don't hold their own favourite games up to the same exacting standards, and only say these things because they dislike the franchise/developer in the first place.
Lets take witcher 3 for example. Even simple fetch quests are interesting and i never considered any of those a chore. Its when a dev can take old thing and add something so that even a hardcore gamer can still enjoy, then it deserves all the praise. This uncharted 4 is same shit just with latest graphics.
Less than 0.5% of viewers leave comments. Commentors do not represent the 99.5% of the fanbase
its a channel that reviews videogames. Uncharted 4 isn't a videogame so yes, everything else that IS a game is a better video game than uncharted. That being said, I watched all the cutscenes one night and it was a hell of a time
I agree, games are a subjective medium and have built various "acquired taste" from different audiences overtime. so people should be able to like or dislike what they want. and just because a type of game doesn't fit your "taste", that should be okay. Its just kinda pointless to be going around declaring "this is a game standard" in a ever-growing and constantly changing medium.
Why is this adressed towards Joseph? He has no control over what people say in his comments.
32:38 FIGHTING WORDS!!
Solid video, lots of interesting points.
While Naughty Dog didn't improve the combat mechanically, just having the guns sound and feel so much better made a huge difference IMO. Combined with the better combat arena level design in these areas, I personally enjoyed combat a lot more than in any other game of the series (for what little of it 4 had, at least). I played on Hard difficulty, which generally felt like a decent balance between difficulty and fun.
I jumped straight to crushing on my first playthrough. Wasn't that bad tbh
About it focusing on the spectacle and as nate would say “the view” , its kind of the point, isnt it? The game developers specifically designed it to be a fun adventure and have a vacation feel to it.
Also, the game in itself thrives in putting the player in a superhero/action/adventure movie. thats why they focus on the witty banter and the cool action sections, its all made to make you feel like ironman.
A really common theme in his videos is that more options for the player + more gooder game, so you have to bare his own biases in mind, he's looking for a game with more complex gameplay and options for you to choose from in how you finish levels. But it's not inherently better or worse. Idk, personally, I'm burnt the fuck out on open world games, I don't get why every single game nowadays HAS to be open world, they just get fucking exhausting to play after a while, I don't mind just having a linear game as long as it is still fun, which Uncharted is, it's about the spectacle, sure the combat isn't great but that's why you just don't bother playing on crushing, I don't think having more options for the player in levels would really make the game all that much better as that was just never really the point of the Uncharted games.
I agree that the game is never really hard, and it's a great entry point for those who don't play much. But god damn, the last sword battle. For some reason my brain had some serious trouble getting the left and right swings right with correspondent buttons. Is is harder on crushing or is it the same?
It's insanely hard on crushing, I probably died about 75 times with no exaggeration. No button prompts and you die if you get hit once
its not hard on crushing if you tap both counter buttons at the same time lol
crushing is very hard in u4 in general.
haha, smart.
On crushing it's complete bullshit. I know this is a late reply but on crushing it's nothing more than a glorified qte.
the thing is that i search for a different experience than what tomb raider has to offer.
doing stealth, hunting, upgrading weapons and skill trees is boring and it feels like it draws me out of the experience.
Uncharted makes me forget about all that stuff and gives me the opportunity to just have fun shooting people in action packed sequences, enjoying the locations and the amazing story.
That's all i want from a game.
shooting hundreds of people in the face doesnt take you out of this disney bradley cooper adventure flick?? I sure though it was strange how violent nate is as a person, never connected to the story. Nate is a likeable dude who also has a severe problem of killing 1000s of people. The tomb raider is meant to be doing those things, therefore it immerses more than retracts
@@SG710 This comment is old and i don't really know what was going through my head as i was typing it.
I honestly enjoy all kinds of different games.
however, does such game preferences make me shallow with low standards?
No, not at all.
Enjoying specific type of games doesn't make one shallow, it just makes one an individual with a personal preference.
If you emphasize on graphics, gameplay, story, voice acting, production value and length, your standards aren't exactly low either.
Anyway, good luck in these difficult times my dude, cheers!
You know what, I deleted the comment because I was a piece of shit suffering from cabin fever venting my frustration and you're a nice chap who didn't deserve it.
Very excited about this. I haven't played U4 but have watched a couple of playthroughs and have developed some fairly complex feelings on it as a result. Can't wait to hear your perspective.
