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Naughty Dog is the most critically acclaimed studio of all-time, dominating a decade, releasing 3 straight concensus GOTY, w/ 4 out of their last 5!

Greatness Awaits?


  • Total voters
    422

Vick

Gold Member
You aren't really understanding me. I'm talking bigger picture. The action can be very well made but the overall game design is still moving through a linear environment, killing everything that moves and then triggering the next cutscene; and rinse and repeat. I'm referring to games that give the player a lot more choice in the what, how and where of their actions.
You may have heard of 'immersive sims', games like Deus Ex, Thief, System Shock, Dishonoured, Prey, etc. These were some examples of the kind of thing I'm talking about. Even games like MGS5 and BotW show some interesting systemic design. But this kind of design is not explored and experimented with enough in games, because developers have to focus on making things that sell, so they prioritise graphics and spectacular action. If you look at a game like MGS2 back in the day, it was pushing systems as much as visuals. They were doing all kinds of interesting things with their A.I and interactivity, stuff that was revolutionary then but we haven't moved much beyond it honestly. Nowadays AAA games just focus on making everything beautiful, more streamlined with lots of repetitive content; instead of asking the player to think about their environment, experiment with the ways they can interact with it and make difficult choices that have repercussions. And if a game does try things like that it's usually a very limited gimmick rather than a fundamental part of the design.
Okay, just to be clear.. have you really played TLoU2 or just saw some videos of it?
The game is a survival, and with a huge focus on AI (at least on Survivor). Every choise you make, during exploration or fights, will have severe consequences in later encounters, it's not at all how you described it.
This isn't a linear shooter, it's no Gears of War or Max Payne 3 or Uncharted: Drake's Fortune, there's a completely different structure behind the game. Think MGS-lite/Resident Evil-expanded hybrid.

You can't play every encounter like this on higher difficulties:




Outside for the unforgiving AI, the wasted resources would force you going stealth or avoiding the conflict altogether.
 
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kyussman

Member
Yea,they are the best at the type of games they make and also technically the best given the hardware they have to work with.
There is no other studio who's prospect of a new IP excites me more.....I hope they do something new next!
 

turtlepowa

Banned
They deliver technically perfect games and put tons of effort in their stories and characters. I respect that. Unfortunately i'm a gameplay fan and gameplay is ND's achilles heel. It's mediocre at best and in an ACTION-adventiure i want some damn action. Uncharted 4 was like 75% walking, talking, climbing and driving. More a holiday simulator than an action game.
 

Aceofspades

Banned
They are a top tier studio with very knowledgeable and experienced coders. Their only problem now is being led by an SJW douche.
 

GreyHorace

Member
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Vick

Gold Member
gameplay is ND's achilles heel. It's mediocre at best
Yeah GTFO with this nonsense.. as was already said you can find a Multiplayer match in TLoU or U4 in seconds, after 7 years for one and 4 years for the other. It's because of their gameplay.
ND are no Rockstar.

Uncharted 4 was like 75% walking, talking, climbing and driving. More a holiday simulator than an action game.
Fucking true. Sadly.
And i blame all the motherfuckers screaming "Ludonarrative dissonance" and "Drake is a mass murderer".. people who never touched the games of course or just plain weirdos.
 

Vaga

Member
It was a great studio before this self absorbed sjw cuckman. After Hennig, Straley and the rest bailed out after figuring out how much of a fuckwit he is, he took over and look how well he managed to run a franchise into the fucking ground.

Can't wait to experience more woke shit from this asshat.
 

Krisprolls

Banned
They're clearly the number one dev nowadays, nobody comes close to their technical level.

Now they should make a completely different kind of game to silence the haters.
 

ZywyPL

Banned
Tech wizards for sure, one of the industry's top studion in that regards, but are their games really that good? I think it's safe to say TLoU and UC2 are their absolute best creations, one of the best and universally acclaimed titles of the past decade, but other than that? In the past 13 years they have also released TLoU2, UC4, UC3, UC1, all with rather mixed/questionable reception, I haven't seen anyone caling them "Naughty Gods" anymore in past couple of years. For me personally, there's way more into games than just pretty graphics, and ND isn't that great in other aspects as they are in their technical department.
 
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klosos

Member
They make well made enjoyable 3rd person cover shooters with stealth elements and that's cool. However my critiscism is they have no replay value. To me all there games are 8 outta 10.

Are they the be all and end all of game devs for me no, but that's just my opinion. Also I haven't played tlou 2 yet that could change my mind.
 

TGO

Hype Train conductor. Works harder than it steams.
I don't know, lately they like The CW of games developers
 

Outrunner

Member
A studio so progressive they forced a woman out of her job.

A studio so wonderful to work for that 70% of its staff quit during development of TLOU2.

A studio co-president so mature that he makes passive aggressive tweets on Twitter that rile up the fandom against him.

Make no mistake, TLOU2 was the tipping point for ND. They are in decline and the sales of their next game will show it.

They pissed off their fans, and they will not return.

