-
39 votes
-
Internet Roadtrip
45 votes -
The 'deprofessionalization of video games' was on full display at PAX East
32 votes -
Palworld patching out more gameplay features as it seeks to invalidate Nintendo/Pokémon patents
28 votes -
I captained a £4,000,000 starship filled with actors
21 votes -
A response to People Make Games's Disco Elysium investigation
10 votes -
What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them?
What have you been playing lately? Discussion about video games and board games are both welcome. Please don't just make a list of titles, give some thoughts about the game(s) as well.
21 votes -
Tildes Minecraft Survival
Server host: tildes.nore.gg (Running Java 1.21.4) Bluemap: https://tildes.nore.gg Playtime Tracker: https://tildes.nore.gg/playtimes.html Tildes website extension (shows online status & location):...
Server host:
tildes.nore.gg
(Running Java 1.21.4)
Bluemap: https://tildes.nore.gg
Playtime Tracker: https://tildes.nore.gg/playtimes.html
Tildes website extension (shows online status & location): Firefox (Desktop and Android) - Chrome
Verification site: https://verify.tildes.nore.gg
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/TildesMCPlugins and Data Packs
Data Packs:- Terralith - Overworld terrain upgrade
- Nullscape - End terrain upgrade
- Armor Statues [Vanilla Tweaks]
- Bat Membranes [Vanilla Tweaks]
- Cauldron Concrete [Vanilla Tweaks]
- Husks Drop Sand [Vanilla Tweaks]
- Mini Blocks [Vanilla Tweaks]
- More Mob Heads [Vanilla Tweaks]
- Player Head Drops [Vanilla Tweaks]
- Silence Mobs [Vanilla Tweaks]
- Wandering Trades [Vanilla Tweaks]
Plugins:
- Bluemap - Adds a live 3D web map
- Clickable Links - Makes http URLs in chat clickable (only for registered players)
- CoreProtect - Records all block/container/mob changes (Anyone can look up changes with
/co inspect
) - EasyArmorStands - GUI for editing armor stands
- Hexnicks - Enables Tildes usernames to be displayed
- LuckPerms - Locks down unregistered users
- Nerfstick - Allows survival use of the
minecraft:debug_stick
item (requires admin to spawn in) - Rapid Leaf Decay - Increases the speed of leaf decay by 10x
- WorldEdit - Used for occasional admin stuff
- WorldGuard - Prevents unregistered users from changing anything in the world
The server operates on a soft whitelist. Anyone can log in and walk around, but you need a Tildes account to gain build access.
New Thread
17 votes -
What games have you been playing, and what's your opinion on them?
What have you been playing lately? Discussion about video games and board games are both welcome. Please don't just make a list of titles, give some thoughts about the game(s) as well.
15 votes -
Tildes Archipelago - FINISH!
Everyone, proud to announce that after a week and nine hours the tildes archipelago is complete as of 6:51 AM ET! We, astoundingly, had only one release due to excessive backtracking and only one...
Everyone, proud to announce that after a week and nine hours the tildes archipelago is complete as of 6:51 AM ET! We, astoundingly, had only one release due to excessive backtracking and only one technical DNF out of sixteen games. (As a first-time host I'll take that as a win!) Otherwise two Radiances and the Hollow Knight said good night, the Ender Dragon ended, the Spire was (mostly) Slayed, Red ...'d, Bowser blasted big, Ganon's gone, Ganon's gone again, Rogues Legacied, John Darksoul prevailed, Doomguy doomed all over the place, and... Poker. Also we found that last strawberry. Jesus.
Big thanks to everyone who participated and hope you had fun! I'm thinking I'll throw a sign-up thread in a month or two to gather YAMLs and we'll trek through it again. Definitely excited to try some new games!
27 votes -
Kingdom Hearts Missing Link is cancelled
How do my fellow KH fans on tildes feel? I'm honestly kind of relieved. Gacha is an inherently predatory business model, and the game by all accounts was extremely unfun. It's still the first KH...
How do my fellow KH fans on tildes feel? I'm honestly kind of relieved. Gacha is an inherently predatory business model, and the game by all accounts was extremely unfun. It's still the first KH game to be outright cancelled mid development, so I'm still worried about what this means for the series.
I'm hoping that the devs never return to the mobile space.
19 votes -
Why the video games industry is struggling to stay profitable
29 votes -
D&D - Armor, and the implications of its removal
I'm in the planning stages of a Viking-themed game I'll be running sometime next year, and I'm noticing a nice little progression in the armor types that ends with chain mail. When combined with a...
