I think it is safe to say we all have favourite games we love to play (and replay). What about studios? Does anyone have a studio they feel can do no wrong, or consistently produces games you love. Are there any die-hard studio fans out there who will buy everything a studio puts out? Or is this just a crazy notion? What are some of the studios to which you feel most loyal? And why?
An obvious contender (at the moment) is From Software whose games I love and Iāve pre-ordered all of them without regrets. Itās hard for me to name many other devs that I pre-order from.
Another choice would be Looking Glass Studios. Sadly they broke apart many years ago, but nearly every single game they released was a masterpiece. If they were resurrected I would pre-order.
Final nomination goes to Cyan, who also have a good track record. Their game Uru was a bit of a flop, but that was because no one played it: an MMO isnāt fun when all the gigantic servers are deserted. It was a cool idea though. Aside from that I adore all of their games and I canāt wait for Obductionās release this year.
I used to quite like Valve and Blizzard but not any more. Valve in particular has really branched away from my preferences. I thought they could do no wrong after Portal, but then it all went downhill. I guess theyāre chasing the big money and that lies in F2P games sadly.
At face value it does seem a bit dumb to be devoted to a company, to stick by a company like that. But usually these legendary companies are headed by a visionary. Each great studio generally has that one person who acts as the driving force. In that sense you can almost reframe it as being a fan of an āartistā or something, rather than a faceless corporation.
I love Cyan games. I started with Cosmic Osmo and the Worlds Beyond the Mackerel as a kid and continued playing their games as they evolved.
I really like the stories and detail that Blizzard puts into their work. I grew up on Warcraft and as much as I do not play their games as heavily, things like Overwatch prove to me they are still trying to craft enjoyable stories and games.
I interestingly really like a lot of work Canadian studios. Aside from loving the work of Bioware I also enjoy work by Ubisoft Montreal, Eidos Montreal, Square Enix Montreal, DrinkBox Studios, Capybara Studios, Hothead Games, Superbrothers, Not everything from companies like Ubisoft is my favourite but a lot of what the Montreal team does is enjoyable and, I think, the product of a lot of hard work.
Of course there are other favourites like Insomniac. I do love me some Ratchet & Clank. .
Given you like From Software, have you played Shadow Tower on PlayStation? I had forgotten about it until recently.
I picked up a āCyan Packā thing on Steam a while ago, it contains all the Cyan games, including the old ones like Cosmic Osmo and The Manhole. Really great games.
Iāve been looking into the old From Software catalogue, really intrigued by their older first person RPGs, they look great. Apparently Kingās Field 2 is a particular highlight but thereās a whole series of them. Planning on trying them, I even added some to my āto-play-nextā list. Not sure how to approach it though, I could emulate but I feel like it would be fun to track down an old Playstation1 and play on original hardware. I know I can find a PS1 second hand really cheap ($20 or less) but Iām thinking those games are probably really rare/expensive. Havenāt investigated though. Gosh, I wish I could buy them on PSN or something. With the popularity of Bloodborne/DS3 if they made some sloppy ports people would buy em up like hotcakes.
EDIT: Iāve noticed this link.. Very interesting. According to the wiki:
Maybe I am weird, but I want the original disc for Mac OS. I very nearly had one but very few people want to sell it. The copies on eBay are not selling cheap.
Which PS3 do you have? First gen up to the PS3 slim play PS games. The only PS3 console that does not play original PS games is the PS3 super slim. Playing on your PS3 is great. Wireless controllers plus no need for the PS memory card.
Yes, yes they are. Well some, especially those that are hard to find. They can be ridiculously pricey.
Thatās interesting. You should give it a look.
Growing up I loved Blizzard and Westwood studios (command and conquer makers, franchise later bought by EA). Interplay, Acclaim, Capcom of course. Fireproof Games consistently put out fun games. Supergiant puts out quality work.
Iām not incredibly dedicated to any one inparticular, just enjoyed what they offered.
I never expected to have a favourite studio, but over the years I noticed I got quite attached to some of them. Iām a huge fan of Wadjet Eye Games. They still make the old-school point 'n click games with amazing stories and characters. Another one would be Daedalic Entertainment, specifically their point 'n click games are always on point.
I have all the Deponia games on Steam. I am looking forward to playing them.
Treasure
Capcom
Hudson soft
Compile
Sonic Team
Irem
Taito
SNK
Nihon Falcom
Namco
Konami
Red Entertainment
SquareEnix
Sega
Game Arts
Natsume
Wolf Team
Naxat Soft
Blizzard
@stealthrush stated a lot of the ones that I would notice. I donāt have favorite studios, but I do have ones that I often keep my eye on. Aside from all the ones mentioned above, here are some others that I usually follow:
Atlus
Game Freak
Level- 5 (Primarily for Layton though)
Spike Chunsoft