Comments 236

Re: Poll: Ghost of Tsushima Released One Year Ago Today - What Review Score Would You Give It Now?

FX102A

I voted 8 but only cos I had to round up for a 7.5.

The game looked amazing and was very well made. Saying that however this was the first open world stealth action adventure game I ever played and honestly I can see some people’s frustrations. The game occasionally felt a bit like a slog and whilst I did all side quests, I wanted to know more about the characters.

Saying that, many side quest paths could have been so much shorter. Took me ~80 hrs to Platinum; could have spend 50-60 hrs and nothing of value would have been lost.

Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? - Issue 384

FX102A

I started SD Gundam G Generations Genesis on the Switch. Bit disappointed that even in historical missions based on the events in Gundam media I am forced to use original characters and MS made for the sub-series. That’s what SRW OG was created for.

Alongside that playing through Doom (2016) on PS4 for fast paced fun, if anything it’s proven to me that despite the lower resolution and FPS on the Switch version, it ran very well and was just as enjoyable.

Re: Sony Fans Bicker Over Ghost of Tsushima PS5 Paywall

FX102A

I can only remember these free upgrades being offered during this generational transition. In the past I always expected re-releases on new platforms to require a complete re-purchase. It’s the fact that other titles have been offered as free upgrades that the bar was set that it is now expected everywhere.

I always expected this to return and that the freebies were simply a way to entice people to upgrade to a PS5.

Re: PSP's Store Closes Today, But Its Games Are Still Up for Grabs on PS3 and PS Vita

FX102A

Was on the verge of buying through all my PSP wishlist titles until I saw this update yesterday on Twitter. Already own most of what I want though. The annoyance though is that not all Vita compatible titles actually appear on the Vita but need to be bought on PS3 and manually transferred. Heck, this varies between regions! For example, Gradius Collection can be played via this method in North America but not in Europe.

Now wondering whether to risk £15 for Afterburner Black Falcon in Europe. Can confirm worked in NA but game removed from PSN NA.

Also PS3 PSN sucks as they no longer have a section to list PSP games (or Vita or PS1 Classics); you need to find a list online and search manually.

Re: PS4 Demon's Souls Discovered in PlayStation Database

FX102A

@zupertramp Never underestimate the desire some people have to feel superior over others by either owning something they don’t or accomplishing something they haven’t (like pushing back against an Easy Mode in Demon’s Souls / Dark Souls).

Either that or they already had niggling buyers remorse and such events only cause those niggles to grow.

Re: Aloy Trends As Fans Discuss Horizon Forbidden West Hero

FX102A

Seems a bit too “done up” on the right; more what I’d expect on a Red Carpet event.

On the other hand, since reading a comment here comparing the left image with Buzz from Home Alone, I can’t help but agree there is an uncanny resemblance.

At the end of the day, I’m not bothered about the Horizon series so she could look like a buck-toothed burn victim or something out of Keeping up with the Kardashians for all I care.

Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? - Issue 376

FX102A

I recently remembered that despite being a big fan of the series, I hadn’t played a Tales game in so long. So recently fired up Tales of Berseria. First impressions make me think the series has been pretty stagnant which is probably why the latest has taken so long to arrive and seemingly has changed quite a bit.

Outside of that hoping to finally finish Castlevania: Symphony of the Night after multiple attempts although I fear the PS4 version’s music is quieter; plus PS4’s subpar d-pad doesn’t help. Maybe should restart on the PS Vita.

Re: Ubisoft Pivots Strategy Towards Quality Free-to-Play Games

FX102A

Considering I gave up on Ubisoft’s games back during the 7th Gen this news has about as much impact to me as EA announcing they’re leaving the industry and moving into the Casino market.

Also “3 to 4”? More like 1 game with 3 to 4 different skins.

Any bets that Beyond Good & Evil 2 will be FTP now?

Re: Leaked Document Reveals Xbox's Opinion of The Last of Us 2

FX102A

Never played Part 2 (and no intention to) but I am inclined to agree with them that up to Part 1 & Uncharted 3, Naughty Dog just couldn’t get gun combat down. It was fine in Uncharted where there was plenty of AK’s to grab and Nathan’s lovely hair was a literal bullet sponge, but in Last of Us it was a nightmare where I dreaded firing a single round whilst the enemy would fire off shot gun shells repeatedly from their Santa’s Sack ammo pouch.

Can’t remember the combat in Uncharted 4 though; game’s a bit of a blur.

Re: PS Store Golden Week Sale Features Over 700 PS5, PS4 Deals

FX102A

Wish the sales would creep into the PS3 & PS Vita stores, but that hasn’t happened in years. At least there’s Cross-Buy for a few.

Also I find myself browsing from the bottom upwards of the sale sections on the console store as I find the more interesting and cheaper stuff on sale is down there whilst the top is mostly the usual AAA tat.

