I don’t think this will be well-received amongst the enthusiast crowd. There’s already a lot of grumbling about Sony, and specifically Naughty Dog, just rehashing old IP.
I guess the TLoU Part 1 approach was successful, but I think doing Uncharted 1 might be a bridge too far. I played it through the Nathan Drake collection recently and running at 60 fps it’s still plays pretty well.
I guess it needs a remake more than Horizon Zero Dawn, but I do hope if they do this that it doesn’t take Naughty Dog or Sony away from the new games in development.
Wow, that trailer is certainly stylish. Unfortunately until the last few seconds it looks like a promo for a new anime show. When the gameplay actually shows up it looks good, but could be mistaken for a completely unrelated piece.
And samurai styled action games seem to be coming in droves now. As with other genres in video gaming, there appears to be a rush to the hot popular subject matter and then we get oversaturation. I’ll keep an open mind about it though, but with Rise of the Ronin coming this year along with Black Myth Wukong, and presumably Ghost of Tsushima 2 on the horizon (or more likely “Ghost of [such-and-such place]), not to mention recent 2023 releases like Like a Dragon: Ishin, and Wo Long, we’ll see if Phantom Blade 0 can distinguish itself.
It happens with other genres too, like the deluge of Norse themed games in recent years, the rush in Souls-likes, or spike in survival horror releases all in one span (Callisto Protocol releasing on top of Dead Space Remake and RE4 Remake). Sometimes a rising tide raises all ships and there’s a general synergistic impact, but sometimes these titles cannibalize each other.
You have my interest with Hellblade II. And maybe Indiana Jones. I don’t have much interest in everything else.
Like I said on the other thread, Starfield was the true test, I think. If that didn’t move consoles and GamePass subscriptions, then nothing will. Theres nothing bigger in the pipeline until ES6. So releasing everything on the console that actually sells copies of games makes sense.
I am very interested in playing this game. Like others have said, the first person viewpoint is a turn-off for this type of game. But I like the IP enough to keep an open mind.
I’m also very interested in the logic behind a port of this and/or Starfield. My theory: Starfield was their big shot to grow their ecosystem and sell GP subscriptions. HiFi Rush wasn’t expected to move the needle very much. Redfall wasn’t really either. But all the eggs were in the basket for Starfield. The only game that has as large a mass appeal would be Elder Scrolls, and maybe this Indiana Jones game. But if Starfield couldn’t sell subscriptions, presumably nothing can. So they have to recoup money somehow. They can’t keep making big AAA expensive games and not make money. And they’ve trained their players to not buy games. So it makes sense this might be a move of desperation to sell on PlayStation
@Ravix I have been wondering this too — the promise of smaller install sizes has now evaporated with the increased complexity and breadth of these games. I supposed there’s no theoretical limit other than the size of the SSD. Cloud gaming will solve this eventually, but I’m surprised at how quickly game sizes have skyrocketed.
I would suspect the success of the Steam Deck and early success of the PS Portal make this a plausible rumor. Sony likely has many projects in development that never see the light of day, but whatever little team that has been working on a Vita 2 is now suddenly getting some added funding.
@AverageGamer Oh, that’s really interesting. I didn’t know there was an Overdose trailer recently, so that makes total sense that could have expedited this announcement just for the sake of optics between Sony and Kojima Studios.
Kojima is like the belle of the ball with all the suitors that want to be seen with and so he’s playing both sides to keep everyone happy.
I’m seeing the Ghost of Tsushima comparisons and of course Nioh. Also some Assassin’s Creed / Ubisoft open world staples. I like the look of the traversal. Although I loved GoT, I’m not all that enamored with the setting, but hopefully the fact that this takes place in a more modern backdrop and adds firearms that maybe it will feel unique enough. I do hope there is English dubs though. I know purists will say playing in the native language is the best way to experience this style of game, but I prefer dubs, if possible.
I’m really interested, but not quite committed yet. It’s a little too on-the-nose with the NieR Automata inspiration. Enemies look more varied than NieR with the monsters and such, but part of what made it one of my favorite games from last gen was the mind blowing narrative, so hopefully Stellar Blade can deliver there.
The timeline is what stumps me. Kojima tends to hold things close to the chest and relishes in the big teasers and cryptic rumors. To come out with an announcement of this game so soon makes me wonder why announce it now? Especially since DS2 is on the horizon for next year?
Of course Overdose was teased a couple years ago and I don’t think there’s been much info about that for quite some time now.
So is this new tactical espionage game going to be a PS6 game? I don’t know but I’m leaning toward it being a late PS5 game, maybe cross gen. This console generation is likely to be a little longer than average because of the protracted rollout during the pandemic. We don’t even have PS5 Pro yet.
I think the innovative part of this next game is going to be some kind of multimedia cross-over. There’s specific reference to a “movie”, and so expect a Sony Pictures production that somehow integrates with the game. I’m not sure that’s what I want personally, but it’s Kojima, so I’ll give it the benefit of the doubt
@AdamNovice Yeah, I think that’s the way we have to look at things. And you could even add Foamstars. Sony has put a lot of effort into second party projects and third party console exclusives. As gamers we need to just consider those as “first party” for now. Some of the studios may end up acquired into the first party if their games go well, like they did with Bluepoint and Housemarque.
When taken in that context, PlayStation is set to have an incredible year, even without anything from first party
Really great month, actually. Was planning to eventually get Rollerdrome and was semi-curious about Steelrising. Foamstars is probably a pass, but the positive buzz has me curious enough to keep it in mind.
