Perfect Dark > Wolverine, honestly for me by a wide margin. Insomniac used to be one of my favorite studios, but, man, them turning into basically a Marvel studio (according to the leaked documents) is a true bummer.
@pukana I was dealing with them because they were trying to figure out how my account got hacked and bought and sold. Activision does not seem to have a very large customer service department, so they forwarded me to QA directly when they couldn’t help me. It may have been because customer service was ignoring me and I started submitting complaints to various consumer advocacy groups to try to get a response. The whole experience was messy and made me feel like Activision just didn’t address concerns, but tossed people around if something happened. It took four months for them to wipe my account and start it from scratch, just so my personal info wasn’t compromised anymore. I’m definitely not arguing that they should’ve been dealing with my complaint directly with me. Activision should have had trained customer service staff to not pass me to a different department that isn’t geared toward talking to customers. Like I said, given the company’s disorganization, it’s about time they strike! After Bobby’s era, it was a long time coming. Hope Activision gets better from it.
Funny and mostly unrelated story, but I was on TV for my work too recently enough. Of course, I wasn’t on strike. Oh no, my son and I were doing a skit on how to make costumes using a box and moving supplies. An early morning PR thing, was quite fun.
Now, back on topic: how did Activision employees not go one strike years ago under old Bobby? It’s about time QA retaliate against Activision! Though, I did have an experience with Activision QA years ago, back in 2020 when my account was hacked and sold to someone in Saudi Arabia. The QA team made Sony’s customer service seem golden. I haven’t bought an Activision game since the debacle. Since my personal information was compromised, I would say that I perhaps got the most aggressive I’d ever gotten with a company. Their solution was deleting my entire account, which invalidated my purchases with said account. Not very good quality assurance, if you ask me. Hopefully the department is better now than it was. Or hopefully the supervisory staff was canned when MS bought the company. I dunno. I hope for the best for anyone that’s struggling in this economy, even if I had a bad experience with the particular team. QA, of all things, was the thing that slipped most during COVID and is the thing that perhaps needs the greatest return in all industries… that and general customer service.
I’m planning on trying it in a bit. I’ve never been a Monster Hunter guy, but I’ll keep the tradition of trying the betas for the series alive. Like I say with Like a Dragon, Atlus games, Monster Hunter, etc, maybe the new one is the one. You never know!
@get2sammyb I wish this meant that good games like Ape Escape and Gravity Rush were more commercially viable now! I’d rather see Sony play it safe and release the left field stuff I actually want than risk bankruptcy chasing that live service money. 😂
@McTwist To put it simply: it’s the fun factor that’s missing. I could say it’s the weird artsy games, but there’s also a deliberate safeness and metaness to current era games. This is why we’re getting so many live service games, I believe. I feel like the powers that be are searching for the next Fortnite that doesn’t exist and mistake the fact that it’s a social media platform more than a game. But even multiplayer experiences have lost that “fun” factor in pursuit of skins and meta. I miss Halo 3, for instance. I’d love to play a live service multiplayer game if it was fun.
Games that have tried to be unique, new things have been utterly lambasted too whereas in the PS2 or PS3 era, we’d have a potential cult game on our hands. It just feels like gamers have engineered themselves into a critical space to match the lifelessness of many of the games and, as a result, it’s a viscous cycle that just seems so antithetical to the concept of games being games, which is that games are meant to be fun.
What a shame. I know a lot of people are celebrating this debacle, but genuinely, there are far worse games that have gotten better treatment. I’d say Concord was actually one of the better live service games that launched this year. It was certainly no Suicide Squad. I agree with Pushsquare about it being a 7/10.
I think this might be the year that word of mouth actually helps CoD to gain more traction. The series has been stale for a while and I’d say the majority of players are habitual players that continue to buy the games year after year, similar to FC in Europe and Madden in the States. I can see an influx of disinterested players because the game is getting better than typical reviews for its campaign. I mean, I’m even considering dusting off my Xbox and getting a GP sub to try it and I’ve been disenfranchised from the series for a while now. I’m going to wait a bit to see if the value is there next month for me with Stalker and Nine Sols, and Indy around the bend, but I never thought I’d be interested in going back to CoD and here we are. I’m sure I’m not alone.
@McTwist As much as I like my PS5, I sort of agree with you about waiting for PS6. Honestly, I waited on PS4 because I was jaded over the post-Skyrim gaming landscape for a little bit. Right now, even if some of my favorite games have been PS5 games, it certainly feels like I bought the console for maybe two games a year. In fact, I just did a dive through my spreadsheets and almost everything I’ve purchased and enjoyed since 2020 has also been on PS4. Alan Wake 2, the two Final Fantasy games, and the two Astro Bot games have been the outliers. Sure, there’s been some good games I would have missed, like Returnal and Rift Apart, but, end of the day, those games didn’t blow me away or anything like the other ones I listed. Also, I hate wasting money and this year in particular I’ve felt like I’m wasting money. I’m nervous to buy anything right now because I don’t know if I’ll like it anymore. The last couple years, I’ve definitely bought more games (until this year where I’ve bought significantly less to the point where it’s noticeable), but I feel like I’ve truly liked fewer of the games. This year has been an interesting one, in that the games I’ve loved, I’ve really loved, but I’ve also wished I could get a refund on about half the games I purchased because I just didn’t like them. I expect to buy a few duds and it’s ok when I’m largely enjoying gaming, but this year felt like a slog. If 2025 is similar to me, I’m not rushing to a PS6 or any other console. Usually Final Fantasy is a reliable thing to get me on a future console, but since Square’s made it known that FF isn’t selling enough, it makes me wonder what might be there to sell me a PS6 too. It’s just… the decline of the AA market and creative games in general too that has me concerned. How few Flower-esque experiences we’ve gotten this generation that feel so uniquely themselves, you know?
