Comments 744

Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? - Issue 442

jgrangervikings1

@Deadlyblack My nephew is considering buying a PS5 just because he wants to play Ghostwire Tokyo. I’m like, I hear it’s pretty good but flawed…that’s a lot of money if that’s the only reason for buying a PS5. He’s a pc gamer, so there’s not much he can’t—and doesn’t already—play through his laptop.

Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? - Issue 442

jgrangervikings1

Backlog, baby!
— I’ve been grinding away on the retro twin-stick shooter Riddled Corpses (PS5).
—I remembered not liking campaign missions on Worms Battlegrounds (PS4), so I’m giving those another chance.
—I might dabble a bit in Death by Daylight (PS5), but I stink really bad and the folks who still play that game are so good.
—I’ve been digging into Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night, and that’s been fun.
—I’m still hacking and slashing away at the roguelite Conan Chop Chop (PS4) when my friend comes online. He just beat the fourth The slowdown with multiplayer is annoying, but the game is so damn good

Re: Sony Adjusts Default PS Store Sorting Amid Shovelware Backlash

jgrangervikings1

PSN store updates are likely—in part—due to the PushSquare article and the user comments. It’s proof positive that Sony employees are listening.

Now lets make a push for additional ways to sort the purchased and PS+ games in our library. I want to sort/filter by single-player games, couch co-op games, online co-op games, and online-only games. I want to sort/filter by game genre. I want to sort/filter by age restriction. I want to sort/filter by game size. I want to sort/filter by developer, I want to sort by VR/non VR, and I want a way to filter down to which games are can use a keyboard.

Re: Cult of the Lamb (PS5) - Deliciously Evil, Giddily Gruesome, and Bloody Brilliant

jgrangervikings1

“It’s an unholy mish-mash of the pure and the profane.” That’s all I needed to know. I’m sold.

Proviso: A condition attached to an agreement.

Good word! I’ve heard and used the word “provision” a thousand times, but “proviso”? Never…until today.

Great writing, John Cal McCormick. You’ve got a real way with words. Your talent, style, and panache are on full display here, especially in the first three paragraphs. Nicely done, sir.

Re: Poll: Did You Ever Use PS5 Accolades?

jgrangervikings1

Well, only a few games have given me the option of awarding them (or, if the other games have given me the option I just haven’t noticed), and you can’t give accolades to your friends, so they seem pretty worthless. I like the idea of them, but they haven’t been implemented or marketed well.

So long, farewell, auf wiesersehen, goodbye…
The accolades have all gone off to die. ⚱️

Re: Sony to Take Action as PS5, PS4 Owners Play Less Than Anticipated

jgrangervikings1

Lots of reasons. As stupid as it sounds, for me, I’ve got so many choices that I have a tough time deciding and I either play something I’ve already played a bazillion times or just end up watching YouTube, Pluto, or Tubi. A lot of my PS friends have their machines on, but they’re not playing games. The PS4 and PS5 has become an entertainment system as much as it is a video game system.

Re: Poll: Are You Playing Stray?

jgrangervikings1

Re: Stray: It’s fun so far, but I’m terrible at games that require intuition. I hate that feeling of struggle, the confusion of figuring out where I need to go or what I need to do to get through to get to the next section. Games like Rain, Pid, Braid, Fez, Subnautica, The Persistence or Deliver Us the Moon—they’re all damn good games, and I can see that they’re great games as I’m playing them, but I always seem to get to a certain point where I feel stuck in a corner, confused, stressed, unable to progress…and that’s when I stop playing. Ugh! It’s a bummer, because I really WANT to enjoy games like these, but they feel too much like work, and I play games for fun. If I want to work, I’ll go and work—know what I mean?! Anyway, all of this is why I don’t get through many open world games, either—they feel too much like work.

Give me a 3rd person perspective, a linear storyline path, and some hack and slash mechanics, maybe make it a roguelike, and I’m all in. In other words, if they turned Stray into a re-imagining of Tokyo Jungle, I’d be in video game heaven. That’s not what Stray is, though.

Regardless, I can tell a lot of love and care and attention has been given to the creation of Stray, and I haven’t given up yet. I’ll work on it some more. 👍

Re: Aliens: Fireteam Elite Gets Crossplay, New Progression System, More on 26th July

jgrangervikings1

I have it on PS5 but haven’t played it much. I was hoping my friend would buy it so that we could play it together, but he didn’t. ☹️

It seemed a bit more of a low-budget game than I’d hoped—character models looked cheap…and once ya kill one alien, ya killed ‘em all…and ya gotta keep killin’ ‘em. Still, it’s playable and good for a quick action fix.

