Gamer83

@get2sammyb
I'd buy that reasoning, if it weren't for the fact Sony has censored other games on its platform that it didn't publish. But the problem I have with the changes isn't even the designs because the outfits are still pretty revealing, it's that they were advertised to be in the game, they're on the disc but then get wiped away with an update. If this wasn't the vision, they shouldn't have been advertised and, more than that, Shift Up shouldn't have leaned into the 'sexy' when advertising the game. That was always their biggest mistake.

Show the final versions of the outfits in trailers, the demo, etc., answer the questions about Eve herself by saying 'I like to play games with attractive women and that's how I wanted to design the lead character for mine,' and most of all don't say the game will be uncensored. That would've lessened some of the chatter, the game still would've been a battleground for whatever reason, but it would've calmed down other talk.

Tried but never really got into the series until Rise. Love that game. Looking forward to Wilds.

@get2sammyb
Final Fantasy is definitely not as popular as it once was. It used to be able to sell PlayStation consoles, that clearly isn't the case anymore. While the numbers seem fine enough taken on their own, I'm sure not just SquareEnix, but Sony had higher hopes for the impact XVI and VII Rebirth would make, and though both are quality games, it seems pretty obvious they didn't help move hardware.
It's also possible that this has more to do with a bad economy but I don't remember any of the more recent FF games setting sales charts on fire and XIII and XV weren't the most loved games by fans and are probably where things started going off course.

Could be the long time before we see another game like this from SquareEnix. Looking forward to seeing how it turns out. Secret of Mana is one of my favorite Super NES games.

Feels like it's been this way with Like a Dragon for a while now. If it isn't a new game with the LaD name on it, it's a spinoff like Judgment.

@Vault_Mcfly
I'd say for a new, non-Japanese developed IP on a console that isn't overly popular there it's actually a pretty good debut. I never expected Stellar Blade to light up sales charts to be honest, it's geared towards a specific audience. Worldwide sales will tell the full story. As long as it was budgeted properly, if it can mange 2-3 mil, that should hopefully make it profitable enough to get a sequel.

@Shad361
Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth missing from both charts as well. Surprising and disappointing. All 3 are great games.

@HonestHick
Yeah, Heavenly Sword is awesome, one of the main reasons I bought a PS3 in 2007 rather than wait until the next summer for MGS 4. It didn't light up the sales charts, sadly, which is probably why we never even got a remaster during PS4's early years when it seemed like every PS3 game was making its way over.

Well, that would be something... The series did start a timed-exclusive PlayStation game so it'd be cool, just crazy the way it would be happening. Always will be a shame NT sold out to MS. Hope Hellblade 2 does well because I'd hate to see NT be the next studio lost.

I've been enjoying the Resident Evil, Street Fighter and Monster Hunter out put for the last decade and a half or so. Not thrilled at all with how SF 6's extra content has been handled post-release but unfortunately that's a problem with the entire fighting game genre. The Resident Evil teams are really on fire. Great remakes, worthwhile - and fairly-priced - DLC expansions, and even a lesser quality release like RE 3R is still a good game. Looking forward to the announcement of 9, just hope they don't go full open world with it.

@sanderson72
The best LBP is on Vita, also not made by Media Molecule. I like MM but unfortunately it seems that studio's best days are behind it. Would love to see LBP make a come back with the right team behind it, though.

Write bad fan fiction, you're not going to get the best reaction. That isn't 'attacky.'

I'm a big fan of Final Fantasy XVI, FF VII Rebirth and Stellar Blade and Sony does have a history of relying on third party exclusives to help carry PlayStation, but that doesn't excuse the pretty poor first party output this gen.

Looking forward to seeing what it's about. Hopefully a return to third person with a focus on older characters. Be cool if Jill is back in a leading role.

It's a shame, because it's easily one of the best games of the year. But I also understand why a lot of the hardcore FF VII fans don't care for Remake and Rebirth, and that's a large part of the audience. Not being about to win them over has clearly hurt Rebirth and it could mean even worse sales for the third part.

@rachetmarvel
The review score is definitely inflated, though. I'm as big a 'fanservice' guy as anybody but I also try to be objective. If this game is a 9.2 I can list a bunch more than should be in the 9.8 to 10 range but aren't because people are either complaining about horrendous DLC practice that don't effect gameplay or 'woke' or 'incel.' End of the day, user reviews should be taken as seriously as 'professional' reviews that aren't from PushSquare, Pure Xbox or NintendoLife, which is, not at all.

@PsBoxSwitchOwner
Stupid censorship that shouldn't happen, especially when crap like Saints Row is allowed to exist uncensored, and misleading marketing aside, when you look at it objectively, the game still has a lot of stuff that the 'incels' would say flies in the face of 'woke' (the whole discourse around this game is stupid), so I'm not surprised it's scoring well from users. All that said, other than the outstanding music and a strong combat system, which still isn't close to the level as the From Soft games it's clearly copying, I don't know as I'd say there's anything in this game that is truly great. A 9.2 is definitely a bit bloated and almost laughable in a year that has already seen Tekken 8, Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth and Final Fantasy VII Rebirth. All vastly superior.

It's a really good game but not that good.

Can't do turn-based RPGs other than Like a Dragon but everything else about this seems cool. Hope people enjoy it.

I only watched the first episode, run times are a little longer than I expected so I won't be binging it, but definitely have to get to the rest of the season at some point. Thought the first ep. was a decent start.

Awesome game that handles DLC putridly, just like SF 6. It is cool to see Lidia back, though.

@Doctor_BK
I'm hoping if TopSpin 2K25 can do well enough maybe Sega sees an opportunity to bring back Virtua Tennis. The arcade nature of it was always a nice, and fun, contrast to the more realistic sims from 2K and EA.

