Ravix

@shogunrok

Can we have a category for 'Whiny Gamer Controversy of the Year'? Damn near every game had one.

The top 3 on this list alone were: mtx, Fast-Travel, T*ts & China 😅

@Zuljaras remember, even if it takes a while to get into, keep going. Even people that love the Witcher (me) initially took quite a while to really click with it and get it, and maybe even put the game down for about a year before trying again. But once you do pass that period it's obvious why the box says "over 1000 awards" 😁

See you on the path ⚔️

Properly started Indiana Jones and the Great Circle last night, so hopefully going to get stuck in to that when I can.

KCD is still tempting too, however. And it pairs so nicely with Andrzej Sapkowski's 'The Tower of Fools'

JCBP and have a happy holidays

It'll be out before the Unreal Engine 5 Gothic Remake, regardless 💀

Poised to be a console and system seller because it certainly won't work on a bunch of consoles and graphics cards that people currently have, but it certainly is a pretty big franchise.

GTA and The Witcher, the games that will continue to move us into the future 🍻

@PerpetualBoredom haha I was going to do a tally of the total cost for my most wanted games list for 2025, but I don't think I will, as it might make for painful reading 🙈🙉🙊

@SrpskaArtilerija I know, I get what you mean, 2024 especially hasn't been a marquee year for games that I want to play, either. I'm just glad 2025 is stacked now. A lot of those games were probably initially planned for earlier releases too, but sh** happens, resources spread too thin, live service distractions, strikes, some games started production during covid or 'work from home' times etc. The whole generation has been a little bit delayed, and a lot of games releasing with tech problems too, no doubt stemming from some of those issues.

@SrpskaArtilerija they are waiting for us in 2025 😁

@Arkman I think it handles detail and upscaling really well, it just struggles as a denoiser. Which is, I believe, what an Activision dev solved in 10 minutes a few weeks ago. Hopefully it shouldn't be long before there are real solutions to that one issue and everyone can move on 😅

KCD2
GTA6
Ghost of Yotei
AC Shadows
Mafia
Death Stranding
Crimson Desert

I mean, 2025 is literally insane, and I've missed a bunch i'll probably also like off that shortlist

@ApostateMage Jesus Christ Be Praised 🫡

Has KCD2 won most anticipated game yet? 😁

@ApostateMage lol, whut? I feel like FF16 is the game I had to press the most buttons on ever in the history of gaming. Like 4 million special moves per boss fight 😂 yes, it's not the most challenging of combat, but it certainly requires input galore to make that screen fill up with particle effects 😛

How to reduce sales and alienate people

Would have to see how it'd work, of course, and I do like that they are thinking up new ideas, but can't imagine how they will execute this one that well.

1a. If there's a time limit, you can't also have generous checkpointing and save chances, because then, what's the point in having the time limit in the first place?

1b. You can't not have generous saves and checkpointing because you will annoy everyone if they miss the deadline by a few seconds or minutes and then have to go back hours or even start again.

3. Rushing games isn't really fun for a lot of people in the first place, and having a time limit means no player choice in the matter.

4. No sidequests could mean a more focused story with actual dramatic quality (with or without a time limit) But the story is hardly ever the best part of these types of games, it's more about the sandbox world with the odd cutscene slapped on it to give you a bit of direction. And how much of that 24 hours can they really risk being not gameplay?

Overall, with limited information and drawing from what Far Cry games are, it sounds more like a DLC sized adventure with a basic storyline of "free my family" and the rest will be running around killing people who might know where to go whilst chatting via radio comms to some person who is helping you for some reason (who later turns out to be the big bad 😱 dun dun dunnn)

Wouldn't put it past Sony to secure marketing rights for some future Xbox releases and bang "This is a PS5 game" on the advert. The games might actually sell pretty well if they allow it 😅

@Johnion it says a LOT about the idiots who react to sh** like this. I doubt they want to sell the game to the those closed minded folk anyway.

Play games and live life with an open mind, it's not going to hurt you ffs 😅

@Nepp67 ah, yes... but why will that ridiculous reason put you off playing the game? I'm genuinely intrigued why it matters, especially if you think the game looks really interesting.

Did you not manage to enjoy The Witcher 3 even though Geralt is literally a hideous mutant? 🤷‍♂️🤷‍♂️🤷‍♂️ why would you have to be attracted to a character to enjoy a game? 😅

@Nepp67 "think it looks really interesting but the shaved head look does kinda put me off."