I need to get this eventually. My 2020’s brain just couldn’t get ahold of 2005 gamplay and control design, so I never was able to complete the original version when I tried a couple years ago.
Edit: so after posting my thoughts above, I decided to go ahead and follow the link to the cutscene in question, since I’m fairly certain I’m not interested in playing this, at least during the launch period. Maybe when it drops on PS+
But the Batman scene is… okay, I guess. It is unfortunate that the iconic Conroy portrayal ends so unceremoniously. His voice performance in the scene is great, as per his usual. The Harley Quinn voice actress is gratingly awful, so it makes for a disjointed scene anyways. The writing also seems bad, in my personal opinion. But I think it’s just the slapstick nature of Suicide Squad. It’s just a hard thing to pull off comedy in the midst of tragedy and this just… doesn’t really do it well. Again, all my limited opinion of one cutscene.
Is it disrespectful to Conroy’s epic and iconic series of performances as one of the all-time most beloved characters in fiction? I don’t know. I wouldn’t say disrespectful, just unfortunately mediocre. The lines (spoiler tagged in case people don’t want to have it spoiled) ”Batman: “Are you done with your bad stand-up routine” Harley: “Almost. But you always gotta end with your best joke.” are just so Marvel wannabe and although Conroy knew this was how his character was going to end, I just wish his final moments in the role didn’t involve such poorly executed Harley Quinn melodrama.
I guess there’s two issues going on — one that the game would kill beloved hero characters, and the other that it so happens to correlate with the voice actor’s actual death.
Having the Suicide Squad kill the Justice League characters like Batman is fine, it being fiction and all. It’s probably not for me because I haven’t been the biggest fan of the Suicide Squad anyways. I don’t mind an anti-hero narrative, but there’s nothing relatable or entertaining for me in the SS franchise. I was one of the few who didn’t like the last movie. And the HQ Birds of Prey movie was so painful to watch it made the dumb Suicide Squad movie seem like a cinematic masterpiece in comparison. So, my interest in the franchise suffered greatly from those recent movies.
But as for the second issue, it does seem a little tricky on how best to treat the unfortunate coincidence that Conroy died shortly after this performance. We’ve seen times when video games have tried to be conscientious to real life dramatic events (like that Motorstorm game for example) and I think it’s a legitimate concern. Not having played this game (and likely not going to) I can’t pass judgment, but I think it’s a no-win scenario for Rocksteady. Is there a respectful way to have altered the murder scene? Does it really matter in the long run? I don’t know. But the timing is poor. I think, depending on the scene, it could be a legitimate complaint, but one that will probably calm down in the years to come when it’s not ‘too soon’ like it is now.
@Pepsiman_100 Yes, I agree. It was a really great idea. The art design was so creative. But the game just didn’t play very well and the backdrop of the sketchbook could have been implemented better.
Although I prefer having the option, I often end up playing in fidelity mode anyways. For me it’s not a deal breaker.
And I suspect the vast majority of players (not just the enthusiast crowd) will be fine with 30fps. I think there was data from somewhere that said when given the option, most gamers play on fidelity/graphics mode, rather than performance mode.
Gotham Knights still went on to be somewhat successful, despite the 30 fps controversy. I know Dragon’s Dogma doesn’t have the clout that DC comics has, but I don’t necessarily think the lack of 60 fps is a kiss of death for the game.
Kind of reminds me of Drawn to Death which was a complete disaster and a fumble of an interesting idea. 😅 I do like experimental projects like this though.
A lot of players may not have even realized they were playing the PlayStation exclusive Haunted Hogsmeade content, as it pops up on the map randomly toward the end of the game, and is titled “Minding Your Own Business”, I believe. It actually is one of the best side quests in the whole game. I’m glad the other platforms will have access to it now, because it really is some wonderful bonus content.
Constant PR damage control going on with this game. 😅
But I do like to hear this. Live Service games which require huge time commitment is a big turn-off for me. I’m glad Rocksteady seems to have read the room on this game.
Still… I haven’t really been thrilled with what I’ve seen so far with the gameplay, so I’m not planning to buy this right away
Great article, Sammy. I enjoy reading about and seeing photos of your escapades.
As for the subject, I feel similarly — I’m increasingly going digital, but not necessarily by choice. The industry is pushing us that way and so despite my efforts to stay physical, most of my library is digital now. Nevertheless, I try to buy discs when possible. So for my most recent purchases, I had to buy Baldur’s Gate 3 digitally because the industry only gave me that option, but I got Spider-Man 2, Jedi Survivor, and Final Fantasy XVI on disc.
There are many times that I go to stores searching for specific games and I can’t find specific games that I want. It used to be a given that one could find major releases on disc at the local GameStop or Best Buy, and often find multiple second-hand copies of major releases. But nowadays, even finding a game like God of War Ragnarok on disc is a needle in a haystack.
One of the main things that has promoted the digital ecosystem is the subscription services. Probably half of what I play now is from PS+, so those games are obviously going to be digital.
This is definitely outside the norm lately. Every day is a new article about people losing their jobs, being kicked out, or resigning. I know people will say that “Layoffs and departures are all part of the business. It’s not a big deal. The internet is catastrophizing it…” But the level and amount of layoffs, executive firings and resignations, and just general unrest in the industry is concerning.
I’m glad you highlighted the option to order a twin pack which has Remake Intergrade included. You get it for free, but you have to select the correct version at checkout.
