Th3solution

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. 😄

I’ve been noticing this for a while, but human nature has this strange recency bias / nostalgia equation going on. The best I can estimate, the sweet spot is about 3-8 years during which time a piece of media is probably going to get a fair shake in judgement. If it’s more recent than 3 months it gets a boost from recency bias. If it’s older than 8 years it gets a boost from nostalgia. If it came out somewhere in the time between 3 months ago and 3 years ago it gets ironically more harshly critiqued, like a collective gaslighting where we question why we liked that thing and it really wasn’t as good as we remember. Eventually after about 3 years the piece of media gets appreciated again for what it was.

For example, although it’s not germane to this year’s current discussion, I see this with games like God of War: Ragnarok, which was a game many considered the greatest in recent years, was a November release and swept GOTY awards, and now I’m seeing a lot of online discourse about how it was ‘not that good’, ‘more of the same’, ‘underwhelming and overrated’, ‘uninspired’, and ‘not as good as the first game.’

So I think similar things happen with releases early in the year. I’m surprised even that TotK which was initially described as transcendent and a historically defining game of our time, is now being supplanted by the hot games of the moment (AW2 and BG3) in these GOTY discussions.

I’m not being critical of these opinions, by the way. BG3 and AW2 look brilliant. As does SM2 and several of the recent releases. But we forget how blown away we were by RE4, Hogwarts, Diablo 4, Dead Space R, Octopath 2, Jedi Survivor, Pikmin 4, Metroid Prime R, etc, etc.

I’m not saying any of those game necessarily deserve more credit. I’m just predicting that in about 3-6 months we’ll probably see a similar revisionist history where we’ll be disenchanted with AW2, BG3, Starfield, and most of the games that came out in the last few months. Not saying there’s anything wrong with it, it’s just human nature.

I love it. What an enjoyable trip down memory lane, Robert.

@Mephisto2869 I agree. Pretty much all games that have a story have some cutscenes. It’s a really weird complaint. Starfield, Halo, Gears of War, but also The Witcher 3, the Metal Gear Solid games, Yakuza games, every Assassin’s Creed game, Mass Effect, Hitman, GTA, Cyberpunk… I mean third party games follow the same formula, but Sony tends to have a special talent to make them better and more cinematic and yet there’s so many complaints about it. I don’t understand. I don’t play on Nintendo, but I suspect Zelda, Xenoblade Chronicles, and most of their first party output has storytelling cutscenes.

I mean, I’ll admit that Sony first party is heavy in the third-person single player narrative action games. But people just completely forget about Dreams, Concrete Genie, Knack, Gran Turismo, MLB The Show, Astrobot, Returnal, The Last Guardian, Erica, Bound, Sackboy / LBP, etc, etc. These games just don’t make a splash like their tentpole franchises.

@Texan_Survivor I read these types of comments a lot, and I think people forget about games because they didn’t play them, or because they don’t get a lot of press.

Astrobot’s Playroom and Returnal alone would counter all those points, both are exceptional PS5 exclusives. Also we have the entire innovative arm of PSVR2, which although not successful so far, shows Sony doing more than cutscene “walkie-talkies” alone. More creativity in that one project than both competitors put together. Sony has really committed to novel ideas — Dreams would be a major example. Also, Fairgames and Concord are on deck, as far as new IP that aren’t narrative third person games.

The issue is, no one plays or buys many of these games. They buy GoW, Spider-Man, etc. If players want more creative games they need to put their money where their mouth is. Go buy a PSVR2 and play Returnal.

@chrichtonsworld You’re correct in that I don’t play much nowadays, compared to a couple years ago, but I play about 10-12 games a year, depending. Some are large games like recently poured 80+ hrs into Jedi Survivor and Hogwarts, and some are small like Stray or Life is Strange 2 which I played this year also.

Most of my digital library through PS+ is from the monthly games I’ve claimed over the years, so I have access to all of them as long as I keep the subscription active. But yes, the PS+ Extra games can be taken away. But that’s less of a “digital game” problem as much as it’s a “subscription model” problem. Yes, it’s possible that Sony (or Microsoft or Nintendo) will take away access to a digital game you own, but so far that hasn’t happened very often. It’s a legitimate concern though.

What games have you lost access to? Besides PS+ Extra I haven’t run across any issues with the PS+ Essential monthly games, nor games they gave us in the PS+ collection at the start of this gen.

@DaniPooo I’m not a collector, per se, but I do value physical games. Mostly because I can resell them and transfer the rights to play that game to another person, which I can’t do with digital. And it does take away some of the free market competition options if the only option place I can buy a game is from the PS store. Of course I can always go over to Xbox or Steam, I guess, but definitely fewer options than with physical where I can go to Best Buy, Target, GameStop, and a thousand other options including a second hand marketplace. So my issue is mostly with the loss of competitive pricing that the digital store causes. I would like an option to be able to either buy digital PS5 games from other marketplaces, or be able to resell my digital game to someone else. Not likely to happen though.

