This generation has been underwhelming

[u/Asleep-Sprinkles-760]

I bought a Series X at launch, and can’t think of a single game that has impressed me this gen. I’m a big Halo fan, and Halo Infinite felt like a letdown. I’m a Forza fan, and Forza Motorsport felt like a massive disappointment. I was exited for Starfield, but was underwhelmed after playing it.

It just feels like we’ve had no heavy hitters this gen, even 3rd party AAA games have been average at best. I guess the only hope I have left is with Gears 6, but aside from that, Microsoft needs to get their act together and start releasing some new games. It feels like games are taking way too long to make these days, we used to get bangers every year in the 360 gen. Even the Xbox One had more compelling games than what we have now

[u/Dtwerky]

All the innovation is happening from indie devs and it’s all only releasing on Steam. It’s what is pushing my crew to PC. We want to play these new games like Content Warning, Enshrouded, Lethal Company, Gray Zone Warfare, Tarkov, BattleBit Remastered, Ready Or Not, Squad. 

So many good PC games from smaller studios that we will never see. 

[u/Major-Front → u/Dtwerky]

Yeah I was about to say the same thing. There’s so many amazing games on PC. OP just on the wrong platform lol

[u/Darth_Carnage → u/Major-Front]

There's just as many amazing games on console. Most are unwilling to look past the newest AAA title.

[u/Dtwerky → u/Darth_Carnage]

I don’t disagree that there are lots of indie titles on Xbox. However, they aren’t like the indie titles I described/listed above. Most of the ones we get are like truly small games like 2D platformers or top-down games. I’m not bashing more old-school styles of games, but I’m talking about full-fledged large scale video games that look like they were made by big-budget studios but are made by indie devs on Steam. Especially shooters. 

Those types of games are not on console. And if they ever make it to console, they feel horrible (Hunt Showdown, Insurgency, PUBG). 

[u/Darth_Carnage → u/Dtwerky]

We're not gonna agree. There are more games available on console than is possible to count, in more genres than I can name. Are there games available on Steam that aren't on console? Sure. But to claim that there are no "full-fledged large scale video games that look like they were made by big-budget studios but are made by indie devs" on console is absurd. Ori and the Blind Forest and it's sequel comes to mind (yes, I know they are 2d platformers, but I fail to see how that makes them any less "good" games)

And your comment about some games "feeling horrible" on console? You've gotta know that's a subjective preference, right? For example, I love PuBG, but I'm just not a pc gamer with shooters. There's no possible way I can compete with anyone on mouse and keyboard. Therefore, any modern shooter feels "horrible" to me on PC.

I'm not trying to convince you to drop PC gaming and pick up a console. Nor am I trying to say one is better than the other. I'm just saying don't be so short-sighted about how other people game just because you happen to have a preference.

[u/Dtwerky → u/Darth_Carnage]

It’s not subjective at all to say that those shooters I listed feel horrible on console. They are objectively poorly optimized for console and for controller. If you try to play good console shooters that are very well tuned for a controller (CoD, BF, Apex, Fortnite) then try and play Hunt Showdown, there is nothing subjective about how horrible it feels. 

That is the problem with console shooters in general, there is zero consistency from title-to-title. The state of how good aiming and movement feels is 100% on the developers to get it right. No amount of adjusting settings can fix a poorly optimized shooter on console. The devs have to get it right, and very few do. And I am not bashing the devs, because I know it’s way harder to program a aiming feel good on controller than it is on KB+M. You have to worry about response curve, aim acceleration, multiple deadzones, etc. 

However, on PC there is literally zero of this guesswork because it’s just an intrinsic part of the platform and intrinsic to the M+KB input. You can’t screw up the aiming on PC as a developer because it’s just a mouse. You have to work hard to mess it up. Every single shooter I can get feeling the exact same on my mouse as long as I adjust settings so that a swipe from the far left to the far right of my pad is the same rotation in every game. Then bam, it’s literally all the same. 

That consistency is so amazing and completely unattainable on controller because of the nature of development for the analog sticks. 

Its why CoD feels amazing (cause the devs have perfected aiming on controller) and why so many other shooters are just unplayable on console if the devs don’t get it right.