I’ll be playing the Legend of Santa this Halloween.
Seriously though, Silent Hill was messing me up on Saturday, so I decided to finally start Banishers and I was really happy with it early on. I preordered this game, for crying out loud. But I’m glad I waited, I guess. Perfect game for this time of year.
@Cutmastavictory I’ll try it again. I always give the betas and demos a shot. I figure the game’s popular for a reason, so one of these days it’s gotta hit. I’ve been saying the same thing about Like a Dragon and Persona too, but one of these days…
@ShogunRok Interesting. If there’s ever been a game that I wished had a demo, this one is it. I need to find a local friend that bought this to try it out.
Aw, man, that review score is a bummer, but I’m still diving into this one, believing I’ll enjoy it more than the review score. I can’t take any more disappointment this year in gaming!
If this one flops for me, man, do I hope Lost Records delivers.
And with that, I think we’ve entered GotY season, everyone!
For me, if we would’ve gotten that 10/10 review, I think I might’ve jumped, but I just don’t like the art design and hearing that it’s got “cute” writing makes me feel I may not click with it, personally. I can’t help but be curious though. For old times sake.
@ShogunRok something I’m curious about is if there are difficulty sliders that impact the gameplay? I don’t quite have the time for RPGs like I did even 2, 3 years ago (or… 20 years ago when I really leaned into the genre), unfortunately. With giant games, I just lower the difficulty as much as possible, so that I can enjoy the story and avoid the grind. Just curious if that’s something in the game or something that can be time saver.
I’ve gotta try the new Astro Bot level. I’m going to play some Mario Party Jamboree for sure and possibly Silent Hill 2 tonight since the wife will be out with a friend. We were originally going to play that one together, but she hated it and said it was boring and confusing early on, so together gaming waits for Life is Strange, I suppose. I dunno, I think it’s solid, if not blowing me away as much as I thought it would. I’ve got a lot of Trick or Treating in the meantime with the kids in two different neighborhoods this weekend. One today, one tomorrow.
And I’ll admit it, I’m more curious about Black Ops 6 than I’ve been for a CoD game in a long while. Maybe I will get Gamepass for it. I dunno. I’m waiting for more reviews still.
Helldivers honestly feels more like an Xbox game than a PlayStation game and I’ve been saying that since I’ve tried it. It seems like the Xbox community is more friendly toward live service online multiplayer shooters. I think it’d print money on the platform if Sony does it, but I also get that Sony’s trying really hard to get people to give up on Xbox full stop.
Could be one of the worst rewards programs out there. I mean, sure, free anything is ok, but this is built to offer you free things that you won’t get, which feels like junk
As much as Rebirth is my personal GotY likely (there’s not much left for competition this year that I’ve not finished out of the games I will play this year), I’m rooting for Astro Bot to win the mainstream award. Team Asobi deserves the win. Its just such a universally solid game, and the best first party title Sony has put out all generation. They’re keeping that Japan Studio feel, but with a bit more energy. I love it! Always loved Japan Studio too.
Killzone is definitely being viewed with rose tinted goggles these days, isn’t it? The Halo killer that never quite got there… and the Halo killer became… itself! Killzone games are reliable 8/10 fps titles. I’d like to see Sony make new IPs that evolve the brand.
I liked the series just fine, but Guerilla has certainly evolved beyond it and that’s fine. That said, why not license the game out? I don’t know how they’d do, could be interesting.
@Gator_Rican Silent Hill perhaps. I mean, it’s still abstract, but the symbolism is sort of obvious and the further you get into it, the game tells you what is basically happening, even if some of it is open for interpretation. Alan Wake 1, on the other hand, is symbolic and fairly obvious too, but leaves things open in the ending. Alan Wake 2 is really abstract at times, even if it tells a cohesive story in the way it wants to. If Control is confusing, Alan Wake 2 might be indecipherable.
Tone wise, Silent Hill is much more serious and sad, Alan Wake is a bit more silly and all over the place, but still dark. Your mileage will vary on either depending on your preferences in games.
Played this last night and honestly… I’m also playing Silent Hill 2’s Remake… and going back to Alan Wake 2 just felt much better to me personally, as good as that remake is. They’re similar in some ways, you know? The comparison was inevitable, even if, man, the difference in controls was super disorienting in swapping between the games.
