Hwang Dong-hyuk, known for being the creator of the acclaimed series Squid Game, is taking a new step in his career by launching an original series for Netflix titled The Dealer. This series, commissioned by the streaming platform and produced under Dong-hyuk’s Firstman Studio, promises to take viewers into a world full of drama and crime. A series based on gambling and life at stake, The Dealer focuses on the life of Geonhwa, a brilliant casino dealer whose life takes an unexpected turn when her wedding plans […]
Hwang Dong-hyuk, known for being the creator of the acclaimed series Squid Game, is taking a new step in his career by launching an original series for Netflix titled The Dealer. This series, commissioned by the streaming platform and produced under Dong-hyuk’s Firstman Studio, promises to take viewers into a world full of drama and crime.
A series based on gambling and life at stake
The Dealer focuses on the life of Geonhwa, a brilliant casino dealer whose life takes an unexpected turn when her wedding plans fall apart. This drastic change forces her to unleash a series of events that will lead her to confront a dangerous and competitive environment. Through this narrative, Dong-hyuk will bring his distinctive approach to exploring human struggles and moral dilemmas, themes that resonated deeply in his previous work, Squid Game.
The production of The Dealer presents a new opportunity for Dong-hyuk to explore Korean culture and the world of gambling, offering a unique look at the skills and challenges faced by those operating in this environment. Moreover, the series aims to capture the interest not only of Dong-hyuk’s followers but also of a global audience that has grown significantly after the overwhelming success of his previous work.
The Dealer is expected to bring an exciting mix of action and emotional tension, characteristics that have become synonymous with Dong-hyuk’s style. Although more details about the cast and release date are still unknown, the series has undoubtedly begun to generate expectations among film and television lovers. In this regard, it is rumored that the series could offer unexpected twists that will keep viewers on the edge of their seats.
The board game Don’t Starve has had a resounding success on Kickstarter, raising nearly $4 million and far exceeding its initial goal of $50,000. This impressive funding comes from the support of a dedicated community, which since its original release in 2013 has turned Don’t Starve into one of the leading survival titles, with a strong cult following backing this tabletop adaptation. Suffering due to its success Developed by Glass Cannon Unplugged, this cooperative game is designed for 1 to 4 players and offers an experience in a world where […]
The board game Don’t Starve has been a resounding success on Kickstarter, raising nearly $4 million and far exceeding its initial goal of $50,000. This impressive funding comes from the support of a dedicated community, which since its original release in 2013 has turned Don’t Starve into one of the leading survival titles, with a strong cult following backing this tabletop adaptation.
Suffering Because of Their Success
Developed by Glass Cannon Unplugged, this cooperative game is designed for 1 to 4 players and offers an experience in a world where magic and science intertwine in unexpected ways. The game’s release date has been set for March 2027, generating great anticipation among fans.
In a recent update, the Glass Cannon team announced new funding goals that are available for sponsors. These include wormhole tokens, starting cards, and regeneration marker miniatures, which will add more variety and strategy to the game. The wormhole tokens, in particular, will allow players to move quickly across the map, while the miniatures will enhance the visual experience.
With only three days left in the Kickstarter campaign, an acrylic standee of Wurt and a digital skin have been unlocked if the total reaches $4.1 million before its close. Given the current funding levels, it is very likely that these additional goals will be met, further encouraging sponsor participation.
This effort to adapt Don’t Starve to the world of board games seems to be well received and promises to offer players a new way to explore its survival themes in a cooperative environment.
The media began to talk about how Pokémon Go was making people invade private spaces and even die from looking at the screen so much. And seven years later, what?
July 13, 2016. Pokémon Go‘ arrives on our cell phones and turns everything upside down. Overnight, we’re all out hunting for creatures in our city despite the mechanics being overly simple and the possibilities rather rickety. Yet there we are, alerting us with messages like “A Gyarados has appeared in Plaza de Castilla”. The media started talking about how ‘Pokémon Go’ was making people invade private spaces and even die from looking at the screen so much. And seven years later, what?
Niantic, the company behind ‘Pokémon Go’, was very happy. At last ‘Ingress’, that game based on geolocation that had failed a few years earlier, was making sense thanks to someone else’s saga. Everyone was making money hand over fist and it seemed that the moment of joy would never end. Until, in 2023, it is rare to find trainers on the streets: the app is at a low ebb but, at the same time, it is the only thing that makes them money. Get them all, big trouble.
