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Insomniac is being coronated way to soon

imissweed

Banned
I agree. I've heard this talk quite a lot and it doesn't seem accurate to me.

They're definitely Sony's most *productive* studio - it seems like they basically have 3 AAA teams now, and almost certainly put out a game at least once every 18 months.

And all their output is solid, no doubt. But as far as I can see, they've never once put out a game as good as Uncharted 2, say, or God of War.

Naughty Dog releases games of that quality consistently, as do Santa Monica. They're the 2 best studios, and Naughty Dog is probably the best because they've built two stellar franchises and SSM just the one so far.

I'd put Insomniac as the third most important. Then Guerrilla, then Sucker Punch. After that there's a drop off in quality and/or significance.
I think you have said it best because they are very productive and spiderman just is so adored by everybody that it really gives them a big edge.

My first impression of Naughty Dog was years ago at Target seeing a demo of Uncharted drakes fortune. I was blown away by the presentation of visual quality but I didn't fall in love with them until Uncharted 2 which for a long time after it came out was top dog for graphics and made even PC players jealous and it was done on the very difficult to code for ps3.

I never was a big insomniac fan and even after spiderman released to huge acclaim in 2018 I didn't get around to playing it until a year or more after release. I remember constantly rolling my eyes at all the pics gamers were showing of the in game photo mode and eventually I thought why not try it.

I fell in love with the graphics and the fluid combat after being a big fan of the batman games of rocksteady.

Still I feel though that although there output is tremendous its mostly riding off the back of spiderman 2018. Miles morales was good but frankly outside of being a visual showcase for the launch of ps5 not that great or memorable for me at least.

Yet time and again I've been blown away by Naughty Dog. Uncharted 1,2,3,4 and both last of us titles have been a true joy to experience.
 
  • Naughty Dog: Only game I could play to completion was Uncharted 4, and I probably will never play it again. I'm not impressed with their lack of gameplay diversity, with nothing but similar third person shooters made for 2 gens now. That said, I think they're still the most technically and artistically proficient studio at Sony (and possibly anywhere).
  • Insomniac: I've liked exactly 1 game from them, Spider Man. I got Miles Morales and got bored with it, and couldn't finish it despite it being shorter. From what I hear, Ratchet and Clank is among the best looking games ever made. Their development speed and gameplay variety is definitely better than the other studios at Sony. Hoping they keep up the variety and don't put out too much similar content.
  • Sucker Punch: Since inFamous SS, I think they're pretty much the top studio at Sony in terms of my tastes. Their output isn't super fast, with about 1 game per gen, or barely 2. But they make great content that consistently appeals more to me than the others studios. People underrate their technical proficiency as well. inFamous SS was among the best looking PS4 games and it was nearly a launch game. Ghost is among the best looking games on the system and has no load times. They emphasize gameplay over cinematics more than Naughty Dog.
  • Santa Monica: God of War reboot was my game of the year the year it came out, and is a huge accomplishment. But it's the first GOW I've been into since the first one. For most of the studio's existence, I wasn't into their stuff. Their sequel looks to basically be a direct asset sequel that took twice as long as it should have, with very little graphical advancement at all - but still taking 4 years. They also blew a new IP and had it cancelled. They certainly have potential, but I'm not yet convinced they will be consistently amazing. They're on the right track though to easily outpace Naughty Dog for me, with a much greater emphasize on gameplay oriented gaming.
  • Guerilla Games: Clearly one of the more technically proficient studios at Sony, with Horizon outpacing GOW's sequel by a mile graphically. I haven't played Horizon yet, so I don't know if I like it. Haven't gotten into any of their games yet, ever, but they look great graphically.
 
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Insomniac has always been one of the best, Ratchet & Clank is one of the longest running series currently within the first party studios for a reason. It's not their fault other studios can't keep up anymore
 

AmuroChan

Member
Spider-Man is by far the biggest name and even the 49 metacritic The Amazing Spider-Man 2 from 2014 topped some of the sales charts and sold well if i remember correctly.

Here you got a big and decent studio + big Sony money + monster budget marketing + let's just say a very very very strong inspiration by the successful Batman Arkham Series. Risc of failing was not too high.