I got it for $20, and it’s just ok at that price point. For $15 or less, it’s worth a long, hard look. For $10 or less, I’d argue it’s a recommended buy.

Re: Poll: Is The Last of Us: Part 1 Really a 'Cash Grab'?

jgrangervikings1

Is it a cash grab? What a weird question. EVERY game that’s released for purchase is a cash grab. The point is to make money. Sony is a “for profit” business.

Is it unnecessary? Of course. I can play the remastered PS4 version right now on my PS5.

Is it a waste of money? No, not necessarily. Technology has changed a lot in the 10 years it’s been since it first released. Video games are a medium that can always be upgraded, enhanced, improved and even downgraded. Re-doing TLoU is no different than Sony updating Uncharted 3 & 4 and re-releasing them as a package deal on PS5. And, TLoU is something the competition CAN’T offer on XBox or Switch. That, in and of itself, makes it an exciting release for those who haven’t yet experienced it.

Re: Go Behind the Scenes with Insert Coin: The Making of Arcade Paradise

jgrangervikings1

@dadrester Congrats on the game. Can’t wait to get it!! If you decide to do some dlc or make a sequel and want input on what other types of businesses to mix with an arcade (besides a laundromat), let me know! I used to work as an assistant mgr and later as a janitor at a crappy old 4-plex movie theater with the 1970s-style shoebox auditoriums and it was next door to the best arcade in town, so I know all about the crappy tasks that come with movie theater operation and maintenance. Those tasks could easily be tossed into a “movie theater/arcade” mashup and fleshed out for fun (and accuracy).
…And, the best arcade in town used to be housed within the local roller skating rink, so if you do a “skatin’ world/arcade” mashup, I could give you some thoughts on what I remember, too.

Re: Hot Shots Golf (PS1) - Utterly Iconic Arcade Golf

jgrangervikings1

This WAS a great game 25 years ago. Today? Not so much. I downloaded it, played 9 holes, progressively became annoyed with the crappy a$$ putting and chipping, deleted it, cooled off after a few days, decided to give it another go, downloaded it again, played another 12 or 13 holes, again got ticked at the crappy pitching and putting, and deleted it again.

Let’s take a step back…
Everybody’s Golf on PS4 was reviewed by PushSquare as a 7, and that’s probably about right. Everybody’s Golf on PS4 loses points by me for having to use in-game currency to buy the different types of balls—spin balls, grass cutter balls, good sand balls, etc. And every time you use a set of the balls, it removes them from your inventory and you need to get more. Ugh. I also disliked it making me create one character and leveling him up.

Don’t get me wrong, I love the idea of character creation, but there was something special about Hot Shots Golf Out of Bounds on PS3 (8/10 on my scale), because it made me unlock and play as all the other characters, each with his or her own flaws and idiosyncrasies. And, the more I played with each of the characters, the more it grew my heart-levels with those characters (and caddies). Nifty!

Hot Shots Golf: World Invitational for Vita is arguably the best Hot Shots game (I’d give it a 9/10), as it feels great, implements and improves upon Hot Shots Golf Out of Bounds by including trophy support and that cool unlocking system of putting coins in the vending machine and then seeing what pops out. I also liked the star system for beating all the objectives on each of the levels. The Vita game is one of my most prized platinum trophies. I worked hard for that one! It’s one of the 10 best games available for the Vita.

Back in the day, I really used to enjoy Hot Shots Golf Fore! on PS2, but it’s been too long for me to give an accurate rating because it’d be based on reminiscing and not on today’s opinions. Still, it has to be worlds better than the one Sammy’s reviewing in this article since it’s probably 10 years newer, right?

So, back to this PS1 Hot Shots Golf game: This PS1 Hot Shots game is worth an 8 in PushSquare’s opinion? Let’s break it down:
++It’s got trophy support, which is great.
++It’s got 4 player support—awesome.
++It’s got that fat guy with the dumb mustache—neat-o!
—Its hit meter is tough to hit perfectly and it’s way too easy to make bad shots—yuck!
—It’s got a 30-foot meter that you have to use when attempting a 2 foot putt—el poop-o!
—It’s got barebones graphic options to either add or remove CRT lines—whoopideedoo!
—It’s got no online gameplay—bummer.

