To hammer home my point, as negative as it was... I redownloaded the beta and played another hour last night. It's solid. It's just not "pay $40 up front" levels of good.
It makes some REALLY anti-player design decisions. The entire Crew system is absolutely bonkers dumb. "There are 16 characters (and more to come) but you're only ever able to choose 12 maximum. Enjoy!"
Or the rolling bonuses. "Hey, here are some obscure, passive buffs that are poorly explained and entice you to swap characters, thereby never allowing you to quickly master a single character OR get in a proper groove, because it actively hurts your team to do so."
Also, for a multiplayer-only title... WHY THE ***** DO YOU NOT AUTO-QUEUE INTO A MATCH?!? And why are game modes not just... game modes that can be filtered (a la COD, a la Xdefiant, etc.).
For a dev team with so many supposed multiplayer/shooter veterans, they made some MASSIVELY moronic decisions during development. And it sucks. Cause the moment to moment gunplay is GOOD. Really good. Made by Destiny/Halo veterans good. But it's all wrapped up in a package that, under no circumstances, warrants its pricing model.
The idea of this being about a "crew" of space vagabonds makes me wish desperately that it had some larger scale modes like 3/4 person teams in an extraction sort of mode. (Think COD DMZ in spaaaaaaaaaace.)
PvPvE with space heist/extraction shooter vibes would have been super cool and far more original than this.
There was one of these (I think) on Switch that I got into for a bit a few years back. It wasn't bad, it's just you definitely hit a wall with the way you unlock stuff. If all you want is a little bit of taste for some absurd arcade racing, have at it. It is free, after all.
But, yeah, it's sad when the companies get SO GREEDY you can't just casually pay here and there and still enjoy yourself. They don't want $5 from you. They want your whole wallet. They want whales. And if you're not one, you can ***** right off. It's aggravating as a consumer.
It's sad so few companies chase the Fortnite money, but don't do a better job copying the way they entice people to pay by - here's the shocker - being a well-built, fun game. Instead they choose to copy mobile F2P ***** to milk people's wallets dry. It's exhausting.
I mentioned this before: the subreddit for the game, prior to the first beta, had less than 700 people in it. Across all of reddit.
The number more than doubled after last weekend, but last I was there, it was still under 2000. For a first party AAA shooter releasing in a month.
That's not good.
Popular games tend to have subs in the hundreds of thousands. Or at least tens of thousands. Concord isn't anywhere CLOSE to that and its sales will reflect it, mark my words.
IMO, having played it, it's well made. It's just not a good game. It has fewer options than some multiplayer suites attached to full story-driven games. It is doing absolutely nothing new. Why would people put down $40 to play a game they've effectively played before, but better and more original?
It desperately needed something to separate it from the pack, and the crew system is NOT it.
@Savage_Joe Ah, yes. The "politics" of [checks notes] a black woman slaying monsters with a magical fox and an axe. What party is that? I'd vote for them.
The more I play, the more I "get" it. I just really wish it had something more unique to say or do. It's not bringing anything remotely new to the table.
If this was never going to get or be a story-focused game (which I think the characters deserve to be a part of), then I almost feel like these characters would have worked well in some sort of extraction shooter, where you'd at least get to spend time with their abilities beyond a few minutes. And yes, even that would be derivative. But it just... doesn't do anything unique and actively does some stuff poorly. Had it been something more like CoD's old DMZ mode, or Hawked, where puzzle solving and little missions and PvPvE was all wrapped together, I would be all over this.
Instead, it's a bog standard arena shooter that's pretty to look at. That's about it.
It should have been a story-driven, co-op supporting FPS about rival crews pulling off heists and all sorts of espionage/intrigue/backstabbing/double-crossing space pirate *****.
This should have been the multiplayer suite tacked on to THAT game.
As it stands, this is an incredibly basic multiplayer arena shooter that is literally bringing nothing to the market that hasn't been seen before or done to death already. Literally not one original thing. At all.
Plus, it makes a LOAD of stupid design decisions that make it actively aggravating to play (like no lobbies, re-selecting your character every death, no back-fill in-match, the whole crew and variant system).
It's bonkers that they think they'll get $40 for this. It is terribly bare bones even with a few modes unavailable.