I’m trying to think of the last open world game I played without a fast travel system… I guess it was probably Dark Souls. Even then there’s a rudimentary fast travel that eventually unlocks, but exploring the world over and over is part of the game’s core design, with unlocking of shortcuts. I remember wishing that I had earlier access to a fast travel network, but I also appreciate the developers intent with forcing me to retread areas and level up.
It’s been a long time since I played Dragon’s Dogma, but I don’t remember being annoyed at the time. The map was fairly small by today’s standards though. Nevertheless, I like Itsuno’s confidence here by saying the game will have engaging design so we won’t miss having fast travel.
Good news is that Remedy is very deft at budgeting and usually they can develop their games for a fraction of the cost of larger studios. They’ll still do well with AW2
Two years since release is quite a wait, but I have to give props to the team since at least this doesn’t make it feel like the content was carved from the base game.
It is somewhat reminiscent of Code Vein, which I couldn’t quite get into. Nier Automata is one of my all-time favorites, and I really don’t think this looks like that, other than the protagonist looking vaguely like a bargain store version of 2B.
This is damning: “Quality assurance testers appear to have been the role hit hardest, with 22% of them saying they were laid off this year… Business and finance roles reported the slightest losses, at 2%.”
Ouch. Prepare for more buggy game releases going forward. Apparently QA is the most dispensable part of development. That’s what we have paying customers for.
And of course, don’t touch the business and finance guys. The very ones who have misread the market, overspent, and miscalculated the balance sheets. When they make mistakes they’re like Teflon.
Sheesh… reminds me of how Congress votes to give themselves raises and more benefits, despite them being the very people who have driven the country into shambles.
Honestly, the fast load times has been something that’s impressed me about FF7R and FFXVI. Both can bring you from your PS5 Home Screen to gameplay within a couple seconds. Faster than most first party games, tbh.
Kudos to Larian for staying on top of this. Some would argue that a game shouldn’t be released if it needs this much fixing, but a game of this size and complexity just can’t be tested fully until it’s out in the wild. I hope they continue to improve the game’s performance and content for a long time.
We’re getting Skull & Bones in a month or so. What’s the point of having two open world multiplayer pirate games? I’m not sure there’s enough of an audience for both. I have no interest in either one. Sea of Thieves is apparently pretty popular over in the Xbox world, but what’s that saying about every scrap looks delicious to the famished… 😜
@Nei Yeah, the pandemic slowed down what was already a growing development cycle. I do think there’s been some good first party releases this generation, although about half of them have been Insomniac. And banger third party projects that turned into acquisitions, like Housemarque and BluePoint’s. If Helldivers 2 hits then Arrowhead might be next, as far as studio acquisitions of teams that Sony has worked closely with.
But I think the whole Factions ordeal has been an albatross around the neck of the whole first party. Whether legitimate or not, there’s a sense that as Naughty Dog goes, so goes all of PlayStation studios — which is not really fair. Add to that the fact that Media Molecule gave us one game in 10 years (which, for as good as Dreams was in execution, it failed commercially) and Bend spun its wheels for a little bit with a project they didn’t want to do. Just too much time spent on dead end projects, on top of a pandemic, on top of a longer development cycle (4-5 years per AAA game is now standard vs 1-2 years back in the PS3 era)
The argument could be made that the third party scouting team is doing better than the first party studio management teams. There’s been quite a few really good third party exclusives and timed exclusives during a relatively quiet first party stretch.
@Jimmer-jammer Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons is a great game! I’m not sure I’ll play it again, and I have it for PS4 anyways, but highly recommend.
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For me it’s FF7R, DD2 and maybe Rise of the Ronin.
And is that Skull & Bones I see?! I thought that game would never come out. 😂 For as long as it’s been in development, there’s surprisingly little buzz about it.
@themightyant If the stat is 60% of time spent with live service is from 19 specific games, then that’s less concerning than if it’s 60% of time spent with any and all video gaming is from only 19 games.
I suppose there’s some grayness to what even constitutes a “live service game” to begin with. I consider anything that has content added routinely after release to be “live service”. So No Man’s Sky would definitely qualify, for example, as would Assassin’s Creed Valhalla. Heck, even Marvel’s Spider-Man was live service because it had a roadmap of post-launch DLC.
I think if the game only has one expansion then I’d probably not call it “live service”. So God of War Ragnarok, for example, or Returnal. They had one free DLC and then that’s all, so it’s not like there ongoing support. But if there’s a post-launch roadmap, or regular updates with added or changed content, then that’s live service (GT7, Street Fighter 6, etc)
I guess the point is, we probably need better nomenclature and definitions. We often see people dump on live service but what they really mean to criticize is the games which are ongoing with predatory fees and charges, or games that are incomplete and rely on updates to string people along.
@themightyant Yeah the “60 per cent of playtime is dominated by just 19 titles” statement is a little confusing to me, as to whether it’s playtime for all games or just live service. I even went to the original article to try to find out more about that statistic. In the article (which this statement is just a smidgen of the total content, which is several rapid fire predictions from an array of analysts) Wijman doesn’t expound or back up the statement, but does add “75% of playtime is from the top 33 games”. So from that I’m assuming this means all games, since I can’t think of 33 live service games.