Not talking about sales, but rather industry wide recognition and respect from peers. Avengers is arguably a bigger IP than Spidey, and also backed by big publisher money. Just because it's a big IP, doesn't mean you can't screw it up.
 

iHaunter

Member
morgan-freeman-pointing.gif
Insomniac create more than one title every few years though. People seem to forget they release regular high quality games. Not one every 5-7 years.
 

Fbh

Member
Purely from a quality perspective I think any of the top Sony studios could be "the best" depending on the type of games you like.
But from a proficiency perspective it's hard to argue against Insomniac at the moment.

In the time it's going to take Sucker Punch or Naughty Dog to release their first Ps5 game, Insomniac is probably going to have at least 3 ones out already , if not more.
If anything studios like ND would look bad if they took longer and didn't deliver games that are a cut above Insomniac (at least in terms of production values)
 
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Sosokrates

Report me if I continue to console war
The amount of output has been high, but there games still have issues which keep them in 8/10 territory for me.
 

dezzy8

Member
Insomniac has been solid for decades now. They are definitely top tier. And you say that their games are 8/10 as if that’s bad. That’s amazing.
 
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NahaNago

Member
Insomniac is simply a great studio that pumps out games pretty efficiently. They are like the summer blockbuster movies instead of the films made for golden globes.
 

sloppyjoe_gamer

Gold Member
Hope not...I hope Sony doesn't become the Marvel machine...theres enough original stories that video games don't need a bunch of super hero deep fakes of MCU characters.

Based on that last showing, that would be Insomniac, not Sony overall. TBH, i'm not exactly thrilled about it either.
 

elliot5

Member
Insomniac's probably Sony's most profitable team. They can release quality titles at a regular pace without delays. They deserve all the credit.
 

kiphalfton

Member
With Insomniac vs Sony Santa Monica and Naughty Dog, it's not even a matter of quantity over quality. Insomniac has quantity AND quality, so don't know how they're not top dog. That and insomniac doesn't push stupid agendas in their game like NG. And besides GOW, what has Santa Monica released?
 
With Sony and Marvel cozying up, I wouldn't be surprised if Sucker Punch gets tapped on the shoulder to do a super hero property.
i pray to god they won’t. Insomniac can do all the super hero games, leave the rest of the studios to do new ips or current Sony ones.

getting sick of this Marvel bullshit everywhere. Fuck them and fuck Disney.
 
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Jesus Christ man get off Metacritic and form your own opinion based on your own experiences about the qualities of the games you play.

I hate to break it to you but Metacritic is not a metric to measure how good or not a studio is.
Well the sentiment isn't based on my opinion but the opinion of others...
 

Flutta

Banned
1. Insomniac
2. SSM
3. SP
4. GG
5. ND

This is how it stands atm. ND aint the same as they used to be with Amy and Bruce. One thing that has not changed for ND is their capabilty of setting the bar when it comes to attention to detail, animation, graphics etc. But that can only take you so far.
The artists, tech team in ND is one of the best if not the best in the whole industry. No thanks to that worm.

Cat wait for Neil to get the fuck out of there. 🥳
 
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Not after that "new" GoW showing.

I'm sure they're still capable, but so far insomniac's games demonstrated much more of dat sweet sweet "nextgen feel". And they are doing it 3 generations in row with their Ratchet games too
I still think the new GOW looks better than any game insomniac has made since acquisition.
 

tommycronin

Member
They've been making the same game since they started. Trash tier developer in my eyes. All flash no substance. Rift Apart was one of the most soulless games I've played in a long while. I do not see the appeal of their games. They barely challenge you in any way.
 

assurdum

Banned
I coronated Sucker Punch. After Infamous I didn't expected a new IP with such brilliant combat system. Totally impressed , it's the first Sony studio which shows some innovation and originality in the gameplay "mechanics".
 
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Codes 208

Member
They've been making the same game since they started. Trash tier developer in my eyes. All flash no substance. Rift Apart was one of the most soulless games I've played in a long while. I do not see the appeal of their games. They barely challenge you in any way.
I could argue the same about naughty dog. Just another cinematic setpiece after another. At least insomniac knows how to make fun gameplay.

but with that said sony really shouldve double downed with FROM making more exclusives, ill happily take a new soulsborne title over literally every other sony IP.
 

