XOF

Okay, I'm really glad developers are pioneering in accessibility options. It really helps being able to customize your experience, even more so when those customizations help more people be able to play it. (Don't get me wrong, I'm still a big fan of FromSoftware and what they do, but I have to admit that in terms of accessibility their games always fall short, even in terms of basic things like button mapping and subtitle size/color).

All that said, I've never tried Gryo aiming, maybe I'll try it out on The Last of Us Part II and see how it is. Call me an old-timer (I'm not) but I just prefer plain stick-aiming like we always do. The option is nice to have, though.

Gotta love it how PlayStation always pushes small things like this.

I pre-ordered a deluxe edition on my PS4 a week or so ago, guess I'll be getting everything anyway then?

It's still weird that PlayStation is pulling something like this.

Without a doubt, one of those is TLOU: Factions.

Another one of ND's directors has tweeted something along the lines of (and with good humor): "We're making games with levels", mentioning these open positions, under which Neil Druckmann had replied "Levels or biomes?" which I found interesting.

Given how they wanted to go open world with The Last of Us Part II, but then had to back down because of many different reasons (pacing of the game being one), perhaps they're trying their hands at an open-world title. Whether it's a new IP or one of their existing games... who can tell?

@ApostateMage God, I couldn't agree more. It's high time GTA had a female protagonist. Sadie Adler was one of the best NPCs in that game (and RDR2 has a lot of well-written NPCs)

@CthulhuFhtagn Has to be my favorite too! Ludwig and Lady Maria. Bloodborne's boss fights just hit different.

@RevGaming Haha, it's awesome! Sucker Punch really poured their heart and soul into Ghost of Tsushima, even after launch!

@RevGaming And that makes me even happier, honestly. I don't mind having some PlayStation online games to play with my friends instead of the recycled yearly releases.

The Last of Us: Factions has to be the one for me. It's high time PlayStation dipped their toes into the online side of video games (I just hope it doesn't hurt the single-player games they're producing)

EDIT: Typo

Ugh... I'm very tempted to watch this, but on the other hand, I want to keep everything as fresh and new as possible. -_- The struggle!

I trust in PlayStation's decision-making. They aren't always the best but if you're spending this much money, you probably have a pretty good idea about how much revenue Bungie is bringing in.

Same with Microsoft and buying Acti-Bliz, there's no possible way either of those IPs can bring in a significant amount of revenue to make that buy-out justified. I think it's safe to say both sides are playing it for the long haul.

@get2sammyb I hope this change is for the better. The industry could use some rearrangement in terms of priorities and quality output. Sony has always been pushing for quality and innovation, with them at the helm, I'd feel a little more confident when buying games.

@Flaming_Kaiser True! The same goes for Ghost of Tsushima if you have played that. I really dislike going after collectibles but Zero Dawn really made them interesting (they also reward you with some unique gear sometimes!) which encourages the player to go look for them. Plus, you have that beautiful world to go around in, hehe.

@Flaming_Kaiser That's fair, I've used guides myself when I wanted to platinum a game, but I remember I didn't use one for Horizon: Zero Dawn, Death Stranding, and The Last of Us Part II.
Some games just give you the tools to do so.

I never understood the appeal of guidebooks, (which right now have turned into Fextralife wikis and fandoms). I've always cherished the excitement of entering a new world and figuring things out as I go. One of the reasons I hate spoilers is exactly how it ruins the discovery of that "unknown". And on top of that to spend $50 on it... sounds like an expensive way to ruin your own experience.

I take it Cyberpunk 2077's performance on last-gen consoles has everyone (even developers) scared. And rightfully so, as someone who still plays on a base PS4, it is a little concerning that cross-gen games might forget about us so soon. (especially with how hard getting new consoles is -and it's doubly harder on my side of the world because of inflation)

Edit: the game also looks pretty good on PS4, can't say I'm too excited about it right now. Way too many great games coming out in such a short time!

Well, as someone who's going to experience this on the PS4, I'm sure glad to see these. But as far as there are no gameplay differences, I'm all good.

Zero Dawn still looks pretty gorgeous on PS4. Feb 18th can come soon enough.

Yay! couldn't get better than this. I am ready to explore the Forbidden West.

I thought it would be lengthier than Horizon Zero Dawn, but I can't say I'm disappointed. I like how committed Guerrilla Games are to quality over quantity.

