jrt87

@DonJorginho Currently the 1147th most played game on Steam a day after launch with 381 players.

It is just behind Football Manager 2015 which has 394.

Atlus would sell their own mother if they could. It's clear they are one of the only Japanese publishers willing to take Microsoft's buck, and it's all so futile.

When I was over there in May, every Yodabashi Camera I went to had an Xbox section no bigger than an endcap in your average British supermarket. Meanwhile, Sony and Nintendo games/products took up several aisles each.

@UltimateOtaku91 @Artois2

We've seen what happened to EA, Rockstar & Activision's single player output once they struck gold with a live service, and don't wish Sony to go down the same path.

If Concord was a massive success, Sony would not take that money and invest in several single player games; they would instead be pressured by the board to use it and try to make three more Concord's happen. And so on, and so forth.

So yes, those of us who exclusively prefer single player games would like Sony's big budget foray into live services to fail. It's not a controversial position to take.

Sony need to stick to what they've been good at all these years:

Single player narrative driven games and creative smaller budget ones. Shame they shuttered Japan Studio.

@AdamNovice

And yet OW became a gaming culture phenomenon and inspired countless cosplayers, fanart and errr, other media. When Concord's character designs do likewise, I'll concede.

This reminds me of a childhood friend who swore blind Rascal was a better platformer than Crash Bandicoot 2 because he'd made the wrong choice with his birthday money.

@AdamNovice

Temu Hellboy and Yondu, a yellow Henry hoover, a corpulent androgynous figure in ski goggles, we have Lady Butterfly at home & an array of unsightly pastel coloured aliens wearing early game Dark Souls vagabond rags.

At 20.35 on launch night here in Europe, Concord is currently the 798th most played game on Steam with 614 players. Sandwiched between 2020 space colony building sim Space Haven and 2021's fantasy turn based strategy indie title Gloomhaven.

@Sequel

I don't get the God of War comparison really. I get it with something like Rise of the Ronin (which you can button mash through + change difficulty), but not this.

If somebody who is put off by Soulslikes goes into Wukong thinking that, and comes up against a certain mandatory chapter one boss with two health bars, they're going to feel misled.

I had my misgivings, but it's really so good. I'm finding myself wanting to get back to it when taking a break which for me is a sign of a great game, and only From titles usually have that addictive pull on me. Absolutely beautiful looking on PC too.

This should be the last time writers for major gaming publications attempt their gotcha yellow journalism and try to lower sales, because it's clear as day that very few consumers listen to them.

Enjoyed Death Stranding so much.

Something people just love to hate Kojima.

@PloverNutter I suppose it depends on your use case.

I've been digital only with the Switch almost since its launch. Last count I've about 120 digital games purchased for it. It's rare I've gone more than a few months without buying something for it, so there's always a near constant cycle of receiving/redeeming coins. I didn't even know they went after 12 months.

I buy far far less PS5 games, and when I do, most of the pricier single player games I buy physically so I can resell after completion. So the points have accumulated very slowly and the idea of them expiring is a very real reality for me.

Just picked all three up. Only played TS2 back in the day and future trophy is an added incentive to play through the full trilogy for the first time on modern hardware.

Longer cutscenes and flesh out a few of the areas, and I can see how it may take longer.

@VaultGuy415

True. Wallet credit has a 36 month expiry date, I believe. Would definitely use it before then.

@GamingFan4Lyf

Fairly similar to how I'm playing, but I've a 4070ti/13600k.

I just leave Full RTX off and get 100-140fps @ 1440p DLSS Quality 75%/Very High preset with Frame Gen enabled.

One of the most beautiful games I've seen on my OLED monitor. Crazy to think there are even higher settings + full ray tracing future hardware can move up to.

It'a already a poor service compared to Nintendo's eshop coins and Microsoft's Rewards (where hardware/accessory purchases get you points — bought PSVR2 through PS Direct and got nothing.).

Anyway, don't really care about losing the points earned on subscription, but it seems unnecessary to put an expiry date on them. I have about 4300 points and have never cashed in any, which means I need to use them before the end of October this year otherwise they may begin being removed.

Was going to save up to cover a full game, but now I'll just get to 5000 and get 2 x £10 PSN credit.

Definitely interested.

@GamingFan4Lyf I ventured deeper into the chapter and fast travelled back to finally smoke that thing when I was much stronger. Was still difficult compared to everything else that early in the game!

