GamingFan4Lyf

I will probably get this for Switch - just because I'm weird like that and it feels almost "wrong" to play it elsewhere (despite getting better graphics and performance on more powerful hardware).

"Added new feature to summon spectral steed during the Elden Beast the boss battle."

Well that certainly changes the way that battle flows, doesn't it?

Kind of odd this wasn't available when the device first came out since [insert any other device that supports Remote Play] has had this ability.

I couldn't care less about Trophies for any game.

I'm really looking forward to this game!

@PuppetMaster Astro's Playroom had cameos from third-party IP that started/heavily associated with PlayStation, so there is precedent for these types of cameos.

There truly are some lonely people out there. For all the good that can come from social media, there is no doubt that there is an equally harmful dark side to it all.

I already moved my main character to where I need to be to start the DLC once it drops.

I definitely need to knock some of the rust off my main character as I haven't really played it since I got all the Achievements (I cheesed the Ending Achievements by cutting off the game right during the credits so I could go back and make a different choice before the game Auto-saved).

Look, it's fine if that Sony doesn't want to publish the game to Xbox or PS4, but don't turn around and ay "For Everyone" when it's not.

Unless I missed something, you start off mentioning three different scenarios and only talk about two.

What was the third scenario?

Well deserved - it's an amazing game!

@FuzzieGinge88 @SLRC98 [Looks at all the backwards compatible possibilities of Xbox Series X|S: larger available library, optional AutoHDR, resolutions boosts, framerate boosts]

I can't imagine why anyone here would feel jaded by Sony on these PS2 releases.

But, hey, at least you get Trophies! 🙄

Yay...more remakes.....

@Godot25 @WhiteRabbit Why do people confront others over an opinion as if a person is "wrong" in forming their conclusion about a game?!

Someone likes Hellblade 2. So what? They are not wrong in liking it. There are things to like about the game - dark story, mature themes, wonderful audio design, and an insanely detailed environment. I find the slow battles to be intense (even if some of that intensity is scripted).

Another person doesn't like Hellblade 2. So what? They are not wrong in not liking it. There are some things not to like about the game - the combat is still rather simplistic, the puzzles aren't all that tough to solve, and there is a lot of walking.

No one is wrong for liking or not like a game, ever! No need to argue about it!

On topic: Sony vs. Microsoft stuff is getting old. The sooner Microsoft switches over to a PC-based console that can play Steam, GOG, etc. as well as Microsoft Store games the better. Time to GTFO of this toxic console culture.

I cheesed him by doing the glitch that gets you around the main entrance and prevents him from moving no matter how many times you hit him.

I was fairly under-leveled, so it took a while, but it was great for leveling up further.

Sorry, not sorry.

@EU_Gamer Is it because there is no "base game" option that people feel like the physical version is "overpriced"?

The Digital Deluxe version is $79.99 which includes the base game and DLC.

The physical version is $79.99 and includes the base game and DLC, plus a copy of Alan Wake Remastered.

Seems to me, you are getting a little more by buying physical.

I already pre-ordered Astro Bot.

I'm not overly interested in LEGO Horizon - but I am glad it exists as sometimes it's just nice to do something a little different with established IPs.

@themightyant Nice of you to point that out that Phil acknowledged Microsoft's hand in it, but I am sure your comment will be entirely looked over because it doesn't fit a narrative.

@Mustoe I was a heavy PC gamer during the X360/PS3 era, but kind of got tired of tinkering with settings all the time and started focusing on consoles - plus my gaming laptop died and I really didn't want to spend a ton of money getting a replacement.

I feel like during the X1/PS4 era kind of changed things and made settings menus a lot easier to work with if you didn't want to dive too deep into the menus to tweak every little detail.

@Don_Corleone "Xbox needs new original IP not 20 plus years of the same games"

South of Midnight
Clockwork Revolution
Hi-Fi Rush
Sea of Thieves
Grounded
Pentiment

All of those are original games that are not Halo, Gears, or Forza.

God of War has been around a long time and people still want more

Ratchet & Clank has been around for a long time and people still want more

Gran Turismo has been around longer than Forza and people still want more

Nintendo has had IP around longer than either Sony and Microsoft and people still love them!

Targeting Microsoft for having tentpole IPs is a little hypocritical when all of the Big 3 have them and focus on them to some degree.

@HonestHick @Mustoe I am strongly considering that route for the next generation.

