Claude

No because the overall value of the PS5 is still more for me. If Fallout 5 is some huge masterpiece, I might consider the S on a sale, especially since they have Obsidian. I have a Vita that I use for pretty much exclusively Japanese games, and my Nintendo consoles rarely have anything that aren’t exclusive for them, so if the S is $150 on sale in a few years, that’s fine for a console mainly for some good WRPGs and shooters if they’re not coming to PS5. It doesn’t change that I use PlayStation for my main console.

I have a launch PS3 with the PS2 hardware for this exact reason.

This is a great way to get new people into the ecosystem, especially with the digital-only version of the console.

Great overall, but I wanted release date for DeS Remake, unless I missed it. The HP game looks better than I expected, and I'm glad that FFXVI keeps changing the gameplay.

This looks so good. Gameplay looks interesting too. I’m expecting this to launch between the second and third parts of the remake.

Fully deserved. This is an incredible game and brilliant followup to the first.

I'd be surprised if we got FFXVI before the end of 2023 at the earliest, but that is huge for Sony if they scored this.

In the meantime, I just want the XIII Trilogy (ideally 60fps for the first game at least) on modern Playstation hardware.

Black sheep? LMAO. That’s some way to refer to a GOTY Winner.

The best Atlus game to date. Day one.

When it was first released, it instantly became my favorite of the series. I remember intending to just play for a few hours when I got it, but stayed up until sunrise when I was well into the second disc. Since then, others have moved past it. Some from before, some from after. When I tried out the PS4 release, I had forgotten just how slow the battles were. But the first two discs of IX are the smoothest FF ride to this date.

Definitely digital. Never used the drive on my PS4 and I'll need to save all I can due to the cost of increasing storage. And the extra SSDs that will be compatible with the PS5 aren't going to be cheap.

@Col_McCafferty I'd definitely prefer the city/film noir setting the sci-fi as well. Not that ND couldn't do a great job with sci-fi, but it's a much more common setting.

@roe Someone brought up a film noir type detective setting in a different post. That or a Miami Vice 80s setting with an episodic approach that ties together in the end from ND would be incredible. It'd be a way to really bring their high quality world building and plot progression together.

@AdamNovice People wanting another adventure very similar to the first is being relatively "safe" yes. It doesn't mean that there is no merit whatsoever to that approach, or that it might not even have been even better, but it is a safer option.

And none of the parts you mentioned are "agenda pushing" besides possibly the sandwiches section, but if this is meant to be our world destroyed, it's perfectly plausible that someone older who came up completely in the old world would have had a tougher time letting past biases go. Why is it wrong to show an LGBT bookstore given that the outbreak day was during a period when they were present in big cities? Ellie and Dina not knowing what the flag meant was actually one of the most poignant moments for me.
And being trans isn't that character's only trait. It also isn't brought up until they've been around for a bit, and is never explicitly mentioned again. That entire aspect could have been removed, along with Ellie and Dina's sexualities, and this entire story could have been told. In fact, this story outline could have had some dude and his supportive girlfriend on a virtually similar journey and have been largely the same. You'd need to make extremely slight alterations to achieve the same thing. But that's what representation is, they are there. It's not "agenda pushing" to have non-hetero, non-cisgender characters.

I agree with your points on the PR aspect of this and how ND is trying to sweep people bringing up points regarding plot development and narrative structure into the "well you just hate us for having LGBT characters so you're bigoted" crowd. The story embargo after the leaks was always going to hit them back, and they should have seen it coming. Their shortsighted blanket approach to criticism is on them. But that's separate from the game itself.

I give it a 10/10 for the overall product. I absolutely love the ending and would take the story of this game any day over some redemption arc for Joel like some wanted. He was never a hero or a good guy in the first game, and this respected that presentation and his actions then. I think this game ties very well into how the last game ended. The central theme was hate, and it all tied into that. Abby couldn't let go of her hate for Joel, and it got all of her friends killed in the end. Ellie couldn't let go of hers, and ended up losing Dina and her connection to Joel through the guitar. While it did take the roundabout way, the final scene between Ellie and Joel really drove home why she did what she did. Joel took away her sense of value, and Abby took her chance at reconciliation, essentially destroying her identity a second time.

