PuppetMaster

@Shepherd_Tallon It wasn't X-2 that received perfect score but it's XIII-2 and XII. FF X-2 got 34/40. Here's the link if you want to check what games that earned perfect score from Famitsu
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Famitsu_scores

I personally don't take Famitsu score that seriously. They gave 29/40 or 9/7/7/6 for Demon's Souls on PS3, gave perfect score 40/40 for FF XIII-2, but also gave perfect score for some of my fav games of all times like Vagrant Story.

But what makes Famitsu different is they always have four reviewers for every game they reviewed. Say you don't agree with the total score they gave like Demon's Souls 29/40. Then you can check each reviewer score, read their opinion about the game, and take one or two that fits with your opinion. You don't need to agree with the total score.

Compare to gaming site in general, each game always reviewed by one person and sometimes they put a person who doesn't like or have any fking clue about the genre or even video games. Example like Dean Takahashi, the guy who can't pass Cuphead tutorial or even aim in Doom 2016. He reviewed Mass Efect and called it "Mass Defect" because he thinks the character can't be level up. Or Warhammer 40K: Space Marine 1 which he called it as "Gears of War clone" lol unbelieveable.

Unfortunately, Famitsu doesn't have english release and not everyone outside Japan wants to translate the reviewers comments to give more context behind the score. What we got here is just the score.

But again, i played Metaphor demo for 5 hours and i think it deserves that high score. Not sure for SH 2 remake though but my prediction it could be in the 7-8 range.

This is sad...

I used to see this magz along with PSM, OPM, Edge, GamePro, and GameInformer on my local book store in the import section. Now all of them are dead 😔. So yeah...RIP Play and good luck to the staff.

I personally aways prefer physical books & magazines because my eyes didn't quickly tired compare to staring at monitor or tablet. It's the reason why i'm still buying physical manga and
books about health, medicine, etc.

I'm also trying to collect some old games guide published by Prima Games and BradyGames. But lately their prices got more expensives. I guess the collectors knows these game guide became rare items. sigh...

I can only afford 1 game between Ys X, Metaphor, or Slitterhead. But i check my wishlist that i also want Kunitsu Gami and Apollo Justice Trilogy.

Now i'm thinking to trade in some of my physical games with these new games...

@StrickenBiged Big chance it will have hot spring since Hokkaido has plenty of it. But i don't think they gonna show her naked cake...or maybe they will? Who knows.

@Oz_Who_Dat_Dare If it's boring, repetitive, and painful, why on earth you spent 100 hours with the game?

I rarely feel boring or repetitive with Tsushima open world. I spent 40-50 hours with the game. If it's very repetitive, i wouldn't Platinumed it. It's the complete opposite compare when i played open world games from Ubisoft like Far Cry, AssCreed, The Division, or Watch Dogs. I already felt bored when i entered 20 hours of the game to the point i just abandoned a lot of side quest and finished the main quest.

But i just hope Sucker Punch didn't do something unnecessary with the open world design like adding more laundry list to do just because some people said Tsushima is boring.

@Shigurui What i heard about reverse engineered is a pretty complex task and needs a lot of time. So that's probably why Konami didn't do SH collection for current gen.

I personally didn't hear much about reverse engineered for a remaster / remake but more for emulator.

I don't think 1 million copies are enough to recoup the cost when Ubisoft said for Outlaws they did the biggest marketing campaign in their history.
https://fextralife.com/star-wars-outlaws-will-have-the-biggest-marketing-campaign-in-ubisofts-history/

The marketing budget alone could cost more than $100+ million and combine with development + Star Wars license cost, i say the total budget could be in the $300-350+ million range. So, 1 million copies is a flop.

For comparison, Insomniac Spider-Man 2 total budget was $300 million already include marketing + licensing. And they recoup the cost when the game sold 5 million copies (right now it sit at 11 million copied).

And outside Outlaw mediocre quality and Ubisoft bad track records with buggy launch games, i agreed that Star Wars brand popularity could impact Outlaws sales because it's at the lowest point thanks to Disney milking the franchise with many, not all, bad tv shows & movies.

@Fritz167 Well remakes especially with high production value sold well meanwhile games with new ideas like Kunitsu Gami or Hi-fi Rush didn't sold well.