If the “60% playtime from 19 games” includes all comers, then it would be interesting to see how many of those 19 are live service and how many are traditional single or multiplayer without service elements. For example, I could see large popular time sinks Elden Ring, Baldur’s Gate, or Witcher 3 maybe being in there, just by virtue of people dumping hundreds of hours into them and replaying them several times. I know they still are dwarfed by the thousands of hours people spend in Minecraft, Roblox, Fortnite, FIFA, Madden, GTA Online, or Warzone, but it would be interesting to see the breakdown.
And there’s also a difference between profitability and playtime, although I know both metrics are important, it seems like playtime is only part of the the equation.
Still, like you say, the lopsided playtime stats is sad to me, with such a wealth of variety out there. Over the last several years since PlayStation has been able to give us our personal stats, I don’t think I’ve ever spent more than 150 hours on any one game. And I think that one was Persona 5. 😅
@themightyant “The thing I find most crazy is the number of people saying things like ‘I haven’t played BG3 but it’s objectively GOTY’ lmao”
Exactly. I’ve seen a lot of this. And also, BG3 is an enormous game, where I’ve read it kinda falls apart a little at the end. I think patches have fixed Act 3’s technical issues, but some have said there’s major narrative problems. There’s a few readers (@Jaz007 being one) who feel like the ending was botched sufficiently that it takes away a lot of the greatness that it was trying to accomplish. Similar for Alan Wake II where an excellent write up by @Jimmer-jammer recently in the forums outlined some of the game’s significant shortcomings. L
Personally, I don’t know. I’m not saying one way or the other, as I’ve not played any of these, but I do wonder how many people who are championing BG3 actually finished it. I suppose you don’t have to finish a game to feel like it’s a GOTY, but honestly, many people haven’t even played it.
‘23 has been a great year for gaming. Bring on ‘24! And here’s to another outstanding year of Push Square - the best corner of the internet, by my measures. 🥂
Like others have said, as far as a voting result, being number 2 this year is impressive enough for a game that is niche like BG3. I know it’s selling well enough, but it’s not got the wide appeal of Spider-Man 2.
These results do not invalidate your own personal preferences. If you’re a D&D or cRPG fan, or if you value large epic games or high fantasy, then you’re absolutely within your rights to prefer BG3 over SM2 (or anything else).
I’ll echo multiple comments about FF16 being a surprise omission (although at least it’s an honorable mention). But like said by others, I haven’t played most of these games so I can’t pass judgment, but I can say FF16 has one of the best scores in recent memory.
Also, it disappointing that Tchia didn’t get an honorable mention. Fantastic musical score and integration into the gameplay and overall cultural setting of the game. Just because it’s not a huge orchestral track shouldn’t disqualify it. I adored the quaint acoustic ukulele sequences.
Comments 3,733
Re: Rumour: A PS5 Remake of Uncharted: Drake's Fortune Is Possibly on the Cards
I don’t think this will be well-received amongst the enthusiast crowd. There’s already a lot of grumbling about Sony, and specifically Naughty Dog, just rehashing old IP.
I guess the TLoU Part 1 approach was successful, but I think doing Uncharted 1 might be a bridge too far. I played it through the Nathan Drake collection recently and running at 60 fps it’s still plays pretty well.
I guess it needs a remake more than Horizon Zero Dawn, but I do hope if they do this that it doesn’t take Naughty Dog or Sony away from the new games in development.
Re: One of PS5's Most Promising Games Just Got a Seriously Stylish Trailer, Demo on the Way
Wow, that trailer is certainly stylish. Unfortunately until the last few seconds it looks like a promo for a new anime show. When the gameplay actually shows up it looks good, but could be mistaken for a completely unrelated piece.
And samurai styled action games seem to be coming in droves now. As with other genres in video gaming, there appears to be a rush to the hot popular subject matter and then we get oversaturation. I’ll keep an open mind about it though, but with Rise of the Ronin coming this year along with Black Myth Wukong, and presumably Ghost of Tsushima 2 on the horizon (or more likely “Ghost of [such-and-such place]), not to mention recent 2023 releases like Like a Dragon: Ishin, and Wo Long, we’ll see if Phantom Blade 0 can distinguish itself.
It happens with other genres too, like the deluge of Norse themed games in recent years, the rush in Souls-likes, or spike in survival horror releases all in one span (Callisto Protocol releasing on top of Dead Space Remake and RE4 Remake). Sometimes a rising tide raises all ships and there’s a general synergistic impact, but sometimes these titles cannibalize each other.
Re: Tomb Raider 1-3 Remastered Has Almost 300 Trophies, But Zero PS5 Platinums
This is a travesty! Not like I was planning to get these platinums, but it still seems like a big mistake to lock PS5 players out of them.
Re: Rumour: Even More Xbox Exclusives Coming to PS5 Than Already Reported
You have my interest with Hellblade II. And maybe Indiana Jones. I don’t have much interest in everything else.
Like I said on the other thread, Starfield was the true test, I think. If that didn’t move consoles and GamePass subscriptions, then nothing will. Theres nothing bigger in the pipeline until ES6. So releasing everything on the console that actually sells copies of games makes sense.
Re: Rumour: Xbox's Indiana Jones Game Also Being 'Considered' for PS5
I am very interested in playing this game. Like others have said, the first person viewpoint is a turn-off for this type of game. But I like the IP enough to keep an open mind.