That said, I think The Lake House was the better of the two DLCs, as short as it was. It’s oozing atmosphere, nuance, and personally. It’s so unabashedly Remedyverse and I’m ready for more of this. I’d personally give it a 9/10 as a huge fan of Alan Wake/Control/Remedy. Now I just want more… Honestly, if they want to just keep tossing us micro-games similar to this DLC, I’d buy them all… Read this comment, Sam Lake!
@Ainu20 Hit the nail on the head there with your comment. 300k in sales seems pretty good for a game in this genre for a starting price point that it had. I think the marketing for the game was off-putting at first, but word of mouth helped rebuild the game’s stature. I would imagine this game was likely profitable, but not as profitable as Ubisoft wanted. I wouldn’t be surprised if this layoff isn’t for lack of success, but because the company as a whole is so deeply under water at the moment that they are reducing projects that may be a risk for them. I mean, we know Skull and Bones would’ve been cancelled, if not for that obligation to the Singaporean government to release the game, which is why it was likely tossed out to die. I think Outlaws underperformed more than they expected, but there’s still more money to be made from that type of game, same as XDefinant. By and large, it seems that, outside AC and Far Cry, Ubisoft isn’t drawing the numbers they want, and the public is against them, so they’re fighting to keep their business alive… but are sacrificing modest success for the potential of massive success. Long term, I worry this trend will backfire in the industry.
Also, I think you may be right that we need a smaller industry with fewer games in some respects. Sales aren’t hitting goals across the industry. It’s an industry saturation problem potentially. I dunno. I like AAs and I want that segment of the industry to succeed. It’s what I want out of the industry. It’s the games I personally play. The live service mp titles, 100+ hour RPGs, and Soulslikes aren’t for me. I want creative and narrative experiences. With the way things are going in the industry, I’m more and more grateful for games I like still being released.
I’ll be honest, I don’t care what type of game a game is as long as it’s fun. That’s the important part, “fun.” Live service, single player, what have you. I haven’t played a multiplayer game with my friend circle all year, so I’d be down for a good mp experience too. I mean, I feel like I may get coerced into getting Gamepass for BLOPs and I don’t even like CoD, but darn it I’ll make a sacrifice for my friends because it’s the most fun for us all cumulatively, at least in comparison to the current alternatives…
I’m down for whatever they want to add to this IP. I loved Dave the Diver and still go back to it on occasion after completing it because it’s just such a pleasant game to relax and play. It’s been my most played game this year.
Death Stranding and Ghost of Yotei are clearly the biggest releases to me (plus Metroid Prime). I’m hoping we get Judas too. Lost Records is something I’m really looking forward to as well. Love Don’t Nod. Next year looks great. MGS Delta, c’mon! Clair Obscur looks interesting too. Heck, Xbox even has South of Midnight, Fable, and Doom all dropping on Gamepass, so even Xbox looks like it’s on a comeback. I hope we see Sword of the Sea and Silksong next year too, and Mina the Hollower. And yeah there’s GTA6 as well. Honestly, GTA’s probably not in my top 5 most anticipated, but it’s hard not to be interested in a Rockstar project.
Not at all interested in gyro aiming, but whatever makes people happy. Man, I can’t wait for the DLC. I was hoping to have reviews to read today, but I’m playing it tomorrow either way. Alan Wake 2 is my favorite game so far this generation, can’t wait for more.
That’s a low bar to jump, but good to know. I’m contemplating whether or not I should get this one for my son since Astro Bot has him interested in Horizon now.
That’s good that they’re patching this one up. I was sort of surprised I kept getting stuck on walls and poles when I started the game over the weekend. Given how saving your game works in this one too, I kept losing progress, which was frustrating to me. Hope it’s performing better now because I want to like this one!
It sort of seems to me that AC Shadows will likely have another delay. Sort of seems like the company is imploding.
It seems the staff is being XDefiant toward management. Sorry, I couldn’t resist that one. It seems the company may soon be Skull and Bones. Sorry, couldn’t resist that one either. They’re a Far Cry away from a good public image as a company right now. Alright, alright, last pun…
Hot take: Could be the worst game to ever win GOTY (and in a year that was incredible too with a multitude of wonderful releases).
People complain about Ubisoft games, but this is the closest Sony’s been to hitting the Ubisoft formula. It’s an ok game, but a very safe follow up to an already safe game, and a very concerning title with regards to the future of Insomniac, in that it’s inevitable they’ll be chasing safe Marvel games moving forward rather than innovating as they did with games such as Ratchet and Clank and Sunset Overdrive because it’s more profitable. It’s a 7/10 game at best. I hate to be so negative on a first party title, but this was the only 2023 release from Sony, and honestly I can’t think of another year that disappointed me so much from the console on the first party front.
Wish they were moving on to go make Ratchet and Clank again.
I love R&C. The games were a huge part of me becoming a PS-based gamer, and when we get a year where the only PS first party game is a Marvel game like last year, that pushes me away. Sorry, but Spider-Man 2 is a 7/10 game at best. I won’t be getting another Marvel title from PS, no matter the hype.
