Will be playing Assassin's Creed Valhalla. I'm 30 hours into the game and absolutely loving it so far. I just started up the Wrath of the Druids DLC and it's pretty good. It's cool how many different countries you get to explore in this game, like Norway, England and in the case of the aforementioned DLC, Ireland.
Will be playing Assassin's Creed: Valhalla on PS5 this weekend. I'm 15 hours in and absolutely loving it! It's so much fun, just as you'd expect from an open-world AC game. It's also noticeably different from Odyssey in terms of missions and structure. The world is more condensed, there aren't tons of markers on the map and the side quests are shorter. Not to mention there aren't an abundance of weapons to find like in Odyssey. In short, the gameplay feels more meaningful, which is nice to see for a Ubisoft game.
I finished up Firewatch and The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap yesterday, so I'll be starting up something new this weekend as well as resuming something old.
I'll be first and foremost playing the first The Great Ace Attorney on Switch. I played through the first three cases earlier this year but then I took a break from the game. So now I've decided to pick it up again and finish it.
I'm also considering starting up Assassin's Creed: Valhalla. I'm a bit hesitant since it's a long game, but what I've realised recently is that even if a game is long, as long as it's addicting I'll be blazing through it in a short time span. So I'll probably give it a shot today to see if it clicks with me.
Will be playing Condemned: Criminal Origins on Series X, Sackboy: A Big Adventure on PS5 and Persona 5 Strikers on Switch. Pretty good mix of games this weekend!
Will be playing BioShock 2 and Child of Light on PS5. Great games that complement each other, as whenever I'm tired of too much action or too much "relaxing gameplay", I can just play the other game.
@Orange_Juice Very well put. I've often pondered if I'm spending my time right with certain games. I mean, when playing a game stops being about having fun and more about obsessing to complete everything in it, then is it even worth playing anymore? I had that happen to me recently with one game and it made me realise that I might as well consider my time with it as doing a chore and not a fun activity.
Will be playing Child of Light on PS5, Maneater on Series X and Sly 3 on PS3. I'm having a blast with the first two games, but I'm going to be honest, I'm not really enjoying Sly 3 as much as before. I just have a couple of hours left of the game though, so I'm hoping to wrap it up this weekend.
This is so huge! I've heard great things about the DS Castlevania games but I've never gotten around to them due to how expensive second-hand copies are. I'm absolutely buying this!
Will be playing Yakuza: Like a Dragon on PS5 and DiRT 3 on Series X. I'll probably be able to wrap up DiRT 3 this weekend as I'm nearing the end of the game. As for Yakuza, I'm 5 hours in and it's been rather fun but it's a slow burn. Can't wait to play more though.
Will be playing Resident Evil 7 on PS5 and DiRT 3 on Series X. Really enjoying both of these games thus far, especially RE7. I'll even go as far as to say that this is one of the best games in the series, mostly because of how scary it is. I've never been scared playing a Resi game until RE7. It's just so good!
I don't think we're going to have consoles at all in the future. What's the point of having a console with no disc drive? Why not just play the game directly from a computer or a TV? The quality of cloud gaming is going to improve in 10-20 years that games are going to stream well on a TV. The only thing you need to buy is a controller and even that might get standardised, i.e. you won't need to buy a separate controller for each of the three major companies.
I also think Nintendo, Microsoft and Sony are going to have apps where you can either buy a game and stream it or subscribe to their service to access games you can stream.
Once people realise that you don't need to pay €700 for a console in order to access its games, that's when consoles will completely cease to exist.
Will be primarily playing Far Cry Primal on PS5 but also Kirby: Planet Robobot on 3DS. Or at least, I'll try to play Primal seeing as how the game constantly crashes on PS5. It seems like one of those PS4 games that doesn't work well on the system. Hopefully I'll be able to finish it as I'm really enjoying the game.
Will be playing Far Cry Primal on PS5 and Trails from Zero on Switch. I've been wrapping up quite a few games lately, so it's nice to be playing a new game now with Far Cry. I'm rather enjoying it so far, the gameplay loop is pretty fun and it's a breath of fresh air from the previous Far Cry games.