I'll play a few more matches this weekend and next, but... nah. This ain't it.
I know it's not a direct correlation for success, but the game's subreddit currently has 699 members as of just now.
Less than 700 people on all of Reddit are so excited so as to subscribe to conversation and discussions and posts about a game that releases in a few weeks.
For comparison (and I know this, too, isn't necessarily a direct correlation because these games are out and have been able to garner audiences, but anyway)... The First Descendant's sub has almost 81k subscribers (and this site just gave it a 3/10). ZZZ has a sub with nearly 64k and a leaks sub with almost another 31k.
Helldivers 2 has three subs with 1.4m, 170k, and 28k (for a leaks sub).
There's no ***** way this game hit its pre-order targets. Not in a million years.
Unless this game rocks absolute SOCKS OFF, it'll die within months.
@DogPark You realize that every game has a "loop," right? From the beginning, games are all built around a gameplay loop. That saying has absolutely nothing to do with F2P games, nor GaaS titles. It's an inherent element of literally all games.
@UltimateOtaku91 I'm with you. If they want to incentivize people, give subscribers bonus discounts on new releases within, say, 30 days of launch or something.
I always contended, even back with old school PS+, that the true value wasn't in the free monthly games, but the extra discounts subscribers were privy to. I saved SO MUCH extra money on top of sale prices that I subbed and still purchased a ton of games every year. There wasn't a year that went by where savings on things I was already going to buy didn't pay for the sub.
I'd even settle for 10/20%, not even all the way up to 30. And I say that as someone who only has Extra. That 10% would be huge for me. Make it a flat 10/20% on ANY new release within the launch window, not just first party, and people would see the value increase a ton and subs would rocket. Plus digital purchases would rocket (even higher), locking more people into the ecosystem longer term, due to a broader personal library.
@Rambo-kind I thought it was incredibly well-made. (I played on Switch, fwiw.) It has a unique drop-in/drop-out co-op system (be warned, some of the game is sort of crafted for co-op and can be extremely difficult for a solo player) that can make or break certain areas for you. But it IS able to be finished solo. It's just very very unforgiving.
Generally, though, its exploration and progression was quite satisfying and I adored the simplistic art style. It felt dream-like (even though some sections could be nightmare-inducingly hard).
It still stands as one of my favorites in the genre and I'm very proud to have soloed it.
I've been enjoying it so far. Just unlocked Bunny.
It feels pretty solid to play, though the controls aren't as fluid as I'd like. But the powers are fun in-combat, the loot is generous, and the graphics are solid.
If anything, I'll see how far I can go without hitting the MTX paywall. For $0, it's solid Summer popcorn fluff-style gaming.
Will say, though, kind of wild to have this and ZZZ launch within days of one another. I wonder what effect that will have on each title, as action fans may be split between them (I know I am).
I was excited when Multiversus came back, but it's just way too much grind for me. I don't like how they handle the unlocking of characters. Just not for me anymore.
That has to be one of the worst trailers I have ever seen for a game. Could that guy be any less enthused?
I like the general idea (as a rogue lite and arcade racing fan) but those animations look like they're 3-4 generations behind modern standards. I could maybe see myself grabbing this on Switch so I can forgive the lackluster graphics. But that shovelware is not why I paid for a PS5.
@BAMozzy You have no idea what you're talking about. That's clear.
They were expecting to sell something like 500k-1mm copies. Lifetime. They've already sold upwards of 12x that.
No matter what levels of monthly income they have coming in now, it is far above what they expected to have or needed to have to keep things going. And by any measure, 12x your expected lifetime earnings upfront will be better than the traditional trickle-in income of a live service, which they still have... At rates much higher than they expected to need.
@Golem25 Didn't Suicide Squad have paid battle passes? Or a season pass? That's not remotely the same thing.
The closest recent title is, as mentioned, Helldivers 2. What are HD2's numbers? And sales?
I'm all for being wary of Concord, but don't make unfair comparisons to try and predict a failure. Not when there are better, fairer comparisons available. Especially when those were already made.
Plus, don't discount the price difference between Suicide Squad and the aforementioned titles. That plays a huge part.
