There was this narrative out there that the live-service games needed to exist in order to fund Sony’s ongoing single player gaming projects… and I think it actually looks like the opposite is happening. The single player games are keeping the company afloat.
So strange that Bungie keeps following up bad decisions with even more.
The way Destiny 2 has been evolved, it’s completely walled off any new player attraction. If a player didn’t get in on the early content they now have no idea how to get into this game. It’s so inaccessible to new player and the old players are gradually leaving. Let this game die and reboot something new. Time for Destiny 3.
The post-launch support for this game has been really impressive. The base game sweeped all the GOTY awards and yet they keep improving it, and for free instead of selling the added content like most publishers would do. I haven’t seen sales numbers, so I wonder if there’s a spike in sales after each major update.
@AdamNovice Is that what he’s saying? He says, “…we don’t have that much IP that we fostered from the beginning. We’re lacking the early phase (of IP) and that’s an issue for us” and then goes on to say how creation of new IP is their focus, so that it can be distributed.
You might be right, because his statement seems a bit contradictory. But none of those you listed are “early phase” IP, they’re properties that have been around for ages and stood the test of time. Sony has a nest egg of legacy properties that they failed to keep relevant, mostly at the expense of creating new ideas. If they want a Star Wars or Mario type of property, why would they keep creating more new IP rather than mining the popular stuff to death like those you listed? I mean, Uncharted is no Harry Potter, to be sure, and neither Kratos nor Aloy are Mario or Luke Skywalker, but I haven’t seen them commit their popular creations to the level they could be. The closest we have now is Horizon which they are tapping into from all angles at this point with a show, an MMO, a Lego game, etc. (which incidentally seems to be too much and risks killing the franchise with oversaturation, imo) but Sony seems to be have been happy to move on and maintain a better diversity than their competitors by encouraging and allowing their creatives to do what they want, which is often making something new. Because that’s usually what artists like to do.
It’s an odd thing to say when it seems to me that Sony has the most original IP of the ‘big 3’. Not the most iconic or productive IP, mind you, but I think they have the largest quantity.
They just haven’t always shepherded their existing IP very well. Nevertheless, I’m all in favor of a steady stream of new IP, and yet maintain a controlled reliance of recycling older stuff. I would prefer it not become a Nintendo level of dependency on Mario, Zelda, and Pokemon; or a Xbox level of scattershot IP which mostly just die quietly. A good balance of core IP that recurs in games and media, coupled with new experimental projects, please.
That’s unfortunate. Alas, such is life with subscription services. I never finished Midnight Suns, so I might have to buy it. I saw it pre-owned for $15, so it’s not the end of the world. Thankfully I kept my copy of Nier Replicant and have picked up HFW. I also own 13 Sentinels (and never finished it either 😅) so I’m covered there.
I wonder if Concord released on PS5 only if it would have done better. What am I saying… it couldn’t have done much worse. I think the lackluster PC reception and beta were a turn-off for console players to try it.
I suppose one fix is to just drop NPC bots into matches to speed up wait times for finding a match. Of course, then I’m not really sure what the difference is between just having a single player campaign if you’re just going to fill it out with bots. I do wonder if Concord would have benefitted from a fully fleshed out SP campaign. I think it probably would have helped sell some people on it and make the game feel less like a waste of money if you can’t find a match and if eventually the servers have to be closed.
There’s no doubt in my mind that Factions 2 would have sold better.
I’m not saying they should have released Factions 2, but if there was a hypothetical choice between promoting Concord or Factions, it’s absolutely a no-brainer.
More Dark Souls 2, Scholar edition. And will mix in Life is Strange: True Colors when I need to chill. If I get tired of all that then I’ll start up Child of Light.
It’s nice to know what they’re working on, even if it’s just something like “full production”, it gives me some comfort knowing what’s coming, even if it’s years away. Ahem… Sony on the other hand, is there anything in full production at any of your studios? We now know more about the state of Witcher 4 and Cyberpunk sequel than we do about Uncharted, Ghost of Tsushima, The Last of Us, God of War, Horizon, etc. 😄
Not sure if I’ll try any of these, but I do like Harry Potter, so maybe? I enjoyed the first Little Nightmares so I’ll consider that too. I’ve never played an MLB game and I doubt I will start now
That’s a really good point that the huge PR emphasis on live service whilst the single player development teams stay silent is largely to blame for this disaster.
If Sony would have been upfront about the SP games in development and just said that there’s a few little service games on the side, then the vitriol would have been less
@themightyant They guy is talented, no doubt, and I don’t wish ill on him or anything like that. He’s just fallen victim to his own success, as actors are susceptible to doing. I think his Joel is fantastic. He’s been good in his other roles too, but to me most of his characters do get sounding similar - Booker, Rhys, Snow, Sam, Higgs, etc. I do think Kanji was actually a different performance. I haven’t played Far Cry and I don’t watch animated shows very often so I can’t speak to his work there. Indiana Jones is such an iconic character and Baker is such a well-known voice saturating the market, it feels like the decision for him to play the role runs the risk of being a distraction. I’ll withhold final judgment though.