Niantic became adept at ‘virtual reality gaming’ on mobile. ‘Harry Potter: Wizards Unite’ was basically a magical ‘Pokémon Go‘ that lasted a year and a half before shutting down. It was just the first of a few. ‘Catan: World Explorers’, based on the world’s most famous modern board game, barely lasted another year because, frankly, it was impossible to port ‘Catan’ to the MMO, let alone localization-based.
Ass I see, ass I want, everyone wanted their own game based on geolocation, without realizing that not even Harry Potter could work its magic to succeed. ‘Transformers’, ‘Pikmin’, NBA, Marvel… Niantic got lucky with one game (what’s the point of making a basketball ‘Pokémon Go’?) and since then everything has been simple repetition.
So much so that they have just fired 230 employees from their Los Angeles studio with the excuse that expenses are growing faster than profits. Although they want to make ‘Pokémon Go’ a game that lasts forever, the truth is that this is only the beginning of the end. As much as it is the only thing that makes them money, the figure is getting smaller and smaller, and a company cannot live all its life on the profits of a single game.
World of Warcraft’ was doing well for Blizzard, but next to it were ‘Overwatch’, ‘Diablo‘ or ‘Starcraft’. To close the doors and focus all efforts on a title whose time of glory has passed is to sign a contract for disaster. And is that the company’s own leaders have stated that they have a lot of work to do in terms of retention and benefits. Come on, I wouldn’t be too fond of your Pikachu and the gyms where you are eternal leaders. They may not last forever.
It is estimated that he has won about 40 million thanks to a simple but fascinating game.
“If you’re humming along to the jingle ‘Saca un huesito y el corazón, operación’ (Take out a little bone and the heart, Operation), you’re probably already considering a pension plan. Indeed, ‘Operation!’ is a classic family board game. It was invented by a college student who sold it to toy designer Marvin Glass for $500. Today, it is estimated that the game has earned around $40 million, thanks to its simple yet captivating gameplay.”
The gameplay is simple: you have to remove the organ indicated by the game without touching the edges. Essentially, it’s a board game based on having a steady hand and not much else, but it has survived from 1965 to the present day. There have been versions of “Operation” with sound effects and even a dog as the protagonist, targeting future veterinarians. However, none compare to the version created with your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man.
Taking advantage of the release of “Spider-Man 2,” where Doctor Octopus was the villain, Marvel teamed up with Hasbro to create the most unlikely Spider-Man game. The superhero was lying on the operating table of the evil doctor, and we had to help him by operating on his malfunctioning web-shooter, his “webbed head,” his “symbiote fluid,” or his “webbed feet.” Oh, and instead of a nose, his eyes would light up along with his “spider-sense.” Who knows why children were placed in the role of a well-meaning Doc Ock trying to save his arch-nemesis by removing random objects from his body.
Spider-Man’s version of “Operation” was not the only absurdly franchised one, but it was the first. Over the years, the game has seen variations featuring “Shrek”, “The Simpsons” (with Homer on the operating table), “Fallout,” “Star Wars” (manipulating R2-D2 and C-3PO), “Doc McStuffins,” and “The Mandalorian.” Interestingly, despite “Operation” seeming like the easiest thing in the world by now, there was one version that sparked controversy among fans: the “Paw Patrol: The Movie” edition.
Firstly, because what is being saved is… a kind of image of all the characters together instead of one of the pups. Secondly, because the holes are all similar in size, and it’s not clear which object goes where. And thirdly, because there hasn’t been enough attention to detail in the game. When you think there’s no corner of the internet for everything, remember that there are people who are such fans of a children’s board game that they are willing to play the Paw Patrol movie version just to point out its flaws. There’s something for everyone out there.
Imagine what it must be like to play ;The Campaign for North Africa, a board game that requires 2 to 10 players and lasts 1500 hours. Yes, you read it right.
We all know when a game of ‘Monopoly‘ starts, but not when it ends. It is common that between hotels, houses and tickets, the game has to be left on the table from one day to the next, or, if there is a cat in the apartment, it ends in a draw because of the risk of finding all the elements scattered on the floor. If we already feel lazy to continue playing one of the simplest toys on the face of the Earth, imagine what it must be like to play ‘The Campaign for North Africa’, a board game that needs from 2 to 10 players and lasts 1500 hours. Yes. You read that right.
