NoXion

Where's that from? A Steam review? Somewhere else? Unfortunately given the nature of modern media, it's not unheard of for video game reviews to be irrelevant, nonsensical, and/or freighted with grievance-mongering. Although even at the best of times, expecting an objective assessment from reviewers is going onto a hiding to nothing. Everyone has their prejudices and preferences. I think that the trick with reading reviews is to be aware of the specific biases and tastes of the reviewer whose work you're consuming. A reviewer that you like or trust can still end up giving a negative review to a game that you would love.

Huh. Given his work on The Ancient Gods, I'd have thought that Hulshult would have been the natural choice. I wonder who could it be?

I'd say Winter is the worst season. Mainly because of the lack of daylight. It really sucks to get up in the morning and it's still dark, and then by the time you've finished work it's dark once more. That's just an utterly miserable experience. The cold doesn't help, but at least I can keep my windows closed and use my PC as an impromptu space heater. Mind you, there was that heatwave we had in the UK a couple of years ago that served as a reminder of the Hellish potential of overly hot summers. In winter you can wrap yourself in many layers, but when it gets too hot in the summer there's only so much you can take off. During the worst of the heatwave I had to wear nothing and put my feet in a basin of water to stay comfortable.

I think another aspect of the situation that stuck in a lot of peoples' craws is the fact that forcing PSN registration wasn't something done for their benefit, but as a wizard wheeze by some corporate suit to bump up the numbers of PSN accounts. People generally don't like being nudged like that for no real benefit on their end. Indeed, as you mention with regards to Sony's poor handling of private user data, being made to hand it over in order to continue playing is more of a detriment than anything.

This is all well and good, but there are times when account requirements end up screwing over players. Like when Sony forced the people who bought Helldivers 2 to register for a PSN account. Suddenly a whole bunch of people in multiple countries not serviced by PSN could no longer play, at least not without resorting to spoof accounts registered in available countries. Which I believe breaks ToS and presents a risk of said account getting banned. But yeah, usually it's not a problem. Usually.

If that's true then it's definitely to Marty's credit. Exclusivity is an anti-consumer practice and I'm happy to hear that Id Software wants no part of it.

That's the funny thing, the lore bits in Doom Eternal do mention a little bit of what Hayden got up to before the Slayer returned to Earth, and they state that Hayden got fucked up by demons during Operation Hellbreaker. While I'm sure the Slayer would have liked to deliver the karma, the forces of Hell beat him to it. To be fair, the story of Doom Eternal is a bit of a mess, especially when one includes the DLCs. It runs on Rule of Cool more than a desire to deliver a tightly focused plot. DE's story would be a disaster for a novel, but since DE is a video game and the plot mainly serves to function as a delivery vehicle for cool set-pieces, I think it's fine. I do hope that in The Dark Ages they follow the model of storytelling used in Doom 2016. The way that game tells its story is so much better.

As far as I know, what happened between 2016 and Eternal is just... not covered at all. Not even in the readable lore bits of either game. All we know for sure is that the Slayer escaped out of Hell, upgraded his suit, and got his hands on a castle-spaceship to use as a base of operations. No idea why they didn't think it worth covering at all. I think we can assume that whatever happened, it was appropriately badass/epic/metal/[insert preferred superlative here].

I still want them to do a new single player focused entry to the Quake series that goes back to the Lovecraftian roots of the first game. I'm hopeful that's something they'll be able to do after The Dark Ages.

I'm hoping that they at least keep the dash ability or something like that. I started playing Doom Eternal from the beginning yesterday and that was the main thing I missed having from the start.

On the other hand, I've seen a fair few people complain about how Doom Eternal's focus on resource management detracts from the more simplistic approach that Doom 2016 allowed them to take. I don't mind it myself, but after playing a session of Doom Eternal earlier this evening, I am reminded that it does demand a fair amount of thought is given to one's moment-to-moment actions. I remember my earliest gameplay of Doom Eternal being very taxing mentally.

Given the current atrocious state of the AAA video games industry, I'd be lying if I said that I had no concerns at all about the potential for exploitative monetisation of the new Doom game. I don't think it's very likely, as it seems that Doom 2016 and Doom Eternal did well enough to prevent the bean counters and "line go up" types from taking a stronger hand in the creative direction of the series. So I hope this newest entry has a similarly strong showing. Of course if the worst does happen, then it's not going to be anywhere near the level of personal upset and impact as say, being made homeless or losing a loved relative. But I do think it would be entirely valid to feel disgruntled over the poor treatment and direction of a video game series that, up until that hypothetical point, I would have enjoyed. For the time being, things are looking good. I'm looking forward to further reveals and seeing how the game is received upon release. Fingers crossed, touch wood, etc etc.

The Invasion mechanic was one feature of Doom Eternal that I was really looking forward to, and that it never came to pass was the biggest disappointment I had about the game. Hopefully the lack of disruptive real-world events for the development this latest entry means that they'll be able to properly implement the features they showcase in promotional materials in the run-up to release.

Thanks kindly for the elaboration. I've found that building up expectations when it comes to upcoming video games is just setting oneself up for disappointment. So when it comes to games I'm looking forward to, I try not to hype myself up. I of course look forward to seeing more reveals and gameplay and stuff, but I attempt to approach such things on a "take it as I see it" basis.

That's a pretty bold claim. While the Doom fanbase isn't as unappeasable as some, there's a vocal minority who don't like nu-Doom or who prefer the 2016 game over Eternal and its DLCs. I'll bet that there will be some folks who'll disagree with that statement. Me, I'll be happy as long as it's good.