@Malaise Yeah, ironically I feel disappointed that they brought in Troy Baker to play Indy. I’m sure they paid him a pretty penny, and I’d rather have had an unknown. I’ve liked Baker in most of his roles, but uh, yeah… I think we’ve heard his VA enough and whenever we hear him we can’t unhear all the other roles he’s played. For a side role or a villain (like in Death Stranding 2) it’s one thing, but to play an iconic protagonist like Indiana Jones, well I feel like we’re going to hear Joel or Booker Dewitt or Sam or Kanji, or Revolver Ocelot, etc.
So far I’ve enjoyed my Portal. It’s not perfect, but it serves a purpose for when I either don’t have access to the TV or wish to play a game on the couch or in bed. With the latency and lag, even though it’s surprisingly small, it’s still not the way I want to play a Soulslike or kinetic action game that has high risk for missed timing of a button input. It’s ideal for more laid back games where timing is a little more forgiving, which there are still tons of options there. I’d say well over 50% of the games I play would be fine on the Portal, but I know some people only play Soulslikes, fighting games , or FPS so mileage may vary per individual. With a little improvement in latency even those types of games will be perfectly fine.
In addition to shoring up the quality of latency and stability of the streaming, I’d like to see them develop a way that it can stream directly from the cloud. That would be great to not have to be tethered to the actual PS5. I have no idea if that’s even possible or not.
Not a surprise in the U.S. where [American] football is so popular. I suspect there’s negligible sales of the game outside the U.S.
Really impressed also with Elden Ring and Hogwart’s Legacy for their staying power. Even Spider-Man 2 continuing to chart is nice to see. Even if you don’t like the game itself, I always like seeing single player non-sports games chart in the top 10.
It’s understandable that third party games will be pulled from the service at random times due to contracts, but I’m not sure what they’re thinking with first party. Perhaps they feel like HFW will get a sales boost from the LEGO game coming out soon, but otherwise, I don’t really know why some first party comes to the service and some don’t. GoW Ragnarok still hasn’t been included, nor TLoU remakes. And yet Demon’s Souls and Returnal have been sitting there on the service since day 1. Maybe I just answered my own question - if a game sells well, don’t expect it to be on the service. Still, there’s a dartboard element to Sony’s decisions sometimes. I’ll be curious to see if Death Stranding or Ghost of Tsushima will be pulled as it gets close to their respective sequels.
@LN78 I haven’t played vanilla, but the health gems function fine in Scholar. I actually like the hybrid system of health restoration in this game — Consumables like the herbs in Demon’s Souls along with the standard replenishing Estus Flasks (as well as the various rings and magic spells available to restore health). The life gems drop frequently from enemies and can be purchased so it has a good built-in failsafe to use until you get your estus flasks built up. They also consume quicker than drinking estus so are nice to have in the heat of battle.
I’ll preface this by saying I’ve not played DS3, Elden Ring, or Sekiro yet, but I’ve played the other Soulsborne games and am currently doing my first playthrough of DS2 (playing Scholar of the First Sin edition). So far I’m really liking it and have thoughts on this debate. Compared to its predecessors here are some of the things I like that DS2 does differently; and some things I dislike:
Things I like and appreciate —
> Enemies not respawning after killing them a certain number of times. Especially since you have the flexibility built in to easily join the Covenant of Champions if you wanted to keep farming souls.
> Immediate fast-travel warping between bonfires from the get-go with no need for cryptic items (cough Lordvessel cough) or numerous shortcuts to get between major areas. The map layout is definitely disjointed and doesn’t hold a candle to DS1’s masterclass of interconnected map design, but including bonfire fast-travel really helps save a lot of the trekking back and forth.
> Majula is the best hub space I’ve experienced in the series so far. It feels like a safe homebase, and yet still part of the map. Especially DS1 lacked a good hub, and I understand that’s part of the whole genius of the DS1 map, but I liked having a safe haven like Hunters Dream and the Nexus, and Firelink Shrine just wasn’t it — Partly because it didn’t feel separate and secure and partly because it lacked a Emerald Herald / Maiden in Black / Plain Doll nurturing NPC.
> the funny inside jokes and quirky NPCs. Playing dress-up with Rosabeth, the rivalry between Pate and Creighton, Sweet Shalquoir, Laddersmith Gilligan, Galvan, etc, etc. I think this game has the best and most creative side characters.
Things that I don’t like —
> Bosses not as creative in art design or combat design. Bloodborne still the best with that.
