Sounds like complete B****cks, but in a brilliant barmy way. I dont like LS games, but if I did I would definitely be interested in this, and the articles give me a laugh!
I found it quite hard to decide which out of 2018 and Ragnarok i thought was better until i played them back to back last year, and Ragnarok was just slightly better imo.
I really enjoyed Atreus being player controlled, and swapping back and forth between him and Kratos. I just wish he had a bit more fighting in his sections.
Didnt think anything pre 2018 was fantastic - good, but not fantastic - glad they changed things up when they did.
@MikeOrator Yes, and to pass comment that with them giving a launch window so far out that other games will probably plan their launches outside of said window. Oh, and lamenting the fall of Saints Row.
Will have to make sure I have built up a bit of a back catalogue of games to play by then, as im sure few other games will release in this window, and i will need something to play if 6 is similar to previous titles - i much preferred Saint Row...
I really enjoy souls likes and can always make room in my schedule for new decent ones (unfortunately we dont see too many of those). Releasing a demo is a great idea - i had little interest in Lies of P until the demo, and upon playing I pre-ordered the game and have played through the full game 3 times so far. But a demo 4 months prior to launch feels pretty early to me.
Just too many mistakes from MS (not saying Sony haven't made any) - and i think putting all their eggs in the game pass basket is the biggest. I also think the Activision buyout has not and will not do xbox any favours.
Good article - number without context can be used to "prove" almost any nonsense!
In regards to Lifetime sales PS4 vs PS5, I would say that the pandemic / chip shortage is now having limited effect (after end of 22, start of 23 sales catch up), but the Cost of living crisis / No permanent PS5 hardware price reduction (mentioned in article) are probably having the biggest effect on this metric now. Just my opinion.
I think it all sound like pretty good going for Sony - but I do wonder how the lack of big Sony exclusives will affect sales for the coming year.
@smoreon Yep, i just want option for smooth 60fps(+if possible with VRR 120hz), and a clean nice image - which is what Sony studio games tend to excel at.
I was trying not to be a killjoy, but the fact is its looking increasingly likely the gap will close with each console generation, and AAA budget ceilings wont help (but are probably needed).
That said i too have been happy overall with the boost from PS4, and have also been impressed with how quickly some studios (mainly Sony, but others as well) got to grips with the hardware - well, except the fast loading / smooth streaming which has been very variable considering the hardwares very advanced in this area.
@Luigia I suspect based on the limitations of the hardware (again, not knocking it, its a fine console but had to meet a console price), that if the prophesied/announced big-budget game budget reductions start taking place, then we may be looking at a backwards trend graphically.
@KillerIsD34D @OmegaStriver 100% agree - Sony need to strike a careful balance or risk losing a slice of their business they probably dont consider at risk with their Games on PC strategy.
@Luigia To be fair, and from a purely technical point of view, I think we have already seen what the PS5 is more or less fully capable of in titles such as SM2, R&C, GOWR, HFW. Sure, insomniac may be able to get a tiny bit more out, or share some of their ability to acheive 80fps with decent but basic Ray Tracing, and GOWR could have had much faster loading, but I dont expect to see any major improvement except on PRO which is a different thing entirely. And I would be pleased if all games ran like these do at >60fps, looking as good as these games do. In fact I daresay Demon Souls will remain one of the best looking/performing games from PS5 launch until the end of the generation on base hardware.
NB not knocking the hardware - its great in the hands of talented devs - just that I think we are in a period of significantly diminishing returns for increased power.
There was a time when square enix's name would have made me excited for a new game but now...
FF16 - demo performance was awful, so turned me right off buying. FF7 remake - just didnt impress me that much, and i didnt like the remakes convoluted direction. FF7 Rebirth - because of the above, i just havent bothered with it yet - maybe i will when its on sale, of maybe i wont bother with it until I know part 3 will be good enough to invest the time.
I just want to see them give up on the whole gaas drive - sure do 1 or 2, but its the big single player games that have made Sonys platform, and its arguably what they can do better than anyone else. If they dont do games they can do better than enyone else they run the risk of becoming just any other developer.
Totally agree that the Hype train doesnt always lead to massive sales, but in rebirths case I think there were a lot of reasons including - 1. It was a part 2 of 3. 2. Splitting the original into a trilogy in the first place didnt do them any favours possibly. 3. The new direction of remake (compared to the original) alienated part of the userbase. 4. (And I count myself in this group) Remake just didnt feel that special. 5. Graphics (particularly Performance mode) had quite a lot of negative press around launch.
However, in the case of new titles particularly, I still think "PS5 Console Exclusive" helps to get the hype train rolling - something the name "square enix" doesnt do that well any longer imo.
Read one of your later comments RE GTA series, and I quite agree - I have never thought the games as anything more than distinctly average (in fact i thought some of the saints row games (1-3) were better examples of the genre - even if they started out by copying fundamentals from GTA!).
I had no issue with games increasing from £60 to £70 this generation, considering the added development costs, but this idea sound like a disgusting money grab just like micro transactions.
Tell you what EA (and others) - if you put as much effort into making really good new games (ie not games that require massive sports licences) instead of spending so much effort trying to fleece players... maybe, just maybe, you might make a game that more people will buy.
I really do not see an issue with Sony requiring PSN account to play Sony games multiplayer - for one it gives them the ability to ban toxic people online / cheats.
