Q.
Leaving aside matters of personal taste, critical acclaim and popularity, and wearing only your QA hat, which game (other than your own) has impressed you the most over the last 12 months?
Povilas Svetova (Nordcurrent): Xenoblade Chronicles 3 for Nintendo Switch because of its complexity and size. The different mechanics and functionalities are harmonic, and the quality of the games’ technical side only leaves a number of bugs that I barely noticed.
Adriano Rizzo (Payload Studios): Ghost of Tsushima. I’m still in awe of how perfect that game feels. After so many years in QA it’s impossible to play a game for leisure and not look for bugs. Even in top AAA games you may find small areas of stretched textures, visible seams, the sort of bugs that get waived the closer you get to release. Not with GoT. I’ve played through it several times, most recently towards the end of last year, and I still don’t think I’ve spotted one. Kudos to Sucker Punch for investing so much time in their QA department and hardening the game to that level of quality.
Steph McStea (Double Eleven): Definitely [Sad Owl Studios’] Viewfinder. I remember the first time I saw a prototype for it on Twitter and my mind pretty much exploded - it was one of those moments where my instant thought was “oh my god, doing QA on that is going to be insane”. Such an interesting concept, and the execution looks flawless.
Erik Hittenhausen (Testronic): From a QA perspective, probably God of War Ragnarök. It was, of course, an eagerly-anticipated title, and impressive in terms of its scope and complexity, but it was incredibly polished on release – which was really good to see.
Tarek Nijmeh (PTW): Elden Ring is known for its challenging gameplay. However, what is often overlooked is how difficult it can be to test such an intricate game in a short space of time. It’s the kind of game that would make even the most veteran testers sweat. The QA team must test all the weapons, armour, abilities, and items to ensure there are minimal bugs present. But that’s not all. All these items must be used in all possible combinations (and there are many) to ensure that they are balanced and fun to use. Additionally, all equipment must be visually checked for glitches, breaks in animation, and audio issues. And this is just the tip of the iceberg. Imagine doing all of this multiple times a month, every month, while testing everything else like quests, levels, and NPCs from early development to gold. It is quite impressive how they managed to do it so well, considering the time it’s been in development.
Adam Rush (Keywords Studios): 2022 has been a year of critically acclaimed titles so it’s hard to choose. I think in terms of quality and fun - the games that kept me coming back - I would choose both Vampire Survivors and Cult of the Lamb. You got me, I’m a rogue-like fan! Both games played clean, had amazing art and were just great fun overall.
“I remember the first time I saw a prototype for it on Twitter and my mind pretty much exploded.”
Steph McStea, QA lead at Double Eleven 40 | MCV/DEVELOP February 2023
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