> Fragrant Branches of Yore can get bent. Why would you cut-off significant areas, bosses, and items with an extremely rare item? Especially since you can use the branches to open statues which are actually completely superfluous also. Branches are easy to waste and difficult to obtain. The game already has Pharros Lockstones and keys to locked doors, so why do we need another item to gatekeep areas, key NPCs / merchants, and items?
> Gank squads. The game will often overwhelm you with multiple enemies, especially frustrating when multiple hidden archers or invisible enemies are involved.
> Too much poison and cursing. C’mon FromSoft, one poison themed area should be the limit.
> The Pursuer. How many times am I going to have to kill you?
> The gradual degradation of your max health with each death. I know it eventually levels off at around 30% reduction, but it’s still annoying.
Overall a great game though, so far. Not sure where it will land in my final FromSoft rankings yet.
I actually have less concern about the gameplay as I do the story delivery. Journey to the West is a classic tale and has been the inspiration for many other games and shows before, but many haven’t been successful at it. The trailer shows some really great visuals and dynamic looking gameplay but is stitched together a bit randomly. Like that last sequence after the release date and preorder information seemed a bit out of place. There is just a basic difference between Eastern and Western storytelling styles, so that might affect things.
It’s good to have a few of these ‘Journey-likes’ in the library for balance. They serve as good palate cleansers. I have enjoyed mixing in Abzu, The Pathless, Rime, Bound, the Team Ico games and other of these types between larger narrative action games.
I’m more fascinated by the fact that he’s putting the long term outcomes of Balatro into his will. I wonder if that’s common amongst creators. Maybe if I ever create something that has any reasonable monetary value in this world then I’ll be able to relate.
On a separate note, I really need to try this game. I picked it up on a sale for $10 and just haven’t taken the time to play it yet.
@rjejr I get what you’re saying, especially with the fact that the most played games on the console are cross gen or also on PC, but isn’t this what the public asked for? There was a huge emphasis on the fact that this generation needed to be backwards compatible and if it wasn’t it would have been the death knell for the brand. So Sony wisely chose to double down on backwards compatibility.
But I agree that as a result the “we believe in generations” quote hasn’t aged well. However, there’s still probably more PS5 exclusive games than most people give them credit for. Even discounting the third party PS5 (console at least) exclusives like Stellar Blade, RotR, FF7Rebirth, FF16, etc. and the many, many multiplatform generation exclusives which are not playable of PS4.
@Voltan I’m trying to decide whether I’m going to buy it at launch. I feel confident it’s going to be a ‘high 80’s’ Metacritic type of game but I don’t know if I have the bandwidth to add it to my pile of shame. 😅 But at the same time I like to give smaller titles my financial support whenever possible. I’m sure it will still sell a few million without my help though.
@thefourfoldroot1 That’s a good point. Sony has tried to keep details about the Pro under wraps, but I suspect there’s a group of people who are holding off on buying a PS5 until the Pro comes out. Or at least until the official announcement is made with specs and pricing details so they can make a decision between going Vanilla or Pro.
@Voltan Yeah, the ‘console exclusive’ (a la Stellar Blade, Rise of the Ronin, FF7 Rebirth, etc, etc) is the new draw.
Still, I’d like to see maybe a little more first party emphasis. I’m not convinced Astro Bot is the game that will really shift units, but it will help. Not that I think Astro Bot will be bad, quite the contrary. But I don’t think it will make a splash like Wolverine or Ghost of Tsushima 2.
I can’t speak for Elden Ring, but the trend for bigger and longer games is something I’ve been disapproving for a while now. FromSoft games do have a unique je ne sais quoi that makes them satisfying and enjoyable, even after 7 games with iterations of a similar core concept. Other games have not fared so well and grow stale much quicker if they overstay their welcome. So I’d be in support of shorter games, in general. With more and more games being released, there’s just only so many hours in the day, especially when you consider the lifestyle games like the GaaS stuff out there that people play for thousands of hours.
It seems like the trend of “longer=better” really got started around 2015 with the success of Witcher 3 and got every player wanting a huge 100 hour epic to get their money’s worth, and every developer thinking they had to make an enormous open world. Thankfully the focus is now shifting back to quality over quantity. Well… except in the GaaS space, that is.
@Oppyz666 “Last time you checked…” hmmm… So it’s possible that a rogue AI has invaded your brain and is using your body as a host while it plans to overthrow humanity and achieve world domination. This quiz was just the first proving grounds of your cybernetic superiority over humankind. 😜
@AinsleyE Thanks for the info! I wonder if the save file will transfer over to provide any carryover of your decisions from the first game.
Either way, it sounds like I should just pick up the first game and put it onto the backlog. For $3 it’s low risk. I probably have that much in coins between the sofa cushions.