But, why do so many countries not have PSN account availability?
This seems the important part to me - surely they should have sorted this part first, or is it legal issues within all of these countries preventing Sony from setting up PSN account availability?
1. Completely underestimating the % of extra sales they gain with "PS5 Console Exclusive" - just those words on the advertising really raises a games profile for a lot of people.
2. Completely overestimating how many xbox sales they will get, as there are a number of series owners who will buy nothing (except their Game Pass subscription).
(I understand the switch/PS5 arguments but these are very different in terms of power - maybe this works, maybe not).
Ive really enjoyed this years game, with some of the improvements being subtle but making a big difference (eg last year created superstars/attires clothing textures and geometry were severly reduced, this year they are not). My Rise mens is good, My Rise womens is barmy. Showcase is good if you can look past the fact that in trying to cover so much, they miss a LOT of classic matches - but massive props for including the firefly funhouse match between Bray Wyatt (RIP) and Cena in all its glory. Not too enthusiastic about some of the dlc choices though (im not a big Punk fan), and there are too many guest stars in the next few dlc's. It isnt perfect, and most move sets (and a lot of stats) are still really inaccurate, but at least you can change them. But overall a good game - dont really see where they go for next years game, and i will probably give it a miss. I was on the fence about this years and only got it because they added Funhouse Bray and Fiend.
Making Hogwarts legacy story DLC would likely have made them a decent amount of cash, for a modest investment... yet no sign of any yet. They could even have done year 2 as a massive DLC and I would have been up for it.
Hunting that elusive Live service cash cow
vs
One of the best single player games of this generation (and technically excellent given the framerates in normal performance mode now far exceeding 60 if your TV can do it).
Hopefully they learn, before they decide to kill Hogwarts Legacy 2, and a lot of other games, by trying to make them live service.....
And if they dont learn quickly, sadly I think we will be reading about WB studios closing in a few years.
@Ralizah If a 3rd party game is coming out on PS5 and I learn it is also on GPass, as you say it tends to completely kill my interest in it. To me it just says the dev/publisher had so little faith in their game, they were prepared to take their small slice of the GP cake, instead of trying to sell it normally. So i look at other games instead.
(I know you have the opposite cases too, where a 3rd party just decides not to do an xbox version as, due to the number of GP users who will not buy games separately, and the xbox market share, it is just not financially worth doing an xbox version covering both s and x.)
I do make exceptions (i wont cut off my nose to spite my face, to use the expression) but it is normally under unusual circumstances where they have regained my interest eg Lies of P, where they released a decent length demo, which i really enjoyed. Even then tho, i considered waiting for a sale.
In the event of this years not being on Game Pass (and the backlash)...
"We have listened to you our fans, and going forwards from next year COD will be included in Game Pass. In fact Game Pass will become CODs real home, and all future COD games will only be available on Game Pass... including on OTHER consoles."
Then later... "In order to make COD the best it can be, we unfortunately will have to raise our subscription costs by a small amount (and close a small number of studios). We have listened to our fans and quality COD games are at the forefront of what they want."
Sort of follows from a comment i wrote on another article. I am not anti-MS and owned a MS console in the past - I am anti game pass.
@get2sammyb As I see it, they bought these publishers/teams to try and boost Game Pass, but without the (frankly absurd) increase in subscribers they would have needed, they now need to cut costs to keep shareholders happy.
And/or they need to raise money to pay for the shortfall by trying to sell games to PS5 users - works in the short term but doesnt boost subscribers (but maybe boosts opinion of MS studio games if people enjoy the games).
Do they put up the price and risk overpricing it? (coming next imo).
Game Pass is in my opinion the worst thing ever for the industry - it may benefit a few consumers short term, maybe, but what it does to the industry behind the games... The GP "cake" is only so big, and lots of studios want their "slice" of it. Though if a 3rd party game launches on GP I tend to (mostly not always) blacklist buying the game on my PS5 as the devs/publisher clearly had no faith in it! (Might be an idea for a poll in the future!).
But what is their nuclear option... Game Pass is in a lot of opinions literally the only thing MS is interested in (not hardware, and certainly not their userbase). Will they be trying to force GP onto PS5 and Switch by only permitting COD on GP (no version for sale outside GP)??
I totally agree that these aquisitions were a really bad thing for everyone, but my gut tells me they were not buying studios... they were buying a nuclear option to prevent Game Pass failing. (At the time they bought Bethesda I think they thought of them as a low priced Nuclear option).
Whilst I kinda thought the writing may be on the wall for Arkane, this really is such a horrible decision and imo mis-management by MS.
I hope the same (or more if im being honest) degree of criticism is levelled at MS as has been levelled at Sony for the recent "controversies".
I seriously think Game Pass is the worst thing to happen to the industry as a whole in many years, and ultimately may be responsible at least in part for this. Though I agree with what others have said in that GP changes may be coming next.
I still think the practice for live service requiring an account (PSN in this case) is fine, and the crowd outraged by this are just being entitled / or are fanboys jumping on the bandwagon (Sony is doing no different to anyone else) - single player games is a totally different thing and you should never need an account with the publisher/developer to play.
Not sure i agree with delisting in countries its already sold in - though i think this has been caused by a pretty silly mistake by Sony not realising the game would be sold in countries PSN isnt available in. Just having the PSN requirement in the T&Cs isnt enough here (ie countries without PSN) - unless a great big red warning came up before purchase.