It boggles my mind that big companies don't (more commonly) pay modders and emulator enthusiasts as consultants to build this sort of stuff properly for them. The communities are RABID and the companies have the money. Get someone to do it right or why even bother?
Can you turn the voice acting off? That ***** is absolutely atrocious. I could barely make it through 2 character videos, let alone dumping hours upon hours into this. What were they thinking with that? My goodness.
Maybe Activision should try making a new game/IP instead of continually watering down their Mature-rated military shooter with this stuff.
Like, it looks good, sure. It'll play as tightly as any COD, of course. But... it has no place inside COD. They have literal billions of dollars. Just throw together some new games and release 'em. What's the worst thing that could happen? It's popular and makes money? Your company value is strengthened by outputting more original content for more ages?
I platted Elden Ring, which is uncommon for me when it comes to Souls-like titles... but I'm just not in the headspace for it. Maybe I'll get to it one day. It's just not on my radar at the moment.
@get2sammyb I mean, you say that about Rise of the Ronin, but the game also sold very well versus expectations and the player base it has seems to adore it. I think that discourse will always happen because the community has grown toxic, but online discourse doesn't always reflect reality.
Should the developers/publishers truly care if they can put out something that exceeds sales goals despite what people - people who VERY LIKELY were never going to buy the game anyhow - spew online?
I don't think Layden is wrong here. Especially when you look at the games that age well across generations: they're usually not photorealistic and were never trying to be, and their gameplay drives the enthusiasm/enjoyment surrounding them.
Sadly, I think it will take a lot more big budget failures before the broader market/industry corrects itself. And part of that will likely include a price correction, as well. I think what consumers truly don't like is being fed full price games that end up falling far below expectations in one or more of these sorts of categories. But for games that embrace what they are and price themselves within the market accordingly? Big success is waiting for them.
I am not in the mental space to put up with From design, but I'm glad it's good. Maybe I'll get back in the mood at some point and be able to appreciate it.
It's an Ubisoft game. It's worth $20 a year or so after release, at best. They make pure junk food games. The fact they truly believe they're making AAAA titles anymore just goes to show you how deluded they are.
The trailer gave me a mixture of Super Mario Galaxy and Puppeteer vibes. Honestly, even as a dude in his late 30s playing shooters and action games, I am absolutely looking forward to this.
@Porco But that's what I mean. AC used to be events, not cookie cutter releases. Same for Farcry. Splinter Cell used to get people to sit up and pay attention. Hell, the R6 and Ghost Recon games used to mean something.
As you say, maybe it's further back than I realized, but it happened. They've utterly failed time and again for awhile. (Which, I'll note, was not Immortals' fault as that game was solid through and through.)
Just kind of blows my mind they're even still big enough to hold their own conference. Like... their show could have been a blog post/email that ***** was so stale.
They get 1/2 games worth showing and even THOSE are clearly made up of bits and pieces and elements of other games they've been making for ages. May be good, may even be fun... but innovation? Excitement? Doesn't seem to exist at Ubisoft.
Ubisoft has fallen harder than almost any other major publisher in my eyes. They used to drop bangers. Now the best they can muster is GaaS updates and trailers for expansions to games that underperformed expectations. WTF are they even doing?
I wonder how many times a day Sony brass kick themselves for spending so much money on what was supposed to have been a shining feather in their cap, but which turned out to be a pretty damn tame member of their studio portfolio.
The fact I commonly forget Bungie, of all companies, is owned by Sony because of how little they accomplish and how often they ***** up is wholly surprising. You put a gun to my head and say, "Name Sony-owned studios," and I'm pretty sure I'd name almost every other studio before I remembered.
I legitimately hope they screw up this DLC and Sony takes them over. I see it as their only path back to prominence.
@DennisReynolds Seriously. The grind(s) are pretty horrendous. This feels like a review that was truly done in a week (makes sense) with not much consideration for what it will TRULY take to do something basic like unlock all the characters.
I bought the lowest tier of the premium release to unlock "all" the fighters when it first came out and I now have 5 (not counting Agent Smith on the horizon) I have yet to snag... and the currency needed to buy them all is earned EXTREMELY slowly.
It's a really really bad look to tie literal core gameplay-defining aspects of the game (the characters) behind such awfully painful progression.