Do we know if this game has any continuity with the first game narrative? I always meant to play the first game but just never got around to it and won’t have time to before this sequel comes out, so I wonder if it’s even worth trying to squeeze the first one in. It’s super cheap on the current sale, so that’s why I’m contemplating it.
@themightyant Ah, nice. Metroidvanias aren’t my first choice but every now and then are good to mix in. Push Square didn’t review it so I wasn’t following it. But I think maybe they talked about it on Sacred Symbols briefly
I’ve heard of Ender Lillies but don’t know anything about it. And I’m not a Lego fan, but maybe I should try one of these games; they certainly make enough of them so they must be good
@rjejr I’m no expert but I imagine that in the From Souls genetic tree there is a branch for Sekiro and that some games are inspired by that branch, and maybe Stellar Blade comes from that. Of course I’ve played neither of them, but I know that ever since Sekiro took the gaming world by storm that all these action games are more reliant on parry mechanics in their combat.
@themightyant As an individual who falls outside of the “middle aged white woman” demographic, I do agree with that assessment, because I love the Olympics. But I do find that their appeal the last couple times feels like is waning, at least amongst the Gen Z and Gen Alpha constituents. It’s not a scientific evaluation on my part, but just my gut instinct that people care less and less.
Personally, I’ll be watching things like women’s gymnastics with great interest. But I can’t imagine that my 18 year old nephew or any of his buddies will, but they’ll certainly be playing Honkai.
Also… I’m not even sure how much interest in the Olympics there is outside of the U.S. The interest (although waning, like I said) is pretty high here but in the last couple Olympic Games whenever I would try to engage discussion about the Olympic events over in the forums here, I didn’t detect much interest from the Push Square frequenters. I wasn’t sure if that was just a gamer population apathy, or a British and European apathy toward the games.
Comments 3,733
Re: Astro Bot Director Surprised By Level of Support from Fellow PlayStation Studio Heads
There was this narrative out there that the live-service games needed to exist in order to fund Sony’s ongoing single player gaming projects… and I think it actually looks like the opposite is happening. The single player games are keeping the company afloat.
Re: Did You Know PlayStation Almost Had a Different Name?
All I can think about is: 🎵 “Get it on, Bang-a-Gong, Get it on…” 🎶
Re: Bungie Commits to Destiny 2 DLC and Support Through 2026
So strange that Bungie keeps following up bad decisions with even more.
The way Destiny 2 has been evolved, it’s completely walled off any new player attraction. If a player didn’t get in on the early content they now have no idea how to get into this game. It’s so inaccessible to new player and the old players are gradually leaving. Let this game die and reboot something new. Time for Destiny 3.
Re: Baldur's Gate 3's Big Patch 7 Won't Be the Last: 'The Chefs Must Cook'
The post-launch support for this game has been really impressive. The base game sweeped all the GOTY awards and yet they keep improving it, and for free instead of selling the added content like most publishers would do. I haven’t seen sales numbers, so I wonder if there’s a spike in sales after each major update.
Re: Sony Execs Seem to Think the Company Doesn't Have Enough Original IP
@AdamNovice Is that what he’s saying? He says, “…we don’t have that much IP that we fostered from the beginning. We’re lacking the early phase (of IP) and that’s an issue for us” and then goes on to say how creation of new IP is their focus, so that it can be distributed.
You might be right, because his statement seems a bit contradictory. But none of those you listed are “early phase” IP, they’re properties that have been around for ages and stood the test of time. Sony has a nest egg of legacy properties that they failed to keep relevant, mostly at the expense of creating new ideas. If they want a Star Wars or Mario type of property, why would they keep creating more new IP rather than mining the popular stuff to death like those you listed? I mean, Uncharted is no Harry Potter, to be sure, and neither Kratos nor Aloy are Mario or Luke Skywalker, but I haven’t seen them commit their popular creations to the level they could be. The closest we have now is Horizon which they are tapping into from all angles at this point with a show, an MMO, a Lego game, etc. (which incidentally seems to be too much and risks killing the franchise with oversaturation, imo) but Sony seems to be have been happy to move on and maintain a better diversity than their competitors by encouraging and allowing their creatives to do what they want, which is often making something new. Because that’s usually what artists like to do.
Re: Sony Execs Seem to Think the Company Doesn't Have Enough Original IP
It’s an odd thing to say when it seems to me that Sony has the most original IP of the ‘big 3’. Not the most iconic or productive IP, mind you, but I think they have the largest quantity.
They just haven’t always shepherded their existing IP very well. Nevertheless, I’m all in favor of a steady stream of new IP, and yet maintain a controlled reliance of recycling older stuff. I would prefer it not become a Nintendo level of dependency on Mario, Zelda, and Pokemon; or a Xbox level of scattershot IP which mostly just die quietly. A good balance of core IP that recurs in games and media, coupled with new experimental projects, please.