When we remove the nostalgia factor, what is Hot Shots Golf? It’s an old, emulated PS1 game on a PS5. It’s not as good as any new golf game on the market, so it’s not even average. It shouldn’t be eligible for even a 5 out of 10 on PushSquare’s scale. But, it does have a few redeeming factors. It’s iconic…and flawed. It’s worth trying for about 9 holes. In other words, it’s a 4.

Re: Go Behind the Scenes with Insert Coin: The Making of Arcade Paradise

jgrangervikings1

Yes, yes, yes!!!! This game has real potential.

I’m glad they’re making playable games within the arcade. I just wish they could get the licenses to some of the ACTUAL arcade games from the ‘80s and early ‘90s, and as time passes we’d have access to lease/buy the newest and improved games that just came on the market and install them in the arcade.

The BEST part of going to the arcade as a kid was walking around the arcade to see if they’d gotten any new games and which old ones did they remove or move to another area within the arcade. (i.e. Wow, they got a new basketball game called Basket Brawl…but where did Elevator Action go? And where’s Ring King?!) This made every trip to the arcade exciting—always something new to try, to see, to play.

And, can they get the licenses for actual arcade games to play, like the MAME roms? (A legal way to play MAME roms? Yes!!!) And, hey FarSight Studios and Zen Studios, get those Williams, Gottlieb, Bally, Data East, Stern and your own designed pinball machines in there, too!

I could see myself buying 30-40 old arcade games and even more pinball machines to put within my virtual arcade if I can actually move the machines around within the building to suit my needs and then walk up to the machines and stick in the quarter and play ‘em…and make ‘em all part of the arcade management game.

The sky is the limit! Add in pool tables, skee ball, whack a mole, spin to win, fortune teller machines, air hockey, foosball, darts, crane games, trivia quiz MegaTouch machines, those baseball pinball machine things where you pitch the ball and a little pinball comes out and you try to hit it to certain spots on the game to win baseball cards…these could all be added to the arcade…and could be made playable, too. Oh, I’m salivating just thinking of what could be!!

Re: Poll: Are You Happy With Your PS Plus Essential Games for July 2022?

jgrangervikings1

PushSquare should run the same poll AFTER the games are available to download so that we can give y’all honest answers. In theory, yes, I like the selections, but I’ve only played Man of Medan and it was pretty good.

Question: Are there going to be a couple more games added to the PS+ premium tier, too (like they used to do for the PS Now service)? Or does the game lineup for the premium service remain unchanged?

Re: SEGA Considering Movie Adaptations of Persona Games

jgrangervikings1

Is Persona really being developed into a movie or is someone at Sega just being a joker? I guess I’d watch it.

Hey Sega, we need a Golden Axe movie. Picture this: It’d star a Conan the Barbarian-like dude, but the guy will be wearing blue trunks. And there’d be a green elf who does little rolley moves and hits with his axe. And, there’d be a long-haired, sword-brandishing gal donning a revealing red garb. And there’d be little kickable potion-carrying guys who try to sneak into the blue-trunk dude’s camp at night. Is there a plot to it? Not sure. Never got past those sword-slashing skeletons and the big knight in silver.

Re: Best Platformers on PS5

jgrangervikings1

@RBRTMNZ My thoughts exactly on Ratchet. It’s not a platformer. Ratchet is an action game.

If Ratchet is a platformer, then we’d probably have to consider Returnal and Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order platformers, too.

Re: The Dark Pictures Anthology: Man of Medan

jgrangervikings1

It’s a fun, creepy story with a lot of walking around, investigating, and trying to steer clear of the baddies while keeping your friends alive. Decisions matter, and the psychiatrist storyteller guy likes to remind you of that. Sometimes the graphics look great, and sometimes they don’t. It’d give it a 7 out of 10. Worth the time, but keep the expectations in check.

Re: PS Plus Essential PS5, PS4 Games for July 2022 Announced

jgrangervikings1

In re: Arcadegedden:
I just read the comments from the release trailer on YouTube, and a few people said that if you like Borderlands and Roguelikes, you’ll love it. Eleven months ago when the game was in early access, supposedly it was a lot of fun and very addictive but buggy. I hope the 11 months has given them enough time to work out those bugs. Sony must feel strongly about it since this is the first game this developer (Illfonic) has released.