Re: Tales of Arise Coming 10th September, PS5 Version Confirmed

FX102A

Glad to see the PS4 version didn’t get canned. I didn’t expect it since Zesteria was a dual release but a long time with no info got me worrying; although I never got round to playing it so I ended up buying the Trilogy pack (also only way these days to get a non PS-Hits copy of Berseria these days) and ended up with a PS4 copy.

Re: Horizon Zero Dawn Complete Edition Is Free to Download Now

FX102A

@Ward_ting Thanks for the info.

Totally agree, GoT looked nice technically but in a push for realism you kind of realise that Tsushima as an environment isn't all that varied. Not to mention by the end the constant storms were making my travels less pleasant (I thought using the best tactics to wage a successful guerilla campaign was something I'd be rewarded for with bit of sunshine).

I'll try to give Horizon another good shot in the near future.

Re: Horizon Zero Dawn Complete Edition Is Free to Download Now

FX102A

Slightly miffed that I bought this on sale a few weeks before they announced they were giving it away for free.

Still have to play it properly, although played the first couple of hours 1-2 years ago and I don’t know why but something felt off. Felt somewhat the same playing Ghost of Tsushima this year; a game I felt was twice as long as it needed to be and whilst it kept drawing me back, I finished each session like I had just completed a few tasks on my work checklist.

Honestly starting to come to the conclusion I just am not too keen on open-world stealth action-adventure games with crafting and collectibles; which narrows down to more than half of major AAA releases these days. That’s a concerning thought...

Re: PS Plus Oversight Is a Bummer for PS3, PS Vita Owners

FX102A

For me personally, the most disappointing thing to come out of all this are the number of utter snobs so far up their own rectal cavities who believe that this is a non-issue and believe any game over a certain age is not worth anyone’s time or worry.

These are the people who have absolutely zero respect for video games as an art form or the result of people’s hard work. To them, they are just a disposable product to temporarily provide entertainment as long as it adheres to their own standards and tie them over until the next fad arrives.

Re: Around 2,200 Digital Games on the Chopping Block When Sony Closes PS3, PS Vita, PSP Stores

FX102A

@get2sammyb Literally found out on Twitter about 30 min ago. Several titles published by I think Monkey Paw Games (Arc the Lad Trilogy, Sonic Wings Special, Gaia Seed, both Tombas, plus a few others) have been removed from the UK PSN store at least. They are still on the North America Store though but it’s infuriating for many as some of the titles are extremely expensive to buy physically.

Re: Many PS Vita Devs Cancel Projects After Sudden PS Store Closure

FX102A

@Jbuggydroid Because as good as the Switch is there are many who prefer the Vita. Smaller form factor, better battery, better d-pad. It has a relatively small but dedicated following and many Indy games have found success on the Vita due to its fan base and their openness to communicate.

A console is only “dead” when the people playing it stop.

Re: Many PS Vita Devs Cancel Projects After Sudden PS Store Closure

FX102A

The PS3 and PSP stores shuttering I can understand, but the Vita shuttering just seems like a desperate attempt by Sony to erase it from existence. It’s not like the PS5 is an adequate replacement for the Vita; if anything it’ll push people to the Switch as portability remains important for some people.

Or in my case the Vita being Sony’s only decent d-pad. I never buy 2D games on my PS4 if another option exists purely because of the split d-pad and the PS4’s inability to use non-Sony licensed 3rd party pads.

I still hope (in some vain) that Sony will give the Vita store a reprieve for now.

Re: Over Half of Players Completed Ghost of Tsushima's Campaign

FX102A

A good game and only my 2nd Platinum after Spiderman; though one that I felt was longer than it needed to be.

The game definitely had something that kept enticing me to continue. Yet when I look back on it now it’s not as fondly or memorable as other games. Parts of it were but it felt like there was a lot of filler. If many of the character side quests had been halved in length and the Legend exp rate was faster, I think it would have felt a less bloated game.

Oh and the final moral choice felt so out of place to me. Really broke the flow for me. I expected it but felt it cheapened the ending.

Re: Feature: Could PlayStation Do More to Promote Green Packaging?

FX102A

My only concern remains durability. I know its an issue only really for collectors but I always worry about cardboard cases due to the increased chance of damage, especially corners when in mail transit.

One option I’d say is to reduce the size of the case to the bare minimum to contain only the disc / cartridge. PS5 / XBX disc cases could be the size of CD cases with half the thickness, whilst Switch cases could be tiny.

Another option would be offering digital games at a reduced price at launch. I’m sure if digital games were say £10 cheaper than physical, a lot more people would go the digital route.

Re: Controversially Cancelled Shooter Six Days in Fallujah Returns This Year

FX102A

I always wondered if the game would be resurrected once more time had passed. Glad to see it come out.

I do however hope that whilst the gameplay remains tactical, they allow us to soak up a bit of damage on the easier difficulties and not fall under the c**k-up cascade scale.

Can’t tell if its 1st or 3rd person; hope its 3rd person.

Re: PS5 Scalpers Reportedly Don't Like All the Bad Press They Get

FX102A

The difference with the milk analogy is that the supermarkets provide a “purchase point” as well as bottling, labelling and distribution to customers. I don’t think these scalpers are obtaining the PS5s directly from Sony and providing the boxes plus an accessible method of buying them.