So, i can't blame devs if they opted for more remakes or sequels when the majority of gamers doesn't give a F* about experimental games.

Devs only follows demand and supply because this days the risk is higher compare to 10-20 years ago. Back then devs can afford to make multiple experimental games despite only 1 or 2 games that sold well. But nowadays, if they made a flop then the risk is either got lay off or the whole studio got closed down.

@Yousef- Oh i didn't know that. I own Mega Man Legacy collection 2 but only played a bit of MM 7 and 8.

@Sequel That's fake Chun Li by western devs.

@Ken_Kaniff Good decision. Your kids needs to taste gaming in the best form without bulls* like MTX or gambling like gacha that can be addictive with the random loots.

Give them retro games like Super Mario, Tetris, Sonic, Zelda, or Mega Man (this one probably too hard for 8-10 years old).

@Shigurui So why Konami didn't do it if all they needs to do is reverse engineered the code?

The future looks bleak if everyone copied Fortnite. But luckily, a lot of devs are not Tim Sweeny.

Obviously the remake has better graphics. But the atmosphere in PS2 still looks creepy to this day and it still worth playing too if you're a fan of survival horror genre.

Sadly Konami lost SH 2 & 3 original source code which pretty much killed the hope of SH collection for PS4/5

@JalapenoSpiceLife Doki Doki is a horror game and plenty of female gamers played it, like this one for example:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=7iuH0mNzo30&pp=ygUhRmVtYWxlIHlvdXR1YmVyIHBsYXlpbmcgZG9raSBkb2tp

Your wife would be embarassed and hands you a divorce paper if she's found out her husband can't use a frickin google and arguing like an i***t over a horror game that he believe as a porn game.

I got thousands of hours on my account & own more than at least 300 games. But i don't have the money to get the limited anniversary edition.

But at least it's good to see Sony fight back these dirty scalpers.

Capcom Fighting Collection doesn't sold well with a big portion of the collection filled up with Darkstalkers games. So, I already accepted the fact that Darkstalkers is completely dead. I mean, not every series can keep going forever.

At least they used some characters like Morrigan, Demitri, John Talbain, Felicia, or Bonnie Hood as guest characters / costume skin...

My essential already expired. I want to sub again just to play SF 6 but I'm waiting a big sale like $30-40 for a year sub.

It's already fixed like 2 hours ago. Been playing Exit Man and got the Platinum trophy. What a fun game but i wish there's a PvP online mode.

@Yousef- Yeah. I'm just baffled with how on earth big company like Konami can lost the original source code for their games.

Now i'm worried with Suikoden 1 & 2 HD collection quality especially after the delay. The trailer looks good but who knows with the final product quality...

@Medic_alert iirc HD collection for Xbox version doesn't get patch like PS3 version. So you could try the PS3 version if you really want to taste the original SH 2 & 3. But despite the patch, it still look and plays pretty bad compare to the original game.

But i think you should just wait for the remake. I have the feeling it will be pretty good like 7-8 out of 10 good, not as good as the original game, but at least much better quality than HD collection.

@Medic_alert The HD collection is bad like really really bad.

***** Konami lost the original source code for SH 2 & 3. So they gave the unfinished code to Hijinx Studio and pretty much asked that small studio to complete the game again which was nuts.

In the end, the HD collection released with many technical issues that shouldn't exist if Konami had the original source code. And iirc the poor Hijinx Studio closed their door because the HD collection sold badly.

If you want to play SH 2 & 3 then i suggest buy PS2, Xbox, or PC version. I'm sure you can get PS2 or Xbox copies pretty cheap at retro game store. But stay away from HD collection.

@TheTraditional Yup it's down for everyone

@Yousef- Yeah this is looks like an original story with a bit of material taken from the first game. I'm personally okay with that but not sure if it will be a good show considering Nagoshi doesn't involved. But let's wait and see i guess...

I don't remember there's a character wearing Noh mask in the first game...

And the guy who plays Majima seems he nailed the part. But the rest including Kiryu feels like something off.