I kept myself free of spoilers outside of there being some big second act and Joel likely dying, but when the Abby half started I was like "oh ok". There was very famous sequel on a past Playstation console that did a similar thing, albeit much earlier in the game. The one part where it rather dragged was when Abby and Lev were going to the hospital. It played very similarly to the first game, which I can understand the point of thematically, but it comes so far into the second one that it felt rather regressive for that section, particularly when you're going down the building. The rat king fight made up for it though. Having to build up Abby again after going so far with Ellie also felt like a step back. I'm not sure whether I'd have preferred a structure where you jumped back and forth between them for each day, but I can understand and respect why ND built it the way they did. This game was ultimately about Ellie, and moving away from her too soon would have dampened that.

@carlos82 If there is a part III, I'm definitely expecting Lev to be a playable character.

Final Fantasy XIII Trilogy on PS4/PS5 please.

There's not much that'd make a worthwhile DLC that wouldn't be better saved for a third part if they eventually do one. Maybe Dina on the farm after Ellie leaves. A prequel one like the first game also wouldn't be worth is since we're given enough knowledge and context of what Jackson life was like for everyone.

I'm team new IP for the next ND project after the multiplayer.

I'm perfectly fine with this. Some of the recent Tales titles have suffered directly as a result of them trying to rush them out to make certain dates, Zestiria especially, when they could have used more time in the oven.

I'm not surprised. This is the unfortunate legacy of Mass Effect 3. I beat the game earlier this week and thought it was a masterpiece that was faithful to the world and characters from the first game, and especially to how the first game ended.

TLOU2 like most. Day 2 right now and loving it so far. I really like how the combat has been refined. I'm playing on the Pro, but I'm still really impressed by how little the console has been screaming with everything that's going on in the game.

Yes, I preordered it right after finishing the first one last weekend and went through Left Behind midweek. Played 2 hours last night to get the tutorial parts out of the way. Going to try to see if I can possibly finish it this weekend because I can't really open Youtube without the suggestions hinting at things.

Yakuza 7 Western release date might appear here.

I played it for the first time this past weekend. Truly excellent and deserving of the praise. The basic setting itself isn't that unique, but it's the depth of detail and characters that really made it. The ending surprised me, and especially the final scene. I preordered the second part right after.
While I do see why the marketing of the sequel has turned some off, neither Joel nor Ellie seemed like good people in the traditional sense at the end of the first game, especially Joel. He's the main protagonist, but that's not the same thing at all. It concluded on an extremely nihilistic tone for me.

Also playing TLOU Remastered for the first time. Still quite early, but I really love how chaotic and brutal the combat is. Depending on how I feel by the end (I've heard a few story points over the years, but obviously the whole thing in person is different), I might preorder the second part.

More things for EA to gobble up and ruin.

I'll believe it when I don't hear it, but the design is very promising for this.

And I am one of those customers that purchases solely digital. The disc drive on my PS4 Pro has never been used. I am extremely happy with this option.

I will need to ultimately buy storage expansion regardless of when I need to get a PS5, now I can choose an option where I pay slightly less at the cost of a feature I would never use anyway, and instead those costs can be transferred to pay for part of the expansion. The option with the drive is there for those who want it and that is great.

That lighting is so sick. Can't wait to see what Latria and the Valley look like.

It kinda looks like a router, but I like it. My PS4 pro has always been vertical, so that's how I'd have this anyway.
Big fan of the all-digital version. I've bought zero physical games this entire gen. Hopefully it's a bit cheaper than the one with the drive, and I can add a bit to the difference to get an expansion.

I'll get this eventually for sure, even though I have the trilogy set for PS3. This, Demon's Souls, and the FFXIII Trilogy are the remaining last gen games I really want on modern Playstation hardware.

