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Looks way better than the last batch of screenshots. I see significant upgrade to the environments and textures.
And design is just excelent.

I thought you were crazy because the old stuff already looked pretty good, but I went back to check and you're right. This looks like PC whereas that stuff looked more console.
Looking forward to this game, I really dig the idea of playing as an orc and what have you. Looks great too.

Can we start getting more WRPGs that aren't so derivative of "fantasy" settings?

at least this has a different premise...lets see how it pans out

This is non gameplay screens with ingame models... Realy not sure what to make of this game... good luck to them.

Does that really matter that much? I think people will call anything a derivative fantasy setting, even if it does loads to not be som trailer trash tolkien ripoff.

I think a good example of a game that is certainly of the fantasy variety, yet has unique enough of a world and characters/creatures that it stands out is The Witcher (1 or 2, whatever you prefer), whereas the goddamn antithesis to this would be the something like Amalur, where it's all dwarves, elves, proud warriors on white steeds and faeries jumbled up in the most generic, characterless world imaginable.

So long as the game has character that is it's own, why does it matter what specific genre it is? Not saying that this game is good or anything, i just find there is no point in getting stuck on what is, ultimately, very small gripes.

I think it's a good point tbh. And is more then just a small gripe. But then i've never understood why a developer, unbound by the shackles of reality, be it sci fi, or fantasy, would create a world or characters so unoriginal, or even worse, grounded in our own reaity. If they are free to create anything, why does something even as simple as a tree, have to look anything like a tree from our own world? It's why i liked shivering isles so much. It was trippy, and genuinely unique for a fantasy setting. Skyrim was shite because it was so derivative. It's like crysis. Why, given the sci fi genre, fighting aliens, did they chose to set it in NY...TWICE? Of all the world, in all the universe, contained within your entire imagination, and the best they can come up with is NY? This, and many other fantasy settings are the same. Hell, why do developers even feel the need to retain certain races and character classes, why can't they just come up with their own? Orcs, dwarfs, elves...can you get anymore generic?

Is that why you shit your pants everytime sony rehashes God of War or Uncharted? Because it's so new and exciting? I know you are going to have sex with your The Last of Us disc as well, how do you defend that in the light of this last post? :P

If you got something too weird you'd be complaining about not wanting to play a game that looks like an impressionist painting. Again, i think it's about how you nuance your world and the lore you put in to it, not the setting itself. Again, would you call the world of The Witcher a humdrum fantasy world? I sure wouldn't, yet it has al the tropes of fantasy. You have kings and princesses, dwarves, elves and all that shit, but they still put their spin on it making it feel unique.

Incidentally, games that try doing shit differently just get crap anyway. How many times have i seen people bitch and moan about the world, combat, leveling, story and pig creatures in FFXII? A small hint; way too many.

How does the last of us or even god of war have the creative freedom of that of crysis or a fantasy setting. The latter 2 can be ANYTHING, last of us has to be grounded just like uncharted. If last of us was a sci fi adventure game, then you're dam right i'd expect something more creative then a NY setting, and god of war is based on greek mythology...it's not like the market is saturated with them...wheras tolkian fantasy games with green orcs, dwarves, pointy eared elves, kings princesses...they're a dime a dosen and not a single one of them does anything to stand out and actually give us a unique world to explore.

Well there aren't many games like God of War out there. How many games/series/franchises are based on Greek Mythology? Before Googling the only thing that really came to mind were maybe Icarus and Rise of the Argonauts. After searching there have been about ~30 Greek Mythology inspired games dating back to at least 1988. That's over 20 years.

I see generic fantasy stuff like this and I just ignore it because it's so lazy to me. Fantasy is anything your mind can imagine and all people do is rehash humans v elves v orcs v wizards v so on and so forth.

So why couldn't Uncharted take place in a totally new environment? There's no reason that you couldn't explore ruins, shoot bad guys and have a shitty, shoehorned romance subplot on tha planet Zaboo, with your trusty purple, 3 legged amoeba pal Gorr. But no, it's fine there because....i don't know, you like it? Same with god of war, there's a SHIT TON of different media based around greek mythology, how come Cebntaurs, Gorgon and titans are fun and imaginitive, yet dwarves and elves are old, stale shite? I mean, i imgaine there's actually a lot more greek crap around seeing as how that dates back to the antiquity, as compared to Tolkiens elves that are rather recent by comparison :P

It's just your personal preference, and again i tell you taht it's all in the context of the game and how the world is presented. There is a fuck ton of bad crap in EVERY genre, sci-fi and fantasy aren't the only ones. I'd agree that games is a media that's plagued by the more the rushed shitty ones in general but there isn't much to do about that aside from waiting for the medium to mature to the point where talented writers actually wants to work with games.

We have guys like David Cage taht understands that the medium has potential, but unfortunately his skills at writing is like a small step above fanfic and the game design in his games is usually rather poor. So if we get a David Cage that understands both engaging gameplay and who is a good writer, then we'll get some fukcing epic experiences.

As for the games you mention, they are "What if?" scenarios, i don't see what's unimaginative or boring about that, aside from perhaps execution. What's wrong with asking "what if NY was invaded by aliens?" and then making a game about it? Nothing, it's how you execute the idea that makes it work or fail. In the case of Crysis it seems fairly uninspired, there are som aliens, go shoot, win for great justice. But it doesn't mean that the concept is devoid of potential.

