@JimmyRiddle @Cerny One thing to remember is that you can toggle on an option in the settings that replaces motion controls with the left stick, which makes climbing quite a lot easier.
@rjejr I think it's four main chapters, each with five or six levels. If you beeline it through the story, it's probably below 12 hours. My save is just above 20 hours but I was messing with customisation and doing apex hunts etc on top of the main story.
I want to be clear — the people saying that this is just like the other LEGO games? The level design here is much simpler even than any other LEGO game you can think of. I haven't played them all but I recall levels having secret areas, collectibles to find, alternate paths you can take with different characters — none of that is in LEGO Horizon's stages. It's very pretty, and the combat is good fun, but the levels themselves are painfully straightforward.
@ThaBEN Once you finish a chapter's set of campaign levels (I think five or six typically), Apex Hunts for that area become available. I think there are four of these for each chapter. After you finish those, Free Mode unlocks, and you can do that as often as you want.
The Free Mode stages don't have any cutscenes associated with them but, content wise, they're pretty much identical to the campaign levels. The combat throughout the game is fun and definitely the best part of gameplay.
It's fun in co-op but there's a real lack of collectibles, diverging paths etc that normally motivate exploration.
It's tough because LEGO Horizon does have its bright spots and your son may well enjoy it, but I'd argue that LEGO Marvel Superheroes and other past LEGO games have more going on than this does, moment-to-moment.
Personally I'd sooner recommend Sonic X Shadow Generations as there's simply more to do; particularly in Shadow's half of the game, the levels are intricate, there are things to find, you can replay stages for improved scores/ranks etc. The downside is no co-op, but I suppose you could take turns?
@Maubari Haha, I've played all stages and challenges, but not collected absolutely everything, so that's all it is. I haven't seen those other two tracks either yet, as it so happens!
@AdamNovice Sonic Generations' remaster is definitely better constructed than Colours'. It does have one or two odd hitches, as I mention, but it's mostly very smooth sailing.
@Sveakungen If a game has the PS5 Pro Enhanced tag, it shows above a game's title on its PS Store page (in the same place you'd see stuff like Standard Edition)
@Hogs-of-War-General @LifeGirl I'm not talking about the difficulty curve; of course, games broadly become more challenging as you get better/unlock more powerful abilities etc. I'm saying there are one or two missions that feel too difficult for where they're positioned. I think that's a reasonable thing to point out. It's something games have gotten better at, generally speaking.
The controls here are different from what I remember back on PS1, but I played this a lot growing up so I was able to adapt pretty quickly. However, I recognise that, for newcomers, the controls are not that straightforward (definitely not as simple as you suggest), and are poorly explained in tutorials. The game is a lot of fun, but only once you're familiar with how it all operates, and in this regard it definitely feels 25 years old.
I'm not saying it's bad, far from it! In many ways I think it's impressive how Armageddon stands the test of time.
@NielsNL I'm 34 and played Armageddon (and World Party) a lot on PS1 I have a lot of love for it, but that's not to say it's immune to criticism. As for the two point difference, I am a different human being from the lovely Ollie, so have different viewpoints and opinions and all that. It's really crazy stuff.
@BPrimrose You can change the difficulty whenever from the pause menu. There are also several accessibility options that let you do things like increase jump height, make enemies die in one hit, turn you invincible etc.
@Kraven Probably around the 10 hour mark. I think I clocked about 12 hours myself but I'm almost always behind the curve on playtime.
Platinum Trophy isn't very hard but you'll really need to watch out for collectibles as you go. You can replay chapters once you've completed them, but doing so doesn't count towards your save file, so that means you can't just hop into a random chapter and clean up.
@rjejr Don't get me wrong, it makes full use of all DualSense's features — you'll be tilting the controller and blowing into the mic (and yes there is a little bit of that climbing mechanic from Playroom, but just the one level).
However! Important to point out that you can toggle a setting that lets you move the left stick instead of tilting the controller, and you can also just mute your mic if you don't want to blow into it.
@Bluetrain7 Nearly every level has at least one Bot to rescue, including the challenge levels and secret levels. In order to get the Platinum, you need to rescue every Bot and get every Puzzle Piece.
I'd say your only potential hurdle is some of the challenges, as they can be quite tough, but broadly speaking the game is on the easy side.
