I'm surprised you didn't mention Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio!

They've done extremely well iterating slightly on the same formula.
I don't tend to agree.

IMO it was that Embracer wanted the Gothic IP but couldn't get it without guaranteeing PB's Elex II release.

It's like Disney making it sound like they were going to use George Lucas' outlines for new Star Wars movies in order to get George to sign... and then promptly discarding the outlines once he signed over the IP.

Only difference here is that Embracer agreed to put out Elex II.

PB should have worked to iterate more on Elex for a sequel, but I'm sure Embracer made them feel like their position was secure (in order to get that Gothic IP).

And soon they'll release the Gothic Remake.

Going from a trilogy like DS to a game like Sekiro or ER can hardly be regarded as "remaking the same game with tiny additions in regards to gameplay".

I was on the verge of mentioning them, but since RGG games (to me at least) are more about the story than gameplay I decided against listing them. :)

That's why I decided against listing Rockstar as well, even if every GTA is mechanically the same game. :)


Edit: Off-topic; I'm pumped for Like a Dragon 8, only 1 more week until release.

Yeah, I loved the first few Yakuza games -- and even played the zombie iteration Yakuza Dead Souls (?) -- but just gradually got burned out. Although the whole series has always been high quality -- especially the storylines. Heck, I even imported Kenzan (no, I don't speak or read Japanese) and have the localized Ishin on my desk! But the Hawaii setting interests me. I'll probably jump into the series again.

If you showed me gameplay material from any of the Soulsborn Ring games, 9 times out of 10 I would be completely unable to identify the game even with a gun to my head.

The only distinguishing features would be parts of the art design (at least for Sekiro and Elden Ring). The rest is the samey-est same that ever samed.

Indeed.
As for remaking the same game, wish they would have stuck to the Gothic formula in terms of setting, just better controls, and those of Risen 1 are serviceable enough. And they changed things in Risen 2, and that was a bad call, and where they went with the setting in ELEX is clearly out of my comfort zone.
So I agree that the high point was vanilla Gothic 2, with the exception of the controls, but I'd say that, except the controls, the problem past that was more about what they changed than about what they kept the same.

Hey, I'm still..... oh... shit...

*croaks*

ADDED: I don't know how others feel about PB, but my most recent experience with their games has left me completely underwhelmed at this news. The last two PB games I bought and played I thought.... well... they sucked a great deal. Gothic 3 was so far from 1 and 2 it took some time for me to realize it was the same company. (I always felt like Risen was a more Gothic 3 than Gothic 3 was, minus the setting and characters obviously. And while Elex was okay, I thouht Elex 2 wasn't. And while Risen 3 is okay, it too (again IMO) was the weakest in that series.

So, yeah, I would've argued they were the best game developers in the world after Gothic 1, Gothic 2, and Risen. But the more recent history is not something I'll be too worried about "losing" if PB does fold. I think games, movies, stuff like that is more influenced by the individuals working there than the company itself. Michael Hoge was the lead designer of... wait for it... Gothic 1, Gothic 2, and Risen 1 and left the company after Risen 1.

Well, I'm a bit kinda to their output... and enjoyed Elex a lot. Still, felt no need to re-visit that world so soon. I'd hoped that with the JoWood Gothic business concluded, PB would be back on the series... but instead we're getting a remake from an Italian company that may not understand the series very well. We'll see...

Hoge indeed returned to PB as a Creative Director for PB Red. He was working on a space RPG "Spacetime." Sounds like he may have been kicking around the company until Embracer came into the picture.

Well, I'd enthusiastically recommend Gothic 1 and Risen 1. Elex 1 and Risen 2 are also good, just not as good (IMO) as Gothic 1 and 2 and Risen 1. I was personally very unhappy with Gothic 3, and Gothic 3 Forsaken Gods... what a pile of crap, although even though THQ Nordic published Forsaken Gods, it wasn't a Pyrahna Bytes game at all, some other studio did that one (I think).

As I said above, I think it's far more important who the individuals are than the company. Again, my three favorite PB games are Gothic 1, Gothic 2, and Risen 1. And those are the three games that Michael Hoge had the biggest hand in. I'll look over some other PB offers and see what i can remember, but I can wholeheartedly recommend G1, G2, and Risen 1. And Risen 2 ain't too shabby.

ADDED: Well, there are apparently no other PB games here at gog then those already listed. I checked Steam, and the same there. I guess PB was working solely in the RPG realm. I'm not finding anything other than the three series mentioned (Gothic, Risen, Elex).

Also, fun fact... The likeness of the Nameless Hero in the Gothic series is Michael Hoge. And it's actually a pretty good representation of his face (at least for early 2000's graphics capability).

There's nothing wrong with sticking to a formula that works, the problem comes when a free mod delivers delivers a much better Gothic/PB-like experience than anything you've made in the last 15 years lmao

And I thought Elex was a step in the right direction, but alas

Yep, Gothic 1-3 (but not Forsaken Gods, they had no hand whatsoever in that, it was passed off to an Indian developer that was just starting out, then mainly focused on mainly portable/mobile and multiplayer titles for a few years before shutting down), Risen 1-3 and ELEX 1-2 were all of PB's games. And what you said about the creative director explains things. Though, are you sure he wasn't there for Gothic 3 too? Because that came before Risen.

Which mod?
Do you mean Chronicles Of Myrtana Archolos?

This is sad to hear; however, it seems to be par for the course, when you sell yourself to Embracer. They clearly want to buy IPs, not talented people.

Same crew, same genre and, yes, all the games are more or less woven from the same thread.

That's not the same as saying that From iterates exclusively on remakes with nothing but small changes going from one to the next, that's just ill will.

No one can seriously point to a dramatic change in world structure like going from linear interconnected areas to a full blown open world as minor anything gameplay wise, not for ER, not for TW3 and not even for games with impactful but considerably less than dramatic changes to the world structure like Inquisition or Andromeda. Starfiield IS NOT Skyrim or F4 in space exclusively by virtue of game world structure.
...

OT, no matter what i will always look kindly on PB but an objective appreciation of their output made it clear some time ago that this outcome was more or less inevitable.

Elex as IP actually has potential, i'd like to see it put to better use.