I'm in the planning stages of a Viking-themed game I'll be running sometime next year, and I'm noticing a nice little progression in the armor types that ends with chain mail. When combined with a silver-based economy that cares more about the weight of the silver over the number of coins you have, that puts a lot of emphasis on looking towards magic for your better AC values, as armor will generally be more expensive and the (typically) highest tiers of armor--namely, plate mail, but also things like splint and banded mails--are simply unavailable for sale or amongst the majority of the enemies you might face.
That magic will most commonly be from the runecaster, probably, since there's a rune available that can be worn like a necklace and improve AC, as well as another that can reduce damage taken. Magic armor will still be--likely even moreso--coveted and sought out by the players.
A PC with average Dexterity can reasonably hit AC 3 (or AC 17 if you're used to ascending values); this assumes chain mail, shield, and a protection rune. Normally AC 3 (banded mail and a shield) is the best a starting PC (with no adjustment from Dex) can hope for in a traditional game.
12 votes -
Save Point: A game deal roundup for the week of May 11
Add awesome game deals to this topic as they come up over the course of the week! Alternately, ask about a given game deal if you want the community’s opinions: e.g. “What games from this bundle...
Add awesome game deals to this topic as they come up over the course of the week!
Alternately, ask about a given game deal if you want the community’s opinions: e.g. “What games from this bundle are most worth my attention?”
Rules:
- No grey market sales
- No affiliate links
If posting a sale, it is strongly encouraged that you share why you think the available game/games are worthwhile.
All previous Save Point topics
If you don’t want to see threads in this series, add
save point
to your personal tag filters.14 votes -
A spoiler free but brief critcism of Blue Prince reviews/recommendation to play
Warning: this post may contain spoilers
PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF GOD USE EXPANDABLE AND WELL LABELED SECTIONS WHEN REPLYING ABOUT ANYTHING THAT COULD BE CONSIDERED A SPOILER IN THIS TOPIC. IF NOT JUST FOR OTHERS READING IT THAN FOR MYSELF AS WELL
As tildes formatting help isn't stellar, here's how to do it from the docs:
<details> <summary>Click to view the hidden text</summary> Here's all the hidden text. It can have **markdown** in it too. </details>
Actual Content:
This game necessitates discussing in only the vaguest of terms. I cannot recommend it highly enough if you like puzzle games at all. To that point I'll keep the rest of this succinct:I have gotten to Room 46 of Blue Prince. It is, by far, one of the best puzzle games I've ever played, maybe one of the best things I've experienced. I am in awe of just how much work this must have taken.
The vaaaast majority of the discourse i'm seeing (while avoiding the HELL out of spoilers) is about the RNG. Reviewer after reviewer focusing solely on the RNG.
Some small % of this is because yes, it's a very hard game to discuss, but the rest of it is literally because it seems that everyone hits a bad run or, what they feel is, a bad streak of luck and says "oh lol nice try, but i guess this game sucks".
The straw that broke the camel's back and prompted this brief writeup was a "minimal spoiler review" (i disagree, don't watch if you haven't been to room 46, don't even listen) from Tom Francis. Tom is probably most known for the "defenestration trilogy" of which most recently had Tactical Breach Wizards, a well liked game.
What blows my mind about this review is that at some point he says "I just feel like I wasted my time for those 25 hours", in relation to X not occurring which prevented him from doing Y.
I cannot IMAGINE playing this game, and somehow feeling like that was your only goal at that point. The laundry list of stuff I have had to investigate and try has been basically constant, and I am CERTAIN he did not exhaust all of that before X happened, no matter how late in the game it was. ESPECIALLY not in 25 hours (my room 46 time for reference was just shy of 20 hours).
If you're reading this, and you liked Myst, Riven, Tunic, Outer Wilds, Animal Well, La Mulana, Environmental Station Alpha, or any of the many other great puzzle games, you owe it to yourself to at the bare minimum wishlist this game and pick it up on sale. To me it's absolutely worth the $30.
Major Edit/Caveat:
I wanted to mention the one legit criticism of this game i've seen that's also not remotely spoilery. Once you start a run, your only option is to finish it. You cannot save and quit in the middle of a run. This is not the huge problem it might feel like it is, if for some reason you have to stop and turn off your computer rather than leave it running, but the fact people are just leaving their machines running to not lose a run shows how silly the limitation is.
As such it's worth noting that since runs can be nice and quick, or can sometimes take an hour +, you kinda have to block out your time in such a way that you commit to a longer run without knowing if it will be. I do hope they fix that, because obviously yes we all have real lives and this game really doesn't gain anything from this limitation.
33 votes -
Former employees, community members allege AbleGamers founder fostered abuse behind closed doors
10 votes -
May 2025 Backlog Burner: Week 2 Discussion
Week 2 has begun! Post your current bingo cards. Continue updating us on your games! If you did not participate in Week 1 but want to start this week, that's fine! Reminder: playing bingo is...
