@UKe87 I loved TW3, but since the PS5 update I wouldn't want play it with the RT off. Same with everything that modernises to get better. So I wouldnt want to start a game with it on, and then have to turn it off down the line when I care more about world immersion than frame counting. But you'll have to excuse my comments 95% are at the core true, but exaggerated for effect 😁
@ApostateMage yeah, haha 😬 it is so well designed. First two I was like... ohhhhh shiiiiit I'm definitely about to get my head bitten off for this answer.
I'm trying to stack up enough quests to make heading back from Bhattal worthwhile now too. As I realised I didn't pick up all the riddles yet. But I'm not of a mind to rush to one place for one quest and back again, I need to stack my journey up. I think so far I've got: Mine some glimmercoal on the way out, poison gathering, a Griffin nest for a sculpter, a cave I skipped. A grimoire pick up at checkpoint rest town and some Elf Stew back at Sacred Arbor??? So checkpoint to Sphinx isn't that far, and I can probably head to the elves after that. Its going to be a long one so I'm probably going to get Tim Roth to learn Archery on the way as well 😆
I regret trying to be funny on one of the riddles when I first found them, too. "most prized possession" I handed over the brothel membership to see if it got a reaction 😆 it was something like: lean in, grin... "strange choice, very well" so when she duplicated it I gave it to a random pawn as a reward, I think 😂
@ShogunRok I will try it off, but I already know I'll hate it with a passion. Good for people who don't care, however.
Like you say, in stills it isn't as easy to grasp, but with movement in games, for me, RT is essential for worlds to feel alive. Moving through forests, in and out of light and shade your character won't feel a part of the world with it off and that is hard to show without people trying it themselves.
Good to hear it made it noticably smoothe rather than less so. But I honeslty believe cspcom wanted their game to look better and knew that locking 30fps wasn't going to help anything anyway.
@ApostateMage I love that the people that love it are loving it. And I'm definitely one of them. And people with genuine logical concerns is all well and good.
I think I'm now at the point where I will finally cross the border tonight with similar hours logged. And yet I've already seen people have rushed through and finished the entire game in the same amount of time. It is definitely not a rush through it game, and I can tell how that would be a tedious way to do it, running around from place to place mainlining each quest as you get it, rather than keep stuff on the back-burner for when you are doing something else in the direction anyway so it can all be combined into one giant exploration, organic discovery and questing session.
I do think that some of the people that don't like some aspects are definitely playing it wrong 😂 and the actual hate-hate, is just people reading things like "pay for fast travel" which is an inherent lie and mak9ng them mad for no reason, even though the microtransations are the least egregious in any game I've ever seen 😂
@darylb24 this is exactly how I imagined it would be. It has been designed to run Ray Tracing and Motion blur and always seeking 60fps, and limiting it to 30 and removing those is not going to be an actual fix for anything really it is just something they chose not to add, as it makes it worse in other ways. But at least people can try it for preference
If they can sort it so big spells and lots of action don't create a frame slow down then that will be the one fix that is needed, but I imagine that would takes months not a week. City stuff is slower pace anyway so doesn't really suffer because you aren't really doing anything intense so can just move your camera less most of the time and live with it.
But it is kind of the same reason they didn't add a new game initially, because they chose not to, not because it wasn't finished (no game is ever really finished until it has had years of patches anyway) Because in DD a new game overwrites your current save, which is how the game has always been designed, and it is a dangerous thing to include if you share a console with someone who might not be aware of this. A genuine problem for people in the first games, so much so that they removed to stop it happening this time 😅
But hey, people screamed and got their "fixes"
For the rest of us, we can continue to enjoy the game, and hope that maybe one day there is some actual improvements, as with all games further down the line.
@DennisReynolds I got the drop as a fighter. I think it is from targeting its jiggly wiggly weakpoint puss sacks or maybe just a straight percentage drop, or maybe a thief in the party at the time? Whatever it was, I got the drop there.
Also levelling Spearhand at the moment, and slow-walking through a fight while levitating foes is badass. It's the ultimate slow/fast build. One moment you can be doing that, the next teleport to a monsters head and whirl your blades like a windmill 😁
The weapon in question:
My Party has it's debut album dropping this summer, btw 😆
Day one purchase, mostly because I can sell one of my PS5's to replace it with the newest tech available. Needed or not, it's the best time to do it, rather than wait for the PS5 to wear itself out.
This keeps the cycle going, as someone who only has a PS4 or PS4 Pro can have my PS5 for cheaper than a new weird one with detachable disk drives.
As for the games themselves, I'm more bothered about a locked 30 or 40, in maybe actual real, genuine 4k resolution (or just very good 1440p upscaled with Cerny tech) but with more room for fancy Ray Tracing and lighting affects, as all the best looking games focus more on these things way more these days. Any frame stability or boosting would just be a bonus if possible.
If Wolverine, GTA6, the next Naughty Dog and Santa Monica games benefit from the PS5 Pro, then I'm happy. If it allows smoother framerates in third party games, that is a win too.
It will be interesting to see how Steller Blade looks and runs on PS5. And also, some of these other games we've known about for years that keep getting delayed might also finally be confident enough to release on better hardware.
Definitely a mistake in the sense that there will be some crossover for people that like games with fantasy/combat/action and paying an extra £70 for something you aren't going to play right away isn't going to be massively viable for people, so they just pick the one
DD2 is also #2 in the UK Digital storefront on PS, which isn't bad, but it is definitely a shame it couldn't top EASports for the week, but then again it is fighting this weird narrative that people can't play it yet because it isn't optimised or because you can buy extra stuff that's in the game anyway for free 🙄
The game is giving me Elden Ring and Baldur's Gate 3 vibes, in the sense that it is so fun and immersive that I'm pretty much always thinking about what I'd like to try out next time I'm on it, and it is constantly whirring in the back of my mind throughout the day 😅 set pieces bigger than any other game of this generation, and yet they are not even set pieces, they are randomly occurring emersive gameplay.
