wildcat_kickz

This looks awesome, but I've moved on to the Edge controller. The back paddles, button profiles, and ability to switch out drifting sticks make using the standard model a no-go, despite the Edge's smaller battery.

Haven't played 2 yet, but the first game is great! Some of the best pixel art I've ever seen and the music is top notch. Not really sure why, but Blasphemous hits me in the nostalgia feels for games like Farazel's Wand (a deep cut for you Mac nerds out there).

@Shrek_Realista You must be new here 😂

The outrage over this is so cringy to witness. People are acting like this is the first time that artistic liberty has been used in historical fiction. Ghost of Tsushima, while an amazing game, had tons of historical inaccuracies, non-Japanese actors playing Japanese characters, mish-mashing of time periods, etc. People are just slamming this game because it's Ubisoft. So dumb.

Splitgate was a great game for PS players who miss playing Halo. Very excited to see how this one turns out.

I was playing this with a few friends yesterday. Monetization: lame. Story: meh. Cutscenes: meh. Mission structure: meh. Movement: great. Gunplay: super punchy and fun!

This is a great game with friends. Don't know how long it'll last and I doubt I'll spend any money on it, but if the whales wanna subsidize my fun, then I'm here for it!

Nudity in games always feels awkward to me. It feels pretty on par with hentai and such. If that's your bag, you do you; and BioWare can do whatever it wants, but having nudity as a marketing beat gets a big eyeroll from me. I'm gonna play the game regardless, but this definitely isn't gonna move the needle... or anything else...

Not particularly excited about this game, but I'm trying to keep an open mind about it. It'll live or die by the quality of the gameplay. In terms of the artistic aesthetic, I actually think this game has a leg up on Overwatch.

@Kienda I also understand what you're saying, but I think this supposed disrespect is not exclusive to AC Shadows, nor is it entirely accurate. I'm sure there are plenty of examples of Egyptians being offended by something in Origins, Greeks being offended by something in Odyssey, Iraqis being offended by something in Mirage, etc. I'm from Boston and found quite a few things about AC3 that were just straight wrong, but enjoyed the game, regardless.

My main issue is that people seem to be painting Ubisoft with a pretty broad brush before the game is even out, cherry picking offense found online. You're always going to see a disproportionate amount of people offended online because being neutral or positive on a subject isn't as strong a driver to add to the conversation as being offended by something. That's just how the internet works.

I'm not telling the Japanese people how to feel about this game, but I also think you may be exaggerating how big a deal this actually is to them, too.

@Kienda @Carck To come at it from the other side, I think a lot of people are discounting the rigorous research and fact-finding that goes into the setting of every AC game. While the team who is making Shadows is primarily based out of Canada, like every other AC game, they no doubt have historians, including those who are ethnically Japanese, providing robust consultation on how Japan is represented in the game.

This article is making reference to concept art, which is exactly that. It's not necessarily a reflection of the game proper and is only used to convey the general aesthetic; it's a reference point. It's not the type of thing that a historian is going to pour over. They simply don't have that kind of time. There are likely hundreds of pieces of concept art for this game that are spat out by their artists constantly.

If Japanese people (or anyone else) have a problem with one of the two protagonists being an immigrant black person, that's a different story, but there's an argument to be made that, given AC is primarily for Western audiences, having an immigrant being the protagonist allows the player to feel more connected to the character, in that they're discovering Japanese culture at the same time he is. It's a similar trope to the "amnesiac" angle for games.

Hmmm... maybe it's time to try this for the final boss. Been stuck on it for a while.

@willi3su That's a blatant misquote. Please feel free to actually read the interview, rather than regurgitate clickbait headlines. Tremblay was asked what it would take for subscription services to grow and he gave the obvious answer: people need to become more comfortable with not owning their games. He did not say that players must get comfortable with not owning games, regardless of their preference. https://www.gamesindustry.biz/the-new-ubisoft-and-getting-gamers-comfortable-with-not-owning-their-games

I'm beyond excited for this. Kinda glad the Dreamcast didn't track gameplay hours because I think I'd be horrified by the stat. Here's hoping they can get Bad Religion and the Offspring back for the soundtrack!

@Konks HBO/WB is currently working to make sure that never happens.

@DennisReynolds Yeah, if you're referring to the final "dungeon," you just need to get to the next point of grace and everything opens back up. No points of no return in this DLC, thankfully.