This should be the weekend Silent Hill 2 begins. The plan is to knock out SH2 and the Alan Wake 2 DLC before Life is Strange comes out. Then after those ones, to finally go back to Banishers. That may well be the next two months of gaming for me (with some variance), but who knows?
8/10. Best game in the Budokai Tenkaichi series, but it’s still a game in the Budokai Tenkaichi series, so it has all the hallmarks of that series. When it’s playing like you want it to, it’s the closest a game can get to feeling like Dragon Ball in all its glory, but it can also feel spammy. It’s fun, but can be grindy. It excels in many things, but it’s not a quantum leap for its namesake in anything but visuals.
I’ll be honest: I played the demo and really… Atlus games just aren’t for me. Big, bulky Sega RPGs and I just don’t mesh for some reason. I’d love to watch the inevitable anime adaptation though.
@Korgon Lol, I’m not into Like a Dragon or Monster Hunter, so what about my needs too? I need something else to release!
But seriously though, came in to say that this is such a classy move on Sega’s part. Even if these gigantic sized games aren’t for me, I think it’s cool that they’re acknowledging each other and being friendly. Great to see in the industry since we know things tend to be a bit more aggressive between companies.
So now that it’s in the wild, I don’t want to know the details of the story, but I do want to know if it’s approximately the same length as the previous games and if it’s of similar quality. I can’t wait for the game, honestly. Well, I can wait enough to not spend $30, but genuinely, even as I still have games to beat before it, I’m ready to put any other game on hold for this one.
I still don’t know how I feel about Bloober, even with SH2 being a success. I just remember how I was blown away by The Medium in initial trailers, only to be feeling really tepid after playing it. This could repeat that. It looks good though.
@UltimateOtaku91 I agree. Atlus is passing up a large portion of their demographic. I know more Switch based gamers than PS based gamers that enjoy big, long JRPGs, personally. It feels like they could have tripled or more Metaphor’s sales if they launched it on Switch, especially with how light the console’s release schedule has been and how Metaphor (no offense) looks visually dated at times. Feels like it should’ve been on Switch.
Comments 2,979
Re: Wolverine PS5 Lead Dev Leaves for Xbox's Perfect Dark Team
Perfect Dark > Wolverine, honestly for me by a wide margin. Insomniac used to be one of my favorite studios, but, man, them turning into basically a Marvel studio (according to the leaked documents) is a true bummer.
Re: Black Ops 6 Devs Walk Out, Activision Strike Makes the Local News
@pukana I was dealing with them because they were trying to figure out how my account got hacked and bought and sold. Activision does not seem to have a very large customer service department, so they forwarded me to QA directly when they couldn’t help me. It may have been because customer service was ignoring me and I started submitting complaints to various consumer advocacy groups to try to get a response. The whole experience was messy and made me feel like Activision just didn’t address concerns, but tossed people around if something happened. It took four months for them to wipe my account and start it from scratch, just so my personal info wasn’t compromised anymore. I’m definitely not arguing that they should’ve been dealing with my complaint directly with me. Activision should have had trained customer service staff to not pass me to a different department that isn’t geared toward talking to customers. Like I said, given the company’s disorganization, it’s about time they strike! After Bobby’s era, it was a long time coming. Hope Activision gets better from it.
Re: Black Ops 6 Devs Walk Out, Activision Strike Makes the Local News
Funny and mostly unrelated story, but I was on TV for my work too recently enough. Of course, I wasn’t on strike. Oh no, my son and I were doing a skit on how to make costumes using a box and moving supplies. An early morning PR thing, was quite fun.
Now, back on topic: how did Activision employees not go one strike years ago under old Bobby? It’s about time QA retaliate against Activision! Though, I did have an experience with Activision QA years ago, back in 2020 when my account was hacked and sold to someone in Saudi Arabia. The QA team made Sony’s customer service seem golden. I haven’t bought an Activision game since the debacle. Since my personal information was compromised, I would say that I perhaps got the most aggressive I’d ever gotten with a company. Their solution was deleting my entire account, which invalidated my purchases with said account. Not very good quality assurance, if you ask me. Hopefully the department is better now than it was. Or hopefully the supervisory staff was canned when MS bought the company. I dunno. I hope for the best for anyone that’s struggling in this economy, even if I had a bad experience with the particular team. QA, of all things, was the thing that slipped most during COVID and is the thing that perhaps needs the greatest return in all industries… that and general customer service.
Re: Poll: Are You Playing the Monster Hunter Wilds Open Beta?
I’m planning on trying it in a bit. I’ve never been a Monster Hunter guy, but I’ll keep the tradition of trying the betas for the series alive. Like I say with Like a Dragon, Atlus games, Monster Hunter, etc, maybe the new one is the one. You never know!