It also might be a game that will be inherently harder if you play it later, for reasons I won't go into 😷🫢🐲
@IndoorEnthusiast I would not be surprised if he's already been told by the Microsoft bosses he is done. But because some people love him unequivocally he is being used to ease this transition for the fans and once the dust clears he'll be sipping cocktails with Jim laughing at the good times they had
@atthegates I think I just don't care that much lol. In Elden Ring entire environments would pop in late if you ran or rode torrent.
I don't always sprint around, so that can avoid it a little bit in the city. Only really care if I hit an invisible wall that turns out to be an NPC. But the game is about so much more that I can easily ignore any random visual RPG jank that is in literally every big RPG in some way or another.
The positive is that t's not actual bugs and crashes too, like a lot of other games.
Yeah, I feel it will still be the one save file. Happy to be proven wrong though. But, I think the way the pawn server works requires some sort of continuity of either 1 pawn, or no pawn on an account. Not 2, 3 and 4 different ones.
It would be cool to be able to experiment with character designs and decisions on a brand new save though. I'd love to do a wild playthrough making silly decisions and not caring it will ruin my normal save.
The only weird thing is the timeline considering how they have been "cooking", but now it's time to add this new layer of management because they didn't have anyone capable in the role beforehand.
Call me crazy, but if you have a vision for one thing then maybe have the person capable of delivering on that vision there from the start?
If this was someone coming in for their next project after the one already in development I'd get it
Ah, the new game option that people hated in Dragon's Dogma as people could accidentally wipe their current saves.
Be vigilant when you load in, all. As that really was a big thing, I believe.
I might experiment with blur and framerate settings. But Ray Tracing is staying on. I don't feel I've lost out on anything due to a wayward frame yet though, it's mostly npc pop in that you notice, but it is easy to ignore.
Obviously they should work on it, all devs should patch their releases to improve them.
But if the new choice is to make it look like plop or have an option to turn Ray Tracing off just so some random npcs don't pop in sometimes then I'll be passing on that anyway.
The lighting is superb. The city doesn't stutter for me (2023 oled VRR, or my eyes dont see it as much) and I can live with some random janky npc pop in from time to time, as it's a fantasy RPG and there has to be some jank by law.
But if they can optimise it so it looks the same at a locked frame rate, then sure I'll bite.
Sometimes I think people would happily play a game of "watch the paint dry" if it ran at a smooth 60fps and scored an A++++ on DF though 😅
@Splat when you say walking, let's clarify that you actually mean "fighting in the general direction of a quest or maybe something that looks like it might be worth exploring in the distance, which is probably another fight" 😁
Anyone who isn't is conning themselves out of playing a really fun game tbh. Never seen so much scrutiny for a game that plays as well as TW3, Elden Ring and any other fantasy RPG.
For all those that are though, we need more of you in the forum section sharing some non spoiler experiences of your adventures so far 😁
1. Include an infinite fast travel or revive option and it will ruin the entire game, and that would definitely upset people and ruin the devs vision. And I know people would definitely be tempted to use it if it were there, just because of how other games have normalised it so people wouldn't be thinking "oh, I'll miss out on all of this good stuff if I take the easy option"
2. Don't include it at all and people will cry out that it's wrong to not have the option to do it if people want to.
3. Include it, but as a rare item (like it always has been in DD) and as an added extra for those who really, really want to ruin their own game. Also outcry.
I think in this case it is very hard for anyone to win. And the microtransations are mostly for "cheat codes" and not necessary at all. And I don't think I really care if someone wants to pay to make their own game a worse experience.
I think that's how we should see it. There's an option to pay for a cheat code. I don't like it in principle, but people would invariably want to use the cheat codes and this does let them, but at a price rather than by glitching the game like was possible with Zelda, for example. If people could break the game and glitch 100 wakestones into their inventory, they definitely would 😅
Boo Capcom, but also... this doesn't stop the game from being really fun, and lowering the score is just people being reactionary idiots, such is the modern way 😅
I don't think there are in-game prompts that say, "oh no you can't do this, better get your wallet out" It's not like the invasive microtransations in some games. 90% of the people playing it won't even know they are there!
@ShogunRok thank you for getting this posted anyway, as it has been much anticipated by a lot of people, score be damned. I'm very new to the series, but I went from being on the outside looking in and only being able to see the world looking like pretty boring empty environments in gameplay trailers, especially compared to games I normally like spending time exploring in, to being genuinely excited having downloaded and tried Dark Arisen just to get a sense of how they approached the game structure in that. Needless to say I was sold near instantly, with the freeform exploration possibilities, and a similar kind of approach to how questing and roaming works in KCD and skyrim. With a unique charm that I couldn't quite put my finger on, but that usually exists in games I end up loving.
If you want to go into further details of elements you think other fans of the series, and that other deep RPG players will like, I say stop by the Dragon's Dogma 2 thread on the forum section if you get the chance, and I'm sure the people will really appreciate some extra chat about your game experience so far 😄
I'm probably most interested in the chaos and fun that can be found just by doing "stuff" in the game, not necessarily planned quests, not just some boss fights, but trying to squeeze my own stories and moments out of the world and its inhabitants by following my nose and making gameplay choices just to see what happens next or what path it leads me on. Made even more tense and exciting by the way the game deals with save files 😬😬😁😁
I think this is the PS5 we all wanted, initially. Anything that will unlock more Ray Tracing performance is good for me. Throw in some Cerny resolution upscaling magic and we might finally see some games that actually look like a next gen step up 😅
Like someone mentioned, GoTII, Wolverine etc. We don't want these games looking like PS4 Pro games but with faster loading times
we want them to knock our collective socks off.
I think both Xbox and PS5 undershot the next gen leap, as devs wanting to make their games look good needed way more power, especially now that Ray Tracing et al have joined the party. Console makers just wanted to blindly focus on that 4k resolution at 60fps, and that would require much less demanding games graphically, which no one wants to make
I think maybe wrapping up The Outer Worlds and GoT: Iki Island if I get the chance this weekend, before deciding what to move on to next 😬😬 Hogwarts Legacy got a hard pause as I was falling off it and then they announced they'd be dropping some kind of "thank you" update this year anyway, so thought I'd just wait to pick it up at some point down the line.