Week 2 has begun!
Post your current bingo cards.
Continue updating us on your games!If you did not participate in Week 1 but want to start this week, that's fine!
Reminder: playing bingo is OPTIONAL.Quick links:
Week 1 Recap
10 participants played 7 bingo cards and moved 23 games out of their backlogs!
At least 6 different platforms were used: Nintendo DS, PC, Playdate, Switch, Wii U, Wonderswan
There were 0 bingo wins.
- 4 people played Flow bingo cards
- 1 person played a Flow Golf bingo card
- 2 people played Flux bingo cards
- 3 people played free choice
Game list:
- Advance Wars: Dual Strike
- beatmania
- The Botanist
- Braid
- Chicory: A Colorful Tale
- Costume Quest
- Cranky Cove
- DREDGE
- The Farmer Was Replaced
- Fire Emblem: Three Houses
- The Letter
- Life is Feudal
- Lugaru HD
- Match-o-3000
- Ratropolis
- Resident Evil 2
- Roundguard
- Shelter
- Shelter 2
- Suzerain
- Theresia
- Trackminia
- Trauma
16 votes -
Single player MMO - Erenshor
30 votes -
Decomp.dev
22 votes -
Switch 2 - My thoughts (preview event recap)
I just got back from the 'Nintendo Switch 2 Experience', so I though I'd share my thoughts on the console for those who didn't/won't get a chance to check it out. The Console Itself - 8/10 The S2...
I just got back from the 'Nintendo Switch 2 Experience', so I though I'd share my thoughts on the console for those who didn't/won't get a chance to check it out.
The Console Itself - 8/10
The S2 is a decent amount larger than the original, which really helps with the ergonomics. Pretty much all the controls are bigger, and the rounder shape might alleviate fatigue when holding it (I never got to hold it for long, the demos were mostly on TVs). I think it looks a lot worse than the original, but that's neither here nor there. The pro controller was a huge upgrade from the (already great) original, super comfortable materials and nice buttons. The screen is not OLED, which I think is ridiculous for the price tag. It theoretically has HDR, but I could not tell. Overall, it's bigger and better, but nothing super special.
Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour - 0/10
For the price of $10, Welcome Tour is a complete joke. There's absolutely nothing to say about it, it's basically an ad for hardware you'll already own. Should be free, don't buy it.
Donkey Kong Bananza - 5/10
This is the Mario Odyssey formula applied to Donkey Kong, you run around, collect bananas in some semi-open worlds. All the environments are destructible, which is super fun but adds one huge caveat: the game runs like shit. A nice 60fps when running around, but as soon as you try smashing stuff (the main gimmick of the game) the framerate jumps all over the place, and going to the world map tanks the fps to 20-30. I enjoyed surfing on chunks of the ground I pulled up, but I was constantly pulled out of the fun by performance hiccups. It looked about as good as Mario Odyssey (but at native 4k ~60pfs, of course).
Mario Kart World - 9/10
Okay, now I can start saying nice things! Mario Kart World is–as you might expect–awesome. It's a really fun twist on the formula that was perfected in 8 Deluxe. There's no more kart customisation, which I don't mind, but each kart looks really nice and detailed. I got a slight taste of free-roam mode before each knockout tour I played, and it was... fine? The open world looks great and plays well, but I'm curious to see how it's "gamified". The knockout tour was the main booth on the floor, with 24 people playing at once with the last placing racers getting eliminated at different checkpoints. It was chaos, but that classic Mario Kart chaos that works really well. I managed to come 2nd on my first race. It looks quite a lot better than 8 Deluxe, but that's mostly in the art style and animations.
Drag X Drive - 9/10
This is the gimmicky competitive game for this system (like Arms or Splatoon), showing off the mouse controls in the form of Wheelchair Basketball. I was super surprised by this game, the gimmick clicked with me instantly. I got dunked on like twice, but I also only had 5 minutes to prepare, so cut me some slack!
Metroid Prime 4: Beyond - 7/10
Again, the mouse controls work super well. It all felt pretty simple and intuitive, but that might be because I'm a PC player most of the time anyway. I don't know anything about the Metroid series, so I can't comment on the story or gameplay beyond that. It looked pretty good and ran at (I think) the full 120FPS the whole time.
Cyberpunk 2077 - 4/10
Cyberpunk was... rough. It had that classic "really really upscaled" look, and dipped down to 10fps a lot in combat. I tried both "performance" and "quality" mode, but both looked and played about the same (which might be a bug).