"God of War Ragnarok and Horizon Forbidden West are top tier, but their cross-gen status definitely subtracts from their overall prestige. We need to see what the PS5 is really capable of."
I dont actually think the hardware is capable of much more than what we have seen so far - Spiderman games, R&C, GOWR, Horison FW, Demon Souls - are, I think, the pinnacle of what we should expect from the hardware on a technical level (not including PRO of course), and im absolutely fine with that.
Where this gen will fall on its a### and send people to PC World (pun intended) is if developers try to do too much, exceeding either their ability (within their allotted development time), or the hardwares ability, or both, and we get games that are unplayable due to framerates, or have such low resolution they turn into a blurry mess.
I wonder how many of these outraged review bombing people will still continue to play and enjoy the game. Its not like Sony is doing anything different to anyone else, whether you consider it right or wrong. Me personally - wrong for a single player game, but i would see it as normal for live service.
About half way in, and its a solid 8 so far. If it botches the ending it will drop to a 7 from my point of view.
Just my opinion, but to list a few games - I think its better than elden ring, and much better than jedi survivor (which were both overrated in my opinion). Slightly worse than Lies of P, worse than SM2, and nowhere close to GOWR or Hogwarts Legacy which are my 2 favorite games this gen so far. I would still say that so far its a very worthwhile purchase and technically very good indeed.
Was thinking just the same thing - other than Sony 1st party, these 2 games (Lies of P, S Blade) have had some of the best performance mode optimisation / lowest bug counts, in recent memory on PS5 (with the addition of Hogwarts legacy which for open world launched in a really really good state, then framerates were increased significantly beyond 60 in normal performance mode in patches). Lies of P was one of my best games last year too.
@PapaGlitch The clarification on woke wasnt needed - i knew what you were getting at - but you put it into words much better than i managed to re those using it to 'push back on social progress' and i completely agree with you.
I saw a few of opinions / comments about how they had gone too far etc - i think i also read this on a review (not pushsquare). But yes, the most vocal has been the over protection of it / using the game as a standard bearer, and i agree with your points. The main character does nothing for me, and funnily enough i nearly missed out on a decent enough game, because as soon as i saw her my initial thoughts were "so your games not very good, and so you need to do this to try and sell it"!
@PapaGlitch I really do think that this game has brought out the worst side of gaming.
On one hand you have the people completely outraged at the main character. I still believe that if you are are claiming this as 'design choice', it would have been better to include a male/female choice with both of the same age/design/build type (its not like male and female fully voiced choices arent present in other games). But it is an 18+ game. Though i do think their choices dont paint gamers / the industry in the best light. Taking it to the extreme does full nudity have a place in 18+ gaming... I dont know, but what i do know is that genders should be treated equally and comparable characters are needed, also clear warnings on adverts/media/store pages.
Then on the other hand, you have those that see this game as a standard bearer for the small but vocal minority for which everything is "woke" (a phrase i personally hate seeing used by some like this because i see "woke" as having a positive connotatation), or "censored", or having an agenda. (NB to be clear im not negatively commenting on your use of the word woke.) The developers were silly to shout about how uncensored the game was, only to then change outfits - but this was silly, not censorship imo.
Im playing at the moment, and ignored both sides of the extremes above, and its a good game - a polished 8/10 for me, but this could drop to a 7 if they dont nail the last half. Its good, and i certainly dont regret the purchase but its no GOWR / SM2 / hogwarts (my opinion).
Reviews - particularly digital foundrys - convinced me to buy this, and it is a good game. Its not quite worth the inflated metacritic score tho imo. The main characters 'design choice' does not sell this game to me, but I can see valid opinions on both sides of the argument here.
Pushsquares 8/10 is perfectly reasonable, as is the average critic metacritic. It really is no GOWR or Spiderman 2. I also much preferred Hogwarts, and slightly preferred Lies of P. But It is a good game and i am enjoying it so far.
Like DF said - very polished, and 2 decent graphics mode choices for 60fps (though balanced needs VRR I do not have an issue with this modes framerate even though i am very framerate sensitive).
Released in a 'finished' state, unlike a number of games this year.
@Mikey856 Given all the good things i had heard over many, many years about 7s story (cant remember why i missed the game 1st time around), after playing remake part 1 i just was confused - after talking with friends at the time who had played the original it became clear - all the stuff i enjoyed was from the original, all the stuff i disliked was new/changes.
I can only say as I see, but squenix just doesnt exite me anymore - not like their games used to. Just taking the FF series --
FF15 - loved the 1st half to 2/3 up until they left the area leviathan featured in. Everything after was just a bit grim.
FF7 remake part 1 - having never played the original i bought this day 1 (PS5 version) (and was really looking forwards to it), and it was... ok. Good characters, decent fighting, okish graphics in performance mode (60fps+ is all I can play so no idea about other modes, but this game was nothing exiting at all on the technical front and felt below the curve for a AAA from a big company).
Then there was the story, which i found quite bad and overly convoluted - but i remember discussing with friends and all the stuff i didnt like, was things they changed for the remake.
FF16 - no 60fps lock, so didnt buy.
FF7 remake part 2.... just havn't been bothered with yet. Probably because of the above.
