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XBOX 2024 Direct Officially Announced: January 18th (Featuring: Indiana Jones, Avowed, Hellblade)

KXVXII9X

Member
What do poeple mean by 'cartoony graphics'?, are you watching a low bitrate stream or something lol
People don't understand what they are saying. It is somewhat stylized in the same way Ghost of Tsushima and Spiderman 1+2 are. I personally think it ages better than going for 1:1 photorealism. Looks like there is some slight exaggerations but nothing overly cartoony. The reasons a lot of games look stiff and uncanny is due to them going for the 1:1 approach. The Indiana Jones game seems to focus more on art direction, and it is a shame seeing these kinds of comments.
 

SenkiDala

Member
Everything looks like shit honestly. I can't defend MS anymore. Avowed look like a 2 gen old game, and it looks boring as fuck. Indy is also pathetic. Fuck UC4 came out in 2016 and it looks WAY better (like 1 gen better) than this fucking Indy.

WHERE IS YOUR MONEY MS? That's good to buy studios but PUT SOME CASH INTO MAKING BEAUTIFUL GAMES.

The only game I loved is Visions of Mana...
 
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Jesb

Gold Member
Nothing shown today showed any goty potential. These games won’t even be in the same conversation with the games that will be contending for goty. Nothing shown also sells you on Xbox. There’s still not much on Xbox that makes you want to run and buy an Xbox. I still don’t own a current gen system as they both haven’t really sold me but PlayStation looks so much more appealing so far. If anything this show has sold me on PlayStation more than Xbox.
 

Roberts

Member
I have learned not to be hyped about anything long time ago, but I can't help but be excited about what I just saw.

Avowed looks great and so much better than what we saw last time.

It's been years since I have played Civilization and I think I'm ready for Ara.

I will play that Mana game with my daughter. She will love it.

We didn't get to see much of Hellblade 2 but I think it is intentional - they even mention that it is a shorter experience and I guess they just want the player to experience all that by themselves without spoiling any set-pieces. I don't know if it is a right decision. I enjoyed Hellblade 1 for what it is was and don't really expect anything all that much different.

I fucking loved Indiana Jones stuff. Glad it is first perspective. My only gripe is that Indy model veers a bit too much into uncanny valley territory but in some lighting conditions he looks good. They still have some time to work on that.

Also, Todd Howard gag at the end. lol.
 
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SRTtoZ

Member
What it really showed me is Game Pass aint long for this world. There's not a single game where you're thinking to yourself, I need to run out and get myself a Series X right now. It's just middling Netflix originals pretty much. Nothing looked BAD, but nothing looked GREAT either. Just a bunch of 7/10's.
 

Bojanglez

The Amiga Brotherhood
Indy looks decent, I think this kind of game in first person will be a nice change.

Looking forward to renting it for a month and blasting through it, assuming nothing else of interests releases in that window.
 

Dr. Suchong

Member
Ara was the only game that interested me.
Avowed was visually lacking but could possibly be a decent filler whilst waiting for the next Elder scrolls.
Mana looked extremely derivative.
Hellblade 2 is still obtuse in it's mechanics and gameplay.
3/10
So disapointing.
 

Bartski

Gold Member
I think Indie looked cool. This could work. Mind not blown but I'm sure I'll check it out once it drops on Gamepass.

Avowed - wtf, no thanks.

Hellblade 2 remains my most anticipated game on Xbox this gen, couldn't care less it's not for everyone.
 

SRTtoZ

Member
The problem with these games is I don't think I'd pay $70 for any of them if they weren't on gamepass
I'd probably shell out for Indy but that's about it, and that's b/c I'm a fan of Uncharted and those types of games. Everything else I would only play on Game Pass.
 

Astray

Member
Catching up to this since I was at the barbershop.

Indiana Jones looks very underwhelming. Weird mix of FPS and 3rd person, Not Harrison! looks jarring, and the voice actor is absolutely phoning it in with zero gravitas or charisma, would not be surprised if it was somehow Harrison himself!