Breath of the Wild: Nintendo Switch 2 Edition - 2/10
I can't believe they're charging for this. It's literally just the original game running at 60fps with slightly better draw distances. You can get this look with CEMU. This is how I felt about all the "Nintendo Switch 2 Edition" games that I tried.
Conclusion
While the games were pretty good and the experience was nice, I don't think the console has justified itself costing as much as it does, and so I'm not going to buy it on launch. I'll probably pick it up used when there's a reliable jailbreak, but the preview event really dissolved any feelings of FOMO that I might have had about it, which I'm glad about because now I can save that $800! I hope there's still people playing Drag x Drive when I get to it in a few years.
Feel free to ask me any questions, and hopefully I can answer them.
45 votes -
Not content to just be the highest-rated game of 2025, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 has seemingly broken a Metacritic record
54 votes -
Can It Run Doom? An archive of all known ports.
28 votes -
Giant Bomb is now 100% independent
43 votes -
Mario Party 4 becomes the GameCube's first decompilation
17 votes -
Tildes Minecraft Survival
Server host: tildes.nore.gg (Running Java 1.21.4) Bluemap: https://tildes.nore.gg Playtime Tracker: https://tildes.nore.gg/playtimes.html Tildes website extension (shows online status & location):...
Server host:
tildes.nore.gg
(Running Java 1.21.4)
Bluemap: https://tildes.nore.gg
Playtime Tracker: https://tildes.nore.gg/playtimes.html
Tildes website extension (shows online status & location): Firefox (Desktop and Android) - Chrome
Verification site: https://verify.tildes.nore.gg
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/TildesMCPlugins and Data Packs
Data Packs:- Terralith - Overworld terrain upgrade
- Nullscape - End terrain upgrade
- Armor Statues [Vanilla Tweaks]
- Bat Membranes [Vanilla Tweaks]
- Cauldron Concrete [Vanilla Tweaks]
- Husks Drop Sand [Vanilla Tweaks]
- Mini Blocks [Vanilla Tweaks]
- More Mob Heads [Vanilla Tweaks]
- Player Head Drops [Vanilla Tweaks]
- Silence Mobs [Vanilla Tweaks]
- Wandering Trades [Vanilla Tweaks]
Plugins:
- Bluemap - Adds a live 3D web map
- Clickable Links - Makes http URLs in chat clickable (only for registered players)
- CoreProtect - Records all block/container/mob changes (Anyone can look up changes with
/co inspect
) - EasyArmorStands - GUI for editing armor stands
- Hexnicks - Enables Tildes usernames to be displayed
- LuckPerms - Locks down unregistered users
- Nerfstick - Allows survival use of the
minecraft:debug_stick
item (requires admin to spawn in) - Rapid Leaf Decay - Increases the speed of leaf decay by 10x
- WorldEdit - Used for occasional admin stuff
- WorldGuard - Prevents unregistered users from changing anything in the world
The server operates on a soft whitelist. Anyone can log in and walk around, but you need a Tildes account to gain build access.
New Thread
19 votes -
'First we do Wordle': Pope Leo XIV plays games like Wordle and Words With Friends with his brother, and did so before the Conclave
28 votes -
Nintendo updates user account agreement to prevent users from filing class action lawsuits
41 votes -
The Great Tildes Archipelago Randomizer - May 8th YAML thread
Hello tilderunners! Apologies for the delay on this thread, I was out of town and realized I hadn't posted last week. I'm posting to collect everyone's YAML for their intended Archipelago run and...
Hello tilderunners! Apologies for the delay on this thread, I was out of town and realized I hadn't posted last week. I'm posting to collect everyone's YAML for their intended Archipelago run and confirm if we have enough people to go.
For anyone out of the know, Archipelago is a large multiworld randomizer across multiple games. I made an FAQ over here with some details and info. If it sounds vaguely interesting, don't be intimidated and come on in! It's as crazy as it sounds, but not nearly as hard as you think it'll be.
Let's put a hard cutoff of 9 PM ET on the night of Thursday, May 8th to post your YAML(s) in this thread. The YAMLs have to bake in at the beginning - we can't add you later! So please try to get them in then, or let me know if you'll be a bit late so we can push the start a little bit. If a majority of people cannot make the Thursday night time, I can push the date, so please let me know - I'm thinking if we hit ~7 YAMLs posted and ready for the start time we'll go. There are often a lot of checks at the beginning, so it's typically best to be around for the start to be around for the opening chaos. It's still asynchronous, though - if you can start playing within the first 24 hours, that should be fine!
I'm not sure what the best way to attach the YAML would be, so I'm going to suggest posting a spoilered code block that I can throw into a text file. If anyone has a better idea, please throw it in here. I've also thrown a discord server together if you want to join and stream or chat while you play! Technically I've got a separate emojis one with Nitro if that's better for the audio quality boost, but this might be fine for now.