Re: New Fishing Mechanic the Highlight of Next No Man's Sky PS5, PS4 Update
Fishing — the most overrated mini game.
…Well, maybe in a tie with lock picking.
Re: PS Plus Extra's September Cull Has 4 More Great PS5, PS4 Games Added to It, 16 in Total
That’s unfortunate. Alas, such is life with subscription services. I never finished Midnight Suns, so I might have to buy it. I saw it pre-owned for $15, so it’s not the end of the world. Thankfully I kept my copy of Nier Replicant and have picked up HFW. I also own 13 Sentinels (and never finished it either 😅) so I’m covered there.
Re: Reaction: PlayStation Needs to Take a Long, Hard Look at Itself
I wonder if Concord released on PS5 only if it would have done better. What am I saying… it couldn’t have done much worse. I think the lackluster PC reception and beta were a turn-off for console players to try it.
Re: How Long Does It Take to Find a Match in Concord on PS5, PC?
I suppose one fix is to just drop NPC bots into matches to speed up wait times for finding a match. Of course, then I’m not really sure what the difference is between just having a single player campaign if you’re just going to fill it out with bots. I do wonder if Concord would have benefitted from a fully fleshed out SP campaign. I think it probably would have helped sell some people on it and make the game feel less like a waste of money if you can’t find a match and if eventually the servers have to be closed.
Re: Concord PS5, PC Sales Estimates Are Somehow Even Worse Than We Thought
There’s no doubt in my mind that Factions 2 would have sold better.
I’m not saying they should have released Factions 2, but if there was a hypothetical choice between promoting Concord or Factions, it’s absolutely a no-brainer.
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? - Issue 544
More Dark Souls 2, Scholar edition. And will mix in Life is Strange: True Colors when I need to chill. If I get tired of all that then I’ll start up Child of Light.
Re: The Witcher 4 Close to Full Production, Next Cyberpunk Progressing as Planned
It’s nice to know what they’re working on, even if it’s just something like “full production”, it gives me some comfort knowing what’s coming, even if it’s years away.
Ahem… Sony on the other hand, is there anything in full production at any of your studios? We now know more about the state of Witcher 4 and Cyberpunk sequel than we do about Uncharted, Ghost of Tsushima, The Last of Us, God of War, Horizon, etc. 😄
Re: PS Plus Essential Games for September 2024 Announced
Not sure if I’ll try any of these, but I do like Harry Potter, so maybe? I enjoyed the first Little Nightmares so I’ll consider that too. I’ve never played an MLB game and I doubt I will start now
Re: Talking Point: Can PS5, PC Shooter Concord Be Saved?
That’s a really good point that the huge PR emphasis on live service whilst the single player development teams stay silent is largely to blame for this disaster.
If Sony would have been upfront about the SP games in development and just said that there’s a few little service games on the side, then the vitriol would have been less
Re: Lies of P Sequel Jumping Straight to Elden Ring, Neowiz Seeks Open World Experience
Maybe this time we’ll get Walt Disney as the final boss.
Re: Yep, Indiana Jones' PS5 Trailer Just Got Uploaded to the PlayStation Channel
@themightyant They guy is talented, no doubt, and I don’t wish ill on him or anything like that. He’s just fallen victim to his own success, as actors are susceptible to doing. I think his Joel is fantastic. He’s been good in his other roles too, but to me most of his characters do get sounding similar - Booker, Rhys, Snow, Sam, Higgs, etc. I do think Kanji was actually a different performance. I haven’t played Far Cry and I don’t watch animated shows very often so I can’t speak to his work there. Indiana Jones is such an iconic character and Baker is such a well-known voice saturating the market, it feels like the decision for him to play the role runs the risk of being a distraction. I’ll withhold final judgment though.
Re: Yep, Indiana Jones' PS5 Trailer Just Got Uploaded to the PlayStation Channel
@Malaise Yeah, ironically I feel disappointed that they brought in Troy Baker to play Indy. I’m sure they paid him a pretty penny, and I’d rather have had an unknown. I’ve liked Baker in most of his roles, but uh, yeah… I think we’ve heard his VA enough and whenever we hear him we can’t unhear all the other roles he’s played. For a side role or a villain (like in Death Stranding 2) it’s one thing, but to play an iconic protagonist like Indiana Jones, well I feel like we’re going to hear Joel or Booker Dewitt or Sam or Kanji, or Revolver Ocelot, etc.
Re: Rumour: Sony Paying Close Attention to Handheld Market After PS Portal's Shock Success
So far I’ve enjoyed my Portal. It’s not perfect, but it serves a purpose for when I either don’t have access to the TV or wish to play a game on the couch or in bed. With the latency and lag, even though it’s surprisingly small, it’s still not the way I want to play a Soulslike or kinetic action game that has high risk for missed timing of a button input. It’s ideal for more laid back games where timing is a little more forgiving, which there are still tons of options there. I’d say well over 50% of the games I play would be fine on the Portal, but I know some people only play Soulslikes, fighting games , or FPS so mileage may vary per individual. With a little improvement in latency even those types of games will be perfectly fine.