I’m also very interested in the logic behind a port of this and/or Starfield. My theory: Starfield was their big shot to grow their ecosystem and sell GP subscriptions. HiFi Rush wasn’t expected to move the needle very much. Redfall wasn’t really either. But all the eggs were in the basket for Starfield. The only game that has as large a mass appeal would be Elder Scrolls, and maybe this Indiana Jones game. But if Starfield couldn’t sell subscriptions, presumably nothing can. So they have to recoup money somehow. They can’t keep making big AAA expensive games and not make money. And they’ve trained their players to not buy games. So it makes sense this might be a move of desperation to sell on PlayStation
Re: Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth Demands Nearly 150GB of PS5 Storage Space
@Ravix I have been wondering this too — the promise of smaller install sizes has now evaporated with the increased complexity and breadth of these games. I supposed there’s no theoretical limit other than the size of the SSD. Cloud gaming will solve this eventually, but I’m surprised at how quickly game sizes have skyrocketed.
Re: Rumour: A New PlayStation Handheld Console Reportedly in the Works
I would suspect the success of the Steam Deck and early success of the PS Portal make this a plausible rumor. Sony likely has many projects in development that never see the light of day, but whatever little team that has been working on a Vita 2 is now suddenly getting some added funding.
Re: Could Sony, Hideo Kojima's Physint Be the First Announced PS6 Game?
@AverageGamer Oh, that’s really interesting. I didn’t know there was an Overdose trailer recently, so that makes total sense that could have expedited this announcement just for the sake of optics between Sony and Kojima Studios.
Kojima is like the belle of the ball with all the suitors that want to be seen with and so he’s playing both sides to keep everyone happy.
Re: Rise of the Ronin PS5 Gets Gameplay Deep Dive at Sony's State of Play
I’m seeing the Ghost of Tsushima comparisons and of course Nioh. Also some Assassin’s Creed / Ubisoft open world staples. I like the look of the traversal. Although I loved GoT, I’m not all that enamored with the setting, but hopefully the fact that this takes place in a more modern backdrop and adds firearms that maybe it will feel unique enough. I do hope there is English dubs though. I know purists will say playing in the native language is the best way to experience this style of game, but I prefer dubs, if possible.
Re: PS5 Exclusive Stellar Blade Dated for 26th April on PS5
I’m really interested, but not quite committed yet. It’s a little too on-the-nose with the NieR Automata inspiration. Enemies look more varied than NieR with the monsters and such, but part of what made it one of my favorite games from last gen was the mind blowing narrative, so hopefully Stellar Blade can deliver there.
Re: Could Sony, Hideo Kojima's Physint Be the First Announced PS6 Game?
The timeline is what stumps me. Kojima tends to hold things close to the chest and relishes in the big teasers and cryptic rumors. To come out with an announcement of this game so soon makes me wonder why announce it now? Especially since DS2 is on the horizon for next year?
Of course Overdose was teased a couple years ago and I don’t think there’s been much info about that for quite some time now.
So is this new tactical espionage game going to be a PS6 game? I don’t know but I’m leaning toward it being a late PS5 game, maybe cross gen. This console generation is likely to be a little longer than average because of the protracted rollout during the pandemic. We don’t even have PS5 Pro yet.
I think the innovative part of this next game is going to be some kind of multimedia cross-over. There’s specific reference to a “movie”, and so expect a Sony Pictures production that somehow integrates with the game. I’m not sure that’s what I want personally, but it’s Kojima, so I’ll give it the benefit of the doubt
Re: Poll: How Would You Rate the Latest State of Play Showcase?
@AdamNovice Yeah, I think that’s the way we have to look at things. And you could even add Foamstars.
Sony has put a lot of effort into second party projects and third party console exclusives. As gamers we need to just consider those as “first party” for now. Some of the studios may end up acquired into the first party if their games go well, like they did with Bluepoint and Housemarque.
When taken in that context, PlayStation is set to have an incredible year, even without anything from first party
Re: Sony Partners with Hideo Kojima on Physint, Basically Sounds Like a Metal Gear Successor
I want whatever it is Kojima is taking that helps him have this level of productivity. Does the guy ever sleep? 😅
Re: Upcoming PS5 Games for February and March 2024
Two multiplayer shooters back to back and then three open world third person action games in close succession.
It would have been nice to spread these out.
Re: PS Plus Essential Games for February 2024 Announced
Really great month, actually. Was planning to eventually get Rollerdrome and was semi-curious about Steelrising. Foamstars is probably a pass, but the positive buzz has me curious enough to keep it in mind.
Re: Resident Evil 4 Remake Sells 6.48 Million Units to Become the Series' Fastest-Selling Game
I need to get this eventually. My 2020’s brain just couldn’t get ahold of 2005 gamplay and control design, so I never was able to complete the original version when I tried a couple years ago.
Re: Fans Outraged at Rocksteady's Handling of Hero Deaths in Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League
Edit: so after posting my thoughts above, I decided to go ahead and follow the link to the cutscene in question, since I’m fairly certain I’m not interested in playing this, at least during the launch period. Maybe when it drops on PS+
But the Batman scene is… okay, I guess. It is unfortunate that the iconic Conroy portrayal ends so unceremoniously. His voice performance in the scene is great, as per his usual. The Harley Quinn voice actress is gratingly awful, so it makes for a disjointed scene anyways. The writing also seems bad, in my personal opinion. But I think it’s just the slapstick nature of Suicide Squad. It’s just a hard thing to pull off comedy in the midst of tragedy and this just… doesn’t really do it well. Again, all my limited opinion of one cutscene.
