Jimmer-jammer

This looks excellent! Based on the trailer, I’d play it for the music alone.

Best news I’ve heard today! Love the this series.

Ghost of Tsushima is a brilliantly designed game, especially in the way it marries its themes, mechanics and aesthetics to successfully tell its story within an open world framework.

Since talk of the buyout began, I’ve consistently asked, “What’s in it for Bungie?” With their live service ambitions, Sony at least get direct access to resources and consultation with leaders in the field, not to mention their hand was all but forced to do…something in the wake of Microsoft’s buying spree. Whether they’ve received the value for the absurd amount of money spent is up for debate (and Sony will be rightfully squeezing that out of this deal going forward) but I’ve always been puzzled as to what Bungie’s motivation was. Garage full of cars wasn’t exactly on my list of possibilities but, with everything coming out, I suppose it perfectly encapsulates the reality of what likely went down here.

@mkr Exaxtly. I’d put Darksiders 3 on that list as well. It’s a series I love but can’t get over how poorly implemented the souls formula was in its third instalment. It just didn’t ‘get’ it.

@NEStalgia The simplest answer is usually the best answer 😂

@Yousef- I often wonder what makes a soulslike. Clearly, we can point at specific mechanics, such as the risk/reward of losing one’s experience on death and say, “That’s a soulslike.” Yet there is arguably something more to the formula, something less tangible that few developers outside of FS really grasp and I think you’ve nailed the gist there.

I’m not too keen on soulslikes that misinterpret the ethos of what makes From Software’s defining genre so special but I suppose that is in the eye of the beholder.

I’m genuinely curious to know the marketing science behind the choice of that red controller.

Oh man, I did bad on this one. 3/10. Gonna have to up my game!

Weird. I’ve been playing it for hours now and it feels no different than the start of the base game. There are the encounters I can engage and the ones I cannot. I claw and scratch my way through what I can, slowly gaining the knowledge, experience and skills I need to come back and conquer what was once impossible. This has always been my experience with Elden Ring and why I think it’s so brilliantly designed. There is always somewhere else to go.

Just starting it and am very excited to be doing so.

@3Above Such a great property just sitting there waiting to be turned into something greater!

@Westernwolf4 Still one of my favourite PS5 games. It’s not very challenging but if you like exploration, solving puzzles and a traversal system that is slightly more involved than usual, it could be a great deal for you. It also has an outstanding OST and a unique art style.

I think my dream Bluepoint game would be a The Order: 1886 sequel. Would love to see it!

Nice to hear some real impressions of this. It sounds awesome!

Quite a few I’m excited for but whittling it down to three:

Astro Bot - If Team Asobi can scale up the level of care, environmental interactivity and DualSense support of Playroom, this could be something really special. My only current concern is that the brilliant trailer might have shown a bit too much!

Flintlock - Ashen is a gem of a game but also feels like more of a foundation than a fully fleshed out experience. Flintlock could be that game and everything I’ve seen thus far is looking excellent.

Silent Hill 2 - The more I see of this, the more excited I get. Bloober Team looks to have the atmosphere nailed down and I can’t wait to see what they’ve done with the keys to a stone cold horror masterpiece.

Also, as someone who has only observed the Persona series from the sidelines but never been quite motivated enough to jump in, Metaphor has me very intrigued and might be a good place to give this type of game a go.

@Shepherd_Tallon Man, tell me about it. At some point I realized that I was writing a novel in response to you but ended up scrapping it for what I ended up with (I’m at work too) 😂 Yeah, I don’t want to invalidate anyone’s feelings on the matter but I personally really can’t align myself with this cloud of general disillusionment currently hanging over the gaming community. Too many amazing games!

@Shepherd_Tallon There’s so much to unpack in this conversation but for the sake of brevity, I agree and I much prefer the approach of not showing something too far out. There have been some fantastic games released this year and there are fantastic games headed our way and, considering they have been uncharacteristically transparent with the fact they have nothing in the near future, Sony really pulled a rabbit out of the hat with Astro Bot 😄

The gaming community as a whole is exceedingly fickle. Personally, I’ve become less interested in the optics and politics of these presentations and more interested in all the games I’m drowning in. Still, voted ‘Good’ in the poll.

I really enjoyed this dlc. Remedy’s writing and creativity really shine here and nothing overstays its welcome.

@breakneck Truly. How a game can swing so violently between utter brilliance and awfulness still boggles my mind.

Been waiting for this one for a long while. Looks amazing!

I’m very intrigued and will be keeping an eye on this for sure!

That’s disappointing and a weird omission on the part of From Software. Good thing the expansion will likely be amazing.

This is great news. Hope people put their money where their mouth is!

Hope to finish Planet of Lana and The Rising Tide. I may also check out Alan Wake 2’s DLC. Looks very interesting. Happy gaming!!

Beautifully written preview! It’s either this or Prince of Persia next. Don’t think I’ll find it in myself to hold off on this.

I’m liking the sound of this and will be another one keeping an eye on it.

@Gigawatt-Kapow @zekepliskin

👊🤘

@rusty82 Yeah, I agree. It’s a good length for this type of game and realistically could have been shorter had I not chose to complete the majority of side content I crossed. Planet of Lana looks great! I’m really looking forward to starting it.