I do really want a demo for Rise of the Ronin or Dragon's Dogma 2, as they seem like games that you will have to play to decide whether they are worth full price digital. But failing that, waiting to see streamers start the games to see if either draw me in.
Be interesting to see if any of these new releases get potential game of the year hype, or if this year is going to be more subdued on that front.
PS has marketing rights, I guess? This is a very PS style trailer. And i'd not be surprised if PS set all of this up
But I still need someone to convince me this game is worth a gamble. I enjoyed FF16, but by the end I was sick of the environments, and this seems similar and even more bland in places.
I don't know if it's just what Japanese devs think suits a western medieval inspired RPG, or what (DD2, FF16 and Forspoken all look the same) But I don't know if I have it in me to trudge through another environment like this.
@Westernwolf4 I'm going to break down why I made the joke now, which is never a good thing 😅 But I think there's a difference between gritty noir with a focus on a broken character that has an understanding of the poetry in all of their dispair, and then this, which was just a lot of saying nothing at all in a copycat style because it might trick people into thinking it is like other noir media.
I hope it turns out good, as it is definitely my kind of thing, but it just seemed like a bit of an empty attempt at mimicking something much better (Like Max Payne the movie was an empty attempt to mimmick the game)
Just look at this line:
"I'm in the business of secrets. But it's more of an addiction. I like 'em straight, with no chaser. Even though the stuff can kill you. They say time heals all wounds. BULLS***. I'll tell you what time does. Time reveals secrets. Secrets that will blah. Secrets the will blergh. Secrets that will etc etc" ... erm, okay then? Good chat main character guy.
Vs Max Payne narration:
"The sun went down with practiced bravado. Twilight crawled across the sky, laden with foreboding."
Or "Einstein Was Right. Time Is Relative To The Observer. When you're looking down the barrel of a gun, time slows down. Your whole life flashes by, heartbreak and scars. Stay with it, and you can live a lifetime in that split second."
The Max Payne lines clearly have poetry in them, they actually set the scene, and tell the story of the moment. But the NWTD lines are just trailer nonsense that don't really mean anything.
It did remind me of classic Redd Pepper trailer reads, though. But he would make any old nonsense sound cool. Hence the style of my comment 😵😅
@ShogunRok have you seen any of the decisions and elements that will "shape a dynamic story" so far? This is something that could make or break it, for me.
The store page mentions "choosing different allies, whether to help or assassinate certain historical figures, and critical mission decisions. All to see the story unfold in different ways"
Which seems pretty in depth and interesting, and maybe a step up from something like an AC where you do as you're told 99% of the time.
It does kind of make me wonder if the story will be on the shorter side, if they've had to write multiple pathways, too.
I mean, if they have the options for more normal outfits and more crazy outfits, then no one can complain, can they? You just pick what you want to see in your own game and there is literally no way to get offended on either side.
if there was no exclusivity there would be no need for owning more than one platform, and eventually there would be no need for traditional consoles at all as PC and cloud gaming would take over and MS would cream itself at having finally won the console wars 😅 and then all games would become streamable subscriptions and eventually they would all completely suck
Progress 👏
Just make more fun AA games to fill the gaps, and don't just rely on CoD, GTA and EA Sports to sell your consoles to one group of people. Target the family games market a bit more and give people with young kids more of a reason to have a PlayStation in their living room. That's surely a good strategy that won't negatively affect any of the other stuff. But don't go crazy pouring money in to live service to try and achieve that, take a Nintendo approach.
I've heard people have just been farming eradicate missions, which made joining game lobbies at high levels like 90% one game mode for people, which was frustrating for people trying to actually play the game normally at increased difficulties.
I don't get the point in farming in something like this, the game is an endless loop of fighting, there is no finale to get to, and no PvP, so what is the rush to get that XP for? To make more of your time later on in the game easier so you get bored with it faster? 😬
Forspoken will be in the game catalogue soon. It might even get a slight mini resurgence because of it. Very slight, but still.
I didn't even get through the demo, as something about the game just looked wrong to me. I think the world was just annoyingly bland, like it actively upset me haha. But I'm sure there's some enjoyment to be had if it is a catalogue game.
@Americansamurai1 because games like Valhalla made $1billion.
Skull & Bones will be a big mess to sort out though, and other games will have to make up for it. But then they have a Star Wars game coming at some point, so...
It literally hasn't dropped below FF Rebirth in the UK Digital store page yet (during FF's launch week), which must show signs of its great sales strength here in the UK Digital market too 👏👏 bravo
It hasn't once topped Helldivers in the UK Digital store page that I've seen. I can't remember any really big releases that didn't get Number One for at least a day in the UK Digital sales chart during the week it came out either 😬 (hopefully just a sign that Helldivers is actually getting launch number sales consistently each week, rather than a downturn in anything else)
@Uromastryx oh, I don't mind them mixing in traditional local mythology, as the animus is always glitching out and using mythology as reality, plus the whole alien god arc in the main story, so that is fine, whatever.
I just mean in Origins there was no templars, as they were a later group, so the big bads were the cult of whatever, and then in odyssey it was still the order of ancients? And then in Valhalla, you guessed it some cult order of the ancients type thing. And then there was a prequel so it was the cultists again. But then because Aelfred existed, there was some storyline etc etc, but there is a gap between him and the templars that I don't belive has been covered yet?
So I'm just wondering if Japan will be a hard reset, like Origins was, or a return to a world that includes the templars, but I really hope it isn't some reborn cult order of the ancients again, as they were boring AF, that's all 😬😬😬
What Ubisoft does really well:
History and setting. And a fun gameplay loop, to an extent. And then there's usually a random bats*** crazy story tacked on each time, which is... you know, the basis of AC since day one and the overall story is just so big it can't really be contained any more. And then there is usually a bunch of padding which people can take or leave.