Re: Mini Review: Five Dates (PS4) - Interactive Romantic Comedy So Bad It's Almost Good

jgrangervikings1

Counterpoint:

I really enjoyed Five Dates. I played through it by myself a few times. On one occasion, my wife overheard it and chimed in from the other room. And, I just did a SharePlay with a friend and let him run the controls. In all instances, I was thoroughly entertained. I had a goofy-ass grin throughout much of the game, and if that’s not the express goal of a video game like this, I don’t know what is!

I enjoyed listening to my friend analyze the gals’ previous responses, their backgrounds, their likes/dislikes, and both what he what he thought should choose if he were Vinny…along with what he thought he would choose if he were actually on the date. It was a good time.

Yes, some of the dialogue was cringe-inducing. Yes, some of the characters were stock, hackneyed, clichés. Yes, some things were completely absurd. Yet, it was a good time.

My only gripe was that there weren’t more choices and branching paths. My friend’s biggest gripe was that it was too easy to get a second and third date. My wife’s gripe: The way the Grenada gal spoke reminded her too much of her loudmouth sister-in-law from Columbia.

In conclusion…
I’ve paid $10 or more for many stupid, inane things throughout my life, but at no point did feel my $10 spent on Five Dates was a waste. I have no buyer’s remorse, and that’s more than I can say for many of the games in my collection. I’m glad I got Five Dates, and I’m sure I’ll play through it again. After all, I’ve only gotten through the final dates with three of the five gals. I still have two more lonely hearts to win! Five Dates is a solid 7.5 out of 10.

Re: Reminder: PS Plus Extra, Premium Roll Out Across Europe Tomorrow

jgrangervikings1

@KayOL77 I only tried it for about a half hour—mostly just going through the tutorial. I was playing it after getting off of a 10 hour work shift, so I was pretty tired at the time. It seemed like it could be a fun game, though. I was creating a vault for the money, adding beds to my minions’ sleep quarters, installing doors and stuff like that.

Is the elimination of Evil Genius 2 a deal breaker? Nah, but it’s a bummer. There are plenty of fun games to try, and most of the old PS Now games are still available, so it’s all good. I got a good enough taste to know that if EG2 comes down to $20 or less, it’s worth a buy. I’ve been jumping around a lot from game to game—fun to do—as long as the games are streamable or if you’ve got the hard drive space for ‘em. 👍

Re: UK Sales Charts: Horizon Forbidden West Back on Top, 95% of Copies Sold Were PS5

jgrangervikings1

@itsfoz I’ve been burned by purchasing a game and then seeing it go onto PS+ and it used to bug me a lot, but it just doesn’t bother me anymore. Now I’m happy for the people who get access to games that I really had fun playing.

Here’s the thing: If you’re willing to wait a few months…or a year…or more to play a specific game that you THINK might show up free on PS+, ok…have fun waiting. In the meantime, that dude who plopped down his $50-$60 to buy Lego Star Wars or GT7 has the game you really want to play. He’s got that game all booted up, and he’s likely playing it online with his friends right now…and he’s probably having an awesome time with it.

Re: Video: In Defence of The Last of Us' PS5 Remake

jgrangervikings1

When TLOU Remastered released on PS4, I played about 3 hours of it, and then put it down. Fast forward to 2020 (or was it 2021?) when TLOU2 was added to PS Now, and I skeptically downloaded it…tried it…and played all the way through it after work, night after night for about a week. I was completely blown away by the graphics and gameplay.

I then went back to my saved game on TLOU, and…meh. I struggled to regain my interest in it. TLOU looked great compared to any other PS4 game, but not to TLOU2. TLOU2 isn’t just ANY game. The graphics and feel of TLOU didn’t hold a candle to TLOU2. TLOU’s story was great—arguably better than TLOU2, but it was inferior to TLOU2 in every other way…by a large margin.

My point is this: Original TLOU players ripped on TLOU2 because they didn’t like where the story went. BUT, if they went back to play TLOU again after TLOU2, they would’ve immediately stopped complaining about TLOU2. TLOU2 it’s what you want going forward—the graphical realism of the character models—wow!

I DO think it’s way too soon to remake TLOU for ME to play again so soon, but by the time it’s actually released in a year or two, an entirely new generation of players will be new to it, and they’ll LOVE IT! Old players of TLOU will love it, too, because it won’t show it’s age like it foes now. Will I buy it? Of course.