If I manage to finish Trails from Zero this weekend, then I might start up the first Silent Hill on Vita in preparation for the Silent Hill 2 remake later this year.
Finished Hellblade II and Paper Mario TTYD this week, so this weekend I'm going back to two older games: Final Fantasy XVI and Trails from Zero.
I just started up The Rising Tides DLC for Final Fantasy and it's great thus far. Really glad to be back playing this phenomenal game again. As for Trails, I'm on the last chapter now so I'm hoping I'll be able to wrap it up soon.
Will be playing Hellblade II on Series X and Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door on Switch. Absolutely loving both games thus far. Hellblade is all about the experience, it's an extremely immersive game. Paper Mario is just pure bliss, everything about it makes me smile.
Will be playing Star Wars Jedi: Survivor on Series X and Trails from Zero on Switch. Wasn't even planning to play a Star Wars game on May the 4th, but here I am lol. Really liking the game so far.
@ChrisDeku Honestly, because the game is digital only, I've been hesitant in buying it because I know I'd just delete if from my storage as soon as I'm done with it. And I don't like doing that, especially not if I pay full price for a game. Which is why I'd rather play a digital only game like Alan Wake II on Game Pass or PS+ Extra so that I at least won't feel as bad when I delete the game. In other words, I would be one of the persons who wouldn't buy the game at all. But if they had released it physically, then I would've happily paid full price for it at launch.
Will be playing Control: Ultimate Edition on PS5 and Trails from Zero on Switch. Really loving both of these games so far. Currently I'm going through the AWE DLC in Control and I think I'm overall nearing the end of the game, so I might be able to finish it this weekend. As for Trails from Zero, the game finally clicked with me yesterday. At first I wasn't liking how slow the game is, but now it's actually a pretty cozy experience. It heavily reminds me of the first Trails of Cold Steel in terms of the slow build-up. It's nice to play a relaxing JRPG for a change.
Played a bit of the demo and it hasn't really impressed me. I like the game but I don't find it worth buying at launch for full price. I'll wait for a steep discount before I get it.
Finally done with Persona 3 Reload and now I've moved on to The Last of Us Part II on PS5. Loving the game so far. I'll also be playing Binary Domain on Series X, which I'm also really enjoying.
@Jayslow That's because most (Western) devs tend to focus more on the technical stuff and dragging out the development cycle instead of making games in reasonable time. Falcom, Ryu ga Gotoku and all these studios who release fantastic games in such a short time span are the only sensible devs left.
Not really that keen on getting this. The base game itself is a major grind, why would I then want to spend more money on another 30 hours of grinding. Absolute waste of time.
Will be primarily playing Persona 3 Reload on PS5 but also Puppeteer on PS3 and Burnout 3: Takedown on Xbox 360 for some variety so that I don't get burned out by Persona.
Here's more food for thought: what if Microsoft is doing all of this because they realise that if they want to keep acquiring studios, there's no chance in hell that's going to happen after the whole ordeal they went through with the ActiBlizz acquisition. So in order to be able to keep acquiring studios, they need to show that they won't keep their games locked to one platform.
@GuttyYZ I'm a firm believer that consoles will become obsolete in the future as you'll just be able to play all your games directly from your TV. I mean, why would a sensible person spend €700 on a console when you can just pay for a subscription and play on your TV. No need to buy new consoles every 6-7 years either. So you could be right in that Microsoft is thinking ahead.
I also think that Microsoft mostly cares about Game Pass now. You can still play their first-party titles day one on Game Pass as well as for as low as €10 each month. Meanwhile, if their games would come out on PlayStation, PS users would have to wait months for them to come out after Xbox and also pay €70 at launch. That is unless you want to wait years for a price cut.
So yeah, I think this new direction makes good business sense for Microsoft. There's still a good reason to own an Xbox. Not for the exclusives, but to save money and also get early access to the exclusives.
Will be playing Paper Mario (64) on Switch and Dirt 2 on Xbox 360. Although I'm kinda craving an action/adventure game now, so I upgraded my PS4 copy of The Last of Us Part II yesterday to the PS5 version and I might play it as well this weekend.