But what I hope they introduce into this one is a more focused story based around the actual protagonist, with some actual emotional resonance. And a slower, more considered, and weighty combat model. (And lots of sandbox bases to clear, which probably peaked with Origins' desert forts, as they were really fun to scout and clear out)
If there's any mention of 'cult' i'll probably just bang my head against a wall instead though, they really need to freshen up the enemies, and looked to be on track with that by the end of Valhalla, by basically clearing out to start fresh. (But then they released a prequel with more of the cult again, so... please, no more)
The Outer Worlds this game is not as short as people say, but it is an awesome RPG and bucketloads of fun. My quest log is absolutely bursting so I imagine I'll be playing that when I can 😁
I would have thought the popular choice would be dual swords or a sword and revolver.
If I'm getting this game (waiting for some reviews at least, or an intro demo would be nice) I'm definitely thinking it will be worth using the Sword/Gun combo, as that's something that will make it feel a little different gameplay wise to anything else I've been playing
PS had a hub-style live-service IP, and it was called PS Home. Now other developers will easily beat them to the punch on the Ready Player One style model. That's the sad thing about all this live service 'will they, won't they?'
If they had a fully functioning PS Home framework, and developed smaller titles to launch from that, they could keep engagement high and make all kinds of smaller live service games using their current IP's and bringing new indie developers in for other stuff, and it might not cost the world or get in the way of other development, or follow the lame Bungie live service idealism.
Weirdly this makes me less keen. A game that is character driven with a voiced protagonist AND still has a creator character?
That seems quite a strange combo to me for a serious dramatic setting. I didn't love the look of the trailer protagonist, but... God of War, Horizon, The Witcher, Ghost of Tsushima, Jedi etc, KCD, Assassin's Creed, GTA the list goes on for big, high quality games where the character is the character, and do with them what you will.
Has me worried that this going to be more 'Saints Row Samurai' 😵😅
The Outer Worlds and having a real blast! I cleared the first planet of every quest I could find, which was a pretty fun introduction to how the game works (lead people on until as late as possible, then pick a side 😁)
Then, I blasted into space on my fixed ship, met Phineas, and made my way to the neutral groundbreaker space port. At first that was a little overwhelming, but I picked up some quests, left some for later as I don't want to rush into those without forming an opinion, and then started to help out with local issues to get paid, got accustomed to the area and its people. And finally blasted out in to wider space to tackle some jobs and swell my bits, and by that I mean my money, not my nether regions 😁
My character is forming nicely, slightly mercenary with my approach to making money but with an overall noble goal (at the moment) I will Lie, Pursuade and Intimidate to get what I want, especially from people I don't trust, and for that sweet XP, and maybe still kill you for a bounty anyway.
I'm happy to placate the board to an extent, loved winding up Udom Bedford with some friendly banter, it has to be said 😅 but definitely open to f***ing the system, especially if they indeed left me floating frozen in space.
I have an abundance of bits and bullets, and I turned Parvati into a Power Armour wearing tank wielding Ol' Reliable (a fun weapon to find early) so come at me, Universe, I'm ready for anything 😁 (but please not while i'm on a ledge, or a slightly raised platform, as I'm scared of heights)
Comments 1,679
Re: Rumour: PS5 Pro's 'Enhanced' Label Covers Resolution, Frame Rate, Ray Tracing Upgrades
People have kind of been thinking "where are all the Sony first party releases" right?
Well, we will see them all when this is out. So even if you aren't interested in it, be hopeful that the games will be coming and will run nicely 👍
Re: Hands On: Dragon's Dogma 2 Update Improves Frame Rate on PS5 at the Cost of Ray Tracing
@UKe87 I loved TW3, but since the PS5 update I wouldn't want play it with the RT off. Same with everything that modernises to get better. So I wouldnt want to start a game with it on, and then have to turn it off down the line when I care more about world immersion than frame counting. But you'll have to excuse my comments 95% are at the core true, but exaggerated for effect 😁
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? - Issue 522
@ApostateMage yeah, haha 😬 it is so well designed. First two I was like... ohhhhh shiiiiit I'm definitely about to get my head bitten off for this answer.
I'm trying to stack up enough quests to make heading back from Bhattal worthwhile now too. As I realised I didn't pick up all the riddles yet. But I'm not of a mind to rush to one place for one quest and back again, I need to stack my journey up. I think so far I've got: Mine some glimmercoal on the way out, poison gathering, a Griffin nest for a sculpter, a cave I skipped. A grimoire pick up at checkpoint rest town and some Elf Stew back at Sacred Arbor??? So checkpoint to Sphinx isn't that far, and I can probably head to the elves after that. Its going to be a long one so I'm probably going to get Tim Roth to learn Archery on the way as well 😆
I regret trying to be funny on one of the riddles when I first found them, too. "most prized possession" I handed over the brothel membership to see if it got a reaction 😆 it was something like: lean in, grin... "strange choice, very well" so when she duplicated it I gave it to a random pawn as a reward, I think 😂
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? - Issue 522
Need you ask?
Re: Hands On: Dragon's Dogma 2 Update Improves Frame Rate on PS5 at the Cost of Ray Tracing
@ShogunRok I will try it off, but I already know I'll hate it with a passion. Good for people who don't care, however.
Like you say, in stills it isn't as easy to grasp, but with movement in games, for me, RT is essential for worlds to feel alive. Moving through forests, in and out of light and shade your character won't feel a part of the world with it off and that is hard to show without people trying it themselves.
Good to hear it made it noticably smoothe rather than less so. But I honeslty believe cspcom wanted their game to look better and knew that locking 30fps wasn't going to help anything anyway.
Re: Not Everyone Is in Love with Dragon's Dogma 2 on PS5
@ApostateMage I love that the people that love it are loving it. And I'm definitely one of them. And people with genuine logical concerns is all well and good.
I think I'm now at the point where I will finally cross the border tonight with similar hours logged. And yet I've already seen people have rushed through and finished the entire game in the same amount of time. It is definitely not a rush through it game, and I can tell how that would be a tedious way to do it, running around from place to place mainlining each quest as you get it, rather than keep stuff on the back-burner for when you are doing something else in the direction anyway so it can all be combined into one giant exploration, organic discovery and questing session.
