Have you only played the Steam version? The non-steam build has Adventure mode, where you control just a single character in a turn-based roguelike. IDK why it wasn’t included with the Steam release, but it’s always been my favorite part of the game.
I agree the name means nothing. Which is why when people go gaga over Creation, I have to remind them it’s still GameBryo, but with more graphical features tacked on to it. The foundation of shit that is GameBryo is still at the heart of the tech driving their games. If Bethesda’s games were buildings, they all build them on a foundation of sand.
I also agree it’s not the reason why their games suck (their games in and of themselves tend to not suck), but it will be the reason why it performs like shit or has the same technical issues that have existed since they started using GameBryo. Unless even after all the time they’ve spent using the engine they still suck at using it, and that’s the reason they have so many problems.
The only other company and series of games I see having the same stuff holding back making better products because of the engine used is Bohemia with ARMA. They have just kept piling stuff on top of Virtual Battle System and all the problems stemming from VBS are present in the current iteration of the engine. Even the devs themselves hate it, but it would be way more work to make an entirely new engine.
Cross platform multiplayer isn’t held back by Steamworks. It’s held back, mostly, by Sony and Nintendo. You notice that PlayStation and Nintendo are the only platforms that regularly do not allow cross platform play. Even in games that do have cross platform play, Playstation usually only allows it with other consoles and not PC. Because Sony is fucking stupid.
I don’t even know wtf you mean by “cross launcher.” Every source of the game on a PC has always been able to connect with other players who got the game on different stores. IE Steam players can play with EGS players and Origin players just the same. If you just mean launching the game from one launcher rather than another… Steam lets you do this! You can add literally any fucking program to Steam and have the benefit of the overlay and even controller support when the game doesn’t have it native. Can’t say that about any of the rest of them.
I played Ratchet and Clank: A Rift Apart recently because it was available free on PS+ and it is the most gorgeous game I have ever played in my life.
The graphical capabilities are astounding, the aesthetic is pleasing, and there is charm out the wazoo. You can’t look anywhere without seeing something interesting making use of all that fancy graphic tech. I kept it installed despite 100%ing it just to mess around with the photo mode.
I still laugh at the one-liners the PC gives after the boss fights. I fuckin’ loved that about the first one. You’re a silent protagonist, except during these random awkward moments after defeating a boss and then you just deliver the dumbest puns and jokes unexpectedly.
A launcher has to add value, and not just launch shit. Most of these launchers do not add any value at all, they’re just another unnecessary layer between you and playing a game.
That is quite a change from the original story. I’m surprised. I figured it would be more or less the same, but maybe flip the characters around or change inconsequential shit, as most reboots tend to do. It did make Raiden a champion now, instead of an actual God/Protector. So that’s weird.