Dying verified account lol
@@henrycrabs3497 lmao this definitely aged well
The channel seems to be doing fine tho
I don't think its the game complimenting itself when the characters talk about the views. Its always done in places with great views and it feels like natural dialogue that these people would have. They're going to amazing places and seeing amazing things, it really is a great view.
It happens a lot lol
I think comparing it to movies like Pacific Rim and Avengers is pretty apt. They're not great games in terms of mechanics or story telling, but they're simple and enjoyable for what they are. I think most of the hate comes from how overpriased they are. To be clear, the games are absolutely overrated but that doesn't mean they're not fine for what they are.
Overrated is such a stupid term, but there's nothing else that fits for this situation, is there? They score too well. I don't understand why. The games absolutely accomplish what they set out to do, but that goal isn't that interesting. It doesn't seem right to me that scores should be based on whether or not you succeed with a concept. Whether the intended idea is good or not should be a strong factor for weighing it as well.
Joseph Anderson I try not to use the term liberally since it's something that people say too much but yeah unfortunately that word pretty much sums up the series.
I've noticed some reviewers put a lot of stake in the idea that a game should be considered an overall success if it accomplishes what it sets out to do. I never bought into this because what if the intention is to make a bad game? There's a show I hate called School Days that I am utterly convinced was made specifically to piss people off. The show is infamous so it more than succeeded in that goal but that doesn't suddenly make it good, the show is still poorly written garbage.
Going back to Uncharted, I think it feeds into this weird idea some people have that for games to be respected on the same level as film they need to emulate them. It's high production, good directing and witty dialogue that act as smoke and mirrors for the glaring flaws. I think that's why it gets so much praise, it makes those that play it feel like games will start getting the respect it deserves. If anything it's regressive and doesn't play on the strengths that gaming offers.
+Joseph Anderson
I think the reason these games score so well is because gaming criticism hasn't come even close to the level of critique and understanding that movies have in general. There's such a large disparity between the reviewing of games and the reviewing of movies that I feel like the average score for a movie is actually a 50% (on Metacritic) while the actual average for games is somewhere between 67-75%.
The easiest way to see this disparity is to just go on Metacritic right now and look at how many movies are below 65-70% and how many games are above 71-74%.
It's the reason that critics like you and Matthewmatosis, who I am almost positive you take inspiration from, are a blessing to video reviewing because not only do you provide entertaining content but you truly critique almost every facet of the game, something that incredibly few other reviewers do for videogames.
The issue stems from movies being far shorter than videogames and possibly the fact that we're still reeling from the old "videogames are toys, not art" stupidity from the advent of videogames, but it's definitely a massive issue when comparing these two humongous forms of entertainment media.
As an aside, if you ever end up reading this content, thank you so much for making such ridiculously well-made content that it blows any other review of some of these games clear out of the water. Even when I find myself disagreeing with some of your critiques, you bring up so many and you've brought up such fantastic critiques that I can't help but be blown away by your attention to detail.
Daniel Santos I disagree with the use of “overrated” here because not only did it accomplish what it intended, but the degree of difficulty was such that it accomplished it at a higher level than others were able to emulate. It may not be your favorite kind of game, but there is a level of accomplishment to making it that should not be denied.
I’m trying to better understand your argument that a game can be trying to do “the wrong thing”. Are you saying that it would be fair to call an exceptionally made horror game “overrated” if you didn’t like being scared? I have no interest in fighting games (or most other multiplayer oriented games), but I will still admit that Injustice and most of the Call of Duty games I’ve played are great because they accomplish a thing which other people like, and which is hard to replicate.
In short, I think a game is great if it accomplishes what it is trying to do, what it accomplished is something that some people really like, and very few other games accomplish it as successfully.
Overrated is meaningless without specifying who is doing the rating. There are 10/10 reviews for Uncharted 4, but there are also 4/10 reviews. Ratings and scores are just people's opinions, so why even place emphasis on them by using the term "overrated"? Rather than try to objectively determine how good a game is, it's more meaningful to focus on subjective elements of how playing the game made you feel emotionally. It's far more interesting to hear why you didn't enjoy a game, rather than why you think its overrated.
ship graveyard on crushing changes a man
Sick, I just re-watched the Uncharted 1-3 video yesterday, so this is perfect.
Holy shit you watched it twice?
I like your videos, jabroni. What can I say.
