@scoobdoo i agree it does look a lot like an early PS4 game. It has to be some kind of bug with the dynamic resolution tool. Even with performance mode off it doesn't look great though...
I don't know if I'm just being too critical on the visuals, but maaaaan. Everything looks really muddy and jagged on performance mode. Some things even look straight up bad.
That's really my only gripe so far.
EDIT: Yeah these graphics are ass! I don't know if it's because I'm playing on a 1440p monitor (none of my other games look this muddy), but even still the environments should not look like the original Borderlands while I'm playing on PS5. Regardless, it's still pretty good.
@tallythwack I didn't share any strong opinion of Rowling, or are you just talking generally? Maybe reread my original comment again? Don't know what you're on about.
@itsfoz You're not alone. I agree with you. I got all the pieces of Gaia back in H:FW and just could not be bothered to finish the game. Definitely preferred Zero Dawn; the grind in Forbidden West is just way too much.
@tallythwack Yeah. She's a billionaire; there could be 100's of games that fail and it wouldn't change that though. But like I said there are many other people involved in realizing the project. Not just her.
I don't agree that Push Square is wanting to have their cake and eat it too or that they've been milquetoast or fence sitters or whatever, in regard to JK Rowling, she did make the "universe", but there is a massive massive team working on Hogwarts Legacy from all walks of life.
My wife and I are looking forward to this a lot. Not a Harry Potter fan by choice (I was forced into watching the movies, even the horrible Fantastic Beasts movies), but this game looks rad.
Being able to use dark magic really sold it for me. I really just like killing things (in video games).
@LN78 That's an honest perspective to have, and at the end of the day, that's really what matters. I didn't really see any kind of debate going on between us more of a discussion, but if you don't feel up to that that's understandable!
@LN78 Copium take, but I chalk that up to Abby remembering the good parts of her dad, rather than Jerry being a saint. Of course that falls flat when in the same sequence he won't answer whether or not he'd sacrifice Abby, and it doesn't look like he would either...so...he at least knew what might happen out of all this.
But yeah, TLOU2 is very messy with the story it's trying to tell, and I think...I think it's by design. I think the main intention behind the story was for it have many different perspectives and for it to be talked about to make sense of it.
And I mean, it's still regularly talked about years after release love it or hate it.
@Loftimus The decision is still there, because no one knows in the story that it is impossible, and except for people that know a little about biology and fungal infections no one that is playing the game will have that knowledge. That's one of the tragedies of the story and of apocalyptic settings in general. Ignorance and desperation. The characters think there's a choice, and that's what really matters, that's what immerses players in the story. And even then...what the creators' are going for isn't the end all be all, Death of the Author, as a literary study, has been around for over a hundred years. Everything is up to interpretation due to a difference in perspective, and even Neil Druckmann himself recognizes that. If he didn't he wouldn't bother to play the games himself to have that perspective as a player as well as a creator, and he'd just say the point of it all is.
In the TV show the audience now knows that it's impossible to create a cure from the get go. Does Ellie being immune change that? We will have to wait and see if she does or not, but I'd wager not. It just wouldn't make any sense.
EDIT: clarification: I don't think your perspective is invalid. It's honest, and that's really all it needs to be. I just disagree, and that's fine, it's part of the enjoyment of discussing art.
And yeah if TLOU2 did try to remove the uncertainty, or if that was the goal, I would agree that it's clumsy and that it didn't reach that goal.
I could see that perspective when playing through the game as Abby... Her and her crew are so unlikable for the most part that if the intended effect was to make me empathize with them, it had the reverse affect and just reaffirmed my stance that Joel's actions were reasonable, relatable, and can justified.
It was satisfying (aside from Owen, he wanted to leave from the start) seeing them all get destroyed.
@LN78 I disagree about Part 2 painting Joel's actions as evil. For all the flaws Part 2 has, and there are a lot, I think it nailed Joel's convictions and didn't paint him as anything other than a man that loved his adopted daughter more than anything else.
Even when Jerry was asked if he could do to Abby what he was about to do to Ellie he didn't answer it. It's because he wasn't in that position that he was able to justify basically killing another man's daughter for the sake of a vaccine that would almost certainly NOT WORK. If anything TLOU Part 2 sticks to the uncertainty around the cure, and Joel's actions at the end of the first game, and at the end of the game, Joel said he'd do it again. Because he's a gigachad.
Jerry doesn't get enough flak though. He's actually a big fat ***hole in my eyes, and the apple doesn't fall that far from the tree either.
@Loftimus Being immune to fungal infections doesn't mean you can synthesize a cure from that immunity. It is miraculous that Ellie is immune yes, but the main reason that fungal infections are impossible to cure is because the cells of fungi are too similar to animal cells, and you cannot develop a vaccine that JUST targets the fungi cells and not the cells of the host organism.
Ellie is "hope" for humanity, and that's what makes the atmosphere of the show so oppressing. Even if Joel let Ellie be directed and her immunity synthesized into a prototype vaccine, you just get a vaccine that might kill the fungi, but might also kill the host.
The real hope in TLOU was never about the cure. It was about picking your life up from its lowest point and making something worth waking up for. It's about giving up the resentment and trauma of the past, and living for something in the now. That's the whole entire point of TLOU2 as well... In my opinion at least!
@Loftimus I don't think that's what's going on at all, especially with the beginning scenes stating there is NO medicine or cure for cordycepts.
That Indonesian doctor dedicated her whole life to the study of that organism during a period of medical science that is as far removed from the apocalypse as it gets. A group of doctors in a guerrilla style ramshackle lab finding the cure for something, that isn't curable, will really stretch the believability of the narrative.
Especially when we are being told there is no cure every episode so far. In fact...I'd say this is the show's way of showing and telling us to not focus on the cure.
Fire Emblem Engage will take most of my time on the Switch!
Genshin Impact over the weekend on PS5 is inevitable.
Made into top 500 in Naraka Bladepoint on my XSX. I'll probably play some of that; even though it stresses me out a lot.