Thank you. Enjoyed Nioh 2 (not to mention other similar games like DS and Lies of P), so wanted to give this one a go - initial tech reports were promising, but with a bit of patching needed so I decided not to buy yet. Thank you - hopefully they will get this sorted soon.
What is the performance like (in performance mode) on RotR now after the last patch. I still read about framerate drops and stuttering (some say much worse than before), yet others say all this was improved in the last patch?!
I have a VRR TV, but I am very intolerant to framerate pacing issues, stuttering, or drops much below 55fps. I have watched the tech reviews at launch so know graphics and ray trace mode are out, so its just down to how well performance mode performs now after the last patch.
@NeonPizza To be fair I think the character is probably verging on the threshold of good taste imo (and probably doesnt do the games industry any real favours), but not to the point of lowering review scores for, and as we and others have said its clear that there was a publicity choice here. I will note I have not seen what outfits are available apart from those in the demo areas / included in reviews/trailers.
That said I can see how a female might find the overtly sexualised lead character to be somewhat distasteful, particularly as it has been used as a selling/publicity point, and there is no similar male alternative. Im not female, so i dont know. Now, if the game were also to have the choice of a male lead of similar age/style then this becomes more of a design choice across both genders, as opposed to an obvious attempt to garner publicity.
Imo and only from what ive seen, I think some may be going too far with the outrage on this one, but people have different opinions. That said, for some (including myself) a wholly unrelateable main character can be a very negative point - whatever reason has caused that "unrelateability". I will note that i enjoyed the demo, and it didnt put me off.
They really should have had a male/female character choice (others have done fully voiced alternatives). 1. Some people (including myself) just find better immersion from a character who is the same gender as themselves. This is a new character and not one from media after all. 2. I really think that if the male character was of a similar age / physique / style etc it may have dulled down some of the negative press. But then "contoversy creates cash" to coin a phrase.
@NEStalgia Dont know about GOWR - I tend to think of that as an ideal example of where you dont need a huge open world, but it does include some larger content dense areas mostly used for side content. The approach seems to help general pacing, plus all the various discussions between the companions (even if it was atreus talking to himself!), not to mention 80fps average in a fantastic looking game - but then i really liked the games. Hogwarts on the other hand needed an open world, but they kept their ambition in check (and i loved it). In terms of stellar blade, from what i have seen, i think they did right by not giving in to include an open world which would probably come with a lot of sacrifices.
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Re: Microsoft Commits to Next Call of Duty Game on Xbox Game Pass, New Report Says
I wonder if Xbox wanted to do this, and MS said "only if you save $X first", hence the studio closures. Timing may just be coincidence.
Re: Ghost of Tsushima on PC Attracts 57K Player Peak on Launch Day
Apart from helldivers of course, these numbers seem really small to what i was expecting? (Particularly given how good some of these games are).
Re: Players Fail Helldivers 2 Major Order, 'The Second Galactic War' Begins
@wildcat_kickz
I wonder if in the end the Earth force will be revealed to be the bad guys...
Re: Players Fail Helldivers 2 Major Order, 'The Second Galactic War' Begins
Sounds like complete B****cks, but in a brilliant barmy way. I dont like LS games, but if I did I would definitely be interested in this, and the articles give me a laugh!
Re: Best God of War Games
Have played most, not all of these.
I found it quite hard to decide which out of 2018 and Ragnarok i thought was better until i played them back to back last year, and Ragnarok was just slightly better imo.
I really enjoyed Atreus being player controlled, and swapping back and forth between him and Kratos. I just wish he had a bit more fighting in his sections.
Didnt think anything pre 2018 was fantastic - good, but not fantastic - glad they changed things up when they did.
Re: GTA 6 PS5 Release Window Narrowed to Fall 2025
@MikeOrator
Yes, and to pass comment that with them giving a launch window so far out that other games will probably plan their launches outside of said window. Oh, and lamenting the fall of Saints Row.
Re: GTA 6 PS5 Release Window Narrowed to Fall 2025
Will have to make sure I have built up a bit of a back catalogue of games to play by then, as im sure few other games will release in this window, and i will need something to play if 6 is similar to previous titles - i much preferred Saint Row...
Re: Sunny Souls-Like Enotria: The Last Song Debuts Lengthy PS5 Gameplay Overview Trailer
Oh dear - just read this is unreal 5 / small dev team, which doesnt bode well - performance needs to be flawless.
Re: Sunny Souls-Like Enotria: The Last Song Debuts Lengthy PS5 Gameplay Overview Trailer
I really enjoy souls likes and can always make room in my schedule for new decent ones (unfortunately we dont see too many of those).
Releasing a demo is a great idea - i had little interest in Lies of P until the demo, and upon playing I pre-ordered the game and have played through the full game 3 times so far. But a demo 4 months prior to launch feels pretty early to me.
Re: Hi-Fi Rush PS5 Physical Edition Is Still Happening Despite Studio Closure
Wouldnt blame the devs if the last patch includes the addition of bill boards throughout the game with something like "F U MS"....
(Then MS will patch the game to turn the billboards into adverts...)
Re: Sony Shipped 4.5 Million PS5's Last Quarter, Almost Five Times More Than Xbox Series X|S
Just too many mistakes from MS (not saying Sony haven't made any) - and i think putting all their eggs in the game pass basket is the biggest.
I also think the Activision buyout has not and will not do xbox any favours.
