Based on the trailer, I am assuming the entire game is self-contained within the city, though I’d expect it to be a lot bigger than the city was in X and Y.
Right, but what I was getting at with how prone to change online experiences inherently are, it seems odd to rely on reviews to begin with. Sure I suppose it is irresponsible for a publication to make claims about the quality of an online experience, knowing that there is no guarantee of consistency over time, but the customer also shouldn’t approach any online/live service experience with an expectation of consistency, because change is inherent to the model. Enjoy it while it lasts if it is fun, but again, caveat emptor.
The feeling of betrayal people have about online experiences is thankfully leading to pushback against live service models in general. Too many companies out there doing bait and switch bullshit.
If a game like Tekken happens to have a solid campaign and fun local multiplayer, I would be okay with leaving a good review up, because that is pretty much all that would have been reviewed ahead of time before there were other players to do online modes with. If a publication has a specific “no microtransactions” criteria, though, then I suppose they can do whatever they like afterwards. But anyone should be able to still obtain the day 1 version of the game and play it offline if you don’t like the direction they went with its updates. You might just need to be more creative on PC to find them.
On the one hand I agree, it was obviously a calculated move to bait sales before microtransactions were added, which is incredibly scummy. But on the other hand, if a game reviewer gave it a certain score before microtransactions were added and nothing was altered/removed from the experience that was originally reviewed, I guess I don’t see the problem with the score they assigned at the time (assuming it was reviewed in good faith).
You can install it out of the box and disable game updates and not see any microtransactions, which will let you play it exactly as it was when it was first reviewed. You won’t get to do any online play, but I guess the bigger takeaway in that case is that any game which relies on online/live service elements for continued engagement needs to have a big fucking “CAVEAT EMPTOR” on every review.
Ghost Story Games is another rebranding of the same studio that made Bioshock (2K Boston) and Bioshock Infinite (Irrational Games), and is still headed by Ken Levine. Basically, this is Bioshock 3 (4?) in all but name, if the “From the creators of Bioshock” wasn’t explicit enough.
I hate to say it, but games should stop using licensed music. Or at least if it has an expiry date, which they all seem to. Every game that licenses a song becomes a ticking time bomb before it is either pulled from sale or all of the music gets patched out, even if you purchased it before then.
I’d say keep an open mind when it comes to industry and environment. I got my start in game dev but quickly left it after I realized it wasn’t really for me. I bounced around for a while after that, even picking up a job teaching English abroad (probably not advisable in your situation) before returning back to the US and taking a job working for a nonprofit.
A lot of industries like healthcare, finance, education, and enterprises in general have need of developers with experience and they still pay decently well. It may not be as exciting as FAANG/Silicon Valley style dev work, but you’re likelier to find stability and a more manageable work/life balance. It helped me finally learn to work to live instead of live to work, and I can also still take some pride that the work I do is used to help people.
Definitely won’t be all of them. Probably just a small set that are not huge money makers. They already publish some titles as third party, like Minecraft, Ori, and Lucky’s Tale.
Guessing we just get ports of, like, Hi-Fi Rush and Psychonauts, and continued support of some Activision titles that are 3rd party like Diablo 4, Spyro, Crash, and a token Call of Duty game.
It’s probably not too vital. It sets up some new backstory for Yuffie (and also ties into some elements of Dirge of Cerberus of all things), but I am assuming Rebirth will sum up the important parts of Yuffie’s story so far, at least in broad strokes, for when she joins the party.