This game is going to be an amazing experience. The wait is almost over!

I did notice that its power nodes were off in the latest trailer. (Not gonna watch IGN's footage), but it also makes sense from a design standpoint and makes the lore/worldbuilding more grounded which I like. It makes sense that it would run out of power soon unless Aloy was going to eat up biomass to keep it running

Edit: This armor being "Uncommon" makes me intrigued to see what the "Legendary" or "Rare" category of armors are! (I really hope Forbidden West doesn't ask Aloy to re-learn all her abilities and skill, and the "Legendary" type gear of Zero Dawn being "Uncommon" is a good sign...)

@TheRedComet I feel you, your first question really seems to be at the center of Forbidden West (especially with the new trailer and Tilda the new character) so I'm almost sure we'll get a clue, if not a full-blown answer.

As for Sylens, the mystery is really intriguing. To me, at least so far, Sylens sounds like someone like Ted Faro, except minus the "Corporate boss" part. His pursuit of knowledge is definitely going to be either his downfall or humanity's and I think that makes for a good parallel. And I think you're right, he might be something like The Illusive Man from Mass Effect.

I pre-ordered the game yesterday! The wait is unbearable.

For all the other Horizon fans out there, do you guys wanna see Aratak again after Frozen Wilds, or is it just me?! A lot of familiar faces are coming back, I'm a little sad there's no sign of him (understandable from a story standpoint though,)

@riceNpea Good chat, mate, The Last of Us Part II is indeed something to be grateful about!

@Bismarck sure we can, gamepass is forcing developers to lower the cost of development, only because a certain company can't compete with the sheer quality of their competition.

@Bismarck look, man I'm treating gamepass the same way you're treating open-world games. If that is a clear sign of immaturity, guess who's been doing it all evening!

I'm just gonna agree to disagree, because this discussion is going nowhere.

@Bismarck Yes, because I don't think people leading those studios are bummers who consider anything non-linear unnecessary. There's such a thing called storytelling and worldbuilding within storytelling, all of those "bloats" you mentioned led into a richer world.

But whatever, man. You do you. Enjoy gamepass, I'm gonna pay 60$ and enjoy my worthwhile games.

@Bismarck I honestly don't see anyone holding a gun to Guerrilla's employees' heads to make open-world games. Hell, Guerrilla Games were making linear FPS games until Horizon Zero Dawn.

The whole point is, developers are already making the games they want and publishers like Sony/PlayStation are providing the means for them to do so.

Gamepass will not be able to change anything in terms of development culture. It will only reduce the quality of the product in the long run, as well as costing the developers their mental health. Gamepass is an easy excuse to push PlayStation into a corner so they make mistakes because, to be frank the competition has been lagging behind for an entire generation and they can't keep up.

and honestly, if you're going to tell me I'm not thinking like an adult, perhaps we shouldn't continue this discussion.

@Integrity And I whole-heartedly agree with you on that point. The future is indeed bright for video games. I understand what you're saying and I'm glad that you acknowledge the games that are doing it right, but I feel like this whole discussion we've been isolating matters and speaking about things in a broad, big picture manner.

I like the comparison you make, and I agree. Graphical improvements have been made, perhaps more than anything else, which isn't a bad thing. I don't know why we always treat graphics as such a trivial thing (don't get me wrong, if I am to choose between graphics or story and better gameplay, I would pick gameplay and story any day).

All I'm trying to say is, to say video games are stuck is just not a fair statement. I am going to repeat myself here too, but it's the same as saying SP games are dead. They're not. Yes, capitalism and the growth of microtransactions and live-service games may be putting some pressure on some devs, but every year we are getting very meaningful, profound SP games that push the envelop further.

Thankfully or not, PlayStation is always after such matters and is always pushing games to be better than before. And that's what I'm getting at, while MGS and some of the new releases aren't that different in terms of AI (perhaps), we can't just dismiss the fact that they are good games.

@Bismarck It's ironic, you're asking video games to retrace their steps to what they were 20-25 years ago while telling me that I'm scared of change?

What you're referring to has nothing to do with sub-genres or types of games being made. As an industry grows, it's only natural for its products to need more budget, the same goes for cinema and TV and almost any other medium you can think of.

The problem isn't open-world games or what you call the "bloat", whatever that is. The problem is big companies not realizing the potential of the art form they are dealing with and going for quick money-makers.

