RobN

@Milktastrophe @ShogunRok I definitely DISAGREE that it's difficult to newcomers...at least, that it's more difficult than it was when it was new (or when I started, half a year in or so).

Just play the quests you're given. You won't get access to all the latest and greatest content sometimes while you play the quests you're given as a newbie, but there's a ton to enjoy as you level up, play story quests, hunt for open world treasures, solve open world puzzles, and play the seasonal content that is open to you. Eventually you'll hit a level where any remaining gated content is open.

Meanwhile, you may miss out on some time-limited content that has a level requirement - but you miss out on that if you don't play, anyway, so why let it bother you? There's always another update around the corner with more content. This story about the Jade Chamber won't make sense to you until you've leveled enough to go see the Jade Chamber in the first place - and, eventually (spoiler) see it destroyed, so there's a need to rebuild it. It's been ages since I've seen it myself, so it will be cool if it's rebuilt again!

Now, what can be really confusing when you start is the currency (currencies) around wishes and upgrades. Every character needs unique upgrade material, and there are SO many things to upgrade - you upgrade their main level, their three upgradable skills, their weapon, and their artifacts. Each upgrade requires mora (in-game money) AND some other items - different items for each character/weapon/etc. So especially early on, there's always stuff to go collect, from exploring the world and fighting common enemies or fighting bosses or fighting in domains. Resin is the time-limited resource (you get 1 resin every 8 minutes, with a cap of 160) that you spend to get rewards from boss fights and domains.

So yes - there's a lot, and it can be confusing, BUT I don't think it's any more confusing today than it was when the game was released. There are more characters, and more types of materials to collect, but none of that will matter to you when you're starting and your choices of where to go and which characters you can access are limited. You can figure it out as you go - really, you can.

Nobody should confuse a remaster and a reboot - they're at the opposite ends of a spectrum, with the remake in between.

The confusion between a remaster and a remake comes when you look at how big the changes are, and how they're achieved. If it's just some new higher-resolution assets or streamlining to the code, it's a remaster. If it's new code being written, it's a remake. Generally, if it's a new game engine, then it's probably a remake rather than just a remaster, unless the game engine can mostly run the code from the prior version...though the more they use the original assets, the more it's a remaster.

The confusion between a remake and a reboot comes in how much they tinker with the original. If it's the same characters but a wholly new game that will be unfamiliar to those who played the original, it's clearly a reboot. If it's the original just rebuilt in a new engine, but if you' played the original you'll feel like you're playing it all over again, then it's a remake. But when they tinker with the formula a lot, add in new content or change up the story, it's fair to argue the difference between a remake and a reboot. The more different it is, the closer to a reboot it becomes, though I'd argue a proper reboot requires a reimagining of something - a new version of the characters (like a new Bond actor) or a new plot or setting.

At some point, they're all arbitrary categories.

I'm annoyed that the colors cost extra. Really? Seems like gouging to me.

Give me a good sale on these, maybe in a bundle with the side panels, and you'll have a sale (purple or red? purple or red?). But these prices are ridiculous.

@KippDynamite If it's true that one or more developers were complaining about writing their own blurb for their own game in the blog...they're idiots. YOU WANT THAT CONTROL! You don't want some intern at Sony who spent 30 seconds with your game to write the blurb that's going to try to convince a million people to buy it - YOU want to write that blurb.

But if anybody has to wait 9 months to get responses...that's inexcusable. That simply had to be cleaned up, if it was even slightly true.

Interesting. Fighting large mechanical robots gave me a Horizon vibe, but with better weapons. Maybe that's because my family has Horizon on the brain waiting for Feb to roll around. I'm not usually a multiplayer fan, but PvE might be enough to pull me in.

I get why people are frustrated and wish it was simpler. But think about it for a minute.

Sony treats PS4 and PS5 versions of the same game as different, unique games in almost every single case. That means separate trophy lists, and separate save files. Just like Madden or FIFA 2020 and Madden or FIFA 2021 are different games, the PS4 and PS5 versions of any game are also different.

BECAUSE they're different, the upgrade path can also be different. That's the reason - so Sony and other game developers can charge different amounts for each title, charge an upgrade fee, and so on. But because they're different, Sony can create rules for a whole variety of games that are allowed to upgrade to a "new" title, as they have here. If they'd taken Microsoft's approach, this would be uniquely messy.