How tf can a game like Overwatch 2 get ***** on for the practice to the point it eventually relented, but then something like this gets a pass?
Bottom line is: It doesn't. It's pretty damn egregious.
This game will die if they don't fix character unlocks. The game is fun. It's not good enough to put up with the MTX and grind to play with everyone long term.
This will be a rare month where I likely don't even bother adding a single one to my catalog. MAYBE the wrestling one, but I doubt I'll ever bother playing it.
This is one of the worst months for me in a long long time.
@Gelloh It seriously makes me wonder just how bad Naughty Dog must have ***** up Factions 2 to get THAT cancelled, but then see stuff like this through to release. I have to imagine there was a LOT going on behind the scenes with that that we will never know.
Comments 1,372
Re: Beetlejuice Resurrected for MultiVersus' Second PS5, PS4 Season
@RoomWithaMoose You can pay outright for any character you want. There's no need to grind.
Re: There's Already Concern Over Concord's Player Count as Open Beta Begins
@zekepliskin No problem.
To hammer home my point, as negative as it was... I redownloaded the beta and played another hour last night. It's solid. It's just not "pay $40 up front" levels of good.
It makes some REALLY anti-player design decisions. The entire Crew system is absolutely bonkers dumb. "There are 16 characters (and more to come) but you're only ever able to choose 12 maximum. Enjoy!"
Or the rolling bonuses. "Hey, here are some obscure, passive buffs that are poorly explained and entice you to swap characters, thereby never allowing you to quickly master a single character OR get in a proper groove, because it actively hurts your team to do so."
Also, for a multiplayer-only title... WHY THE ***** DO YOU NOT AUTO-QUEUE INTO A MATCH?!? And why are game modes not just... game modes that can be filtered (a la COD, a la Xdefiant, etc.).
For a dev team with so many supposed multiplayer/shooter veterans, they made some MASSIVELY moronic decisions during development. And it sucks. Cause the moment to moment gunplay is GOOD. Really good. Made by Destiny/Halo veterans good. But it's all wrapped up in a package that, under no circumstances, warrants its pricing model.
Re: Poll: Are You Playing the Concord Open Beta?
The idea of this being about a "crew" of space vagabonds makes me wish desperately that it had some larger scale modes like 3/4 person teams in an extraction sort of mode. (Think COD DMZ in spaaaaaaaaaace.)
PvPvE with space heist/extraction shooter vibes would have been super cool and far more original than this.
I have no interest in a generic arena shooter.
Re: Mini Review: Asphalt Legends Unite (PS5) - Over-the-Top Arcade Racer Serves Up Some Free Fun
There was one of these (I think) on Switch that I got into for a bit a few years back. It wasn't bad, it's just you definitely hit a wall with the way you unlock stuff. If all you want is a little bit of taste for some absurd arcade racing, have at it. It is free, after all.
But, yeah, it's sad when the companies get SO GREEDY you can't just casually pay here and there and still enjoy yourself. They don't want $5 from you. They want your whole wallet. They want whales. And if you're not one, you can ***** right off. It's aggravating as a consumer.
It's sad so few companies chase the Fortnite money, but don't do a better job copying the way they entice people to pay by - here's the shocker - being a well-built, fun game. Instead they choose to copy mobile F2P ***** to milk people's wallets dry. It's exhausting.
Re: There's Already Concern Over Concord's Player Count as Open Beta Begins
I mentioned this before: the subreddit for the game, prior to the first beta, had less than 700 people in it. Across all of reddit.
The number more than doubled after last weekend, but last I was there, it was still under 2000. For a first party AAA shooter releasing in a month.
That's not good.
Popular games tend to have subs in the hundreds of thousands. Or at least tens of thousands. Concord isn't anywhere CLOSE to that and its sales will reflect it, mark my words.
IMO, having played it, it's well made. It's just not a good game. It has fewer options than some multiplayer suites attached to full story-driven games. It is doing absolutely nothing new. Why would people put down $40 to play a game they've effectively played before, but better and more original?
It desperately needed something to separate it from the pack, and the crew system is NOT it.
Won't be surprised if it's dead within a year.
