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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

MastaKiiLA

Member
ND makes bangers. They are a certified hit maker. Some people won't enjoy their games, and that's fine. There is no game that appeals to everyone. However, those of us that love their games look forward to what they will make next. I wouldn't mind seeing them take a step outside of the Uncharted and TLOU universes, to try something new.
 

assurdum

Banned
They were my favorite studio until lost legacy (shit was boring) and last of us 2. After what they did to Joel and this whole Abby shit, they fell into the meh side.
I'm not totally against to what they did to Joel. But after the first half, it ends to be excessively depressing and exasperating, with situations dangerously close to the parody. I think they have completely screw the story, trying to push too hard some dramatic aspects and they barely cared to leave any sort of satisfaction, after finished it, to the player. I know people would say it's in purpose in the game, but it doesn't feel a good story at all to me for different reasons, the main it's to be too much filled of pompous rethoric without a plausible logic behind some events if not just to push the drama to the excess.
 
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Thirty7ven

Banned
Ironically you don't see non-SJW studios get "critically acclaimed" awards.

This is called collective wank

Maybe if you didn’t act like such an insecure baby you wouldn’t need to resort to butt hurt shit like “non-sjw” studios. Grow the fuck up.




Wait let me find my care about what the dumbest half of the red letter cast thinks about a videogame! Shit I can’t find it anywhere.
 
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I seem to recall Uncharted being heralded for its graphics, which when it was released pushed the PS3 far beyond what anyone had seen to that point on either PS3 or 360.

Sure. It looked pretty. But it also had terrible screen tearing. At least that’s what I vividly remember. Especially in the jet ski section. Funny how something like that will get stuck in your memory sometimes.
 

Heisenberg007

Gold Journalism
So many angry little men here.

Naughty Dog is a top-tier studio regardless of what anyone feels about them or their games. People just need to accept this objective fact now.

After the recent CDPR debacle and the shitshow that CP2077 turned out to be, it is now crystal clear that Rockstar and Naughty Dog are the top most prestigious gaming studios in the world right now.
 

Zok310

Banned
High quality games that are hit or miss based on game.
Loved uncharted, but hated Jak, never cared for Tlou since part 1. Tlou just feels like uncharted with zombies in my mind.
Hope they put their skill into another ip that is different from what they have been making the past 11 years.
 
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Enjay

Banned

ExpandKong

Banned
I mean I guess it makes sense that a game whose director’s stated purpose was to make everyone who played it miserable would win game of the year in 2020.
 

assurdum

Banned
So many angry little men here.

Naughty Dog is a top-tier studio regardless of what anyone feels about them or their games. People just need to accept this objective fact now.

After the recent CDPR debacle and the shitshow that CP2077 turned out to be, it is now crystal clear that Rockstar and Naughty Dog are the top most prestigious gaming studios in the world right now.
I don't understand why everytime we need to exaperate the tone of the conversation. People can criticise ND how much they want, it's just matter of tastes, until avoid to insult without logic. No need to call out everyone who have a different opinion because they are "prestigious".
 
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Thirty7ven

Banned
Yes gran turismo is trying to simulate driving therefore it's not a game. And you say my argument is non sense.

Your argument is that any game not focused on being a game and on being anything more than just a game (Tetris) is therefore a lesser game. So how can GT be a reference for you when it’s trying to be a driving simulator?

Yes your argument is stupid.
 
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Without a doubt. I was mixed on Naughty Dog up through the Jak & Daxter games, but they really found their calling with Uncharted and they've been one of the premier studios in the world ever since.

In particular, I've been the most impressed with their focus on blending realism with strong game design, and finding that delicate balance of making games that are compelling and enjoyable to play while also feeling believable and not too game-y. This was something that really stood out to me starting with The Last of Us, and it's something they've continued to build on with Uncharted 4 and The Last of Us Part II, and they're three of my favorite games of the last 10 years as a result. They seem to be known more for their presentation, visuals and storytelling - and I think at one time, maybe in the early days of Uncharted you could argue their games were more "style over substance" - but I think their game design especially over their last 3 or 4 games is as good as anyone's in the world.