@MrPeanutbutterz Yes — if you mute the DualSense's mic, any moments where you'd normally blow into the mic will just happen automatically. And there's an option in the settings to toggle off controller tilt, and just use the stick instead.
@kcarnes9051 The main levels I would say are fairly straightforward to get through without much difficulty. However, as you play through the game, many smaller challenge levels will become available and these amp things up, testing your platforming and combat skills with short gauntlets. Generally speaking, it's pretty easy breezy, but there are tougher challenges to find if that's what you want.
@rjejr I personally wouldn't describe any of it as gimmicky; if I could compare it to anything, think of Super Mario Galaxy. Mario gets various power-ups throughout the game and often they only feature a couple of times — it's like that. And it's the same in terms of level design as well, just a huge level of variety that means certain motifs and mechanics are explored only once or twice. In my opinion, the variety and constant new ideas is a big part of what makes this game great, but it sounds as though that might not align with your taste. If you liked Playroom overall, though, you'll definitely like this.
@nicc83 I would say around the 12-15 hour mark if you just do the main levels and that's it, but if you want to see and do everything, likely 20 hours or more. Obviously it depends on how much exploring you do and how much you're bothered about collecting everything — it's a very meaty 3D platformer in my opinion and a really nice length.
@Legacy2K If it helps, there's a demo section on the console PS Store. From the home page of the PS Store, just scroll down and you'll see various horizontal sections. One is headed 'Demos' and shows the latest demos first. (If you scroll all the way to the right, you can open the whole section to see all of them.)
Searching on console only brings up the games themselves, but if you go into them, and select the three dots icon, you should see an option to view the page for the demo and you can download from there — that's another way to do it on PS5 itself
@bring_on_branstons I think the track building is all done on the fly in a very quick fashion, as opposed to a detailed editor. You're just shoving component parts together between races, as far as I understand.
People love a conspiracy, don't they? It's not that uncommon for a game to stagger its launch across various platforms. The developer has quite clearly stated it needs more time to work on the Xbox version, it's no more complicated than that. Just relax.
I loved the game at launch and still do now, but I do think criticisms about some of its pacing and especially its side quests are completely fair.
I've somehow ended up committing to a second playthrough on Final Fantasy mode (skipping the majority of the side quests) and have been having a blast, especially with those incredible boss battles.
@Fiendish-Beaver This wasn’t mentioned during our preview time so I’m afraid I don’t have an answer for you, sorry!
@Tomato_Goose What we saw was essentially the same as the public gameplay that’s just gone up. It’s the prologue of the game, so it’s the first mission - I imagine the game may open up a little more but it was a pretty linear sequence for the intro to the game.
I kind of liked what was shown, even if I'm also tired of the Marvel-like quippy dialogue. The gameplay looked pretty tight to me. I'll definitely be giving the beta a go.
Comments 4,055
Re: The Game Awards Confirms DLC, Remasters Can Win Game of the Year Days Prior to Nominations Reveal
You can make an argument for remakes/remasters being eligible but any DLC that isn’t completely standalone shouldn’t be included.
Re: Astro Bot PS5 Update Available Now, Adds Final Speedrun DLC Level
@JimmyRiddle @Cerny One thing to remember is that you can toggle on an option in the settings that replaces motion controls with the left stick, which makes climbing quite a lot easier.
Re: Unique Puzzler Lorelei and the Laser Eyes Seems Set for PS5, PS4
Been meaning to play this, glad it's coming to PlayStation!
Re: LEGO Horizon Adventures (PS5) - Dull Design Lets Down This Gorgeous Spin-Off
@rjejr I think it's four main chapters, each with five or six levels. If you beeline it through the story, it's probably below 12 hours. My save is just above 20 hours but I was messing with customisation and doing apex hunts etc on top of the main story.
Re: LEGO Horizon Adventures (PS5) - Dull Design Lets Down This Gorgeous Spin-Off
I want to be clear — the people saying that this is just like the other LEGO games? The level design here is much simpler even than any other LEGO game you can think of. I haven't played them all but I recall levels having secret areas, collectibles to find, alternate paths you can take with different characters — none of that is in LEGO Horizon's stages. It's very pretty, and the combat is good fun, but the levels themselves are painfully straightforward.