@NEStalgia Sounds like it's the route for you. I still love using the consoles though on the big TV and chilling back on the couch. I wouldn't want to do all my gaming on PC.

RE Engine was great at the beginning and highly scalable. The thing is, it was mostly used in corridor survival horror games like RE7/RE2 Remake and fighting games. Open World games highlight its limitations and it struggles.

@Rich33 You definitely sound like you'd perceive technical hiccups unlike the other poster, so I'd hold fire on the PS5 version of Wukong for now based upon DF's objective, empirical and evidenced analysis.

I did a little experiment on PC and turned on the full ray tracing (been playing with it OFF) and bumped a few of the settings from very high to cinematic on PC to take my base framerate from 60-80 down to about 30-50 and then activated frame gen. The input latency was very noticeable when trying to consume health items (there's a natural delay as it is with this) and time perfect dodges during combat.

It's a wonderful game though when you've got everything dialled in right. Just put another few hours in.

@NEStalgia If you have the means, it really is the way, although it can present its own issues that consoles often avoid (ie, shader comp stutter). The current gen consoles are struggling so hard with the transition to UE5 (hell, even Rebirth struggles on UE4 to deliver 60fps without butchering the image quality.) Yet we often hear how we don't need PS5 Pro because the PS5 hasn't been put through its paces yet!

Whilst we absolutely must move on from 30fps, we have to hope BM:W isn't setting a console trend with cheating their way to a "60fps" performance mode by just doubling up 30fps using FSR 3 frame gen.

This is from AMD themselves:

'FSR 3 Frame Generation runs best when interpolating from a minimum of 60 fps pre-interpolation (e.g. after upscale). Whilst FSR 3 can roughly double any input frame rate, going below 60 is not recommended. This is due to interpolation visual artifacts being more prominent at lower frame rates. Sub 30fps frame rate pre-interpolation should be absolutely avoided'.

@Titntin

When people do play something for themselves (for example, FFXVI or Rebirth) and report technical complaints, they're often met with denial, sandbagging and 'runs flawlessly for me' rebuttals regardless.

Some just default to being overly defensive when a game they're enjoying has merited observations raised against it.

@Northern_munkey

You don't have to welcome baffling decisions like employing FSR frame gen to upscale from 30fps or targetting 45fps just because you aren't playing on a £2000+ PC rig.

@Northern_munkey

There objectively is. The tech analysis is out there now and it's clear why PS5 review code was held. You may not perceive anything and are fine with it, but that's different from confidently saying it has no issues to others who may.

For those who do notice fuzzy image quality, artifacting, stutter, irregular frametimes, unlocked framerates, judder, input latency etc they may find it unpleasant, and this game has no refund path on PS5 at this time.

I'm liking the game, I want it to do well. But for now I'd say play on PC if you can, or otherwise wait for some PS5 patching/PS5 Pro or at the very least a resellable physical copy.

DF just released their PS5 tech review for those interested:

Quality: Capped at 33fps instead of 30, near constant stutter

Balance: Capped at an irregular 45fps, same as above.

Performance: 30fps with FSR frame generation up to 60 -> huge input latency with smeary graphics and aliasing.

2.5 hrs in, taking my time and loving it. Difficulty just right. The traversal stutter can be very perceptible and distracting on PC when it happens, but not enough as I feared. It's more Jedi: Fallen Order than Jedi: Survivor, in that respect.

Sounds like the first chapter has the sense of a boss rush as it's essentially a tutorial chapter. Been avoiding spoilers, but word is it opens out in later chapters with more exploration and time between bosses.

Are people really trying to downplay BMW's success because the type of people they normally argue with on the internet with are celebrating it?

Culture wars rhetoric engenders brainrot on both sides.

@MFTWrecks

Fair point, but now it is the case they should hard pivot to F2P immediately. Nobody's paying £35 for this on PC.

I wouldn't call 4K resolution, uncapped framerate and mouse and keyboard support for PC "features".

Releasing this three days after the most concurrently played Steam game ever is a bold move.

Dreadful: too many cozy and live service/multiplayer games. Can only hope anything of note is being held back by the publishers to show themselves.

Thankfully there's enough good games coming up + my backlog to see me through the next 6-12 months.

@IslandLogic

Nobody does. We all know it's a game for a zeitgeist since passed.

It will fail, despite the couple of folk online sandbagging for it by trying to shame its detractors as "sad".

I delete single player games once completed. Should I ever want to play again I'll take the hour or two to reinstall.

