Topic: PlayStation 5 --OT--

@Th3solution I blame the fact that they aren't working at the actual studio, or at least I assume they still aren't. I can't remember the last time when multiple PlayStation Studios games released with several glitches. They are usually pretty good with that, but now Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart and Horizon Forbidden West have both launched with them.

With that said, both released in better condition than plenty of other games have over the last couple of years, and none of it really hurt my enjoyment of the games. Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart was still my 2021 Game of the Year and I'm still loving Horizon Forbidden West as expected. My only significant issue so far with that one is the horrible shimmering in Favor Performance mode.

@KilloWertz Yeah, I'm pretty sure both Guerilla and Insomniac are fully (or almost fully) remote these days (even though Guerilla had just moved to a new office space before the pandemic, I believe). While I'm all for being able to work from home, I can definitely see being in one space benefit some parts of game development, QA being just one of them.

@Voltan That's what I figured. I'm not saying the developers under PlayStation Studios are immune to releasing a game with any bugs, but it was probably rare and now it's two in a row. Again, I didn't experience anything gamebreaking in either, but a game without bugs for the most part is something we came to expect since most of them are at a higher level than a lot of outside developers.

Like I basically said before, at least they seem to be released in better shape than most, so I have a feeling the bad shimmering in this game wouldn't have been there if things were normal. It's still well worth the $70 (and likely then some given the content), and in the end that's what matters the most.

@KilloWertz $70… So you’re one of those guys who wanted the fancy PS5 case then, eh? 😜

@Th3solution No, I'm one of those guys that has mediocre at best internet and wanted to install the whole game with the disc...

All 86 GB of the game was on the disc. All I had to do was download the Day 1 patch, which was only around 2 GB. Well worth the extra $10 for me.

@Fragile Traditionally, I am pretty weak-willed when it comes to filling my game library with the hottest releases. My backlog is a testament to that.

Strangely, I think the packed release schedule worked in favor of keeping my wallet closed so far. With the 3 big games (HFW, ER, and GT7) all dropping at roughly the same time, I knew I couldn’t justify getting all at once and I’ve had trouble deciding which to get first, so I’ve bought none. I still might pick up GT7 when it comes out, but more and more I feel inclined to wait. We’ll see.

@Fragile Yeah, GT7 looks fantastic. I’m playing Dirt 5 right now, and although it’s a mediocre racing game, I’m enjoying it enough to to stick with it and I think it actually will have quenched any appetite for a racing game for a while. But there have been many times I’ve silently thought to myself how much better a driving game GT7 is going to be. Sometimes the physics of D5 is just wrong. And I realize it’s supposed to be more arcadey, but still, too much rubber-banding, floating after a jump, lack of car options, and the don’t even get me started with the ridiculous Gymkhana events. Still, it’s going vroom-vroom in circles, so I’m getting my fill.

And yeah, the time thing is always a problem. Seems time is tighter too, now that the pandemic is less intrusive to life.

I don’t envy @LiamCroft who by some horrible yet fortuitous call has been tasked with simultaneously reviewing Elden Ring and GT7! Not sure whether to be jealous or sympathetic!

@Mauzuri I actually had a similar thing last night. When playing Horizon, the coil whine got extra loud and then the screen went black for half a second. It sorted itself afterwards. Weird.

@Mauzuri Not had any other problems in that sense. Perhaps it’s just overheating?

So incredibly tired of seeing some variation of Tom Holland's face for the last three weeks every time I turn on my PlayStation. Am i the only one?

Sorry just had to get that out.

@zupertramp Apparently he is top of the list to play Aloy in the Horizon movie.

@Th3solution It’s self inflicted, trust me 😂

@JohnnyShoulder lol. but it's not him that annoys me per se. he's fine. Maybe not as Aloy of course. It's just... did I buy a budget Kindle or a PlayStation? Fine I can't have themes but i have to startup to ads? Really?

@Fragile At least it would explain why some people think she has a beard...

@zupertramp In the UK and the rest of Europe we don't get as many ads as you guys in the States, due to stricter privacy laws over here. It would probably do my head in too.

@zupertramp I've actually gotten over the ads. It sucks that they replaced the What's New page that was actually really useful with that, but I'm used to it. The dumb thing now is that they replaced the Horizon Forbidden West logo that's to the left of the trophy info on the PS5 home page with the "Official News" for the game's Accolades trailer.

I already bought the game. Obviously I don't need to be sold on the game by them pointing me to a trailer telling me how great it is. It's the only game I own that no longer has the logo on the left side of it's main page on the PS5's home page.

@Fragile I kid ye not. https://www.thegamer.com/aloy-horizon-appearance-beard-beauty...

@JohnnyShoulder I’m not sure that Tom Holland could actually grow a beard yet tbh 🧔‍♀️

Been a while since the last time we played it but the missus and I get the next chapter completed (Chapter 5) on It Takes Two this afternoon. She’s finding it a bit of a struggle as we’re having a fair few weeks between each chapter, so all the skills that she has developed during a session are forgotten by the next. Having said that, she’s pulling her weight once she gets going.

@KilloWertz yeah Horizon's accolades trailer thing also bothers me. Like you, I've already purchased it so stop trying to sell it to me.

Guess I'm just surprised, given the uproar when sports games slip in a few adverts where they technically would go, that this has kind of just slipped under the criticism radar. Sony just about litters the interface with promotional material but I've seen/heard of very little complaining. Maybe people are just happy to have a PS5?

My take is that's what the storefront is for. Go crazy there but not my home screen please.

@JohnnyShoulder so does it not startup to that explore tab over there or is the explore tab more news and less adsy?

@zupertramp Like I said before, I don't mind that page so much anymore and it being on the home screen. What they should do is give people the option to choose what they want to it default to when the console boots up. That way you wouldn't have to look at Tom Holland's face every other day if that bothers you.

I've seen people complain about that, them replacing the artwork in the background with artwork from the latest DLC (Ubisoft does this with every game), or the ads to buy add-ons above the trophy data, but all of that complaining has been in moderation.

What they did with Horizon Forbidden West is the first one that's truly bothered me since I got over the replacement for the What's New page. It truly makes no sense. It's not like it's going to make me mad enough to stop playing it and jump ship to my Series X, as it all goes away the moment I'm back in playing Horizon Forbidden West, but it is something that is just plain stupid and should be reversed before it actually gets out of hand.