Re: Square Enix Layoffs Underway in US and Europe as Restructure Begins
Doesnt multi platform require more work to be done?
More work, less people?
With their new "strategies" / current quality level, I really fear for Square enix as a whole.
Re: Reaction: Why You Shouldn't Worry Too Much About PS5's Year-on-Year Decline
@get2sammyb
Good article - number without context can be used to "prove" almost any nonsense!
In regards to Lifetime sales PS4 vs PS5, I would say that the pandemic / chip shortage is now having limited effect (after end of 22, start of 23 sales catch up), but the Cost of living crisis / No permanent PS5 hardware price reduction (mentioned in article) are probably having the biggest effect on this metric now. Just my opinion.
I think it all sound like pretty good going for Sony - but I do wonder how the lack of big Sony exclusives will affect sales for the coming year.
Re: Sony Committed to Better First-Party Games, 'Richer' Experiences, More PS5 Users
@smoreon
Yep, i just want option for smooth 60fps(+if possible with VRR 120hz), and a clean nice image - which is what Sony studio games tend to excel at.
I was trying not to be a killjoy, but the fact is its looking increasingly likely the gap will close with each console generation, and AAA budget ceilings wont help (but are probably needed).
That said i too have been happy overall with the boost from PS4, and have also been impressed with how quickly some studios (mainly Sony, but others as well) got to grips with the hardware - well, except the fast loading / smooth streaming which has been very variable considering the hardwares very advanced in this area.
Re: Sony Committed to Better First-Party Games, 'Richer' Experiences, More PS5 Users
@Luigia
I suspect based on the limitations of the hardware (again, not knocking it, its a fine console but had to meet a console price), that if the prophesied/announced big-budget game budget reductions start taking place, then we may be looking at a backwards trend graphically.
Re: Sony Committed to Better First-Party Games, 'Richer' Experiences, More PS5 Users
@KillerIsD34D @OmegaStriver
100% agree - Sony need to strike a careful balance or risk losing a slice of their business they probably dont consider at risk with their Games on PC strategy.
Re: Sony Committed to Better First-Party Games, 'Richer' Experiences, More PS5 Users
@Luigia
To be fair, and from a purely technical point of view, I think we have already seen what the PS5 is more or less fully capable of in titles such as SM2, R&C, GOWR, HFW. Sure, insomniac may be able to get a tiny bit more out, or share some of their ability to acheive 80fps with decent but basic Ray Tracing, and GOWR could have had much faster loading, but I dont expect to see any major improvement except on PRO which is a different thing entirely. And I would be pleased if all games ran like these do at >60fps, looking as good as these games do.
In fact I daresay Demon Souls will remain one of the best looking/performing games from PS5 launch until the end of the generation on base hardware.
NB not knocking the hardware - its great in the hands of talented devs - just that I think we are in a period of significantly diminishing returns for increased power.
Re: Final Fantasy 16, Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth Fail to Meet Expectations on PS5
There was a time when square enix's name would have made me excited for a new game but now...
FF16 - demo performance was awful, so turned me right off buying.
FF7 remake - just didnt impress me that much, and i didnt like the remakes convoluted direction.
FF7 Rebirth - because of the above, i just havent bothered with it yet - maybe i will when its on sale, of maybe i wont bother with it until I know part 3 will be good enough to invest the time.
Re: Sony: The Future Is Incredibly Bright for PlayStation
I just want to see them give up on the whole gaas drive - sure do 1 or 2, but its the big single player games that have made Sonys platform, and its arguably what they can do better than anyone else.
If they dont do games they can do better than enyone else they run the risk of becoming just any other developer.
Re: Square Enix to 'Aggressively' Pursue Multiplatform Strategy from Now On
@NEStalgia
Totally agree that the Hype train doesnt always lead to massive sales, but in rebirths case I think there were a lot of reasons including -
1. It was a part 2 of 3.
2. Splitting the original into a trilogy in the first place didnt do them any favours possibly.
3. The new direction of remake (compared to the original) alienated part of the userbase.
4. (And I count myself in this group) Remake just didnt feel that special.
5. Graphics (particularly Performance mode) had quite a lot of negative press around launch.
However, in the case of new titles particularly, I still think "PS5 Console Exclusive" helps to get the hype train rolling - something the name "square enix" doesnt do that well any longer imo.
Read one of your later comments RE GTA series, and I quite agree - I have never thought the games as anything more than distinctly average (in fact i thought some of the saints row games (1-3) were better examples of the genre - even if they started out by copying fundamentals from GTA!).
Re: EA Exploring 'Thoughtful Implementations' of In-Game Advertising
Ad blocker for PS5 needed...
Re: EA Exploring 'Thoughtful Implementations' of In-Game Advertising
I had no issue with games increasing from £60 to £70 this generation, considering the added development costs, but this idea sound like a disgusting money grab just like micro transactions.
Tell you what EA (and others) - if you put as much effort into making really good new games (ie not games that require massive sports licences) instead of spending so much effort trying to fleece players... maybe, just maybe, you might make a game that more people will buy.
Re: Sony Delists Ghost of Tsushima PC from Steam Regions in Line with Helldivers 2
I really do not see an issue with Sony requiring PSN account to play Sony games multiplayer - for one it gives them the ability to ban toxic people online / cheats.
But, why do so many countries not have PSN account availability?