I love your videos, I think you are one of the few youtubers that have videos that I rewatch. Keep up the amazing work.
Thanks so much!
I actually love the climbing and explorative walking...
My personal favourite solution to the target reticle thing:
Instead of a circle of probability, you get a much smaller icon showing exactly where the bullet will go at all times.
However, when moving around or getting shot or doing anything that causes the body/weapon to move, the reticle will also bounce around.
So you are always visually shown exactly where your shots are going, but your weapon is difficult to control if you are moving quickly. So you have an incentive to stop moving and line up your shots (since this will steady your reticle).
But the reticle should also bounce around in ways that are kind of predictable. So as you play more you will learn how it moves in relationship to how you're moving, so you will naturally be able to pull off much quicker snapshots while moving. I think this would be much more engaging, since it would let players develop their own in-game marksmanship skills rather than forcing them to rely on RNG.
There's a game called War Thunder which does this when you're controlling tanks. While that game has a lot of problems, I think that feature works really well and would totally be usable in a game where you controlled a human (like Drake for example).
"It's a real shame it took so long for the [gameplay] complexity to reach this point." Sadly, you can say this about every game in the series as well as The Last of Us. The gameplay is only ever really engaging when all of it's various components are brought together. Separately they're a little boring and not very challenging. Hopefully they'll work on fixing this issue, because the games have improved in so many other ways.
They seem too afraid of putting off super-casual people in this regard. I can't really blame them either, though, because everyone is.
@@deriznohappehquite Play tlou on grounded and you will realise how non-casual it truly is
@@Pedro_Le_Chef I mean....not really? The actual mechanics about it are what makes it casual, there's nothing complex or hard to learn about the gameplay, having an optional setting where all you do is lower your health and up enemy damage a bunch doesn't make it a non casual game, it makes it a casual game with a hard mode
I was scrolling through the comments as you were giving the outro, so I was caught off guard by the final seconds of this video, which made me chuckle more than I'd like to admit lol
I love how well you can explain your views on things where others struggle or sometimes outright forget. I have to say that this isn't your best work, mainly because it feels like you already said most of this in your previous video, but that might be because I rewatched that video in preparation of this one, and it's still great, especially production wise.
If you're going to do that indie marathon that you were talking about I have a suggestion: Hyper Light Drifter. It has a lot of exploration, atmosphere, and some fun combat, and like pretty much every game out right now it's being compared to dark souls, and if anything I think that you could be the one to shed light on why that is/isn't true. I don't know if you take suggestions but I thought it'd be better to put it out there.
Yep there's a fair bit of repetition. I don't always like having to set up some of the same arguments in each video (some of my Dark Souls stuff has the same issue), but with a channel as small as mine I have to assume with each new video I put up that there are going to be a massive amount of viewers that are seeing it as their first video from me. Plus it makes the argument stronger when they have a foundation in the same video.
Hyper Light Drifter looked really cool but I skipped it because I was too busy with Bloodborne or something. I can't remember what game it was. Same for Enter the Gungeon. The indie list I'm kicking around with right now are: Furi, Necropolis, Hyper Light, Inside, Brothers, Subnautica, Bastion+Transistor, and Ori. Obviously I wouldn't do all of them. I'd pick a few and see how it goes. But I really want to be ready for a quick video on No Man's Sky so a lot will depend on how long it takes me to get through Dark Souls 3 and Far Harbor this month.
Just found this channel a week ago and I've already watched all the videos. This guy should be on the Cooptional Podcast or something.
I have binge watched all of your content in the past weeks and I must say you are one of the most sophisticated gaming discussion channels on this entire website. I'll be celebrating every new upload of yours.
Thanks! I try to strike a balance between being watchable and going into detail. I find that many other critics don't talk about gameplay except in vague terms. So I get into shit sometimes by using specifics but it's worth it I think.
I can't believe that I haven't noticed for 6 whole months that Joseph Anderson actually answered to my comment, I feel like an idiot.
In my opinion it's absolutely worth it. There is an infinite amount of channels just rambling about their experiences, masking them as objective criteria for judging games. You on the other hand are even taking into account the different perspectives players might have during their playthroughs, this level of awareness about how games are played and understood is what makes you thoroughly unique as a gaming focused channel (at least up until now) and just let's your videos have that much more value to me as a result.