Is it disrespectful to Conroy’s epic and iconic series of performances as one of the all-time most beloved characters in fiction? I don’t know. I wouldn’t say disrespectful, just unfortunately mediocre. The lines (spoiler tagged in case people don’t want to have it spoiled) ”Batman: “Are you done with your bad stand-up routine” Harley: “Almost. But you always gotta end with your best joke.” are just so Marvel wannabe and although Conroy knew this was how his character was going to end, I just wish his final moments in the role didn’t involve such poorly executed Harley Quinn melodrama.
Re: Fans Outraged at Rocksteady's Handling of Hero Deaths in Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League
I guess there’s two issues going on — one that the game would kill beloved hero characters, and the other that it so happens to correlate with the voice actor’s actual death.
Having the Suicide Squad kill the Justice League characters like Batman is fine, it being fiction and all. It’s probably not for me because I haven’t been the biggest fan of the Suicide Squad anyways. I don’t mind an anti-hero narrative, but there’s nothing relatable or entertaining for me in the SS franchise. I was one of the few who didn’t like the last movie. And the HQ Birds of Prey movie was so painful to watch it made the dumb Suicide Squad movie seem like a cinematic masterpiece in comparison. So, my interest in the franchise suffered greatly from those recent movies.
But as for the second issue, it does seem a little tricky on how best to treat the unfortunate coincidence that Conroy died shortly after this performance. We’ve seen times when video games have tried to be conscientious to real life dramatic events (like that Motorstorm game for example) and I think it’s a legitimate concern. Not having played this game (and likely not going to) I can’t pass judgment, but I think it’s a no-win scenario for Rocksteady. Is there a respectful way to have altered the murder scene? Does it really matter in the long run? I don’t know. But the timing is poor. I think, depending on the scene, it could be a legitimate complaint, but one that will probably calm down in the years to come when it’s not ‘too soon’ like it is now.
Re: Talking Point: What Can We Expect in the Next State of Play Show?
Like some have said — even just a deeper look at one or two of these games would make it all worthwhile for me.
I guess I’ve been conditioned by Sony to have low expectations.
Re: Star Wars Outlaws PS5 Sounding Like the Scoundrel Simulator We Always Wanted
2024 was supposed to be the year I bought fewer new games. Ah, well.
Re: Gameplay Essay Interaction Isn't Explicit Invites Players to Participate on PS5
@Pepsiman_100 Yes, I agree. It was a really great idea. The art design was so creative. But the game just didn’t play very well and the backdrop of the sketchbook could have been implemented better.
Re: Gameplay Essay Interaction Isn't Explicit Invites Players to Participate on PS5
@SonOfClement Ah, ok. Interesting.
Re: Rumour: Dragon's Dogma 2 Runs at 30fps on PS5
Although I prefer having the option, I often end up playing in fidelity mode anyways. For me it’s not a deal breaker.
And I suspect the vast majority of players (not just the enthusiast crowd) will be fine with 30fps. I think there was data from somewhere that said when given the option, most gamers play on fidelity/graphics mode, rather than performance mode.
Gotham Knights still went on to be somewhat successful, despite the 30 fps controversy. I know Dragon’s Dogma doesn’t have the clout that DC comics has, but I don’t necessarily think the lack of 60 fps is a kiss of death for the game.
Re: Gameplay Essay Interaction Isn't Explicit Invites Players to Participate on PS5
Kind of reminds me of Drawn to Death which was a complete disaster and a fumble of an interesting idea. 😅 I do like experimental projects like this though.
Re: PS5, PS4 Exclusive Hogwarts Legacy Content Coming to All Platforms, More on the Horizon
A lot of players may not have even realized they were playing the PlayStation exclusive Haunted Hogsmeade content, as it pops up on the map randomly toward the end of the game, and is titled “Minding Your Own Business”, I believe. It actually is one of the best side quests in the whole game. I’m glad the other platforms will have access to it now, because it really is some wonderful bonus content.
Re: Suicide Squad's Live-Service Content Isn't Designed to Take Over Your Life
Constant PR damage control going on with this game. 😅
But I do like to hear this. Live Service games which require huge time commitment is a big turn-off for me. I’m glad Rocksteady seems to have read the room on this game.
Still… I haven’t really been thrilled with what I’ve seen so far with the gameplay, so I’m not planning to buy this right away
Re: Soapbox: This Is Why Physical Games Are Still Important to Me
Great article, Sammy. I enjoy reading about and seeing photos of your escapades.
As for the subject, I feel similarly — I’m increasingly going digital, but not necessarily by choice. The industry is pushing us that way and so despite my efforts to stay physical, most of my library is digital now. Nevertheless, I try to buy discs when possible. So for my most recent purchases, I had to buy Baldur’s Gate 3 digitally because the industry only gave me that option, but I got Spider-Man 2, Jedi Survivor, and Final Fantasy XVI on disc.
There are many times that I go to stores searching for specific games and I can’t find specific games that I want. It used to be a given that one could find major releases on disc at the local GameStop or Best Buy, and often find multiple second-hand copies of major releases. But nowadays, even finding a game like God of War Ragnarok on disc is a needle in a haystack.
One of the main things that has promoted the digital ecosystem is the subscription services. Probably half of what I play now is from PS+, so those games are obviously going to be digital.
Re: Microsoft, Activision Cut 1,900 Jobs in More Video Game Layoffs
This is definitely outside the norm lately. Every day is a new article about people losing their jobs, being kicked out, or resigning. I know people will say that “Layoffs and departures are all part of the business. It’s not a big deal. The internet is catastrophizing it…” But the level and amount of layoffs, executive firings and resignations, and just general unrest in the industry is concerning.