This seems the important part to me - surely they should have sorted this part first, or is it legal issues within all of these countries preventing Sony from setting up PSN account availability?
Re: Square Enix to 'Aggressively' Pursue Multiplatform Strategy from Now On
I can understand adding PC, but they are maybe -
1. Completely underestimating the % of extra sales they gain with "PS5 Console Exclusive" - just those words on the advertising really raises a games profile for a lot of people.
2. Completely overestimating how many xbox sales they will get, as there are a number of series owners who will buy nothing (except their Game Pass subscription).
(I understand the switch/PS5 arguments but these are very different in terms of power - maybe this works, maybe not).
Re: CM Punk Joins the WWE 2K24 Roster in DLC Pack This Wednesday
Ive really enjoyed this years game, with some of the improvements being subtle but making a big difference (eg last year created superstars/attires clothing textures and geometry were severly reduced, this year they are not).
My Rise mens is good, My Rise womens is barmy.
Showcase is good if you can look past the fact that in trying to cover so much, they miss a LOT of classic matches - but massive props for including the firefly funhouse match between Bray Wyatt (RIP) and Cena in all its glory.
Not too enthusiastic about some of the dlc choices though (im not a big Punk fan), and there are too many guest stars in the next few dlc's.
It isnt perfect, and most move sets (and a lot of stats) are still really inaccurate, but at least you can change them.
But overall a good game - dont really see where they go for next years game, and i will probably give it a miss. I was on the fence about this years and only got it because they added Funhouse Bray and Fiend.
Re: Warner Bros Revenue Plummets as Suicide Squad Falls Completely Short of Hogwarts Legacy
Making Hogwarts legacy story DLC would likely have made them a decent amount of cash, for a modest investment... yet no sign of any yet.
They could even have done year 2 as a massive DLC and I would have been up for it.
Re: Warner Bros Revenue Plummets as Suicide Squad Falls Completely Short of Hogwarts Legacy
Hunting that elusive Live service cash cow
vs
One of the best single player games of this generation (and technically excellent given the framerates in normal performance mode now far exceeding 60 if your TV can do it).
Hopefully they learn, before they decide to kill Hogwarts Legacy 2, and a lot of other games, by trying to make them live service.....
And if they dont learn quickly, sadly I think we will be reading about WB studios closing in a few years.
Re: More Xbox Layoffs Reportedly Inbound as Company Attempts to Cut Costs
@Ralizah
If a 3rd party game is coming out on PS5 and I learn it is also on GPass, as you say it tends to completely kill my interest in it. To me it just says the dev/publisher had so little faith in their game, they were prepared to take their small slice of the GP cake, instead of trying to sell it normally. So i look at other games instead.
(I know you have the opposite cases too, where a 3rd party just decides not to do an xbox version as, due to the number of GP users who will not buy games separately, and the xbox market share, it is just not financially worth doing an xbox version covering both s and x.)
I do make exceptions (i wont cut off my nose to spite my face, to use the expression) but it is normally under unusual circumstances where they have regained my interest eg Lies of P, where they released a decent length demo, which i really enjoyed. Even then tho, i considered waiting for a sale.
Re: This Year's Call of Duty May Not Be Included in Xbox Game Pass After All
In the event of this years not being on Game Pass (and the backlash)...
"We have listened to you our fans, and going forwards from next year COD will be included in Game Pass. In fact Game Pass will become CODs real home, and all future COD games will only be available on Game Pass... including on OTHER consoles."
Then later...
"In order to make COD the best it can be, we unfortunately will have to raise our subscription costs by a small amount (and close a small number of studios). We have listened to our fans and quality COD games are at the forefront of what they want."
Sort of follows from a comment i wrote on another article.
I am not anti-MS and owned a MS console in the past - I am anti game pass.
Re: More Xbox Layoffs Reportedly Inbound as Company Attempts to Cut Costs
@get2sammyb
As I see it, they bought these publishers/teams to try and boost Game Pass, but without the (frankly absurd) increase in subscribers they would have needed, they now need to cut costs to keep shareholders happy.
And/or they need to raise money to pay for the shortfall by trying to sell games to PS5 users - works in the short term but doesnt boost subscribers (but maybe boosts opinion of MS studio games if people enjoy the games).
Do they put up the price and risk overpricing it? (coming next imo).
Game Pass is in my opinion the worst thing ever for the industry - it may benefit a few consumers short term, maybe, but what it does to the industry behind the games... The GP "cake" is only so big, and lots of studios want their "slice" of it.
Though if a 3rd party game launches on GP I tend to (mostly not always) blacklist buying the game on my PS5 as the devs/publisher clearly had no faith in it! (Might be an idea for a poll in the future!).
But what is their nuclear option... Game Pass is in a lot of opinions literally the only thing MS is interested in (not hardware, and certainly not their userbase).
Will they be trying to force GP onto PS5 and Switch by only permitting COD on GP (no version for sale outside GP)??
I totally agree that these aquisitions were a really bad thing for everyone, but my gut tells me they were not buying studios... they were buying a nuclear option to prevent Game Pass failing.
(At the time they bought Bethesda I think they thought of them as a low priced Nuclear option).
Re: Tango Gameworks, Arkane Austin, More Closed in Brutal Bethesda Restructure
Whilst I kinda thought the writing may be on the wall for Arkane, this really is such a horrible decision and imo mis-management by MS.