@Integrity Your expectation of true intelligence is not very realistic. I understand the craving for a true challenge when you face a truly intelligent enemy, but that technology is just out of our reach and it's not exclusive to video games.

We got some AIs and algorithms going on, but nothing that comes close to true intelligence, or if it does... it is way beyond the capabilities of any video game developer to integrate it into the game in a meaningful way. So that whole thing is at least a few more decades out!

And I understand that the hardware has been improved, but at the same time, we've just put the first year of this generation behind us. A rough year that was clogged by the pandemic and all the problems surrounding it. We can't just isolate video game development and say there were short comings (I haven't played Deathloop)

What I'm saying is, video games aren't stuck in a circle, they are evolving. Perhaps at a slower rate in some aspects as opposed to others, but there's progress and it's always different from studio to studio. There is no "One Size Fits All" when it comes to art forms, especially such a form as diverse as video games and their level of complexity.

@Bismarck Because that isn't what I want either, man. You're missing the point. The length of the game has nothing to do with the grind. Yes, after a few hundred hours it will inevitably become grindy, but doesn't reduce the ideal length of a game to 10-20 hours.

You're contradicting your own statement. If The Last of Us Part II is a well-designed game, then the length plays into that wellness. If it's too long, then you shouldn't be calling it well-designed because it fundamentally goes against what you consider "ideal". Do you get what I'm saying?

You're just biased against games that run longer than 10-20 hours for some reason, and you fail to bring any good evidence for your disagreement. I'm not the one who's not seeing things here.

@Integrity I have to disagree with most of that sentiment. Video games have come a long way, and not just in terms of graphics. I'll get the graphics out of the way quickly, it's only natural that as digital art advances, developers want their games to shine with better graphics. There's nothing wrong with that.

In terms of AI and challenges, I don't really get the criticism. Many games demonstrate advanced AIs and there's no shortage of challenges. The most recent example of great AI is The Last of Us Part II, which isn't a couple of decades-old! Aside from that, bringing the discussion back to Horizon, Frozen Wilds, and the new machines brought more challenges and more intelligent enemies to the game. For world physics, we have the same engine running Death Stranding that does some pretty new stuff, unless you want to call that a repetitive walking simulator!

Honestly, what I understand is that you guys just want to ignore everything the industry has been through (or at least everything positive) just to be right?

Video games have come far, and if you think they haven't... maybe you don't play that many video games. It's all too similar to the "Single-player games are dead" sentiment.

@Integrity I agree on that and I'm not defending all open world games (certainly not Ubisoft's formula) and they come in many shapes and forms. We go back to quality vs quantity again. Ubisoft's games are basically yearly games with crammed development and very little effort behind them. Compare that to something like Forbidden West and Ghost of Tsushima and you will see the difference.

The length of the game goes hand in hand wirh its quality, and not all games meet both.

@Bismarck with that mindset, literally everything is either repetitive or pointless.
Open world or not, video games have come a long way and yes, there's certainly growth in wrong aspects (microtransactions, etc.) there has been a lot of advancement and improvements in game design. Side content isn't worthless, it serves a variety of purposes and they are something older games couldn't afford (for whatever reason). What you're asking is for video games to go back, not forward.

@Bismarck you tell me that open worlds haven't changed (which is wrong, I'll go into details later if you wish) and then tell me that people who buy COD and Fifa will want gamepass.

How has COD changed? Where can Fifa evolve?

The length of a game has nothing to do with its quality. Every story has a different approach towards a topic. I enjoy open world games and linear games alike. Just because a game takes longer to finish doesn't diminish its value as a game/work of art.

@Bismarck the length of the game honestly has nothing to do with how much I'm willing to pay, it's the quality all the way.

Gamepass sounds like a great subscription, but it simply isn't sustainable for quality AAA games in the long run.

Look, I'm all about keeping experiences fresh and all. I avoid everything unofficial like the damn plague (and we all know how serious that is!). I haven't seen a single beta footage of Elden Ring, but I've watched all the official releases, screenshots, and snippets included.

So, IDK what the big deal is about seeing a giant bear? Have you guys seen the dragon boss fight that spawns on you from the sky or am I spoiling things here?