If you only played for two and a bit months, without sleeping or eating breaks, you might be able to finish a game of this 1976 classic that is a gem for the most intrepid gamers because of its three-meter map made up of five smaller maps depicting the war in North Africa during World War II. If you get together with your friends once a week and play for about three hours each session, in just ten years you will have finished the trial game. It’s worth it, isn’t it?
The most interesting thing about ‘The Campaign for North Africa’ is its exhaustive attention to detail. Here it is not enough to move pieces against each other, no: players are divided into two teams and each takes one of the main positions. They can be Commander, Logistics Commander, Rear Zone Commander, Air Commander and Front Commander. And each has to look after the welfare of his troops to the point of, for example, needing enough water for the Italians to cook pasta or having to determine the weather each turn: the hotter it is, the more water evaporates.
To give an example, it is like playing Monopoly but taking care that the washing machines in the hotel are not broken and every room in your house does not have dust on the floor. If you are amazed by the attention to detail and playing “just for a little while” does not convince you, you know what to do. The game comes with 1600 counters of all kinds (you’re going to need them) and a 45-page manual that, after all, is not so much to explain everything that can happen.
To give you an idea of the realism it wants to emulate, on each turn, each unit loses 3% of its gasoline to evaporation, but the British lose 7% because they used a different storage method that prevented it less. On Board Game Geek, the site for board game fans, it has a 6.2 rating. Mind you, good luck finding it: it’s a suicidal project that went on sale for $44 and no one else has dared to release it. So, anyone have something to do for the next twenty years and want to play a little game?
Why we should think hard about continuing to make car games beyond our means: Chavo Kart
Since ‘Super Mario Kart‘ marked a before and after in the history of racing games, there hasn’t been a franchise that hasn’t wanted to have its own racing game in tiny cars on crazy tracks. Bomberman Kart’, ‘Angry Birds Go’, ‘Crash Nitro Kart’, ‘Cartoon Network Racing’, ‘Diddy Kong Racing’, ‘Digimon Racing’, ‘Madagascar Kartz’, ‘Toy Story Racer’, ‘Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing’ or ‘Pac-man World Rally’ are just some of the examples that have plagued the consoles of half the world (to their regret). But there is one that is the exact demonstration of why we should think long and hard about continuing to make car games beyond our means: ‘El Chavo Kart’.
El Chavo del 8′ has been an institution in Mexico since its premiere in 1971, when it began as a mere segment of ‘Chespirito’. For nine years, El Chavo, Quico, La Chilindrina, Don Ramón and the rest of the neighborhood gave their all to make children (and not so children) laugh before the infighting (enough to make a true crime documentary). The series had, of course, merchandising and spin-offs galore.
Between musicals, books and restaurants, an animated series was born that lasted seven seasons and presented fantastic elements (scientists, superheroes, etc.) as a way to attract the attention of kids. Of course, that’s where most of the El Chavo merchandising came from, including a ‘Mario Party’-style video game for Wii and, of course, ‘El Chavo Kart’.
If you think a game like this is mobile fodder, think again: it came out for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 in 2014 (although, all said, in 2015 it was ported to Android) and it may not have been the height of originality but it had a few wonderful nods to the series. The most interesting thing, though, was to see how the original cast hated each other to the level of not wanting to participate in the title under any circumstances.
For example, “Quico” is written that way instead of “Kiko” so as not to pay royalties to Carlos Villagrán, the original performer, and La Chilindrina is nowhere to be seen because her actress, María Antonieta de las Nieves, has the rights to the character and, in fact, has made a movie and a series as spin-offs.
The tracks themselves were based on the animated series, of course, and so they could run in the Brazil Maracana Stadium, the museum or the little town. As for the objects you can use, you have the ham cake (mushroom), a newspaper (ink blot), balls (shells), and so on. Is it a bad game? Yes, no doubt. Is it a curiosity that deserves to go down in history? Yes, it is. Hey, who would have told us when we were watching it on La 2 that ‘El chavo del ocho’ would end up racing go-karts around a soccer stadium in Brazil? Oh, he sizzled.
Ah, yes! To complicate matters further there is another El Chavo karting game also called ‘El Chavo Kart’ exclusive for mobile and much simpler. What a franchise headache.
Yes, of course I don’t mind if you sell me the game halfway. No, of course, an unpublished story, a map and a dress. Of course I want to pay even more. Just missing.