It may be a heftier up front cost, but when I consider that paying for both a new PlayStation and a new Xbox would cost about as much as getting a decent box that can run at minimum Medium settings for games for quite a while, it's definitely worth mulling over.

Plus, games tend to be cheaper on PC (sometimes free), cloud saves are free everywhere, most games have Gamepad support, and there is no cost for online multiplayer (not that I really do that anyways, but it's still nice).

Sure, the experience isn't as streamlined as a console, but I don't mind having to do a little but of "power user" stuff if it means having only one box in the entertainment center (I don't need a flashy case or anything, just something with properly cooling) to play all the games of interest to me.

@CallMeDuraSouka Maybe if Microsoft does a massive COD dump on Game Pass I will give them a go.

And just like that, COD died.

RIP and good riddance. Haven’t liked the series since it left the WW2 era.

The only thing that's sad is that people can't simply give credit where credit is due simply because...what...it didn't come from the company they like?

@UltimateOtaku91 I follow great games.

Microsoft showed great games and a lot of them. Whether it “matters” from a console sales perspective or not, I can play great games. I hope it does at least boost sales a little - even if it’s just people getting a cheap Series S and a Game Pass sub.

Those stuck playing favorites will just have to miss out.

I know I won’t.

@Decimateh-xblz Technically Nintendo is in 1st place… 😛

I think people forget that Switch is “current-gen”

@Decimateh-xblz Better late than never, right?

Perhaps Microsoft is hoping to have its “PS3 Moment” with the Series consoles.

@itsfoz I kind of predicted this would happen.

Sony, can I say, “blew it’s load” in the first few years of the PS5 as all its major studios released a game. The leaves a HUGE gap as Sony now has to wait for games to churn.

Microsoft had very little in the first few years and a ton of studios under its belt. It was only a matter of time before those games would hit the console. It appears that time for Xbox is the foreseeable future.

Perhaps spending more time making a game rather than making a movie might decrease development times and budgets.

Also, not everything needs to be open world and expansive. Some of the best games are more focused affairs.

I am glad those wanting a physical version will be able to buy it.

This game is fantastic, and I hope this will finally make it profitable for Remedy.

@rjejr My daughter loved Astro's Playroom - mostly to play the monkey climbing sections.

She doesn't get any of the PlayStation references.

I showed her the trailer for Astro Bot and she was amazed and wanted it that day.

EDIT: Pre-orders finally went live on US Amazon!

Plenty of jank, but it's definitely on my spectrum of weird!

I will definitely keep it on my radar - even if it is to give this studio support for future endeavors!

Looks like something to keep on my radar!

Cool...I just want to be able to pre-order the physical version at some point today...looking at you Amazon!

Typing in Astro Bot PS5 only brings up the PSVR Game on PS4.

@K1LLEGAL I agree it is frustrating - especially when people give "If you want to play Sony games, buy a PlayStation" as a response to Sony games being ported to other platforms.

I think the reason PlayStation 4 had such a huge lead (and now PS5) is because a lot of Xbox fans jump shipped due to the X1 disaster and just stuck around.

I think there is still a lot of love for Xbox IP, but bad decisions within Xbox just keep people away from taking the plunge and buying the console.

@Anti-Matter Making me work for it, huh?!

[Reads your comments]

You are one interesting person.

Quite an extreme position, in my opinion, but whatever makes you happy in life - your gaming habits are yours alone and no one should tell you otherwise!

@Anti-Matter Why such the hostility for Astro? Seems like it would be right up your alley for the cute kids games you generally like.

On topic: I will pre-order this as soon as the pre-order goes up on Amazon.

@Rich33 Perhaps.

Definitely never heard about it back in the 90's when Star Fox ran at a whopping...what...15fps (almost a literal slide show)?? Ocarina of Time I believe ran at like 25fps??

Heck, during the 360/PS3 era there was a ton of 30fps games - with horrendous screen tearing (which I am incredibly sensitive to). All major PS4 exclusives ran at 30fps on the base machine, and no one complained.

Which is why when most people say "anything less than 60 is unbearable", I roll my eyes simply because...well...60fps hasn't been common for a while in the console space until recently.

The PS2 had a ton of 60fps games, but that was the only console generation where it was pretty common for quite some time.

As much as I love Digital Foundry analysis (because I am technology buff), I do think their analysis has put things to the forefront that shouldn't matter as anything more than curiosity - and throws a ton of fuel on the "console wars".