Gave the demo a go yesterday. The combat is really fun! It reminds me a lot of the combat in NieR: Automata. There's also a fair amount of depth, like attacking with your party members will trigger a chain reaction attack, and attacking an enemy enough times will temporarily level up your "Art" level, which will let you do more damage with your skills. There's also a finishing move and I'm guessing you'll also be able to play as your party members, which means more varied combat.
I agree with others that the lack of lip-syncing with the English dub is annoying but the voice acting itself is decent enough. The story and characters are interesting, so I decided to not play through the entirety of the demo.
Honestly, I kinda want to play the game on day one. But it coming out around the same time as Persona 3: Reload is a bit of a bummer. I might get it later on in that case.
I've wrapped up Forza Motorsport (2023) on Series X, so now I can focus completely on PS5 this weekend.
I'm nearing the end of both my ongoing titles on PS5. With DOOM 3 I'm only a few hours away from the end, and I'm currently playing through the epilogue of Tokyo Xanadu. If I can finish at least one of them this weekend, that would be great. Still haven't started up the FFXVI DLC yet, which I'm tempted to do this weekend. There's just so little time and so many games!
I do wonder if Microsoft has changed its approach to exclusivity after the ActiBlizz acquisition given that they were forced to make compromises. Maybe they've realised that it's not beneficial for them to make games exclusive to their own ecosystem, especially when considering that what matters most to them is Game Pass. So to me, it would make sense that henceforth, more games developed by Xbox would release on PlayStation, but not on services other than Game Pass.
It could also be temporary in preparation for future acquisitions in case organisations like the FTC would use it as an argument that Microsoft only releases games on their ecosystem. I believe that was one of their arguments, that Microsoft acquired ZeniMax and have since then made their games exclusive to them.
Either way, I wouldn't be surprised at all if Blade came out on PlayStation.
Will be playing a lot on PS5 this weekend as my PlayStation Portal arrived yesterday! I absolutely love it, the streaming quality is so good! My PS5 is going to get much more attention from here on out thanks to this device.
Anyway, I'll be playing the new Final Fantasy XVI DLC. I'm super excited to start it up as I loved the base game. I'll also be playing DOOM 3 and Tokyo Xanadu on PS5 (and Portal).
My Series X will also get some attention as I'm currently playing through Forza Motorsport (2023), which I'm really enjoying.
Will be mostly playing on Series X but also a bit on Switch this weekend. Got a month of Game Pass so I'm playing through Cocoon, Forza Motorsport, Dead Space (2023) and Like a Dragon Gaiden. This will keep me busy for the rest of the month, lol. Not to mention Persona 5 Tactica next week.
I'll also be playing the new Mario Kart DLC. Going to play as my boy Funky Kong who I used to main during the Mario Kart Wii days. So much nostalgia!
I had a potential game-breaking bug where I couldn't break the crystals by pressing L2 + R2. It just wouldn't work. Luckily, if you turn off QTEs in the settings, you can get passed this bug. But it's stuck with me from the beginning, even after 10 hours of playtime, and I've even uninstalled and reinstalled the game. It's just so annoying.
Even if they had included FES/Portable content, it wouldn't have made this game any better. It's fundamentally the worst Persona game out of 3, 4 and 5. Tartarus is awful, social links with your party members are lacking and there are barely any story events throughout the game like in P4G and P5R (camping trips, school trips etc.). It's such an underwhelming and forgettable experience. The focus should be on improving these aspects, not adding post-game content or a female protagonist. The fact that this is a remake makes me hopeful that, despite Tartarus being seemingly unchanged, they will improve upon the game's other shortcomings.
@trev666 @Fiendish-Beaver I don't agree that it's a direct response, but at the very least a bonus one. There's an obvious reason for why Microsoft is acquiring so many studios and that's to bolster its offerings on Game Pass. Not to mention that game development takes a long time nowadays that Microsoft needs to own a certain amount of studios in order for them to regularly release new titles on the service. That's the primary reason for all the acquisitions.
I'd wager we'll see a couple of more acquisitions, where at least one of them will be a Japanese company, in order to add some more variety to the offerings on Game Pass. After that they're most likely done with acquiring studios. Even if Sony keeps paying for timed exclusives or acquiring more studios, it won't significantly affect Microsoft's business anymore as they will have tons of heavy-hitters themselves.
