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Aside the name, what does make Metroid Dread a triple-A title, though? After playing Blasphemous, Huntdown, Deedlit in Wonder Labyrinth, and a few others for th

Aside the name, what does make Metroid Dread a triple-A title, though? After playing Blasphemous, Huntdown, Deedlit in Wonder Labyrinth, and a few others for the past year, I can't say Metroid Dread has a distinctive trait that would make it standing out as AAA. The competition from indie studios is tough nowadays, many of them release AAA-grade titles without labelling them as such.

spywaregorilla 4y ago
AAA used to simply imply good graphics. These days it tends to refer to that and the hand-craftedness of things. Like every moment being designed for some player impact. The new Tomb Raiders are the most emblematic of this imo, though not in a good way. AAA games tend not to feel like a set of standard mechanics and actors arranged in different levels. They have a lot more special circumstances. Worst case this is just cut scenes. Commonly it's special control schemes for specific situations that break the standard game design and may be cool or may suck. I haven't played any of these titles, including Metroid so I can't comment. But... idk Hollow Knight was an excellent 2d side scroller with beautiful art that was clearly not AAA to no detriment, imo. Nintendo does things their own way too so it's always funky. In my headcannon this transitioned most clearly with the cultural shift of Halo 3 being AAA to CoD4 being AAA.
- filoleg 4y ago
  > AAA used to simply imply good graphics Often, yeah, but it doesn't feel like that's what people mean by it in this comment chain. For a specific example, I would say that the recently announced Hades 2 is an AAA roguelike, even though it isn't trying to be michael-bay-tier in the graphics department at all. Disclaimer: not to be confused with artstyle and the overall visual presentation, both of which were just fantastic in the original Hades, and I expect just as much from Hades 2.
- Scarblac 4y ago
  Would Ori and the Blind Forest count? 2D, awesome and hand crafted in every way but I think the publisher wouldn't count as large?
noobermin 4y ago
No I wouldn't say it is a triple A but it is a legitimate installation of the franchise.
tsuujin 4y ago
“AAA” refers to any game made by a larger publisher with a large budget. The general sentiment is they have large budgets so higher expectations are reasonable.
thaumasiotes 4y ago
> I can't say Metroid Dread has a distinctive trait that would make it standing out as AAA. I have never been aware of a meaning of AAA other than "current-generation graphics". Where do distinctive traits come into it?
- 2000UltraDeluxe 4y ago
  Wikipedia edit history [1] suggests the definition has been a matter of some debate, but the current definition has more or less been static since a few months after the article was created; i.e. high costs, high-profile and high-expectations. By that definition, a AA game could definitely look better than an AAA game, although it would be unexpected. On the other hand, BioWare's recent titles and the entire Cyberpunk 2077 debacle seems to have shaken things up quite a bit and many people now seem to have have _lower_ expectations on AAA titles, because the major players aren't trusted to release good titles worth their money. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=AAA_(video_game_industry)&action=history&offset=&limit=500 https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=AAA_(video_game_i...
  - thaumasiotes 4y ago
    > By that definition, a AA game could definitely look better than an AAA game, Of course...? > although it would be unexpected. No it wouldn't; that would be completely normal. I didn't say AAA meant attractive graphics. I said it meant current-generation graphics. Compare a screenshot of Escape from Monkey Island to one of Curse of Monkey Island. No one is going to argue that Escape looks better. But if you released a beautiful 2D-animated game in 2000, that wouldn't be "current" technology.

spywaregorilla 4y ago

AAA used to simply imply good graphics. These days it tends to refer to that and the hand-craftedness of things. Like every moment being designed for some player impact. The new Tomb Raiders are the most emblematic of this imo, though not in a good way. AAA games tend not to feel like a set of standard mechanics and actors arranged in different levels. They have a lot more special circumstances. Worst case this is just cut scenes. Commonly it's special control schemes for specific situations that break the standard game design and may be cool or may suck. I haven't played any of these titles, including Metroid so I can't comment. But... idk Hollow Knight was an excellent 2d side scroller with beautiful art that was clearly not AAA to no detriment, imo. Nintendo does things their own way too so it's always funky. In my headcannon this transitioned most clearly with the cultural shift of Halo 3 being AAA to CoD4 being AAA.

filoleg 4y ago
> AAA used to simply imply good graphics Often, yeah, but it doesn't feel like that's what people mean by it in this comment chain. For a specific example, I would say that the recently announced Hades 2 is an AAA roguelike, even though it isn't trying to be michael-bay-tier in the graphics department at all. Disclaimer: not to be confused with artstyle and the overall visual presentation, both of which were just fantastic in the original Hades, and I expect just as much from Hades 2.
Scarblac 4y ago
Would Ori and the Blind Forest count? 2D, awesome and hand crafted in every way but I think the publisher wouldn't count as large?

noobermin 4y ago

No I wouldn't say it is a triple A but it is a legitimate installation of the franchise.

tsuujin 4y ago

“AAA” refers to any game made by a larger publisher with a large budget. The general sentiment is they have large budgets so higher expectations are reasonable.

thaumasiotes 4y ago

> I can't say Metroid Dread has a distinctive trait that would make it standing out as AAA. I have never been aware of a meaning of AAA other than "current-generation graphics". Where do distinctive traits come into it?

2000UltraDeluxe 4y ago
Wikipedia edit history [1] suggests the definition has been a matter of some debate, but the current definition has more or less been static since a few months after the article was created; i.e. high costs, high-profile and high-expectations. By that definition, a AA game could definitely look better than an AAA game, although it would be unexpected. On the other hand, BioWare's recent titles and the entire Cyberpunk 2077 debacle seems to have shaken things up quite a bit and many people now seem to have have _lower_ expectations on AAA titles, because the major players aren't trusted to release good titles worth their money. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=AAA_(video_game_industry)&action=history&offset=&limit=500 https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=AAA_(video_game_i...
- thaumasiotes 4y ago
  > By that definition, a AA game could definitely look better than an AAA game, Of course...? > although it would be unexpected. No it wouldn't; that would be completely normal. I didn't say AAA meant attractive graphics. I said it meant current-generation graphics. Compare a screenshot of Escape from Monkey Island to one of Curse of Monkey Island. No one is going to argue that Escape looks better. But if you released a beautiful 2D-animated game in 2000, that wouldn't be "current" technology.