Re: Mini Review: Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn (PS5) - Yeah, It's Pretty Good
@Hyena_socks Its not funny. It's a racist dog whistle. And it's a sign you can't take the person seriously in any adult conversation.
Re: Mini Review: Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn (PS5) - Yeah, It's Pretty Good
@Savage_Joe Ah, yes. The "politics" of [checks notes] a black woman slaying monsters with a magical fox and an axe. What party is that? I'd vote for them.
Re: Over 4,500 Massive PS5, PS4 Games Discounted in Sizzling Summer Sale
I just got Suicide Squad free from Amazon Gaming and I will probably still never play it.
Re: Preview: Ignore The Haters, Concord Is a Good PS5 Shooter We Can't Wait to Play More Of
The more I play, the more I "get" it. I just really wish it had something more unique to say or do. It's not bringing anything remotely new to the table.
If this was never going to get or be a story-focused game (which I think the characters deserve to be a part of), then I almost feel like these characters would have worked well in some sort of extraction shooter, where you'd at least get to spend time with their abilities beyond a few minutes. And yes, even that would be derivative. But it just... doesn't do anything unique and actively does some stuff poorly. Had it been something more like CoD's old DMZ mode, or Hawked, where puzzle solving and little missions and PvPvE was all wrapped together, I would be all over this.
Instead, it's a bog standard arena shooter that's pretty to look at. That's about it.
Re: Talking Point: What Are Your Thoughts on the Concord PS5, PC Beta?
It should have been a story-driven, co-op supporting FPS about rival crews pulling off heists and all sorts of espionage/intrigue/backstabbing/double-crossing space pirate *****.
This should have been the multiplayer suite tacked on to THAT game.
As it stands, this is an incredibly basic multiplayer arena shooter that is literally bringing nothing to the market that hasn't been seen before or done to death already. Literally not one original thing. At all.
Plus, it makes a LOAD of stupid design decisions that make it actively aggravating to play (like no lobbies, re-selecting your character every death, no back-fill in-match, the whole crew and variant system).
It's bonkers that they think they'll get $40 for this. It is terribly bare bones even with a few modes unavailable.
I'll play a few more matches this weekend and next, but... nah. This ain't it.
Re: PS Plus Subscribers Can Play Concord PS5 Beta This Weekend
Just wanted to note something:
I know it's not a direct correlation for success, but the game's subreddit currently has 699 members as of just now.
Less than 700 people on all of Reddit are so excited so as to subscribe to conversation and discussions and posts about a game that releases in a few weeks.
For comparison (and I know this, too, isn't necessarily a direct correlation because these games are out and have been able to garner audiences, but anyway)... The First Descendant's sub has almost 81k subscribers (and this site just gave it a 3/10). ZZZ has a sub with nearly 64k and a leaks sub with almost another 31k.
Helldivers 2 has three subs with 1.4m, 170k, and 28k (for a leaks sub).
There's no ***** way this game hit its pre-order targets. Not in a million years.
Unless this game rocks absolute SOCKS OFF, it'll die within months.
Re: The First Descendant (PS5) - A Mindless and Repetitive Grind
I see this game as a big, dumb, sci-fi Summer popcorn flick. Will it win awards? No. Does it entertain me? Well enough.
A 3 is supremely harsh, imo.
Re: The First Descendant (PS5) - A Mindless and Repetitive Grind
@DogPark You realize that every game has a "loop," right? From the beginning, games are all built around a gameplay loop. That saying has absolutely nothing to do with F2P games, nor GaaS titles. It's an inherent element of literally all games.
Re: Talking Point: Was Sony Right to Resist Adding PS5 Exclusives to PS Plus Day One?
@UltimateOtaku91 I'm with you. If they want to incentivize people, give subscribers bonus discounts on new releases within, say, 30 days of launch or something.
I always contended, even back with old school PS+, that the true value wasn't in the free monthly games, but the extra discounts subscribers were privy to. I saved SO MUCH extra money on top of sale prices that I subbed and still purchased a ton of games every year. There wasn't a year that went by where savings on things I was already going to buy didn't pay for the sub.