Re: Final Fantasy 7 Remake Story Recap the Focus of New Trailer
I’m glad you highlighted the option to order a twin pack which has Remake Intergrade included. You get it for free, but you have to select the correct version at checkout.
Re: Dragon's Dogma 2 Director Says Travel Isn't Boring, Your Game Is
I’m trying to think of the last open world game I played without a fast travel system… I guess it was probably Dark Souls. Even then there’s a rudimentary fast travel that eventually unlocks, but exploring the world over and over is part of the game’s core design, with unlocking of shortcuts. I remember wishing that I had earlier access to a fast travel network, but I also appreciate the developers intent with forcing me to retread areas and level up.
It’s been a long time since I played Dragon’s Dogma, but I don’t remember being annoyed at the time. The map was fairly small by today’s standards though. Nevertheless, I like Itsuno’s confidence here by saying the game will have engaging design so we won’t miss having fast travel.
Re: Hogwarts Legacy Beats Modern Warfare 3, Spider-Man 2 as Most Downloaded PS5 Game of 2023
Good news is that Remedy is very deft at budgeting and usually they can develop their games for a fraction of the cost of larger studios. They’ll still do well with AW2
Re: CD Projekt Red Dabbling in AI, Considering Multiplayer for Cyberpunk 2
Chat GPT is going to write the multiplayer storyline. It’ll be awesome.
Re: Evidence of Impending Elden Ring DLC Reveal Mounts, YouTube Playlists Primed
Two years since release is quite a wait, but I have to give props to the team since at least this doesn’t make it feel like the content was carved from the base game.
Re: NieR, Dark Souls, and Anime Meet in New PS5 Game AI Limit
It is somewhat reminiscent of Code Vein, which I couldn’t quite get into. Nier Automata is one of my all-time favorites, and I really don’t think this looks like that, other than the protagonist looking vaguely like a bargain store version of 2B.
Re: GDC Report Finds One-Third of Developers Hit by Layoffs in Past Year
This is damning: “Quality assurance testers appear to have been the role hit hardest, with 22% of them saying they were laid off this year… Business and finance roles reported the slightest losses, at 2%.”
Ouch. Prepare for more buggy game releases going forward. Apparently QA is the most dispensable part of development. That’s what we have paying customers for.
And of course, don’t touch the business and finance guys. The very ones who have misread the market, overspent, and miscalculated the balance sheets. When they make mistakes they’re like Teflon.
Sheesh… reminds me of how Congress votes to give themselves raises and more benefits, despite them being the very people who have driven the country into shambles.
Re: New Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth Trailer Is a One-Minute Thrill Ride
I’m going to be really ticked if Tifa dies.
Re: Rapid Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth Fast Travel Wows PS5 Fans
Honestly, the fast load times has been something that’s impressed me about FF7R and FFXVI. Both can bring you from your PS5 Home Screen to gameplay within a couple seconds. Faster than most first party games, tbh.
Re: Baldur's Gate 3 Gets Another Massive Patch Out of Nowhere
Kudos to Larian for staying on top of this. Some would argue that a game shouldn’t be released if it needs this much fixing, but a game of this size and complexity just can’t be tested fully until it’s out in the wild. I hope they continue to improve the game’s performance and content for a long time.
Re: Unity Software to Cut 1800 Jobs in Wake of Runtime Fee Fiasco
Wow, that pricing debacle has to go down as one of the worst management decisions ever. That’s an unbelievably huge layoff. What a disaster.
Re: Rumour: Sea of Thieves Might Be One More Xbox Game Coming to PS5
We’re getting Skull & Bones in a month or so. What’s the point of having two open world multiplayer pirate games? I’m not sure there’s enough of an audience for both. I have no interest in either one. Sea of Thieves is apparently pretty popular over in the Xbox world, but what’s that saying about every scrap looks delicious to the famished… 😜
Re: PlayStation's Head of Third Party Deals and Acquisitions Gives Insight into How It All Works
@Nei Yeah, the pandemic slowed down what was already a growing development cycle. I do think there’s been some good first party releases this generation, although about half of them have been Insomniac. And banger third party projects that turned into acquisitions, like Housemarque and BluePoint’s. If Helldivers 2 hits then Arrowhead might be next, as far as studio acquisitions of teams that Sony has worked closely with.
But I think the whole Factions ordeal has been an albatross around the neck of the whole first party. Whether legitimate or not, there’s a sense that as Naughty Dog goes, so goes all of PlayStation studios — which is not really fair. Add to that the fact that Media Molecule gave us one game in 10 years (which, for as good as Dreams was in execution, it failed commercially) and Bend spun its wheels for a little bit with a project they didn’t want to do. Just too much time spent on dead end projects, on top of a pandemic, on top of a longer development cycle (4-5 years per AAA game is now standard vs 1-2 years back in the PS3 era)
Re: PlayStation's Head of Third Party Deals and Acquisitions Gives Insight into How It All Works
The argument could be made that the third party scouting team is doing better than the first party studio management teams. There’s been quite a few really good third party exclusives and timed exclusives during a relatively quiet first party stretch.
Re: Poll: Which PS5 Games are You Buying in Early 2024's Ridiculous Release Schedule?
@Jimmer-jammer Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons is a great game! I’m not sure I’ll play it again, and I have it for PS4 anyways, but highly recommend.
————————
For me it’s FF7R, DD2 and maybe Rise of the Ronin.