I think I may also play some Ready or Not or Darktide on PC, but...I dunno. Don't have the most time, even with a floating holiday I'm taking on Monday.
@nessisonett To be fair, after March 31st, when everything is free, it might be the best time to jump in and play everything. If you can find a cheap physical copy.
Then again, no one is really playing this game, so you might need to find 4 physical copies for you and your friends, and at that point...prooooobably not worth it.
@danlk1ng I'm not ignoring that Ellie is immune at all, but even if one person is immune it doesn't immediately translate to a cure or even treatment for cordycepts does it? Being immune doesn't matter at all when a cure is not something that could be synthesized during the height of human discovery and medical technology, and treatments for just as nonexistent. Keep in mind they talk about a vaccine too, which is not possible.
And suddenly...Abby's dad can a cure it or even treat it, with only a few months of knowing someone is immune, when everyone else pre-apocolypse couldn't? He definitely knew it wasn't possible to cure, maybe he thought he could treat it? Would he distinguish the two? Or would he lie about it for a slim chance? The game doesn't really address that either.
That's not even the crux of my argument though, here's why I think the story stating a cure isn't possible is significant and demonstrates better storytelling than the game:
It's not going to paint Joel as someone who deprived humanity a chance to start over with a cure. He's still a killer, but almost everyone is in the TLOU, they all just justify it somehow. Instead of the audience focusing on the cure as a source of hope, they now have to focus on the relationships the characters make to pull each other out of the dark times they face, and that's why people love TLOU right? Not the overarching narrative, but the character relationships.
Ellie being immune is what kicks off the whole core narrative, so it is significant, I've never downplayed that, but the game DOES ignore the fact that fungal infections aren't curable, and show informs the audience of this fact immediately.
Even if the show follows the exact same story beats as the game, this recontextualizes a lot of the motivations the characters have. ESPECIALLY the characters that would know this fact. Like Abby's dad, who is portrayed like a saint (probably due to Abby's perspective on him during her flashbacks, I think she is delusional and only remembers the good parts) because someone that can throw their ethics and what they know for a fact away for something that isn't even a chance isn't a saint.
So when that time comes around, and we see Abby's perspective on her father, we won't just be forced to have her perspective. We will have had the knowledge that he was trying to do the impossible at the cost of someone else's daughter, knowing he wouldn't be able to do the same to his, and can see him not as a righteous man, but as hopeful and kind, but and naive, arrogant, and deluded.
This could have helped the characterization of Abby's crew too. Because they were all in it for the cure, and if it was stated there wasn't any, they'd be poor fools that were lied to by a desperate man being misled to their deaths, instead of the utterly unlikable pieces of garbage they ended up being. There could have been a clear parallel between Joel's lie to Ellie and his people, and Abby's dad's lie to Abby and his people. But the game was really afraid to do that clearly for some reason.
TL;DR: the fact that the game ignores a cure being impossible takes the focus away from what matters about the TLOU and its world: the people that come together to pick their lives up.
The show focusing less on the cure, by stating there isn't any immediately will force the audience to examine the characters rather than the overarching narrative.
Really looking forward to watching this every Sunday, especially after the scene at the beginning in 1969. I think it's really going to contextualize Joel and Ellie's journey going forward, and add to the already intense and hopeless atmosphere TLOU has in a good way.
Even if nothing is done after that, it's already added a significant amount of flavor to an already delicious stew in my opinion. Very happy with the first episode, and I hope the show keeps the momentum going, and I'm saying that as a fan of Ellie and Joel's (almost strictly Ellie and Joel mind) story in both games.
I was eagerly awaiting this game until I found out there is ONLY ship combat.
Like what? A pirate game with no swashbuckling sabers and pistols?
Wow...Ubisoft...wow. I can't think of a more out of touch gaming company than Ubisoft...
@PegasusActual93 Figuring isn't knowing though, and someone knowing has always been the crux of my argument, and why I think the scene at the start of TLOU show is so great.
Joel didn't know, and even if I were to agree with your points above (I don't agree, sorry), they don't seem to even set out to explain that Joel knew a cure was impossible.
He didn't know. Maybe he figured there wasn't a cure if they had to kill Ellie, but TLOU2 kind of contradicts that at the end where Joel is talking to Ellie in the flashback scene after the final confrontation with Abby, where he says he'd do it again. He'd sacrifice the whole world for her, and it's not really a sacrifice to him if he knew it was pointless anyway, right?
@PegasusActual93 I totally, but respectfully disagree; that just doesn't make any logical sense.
If Joel knew there wasn't a cure for fungal infections why would he go through all the trouble of taking Ellie all the way to the Firefly base, when he can tell her that there's no cure, and go on a cute field trip to a library to show her to put her mind at ease?
He didn't know, if he did he would have said or done something to try and mend the relationship, and we do see him take steps to do that as well.
It's not a "brush off" to say that Joel lied by saying, "they couldn't find a cure so they stopped trying" because that's exactly what happened. He didn't know, he isn't the type of character to go out of his way to hurt the ones he loves.
@PegasusActual93 I thought it was apparent in my comment, but it's the fact fungal infections are not curable (they're treatable which is an important distinction). This isn't brought up in the games, and a cure is what forms the central conflict in both games.
The game never mentions that, so it ignores a possible conflict where a character knows that you can't cure a fungal infection, or a book or recording stats that there's no cure.
Personally, even if the show doesn't have a conflict arise from this knowledge, the fact that it mentions that "there's no cure" really adds to the hopeless atmosphere, which I really like.
It's great, unlike other shows that use other media to tell more or less the same story, I feel like this was made by writers that played the games and liked them.
I especially LOVE the scene at the start that takes place in 1969... There is no cure fungal infections, and I'm glad it was brought up in the show, seeing as how the games love to ignore this fact. It has me really hopeful to see if that's a scene they are using to set up a conflict that goes COMPLETELY ignored in the game.
@ApostateMage He always has something to say, and it's almost always entertaining too. The game didn't have a good start, it was a disaster, but it turned into something truly special for me. Love Cyberpunk.
