breakneck

I mean critics didn't want to give the game a chance and meet it on its terms so it scored poorly.
In Asian regions it is still in the top 10 digitally on the store with strong word of mouth.
I'm happy for TN as they do feature combat systems that beat almost all other devs.

Anything Returnal/Housemarque related is welcome (easily my game of this generation so far)

These guys wanted SB to review in the 50-60's range so they could blame woke media for hating the game. The game did well critically so now they've had to pivot their argument to something so stupid especially when it isn't even close to the skimpiest outfit in the game.

Also I'm pretty sure Eve is more buxom/shapely than the early footage. Take the win my guys.

@ApostateMage It does but these guys don't understand good fashion.

I got the game but CHAPTER 13 of FF REBIRTH refuses to END!!! So I'll probably start on Monday or Tuesday! Glad to see people enjoy it though, the demo was promising and I cannot wait to play an action game after months of RPGs and Metroidvanias.

I guess the advantages of being able to buy the biggest Third party publishers and their humongous catalogues has their advantages. Yay for acquisitions!

The actual info that interested me is without ABK Xbox saw only 1% growth in revenue. They are in dire need of a better strategy quick.

@LowDefAl Undersold in Asia at least. In HK and Japan it didn't crack the first 5 pages on Best Selling list.

Did not really care for it the first time around (bad story, bugs, little interactivity with the plot, terrible shooting, okay companions, horrible dialogue and VA Work) so it is a no from me.

I am happy to see the playerbase active again and some positivity back. Upset that they always get complacent and mess stuff up before going back and winning people over.

I'm done with online in general so I will not be back but Destiny has been there for so long that I hope they stick the landing and people look back at the game with more positivity than negativity.

@Quintumply Ah my bad it had a demo 6-7 months ago on Steam.

Watch Dogs 2 was really really good and it is so disappointing that they went in the direction they did with Legion. WD2 had a strong cast, good story, a fun open world and decent mission structures. Also it was the last time Ubi had the guts to have a political story with Politically influenced protagonists.

Wasn't this in EA for months? How is it still buggy?

This is actually good news and makes me a lot more interested. The romances in Persona games are quite frankly *****.

@QBGaming12 Normal was quite difficult during the demo so see how comfortable you are. If you struggle turn it down. Have fun!

I think this means a more God of war 2018/Ragnarok approach (open areas followed by linear sections). Honestly, a good decision since I do think it provides the best of both worlds.

So silly and just adds more to the culture war crap that already surrounds the remasters.

It is really ugly. The top half and the font style are excellent but that bargain bin characters walking towards you filling the bottom is so busy. Less is more sometimes. The best thing I can say is it isn't SMT V Vengeance with its really awkward posing.

P3R was incredible cover art.

Sonic team making a sequel to the only Sonic game in recent memory that sold well.

@GymratAmarillo It is a really bizarre marketing deal though it is doing its job as people on twitter seem to think it is a Xbox Exclusive.

Don't like how homogenised all their games are beginning to look personally. Same features (calendar, social links etc too). Probably wait for a sale or eventual Re-release with more content.

@Burntbreadman That does sound like Atlus the king of cutting corners and I also read it like that.

@pyrrhic_victory Yeah I like both but the front cover just has a very 2000's feel to it which seems to be a lot of the games vibe in general.

Rise of the Ronin had both a Cero-D and Cero-Z edition. I wonder if more games could get away with that. Also the way gore and dismemberment are depicted is different in both Stellar Blade (anime gore and dismemberment of monsters) vs Dead Space (realistic hyper gore and dismemberment of humanoids). Again Japan is prudish/conservative in general which is weird since they're the loli country. But I guess it is the way it is.

Psygnosis were always kinda meh to me so... meh to this too.

@DennisReynolds early downloads unlocked on 19th.
Stellar Blade review embargo is April 24th at 7AM PT/ 10AM ET.

@BIG3 1000%. The combat in BG3 goes on FOR SO LONG! And if the start is bad you might as well reload the save because you are screwed.

Nier Replicant which I just finished has an auto-battle system so that you don't need to waste time in combat which is just Fine. More games need these features lol.

@CWill97 Mad Max is quite similar but overall a easier game. You upgrade the car, you have arkham style free flow with more difficulty, the open world is fun to traverse, story is good. Days Gone does most of it better but the Wasteland and art direction of Mad Max is better.

@somnambulance Usually when I have that mood, I replay a short old game like a Mario, Ratchet or something light hearted or I move to other media like movies or tv shows. Also hope your family gets well soon!

@xeofate Yeah you cannot go wrong with Mario then. It is fun and short especially if you have a partner to co-op with you.

@xeofate Depends on if you have no games on the horizon to buy. Wonder is quite short. Maybe 12 hours to 100% if you suck like me. Balatro will never let you go.

FF7 Rebirth: in Nibelheim now. This game is really quite weak compared to Remake that had a lot more forward momentum. The biggest issue to me is the game literally did not move forward plot wise since you leave Junon until Cosmo Canyon. Then you have sequences like Dyne's which are unintentionally comedic and it is just a disappointment. I'm hoping the last few chapters are good and save my overall feeling of "MEH" towards the game. The open world stuff absolutely sucks and falls far more into Ubisoft territory than Horizon or Witcher territory. The mini-games are awful for the most part and mandatory often enough to make you actively hate them. 6-7/10 so far.

Nier Replicant: A fascinating game that does the Found Family dynamics a million times better than Rebirth, is funnier, more emotional and much shorter. Also less minigames and you don't need to waste time on side quests. 8.5/10 so far.

BG3: This game will never end!!! Just reached the lower city and there is so much to do! But it is consistently fun and high quality though there is a big pacing drop in Act 3. 9/10 so far.