Naughty Dog imho is THE BEST video game developer for ANY system, and they have been the best since the second Uncharted game was released on the PS3. They could make a game about baking brownies and it’d be a compelling ride from the grocery shelves to the hand mixer and on through the oven flames.

Re: Xbox on Acquisitions: The Last Thing We Want to Do Is Take Games Away from PS5, PS4

jgrangervikings1

It makes sense that Microsoft would want to continue bringing games to the PlayStation and Nintendo. In the pc realm, Microsoft makes MS Office for Mac (and they did make it for Chromebook, too), so why—in the video game console market—wouldn’t they make software for Sony and Nintendo systems?

Times are different now than they were in the 1990s and early 2000s. When the very first XBox was released in November of 2001, Microsoft was new to the console market. They didn’t have an established footprint with loyal console customers. Their stronghold was on pc operating systems, pc games, and pc applications. In 2022, XBox is established and solid. The XBox isn’t dying anytime soon, and neither Sony nor Nintendo are struggling for sales. Makes sense to capitalize on both the Sony and Nintendo customer base by selling software on their platforms.

Re: Rumour: PS Plus Games for June 2022 Might Have Leaked

jgrangervikings1

Sony’s going to war with Microsoft with the revitalized PS Plus tiered system, and who are they bringing to the battle? THE God of War. It’ll be a brawl—All Star Nickelodeon-style—with a Shinobi Striker in tow. XBox fanboys say Sony can’t win, but I say “Shir-u-ken, Sony!” 😋

Re: Hangar 13 Faces Layoffs as Development Shifts to More Mafia

jgrangervikings1

Bah. Keep ‘em staffed. Let ‘em work on a badminton game called “Top Flight Badminton” (with the word “flight” used as a play on words…it describes the three different shuttlecock types, called “flights”: the green is slow, the blue is middle-fast, and red is fast).

Also, we need a pickleball game, a professional tag game, a corn hole game, a bocce game, and a croquet game. Heck, do it like the Dark Pictures Anthology—one game released every 6-9 months—and have ‘em bundled under a “2K Sports League” brand. $$$

Re: Poll: Do You Care About PlayStation TV Shows?

jgrangervikings1

They should be doing a tv show based on Buzz and another based on SingStar. Easiest goldmine ever! Do the shows LIVE, make them “play along”-ready with the PS4 and PS5 systems via smartphone, and schedule the shows on the same night—one right after the other—so that the play-along people who are watching at home can easily stay connected to from one show to the next.

With Buzz, it’d keep track of the at-home scores from week to week, and for the season finale, Sony would pick some of the highest at-home scorers and fly them in to do a live show and square off against each other.

With the SingStar gameshow, make it so that you can choose whether you want to sing the main line or one of the harmony lines…and allow it to be recordable so that the at-home audience can upload their videos. Heck, the following night, Sony could have a follow-up tv show that broadcasts the best of the best vocal performances from the at-home uploads…and you know it’d be popular because people would tune in to see if their uploads were broadcast on tv.

Re: New PS Store Weekend Sale Has Lots of Cheap PS5, PS4 Games

jgrangervikings1

If you have a PS5 and don’t have Metro Exodus, you’re really missing out. It really shows off what the PS5 can graphically do—not with the character models, but with the environment and immersive post-apocalyptic setting. And, you’re not just rootin’ around in the underground rubble or in the freezing cold, Siberian tundra in this game. You’re out in the open in myriad landscape settings, working on gettin’—and keepin’—that train a rollin’. It’s got multiple endings, so knock out the baddies rather than killin’ ‘em to keep your morality levels high. I, unfortunately, did NOT get the best ending, but it was still fulfilling and I walked away with a feeling of accomplishment. Even if you haven’t played the other Metro games, get this one, especially since it’s a great sale price—a $60ish game for, what, under $10? Nice price.

Re: Top Gun: Maverick DLC Flies into Ace Combat 7 on 26th May on PS4

jgrangervikings1

Two years ago, back when the Top Gun sequel was supposed to be released in theaters, it would’ve made sense to come out with dlc like this. The game is so old at this point, though, is it even worth it? Hmm. I dunno. Good luck to ‘em. I hope it’s a hit.

As an aside, Danger Zone is a great Kenny Loggins tune, but Playing with the Boys is a big time underrated, largely forgotten Loggins tune from Top Gun that deserves more love.