I do think that some of the people that don't like some aspects are definitely playing it wrong 😂 and the actual hate-hate, is just people reading things like "pay for fast travel" which is an inherent lie and mak9ng them mad for no reason, even though the microtransations are the least egregious in any game I've ever seen 😂
Re: Dragon's Dogma 2 Patch 1.050 Adds Graphics Options, Gameplay Improvements on PS5
@darylb24 this is exactly how I imagined it would be. It has been designed to run Ray Tracing and Motion blur and always seeking 60fps, and limiting it to 30 and removing those is not going to be an actual fix for anything really it is just something they chose not to add, as it makes it worse in other ways. But at least people can try it for preference
If they can sort it so big spells and lots of action don't create a frame slow down then that will be the one fix that is needed, but I imagine that would takes months not a week. City stuff is slower pace anyway so doesn't really suffer because you aren't really doing anything intense so can just move your camera less most of the time and live with it.
But it is kind of the same reason they didn't add a new game initially, because they chose not to, not because it wasn't finished (no game is ever really finished until it has had years of patches anyway) Because in DD a new game overwrites your current save, which is how the game has always been designed, and it is a dangerous thing to include if you share a console with someone who might not be aware of this. A genuine problem for people in the first games, so much so that they removed to stop it happening this time 😅
But hey, people screamed and got their "fixes"
For the rest of us, we can continue to enjoy the game, and hope that maybe one day there is some actual improvements, as with all games further down the line.
Re: Dragon's Dogma 2 Players Discover Working Trebuchets, Secret Areas
@DennisReynolds I got the drop as a fighter. I think it is from targeting its jiggly wiggly weakpoint puss sacks or maybe just a straight percentage drop, or maybe a thief in the party at the time? Whatever it was, I got the drop there.
Also levelling Spearhand at the moment, and slow-walking through a fight while levitating foes is badass. It's the ultimate slow/fast build. One moment you can be doing that, the next teleport to a monsters head and whirl your blades like a windmill 😁
The weapon in question:
My Party has it's debut album dropping this summer, btw 😆
Re: Talking Point: How Do You Feel About the PS5 Pro?
Day one purchase, mostly because I can sell one of my PS5's to replace it with the newest tech available. Needed or not, it's the best time to do it, rather than wait for the PS5 to wear itself out.
This keeps the cycle going, as someone who only has a PS4 or PS4 Pro can have my PS5 for cheaper than a new weird one with detachable disk drives.
As for the games themselves, I'm more bothered about a locked 30 or 40, in maybe actual real, genuine 4k resolution (or just very good 1440p upscaled with Cerny tech) but with more room for fancy Ray Tracing and lighting affects, as all the best looking games focus more on these things way more these days. Any frame stability or boosting would just be a bonus if possible.
If Wolverine, GTA6, the next Naughty Dog and Santa Monica games benefit from the PS5 Pro, then I'm happy. If it allows smoother framerates in third party games, that is a win too.
It will be interesting to see how Steller Blade looks and runs on PS5. And also, some of these other games we've known about for years that keep getting delayed might also finally be confident enough to release on better hardware.
Re: UK Sales Charts: Dragon's Dogma 2, Rise of the Ronin Off to a Weak Start at Retail
Definitely a mistake in the sense that there will be some crossover for people that like games with fantasy/combat/action and paying an extra £70 for something you aren't going to play right away isn't going to be massively viable for people, so they just pick the one
DD2 is also #2 in the UK Digital storefront on PS, which isn't bad, but it is definitely a shame it couldn't top EASports for the week, but then again it is fighting this weird narrative that people can't play it yet because it isn't optimised or because you can buy extra stuff that's in the game anyway for free 🙄
The game is giving me Elden Ring and Baldur's Gate 3 vibes, in the sense that it is so fun and immersive that I'm pretty much always thinking about what I'd like to try out next time I'm on it, and it is constantly whirring in the back of my mind throughout the day 😅 set pieces bigger than any other game of this generation, and yet they are not even set pieces, they are randomly occurring emersive gameplay.
It also might be a game that will be inherently harder if you play it later, for reasons I won't go into 😷🫢🐲
Re: Xbox Planning to Release the 'Majority' of Its Exclusives on PS5
@IndoorEnthusiast I would not be surprised if he's already been told by the Microsoft bosses he is done. But because some people love him unequivocally he is being used to ease this transition for the fans and once the dust clears he'll be sipping cocktails with Jim laughing at the good times they had
Re: Big Dragon's Dogma 2 Updates Incoming as Capcom Confirms List of PS5 Improvements
@atthegates I think I just don't care that much lol. In Elden Ring entire environments would pop in late if you ran or rode torrent.
I don't always sprint around, so that can avoid it a little bit in the city. Only really care if I hit an invisible wall that turns out to be an NPC. But the game is about so much more that I can easily ignore any random visual RPG jank that is in literally every big RPG in some way or another.
The positive is that t's not actual bugs and crashes too, like a lot of other games.
Re: Big Dragon's Dogma 2 Updates Incoming as Capcom Confirms List of PS5 Improvements
@wildcat_kickz @Northern_munkey
Yeah, I feel it will still be the one save file. Happy to be proven wrong though. But, I think the way the pawn server works requires some sort of continuity of either 1 pawn, or no pawn on an account. Not 2, 3 and 4 different ones.
It would be cool to be able to experiment with character designs and decisions on a brand new save though. I'd love to do a wild playthrough making silly decisions and not caring it will ruin my normal save.
Re: Days Gone Dev Bend Studio Staffing Up for 'AAA Live Service' Game
The only weird thing is the timeline considering how they have been "cooking", but now it's time to add this new layer of management because they didn't have anyone capable in the role beforehand.
Call me crazy, but if you have a vision for one thing then maybe have the person capable of delivering on that vision there from the start?
If this was someone coming in for their next project after the one already in development I'd get it
Re: Big Dragon's Dogma 2 Updates Incoming as Capcom Confirms List of PS5 Improvements
Ah, the new game option that people hated in Dragon's Dogma as people could accidentally wipe their current saves.
