Comments 243

Re: Poll: What Did You Think of Sony's State of Play for May 2024?

Shakybeeves

Pleased Where Winds Meet is coming to PS5, the EDGE preview was very positive.
That Ankara game looked interesting.
I actually think let Concord breath a little. I am personally not enamoured by hero shooters, but it looķed to be well produced.
Path of Exile 2 with couch co-op on PS5 looked like a damn Diablo killer!
Astro Bot literally looks like Sony did a Nintendo, it looks so high quality and creative.
Despite these somewhat desultory moments of dopamine, I was dissappointed. First party has gone dark, all the stalwarts are just ominously absent...
One show, some day will bring the exuberance, but I honestly think this won't be until the end of this gen, where the likes of Sucker Punch or Naughty Dog will announce the banger they've been surreptitiously working on all this gen.

Re: Dragon's Dogma 2 Tops an Impressive 3 Million Sales

Shakybeeves

Definitely happy to see it doing well, yet I weirdly enjoyed the first one more, but I think that's the novelty more than anything. I've clocked up 27 hours, explored the first area conprehensively (and therein lies alot of repetition), broke into Battahl illicitly. Built rapport with the Elves and for some reason the spell has worn off. I have faith it will pull me in again, as I haven't fully unwrapped Battahl just yet and am yet to unlock Mystic Spearhand. The latter being one of the main reasons I was so excited for the sequel.

Re: Black Myth: Wukong Still Looks Bananas in New Trailer, Out 20th August on PS5

Shakybeeves

I'm quietly optimistic, I desperately want it to; release when it says it will, be of quality and worth my time. I don't know if it's my age or what, but even Dragon's Dogma 2 which I was really excited for, has left me somewhat deflated after the initial 20 or so hours - the spell has broken. And this seems to happen to me more and more of late. I get more enjoyment going back and playing Fromsoft souls games on repeated runs.

Re: A Lot of PS4 Owners Have Yet to Upgrade to PS5

Shakybeeves

I can understand why, this has definitely been the dullest generation for me...PS3 era we had not one, but two GTA's! Uncharted was introduced which blew me away. COD was great back in this era. Then PS4, just wow...the Witcher 3! Last of Us Part 2, Ghost of Tsushima, Bloodborne, PS4 gen was a staggering era in terms of breadth and quality. PS5 era represents a deafeningly quiet Sony, relying on third parties to bolster their meagre first party schedule. I mostly play PS4 games still, which speaks volumes. It started fairly exciting with Demons Souls remake and Returnal but that magic is non-existent for me now, compounded everytime another remake or remaster is announced from SIE. Where is the innovation and excitement of past generations...

Re: Next Week's Huge PS Plus Purge Now Extended to 35 PS5, PS4 Games

Shakybeeves

@bowzoid yup I had Extra for a year and after the initial dopamine hit wore off, I realised I prefer curating my own collection of games. I only have time for the games that I'm truly passionate about. I did however complete Rift Apart, poured 100hrs into Death Stranding Directors Cut, Platinumed Stray. So all in all I got my monies worth!

Re: More Xbox Layoffs Reportedly Inbound as Company Attempts to Cut Costs

Shakybeeves

Slightly off topic but related, I would personally support 15-20hr AAA from Sony, or repeatable titles in the vein of soulslike/roguelike, same run time and production values (£50 price tag). Aswell as more titles aimed at the high quality AA mark, akin to Returnal. Then give us one deep, monolithic AAA RPG every 5-6 years (£70 price tag). My point is we should accept as a community a more diverse offering, as our current glutton for blockbusters is an unsustainable illusion.

Re: Talking Point: Have Sony's Third-Party PS5 Deals Made Up for Its Lack of First-Party Games?

Shakybeeves

Honestly where are Naughty Dog this gen, it is frustrating that their absence has been compounded by mis-management from Jim and Herman. Once they'd bet money on the Last Of Us GAAS, they should've followed it through, rather than allow the self-righteous, spoilt brats at Bungie to get in the way. The calibre differential between the two studios is far and wide imo. With the strong IP Naughty Dog has, this was basically guaranteed to do well. So now I think they're behind, playing catchup, trying to get a game out of the door. Naughty Dog were genre definining in PS3 days and arguably PS4. Can't wait to see what Santa Monica do with their rumoured new Sci-Fi IP, really excited to see Sucker Punch's next game too, and Sony Bend where's their stuff at! The potential of all these studios is palpably exciting, but at this rate, these releases will either be end of this gen or PS6 😑

Re: Alan Wake 2 Yet to Recoup Dev, Marketing Expenses as Tencent Raises Stake

Shakybeeves

I'm not surprised, the game is very arthouse and a passion project, not necessarily concerned with mass market appeal. Also why no physical copies, ever? I think that also affected the games sales. I've skipped it, despite all the good press, if I postulate on the 'why' for me, even when it comes to a singleplayer game, I'm drawn to RPG's, games I can play multiple times with different builds or that I'll spend a 100hrs in. Alan Wake 2 represents a dying breed of singleplayer title that is 15-20hrs, one and done. That also might've been something to do it, in the world dominated by GAAS, also.

