Defining Duke, Episode 122 | Redfall Is An Absolute Disaster - What Now? (Video)

I love this thumbnail!

Zorro

We're in the endgame now.

Kasual7

Redfall is pretty ass, but if we're going by disappointing releases from solid studios... Babylon's Fall or Anthem hit me way harder.

Just beat Redfall, clocked 20+ hours into the game, and the saddest part, being a PS guy since PS3, is that I’m not mad, because not having been part of the 360 days, for me this is Xbox first party level of quality, I wish it wasn’t but it is for me, and I’m ok with that, because I know I’ll get the 11/10 as Phil says, from Sony. There are exceptions of course, I thoroughly enjoyed Forza Horizon 5, Gears 4/5, Hi-fi, and even Infinite to a certain extent, but there are just too many duds when it there shouldn’t be.

Tiago Müller

I don't know man, Redfall had that Saints Row reboot energy for me when it was first revealed. It seems my gut feeling was correct.

Fotis Lyto

59 now.

Germanos

I was simply more hyped for Xbox Series than I was PlayStation 5 in Spring 2020 and this was BEFORE Microsoft acquired Bethesda which was icing on the cake. The main reasons I switched was Microsoft putting their exclusives on Game Pass day one which is perfect for me because im not a collector and don't care about ownership. Play, complete, move on. lol. The console itself on paper is superior to PS5 even though it hasn't appeared that way thus far but it is what it is. Perhaps the number one reason is the fact that im able to use the Xbox One controller which in all honesty, is the best controller I have ever used. I don't care about gimmicks and the battery life in the Dual Sense is horrible. I also hate the touch pad from PS4/PS5 because it's nothing more than an oversized world map button. UGH. Other reasons include free cloud saves which has saved me at least 5 times this generation from having to start the game over from the beginning and an easy refund policy where as with Sony, getting a refund is a pain in the ass and since im not an online gamer whatsoever, im not paying for cloud saves. Screw that. I do however own a PlayStation 5 disc edition as it's my secondary exclusives only console. No bullcrap, Miles, Ratchet, HFW and GOWR are all excellent games. First three were a 9/10 for me and GOWR was a 9.5/10 and my 2022 GOTY. Add in Kena which is such a great game and coming into 2023, Sony was leading 5 to 1 in exclusives for me and when I say for me, I mean the exclusives that I care about, played and completed. Coming into this generation, I always expected Sony to have the better first half of the generation while I still believe that Microsoft will have the better second half of the generation. I have 10+ exclusives for Microsoft on my list post Redfall. It's just that majority of them are in the second half of the generation which I have known since 2020. After 2023, im expecting the gap to go from 5 to 1 to 7 (Miles, SM 2, HFW, Kena, GOWR, FFXVI and Ratchet) to 4 (Halo Infinite (campaign), Hi Fi Rush, Redfall and Starfield) minimum. Could end up 8 to 5 if Stellar Blade and Hellblade 2 release this year. I will say that I have been happy with both my consoles. Of course, im 44 years old and I rarely go nuts when it comes to gaming. :)

peter42O

Maybe they just dont like the exclusives? Personally i wouldnt call any sony exclusive must plays outside of maybe 2 and even then i wouldnt be upset missing them, the only thing Sony has hostage that i like is final fantasy, and thats only timed deals (which utterly suck as someone who games on PC primarily) But even thats not a huge deal, just wait 2 years and boom its on steam.

Stinkling

Switching from PS4 to SX as primary is wild. 😅

NeO JD

As someone who switched from PlayStation 4 to Xbox Series X as my primary gaming console for this generation, the reception over Redfall is simply overblown. It's one bad game out of twelve that Microsoft have released this generation. I played Redfall for just under three hours and will be playing through it once I complete Jedi Survivor and Hi Fi Rush. It's a game that's simply for me. Far Cry + Borderlands + State of Decay but with Vampires. If it wasn't for the fact that I want to complete those two other games, I would have kept playing. Instead, I'll restart it once I complete those two other games. Are there issues with Redfall? Absolutely and if anything, it will end up being a positive because it will make Microsoft integrate Bethesda into Microsoft which they're already doing. Arkane Austin should get the 60FPS patch out, the two new characters and get the game in the best state possible by October. Let them get their vacation for the holidays and after new year's, come back rejuvenated and revitalized to start work on their next game which in my opinion should be Dishonored 3 due to it being a known IP, safe bet and it's what a lot of Arkane fans including myself want. As for Arkane Lyon, im pretty sure that they hinted at wanting to do a new Shadowrun game which would be great in my opinion. If not, then a new IP. I do NOT want Deathloop 2. UGH. No thanks. Please do something else. One bad game doesn't change anything for me and Microsoft is still doing far better this generation first party wise than they did last generation in the same time period in my opinion.