@Rich33 “That said I have seen a few movies in recent years which have affected me - one was one of the marvel films (cant remember which now and i dont often rewatch), that I had to stop watching.”

Yeesh, that actually sounds awful to deal with!

While not vision related, I can’t ride thrill rides anymore as they make me dizzy. I don’t have any brain issues, but it can happen as one ages. It sucks because I loved riding rollercoasters with my daughter.

@Pranwell Framerate is framerate. If a “low framerate” physically bothers you, than 24fps would physically bother you.

To call sub 60 a “slide show” must mean movies and TV are also slide shows.

@Rich33 “ cannot tolerate much less than locked 60fps.”

Going to the movie theater must be torture.

@NEStalgia Yeah, that Luminous Engine has been a disaster and takes "brute forcing" to perform better.

It took the PS5/XSX in order for 'Lite' Mode on Final Fantasy XV to run at 60fps - and I don't think it's locked on either machine.

Sony studios do a great job with their proprietary engines having a nice visuals/performance ratio.

Nintendo does a great job with its proprietary engines having a nice visuals/performance ratio (given the hardware).

I don't think any Microsoft studio uses proprietary engines at all (well, there was the Slipspace Engine for Halo Infinite...but...yeah...anyways).

CDPR had the amazing RED Engine which was beautifully optimized for all kinds of hardware (especially at the end of Cyberpunk 2077 development). But, sadly, has abandoned it for Unreal Engine 5.

Remedy has the amazing Northlight Engine which has been truly impressive across platforms.

Capcom has done great with the RE Engine - even though it favors unlocked framerates which isn't the best for non-VRR displays.

UE5 is getting there. I think games that target 5.4 will allow greater flexibility on consoles since it will finally have a multi-threaded rendering pipeline which has shown great performance gains on mid to lower end PC hardware (as high-end PCs have just been able to brute-force single-threaded performance).

The problem is that, other than the HD-2D games that use Unreal Engine 4 and run great, Square Enix doesn't have the best handle on Unreal Engine either as Final Fantasy VII Rebirth isn't the "best case" of the engine.

I don't exactly have confidence that SE would have great-performing UE5 titles either.

My guess is the developers don't really have time to understand the engines and teams are just expected to deliver.

By contrast, studios like CDPR, The Coalition, etc. are actively working with Epic Support to fit their needs with UE5.

GIVE ME MORE ALAN WAKE 2!!!!!

In Remedy, I trust!

Anyone sleeping on this game because it is Digital Only is really missing out on something special.

@NEStalgia Hey, I get it. For this style of game, 60fps should have been the target. But it's pretty clear Square Enix wanted visual spectacle for this game over high framerates or it wouldn't have had such a rocky Performance Mode.

I played the entire game in Quality Mode - felt fine from start to finish.

Framerate will probably not get fixed as the game has to drop resolution down pretty low when combat is initiated - a resolution that could hinder exploration (which is why the resolution goes back up outside of combat).

Sure, a PS5 Pro could probably lock it to 60 (assuming it's a GPU issue), but I don't see Square Enix going back in and forcing the low-resolution for the entire game.

This is what happens when 30fps is your actual target for the game and you shoehorn a Performance Mode to prevent public flogging from the Twitter Mob.

For a live service game run by Sony, requiring a PSN Account on PC makes sense - you are using Sony servers.

Requiring it for offline, single player games to boost your PSN metrics to look good to shareholders doesn't (at least, not for the consumer).

About that day....

@3Above I hear you.

Currently I have:
Horizon Forbidden West
Final Fantasy VII Rebirth
Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII Reunion
Lords of the Fallen
Octopath Traveler II

Plus, Shadow of the Erdtree drops in less than a month! I pre-ordered Silent Hill 2 and I plan to pre-order Astro Bot when that is available.

I want to check out Avowed if that drops soon. I definitely want to play Indiana Jones and the Great Circle. I still need to finish Hellblade II.

There are just too many games to play and not enough time!

@3Above Final Fantasy VI is a bloody masterpiece even if you’ve played 7 - 16!

Final Fantasy IV is great, too - especially the 3D remake - but has a significant difficulty spike toward the end.

The rest I can take or leave.

@3Above Having not played the sequel yet, I can’t comment on what’s been “fixed”, but I understand where you are coming from - the only real benefit to getting the 1st after playing the 2nd is to experience a new set of stories.

I guess it’s like trying to experience the original Final Fantasy after playing more “superior” Final Fantasy games.