If you back to 2009 (Uncharted 2 and Demon's Souls), I don't think any two developers have had more sterling track records than Naughty Dog and FromSoftware over that stretch of time. The worst I can say is that Uncharted 3 and Dark Souls 2 were "really good but just not as good" as the rest of those developers' output. They are in elite company, for sure.
 
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Heisenberg007

Gold Journalism
I don't understand why everytime we need to exaperate the tone of the conversation. People can criticise ND how much they want, it's just matter of tastes, until avoid to insult without logic. No need to call out everyone who have a different opinion because they are "prestigious".

There are lots of irrational comments in this thread, e.g., "Naughty Dog is the cancer of gaming, infecting the minds of children with their social media agendas, while shitting on the legacy of the true gaming Gods from Japan."

Comments like these can only come from people with irrational hate ala angry little men.

As for your comment, I agree people are free to like/dislike their games and choose whether or not they want to play them. But there are some objective facts that really cannot be denied. This is one of them.

For example, I don't particularly enjoy Tarantino's movies as much as I enjoy Nolan's. But it's just my taste; I still agree that Tarantino is an excellent director. Similarly, I may not enjoy games by Larian Studios or Obsidian Entertainment or FromSoftware as much as others do. But I still recognize and accept how objectively great those studios are.

I'll never say that FromSoftware is a bad studio (because I don't enjoy their games as much). That's just my preference, but that doesn't diminish FS's quality as game developers.

Naughty Dog has a proven track record that is objectively great -- better than almost all studios out there, and at par with Rockstar.
 

RedVIper

Banned
Your argument is that any game not focused on being a game and on being anything more than just a game (Tetris) is therefore a lesser game.

No, my argument is that any game who's main focus is not being game is a lesser game.

You can try to push and be more than just a game, but the main focus should still be and making the game part of the game good.

So how can GT be a reference for you when it’s trying to be a driving simulator?

Because being a simulator doesn't exclude it from being a game? Most of my time playing gran turismo is spent actually playing the game.

Yes your argument is stupid.

No, you just don't like that I don't like interactive movies.
 
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RedVIper

Banned
Then you have no argument in this thread. TLOU2’s main focus is being a game.

Lol, no it's not.

The main focus of TLOU2 is being a story, you spent most of your time in either cutscenes or things that should be cutscenes (Press foward to walk as someone dumps exposition on you).
 
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Mabdia

Member
Yet, I just can care about 5 of their games over 30 years of development history. Uncharted 1, 2, 3, LL and TLoU 1.

About their other games, for free is too expensive to me.

But congratulations for them , I guess.
 
There are lots of irrational comments in this thread, e.g., "Naughty Dog is the cancer of gaming, infecting the minds of children with their social media agendas, while shitting on the legacy of the true gaming Gods from Japan."

Comments like these can only come from people with irrational hate ala angry little men.

As for your comment, I agree people are free to like/dislike their games and choose whether or not they want to play them. But there are some objective facts that really cannot be denied. This is one of them.

For example, I don't particularly enjoy Tarantino's movies as much as I enjoy Nolan's. But it's just my taste; I still agree that Tarantino is an excellent director. Similarly, I may not enjoy games by Larian Studios or Obsidian Entertainment or FromSoftware as much as others do. But I still recognize and accept how objectively great those studios are.

I'll never say that FromSoftware is a bad studio (because I don't enjoy their games as much). That's just my preference, but that doesn't diminish FS's quality as game developers.

Naughty Dog has a proven track record that is objectively great -- better than almost all studios out there, and at par with Rockstar.



This is the piece of shit your worshiping, a fucking manbaby crying/spitting/trashing on a legacy, whether it be Metal Gear, Dead or Alive, Nintendo games from 90's all the way through the PS2 era. This man doesn't give a fuck about gaming history, legacy, art or Japan traditions, all he cares about is his own little sick feminist ideology, pushing his narrative and projecting his views on others, and if you don't think like this manbaby then you're a sexist in his mind, a mind that seriously needs therapy btw, same goes for all his followers. Yet I'm the irrational one for thinking like a man, and speaking up like one. "I don't like what I see", go cry me a fucking river Neil Cuckmann.
 