21 votes -
Level-5 CEO says games are now being made 80-90% by AI, making “aesthetic sense” a must for developers
24 votes -
Save Point: A game deal roundup for the week of May 4
Add awesome game deals to this topic as they come up over the course of the week! Alternately, ask about a given game deal if you want the community’s opinions: e.g. “What games from this bundle...
Add awesome game deals to this topic as they come up over the course of the week!
Alternately, ask about a given game deal if you want the community’s opinions: e.g. “What games from this bundle are most worth my attention?”
Rules:
- No grey market sales
- No affiliate links
If posting a sale, it is strongly encouraged that you share why you think the available game/games are worthwhile.
All previous Save Point topics
If you don’t want to see threads in this series, add
save point
to your personal tag filters.10 votes -
Anyone else looking to try out the Dune: Awakening Beta?
14 votes -
The Midnight Walk | Launch trailer
6 votes -
Ubisoft sends data it collects from gamers in “Far Cry Primal” to Google, Amazon, and others
34 votes -
Europa Universalis V officially announced (no release date yet)
21 votes -
Humble Choice - May 2025
May 2025's Humble Choice is now available with the following eight Steam games. Steam Page Opencritic Steam Recent/All Operating Systems Steam Deck ProtonDB The Thaumaturge: Deluxe Edition 76 80 /...
May 2025's Humble Choice is now available with the following eight Steam games.
Steam Page Opencritic Steam Recent/All Operating Systems Steam Deck ProtonDB The Thaumaturge: Deluxe Edition 76 80 / 82 Win ✅ Verified 🟨 Gold Amnesia: The Bunker 77 92 / 93 Win ✅ Verified 🎖️ Platinum Evil West 73 83 / 74 Win 🟨 Playable 🎖️ Platinum Shadow Gambit: The Cursed Crew 85 87 / 92 Win ✅ Verified 🎖️ Platinum Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes 75 84 / 91 Win ✅ Verified 🟨 Gold STAR WARS: Bounty Hunter 65 82 / 85 Win ✅ Verified 🎖️ Platinum Ultros 79 -- / 80 Win, Mac ✅ Verified 🎖️ Platinum Corpse Keeper -- -- / 76 Win 🟨 Playable 🕙 Awaiting Reports Does anyone have experience with any of the games and, if so, would you recommend them? Is there anything in here that you're particularly excited to play?
18 votes -
Tetris The Grand Master 4 -Absolute Eye-
12 votes -
Starbreeze Studios has agreed to fully acquire the publishing rights for Payday 3 from Plaion to "pursue broader strategic opportunities" for the embattled franchise
12 votes -
May 2025 Backlog Burner: Week 1 Discussion
The blaze has officially ignited! The May 2025 Backlog Burner is officially live. Use this topic to post about the games that you play. Quicklink: Backlog Bingo Etiquette: It is fine to make...
The blaze has officially ignited!
The May 2025 Backlog Burner is officially live. Use this topic to post about the games that you play.
Quicklink: Backlog Bingo
Etiquette:
-
It is fine to make multiple top-level posts throughout the week.
-
It is also fine to respond to your own posts.
-
If you are playing Backlog Bingo, you can share your table either by markdown or through screenshots.
Gameplay guidelines:
-
Goals for this event (if any) are entirely individual and self-determined.
-
Playing Bingo is optional and not required.
-
You do NOT need to finish games unless you want to. The point is to try out games and have fun, not force ourselves to play things we're not interested in.
Backlog Burner FAQ
What exactly is the Backlog Burner?
Your "backlog" is all those games you've been meaning to play or get around to, but never have yet. This event is an attempt to get us to collectively dig into that treasure trove of experiences, scratch some long-standing itches, and knock a few titles off our to-play lists.
It runs every May and November. New discussion topics will go up once a week during those months.
You do not need to sign up in advance -- the topics are open to all. If you would like to be included in the notification list, comment in this topic to be added.
How do I participate?
- Choose some games from your backlog and play them.
- Then tell us about your experiences in the discussion thread for the week.
That's it!
Optionally: you can play Backlog Bingo which is a fun way of cutting down the choices you have to make and playing games you might not have normally selected on your own.
Do I need to finish the games that I play?
Nope! Not at all.
There aren't really any requirements for the event so much as this is an incentive to get us to play games we've been avoiding starting up, for whatever reason. Play as much or as little as you like of a given game.
Try out dozens for ten minutes each or dive into one for 40 hours. There's no wrong way to participate!
Can I make multiple posts in the same topic?
Yes! Each discussion thread stays live for a full week, so feel free to make multiple comments in the topic as you play different games. This isn't considered
noise
-- it's considered valuable participation in the event!