Arguably, it means every single upgrade is messy, which isn't necessarily a plus. But, c'mon - if this is your very first upgrade, I understand being confused, but if you've had a PS5 for a year, or even just been following the PS5 news all year, you ought to know how this works already.

I prefer to wait until the next morning to read a recap and then go watch the interesting trailers. Have never actually watched this, and doubt I'll watch it tomorrow night (Thursday Night Football has...somebody, playing somebody).

@Medic_Alert Pretty sure it's a way to try to drive sales of the game - try the Challenger Edition, and buy the main game if you like it.

Generally, I'd rather they give me the base game and sell me the DLC if I like it, but after hearing so many bad things about Godfall when it first came out, I'm probably giving it a hard pass entirely.

I tend not to play online, so if a platinum requires online play to complete, I know before I start a game I'm not going to get the platinum. And I'm okay with that.

There are games I dearly loved, where earning the platinum trophy felt bittersweet because it made it feel like there really was nothing more to do in that game. INfamous was one of my first platinums, and it was like that, even though I ran around hunting down some stupid forgettable collectable, I vaguely remember where the last one was that popped the platinum trophy for me.

But I, too, largely stopped caring about trophies at some point. Maybe when they changed the numbering system, but probably before that. They're a hook to keep you playing, but either they're a compelling hook or they're not, and once they stop being a hook for one game, they tend to be less and less important for all of them.

I suspect getting older is a big part of that, too. You start deciding what YOU like, rather than what someone else wants you to like.

I don't have much of a problem with cosmetic choices being offered for a real-world price, especially when you can spend X to get item Y and it's a simple, honest transaction. It beats the snot out of loot boxes, where you gamble at a CHANCE to get something you want, especially when the thing you're gambling for can change the way you play if you get it. I despise loot box mechanics...even though I play a few games that feature them.

From one perspective, it helps keeps the rest of the game cheaper for those of us who don't want to pay for cosmetics. I'd rather pay less for a game that has cosmetic purchases available than pay more for a game that has no such option - your mileage may vary, but that's part of what's cool about it, is that you can make your choice while I make mine.

So I won't rag on them too hard for this. Buy stuff to play dress-up with your characters if you want. Or don't. Or do what I did and play the trial version of the game, decide it's not your thing, and skip the whole thing.

I want the PS3 Infamous games remastered for PS5 and released alongside a new entry in the series.

Infamous Second Son was disappointing - I can't point to exactly where/how it failed, but it never pulled me in and I never completed it. But the first two were awesome.

I'd give the DualSense controllers an A- at best.

I want to give them an A+ because when everything comes together, it's a stunning experience that's more powerful than you'd expect.

But I got a release-day console and extra controller. Both controllers have been replaced once for drift, and one of the replacements is starting to show signs of drift already. And that's a year in. I never had trouble with drift on the PS3 or PS4, so this feels like a new thing, and it's very disheartening. Now that we're a year out, I probably won't be able to get another free exchange.

Plus, the really cool red one costs an extra $5 for some reason I don't understand, when these are already $10 more than the PS4 controllers. I get why they cost more given all the changes packed inside, but even more money for a color frustrates me.

Sweet. Hadn't started this yet, and had no idea there was a PS5 version. Thanks!

Toying with picking up a Now subscription again next time they're on sale (Black Friday is coming).

While Now never includes day-one games, compared to MS's $10-15/month with no discount for buying a year, I can't believe people don't pay it more attention. I don't know if I should blame Sony's marketing or what, but picking it up on sale just over $3/month (I've seen $40/year sales before) seems like a dang good deal to me.

@frankmcma At this stage, I'd bet that they'll say the PS5 version will automatically use the PS4 version's save files, and a day or two after release they'll have to apologize for not knowing that PS5 editions of games can't read PS4 game saves, and they'll spend another 2 months figuring out how to port your save file.

@Integrity I don't agree. I say, if you're going to save up news for a big reveal presentation, then BRING IT.

Otherwise, giving each of these titles their own blog post (which, to be fair, happened shortly after the SoP on PS's blog site) lets each one elaborate on what you saw in the trailer and spreads the news out so there's always talk of something new around the corner.

Now, that's a choice. Perhaps Sony thinks that a post-of-the-week from each studio promoting their piece doesn't bring in as much attention as a State of Play that pulls them all together - and perhaps you end up paying more attention to a trailer that otherwise you would have never hit Play for. But some of us saying that choice doesn't really seem to pay off isn't entitled or unfair, it's just an opinion.

