M2Dave
Zoning Master
Sonic Fox opened a can of worms a couple of days ago when they tweeted that Guilty Gear Strive feels "limited", alluding to initial concerns that the game had been simplified in contrast to previous Guilty Gear games that were more demanding to play. I cannot opine on the nuances because I never played Guilty Gear to make any educated comparisons, but the reality is that developers have been gradually simplifying fighting games since the 1990s in order to attract a wider audience and expand sales. To play devil's advocate, it is possible to remove depth from certain gameplay elements and implement depth to certain others. For example, developers simplified throw escapes and okizeme options in Tekken 7, yet they introduced new layers of depth with rage arts, rage drives, armor moves, wall bounces, etc.
The question is, or questions rather, which audience do developers appease? The casual gamers who are responsible for the vast majority of the sales? Or the competitive players who are the most vocal on social media? Or perhaps both? But is appeasing both even feasible? How does this conversation correlate to Mortal Kombat 11 and the new project? Or is this conversation senseless in the first place because the market makes these decisions for developers?
Tom and I will discuss these topics and more on a podcast. Please let us know what you think. We want to consider as many diverse opinions as possible.
The question is, or questions rather, which audience do developers appease? The casual gamers who are responsible for the vast majority of the sales? Or the competitive players who are the most vocal on social media? Or perhaps both? But is appeasing both even feasible? How does this conversation correlate to Mortal Kombat 11 and the new project? Or is this conversation senseless in the first place because the market makes these decisions for developers?
Tom and I will discuss these topics and more on a podcast. Please let us know what you think. We want to consider as many diverse opinions as possible.