Clear and strict management would get this game out the door. Instead, it was Michel’s pet project and the company protected him from their and his worst impulses, AND sexual harassment claims.
Beyond Good and Evil was a masterpiece, and a sequel will never be.
I can see where the next revenue stream will be: Publishers want a tithe from Twitch for streams of their products. They’ve been polite up until now because its free marketing, but if even one dataset says there’s money to be made…
Phil Fish was the first and got blown out over it, we should have taken heed.
I ended playing Deus Ex for the 10th time last week and I realized there’s not many big budget titles that I like that shipped past 2017. The attention to detail, system complexity, and writing quality is just not there anymore. Its all slop. The last one that I can even remember with any fondness…is Arkane’s Prey. Well that’s not true, I dig Metaphor ReFantazio’s (sic) art style. But I’ve played JRPGs.
I think the AAAs are cooked, folks. But Indies? Have you heard of Mouthwashing? Empires of the Undergrowth? Satisfactory? Those are my timesinks and what sticks in my mind the longest.