The People Speak: RIP Final Fantasy Tactics

This week we reviewed Fortnite and Namco Museum (Switch). You may have also seen our interview with SteelSeries about its two upcoming products, a write-up about the death of a Final Fantasy Tactics spiritual successor, and our celebration of JamalR’s impressive Grand Theft Auto V graphics mod called NaturalVision Remastered.

During the next few days we’ll be covering the launch of Path of Exile: Path of Oriath, Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice, and LawBreakers with reviews, analysis, and guides. In addition, myself and James Kozanitis will be on-site at Dota 2‘s The International in Seattle , which will have a record $23+ million prize pool.

Below were 10 of the most popular comments for the week:

1. Oblivion437

Article: Final Fantasy Tactics Spiritual Successor ‘Unsung Story’ Has Died a Tragic Kickstarter Death

Comment: The thing is to look through the timeline and compare it to other failures and find out what they have in common that they don’t have in common with success stories. For our purposes even games that were crap but shipped are still successes. I imagine a pretty trustworthy common element would come out. If only I weren’t so ironically detached right now…

But seriously the lack of communication with their patrons was a huge red flag.

“Shortly thereafter, Playdek announced a multiplayer component, in addition to the game moving to an episodic format that would introduce a staggered release.”

Slipping schedule repeatedly, lack of communication, changes in the scope and direction of the project without consultation of the backers of the original pitch, little to no tangible signs of substantial progress as the schedule slips. Those are things to watch for.

2. UghRochester

Forum Thread: Describe How You Got Into Gaming In 10 Words or Less

Comment: I was three and beat Super Mario Bros. Ask mom.

3. Anirban Dev

Article: August 2017 eSports Calendar: Dota 2 Puts On the Biggest eSports Event Ever

Comment: I have started looking forward to these 10 days of Dota way more than any conventional festival. Cant wait for Wednesday.

4. Wigglewithit

Article: August 2017 Game Release Calendar: Buy, Try, Die Read

Comment: maybe uncharted. maybe resident evil

5. Master_Craig

Forum Thread: What Are You Playing? – The Official Thread

Comment: I loved The Witcher III: Wild Hunt and all of its DLCs. Definitely my favourite game of 2015.

As for Geralt being a bit of a Mary Sue… yeah, kinda. In my opinion, a Paragon Commander Shepard is gaming’s biggest Mary Sue, but anyway.

I guess that’s kinda the point of Geralt, even in the novels. He begins as a standard monster hunter for hire, but over time he starts accepting jobs which lead him on crazy adventures and make him gain one hell of a reputation. His fellow witcher, Lambert for example, hates the fact that Geralt goes on these said crazy adventures, has met and knows “elite” people, sleeps with women etc. To be fair though, Lambert hates the fact that he was forced to become a witcher, and he’s just a bucket of issues anyway.

Still… that paragraph I just typed. Yeah, okay, Geralt’s a Mary Sue. Or Gary Stu, in this case.

6. Jedi On Acid

Article: These 80+ Games Will Support Xbox One X Enhanced Features at Launch

Comment: Oh yeah! Can’t wait to play Farming Simulator and Minecraft in glorious 4K!

7. Starling

Article: Conan Exiles Is Headed to Snowy Mountains in Its First Expansion, Titled ‘The Frozen North’

Comment: Nice! This game really has potential, I just wish theyd overhaul the combat system to be more techical and fun.

8. MattAY

Forum Thread: Vote For Your Favorite Game of 2017 So Far

Comment: After finishing Prey, I have to say that’s absolutely my favourite game so far.

9. sean

Article: Friday the 13th: The Game Physical Edition Launches … Well … on Friday the 13th

Comment: I really want to give this game a go, but the price is way to high for what looks like a fairly “short” game. Not to mention the overwhelming bug issues that still plague the game to this day. The latter being the major hold up for me. I suppose I’ll wait another year for it and get it at a deeply discounted rate. However, will there be anyone left playing the game when I do get it?