Re: Concord Cost Sony Over $200 Million, And Didn't Make a Single Cent
@get2sammyb I wish this meant that good games like Ape Escape and Gravity Rush were more commercially viable now! I’d rather see Sony play it safe and release the left field stuff I actually want than risk bankruptcy chasing that live service money. 😂
Re: Random: Forward-Thinking PlayStation Gamer Spends $2,000 on 24 Years of PS Plus
@McTwist To put it simply: it’s the fun factor that’s missing. I could say it’s the weird artsy games, but there’s also a deliberate safeness and metaness to current era games. This is why we’re getting so many live service games, I believe. I feel like the powers that be are searching for the next Fortnite that doesn’t exist and mistake the fact that it’s a social media platform more than a game. But even multiplayer experiences have lost that “fun” factor in pursuit of skins and meta. I miss Halo 3, for instance. I’d love to play a live service multiplayer game if it was fun.
Games that have tried to be unique, new things have been utterly lambasted too whereas in the PS2 or PS3 era, we’d have a potential cult game on our hands. It just feels like gamers have engineered themselves into a critical space to match the lifelessness of many of the games and, as a result, it’s a viscous cycle that just seems so antithetical to the concept of games being games, which is that games are meant to be fun.
Re: PS5, PC Flop Concord Never Returning, Studio Closed Down
What a shame. I know a lot of people are celebrating this debacle, but genuinely, there are far worse games that have gotten better treatment. I’d say Concord was actually one of the better live service games that launched this year. It was certainly no Suicide Squad. I agree with Pushsquare about it being a 7/10.
Re: UK Sales Charts: Call of Duty Remains Steady on PS5, PS4 Despite Black Ops 6's Xbox Game Pass Inclusion
I think this might be the year that word of mouth actually helps CoD to gain more traction. The series has been stale for a while and I’d say the majority of players are habitual players that continue to buy the games year after year, similar to FC in Europe and Madden in the States. I can see an influx of disinterested players because the game is getting better than typical reviews for its campaign. I mean, I’m even considering dusting off my Xbox and getting a GP sub to try it and I’ve been disenfranchised from the series for a while now. I’m going to wait a bit to see if the value is there next month for me with Stalker and Nine Sols, and Indy around the bend, but I never thought I’d be interested in going back to CoD and here we are. I’m sure I’m not alone.
Re: Random: Forward-Thinking PlayStation Gamer Spends $2,000 on 24 Years of PS Plus
@McTwist As much as I like my PS5, I sort of agree with you about waiting for PS6. Honestly, I waited on PS4 because I was jaded over the post-Skyrim gaming landscape for a little bit. Right now, even if some of my favorite games have been PS5 games, it certainly feels like I bought the console for maybe two games a year. In fact, I just did a dive through my spreadsheets and almost everything I’ve purchased and enjoyed since 2020 has also been on PS4. Alan Wake 2, the two Final Fantasy games, and the two Astro Bot games have been the outliers. Sure, there’s been some good games I would have missed, like Returnal and Rift Apart, but, end of the day, those games didn’t blow me away or anything like the other ones I listed. Also, I hate wasting money and this year in particular I’ve felt like I’m wasting money. I’m nervous to buy anything right now because I don’t know if I’ll like it anymore. The last couple years, I’ve definitely bought more games (until this year where I’ve bought significantly less to the point where it’s noticeable), but I feel like I’ve truly liked fewer of the games. This year has been an interesting one, in that the games I’ve loved, I’ve really loved, but I’ve also wished I could get a refund on about half the games I purchased because I just didn’t like them. I expect to buy a few duds and it’s ok when I’m largely enjoying gaming, but this year felt like a slog. If 2025 is similar to me, I’m not rushing to a PS6 or any other console. Usually Final Fantasy is a reliable thing to get me on a future console, but since Square’s made it known that FF isn’t selling enough, it makes me wonder what might be there to sell me a PS6 too. It’s just… the decline of the AA market and creative games in general too that has me concerned. How few Flower-esque experiences we’ve gotten this generation that feel so uniquely themselves, you know?
Re: Here Are 10 Great PS5 Horror Games to Play This Halloween
@BringleWorkshop Not yet, but I’m planning on finding it! I downloaded your game today, just haven’t had time to play it. Looking forward to it!
Re: Here Are 10 Great PS5 Horror Games to Play This Halloween
I’ll be playing the Legend of Santa this Halloween.
Seriously though, Silent Hill was messing me up on Saturday, so I decided to finally start Banishers and I was really happy with it early on. I preordered this game, for crying out loud. But I’m glad I waited, I guess. Perfect game for this time of year.
Re: Monster Hunter Wilds Beta: Start Times, How to Access, and Rewards
@Cutmastavictory I’ll try it again. I always give the betas and demos a shot. I figure the game’s popular for a reason, so one of these days it’s gotta hit. I’ve been saying the same thing about Like a Dragon and Persona too, but one of these days…
Re: Dragon Age: The Veilguard (PS5) - The Best BioWare Game Since Mass Effect 3
@ShogunRok Interesting. If there’s ever been a game that I wished had a demo, this one is it. I need to find a local friend that bought this to try it out.