@whatkindofsick But without supermodels wearing tight skinsuit. I even doubt we can aim the camera at private part. The first game has a mini cutscene where Sam punch the camera if we aim it at his crotch for a couple of seconds.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=auWHGkZHX-U&pp=ygUbU2FtIGJyaWRnZSBwdW5jaCB0aGUgY2FtZXJh

Compare to photoshoots in MGS 4
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=4uz0TGRIA6w&pp=ygUPbWdzNCBwaG90b3Nob290

I'm really glad that MGS 4 was released 16 years ago. If it release today, Kojima probably wouldn't used four very attractive supermodel for Beauty & Beast characters or he needs to removed camera & photoshoots mode from the game to cater to certain group who can't accept the idea that fictional female character can looks beautiful and attractive just like in real life...

Anyway cool news. I love using photo mode and took a lot of pictures in GOW, Ghost of Tsushima, UC 4, and Death Stranding 1. If photo mode has some impact for the story then i would gladly used it a lot :3

@LowDefAl "it’s that he didn’t have anyone giving feedback and suggesting revisions"

It's well documented that Kojima has writing team that gave him feedback. MGS 4 for example, he wants a bleak ending for Solid Snake and Otacon. But his team disagreed with his idea because it's too bleak. So they asked Kojima for brighter ending which Kojima agreed.

So this claim about Kojima never get feedback or never listen to his team feedback is false because he always write the story & characters with a team.

• MGS 1 & 2: Kojima and Tomokazu Fukushima wrote the story
• MGS 3: Kojima, Tomokazu Fukushima, and Shuyo Murata wrote the story
• MGS 4: Kojima and Shuyo Murata wrote the story
• MGS 5: Kojima, Shuyo Murata, Hidenari Inamura, and Etsu Tamari wrote the story
• Death Stranding: Kojima, Shuyo Murata, and Kenji Yano wrote the story

And needs to remind you the trend with Western localization who butchered many things from the source material without approval from the creator.
Like Squall famous "whatever" but in Japan he speaks different word that makes his character more friendly and doesn't look like an ignorant b*stard.

Or Miss Kobayashi Dragon Maid anime where the translator wrote a very different script without the creator approval.
https://www.google.com/amp/s/boundingintocomics.com/2024/01/09/former-funimation-script-writer-jamie-marchi-doubles-down-on-her-infamous-anti-patriarchy-localization-of-miss-kobayashis-dragon-maid-this-is-what-happens-when-a-script-is-dubbed-into-a-diffe/amp/

What Kojima and his team wrote in Japan could have different meaning compare to english version.

@CielloArc Yoko Taro loves money that's why he doesn't refused cameos aka free advertising for his games / characters. Just look how many cameos for 2B from Soul Calibur, GranBlue, Gravity Rush, Phantasy Star, Fall Guys, Nikke, Stellar Blade, etc etc.

No wonder Nier Automata sold 7.5+ million copies, much higher than many SE games like Octopath, Bravely, Mana, Saga, or even DQ. Yoko Taro did a better job on promoting his games than SE.

@topher6490 dang you bought a lot of games bro 😮

@Yousef- No Cloud, Squall, Tidus, Yuna, Lightning, Sora, Noctis, Tifa, or any SE characters. Bummer but hey it's SE 🤷‍♂️

Probably the sign that Sony x SE long and close partnership is ending.

To deny Cloud or any Square cameo in Astro Bot feels like SE are denying that they're not a part of PS long history and doesn't want to work together with Sony anymore.

I don't know how Sony reacting to this though, especially with them using more Astro Bot as the face for their marketing. But i'm not surprised if in the next couple of years Sony will do less and less collaborations with SE. Especially when lately Sony had a lot of partnership with Chinese and Korean devs and they pushed more their games over SE.

It's already out in the internet. So good luck when Sony knocking your door with a lawsuit.

I thought Kojima already made a breakthrough to Hollywood?

I mean, he got Hollywood composer Harry Gregson-Williams for MGS 2-5 music. Then he got a lot of popular Hollywood actors / directors in Death Stranding as well movie adaptation with A-24 studio. And that Xbox game with Jordan Peele?

Why this scammer doesn't get jailed?

Forgot to add:

Not just PvE but it could also have PvP like clan vs clan since in the main game not every tribe are getting along with each other.

I can imagine some cool stuff where you can hacked / ride a Thunderjaw and used it to attack other clan. And the other clan can do the same.

Now i'm curious to try it :3

I agreed with some people who said Horizon Online has potential.