Personally, I think these same game trailers should have been released over the course of 3-6 weeks on the PS Blog. Then there wouldn't be the negative talk about them failing to live up to a SoP, and Sony could still be promoting the same games.

The next time someone clones Among Us (which itself is an adaptation of Mafia/Werewolf or whatever card-game variation you first encountered) and acts like it's some new, innovative idea...

Well, I can't say what I really feel should happen to them in public, or I'd be justifiably moderated. Like the umpteenth Battle Royale game, I don't want to hear you pretending it's innovative.

It will be on sale for 1/3 or even 1/4 that price by next holiday season. It's not like the games are going to age much (more) in that time. Save your money.

I'm willing to give Saint's Row a shot. I got into it with 3, and had a lot of fun with it ever since. I'm okay with a new cast and a reset that grounds it back in reality a little, so long as it remembers the crazy fun that made it worth playing. They're not going to show all that in early previews.

But I'm not saying I'm not wary. I don't do a lot of day 1 purchases, and this definitely won't be one. I'll wait to see the feedback after it's really, truly out.

I never finished Witcher 3, and not sure picking it up again in the middle will work well...but I'm waiting for the PS5 version all the same.

Picked up 2077 for under $10. Played the opening bits, haven't hit the intro of Johnny yet. Waiting for PS5 version (and hopefully even more bug fixes) before I really jump in.

I've got other stuff to play, I can afford to wait. I'm simply not sure what to expect. Will I still end up with a buggy, broken PS5-native mess whenever it actually DOES release, whether that's early 2022 or after even more delays?

DBrand isn't going to make enough money from the faceplates to fight this in court. They're going to go away with their tail between their legs - maybe barking loudly, but leaving all the same. It's not worth betting their company on a protracted legal battle, even if they're right. We could argue about whether that means the legal system is broken or working as intended, but it's the facts.

What I'm hoping is that Sony is fighting these third parties because they have plans to release their own vanity plates (or sanctioned plates licensed by third-party manufacturers). If that's coming - and at a halfway-decent price - then bring them on already, we're getting close to the 1-year anniversary! Honestly, I was a little shocked that the Horizon Forbidden West reveal didn't include a collector's edition bundle with custom PS5 plates. Maybe they're hoping to hold those for console releases like they did for the PS4, instead of just panel releases??

So much depends on how long outlets will charge list price.

In US prices, the 1TB without a heat sink has a suggested retail of $230, but was available earlier this week for $175. The difference between $230 and $250 is fine for a heat sink - so if I can pick it up for $195, that's not looking bad.

@B_Lindz That makes the most sense to me - something along those lines, anyway. I don't want a tutorial that tells me how I can move my character and move the camera - I might want a controller map, or a tutorial to show me something unique about the mechanics of the game, but please don't assume I've never picked up a controller before.

But for people who, in fact, have never picked up a controller before, give them those tutorials I don't want to sit through. And then make those tutorials available on a menu to call up again later, because they'll forget when they try again a couple days later.

And definitely explain what L3 and R3 mean to the people who are new to modern consoles. Those are the least intuitive controller "buttons" in existence - they can be truly awesome when used well, but they're not obvious even after some explanations for someone who hasn't encountered them before.

I think there's a reasonable balance - and this article isn't really it. Who sits there staring at the screen waiting for a prompt without even TRYING a button or stick to see what happens? Honestly, the games that say "NOW move your character - good! NOW move your camera - congratulations!" I find obnoxious and frustrating.

Now, driving and needing to be told it's R2 and not X, I can kind of get that. I'd try that myself right away (I prefer R2, personally), and if it was something I didn't expect I might be stuck for 10-20 seconds, but I could still figure it out without being told - but while badly losing that first race, obviously.

But there are people who are terrified of computers (and, by extension, consoles) - that they'll break them by doing the wrong thing. Those people might need to be prompted to push the stick around to move their character - and they'll definitely need help the first time or two figuring out L3 and R3!

I think there's a balance, and if a game prompts you for the level of help you want to start with, I think that's ideal. If you assume every player is picking up a controller for the first time, that's obnoxious and will turn off some players - but if you assume it's an old habit for everybody, that's going to turn some people off as well.