Be vigilant when you load in, all. As that really was a big thing, I believe.
I might experiment with blur and framerate settings. But Ray Tracing is staying on. I don't feel I've lost out on anything due to a wayward frame yet though, it's mostly npc pop in that you notice, but it is easy to ignore.
Re: Poll: Are You Playing Rise of the Ronin?
Maybe one day, if AC Red hasn't come out by the time I get around to this
Re: Capcom Simply Must Improve Dragon's Dogma 2 PS5 Performance, Concludes Digital Foundry
Obviously they should work on it, all devs should patch their releases to improve them.
But if the new choice is to make it look like plop or have an option to turn Ray Tracing off just so some random npcs don't pop in sometimes then I'll be passing on that anyway.
The lighting is superb. The city doesn't stutter for me (2023 oled VRR, or my eyes dont see it as much) and I can live with some random janky npc pop in from time to time, as it's a fantasy RPG and there has to be some jank by law.
But if they can optimise it so it looks the same at a locked frame rate, then sure I'll bite.
Sometimes I think people would happily play a game of "watch the paint dry" if it ran at a smooth 60fps and scored an A++++ on DF though 😅
Re: Poll: Are You Playing Dragon's Dogma 2?
@Splat when you say walking, let's clarify that you actually mean "fighting in the general direction of a quest or maybe something that looks like it might be worth exploring in the distance, which is probably another fight" 😁
Re: Poll: Are You Playing Dragon's Dogma 2?
Anyone who isn't is conning themselves out of playing a really fun game tbh. Never seen so much scrutiny for a game that plays as well as TW3, Elden Ring and any other fantasy RPG.
For all those that are though, we need more of you in the forum section sharing some non spoiler experiences of your adventures so far 😁
We await your tales of aught
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? - Issue 521
Throwing fools on Dragon's Dogma II
It's one of those "s***, is that the time?!" games. Incredibly immersive 😄
Re: Dragon's Dogma 2 (PS5) - The Apex of RPG Adventuring
@ShogunRok
1. Include an infinite fast travel or revive option and it will ruin the entire game, and that would definitely upset people and ruin the devs vision. And I know people would definitely be tempted to use it if it were there, just because of how other games have normalised it so people wouldn't be thinking "oh, I'll miss out on all of this good stuff if I take the easy option"
2. Don't include it at all and people will cry out that it's wrong to not have the option to do it if people want to.
3. Include it, but as a rare item (like it always has been in DD) and as an added extra for those who really, really want to ruin their own game. Also outcry.
I think in this case it is very hard for anyone to win. And the microtransations are mostly for "cheat codes" and not necessary at all. And I don't think I really care if someone wants to pay to make their own game a worse experience.
I think that's how we should see it. There's an option to pay for a cheat code. I don't like it in principle, but people would invariably want to use the cheat codes and this does let them, but at a price rather than by glitching the game like was possible with Zelda, for example. If people could break the game and glitch 100 wakestones into their inventory, they definitely would 😅
Re: Dragon's Dogma 2 Slated for Adding Sinister PS5 Microtransactions at Launch
Boo Capcom, but also... this doesn't stop the game from being really fun, and lowering the score is just people being reactionary idiots, such is the modern way 😅
I don't think there are in-game prompts that say, "oh no you can't do this, better get your wallet out" It's not like the invasive microtransations in some games. 90% of the people playing it won't even know they are there!
Re: PSN Is Currently Down, Seemingly a Widespread Issue
@ApostateMage I'm glad I randomly pre ordered and downloaded it last night 😅
Although I'm pretty sure it will need a connection for the pawn server, won't it?
Hopefully it is up and running by midnight for everyone 🙏🗡🛡
edit PS App on my phone seems to be fine and some friends are listed as online. So here's hoping
Re: Dragon's Dogma 2 (PS5) - This Could Be the Apex of RPG Adventuring
@ShogunRok thank you for getting this posted anyway, as it has been much anticipated by a lot of people, score be damned. I'm very new to the series, but I went from being on the outside looking in and only being able to see the world looking like pretty boring empty environments in gameplay trailers, especially compared to games I normally like spending time exploring in, to being genuinely excited having downloaded and tried Dark Arisen just to get a sense of how they approached the game structure in that. Needless to say I was sold near instantly, with the freeform exploration possibilities, and a similar kind of approach to how questing and roaming works in KCD and skyrim. With a unique charm that I couldn't quite put my finger on, but that usually exists in games I end up loving.
If you want to go into further details of elements you think other fans of the series, and that other deep RPG players will like, I say stop by the Dragon's Dogma 2 thread on the forum section if you get the chance, and I'm sure the people will really appreciate some extra chat about your game experience so far 😄
I'm probably most interested in the chaos and fun that can be found just by doing "stuff" in the game, not necessarily planned quests, not just some boss fights, but trying to squeeze my own stories and moments out of the world and its inhabitants by following my nose and making gameplay choices just to see what happens next or what path it leads me on. Made even more tense and exciting by the way the game deals with save files 😬😬😁😁
Re: Rumour: PS5 Pro Is Up to Three Times Faster Than PS5 as Specs Surface
I think this is the PS5 we all wanted, initially. Anything that will unlock more Ray Tracing performance is good for me. Throw in some Cerny resolution upscaling magic and we might finally see some games that actually look like a next gen step up 😅
Like someone mentioned, GoTII, Wolverine etc. We don't want these games looking like PS4 Pro games but with faster loading times
we want them to knock our collective socks off.
I think both Xbox and PS5 undershot the next gen leap, as devs wanting to make their games look good needed way more power, especially now that Ray Tracing et al have joined the party. Console makers just wanted to blindly focus on that 4k resolution at 60fps, and that would require much less demanding games graphically, which no one wants to make
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? - Issue 520
I think maybe wrapping up The Outer Worlds and GoT: Iki Island if I get the chance this weekend, before deciding what to move on to next 😬😬 Hogwarts Legacy got a hard pause as I was falling off it and then they announced they'd be dropping some kind of "thank you" update this year anyway, so thought I'd just wait to pick it up at some point down the line.