I mean, there's plenty of hero shooters live service in the market and one of the biggest reason why Concord failed miserably is because it can't provide different experiences compare to the competitors.

But how many multiplayer live service games that took place after the apocalypse and offers you the experience to hunt / fight a mecha dinosaurs with your friends? So far i see none.

Horizon Online could be a different experience compare to MonHun and it also could satisfy people who asked for a co-op in a Horizon game. That way, the next main Horizon can stay as single player experience.

@IamJT Yeah hopefully they make a comeback and talk about comeback, i hope Kojima collabs with Low Roar again. I know their vocalist / lead already passed away (RIP 😭) but their musics really fit with Death Stranding vibe.

@Notzdarva "50 hour walking sims"

I got 80 hours with the 1st game where i ride a lot of reverse trike, a truck, a power skeleton, and even don't need to walk at all with zip-lines across the map.

And there's enough activities to do outside deliveries; from evading or fights BT's / Mules / Higgs group, building roads and structures that can be used by other players, racing, or just enjoying the beautiful musics by Low Roar (i wish they're back in the sequel).

So i found it weird to see someone who still say the only thing you do in this game is walking, considering the first game already out for 5 years with many videos showed plenty of gameplay mechanics outside walking.

@RiverGenie I had a lot of fun with the 1st game. Heck, i didn't know someone can make simple thing like traversing feels fun and also challenging. But it seems Death Stranding isn't for you.

@tinCAT-zero I'm pretty sure that NES guy are arguing with people who interested to get a PS5 Pro.

So many arguments between people who don't want a PS5 Pro vs people who wants a PS5 Pro 🤣

I'm personally don't see PS5 Pro for me since i'm okay with stable 30/60 fps-1080p and don't give a F* about 120fps/4K, ray tracing, FSR, and all the mumbo jumbo. Just give me polished and fun games even in 2D sprite and i'll play them.

Like Metaphor demo for example. I've seen some people complaining about the "PS2 jaggies" and i just don't think it's bad enough to detract me from enjoying the demo.

I guess i'm just too old school when comes to graphic. As long as the frame rate is stable even at 30 fps then i'm not gonna complaint.

@Yousef- I'll put his channel on my bookmark 👍

It's nice to see Heartman making a comeback. But i wonder if Deadman, Die-Hardman, and Mama also return.

And that photo mode, dang, Kojima doesn't mess around.

@CWill97 You can try The Silver Case if you want VN with detective vibe and weird murder case. It's one of Suda 51 early games. And if you like it, there's a sequel The 25th Ward: The Silver Case.

As for adventure games, i think Blacksad: Under the Skin is kinda fun. But i don't know if you're okay with slow pace, janky control, and anthropomorphic characters.

@TheShallowWorld Are you saying people who enjoyed Stellar Blade will end up as a skirt chasing psychopath who can't separate fiction with reality? If yes then it's you who needs to grow the fvck up.

That's like saying people who enjoyed GTA, Doom, or Mortal Kombat are obsessed with violances and automaticly will end up as a murderer or killer.

Don't blame mental illness on video games.

Never get the chance to play this but i watched Max Derrat video and i'm interested to try it.

Playing:

• Street Fighter 6
  I unlocked Pao Pao Cafe stage (it has a cool theme) and tried Terry (he is pretty fun) with drive tickets. I also tried new feature V-Rival which I personally quite like it. But the AI feels kinda easy despite they at Master rank, so i think the feature aim for people who doesn't want to play sweaty ranked match but wants to taste advanced players playing style and got tips to improve their game.
• Metaphor prologue demo
  Played the demo for 5+ hours until Hulkenburg join my party. I really enjoyed it but it feels as if i played a Persona game but with different skin and not a complete new IP. It has Persona or in this game called Archetype with the awakening style very similar to Persona, it has time limits to finish the dungeon / main quest, it has social link, doing some activities move forward the day, and many elements from Persona series. I'm a bit dissapointed because i expect it can offer a very different gameplay experiences compare to Persona series. Oh well...
• Star Ocean: First Departure R
  I'm quite enjoying this game but it doesn't age that well and feels like a low effort remaster compare to Star Ocean: Second Story R.
• Valkyria Chronicles 4
  I lost my save so i'm playing this game again from the beginning. Right now i'm at chapter 2 part 5, liberating Reine.

Have a good week everyone 🙏