SSfox

Member
Sony Santa Monica and Polyphony Digital are the premiere studios of Sony to me. Sucker Punch is getting super great since GOT and Legends, Insomniacs are great but not my favorite Sony studio, but still great. Naughty Dog lost the flame since Amy and Bruce left, Uncharted 4 was great but the pacing was not the best, TLOU2 was fun gameplay wise but the story is a big downgrade compare to what we used to see from Naughty Dog, and also has pacing problems.
 
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SSfox

Member
1. Insomniac
2. SSM
3. SP
4. GG
5. ND

This is how it stands atm. ND aint the same as they used to be with Amy and Bruce. One thing that has not changed for ND is their capabilty of setting the bar when it comes to attention to detail, animation, graphics etc. But that can only take you so far.
The artists, tech team in ND is one of the best if not the best in the whole industry. No thanks to that worm.

Cat wait for Neil to get the fuck out of there. 🥳

Will it be enough tho, a lot of super awesome membres aren't anymore at ND. Some of them actually left because of Neil (Amy)
 

yurinka

Member
People are bored of Naughty Dog's 12 year run of GOTY award winning success and want someone new to cheer for.

Insomniac are great too. Solid 3rd place contender within PlayStation Studios along with Guerrilla.

Naughty Dog are still the top dog number 1. Santa Monica Studio are number 2. Scoreboard.

Insomniac will be or already are the studio that makes Sony the most money tho. Spidey sells.
Yep, my personal take is:
Top 1 - ND (specially pre-woke, for me Lost Legacy and TLOU2 weren't as good as TLOU1, Uncharted 4 or Uncharted 2)
Top 2 - SSM
Top 3 - Insomniac, Guerrilla, Sucker Punch, Bend fighting for this position and pretty close with some having a lead in some areas, others having a lead in other areas.

They are all growing, but Insomniac grew faster and already had more internal teams before the big growth, so now gets more attention because have been able to release more games and the Spider-Man IP is so huge (plus they did the best Spider-Man game ever). Guerrilla is a tech powerhouse (I remember Killzone 2, Horizon and Horizon 2 being jawdropping when announced), an Sucker Punch and Bend maybe are behind them but noticed a huge quality spike on their most recent game and I feel their next one has potential to be Sony top tier material.

I think GoT, even if it had room for improvement making it less repetitive (meaning please make the game shorter repeating each mission type or collectible less times) and improving facial animations, was the best open world approach we've seen from Sony. Days Gone was also a personal favorite of mine: loved the world, how bike is integrated in the game, the zombie hordes and the main character.

For many of them, their most recent game was their first open world game or a new IP, which involves a ton of extra work, studio growth and extra challenges. And in Bend's case, their first console AAA game in many generations. I think they learnt a lot developing these games and have a lot of stuff made they'll be able to reuse to build on top their next games. Which with extra hirings I think it will mean we'll see a quality bump, but this time obviously not as big.
 
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Men_in_Boxes

Snake Oil Salesman
$250 million really was a bargain for Insomniac.

Sony won that deal big time.

I wonder how much of that was Insomniac realizing how valuable the Spiderman license was? A license Sony had access to.

FUSE, Ratchet and Clank, and Sunset Overdrive were the 3 big Insomniac games leading up to the acquisition. 3 games that didn't exactly light the charts on fire. Leadership was probably sweating a bit near the end there.
 
Sony has multiple top-tier studios who will make incredible games. Insomniac deserves all the praise they're getting because they're output is such. Don't even leave out Spider-Man, mention also Sunset Overdrive, one of the best games of last gen consoles, and the foundation for Spider-Man. This doesn't take away from what Naughty Dog has done. Sucker Punch stepped up with Ghosts, but I wasn't too impressed with their prior game. Same for Guerilla before Horizon. Naughty Dog, Santa Monica Studio and Insomniac are easily Sony's best studios in my eyes.

I personally still place Naughty Dog at the very top.
 

Hobbygaming

has been asked to post in 'Grounded' mode.
For me it's

1. ND though TLOU Part II isn't as good as TLOU Part 1 IMHO
2. Insomniac Games
3. Sucker Punch
4. SSM but Ragnarok might boost them

Had to edit because Ghost of Tsushima is sooo good
 
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There is a lot to praise in their release schedule and development speed. I think they can make their games better though, better level design and more fun battle layouts + better AI for enemies and overall impact of story and characters Is where they lag behind imo.
 
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