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The_Mike

I cry about SonyGaf from my chair in Redmond, WA
Chicks with dicks are OK with games like cyberpunk where it kinda fits with the future thing.

Chicks with dicks that gets ass pounded only to show a political message is not OK.
Also, making Abbys dad white in the sequel while has was black in the first further proves there's some agenda going on.
 
Im in this weird spot where i love Uncharted (at least 1 & 2). But i think Last of Us is mediocre.

Im still playing thru Uncharted 3 and i like it. And Uncharted multiplayer in 2 & 3 was amazing.

Last of Us i just can't tolerate the SyFy channel plot, and the PS2 Manhunt gameplay.

Naughty Dog before Last of Us was great
 
I wonder if you know any of the people who decided the award winners? If any of you do without looking them up to see if their opinion is worth listening to. I doubt it.
 

Trimesh

Banned
I seem to recall Uncharted being heralded for its graphics, which when it was released pushed the PS3 far beyond what anyone had seen to that point on either PS3 or 360.

I think that was TLoU - that honestly did look astonishing by the standards of the time. It was also the game that finally killed my launch model CECHA PS3 and sent it to the great YLOD in the sky.

I'm much less impressed with ND recently - Uncharted 4 honestly bored me to the point where I just stopped playing and although I did finish TLoU2 by the end of it I was at the point where my feelings were basically "I've spent enough time going though this shitty story that I guess I might as well see how it ends" - only to have it end with a boring anticlimax. I didn't exactly hate it, but did feel deeply sorry for the programmers and artists (who did a great job) because someone decided they would rather make a didactic experience than a game.
 

Fbh

Member
I lost a lot of my love for ND this gen. To me they've gone from a "I can blindly buy day 1 knowing I will love it" studio to a "wait for sale" one.
No new IP and 2 disappointing sequels with terrible pacing that seem to miss the point of what made the ND "cinematic" style work.

But they sell well and critics love them so I guess they'll double down on this new style this gen.

Thankfully Sony got Insomniac so the number of first party devs they have and that I like stayed the same.
 
They are definitely ONE of the best. My favorites in no particular order are FromSoftware, Insomniac, Nintendo, Naughty Dog, Sony Santa Monica, Square Enix and Sucker Punch.
 

MiguelItUp

Member
I most certainly respect them and the love and effort they put into their work is definitely recognized. I just personally never clicked with any of their games. The TLOU series is the only thing I've given a shot, though I loved TLOU a lot more than TLOU2, sans a few things. But all their other games, never had an urge to give a shot, and I'm not really sure why. Played some of the Uncharted series here and there, and it just didn't grip me. Never bothered with the Jak series for the same reason.

They should just make a new Way of the Warrior, complete with the White Zombie soundtrack.
 

JonkyDonk

Member
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.

Yes I've played the game, and yes it is simple. All of these things you keep saying are inconsequential wrinkles on an otherwise straightforward stealth action game where you just have to get past enemies in mostly linear levels, and whether you stab them or shoot them or blow them up it doesn't matter as the end result is always the same. The most complexity the game has is that you can sometimes avoid enemies and not engage them at all. And a couple of sequences you can let the zombies fight the humans, but those are limited gimmick parts. The exploration too is very basic, you are moving around mostly small controlled areas finding upgrades that make you better at the combat or reading notes or doing basic puzzles. There are no real significant choices to make or consequences to anything you do.

It's not like the game gives you the option to interact with the enemies in more complex ways. You can't scare them off, you can't snipe from far away so they can't even see or find you, you can't capture or interrogate them, you can't talk your way past anything or bribe or barter, you can't make a deal with a rival faction to help you, you can't get destroy enemy supplies or communications to make them weaker, you can't scout ahead and set up ambushes for incoming enemies ahead of time, you can't use environmental physics as death traps, etc etc.