As far as the other point — yes, I think part of the issue here (and with other economically based matters in gaming) where many of us are talking past each other is that we’re all coming from a different cultural setting, with unique governmental and regulatory backdrops. The U.S. is heavily free-market and big business driven, and less welfare-state, as you say. I think a lawsuit like this probably wouldn’t gain much traction here. So I’m glad the UK tax payers are funding it. Because yes, these legal battles which go on for years cost the tax payers a whole lot of money. Which is why I made my first comments that I thought the hardworking people in the UK might benefit from the courts spending their time on other injustices, but I don’t know. I don’t live there, or in Europe, so maybe all is hunky-dory and hobby related cost structures are high priority.
🤷🏻‍♂️

@DaniPooo And to clarify, when I say “I”, I’m speaking metaphorically representing the common man/woman. Although I do know people who can’t afford their medication and utilities, personally speaking, I’ll be fine this winter and have all my needs met. I also have a library chock-full of games, digital and physical (I think last I noticed, my digital library has 400+ titles in it, many from the PS+ services) which I probably would not even complete if I played all day, every day for the next 3 years. But I realize (as you said in your first reply) that just because I can afford all the necessities and amenities of life doesn’t mean others aren’t struggling. And my heart hurts more for those who are forced to go without those other things I mentioned. I can’t say I’ve ever shed a tear for someone who can’t afford a digital game, but I certainly have for someone who can’t afford their rent.

And yes… the justice / court system is a branch of government. 😅. I think you meant that those things I mention need to be handled by the legislature? I mean, yeah, but they are also the ones who should be handling the anti-trust laws and oversight of the gaming digital storefronts. Since they haven’t, that’s why people have turned to the courts.

@DaniPooo I realize “two wrongs don’t make a right” and just because pharmaceutical companies, gas and electro companies, and grocery stores price-gouge doesn’t mean than unfair monopolistic practices elsewhere are okay. I don’t like the way Sony and Microsoft are pushing us all into a digital only future where they have complete control over game pricing. Sure I’d like better digital prices. But my point is that I’d rather be able to afford my insulin. And be able to heat my home in the winter.

Not even limited to “poor” people (that term could mean different things to different people), even the wealthy middle class can’t afford their taxes, their meds, and their utilities in the U.S. That’s all I’m saying. If I was in charge of the world, I’d fix that stuff first before the PSN. The courts can barely handle the cases they already have, so this lawsuit runs the risk of being a detractor from bigger issues, is what I meant. If it ends up helping me pay $10 less for God of War Ragnarok, then ‘yay!’ for that. I just wish the courts would advocate for us on healthcare, tax reform, and oil pricing. There’s plenty of more egregious consumer injustices going on.

Is Gears of War known for its narrative prowess? I’m not familiar with the franchise but nothing about it came across that way, looking at it from the outside.

I live in a world where people literally cannot afford their life saving medications, food, clothing, shelter, and utilities, so this seems a bit ridiculous. The courts have much more important things to do.

“2022's A Plague Tale: Requiem has hit three million players just ahead of its one year anniversary.”

That number actually seems low. And when they report how many players tried the game instead of how many copies sold, it tells me it probably didn’t sell well. Asobo and Focus got their GamePass money, so I’m sure they’re happy with that, but I’m surprised only a couple million GP subscribers tried the game as I imagine it sold about 1 million. Also the game is available on Nintendo via cloud streaming, so that number is even less impressive on all 3 consoles, one of which has it for “free”

Cue comments about executives and project leads leaving studios being completely normal and rebranding a studio being commonplace and not a sign of any disruption in Sony first party.

I don’t have much interest in the game, based on what I’ve seen. But I do think that despite the heavy online criticism, the game is likely to sell like hotcakes.

I get this game mixed up with Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden and Atlas Fallen. There’s too many AA major fantasy games that came out around the same time. 😅

Man, it seems like we’re seeing more of these departures than usual. I’m not trying to be an alarmist, and I know it’s commonplace for personnel leave to further their careers, but… where there’s smoke is there indeed a fire?

@Grumblevolcano That’s really depressing to think about. 😅 In 2038 GTA7 might be the least of our concerns, the way this world is going.

Having continuous conversations with my own psyche whilst trying to stay clean and sober in Disco Elysium.

There’s still some serious Dunning-Kruger effect going on, where despite articles like this and evidence showing the device being sold out, as well as the glowing reviews from critics, and loads of positive feedback from people who actually own the Portal and are loving it, and yet there’s still all these people who “know better” (just because they personally don’t want one) and are convinced it’s going to be a failure and the device has no real target audience. 😒

Pretty excited for this. I’ve got a lot of games to play but this could shove its way to the front, depending.

Several from my wishlist on sale. I’ve got more than I can play already but $30 for Crisis Core and Plague Tale Requiem is tempting. But I think I’ll wait. Just like I’ve waited for GoW Ragnarok

@AdamNovice That’s a good point.

Also Bend Studio, which their last was Days Gone in 2019 and they didn’t even release a Director’s Cut in the interim like Sucker Punch did.