By the way your latest videos have been stellar as well, my opinion of your content improves almost every time you upload something, really you seem like the next Mathhewmatosis to me but with far more frequent uploads.
The lack of setpieces and supernatural elements are what made U4 my second favourite. UC2 will always be the best to me.
Skrenja Supernatural shit is what almost ruins uncharted, it does not fit AT ALL, it's like playing cod and suddenly wizzards appear. Or playing witcher and suddenly star destoryer appears in the sky.
Skrenja That actually slightly bugged me out. I agree that it wouldn't be realistic, but I think it could've been addressed the sane way U3 did, as if it was just an hallucination that you get from being drugged. Maybe even a dream.
To be fair, Call of Duty is extremely supernatural and you don't seem to know that... Ever play Zombies? But regardless, I agree with your point that supernatural shit ruins Uncharted almost.
@@user-ly2ll5od1r How does it not fit? The whole series is a love letter to Indiana Jones, which usually has a supernatural third act.
I think at 9:38 Nate was referring to Sully looking at his ass, always being behind him.
Re: the shooting/reticle outline, did you consider the effects range might have on the bullet's path? Perhaps up close, the bullet is more likely to land in the center of the circle, whereas the further Nate is from the target while aiming, the more chance the bullet will land on the edge of the circle. Just a thought.
I would love to see you analyze Kingdom Hearts 2
"I think Rise of the Tomb Raider is better" BOOOM! haha great video as always
that coment is so wrong is so many ways.
But you know is his opinion i guess.
Rise of the Tomb Raider is way better.
The main thing Rise of the Tomb Raider has over UC4 is its platforming/climbing. Also, its exploration is way better.
MrIsaac95 Exactly. I also think it blends shooting and stealth better. Even though the stealth is a bit too easy.
I haven't even played it. If it's anything like the first one, however, then I prefer it over any of the Uncharted games by default.
32:36 U WOT
hahahaha i totally missed that
@@刘春峰-w2e weeb
Watched this video 4 times already. You made some really nice points.
In Rise of the Tomb Raider, they had the "grip" card which made the game much more realistic and fun, some people thought it was broken but most of it is not. I wish they added it in Extreme Survivor difficulty in the campaign.
It made it original like the first Tomb Raider series in which you had to hold on with an input.
I still want an uncharted 5 with the same type of story but a few bigger set pieces like uncharted 3.
12:56
Radio: report, do you see anything?
Shoreline soldier: **stare** ... nope, i see absolutely nothing wrong on my side.
**sees dead ally** "One of our guys is down!" **looks around for 8 seconds and proceeds to resume normal patrol script as if nothing happened**
@@angeldiaz762 Actually their patrol script becomes random if they get alerted/see a dead body.
@@justwatch7091 I suppose you're right, I guess the AI on Crushing is a bit smarter than it would be on Hard.
"I think that Rise of the Tomb Raider is better". Very brave. The average opinion on this game is that it's a trash
We need a critique of TLOU2, please!
I think it's proof of how much work you put into these and how much I've come to respect you're opinions that, even though I don't agree with what you're saying and almost loath you for shattering the illusions that have allowed me to enjoy this series so immensely (Apart from the first one, that was as meh as you say), I still enjoyed this video and agree with many of the points you make. It's just . . . Explosions are cool.
I think this game is like a great movie that you can also play
It sounds like you should've played the game a second time on hard. Crushing is meant to be ball-blistering. Like you said, it does break the game but that's the point of playing it. If you're playing it on crushing you aren't doing it for the story or to have fun, you're pretty much doing it to get your ass kicked because it's so unfair (or to get the trophy). It "crushes" your hopes and dreams.
I did have the same issue though with the part where you're running and you can't make it to the door in time. I think that's probably a bug because you don't have enough time to make it over because of Sam's animation, but when it respawns you his animation isn't there so you can make it pretty much unscathed.
The problem is that the game mechanics aren't consistent enough to make playing on crushing entertaining at all, even for a masoquist or a lover of hard games.
Ahh idk I play u3 and u4 both on crushing mode using pistols and punching most enemies and had fun I don't remember using cover unless it was those scenes where u were surrounded like the sinking ship(best level,especially with the docks thing where u swim and kill people on the boats and climb that gigantic ship) or the sand level or the final level for u3(dreamers whatever chapter I forgot the name) but people keep forgetting All the things rolling allows you to do, u don't appreciate rolling until u play multiple coop erena and adventure modes on crushing.
