R1spam

@Dr_Luigi I'm with you, pour one out for tunic! The sense of exploration and discovery in that world genuinely comes close to elden ring. The fact that this game has a whole language crafted for it is insane. One of the best indie games in years, never mind of this year.

I've been playing some more Forbidden West and really finding a groove with the main quest. Going to check out some of the relics and explore some more thoug. I played some vampire survivor this morning with a cup of decent coffee listening to a podcast. It was sheer bliss! Have a good one folks

Great review, I have dropped some very unsubtle hints for crimbo to anyone who will listen, fingers crossed!!

@ThaBEN I've been digging the 40 fps resolution mode in horizon and that's what I played ratchet on. It just gives you the resolution mode but feels smoother and has less input delay than the 30 fps modes (which alway feel really jittery when you pan the camera). I do play on a 120 hz, vrr suitable TV though.

If they wanted this one to sell, they should have discounted it and leaned hard into the "works great on a steamdeck angle". I wonder how much marketing muscle miles morales or the returnal port gets. They seem like games that should do really well on PC.

@naruball would you have been in a better spot if you had bought skyrim on a PS3?!

I've finally started forbidden west and some mixed feelings so far. At the start of this game, they seem to be leaning really hard into the political situation of the post apocalyptic world. That was some of the things I enjoyed least about zero dawn. I was there for the story behind how the world ended up that way. Some of the writing is so earnest and verbose I've found myself skipping through some (though still reading the subtitles). However, the world and machine combat is better than ever. I think I'm going to give some of the sidequest stuff a bit more of a chance before deciding to mainline the main quest or not.

Just keep night city and maybe have 1 or 2 recurring characters and for the next game focus in AI, mission structure and for the love of God, driving feel! The design, aesthetic and sounds of night city they nailed. Make it like yakuza where they just keep on building depth into the framework of Kamurocho

It really doesn't feel like it needs a remaster, we got these last gen because you couldn't play ps3 games on ps4. Now though you can just play the ps4pro version of HZD on a ps5. Why waste dev time on this, we want new ip and games.

One of my favourite games of the year with an amazing sense of discovery. You can engage with the meta component online for the language etc if you want to or not. No doubt that this game asks a lot of the player but the no fail mode can get you through some of the crazier spikes.

I started playing at patch 1.5 and I'm really enjoying it. Main quest writing and action is solid so far and I've enjoyed some of the sidequests as well. Whilst the game clearly has flaws (some of the gigs or cyberpsycho missions feel like CDPR probably wanted to put more story and writing behind them, like contracts in witcher 3 the open world activitiesare basic and drivingare terrible), it's pretty decent and would recommend. Also I'm not an anime fan really but watched the 1st two episodes of netrunners and its pretty good. There's just something about the world of night city that draws me in

Sony just doesn't need to do better with securing indies, they need to be smarter about how they might drop day and date releases on ps plus extra/premium. They are one of the main reasons gamepass has such a buzz and a constant place in games journalism chatter. I bet they saw a big uptick in subscriptions for stray. Why not do that more regularly?

This is why we can't get to see more of the development process for games! Glad some of theses dafties are getting roasted online by folk who actually know what it takes to deliver a video game.

To be honest, the pool of must have vr software has barely changed in the last few years. The big hitters will get a port at some stage as the struggle for vr will always be putting out enough quality software

If its the same engine as for the re2 remake, I'm guessing the ps4 version will still look pretty decent at 30 fps. Capcom have their engine tech nailed

I would love something in the AC universe that felt more like hitman. Smaller areas that were more bespoke and dense, opportunity to unlock narrative by assuming different persona's/guises, just a genuine commitment to stealth and something that doesn't play like a single player checklist mmo that takes 120 hrs with poor writing. I only ever played the first game in the series (an amazing setting and premise at the time, gameplay wasn't that good, syndicate which I gave up on after a few hrs and odyssey, which I put about 20 hrs into as i thought the writing wasn't great and got fed up of same conquest battles or naval battles again and again, though initially they were pretty good). I don't think they will ever head down that route though. I love the idea of the historical settings they choose, I just don't normally dig what they put out.

Hopefully "shredding" some more in the artful escape before it leaves gamepass and maybe some cyberpunk 2077, which I've been really enjoying. Surprisingly robust shooting, though I quite enjoy my electric katana! Have a good one folks

I mean, blood and wine for witcher 3 is bigger than many other publishers games. Worth waiting to see how extensive this expansion will be

I've been enjoying some cyberpunk 2077! I'm about 8 hrs in now and my attempts at stealth and cyberhacks have given way to shooting people in the face and cutting em up with a katana. I'm very surprised by how much Keanu Reaves is in this and while the driving is pretty horrific, the feel of the city and the tone of the main quests has been pretty great. I've been playing some citizen sleeper too, the writing is excellent as is the art style (though the music is very limited). Have a good one folks

Have to say, I'm about 6 hrs on a series x and have been having a pretty decent time with this game. Some dlc would be well timed.

Upgrade that mantis! I had one that did 3 damage across 3 squares, instant victory! @LiamCroft, no spoilers obvs but curious how some of the things from pc, that felt like they could only ever work on pc were handled in a console port?

7/10 for me so far (only 4 tracks in), it's got real style and you can pull off some amazing moves but the challenge system being hidden or not being able to pin a challenge to follow it, coupled with tricky par times and progression locked behind challenge progress are sources of frustration

Some week for the embracer group studios.......