I'd even settle for 10/20%, not even all the way up to 30. And I say that as someone who only has Extra. That 10% would be huge for me. Make it a flat 10/20% on ANY new release within the launch window, not just first party, and people would see the value increase a ton and subs would rocket. Plus digital purchases would rocket (even higher), locking more people into the ecosystem longer term, due to a broader personal library.
It would be huge for Sony AND customers.
Re: Party-Based Soulslike Deathbound Stunlocks PS5 on 8th August
Kind of reminds me of The Surge in that it may be a little clunky, but it's doing some interesting things with its gameplay that'll be worth a shot.
Re: 6 PS Plus Extra, Premium Games for July 2024 Leaked Early
Remnant 2 was my GOTY 2023 by a mile.
Re: Relief as Helldivers 2 Players Unearth Anti-Tank Stratagem That Isn't Mines
@Frmknst Good thing you didn't buy a F2P game at all, since Helldivers 2 is not, in any way, shape or form, F2P!
Re: 'Unannounced Remake' In Development at 2K Has Fans Clamouring for the Classics
Could very well be Borderlands...
Re: Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn Offers No Respite with PS5 Story Trailer, Extended Gameplay
@Rambo-kind I thought it was incredibly well-made. (I played on Switch, fwiw.) It has a unique drop-in/drop-out co-op system (be warned, some of the game is sort of crafted for co-op and can be extremely difficult for a solo player) that can make or break certain areas for you. But it IS able to be finished solo. It's just very very unforgiving.
Generally, though, its exploration and progression was quite satisfying and I adored the simplistic art style. It felt dream-like (even though some sections could be nightmare-inducingly hard).
It still stands as one of my favorites in the genre and I'm very proud to have soloed it.
Re: Poll: Are You Playing The First Descendant?
I've been enjoying it so far. Just unlocked Bunny.
It feels pretty solid to play, though the controls aren't as fluid as I'd like. But the powers are fun in-combat, the loot is generous, and the graphics are solid.
If anything, I'll see how far I can go without hitting the MTX paywall. For $0, it's solid Summer popcorn fluff-style gaming.
Will say, though, kind of wild to have this and ZZZ launch within days of one another. I wonder what effect that will have on each title, as action fans may be split between them (I know I am).
Re: Collectible PlayStation Figurines Out This August, Featuring Aloy, Kratos, and Jin
Aloy is oddly expensive, but I dig Jin and Kratos.
I'd be more interested in decent models/figures of the Horizon beasts more so than the human characters.
Re: Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn Offers No Respite with PS5 Story Trailer, Extended Gameplay
Ashen was the first Souls-like I ever beat (and one of the hardest!). I loved it. I can't wait to see how well this turns out.
Re: XDefiant Season 1 Brings Rainbow Six Faction, Maps, Weapons, Modes
Too bad matchmaking seems to be busted. I have far too much respect for my own free time to play broken ***** nowadays. Deleted.
Re: Here's Your First Look at Agent Smith Gameplay in MultiVersus on PS5, PS4
I was excited when Multiversus came back, but it's just way too much grind for me. I don't like how they handle the unlocking of characters. Just not for me anymore.
Re: Transformers: Galactic Trials Combines Racing and Rogue-Lite Action on PS5, PS4 This October
That has to be one of the worst trailers I have ever seen for a game. Could that guy be any less enthused?
I like the general idea (as a rogue lite and arcade racing fan) but those animations look like they're 3-4 generations behind modern standards. I could maybe see myself grabbing this on Switch so I can forgive the lackluster graphics. But that shovelware is not why I paid for a PS5.
Re: The Obligatory Helldivers 2 Isn't As Popular As It Was Headlines Have Started to Emerge
@BAMozzy You have no idea what you're talking about. That's clear.
They were expecting to sell something like 500k-1mm copies. Lifetime. They've already sold upwards of 12x that.
No matter what levels of monthly income they have coming in now, it is far above what they expected to have or needed to have to keep things going. And by any measure, 12x your expected lifetime earnings upfront will be better than the traditional trickle-in income of a live service, which they still have... At rates much higher than they expected to need.
Sit down.
Re: Concord Dev Confirms Monetisation Through Cosmetics Only
@Golem25 Didn't Suicide Squad have paid battle passes? Or a season pass? That's not remotely the same thing.