There is always one of these people around
 

Krisprolls

Banned
Tech wizards for sure, one of the industry's top studion in that regards, but are their games really that good? I think it's safe to say TLoU and UC2 are their absolute best creations, one of the best and universally acclaimed titles of the past decade, but other than that? In the past 13 years they have also released TLoU2, UC4, UC3, UC1, all with rather mixed/questionable reception, I haven't seen anyone caling them "Naughty Gods" anymore in past couple of years. For me personally, there's way more into games than just pretty graphics, and ND isn't that great in other aspects as they are in their technical department.

Those games didn't have mixed reception at all, they all got 90 or 92+ metacritic.

Their gameplay is stellar too...
 

brenobnfm

Member
Curious on your thoughts as to why? The change of pace enemies were bad but the shooting felt vastly superior to the original and I think it has the best balance of set piece bombast in the series. U3 by comparison just felt exhausting.

Garbage cover shooter gameplay with bullet sponge enemies and a terrible final boss.
 

Azurro

Banned
We knew this already, TLOU2 was going to win GOTY despite all the divisiveness, the sales slump and the backlash. Why? There is money behind it and it stars lesbians, trans people and it's so progressive that you are a bigot if you don't like it. Naughty Dog is basically dead to me, it's more interested in preaching their values than in creating a good narrative.
 
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ripeavocado

Banned
Naughty Dog is the most overrated studio of all time.

The Uncharted games are mediocre shooters, the Last of Us series is the gaming equivalent of Oscar-bait movies.

None of their games is bad and their games are extremely well polished in their visual presentation and set pieces but that’s it.
Their animation department is top notch, they make those animators crunch for months but they also deliver a lot of animations.

Definitely the top cinematic experiences in gaming, the only other studio get got close to this is Sony Santa Monica with GOW, unsurprisingly a studio few km away set in the same city famous for Hollywood.

the Gameplay is nice at best and the narrative is childish if not completely broken like in TLOU2.

But we live in a era where superhero movies win oscars so I’m not surprised some people find their stories the best thing ever.
 
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LarknThe4th

Member
They are very good at making a particular type of game

Anyway the hot streak is still Nintendo EAD in the mid to late 80s they had far stiffer competition to boot(80s konami, Capcom and fucking SEGA!)

Hell I'd argue Fromsoft(Demons, Dark and Bloodborne) CDPR(Witcher 3, Cyberpunk) or EAD tokyo(Galaxy, Galaxy 2, 3D World and Odyssey) are far more capable

Hats off to them though, Naughty Dog are nothing to shrug at and they are the first thing that come to mind when ya think "cinematic shooter" in the same way ya think "platformer" when ya say Nintendo
 

Whitecrow

Banned
A studio so progressive they forced a woman out of her job.

A studio so wonderful to work for that 70% of its staff quit during development of TLOU2.

A studio co-president so mature that he makes passive aggressive tweets on Twitter that rile up the fandom against him.

Make no mistake, TLOU2 was the tipping point for ND. They are in decline and the sales of their next game will show it.

They pissed off their fans, and they will not return.
Right now ND is cancer compared to Jak and Uncharted 2 times.
 

Kev Kev

Member
I liked Uncharted 1 but didn’t think it was the best game ever. Couldn’t finish Uncharted 2, didn’t play any other Uncharted games. Never finished TLoU, thought it was great story wise but gameplay was lacking. Never played TLoU 2 and probably never will considering every one hates the story and that’s the only part I liked about the first one.

So no, I disagree with you and considering the woke propaganda and virtue signaling circle jerk show that happened the other night, I think ND are a bunch of blow hards along with half the industry right now. Hopefully we can get away from posturing and woke warrior bull shit and just get back to making good games (that aren’t buggy on release!).
 

Caio

Member
First of all congratulations to Naughty Dog.

I'm now wondering what they will annouce first : could be Uncharted 5 or a new IP ? I litteraly can't wait.
 

Hostile_18

Banned
The best games studio ever IMO.

Uncharted 1-4, Lost Legacy and the Last of Us Part 1&2 all masterpieces that I play repeatedly.

Got the Plat for every single game, bar the most recent (which I'll certainly get in time).
 

GrayChild

Gold Member
Apart from their objectively amazing tech, they can't hold a candle to FROM Software, CDPR, Arkane, Platinum and even modern day Capcom when it comes to the actual game design. Games like SOMA, Pathologic 2 and Hellblade absolutely destroy TLOU2's shitty characters, writing and worldbuilding.

If anything, this year's TGA showed there's some huge bias towards them from the game journo clique.
 
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sublimit

Banned
I'll be honest. Their only franchise that i like from them is Uncharted. But of course i recognize their talent at what they do.

I'm hoping they make a new IP this gen.
 

GonSama

Member
The time of the year has come, now that it's official, to recognize the incredible achievements of the Sony owned, Santa Monica based powerhouse that is Naughty Dog. The Last of Us: Part II is sweeping Game of the Year awards, as well as other awards, from various outlets. With another great achievement added to the list Naughty Dog has finally achieved the three-peat that eluded them with Uncharted 3. Naughty Dog has released 3 Games of the Year in succession starting with TLOU, followed by Uncharted 4 and now TLOU: Part II. This achievement is unheard off since the advent of Game Awards. To date no studio in history has been as consistent in releasing quality games and standing above all the rest while capturing the hearts of critics and gamers alike (despite the fierce competition from great studios, creative minds and franchises).