I feel like 4 was a step backwards in a lot of ways. I commend Naughty Dog on massively stepping up their game in the sound & feel of their weapons, as well as animations for enemies getting shot/dying (both of these were extremely weak in some or all of the past titles). That said, this series has always been at its best when its delivering all out, bombastic action. They really toned down the amount of set pieces, and I felt like you spend _way_ too many chapters just walking/climbing/exploring. In a game where there isn't actually anything to find outside of useless collectibles that don't affect gameplay whatsoever, that shit gets boring very quickly. Uncharted 2 had a much better flow/pacing to it overall.
Agreed.
i wouldnt say the treasures dont affect the gameplay. if you find enough of them then you can unlock cheats like bullet-time & infinite ammo.
MrIsaac95 Those are just extras to fuck around with on repeat playthroughs, it's not like searching for health/ammo in Doom.
I was really dissapointed in the lack of bombastic action. Thats what the series is known for and I expected them to go nuts since this is the last game. The convoy sequence was amazing but I feel like we should have had at least two more of those and they simply didnt deliver. The rest were just too short to sink in for me. Im hoping the next Tomb Raider can step up in that department because so far they been kinda meh.
Yea, it really does remind you of the moments in the first game where you'd wander for so much time to finally get to a shootout only the difference is the shootouts are better and the set pieces are more intense too which obviously makes it better than 1 but it also reminds of how in 2 you spent the least amount of time wandering and it was arguably more impactful and had more of a purpose like traveling through the city and going into the mountains with tenzin
The invisible center dot sways when you move the reticle, it doesn’t always stay still in the center. Just so you know. The same system was used in Drake’s Deception.
you seen to not understand how the shooting works. the initial shot hits the center of the circle, and subsequent shots land on the white dot that appears when you start shooting. it's not random where the bullets go, you just have to follow the white dot.
The visual examples I show in the video do not match your description. I'm aware that shooting *usually* works that way, but the clips I show in that section do not follow those rules and miss/hit when they should/shouldn't.
Joseph Anderson no, it happens every time you shoot. don't mean to be rude, but you're just wrong.
Excellent video my man! I think you pretty much hit the nails straight on the head with just about every point you make. It really astonishes me that a title with gameplay as pedestrian and flawed as this one gets received so well. It feels like people are weighing too heavily on it's excellent narrative qualities and its great presentation and forget to take factors such as gameplay into consideration.
I respect that you think it's the best entry in the series but at the same time make sure to not paint the game as absolutely flawless, that is a nice and nuanced approach to critique and by god, i think the reviewing industry could use more of this.
You're good at what you do, seriously. Have another subscription. :)
Well..
These "flaws" are subjective. Can't please everyone, but luckily....Uncharted 4 sold millions and has a very high meta score
Pretty much had the exact same experience on crushing, forced myself to beat it and almost gave up after restarting key fights like 30 times in a row. Almost every one of those deaths felt unearned and like no amount of skill could have corrected.
Dude, such a great video, as always. You're my favorite source for UA-cam gaming analysis. Cheers.
I know it's cliche to say that you're "playing the game wrong", and I'm not gonna go that far since it's partially the designer's fault for not teaching it well enough, but I feel like the Uncharted games have always allowed for two different combat styles: cover-focused and run-and-gun. Admittedly, I haven't watched your other videos, but I saw no mention of the "steel fist" attack in this one, and it's been in the series since at least the second game, where you can shoot an enemy right before you melee them and it's an instant kill. This makes running and gunning much more viable, especially with machine guns and shotguns.
four years later, but the shooting from an iron sight thingy is because you had autoaim activated, which makes Nathan aim to the enemies on his own while you give him a "range of firing"
I don’t really agree with the game complimenting itself. It’s complimenting its own artwork, sure, but the people writing are complimenting their coworkers. It’s not the same people writing who create the art. If anything I’d see it making those compliments as less boastful and more proud of their coworkers.
14:31
wrong, crushing adds extra enemies and equipment to arenas. Imagine my surprise when I saw a machine gun turret in one of the Scotland arenas where there had not been one before. I expected more and tougher enemies but not that, I welcomed the challenge regardless.
I found it a little strange he was saying "really hard/crushing" is too hard or cheap, but he chose that himself?