peter42O

Excellent podcast episode, and good to see acknowledgement that time is running out for Xbox to deliver on its promises. Great perspectives from Cog and Mr Matty. Xbox is still my preferred platform for gaming, but I'm starting to lose faith in the current strategy. I 'get' that Spencer needs to play to Microsoft strengths (cloud, ecosystem, online services etc) but I agree with Mr Matty that you still need to compete with a strong core console offering and big hitting exclusives. Doesn't matter if it's Gamepass or the core console - premium experiences drive engagement with an ecosystem. Yes, we don't want Microsoft to 'copy' God of War, Horizon etc, but Microsoft does need to offer those kind of experiences. Gamepass seems to be reaching its ceiling and xCloud (while technically impressive) isn't enough of a net benefit for core gamers. Increasingly I'm investing more in my Sony Playstation library because: a) the ports tend to be slicker b) First party exclusives are (usually) excellent c) still way more Japanese games d) more retro games (retro remasters) on the platform. Lastly, I know Sony is committed to their console (even with the addition of PC and cloud etc), so I know that investment will have legs. Microsoft is letting gamepass mania overtake it's thinking too much. Microsoft Rewards was probably the main reason I bought so many games on Xbox the last few years, but now they've moved the daily achievement reward (something that got me gaming every day) over into just Gamepass, I got really annoyed. I ended my Gamepass sub last year because I've got a crazy backlog to get through, and I didn't see enough compelling stuff there for me (but it is excellent value etc). I get the feeling that Xbox just wants everyone to adopt cloud as quickly as possible so that it can stop doing hardware. It looks like mass market cloud gaming is probably a good 6-10 years away, so that's a pretty risky strategy at this point. Yes, plan for cloud - but prioritize your core console today. Take that ABK money and reinvest in growing your core studios, make some smart acquisitions of developers (Asobo, Crytek, IO Interactive etc). Buff up your operations team to enable better management of first party delivery across the business. I still route for Xbox to do well, but the strategy needs an overhaul. Otherwise Silver (or bronze?) medal ranking for eternity beckons (or maybe Microsoft reduces gaming investment).

Captain Hero

I really appreciate the passion and enthusiasm behind what you guys are saying. Really frustrating times for Xbox.

Bobby Woods

That remains a dogmatic view. You didn't insult me but it's difficult to see that not being your intent. Your autism quip was awful, no exception. Simply put I am accustomed and prefer more measured and professional discussion (that isn't to say I don't like humour, fun or frivolity) and in contrast to xbox coverage on other pods very recently, I felt like this was a bit of a miss and struck me as out of character. I expected responses like this but to your point, if we're not writing down what we feel, what on earth are we doing?

Ethan

I'm not being sycophantic, just highlighting that your feedback is shite. You are masking pointlessness behind verbosity because you have nothing valuable to say, you just want to write how you feel down. I'm not aiming to hurt you, i'm also not insulting 'people' with a an arguable disability, i'm talking to you directly. I'm giving you, specifically, some honest feedback on your what you were demonstrating very clearly, if you felt insulted then....cool? I'll leave you to it :)

Buff_Cupcake

Speaking of massive and slightly weird overreaction.....Short of contributing to my point, your sycophantic response only insults people with a developmental disability for no reason. If you aimed to hurt me with hurling insults, I'm sorry you felt the need. I like the pod and Matty, I simply had feedback. I'm sure if I insulted him and he felt it necessary to respond he is quite able, though it would be odd to be insulted by my innocuous comments versus the language I referred too.

Ethan

"At worst this pod felt like it was perpetuating a myth of last stand fans being overly emotive, immature and/or aggressive at best it was an adult tantrum and hard to listen to." Wow...that's a massive and slightly weird overreaction in general. I think if there was ever a time to be 'emotional' as you put it it would be around the launch of Redfall. All things considered they both had an understandable natural reaction. If you are expecting them to behave or act only in a way that suits your comfort scale then you might want to check your autism at the door before commenting. To reduce the valid points and commentary to an 'adult tantrum' among other things says more about you than how Matty chose to communicate his opinions.

Buff_Cupcake

You guys are like the band who kept playing music on the Titanic while it was sinking. Thanks for the great ep 🤙🏼

Dylan Michael

Well ABK is done yet although it doesnt look good. They make plenty of money from the Xbox console and will continue too. Most people on it play multi games anyways. Fornite, warzone, apex, fifa, COD, Madden ect... Once these studios get there ducks in a row iam sure it will be a pleasing ecosystem to play on or just get gamepass when you see something you like for a month. I dont care.

PortugalTheMark

Charming

Ethan

No one cares. This isn't a boardroom, let people be human.

