Is this generation better or worse than the last?

[Poppincaps]

So this generation will soon be coming to a close with the next gen consoles coming out this fall. How do you feel this generation compares to the last?

Personally, I think this generation was good, but didn't quite stack up to the last generation. Multiple franchises that carried over into this generation are worse in many cases. Mass Effect, Fallout, Halo, Gears of War, Dragon Age, Borderlands, Assassin's Creed, Call of Duty, and others. But on the other hand we had some greatly improved like Witcher, Red Dead Redemption, God of War, and Monster Hunter (kinda). There were also many beloved franchises that were just absent like Bioshock, GTA, and Elder Scrolls. I don't really think a lot of the new IP we got this generation live up to some of the missing ones.

When I look back to the last generation, I find that there were a ton of games that I loved. I feel like there were a lot of 9/10s in that generation with a few 10s sprinkled throughout. With this generation I feel like there are a lot of 8/10s but perhaps more 10/10s.

I will say that I think the indie scene is stronger than ever. I never thought that an indie game would crack my top 10 games, but Undertale did. Other indies like Hollow Knight and Celeste are also fantastic. PS3/360 generation had 3 games crack my top 10, whereas this generation had 2 games crack my top 10. Also 2 of the PS3/360 games are in my top 3 (Dark Souls and Fallout 3) whereas the 2 games this generation sit at 9 and 10 (Undertale and Persona 5 respectively).

[Shaiandra]

I don't really have an opinion since I rarely play AAA games; I basically occupied myself with only a few online games including WoW and other Blizzard games for well over a decade... but I kinda just wanted to comment/agree with your view on indie games, especially given your avatar: I just played through Ori and the Blind Forest on the weekend then finished Ori and the Will of the Wisps last night and loved them (the second one even more).

If I had to pick I'd probably pick the newer generation, but it's likely a limited view.

[Skizzit]

I say this generation was worse. Game quality was pretty on par with the previous, but there was a fair bit less in way of creativity, especially in AAA games. Vast majority of big games were sequels/remakes. This generation also saw the rise of shitty business tactics like loot boxes, in-game purchases, season passes, p2w, and any other way game companies can think of to squeeze every last penny out of the consumer. That alone makes it worst than any other generation in my mind.

[Martymark]

Greatest game of the current generation, a 100% 10/10 that nothing will ever beat: The Last Of Us 2.

So...I voted this generation is trash.

[Faldric]

Hard to beat the variety of the last generation. Current generation became stale quite early in its lifetime, with especially the Xbone having content droughts for at least half of its. They started strong but it didn't last.

[dope_danny]

Last gen was very long so it had a lot of great stuff, but also suffered from games circa 2007/8 being outright braindead with the concept of challenge and difficulty replaced with the biggest hard on for 'interactive experiences' history remembers as movie games, the quicktime event was king, season passes and on disc dlc was rampant and the quality of games dropped significantly. Shit like anthem stands out today because of how rare it is, buying a game -particularly a port- last gen was a much bigger gamble than it is today because of all the hardware differences. Current gen has its own problems but the good significantly outweighs the bad and i can't say that about the 360/ps3 era.

[Zogarth]

This generation has been corrupted by progressively worse and worse business practices. Gambling in the form of lootboxes and random bullshit in nearly every game, even thrown in singleplayer games for good measure. Half of AAA games are released half-finished and most of the popular franchises have decayed to become significantly worse (Fallout, Mass Effect etc.) while others just haven't even gotten any releases (Elder Scrolls, GTA etc.).

Game quality has also been kind of stagnant. Technical improvements (outside of VR) only marginal as games can only look that realistic.

[dwightyo39]

My current gen console is just used as a media center. I never really got into any of the games I played on it. Really the only console I play is the NES I purchased as a 5th grader with yard work money. I'm either playing WoW retail/classic or 8 bit Nintendo.

[Aeluron Lightsong]

Some good, some bad, its not consistent.

[Tech614]

Last gen was pure garbage until the very end. I can count the memorable games before 2010 on 2 hands and that's sad. The gen finished strong but that doesn't makeup for the large period of just shitty dude bro shooters with piss filters which was the majority of the gen. It didn't help that the Wii was pretty shit for core gamers and outside of SMG1+2, both Zeldas and Xenoblade didn't offer much. Probably the worst Nintendo library, even the Wii U was way better.

[Video Games]

Gen 7 was so bad i can count on both hands how many games i liked

[Darknessvamp]

Well we got Halo 3 and Dark Souls in the previous generation and we got Halo: The Master Chief Collection and Dark Souls Remastered in this one. Kinda says a lot.

[Rogalicus]

I'd say this generation was better. Last gen was too riddled with QTEs, endless cutscenes and 'realistic' graphics that aged like milk. Indie scene started back then, but rose to real prominence now. Multiple old franchises were ressurected, some flopped, but mostly it was really good.

[Val the Moofia Boss]

Last gen was a golden era for Japanese games, with the 3DS and the PS Vita pumping out amazing games one after another. Trails of Cold Steel (1 and 2), Tokyo Xanadu, Ys VIII, the Atelier Dusk Trilogy, Tales of Zestiria, Fire Emblem Fates, and 3D Pokemon games (even if they did have problems).

The only game from this gen I like is Trails of Cold Steel III.

[Tech614]

Last gen was a golden era for Japanese games, with the 3DS and the PS Vita pumping out amazing games one after another. Trails of Cold Steel (1 and 2), Tokyo Xanadu, Ys VIII, the Atelier Dusk Trilogy, Tales of Zestiria, Fire Emblem Fates, and 3D Pokemon games (even if they did have problems).

The only game from this gen I like is Trails of Cold Steel III.

Handheld and console gens are different and even if they weren't I have a hard time counting the 3DS or Vita as gen 7 when they are far closer to the release of Wii U then the release of the 360. They where literally 1 year old when the Wii U came out and 2 years old when the PS4 came out. The 360 was fucking 6 years old when the came out, and PS3 and Wii where 5 years old.

Trying to use them to pimp up shitty ass gen 7 is super weird. DS and PSP are far closer to being gen 7 if you want to go that route, but again throwing handhelds into console gens doesn't really work to begin with.

[Queen of Hamsters]

I tend to live in the now, and some of the games I've enjoyed the most in my entire life, came out on the PS4 and Switch and PC in later years, so...

[Onikaroshi]

Hard to tell, since some of my favorite games from this generation were remakes of older games O.o (re:2/3, ffvii) but those weren't even last gen, those were ps1 gen lol.

Still say ps2 gen was probably the best generation we've had. But I'm biased, i played the shit out of my ps2.