It can be easy to forget that the people who make games also enjoy playing them – well, when they’re not bunkered down with bugs in their own projects, anyway. As such, this blog post from Naughty Dog makes for a refreshing read, as it shares some of its favourite games from the past year. We should caveat that not every title listed here technically launched in 2021, but you get the idea.
For example, game director Anthony Newman, who appears to be working on The Last of Us 2’s multiplayer mode, cites Fortnite as one of his favourites: “When I first started working on this multiplayer project, I had a very superficial opinion of Fortnite as something that was a mere toy for tweens, a passing fad that was only popular because of Drake. How wrong I was! Fortnite is truly inspiring, not just as a multiplayer game but as a game period.”
Meanwhile, co-president Evan Wells loved co-op platformer It Takes Two: “I'm a sucker for platform games, and It Takes Two combines that gameplay with amazing puzzles, a great story, and beautiful art. There is so much variety, and clever mechanics are continually introduced. And the bold choice of requiring a second player made the experience unique. I had a ton of fun playing it with my son.”
Other titles that appear on the list include Returnal (unsurprisingly), Metroid Dread, and Deathloop. “Deathloop helped me break my bad immersive sim habits,” game director Matthew Gallant gagged. “The time loop structure gave me permission to let go of playing flawless zero-kill zero-alert runs, and adopt a more improvisational and chaotic playstyle.” We agree with this one – in Dishonored you feel like you have no choice but to restart when you make a mistake, but in Deathloop it’s part of the core design. Neat!
You can read the full blog post through here, which includes some neat insight across a number of different games.
[source naughtydog.com]
Comments 36
Glad to see Deathloop getting acknowledged!
Really hope ND took detailed notes!
Their gameplay has been lacking for years. Would love to see less on rails scripted cliches setpieces and more fleshed out combat mechanics in their next foray.
I think naughty dog, more than any other Sony developer need a new direction through a new IP (although its looking like Santa Monica is following suit). They run the risk of just becoming so overtly profit driven that we just continue to see safe copy and paste sequels for uncharted and the last of us. Thus becoming another ubisoft. As fun as those games are to watch, they are a slog to play through when you set aside fanhumanism.
Would love to see a new ip that learned from gameplay seen in games from arkane or housemarque
Deathloop is an absolute masterclass in natural progression. Learning codes, passwords and routines yourself which influence your future actions was a genius move. I don’t think I’ve ever played a game which opened up as gracefully, most games you can kinda see where the devs have funnelled you towards.
@nessisonett Deathloop has made me really appreciate smaller, more compact but much better designed game worlds again, and I don't think I've felt the same for a long time since Deus Ex Mankind Divided.
Deathloop dont sell to me yet. I m see reviews and videos and i dont see the point...
@SweetSummerShunv glad to see Fortnite getting a mention too. Gets dumped on far too often by gaming snobs.
Come on Naughty Dog, give us some Nate and Joel skins! 😁
@KundaliniRising333 There is zero risk of Naughty Dog resembling anything close to Ubisoft lol. For my money, they're the best studio working today, and Ubisoft is..definitely not.
Glad to see Returnal there.
Yeah real talent recognizes Arkane.
"in Dishonored you feel like you have no choice but to restart when you make a mistake, but in Deathloop it’s part of the core design. Neat!"
Lol yeah. They tell you to "play your way" but everyone just keeps on sneaking and restarting portions. Why? Because the enemies can be extremely chaotic and deadly when you try to play loud.
@Infernal hey dude, TLOU2 is a masterpiece, but you are being very undude if you think that all the people who had problems with it were objecting that major plot point.
For example, I love the game, have no issue with that character's destiny but I do mind, the dude minds, how they wrote Ellie and what her motivations were throughout the game. I do mind how they made Abby seem like a piece of ***** person while they could have made her more approachable and likeable and a character to fully care for and I definitely mind that for the first trans character they had in their game ND couldn't come up with anything better that to have THAT relationship with their parent with THAT outcome.
Even with all that said, TLOU2 is ND's best game to-date and a must play!
If ND can learn from Arkane there's hope of them crafting interesting gameplay someday, after all!
Death loop is so weird and subtle and breaks every convention in games. Yet never becomes hipster. It's genuinely a clean start on how games can be designed.
@lolwhatno far out! Thanks, dude
Just finished tlou2, i can’t believe i played as a random npc half of the game. I don’t understand what was that, but it was no fun.
Deathloop was good but not 10/10 good.
I really hope they make a new IP with an enjoyable story and likeable characters.
There was a leak a few years ago about a main character model and actor they were looking for a new game.
(It was probably fake but looked cool)
Edit
It was a character model I saw someone posted referring to ND looking for a new cast leaked photo.
I mean I really wanted a story with Sam as a lead but now they really need something completely new in my opinion.
@lolwhatno yeah, dude, far out means something is cool, out of this world, 💯 😉
@SweetSummerShunv if you didn’t play them Prey and the Dishonored series also fall into that category. Also by Deathloop devs
@KundaliniRising333
I think their direction is fine. If you want a focus on combat then their are a million cookie cutter games to play instead. The great thing about games that put actual effort into their narrative is that they are genuinely unique. There are only so many “combat mechanics” available, story potential is infinite.