Oh and on a edited foot note: Some of the old Ultima games do a great job of showing how you can have interesting narrative and stories in a fantasy setting. Just look at Ultima 4 and 5. That's some pretty neat stuff right there imo. Would love to see more of that shit.

Uncharted is a tomb raiding treasure hunting game set in the real world. That is what it has been since day one. I dont expect inter planetary adventure from it for the same reasons i dont expect it from COD. I DO expect such creativity when you are set in a sci- fi or fantasy setting. I find it utterly generic and derivative when an apparently "fantasy" world consists of something that looks very much like our own. They arnt bound by anything but their own imagination. They can set it anywhere, any time, with any style, any creatures, any races...and yet they dont for no other reason then...well...i dunno. It's why shivering isles is the ONLY example of a creative world i can think of from this gen. It was something out of this world, as it should be imo.

I juat wish all these so called fantasy games had more fantastical elements in them, because unlike a real world shooter based on real world history or myth, they are actually free to do so. Take avatar as an example. The world of pandora wouldnt be anywhere near as appealing if it just looked like any other real world jungle...it's creativity is what makes it special. Developers have the freedom to create such worlds in their apparently "fantasy" games, but they fall back on cliches and derivative design ideas introduced by tolkian. I'll never understand why. Not when they have their entire imagination at their disposal.

So wait, in the setting of lost treasure and Nazi zombies on a tropical island, you expect it to be grounded in reality becasue that's just how it is been done for 3 games, and that's ok. But when Crysis comes up as a slightly futuristic open world shooter with a hint of alien and does that for 3 games you are suddenly sick of it for the fourth game, instead of expecting it? Your bias is completely unbelievable man, the worst part being that you don't see it yourself. Uncharted is the most derivative popcorn flick bullshit in the world, but that is just a-ok. Mental gymnastics ftw.

Oh, not to mention, how come you didn't find the first Uncharted to be derivative drivel?

What is so out of this world about nazis, the entirely earth bound premis of zombies, tropical islands and treaure? Hello, these are all things we have on earth. Last time i checked tho, we didnt have squid headed aliens, giant machines that turn jungles into ice or suits that let us jump 100ft, run faster then a bullet and let us turn invisible.

You dont seem to get what i'm talking about, the sci fi and fantasy genre Are far more open to creativity then anything else. Could GTA have monsters, aliens, space travel, weapons that turn people into baked potatos, candykane jungles etc etc? Yes, byt it woukd be out of place given the fact it is a real world shooter. Just like uncharted is, just like COD is. Crysis however could have those things since the genre alows for it.

Or would you find it completely reasonable and fitting for nathan drake to be beamed up to a mothership, transported to an alien world where it's jungles are comprised of giant mushrooms and floating orange balls that taste like chicken and smell like strawberries? There is a time and a place for such fantastical elements. And i dont think it's unreasonable to expect such fantastical elements in a FANTASY game. The clues in the title. ;P

Side by side with teh zombie nazis? Yes, why not? Last time i checked Zombie Nazi mosters are certainly in the realm of fantasy. If aliens in a shooter instantly means candy cane forests and magic baked potatoes, why doesn't Zombie nazis mean that as well? Not to mention how nobody on this goddamn planet would want to play Crysis if it took place in a candycane forrest and you chucked tatertots at the enemies. You have to make the game appealing to people, and just like the humdrum crap of Uncharted and God of War appeals to you, so does shooting aliens to others. Besides how is Crysis not based in reality if Uncharted is? You are a soldier, slightly futuristic tech and the plot line is that there are aliens that are hostile. How does that automatically mean anything otehr than a soldier shooting aliens? You can't just go "Well it's sci-fi so where the fuck is my phantasmagoria2 teleporter!?", stuff still ahs to make sense within the narrative of the game.

At least exo-skeletons and optical cloaking exists in my reality, though not in any sense perfected.

I still just see it as you crying over games you don't like while praising other games that do the exact same thing, only you happen to like em.

Really? You dont see how a game based in science fiction or fantasy should allow for more creativity then what is currently offered by the majority of developers? You dont see how the world in orcs and men is yet ANOTHER derivative tolkian based fantasy title, despite having the creative freedom to be so much more?

The genre is what dictates What sort of creative freedom you have. Uncharted has minimal supernatural elements within them, but outside of that they are bound by reality, real world locations, real world history. A game like this has non of those limitations. It doesnt have to look or act like a real world location. It can look like ANYTHING it wanted to and it would be valid in the context of the genre. Sci fi is the same. Given the fact you are already fantastical in your actions, looks, abilities, weapons, enemies. It isnt much of a stretch to accept fighting on a new, creatively unique world with unique features, rather then just new fucking york...AGAIN. They can set it anywhere on the planet....anywhere in the entire universe...but no, they use NY again.

Why orcs? Why men? Why elves and dwarves? Havnt enough people regurgitated that tolkian crap already? Why not new, unique looking races, why not unique looking worlds, why not unique looking creatures? They have the freedom to do what they like and they resort to derivative crap. They can show people something they've never seen before, but instead would rather show us stuff we've seen a million times over. It annoys me. And for that reason i would never even consider buying this game. Skyrim was the last straw for this genre. It needs to be original to even catch my eye. A green friggin orc is about as exciting as the last 100 times i've seen one. i.e. not very.

Lets tone down the trolling (pun intended) you two. I will say though, the design of the goblins/orcs smacks of an ex-blizzard employee.