Re: Life Is Strange: Double Exposure (PS5) - Hallmark Series Loses Its Charm
Aw, man, that review score is a bummer, but I’m still diving into this one, believing I’ll enjoy it more than the review score. I can’t take any more disappointment this year in gaming!
If this one flops for me, man, do I hope Lost Records delivers.
Re: Dragon Age: The Veilguard (PS5) - The Best BioWare Game Since Mass Effect 3
And with that, I think we’ve entered GotY season, everyone!
For me, if we would’ve gotten that 10/10 review, I think I might’ve jumped, but I just don’t like the art design and hearing that it’s got “cute” writing makes me feel I may not click with it, personally. I can’t help but be curious though. For old times sake.
@ShogunRok something I’m curious about is if there are difficulty sliders that impact the gameplay? I don’t quite have the time for RPGs like I did even 2, 3 years ago (or… 20 years ago when I really leaned into the genre), unfortunately. With giant games, I just lower the difficulty as much as possible, so that I can enjoy the story and avoid the grind. Just curious if that’s something in the game or something that can be time saver.
Re: Your Chance to Play the Cosiest PS5 Game Ever Is Close
I have no interest in this one, but BotW developers worked on it… and I can’t turn down a good beta!
Also, after how tense I’ve felt playing the Silent Hill 2 remake, I’m starting to feel like I’ve gotten soft. This game is soft.
Re: Monster Hunter Wilds Beta: Start Times, How to Access, and Rewards
Monster Hunter hasn’t clicked with me yet, but I can’t turn down a good beta.
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? - Issue 552
I’ve gotta try the new Astro Bot level. I’m going to play some Mario Party Jamboree for sure and possibly Silent Hill 2 tonight since the wife will be out with a friend. We were originally going to play that one together, but she hated it and said it was boring and confusing early on, so together gaming waits for Life is Strange, I suppose. I dunno, I think it’s solid, if not blowing me away as much as I thought it would. I’ve got a lot of Trick or Treating in the meantime with the kids in two different neighborhoods this weekend. One today, one tomorrow.
And I’ll admit it, I’m more curious about Black Ops 6 than I’ve been for a CoD game in a long while. Maybe I will get Gamepass for it. I dunno. I’m waiting for more reviews still.
Re: Xbox Fans Really Want a Port of PS5, PC Hit Helldivers 2
Helldivers honestly feels more like an Xbox game than a PlayStation game and I’ve been saying that since I’ve tried it. It seems like the Xbox community is more friendly toward live service online multiplayer shooters. I think it’d print money on the platform if Sony does it, but I also get that Sony’s trying really hard to get people to give up on Xbox full stop.
Re: Balatro Deals More Free Crossover Cards Featuring Cyberpunk, Stardew Valley, More
The last batch fit my tastes a lot better, personally, but keep ‘em coming.
Re: Reminder: You Must Accept PS Stars Terms of Service to Keep Earning Points
Could be one of the worst rewards programs out there. I mean, sure, free anything is ok, but this is built to offer you free things that you won’t get, which feels like junk
Re: Throwback N64 Platformer Yooka-Replaylee Looks Dazzling in Upgraded PS5 Remake
Reasonable upgrade path or I’m boycotting it.
Re: Sony's Japan Studio 'Forgot What It Feels Like to Have a Hit'
As much as Rebirth is my personal GotY likely (there’s not much left for competition this year that I’ve not finished out of the games I will play this year), I’m rooting for Astro Bot to win the mainstream award. Team Asobi deserves the win. Its just such a universally solid game, and the best first party title Sony has put out all generation. They’re keeping that Japan Studio feel, but with a bit more energy. I love it! Always loved Japan Studio too.
Re: Random: Killzone Superfans Want to License the IP from Sony
Killzone is definitely being viewed with rose tinted goggles these days, isn’t it? The Halo killer that never quite got there… and the Halo killer became… itself! Killzone games are reliable 8/10 fps titles. I’d like to see Sony make new IPs that evolve the brand.
I liked the series just fine, but Guerilla has certainly evolved beyond it and that’s fine. That said, why not license the game out? I don’t know how they’d do, could be interesting.
Re: PS5, PS4 Fans Are Worried Cash Rewards Have Been Removed from PS Stars
It’s showing $10 for me. Darn I hope the $5 is back up next week… I was planning on using it to get that Legend of Santa game!
Re: Rumour: Rayman Remake in Development, Former Prince of Persia Devs Involved
Great to hear. Rayman was golden era Ubisoft! I’m down for it!
Re: Alan Wake 2: The Lake House (PS5) - Stellar DLC Paints a Path Forward for the Remedy Universe
@Gator_Rican Silent Hill perhaps. I mean, it’s still abstract, but the symbolism is sort of obvious and the further you get into it, the game tells you what is basically happening, even if some of it is open for interpretation. Alan Wake 1, on the other hand, is symbolic and fairly obvious too, but leaves things open in the ending. Alan Wake 2 is really abstract at times, even if it tells a cohesive story in the way it wants to. If Control is confusing, Alan Wake 2 might be indecipherable.