Imagine that tomorrow you go to buy bread and the baker, who has always given you the classic loaf, this time gives you a crust without crumb and tells you that this is a new sales strategy: if you want the crumb you have to pay for it separately. It’s not necessary to enjoy the food, right? Well, that’s basically what we gamers have assumed with DLC. Yeah, of course I don’t mind if you sell me the game half-assed. No, sure, an unreleased story, a map and a dress. Of course I want to pay even more. That’s all it would take.
It’s said that the game that started the DLC ban (even though PC gamers already knew what it was like to have half-baked games with Expansion Packs) was ‘Total Annihilation’ in 1997 with free updates and new maps. Obviously, that wasn’t going to last forever. Soon, even the Nintendo DS would have downloadable levels for ‘Professor Layton’ or ‘Picross’. And now we live in a world where we are perfectly aware that paying 60 euros for a game is really just the beginning.
That video game companies see us as mere cows to be milked for all our milk is clear. That we have accepted as a positive symptom systems to do it to us as the Season Pass is like to ask ourselves things. Mainly, why all this content is not directly in the game? For example, ‘Mario Kart 8 Deluxe’ on Switch. Yes, of course I appreciate having 48 additional tracks to those I already had on Wii U: what I do not know is why they were not already included as standard.
At least Mario and his friends get quality content. Imagine being a big fan of ‘Oblivion’ and ending up paying for the famous horse armor (which cost two and a half euros, no less), or being the best at playing ‘Madden 2010’ and paying to get a new difficulty level. If you are one of those who pay money to get new skins, don’t you remember that in ‘Street Fighter III: Third Strike’ they made you take out your wallet to be able to… change the color of your character’s clothes? If they do this kind of thing it’s because it works: no matter how much fans complain, the people responsible for ‘Asura’s Wrath’ will probably end up making gold with the idea of taking out the end of the game separately after giving them 7 euros. True Ending’, they called it. It takes a lot of guts.
Not just DLC
Downloadable content and Season Passes have become part of our lives so quickly that it seems we gamers even thank the companies for squeezing as much money out of us as they can. Yes, sure, a DLC for ‘Horizon’ or ‘The Witcher 3’ in which new areas of the map open up to us and the story gets bigger is not the same as a pack of lamps for ‘The Sims 3’, but the feeling is the same.
But on the other hand, if we jump through the hoops of microtransactions in mobile games, we can swallow in everything. “Pay to not wait”, “Pay to get more lives”, “Pay to spin the roulette”, “Pay to get new weapons”. Pay, like this, in general. Until we have reached the zen coexistence of ‘Marvel Snap’, in which leaving money is really only a possibility for the very eager, we have had to eat thousands of ‘Candy Crush’. Even Duolingo is sold as a game with microtransactions! Want to learn Italian? Then you have to pay the cashier.
The early access, the betas that you can play after you checkout, the skins and clothing packs… Game developers seem to have forgotten about creating complete experiences: why, if we are going to pay for them later? Let’s not forget that titles like ‘Call of Duty Black Ops: Cold War’ have so much DLC that it is literally a bottomless pit that also differentiates between people who can afford the best weapon and those who cannot. Pay to be the best.
True, it feels good to be able to test a game before its official release, and to know that when you finish it there will be more adventures – even to be able to differentiate yourself from the rest in online mode with a costume you’ve paid for, or to use a card not yet released to the rest that destabilizes the game! And yet, there is something deeply wrong with all this, as if we were aware that not so long ago this would be considered selling an incomplete game or cheating. It’s the world of gaming today. Get your wallet out. We’ll talk later.
Laya’s Horizon immerses us in the world of Laya, an intrepid girl who descends and explores an island full of mysteries and details, using her shiny cape to glide down its slopes.
After the resounding success of Alto’s Odyssey, its developers bring us Laya’s Horizon, a game that aims to offer us a new perspective on the world of mobile video games and that has quickly positioned itself as one of the most anticipated games of the year. The title is released today, May 2, but at Softonic we have had the opportunity to test it before its release and, without a doubt, we can say that we have loved it.
Game design and experience: multiple games within one world
Laya’s Horizon immerses us in the world of Laya, an intrepid girl who descends and explores an island full of mysteries and details, using her shiny cape to glide down its slopes.
