JB_Whiting

I mean c'mon guys, it's developed by Spiders; OF COURSE it's going to be janky! I could never quite get into any of their games: Bound in Flame was horrible, Technomancer not quite as rubbish... and Greedfall had flashes of brilliance, it was just once again marred by technical ugliness.

This looks more of the same; still, I'm intrigued.

It's a shame they couldn't have just put out the original with a minor up-res, ala FF VII, VIII & IX. I never played CC but the PS1 visuals and audio would still have given me nostalgia vibes.

Boy this looks.... kinda rough, no? The HUD design is icky, and please tell me there's a performance mode!

@sanderson72 It's probably the same as Xbox One version, which is locked at 30fps.

Finally. My LG, and my eyeballs, will be happy. Just don't start getting complacent with framrates now.

@JohnnyShoulder I know right?! I've been using Bloody Slash literally for the entire game

Even though I'm not a HP fan, and I detest Rowling and everything she stands for, I'm happy fans are getting a AAA adventure. It won't be for me however. * crawls back into The Lands Between *

It's not even the good kind of co-op; it's PvP with enemies thrown in as distractions.

It's a case of looking past its many, many flaws. The core combat was SUPER fun (and surprisingly deep) from those demos, but the visuals and overall presentation is pretty ugly.

For people that are turned off by the difficulty presented by Soulsborne games, this literally has a "Story" mode where you just mash the buttons without any real consequences.

Not sure if diving into another Souls-like immediately after Elden Ring would be good for my mental well-being.

But.. it IS Final Fantasy though!

@Brasilkilla The first game definitely. DL 2 is a step back in my book; got bored and stopped after about 12 hours.

I bet Squeenix played Elden Ring and were like *****, we better put some substance in our open-world.

@weR1youR2Podcast I wouldn't be so sure - you could easily put GoW in November/December and there'd be plenty of breathing room. Saying that, Sony seem to have no issue with putting games like HZ:FW and GT7 weeks apart!

@AFCC I think it goes to show that maybe sometimes we're too hard on technical issues (granted, the ones in ER can be fixed, but typical From are being elusive).

Like, I don't remember people being so harsh towards the performance of many PS1 games. For Elden Ring, it's clear that the core concept: the world, the design, the mechanics, the atmosphere, the ambition, the player agency and total control, overshadow its technical imperfections. Like I'm so immersed and satisfied with what I'm playing that I'm just not noticing these problems.

Not finished yet, but after 30 hours I'm thinking 9.5. The technical hiccups just rob it from a 10 for me.

For reference I'd give HZ a 7.5... not that i'm trying to stir up trouble again

@Squanch The humour was pretty lazy in this one, stereotypical sure, but also borderline racist. I mean I can't speak for the majority of the game because I turned off the voice after mission one

Wait for heavy, heavy discount, like a tenner. Or grab a month of PS Now and get it that way!

@RevGaming Yup, it's literally platform section - bit of wall running and grapple hook, then combat arena with the same 5 enemies. Rinse and repeat.

Feel like the developers just didn't have their heart in this one. Shame.

@Squanch See I enjoyed the other two also. But this is a huge step down, also the humour feels super cringey this time round; maybe it's because they replaced Lo Wang's voice actor.

They could've really evolved their ideas from 2, but instead just stripped it back to a super linear, 4-hour long Doom Eternal clone.

@Vovander The reviewer said 8, but I did it in 4 and a half on normal. You could probably do it in around 6 on hard.

I would agree with you, but for this £40 ain't great value; there's no new game plus, no chapter select, and the game overall is mediocre and one-note. It's a proper "rental" game.

Just to echo the reviewer, it is VERY short. I finished it in two sittings and clocked about 4 and a half hours. It was, kinda fun? But really just a shallow knockoff of Doom Eternal. Do yourselves all a favour BTW and turn off the voice acting immediately.

Not worth that price tag at all. Thank god for PS Now.

Finished HZ and currently 10 hours into ER - and ER is definitely more my thing. I thought HZ was dazzling, but for me it was still a little too hand-holdy, and I was not invested in the world or the characters that populated it.

Someone else summed it up brilliantly, that HZ still feels like a commute between quests, whereas ER feels like you're actually EXPLORING, and discovering; a feeling which I just don't get from other open-world games.

HZ comes close to greatness, and does a good job and bending the open-world handbook, but for me, ER just rips that book right up!

@KundaliniRising333 Yawn. You've been hammering this point in other articles. You've played Blooborne right? Barely 30fps with ridiculous frame skips; this is nowhere near that level. I haven't found the stuttering and frame drops to be an issue; they're infrequent and for the most part it's 60 (maybe the latest patch helped).

@nomither6 I don't think that's CG; it looks awfully like they're using RE engine for this, which means that was real time, or at least an "in-engine" cinematic.