Tone wise, Silent Hill is much more serious and sad, Alan Wake is a bit more silly and all over the place, but still dark. Your mileage will vary on either depending on your preferences in games.
Re: Alan Wake 2: The Lake House (PS5) - Stellar DLC Paints a Path Forward for the Remedy Universe
Played this last night and honestly… I’m also playing Silent Hill 2’s Remake… and going back to Alan Wake 2 just felt much better to me personally, as good as that remake is. They’re similar in some ways, you know? The comparison was inevitable, even if, man, the difference in controls was super disorienting in swapping between the games.
That said, I think The Lake House was the better of the two DLCs, as short as it was. It’s oozing atmosphere, nuance, and personally. It’s so unabashedly Remedyverse and I’m ready for more of this. I’d personally give it a 9/10 as a huge fan of Alan Wake/Control/Remedy. Now I just want more… Honestly, if they want to just keep tossing us micro-games similar to this DLC, I’d buy them all… Read this comment, Sam Lake!
Re: Ubisoft Disbands Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown Team After Poor Sales, Claims Report
@Ainu20 Hit the nail on the head there with your comment. 300k in sales seems pretty good for a game in this genre for a starting price point that it had. I think the marketing for the game was off-putting at first, but word of mouth helped rebuild the game’s stature. I would imagine this game was likely profitable, but not as profitable as Ubisoft wanted. I wouldn’t be surprised if this layoff isn’t for lack of success, but because the company as a whole is so deeply under water at the moment that they are reducing projects that may be a risk for them. I mean, we know Skull and Bones would’ve been cancelled, if not for that obligation to the Singaporean government to release the game, which is why it was likely tossed out to die. I think Outlaws underperformed more than they expected, but there’s still more money to be made from that type of game, same as XDefinant. By and large, it seems that, outside AC and Far Cry, Ubisoft isn’t drawing the numbers they want, and the public is against them, so they’re fighting to keep their business alive… but are sacrificing modest success for the potential of massive success. Long term, I worry this trend will backfire in the industry.
Also, I think you may be right that we need a smaller industry with fewer games in some respects. Sales aren’t hitting goals across the industry. It’s an industry saturation problem potentially. I dunno. I like AAs and I want that segment of the industry to succeed. It’s what I want out of the industry. It’s the games I personally play. The live service mp titles, 100+ hour RPGs, and Soulslikes aren’t for me. I want creative and narrative experiences. With the way things are going in the industry, I’m more and more grateful for games I like still being released.
Re: Ubisoft Disbands Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown Team After Poor Sales, Claims Report
Utterly disappointing. The Lost Crown is the best game Ubisoft has put out in practically 20 years, maybe longer.
Re: PlayStation, Bungie Still Going Ahead with Internal Live Service Team
I’ll be honest, I don’t care what type of game a game is as long as it’s fun. That’s the important part, “fun.” Live service, single player, what have you. I haven’t played a multiplayer game with my friend circle all year, so I’d be down for a good mp experience too. I mean, I feel like I may get coerced into getting Gamepass for BLOPs and I don’t even like CoD, but darn it I’ll make a sacrifice for my friends because it’s the most fun for us all cumulatively, at least in comparison to the current alternatives…
Re: Naughty Dog's Next Game Will Reportedly Put More of a Focus on 'Player Freedom'
I just hope we see what it is soon. Feels like it’s been forever since TLOU2 came out now or was announced. Just let us see… something?
Re: Dave the Diver Creator Teases DLC, 'Dave Cinematic Universe' of Games
I’m down for whatever they want to add to this IP. I loved Dave the Diver and still go back to it on occasion after completing it because it’s just such a pleasant game to relax and play. It’s been my most played game this year.
Re: Black Ops 6 Another Call of Duty with No PS5 Platinum Trophy
The true platinum trophy in CoD is a 360 no scope
Re: Video: 2025 Is Shaping Up to Be PS5's Best Year Yet
Death Stranding and Ghost of Yotei are clearly the biggest releases to me (plus Metroid Prime). I’m hoping we get Judas too. Lost Records is something I’m really looking forward to as well. Love Don’t Nod. Next year looks great. MGS Delta, c’mon! Clair Obscur looks interesting too. Heck, Xbox even has South of Midnight, Fable, and Doom all dropping on Gamepass, so even Xbox looks like it’s on a comeback. I hope we see Sword of the Sea and Silksong next year too, and Mina the Hollower. And yeah there’s GTA6 as well. Honestly, GTA’s probably not in my top 5 most anticipated, but it’s hard not to be interested in a Rockstar project.
Re: Alan Wake 2 Adds PS5 Gyro Aiming in Big Anniversary Update
Not at all interested in gyro aiming, but whatever makes people happy. Man, I can’t wait for the DLC. I was hoping to have reviews to read today, but I’m playing it tomorrow either way. Alan Wake 2 is my favorite game so far this generation, can’t wait for more.
Re: Preview: LEGO Horizon Adventures Is Looking Like the Best LEGO Game Yet
That’s a low bar to jump, but good to know. I’m contemplating whether or not I should get this one for my son since Astro Bot has him interested in Horizon now.