Finished Resident Evil 6 on PS4 yesterday and now I'll be focusing on finishing ModNation Racers: Road Trip on Vita. I'll also be playing Ori and the Will of the Wisps on Series X. Might start up a new game when I've finished ModNation, but I haven't decided which one yet!
@UltimateOtaku91 I mean, Square Enix has already made a fair amount of turn-based JRPGs that are reminiscent of classic Final Fantasy, i.e. Bravely Default and Octopath Traveler. The only difference is that they don't carry the name "Final Fantasy". We don't really need FF to go back to turn-based when Square Enix is already creating plenty of alternatives.
I'm over 40 hours into the game (roughly 75 percent) and it just gets better and better. A lot of the complaints people have about the game in the early parts are rectified later on. Side quests become so much more interesting and more rewarding and the world opens up a lot more with a fair amount of exploration.
My favourite part of the side content is easily the hunts. FF16 has such a fun and varied combat system that I never get tired of and it truly shines during boss battles, which is why I love the hunts. You get to truly go all out on challenging enemies.
The main gripe I have about the game is the lack of party members. However, it more than makes up for that with a rich cast of characters.
It's a fantastic game and easily the best FF title I've played (and I've played FF 1-7 thus far). It's just such an epic experience that none of the FF titles I've played come anywhere close to.
Will be wrapping up my month of PS+ Premium this weekend by playing through Here They Lie, Erica and Bound on PS4. Really liking all games so far! Here They Lie is such a scary and bizarre game, I highly recommend it. Erica is pretty good but it's the prime example of an interactive movie. At that point I'd rather just watch it as a movie. Finally, Bound is such a creative game. I love the level and character designs.
If I finish all three games today, I'd probably continue my playthrough of Miles Morales on PS5 tomorrow!
Comments 90
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? - Issue 555
Will be playing Assassin's Creed Valhalla. I'm 30 hours into the game and absolutely loving it so far. I just started up the Wrath of the Druids DLC and it's pretty good. It's cool how many different countries you get to explore in this game, like Norway, England and in the case of the aforementioned DLC, Ireland.
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? - Issue 554
Will be playing Assassin's Creed: Valhalla on PS5 this weekend. I'm 15 hours in and absolutely loving it! It's so much fun, just as you'd expect from an open-world AC game. It's also noticeably different from Odyssey in terms of missions and structure. The world is more condensed, there aren't tons of markers on the map and the side quests are shorter. Not to mention there aren't an abundance of weapons to find like in Odyssey. In short, the gameplay feels more meaningful, which is nice to see for a Ubisoft game.
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? - Issue 553
I finished up Firewatch and The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap yesterday, so I'll be starting up something new this weekend as well as resuming something old.
I'll be first and foremost playing the first The Great Ace Attorney on Switch. I played through the first three cases earlier this year but then I took a break from the game. So now I've decided to pick it up again and finish it.
I'm also considering starting up Assassin's Creed: Valhalla. I'm a bit hesitant since it's a long game, but what I've realised recently is that even if a game is long, as long as it's addicting I'll be blazing through it in a short time span. So I'll probably give it a shot today to see if it clicks with me.
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? - Issue 547
Will be playing Condemned: Criminal Origins on Series X, Sackboy: A Big Adventure on PS5 and Persona 5 Strikers on Switch. Pretty good mix of games this weekend!
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? - Issue 545
@amatmulisha They're such great games! I'm having an absolute blast with BioShock 2.
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? - Issue 545
Will be playing BioShock 2 and Child of Light on PS5. Great games that complement each other, as whenever I'm tired of too much action or too much "relaxing gameplay", I can just play the other game.
Re: Soapbox: I Spent 3 Days with the Concord Trophy Hunters Who Dedicated Their Lives to Unlocking the PS5, PC Platinum
@Orange_Juice Very well put. I've often pondered if I'm spending my time right with certain games. I mean, when playing a game stops being about having fun and more about obsessing to complete everything in it, then is it even worth playing anymore? I had that happen to me recently with one game and it made me realise that I might as well consider my time with it as doing a chore and not a fun activity.