The closest recent title is, as mentioned, Helldivers 2. What are HD2's numbers? And sales?
I'm all for being wary of Concord, but don't make unfair comparisons to try and predict a failure. Not when there are better, fairer comparisons available. Especially when those were already made.
Plus, don't discount the price difference between Suicide Squad and the aforementioned titles. That plays a huge part.
Re: Concord PS5, PC Beta Test Dates Revealed, Pre-Orders Gain Early Access
I really need to get my hands on this before I can get excited for it. It didn't do much for me in the trailers.
Re: PS5, PS4's New PS2 Emulator Fails to Pass Tech Test
It boggles my mind that big companies don't (more commonly) pay modders and emulator enthusiasts as consultants to build this sort of stuff properly for them. The communities are RABID and the companies have the money. Get someone to do it right or why even bother?
Re: The First Descendant Gets Gameplay, PS5 Graphical Options Ahead of Upcoming Launch
Can you turn the voice acting off? That ***** is absolutely atrocious. I could barely make it through 2 character videos, let alone dumping hours upon hours into this. What were they thinking with that? My goodness.
Re: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3's Retro Bit Party Mode Looks Like an Absolute Blast
Maybe Activision should try making a new game/IP instead of continually watering down their Mature-rated military shooter with this stuff.
Like, it looks good, sure. It'll play as tightly as any COD, of course. But... it has no place inside COD. They have literal billions of dollars. Just throw together some new games and release 'em. What's the worst thing that could happen? It's popular and makes money? Your company value is strengthened by outputting more original content for more ages?
This stuff just... isn't it.
Re: Epic Mickey PS5, PS4 Remaster Gets a 24th September Release Date
I always held off on this cause I heard it was somewhat of a technical mess and the camera had issues.
If they clean all that up, this may be the perfect time to give it a shot. Always loved the concept.
Re: Midnight Society Drops Co-Founder, Streamer Dr Disrespect Following Twitch Ban Allegations
@tselliot You don't feel you can rely on them to [checks notes] relay factual information?
Yeesh. Wtf did the internet become that everyone holds a grudge against every source and then just decides to not believe facts. Smh
Re: Poll: Are You Playing Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree?
I platted Elden Ring, which is uncommon for me when it comes to Souls-like titles... but I'm just not in the headspace for it. Maybe I'll get to it one day. It's just not on my radar at the moment.
Re: Sony Is Allegedly Pulling PSVR2 Funding, Report Claims
I am very glad I went with a Quest 3.
Re: Ex-Sony Boss Shawn Layden Explains How to Make Games Faster, Cheaper
@get2sammyb I mean, you say that about Rise of the Ronin, but the game also sold very well versus expectations and the player base it has seems to adore it. I think that discourse will always happen because the community has grown toxic, but online discourse doesn't always reflect reality.
Should the developers/publishers truly care if they can put out something that exceeds sales goals despite what people - people who VERY LIKELY were never going to buy the game anyhow - spew online?
I don't think Layden is wrong here. Especially when you look at the games that age well across generations: they're usually not photorealistic and were never trying to be, and their gameplay drives the enthusiasm/enjoyment surrounding them.
Sadly, I think it will take a lot more big budget failures before the broader market/industry corrects itself. And part of that will likely include a price correction, as well. I think what consumers truly don't like is being fed full price games that end up falling far below expectations in one or more of these sorts of categories. But for games that embrace what they are and price themselves within the market accordingly? Big success is waiting for them.
Re: TimeSplitters PS5, PS4 Rated for Release, PS2 Classic Likely Slated for PS Plus Premium
Isn't it misleading to say Timesplitters is coming to PS4/5 and then show the cover for a distinctly different game?
Re: Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree (PS5) - Familiar FromSoftware Brilliance
I am not in the mental space to put up with From design, but I'm glad it's good. Maybe I'll get back in the mood at some point and be able to appreciate it.
Re: Preview: Black Myth: Wukong Could Finally Be the Game Journey to the West Deserves
What a year for action games.
Re: Ridiculous Action Game Killer Bean Will Be Blasting to PS5 Eventually
I guess they couldn't get away with Killer McNugget.
