Th3solution

‘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.

@Northern_munkey I’m confused. Even without playing it completely and properly it’s still the best expansion you’ve ever seen? I mean, isn’t it premature to pass judgement or are the opening moments really that impressive that it is the best no matter how it finishes?

Really thrilled, especially about A Plague Tale. I’ve had it on my wishlist since release. Just kept waiting for a steep sale and some time on my schedule to open up.

In my view it’s fine to disagree, criticize, or debate a list, but attacking an individual or getting personal with insults is where things cross the line. Diss the opinion, but not the person.

On subject, I think I might need to fire up PowerWash Simulator and give it a try maybe this weekend.

Did I just read a comment that went something like this:

“Spider-Man 2 has no business being above this game…. I’m looking forward to giving Alan Wake a try regardless”

The irony of that statement is so intense that it boggles the mind. Knowing another game shouldn’t be ranked higher than AW then immediately admitting that they haven’t played AW. 😂

I’ve been watching APT Requiem on my wishlist for a while now and it rarely ever goes on sale, and even when it does it’s just a small discount. So I’m totally stoked about this. The other two games are actually curiosities for me too, so it’s a win all around!

@Nepp67 I really try not to use potions but during the mini bosses, major bosses, and optional hunts I have to use them. Torgal’s healing spell is better than nothing but it’s fairly weak. Limit breaks and that one Phoenix ability (forgetting the name atm) also do a little healing, but some of the bosses, all it takes is to miss a dodge or a counter and you’re caught in a combo that knocks off 75% of your health in one series.

I do have the item equipped that makes Torgal perform automatically. I couldn’t be fussed to try and juggle 3 Eikons with 2 abilities each whilst shooting magic and swinging a sword, all the while keeping an eye on the refresh of my abilities to keep the chain going whilst also controlling Torgal in real time. It was just too much. But unfortunately since I started with that I’m dependent on him being AI controlled (when I tried to control him myself, my muscle memory is all messed up and I just flub everything), and so I’m at the mercy of when the AI decides that maybe they ought to heal me. 😅. It’s not always timely.

But the point about the insta-healing is an interesting one. I’ve not really thought about it but yeah, it does make a difference. I just played Jedi Survivor and BD-1’s stim healing is nearly instant, but not quite, so I died a few times whilst missing my trigger to heal my a millisecond and got hit while the animation was in play and ramping up, even though I’d clearly hit the button before the finishing blow. I think there’s a skill tree power up in that game that speeds healing.

@Ambassador_Kong I’m playing FF16 right now — I’m about 40 hours into it — so, far along enough to have some feedback. I would say the difficulty is medium. There’s a few pieces of equipment that basically make the game “easy mode”, rather than have a difficulty slider in the options in the traditional sense. (Accessories that give you auto-dodge and auto-combos, etc). So I just avoided using those and the game has been a balanced challenge for me. I’ve only died like 2-3 times, but I do all the side quests and do a little bit of grinding to make sure I’m slightly over-leveled so as to not run into an impassable enemy. But I frequently just barely get by on some of the major bosses and optional hunts. Just yesterday I had a couple bosses that I was down to my last potion and my hands were sweating as I knocked the last piece of health off the enemy with a sigh of relief. It’s quite a dopamine rush. Not quite on the level of Souls bosses where you barely squeak by finally after 5 failures, but there’s periodically challenging fights and to just barely scrape by on the first attempt is what I’d call a nice balance.

The common enemies can be easy, but even there, if you aren’t careful and wander out too far without any healing potions then one of the brute enemies can definitely take you out. Of course all of this is dependent on your own skill level, but I’d say it’s not severely difficult, but it’s balanced.

As far as the side content, the early ones seem to be the worst and the side quests I’ve done recently are halfway decent. Nothing stellar, but also nothing as terrible as those in the early game. It nothing much worse than FF7 Remake cat herding quest. 😅. And the side quests are clearly marked and easily skipped if you wish to avoid them. The rewards for doing the extra are mostly garbage, so if you don’t like learning more about the NPC and the world, it’s easy to just skip them.

