Comments 540

Re: Kena: Bridge of Spirits Exploit Lets You Skip Second Playthrough to Get Tough Trophy

JB_Whiting

I don't think that's fair to say that this shouldn't be mentioned. If it's a timesaver and people want to grab the Plat so be it; after all, it's just a case of playing through the game a second time (not New Game +), and if people don't feel like they want to do that but still want the 100%, then by all means go ahead.

I didn't like the fact I had to play Miles Morales all over again for ONE trophy. If anything more fingers should be pointed at the people putting these annoying trophies in to inflate game time.

Re: Kena: Bridge of Spirits (PS5) - A Gorgeous Adventure with an Old-School Approach

JB_Whiting

I'm choosing not to give a penny to Acti/Blizzard until we see some kind of resolution either. If you're desperate to buy one of their products, get it second hard.

Though I think Diablo II is digital only, I'm sure there will be a physical release in the near future, if not, well perhaps wait for a sale.

As for Kena: for me the length isn't an issue so much as it's geared more toward younger, or more casual players. The gameplay itself does look a little "stiff" and perhaps on the simple side. A light, jaunty affair to be sure, just not perhaps one as a mid-thirties gamer such as myself is thirsting for.

Re: Kena: Bridge of Spirits Grabs Physical Version in November

JB_Whiting

@Bagwag82 I suppose it depends if you factor in whether you're going for 100% completion/Platinum. Apparently Kena is 8-10hrs to finish and 12-15hrs for 100%.

Village for me was 8hrs 30 to finish and around 25hrs in total to Plat it, but then that was £50. Rift Apart was £65 and I got the Plat in around 15hrs so that could be considered not great value for money.

This whole length/value thing is honestly hard to really pinpoint.

Re: Kena: Bridge of Spirits Grabs Physical Version in November

JB_Whiting

@KundaliniRising333 I'm with you on this. I won't deny it looks utterly enchanting, but gameplay wise? Not so sure yet. I guess cribbing from other games such as Zelda/Dark Souls etc means that is at least mechanically familiar, but I've been burnt on overhyped, Sony backed indie games before (hello No Man's Sky).

I'll wait for reviews.

Re: Call of Duty: Vanguard Beta Extended to Wednesday

JB_Whiting

Hugely dissapointed in this; was hoping that going back to MW engine would reign in the pace a bit but I was wrong: the map design is trash; the match pace is chaotic; TTK is far too low; weapons just feel like modern ones eg. little to no recoil, stupid attachments thay focus on the meta that encourage blueprint purchases and not on player choice (I mean for gods sake bring back Pick 10). Sound is all over the place. Visuals feel sub par (on PS5). I could go on but yeah, not impressed. At least the new WZ map is free.

Re: Poll: Did You Buy Deathloop?

JB_Whiting

@render Ah that's good to hear. I think one of the things that stood out to me is how the game encourages you to fail through experimentation. You can't be tempted to save scum this every time you get spotted or screw up a kill because there are no checkpoints or manual saves; the whole loop is your checkpoint, and each "run" are these short, 10 or so minute bursts of gameplay where you just mess about. Aggression is actually welcomed!

Re: Poll: Did You Buy Deathloop?

JB_Whiting

For those in the "I didn't like Dishonored therefore I won't like this" camp, know this: I've put a few hours in and it is so far from Dishonored I'm actually shocked. Aside from the aesthetic and controls/abilities, the mechanics feel worlds apart. Trust me I'm not super hot on the Dishonored games either but I'm LOVING this. Is so much purer, and more "fun".

Re: WRC 10 (PS5) - Rough-Edged But Robust Rally Racing

JB_Whiting

@Ssimsim Yeah I would wait for a heavy discount. I picked up 9 in a sale couple months back and enjoyed it enough to warrant pre-ordering 10, in the naive hope that it would be a real step up. I was obviously mistaken!

I know I sound overly negative - the core gameplay is still immensely satisfying - I just wanted more than a copy paste job, and perhaps to get a bit more horsepower out of the PS5.

Re: WRC 10 (PS5) - Rough-Edged But Robust Rally Racing

JB_Whiting

@Ssimsim My physical copied arrived crazy early (last Friday) and I'm about halfway through the career. Impressions so far is that, unfortunately, it's little more than a WRC9 re-skin.

The visuals, gameplay, career structure (team management, skill tree, calendar etc) are identical to last year's release. Many of the locations are lifted wholesale from 9 too: like Finland, Japan, Sweden, and Monaco; literally the same tracks - was having major deja vu. On the visuals side I was hoping for an improvement but we're still getting MAJOR scenery pop in and a, frankly, unacceptable amount of screen-tearing (120fps mode seems to alleviate this).

I think 8/10 is being too generous, so far I'd give this a 6 (WRC9 I'd give a 7), but maybe I'm missing some patches, I dunno.