I hope the same (or more if im being honest) degree of criticism is levelled at MS as has been levelled at Sony for the recent "controversies".
I seriously think Game Pass is the worst thing to happen to the industry as a whole in many years, and ultimately may be responsible at least in part for this.
Though I agree with what others have said in that GP changes may be coming next.
Re: Sony Doubles Down on Helldivers 2 PSN Requirement by Taking It Off Sale for PC in Numerous Countries
Now all we need is a bit of parity, and for the game to require PS plus subscription to play on PC*
Lol
Re: Sony Doubles Down on Helldivers 2 PSN Requirement by Taking It Off Sale for PC in Numerous Countries
I still think the practice for live service requiring an account (PSN in this case) is fine, and the crowd outraged by this are just being entitled / or are fanboys jumping on the bandwagon (Sony is doing no different to anyone else) - single player games is a totally different thing and you should never need an account with the publisher/developer to play.
Not sure i agree with delisting in countries its already sold in - though i think this has been caused by a pretty silly mistake by Sony not realising the game would be sold in countries PSN isnt available in. Just having the PSN requirement in the T&Cs isnt enough here (ie countries without PSN) - unless a great big red warning came up before purchase.
Re: Talking Point: Have Sony's Third-Party PS5 Deals Made Up for Its Lack of First-Party Games?
"God of War Ragnarok and Horizon Forbidden West are top tier, but their cross-gen status definitely subtracts from their overall prestige. We need to see what the PS5 is really capable of."
I dont actually think the hardware is capable of much more than what we have seen so far - Spiderman games, R&C, GOWR, Horison FW, Demon Souls - are, I think, the pinnacle of what we should expect from the hardware on a technical level (not including PRO of course), and im absolutely fine with that.
Where this gen will fall on its a### and send people to PC World (pun intended) is if developers try to do too much, exceeding either their ability (within their allotted development time), or the hardwares ability, or both, and we get games that are unplayable due to framerates, or have such low resolution they turn into a blurry mess.
Re: Helldivers 2 PC Is Getting Review Bombed Over PSN Requirement
I wonder how many of these outraged review bombing people will still continue to play and enjoy the game.
Its not like Sony is doing anything different to anyone else, whether you consider it right or wrong. Me personally - wrong for a single player game, but i would see it as normal for live service.
Re: Rumour: Resident Evil 9 Reveal and Release Imminent, Out in January
Think after DD2 I will not even bother much with this until either a demo, or Digital Foundry reports on framerate.
Re: Poll: What Review Score Would You Give Stellar Blade?
About half way in, and its a solid 8 so far.
If it botches the ending it will drop to a 7 from my point of view.
Just my opinion, but to list a few games -
I think its better than elden ring, and much better than jedi survivor (which were both overrated in my opinion).
Slightly worse than Lies of P, worse than SM2, and nowhere close to GOWR or Hogwarts Legacy which are my 2 favorite games this gen so far.
I would still say that so far its a very worthwhile purchase and technically very good indeed.
Re: Korea Announces Bold Plan to Buff Nation's Nascent Console Market
@Sequel and others
Was thinking just the same thing - other than Sony 1st party, these 2 games (Lies of P, S Blade) have had some of the best performance mode optimisation / lowest bug counts, in recent memory on PS5 (with the addition of Hogwarts legacy which for open world launched in a really really good state, then framerates were increased significantly beyond 60 in normal performance mode in patches).
Lies of P was one of my best games last year too.
Re: Stellar Blade's PS5 User Score Keeps Getting Higher and Higher
@PapaGlitch
The clarification on woke wasnt needed - i knew what you were getting at - but you put it into words much better than i managed to re those using it to 'push back on social progress' and i completely agree with you.
I saw a few of opinions / comments about how they had gone too far etc - i think i also read this on a review (not pushsquare). But yes, the most vocal has been the over protection of it / using the game as a standard bearer, and i agree with your points.
The main character does nothing for me, and funnily enough i nearly missed out on a decent enough game, because as soon as i saw her my initial thoughts were "so your games not very good, and so you need to do this to try and sell it"!
Re: Stellar Blade's PS5 User Score Keeps Getting Higher and Higher
@PapaGlitch
I really do think that this game has brought out the worst side of gaming.
On one hand you have the people completely outraged at the main character.
I still believe that if you are are claiming this as 'design choice', it would have been better to include a male/female choice with both of the same age/design/build type (its not like male and female fully voiced choices arent present in other games).
But it is an 18+ game. Though i do think their choices dont paint gamers / the industry in the best light.
Taking it to the extreme does full nudity have a place in 18+ gaming... I dont know, but what i do know is that genders should be treated equally and comparable characters are needed, also clear warnings on adverts/media/store pages.
Then on the other hand, you have those that see this game as a standard bearer for the small but vocal minority for which everything is "woke" (a phrase i personally hate seeing used by some like this because i see "woke" as having a positive connotatation), or "censored", or having an agenda. (NB to be clear im not negatively commenting on your use of the word woke.)
The developers were silly to shout about how uncensored the game was, only to then change outfits - but this was silly, not censorship imo.
Im playing at the moment, and ignored both sides of the extremes above, and its a good game - a polished 8/10 for me, but this could drop to a 7 if they dont nail the last half. Its good, and i certainly dont regret the purchase but its no GOWR / SM2 / hogwarts (my opinion).