Re: LEGO Horizon Adventures (PS5) - Dull Design Lets Down This Gorgeous Spin-Off
@ThaBEN Once you finish a chapter's set of campaign levels (I think five or six typically), Apex Hunts for that area become available. I think there are four of these for each chapter. After you finish those, Free Mode unlocks, and you can do that as often as you want.
The Free Mode stages don't have any cutscenes associated with them but, content wise, they're pretty much identical to the campaign levels. The combat throughout the game is fun and definitely the best part of gameplay.
It's fun in co-op but there's a real lack of collectibles, diverging paths etc that normally motivate exploration.
It's tough because LEGO Horizon does have its bright spots and your son may well enjoy it, but I'd argue that LEGO Marvel Superheroes and other past LEGO games have more going on than this does, moment-to-moment.
Personally I'd sooner recommend Sonic X Shadow Generations as there's simply more to do; particularly in Shadow's half of the game, the levels are intricate, there are things to find, you can replay stages for improved scores/ranks etc. The downside is no co-op, but I suppose you could take turns?
Re: LEGO Horizon Adventures (PS5) - Dull Design Lets Down This Gorgeous Spin-Off
@Rob_230 The level layout in Free Mode is randomised each time, so no, you're not revisiting levels from the campaign.
Re: LEGO Horizon Adventures (PS5) - Dull Design Lets Down This Gorgeous Spin-Off
Happy to answer any questions, as always
Re: Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown Team Mostly 'Shifted to Other Projects', Ubisoft Confirms
Updated.
Re: Sonic X Shadow Generations (PS5) - Shadow the Star of This Splendid Platforming Package
@Maubari Haha, I've played all stages and challenges, but not collected absolutely everything, so that's all it is. I haven't seen those other two tracks either yet, as it so happens!
Re: Sonic X Shadow Generations (PS5) - Shadow the Star of This Splendid Platforming Package
@Maubari I've not collected every single track, though I have most of them, and so far I haven't seen Endless Possibilities.
Re: Sonic X Shadow Generations (PS5) - Shadow the Star of This Splendid Platforming Package
@AdamNovice Sonic Generations' remaster is definitely better constructed than Colours'. It does have one or two odd hitches, as I mention, but it's mostly very smooth sailing.
Re: Sonic X Shadow Generations (PS5) - Shadow the Star of This Splendid Platforming Package
Happy to answer any questions
Re: Palworld Is Now Available on PS5 in Japan After Delayed Launch
Updated.
Re: Throwback RPG Sea of Stars Gets Free, Game-Changing Update in November on PS5, PS4
@MARl0 Hopefully the parrot's improvements will make that portion a little easier.
Re: PS Store Confirms Lots More PS5 Pro Enhanced Games with New Tag
@Sveakungen If a game has the PS5 Pro Enhanced tag, it shows above a game's title on its PS Store page (in the same place you'd see stuff like Standard Edition)
Re: Mini Review: Worms Armageddon: Anniversary Edition (PS5) - Still a Series Highlight 25 Years Later
@Hogs-of-War-General @LifeGirl I'm not talking about the difficulty curve; of course, games broadly become more challenging as you get better/unlock more powerful abilities etc. I'm saying there are one or two missions that feel too difficult for where they're positioned. I think that's a reasonable thing to point out. It's something games have gotten better at, generally speaking.
The controls here are different from what I remember back on PS1, but I played this a lot growing up so I was able to adapt pretty quickly. However, I recognise that, for newcomers, the controls are not that straightforward (definitely not as simple as you suggest), and are poorly explained in tutorials. The game is a lot of fun, but only once you're familiar with how it all operates, and in this regard it definitely feels 25 years old.
I'm not saying it's bad, far from it! In many ways I think it's impressive how Armageddon stands the test of time.
@NielsNL I'm 34 and played Armageddon (and World Party) a lot on PS1 I have a lot of love for it, but that's not to say it's immune to criticism. As for the two point difference, I am a different human being from the lovely Ollie, so have different viewpoints and opinions and all that. It's really crazy stuff.
Re: Jaw-Dropping 30th Anniversary PS5 Pro Console and Accessories Will Bankrupt You
@pyrrhic_victory No prices yet.
@jrt87 The vertical stand is included in these bundles!