You could say their prestigious story started by creating one of the most beloved franchises for PlayStation fans and gamers around the world with Crash Bandicoot on the PlayStation 1. During PS1's heyday, Crash was the premier Sony mascot. It was then a great studio, an important studio, but one among many. The meteoric rise that catapulted them beyond just being one of many to being at the top of the gaming pantheon took quite a lot more years to materialize.

To me the meteoric rise started with the well known character named Nathan Drake, the work and imagination of the incredible Amy Hennig (along with Josh Scherr and Neil Druckman). Their vision was realized in game form by a hungry group of talented developers who wanted to prove that their best days were not behind them but in front of them. While the first Uncharted (a result of laborious development work on the hard to code for PS3) was a good game; it wasn't the smash success of say preceding franchise 1st entries like Crash or Jak. This reality drove that team to excellence. The drive to succeed and the hunger to excel made Uncharted 2 not only a great sequel to a good game but a gaming masterpiece that would define not just the PlayStation platform but the gaming landscape as well. In 2009 Uncharted 2: Among Thieves became the consensus Game of the Year and swept awards. The work from this game would lay the groundwork for the type of games, direction and studio identity that came to define Naughty Dog in successive years. With Uncharted 2 Naughty Dog not only raised the bar for itself as a studio but for the industry as a whole. When it came to making blockbuster, action-packed, narrative driven, character driven video games Naughty Dog was the "it" to follow. Since then a lot of studios, as is customary in the industry, borrowed ideas from the Uncharted games to improve aspects within their games to realize their vision. This has generally resulted in improved character driven, narrative driven experiences across the board.

Uncharted 3 followed Uncharted 2 by becoming a smashing success but while great, it wasn't as unanimous in receiving praise as its predecessor. Uncharted 3 simply did not hit all the right notes in as balanced a manner as Uncharted 2 did for great number of critics and gamers. So after Uncharted 3 you could say Naughty Dog cemented itself as an elite studio in the industry (no longer just great). Like others within that elite club however; ND was somewhat unable to repeat the magic twice in a row to the same effect. That is when, from left field, in 2013, comes The Last of US. Expectations for excellence from Naughty Dog after Uncharted 2/3 were a given at the time. But no-one expected that a new IP, relatively secretive, releasing in the middle of the year, with mild marketing would suddenly once again become a generation defining game. The Last of US, the creation of Neil Druckman and Bruce Straley once again found magic. It found that perfect tone pitch to become not just Game of the Year, but as some consider it, Game of the Generation.... gaming's "Citizen's Kane" moment. Certainly, and without a doubt, a generation defining game realized in a brutal new world starring Joel and Ellie.

This incredible level of success and this magic would carry over to their last 2 main entries as well. Uncharted 4 and The Last of US: Part II becoming Games of the Year in the now concluding PS4 era. If there is something to take away from the excellent work in Uncharted 4 is how well Naughty Dog managed to give Nathan Drake a great send-off, and conclude the 4 game saga, aptly titled, a Thief's End, on their terms. TLOU: Part II would also capture the same magic despite being more controversial. Here Neil Druckman uses the game to push the narrative and story of beloved characters to places that folks may find themselves uncomfortable in experiencing or finding joy in. The game needless to say oozed in quality, and was incredibly well made, closing another chapter in the world of The Last of US.

As a fan of their games I've been part of the journey all throughout on this life spanning saga of adventures. I've been happily a part of the community of those games, playing them, enjoying them. I've lived through the hype of following news, gossip, leaks (for good or bad), through the launches etc. All I can say is that I've been a happy partner in all of it - and that I still get as anxious and excited for their games as I did in decades past. I can't wait to see what they do next and wish them all the success in the world - to the devs and creatives minds that have come and gone, to the old and the new, to the few that get no mentions except on credits to those that make the news all the time. It's a team effort over there, and it shows every single time (not just cliche). There is always a special mention tho.... To the man behind the scenes, Evan Wells. This is the guy that has managed that studio through thick and thin to success all these years as studio head. Maybe he'll release a book someday on his life's work managing Naughty Dog for so long. I'll be there to purchase it and read it. Thanks to all the Dogs. To more years of greatness.

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Most GOTY awards in 2009, 2013, 2016:
  • Uncharted 2: Among Thieves - 111 (Media Outlets: 73 | Readers' Choice: 38)
  • The Last of Us - 249 (Media Outlets: 191 | Readers' Choice: 58)
  • Uncharted 4: A Thief's End - 165 (Media Outlets: 89 | Readers' Choice: 76)
2020 seems like another great year for them. TLOU2 already has 22 Goty Awards.

Amazing studio. They deserve all this success.
 
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GymWolf

Member
I'm okay with jak1, unchy2, and tlou saga getting praises, but unchy 4 was a boring shitty paced piece of crap with the usual top tier graphics\animations from them, and the other jaks\unchys were unremarkable.
 
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GonSama

Member
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