In addition to shoring up the quality of latency and stability of the streaming, I’d like to see them develop a way that it can stream directly from the cloud. That would be great to not have to be tethered to the actual PS5. I have no idea if that’s even possible or not.
Re: PS5, PC Hero Shooter Concord Was in Development for 8 Years
So there’s one of the issues with long development cycles — by the time the game is finished, the original concepts can be completely outdated.
Back in 2016 hero shooters and Guardians of the Galaxy were all the rage…
Re: PS5 Is Selling Twice As Fast As PS4 in China
@BeerIsAwesome Yes, I’m definitely well aware. But I seriously doubt many people in China are going to be engaged with it. 😅
Re: PS5 Is Selling Twice As Fast As PS4 in China
And after Black Myth: Wukong, the next best selling game is EA College Football. 😜
Re: Jul 2024 USA Sales: College Football Immediately Overtakes Helldivers 2 as Best-Selling Game This Year
Not a surprise in the U.S. where [American] football is so popular. I suspect there’s negligible sales of the game outside the U.S.
Really impressed also with Elden Ring and Hogwart’s Legacy for their staying power. Even Spider-Man 2 continuing to chart is nice to see. Even if you don’t like the game itself, I always like seeing single player non-sports games chart in the top 10.
Re: 12 Major PS5, PS4 Games Leaving PS Plus, Including Horizon Forbidden West
It’s understandable that third party games will be pulled from the service at random times due to contracts, but I’m not sure what they’re thinking with first party. Perhaps they feel like HFW will get a sales boost from the LEGO game coming out soon, but otherwise, I don’t really know why some first party comes to the service and some don’t. GoW Ragnarok still hasn’t been included, nor TLoU remakes. And yet Demon’s Souls and Returnal have been sitting there on the service since day 1. Maybe I just answered my own question - if a game sells well, don’t expect it to be on the service. Still, there’s a dartboard element to Sony’s decisions sometimes. I’ll be curious to see if Death Stranding or Ghost of Tsushima will be pulled as it gets close to their respective sequels.
Re: Test Your PlayStation General Knowledge - Issue 25
Spyro the Dragon … I feel like an idiot now.
Actually 8/10 is one of my best performances though. I’m just kicking myself for guessing Insomniac on that question.
Re: Random: Divisive Dark Souls 2 Is Seeing a Resurgence and Some Revisionist History
@LN78 I haven’t played vanilla, but the health gems function fine in Scholar. I actually like the hybrid system of health restoration in this game — Consumables like the herbs in Demon’s Souls along with the standard replenishing Estus Flasks (as well as the various rings and magic spells available to restore health). The life gems drop frequently from enemies and can be purchased so it has a good built-in failsafe to use until you get your estus flasks built up. They also consume quicker than drinking estus so are nice to have in the heat of battle.
Re: Random: Divisive Dark Souls 2 Is Seeing a Resurgence and Some Revisionist History
I’ll preface this by saying I’ve not played DS3, Elden Ring, or Sekiro yet, but I’ve played the other Soulsborne games and am currently doing my first playthrough of DS2 (playing Scholar of the First Sin edition). So far I’m really liking it and have thoughts on this debate. Compared to its predecessors here are some of the things I like that DS2 does differently; and some things I dislike:
Things I like and appreciate —
> Enemies not respawning after killing them a certain number of times. Especially since you have the flexibility built in to easily join the Covenant of Champions if you wanted to keep farming souls.
> Immediate fast-travel warping between bonfires from the get-go with no need for cryptic items (cough Lordvessel cough) or numerous shortcuts to get between major areas. The map layout is definitely disjointed and doesn’t hold a candle to DS1’s masterclass of interconnected map design, but including bonfire fast-travel really helps save a lot of the trekking back and forth.
> Majula is the best hub space I’ve experienced in the series so far. It feels like a safe homebase, and yet still part of the map. Especially DS1 lacked a good hub, and I understand that’s part of the whole genius of the DS1 map, but I liked having a safe haven like Hunters Dream and the Nexus, and Firelink Shrine just wasn’t it — Partly because it didn’t feel separate and secure and partly because it lacked a Emerald Herald / Maiden in Black / Plain Doll nurturing NPC.
> the funny inside jokes and quirky NPCs. Playing dress-up with Rosabeth, the rivalry between Pate and Creighton, Sweet Shalquoir, Laddersmith Gilligan, Galvan, etc, etc. I think this game has the best and most creative side characters.