Puts you off what?! Playing the game? Or something else entirely? 🤷‍♂️🤷‍♂️🤷‍♂️

@ozkrmz I didn't see much of the trailer, but you said you'd share, if asked, how it is unnecessary and disgraceful. Really break it down and tear it apart for us, piece by piece 😈

@ozkrmz "this "nightreign" attempt is (not only very unnecessary) but also (unfortunately) disgraceful.
I can break it down (point by point) to explain why (again! unfortunately) it is the case, but I respect you and your time"

I'd like the full in depth break down of why it is disgraceful, please. I'm not bothered about the game, but I do love a good in depth break down that can only enlighten 😃

Well, the last 2 weeks I've intended to finish Hogwarts Legacy, but I've barely played anything at all in that time, the odd dip into Crusader Kings 3 is all I have managed.

So I'm pondering whether to put HL on the backburner for a few weeks and just play Indiana Jones now 😬

Intergalactic, for sure. We had heard rumblings of this and that, fantasy, sci-fi etc, but now we have actually seen (and heard) the concept. And it looked and sounded like a Sci-Fi made by people that actually like movies, and for a long time, even some Sci fi movies felt like they were made by people that didn't actually like movies.

The signs are good. And I'd rather see someone wearing suitably nostalgic Adidas, rather than some generic made up sneakers

Don't underestimate what set dressing like that can add. We now know it is set in a universe where the 80's and 90's existed in some way, but in an alternative reality where we had spread throughout the galaxy and where Porche made space 911's 😛

@Fiendish-Beaver he came in and kicked every crap CEO's ass before handing out the award. It was great 😁 all I want from games is for them to be made by passionate people who give a sh**, the rest is gravy and takes care of itself, in most cases. And it's really up to us, as consumers to support the games we really want to be made, too. Not every company has a Swen in charge, but the devs are still talented and passionate.

TW4 had to confirm the premise of the game, so that one is fine and the best way to do it.

Intergalactic has been in development for 4 years, which is a little different to the Eclipse and Wonder Woman announces.

If ND had made that trailer 4 years ago, it would have been silly, but people are definitely ready to see what is being worked on at various SIE studios, and people understand it's not something that is getting set to release so the gameplay is not required, yet.

@AinsleyE I was just using your post as a springboard to post that comment tbh 😛 But good to know you like both anyway.

I do seem to notice a lot of people saying on Mafia articles how much they liked the writing of the first two specifically, so the more people know that the writer is now the driving force behind another great series (including writing the longest game script ever written for KCD2 😅) the better.

And yes, obviously differences in type of game, but also similarities in their qualities. I too am looking forward to the next Mafia, even if I was a little disappointed it wasn't centered around the creation of the Las Vegas strip. An origin story definitely has draw

@AinsleyE well, the lead writer of Mafia 1&2 is currently making KCD2, so you can always play that if Mafia isn't quite hitting the same 😉

In fact, this is an open invite to anyone who liked Mafia and Mafia 2 to come and play KCD and KCD2, if it's the story and writing you're after 😛

Well, Elden Ring was generational. Baldur's Gate 3 was generational. And this list...

Well, I guess it has Elden Ring on it. But it's a DLC.

Personally, I don't care. But to see the indie game win would be cool. If an indie ever had a chance, it's this year 😅 and the fact that Astrobot has a chance at game of the year is pretty impressive, even if this year there are no true obvious choices.

100% digital for games now, but I'm shifting back towards physical media for movies as I get sick of the thinly spread nature of streaming services as every studio has it's own subscription these days, plus you don't have to rely on the internet and content at a lower quality.

I'm totally happy with digital games purchases but I do hope all subscription services start to phase out or tilt more towards just being an indy dev platform, because I don't want the games industry to fully collapse. And that may be the case of we continue down the path that includes Xbox putting their best release of the generation on to a subscription service that has peaked. Thankfully PS users will have the chance to buy it in Spring 😅

That said, any pressure on companies that sell digital games to provide more competition in that space I very much support.

Holy s**t, I can't believe this thing is here

@OldGamer999

It seems like Activision have worked it out, and other devs can hopefully copy them and Sony can implement any changes required on their end

As the @themightyant said, a dev at Activision solved it in half a day. The issue seems to be that PSSR is being used as a denoiser and not doing it very well at the moment, so it seems removing that one step for now might be enough for devs to not have this issue, you'd hope.

As I gather they won't just be ignoring the PSSR implementation in their patch, but simply one element of it. So when CoD has the issue solved, we shall see where PSSR stands, rather than other devs just "switching it off and hoping the bad stuff goes away" 😅 one to watch out for.

