By Vanessa Hague
As I sat and watched my latest legendary engram be decrypted into inventory materials after countless hours of grinding and playing through the same missions over and over and over, Destiny has started to lose that shiny new-game appeal.
As I sat and watched my latest legendary engram be decrypted into inventory materials after countless hours of grinding and playing through the same missions over and over and over, Destiny has started to lose that shiny new-game appeal.
The beauty of the graphics are starting to wear thin, I expected more from Destiny. The gameplay and coverage from the various game expos seemed to showcase a game that was large in scope and had freedom whilst the graphics on display where those that seemed worthy of being on the PS4 and Xbox One - Destiny was the title that got many excited in what was then, next-gen gaming.
However, after a few weeks of playing the game, it seems that my expectations (as where many others) were held too high. The Destiny that we received is restrictive, repetitive and left many people disappointed. Destiny isn't the first title to fall prey to over-hype and under performance, Watch Dogs suffered from the same short comings.
However, after a few weeks of playing the game, it seems that my expectations (as where many others) were held too high. The Destiny that we received is restrictive, repetitive and left many people disappointed. Destiny isn't the first title to fall prey to over-hype and under performance, Watch Dogs suffered from the same short comings.
This all leads to a question; do we as a community expect too much from today's gaming? With the likes of E3 and other expos showcasing the best of what gaming has to offer - upcoming AAA titles, beautifully rendered gameplay trailers and exclusive content, no wonder gamer expectations are high. And as a whole, gamers seem to be moving towards giving highest praise for a game's graphics and if games of today are being produced with better and better graphics, do we have a right to complain? Well, yes and no.
Like I said, console games are now at least meeting that one expectation, to have good graphics and so in a sense, gaming is meeting part of the criteria it sets itself. However, as many of us know, there is a lot more to a game than just it's graphics.
Like I said, console games are now at least meeting that one expectation, to have good graphics and so in a sense, gaming is meeting part of the criteria it sets itself. However, as many of us know, there is a lot more to a game than just it's graphics.
The industry heavily toted that the PS4 and Xbox One would herald in the next generation of gaming, they have marketed both their consoles and the games as such. However, the experience has been anything far from revolutionary because besides the leap in graphic capability, nothing much else has changed.
The core way in which we still play games remains the same; the gaming worlds which are created are vast but then again, we saw large worlds being used on previous gen consoles (see Skyrim, Fallout and Grand Theft Auto V), we have yet to see real pushing of multiplayer capabilities, we're seeing the same old stories with the same old mechanics that don't push any boundaries - everything we've seen so far has been present on last gen consoles.
The core way in which we still play games remains the same; the gaming worlds which are created are vast but then again, we saw large worlds being used on previous gen consoles (see Skyrim, Fallout and Grand Theft Auto V), we have yet to see real pushing of multiplayer capabilities, we're seeing the same old stories with the same old mechanics that don't push any boundaries - everything we've seen so far has been present on last gen consoles.
Companies also still cling to dodgy business practices that are more prevalent than ever; withholding content to sell as DLC, locking content on-disc to sell it as DLC, the inclusion of more free-to-play mechanics, amongst others. There is nothing "next-gen" about any of these things, it's the same old experiences and practices that were present and we've all experienced them before in some shape or form.
I think that many of us had a different idea as to what this new generation of console gaming was going to be about, I can't quite put my finger on it but I doubt I thought it was going to be as disappointing and as "okay" as it has turned out to be so far.
I think that many of us had a different idea as to what this new generation of console gaming was going to be about, I can't quite put my finger on it but I doubt I thought it was going to be as disappointing and as "okay" as it has turned out to be so far.
The PS4 and Xbox One are still relatively early in their life cycle of course, so who know what the future holds, but will it be any different to what we have now? Should we as a community lower our expectations so that we don't set ourselves up for disappointment when games don't live up to their hype because we are seeing it happen time and time again? Did we misjudge what "next-gen" gaming was supposed to be about? For that matter, what even is it about? The PS4 and Xbox seem to be currently all about the remasters (see the Saints Row IV, GTA V and The Last of Us remasters) and releasing games with subpar stories and small runtimes but they have the desired graphics. Is this what next-gen gaming is? As a gamer, I really hope not.
We'll just have to wait and see.
What's your views of the current generation? Do you think Destiny lives up to it's enormous hype? Or maybe you're starting to turn away from mainstream gaming all together.
Come discuss it with us in the comment section below, and please do remember to click that like button!
Come discuss it with us in the comment section below, and please do remember to click that like button!
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