Re: Fallout 4 (PS5) - Timeless Gameplay Loop Stuck in an Outdated RPG

Shakybeeves

Yeh this pretty much sums up why I didn't pick it up again, even at £4. I never enjoyed it particularly at the time, for me, I felt the map and environments did not inspire allure. I look back on Fallout 3 with abundantly more love; Megaton, Ten Penny Tower, Rivet City, amazing game. Something about the atmosphere in 3, just felt, right.

Re: Poll: How Much Do You Care About 60fps on PS5?

Shakybeeves

I prefer 60, but Dragons Dogma 2 has taught me, it's not everything, it's the game that matters. If the game is dog sh1+ but runs at 120fps, you gonna play it? That being said I have a 240hz monitor, HDMI 2.1 and it is a real treat when games run at 120fps, but the only game that has is COD!

Re: Exclusivity Is the Achilles' Heel of Huge Blockbusters, Says Former PlayStation Exec

Shakybeeves

I think Sony are probably pivoting already (behind the scenes) they have already been stoic that day and date subscription release was not the best model, and the plateauing of Microsofts growth with GP, appears to support Sony's conviction on the matter. I don't see Xbox as a brand being part of their strategy to multiplat though. But I think they should pivot to releasing most titles on PS5 and PC in parrallel. They would capture that initial hype, marketing investment and gain way more income than releasing on PC 2-3 years later. The PC community has moved on by that point. Lets say as an example Ronin couldve been PS5 exclusive initially (well known studio with established rep), then something like Stellar Blade which is something of an unknown quantity in the AAA space at least, would've been perfect for dual release PC/PS5 imo. I personally will always go console irrespective of a parrallel release model. Ease of access, lower cost point.

Re: All Three STALKER Games Remastered and Out Now on PS4

Shakybeeves

@GrimWillows yup exactly my feelings, I had a great few hours last night on Shadow of Chornobyl. So immersive, so atmospheric, it feels high stakes. And whilst yes it shows its age, I actually think the lightning and rain effects are pretty damn cool for its time. I've looted and hustled like a boss; I've got the AK, Viper SMG, Double Barrel Shotgun and a Silenced Pistol, got an improved Jacket too. Playing on Veteran difficulty 👌

Re: Elden Ring DLC Reveal Trailer Debuts in Less Than 24 Hours

Shakybeeves

What cool aid did I miss out on, I love From, I've spent 1000's of hours in Bloodborne, Dark Souls and Dark Souls 3. I did not enjoy Elden Ring, I just felt a heavy heart of dissappointment from about Godrick onwards. The open world stripped the friction of challenge and exposed long standing design flaws (repeated boss design as an example). I wish those excited however, an enjoyable time in the DLC.

Re: FromSoftware Now Seemingly Sole Owner of Elden Ring IP

Shakybeeves

Bloodborne is From's Magnum Opus, in my stubborn opinion. If we consider games as art, Borne is the creative peak of From's output. Elden Ring is simply Dark Souls open world and fairly clumsily stitched together at that. Bloodborne is a sublimely coherent world, with a setting and atmosphere, so starkly poignant in comparison to the other titles. I'm playing Borne again at the minute, and honestly, it stands out as the IP most in dire need of a remake/remaster. The frame rate is so choppy and poorly paced. DS1 and DS3 both run at 60fps, it is a real shame their best work (imo) is in such a poor state.

Re: Poll: What Do You Think of the Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth Demo?

Shakybeeves

The combat is immediately gratifying and engaging, similar to how FF16 hooked me in, but I may end up liking this even more, with the mixture of realtime combat and then slow down time commands system. The graphics are meh, some low res texture work and simplistic assets, but great art and music 👌 It's a definitely maybe 😉

Re: Soapbox: This Is Why Physical Games Are Still Important to Me

Shakybeeves

I was an extra option on your poll, predominately I buy physical, whilst grabbing the odd digital deal on the PS Store (the latter maybe 20 -30% of my purchases).
I strongly agree, we should never let physical media die, but we should also demand that the game is playable from disc, even if its an upatched version. Games we purchase shouldn't contain the bulk of the game in a downloadable patch, it should be on the disc! Then we can truly protect ownership and preservation of those titles.

Re: God of War Creator Says Kratos Has Lost His Way

Shakybeeves

He had to evolve with the audience, I played GOW 3 straight after I platinumed 2018 GOW, as I needed more! And whilst I loved it, can you imagine the Snowflake audience reaction to the sex scene, where you have to successfully stimulate a threesome with 2 women, with the required button presses! 🤣