Good video still
On crushing I find it stupid. Unlike the other games I never make progress on uc4 I get stuck in one area and rarely move on
Dude doesn't even know how to play crushing you are supposed to be mobile not turtle. All this dude is sit on his ass in the crushing game play.
@@Dylan_Goodboy how exactly can you be mobile on a game mode where you're killed almost instantly for being out of cover for more than a second
So, is Uncharted a movie trapped in a video game's body?
Crash Bandicoot actually had very accomplished platforming for its time. The Jak series had good gameplay too. It wasn't until 7th gen, when they started to turn to shit.
bob hope I don't think I'd call the shooting in Uncharted good. The difficulty tends to be fucked up either way. I haven't played TLoU on its hardest difficulty, but I found the game to have a number of flaws in its lower ones.
+gilgamesh310 100% agreed. As a Crash and Jak games fan, I would have said the exact same.
This mentality has got to be the most annoying. The game puts it's story and setpieces first and foremost, yes. I would argue however, that there is in fact a learning curve in Uncharted 4 just like in Mario. In Mario you play by Mario's rules, it teaches you from the start the goombas can be jumped on. Uncharted teaches you to follow the story and do what it wants. Once you accept that, it is easy to get wrapped up in Uncharted just like you do with Mario. The fact that Uncharted is more interested in telling a story than platforming gameplay is fine. It is a type of game that deserves to exist, just like horror movie should stand next to porn. One is more interested in being a traditional movie, but the other leaves you with your O face on.
HIGHSCORE AAA would be nintendards to say it's a movie. They the most whinest gamers I swear. Uncharted gameplay better than mario
Prince of Persia is a valid point of comparison because the original PoP was the progenitor of the whole "cinematic platformer" genre to start with. Although that genre name is basically dead at this point, all sorts of games going for something movie-like since then has cribbed from Sands of Time. While the platforming is very restrictive compared to something like Mario for instance, I wish Uncharted had gone for something like it as opposed to the completely mindless climbing we got. It's so boring.
Jedi Survivor is the only game that can be called a successor to Prince of Persia.
So.. i wasn't the only one who thought about the luck meter in shooters? Thats interesting
Yera Yyyyeah, I would always try too to imagine taking damage, as it actually was just having "close calls". Like you're not actually getting wounded, but the more "damage" you take, the more you risk getting a bullet in your stomach, and when you die, it's only there that you got shot.
@@TheDarkPredator92 Except in rockstar games where your character has visible bullet holes on his torso
Can you review firewatch?
Not enough explosions.
Walking simulator, people bad at videogames probably love this one.
People bad at platformers
I'm glad you mention Sands of Time, because playing that and the jak&daxter series as a kid was what made it impossible for me to play the uncharted games. Still intend on playing last of us, but I really enjoyed your pieces on the uncharted series and i feel pretty satisfied that I don't have to play them myself.
Maybe a stamina bar while climbing would have made it more believable ...
I think the best parts of the climbing gameplay is when it’s time sensitive, or timing sensitive. Like when it’s a setpiece, or when it’s something like the climbing pike or the sliding where it takes specific timing to climb.
I think thats why I like BASIC climbing in shadow of the colossus more. The grip meter makes it always time sensitive. I kinda wish uncharted had a grip meter to make the safe climbing sections less boring.
XD that last whisper tho!
Great job, Joe. Keep em coming!
Its gameplay is just ok but it is fun
Good to see u again too
I don't agree that the navigation parts are filler or boring. I enjoyed them very much, even more so because I have never been a fan of the extensive shooting in the Uncharted games. To me, *they* always felt a bit like filler.
Sure, the navigation has no real challenges. But for (people like) me, games aren't all about challenges. Or at least not all of them. I played The Witness and it was a (mostly) fun challenge to get through it without looking up any solutions. But when I play a game like Uncharted, I'm in for the fun. For the adventure, for the story, for the visuals, the spectacle as you say. Not for the challenge, which is why I don't like the combat that much, although I liked U4's combat much more than the previous games'.
All that said, great job on the video about U1-3 and TLoU! (and I don't think RotTR is better)
Uncharted is truly the TOP GUN of video games
This game is a 10/10 to me, but I won't dislike your video. I respect your opinion. I loved the gameplay, though.
I'm still in shock that they never fixed the gunplay in years. Floatiest third-person aiming and spongiest enemies ever. I never got over that the same people made Last of Us but couldnt figure out guns for Uncharted.
