Marquez

The Final Shape, as the finale to a story ten years in the making, is almost impossible to land perfectly. My expectation is a satisfying conclusion and anything beyond that is a bonus.

Given the excellent melee combat Insomniac have already implemented in the Spider-Man series, plus what they’re about to do with Wolverine, a playable Daredevil would be amazing… voiced by Charlie Cox… now I’m dreaming.

For all those mad at Bungie for 'taking away shares' - that's not how unvested shares work. The employees don't own the shares until they vest - typically after a 2-4 year period. So they haven't 'gone back to Bungie' because they never left Bungie in the first place. This happens whether you leave out of choice or are asked to unfortunately.

Of course this is still terrible news for all those affected and as someone who has played Destiny for ten years (and preordered The Final Shape - something me and a few others in my clan are now reconsidering after this news) some of the names are people I feel like I know, have engaged with on social and congratulated on great work in the past. A sad day.

Finishing off the Spider-Man 2 story is top of my list, managed to avoid spoilers so far and need it to stay that way!

Then I'll be back to finishing off Act 2 in Baldur's Gate III and a bit of AC Mirage on the side.

Backlog is considerable, not just thanks to 2023... must not buy Alan Wake 2, repeat must not buy...

Fell off partway through the first season after having loads of fun with the campaign and the grind, but keen to get back in - just a few games on the backlog to finish first.

@TheCollector316 It’s always going to be personal preference but getting the extra detail AND the game still being super smooth is the sweet spot for me. Check out the Digital Foundry review video (not the follow-up analysis video, it’s a bit spoilery) for a great breakdown of the choices.

@ErrantRob Me either, when it comes to typical CRPGs but Baldur's Gate III is so much more. I can't recommend it enough.

@Smiffy01 Nice. I couldn't pass up the chance to play in fidelity tbh.

Spider-Man 2 and loving it so far. Play in the 40fps Fidelity mode, if you have a 120hz screen to do that on - you won't regret it.

My half day holiday starts in less than an hour, postman arrived with the game already and it's currently installing. Nice timing...

I've come to terms with the fact that I won't finish my most progressed Baldur's Gate III playthrough before Spider-Man 2 drops, so instead I'm going to mainline the story in AC Mirage and maybe fit in some of its side content before I go all symbiote on Friday.

Conflicted on this one, given the recent moves towards an all-digital future. I had decided to purchase all first party titles (and a few official bangers) on physical this gen but, what if I can't go back to the game next gen because... no Blu-Ray drive? Yes, I know I could keep my PS5 alongside my PS6 but still, I'd rather only have one box hooked up.

And with the help of discounted PS Store £££, it's also cheaper digitally...

@Texan_Survivor It's an absolute classic for me. I played it at launch and still think about going back every now and again. Cannot wait for the inevitable sequel.

I just finished the Nightsong quest in BG3 and BOY did that go places. Will prioritise AC Mirage this weekend but I'm bound to get dragged back in to my nailed-on GOTY - it's possible only Spider-Man 2 will properly pull me out of Faerun in the foreseeable future.

I have this preordered, looking forward to a more compact AC experience than the last few entries. Now all I need to do is tear myself away from three parallel Baldur's Gate playthroughs...

70 hours into Baldur's Gate, partway through Act 2 and pushing on with Shadowheart's companion quest. The game continues to get better and better - it's simply ridiculous and my GOTY for sure.

I'll also check out some of the Ryder Cup content in EA PGA Tour Golf, while watching Europe smash the USA in the real thing.

Really surprised not to see the Monk/Rogue combo (as opposed to Rogue/Monk, which just about makes the list).

9 levels in Way of the Open Hand Monk and 3 levels in Thief Rogue has so much DPS it's broken. Maybe people like talking instead of punching?

Already preordered through the PS Store when they went live, interesting that they are pushing through the likes of Amazon and Game immediately. I am 100% the target market for this as I've said before and despite all the dissenters who it doesn't suit I think this will sell pretty well.

is there an option to extend 2023 by, I don't know, maybe an extra 6 months of gaming time? Or is that just called early 2024...

The backlog of great games from this year alone is staggering.

@Tharsman The timing is probably based on him having a six month notice period and the requirement to tell shareholders...

Given the reported size of this one it'll be a breeze compared to my Origins, Odyssey and Valhalla plats!

Got a third co-op session with a mate lined up for tonight on Baldur's Gate. We are working on the Emerald Grove quest line and I know, having played it solo already, we will be arguing about the choices to be made!

Also got the final couple of majors to knock off in EA PGA Tour Golf for the platinum, so hoping to get that done too.

Just two acts of BG3, half of FF XVI to finish, AC Mirage to squeeze in within a week of Spidey release... EASY. What a year.

These threads are great for informing me about the latest set of console warriors I should use the handy 'Ignore' button for. Four down and counting.