Aside from that, I'm very excited about Elden Ring. I've been one of those hollows over at r/EldenRing who were begging for a screenshot for two years, however, with their poor choice of a release date (6 days after Horizon II, seriously?) I'm going to have to pass on it for a while.

Welp, I basically skimmed through this, mainly because I replayed the entire game twice just last week in anticipation for Forbidden West. It is a phenomenal story, and I haven't seen or read anything like it. I love Sci-Fi, and especially the futuristic apocalypse, their idea of the Grey Goo is unmatched!

Kudos for making this guide for those who need it, it's a story packed with ideas and plot points, it couldn't have been easy putting this together. Well done.

@JustX I agree, I'm actually replaying through Killzone: Shadow Fall as we speak, and while it isn't the best game out there, it surprisingly holds up after all these years. I love Horizon (obviously) and don't wish to lose an opportunity to get a new game in the series but if I could really do with another Killzone.

Hell, they could even divide their teams and have one work on Killzone anyway, Sony has the resources and the funds! Same with Resistance.

@Stoffinator I agree that it might be a little counterintuitive to go after Square Enix and FF, since they already sell pretty well on PlayStation. However, Microsoft is out there trying their hand at a monopoly, if push comes to shove, they might actually try targeting PlayStation's selling points as well, as much as they can.

But yeah, the best way for Sony to counterattack Microsoft's big purchases is to establish smaller studios and put out as many quality games as they can. (which seems to be what Sony is doing at the moment).

@RevGaming I know it's a cliche, but I think KJP is as good a PlayStation studio already. They work on a PlayStation engine (Decima) and Death Stranding, although available on PC, is no where to be found on Xbox after 3 years.

I'm not sure if EA or its IPs are exactly good fits for what PlayStation focuses on. (Mostly third person story-driven experiences). Although they have a bunch of promising IPs, Mass Effect included.

As @Bismarck said, I think PlayStation/Sony could do a lot better with aquiring Square Enix, considerign Final Fantasy is a big franchise on PlayStation already.

@B-I-G-DEVIL
@CielloArc
@playstation1995
And a big thanks to y'all for letting me know Sekiro's not an Activision IP. I always thought they own the IP since they published it.

I remember back in 2019, close to the game's release, I read an article where someone from Fromsoftware had said the game was supposed to be named "Sekiro" but then Acti demanded that they add "Shadows Die Twice" for clarification or whatever. Lived on with the misconception that they owned the IP since they made decisions like that.

@Alan_cartridge_ I agree on COD being a system seller, and since not everyone can build a gaming PC (too damn expensive), I'm guessing COD as an exclusive will be a big reason for migrating to a Microsoft ecosystem for casual players.

On the other hand, I think PlayStation will be alarmed. We all know how much they care about single-player games and I wouldn't have it any other way. I really hope that The Last of Us Factions 2 being a dedicated online game from a major PlayStation studio ends up being successful and pave the path for better online experience within the Playstation family.

I know Call of Duty has a lot of fans and is a very popular game, I respect that. But aside from Sekiro, I really don't think we're losing much if Microsoft doesn't honor those agreements (and as others say, the contracts won't last forever).

Maybe this'll push PlayStation to make proper FPS shooters again. Bring back Resistance and Killzone and promote them to replace Call of Duty. I'd love a multiplayer-focused Killzone!

edit: wording

Love it, love it, love it!

I simply couldn't imagine Forbidden West being more epic than Zero Dawn or Frozen Wilds, but my god! I love the many callbacks to the original and how much the game has improved as a whole.

So looking forward to this,

@lolwhatno Oh haha, the joke is that the main character of the manga is a guy with a gun as his head! edit: basically a walking canon lol

And thanks! I agree with the details, HFW is going to knock it out of the park with those. The wait is almost over.

@lolwhatno Better watch your back, lest the guy from No Guns Life sneak up on ya!

@Jeevz underrated comment, lol. My headcanon is that he already unofficially calls himself Balrog.

I really like Barlog's mindset. He's a funny dude and a great director. He also keeps talking about positive things in the industry than riding in on the elitism that's going on in most communities. He's humble and clearly loves video games.

And yes, I expect Ragnarok and even more games will be out on PC at some point. Whether it's day one or a year later, that's a whole different discussion.

Can't wait until The Last of Us is out on PC too! (and Bloodborne)

I don't own a gaming rig, but I'm so glad to see Playstation games doing so well outside of Playstation. Great news.