Overall, the game has grown better for me the longer I’ve played it. I wasn’t convinced at first, but now I really like it. It’s probably my second favorite game this year, although I’m only about 2/3 of the way so we’ll see.

13/20… I think that’s about what I got last year. And the year before…

A lot of theories out there about this failed project and it will be fascinating to hear the full story one day.

A couple ideas from Uncharted 4 ended up on the cutting room floor and eventually made it into TLoU2. I highly suspect that not all the work done over the last couple years will end up flushed. We’ll see some of the embryonic DNA of this project in TLoU3 and possibly in the other new single player games coming.

@jedinite Yes, that’s exactly my point — in my understanding Xbox’s policy was that games were required to have parity between Series S and Series X and Larian could not get couch co-op running on Series S so therefore they didn’t release it on either one. It effectively became a ‘timed exclusive’ because of that until Xbox finally backed out of their parity clause, allowing Larian to drop couch co-op from the Series S version. Sony paid nothing for the right to have the game first; it was self-inflicted by XBox.

It’s roughly similar to Cyberpunk 2077 and the PS4 and Xbox One versions. Trying to keep old tech alive ended up holding things back for the current gen version to function also.

All three companies I think are finally realizing they need to get on with it toward the new generation. Xbox with dropping the parity requirement, Nintendo with the release of Switch 2, and Sony with the abandonment of cross gen games (and now the PS5 pro rumored to come out next year). I just think PS5 benefitted from the other two companies dragging their feet a little bit on embracing the current generation, that’s all.

@gaston Yes, true - the Switch has been underpowered for an entire generation and it has still dominated. But I think we have some performance issues that are starting to limit these weaker systems. Cyberpunk, BG3 local coop, and about any AAA game performance mode/60 fps - all poorly functional or completely nonfunctional on dated hardware. I assume most AAA games going forward will need the full current gen power

@gaston It’s an interesting question. I reckon it’s a combo of things, as people have stated.

I do think PlayStation is the beneficiary of advantageous timing right now. The dominant console over the last few years, the Switch, is finally showing signs of decline. Switches and sales are finally coming down to earth. But more so, I think the technology is finally coming back to haunt the Switch and the proposition of a Switch 2 probably has slowed sales.
Meanwhile, Xbox’s strategy has always be more focused on selling the service and less about the hardware. And the technology thing is finally catching up to them with Baldur’s Gate 3 not being able to run fully on Series S. It’s the biggest game of the year and so it came back to bite Microsoft in the behind that they tossed Sony a softball there with timed exclusivity. So yeah, the more compelling games, basically — BG3, SM2, and FF16 (FF7 Rebirth soon) vs Starfield and Redfall.

So basically, although it’s not the only reason, I think Nintendo and Microsoft were a little too slow to respond on some of the hardware limitations they have. Sony seems to be staying ahead of the curve with PS5 Pro probably coming soon(ish?) and the Portal exceeding expectations. Nintendo and Microsoft appear to be course correcting (MS finally admitting they need to leave the Series S behind for some games and Nintendo with the Switch 2)

I do think the DualSense is a great selling point, but it likely comes down more to the games and the unrestrictive technology. The multimedia storm they have been on helps too. Brand loyalty also. All the other things you and people have mentioned.

Actually this is good news. I respect their decision and their candor about it. It makes no sense for them to transform their studio into something different at the expense of the thing they do best.

And I do firmly believe all the time and energies spent on this MP project won’t be all for naught. They likely have a few aspects of their cancelled game which they can pull forward and use in the single player sequel. I saw plenty of evidence of part of Uncharted 4 that were influential into what was done in TLoU2.

I know we don’t have hard numbers, but I would consider selling out almost immediately after launch to be a runaway success. I want one and can’t get one.