Continuing to explore the fantastic Underdark in act one of Baldur’s Gate, on my first character. Hopefully progressing my co-op play-through of Baldur’s Gate with my mate on my second character. Starting a third character on Baldur’s Gate because Baldur’s… great.

@Ravix I only found out he had a ball because I spoke to him… yet another layer to this game.

@Ravix Who would have thought it, an EA Sports game under the radar for GOTY

Playing as an Oath of the Ancients noble do-gooder of a paladin forces me into lots of skill checks when all I want to do is fight. But my favourite paladin moment so far, after all the effort I had gone to obeying my oath in open play, was with the pet dog in the camp when I threw his ball to play fetch. I accidentally threw it AT him, he aggroed, Astarion leapt to my defence and killed him... and I got pulled over by the paladin overlords for breaking my oath... Yes, my only reload in the game so far.

Hope this fixes the issues others are experiencing as per comments in other BG3 threads, with split-screen and later game chugging in particular.

Good to see the 40fps option, it felt like a sweet spot in Rift Apart - appreciating most people don't have the 120hz screen to run it, which is a shame. Given the speed and fluidity of the latest Spidey reveal I'll likely start with the 30fps option to check out the graphical fidelity, quickly switch to the 60fps option to see what effect that has on traversal and combat, then drop back down to that 40fps sweet spot if needed.

I'm 45 hours in, probably 2/3 of the way through Act One and, while I'm wary of the Act 3 technical issues a few have mentioned (and reviewers have also alluded to) this is as close to an obvious 10 as any game I've played in forty+ years of gaming. It's my GOTY over ToTK, FF XVI, Jedi: Survivor, Hogwarts (definitely over Hogwarts) and even the might PGA Tour Golf (this last one is not a joke) right now, obviously with a few big hitters still to come.

I was enjoying solo play enough and now I've started a co-op session with a friend, I'm even more invested. Last night I ended up in jail because he failed a dice check and I decided to fix the issue for him through my actions, leading to an absolute stitch-up of an arrest. Honestly copper, it wasn't me... this is only a tiny example of the vast choice and consequence mechanics in this game and when my actions have had larger impacts, the game doesn't feel like it blocks me but merely steers me down an alternative path in the story. And I love that, especially because it gives me an excuse for multiple play-throughs!

@Sakai Agree and yes, every cloud has a silver lining... with Cloud in it!

@Sakai Which is exactly what Sony said it would be. Updates on already-announced games.

@Odium Assuming you're familiar with the original FF VII you were right to stay away - they showed A LOT.

@LiamCroft And it's appreciated! Waking up at 5am for work and having all the SOP coverage available - cheers.

All the comments along the lines of 'Sony need to show reasons to own a PS5' when they've sold the best part of 50 million of them so far with sales increasing month on month and year on year... right now, they really don't. I'd suggest they could wait until 2024 to show ANYTHING first party, when the bounce from doing so would be of more benefit - though I do expect a final Spidey trailer reveal soon.

@theMEGAniggle Yeah just checked - I’ll skip 24 on this basis, at least until it’s discounted. Plenty of great saves still left to tackle in 23. Currently trying to keep Everton afloat until they move into their new stadium… the challenge is real!

@theMEGAniggle Not what I read but I’ll check my notes!

@theMEGAniggle I read an announcement from SI that said 2025 is a complete redesign... we will see. Might skip this one on that basis.

An excellent list, even though I bought the Civ VI anthology on deep sale very recently. Which means I've now bought all available Civ VI content on PS5, Switch and Mac...!

Looking forward to 13 Sentinels like a lot of people in the comments and glad that's one I held off on in the sales at least.

Me and a friend have set aside some time later tonight for the character creation phase of our Baldur’s Gate co-op playthrough, cannot wait. Also 25 hours into my solo save and only just started the goblin camp… so many distractions along the way.

I had to stop watching because of that uplight getting in the way on the right hand side. Proper wound me up!

Clearly got too much time on his hands. Now tidy your room.

@Anke A game all about decision making with turn based combat is the sweet spot for Portal for sure.

This feels like a perfect side-game to all the top notch time sinks (I’m looking at you, BG3) around right now. But I’ll wait for a trophy fix.

@Anke I can’t stop playing it but it is making me miss the Portal I don’t have yet, if that makes sense. It’s fantastic.

@Shepherd_Tallon A use for Portal confirmed for all the naysayers!

A lot of comments about how the game does zero to onboard you that I absolutely agree with - I spent a couple of hours watching Fextralife beginner videos and that proved to be time well spent. If you are able to do similar the learning curve disappears and so far for me this is a 10/10. When I'm not playing it, I'm thinking about my next steps, future character builds, the decisions I've made... sensational and all-consuming. Once my Portal arrives I doubt I'll speak to my family again.

Back in the hands of Codemasters - I'm predicting Colin McRae levels of playability married with EA's unique talent for... in-game currencies/micro-transactions.

Playing 'watch the Baldur's Gate 3 countdown' on my homepage and then... playing Baldur's Gate 3. Cannot wait!