Not to mention studios like Team Asobi and BluePoint which had PS5 launch games a couple months after TLoU2 but nothing since. Meanwhile ND has made PS5 remakes in TLoU1, UC4/LL Legacy of Thieves, probably would have released Factions by now if not for Bungie, and helped produce arguably one of the best video game TV shows ever. Meanwhile nothing but silence from most of the other first parties. People are probably a little too unfair with Naughty Dog. I mean, yeah - it’s fine to not like the studio’s games or decisions (which I’ve loved everything they’ve made, personally) but there’s no criticizing their effort and production. The only studio that has been more productive is Insomniac. Guerrilla and Santa Monica are in the conversation too, but otherwise ND is still one of the main contributors to Sony’s ecosystem.

Hopefully Santa brings me one.

I’m just wondering why people have stopped buying GTAV. Come on people! Every household in the U.S. only has two copies. We can do better than that!

Wow, that statement:
“The videogame market has evolved … with consumers increasingly reverting to well-established Intellectual Properties and playing these same games for longer periods. Digital Bros strategy has had to adapt … and will focus its efforts moving forward on the release of sequels and new versions of previously successful and established games, with a limited number of new larger budgets productions."

What a damning statement for gamers like me. I wish we had fewer long lifestyle games and annual retreads, and more new IP.

I don’t play COD but I had to drop by and read this out of morbid curiosity. Yikes! Surely Sony first party can develop (or is developing) something to compete with this.

I’ve never played a Far Cry game, despite enjoying Ubisoft’s other output. I just can’t get past the first person viewpoint. It’s just not my preference.

That said, I was considering putting aside those issues because I think an open world Avatar setting sounds great…. Until this news. To me ‘season pass’ is immediately a turn off.

@nomither6 Yeah, I just avoid the platform entirely. Just like I choose not to go for regular strolls in the sewer. If people want to wade through other people’s excrement, more power to them. 😜

If I’m within range of my PS5 and have my 3D Pulse headset connected to its USB dongle, I assume it will work while playing on PS Portal?

The Yakuza games are already really long, so this sounds like this might be excessive. It won’t be so bad if it has novel gameplay content, but the series is known for recycling ideas. What would a Yakuza game be without hostess club, management sim, and arcade side games. Also karaoke. Dollars to donuts it has karaoke.

All fairly predictable except for the PlayStation GOTY winner being RE4. Not that it’s undeserving, but it’s not an exclusive, whereas the Nintendo and Xbox GOTY are. It’s usually the other way around.

Poor Spidey 2

Edit: oops… I did that annoying thing that people do when the post a comment without reading the other comments or the article and they say something ignorant that has been clarified several times above… Spider-Man 2 wasn’t eligible for PS GOTY.

Still… it’s a little egg-on-the-face for FFXVI

Blast, I hate this. Even though I’m part of the problem and have shifted toward more and more digital, I still like my physical for big AAA titles.

Although, 4% is low, compared to 21%, it’s still enough to keep physical going for the short term but I feel fairly certain PS6 will be digital only.

This is a tough year to judge and predict.

For me so far I give the slight edge to Hogwart’s Legacy. But I’ve yet to play Spider-Man 2 and Baldur’s Gate 3, which I plan to do before the year’s end. I also am only halfway through FF16, so it might move up depending how the ending goes, because it’s turning out to be really good also. It won’t win, but I really enjoyed Jedi Survivor immensely. The remakes for RE4 and Dead Space are others I need to get to eventually, and I suspect will be nominated for some awards.

Zelda will probably be the safe bet. By all accounts it’s excellent. I wouldn’t know since I don’t play on Switch. Nothing against it, but I have my plate full with just PS5 right now. It will be weird to have a GOTY winner that’s confined to a last gen console though.

I think we all knew what was probably going to happen (or not happen) in this game, but now I think we know for sure.

I can’t wait to see UNO cards in the highest 4K fidelity at 120 FPS performance and there better be ray tracing!

Bungie clearly has talent in this one corner of gaming - FPS live service. Nevertheless, that’s a burning platform to be standing on, which is volatile and inherently self-limiting. I suspect they’ve learned this now that when you limit access to your product to a small section of gamers who have started with you from the beginning, then your more susceptible to suffer if a portion of them walk away. It would serve them well on their next project to keep barriers to entry low for injecting a new player base to your game. That, or ditch the live service model (which is never going to happen).

Wow, if the big update after a couple years is “we have a script” and “we’re close to getting out s*** together” then that doesn’t inspire confidence that this will show up anytime soon. I was hoping for a sequel to the game but here we are over 3 years after the first game’s release and nothing on the franchise other than “we have a script”

@thechetearly I really agree. The difficulty with onboarding new players is a big oversight for Destiny (and other live service games). There will always be a natural dwindling of your early audience and the only way to maintain or grow a live-service game is by injecting fresh new players into the game to replace those leaving. Destiny 2 has done an abysmal job at this. The barrier to entry for those of us who haven’t been involved since the early days is just too high. I’m not sure why Bungie doesn’t recognize this.

In my opinion, a live-service game has to not only maintain engagement from the core audience, but also allow for easy entry of new players.

I still need to watch the second movie. Problem is that if I have 3 spare hours I always rather do something else.

As far as the game, first person has me put off. Not saying never, but it went way down my hype meter when I realized it was FP viewpoint