Internal + 1TB SSD is enough.

@jrt87

Alright, I caved after reading many of the comments — feel like I have to at least try this cultural phenomenon for myself. Forgot I had £20 in my Steam account so only feels like a £30 purchase and will refund if the stutter is that bad.

First PSVR2 and now this. The posters on this website cost me money.

@DETfaninATL

Fair. I'm a recent PSVR2 convert.

For £400 (price of the unit on sale + PC adapter) I'll be playing at the very least: this, Metro Awakening, Half-Life: Alyx, The 7th Guest, Arizona Sunshine Remastered, Behemoth, Switchback VR and Madison VR. It just about justifies the price for me. Definitely wouldn't have at £550.

Looking forward to playing this.

I had it on Xbox way back in the day and I swear it glitched out and softlocked me out of progressing so I never finished it. There was a door I couldn't open for some reason even though I checked all the Gamefaqs and guides of the day and I had the correct item and should have been able to.

Forever landfill.

The PS5 demo put me off the game to the point that I cancelled the physical preorder. Running around that courtyard at the beginning with those horrendous framedips was unacceptable considering the devs had bragged about finishing the game 12 months prior and been polishing it for a year.

Will give the PC demo a chance later.

I will be giving it a chance. Big fan of Team Silent's originals and I still play them through every few years (through enhanced PC versions and emulation).

This is a separate thing and won't taint my memories of them in any way even if it is terrible.

Looking forward to DF's full analysis so we can stop debating amongst ourselves.

@Almost_Ghostly

Totally understand, been there myself. Wasn't until my thirties that I've been able to build and maintain a gaming PC — even then I question if it's worth it sometimes with the lack of optimisation these days.

That aside, there have been number of posters on this story that seem adamant that nothing will be amiss with this game's performance on PS5 despite several suggestions to the contrary (including the withholding of console review code).

Only a few days left now anyway, so we can stop speculating amongst ourselves.

@Fatewalker

Do you realise that this game has baked in software raytracing (ie, lumen)? The raytracing settings for PC (,ie "full ray tracing") refer to path tracing.

This is one heavy game.

I've never played the original, but like the VR spin-offs.

Was going to buy on PC, but not until it's £25 at the most. That price is ridiculous.

@Fatewalker

Digital Foundry talk about the one minute of footage in the DF Direct just released on YT with first suggestions of performance.

The particle effects from the boss slamming the floor tank the framerate from 58fps to 39fps.

@doctommaso Fiddled around with the benchmark tool for a few hours now. The results I'm getting with my 4070ti @ 1440p with DLSS Quality/No Frame Gen make me doubt that you're locking to 60fps on Very High settings on a PS5 even with aggressive upscaling to 1440p.

Judging from PS5's previous UE5 titles, the game will run at mostly low/medium settings on PS5 Performance Mode and suffer from framedips when the action gets heavy.

Lies of P and Stellar Blade devs provided a demo and a physical product. These guys won't even give out console preview codes for a digital only game on a storefront that doesn't allow refunds. We all know what's going on here.

@KeanuReaves

What from the modicum of footage offered has led you to so confidently conclude that it is using PC equivalent Medium/Very High settings in its performance mode of all things?

It's no shame to accept that you're going to be playing an aggressively upscaled 1440p image using mostly PC equivalent low settings with framerate dips in heavy areas on a PS5.

The original is £3.99 right now if you have PS Plus so I just bought it in case I decide to pick this up when it releases (£13.99 is a good price).

Got a PSVR2 in the £350 sale despite previously being a huge doubter after my previous experiences. I'm actually really enjoying it so far playing Switchback and 7th Guest. It's a luxury I won't bust out too often, but something different for when I do.

Games like this are examples of why the "PS5 hardware hasn't even been put to the test yet" crowd are so ignorant as UE5's feature set is only starting to be fully implemented.

PS5 aside, I ran the PC benchmark and can lock to 60 fps+ on very high settings with full ray tracing off (115-125fps with frame gen), but I'll wait until actual gameplay has been tested, optimised settings determined and maybe a few performance patches before putting down the cash.

Black Myth: Wukong's benchmark tool has a higher peak player count on Steam than Concord's beta did.

They must be banking on a high PS5 adoption rate to make money back on this folly.

It was my first Souls game: SotFS Edition on Xbox One. So I had no point of comparison with Demon's/Dark Souls and all the initial wow factor of the formula carried me through it.