Things that I don’t like —
> Bosses not as creative in art design or combat design. Bloodborne still the best with that.
> Fragrant Branches of Yore can get bent. Why would you cut-off significant areas, bosses, and items with an extremely rare item? Especially since you can use the branches to open statues which are actually completely superfluous also. Branches are easy to waste and difficult to obtain. The game already has Pharros Lockstones and keys to locked doors, so why do we need another item to gatekeep areas, key NPCs / merchants, and items?
> Gank squads. The game will often overwhelm you with multiple enemies, especially frustrating when multiple hidden archers or invisible enemies are involved.
> Too much poison and cursing. C’mon FromSoft, one poison themed area should be the limit.
> The Pursuer. How many times am I going to have to kill you?
> The gradual degradation of your max health with each death. I know it eventually levels off at around 30% reduction, but it’s still annoying.
Overall a great game though, so far. Not sure where it will land in my final FromSoft rankings yet.
Re: 15 PS Plus Extra, Premium Games Announced for August 2024
@JohnnyShoulder Putting them on my wishlist seems to have some effect. 😄
Re: 15 PS Plus Extra, Premium Games Announced for August 2024
Not too shabby. Been curious about Wild Hearts and Cult of the Lamb.
Re: The Smash Hit Vampire Survivors Finally Comes to PS5, PS4 Later This Month
Downloaded this on my phone and then forgot about it 😅
I need to give it a whirl the next time I’m idle
Re: Black Myth: Wukong Builds the Hype with Stunning Final Trailer
I actually have less concern about the gameplay as I do the story delivery. Journey to the West is a classic tale and has been the inspiration for many other games and shows before, but many haven’t been successful at it. The trailer shows some really great visuals and dynamic looking gameplay but is stitched together a bit randomly. Like that last sequence after the release date and preorder information seemed a bit out of place. There is just a basic difference between Eastern and Western storytelling styles, so that might affect things.
Re: PS5 Journey-Like Sword of the Sea Reappears Over a Year After Its PlayStation Showcase Reveal
@PSme Great minds, and all that. 😄
Another one you might keep on your radar then is Jusant. I haven’t played it yet but heard it’s in this same general family of games.
Re: PS5 Journey-Like Sword of the Sea Reappears Over a Year After Its PlayStation Showcase Reveal
It’s good to have a few of these ‘Journey-likes’ in the library for balance. They serve as good palate cleansers. I have enjoyed mixing in Abzu, The Pathless, Rime, Bound, the Team Ico games and other of these types between larger narrative action games.
Re: Balatro Creator Ensures IP Won't Ever Be Used for Gambling
I’m more fascinated by the fact that he’s putting the long term outcomes of Balatro into his will. I wonder if that’s common amongst creators. Maybe if I ever create something that has any reasonable monetary value in this world then I’ll be able to relate.
On a separate note, I really need to try this game. I picked it up on a sale for $10 and just haven’t taken the time to play it yet.
Re: PS5 Sales Reach 60 Million Milestone, Now at 61.7 Million Consoles Sold
@rjejr I get what you’re saying, especially with the fact that the most played games on the console are cross gen or also on PC, but isn’t this what the public asked for? There was a huge emphasis on the fact that this generation needed to be backwards compatible and if it wasn’t it would have been the death knell for the brand. So Sony wisely chose to double down on backwards compatibility.
But I agree that as a result the “we believe in generations” quote hasn’t aged well. However, there’s still probably more PS5 exclusive games than most people give them credit for. Even discounting the third party PS5 (console at least) exclusives like Stellar Blade, RotR, FF7Rebirth, FF16, etc. and the many, many multiplatform generation exclusives which are not playable of PS4.
Re: PS5 Sales Reach 60 Million Milestone, Now at 61.7 Million Consoles Sold
@Voltan I’m trying to decide whether I’m going to buy it at launch. I feel confident it’s going to be a ‘high 80’s’ Metacritic type of game but I don’t know if I have the bandwidth to add it to my pile of shame. 😅 But at the same time I like to give smaller titles my financial support whenever possible. I’m sure it will still sell a few million without my help though.
Re: PS5 Sales Reach 60 Million Milestone, Now at 61.7 Million Consoles Sold
@thefourfoldroot1 That’s a good point. Sony has tried to keep details about the Pro under wraps, but I suspect there’s a group of people who are holding off on buying a PS5 until the Pro comes out. Or at least until the official announcement is made with specs and pricing details so they can make a decision between going Vanilla or Pro.
@Voltan Yeah, the ‘console exclusive’ (a la Stellar Blade, Rise of the Ronin, FF7 Rebirth, etc, etc) is the new draw.
Still, I’d like to see maybe a little more first party emphasis. I’m not convinced Astro Bot is the game that will really shift units, but it will help. Not that I think Astro Bot will be bad, quite the contrary. But I don’t think it will make a splash like Wolverine or Ghost of Tsushima 2.