@NEStalgia It isn't uncommon for a team of writers to all collaborate together in something like a TV show, but when a publisher kind of just grabs a bunch of people (who may not when work well together or enable each other to better their collective ideas) and makes them write you get what seems to be the mess that Forspoken is.
For a couple people that have similar ideas about how characters and story should be written, writing up something that is very appealing to people that also have similar ideas, or at least interested in those ideas is a lot easier. It just comes naturally because you're writing what you know, and it's sincere. You get a series like Uncharted, and while yeah it's kinda goofy, you can tell there's enjoyment behind the creation of the world and characters.
Here, it seems like they got a group of people that didn't mesh well... It feels like everyone had differing ideas for not only Frey, but for the world and possibly the greater story. I feel like its an ambitious story, but its not going to be realized due to technical limits of the development team, and the limits imposed by the creative writing team due to, what seems like, wildly differing ideas.
And that's just the writing of the game.
The boring world design, and barren deasld areas add a lot to my apprehension with this game. There's a lot of marketing going on up until its release, and it is starting to feel like that's all this game really is. It's just marketing.
Another cool thing about this trailer is that female cyberpsycho is a character in the game, her name is Melissa Rory and she is MaxTac operator during the events of Cyberpunk 2077. You can meet her I'm the Cyberpsycho attack quest in the Jinguji shop.
@NEStalgia There's extremes to character writing, and usually when game companies write a character that is trying to pander to western sensibility it goes too far in the boring direction, right?
If we make a scale for characterization that goes from relatable/boring to interesting/irritating, a character should never be too far in one direction. We used to get Johnny John Cowboyman and now we get New York Influencerwoman and both of these characters suck. There has to be a balance here.
@NEStalgia It feels forced, but mainly because of the rate at which her and her bracelet will exchange quips. It's a lot, but you can minimalize it in the settings somewhere. Plus, her dialogue is localized rather than just translated word for word, so you will still end up reading some pretty bad English dialogue. I don't know if Frey is a better characterized in Japanese, because I don't know much of the language, but I do know, for a fact, that she is a lot easier to just ignore in Japanese.
If Frey's character grates on anyone, and they like or don't mind subtitles, I think playing in Japanese is the way to go.
The English acting isn't even bad, but the dialogue is just grating and annoying. It could have done with some subtlety, and some tone and frequency revision.
@NEStalgia She doesn't come across as refined in Japanese, but vulgarity is expressed differently in Japanese when compared to English. English is more about what you say, and Japanese is more about how you say things.
She comes across as a cocky punkass in Japanese, which I think is what they want to go for. It was a popular archetype in 2004, so whatever I guess.
July? That's pretty far away considering the state the game is in... I know it's a joke to say the 12 or so people will be sad that the game is going offline for a bit, but I've played this in the past month, and there are literally around that many people playing at any given time. You have to wait around 5 - 15 mins for a match, just so the one you were just in can finish if you didn't win or come second.
The 3 or so week long maintenance periods totally took the wind out of the sails of this game, and the technical state doesn't help either. Not to mention the art direction is ugly, it's made to be ugly and garish, with it's kinda post-ironic space age art deco style. Game is grimey, and niche, and none of the skins look good. It's hilarious how they thought this would have anything, but a small nibble of success if that.
They really need to retool and reenvision this game.
I had Premium for a couple months, and it really was not worth it all. I have Game Pass Ultimate, and it blows Sony's Extra and Premium services out of the water. I'm perfectly fine with Essential, and even then, I may just cancel my sub and play third parties on PC and XSX, at least for the games my PS friends don't play.
I have an old friend who is a quadriplegic that plays games with his tongue and cheek, and a very large, rigid controller works best.
For example: the old Duke from the original Xbox is the perfect controller for him as he could position his forearms to even hit the shoulder buttons accurately. That man taught me how to play Ninja Gaiden on that crusty thing. He had beaten twice already. Legend.
This is good first step in the right direction if priced affordably, but the best thing they could do is a software update that would allow you to use whatever peripheral you wished.
Accessibility shouldn't be a commodity; it should be an accommodation in my opinion, and Sony have shown they are industry leaders in accommodation, so I expect software could be in the works too.
Sounds good to me. I've played and beaten RE4 at least a dozen times; it's one of my favorite games ever, and I loved every bit of it. Even the island. Can't wait for this remake!
The Draupnir Spear for me hands down. It made beating the game on Give me God of War much more manageable once I got it. And it's so damn cool; makes me feel like I'm playing a real Spartan.
Welcome to family. It's a great game; I love it, and there is so much quality content.
There's also a lot of boring content, like a good 50 percent of the character quests that are extremely boring. Like Ganyu having you collect tax papers. That sucked.
But on the other side, you can fight actual gods with some of the best music in the industry with a team you've invested a lot into.
You can use this money, for an executive office chair, and it's better for your back, more comfortable to sit in, will last longer, and is easier to move. I got a chair from my company, and ever since then I just refuse to use these overpriced racing chairs anymore... To each their own I guess.
Unless you're spending over 300 dollars on a racing style chair, a bog standard office chair will just be better. Don't fall for the marketing, most of these chairs are a scam.
@jimbouk The Alfheim trio really sucks. I've done half of them on Give me God of War, and did the other half on the normal difficulty because after that trio I just wanted to be done with them. The Berserkers mostly reuse each other's mechanics, so aside from getting killed in a couple hits on GMGOW, they aren't that difficult, and each one only has one or two unique mechanics, and most of those mechanics just suck. Like the Vanaheim Berserker that summons poison adds, that one is close second to the trio for worst boss. That always sucks imo.
@Octane I killed them already. That fight just really sucked imo. I turned the difficulty from Give me God of War to the normal difficulty after that. Lol
Loved the Gna fight, but I had way more trouble against the 3V1 Berserker fight. Although, I think maybe it's not all that hard and that that fight just outright sucks. Quite a few of the Berserkers suck actually, I really wish there were more endgame fights like Gna. It was a tough fight, but it felt fair and satisfying.