They are simply putting up an additional barrier at extra cost. I’m not after a PS5, yet I wouldn’t care if their computers blew up in front of them.

They are like Toll Booths; they block your journey unless you pay up or take the long way round.

Re: GTA 5 Ships 140 Million Copies, 2020 Its Best-Selling Year Since Launch

FX102A

I once read that a major reason for GTA V’s constant success was that it was usually cheaper to find new copies of the game on sale to source the Shark Card funds bundled inside and sell the game rather than buy the shark card directly. Although yet to fully corroborate that.

Would suggest that many CEX across the UK would be using GTAV cases to construct the walls with an overflow of copies.

Re: Cyberpunk 2077 Has Now Been Missing from the PS Store for a Month

FX102A

Whilst I imagine this will go down in gaming industry as a prime example of Premature Release amongst other things, question is will those lessons be learnt or just result in another “Lets All Laugh at an Industry That Never Learns Anything Tee Hee Hee” episode?

Also how long before the first “I’m enjoying it and thus so should everyone else” comment?

Re: 67 Per Cent of UK Game Sales Were Digital Last Year

FX102A

As already stated, whilst an important statistic it does come with some caveats. Many games are released only digital first (or only ever) and thus many people will jump rather than wait.

Then there are the sale hunters like myself who generally prefer physical but will buy the game digital during a good sale and they only expect to play the game once with no real emotional attachment. Basically a replacement for game rentals.

Then there are the doublers, also like myself, who will buy a game digitally that they own physically already, cos it was cheap and allows for easy plays (arcade games usually).

And then the Collectors, who buy cheap digital cos they don’t want to devalue their precious sealed babies.

Re: Is It Worth Buying a PS4 in 2021?

FX102A

If you haven’t got one, looking for more bang for your buck and don’t care about having the shiniest graphics, definitely I’d say get one. The huge library and plenty of exclusives is enough to warrant a purchase. Plus I’m skeptical of the PS5’s backwards compatibility. The fact every game’s PSN page was a warning that it may not work as intended on PS5 suggests that Sony haven’t rigorously tested every PS4 title on it. Buy PS4 on the cheap now, pick up PS5 in around 2+ years time when the library is bigger and both the console and game prices may have dropped.

Re: Is It Worth Buying a PS Vita in 2021?

FX102A

@gingerfrog Wish I could buy your 64GB card at least.

Probably best to scour Twitter and Facebook for Vita Fan groups. Whilst small compared to other console groups, they are tight knit and looking for good / fair deals on the consoles, games and memory cards. Many own multiple consoles (highest I’ve seen was 48 Vitas).

Re: PS4 Console Production Reduced to Just One Model in Japan

FX102A

Glad I got my Pro then, even though I still lack a 4K TV. Still, its a bit of a shame as it was the only way to experience all PS4 titles at their highest quality.

My experience on by 1st Gen UK PS3 and its PS2 BC was mixed with only 1 game playing better and at least 3 having serious issues. Since then have kept clear of emulation and limited it to only consoles with the required hardware built in.

Re: Is It Worth Buying a PS Vita in 2021?

FX102A

I bought my fourth Vita (Crimson Red Slim) just a few months ago from Amazon Japan. It wasn’t cheap at £280 incl shipping and taxes but I’ve wanted one for a long time and prices were only going up.

My suggestion is that you should only consider buying a Vita if you are a fan of JRPGs, Visual Novels, PSN Classics and indie titles; plus portability is a plus for you.

Re: Game of the Year: #3 - Ghost of Tsushima

FX102A

Started playing on Christmas Day and whilst an enthralling game, there are some aspects that hold it back for me. Most notably are the inability to draw the camera back (on obsession with many modern games to have a close up, off centre camera), the roll move is too easy to mistakenly activate in the heat of battle and horse-back combat seems worthless as the enemy always fling you off (probably cos a spear man always seems to appear at the last second).

I haven’t really played open world games like this outside of Breath of the Wild but I doubt this game is going to convert me to more of them.

I own but yet to play FFVII Remake so yet to see which of the 2 will be my PS4 GoTY.

Re: Poll: Did You Get a PS5?

FX102A

Sorry but there’s no option for “Not Yet, but may buy one in the future”. The only option there says “plan to buy one as soon as possible” and I don’t think 2+ years classified as “soon”.

Re: Call of Duty Fans Aren't Pleased with the Black Ops Cold War Map Count

FX102A

I thought this was par for the course these days. Release the game now but the add all the missing content later (sometimes free, sometimes not) and you’ll eventually get the game you payed for.

The Cold War setting did make me interested in the game, yet ironically what turned me off was actually the non-accurate aircraft designs (most likely to avoid licensing costs; although I doubt Antonov would have gotten in a huff over including an An-22).

Makes me wonder, how does the UH-60 look like in Modern Warfare (2019)?