I remember when it was more common for Sony to have free trials of games - I think it was late in the PS3 lifespan where one benefit of Plus was that quite a lot of new games had a one-hour free trial (not all of them, but several). You'd download the full game, and the clock would start when you started playing - and pause if you quit, so you could do two 30-minute gaming sessions a few days apart. But it was only an hour - often tough to figure out how much you like a game when you only get an hour, especially if it has tutorials and cut-scenes that eat up a lot of that hour.

But acting like this is some revolutionary new concept seems odd, since it's in many ways a less-friendly variation of what they used to do more often.

I really loved the first few - the one where you're sick with malaria for the whole game was one of the most interesting in the series. The early ones were ambitious and unusual, until they established the formula that the rest are just repeating. Still liked them.

I skipped the last one. Twisting religion into a cult so you can go shoot all the religious people just didn't feel like a good take to me. Tried it on a free weekend, and it had a fun opening, but I was having too much trouble getting over the cultist taking things I believe in as good things and twisting them into evil - I'd rather games stay out of religion, personally, unless they make it super-fictional. By comparison, I had no real problem with Hades.

@Rocky1972 I think it took 4-5 years to add folders to the PS4 (they were in the PS3), so I figure we've got at least a couple more years to go folder-less.

@Jayofmaya Genshin can be fun to play with other people, too - your four-character active limit gets cut down by the number of people you play with, so if you play with one person you only have two - but then THEY have two (which can include characters you don't have), and one of yours and one of theirs is on the field at the same time, so you can have twice the firepower (or dramatically more, from your perspective, if the other player is higher level). For what it is, it's a pretty impressive game - interesting fighting mechanics, decent story, and constant new content to try to keep you hooked.

It's not broken on my PS4 - first time I've really wanted remote play from my PS4 to my PS5. I can't play much on the phone - it works (and you can connect accounts so you can play the same account on PC, phone, or Playstation now), but I can't handle the controls without a controller. In a pinch I can do some of the daily tasks that don't involve much fighting.

Update - looks like the firmware update broke the integration with Genshin Impact - can not log in to play from my PS5. It was fine yesterday, and works on my phone (linked accounts).

Don't judge me, my kids got me hooked.

UPDATE: Apparently a game-specific problem, also reported by users who have NOT applied the firmware update (according to Twitter). PS4 version works, including on the PS5 running in backwards compat, if you have the bandwidth/space to download it. Note that the default control scheme for the PS4 and PS5 are DIFFERENT, so you may want to remap things before you get into any fights.

@kingbreww On the plus side, my Sony Bravia TV got a VRR update yesterday, so Sony is figuring it out.

No, VRR still isn't there on the PS5 menu after this update even when I enable it on the TV.

Played it on PC until I got stuck, and I can see what the argument is here. I saw a very similar review on a different site, with much the same argument.

To paraphrase - it's less that the combat didn't age well, and more that the combat wasn't awesome when it was new, but the story and mood was worth the slog. Now that story and mood are done better in more and more games, the slog is harder to justify now than it was then.

I'm still going to get it on sale for the PS5 and slog through it there at some point. What I saw on PC was pretty and interesting (AND frustrating), and I expect it will be better on my PS5 (which has significantly more power than my once-upon-a-time gaming laptop). I'll just temper my expectations, so I know the slog is coming.

Folders were introduced on the PS3, not the PS4 - though it's true that the PS4 was out for years before it got folders.

Seems like Sony is repeating the same mistakes. I suppose you could argue that the PS4 was such a success that leaving out folder support wasn't a mistake, but you'd be wrong.

I'd actually like to suggest something mildly different this generation - tags. Let us create our own tags, and apply them to games, and then filter based on tags. It would be like folders, except any game could have multiple tags (and thus be in multiple "folders" simultaneously). It's not difficult to implement, though it might require a tiny bit more storage to track.

That all assumes Sony wants to let us organize our own games our own way. That seems like a no-brainer to me, but apparently not.

@eltomo PS5 owners already had one of the PS4 games, so that's hardly "winning."

A lot depends on how much you like the idea of Hell Let Loose or golf. I might give the golf game a shot and see if it's up to par, but Hell Let Loose isn't my kind of game. I'm all about the campaign over the multiplayer, personally.

I love what Insomniac has done with Spider-Man and Miles Moralis, and I think Sony is capable of making some great games. But I'd hate to see them put all their eggs in one basket.