Avowed looks better, but it's nothing to write home about either.

It would be a debate whether to purchase this as a game, let alone buy a console for this. No wonder Satya is raising the white flag.
 

Ian Henry

Member
Indy, Avowed, and Hellblade 2 are games Imma be coping for this year.

I'll say this tho, in terms of conferences/presentations , we dropped E3 for shit like this lol. It was a bit boring to get through but the games did the job tbh
 

MacReady13

Member
I liked the look of Indy but I’m an Indy fan. Other than that, nothing remotely interesting to me at all. Nothing there screams I need to buy an Xbox console to me. Again, I liked Indy but it isn’t a system seller. Xbox had YEARS to make this stuff and this is what we got?
 
The games themselves looked great, absolutely cannot wait for Avowed, going to have to get off my fat ass and play Hellblade 1, the Mana games are always fun, and thank fucking God Indy is in 1st person. Concerning Ara, strategy isn't my jam, but I know these guys have the pedigree.
 

hinch7

Member
Didn't see the conference but from the trailers I've seen, the game I was interested in (Indy) turned out to be a first person and rather janky at that. Which kinda killed my hype in it.

And whats up with Hellblade 2? Looks great graphically but still no substance to their presentation or actual extensive gameplay. And its coming in a few months.
 

Raven77

Member
Avowed gameplay managed to look worse than last trailer.

Someone tried telling me I didn't understand how mid game development works. I do, and that's why I said the gameplay will still likely look bad. AND IT DID.

Still day 1 though. I love fantasy and Obsidian.
 
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adamsapple

Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?
Indy, Avowed, and Hellblade 2 are games Imma be coping for this year.

I'll say this tho, in terms of conferences/presentations , we dropped E3 for shit like this lol. It was a bit boring to get through but the games did the job tbh

Both Sony and MS have their E3-equivalent showcases in the summer.

E3 died because ESA was an incredibly incompetent agency, not because of smaller Direct style shows.
 
I think people also forget that Series S is a thing and that Xbox values parity and will often scale ambition appropriately so that Series S can also get performance parity

Parity for the sake of the weaker console not being upstaged is the most pathetic reasoning. Why would any dev "care about parity" unless they're just lazy? Do they NOT want their game looking and performing as good as it could? I've heard some whoppers of excuses but this one ranks at the top!
 
Everything looks like shit honestly. I can't defend MS anymore. Avowed look like a 2 gen old game, and it looks boring as fuck. Indy is also pathetic. Fuck UC4 came out in 2016 and it looks WAY better (like 1 gen better) than this fucking Indy.

WHERE IS YOUR MONEY MS? That's good to buy studios but PUT SOME CASH INTO MAKING BEAUTIFUL GAMES.

The only game I loved is Visions of Mana...

I havnt seen Indi trailer yet but does it really look last gen? If so that sucks and is so weird because Wolfenstein was a looker when it came out in what, 2017?
 

FeralEcho

Member
Would be great if game studios would just focus on showing the game and stop trying to be popular faces of the studio. NO other product line has companies promote their products showing office staff trying to chum it up. even movie studios dont do this showing "Hey, here's out new movie, lets talk to the lighting crew and VFX desk guys doing the CGI trying to be personalities"

You can showcase double the time of the game if the people got less face time.
How else can they show how inclusive their studio is..."See guys we have our woman quest designer making sure to bring out the female empowerment through our totally historically acurate portrayal of WW1 where women took center stage,then there's our black lead enviromental artist who's gonna bring his cultural heritage to life through the expertly crafted enviroments of our Norway setting and let's not forget our young asian female lead actor with Puerto Rican descent who is also gay and we really need to accenuate that she is in fact gay because that is literally the only personality trait we can come up with for our main character since we are in 2024 and everyone in the west is creatively bankrupt,ooops we forgot to show you the actual game,thank you for your time"
 
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At first I was a bit down on Indy 1st person but the more I watched the more I started to appreciate the mix of 1st, 3rd and cinematic approach. Hopefully they can pull it off.
 