Re: Preview: Star Wars Outlaws on PS5 Has a World of Possibilities, But Is Let Down by a Rough Demo
It's an Ubisoft game. It's worth $20 a year or so after release, at best. They make pure junk food games. The fact they truly believe they're making AAAA titles anymore just goes to show you how deluded they are.
Re: Preview: Astro Bot on PS5 Could Be the Best 3D Platformer This Side of Nintendo
The trailer gave me a mixture of Super Mario Galaxy and Puppeteer vibes. Honestly, even as a dude in his late 30s playing shooters and action games, I am absolutely looking forward to this.
Re: Preview: Unknown 9: Awakening Shows Real Promise, Once the Story's Out of the Way
@Turion You mean stunningly gorgeous actress Anya Chalotra isn't your bag? Yeesh. I'm sure you're quite beautiful yourself there, buttercup.
Re: Round Up: What Was Announced at Ubisoft Forward 2024?
@Porco But that's what I mean. AC used to be events, not cookie cutter releases. Same for Farcry. Splinter Cell used to get people to sit up and pay attention. Hell, the R6 and Ghost Recon games used to mean something.
As you say, maybe it's further back than I realized, but it happened. They've utterly failed time and again for awhile. (Which, I'll note, was not Immortals' fault as that game was solid through and through.)
Just kind of blows my mind they're even still big enough to hold their own conference. Like... their show could have been a blog post/email that ***** was so stale.
They get 1/2 games worth showing and even THOSE are clearly made up of bits and pieces and elements of other games they've been making for ages. May be good, may even be fun... but innovation? Excitement? Doesn't seem to exist at Ubisoft.
Re: Round Up: What Was Announced at Ubisoft Forward 2024?
Ubisoft has fallen harder than almost any other major publisher in my eyes. They used to drop bangers. Now the best they can muster is GaaS updates and trailers for expansions to games that underperformed expectations. WTF are they even doing?
Re: Bungie Apologises for Its Widespread Destiny 2 DLC Launch Issues
I wonder how many times a day Sony brass kick themselves for spending so much money on what was supposed to have been a shining feather in their cap, but which turned out to be a pretty damn tame member of their studio portfolio.
The fact I commonly forget Bungie, of all companies, is owned by Sony because of how little they accomplish and how often they ***** up is wholly surprising. You put a gun to my head and say, "Name Sony-owned studios," and I'm pretty sure I'd name almost every other studio before I remembered.
I legitimately hope they screw up this DLC and Sony takes them over. I see it as their only path back to prominence.
Re: MultiVersus (PS5) - Fun Free-to-Play Fighter Is Finally Fit for Purpose
@DennisReynolds Seriously. The grind(s) are pretty horrendous. This feels like a review that was truly done in a week (makes sense) with not much consideration for what it will TRULY take to do something basic like unlock all the characters.
I bought the lowest tier of the premium release to unlock "all" the fighters when it first came out and I now have 5 (not counting Agent Smith on the horizon) I have yet to snag... and the currency needed to buy them all is earned EXTREMELY slowly.
It's a really really bad look to tie literal core gameplay-defining aspects of the game (the characters) behind such awfully painful progression.
How tf can a game like Overwatch 2 get ***** on for the practice to the point it eventually relented, but then something like this gets a pass?
Bottom line is: It doesn't. It's pretty damn egregious.
This game will die if they don't fix character unlocks. The game is fun. It's not good enough to put up with the MTX and grind to play with everyone long term.
Re: Assassin's Creed, Rabbids, and Ghost Recon Characters Potentially Coming to XDefiant
I deleted it this weekend after getting fed up with the hit registration and imbalance of the powers. Good luck to 'em.
Re: Poll: Are You Happy with Your PS Plus Essential Games for June 2024?
This will be a rare month where I likely don't even bother adding a single one to my catalog. MAYBE the wrestling one, but I doubt I'll ever bother playing it.
This is one of the worst months for me in a long long time.
Re: Big New PS5, PC Shooter Concord Has an Uphill Battle Ahead of It
@Gelloh It seriously makes me wonder just how bad Naughty Dog must have ***** up Factions 2 to get THAT cancelled, but then see stuff like this through to release. I have to imagine there was a LOT going on behind the scenes with that that we will never know.