@ShogunRok Presumably, the remakes aren't being made by the core AC devs, so I don't think keeping AC annualized with remakes in off-years would detract from the quality of new entries. There's a different argument to be made with regard to oversaturation, but oversaturation and quality can be achieved simultaneously.

@Kidfunkadelic83 Keep at it, dude! The game seems to kinda be a mash of Skyrim and a Souls game. Skyrim, in the sense that you're encouraged to explore every cave you find along the way to your destination. Souls, in the sense that you should definitely not feel bad about walking away if an enemy is too high level. Also Souls, in the sense that most enemies have a weak spot to capitalize on (i.e. lizards with hitting their tails).

It's a little slow in the beginning, but you actually level up your vocations pretty quickly in the game and can unlock much more powerful attacks/skills.

@voltum3l My assumption is 60fps is now the "target" when you set graphical settings to "low." Probably just about locked 60fps in the open world and dips a bit in towns and chaotic scenes.

Definitely looks interesting! Without a release date in sight, it's hard to be excited for it, but I like the concept. Specific shout out to the insta-rust potion.

I think that it's totally possible that Sony stops releasing newer titles on disc, but if they're committed to keeping a unified ecosystem from PS4 and beyond, then they'll need to at least provide an option for disc-based games going forward, which will likely take the form of a peripheral disc drive.

@playstation1995 Hell yeah, dude! I'm a Dot Rat, myself. Been a long time since the Big Three. It's great to see the Celtics on top, once again.

@IntrepidWombat @ApostateMage The writing in Andromeda definitely wasn't as strong as the trilogy, but I also don't think it was really that bad. I honestly think it was the tonal and visual shift that upset the fans, though maybe not consciously. Andromeda had a much more Star Trekkie vibe of exploration and the art design was much cleaner, whereas the trilogy was more dour in tone with a more dirty, almost cyberpunk aesthetic.

@colonelkilgore I'd definitely recommend playing through Inquisition. The story for Veilguard seems to be intrinsically tied to Inquisition; much more so than the first two games. Inquisition has a lot of filler/fetch-quest design, but the story is actually really great.

Also, @Maubari, I agree - the debate on the art style is pretty overblown. Dragon Age 2 had a cartoony/watercolor art style too that had blowback when it first came out. We all got over it.

I really don't understand how people can be this judgmental about a game that they haven't played yet. The aesthetic is definitely a little more generic than I was expecting based on the 70's-style title-card, but the gameplay looks like it could be pretty fun.

I think it's completely reasonable that Sony would want a competitor to Microsoft's Overwatch. I actually find the visuals to this game more appealing than Overwatch, so I will definitely be checking out the beta, when it comes around.

@DennisReynolds I dunno if a photo mode is a necessary feature that should be expected at launch for any game. It's purely additive, in my view. I'd rather the devs prioritize bug fixes and such pre-launch, but if they have the extra bandwidth, it's always a nice thing to see.

We need more people like this in the industry. Don't wring your customers dry at the start and they'll end up spending more in the grand scheme of things. Long-term sustainability > short-term gains.

What a Bizzaro title to be greenlit in the first place. Who is this game for?

The casting of Geralt is irrelevant at this point. Hissrrich has so fundamentally misunderstood what makes the Witcher such a special IP that no actor can save the show. The show feels like it's targeting the Dawson's Creek crowd, rather than the Game of Thrones crowd. Complete tonal miss.

@Suur To be fair, you could still play Destiny on PS3 and Xbox 360 after Rise of Iron came out. They just didn't release updates for that version from that point on. That said, there are probably so few people still playing Hunt on PS4 and Xbox One that this is a non-issue and very much worth the tradeoff.

Been a while since I've booted this game up, but very excited for the PS5 version. I really hope the current-gen version cuts down on the obscene load times for matches.

Wow. That "Special Operation" line seems like a direct dig at Russia. Well played, Arrowhead.

@Porco I beat HZD, thought it was good, and the world very intriguing, but found Aloy pretty wooden and uninteresting as a character. My suspicion is that many people felt the same way, which is why there was a steep falloff in sales in the sequel (I recognize that its inclusion in PS+ Extra was also a large factor). Her origins and the circumstances she finds herself in are very cool, but she's just not a particularly emotive or sympathetic character. Sure, there are plenty of people in the real world like that (myself, included), but they make for pretty poor protagonists.

Maybe if they move away from her in subsequent games, there will be more of a drive to return to that universe, but I still think all these games and cross-media plans are oversaturation to the point of overdose.