IDappa

Member
We need to get the memo to Microsoft. Only 3rd person games allowed and every studio needs to take design points from the same whiteboard so there’s a consistent feel between games. We don’t want each game to feel like it’s a different genre or even from a different dev for that matter.


Seriously though, thought it all looked pretty good, Avowed art style is still weirding me out though. It looks de saturated but not? Idk. Looks like it will be a decent RPG from obsidian over all .

Hellblade looks great a short focused experience that’s like the original but improved and that is all I want out of it. Original game was great, even with its jank.

Ara keen for. Always up for a new strategy game. Need to actually see more of the systems to gauge how the campaigns will play out.

Visions of mana looks like a comfy game. Could be what I have been looking for lately.

Indy looks cool. I like that they didn’t turn it solely into a shooting gallery and are leaning into the movies. Not sure why people wanted an uncharted reskin but oh well.

Overall I think the variety of games shown is great. I would like to see them all in-depth but being a dev show I can understand the focus leaning towards them.
 

Clintizzle

Lord of Edge.
It's amazing how Sony games are ridiculed for being cinematic experiences, but 5mn of God of War has more gameplay than this whole presentation combined. At least Indy looked cool, tho underwhelming.

This is not it Xbox.
I think Xbox has been very clear that these developer directs are always going to be a mixture of devs talking and gameplay. They set that expectation from the start. If you went into this thinking you will only see pure gameplay - that's on you.
 

Dick Jones

Gold Member
Deserves high marks just for the fact that all five games they showed are releasing this year.
Michael J Fox Marty GIF by Back to the Future Trilogy
 
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Games looked graphically good. I might try Hellblade 2 on PC.
Not an excellent showing but I can appreciate Xbox for trying to get the community excited for what lies ahead.



Meanwhile PlayStations sitting there in the corner with their thumb up their ass. 🤬🤬
 

Pedro Motta

Member
I think Xbox has been very clear that these developer directs are always going to be a mixture of devs talking and gameplay. They set that expectation from the start. If you went into this thinking you will only see pure gameplay - that's on you.
I don't mean the QUANTITY of gameplay on display, I mean the QUALITY of the gameplay on display.
 

adamsapple

Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?
Did all games release in 12 months then too? How did that pan out? Give credit when they do the work not before

What does the 2022 summer Showcase have to do with it?

They're following the Direct format, all games they showed in last years direct released in the same year even when some of them weren't given an exact release date at the show itself.
 

Dick Jones

Gold Member
What does the 2022 summer Showcase have to do with it?

They're following the Direct format, all games they showed in last years direct released in the same year even when some of them weren't given an exact release date at the show itself.
Didn't Xbox claim ever game would release in 12 months at E3 and that was a major lie. They have made this promise before and failed, so maybe wait until they actually do it on a more consistent basis (more than a once off) before pulling them off.
 

Gambit2483

Member
Parity for the sake of the weaker console not being upstaged is the most pathetic reasoning. Why would any dev "care about parity" unless they're just lazy? Do they NOT want their game looking and performing as good as it could? I've heard some whoppers of excuses but this one ranks at the top!
I agree, but I think it's time we accept that we just aren't going to see many (if any) graphically insane, tech pushing visuals on Xbox.

Not because Series X can't do it, but because Xbox seems to have an in-house policy that they need to, First and Foremost, make sure that the game looks and runs great on Series S. That alone will almost always assure that we won't be seeing Series X pushed to its limits...
 
What does the 2022 summer Showcase have to do with it?

They're following the Direct format, all games they showed in last years direct released in the same year even when some of them weren't given an exact release date at the show itself.
Avowed was announced in June or July 2020
Hellblade II in December 2019
Indy was announced about 3 years ago
Ara was the only one announced in 2022.

Sony is criticised for announcing games too way in advance.
 
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