I’ve arrived at the end of Stellar Blade, ran out of steam last night. With about 40 hours invested, it’s a much bigger game than I was anticipating. Provided I wrap that up this evening, my next journey will be the indie double bill of Indika and Planet of Lana. Happy gaming!

Surely one can acknowledge a middling presentation without sparking an existential crisis? Regardless, over 3500 votes in this poll alone is nothing to scoff at and Sony would be wise to take notice.

Even after all these years, Silent Hill 2 remains an incredibly unique game, even within the series. It’s one of my all time favourites. I’m thrilled with what I’ve seen of this. Bloober have nailed the presentation. My only hope is that they don’t try to do too much with combat. Keep it simple, functional and intense - the rest is looking great!

Considering Sony has made it abundantly clear for some time that they have nothing in the pipeline for the remainder of the year, Astro Bot is a huge win in my book!

Voted Good. Silent Hill 2 and Astro Bot are going to fill out what has already been a pretty crammed year for me.

Unfortunately it still won’t stop people from unfairly jumping all over this guy, gaming related or otherwise.

This could be amazing! Really hope this is happening.

6 was my first and only foray into the series. I really didn’t know what to expect but came away very impressed. Some of the fastest, twitchiest, aggressive and most exhilarating fights I’ve experienced in a game. I will definitely play the next one should it materialize.

@NEStalgia I’m just having a bit of fun hypothesizing gaming’s horrific future 😂 For me, when it comes to the arts, A.I. is a scourge, and when I start playing these scenarios out to the fullest extent, I fully share your cynicism as to where A.I. is taking things.

@NEStalgia It might be the wrong word but I was thinking ‘democratized’ in the sense of rather than experiencing a linear, carefully crafted singular vision, one’s experience would be generated on the fly, completely reactive to their unique parameters and input, resulting in a far more personal adventure.

‘Democratized’ in the sense of the internet celebrity of the day casting dignity to the wind to have their followers subject them to whatever experience can be conjured up amongst the crowd in some dystopian version of a let’s play.

The human is still the catalyst of the story as nothing is generated without input, and anything that is generated is meaningless eithout an audience to receive it.

@NEStalgia I think the big difference between 2013 and now is the advent of A.I. I’m looking well in to the future here but when the public can live out their own entirely personalized dynamic experience crafted through prompts by A.I., I’d argue that storytelling will have been democratized. It pains me to think of mediums such as film becoming niche remnants of a bygone era.

I think I understand what he’s getting at and taken for exactly what it is, “Could redefine mainstream perceptions of gaming” is a pretty broad statement and not all that hyperbolic. Most people in my world still view gaming as either a children’s pastime or a way to pass time on your phone and largely as a meritless waste of that time. Organized Esports are only just being introduced into the school system. There is absolutely massive growth potential for gaming and especially the type of games Naughty Dog makes, which have already been bridging this gap for some time.

I really enjoyed the first one and thought it was a very memorable experience. I was hoping this sequel would take the A Plague Tale route and build and expand on everything the first did, without losing any of what made it special. I have to say I’m a little disappointed by what it sounds like we ended up with.

@SuperJag86 Not many games can compare favourably to Ghost of Tsushima’s presentation! From my perspective, the two games are driven by completely different design philosophies. How I see it:

GoT aims for immersion, blending cinematic spectacle and straightforward, easily digestible systems in a gorgeously rendered world. Everything works in service of the player connecting directly with Jin and introspectively ruminating on the themes resulting from his inner conflict while stylistically paying homage to a specific genre of film. Its dynamite for what it is.

RotR is first and foremost a video game and has far more going on in it than GoT. It’s a direct open world translation of Team Ninja’s dopamine drip of systems driven, highly customizable, incredibly responsive action heavy gameplay. Everything works in service of player expression, with its “bond” system being the engine underneath it all. Without going on too long here, not everything it attempts fully comes together, thus I’d be hard pressed to call it the better game, but it comes together where I think it matters most as an action rpg.

Edit: also, since I don’t believe they get near enough credit, RotR’s audio design and score are phenomenal.

Nice update! I enjoyed this one enough to get the platinum for it. It takes too long to settle into itself but once it does, it offers a deeply satisfying gameplay experience.

Sweet! This game just so happens to be on deck for me.

The power of this brand is a real force. Whether to whet the appetite for Shadows or to get away from the nonsense, I recommend the excellent Rise of the Ronin, a historically beholden Assassin’s Creed style samurai sim in which you can create any protagonist you fancy and developed by a passionate Japanese developer.

After getting the platinum for Rise of the Ronin, I’ve traded in cats for cans (the cylindrical aluminum kind) and am playing through Stellar Blade. Really enjoying it! Happy gaming!

Sounds fascinating! I think ambiguity is a very smart approach here in effectively challenging and engaging the player to think on their beliefs. As a believer in Christ with a very real distaste and distrust of religious institutions, I’m already drawing my own interpretations and arguments on the material just based off of the examples provided in this review. I genuinely hope it can spur on some healthy introspection and discussion amongst the community.

I’ll definitely play this off the back of the first, though I was hoping for less of a reinvention and more of an evolution. Hope it comes together!