Or just leave the original 30fps and 60fps modes available for people to choose until you fix the PSSR mode in the first place rather than toggling PSSR later down the line. Especially when you made Star Wars Outlaws and ran in to the same issues 🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️

At least they will be able to practise and share what they learn with the folks making AC Shadows. But somehow I foresee the same exact mess once again.

That'd be 15th Century Bohemia @Khayl ⚔️🛡

The combat looks so much smoother this time round, the fact you can pivot and give someone a good slap with your off hand within an animation transition makes fights seem way more fluid and combos hit so different. Makes the body positioning feel more true to a real fight and genuinely looks better than any other game with sword combat for that reason alone.

I never got anyone who didn't like the survival elements either. Sleeping = Saving and saving is incredibly important 😅 and every game seems to have magical food that heals you, so it's still clicking to eat stuff at the end of the day, just with a different outcome in those other games.

Ready and waiting

Instead of a "Pro Patch" just add an advanced RT toggle to every console, the caveat being that it will only work on PS5 Pro without tanking the framerate well below 30 😅

I'm interested to see what it is, regardless, as it is going to be more exciting than "bug fixes" and is totally out of nowhere

I need to commit to finishing Hogwarts Legacy this weekend, not sure if I can get it done, but hopefully I will make time for it. Snowmen, beware!

Then I can happily move on to Indiana Jones some point next week

@QualityGeezer oh no, why in the seven hells would they not allow y-axis to be inverted?! Especially in a game based on photography. I was going to download this to check out, but this has me shook 😭

@Rich33 I really do like the 30fps mode 😅 as much as I like a really good uncapped fps in other titles that don't take visual hits. I tweaked plenty to get it how I want it... and capped it must be, as uncapped was wild in fidelity RT, like noticably bad, it must be said.

It's also good that the mode you mention also works superbly.

This is the reason taking options away in other games is bad for the player. People need to be able to tweak things for their preference on a game by game basis, and devs should be adding more options in future for fully bespoke performance.

Hogwarts Legacy: give me a game where light acts like light and I'm going to be happy with it

And TLoUp1: unlocked at 90/100+ fps whilst looking as good or better, can't complain about that.

Horizon looks fantastic (obviously) just not been in the mood to play that yet.

For all the studios that can't run at a stable 60 fps and would struggle to optimise if their life depended on it, just focus on that locked 30 with better fidelity and move on, I say, despite 60 being what people want. Those studios have proven they can't achieve it without crippling their games at the moment, and they couldn't achieve it on the PS5 either without it looking really bad.

The worst games of the bunch were fine at 30fps on ps5, and somehow they managed to remove the one working mode in favour of reaching beyond their ability

Live action Higgs or we riot 💀

Pure Xbox: "We're not sinking... we're crashing!!!"

Absolutely badass trailer ⚔️🛡🐎

My Xbox wrap up might be better in terms of the type of games played, but we shall see

Interesting how they have gone for the classic: Circle, Triangle, Square, Plus Sign (tilted X) design 🤔 we all know they want to be PlayStation, but come on, now 😛

Until they shut the whole game down, that is.

@DennisReynolds IGN say it's way better optimised. Their early access chap mentions how the first game still doesn't run on a 4070super at max, but they had little to no issues with KCD2, despite it being 6 years more advanced than 1. Warhorse are a lot bigger and more experienced than they were, so here's hoping all is well.

No one is finishing this game in 2 weeks, so Ubisoft are still buggered for AC shadows sales😅

I do wish they could sneak it out even earlier, but, after the initial delay, taking one week off is still a bonus ⚔️🛡🐎

2025 is going to be an all time year for releases. Maybe just pushing in to 2026 for some.

@get2sammyb pretty sure everyone had a bald bloke with a head tattoo chipping their families' PlayStation, but no one really knows who they were or where they actually came from, and why they were let near very young children who just wanted to play Spyro the Dragon

I suspect it was a 90's version of a Genie where if the console was rubbed 3 times some bloke would knock at the door 30 minutes later and perform some kind of magic with it, and upon leaving the only trace left that they ever existed was a printed out catalogue of games they could rip off for largely unaware families across all the land.

My well wishes go out to those that only spent $479 on the first one

I'm not bothered, but I'm surprised we don't have a special 30th anniversary selection of SIE games, rather than the third party stuff, this month.

Why would they remove the fidelity and 40fps options in this and, the universally dunked on, Star Wars Outlaws?

🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️

Is good patch or is bad patch? Game is on a decent-ish sale right now via PS Plus £28