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? - Issue 544
Will be playing Child of Light on PS5, Maneater on Series X and Sly 3 on PS3. I'm having a blast with the first two games, but I'm going to be honest, I'm not really enjoying Sly 3 as much as before. I just have a couple of hours left of the game though, so I'm hoping to wrap it up this weekend.
Re: Castlevania Dominus Collection Gathers Dawn of Sorrow and Its DS Brethren on PS5, and It's Out Now
This is so huge! I've heard great things about the DS Castlevania games but I've never gotten around to them due to how expensive second-hand copies are. I'm absolutely buying this!
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? - Issue 543
Will be playing Red Dead Redemption II on PS5 and hopefully wrapping it up this weekend. What an amazing journey it has been!
I'm also in the mood for some Persona, so I might start up Persona 5 Strikers.
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? - Issue 541
It's going to be pure PlayStation gaming this weekend as I'll be playing Sly 3 on PS3 and Red Dead Redemption II on PS5.
Re: Iconic 90s FPS DOOM Adds All-New Campaign in PS5, PS4 Bundle
@Skeletor85 Doom 3 is one of the scariest horror games I've played. So many jump scares!
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? - Issue 539
Will be playing Yakuza: Like a Dragon on PS5 and DiRT 3 on Series X. I'll probably be able to wrap up DiRT 3 this weekend as I'm nearing the end of the game. As for Yakuza, I'm 5 hours in and it's been rather fun but it's a slow burn. Can't wait to play more though.
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? - Issue 538
Will be playing Resident Evil 7 on PS5 and DiRT 3 on Series X. Really enjoying both of these games thus far, especially RE7. I'll even go as far as to say that this is one of the best games in the series, mostly because of how scary it is. I've never been scared playing a Resi game until RE7. It's just so good!
Re: PS5, PS4's New PS2 Emulator Fails to Pass Tech Test
@AdamNovice It's not uncommon that companies delist racing games. In recent time, Sony has delisted Gran Turismo Sport and DriveClub.
https://www.pushsquare.com/news/2024/01/pour-one-out-for-gran-turismo-sport-now-delisted-from-ps-store
https://www.pushsquare.com/news/2020/03/feature_driveclub_delisted_and_taken_offline_-_lets_talk_about_one_of_ps4s_best_racers
They'll most likely delist Gran Turismo 7 as well down the line once the next entry comes out.
Re: PlayStation Likely to Go All-Digital By PS7, Analyst Predicts
I don't think we're going to have consoles at all in the future. What's the point of having a console with no disc drive? Why not just play the game directly from a computer or a TV? The quality of cloud gaming is going to improve in 10-20 years that games are going to stream well on a TV. The only thing you need to buy is a controller and even that might get standardised, i.e. you won't need to buy a separate controller for each of the three major companies.
I also think Nintendo, Microsoft and Sony are going to have apps where you can either buy a game and stream it or subscribe to their service to access games you can stream.
Once people realise that you don't need to pay €700 for a console in order to access its games, that's when consoles will completely cease to exist.
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? - Issue 534
Will be primarily playing Far Cry Primal on PS5 but also Kirby: Planet Robobot on 3DS. Or at least, I'll try to play Primal seeing as how the game constantly crashes on PS5. It seems like one of those PS4 games that doesn't work well on the system. Hopefully I'll be able to finish it as I'm really enjoying the game.
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? - Issue 533
Will be playing Far Cry Primal on PS5 and Trails from Zero on Switch. I've been wrapping up quite a few games lately, so it's nice to be playing a new game now with Far Cry. I'm rather enjoying it so far, the gameplay loop is pretty fun and it's a breath of fresh air from the previous Far Cry games.
If I manage to finish Trails from Zero this weekend, then I might start up the first Silent Hill on Vita in preparation for the Silent Hill 2 remake later this year.
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? - Issue 532
Finished Hellblade II and Paper Mario TTYD this week, so this weekend I'm going back to two older games: Final Fantasy XVI and Trails from Zero.
I just started up The Rising Tides DLC for Final Fantasy and it's great thus far. Really glad to be back playing this phenomenal game again. As for Trails, I'm on the last chapter now so I'm hoping I'll be able to wrap it up soon.
