Games. Such a small word, such a huge world. Great minds that work together with imagination, design, and technology to put our minds in different dimensions.
Everyone has a favourite game. Or at least a favourite genre: FPS, action, RPG, mystery, point and click, and so many other styles of games, uniting or sometimes dividing players. But what about franchises?
In this series of articles, we put beloved games to the test.
What test?
Well, what do our experts, our software developers, think about certain games? The time has come to put to battle 2 games with great history. Diablo IV, coming from the game that actually changed gaming history, and Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, coming from the franchise that changed cinematic history!
Q: What do you think about the new engine Blizzard used for Diablo IV?
A:
Charalampos: “Cool but could be better since it is a huge company.”
Georgios:“It is just ok in my opinion.”
Aris: “Great ambient lighting and animations. A huge improvement from Diablo III.”
Q: Respawn, Star Wars Jedi: Survivor’s developing company, proudly says that they only spent 3 years on its development. How is this possible? What can companies do to make great games in just 3 years?
A:
Charalampos: “Vast amounts of over hours. Also, the specific game was released too early, since it had many bugs and performance issues.”
Georgios: “it is very difficult to make a great AAA game in 3 years. But Star Wars Jedi: Survivor is the 2nd instalment of the franchise, so maybe they had some things already made.”
Aris: “I don’t think that making a great game has to do anything with time. Most of the time it has to do with the people available and the effort they want to spend making a game user-friendly, fun and interesting. Nowadays, the gaming industry is seriously monetized and every AAA game has to implement a “game as a service” philosophy, so players have to continuously pay for content. Even though, the price to purchase a game has increased also. Also, we are going through a period of mass lay-offs in the tech industry and gaming industry has been affected as well. So, by taking into consideration all these things and a lot more, 3 years may be a pretty short period to make a good game.”
Q: Both Diablo IV and Star Wars Jedi: Survivor belong to the big category of action-RPG games. They differ in style though. Which do you prefer and why?
A:
Charalampos: “I think Diablo IV would be the answer for me.”
Georgios: “I prefer Star Wars Jedi: Survivor more, it’s a bit “souls-like” (not so much, but you know what I mean).”
Aris: “I wouldn’t put Star Wars Jedi: Survivor in the A-RPG genre. It’s more of an Action Adventure — RPG. A-RPGs are picked for the continuous grinding and are seriously time-consuming, while Action Adventures are more story based. Depending on the time I have/want to spend I would pick either.”
Q: Now, of the 2 games which do you think is harder to produce and why?
A:
Charalampos: “Star Wars Jedi: Survivor is a more complex and hard game to produce because of its graphics and gameplay. Diablo is based on the older games.”
Georgios: “Both are AAA games with high quality values. So both are very hard to make for different reasons.”
Aris: “In terms of storytelling, Star Wars Jedi: Survivor is harder, since you have to think of an original story that would fit the Star Wars saga. In terms of gameplay and tech features/optimization, I would say Diablo IV. Since the random generated world and enemies would stress the hardware more and aren’t that easy to predict.”
Q: How many hours have you spent enjoying the games? Which one has better replayability for you?
A. 0–20
B. 21–100
C. 101–200
A:
It was unanimous, with 21–100 for all 3!
Q: Do you think that both games aim for the same age groups? What would these be?
A. 18–24
B. 25–34
C. 35–44
D. 45+
A:
Charalampos: 25–34
Georgios: 18–24
Aris: 35–44
Q: Overall, which do you prefer? Is it a matter of genre or development?
A:
Charalampos: “I enjoyed Diablo more. Still, even if they belong in the general sphere of RPG games, they are totally different, so I wouldn’t compare them.”
Georgios: “Star Wars Jedi: Survivor. It’s because of personal taste, genre and development.”
Aris: “I prefer games like D4 most of the time. Because battling with millions of demons after a day’s work and real life problems is a good stress relief.”
And there you have it! We’ve asked, and our experts weren’t shy on expressing their feelings towards these 2 titans! What do you think of these games? Give us your comments. And, ultimately, are you into software development? We know you are. So, check out our openings!