Backlog Bingo FAQ
Important: All data for your Backlog Bingo card is stored on your device, not the server. Clearing your browser data will delete your card. You can use the export feature to make backups or move your card between devices.
I'm a returning player. How do I reset my previous card?
If you've already created a card and wish to start over, click the
Settings
button in the header to access your card settings. Then click theReset
button, and confirm the prompt. This will irrevocably delete your present card, allowing you to start fresh.Where is my data stored?
All data is stored by your browser in local storage. There are no accounts, and nothing is sent to the server, so it's privacy-friendly by design. This does mean that you are responsible for not deleting any browser data on
wescook.ca
, either manually or through automatic cleanups performed on browser close.Backlog Bingo is open-source, and licensed permissively under MIT.
What is the difference between the "Standard" and "Golf" modes?
In Standard Mode, each square on the bingo card corresponds with one single game. Duplicate games cannot be entered into different squares. A winning card would have a row of five different games that each filled in one square.
In Golf Mode, duplicates are not only allowed -- they are encouraged! The purpose of Golf mode is to try to find a single game that will fill multiple categories at the same time. For example: Stardew Valley might fulfill
You got it on sale
,A solo-dev project
, andHas romanceable characters
all at the same time. A winning card would have all twenty five squares filled, but possibly only six or seven different games.What is the star space in the middle?
That is the "wildcard" or "free space."
In Standard Mode, there are no requirements to fill it. You can choose any game you want! Anything goes!
In Golf Mode, it does not need to be filled. Because Golf is all about stacking up categories on a single game, any game used in Golf would fill it automatically, meaning it has no real function. As such, the square will be pre-filled for you if you play in Golf mode.
The new
Free
list defaults to having this space turned off. Because you already have full freedom in how you fill the squares, having a free space is redundant (though if you miss it or just like the aesthetics, you can certainly turn it back on!).Can I create custom bingo categories for this, or other events?
Absolutely! The Backlog Bingo app reads in simple JSON files which define the available categories. We've created a couple prebuilt lists for this event, but you're free to tweak our categories, or create completely new ones. You could even use them for books, anime, movies, recipes -- anything!
If you are interested in learning more, you can find documentation on the wiki, and use an example JSON category file. You can also ask for help in the topic!
20 votes -
-
What defines an extraction shooter, and why does the gaming community generally dislike it?
Message for Deimos or anyone else on Tildes development I'm putting this here after writing the rest of my post, but could we please get an "expand edit window" option, unless there is one and I'm...
Message for Deimos or anyone else on Tildes development
I'm putting this here after writing the rest of my post, but could we please get an "expand edit window" option, unless there is one and I'm blind? The preview window's great but the edit window's locked to 6 lines and I would appreciate some more since it would make editing a long post like this much easier. Thanks.
The actual post
There has been a lot of gaming buzz regarding extraction shooters as of late, with the closed alpha of Bungie's Marathon currently underway, the second tech test of Embark Studio's ARC Raiders starting just now, and the recent news of the cancellation of a Titanfall extraction shooter from EA/Respawn. As someone who's played and enjoyed extraction shooters before I've been following these and observing the discourse surrounding them (except the Titanfall one, I didn't even know that was a thing til the news of its cancellation) and I've been somewhat dismayed to see a lot of confusion, mixed messaging, and general disdain for the genre. So I've decided to put my own thoughts and definitions of it down here, and clear up the most common misconceptions or falsehoods I've seen repeated ad nauseam elsewhere.
A brief introduction to extraction shooters
First off, what IS an extraction shooter, what makes it different from other shooters, notably battle royales, and which games qualify as extraction shooters? An extraction shooter, as its core gameplay loop, is a shooter where you enter a map with loot and AI enemies scattered about, and the goal is to gather loot and extract from the map with it. However, you need to get out alive - should you die, you will lose everything (with some exceptions) in your inventory, including the gear you went in with. On top of that, the most popular and successful extraction shooters are PvEvP - you will be competing with other real players for loot, and taking loot off their bodies can be just as profitable if not more so than taking it from PvE enemies. It is optional though, and it is entirely viable to play as a "rat", sneaking around and gathering loot without drawing attention and extracting without anyone noticing.