In addition to being able to fly freely exploring the environment and its well-hidden secrets, we can also complete missions, pass levels to obtain rewards in the form of talismans and new capes that give us more abilities, and accompany other characters on their adventures through this curious new world.
During the interview given to Softonic by the people in charge of the team behind the project, they told us that one of the most important aspects of Laya’s Horizon is its control system, which is based on movements that are as intuitive as possible and kinesthetic. It is something that is already appreciated from minute one that you spend in the game, but that clearly has its reason for being. What child hasn’t run across the garden with a towel or cloak on his back and swings his hands to spin as if he were gliding? The control dynamics is, in this sense, very similar. With a double control, one for each hand, we can move Laya’s arms to take her where we want. We can tilt one or both arms, pick them up to accelerate or open them to use our cape as a kind of parachute.
I have to admit, maybe at first the idea of using two hands on the controls to do, let me put it like this, same thing, it’s a little weird. You have to imagine as an axis of symmetry in front of which to act. Then you realize that you are actually moving your arms and it all makes sense.
Laia’s island.
And it makes sense from the tutorial. Something to which, according to what Ryan Cash himself, CEO of Snowman, told us, they spent a lot of time. Explaining the controls in person is as easy as raising your hands, but doing it on a screen is another story. Here the game places us in a safe environment, in the middle of the sky, so that, individually, we learn the dynamics of it. First the horizontal movement, then the vertical and then the tricks that combine both. Being ready, we descend from the clouds and land in the new environment of the game.
Laya flying over the snowy cliffs.
In Snowman they are known for pampering every last detail of all their games and for doing it on all fronts. One that draws attention is the music. It adapts to each of the biomes in which we fly, it adapts to the speed at which we move and it also adapts to our proximity to the ground. As if that were not enough, the voices of the characters have been provided by the same team that created the game.
Challenges and challenges: a dream come true
One of the most attractive features of Laya’s Horizon is its intricate island, which offers multiple exploration options while also providing a quick start to the game. Not too many menus, not too many options. Even the graphic design and its loading is designed with the power of the devices on which we are going to run the game in mind.
Map view, with the challenges and objectives.
Unlike Alto’s Odyssey, Laya’s Horizon introduces a more elaborate narrative and a whole new world. The developers wanted to create a game where players could retreat and explore. The initial idea came from the team’s love for the world of aviation, and also because of the amazing sport of base jumping, in which, with only a suit and a parachute that doesn’t open until the last moment, you descend a mountain of a single jump.
With a development of more than five years, the team started with just a few people to reach more than 30 participants. They overcame having to work remotely in 2020 and went on to deliver a truly exceptional game.
Alto’s older sister, so to speak
When Snowman considered working on the project, they were clear that Alto was already an entity in itself. Rather than evolve a title that already has its own journey, they wanted to face a new challenge. But not without the seeds of the experience learned snowboarding on the mountain chasing llamas and among cities lost in the desert.
Finishing a race in the Valley of the Rams.
The same wingsuit as Alto, is a tribute to the love of flight that manifests itself in Laya’s Horizon. The idea of biomes. adaptive music. For those of us who have followed the trajectory of the studio and its games, it is easy to see the origins, but also to appreciate how development has been completely turned around, as if in a spiral, to reach a higher level.
In my experience, Laya’s Horizon has managed to captivate me from the first moment I tried it. Its design, intuitive controls and immersive narrative make it a game that we enjoy to the fullest. We can dedicate several hours to it, passing levels or wondering where to find the 10 stalactites near which I have to fly to complete the challenge —a real case—, or play a game of just three minutes. we will enjoy it equally.
You soon find out which parts of the island are your favorite and whether to visit the snowy cliffs or the high mountains to overcome a certain challenge and complete the challenges of the NPCs in the game. Having completed the challenges, so to speak, there is still a lot to do. The dynamics of the game leads you to explore, to discover and to do everything by planning. Always with the right layer, of course.
Cloak and charm selection screen.
The game has a certain part of strategy, planning. It is seen in the abilities that the different objects of the same offer us and how these are keys to complete certain tasks or overcome certain levels. It is also seen in the simple possibility of landing in certain places within the environment to take out the map and continue planning the descent. Like a good pilot or an experienced climber, you have to know what lies ahead and how to deal with it.