I do really want a demo for Rise of the Ronin or Dragon's Dogma 2, as they seem like games that you will have to play to decide whether they are worth full price digital. But failing that, waiting to see streamers start the games to see if either draw me in.
Be interesting to see if any of these new releases get potential game of the year hype, or if this year is going to be more subdued on that front.
Re: Let Acting Legend Ian McShane Introduce You to Dragon's Dogma 2
PS has marketing rights, I guess? This is a very PS style trailer. And i'd not be surprised if PS set all of this up
But I still need someone to convince me this game is worth a gamble. I enjoyed FF16, but by the end I was sick of the environments, and this seems similar and even more bland in places.
I don't know if it's just what Japanese devs think suits a western medieval inspired RPG, or what (DD2, FF16 and Forspoken all look the same) But I don't know if I have it in me to trudge through another environment like this.
Re: Nobody Wants to Die Looks Too Good to Be True on PS5
@Westernwolf4 I'm going to break down why I made the joke now, which is never a good thing 😅 But I think there's a difference between gritty noir with a focus on a broken character that has an understanding of the poetry in all of their dispair, and then this, which was just a lot of saying nothing at all in a copycat style because it might trick people into thinking it is like other noir media.
I hope it turns out good, as it is definitely my kind of thing, but it just seemed like a bit of an empty attempt at mimicking something much better (Like Max Payne the movie was an empty attempt to mimmick the game)
Just look at this line:
"I'm in the business of secrets. But it's more of an addiction. I like 'em straight, with no chaser. Even though the stuff can kill you. They say time heals all wounds. BULLS***. I'll tell you what time does. Time reveals secrets. Secrets that will blah. Secrets the will blergh. Secrets that will etc etc" ... erm, okay then? Good chat main character guy.
Vs Max Payne narration:
"The sun went down with practiced bravado. Twilight crawled across the sky, laden with foreboding."
Or "Einstein Was Right. Time Is Relative To The Observer. When you're looking down the barrel of a gun, time slows down. Your whole life flashes by, heartbreak and scars. Stay with it, and you can live a lifetime in that split second."
The Max Payne lines clearly have poetry in them, they actually set the scene, and tell the story of the moment. But the NWTD lines are just trailer nonsense that don't really mean anything.
It did remind me of classic Redd Pepper trailer reads, though. But he would make any old nonsense sound cool. Hence the style of my comment 😵😅
Re: Nobody Wants to Die Looks Too Good to Be True on PS5
IN A WORLD...
WHERE DIALOG.
IS HACKY...
ONE MAN.
SOLVES CRIMES.
WITH TIME.
Re: E3's Spirit Lives on with Geoff Keighley's Summer Game Fest on 7th June
@LifeGirl be careful what you wish for 🙃
Re: Preview: Rise of the Ronin Shows Promise, But It's No Showstopper Yet
@ShogunRok have you seen any of the decisions and elements that will "shape a dynamic story" so far? This is something that could make or break it, for me.
The store page mentions "choosing different allies, whether to help or assassinate certain historical figures, and critical mission decisions. All to see the story unfold in different ways"
Which seems pretty in depth and interesting, and maybe a step up from something like an AC where you do as you're told 99% of the time.
It does kind of make me wonder if the story will be on the shorter side, if they've had to write multiple pathways, too.
Re: Everyone's Talking About Eve's Outfits in PS5 Exclusive Stellar Blade
I mean, if they have the options for more normal outfits and more crazy outfits, then no one can complain, can they? You just pick what you want to see in your own game and there is literally no way to get offended on either side.
Re: Exclusivity Is the Achilles' Heel of Huge Blockbusters, Says Former PlayStation Exec
if there was no exclusivity there would be no need for owning more than one platform, and eventually there would be no need for traditional consoles at all as PC and cloud gaming would take over and MS would cream itself at having finally won the console wars 😅 and then all games would become streamable subscriptions and eventually they would all completely suck
Progress 👏
Just make more fun AA games to fill the gaps, and don't just rely on CoD, GTA and EA Sports to sell your consoles to one group of people. Target the family games market a bit more and give people with young kids more of a reason to have a PlayStation in their living room. That's surely a good strategy that won't negatively affect any of the other stuff. But don't go crazy pouring money in to live service to try and achieve that, take a Nintendo approach.
Re: Baldur's Gate 3, Marvel's Spider-Man 2 Lead the Way at the BAFTAs
If Alan Wake 2 is going to win a big one then this is the best shot. BG3 has enough recognition, time to go with the arthouse entry, BAFTA.
But then again, Karlach, Shadowheart, Astarion and maybe even Gale's companion stories are BAFTA worthy, so another award can't hurt.
Re: Incoming Helldivers 2 PS5 Patch Adds Planetary Hazards, Rebalances Weapons, More
I've heard people have just been farming eradicate missions, which made joining game lobbies at high levels like 90% one game mode for people, which was frustrating for people trying to actually play the game normally at increased difficulties.
I don't get the point in farming in something like this, the game is an endless loop of fighting, there is no finale to get to, and no PvP, so what is the rush to get that XP for? To make more of your time later on in the game easier so you get bored with it faster? 😬
Re: Up to 90% Off Major PS5, PS4 Games in New PS Store Sale
@naruball @BlaizeV @LifeGirl @SteveJaye
Forspoken will be in the game catalogue soon. It might even get a slight mini resurgence because of it. Very slight, but still.
I didn't even get through the demo, as something about the game just looked wrong to me. I think the world was just annoyingly bland, like it actively upset me haha. But I'm sure there's some enjoyment to be had if it is a catalogue game.
Re: Significant Discounts Suggest Ubisoft's PS5 Pirate Game Skull and Bones Is Already Struggling
@Americansamurai1 because games like Valhalla made $1billion.
Skull & Bones will be a big mess to sort out though, and other games will have to make up for it. But then they have a Star Wars game coming at some point, so...