Not a battle royale
Extraction shooters are also frequently confused with battle royales as both games have players inserted into a PvP map where they scavenge gear. However, the similarities more or less end there. With battle royales, you do not risk losing your items on death as all players are dropped in with nothing and don't have a stash to draw from or store items in, so any "loot" found is merely a means of securing victory for the current round. PvP is also mandatory, as the goal is not to get loot but to be the last team/person standing. To facilitate this in a timely manner, battle royales have a shrinking map mechanic that forces the remaining players into a smaller playable area as time goes on to force them into a confrontation. Extraction shooters do not force PvP or have shrinking maps but do have their own ways of drawing players towards each other, through loot-rich points of interest and extraction zones. Some parts of the map will have greater quality and/or quantity of loot, which will naturally draw players in, and there are a few designated areas where you can actually leave with your loot which will also increase your odds of encountering other players either trying to take your loot before you can leave, or trying to leave themselves. Because it is not forced though, PvP encounters are a much more unpredictable and organic experience in extraction shooters.
What extraction shooters are out there?
So which games count as extraction shooters? The current leaders in the genre, which also happen to be some of the longest-lasting ones, are Escape From Tarkov (EFT) and Hunt: Showdown. EFT is a rather hardcore modern military FPS with a heavy focus on realism - guns are extremely customizable, ammo types and armor can make a huge difference, bullets are extremely lethal even from AI enemies, and a good headshot will drop even the most geared and armored player so there's always risk. It has a cult following but its hardcore emphasis makes it unapproachable for most. It also has periodic progression wipes where players have to start over from scratch to keep things fresh and more fair for newcomers, but is a major turnoff for players that don't like to lose what they've earned. Hunt is an FPS set at the end of the 19th century with a bit of dark magic/voodoo theme. Guns are reflective of the times and rather limited in terms of rate of fire and reload speed, which results in more drawn-out firefights where every bullet counts. For each round, the focus isn't to get loot around the map but rather to track and hunt down a bounty boss monster, then extract with that bounty. These two games are what will come to mind first when extraction shooters are mentioned, EFT more so.
I won't go over cancelled (Titanfall), discontinued (The Cycle: Frontier), or side game-mode (The Division's dark zone/survival) extraction shooters here, which is basically almost all of them sadly, so I'll talk about the two biggest up-and-coming ones instead, Marathon and ARC Raiders.
Marathon and the surrounding controversy
Marathon is a sci-fi FPS that uses the lore of Bungie's Marathon trilogy from the 90's as its setting. You play as a "runner" in a robotic shell scavenging the remains of the colony on Tau Ceti IV for scrap to fulfill contracts for the megacorporations involved in the colony's development who now seek to find out what went wrong. It checks the usual boxes for an extraction shooter - you go in with your own loadout, scavenge at points of interest to fill your limited inventory, defeat PvE enemies and other runners for loot opportunities, and try to extract alive before time's up. There are a couple things of note that have resulted in mixed opinions:
- The art direction for runners, gear, and architecture is a sort of mass-produced, neon-colored, smoothed plastic, blocky style, which is a "love it or hate it" kind of thing.
- The gunplay is very similar to that of Destiny, Bungie's last game, which in my opinion is very solid. However, they did make the decision to have mouse magnetism enabled for PC (your cursor will magnetize to targets) to give it more parity with console players, and that has been very unpopular.
- The only queueing option is teams of 3 and the devs have stood their ground on not having a solo or duo player queue, which is a turn-off for players that prefer solo, or don't want to play with randoms and don't have 2 friends to play with.
- Players do not have full customization of their runners but must choose from 6 runner archetypes that have a set of abilities and a specific look, which can be partially changed with a skin. This is also largely unpopular, as Bungie's past titles have featured high levels of cosmetic customization and this feels largely restrictive and monetization-focused instead.
- There is no option for proximity voice chat, which the devs have said was excluded to protect players from toxicity. This has also proved to be very unpopular.
- It will have seasonal progression wipes which will reset faction reputation and clean out player vaults, which is unpopular among players that like to hoard their loot, especially many Destiny players.
- Supposedly there will be more "raid-like" PvE experiences on an as-of-yet unreleased map that takes place aboard the Marathon colony ship, but how mechanically complex those are or whether or not that will be enough to attract PvE-oriented players is pure speculation at this point.
- It will not be free-to-play, but rather released at a "premium" but not full game price point, which most people are assuming to be $40 USD.
The game is set to release in September this year, but based on the feedback Bungie is getting from players in this very first alpha, they will need to take this feedback very seriously and make a number of changes in the few months they have left, or risk a very rocky release and potentially financial failure. Many players seem to want Marathon and Bungie to fail, notably vitriolic Destiny veterans that feel like they were snubbed out of Destiny 3 for this, but as someone with over 2000 hours in Destiny 2 myself I want it to succeed, whether I play it or not. I'd rather there be more fun and successful games than major failures, and wishing for something to fail just because it isn't what you want is incredibly petty.