Re: PS Store Confirms Call of Duty: Vanguard Reveal for Thursday

JB_Whiting

@Cyxn1d3 While I agree about Raven's continued incompetence, I'm not so quick to dump on them and them alone. We don't know the inner workings of the company(s) and it could be that they have to go through Activision to get anything and everything approved. Perhaps if this was a Raven only thing, they'd be far more frequent and open in their communication with the players.

Remember Raven used to be a stellar developer before getting sucked into the CoD machine.

Re: Hades (PS5) - Who Knew Escaping Hell Would Be So Heavenly?

JB_Whiting

@Loftimus They're quite different experiences though. Hades is all about the gameplay loop, and while it does have a surprisingly empathetic narrative (though this isn't new for SuperGiant), the focus is on the moment-to-moment combat - as I'm sure you are aware after playing Returnal.

If you want to see how much love was poured into this game go check out the NoClip doc on YT about the making of it.

Re: Seagate FireCuda 530 Is the First Third-Party SSD Compatible with PS5

JB_Whiting

Someone may have already posted this above (I haven't read through the thread), but DF have released a few potential options.

Seagate FireCuda 530 (heatsink version available) - $255/£200 for 1TB
Western Digital Black SN850 (heatsink version available) - $250/£218 for 1TB
Gigabyte Aorus NVMe Gen 4 7000S - $199/£188 for 1TB
Patriot Viper VP4300 - $225/£210 for 1TB
Samsung 980 Pro (requires additional heatsink) - $199/£178 for 1TB
Sabrent Rocket 4 Plus (requires additional heatsink) - $199/£199 for 1TB
Corsair MP600 Pro (requires shorter heatsink) - $199/£185 for 1TB
Inland Performance Plus (requires different heatsink) - $189 for 1TB
Adata S70 Gammix - £151/$159 for 1TB
MSI Spatium M480 - no retailer listings yet.

I agree that, on the surface this seems finicky compared to Microsoft, but in the long run this is better for the consumer (competitive pricing, non propriety, potentially even faster drives down the line).

Also it's not really any different than popping some RAM into your Mac surely?

Re: Dead Space PS5 Remake Won't Have Microtransactions

JB_Whiting

I just read an article in which Motive shed a little more light on the game; saying that they're intending to keep the original level design intact, and add sections that Visceral had to leave on the cutting room floor - either from budgetary or time constraints - so by that notion I'm a little more positive towards the idea of it. It sounds to me that we could have another REmake (GameCube) on our hands? Therefore making the new one the definitive version? I hope so.

Re: Dead Space Remake Confirmed for PS5 in Super Short Teaser

JB_Whiting

@KidBoruto Perhaps. But wouldn't it make more sense then, to do a straight forward remaster of the originals if you don't have the original team? That way you're not stepping on any toes by merely polishing up the original source code. With a remake there is room for interpretation and a chance for Motive (ans EA) to "change" things. Like they mentioned they're "improving" the story, which is a wholly subjective thing and I don't think it needs changing... unless maybe giving Isaac a voice. I think I'd be happier with a one to one remake ala Demon's Souls rather than a RE2 reimagining; just give me the exact same game at 4K 60 with Dualsense features and 3D audio!

Re: Dead Space Remake Confirmed for PS5 in Super Short Teaser

JB_Whiting

@Fyz306903 Yeah I get that but it was EA than ran DS3 into the ground, not Visceral. Add to that the impossible sales expectations EA had for it and it all but sealed its fate. That's why it makes it all the more bitter that now EA are wanting to relaunch it without the original creators. I am happy that Visceral are doing their own thing with The Callisto Protocol, which, while maybe not being as shiny as this remake, will probably have a tonne more originally in its DNA.

Re: Dead Space Remake Confirmed for PS5 in Super Short Teaser

JB_Whiting

@fR_eeBritney Completely agree. Dead Space 1 & 2 are modern classics and some of the best releases of that gen. There's no need for a full re-do; an HD polish of the trilogy, ala Mass Effect, would have sufficed. It's also super ***** of EA to restart this series after blasting it into oblivion and ejecting a talented dev team.

I wish Motive all the best in trying to recapture the original, but I just feel it's going to disappoint somewhat.

Re: Mini Review: A Plague Tale: Innocence (PS5) - Rats a Good Next-Gen Upgrade

JB_Whiting

The original release's floaty, unresponsive camera; coupled with its 30fps made it virtually unplayable for me. Happy to report that, though the camera issues still remain (no option to turn off acceleration... really??) the performance boost make it much more comfortable to play.

For anyone starting it I highly recommend switching language over to French for amore authentic experience! (plus Amicia's English VO ain't great).

Re: The Last of Us HBO TV Series Has Cast Nico Parker as Sarah, Joel's Daughter

JB_Whiting

I think people need to apply a different perspective. I understand most negative opinions are coming from gamers; ones who are particularly close to the IP.

But this is a TV show, one that is headed up by HBO with Craig Mazin as showrunner; the credentials attached to the crew are of high-quality. Maybe focus less on who's in front of the camera and more on who's behind it.