So I'm going to say yes - do a really good Ant-Man, where the perspective shifts as you change sizes are as radical (or more radical) than Ratchet and Clank switching worlds, and maybe pick another from the list where there's a gameplay element to explore and a story to tell that wouldn't work as well on another platform.

But don't become the Marvel platform to the detriment of everything else. I want games like Last Guardian (which, though I bought it when I got my PS4 a year or two after launch, I'm just now finally starting), too. There are so many other great things on Playstation, I'd hate to see it become one-dimensional with an over-reliance on superhero games - be flexible, support variety. You can't do that if you tie up all your studios making Marvel games.

I picked it up about the time the 1.3 patch came out, when it was on sale for $20 for a day (and I had a $10 off code, so it was half that...and I got it used, because if any game deserves to be bought used it's this one, so it was really $7).

I've installed it and played the very early opening - nothing to brag about, but not awful. I'm waiting for the PS5 version before I dive in.

@Max_the_German "If move the power button in the Control Centre to the leftmost position, I can faster switch off my PS5 by pressing PS-X-X?"

Not necessarily, because another improvement (I think it's a change) is that the popup menu no longer always starts you at the left-most item, but at the most-recently-used item. So if you never ever use anything in that menu, then yes, I think that will work. But the first time you scroll left or right to turn off your controller or use anything else in the menu, the NEXT time you'll start where you were the last time.

@Woogy "Just pay Dolby for Atmos."

It's not that simple. If the dev doesn't do the work to use 3d audio, then WHICH 3d audio engine is used is irrelevant. No matter which engine, software doesn't just magically decide to make sound appear to come from above or behind - it uses the information provided by the game (or movie) that says the audio is supposed to come from there to trick you into hearing it - using 5.1 or 7.1 or 5.1.2/7.1.2 speakers if you have a "real" surround sound setup, or stereo speakers if you don't. But it's still about tricking you based on information provided by the game. If the devs don't put that info in, there's no way to know that footstep is supposed to be behind you or in front of you just from the stereo input.

Bottom line - the devs need to put in the work. Since surround sound was supported in games back on the PS3, some have been putting in that work all along, and this is just another generation. But the work still needs to be done - slapping an "Atmos" logo on it won't be enough.

@twitchtvpat It was billed as an event "About the future of PS5" - while that obviously could mean games, there's no reason to think it was limited to game trailers.

@Old-Red I'm going to stop calling Microsoft Micro$oft, and start calling Sony $ony.

This generation, despite the amazing first-party titles $ony has in the works and the superior (dare I say game-changing?) controller, it's clear which company is offering a better deal and experience for their users. And these are all self-inflicted wounds by management, not failures by developers or studios or hardware engineers.

I'm hoping the rumors - only rumors - that Alan Wake might be a Plus title end up being true. I own it on PC, played partway through until I got stuck, and might just pick it up on PS5 to give another go. If it's a Plus title, I'm definitely diving in.

How much do you really expect for an upgrade from a PS3 game?

Credit where credit is due to Rockstar for making a game people still care about years later - not many developers can say that.

I don't understand why anyone was expecting a ground-up rewrite, though - why would they invest that kind of time? Of COURSE they're just going to tweak the same engine, maybe incorporate some new API calls, and leverage their existing code - they have to retain compatibility with their online servers and people playing on PC, right?

I'm so torn.

There was some good stuff there. I'm hyped about Project Eve now, which wasn't really on my radar before.

And I loved Spider-Man and Miles Moralis, so while I'm worried that working on TWO games at once could affect the timing and quality, I'm hopeful that I'll enjoy them both. But we're talking a serious wait - Spider-Man 2 (2023, assuming that holds) and Wolverine (no release date at all - I'm guessing 2025 is the earliest we could hope for).

I don't get the hate on God of War Ragnarok. Yes, it looks similar to the last one - which is AWESOME, because the last one was enjoyable and looked good, and hopefully this one will be even more polished. Remember zero actual loading screens between levels/worlds in the last game? I'm looking forward to shorter elevator rides and tricks to hide the loading!

Personally, I hate Gran Turismo because I think car racing on a gaming console should be a GAME - I don't want "ultra realism" when I can't actually feel the acceleration pushing me back in my seat, or the momentum shift as wheels lose their grip, but I'm not going to hate on a trailer for a game I know has a lot of fans. It looks like they're going to do a great job for fans of that series, so good for them. Meh from me.