Re: Helldivers 2 Sales Are Actually Increasing, Again
Ahh. I just referenced this game in FF article.
It literally hasn't dropped below FF Rebirth in the UK Digital store page yet (during FF's launch week), which must show signs of its great sales strength here in the UK Digital market too 👏👏 bravo
Re: Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth Falls Short of Remake's Launch Sales in UK
It hasn't once topped Helldivers in the UK Digital store page that I've seen. I can't remember any really big releases that didn't get Number One for at least a day in the UK Digital sales chart during the week it came out either 😬 (hopefully just a sign that Helldivers is actually getting launch number sales consistently each week, rather than a downturn in anything else)
Re: Rumour: Assassin's Creed Red Is Starting to Sound a Lot Like Valhalla
@Uromastryx oh, I don't mind them mixing in traditional local mythology, as the animus is always glitching out and using mythology as reality, plus the whole alien god arc in the main story, so that is fine, whatever.
I just mean in Origins there was no templars, as they were a later group, so the big bads were the cult of whatever, and then in odyssey it was still the order of ancients? And then in Valhalla, you guessed it some cult order of the ancients type thing. And then there was a prequel so it was the cultists again. But then because Aelfred existed, there was some storyline etc etc, but there is a gap between him and the templars that I don't belive has been covered yet?
So I'm just wondering if Japan will be a hard reset, like Origins was, or a return to a world that includes the templars, but I really hope it isn't some reborn cult order of the ancients again, as they were boring AF, that's all 😬😬😬
Re: Rumour: Assassin's Creed Red Is Starting to Sound a Lot Like Valhalla
What Ubisoft does really well:
History and setting. And a fun gameplay loop, to an extent. And then there's usually a random bats*** crazy story tacked on each time, which is... you know, the basis of AC since day one and the overall story is just so big it can't really be contained any more. And then there is usually a bunch of padding which people can take or leave.
But what I hope they introduce into this one is a more focused story based around the actual protagonist, with some actual emotional resonance. And a slower, more considered, and weighty combat model. (And lots of sandbox bases to clear, which probably peaked with Origins' desert forts, as they were really fun to scout and clear out)
If there's any mention of 'cult' i'll probably just bang my head against a wall instead though, they really need to freshen up the enemies, and looked to be on track with that by the end of Valhalla, by basically clearing out to start fresh. (But then they released a prequel with more of the cult again, so... please, no more)
Re: Rumour: Dragon Age: Dreadwolf Will Finally, Finally Release Later This Year
Will release.
Could release.
Will release.
Could slip.
👏👏👏👏
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? - Issue 518
The Outer Worlds this game is not as short as people say, but it is an awesome RPG and bucketloads of fun. My quest log is absolutely bursting so I imagine I'll be playing that when I can 😁
Re: Rise of the Ronin Gets Loads of New PS5 Gameplay Footage, Featuring 8 Different Fighting Styles
I would have thought the popular choice would be dual swords or a sword and revolver.
If I'm getting this game (waiting for some reviews at least, or an intro demo would be nice) I'm definitely thinking it will be worth using the Sword/Gun combo, as that's something that will make it feel a little different gameplay wise to anything else I've been playing
Horse + bow looks fairly satisfying too.
Re: Rumour: Live-Service Twisted Metal One of the Games Cancelled by Sony
PS had a hub-style live-service IP, and it was called PS Home. Now other developers will easily beat them to the punch on the Ready Player One style model. That's the sad thing about all this live service 'will they, won't they?'
If they had a fully functioning PS Home framework, and developed smaller titles to launch from that, they could keep engagement high and make all kinds of smaller live service games using their current IP's and bringing new indie developers in for other stuff, and it might not cost the world or get in the way of other development, or follow the lame Bungie live service idealism.
Re: Xbox's Pentiment Runs Better on PS5 Than Series X Because of a Temporary Bug
There's so many great Mark Cerny .gifs i'm dying rn 😂😂😂😂
Re: Mini Review: Pentiment (PS5) - A Slow-Burning 16th-Century Murder Mystery
Baldurs Gate 3 10/10*
Elden Ring 10/10*
😁
Re: Rise of the Ronin Confirms Character Creator, Four Player Co-Op for Main Missions
Weirdly this makes me less keen. A game that is character driven with a voiced protagonist AND still has a creator character?
That seems quite a strange combo to me for a serious dramatic setting. I didn't love the look of the trailer protagonist, but... God of War, Horizon, The Witcher, Ghost of Tsushima, Jedi etc, KCD, Assassin's Creed, GTA the list goes on for big, high quality games where the character is the character, and do with them what you will.
Has me worried that this going to be more 'Saints Row Samurai' 😵😅
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? - Issue 517
The Outer Worlds and having a real blast! I cleared the first planet of every quest I could find, which was a pretty fun introduction to how the game works (lead people on until as late as possible, then pick a side 😁)
Then, I blasted into space on my fixed ship, met Phineas, and made my way to the neutral groundbreaker space port. At first that was a little overwhelming, but I picked up some quests, left some for later as I don't want to rush into those without forming an opinion, and then started to help out with local issues to get paid, got accustomed to the area and its people. And finally blasted out in to wider space to tackle some jobs and swell my bits, and by that I mean my money, not my nether regions 😁
My character is forming nicely, slightly mercenary with my approach to making money but with an overall noble goal (at the moment) I will Lie, Pursuade and Intimidate to get what I want, especially from people I don't trust, and for that sweet XP, and maybe still kill you for a bounty anyway.
I'm happy to placate the board to an extent, loved winding up Udom Bedford with some friendly banter, it has to be said 😅 but definitely open to f***ing the system, especially if they indeed left me floating frozen in space.
I have an abundance of bits and bullets, and I turned Parvati into a Power Armour wearing tank wielding Ol' Reliable (a fun weapon to find early) so come at me, Universe, I'm ready for anything 😁 (but please not while i'm on a ledge, or a slightly raised platform, as I'm scared of heights)
Re: Poor Suicide Squad Sales Disappoint Publisher Warner Bros
@Illyrian by not doing that, if you read my comment 😅