@gollumb82 Thank you for the answer. I really appreciate it.

DC Remake/Reboot in the RE Engine would be sweet.
If there is an RE4 remake, I'll get it, but it doesn't really need it unless they really expand on it.

Does it hit a stable 60 fps (especially during the combat) on the Pro?

20/20, took a guess on the Berserk question but the rest was instant.
This was the game that made me ask my parents for a PS1 and it's still my favorite FF game overall even after playing all the others (not including the remake on the list until I go through hard mode). The rest of the top 5 would be VI, XIII, X, and Tactics.

Definitely getting Persona 5 Royal. Maybe RE3 as well.

They absolutely made the correct decision, but this is a corporate PR move and nothing else. If this announcement or the other tweet included information about what the protests were actually about, and how the layperson could educate themselves and positively contribute, it'd be one thing, but it's not. They shouldn't be given credit for something they are not doing.

@Arnna I agree. While there is deep lore in the Souls games, at their core they are gameplay focused experiences. They aren't structured like story-driven and story-focused games at all. There is a delicate balance that would be undone by an easy mode. They'd essentially be different games.

The real enemy in DeS is those loading screens.

It better be DeS Remake with how long they've let that rumor be fed.

I'm replaying FFXIII right now before diving back into FFVIIR for the Hard Mode, and it's kinda funny how so much of it seems like a test run for the latter. The combat momentum, the "dungeons" (even Hojo's lab in the remake reminded me of that tower you climb in FFXIII), even the music with Hamauzu returning. And Vanille's legacy definitely lives on too.

I liked it, and honestly, when I reflected on it, it drove home again why I love the FF series so much. It dares to be different and isn't afraid to push that right in front of its audience and challenge them.

I'll get it when it's on sale. I replayed the original P5 recently and I don't want to play it without being rushed to finish it because of FFVIIR being so close to release.

Thanks @ShogunRok the airlock section was the specific part that gave me the most frustration, especially the first time. If it seemed to go faster, then that's enough to not make me dread when that section's coming.

@ShogunRok Did they fix/streamline the spaceship dungeon? I beat vanilla P5 twice, and that section always seemed like a drag even with the godly art direction the game has.

It reminds me of the older HBO Now interface with improvements.

BC will never make or break a console on a significant scale. People didn't buy the Wii in droves due to the Virtual Console or it being able to play GCN games. They got it for the novel controls, and VC was a bonus. Lack of BC didn't hurt the PS4 at any point. The PS3 hit the market being able to play Sony's entire home console history at that point, it didn't stop it needing about three years and price cuts to really become competitive.

Now bad PR on the other hand is a different matter, and Sony really stepped in it with this. With Microsoft gradually putting out more info about their console and having revealed how it looks, Sony's key was to come out swinging with the games, even if they wanted to hold back on revealing how it looks for a bit longer. With a new console set to launch (for now) later this year, you can't tell me that zero of the games are ready to have any part shown off.

I was toying with getting a PS5 around its launch, but unless there is some supremely killer exclusive I need right there and then, I'll do what I did with the PS4 and wait until the upgrade drops a few years down the line.

Waiting until a sale, but definitely getting this. As far as the story and characters were concerned, I think this game was a step down from 3 and 4, but it has godly art direction. It is so incredible that it fuels momentum through such a long game. Also despite its length, I felt the final part and ending of the original P5 felt rushed, so I'm looking forward to the changes.

Hilariously excellent timing for the US since so many schools are shut, but they don’t actually start remote learning until next week.

VII is my favorite overall, top OST goes to VIII, and XIII takes the gameplay crown. But X has the most powerful ending of the entire series. That’s still the conclusion to top for me.

I finally beat all the entries when I finished XV last year. Definitely my favorite series still. If I had to rank them, they’d probably go:

1. VII
2. VI
3. XIII
4. X
(Tactics)
5. IX
6. VIII
7. XII
8. IV
9. XV
10. V
11. I
12. II
13. III

VIII/XII and IV/XV/V are the closest together.