Re: Silent Hill 2 PS5 Patch 1.04 Fixes Lots of Small Glitches, Crashes
That’s good that they’re patching this one up. I was sort of surprised I kept getting stuck on walls and poles when I started the game over the weekend. Given how saving your game works in this one too, I kept losing progress, which was frustrating to me. Hope it’s performing better now because I want to like this one!
Re: Ubisoft Labour Woes Spread, Milan Office Strikes in Solidarity
It sort of seems to me that AC Shadows will likely have another delay. Sort of seems like the company is imploding.
It seems the staff is being XDefiant toward management. Sorry, I couldn’t resist that one. It seems the company may soon be Skull and Bones. Sorry, couldn’t resist that one either. They’re a Far Cry away from a good public image as a company right now. Alright, alright, last pun…
Re: Poll: One Year Later, How Would You Rate Marvel's Spider-Man 2 on PS5?
Hot take: Could be the worst game to ever win GOTY (and in a year that was incredible too with a multitude of wonderful releases).
People complain about Ubisoft games, but this is the closest Sony’s been to hitting the Ubisoft formula. It’s an ok game, but a very safe follow up to an already safe game, and a very concerning title with regards to the future of Insomniac, in that it’s inevitable they’ll be chasing safe Marvel games moving forward rather than innovating as they did with games such as Ratchet and Clank and Sunset Overdrive because it’s more profitable. It’s a 7/10 game at best. I hate to be so negative on a first party title, but this was the only 2023 release from Sony, and honestly I can’t think of another year that disappointed me so much from the console on the first party front.
Re: Some Marvel's Spider-Man 2 PS5 Fans Are Furious It's Not Getting DLC
Wish they were moving on to go make Ratchet and Clank again.
I love R&C. The games were a huge part of me becoming a PS-based gamer, and when we get a year where the only PS first party game is a Marvel game like last year, that pushes me away. Sorry, but Spider-Man 2 is a 7/10 game at best. I won’t be getting another Marvel title from PS, no matter the hype.
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? - Issue 551
This should be the weekend Silent Hill 2 begins. The plan is to knock out SH2 and the Alan Wake 2 DLC before Life is Strange comes out. Then after those ones, to finally go back to Banishers. That may well be the next two months of gaming for me (with some variance), but who knows?
Re: Poll: What Review Score Would You Give Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero?
8/10. Best game in the Budokai Tenkaichi series, but it’s still a game in the Budokai Tenkaichi series, so it has all the hallmarks of that series. When it’s playing like you want it to, it’s the closest a game can get to feeling like Dragon Ball in all its glory, but it can also feel spammy. It’s fun, but can be grindy. It excels in many things, but it’s not a quantum leap for its namesake in anything but visuals.
Re: Poll: What Review Score Would You Give Metaphor: ReFantazio?
I’ll be honest: I played the demo and really… Atlus games just aren’t for me. Big, bulky Sega RPGs and I just don’t mesh for some reason. I’d love to watch the inevitable anime adaptation though.
Re: Like a Dragon's PS5 Date Change Will Let You Play Monster Hunter Wilds with Peace of Mind, Director Says
@Korgon Lol, I’m not into Like a Dragon or Monster Hunter, so what about my needs too? I need something else to release!
But seriously though, came in to say that this is such a classy move on Sega’s part. Even if these gigantic sized games aren’t for me, I think it’s cool that they’re acknowledging each other and being friendly. Great to see in the industry since we know things tend to be a bit more aggressive between companies.
Re: Expedition 33 Dev Confirms $50 Price Is Correct, '30+ Hours of Main Game'
@Cutmastavictory if not for fun, why play?
This whole thing has basically secured my interest in the game when I thought it just looked like an interesting curio before.
Re: Outersloth Indie Fund Partners with Slay the Spire Dev and Mysterious Moneyed Benefactor
As long as it’s not Tencent, Embracer, or Phil Spencer…
Re: Life is Strange: Double Exposure Spoiled By Square Enix Early Access and Hubris
So now that it’s in the wild, I don’t want to know the details of the story, but I do want to know if it’s approximately the same length as the previous games and if it’s of similar quality. I can’t wait for the game, honestly. Well, I can wait enough to not spend $30, but genuinely, even as I still have games to beat before it, I’m ready to put any other game on hold for this one.
Re: Silent Hill 2 Dev Bloober Team Is Back with Cronos: The New Dawn on PS5
I still don’t know how I feel about Bloober, even with SH2 being a success. I just remember how I was blown away by The Medium in initial trailers, only to be feeling really tepid after playing it. This could repeat that. It looks good though.
Re: Japan Sales Charts: PS5 Software Actually Sells for Once
@UltimateOtaku91 I agree. Atlus is passing up a large portion of their demographic. I know more Switch based gamers than PS based gamers that enjoy big, long JRPGs, personally. It feels like they could have tripled or more Metaphor’s sales if they launched it on Switch, especially with how light the console’s release schedule has been and how Metaphor (no offense) looks visually dated at times. Feels like it should’ve been on Switch.