Sony make around £1.5 billion a quarter (probably more now the pound is devaluing, link https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2021/aug/04/sony-profits-soar-benefits-from-home-entertainment-boom-playstation-5?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other) and the number of people making excuses for this decision is straight up mad. Crap for consumers, crap look and real crap for skint people trying to buy one for kids this Christmas.

As enthusiasts, we will be incensed but the key will be how the wider market takes it. I think if the xbox Activision deal goes through and you get call of duty on gamepass and you get fifa halfway through the year on gamepass on a cheaper console, sony could really lose out to microsoft in Europe with casual gamers.

Pretty poor, to the stage that I think anything other than a big 3 presentation/stream I'll give it a miss.

@ShogunRok ooft you have a way higher tolerance for that BS than me, hard nope! Thank you for your sacrifice 🤣🤣

I always get bummed out when I hear a decent campaign gets hidden behind open world bloat! @ShogunRok, how much tine did you need to spend on mindless side stuff to unlock main missions?

To be honest, I'm not sure why there are three tiers. Premium looks poor value next to extra, as older games, streaming plus demos doesn't look worth the extra and anaemic compared to gamepass ultimate, which has a lot of indie day one releases and pc games (as well as first party). Probably should have just went with basic and Premium and been more conservative with the pricing of Premium, removing the extra tier.

It looks like a lot of fun! I'm in the camp that thinks the art style looks awesome. Available for £16.50 with plus seems like a great deal. Pretty tempted!

The functionality on xbox, where you could have played on cloud, series console pc and it always pulls your most up to date save is great. Anything approaching that with psn cloud saves would be great

The stick of truth is a cracking little game, the fractured but whole was alright but never hit the same highs. Hopefully they make something closer to the first game

I have yet to play it but getting a ps5 bundled with HFW and astros playroom for 500 quid seems pretty decent!

Couple of minor story quibbles mid-game, I thought it was bloody brilliant. Fantastic, tense 3rd person survival horror with surprisingly decent stealth and ai compared to the 1st game. I've been playing re2 remake (which is also legitimately bloody brilliant) but that boss from the article stands alongside anything from that game. I've had the itch to play on ps5 and just try out the scene replays with high ai but low enemy health and make it like a john wick simulator. It also was a huge step forwards in terms of accessibility and I think that often gets missed, it may be the games biggest legacy

Not factored into this is COD as a driver for subscription services. How many people get plus to play COD? If you get COD bundled with gamepass, how many additional subscriptions does it drive? Its not my thing, but its clearly a huge force in the games market.

I guess they will wait and see if the market bears the Facebook vr headset price increase. Personally, think this would be the absolute worst marketing ever. Surely a more expensive version with a bigger sd that yields more profit would be a smarter play than changing the price of the launch models

Astro for the win! I loved every minute of that game, just made me smile the whole time. The renders of the hardware and accessories filled me with such nostalgia.

@themightyant I've always fancied trying it out but the price point for the software available, need for dedicated space and how closed off you are to everyone else in your home have always held me back. I'm with you, I'm not sure it's ready for mass consumption. I was surprised when Sony announced a new VR headset. I thought the sales of the 1st headset, when taken the ps4 install base in context would have made it unlikely. In a way, its cool they are making it and I hope its brilliant and comes with some killer apps. It feels like if Sony can't make it work, no-one is going to make it stick.

There is another take @get2SammyB in that maybe even Facebook can't make VR software sales on a subsidised platform balance the books, as its an enthusiast device that doesn't shift enough hardware or software. I hope PSVR2 really takes off but there's an argument to say that software vr experiences have faded away over the last few years and the vr games people would tell you to play a couple of years ago, are still the games they would tell you to play now.

Best month in ages if true!! Bring it on

@themightyant @Shepherd_Tallon worth mentioning that two of the playthroughs, whilst similar, aren't identical and another has some big differences so it's not identical playthroughs to unlock all the story. It's a very weird game, I enjoyed it despite not having any passion for anime but others may not enjoy it. Some fantastic philosophical themes in the game though!

Working this weekend so not much time for me but hopefully some resident evil 2 remake, which is brilliant so far and hopefully a bit more guardians of the galaxy. Have a good one folks

If you have never played it, its still one of the best narratives in games and you should give it a try. If you have already, even if there is new ai (which it doesn't look like there is in the build leaked), you can probably give it a miss.

@nookie_egg the first thing I noticed is they hadn't changed her ai at all!!

The collectors editions don't even come with the game on a disc! It's a code, with a steel book, an empty flipping steel book. I'm not here to yuk people's yum but what are we actually doing anymore if the collectors edition doesn't even get you the disc?? Can't people's just buy a replica hammer and cool d20 dice on etsy?

I've seen a couple of streams, looks like it has some surprisingly deep mechanics. Will be giving it a try, elbow dropping someone from a skyscraper looks as fun as it sounds!

Let's have something new please, though i have big reservations about gta 6 at this stage. I don't even see how you can parody America in the old "louis theroux weird weekend" way anymore, it's just to fubar to even satire any of it.

I'm interested to see how they handle some of the stuff that seems pc focused. It's a really interesting game and though I thought it got repetitive to the end, its really worth checking out.

Played some donut County, very well written and funny dialogue. Played some ori and the blind forest, its truly beautiful in hdr. I've also downloaded the portal collection on switch. I've played one before and it's fantastic but looking forward to a replay and hitting up the sequel.

The target audience for switch is families and I think Nintendo missed the opportunity for it to be the best selling console of all time with switch sports. If that game had been anywhere near the success of wii sports and launched during the pandemic when people were strugglingto get out, it would have blown the lid off the casual don't typically game market also.