7/10 for me. I was underwhelmed by the end of it to be honest. I don't care if the game is scary to other people or not, I haven't found any game scary in the last 15 years, so that doesn't bother me, and I loved the combat. The melee combat felt very crunchy and satisfying, dodging was simple, and the levels seem like they were designed to funnel enemies in a row so you can deal with them one by one, so that was appreciated by me. Graphics of course were great.
What sucks is the utter lack of replayability at launch, they overly used bosses (three bosses in the game, and they reuse two of them.) and the horrible Resident Evil final boss. There just isn't enough compelling content in the game to completely justify that 70 dollars, but it's still a pretty good game with a good foundation.
I've already said my piece on the other article, but I thought the demo was pretty OK to good at some points... Definitely not something I need day one, and something I can wait for STEEP sale with the DLC. I can handle tankier enemies, cumbersome and ugly UI, and convoluted combat mechanics, to experience the movement and the combat when it clicks, but to add the HORRIBLE Godawful dialogue and banter (you can minimize it in the menus, but it still SUCKS when you hear it) to the list of frustrations... Even playing it with the JP voice is annoying because you read what the subtitles say, and it's still cringe.
Yeah no. No thanks. I'll pick up the definitive edition for 20 bucks in a few years.
I tried the demo and while it has peaked my interest from nothing to interested. There are a lot of issues in the demo that keep me from buying it.
Notably: Manually dodging feels horrible and automatically dodging feels unsatisfying. The team really seriously needs to work on this mechanic rather than just adding an auto dodge feature. It feels too flashy which makes it impossible to tell when you're safe and when Frey is just doing a flashy animation where she is still going to get hit.
The UI is awful. It looks really bad. Yellow text is an awful awful horrible idea. It's grating on the eyes, and much too stylized. My opinion of course, but I hate it.
The demo is just really bad. It defaults to easy mode so if you go through the demo without messing with settings you get a very sanitized experience. Change the difficulty to normal, and the many flaws start to show, like overly tanky enemies, enemies killing you in one or two hits for whatever reason, and Frey's damage being really inconsistent.
I don't really like the main character. She isn't interesting, the banter with the Cuff is repetitive and annoying (thankfully you can minimize it, but she might grow on me. So far, not really vibing with her at all.
The open world is dead, lifeless, and VERY boring. There is no one else to talk to, there is nothing to discover on your own, there is nothing to be surprised about, and it just feels like you run from place to place to sling magic and that's it.
It is a lot better than I thought.
Movement feels really good and looks cool.
Performance mode holds fairly steady.
Frey's and Sila's magic seem impactful (until you see the health bar), and are pretty fun to use.
The game seems to have a lot more depth than I thought. Seems like combat can be pretty enjoyable.
All in all...I'll wait for a sale. Early 2023 is already stacked, I have enough games to play already, and I don't want to spend 70 dollars for a game I'm likely to put down after a few days, not because I beat it, but because I'm bored of it.
@OrtadragoonX I simply just mind my own business. What other people choose to do on their own that doesn't affect me doesn't concern me, and if it does, I try and see it from their perspective before I decide whether or not doing anything is worth my time or worth their time.
A lot of simple issues with people are easily solved by just ignoring them, or giving them some baseline courtesy.
Comments 2,996
Re: Dead Space (PS5) - Faithful Remake Brings Back a Classic
@scoobdoo i agree it does look a lot like an early PS4 game. It has to be some kind of bug with the dynamic resolution tool. Even with performance mode off it doesn't look great though...
Pretty disappointed with the graphics.
Re: Dead Space (PS5) - Faithful Remake Brings Back a Classic
I don't know if I'm just being too critical on the visuals, but maaaaan. Everything looks really muddy and jagged on performance mode. Some things even look straight up bad.
That's really my only gripe so far.
EDIT: Yeah these graphics are ass! I don't know if it's because I'm playing on a 1440p monitor (none of my other games look this muddy), but even still the environments should not look like the original Borderlands while I'm playing on PS5. Regardless, it's still pretty good.
Re: Hitman 3's Huge Freelancer Update Is Out Now on PS5, PS4
This mode is....really disappointing so far.
Re: Side Quests in Hogwarts Legacy Can Be Tackled in Non-Linear Order, Over 100 in Total
@tallythwack I didn't share any strong opinion of Rowling, or are you just talking generally? Maybe reread my original comment again? Don't know what you're on about.
Re: Hogwarts Legacy Co-Developer Studio Gobo Joins Guerrilla Games on Horizon Series
@itsfoz You're not alone. I agree with you. I got all the pieces of Gaia back in H:FW and just could not be bothered to finish the game. Definitely preferred Zero Dawn; the grind in Forbidden West is just way too much.
Re: Side Quests in Hogwarts Legacy Can Be Tackled in Non-Linear Order, Over 100 in Total
@tallythwack Yeah. She's a billionaire; there could be 100's of games that fail and it wouldn't change that though. But like I said there are many other people involved in realizing the project. Not just her.
Re: Side Quests in Hogwarts Legacy Can Be Tackled in Non-Linear Order, Over 100 in Total
I don't agree that Push Square is wanting to have their cake and eat it too or that they've been milquetoast or fence sitters or whatever, in regard to JK Rowling, she did make the "universe", but there is a massive massive team working on Hogwarts Legacy from all walks of life.
Re: Side Quests in Hogwarts Legacy Can Be Tackled in Non-Linear Order, Over 100 in Total
My wife and I are looking forward to this a lot. Not a Harry Potter fan by choice (I was forced into watching the movies, even the horrible Fantastic Beasts movies), but this game looks rad.
Being able to use dark magic really sold it for me. I really just like killing things (in video games).
Re: Round Up: Forspoken's Divided Reviews Make for Some Rough Reading
Judging from these reviews I'll be able to pick this up sooner rather than later during a STEEP sale.