True that Sony may have been gun-shy of making too much inventory after the PSVR2, but to not have any of these available even from PS Direct four weeks before Christmas is a huge surprise success. So many more units could have been sold over the last month for Christmas gifts. Clearly the unit is doing way better than planned. And I’m reading near universal praise for it from people who have one. I wish I had one for Sunday football games. Perfect fit to have a game on the tele and grind away on a game simultaneously and during commercial breaks.

@dark_knightmare2 Yeah, that’s what I thought too. The way he adds that qualifying statement at the end, “we felt, financially and strategically for the game, that made sense at the time.”

It sounds like he’s trying to excuse and explain the logic of a decision that is now being felt as a poor choice.

@EfYI Apologies and I have deleted my comment about “clicking on the article to see the Wolverine leaks.” It was said with tongue-(mostly)-in-cheek. I was curious just like everyone else as to what’s going on, as I assume you were too, although perhaps you clicked the article solely to express your thoughts there.

My biggest curiosity, however, isn’t so much about what Insomniac is up to and whatever emails they got about Wolverine’s development, rather I am a little worried about the safety of my own PSN information and the integrity of the Sony cybernetic infrastructure. The PSN outage of 2011 is enough to give me a high level of anxiety and then the other recent hack involving Sony employees compounds those concerns.

I realize, as @SirEvilJebus states, that it’s an alleged hack on Insomniac and not Sony per se, but in my experience the company who writes the checks is usually overseeing the cybersecurity of its subsidiaries. I’m no expert but other large companies seem to function that way. If Sony is not involved in the security of the first party studios then perhaps they need to be.

@TheCollector316 Yeah I guess the ports to PC and Xbox could be handled by another team. Regarding the DLC, he did say, “The development team for FF16 has been disbanded, except for the main DLC team…” So there’s some of the original team left behind to do that.

I guess this means there’s not an Xbox port in the works.

Was hoping for Crisis Core. Ah, well.

J.R.R. Tolkien is certainly turning over in his grave.

@get2sammyb Sounds a little bit like PlayStation Home. Why Sony never tried something like Home on PS4 I’ll never know. I get the feeling that they didn’t know the potential of what they had there and have let Fortnite and Epic fill that space now.

I’m so confused as to what Fortnite even is anymore.

@T-Bone09 I think sometimes you can keep playing a game after it drops from the service for a short time (like an extra week or two) if it’s downloaded and you disconnect your console from the internet before it expires from the service.

I have a fleeting interest in several of those. But it’s ok, I guess. I know these games can’t stay on there forever.

Wow, a little sensitive aren’t they? He was doing a little self-deprecation while also making a joke. He was making fun of himself more than anything.

COD should know that when you’re the biggest game in the industry that you’re going to be a target. The whining does not become you. It’s the cost of success; People poke fun at you and roast you. Judge doesn’t need to apologize.

It’s satisfying when Gen Z and Gen Alpha get so enamored with the classics through modern popular media. It happens all the time. Guardians of the Galaxy was great for this too. I prefer older music to the modern stuff.

The controller with that classic looking cable plug is indeed spectacular. 🤩

I’m absolutely planning to be underwhelmed on the game announcement front. My gut tells me that we’re just not likely to get many big reveals.

@Art_Vandelay For sure. These TV shows are like 10 hour long advertisements for the game and for the brand. Of course if the show or movie stinks, it could backfire — I don’t think the Halo TV show sold very many Xbox’s. In fact, it may have repelled people away from the brand. 😅 Using multimedia for promoting video games has been tried many times in the past but Sony has been successful at putting out consistent quality recently with TLoU, GT movie, Uncharted movie, Twisted Metal, etc.

@Nowings Yes, PC is also in the mix for the second party games and console exclusives but besides Helldivers 2, I suspect the PC releases will not be day 1. We would assume DS2 is coming to PC eventually since the first game did. Same for Rebirth. But I don’t think Rise of the Ronin or Stellar Blade have said anything about a PC release. They will probably also be staggered until later, like first party games are. And Lost Soul Aside seems to have a PC port planned but I’m not sure if it’s day and date with PS5.