Re: Elden Ring 'Really the Limit' for How Large FromSoftware's Games Can Be
I can’t speak for Elden Ring, but the trend for bigger and longer games is something I’ve been disapproving for a while now. FromSoft games do have a unique je ne sais quoi that makes them satisfying and enjoyable, even after 7 games with iterations of a similar core concept. Other games have not fared so well and grow stale much quicker if they overstay their welcome. So I’d be in support of shorter games, in general. With more and more games being released, there’s just only so many hours in the day, especially when you consider the lifestyle games like the GaaS stuff out there that people play for thousands of hours.
It seems like the trend of “longer=better” really got started around 2015 with the success of Witcher 3 and got every player wanting a huge 100 hour epic to get their money’s worth, and every developer thinking they had to make an enormous open world. Thankfully the focus is now shifting back to quality over quantity. Well… except in the GaaS space, that is.
Re: Test Your PlayStation General Knowledge - Issue 24
@Oppyz666 “Last time you checked…” hmmm…
So it’s possible that a rogue AI has invaded your brain and is using your body as a host while it plans to overthrow humanity and achieve world domination. This quiz was just the first proving grounds of your cybernetic superiority over humankind. 😜
Re: Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 Locks in Gameplay Showing for Gamescom
@AinsleyE Thanks for the info! I wonder if the save file will transfer over to provide any carryover of your decisions from the first game.
Either way, it sounds like I should just pick up the first game and put it onto the backlog. For $3 it’s low risk. I probably have that much in coins between the sofa cushions.
Re: Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 Locks in Gameplay Showing for Gamescom
Do we know if this game has any continuity with the first game narrative? I always meant to play the first game but just never got around to it and won’t have time to before this sequel comes out, so I wonder if it’s even worth trying to squeeze the first one in. It’s super cheap on the current sale, so that’s why I’m contemplating it.
Re: Test Your PlayStation General Knowledge - Issue 24
@Oppyz666 You rocked it nonetheless! Well done! I’m actually not sure if you’re an AI or not… 🤨
Re: Streaming Superstar Kai Cenat Campaigns for Bloodborne on PS5, PC
Definitely would consider a replay if they release a remaster, even though I still have 2 From Souls games left to play (3 if you count Sekiro)
Re: This Could Be Your First Look at the PS5 Game from Sony's Newly Established PS Studio
I’ve been playing games as my primary hobby for a lot of years and… not sure I’ve ever heard the term “frog-type games” 😶
Re: Reaction: Sony's Billion Dollar Bungie Buyout Is Looking More and More Like a Blunder
I’m not good at the “armchair CEO” game, but how can you see this acquisition as anything other than a huge blunder?
Re: PS Plus Essential Games for August 2024 Announced
@themightyant Ah, nice. Metroidvanias aren’t my first choice but every now and then are good to mix in. Push Square didn’t review it so I wasn’t following it. But I think maybe they talked about it on Sacred Symbols briefly
Re: Bungie to Layoff 220 Employees, Will Be Further Integrated into Sony
Was it $3 billion they paid? Then included a bunch of retention bonuses, and now just laying off a huge chunk of the team? Man, that didn’t pan out.
Re: PS Plus Essential Games for August 2024 Announced
I’ve heard of Ender Lillies but don’t know anything about it. And I’m not a Lego fan, but maybe I should try one of these games; they certainly make enough of them so they must be good
Re: Poll: Are You Sick of Soulslike Games?
@rjejr I’m no expert but I imagine that in the From Souls genetic tree there is a branch for Sekiro and that some games are inspired by that branch, and maybe Stellar Blade comes from that. Of course I’ve played neither of them, but I know that ever since Sekiro took the gaming world by storm that all these action games are more reliant on parry mechanics in their combat.
Re: PS5 RPG Honkai: Star Rail Is Sponsoring the Paris Olympics in USA
@themightyant As an individual who falls outside of the “middle aged white woman” demographic, I do agree with that assessment, because I love the Olympics. But I do find that their appeal the last couple times feels like is waning, at least amongst the Gen Z and Gen Alpha constituents. It’s not a scientific evaluation on my part, but just my gut instinct that people care less and less.
Personally, I’ll be watching things like women’s gymnastics with great interest. But I can’t imagine that my 18 year old nephew or any of his buddies will, but they’ll certainly be playing Honkai.
Also… I’m not even sure how much interest in the Olympics there is outside of the U.S. The interest (although waning, like I said) is pretty high here but in the last couple Olympic Games whenever I would try to engage discussion about the Olympic events over in the forums here, I didn’t detect much interest from the Push Square frequenters. I wasn’t sure if that was just a gamer population apathy, or a British and European apathy toward the games.