Never came here to be negative, barely visit at all actually, usually a lurker. Small bit of feedback for Matty is maybe control the emotion a bit, I don't enjoy the critique being reduced to name calling-ish vibe. Notable quotes "braindead" "spoiled little brats" etc. Dont get me wrong, frustrating times if you care about the brand. This felt off tone for him and last media in general. There are people at the end of all this and you can communicate your message (including dissapointment, criticism etc) while maintaining some control. At worst this pod felt like it was perpetuating a myth of last stand fans being overly emotive, immature and/or aggressive at best it was an adult tantrum and hard to listen to. You're an example to many and this encourages the twitter, comment section and reddit people that just have meltdows over videogames amd fandom. Cog was more controlled and mature whilst still getting point across. Enjoy coverage usually, interesting times for sure.

Ethan

Sold my Series S and X a while back and canceled Game Pass. Whatever happened to being the most powerful console? Just not seeing the output or the quality. Time to come to terms perhaps with the thought that MS just isn’t very good at making great games or buying / managing other companies that make great games.? A distant third at this point behind Sony and Nintendo.

Doug, just Doug

They ask Phil straight up about delaying and he in the nicest way possible said it wouldn't have saved the core part of the game. I do love how honest Phil is. He sounds like he's pretty confident in the upcoming line up and showcase though. I think Hellblade 2 is dropping this year.

bix hutch

I kind of feel like this is what has to happen at this point if the ABK acquisition doesn’t go through. I don’t think Microsoft will voluntarily wave the white flag on that, but I don’t see Xbox hardware lasting more than one additional generation after this at most if it doesn’t happen.

hell yeah. i rlly like when cog doesnt restrain himself from saying his full thoughts on any topic. havent finished the episode yet but this has been awesome so far. good job boys!

gothichellokitty

I didn't know about the Kinda Funny interview, but purely thinking purely about business and managing projects, I had EXTREMELY little doubt why they didn't delay this game. It simply wouldn't make sense to do so outside of some sunken cost fallacy. It's an unfortunate blight, but sinking more money and tying up resources to try to mold it into something else...it just doesn't make a lot of sense.

Lou & Rei Loper

I played RedFall for a couple hours and that's enough. It's kind of a shame, because I see a lot of potential in the game, but it's also clearly fucked up to the core. It's never going to be patched into a great game. They need to patch in a 60 fps mode, make the AI smarter, and remove the always online nature and then move on from it. RedFall has just reinforced my trend this generation. I started out pretty hot for the Series X, but since the end of 2021, I have shifted hard over to PS5. Hoping for Starfield to hit and be great and then I'm really interested in Hellblade 2. Microsoft needs some wins.

Matthew Cooper

What’s next? Stop the acquisition of ABK, pay the couple billion penalty and move on. Then discontinue the Xbox. Everything on Xbox can be played on PC, in a much better way. The best video games are all PlayStation exclusives, and it looks like they’ll all eventually end up on PC. The Xbox system has long been irrelevant.

Adam Barnes

Didn’t think I’d be checking out quantum break and last case of Benedict fox this weekend instead of redfall, but here we are. Haven’t listened to the pod yet but I’m interested in hearing your guys’ thoughts on if they should try to fix this thing or just abandon it.

Michael Limauro

Microsoft is doing with these studios exactly what dealers of hard drugs do. Many companies are doing this now. They gain your faith by selling you quality product and then start selling you trash every now and then or some will just lower quality over time. There will always be some excuse but next time it's supposed to be better! They will still deliver the good stuff from time to time in order to keep you coming back, but at some point you are playing a lottery with them. The important thing to understand is that they know exactly what they are doing.

PRETENTIEUX

After 30 minutes of playing this game I knew why Xbox didn't delay Redfall. No delay short of 2 years could have saved this game. It's flawed at its core and it was apparent Xbox wanted this out and to move on. Strangely enough a report came out later that day stating that very thing and then Dealer gaming got a dm live on air stating something similar. Then This morning Phil Spencer went on kind of Funny and basically stated himself the game was not delayed because he didn't believe a delay would fix It's core issues and that when they took over they were too far in development to really save this project in a reasonable time. It sounds like Arkane Austin has already started It's next game so here's to hoping this was just unfixable damaged goods and not a trend. Phil stated this morning they have been all over Starfield with support early on so I think we're getting 60.

bix hutch

If Phil Spencer or anybody in charge of quality control at Bethesda played this game for 30 minutes they'd know it wasn't ready for release. Great episode boys this was the most entertaining episode yet Matty's rant was legendary and well deserved

Walker Simmons

They have to earn it.

PRETENTIEUX

Xbox just can't get any traction...

Blue