And I don’t say that as a fanboy (did you really just say “fanhumanism”?! Lol). In fact I found TLoU a slog myself because I hate stealth mechanics. But I still didn’t regret my time with it because the story was so engaging. And, hey, many people like stealth games.
Seeing Deathloop get respect feels strange in light of how the past few months have been spent dismissing it as an overrated, inferior version of Arkanes past works.
@Salt_AU I guess it's like what they say that it's Prey: Mooncrash. And I haven't beaten it yet after the base Prey because of this punishing can't save roguelike stuff. But I'll get to it one day.
@lolwhatno I'll keep that in mind for the next time. But I would be very surprised if that was news to anyone at this point, especially for people that read about games. Thanks tho.
@TheDudeElDuderino It's their story and I had no problem with it. If people think Abby is a piece of *****, they should think the same thing about Ellie, as they are going on the same journey, for the same reason.
Some of the best stories out there are about horrible people, both fiction and real ones. Not liking a character/person does not change that.
Where do you get the idea that Abby is trans by the way? I had to look it up now and see if I missed anything implying that, but I did not. The developers themself says she's not.
And even if she was, being trans does not make a person good or bad.
So Uncharted 5 will be a time-loop roguelite metroidvania co-op battle royale guest starring Drake Drake... sounds legit.
@lolwhatno It means @TheDudeElDuderino is still in the 1960s
@Rural-Bandit I'd planned to wait for it to be on GP since it's literally a first party MS game now anyway, but it was half price on sale, and wasn't new Sony $70 pricing to begin with, so $30 was the right price to sate curiosity and see what Arkane's been up to Plus TECHNICALLY it's a 1st party MS title, but designed FOR the PS5 so I'm not sure which is its correct native home. It does have decent Dual Sense integration. I'm not one of the DS5 mafia that insist it's a revolutionary thing that changes the game, but if a game was built around it as an exclusive, it's not a bad little addition. For $30.
Abby is by far my favourite character in TLOU.
@Rural-Bandit Haha, I'm kind of with you on the haptics. Depends on the game. I don't turn them off but they can annoy me. The triggers occasionally are useful. On Returnal it works because it actually uses the triggers to create an extra set of triggers (pull half-way with a physical stop), Some games like Deathloop use them primarily for feedback on the gun effects etc and it works well. Other's like Spiderman give you arthritis constantly fighting a resisting trigger the whole time. The "HD Rumble", though, your brain just filters out. If I switch from an XB game to a PS game I notice the complex rumble patterns at first. After playing for 15-20 minutes, I don't even notice they exist at all anymore. And if I switch back to an XB game I don't notice they're missing. Though, XB has the impulse triggers, so it does have its own complex rumble with 4 different motors already. I honestly notice the impulse trigger rumble in FH5 more than I notice, say, my horse galloping in GoT. It's useful feedback for braking in FH5, and Deathloop will carry the haptic trigger effects forward into the impulse triggers I'm sure.
Hi there fellow gamers.
So one of my favourite game studios Naughty Dog employes also enjoy Deathloop, Metroid Dread and Returnal, some of my favourites games of this year?
I knew there was a reason I liked them.
And yes my friend @nessisonett, Deathloop is fantastic!
Arkane really knows how to make fun, different and engaging sandboxes, were people can play the way they want.
I´m having a lot of fun learning enemies, level layouts and Bosses(Visionaries) acquiring and making different builds with Slabs and weapons and starting to find my way to break this loop. Very enjoyable indeed.
Cheers, stay safe everyone and happy gaming to us all
@NEStalgia you said, man 😏
@Boucho11 dude, I could have made her even more awesome. They dropped the ball
@Rural-Bandit And don't forget the PSV rear touch pad lol
What I really want to see are force feedback thumbsticks like the old flight sticks (MS Sidewinder, Saitek Cyborg) on a controller. THAT would be revolutionary. A stick that actually resists, and you can feel the tension pulling back on the yoke of an aircraft, etc. Especially for vehicle based games, that's a big deal. Triggers having tension can be amusing, but sticks with tension can actually be used for gameplay.
The only problem is fitting the motors and battery power to run it all into the controller. The flight sticks were fairly large.
@Infernal I haven't played it but her friends supposedly trans I don't think it makes any sense in a post apocalyptic world
@Would_you_kindly Where do people get these ideas? I played trough the game a couple of times and there where no trans people, mention of trans in any shape or form.
If not looking like a bimbo in a post apocalyptic world makes them trans, then people need to get their heads checked..
@Infernal like I said I haven't played it just heard one of the characters is trans Lev I think
@Would_you_kindly I think people see what they want to see.
She was going to be married to an elder and she didn't want that, she wanted to become a warrior. Then she shaved her head and started calling herself Lev. If that made her trans to the rest of the tribe (Not implied anywhere), so be it.
@Infernal yeah that doesn't sound like trans I guess people like to make up drama where there is none
@KundaliniRising333 Sorry Ubisoft does not know what quality is none of there games are ever released complete.
You can say that ND has a comfortzone but lets be honest here all their games are quality.
Besides a few main characters i forget completely what their games had as a story or side characters Ubisoft games are totally forgettable.
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