Re: The Plucky Squire (PS5) - Joyful, Inventive Adventure on Every Page of PS Plus Gem
@Coolmusic The music is good and very pleasant but nothing really stood out to me in particular.
Re: The Plucky Squire (PS5) - Joyful, Inventive Adventure on Every Page of PS Plus Gem
@BPrimrose You can change the difficulty whenever from the pause menu. There are also several accessibility options that let you do things like increase jump height, make enemies die in one hit, turn you invincible etc.
Re: The Plucky Squire (PS5) - Joyful, Inventive Adventure on Every Page of PS Plus Gem
@Kraven Probably around the 10 hour mark. I think I clocked about 12 hours myself but I'm almost always behind the curve on playtime.
Platinum Trophy isn't very hard but you'll really need to watch out for collectibles as you go. You can replay chapters once you've completed them, but doing so doesn't count towards your save file, so that means you can't just hop into a random chapter and clean up.
Re: The Plucky Squire (PS5) - Joyful, Inventive Adventure on Every Page of PS Plus Gem
Let me know if you have any questions!
Re: Annapurna Interactive Exodus Sees Entire Staff Resign
Crazy news! I imagine the team that's left will be back soon enough under a new guise, but that's still pretty shocking to see.
Re: Astro Bot Update 1.003 Is Available to Download on PS5 Now
@caiol92 That was already there
Re: Feature: Everything You Can Do in PS5's New Welcome Hub
@ShutenDoji Yes, but it's being rolled out slowly over the next couple of months so might be a little while yet.
Re: Astro Bot (PS5) - One of the Greatest PlayStation Platformers of All Time
@rjejr Don't get me wrong, it makes full use of all DualSense's features — you'll be tilting the controller and blowing into the mic (and yes there is a little bit of that climbing mechanic from Playroom, but just the one level).
However! Important to point out that you can toggle a setting that lets you move the left stick instead of tilting the controller, and you can also just mute your mic if you don't want to blow into it.
@Bluetrain7 Nearly every level has at least one Bot to rescue, including the challenge levels and secret levels. In order to get the Platinum, you need to rescue every Bot and get every Puzzle Piece.
I'd say your only potential hurdle is some of the challenges, as they can be quite tough, but broadly speaking the game is on the easy side.
@MrPeanutbutterz Yes — if you mute the DualSense's mic, any moments where you'd normally blow into the mic will just happen automatically. And there's an option in the settings to toggle off controller tilt, and just use the stick instead.
Re: Astro Bot (PS5) - One of the Greatest PlayStation Platformers of All Time
@kcarnes9051 The main levels I would say are fairly straightforward to get through without much difficulty. However, as you play through the game, many smaller challenge levels will become available and these amp things up, testing your platforming and combat skills with short gauntlets. Generally speaking, it's pretty easy breezy, but there are tougher challenges to find if that's what you want.
Re: Astro Bot (PS5) - One of the Greatest PlayStation Platformers of All Time
@StylesT The main levels are pretty breezy but there are lots of challenge levels which can be quite tough!
Re: Astro Bot (PS5) - One of the Greatest PlayStation Platformers of All Time
@jmac1686 Okay, thanks for letting me know!
Re: Astro Bot (PS5) - One of the Greatest PlayStation Platformers of All Time
@Rich33 Haha, it does not.
@rjejr I personally wouldn't describe any of it as gimmicky; if I could compare it to anything, think of Super Mario Galaxy. Mario gets various power-ups throughout the game and often they only feature a couple of times — it's like that. And it's the same in terms of level design as well, just a huge level of variety that means certain motifs and mechanics are explored only once or twice. In my opinion, the variety and constant new ideas is a big part of what makes this game great, but it sounds as though that might not align with your taste. If you liked Playroom overall, though, you'll definitely like this.
Re: Astro Bot (PS5) - One of the Greatest PlayStation Platformers of All Time
@Darude84 I would say, regardless of age, if you have any interest in 3D platformers at all, I can't recommend this highly enough.
Re: Astro Bot (PS5) - One of the Greatest PlayStation Platformers of All Time
@nicc83 I would say around the 12-15 hour mark if you just do the main levels and that's it, but if you want to see and do everything, likely 20 hours or more. Obviously it depends on how much exploring you do and how much you're bothered about collecting everything — it's a very meaty 3D platformer in my opinion and a really nice length.