They have a rope mechanic that they use in a couple of instances but it's still very limited and gimmicky. You can't take the rope with you and experiment with it in different situations throughout the game. There is a pseudo open-world part but again it's just a bit of flavour and doesn't have any real interesting choices or tension to where you go and what you do. There is one part in the game where you get ambushed when at an upgrade table, which is kind of a cool thing, but again it's a one-off scripted thing that never happens again. Imagine a game where that kind of thing can happen dynamically at any time and you have to always worry about enemies stalking you and ambushing you when you don't expect it. That would be my idea of a 10 out of 10 GOTY calibre experience, but unfortunately that kind of thing is very rare or non-existent in big budget games because people just buy things for photorealistic graphics and cinematic style.
 

GametimeUK

Member
They are extremely talented and capable of great things. I loved Crash, Ratchet, Uncharted and TLOU. Uncharted 4 is where it fell apart for me and TLOU2 in my opinion is a good game which doesn't stack up to the library of excellence on ND's resume. Compared to ND's library TLOU2 looks "bad". I'd say Uncharted 2 is my favourite, but the studio peaked at TLOU.

I think if the studio can still produce a game I love and I still believe they are the best in the business, but I don't think their ability is reflected in the results of the last 2 games. They are capable of more.
 

AmuroChan

Member
I enjoyed the Uncharted games. They were fun, campy, and have a likeable cast of characters. I'm not the biggest TLOU fan. For me, they just weren't very fun to play. I hope ND returns to something a little more light-hearted in their next game.
 

Handel

Member
I find them to be pretty boring overall as a game studio since the PS3 era, enjoyed their output on PS1/PS2 more. Don't think any of their games deserved GOTY other than maybe TLOU1 due to weak competition that year, though I'd still put GTAV ahead of it.

Official GOTY tracking...really just that one blog, wasn't around in the 80s/90s, otherwise Nintendo, Capcom, Square and others from those decades trounce ND in critical acclaim.
 

Men_in_Boxes

Snake Oil Salesman
The Last of Us II has more unplayable cutscene than Season 2 of The Mandolorian.

But do keep talking up this "special" (needs) developer.
 

Entroyp

Member
Naughty God. It’s truly one of the most amazing developers out there. I’m not a big fan of TLoU part II but no one can deny it’s top tier.
 

Vick

Gold Member
Yes I've played the game, and yes it is simple. All of these things you keep saying are inconsequential wrinkles on an otherwise straightforward stealth action game where you just have to get past enemies in mostly linear levels, and whether you stab them or shoot them or blow them up it doesn't matter as the end result is always the same. The most complexity the game has is that you can sometimes avoid enemies and not engage them at all. And a couple of sequences you can let the zombies fight the humans, but those are limited gimmick parts. The exploration too is very basic, you are moving around mostly small controlled areas finding upgrades that make you better at the combat or reading notes or doing basic puzzles. There are no real significant choices to make or consequences to anything you do.

It's not like the game gives you the option to interact with the enemies in more complex ways. You can't scare them off, you can't snipe from far away so they can't even see or find you, you can't capture or interrogate them, you can't talk your way past anything or bribe or barter, you can't make a deal with a rival faction to help you, you can't get destroy enemy supplies or communications to make them weaker, you can't scout ahead and set up ambushes for incoming enemies ahead of time, you can't use environmental physics as death traps, etc etc.

They have a rope mechanic that they use in a couple of instances but it's still very limited and gimmicky. You can't take the rope with you and experiment with it in different situations throughout the game. There is a pseudo open-world part but again it's just a bit of flavour and doesn't have any real interesting choices or tension to where you go and what you do. There is one part in the game where you get ambushed when at an upgrade table, which is kind of a cool thing, but again it's a one-off scripted thing that never happens again. Imagine a game where that kind of thing can happen dynamically at any time and you have to always worry about enemies stalking you and ambushing you when you don't expect it. That would be my idea of a 10 out of 10 GOTY calibre experience, but unfortunately that kind of thing is very rare or non-existent in big budget games because people just buy things for photorealistic graphics and cinematic style.
I get you. It woudn't really make much sense to pretend most of these things in a game structured like this one, but i get you.

