Don't Nod Staff to Strike in Paris, Workers Demand Redundancy Plan Be Abandoned

I hope Don’t Nod keeps going. I absolutely love the games they make. I’m playing Banishers right now (and really liking it and smacking myself for taking so long to get to it, despite preordering the game), in fact, and can’t wait to preorder Lost Records, having finished Life is Strange: Double Exposure. Remember Me is a hidden gem as is Vampyr, and Jusant was one of the best games to ever launch on Gamepass. This is a team that makes great games and they deserve to continue to do so.

@TrannosaurusBex @SuperSilverback I’m quite enjoying Banishers. I beat The Beast last night. It’s a strange game, in that, being AA, I have no idea how deep I am into the game. Feels like I should be farther than a first boss, but also feels like I’m still at the surface. But it’s also sort of a game you soak in rather than rush through. I’m quite enjoying it. I do suspect it will be in my top 5 at year’s end. That said, I can’t believe the Golden Joysticks snubbed Red and Antea for best actor in a game! Easily some of the best voice acting in the industry. Easily. Best I’ve seen this year for sure.

For LiS, Don’t Nod only did the first one and LiS2. Square owns the IP and they’ve got the studio Deck Nine making the games now. There’s subtle differences between the studios’ approach to the series, but the series is still well made. It’s a series that you’re better off NOT looking at reviews because all of them have reviewed in the 70s at launch by mostly reviewers that usually aren’t fans of the series, as most people only played the first one, except True Colors, which hit the low 80s at launch. It’s a great series for those that love it. It’s my wife’s favorite game series, for sure, and it’s one of mine. Her favorite is LiS2 and mine is True Colors. The only one we thought was iffy was Before the Storm, which honestly feels like fanbait DLC. We just finished Double Exposure last week and agreed it was better than reviews gave it credit for, but also not the best in the series. I would recommend downloading Captain Spirit and giving that a shot. It’s like a demo for the second game, but it’s with a character that isn’t the main character from the game. It’s a really well crafted little freebie. Many other studios would have made something like that and it would have been DLC.

Also, I highly recommend Jusant. It’s just so incredibly unique. If you like the mountain scaling in BotW, for instance, you’ll like this. It’s a short game, but it’s so well done it doesn’t matter. It’s honestly one of those games that has replay value because it’s fun to play and so unique. Well, for me, anyway!

@SuperSilverback Yeah, I think the story, characters, and just all around world of the game have been 9/10 tier, but traversal and combat are sort of… basically signs of this being a AA release with a lower budget and definitely more or less 6/10 or 7/10 tier, so I think I agree with you that it’s an 8/10, but an 8/10 that I’m biased toward. As of right now, I’ve got it at #5 on my top 10 list for the year, right between Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown and Life is Strange: Double Exposure. I sort of feel like it’s staying there for now, but if I end up liking the story more, I may put it above PoP, even if I’d say that one’s a 9/10. I like it more than most games that got nominated for GotY for Golden Joysticks for sure. It’s sort of the type of game I feel like is missing in the industry these days. Sure, it’s got some issues, but, man, it’s got some really interesting things going on that feel really fresh.

I had preordered it, based on me loving the studio’s games, but just never started it, and now I’m questioning why I didn’t play it already. After Silent Hill 2, which was more stressful than fun for me, Banishers honestly feels like exactly the type of game I’ve been wanting to play all year.