doom eternal positivity tread

[Chezza]

I agree with almost everything you said @QuaketallicA. Yeah shame about Master Levels being too long, otherwise I would play them more as well. After I do, I literally feel exhausted.

 

The pacing and story is where I disagree. Maybe I'm referring to different pacing as yourself but I find there is too much story, difficulty curve and mechanics to master at the beginning.

 

I remember when I started I was confused about killing the first priest and who the others and Maykr were. What did I do to get to that point from 2016? Also - the dozens tutorials slapped on my face in the first 10 minutes of gameplay was pace stopping and not effective.

 

It took me maybe my second or third campaign to get into the fun zone.

 

I love the game though.

[QuaketallicA]

7 hours ago, Chezza said:

I agree with almost everything you said @QuaketallicA. Yeah shame about Master Levels being too long, otherwise I would play them more as well. After I do, I literally feel exhausted.

 

The pacing and story is where I disagree. Maybe I'm referring to different pacing as yourself but I find there is too much story, difficulty curve and mechanics to master at the beginning.

 

I remember when I started I was confused about killing the first priest and who the others and Maykr were. What did I do to get to that point from 2016? Also - the dozens tutorials slapped on my face in the first 10 minutes of gameplay was pace stopping and not effective.

 

It took me maybe my second or third campaign to get into the fun zone.

 

I love the game though.

 

Oh yeah, I'll agree definitely about the annoying tutorials. Honestly, when I first played the game in I want to say beginning 2021, I don't remember the tutorials being as annoying or frequent. But people complained so they changed some things and then the pop-ups come up more often even if you turn tutorials off. Oh well. Same thing with the Marauder getting the cartoony stars floating over his head. I don't think that was originally there either.

 

You are right about it not really connecting to Doom 2016, but not only did that not bother me,  I also think it's a good thing. Frankly, the story in Eternal is a lot deeper and more interesting than 2016's. Olivia Pearce is a very cheesy villain and overall the tone of the demonic invasion feels kinda cheesy to me. Not Adam West Batman levels of cheese, but certainly less serious than Doom 3 or even the originals. Of course, that irreverence was part of its charm.

 

2016 seemed to set up Sammy Hayden to be the next game's adversary, perhaps?

Spoiler

That does kind of happen...eventually.

 

When I played 2016 I actually wanted to know more about the wraiths, Argent D'Nur, and the Sentinels. They seemed mystical and cool, but they were only lightly explored in 2016. The lore of the Betrayer, the one who sealed his people's fate (a doomed fate) in his moment of weakness, making a foul deal with the Devil to return his son to the living. A cool beginning, and in Eternal it is revealed that the resurrected Son is in fact the Icon of Sin, in a nice twist. We meet the Betrayer and eventually get his Hammer in the DLC. 

 

If you read all the collectibles, which I recommend, but do so at your own pace not necessarily as soon as you find them, it is quite obvious what is happening in the story. If you don't care and ignore them, then the cutscene tells you just enough info to have some context for the level, but you're not really as invested in the story as you may have been otherwise.

 

I personally found the pacing to be really fine tuned. They give you just enough time to get used to the new toys, play around with them, get a feel for them, before throwing a new toy in your arsenal to learn. It can get a little overwhelming just how many options you have, even by the Arctic Citadel levels, but I think the game spaces things out so that you never really feel confused.

 

Another thing is the weapon balance. Each and every single gun and secondary attachment remains useful throughout the game. 2016 had weaker guns that were decent in early game, but really pointless in late game. In fact, SSG, Gauss Cannon, and Chaingun were pretty much all you needed to be overkill by the end. Not so in Eternal. The Big Guns are not so overpowered as to make enemies boring, and the weak guns remain relevant even once you have everything.

[Chezza]

Ah yes, I totally agree Eternal at its peak sets it apart from most games. When the player starts mastering all the mechanics, it feels like playing a complete bad arse only seen in movies and cinematic trailers, albeit a lot faster haha

 

So really my only issue is the pacing leading up to that point. I'm a very experienced and frequent gamer but I almost feel embarrassed on how long it took me to get good at Eternal. But now Nightmare all the way!

[QuaketallicA]

10 hours ago, Chezza said:

Ah yes, I totally agree Eternal at its peak sets it apart from most games. When the player starts mastering all the mechanics, it feels like playing a complete bad arse only seen in movies and cinematic trailers, albeit a lot faster haha

 

So really my only issue is the pacing leading up to that point. I'm a very experienced and frequent gamer but I almost feel embarrassed on how long it took me to get good at Eternal. But now Nightmare all the way!

 

If I had to describe it in a soundbyte, I'd say it's like being the Bob Ross of ultra-violence. There's so much creativity in the cool finishers and so many options to dispatching any of the many, creative enemy types, that it feels like the way you kill demons is a symphony or Da Vinci painting all its own. It turns demon-slaying into a bona-fide art form.

[Goldar]

Watching playthroughs of DE got me back into Doom after playing it as a kid. It was the key that opened the door to discovering a whole world beyond the official games.

 

I was also gobsmacked upon seeing DE's Icon of Sin for the first time.

[TheSlipgateStudios]

Hi there, I just finished Nekravol Part II earlier this morning, and so far I have nothing but good things to say about this game. It is really difficult, sure, I died a lot, but that rush of adrenaline after completing a hard battle is off the charts. I really hope I can manage to beat the Icon of Sin in a few tries, or even on the first try (that would be awesome!). Overall, I like Eternal very much, I have yet to buy the DLC's.

