aubergine
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I must get over myself
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Post by aubergine on Feb 28, 2023 1:02:05 GMT
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Post by Vandelay on Feb 28, 2023 8:42:57 GMT
I wouldn't even say it was a couple of decades. 10 years ago they were putting out some of the more diverse games and original settings. Assassin's Creed was in its hayday with the Enzio trilogy, Far Cry was defining what open world first person shooters could be and the Rayman games were making 2D platformers exciting again. You had Prince on Persia on the wane, but had been a great series. Same goes for Splinter Cell. Personally, I regarded them as the most interesting publishers around.
Then they became known for their open world games and everything had to follow the same formula with each release. Assassin's Creed and Far Cry basically became the same games over and over again. When they did try to innovate, such as with AC Origins, it was just to make them more bloated. Lots of other publishers tried to copy the formula too and those styles of games that Ubisoft became so known for became bland very quickly with an oversaturated market for them, to the point where games such as Elden Ring and Breath of the Wild that push back against the Ubisoft style become loved.
Of course, I expect the work culture as described here was prevalent during their height as well, even if it has become worse since. There was always a sense that they churned these games out on a conveyor belt, with teams all of the place needing to meet strict deadlines. Assassin's Creed has been close to annual releases for some time and I've no doubt they must have been crunching for pretty much the whole development period to get them done.
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Ulythium
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Lily-livered
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Post by Ulythium on Feb 28, 2023 8:49:49 GMT
You might be onto something there.
As someone who's relatively new to gaming, I don't remember a time when Ubisoft were regarded as "heroes of the industry", but I'll defer to your expertise on that score; what I *do* recall is that when I got into gaming in 2015, the company's reputation was well and truly in the toilet. Stuff like the Watch Dogs downgrade, the disastrous launch of Assassin's Creed Unity, the formulaic nature of their open-world design, and suchlike had really taken their toll.
Over the next few years, the company slowly rebuilt its reputation with games like Watch Dogs 2, Assassin's Creed Origins, For Honor, and Steep...
... Only to tank it all again with Ghost Recon Breakpoint and everything else that's happened since, game-related and otherwise.
As for the whys and the wherefores behind their recent precipitous decline, I think Yves Guillemot has to shoulder a lot of the blame - he was either unaware of the toxic culture at the company (in which case, he was incompetent) or knew and didn't care as long as they were raking in the cash (in which case, he's a scumbag). Regardless, he should've jumped or been pushed ages ago.
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Post by simple on Feb 28, 2023 8:58:25 GMT
Apparently even Valiant Hearts is only 7 or 8 years old. What a game that was to come out of a triple A company
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Vortex
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is apparently a mangina.
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Post by Vortex on Feb 28, 2023 9:15:57 GMT
Definitely got a soft spot for Valiant hearts and i guess Child of Light would also have been from about then wouldn't it? They did some interesting stuff. Plus the best Far Cry (that's FC2, heathens).  |
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Feb 28, 2023 9:33:04 GMT
They became lazy when they could basically copy and paste a template across 3 different genres and still sell a shed load of games.
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Cappy
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This is my message.
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Post by Cappy on Feb 28, 2023 9:50:44 GMT
A key component is that generational transitions used to 'clear the decks' and create fallow land for new games to flourish and perhaps become series of their own. The majority of series used to end or take a hiatus at the close of a generation.
Nintendo nabbing mainline Resident Evil from Sony left space for Devil May Cry and Onimusha, each was three games in before Resident Evil got out of it's quagmire. So many franchises stretch across multiple generations now which is probably quite stifling to the growth of new IP and quite expensive with all the false starts and projects in development Hell. If nothing else Ubisoft should be applauded (or perhaps derided) for creating a well oiled machine that regularly cranks out Assassin's Creed games, that can't be easy. Look at what happened with Tomb Raider, how many times is the defibrillator going to get wheeled out to jump start Lara? My guess is that they'll play it safe and fully commit to the openworld Ubi-game template for the next reboot.
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cristar
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Post by cristar on Feb 28, 2023 9:59:37 GMT
Need Jade Raymond back.