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? - Issue 530
Will be playing Hellblade II on Series X and Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door on Switch. Absolutely loving both games thus far. Hellblade is all about the experience, it's an extremely immersive game. Paper Mario is just pure bliss, everything about it makes me smile.
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? - Issue 527
Will be playing Star Wars Jedi: Survivor on Series X and Trails from Zero on Switch. Wasn't even planning to play a Star Wars game on May the 4th, but here I am lol. Really liking the game so far.
Re: Alan Wake 2 Yet to Recoup Dev, Marketing Expenses as Tencent Raises Stake
@ChrisDeku Honestly, because the game is digital only, I've been hesitant in buying it because I know I'd just delete if from my storage as soon as I'm done with it. And I don't like doing that, especially not if I pay full price for a game. Which is why I'd rather play a digital only game like Alan Wake II on Game Pass or PS+ Extra so that I at least won't feel as bad when I delete the game. In other words, I would be one of the persons who wouldn't buy the game at all. But if they had released it physically, then I would've happily paid full price for it at launch.
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? - Issue 526
Will be playing Control: Ultimate Edition on PS5 and Trails from Zero on Switch. Really loving both of these games so far. Currently I'm going through the AWE DLC in Control and I think I'm overall nearing the end of the game, so I might be able to finish it this weekend. As for Trails from Zero, the game finally clicked with me yesterday. At first I wasn't liking how slow the game is, but now it's actually a pretty cozy experience. It heavily reminds me of the first Trails of Cold Steel in terms of the slow build-up. It's nice to play a relaxing JRPG for a change.
Re: The Stellar Blade Playable Demo Is Now Available on PS5
Played a bit of the demo and it hasn't really impressed me. I like the game but I don't find it worth buying at launch for full price. I'll wait for a steep discount before I get it.
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? - Issue 520
Finally done with Persona 3 Reload and now I've moved on to The Last of Us Part II on PS5. Loving the game so far. I'll also be playing Binary Domain on Series X, which I'm also really enjoying.
Re: Trails, Ys Developer Falcom Confirms New Tokyo Xanadu Game
@Jayslow That's because most (Western) devs tend to focus more on the technical stuff and dragging out the development cycle instead of making games in reasonable time. Falcom, Ryu ga Gotoku and all these studios who release fantastic games in such a short time span are the only sensible devs left.
Re: Persona 3 Reload: Episode Aigis Releases in September, Is Part of an Expansion Pass
@ZhuckelDror You clearly haven't played Persona 3.
Re: Persona 3 Reload: Episode Aigis Releases in September, Is Part of an Expansion Pass
Not really that keen on getting this. The base game itself is a major grind, why would I then want to spend more money on another 30 hours of grinding. Absolute waste of time.
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? - Issue 515
Will be primarily playing Persona 3 Reload on PS5 but also Puppeteer on PS3 and Burnout 3: Takedown on Xbox 360 for some variety so that I don't get burned out by Persona.
Re: Xbox Set to Announce Multi-Platform Plans Next Week
Here's more food for thought: what if Microsoft is doing all of this because they realise that if they want to keep acquiring studios, there's no chance in hell that's going to happen after the whole ordeal they went through with the ActiBlizz acquisition. So in order to be able to keep acquiring studios, they need to show that they won't keep their games locked to one platform.
Re: Xbox Set to Announce Multi-Platform Plans Next Week
@Neither_scene "Microsoft is monopolising the gaming market..."
..by bowing out of the gaming market and letting Sony dominate it.
Re: Xbox Set to Announce Multi-Platform Plans Next Week
@GuttyYZ I'm a firm believer that consoles will become obsolete in the future as you'll just be able to play all your games directly from your TV. I mean, why would a sensible person spend €700 on a console when you can just pay for a subscription and play on your TV. No need to buy new consoles every 6-7 years either. So you could be right in that Microsoft is thinking ahead.
I also think that Microsoft mostly cares about Game Pass now. You can still play their first-party titles day one on Game Pass as well as for as low as €10 each month. Meanwhile, if their games would come out on PlayStation, PS users would have to wait months for them to come out after Xbox and also pay €70 at launch. That is unless you want to wait years for a price cut.