@Gremio108 Good to see some love for those smaller games too. I do think having a few small quirky games can be a breath of fresh air in a year of AAA banger after banger after banger. I’ve had to mix in these less daunting titles to keep from getting burnout on the epic games. There’s only so many marathon 100 hour, ‘save the universe by sword and gun’, open world, adrenaline pumping, monster filled, chartbusting murderfests that a person can take.

I’m one of the few people on earth without a copy of GTAV. The last one I played was a little GTA3, which was fine, but I just never have been as enamored with the franchise as most people seem to be. RDR and RDR2 where so much better, imho.

I’m not counting out GTAVI yet; it may be a decent place to jump back in, but I doubt it. I’m just not feelin’ it.

Ah, yes it is. My bad. I do think Kojima said DS2 is coming along really quickly, but it’s probably 2025.

I should keep Lost Soul Aside more at the forefront of my mind. The footage they shared looked great. I think the game’s name is unfortunately generic sounding and so it’s easy to forget. 😅

Regardless, I think the point is well made that despite relative silence from the Sony first party teams, there’s really some exciting second party projects and console exclusives in the wings. Seems like way more than the last two generations.

@ChrisDeku Yeah, that’s a good point. Bloodborne, as fantastic and defining as it was, is made by third party.

Which 4 Sony published / second party games are you referring to? I’ve got Stellar Blade, Helldivers 2, but not sure what the other two are. Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth (like FFXVI and Forspoken) is PlayStation exclusive but Square-Enix published. Which two am I missing?

Edit: oops… got it. Rise of the Ronin and Death Stranding 2. 😄

@zekepliskin Fair enough. The schism over TLoU2’s narrative is certainly legitimate. It really clicked with me, personally. My expanded thoughts are included in my review here: https://www.pushsquare.com/forums/retro_and_other_gaming/user_impressionsreviews_thread?start=2500#reply-2507
No pressure to read it all if you wish not to, but rather than go through it all here it’s fairly in-depth over there on the forums. In particular, toward the end of my review there I write about how the game is often not necessarily “fun” and that Druckmann specifically tried to preemptively set expectations that the game wasn’t designed necessarily to be “fun”. And so my comment here about this new mode was just responding to the fact that the essence of the game for me was the emotional storyline and any gameplay enjoyment was secondary. If you strip away the story and characters, the game is decent, but I don’t know if it’s masterpiece level. But perhaps this new mode has a storyline? So I won’t count it out yet. For those who didn’t like the direction of TLoU2’s narrative then maybe if it does have some storyline then it could salvage the game for you somehow?

Let me preface this my admitting that I don’t play Fortnite and have only tried it for a few hours back in its early days, but….
This isn’t very impressive. The improved animations are, well, fine, but nothing compared to your average sequel to any video game. Seems that Santa Monica got grief for recycling the boat launching animation in GoW Ragnarok and yet Fortnite is so hype that their running and gliding animations are now finally (what, six years later) a tiny bit better? I can barely tell much of a difference.

I guess they don’t want to make too much of a change in animation because it might break the muscle memory of the trillion players who play this, but… I don’t know, I just don’t get it.

For example, I thoroughly enjoyed Star Wars Jedi: Survivor and it had several completely new stances and combat animations, and yet people criticized it for being too much like the first game. 🤷🏻‍♂️

I don’t understand people sometimes.

To me, this seems pretty clear to be salvaged assets and ideas from their botched multiplayer project. It’s a single player mode, but it reads like it could have been a couple steps removed from something like a MP battle mode.

For me, this doesn’t really interest me, although I loved TLoU2, including the improved gameplay. But without the gripping narrative, it’s at risk to be a soulless shell of the original content.

@Kyushutrail Yeah, it was really good, especially considering it was the developer’s first major project. The music was fantastic.