Re: Poll: How Would You Rate The Last of Us - Episode 2?
@LN78 That's an honest perspective to have, and at the end of the day, that's really what matters. I didn't really see any kind of debate going on between us more of a discussion, but if you don't feel up to that that's understandable!
Have a good one! 😀
Re: Poll: How Would You Rate The Last of Us - Episode 2?
@LN78 Copium take, but I chalk that up to Abby remembering the good parts of her dad, rather than Jerry being a saint. Of course that falls flat when in the same sequence he won't answer whether or not he'd sacrifice Abby, and it doesn't look like he would either...so...he at least knew what might happen out of all this.
But yeah, TLOU2 is very messy with the story it's trying to tell, and I think...I think it's by design. I think the main intention behind the story was for it have many different perspectives and for it to be talked about to make sense of it.
And I mean, it's still regularly talked about years after release love it or hate it.
Re: Poll: How Would You Rate The Last of Us - Episode 2?
@Loftimus The decision is still there, because no one knows in the story that it is impossible, and except for people that know a little about biology and fungal infections no one that is playing the game will have that knowledge. That's one of the tragedies of the story and of apocalyptic settings in general. Ignorance and desperation. The characters think there's a choice, and that's what really matters, that's what immerses players in the story. And even then...what the creators' are going for isn't the end all be all, Death of the Author, as a literary study, has been around for over a hundred years. Everything is up to interpretation due to a difference in perspective, and even Neil Druckmann himself recognizes that. If he didn't he wouldn't bother to play the games himself to have that perspective as a player as well as a creator, and he'd just say the point of it all is.
In the TV show the audience now knows that it's impossible to create a cure from the get go. Does Ellie being immune change that? We will have to wait and see if she does or not, but I'd wager not. It just wouldn't make any sense.
EDIT: clarification: I don't think your perspective is invalid. It's honest, and that's really all it needs to be. I just disagree, and that's fine, it's part of the enjoyment of discussing art.
Re: Poll: How Would You Rate The Last of Us - Episode 2?
@LN78 Noted! Lol
And yeah if TLOU2 did try to remove the uncertainty, or if that was the goal, I would agree that it's clumsy and that it didn't reach that goal.
I could see that perspective when playing through the game as Abby... Her and her crew are so unlikable for the most part that if the intended effect was to make me empathize with them, it had the reverse affect and just reaffirmed my stance that Joel's actions were reasonable, relatable, and can justified.
It was satisfying (aside from Owen, he wanted to leave from the start) seeing them all get destroyed.
Re: Poll: How Would You Rate The Last of Us - Episode 2?
@LN78 I disagree about Part 2 painting Joel's actions as evil. For all the flaws Part 2 has, and there are a lot, I think it nailed Joel's convictions and didn't paint him as anything other than a man that loved his adopted daughter more than anything else.
Even when Jerry was asked if he could do to Abby what he was about to do to Ellie he didn't answer it. It's because he wasn't in that position that he was able to justify basically killing another man's daughter for the sake of a vaccine that would almost certainly NOT WORK. If anything TLOU Part 2 sticks to the uncertainty around the cure, and Joel's actions at the end of the first game, and at the end of the game, Joel said he'd do it again. Because he's a gigachad.
Jerry doesn't get enough flak though. He's actually a big fat ***hole in my eyes, and the apple doesn't fall that far from the tree either.
Re: Poll: How Would You Rate The Last of Us - Episode 2?
@Loftimus Being immune to fungal infections doesn't mean you can synthesize a cure from that immunity. It is miraculous that Ellie is immune yes, but the main reason that fungal infections are impossible to cure is because the cells of fungi are too similar to animal cells, and you cannot develop a vaccine that JUST targets the fungi cells and not the cells of the host organism.
Ellie is "hope" for humanity, and that's what makes the atmosphere of the show so oppressing. Even if Joel let Ellie be directed and her immunity synthesized into a prototype vaccine, you just get a vaccine that might kill the fungi, but might also kill the host.
The real hope in TLOU was never about the cure. It was about picking your life up from its lowest point and making something worth waking up for. It's about giving up the resentment and trauma of the past, and living for something in the now. That's the whole entire point of TLOU2 as well... In my opinion at least!
Re: Poll: How Would You Rate The Last of Us - Episode 2?
@Loftimus I don't think that's what's going on at all, especially with the beginning scenes stating there is NO medicine or cure for cordycepts.
That Indonesian doctor dedicated her whole life to the study of that organism during a period of medical science that is as far removed from the apocalypse as it gets. A group of doctors in a guerrilla style ramshackle lab finding the cure for something, that isn't curable, will really stretch the believability of the narrative.
Especially when we are being told there is no cure every episode so far. In fact...I'd say this is the show's way of showing and telling us to not focus on the cure.
Because there is none.
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? - Issue 460
Fire Emblem Engage will take most of my time on the Switch!
Genshin Impact over the weekend on PS5 is inevitable.
Made into top 500 in Naraka Bladepoint on my XSX. I'll probably play some of that; even though it stresses me out a lot.
I think I may also play some Ready or Not or Darktide on PC, but...I dunno. Don't have the most time, even with a floating holiday I'm taking on Monday.
Re: Marvel's Avengers Support Officially Ends in September, Three Years After Release
@nessisonett To be fair, after March 31st, when everything is free, it might be the best time to jump in and play everything. If you can find a cheap physical copy.
Then again, no one is really playing this game, so you might need to find 4 physical copies for you and your friends, and at that point...prooooobably not worth it.
Re: Poll: Did You Buy Monster Hunter Rise on PS5, PS4?
I have it on PC already, and I can't migrate my progress so I will not be getting it on PS5 or Gamepass.
Re: Poll: Share Your First Thoughts on The Last of Us TV Series
@danlk1ng I'm not ignoring that Ellie is immune at all, but even if one person is immune it doesn't immediately translate to a cure or even treatment for cordycepts does it? Being immune doesn't matter at all when a cure is not something that could be synthesized during the height of human discovery and medical technology, and treatments for just as nonexistent. Keep in mind they talk about a vaccine too, which is not possible.