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Post by simple on Feb 28, 2023 10:01:16 GMT
Definitely got a soft spot for Valiant hearts and i guess Child of Light would also have been from about then wouldn't it? They did some interesting stuff. Yeah those two and I think Rayman Legends all used the same engine around the same time. They were almost like in-house indies but I guess they didn’t make a billion dollars each so had to go. |
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Post by jimnastics on Feb 28, 2023 10:04:56 GMT
Man I loved the first game, genuine all time classic adventure / action game. A sequel should have been so fucking easy, fans just wanted a straight up continuation of the story, but Ubisoft had to Ubisoft.
edit: OK when I read Jade I immediately thought of Jade in BG&E, then it clicked who you meant  But my point still stands! |
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aubergine
Junior Member
I must get over myself
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Post by aubergine on Feb 28, 2023 10:06:31 GMT
Child of Light was a keeper for me.
Basically, Ubisoft went through this period of putting out new IPs at a balanced rate with successful series. Then maybe they were too successful with Far Cry 3 and Assassins Creed 2, and just seemed to fart out a new game in those IPs while Ancel lost his mind trying to make a sequel to (wonderfully gonzo but imperfect) Beyond Good and Evil, which has surely surpassed Duke Nuke Forever as the joke game forever in development.
I forget they put out Child of Light which was great, but they had a period between 2001 and 2010 when they seemed to be putting out gems and worthwhile experiments every year.
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Frog
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Post by Frog on Feb 28, 2023 10:07:39 GMT
simple they just released a new valiants hearts in the last few weeks. Valiant hearts: coming home.
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malek86
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Pomegranate Deseeder
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Post by malek86 on Feb 28, 2023 10:25:21 GMT
Definitely got a soft spot for Valiant hearts and i guess Child of Light would also have been from about then wouldn't it? They did some interesting stuff. Yeah those two and I think Rayman Legends all used the same engine around the same time. They were almost like in-house indies but I guess they didn’t make a billion dollars each so had to go. I think the official reason for abandoning that style was that the Ubiart Framework engine was extremely difficult to use. Of course, I guess also those games didn't sell much. Anyway, it's obvious to me that their Ubisoftitis is progressing to the point of terminal disease. Not sure if it's too late for them to start a cure, or if they are doomed to slowly die of it. |
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Post by Chopper on Feb 28, 2023 11:14:05 GMT
simple they just released a new valiants hearts in the last few weeks. Valiant hearts: coming home. Huh. Netflix/mobile exclusive
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Post by technoish on Feb 28, 2023 11:14:29 GMT
Ghost recon breakpoint, what an utter waste.
Wild lands was such a great base to start from and they fucked it up.
Anyway, I still play their Rainbow Six Siege as my main game, and they are doing a better job of running that now, turned a bit of a corner I would say. But it was a bit dire before.
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Post by Chopper on Feb 28, 2023 11:16:21 GMT
Child of Light was a keeper for me. Basically, Ubisoft went through this period of putting out new IPs at a balanced rate with successful series. Then maybe they were too successful with Far Cry 3 and Assassins Creed 2, and just seemed to fart out a new game in those IPs while Ancel lost his mind trying to make a sequel to (wonderfully gonzo but imperfect) Beyond Good and Evil, which has surely surpassed Duke Nuke Forever as the joke game forever in development. I forget they put out Child of Light which was great, but they had a period between 2001 and 2010 when they seemed to be putting out gems and worthwhile experiments every year.
Anyone remember I Am Alive? It was the game where you had a gun but very few bullets, so part of it was bluffing the bad guys that you were going to shoot them. It bombed, but I enjoyed it a lot.
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JonFE
Junior Member
Uncomfortably numb...
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Post by JonFE on Feb 28, 2023 11:37:44 GMT
Chopper I remember that, even finished it back in 2013, enjoyed it too
Edit: geez, was it 10 years ago?
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Post by drhickman1983 on Feb 28, 2023 11:47:12 GMT
I really liked I Am Alive as it is one of the few post apocalyptic games that kept things relatively grounded in reality - no zombies or mutants.
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Tuffty
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Post by Tuffty on Feb 28, 2023 12:04:14 GMT
Fenyx Immortal Rising is legitimately a good BOTW clone and isn't overly bloated with map size and content. Spent 30-40 hrs doing most of the game and finding collectibles and having a good time. Same with the Druid DLC in AC Valhalla. I would be happy if they just made smaller, more focused open worlds than ones overloaded with the usual bloat.