@puddinggirl
Ok, thanks for the detailed reply. I'll start on normal mode first, but if I have to drop it down to story mode, good to know there's still a bit of a challenge.

@Ralizah
I'm no fan of SBI myself, but it's obvious there's no involvement here. What would happen, and what did, is some people would blame Crystal Dynamics because they blame CD for everything they don't like about TR now. I look at the situation and think it was made in-house at Aspyr. What the reasoning would be to do something pointless like this is beyond me but as a Sega fan I learned a long time ago companies don't always do things that make sense.

@Ralizah
I don't think you'd be seeing that. Everybody who knew about this censorship realized it was an Aspyr choice and not 'SJWs' or 'woke.' Aside from the modern controls, I didn't see anybody who bought these remasters complaining about anything. It was near-universal praise. Then they pulled this crap.

'Lost' for damn sure. This was announced eons ago.

@puddinggirl
Does the combat provide any challenge on story mode?

TopSpin 2K25 (PS5). Been playing this a ton, haven't had this much fun with video game tennis since Virtua Tennis World Tour on the Vita. It's also the most I've enjoyed a TS game since 2, although they're all good. It took too long but at least the series has come back in style to fill what was an obvious void in the sports genre.

I bought it, but nope, only game I want to play at the moment is TopSpin 2K25. Expected it to be good but didn't think I'd be as hooked on it as I am. Honestly don't know when I'll move onto something else, don't get a ton of free time and when I do, I don't want to spend all of it playing games.

With all the bs surrounding Stellar Blade, I'm also not in a rush to play it. The whole discourse (mostly from one side who feels it's ok to call people 'virgins' because they don't mind fanservice) was annoying and the fact the scum at Sony stepped in and censored not just the outfits but the blood and gore too is beyond ridiculous. It's an M-rated game. On top of that, my pre-order code that came with disc doesn't work. There's a lot that soured this release and while it flies in the face of commonsense it almost feels like Sony picked up publishing rights just to sabotage it. Hopefully Shift Up never works with this company again. As somebody who grew up in the 90s, it still takes some getting used to that Nintendo is now the most lenient when it comes to sexual content and seems to give 2nd and 3rd parties a bit more creative freedom.

I don't work in game development so if somebody here does have experience and wants to tell me why I'm wrong, I'm open to it but I have a very hard time believing this bs 'inadvertent' excuse. With how pathetically censorship happy (only one way of course) these companies are there's zero doubt in my mind these pieces of garbage thought they were being slick and figured they could censor the game after taking money from people who thought they were buying one product only to end up with another.

Now that I've played it, I can finally comment on it. First off, while it's a sim, the game does offer options that could make it feel a bit more arcade like, which is a good thing, the game seems relatively newbie friendly, at least imo. It's been a long time since I've liked a tennis game this much, the last one was Grand Slam 2. There are some minor complaints. The characters do look a bit odd at times and Agassi and, especially, Sampras, don't really look like themselves but at least they're in the game, which unfortunately Nadal and Djokovic are not. Other than that, though, this is a nice return for TopSpin and definitely would recommend it to fans of the sport.

Looking forward to playing the game on Friday. I struggled with the combat in the demo at first but once it started clicking I really enjoyed it.

@MrMagic
Interesting. Thanks for letting me know.

I'm surprised Dead Space would be denied in Japan when there isn't anything in there that's worse than stuff you'd see in Resident Evil. Unless RE is heavily censored in Japan.

@get2sammyb
Hope to see you post some thoughts on this game if you get a chance.

@matekomlosi
I don't know if I agree with you as far as violence in games these days. Aside fom TLoU 2 (and even that isn't over the top) everything seems more PG-13 or very light R, not like back in the 6th and 7th gens where there was an 'edge' (maybe even a bit too much for some) to the brawlers and shooters. The Like a Dragon series, as much as I love it, is particularly watered down in this category.

I didn't notice anything in the demo that would lead me to think the game should get censored, but good to get clarification anyway. It does highlight how inconsistent Sony is when it comes to this stuff, though.

Looking forward to playing this. It's been forever and a day since a legit good tennis game has released.

@BIG3
Both great games, for sure. Metroid Dread is actually my favorite game of this current gen so I always have it in the rotation.

PS5 - Final Fantasy XVI

Switch - Princess Peach: Showtime, Metroid Dread

@Nem
I wish.

Great game and seems like a missed opportunity for Sony not to pick up Ember Lab considering some of the stupid $ decisions it's made this gen.

No thanks. Not every game needs a movie or tv adaptation, and one franchise that certainly doesn't is Golden Axe

I still haven't finished the main game. Once I do, I'll get the DLC bundle. If this isn't my favorite Final Fantasy game it's a 1a. to Crisis Core: FF VII's (particularly Reunion), no. 1. I like the action-focused combat.

I'm still playing through the game. Interested if I'll actually notice any of these changes.

I think Stellar Blade will be a great game but Nier: Automata is one of those games people will still be talking about 20 years from now.

Pre-ordered the game so had this weapon from the start back in 2016. Really fun to use, maybe a bit overpowered, but still cool to watch the chaos it caused.

I really enjoyed this game. Wouldn't say it's as good as Nintendo's best platformers but still really fun. Too bad the chances of another Toys for Bob-developed Crash Bandicoot game are slim to none.

Final Fantasy VII Rebirth is definitely deserving, but of the games on the list, I'd have Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth at the top. Awesome game. RGG Studio doesn't seem to miss.

PS5 - Final Fantasy XVI

Switch - Princess Peach: Showtime