And is that Skull & Bones I see?! I thought that game would never come out. 😂 For as long as it’s been in development, there’s surprisingly little buzz about it.
Re: Analysts Anticipate a Tougher Year for Live Service As Sony Aims to Infiltrate Sector
@themightyant If the stat is 60% of time spent with live service is from 19 specific games, then that’s less concerning than if it’s 60% of time spent with any and all video gaming is from only 19 games.
I suppose there’s some grayness to what even constitutes a “live service game” to begin with. I consider anything that has content added routinely after release to be “live service”. So No Man’s Sky would definitely qualify, for example, as would Assassin’s Creed Valhalla. Heck, even Marvel’s Spider-Man was live service because it had a roadmap of post-launch DLC.
I think if the game only has one expansion then I’d probably not call it “live service”. So God of War Ragnarok, for example, or Returnal. They had one free DLC and then that’s all, so it’s not like there ongoing support. But if there’s a post-launch roadmap, or regular updates with added or changed content, then that’s live service (GT7, Street Fighter 6, etc)
I guess the point is, we probably need better nomenclature and definitions. We often see people dump on live service but what they really mean to criticize is the games which are ongoing with predatory fees and charges, or games that are incomplete and rely on updates to string people along.
Re: Analysts Anticipate a Tougher Year for Live Service As Sony Aims to Infiltrate Sector
@themightyant Yeah the “60 per cent of playtime is dominated by just 19 titles” statement is a little confusing to me, as to whether it’s playtime for all games or just live service. I even went to the original article to try to find out more about that statistic. In the article (which this statement is just a smidgen of the total content, which is several rapid fire predictions from an array of analysts) Wijman doesn’t expound or back up the statement, but does add “75% of playtime is from the top 33 games”. So from that I’m assuming this means all games, since I can’t think of 33 live service games.
If the “60% playtime from 19 games” includes all comers, then it would be interesting to see how many of those 19 are live service and how many are traditional single or multiplayer without service elements. For example, I could see large popular time sinks Elden Ring, Baldur’s Gate, or Witcher 3 maybe being in there, just by virtue of people dumping hundreds of hours into them and replaying them several times. I know they still are dwarfed by the thousands of hours people spend in Minecraft, Roblox, Fortnite, FIFA, Madden, GTA Online, or Warzone, but it would be interesting to see the breakdown.
And there’s also a difference between profitability and playtime, although I know both metrics are important, it seems like playtime is only part of the the equation.
Still, like you say, the lopsided playtime stats is sad to me, with such a wealth of variety out there. Over the last several years since PlayStation has been able to give us our personal stats, I don’t think I’ve ever spent more than 150 hours on any one game. And I think that one was Persona 5. 😅
Re: Round Up: All Our Game of the Year 2023 Winners
In case anyone is curious (I obviously was), here are the last 3 years Push Square top 10 GOTY lists:
2022–
https://www.pushsquare.com/features/round-up-these-are-our-game-of-the-year-picks-so-far
(Missing the overall #1, which I believe was GoW Ragnarok)
2021–
https://www.pushsquare.com/features/round-up-all-our-game-of-the-year-winners
2020–
https://www.pushsquare.com/news/2021/01/round_up_all_our_game_of_the_year_winners
I’d say 2023 was really strong comparatively. 2020 was great and 2022 also not too shabby. But 2021… eh.
Re: Game of the Year: #1 - Marvel's Spider-Man 2
@themightyant “The thing I find most crazy is the number of people saying things like ‘I haven’t played BG3 but it’s objectively GOTY’ lmao”
Exactly. I’ve seen a lot of this. And also, BG3 is an enormous game, where I’ve read it kinda falls apart a little at the end. I think patches have fixed Act 3’s technical issues, but some have said there’s major narrative problems. There’s a few readers (@Jaz007 being one) who feel like the ending was botched sufficiently that it takes away a lot of the greatness that it was trying to accomplish. Similar for Alan Wake II where an excellent write up by @Jimmer-jammer recently in the forums outlined some of the game’s significant shortcomings. L
Personally, I don’t know. I’m not saying one way or the other, as I’ve not played any of these, but I do wonder how many people who are championing BG3 actually finished it. I suppose you don’t have to finish a game to feel like it’s a GOTY, but honestly, many people haven’t even played it.
Re: Happy New Year from the Push Square Team
‘23 has been a great year for gaming. Bring on ‘24! And here’s to another outstanding year of Push Square - the best corner of the internet, by my measures. 🥂
Re: Game of the Year: #2 - Baldur's Gate 3
Like others have said, as far as a voting result, being number 2 this year is impressive enough for a game that is niche like BG3. I know it’s selling well enough, but it’s not got the wide appeal of Spider-Man 2.
These results do not invalidate your own personal preferences. If you’re a D&D or cRPG fan, or if you value large epic games or high fantasy, then you’re absolutely within your rights to prefer BG3 over SM2 (or anything else).
Re: Game of the Year: Top 10 PS5, PS4 Soundtracks of 2023
I’ll echo multiple comments about FF16 being a surprise omission (although at least it’s an honorable mention). But like said by others, I haven’t played most of these games so I can’t pass judgment, but I can say FF16 has one of the best scores in recent memory.
Also, it disappointing that Tchia didn’t get an honorable mention. Fantastic musical score and integration into the gameplay and overall cultural setting of the game. Just because it’s not a huge orchestral track shouldn’t disqualify it. I adored the quaint acoustic ukulele sequences.