And suddenly...Abby's dad can a cure it or even treat it, with only a few months of knowing someone is immune, when everyone else pre-apocolypse couldn't? He definitely knew it wasn't possible to cure, maybe he thought he could treat it? Would he distinguish the two? Or would he lie about it for a slim chance? The game doesn't really address that either.
That's not even the crux of my argument though, here's why I think the story stating a cure isn't possible is significant and demonstrates better storytelling than the game:
It's not going to paint Joel as someone who deprived humanity a chance to start over with a cure. He's still a killer, but almost everyone is in the TLOU, they all just justify it somehow. Instead of the audience focusing on the cure as a source of hope, they now have to focus on the relationships the characters make to pull each other out of the dark times they face, and that's why people love TLOU right? Not the overarching narrative, but the character relationships.
Ellie being immune is what kicks off the whole core narrative, so it is significant, I've never downplayed that, but the game DOES ignore the fact that fungal infections aren't curable, and show informs the audience of this fact immediately.
Even if the show follows the exact same story beats as the game, this recontextualizes a lot of the motivations the characters have. ESPECIALLY the characters that would know this fact. Like Abby's dad, who is portrayed like a saint (probably due to Abby's perspective on him during her flashbacks, I think she is delusional and only remembers the good parts) because someone that can throw their ethics and what they know for a fact away for something that isn't even a chance isn't a saint.
So when that time comes around, and we see Abby's perspective on her father, we won't just be forced to have her perspective. We will have had the knowledge that he was trying to do the impossible at the cost of someone else's daughter, knowing he wouldn't be able to do the same to his, and can see him not as a righteous man, but as hopeful and kind, but and naive, arrogant, and deluded.
This could have helped the characterization of Abby's crew too. Because they were all in it for the cure, and if it was stated there wasn't any, they'd be poor fools that were lied to by a desperate man being misled to their deaths, instead of the utterly unlikable pieces of garbage they ended up being. There could have been a clear parallel between Joel's lie to Ellie and his people, and Abby's dad's lie to Abby and his people. But the game was really afraid to do that clearly for some reason.
TL;DR: the fact that the game ignores a cure being impossible takes the focus away from what matters about the TLOU and its world: the people that come together to pick their lives up.
The show focusing less on the cure, by stating there isn't any immediately will force the audience to examine the characters rather than the overarching narrative.
Re: TV Show Review: The Last of Us (HBO) Episode 1 - Faithful Retelling Deviates in the Right Ways
Really looking forward to watching this every Sunday, especially after the scene at the beginning in 1969. I think it's really going to contextualize Joel and Ellie's journey going forward, and add to the already intense and hopeless atmosphere TLOU has in a good way.
Even if nothing is done after that, it's already added a significant amount of flavor to an already delicious stew in my opinion. Very happy with the first episode, and I hope the show keeps the momentum going, and I'm saying that as a fan of Ellie and Joel's (almost strictly Ellie and Joel mind) story in both games.
Re: Ubisoft Releases 30 Minutes of Skull and Bones Gameplay Following Latest Delay
I was eagerly awaiting this game until I found out there is ONLY ship combat.
Like what? A pirate game with no swashbuckling sabers and pistols?
Wow...Ubisoft...wow. I can't think of a more out of touch gaming company than Ubisoft...
Re: Poll: Share Your First Thoughts on The Last of Us TV Series
@PegasusActual93 Figuring isn't knowing though, and someone knowing has always been the crux of my argument, and why I think the scene at the start of TLOU show is so great.
Joel didn't know, and even if I were to agree with your points above (I don't agree, sorry), they don't seem to even set out to explain that Joel knew a cure was impossible.
He didn't know. Maybe he figured there wasn't a cure if they had to kill Ellie, but TLOU2 kind of contradicts that at the end where Joel is talking to Ellie in the flashback scene after the final confrontation with Abby, where he says he'd do it again. He'd sacrifice the whole world for her, and it's not really a sacrifice to him if he knew it was pointless anyway, right?
Re: 'AAAA' Title The Callisto Protocol Reportedly Falls Short of Expected Sales Figures
If I were to wear a tinfoil hat, I'd say that, from what I read, they had intended for this game to fail to collect insurance money lol
That is so, so, SO, unrealistic to expect a new IP to hit those numbers, let alone a game in a niche genre like survival horror.
That is LAUGHABLE.
Re: Poll: Share Your First Thoughts on The Last of Us TV Series
@PegasusActual93 I totally, but respectfully disagree; that just doesn't make any logical sense.
If Joel knew there wasn't a cure for fungal infections why would he go through all the trouble of taking Ellie all the way to the Firefly base, when he can tell her that there's no cure, and go on a cute field trip to a library to show her to put her mind at ease?
He didn't know, if he did he would have said or done something to try and mend the relationship, and we do see him take steps to do that as well.
It's not a "brush off" to say that Joel lied by saying, "they couldn't find a cure so they stopped trying" because that's exactly what happened. He didn't know, he isn't the type of character to go out of his way to hurt the ones he loves.
You know who probably knew though? Abby's dad.
Re: Poll: Share Your First Thoughts on The Last of Us TV Series
@PegasusActual93 I thought it was apparent in my comment, but it's the fact fungal infections are not curable (they're treatable which is an important distinction). This isn't brought up in the games, and a cure is what forms the central conflict in both games.
The game never mentions that, so it ignores a possible conflict where a character knows that you can't cure a fungal infection, or a book or recording stats that there's no cure.
Personally, even if the show doesn't have a conflict arise from this knowledge, the fact that it mentions that "there's no cure" really adds to the hopeless atmosphere, which I really like.
Re: Poll: Share Your First Thoughts on The Last of Us TV Series
It's great, unlike other shows that use other media to tell more or less the same story, I feel like this was made by writers that played the games and liked them.