To me, I really feel like the turnaround started happening around AC Unity which had a disastrous launch. Think Ubisoft just leaned in too heavily into their biggest franchises to the point where even games of different genres start borrowing from others that it all feels quite too familiar. Breakpoint and Wildlands are essentially the same game to me. Any recent attempt to start a new IP is pretty cynical too, trying to get a piece of whatever genre is popular, usually some multiplayer battle royale. It's a shame, there's legitimately some good stuff in there, walking from one end of AC Syndicate's London to the other on foot really shows how detailed that open world is. But if you take that all into account and then add the abuse scandals, NFT's, they haven't painted themselves in a great light. Nevermind all these other upcoming projects like BGAE2, Skull and Bones, their untitled Star Wars game, that are just seemingly never gonna come out, it just reeks of bad management.
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Post by simple on Feb 28, 2023 12:06:54 GMT
simple they just released a new valiants hearts in the last few weeks. Valiant hearts: coming home. Huh. Netflix/mobile exclusive
I didn’t know this! Netflix games never come across my radar at all but if its as good as the original I hope a lot of people are playing it. |
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Post by Nemesis on Feb 28, 2023 12:23:26 GMT
Far Cry Primal just using the map from FC4 was a bold no fucks given move.
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Post by Jambowayoh on Feb 28, 2023 12:26:10 GMT
I'm defence of AC Unity it was the last time Ubi tried to push something and make it "next gen". They obviously got burned by the admittedly deserved reaction of how broken it was but it's interesting to see that they've never pushed out the boat since then.
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Post by Vandelay on Feb 28, 2023 12:26:48 GMT
Far Cry Primal just using the map from FC4 was a bold no fucks given move. Might be misremembering, but didn't they do the same with Far Cry: Blood Dragon? |
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Blue_Mike
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Post by Blue_Mike on Feb 28, 2023 12:46:11 GMT
More than a decade of a culture of ignoring or encouraging a workplace of toxicity, discrimination, racism, sexual harassment, sexual assault, burnout inducing crunch, and at least one voice actor turning out to be a wrong 'un leveraging his assocation with Assassins' Creed to further his wrong 'un activities all coming out in the press over the course of a few months seems to have terrified their investors into telling them to focus on putting out what is a proven seller rather than taking risks, rather than focusing on changing said culture.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Feb 28, 2023 12:46:35 GMT
And the Far Cry that had the damage numbers pop up used 4's map I think.
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Post by brainbird on Feb 28, 2023 12:51:42 GMT
Has anyone played Rider's Republic? That was something recent and new and I think it was received well.
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Gruf
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Even more taciturn than my name suggests
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Post by Gruf on Feb 28, 2023 13:03:39 GMT
Whenever it was they caught an illness that caused them to sick up icons all over their in game maps or climb towers/take over camps in everything, that was the slippery slope.
Agree with Fenyx though, decent, but suffers from the aforementioned icons.
Not played much Ass Creed after Black Flag which I loved
They turned Rainbow 6 into something I loved to something I avoid,. I played quite a bit of the last Ghost Recon game, terrific in co-op, but that series has died a death thanks to the UBI template being slathered all over it.
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Post by dangerousdave on Feb 28, 2023 13:05:24 GMT
The Mario Rabbids games are both excellent. The second lacks the polish of the first, but they are both top-tier Ubisoft, for sure.
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Post by dfunked on Feb 28, 2023 13:18:08 GMT
Has anyone played Rider's Republic? That was something recent and new and I think it was received well. You've just reminded me that I own that. Played the shit out of the beta and really enjoyed it, but then got it as a present and just couldn't be bothered going through the same content again. |
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malek86
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Pomegranate Deseeder
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Post by malek86 on Feb 28, 2023 13:28:25 GMT
I'm defence of AC Unity it was the last time Ubi tried to push something and make it "next gen". They obviously got burned by the admittedly deserved reaction of how broken it was but it's interesting to see that they've never pushed out the boat since then. Admittedly I would love to see something as ambitious as AC Unity today. An open world game bursting with NPCs could be amazing, especially if they all had their own routines, a sort of Shenmue to the umpteenth degree. |
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But my point still stands!