So yeah, I think this new direction makes good business sense for Microsoft. There's still a good reason to own an Xbox. Not for the exclusives, but to save money and also get early access to the exclusives.
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? - Issue 514
Will be playing Persona 3 Reload on PS5. Absolutely loving it so far. Not to mention that it plays like a dream on the Portal.
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? - Issue 512
Will be playing Paper Mario (64) on Switch and Dirt 2 on Xbox 360. Although I'm kinda craving an action/adventure game now, so I upgraded my PS4 copy of The Last of Us Part II yesterday to the PS5 version and I might play it as well this weekend.
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? - Issue 511
Will be playing Resident Evil: Revelations on PS5 and Paper Mario (64) on Switch. It's gonna be a fun weekend!
Re: Granblue Fantasy: Relink Demo Out Now on PS5, PS4
Gave the demo a go yesterday. The combat is really fun! It reminds me a lot of the combat in NieR: Automata. There's also a fair amount of depth, like attacking with your party members will trigger a chain reaction attack, and attacking an enemy enough times will temporarily level up your "Art" level, which will let you do more damage with your skills. There's also a finishing move and I'm guessing you'll also be able to play as your party members, which means more varied combat.
I agree with others that the lack of lip-syncing with the English dub is annoying but the voice acting itself is decent enough. The story and characters are interesting, so I decided to not play through the entirety of the demo.
Honestly, I kinda want to play the game on day one. But it coming out around the same time as Persona 3: Reload is a bit of a bummer. I might get it later on in that case.
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? - Issue 510
Will be playing Super Mario Bros. Wonder on Switch and Resident Evil Revelations on PS4. Enjoying both of these games a lot!
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? - Issue 507
I've wrapped up Forza Motorsport (2023) on Series X, so now I can focus completely on PS5 this weekend.
I'm nearing the end of both my ongoing titles on PS5. With DOOM 3 I'm only a few hours away from the end, and I'm currently playing through the epilogue of Tokyo Xanadu. If I can finish at least one of them this weekend, that would be great. Still haven't started up the FFXVI DLC yet, which I'm tempted to do this weekend. There's just so little time and so many games!
Re: Could Marvel's Blade Come to PS5? Bethesda Declines to Comment
I do wonder if Microsoft has changed its approach to exclusivity after the ActiBlizz acquisition given that they were forced to make compromises. Maybe they've realised that it's not beneficial for them to make games exclusive to their own ecosystem, especially when considering that what matters most to them is Game Pass. So to me, it would make sense that henceforth, more games developed by Xbox would release on PlayStation, but not on services other than Game Pass.
It could also be temporary in preparation for future acquisitions in case organisations like the FTC would use it as an argument that Microsoft only releases games on their ecosystem. I believe that was one of their arguments, that Microsoft acquired ZeniMax and have since then made their games exclusive to them.
Either way, I wouldn't be surprised at all if Blade came out on PlayStation.
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? - Issue 506
Will be playing a lot on PS5 this weekend as my PlayStation Portal arrived yesterday! I absolutely love it, the streaming quality is so good! My PS5 is going to get much more attention from here on out thanks to this device.
Anyway, I'll be playing the new Final Fantasy XVI DLC. I'm super excited to start it up as I loved the base game. I'll also be playing DOOM 3 and Tokyo Xanadu on PS5 (and Portal).
My Series X will also get some attention as I'm currently playing through Forza Motorsport (2023), which I'm really enjoying.
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? - Issue 502
Will be mostly playing on Series X but also a bit on Switch this weekend. Got a month of Game Pass so I'm playing through Cocoon, Forza Motorsport, Dead Space (2023) and Like a Dragon Gaiden. This will keep me busy for the rest of the month, lol. Not to mention Persona 5 Tactica next week.
I'll also be playing the new Mario Kart DLC. Going to play as my boy Funky Kong who I used to main during the Mario Kart Wii days. So much nostalgia!
Re: Poll: Spider-Man 2 PS5 Bugs are Apparently a Real Problem, But Have You Had Any?
