AK4tywill

@kirkn Good shout, but unfortunately it doesn't seem to be accurate. I bought Burnout Paradise Remastered for a steal at £1.79 a month ago. It's currently in the 'cheaper than ever' section for £3.59.

We have different definitions of 'cheap'.

Don't forget, if you want the platinum trophies, make sure you pick up the PS4 version - PS5 doesn't have them.

Watch Dogs and Red Dead 2 have already been on the service previously (at least when it was called PS Now) so they don't feel much like headliners. And those are horrendous Premium choices. Why should we even be excited about the prospect of the new PS2 emulator if this is what they're doing with their PS1/PSP emulator?

@adit365 I will not forgive Sony if they do that. The Rise of The Ronin/Dragon's Dogma 2 clash was frustrating enough.

@Vault_Mcfly I mean, it's a satire of machismo jingoism which we constantly get via 'manly-man' games like Gears of war, Call of Duty etc. It's only cringe when the satire goes over people's heads.

Very hyped to finally play Deceive Inc. Been wanting that game for a little while.

That aside, what a weak month. If Watch Dogs and RDR 2 were getting 60fps patches it would be great, but as it is it's just a repeat of headliners we've had previously on PS NOW/ Plus Extra (that most have likely bought regardless).

Most disappointing are the Premium options. No PSP games? How long is it going to take for Sony to give us Daxter, Motorstorm Artic Edge and Ratchet & Clank Size Matters?

It's really dirty to give us so little notification for these additional removals. Not even two weeks?

@AFCC I recently tried jumping into Destiny 2 for the first time with a hope to play it solo like a traditional game. On paper I should have loved it, but I found it to be an extremely frustrating experience.

The story makes no effort to catch you up (not even a recap movie) and heaps a bunch of sci-fi goo goo gaa gaa on you that makes no sense to a newcomer.

What's more, there is a very poor sense of direction as to what should be tackled and in what order. This is compounded by the bizarre decision to boot you into a completely different planet/quest/expansion when you startup the game (it doesn't pick up from where you left off). One time i got quite far through a quest, had to log off and when I returned I was somewhere completely different being told to talk to someone that I couldn't identify or find and It took me lots of attempts to get back to the planet i was on previously. I had to guess my way back to the mission I was part way through and found i had to start all the way from the beginning.

Another time I launched the game and it booted me into a new story again. The planet seemed cool enough so i played through the story of the expansion for an hour or so but eventually reached a point where i couldn't progress because I needed to buy a costly expansion that I didn't have. I guess they let you play the opening for free as a taster, but booting a noob into that from launch without telling them is not a good idea. Reading on forums and Reddit, this is an issue that the Destiny 2 community is aware of and very frustrated by as they recognise that it is putting off new players.

Overall I felt that every time I played I wasn't making any progress and while the mechanics were fun and the game was visually polished, it was all i incredibly repetitive and felt meaningless. The world building just wasn't for me either and felt very sci-fi generic.

My advice is don't give it too much of your time if you're not initially hooked. While I hoped it would essentially be Halo for PlayStation, I was left very disappointed and felt it wasn't worth my time or SSD space, especially considering the quality of games elsewhere in my backlog.

Against all my better instincts, I may actually download and try FC24. Last time I tried a football game was Fifa 10.

The devs really know how to play it.

You can call Rise of The Ronin, Helldivers 2 and Stellar Blade first or second party, but they're certainly not third party titles.

@Darude84 Ah, gotcha. Yeah I've been unsure as to whether I should just skip the OG and go straight to Remake, but from what I see the people who rave the most about Remake are those who played the OG so I reckon it can't really spoil the experience.

I suppose knowing there are changes (I have a few guesses on what they are based on what I know of the original story) isn't ideal as I won't be that surprised that they deviated, but I guess that's just the nature of playing something a while after release.

@Darude84 Thanks for the heads up. I'd been recommended to play the original FFVII before Remake so that I better appreciate the changes, and I thought that would extend to Crisis Core as technically FFVII+Crisis Core are set in a different timeline than the Remake trilogy.

I guess what I mean is, can Crisis Core 'spoil' anything more than the original FFVII already would?

Having more power is all well and good, but if developers don't actually utilise it it's all for naught, and Sony themselves have a less than stellar record in this department.

Sure, when the PS5 launched Sony drip-fed us PS5 performance updates, but they left most of their games untouched and stuck at a disappointing 30 frames-per-second. Elsewhere, while Microsoft developed their own FPS Boost feature to allow games a performance update without the need for developer support (useful for titles they don't have dev access to like third party games), Sony didn't even attempt to match the effort.

They're also notoriously quick to give up the goose if they don't immediately see a strong profit forecast (even if there's strong potential). PSVR2, Dreams and PS Vita can attest to that.