Re: Astro Bot (PS5) - One of the Greatest PlayStation Platformers of All Time
Hey everyone! As usual, happy to answer any questions about the game and the review Thank you for reading.
Re: Vampire Survivors Has a Whopping 221 Trophies to Collect on PS5, PS4
@BeenGamingSince_83 Yes!
Re: 15 PS Plus Extra, Premium Games Announced for August 2024
TimeSplitters is a series that completely passed me by on PS2 so I might have to give these a try.
Re: SEGA Announces Two Point Museum for PS5
Always been curious to try the Two Point games but honestly, Two Point Museum appeals the most to me so I might just hang on!
Re: Visions of Mana Playable Demo Available Now on PS5, PS4
@Legacy2K If it helps, there's a demo section on the console PS Store. From the home page of the PS Store, just scroll down and you'll see various horizontal sections. One is headed 'Demos' and shows the latest demos first. (If you scroll all the way to the right, you can open the whole section to see all of them.)
Searching on console only brings up the games themselves, but if you go into them, and select the three dots icon, you should see an option to view the page for the demo and you can download from there — that's another way to do it on PS5 itself
Re: Only Two New PS5 Titles Infiltrated the European Top Ten for the First Half of 2024
@breakneck They would definitely be in the mix, but Nintendo doesn't share digital sales data.
Re: Remember Splitgate? Developer Teases Announcement for Later This Week
@Nepp67 You're so right, I've amended the article. Thanks
Re: Double Dragon Revive Is a New, 3D Beat-'Em-Up from Arc System Works
Article updated with new trailer.
Re: Mini Review: Spin Rhythm XD (PS5) - Superbly Slick Arcade Rhythm Action
@Voltan Yeah the VR support is well implemented, definitely recommend giving it a go if you have PSVR2.
Re: Mini Review: Spin Rhythm XD (PS5) - Superbly Slick Arcade Rhythm Action
@Voltan Haha, fixed — I was unsure which adjective I wanted there is all!
Re: Indie Hit El Paso, Elsewhere Revealed for PS5, Out This Year
Heard lots of good things about this one!
Re: Make Way Is Micro Machines with DIY Race Tracks, and It's Out Now on PS5, PS4
@bring_on_branstons I think the track building is all done on the fly in a very quick fashion, as opposed to a detailed editor. You're just shoving component parts together between races, as far as I understand.
Re: Silly Speculation Alleges Sony May Have Signed Secret PS5 Exclusivity for Black Myth: Wukong
People love a conspiracy, don't they? It's not that uncommon for a game to stagger its launch across various platforms. The developer has quite clearly stated it needs more time to work on the Xbox version, it's no more complicated than that. Just relax.
Re: Poll: One Year Later, What Are Your Thoughts on Final Fantasy 16?
I loved the game at launch and still do now, but I do think criticisms about some of its pacing and especially its side quests are completely fair.
I've somehow ended up committing to a second playthrough on Final Fantasy mode (skipping the majority of the side quests) and have been having a blast, especially with those incredible boss battles.
Re: Sony Skips Gamescom Presence for a Fifth Year in a Row
I wasn't expecting Sony to show up so no surprises here, especially after it had a fairly major presence at Summer Game Fest and Play Days this month.
Re: Preview: Monster Hunter Wilds on PS5 Is Everything We Expected and We Couldn't Be Happier
@Melee_Ace Hands-off presentation! Didn't play.
@Rich33 Performance was very solid, I believe it was 60 more or less the whole time but unclear what hardware it was running on.
Re: Preview: Dragon Age: The Veilguard Leans Hard into Companions, Choices, and Consequences
@Fiendish-Beaver This wasn’t mentioned during our preview time so I’m afraid I don’t have an answer for you, sorry!
@Tomato_Goose What we saw was essentially the same as the public gameplay that’s just gone up. It’s the prologue of the game, so it’s the first mission - I imagine the game may open up a little more but it was a pretty linear sequence for the intro to the game.
Re: Big New PS5, PC Shooter Concord Has an Uphill Battle Ahead of It
I kind of liked what was shown, even if I'm also tired of the Marvel-like quippy dialogue. The gameplay looked pretty tight to me. I'll definitely be giving the beta a go.