ARC Raiders, the underdog
ARC Raiders is a third person shooter set in a post-apocalypse where robots called ARC have devastated the surface of Earth and humanity has retreated underground, sending "raiders" to the surface to scavenge for tech and goods. It's developed by Embark Studios, which is made up of ex-DICE (Battlefield) developers, and their other title is the well-received but niche PvP shooter The Finals. Mechanics-wise, there isn't anything particularly unique about this extraction shooter - limited mobility, limited inventory space, PvE enemies, points of interest, extraction points, etc. However, it seems to check all the boxes of what players want and it does it well while making the experience more casual and accessible:
- There are "safe pockets" where players can store a few loot items they won't lose on death (Tarkov does also have this, Marathon and Hunt do not).
- There is proximity voice, and also a quick emote menu for giving vocal commands, directions, and responses.
- The art direction is realistic post-apocalypse with high graphical fidelity and semi-futuristic robots, which is "safe", but still good looking.
- The audio design is phenomenal. Distant gunfire, supersonic cracks of rounds, bullets ricocheting off surfaces, large bots stomping around from blocks away, player footsteps on different surfaces and within enclosed spaces, quadcopter drones buzzing, larger bots with unsettling and deep "roars", and more.
- There isn't a solo or duo-only queue, but there is solo-matching priority at least, so you're more likely to be placed with other solo players.
- There is a clear progression path in the form of a workshop you can upgrade with scavenged materials, and a deep skill tree with multiple branches.
- Raiders are not class or hero-based and are freely customizable by the players in terms of loadout and appearance.
- Chaff PvE enemies are relatively easy to defeat but still dangerous. Aside from eliminating them as threats, they can drop materials or items to recharge your shields so they're not just a waste of ammo. Non-chaff PvE enemies can be significantly more dangerous and harder to defeat but will have valuable loot.
- There is already an example of a PvE "boss" robot guarding a point of interest which requires some mechanics to collect the loot within it. The boss itself is very challenging to defeat, even with multiple teams fighting it, but should reward top-tier loot.
- While the game was initially announced as free-to-play, the devs have since switched to selling it at at $40 USD.
- There are "battle passes" in the game in the form of shops players can unlock using a currency that is earnable in-game, or purchased with real money (like warbonds from Helldivers 2 for any helldivers reading this).
Overall, the game is shaping up to be a more accessible extraction shooter for the wider gaming audience and very serious competition for Marathon. No official release date has been announced but they are planning on releasing some time this year.
The stigma around extraction shooters
I've mentioned various things about extraction shooters that may be contributing to their unpopularity amongst the wider gaming audience throughout the post, but for the sake of cohesiveness and for all the folks that just want a TL;DR, I will collate and expand on those ideas here:
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Confusion with battle royales - I've seen some people confuse extraction shooters with battle royales and say "the market is oversaturated with extraction shooters, dead trend chasing game" or something along those lines. It's hard to call a market oversaturated when there's only 2 successful and very niche games in it, but if you incorrectly lump all the battle royales in that makes more sense.
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Escape From Tarkov is a bad poster child - When people do think of extraction shooters (and not mistakenly battle royales), they will default to EFT, which is notoriously hardcore and "sweaty". It would be the same as never having played an RPG, and being introduced to it with Dark Souls, which would understandably turn away anyone that isn't looking for that kind of experience.
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PvP and losing progress - The game always having a PvP element is already discouraging to PvE-focused players, and this is only made worse by the chance to lose your gear if you die. Many players are strongly opposed to losing progress, and losing multiple times in a row due to other players defeating them when they just want to do PvE and get some loot is an awful experience that they don't have to have in a different type of game.
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Progression wipes are anathema to hoarders - On top of potentially losing progress on a round-to-round basis, seasonal progression wipes also threaten to reset progress entirely between seasons, While they are effective at keeping things fresh, players that like to have 400+ items stored away in their vault that they will never use and just admire from time to time revile this concept. Less hoard-minded players may be concerned about their potential inability to max out their progression, the fear of missing out induced by temporary progression, or the pointlessness of even progressing if it gets wiped anyway.
I didn't read any of that, are extraction shooters for me or not?
Well, that depends. If you:
- Don't mind or enjoy a mixed PvEvP experience
- Are ok with the idea of loot and progression being temporary
- Like the higher stakes of potentially losing your inventory and gear, or taking someone else's
- Are ok with inventory management, even in the middle of a round
- Are not terrible at shooters
Then yes, extraction shooters may be fun for you! They certainly aren't for everyone, and there's nothing wrong with not enjoying one or the genre in general, but if you do, they offer a very unique gaming experience. If you are interested, keep an eye on ARC Raiders and Marathon - they aim to be more accessible than previous extraction shooters and it's a lot easier to get in on a new game than join one with a veteran playerbase.
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