Laya’s Horizon is a game that has already captivated those of us who have had the opportunity to try it before its launch. Its world full of details, its innovative game mechanics and its simple, but complete narrative, make it a unique and highly recommended experience. Now available on the App Store and Google Play for free, all we have to do to play it is log in with our Netflix account. While you are downloading it, I still have to find two of the four caves that happen to be hidden on the island to complete level 35. What do you enjoy planning!
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Puede que una década después de la última entrega los jugones quieran probar otras cosas.
Podemos estar esperando ‘Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom’, ‘Assassin’s Creed Mirage’ o ‘Spider-man 2’ como agua de mayo, pero todos sabemos cuál es el juego que va a copar más titulares desde el momento en que se anuncie de forma oficial: ‘Grand Theft Auto VI’. Después de que su quinta parte vendiera 175 millones de copias dando un beneficio de 6.000 millones de dólares a Rockstar, parece que la productora está mimando cada detalle para que nadie se quede con las ganas. Y sin embargo… puede que una década después de la última entrega los jugones quieran probar otras cosas.
Dos años después de que ‘San Andreas’ revolucionara la industria, ‘Saints Row’ se lanzó a la venta como un simple clon. Una copia a mano alzada y no con papel cebolla, pero copia al fin y al cabo. Sin embargo, introducía un tema que ‘GTA’ abandonaría en sus siguientes entregas: la pertenencia a una banda. Mientras que la saga de Rockstar trataba la historia de un lobo solitario metido en un mundo criminal (por gusto o por salvar el pellejo), la de THQ tenía otro enfoque.
A partir de ‘Saints Row 3’ las cosas cambiaron sobremanera. Y es que, de repente, explotó la locura, la comedia, las situaciones inverosímiles, el ambiente más festivo. Mientras que en ‘GTA V’ veíamos una historia de crimen y venganza oscura y sin redención (que no le importó a nadie), en ‘Saints Row IV’ tu personaje, el mismo que en los juegos anteriores, conseguía superpoderes, se convertía en el presidente de los Estados Unidos y tenía que parar un ataque alien. Lo mismito, vamos.
Y por si te quedabas corto, ‘Saint Row: Gat out of hell’, su DLC, te permitía jugar con dos miembros de la banda mientras trataban de rescatar a su jefe del Infierno después de que Satán le secuestrara. Y ojo, nadie está diciendo que ‘GTA’ tenga que convertirse en un absurdo repleto de locuras dejando de lado su ADN, pero, para ser sinceros, a lo largo de ‘GTA Online’ también ha cambiado lo suficiente como para preguntarnos… Realmente, ¿qué es ‘GTA’?
¿Tiene personalidad propia ‘GTA’?
Aún poco sabemos de ‘GTA VI’, pero ante la recepción del modo historia de la quinta parte (espectacular en lo jugable, increíble en lo gráfico, decepcionante en lo narrativo), que, de hecho, ni siquiera ha lanzado un DLC, es posible que el equipo esté mirando más lo que hace la comunidad en el modo online para ajustar uno de los juegos más esperados de la década hasta el límite.
Dicho de otra manera: ni tan serio y apocado como viene siendo habitual, ni tan cómico y loco como en ‘Saints Row’. La idea de volver a jugar como un lobo solitario, teniendo la posibilidad de unirse a una banda, se hace ya repetitiva: al fin y al cabo, en el juego de Deep Silver la pertenencia a un grupo sirve para ver una evolución real y unos personajes que evolucionan juego a juego, creando conexión con el espectador. Si en un ‘GTA’ no funcionan, no hay nada que te haga volver a ellos.
Quizá no hay que abandonar la historia del criminal solitario que se enfrenta a los peces gordos, pero sí darle más profundidad, permitir que el jugador haga locuras si es lo que quiere… O darle la oportunidad de tener más contacto con otros personajes secundarios. ‘GTA’ pavimentó el camino para el triunfo de ‘Saints Row’, pero ahora puede que cambien las tornas: Rockstar ha creado dos juegos totalmente diferentes en uno mismo, y volver a la sobriedad de su historia cuando han acostumbrado al público a la sinvergonzonería del modo online puede ser una pastilla difícil de tragar.
Eh, montemos una banda
El camino que se abre delante de Rockstar no es fácil de seguir y está repleto de bifurcaciones para entender qué es realmente su saga estrella una década después de su última aparición. Incluso franquicias míticas como ‘Zelda’ se han ido adaptando poco a poco a los gustos de la gente para encontrar un nuevo ADN (de mazmorreo a mundo abierto) y la repetición constante, por muy espectacular que sea, solo va a dar lugar a, tarde o temprano, el abandono de los gamers.