Re: Stellar Blade's PS5 User Score Keeps Getting Higher and Higher
Reviews - particularly digital foundrys - convinced me to buy this, and it is a good game.
Its not quite worth the inflated metacritic score tho imo.
The main characters 'design choice' does not sell this game to me, but I can see valid opinions on both sides of the argument here.
Pushsquares 8/10 is perfectly reasonable, as is the average critic metacritic.
It really is no GOWR or Spiderman 2. I also much preferred Hogwarts, and slightly preferred Lies of P. But It is a good game and i am enjoying it so far.
Like DF said - very polished, and 2 decent graphics mode choices for 60fps (though balanced needs VRR I do not have an issue with this modes framerate even though i am very framerate sensitive).
Released in a 'finished' state, unlike a number of games this year.
Re: Square Enix Game Cancellations Likely as Publisher Records $140 Million Loss in 'Content Disposal'
@Mikey856
Given all the good things i had heard over many, many years about 7s story (cant remember why i missed the game 1st time around), after playing remake part 1 i just was confused - after talking with friends at the time who had played the original it became clear - all the stuff i enjoyed was from the original, all the stuff i disliked was new/changes.
Re: The Elder Scrolls, Fallout Dev Wants to Shorten Time Between Games
Well i suppose the timeframe between ES6 and ES7 wont be as long as between 5 and 6 then.... but thats hardly an achievement...
Re: Square Enix Game Cancellations Likely as Publisher Records $140 Million Loss in 'Content Disposal'
I can only say as I see, but squenix just doesnt exite me anymore - not like their games used to. Just taking the FF series --
FF15 - loved the 1st half to 2/3 up until they left the area leviathan featured in. Everything after was just a bit grim.
FF7 remake part 1 - having never played the original i bought this day 1 (PS5 version) (and was really looking forwards to it), and it was... ok. Good characters, decent fighting, okish graphics in performance mode (60fps+ is all I can play so no idea about other modes, but this game was nothing exiting at all on the technical front and felt below the curve for a AAA from a big company).
Then there was the story, which i found quite bad and overly convoluted - but i remember discussing with friends and all the stuff i didnt like, was things they changed for the remake.
FF16 - no 60fps lock, so didnt buy.
FF7 remake part 2.... just havn't been bothered with yet. Probably because of the above.
Re: Rise of the Ronin PS5 Sales Beating the Nioh Series
Thank you.
Enjoyed Nioh 2 (not to mention other similar games like DS and Lies of P), so wanted to give this one a go - initial tech reports were promising, but with a bit of patching needed so I decided not to buy yet. Thank you - hopefully they will get this sorted soon.
Re: Rise of the Ronin PS5 Sales Beating the Nioh Series
What is the performance like (in performance mode) on RotR now after the last patch. I still read about framerate drops and stuttering (some say much worse than before), yet others say all this was improved in the last patch?!
I have a VRR TV, but I am very intolerant to framerate pacing issues, stuttering, or drops much below 55fps. I have watched the tech reviews at launch so know graphics and ray trace mode are out, so its just down to how well performance mode performs now after the last patch.
Re: Poll: Are You Playing Stellar Blade?
I recommend turning Film Grain OFF.
(Option was not in demo)
Everything looks 10x better - the level used was very high indeed.
Re: Stellar Blade (PS5) - A Stellar PS5 Debut Destined to Become a Fan Favourite
@NeonPizza
To be fair I think the character is probably verging on the threshold of good taste imo (and probably doesnt do the games industry any real favours), but not to the point of lowering review scores for, and as we and others have said its clear that there was a publicity choice here. I will note I have not seen what outfits are available apart from those in the demo areas / included in reviews/trailers.
That said I can see how a female might find the overtly sexualised lead character to be somewhat distasteful, particularly as it has been used as a selling/publicity point, and there is no similar male alternative. Im not female, so i dont know.
Now, if the game were also to have the choice of a male lead of similar age/style then this becomes more of a design choice across both genders, as opposed to an obvious attempt to garner publicity.
Imo and only from what ive seen, I think some may be going too far with the outrage on this one, but people have different opinions.
That said, for some (including myself) a wholly unrelateable main character can be a very negative point - whatever reason has caused that "unrelateability".
I will note that i enjoyed the demo, and it didnt put me off.
Re: Stellar Blade (PS5) - A Stellar PS5 Debut Destined to Become a Fan Favourite
They really should have had a male/female character choice (others have done fully voiced alternatives).
1. Some people (including myself) just find better immersion from a character who is the same gender as themselves. This is a new character and not one from media after all.
2. I really think that if the male character was of a similar age / physique / style etc it may have dulled down some of the negative press.
But then "contoversy creates cash" to coin a phrase.
Re: Stellar Blade (PS5) - A Stellar PS5 Debut Destined to Become a Fan Favourite
@NEStalgia
Dont know about GOWR - I tend to think of that as an ideal example of where you dont need a huge open world, but it does include some larger content dense areas mostly used for side content. The approach seems to help general pacing, plus all the various discussions between the companions (even if it was atreus talking to himself!), not to mention 80fps average in a fantastic looking game - but then i really liked the games.
Hogwarts on the other hand needed an open world, but they kept their ambition in check (and i loved it).
In terms of stellar blade, from what i have seen, i think they did right by not giving in to include an open world which would probably come with a lot of sacrifices.