Even though these things you wrote are factually incorrect (most always, some depending on the area):

- There are no real significant choices to make or consequences to anything you do: Doesn't make any sense to me, it's a Survival, you are asked to make choices for every enemy in every encounter.

- You can't snipe from far away so they can't even see or find you: With a silencer in the open areas, you can.

- You can't scout ahead and set up ambushes for incoming enemies ahead of time: You can and i did it several times in my Survivor playthrough. Of course, still depending by the area you are in.

- There is a pseudo open-world part but again it's just a bit of flavour and doesn't have any real interesting choices or tension to where you go and what you do: Not true, there are more than one and they absolutely do have intersting choices or tension to where you go and what you do.. like the Bank or any optional area for instance.
 
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LectureMaster

Gold Member
As much as I disapprove many executions in TLOU2, Naughty Dog is indeed the top top notch developer.

But more importantly, the studio deserves a better director.
 

FStubbs

Member
I think that was TLoU - that honestly did look astonishing by the standards of the time. It was also the game that finally killed my launch model CECHA PS3 and sent it to the great YLOD in the sky.

I'm much less impressed with ND recently - Uncharted 4 honestly bored me to the point where I just stopped playing and although I did finish TLoU2 by the end of it I was at the point where my feelings were basically "I've spent enough time going though this shitty story that I guess I might as well see how it ends" - only to have it end with a boring anticlimax. I didn't exactly hate it, but did feel deeply sorry for the programmers and artists (who did a great job) because someone decided they would rather make a didactic experience than a game.

Both Uncharted and TLoU were seen that way - which feeds into the OP. Sorry to hear about your launch PS3.
 
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kebaldo

Member
I put them on the same level as Valve and some Nintendo stuidos, top of the chain. Simply look how competitors try to create the new Naughty Dog... They defined a generation realizing two master pieces as Uncharted 2 and Tlou, and then they putted the bar so high with Tlou 2... Can't wait to see something new from them. (can't wait to see haters being assblasted another time)
 
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El Sueño

Member
I love their standard quality but i'm more into Ueda's kind of games. The problem is that they are not very common. ND deserves the recognition btw.
 

GAMETA

Banned
ND games are great as narrative experiences, very compelling stories and graphics, but that's all they have. Once finished I can never replay them, they're just very boring in the gameplay department.
 

Represent.

Represent(ative) of bad opinions
Excellent OP.

They are the class of the industry. If it wasn't for them I literally would have quit gaming by now.

The extent to which they are simply just more fucking talented than everyone else is incredible.

Ridiculous gap.

Should change their names to Naughty GOAT
 
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The OP sounds a bit too fanatical for my taste, but I don't want to knock their excitement. It's awesome to be excited.

I don't know, I honestly think the praise is deserved. I've had nothing but a great time playing Naughty Dog's games. Production values are very high. Voice acting is on point. While some may find issues with their gameplay, I have plenty of fun with the combat and traversal. And of course, relative to the rest of the video game medium, they tell really good stories (with the highlight from all of those probably being the original The Last of Us).

Out of the GotY winners that OP mentioned, I guess the only one I would take a bit of an issue with is Uncharted 4. I can't put my finger on it, there's something about it that left me a bit dry. And for a bit of a hot take -- I actually had more fun with Uncharted 3 than with Uncharted 4. I guess 4 didn't seem as fun, in either the story (don't really care about Sam), or the encounter design (from what I remember, it had circular/round environments where enemies could come at you from all sides. Among other issues. No thanks).

But yeah, the fact that this is the studio responsible for Crash, Jak, Uncharted, and Last of Us -- they're going strong. As some have said in the thread already, hopefully they can come up with a new IP at some point.
 
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