Things like buying the console, buying add-on content for games, etc. People have a membership, and want to make more use of it- though MS likely doesn’t mind people keeping it to the basics, since they don’t make huge bank off of singleplayer gamers anyway. I won’t even deny, I’ve bought small microtransaction items in a few games I only access through Game Pass - but I’m sure other people do far more often than me.
Generally, the value proposition of subscriptions for publishers is the lack of friction for a lot of people.
You’re managing your expenses tightly, which is smart, but I think that’s not as common as you expect. A lot of people might hear about a cool game coming to Game Pass in two months, and for simplicity just decide not to unsubscribe even though they’re not playing it for the next month.
People also make theories that everyone uses the XBLGold promotion trick, but I also think that’s not so common.
I’ve got a GTX 1070; I found the new Robocop game to look really cool, but the demo didn’t run so well for me.
The funny thing is, I would’ve believed that this card would’ve been too old years ago, but most games I still buy don’t need anything beyond what it provides. I enjoy visual appeal, but I don’t often play my games to count the pixels and inspect individual hairs on eyelids. The graphical plateau is real.
The animation, art style, and music all seem fantastic. Doesn’t appear to be a very gameplay-drive game, but I could be wrong. Certainly could be very enjoyable for the story alone.
Trails in the Sky, at perhaps two moments. They’re very long JRPGs, and I could argue longer than they need to be with some not so great moments - but the payoff for their better characters is really good.
It’s often cited as “establishing backstory” to the rest of the Trails series. 1 and 2 are basically one complete story; but even the first game sets up a villain and resolution well.
(There is a third that dives a bit too far into setting up “background lore for twenty more games and little else”)
There’s three big moments in the game that I think got it for me; Amaurot, Close in the Distance, and The Dead Ends. But there’s plenty to feel more invested in, especially with all the side quests that focus on so many personal endearing struggles. Heck, even the Dark Knight job storyline has a great emotional payoff to it.
There may in fact be a few games where empty spaces and a sense of vastness actually contribute to the atmosphere and make for an enjoyable game. But NOT in a game that’s divided by fucking loading screens with not a single “vista” to look out at.
Blame the gray resellers. If the world courts had found those sites illegal, then devs could likely still set regional prices without having 90% of them getting resold to the outside world.
This is true for a small category of sites I won’t name, but there’s also lots of sites that have a direct business relationship with the publisher. Ex: greenmangaming, gamersgate.
Someone working minimum wage wants to get the most of their refurbished PS4. They might try spending $60 on an unforgettable 12-hour singleplayer adventure, but then they’d run it a second time for achievements and have nothing else to play the rest of the year, having an old hospital and car bill to pay off. Instead, they either play F2P to stretch their dollar, or buy a 100-hour Ubisoft game padded with content. When they do get a bonus from work, they feel invested in that F2P and buy the skin they always envied.
I’m of course not suggesting these games are masterpieces, but it’s not so hard to imagine the appeals they cater to.
This is exactly what I’ve wanted. Anytime we get a plot point that fits in the following lists, I feel like it severely handicaps the writing potential of any other stories you could tell.
Humanity was created for the sole purpose of ???
Everything you’ve experienced is part of a simulation.
Our entire lives are lived for the fight against the ???. But it turns out that whole war was a conspiracy by the patriarchy.
There are many enemies around us. But we may as well throw our swords and guns in the trash, because the only ones who can fight them are the chosen ???, born with special powers.
Not much of humanity is left, so we need to preserve what we can and never ever get into any major conflicts.
It annoys me because I’m writing my own story, agonizing over excess word count and trimming every scene I can, but I still feel like they’re all additive and value - even if not to the core plot, to some very valuable theme.
Then I play a JRPG and there’s just a random scene where two characters go play hide and go seek for pure padding.