I especially LOVE the scene at the start that takes place in 1969... There is no cure fungal infections, and I'm glad it was brought up in the show, seeing as how the games love to ignore this fact. It has me really hopeful to see if that's a scene they are using to set up a conflict that goes COMPLETELY ignored in the game.
Re: New Boss Fight the Focus of More Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty Gameplay
Looking forward to this on Gamepass. I'll probably pick it up on a sale later, on PS5 or XSX, I don't know.
Re: Random: That Original Cyberpunk 2077 Teaser Trailer Is 10 Years Old Today
@ApostateMage He always has something to say, and it's almost always entertaining too. The game didn't have a good start, it was a disaster, but it turned into something truly special for me. Love Cyberpunk.
Re: Frey Faces Her Fears in Flashy Forspoken PS5 Cinematic Trailer
@NEStalgia It isn't uncommon for a team of writers to all collaborate together in something like a TV show, but when a publisher kind of just grabs a bunch of people (who may not when work well together or enable each other to better their collective ideas) and makes them write you get what seems to be the mess that Forspoken is.
For a couple people that have similar ideas about how characters and story should be written, writing up something that is very appealing to people that also have similar ideas, or at least interested in those ideas is a lot easier. It just comes naturally because you're writing what you know, and it's sincere. You get a series like Uncharted, and while yeah it's kinda goofy, you can tell there's enjoyment behind the creation of the world and characters.
Here, it seems like they got a group of people that didn't mesh well... It feels like everyone had differing ideas for not only Frey, but for the world and possibly the greater story. I feel like its an ambitious story, but its not going to be realized due to technical limits of the development team, and the limits imposed by the creative writing team due to, what seems like, wildly differing ideas.
And that's just the writing of the game.
The boring world design, and barren deasld areas add a lot to my apprehension with this game. There's a lot of marketing going on up until its release, and it is starting to feel like that's all this game really is. It's just marketing.
Re: Random: That Original Cyberpunk 2077 Teaser Trailer Is 10 Years Old Today
Another cool thing about this trailer is that female cyberpsycho is a character in the game, her name is Melissa Rory and she is MaxTac operator during the events of Cyberpunk 2077. You can meet her I'm the Cyberpsycho attack quest in the Jinguji shop.
I thought that was neat.
Re: Frey Faces Her Fears in Flashy Forspoken PS5 Cinematic Trailer
@NEStalgia There's extremes to character writing, and usually when game companies write a character that is trying to pander to western sensibility it goes too far in the boring direction, right?
If we make a scale for characterization that goes from relatable/boring to interesting/irritating, a character should never be too far in one direction. We used to get Johnny John Cowboyman and now we get New York Influencerwoman and both of these characters suck. There has to be a balance here.
Re: Frey Faces Her Fears in Flashy Forspoken PS5 Cinematic Trailer
@NEStalgia It feels forced, but mainly because of the rate at which her and her bracelet will exchange quips. It's a lot, but you can minimalize it in the settings somewhere. Plus, her dialogue is localized rather than just translated word for word, so you will still end up reading some pretty bad English dialogue. I don't know if Frey is a better characterized in Japanese, because I don't know much of the language, but I do know, for a fact, that she is a lot easier to just ignore in Japanese.
If Frey's character grates on anyone, and they like or don't mind subtitles, I think playing in Japanese is the way to go.
The English acting isn't even bad, but the dialogue is just grating and annoying. It could have done with some subtlety, and some tone and frequency revision.
Re: Frey Faces Her Fears in Flashy Forspoken PS5 Cinematic Trailer
@NEStalgia She doesn't come across as refined in Japanese, but vulgarity is expressed differently in Japanese when compared to English. English is more about what you say, and Japanese is more about how you say things.
She comes across as a cocky punkass in Japanese, which I think is what they want to go for. It was a popular archetype in 2004, so whatever I guess.
Re: Deathverse: Let It Die Going Offline to Be Redeveloped
July? That's pretty far away considering the state the game is in... I know it's a joke to say the 12 or so people will be sad that the game is going offline for a bit, but I've played this in the past month, and there are literally around that many people playing at any given time. You have to wait around 5 - 15 mins for a match, just so the one you were just in can finish if you didn't win or come second.
The 3 or so week long maintenance periods totally took the wind out of the sails of this game, and the technical state doesn't help either. Not to mention the art direction is ugly, it's made to be ugly and garish, with it's kinda post-ironic space age art deco style. Game is grimey, and niche, and none of the skins look good. It's hilarious how they thought this would have anything, but a small nibble of success if that.
They really need to retool and reenvision this game.
Re: PS Plus Subscriptions Up to 40% Off as Part of PS Store's Huge January Sale
I had Premium for a couple months, and it really was not worth it all. I have Game Pass Ultimate, and it blows Sony's Extra and Premium services out of the water. I'm perfectly fine with Essential, and even then, I may just cancel my sub and play third parties on PC and XSX, at least for the games my PS friends don't play.
Re: Sony Reveals Highly Customisable Accessibility Controller for PS5
I have an old friend who is a quadriplegic that plays games with his tongue and cheek, and a very large, rigid controller works best.
For example: the old Duke from the original Xbox is the perfect controller for him as he could position his forearms to even hit the shoulder buttons accurately. That man taught me how to play Ninja Gaiden on that crusty thing. He had beaten twice already. Legend.
This is good first step in the right direction if priced affordably, but the best thing they could do is a software update that would allow you to use whatever peripheral you wished.
Accessibility shouldn't be a commodity; it should be an accommodation in my opinion, and Sony have shown they are industry leaders in accommodation, so I expect software could be in the works too.
Re: World War Z: Aftermath's Free PS5 Upgrade Adds to 2023 Insanity This Month
Dude finally. Jesus....
Re: Resident Evil 4 Remake Keeps Infamous Island Section, Makes it Bigger
Sounds good to me. I've played and beaten RE4 at least a dozen times; it's one of my favorite games ever, and I loved every bit of it. Even the island. Can't wait for this remake!
Re: Poll: What's Your Favourite God of War Ragnarok Weapon?