TLOU2 also had pretty floaty aiming too.
I think it’s glossed over that they put multiple climbing routes in many areas, so the boring climbs have multiple possible boring climbs at times
Epic
I just have to say, I have really enjoyed all of your Naughty Dog videos. Really well done.
Watching this just reminds me how much I love Nate and Elena and their dynamic. Nolan north and Emily Rose are so good and their chemistry is fantastic. Not to mention the animators and graphic designers that give so much life to the characters.
21:03 when you're recording and you try to hold that laugh in because its so akward lol i feel you dude
2:09 shoreline: hmm ? Who’s that ? (Longest time, Sam chokes him)
IN opposite world, HEY !!!
The combat is better than in most other games as the enemies try to flank you in a merciless and smart way in the "arenas". I often died on crushing but never raged, because the difficulty arose from the flanking mechanics and it was interesting to run from cover to cover in a smart way and having limited amounts of amunition. You feel vulnerable in a good way.
In the Tomb Raider reboots the enemies don't act like a team, which leads to a dull fights. What I also don't like is the crafting and upgrade thing in these games, which requires no thinking and overpowers your character and removes gameplay elements instead of adding them.
Lol, that cheeky last line. Joseph so sneaky...
Great video, looking forward for the next one.
At least one of those "at least you have a nice views" is Nate complimenting his own butt
28:20 made me audibly laugh, i didn't even know how to respond to that level absurdity.
I played the game on Hard difficulty. It was the right degree of challenge while maintaining a doable pace of the ''action movie'' essence the game has
To be frank, with some games it is usually the higher difficulty setting that was worked on by the developers first and then, later the normal and easy are bolted on.
Alexander Yordanov like tlou
I liked the combat in 3 more. The linear level design better compliments the feel of the gunplay. You die way too fast on normal if you are getting attacked on multiple sides. The open design doesn't help with that. And in every combat environment I found myself retreating to the corners to take out each enemy one by one. Anytime I attempt pushing up, more enemies appear, I get overwhelmed, and need to go back to the corners to not die. Grenades would help a lot, but in some areas there's about 10 available, while others you're lucky if you find one, so you can't rely on having them.
For the first videogame I played on PS4 (I only played on Nintendo consoles before this) it was really cool. Definitely a great game for people to get into gaming/ more serious games.
I'm so glad you brought up Prince of Persia, ever since I first saw these games I always thought "man, PoP did this kind of stuff way better!". Naughty Dogs older games were also way better at having good gameplay.
Agree agree with your criticisms on combat. I played this game on hard and I was like huh, there's all this cool stuff to do and room to explore, but I can't really do any of it because i'm being bombarded with bullets and will die if i poke my head out of cover for more than 5 seconds. If there was a smart way, like some of the gameplay suggestions you mentioned, so I could take advantage of these mechanics it would be vastly improved. For the most part I still felt like combat was a slog, although I did enjoy the stealth element. I also agree with your criticisms of climbing. After being introduced to our climbing techniques why not amp it up? The game could essentially be a triple AAA version of Temple Run, but with cool physics. Unfortunately, like you said, this is only very briefly touched upon during that one section where you're sliding more and in the very end of the game. However despite all these criticisms the game was still amazing. Having played Tomb Raider as well I found this to be more enjoyable and as far as any game where you wanna have that "cinematic" adventure, I don't think anything comes close to Uncharted. Almost felt like The Goonies.
Agreed
I was on board with everything in this video except for the last five seconds smh
22:45 yeah I noticed playing on moderate was more fun. I thought I hated a lot of the jungle stealth sections because of crushing but in reality, I really enjoyed them on the normal difficulty. It was fun. It still felt tense at times but I’m not getting pissed off by mr power armored machine gun tank.
It's awesome to know we have the same idea of playing with the hardest difficulty to test the limits of the gameplay. Glad i'm not the only one.
It's great to see you do all these lengthy video essays analyzing aspects of the game but here's what i thought.
I like playing the game on crushing because it let's the game become more of a shooter. Sure, there are inconsistencies but i take them as a challenge to work around to. The shooting is more of a leaner gears of war, emphasizing on movement, hence, i enjoy the shooter side of uncharted 4 but it makes the shootouts protracted and elongated.