Todo lo que sube no tiene por qué bajar, pero Rockstar necesita, quizá, echar un vistazo a esos mal llamados “clones” y ver si lo que proponen tiene sentido más allá de los coches, las pistolas, los tiroteos y todo lo que hace a ‘GTA’ la franquicia millonaria que es. Es un ejercicio de abandono del ego, pero puede dar lugar a aquello con lo que todos los desarrolladores de videojuegos sueñan: una nueva entrega que sepa a lo mismo de siempre pero tenga las suficientes novedades como para querer volver a pasar por caja otra vez. Y otra. Y otra más.
A decade after the last installment, gamers may want to try other things.
We may be waiting for ‘Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom’, ‘Assassin’s Creed Mirage’ or ‘Spider-man 2’ as if we were waiting for May, but we all know which game is going to make headlines from the moment it is officially announced: ‘Grand Theft Auto VI’. After its fifth part sold 175 million copies giving a profit of 6 billion dollars to Rockstar, it seems that the producer is pampering every detail so that no one is left wanting. And yet… a decade after the last installment, gamers may want to try something else.
Two years after ‘San Andreas’ revolutionized the industry, ‘Saints Row’ was released as a simple clone. A freehand copy and not with onion paper, but a copy nonetheless. However, it introduced a theme that ‘GTA’ would abandon in its following installments: gang membership. While Rockstar’s saga dealt with the story of a lone wolf in a criminal world (for fun or to save his skin), THQ’s had another approach.
From ‘Saints Row 3’ onwards, things changed a lot. Suddenly, madness, comedy, implausible situations, and a more festive atmosphere exploded. While in ‘GTA V’ we saw a story of dark crime and revenge without redemption (which nobody cared about), in ‘Saints Row IV’ your character, the same as in the previous games, got superpowers, became the president of the United States and had to stop an alien attack. The same thing, come on.
And if that wasn’t enough, ‘Saint Row: Gat out of hell’, its DLC, allowed you to play with two members of the gang as they tried to rescue their boss from Hell after Satan kidnapped him. And mind you, no one is saying that ‘GTA’ has to become an absurdity full of craziness leaving aside its DNA, but, to be honest, over the course of ‘GTA Online‘ it has also changed enough to ask ourselves… Really, what is ‘GTA’?
Does ‘GTA’ have its own personality?
We still know little about ‘GTA VI’, but given the reception of the story mode of the fifth part (spectacular in gameplay, incredible in graphics, disappointing in narrative), which, in fact, has not even released a DLC, it is possible that the team is looking more at what the community does in the online mode to adjust one of the most anticipated games of the decade to the limit.
In other words: neither as serious and demure as usual, nor as comical and crazy as in ‘Saints Row’. The idea of returning to play as a lone wolf, having the possibility of joining a gang, is already repetitive: after all, in Deep Silver’s game, belonging to a group serves to see a real evolution and characters that evolve game by game, creating a connection with the viewer. If they don’t work in a ‘GTA‘, there’s nothing to bring you back to them.
Maybe we shouldn’t abandon the story of the lone criminal taking on the big shots, but we should give it more depth, allow the player to do crazy things if that’s what he wants… Or give him the opportunity to have more contact with other secondary characters. GTA’ paved the way for the triumph of ‘Saints Row’, but now the tables may turn: Rockstar has created two totally different games in one, and returning to the sobriety of its story when they have accustomed the public to the shamelessness of the online mode can be a hard pill to swallow.
Hey, let’s start a band
The road ahead for Rockstar is not easy to follow and is full of bifurcations to understand what its flagship saga really is a decade after its last appearance. Even mythical franchises like ‘Zelda‘ have gradually adapted to people’s tastes to find a new DNA (from dungeon crawling to open world) and constant repetition, no matter how spectacular, is only going to result in, sooner or later, abandonment by gamers.
Everything that goes up doesn’t have to come down, but Rockstar needs, perhaps, to take a look at those misnamed “clones” and see if what they propose makes sense beyond the cars, guns, shootouts and everything that makes ‘GTA’ the million-dollar franchise that it is. It’s an exercise in ego abandonment, but it may lead to what all game developers dream of: a new installment that tastes like the same old thing but has enough new features to make you want to go back to checkout again. And another one. And another one.