Hoping Stellar Blade gets positive reviews so I can pre-order it but given the recent Kotaku and Inverse articles and the way certain journalists online are behaving I do not expect it. Just bad discourse from every side.

So this will be the third Persona-like this year with Reload, SMTV Vengeance and now this. I hope they do enough to separate the three.

@pzadvance No. those are basically PS Plus essential games. You redeemed them, you keep them.

Not a big loss wrt FF. They've been on the service for nearly two years which is more than enough time for those who seriously wanted to play to play it. Also, most of those games are on every alternate sale at dirt cheap prices.
I played FF7 Remake when it came on Plus same for Artful Escape. They've been on there for a long time.

It goes against the point of the game. You ARE a COG in a nonsensical war and you're nothing but a slab of meat going to the grinder.

Destiny and MHW have characters you get attached too as part of the MMO-esque structure they aim for.

@Deadlyblack That was my problem. I liked it well enough casually but as a person who got all the platinum relics in NST and all trophies, this game destroyed my sanity, I ended up hating it.

Sounds like XVI did exactly what it should've done that too on a single console and with the majority of RPG/FF gamers wanting it too fail.
The problem with FF7 Remake is it isn't really great for newcomers and caters towards those who grew up with FF7.

I liked the game a lot when it was not focused on the politics of the world (such a poor job tackling complex topics) and I loved Clive and Joshua as protagonists (that whole thrid act was amazing and the ending had me in tears as a older brother). I hope the DLC does Jill well since she was quite poorly handled.

The discounts have been pretty massive so I am not too surprised. Do PS+ Downloads count or is it just sales? Because some companies consider those sales as well.

Personally? I disliked it quite a lot after the initial wow factor. Levels were too long, the reverse levels sucked, too many hidden crates, the relics were irritating, Polar was a mess to control with horrible hit boxes. I liked the mask abilities, the music and the graphics though.

@Deadlyblack It was a pre-order weapon originally. Now it is free for everyone.

@CWill97 Exactly Most of the JRPGs are fighting for the same audience and all of them are 80-100 hours.

FF7 Rebirth: I feel like the story has just started in Gongaga after basically going MIA since the boat trip. Chapters 5 to 8 have really killed the pacing and IMO didn't need to be as long as they were. The characters are still a joy though I think Aerith has been given the short end of the stick and has almost no character moments so far. I can see why this game undersold.
It is TOO MUCH and the burn out feels very real. The mini games are TOO MUCH.
The weird way the women over emote in cutscenes to be Kawaii is TOO MUCH (not seen this level of weird women animations since Catwoman in AK).
This game oscillates between a 5 to 10/10 so quickly.

Nier Replicant: A very very good story. Unsure if I'll grind out everything for ending C and D though. I've cried at least twice so far. The emotional moments in this hit a lot harder than Rebirth and it is weird to see a game so much more focused on its characters while retaining a semi similar open world structure. I think this game is proof that AAA open worlds are way too big for no reason.

BG3: in Act 3... Overwhelming but my god this game is so consistently excellent in a way people claimed Elden Ring was. The combat is my only major issue with the game because of how many people are on screen in some fights now. Turns are way too long lol. The story also feels a little disjointed after Moonrise Towers but I'm hoping it picks up soon.

Final Fantasy has a problem where it doesn't seem to be getting new, younger players into the franchise. Square (and most game companies) in general are struggling with it. Octopath, FF all have been disappointments. People are saying going multiplat will solve it but I don't see it happening.
FF7 Remake with PC barely crossed 7 million (during a pandemic). I don't think Rebirth would've been able to cross those figures.
Also, we have to remember the PS4 had double the units in the market when Remake released. Remake was also very divisive and Rebirth is the same. I've seen people who loved Remake not like the ending of Rebirth.

@J-Dubs I wonder that myself. I've never understood how Ampere gets their data

Rebirth was the sequel to a very divisive first game. Those who were out were never coming back. Stellar Blade got a lot of interest due to controversies online, positive word of mouth and overall interest due to the promotions from Sony who are treating it like a proper first party title. Both Ronin and Stellar Blade are getting insane promotion in Asia especially.
Also, the demo was great. I've probably fought the Stalker 5-6 times because the combat feels so good.

do platinum trophies make or break a purchase for potential buyers? I'm genuinely curious. I used to be a bit of a trophy nut but never to the point that I would not buy a game if it didn't have a platinum.

@mrbone They keep doing it in every article. Not surprising since gamers have been more positive overall towards ROTR and their 6/10 was stupidly harsh considering the high praise they gave DD2 despite also having performance flaws and failing to do anything new in the 10 years since Dark Arisen. Every negative DD2 article (about MTs etc) also has them praising the game.

Ronin is not perfect but as Stephanie Sterling's review put it: it actually likes its players unlike DD2.

@anon_pel222 You are right that it is over saturated with RE2-likes right now. Last gen everything was like Amnesia/Outlast and even that got stale. The problem with horror is everyone is a copycat.

@trev666 I would agree but when the author is Kat Bailey or Rebekah Valentine then you know they are legitimate. Some of the best investigative writers in games right now.

I like the art style. It is unique and clean for gameplay purposes. The rogue-like aspect is an instant put-off in general since if there are three genres I've grown to hate in the last 5 years (overstauration and a lack of good ideas) it is 2D Rogues, 2D metroidvanias and Souls-like combat in games.

I think Grubb may have misunderstood his sources more likely. Because everyone has confirmed DS2 ain't happening. The question is did it ever enter the concept stage as Grubb states or was it never even discussed as per IGN.

We all know Dead Space Remake wasn't successful commercially at least not to the levels EA would've wanted and while critically well received it was completely overshadowed by RE4 Remake. So they just probably don't see any need to make a sequel/remake-quel