Also, you must know that Bruce Straley has a different idea to setpieces. He said that not all setpieces must be elaborate action sequences. They can also be the quieter moments. With that in mind, some "setpieces" are the "a normal life" chapter and the epilogue. I like to know what is your opinion on this.
I don't agree with the combat complain, it's not a quick time event since it's up to the player to know when and where to roll to avoid a punch, the game in no way makes this task easy for the player by not enfacising too much when an enemy is going to punch you, this way the combat becomes more frenetic and makes you feel like you're in an action movie, without taking control away from you
Uncharted 2 is the most fun and involved I have been in a game, period.
Uncharted 3 tho
Awww snap! That whisper at the end.
I really enjoyed the setting of Uncharted 4, but it really just made me want to play Assassin's Creed: Black Flag.
As someone who hasn't played any of the Uncharted games,and as someone who loves Prince of Persia:The Sands of Time...it was nice to see the comparison.....it says a lot that games today are easier and have poorer pacing than POP:SOT which was a the time of its release considered a Very Easy game.
I simply don't understand why developers and publishers today are afraid of a little bit of a challenge.
Now i know making games is expensive and the AAA part of the industry cant afford to make big risks,and thats the reason why a lot of games feel samey....stick to what works,i get it,but the difficulty of games is something that is sacrificed,which for me makes them less enjoyable,because developers and publishers are not creative enough on solving the problem of accessibility,which they definitely want to achieve.
With a proper tutorial any game becomes accessible,and yet developers are making games easy,which is,in my opinion,the laziest way to achieve accessibility of games.
Woah i went off topic here,well enjoy the wall of text :P
what is your problem with easy games.
I just find them a lot less enjoyable,if at all enjoyable,as i'v said in the OP Easy games of the past(POP:SOT)would be considered medium difficulty games of today,and considering most of the AAA games,and in fact games in general, are easy so they can reach the biggest audience,that makes the amount of games i enjoy and would want to play and replay is becoming smaller.
I would like if the "Easy" game became just a bit harder,not by a lot,i'm not the biggest fan of hard games myself,but there needs to be some challenge in order for the act of beating the game to feel rewarding.
***** Thats a pretty good way of putting it.
Easy games are not inherently bad,but when you require less of your players they can be bored or worse completely lose interest.
Games are easier because devs are trying to make as much money as possible and they have the stats on what sells and we dont. Why do you think CoD is so damn popular? Easy to pick up and play and its funny that you would mention Sands of Time. Ubisoft rebooted the franchise and it basically plays itself with little player input. Guys like you and me, we like a challenge but a lot of casual gamers get frustrated and quit.
I agree with a lot of what you are saying,although SOT has very interesting platforming areas which require good timing on the players part and thats what makes them fun,plus the rewind mechanic in the game removes almost all frustration.
I still think a lot of frustration can be alleviated with a good tutorial,but they are not easy to design and create,a lot of developers dont even try,and they resort to the lazy option.
Gotta say, I'm loving your videos. They are really entertaining as well as educational, exploring and dissecting games as media. That being said, what would you think about doing a retrospective on the Assassin's Creed series? It's an obviously flawed franchise but it such a mainstay in games media that I'd love to hear you thoughts. Either way you've got yourself a dedicated sub here :)
I've played Assassin's Creed 1, 2, and Brotherhood. I have Revelations and Black Flag. There's so much busy work in those games that I find them frustrating. The story in the first one was intriguing. It got a bit better as it went on and then took a nosedive off after that.
Black Flag looked like a lot of fun but it ran like dog shit on my computer when I got it (was a birthday present actually). I don't think I'll do videos on those games anytime soon but I'll never say never.
Now this is a beautiful view. Great work!
Okay, amazing video but i realised points wherein you emphasised the fact that there are limited or few options when playing action sequences .the other point which is how most choices lead to a specific path. Well it is a game but remember that you are in fact roleplaying Nathan drake and sort of reliving what he did through this game. So you're in for a journey which belonged to Nathan drake, not you as another person or as yourself. So all paths lie to what happened with Nathan; he defeated the shooting trucking which was chasing him via on a bike, killed Rafe in a sword fight, followed a specific path to get to where he wanted... You get me? Great video though outstanding effort.
i hardly disagree that the chase scene in Uncharted 3 (on horses) is the best, it´s way too empty and its the one where you have the least freedom of them all.
Great work on the video tho, you have a lot of good points