[SkeletSpook]

People often complain about DE being too cartoony and arcady and negatively compare it to 2016's supposed "realism and grittiness". While DE's style isn't 100% my cup of tea, I must say it far better suits its tone and gameplay than 2016 did. 

I always thought Doom2016 was a bit all over the place with its tone and style. The gritty aesthetics clash with the self-aware tone, it kind of feels like someone telling a joke but telling it in the same way they'd a serious dramatic story. Similarly, the realistic or cinematic look of the game just kind of clashes with the arcade-like gameplay. 

I think a lot of it has to do with how the game was developed and I get the feeling it started out as something more grounded and gritty than what it finally turned into. People like Hugo have mentioned that they only really settled on the tone and story very late in development. What DE had going for it is that they had already found the tone and gameplay so they could build on that. It all feels much more consistent. 

[Kristian Nebula]

I reinstalled Doom Eternal after a year or so of not touching it. It's really a lot of fun to play it again and I'm surprised how well the gameplay loop stayed in the muscle memory! It feels even easier than before (on Nightmare, yes I'm one of those crazy guys who only play on it or UNM) :D 

[Man of Doom]

On 6/29/2023 at 4:11 AM, SkeletSpook said:

I think a lot of it has to do with how the game was developed and I get the feeling it started out as something more grounded and gritty than what it finally turned into. People like Hugo have mentioned that they only really settled on the tone and story very late in development.

You might actually be more on the money than you know.

 

There was actually a leaked document going around from Doom 2016’s development, and it basically consisted of a bunch of text logs that told a much more serious version of what would become 2016’s final story.

 

In-universe, said logs were actually made by various UAC employees and it all was framed to create the story of “UAC turns into a demon-worshipping cult” except playing out much more seriously (and even involved some pretty dark topics from what I remember).

 

And you make a very good point about how Doom Eternal is much more tonally consistent:

Everyone and their brother loves Doom 2016 and how irreverent it gets while still being “super-duper gritty”, but it’s the same game in which “pushing aside the first screen to monologue you” also has “stand in a room for 5 minutes and listen to that same person monologue”.

 

Why not give us that option to just take the ammo in Samuel Hayden’s room and just rip open the door to the next area?

 

(Also while 2016 was out, I also remember that there was actual discourse that 2016 wasn’t dark and gritty enough.)

Edited July 19, 2023 by Man of Doom

[SkeletSpook]

On 7/19/2023 at 8:51 PM, Man of Doom said:

You might actually be more on the money than you know.

 

There was actually a leaked document going around from Doom 2016’s development, and it basically consisted of a bunch of text logs that told a much more serious version of what would become 2016’s final story.

 

In-universe, said logs were actually made by various UAC employees and it all was framed to create the story of “UAC turns into a demon-worshipping cult” except playing out much more seriously (and even involved some pretty dark topics from what I remember).

 

And you make a very good point about how Doom Eternal is much more tonally consistent:

Everyone and their brother loves Doom 2016 and how irreverent it gets while still being “super-duper gritty”, but it’s the same game in which “pushing aside the first screen to monologue you” also has “stand in a room for 5 minutes and listen to that same person monologue”.

 

Why not give us that option to just take the ammo in Samuel Hayden’s room and just rip open the door to the next area?

 

(Also while 2016 was out, I also remember that there was actual discourse that 2016 wasn’t dark and gritty enough.)

 

Oh cool, didn't know about those leaked text logs, do you happen to have a link to them? I did know about that Concept Trailer that leaked recently and gave the impression of a darker tone.

[BGreener]

On 6/29/2023 at 6:11 AM, SkeletSpook said:

Similarly, the realistic or cinematic look of the game just kind of clashes with the arcade-like gameplay.  

 

That works for a lot of people, that was a big part of that "Hell on Earth" starter pack of levels for Brutal Doom made by the Brutal Doom guy himself. People are also taking the story direction of Eternal seriously despite even more emphasis on arcade-like gameplay and general goofiniess.

 

I hadn't really played 2016 much when it was first out due to still being blinded by Blizzard products and Overwatch in particular. Played it several months back and it was quaint seeing how much it mirrored Doom 3's rebooting.

[DiceByte]

On 3/31/2021 at 1:15 AM, omx32x said:

i see so much hate towards doom eternal on doomworld and i dont entirely understand why so here it is talk about everything you loved about the game

When you mean Doomworld, you actually mean game journalists, right? I have unconditional love for that game, I love the gore, the guns, the demons, the designs, just about everything about the game. As for game journalists, they seem to have an unconditional hate towards it. Then again, they probably freaked out when they found out there was a boss on level 4. Most of them probably quit and left a bad review on the game after that. And if the doom hunter didn’t finish them off, seeing two more doom hunters would’ve made sure they never touched the game ever again.

[whatup876]

Can't really see an overlap between DW and game journalists, since DW is like the oldest Doom forum.

It is true that some game journalists are technically "gamers" and not "ugh normies" like some people actually wish they were.

 

Part of why game journos are bad with games is because of their job to review the hottest thing while it's relevant.

This makes it special when some games don't have review copies for journos because it means the review will come out some time later and you'll first hear the reviews from the likes of other players and even Youtubers (even if at times, they end up replicating certain parts of game journos they replace), while IGN and such have to wait.