Does Sony have some secret data that I don't know about? It feels like they're treating Horizon like it's their most successful IP, but I don't hear anyone on the consumer-end super enthusiastic about it, apart from Colin Moriarty, and even he's indicated that this is way too much.

@LN78 I totally get that. The Moore movies are just a bit too campy for my tastes. Not his fault, but more (moore?) just the vibes the producers were chasing at the time. The closer the movies get to the tone of the books, the happier I am.

@Silenos I think No Time to Die is firmly in the top half of the pack. Definitely not great, but far from terrible. In my opinion, all of Moore's movies are way worse and Brosnan's films haven't aged all that well, apart from Goldeneye. Even Quantum I thought was worse, though No Time to Die doesn't even come close to the heights of Casino Royale or Skyfall. Gadget quantity goes up, film quality goes down.

@Lup @ralphdibny "Actress" is kinda considered an outdated term at this point. There was a push to just use "actor" to cover all genders to promote equality in the field and also allow non-binary actors to not struggle with picking one. Awards ceremonies haven't really caught up to this trend, but I think it's just a matter of time.

@LifeGirl She's writing it, not starring in it.

I'm actually super stoked for this! Been playing Mirage the last few days and have been reminded how cozy the gameplay loop of this series is. I thought Odyssey and Valhalla were wayyyy too big and a bit underwhelming, but Origins is probably my favorite of the franchise. Non-Western settings are just more interesting for me to explore.

Also, if they perplexingly remove cloth physics from the game again (like they did in Valhalla), I'm gonna throw a fit.

Phil Spencer's comment about how they've never shut a studio due to finances hasn't aged that well.

@nessisonett I was going to make a similar joke, but I guess that ship has sailed.

@KoopaTheGamer Broadly speaking, I totally understand your point, but the amount of vitriol that was pointed at Arrowhead/Sony just for asking for an additional login (something that was stated would happen from the very beginning) was absolutely insane. The review bombing shows that. There's a difference between voicing your opinion to cause change for the better and cyberbullying developers to capitulate to a small nitpick.

@ShogunRok If they manage to somehow work a silver spoon into that emblem, I think you have a real winner.

Also, this cape is an epic troll pointed at the moronic professional complainers on the internet. Well played, Arrowhead. Well played.

@Uromastryx I actually think @Member_the_game has a point. There are plenty of casual soccer fans or casual CoD fans that may not want to drop $70 annually for an iterative new release. Putting these bigger annual titles in a PS+ lineup is a great way to keep online actively thriving and get some more people in that wouldn't necessarily shell out the cash for the game. For example, I haven't purchased a new NBA2K game since 2K12, but appreciate 2K24 being offered in a prior month. I'm definitely not a big enough fan to keep buying every new release, but am more than happy to jump in if it comes with my subscription.

This is actually a really solid lineup. FC 24 is not really for me, but is arguably one of the biggest video games in the world. Both Ghostrunner 2 and Tunic and pretty well received as well. No surprise seeing the next D2 expansion on the list, too. Seems Sony have been releasing each expansion sequentially over the past few months.

@carlos82 @MikeOrator Yeah, there's something special in the sauce of this game. Screw the lone wanderer's baby/70 year old child! It's all about picking up junk from the wasteland floor, so you can create a nativity scene with teddy bears and rocket launchers.

Jonah Nolan can do no wrong.

I love this damn game, warts and all. I downloaded the PS5 version and basically intend it to be a continuation of my post-apocalypse Vault simulator. On PS4 I spent hundreds of hours in the Vault 88 DLC, meticulously crafting a custom vault, hand placing cigarettes in ashtrays, books on shelves, and newspapers on café tables. PS5 will be no different.

I suppose I'll just take the opportunity to plat again as a win.

AC Robin Hood would definitely be interesting. Though they just did England as a setting (for the second time), so you might have to wait a while for that one.

I'd honestly want them to continue setting games in non-Western locales. Egypt was great and even while I don't think Odyssey or Mirage were great games, I think the settings were.

After Japan, top of my list would be something in South America/Mesoamerica. Maybe Inca or Maya? Super rich cultures/history that don't really get any love in video games.

@LordAinsley I actually think Origins is my favorite of the bunch. I love the Egyptian setting and thought Bayek was one of the best protagonists in the series - charismatic, empathetic, but wrathful.

I thought Odyssey and Valhalla were just wayyyy too bloated for their own good.

My hope is with Red they slow down the combat, lose all the supernatural/Animus abilities, and just focus on grounded swordplay.