The Draupnir Spear for me hands down. It made beating the game on Give me God of War much more manageable once I got it. And it's so damn cool; makes me feel like I'm playing a real Spartan.
Re: Soapbox: Help Me! I'm Hooked on Genshin Impact
Welcome to family.
It's a great game; I love it, and there is so much quality content.
There's also a lot of boring content, like a good 50 percent of the character quests that are extremely boring. Like Ganyu having you collect tax papers. That sucked.
But on the other side, you can fight actual gods with some of the best music in the industry with a team you've invested a lot into.
Re: Furniture Review: Secretlab Titan Evo 2022 - A Premium Gaming Chair with a Premium Price Tag
You can use this money, for an executive office chair, and it's better for your back, more comfortable to sit in, will last longer, and is easier to move. I got a chair from my company, and ever since then I just refuse to use these overpriced racing chairs anymore... To each their own I guess.
Unless you're spending over 300 dollars on a racing style chair, a bog standard office chair will just be better. Don't fall for the marketing, most of these chairs are a scam.
Re: Random: Watch in Awe as God of War Ragnarok's Hardest Boss Destroyed in Seconds
@jimbouk The Alfheim trio really sucks. I've done half of them on Give me God of War, and did the other half on the normal difficulty because after that trio I just wanted to be done with them. The Berserkers mostly reuse each other's mechanics, so aside from getting killed in a couple hits on GMGOW, they aren't that difficult, and each one only has one or two unique mechanics, and most of those mechanics just suck. Like the Vanaheim Berserker that summons poison adds, that one is close second to the trio for worst boss. That always sucks imo.
@Octane I killed them already. That fight just really sucked imo. I turned the difficulty from Give me God of War to the normal difficulty after that. Lol
Re: Random: Watch in Awe as God of War Ragnarok's Hardest Boss Destroyed in Seconds
Loved the Gna fight, but I had way more trouble against the 3V1 Berserker fight. Although, I think maybe it's not all that hard and that that fight just outright sucks. Quite a few of the Berserkers suck actually, I really wish there were more endgame fights like Gna. It was a tough fight, but it felt fair and satisfying.
Re: Poll: What Review Score Would You Give The Callisto Protocol?
7/10 for me. I was underwhelmed by the end of it to be honest. I don't care if the game is scary to other people or not, I haven't found any game scary in the last 15 years, so that doesn't bother me, and I loved the combat. The melee combat felt very crunchy and satisfying, dodging was simple, and the levels seem like they were designed to funnel enemies in a row so you can deal with them one by one, so that was appreciated by me. Graphics of course were great.
What sucks is the utter lack of replayability at launch, they overly used bosses (three bosses in the game, and they reuse two of them.) and the horrible Resident Evil final boss. There just isn't enough compelling content in the game to completely justify that 70 dollars, but it's still a pretty good game with a good foundation.
Re: Amazon Prime Video Greenlights God of War TV Series
No. Please no. Just stop. Come on Amazon.
Re: Preview: Forspoken PS5 Feels Like a More Magical inFAMOUS
I've already said my piece on the other article, but I thought the demo was pretty OK to good at some points... Definitely not something I need day one, and something I can wait for STEEP sale with the DLC. I can handle tankier enemies, cumbersome and ugly UI, and convoluted combat mechanics, to experience the movement and the combat when it clicks, but to add the HORRIBLE Godawful dialogue and banter (you can minimize it in the menus, but it still SUCKS when you hear it) to the list of frustrations... Even playing it with the JP voice is annoying because you read what the subtitles say, and it's still cringe.
Yeah no. No thanks. I'll pick up the definitive edition for 20 bucks in a few years.
Re: Actress Ella Balinska Anchors Massive Forspoken PS5 Showcase
I tried the demo and while it has peaked my interest from nothing to interested. There are a lot of issues in the demo that keep me from buying it.
Notably: Manually dodging feels horrible and automatically dodging feels unsatisfying. The team really seriously needs to work on this mechanic rather than just adding an auto dodge feature. It feels too flashy which makes it impossible to tell when you're safe and when Frey is just doing a flashy animation where she is still going to get hit.
The UI is awful. It looks really bad. Yellow text is an awful awful horrible idea. It's grating on the eyes, and much too stylized. My opinion of course, but I hate it.
The demo is just really bad. It defaults to easy mode so if you go through the demo without messing with settings you get a very sanitized experience. Change the difficulty to normal, and the many flaws start to show, like overly tanky enemies, enemies killing you in one or two hits for whatever reason, and Frey's damage being really inconsistent.
I don't really like the main character. She isn't interesting, the banter with the Cuff is repetitive and annoying (thankfully you can minimize it, but she might grow on me. So far, not really vibing with her at all.
The open world is dead, lifeless, and VERY boring. There is no one else to talk to, there is nothing to discover on your own, there is nothing to be surprised about, and it just feels like you run from place to place to sling magic and that's it.
It is a lot better than I thought.
Movement feels really good and looks cool.
Performance mode holds fairly steady.
Frey's and Sila's magic seem impactful (until you see the health bar), and are pretty fun to use.
The game seems to have a lot more depth than I thought. Seems like combat can be pretty enjoyable.
All in all...I'll wait for a sale. Early 2023 is already stacked, I have enough games to play already, and I don't want to spend 70 dollars for a game I'm likely to put down after a few days, not because I beat it, but because I'm bored of it.
Re: Preview: 20 Hours of Diablo 4 on PS5 Has Us Believing in Blizzard's Latest Trip to Hell
I have also been fortunate enough to play Diablo IV early, and I'm very VERY excited to play much more.
Re: Days Gone Director Blames Woke Reviewers, Programmers for Critical Reception
@OrtadragoonX I simply just mind my own business. What other people choose to do on their own that doesn't affect me doesn't concern me, and if it does, I try and see it from their perspective before I decide whether or not doing anything is worth my time or worth their time.
A lot of simple issues with people are easily solved by just ignoring them, or giving them some baseline courtesy.