But pimping Deathloop, again? Sheesh. Give it a rest, Sony. Did y'all bet the company on that game? Sure feels like it.

And so much time spent on so many multiplatform titles...I was getting so discouraged. They totally should have sprinkled first-party reveals through, instead of saving them all for the end. Heck, open with Ragnarok and tease the interview at the end to keep fans watching!

No news about the PS5 itself - no comments on the storage, no comments on new firmware advances (folders, anybody, please? It's the PS4 all over again - I don't want to wait four years for folders AGAIN). The "news" was definitely light, and I only hope it's about keeping secrets and managing expectations, and not that this is all they got.

@BoldAndBrash None of the Spider-Man movies had realistic physics, why would you expect the games to have it?

I was interested in this and gave it a try (I think both in a beta and again after it was free), but he was right - there were issues with lag and connectivity early on, and while I found it interesting I just didn't stick with it.

I remember Sony hyped the heck out of it for months leading up to the release, and maybe for a little while after, but they seem to make decisions early on after release, and it showed. I remember the promotion dropped to nothing for this, and they Sony hype engine moved on to the next big thing they were pushing.

Looks like a 2D presentation, from the side? Does that hold through the entire game, or are there top-down views or any 3D pieces as well? Are all the obstacles stationary, or is there some movement out there?

I'm not expecting Tiger Woods, just trying to sort out what this is really like.

@NEStalgia "They're almost literally telling people that have a PS4 but might in the future buy a PS5 to not buy this game."

Good point. I have both (though the PS4 doesn't get as much use these days), and I'm torn between buying the PS5 edition or spending another extra $10 to be able to play on both consoles.

If it wasn't coming out two days before my kid's birthday - the kid who LOVES Horizon Zero Dawn and has been drooling over this game for months - I'd just wait for Black Friday and get the ultimate super-duper GotY edition that supports both consoles for $20-40. But since I'm looking at a release day purchase, I've got to some decisions to make. It shouldn't be this complicated - and if I didn't have my PS5, I'd be MORE upset at this complexity and at having to spend an extra $20 now for the chance to upgrade to the PS5 version at a reasonable price, later. It's not great for those of us with the PS5, but it's a particularly awful thing to do to the PS4 community (especially those who have spent a year trying to get the PS5).

@oconnoclast Except there is something preventing third parties from doing that on Playstation. The PS4 and PS5 versions of a game usually are not allowed to see each other's data. That is only JUST NOW starting to change, with recent updates to the console. At launch, it was simply impossible - and even now, it's not seamless, it's just simple (which is good enough for me, but not as good as the options MS offers).

When I saw the PS5 had standard expandable memory (m2 slot) while the XBox Series had proprietary plugin memory, I thought "Wow, Sony finally figured it out and really IS putting customers first this generation!"

Then I see how Sony prices their games and releases them. Dang. So much for THAT theory.

Game Pass is overhyped - I think they must give it away to all the journalists, because while it's pretty good, it's not quite the amazing deal that every journalist hypes it up to be. But that's hardly the only place where the other side is getting it more right this time. It's starting to look like I should stop using Micro$oft and start using $ony.

@Floki I loved the first two Infamous games, but didn't really get into Second Son. It just felt too...cartoony? I fell out of it early and never went back.

Which is sad, because the first two were among my favorite PS3 games of all time, and as I talk about it I'm thinking of firing it up to go play them again. I do wish they'd resurrect that series. Heck, I'd buy a remake of the first two, rebuilt for the PS5, because I'm a sucker.

@Milktastrophe Good point - bare minimum, you may need to play for a week to get to a level high enough to get Aloy in the first place. And then you'll need to play more than that to get access to the drops to level her up to your current max (varies by level).

So don't wait for September - if you're interested and haven't started, jump in now.

My kid and I are gathering materials this week (and last week, too) so we can level her up quickly. Probably still won't be able to level her high enough to survive for long right away, but ought to be able to get a good feel for her and her new bow. Leveling new characters kind of IS the game at some point, at least once you clear all the story quests (of which there are plenty to keep you busy if you're just diving in).

More (though very little) gameplay of Aloy in Genshin Impact, along with a teaser of an in-game "concert."

I know, but Genshin Impact is a guilty pleasure - and something I can play with one of my kids who is hooked on it.