1)Hogwarts
2)FF16
3)Jedi Survivor
4)Tchia
5)Humanity

Absolutely stellar year. Yet to play BG3, SM2, AW2, LoP … all of which could have cracked top 5 but just can’t fit them all in. Its good to throw some love toward some of the indies anyways.

I’ve been wanting to try Power Wash Simulator. I’ve never played a “simulator” game and am fascinated by the surprising popularity of the genre. Lawn mowing, farming, city building, bus driving, park managing…. All seem to be rather mundane tasks that people hate doing in real life or are merely compelled to do in order to earn a paycheck. It’s so strange. And Power Wash Simulator seems to be one of the most popular of these types of games. I wanted to try one and yet I didn’t want to pay for it, so this is a great use of PS+ for me!

😨 Whoah. That looks like a lot. Is it even the same game as it was at launch? 😅

Looks intriguing, but something about it feels slightly off. Maybe it’s because the main character is doing all these cartwheels and flying kicks while a roomful of enemies just stand around watching her and waiting for their turn to get beat up. 😅

I appreciate that CDPR recognizes this. I played (or tried to play) Witcher 3 several years after its release. I had high expectations due to the copious awards and gushing fanbase. Unfortunately, I didn’t click with the game, and I think part of that is the fact that many of the gameplay and storytelling innovations that CDPR used for W3 have now been done a hundred times over and improved on in many ways in other games. I felt like I’d played better versions of the genre already by the time I got to it.

I think a sequel can get away with it when it comes out relatively quickly after the previous installment, like Spider-Man 2, GoW Ragnarok, HFW, AC Valhalla, Jedi Survivor, etc, etc, ‘name your iterative sequel’… But when it’s been a long time like 10-12 years by the time W4 comes out, you can’t roll out just a prettier version of the same stuff and expect to engage a new player base. Many people would buy W4 at release no matter what it was, but many of us will be hoping for something truly modern by then. Like the article says, Baldur’s Gate 3 is a great example. Also Elden Ring might be another recent game in that regard of reinventing a franchise. GoW 2018 would be another which came out and changed itself from the former games enough to engage a new player base. Not only does technology and gameplay options evolve, but the gaming community changes, matures and gets older, and new younger players have different expectations as well.

@StrickenBiged Spot on, totally agree. I was about to say this very thing, which a few others have said in these comments but you effectively summarized. That is, the biggest issue with Bungie’s approach is that they created a weird situation where the early player base will naturally attenuate whilst any new player base is effectively shut out of joining in. It’s a recipe for eventual failure. Well, unless you can get the dwindling core fanbase to pay skyrocketing costs for microtransactions, and… welp, it seems like they’ve now found a limit that even their most loyal fans will not pay.

If they made it friendlier to join in as a new player, I would have almost certainly tried the game at some point. I’ve come close and really wanted to see what the game was all about, but everytime over the last few years that I come close to jumping in, the barrier to entry is too high now, due to things like the vaulted early content and lack of good onboarding options.

Based on yours and others comments, there’s a huge number of people like us out there.

There’s some really awesome looking video game development going on in S Korea, in addition to their blossoming TV (Squid Game) and movie (Parasite) output. Japan better up their game to keep up. 😅

Although I’m not a fan of mobile games, my Netflix subscription feels useless, so maybe I’ll try some of these games. Been meaning to try KR0 and OF2.

I never played this, but something gives me the feeling that it’s much ado about nothing. I hear it referred to as underrated but I suspect it may actually be overhyped. 😅 I don’t know. I suspect there’s a bit of rose-tinted spectacle treatment going on. It’s one of those unusual circumstances of a game whose popularity and legend has actually swelled over the years and now is spoken of in hushed tones but at the time was a commercial failure with some scattered critical accolades.

Powerwash Simulator makes this a great month for me. I’ve wondered what all the fuss is about with that game, but didn’t want to pay for it. 😄