I had a potential game-breaking bug where I couldn't break the crystals by pressing L2 + R2. It just wouldn't work. Luckily, if you turn off QTEs in the settings, you can get passed this bug. But it's stuck with me from the beginning, even after 10 hours of playtime, and I've even uninstalled and reinstalled the game. It's just so annoying.
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? - Issue 492
Will be mostly playing Tokyo Xanadu eX+ on PS4. I'm 25 hours in and it's such a phenomenal game, just what you'd expect from Falcom.
Might also start up a new game on PS5, either Gris since it's this month's game on PX Game Club or Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart (or maybe even both!).
Re: Preview: Persona 3 Reload Shows So Much Promise Despite Missing Features
Even if they had included FES/Portable content, it wouldn't have made this game any better. It's fundamentally the worst Persona game out of 3, 4 and 5. Tartarus is awful, social links with your party members are lacking and there are barely any story events throughout the game like in P4G and P5R (camping trips, school trips etc.). It's such an underwhelming and forgettable experience. The focus should be on improving these aspects, not adding post-game content or a female protagonist. The fact that this is a remake makes me hopeful that, despite Tartarus being seemingly unchanged, they will improve upon the game's other shortcomings.
Re: Amid Ongoing ActiBlizz Acquisition Saga, Modern Warfare 3 Will Be Playable First on PS5, PS4
@trev666 @Fiendish-Beaver I don't agree that it's a direct response, but at the very least a bonus one. There's an obvious reason for why Microsoft is acquiring so many studios and that's to bolster its offerings on Game Pass. Not to mention that game development takes a long time nowadays that Microsoft needs to own a certain amount of studios in order for them to regularly release new titles on the service. That's the primary reason for all the acquisitions.
I'd wager we'll see a couple of more acquisitions, where at least one of them will be a Japanese company, in order to add some more variety to the offerings on Game Pass. After that they're most likely done with acquiring studios. Even if Sony keeps paying for timed exclusives or acquiring more studios, it won't significantly affect Microsoft's business anymore as they will have tons of heavy-hitters themselves.
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? - Issue 489
Finished Resident Evil 6 on PS4 yesterday and now I'll be focusing on finishing ModNation Racers: Road Trip on Vita. I'll also be playing Ori and the Will of the Wisps on Series X. Might start up a new game when I've finished ModNation, but I haven't decided which one yet!
Re: Final Fantasy 16 Is the Seventh Best Final Fantasy Game According to Fans
@UltimateOtaku91 I mean, Square Enix has already made a fair amount of turn-based JRPGs that are reminiscent of classic Final Fantasy, i.e. Bravely Default and Octopath Traveler. The only difference is that they don't carry the name "Final Fantasy". We don't really need FF to go back to turn-based when Square Enix is already creating plenty of alternatives.
Re: Final Fantasy 16 Is the Seventh Best Final Fantasy Game According to Fans
I'm over 40 hours into the game (roughly 75 percent) and it just gets better and better. A lot of the complaints people have about the game in the early parts are rectified later on. Side quests become so much more interesting and more rewarding and the world opens up a lot more with a fair amount of exploration.
My favourite part of the side content is easily the hunts. FF16 has such a fun and varied combat system that I never get tired of and it truly shines during boss battles, which is why I love the hunts. You get to truly go all out on challenging enemies.
The main gripe I have about the game is the lack of party members. However, it more than makes up for that with a rich cast of characters.
It's a fantastic game and easily the best FF title I've played (and I've played FF 1-7 thus far). It's just such an epic experience that none of the FF titles I've played come anywhere close to.
Re: Poll: We Need You to Rate the Trails Games
Haven't played the Crossbell games yet but my favourite is definitely Trails of Cold Steel 3. Then 2, 4 and 1 in that order.
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? - Issue 470
Will be wrapping up my month of PS+ Premium this weekend by playing through Here They Lie, Erica and Bound on PS4. Really liking all games so far! Here They Lie is such a scary and bizarre game, I highly recommend it. Erica is pretty good but it's the prime example of an interactive movie. At that point I'd rather just watch it as a movie. Finally, Bound is such a creative game. I love the level and character designs.
If I finish all three games today, I'd probably continue my playthrough of Miles Morales on PS5 tomorrow!