@rjejr That's the first level. The rest are bursting with colour; a neon soaked club, a pristine white art exhibition, a multilevel office block that gives way to a secret underground temple.

Honestly the details gained from resolution mode are negligible to me; the FEEL of the game (remember, this is a game, not a film) at 60fps is just unrivalled; buttery smooth and responsive controls means I can take on these robot dinos at harder difficulties with less stress.

Also it's at 1800p which is fine with me.

It's quite the misdirection: the first level lulls you in with a false sense of security, like "huh, this ain't so bad, I'm just mashing the buttons and getting through the like a breeze." Then BAM, you hit level 2 (The Club) and you come against a brick wall. It separates the men from the boys certainly; however it DOES get slightly easier once you get past that one. Don't give up guys!

Dang really? I've spent the last few days trying to master this (currently STILL stuck on the final boss) but it's SO rewarding when it "clicks", and now they're just throwing in an easy mode? Wonder if trophies are disabled?

Probably between a 6 and 7 - I've put about 12 or so hours in, and kinda ready to give up. It's not bad per se; just after such a long time in development, and after so many years on from the great original, I can't hep but feel disappointed. Also, the 1080p performance mode is really hurting my eyes.

To those who pre-ordered digitally, may I ask, why? I'm still trying to wrap my head around the benefits. It's £10 cheaper on disc (NOT via Amazon, however)

@Nightcrawler71 i don't believe they do, but they're very reliable, and 9 times out of 10 you'll receive the game a day or two before release.

Just goes to show that even half-arrsed, borderline broken MOBILE PORTS will drive the masses to gobble it up. I would say Take 2 are laughing all the way to the bank but they straight own the bank at this point; there's not farther up they can go.

10.. MILLION?? Did the word not get out to the masses that this release was a massive flarking joke? Or does no one care? Awww, "casual" gamers, bless.

Another shout out for The Game Collection (or Simply Games). Screw Bezos and his stupid shiny head, and save yourself some pounds.

It's about darn time it came back round to Infinity Ward; the last two were mediocre at best. "A new generation" is interesting, do they mean PS5/Series X only? Doubtful.

@Porco Whoaa there, let's bring it down a notch. Firstly, Team Ninja made Nioh - two incredibly challenging and rewarding games - this is basically that. It's a spinoff so I give it a pass for not being exactly like the mainline entries. And like Nioh, this is all about the gameplay; the story merely plays second fiddle and is there to lay the framework for which to smash monsters into crystals

@Ken_Kaniff You could just play The Old Republic but not engage with other players .... if the servers are still going.

I love Star Wars as much as the next guy so this is great news. Shame about no Battlefront III, would rather DICE just pull the plug on 2042 altogether.

@Shinnok789 C'mon, lighten up eh? I bet you scoffed at Thomas the Tank Engine in Skyrim, huh.

@nessisonett I LOVE Squid; phenomenal set of EPs and a cracking debut LP.

Also, Tones and I is absolute drivel.

The other two look kinda like fan art - probably my fault for not knowing those artists, but Yoshida's is just... well just everything he touches is perfection.

@4kgk2 We all know Elden Ring will sneak in and steal it from under both of them

Well that explains why, within 10 seconds of hosting a public match, I get 3 dwarves dropping down to assist me. This game is my new crack; it's INSANELY deep (pun intended). Haven't even hit the end game's "deep dives" (I guess its equivalent of raids) and already clocked in 30+ hours.

Not bad for free

Can we get better writing and characters to go along with the swimming and animals?

I wouldn't go as far as calling Sniper Elite big budget but it's definitely one of the better AA franchises out there! Will be grabbing the next one for sure.

Mass Effect LE Edition for no. 1 !

Uhhh where's Psychonauts 2? An obvious choice.

For those unsure it's basically L4D with No Man's Sky mineral drilling. You basically buddy up with 3 mates, dive down to a meteor, kill bugs, grab precious jewels, then reap the profits while the 4 of you get wasted on beer. It's hella fun trust me.

I'm a little confused. Is this a promoted post? Are you sucking at the teet of Bezos? Where are the other stores everyone here has mentioned.

@PegasusActual93 I agree but I think it's also a little more complex. With remakes, it seems to split into two camps.

You have your remakes that are largely faithful to the source; ones that don't change the core structure, just redo the exact experience with new engine/visuals and a few quality of life improvements. The second camp is more of a re-imagining, taking the source as inspiration to craft an entirely new experience.

So I'd say games like MGS: Twin Snakes, REmake, Demon's Souls, Shadow of the Colossus, Link's Awakening etc are the first camp.

Then games such as RE 2 Remake, FF7 Remake, Mafia etc are in the second.

The question is... which will RE 4 Remake be.

The upgrade really is a transformative experience and worth the replay. It's not just the 60fps boost, but higher res, (actual) finished textures, volumetric lighting and no loading screens!

@Rob_230 Except for one little detail..... Tails' face. It's completely wrong.