The PS5 isn't a PC where we can immediately tap into the power increase. With consoles we're entirely at the mercy of developers and publishers to see if we can utilise the extra power for our favourite games. I'm sure Spider-man 2 and a couple of other heavy hitters will great some great performance, upgrade, but else-where I'm very hesitant to have optimism.

Right then, time to finally get on with playing Final Fantasy VII so I can play Crisis Core so I can play Remake so I can play Rebirth.

@nomither6 I love the originals, I'm replaying them all at the moment (currently trying to platinum Up Your Arsenal), and while they're undoubtedly classics with beautiful worlds and a great sense of humour, they have aged a little gameplay-wise. Not as bad as many games of the era, but as with Jak 2 & 3, they are heavily shooter-reliant before either development team (Insomniac or Naughty Dog) had worked out how best to integrate that core mechanic into a platformer.

Up Your Arsenal is probably the best thanks to the optional 'third person shooter' control option in the menu which gives a lot more control to the player, but this comes at a cost of that platformer feeling that I love about the Ratchet games and really does just make it feel more like a shooter, which to me isn't entirely what Ratchet is about.

Going and playing 2016 now feels like an absolute treat. The presentation, world, animation and mechanics feel like the Ratchet formula honed to a T. I understand the tone and narrative complaints, but the game is framed as a non-canon retelling of the original story from the unreliable narrator of Captain Qwark, which I think is a very skillful way of making it both serve as a companion piece to the altered film narrative while still finding a way to fit inside the Ratchet timeline. I also just don't hate the story either, I think it has tons of great moments even if it's not as compelling as the peak entries (and the side characters are far less interesting than Talwyn, Azimuth, Sigmund etc.)

If Insomniac were to remake the first three games with the same love and detail they did here then they would likely jump straight to the top and sit beside ACIT, Into The Nexus and Rift Apart for me, but until then I think 2016 is easily one of the best Ratchet GAMES, specifically because of how fun it is to play.

This game is a gem. It may be the black sheep of the franchise (at least with the hardcore fans) but truthfully it's one of the best.

@Flaming_Kaiser I would be all over those and have long had a similar thought. The 'boutique blu ray' scene (Criterion, Arrow etc.) is huge and largely untapped in gaming. Limited run are probably the closest, but Sony have the resources and IP to make some serious money by selling physical copies of older games from their library complete with art/bts booklets. It's an untapped money-maker.

@Flaming_Kaiser Yes you can buy them individually thank goodness. I wish Nintendo would follow suit.

@Czar_Khastik We already got it 😂. This will be the third iteration of Medievil 1 on PS+ Premium. Fourth if you count the original Medievil unlocked by beating Medievil Remake.

All that ludicrousness aside, I will still play it and bag all those trophies. I love Medievil.

@Bentleyma I do highly recommend it. There are so many great games on the device. I'd also say it's worth getting one on Ebay from Japan as you can get a 2000 in a nice colour (the blue and red both look really great) and Japanese people take much better care of their handhelds than Americans/Europeans.

Do you know which games you're most eager to get on it? If you're not going the mod route (can't earn trophies if you do I believe) It's worth checking to see if you have any games on it through PS+ I had over 100 just through claiming the monthly games, and a lot of PS3 and PS4 games still have crossbuy.

This weekend I'm catching up on some older games from my backlog, namely Ratchet and Clank 3 on PS3 and Guacamelee on PS Vita. Having a lot of fun with both.

@VaultGuy415 Is it that exploity? Ill admit I spent an hour repeating runs on Hellmire while listening to my favourite podcasts,. I unlocked the cutting edge warbond in that time. It's easy peasy and this game is as fun playing a low level mission and honing your skills, testing new strategems, completing daily challenges etc. while you listen to podcasts as it is jumping into a level 7 automaton mission with your buddies.

It's all choice and I'm glad super creds are easy to find if you decide to look for them as I personally don't like spending extra dosh on micro-transactions (though if I were, I think this game would be the one to deserve it).

@DiggleDog It really is due to the trickiness of copyright law. They may not be worried about this project or dev, but allowing the IP to be used could open up difficulties with denying it elsewhere by more malicious parties, like a flood of fake Bloodborne games being sold on Steam to capitalise on the PC user base hunger, which in turn could cause massive reputational damage to the IP.

A minor compromise all things considered. Hopefully it's just the character names that have changed and not the designs. This will be a hoot and a holla by the looks of it.

I'm getting seriously allergic to all these subscription services. With games so cheap if you go via CEX, eBay or Vinted, or hell even shop the sales in the PlayStation or Xbox Store, you really won't end up paying any more to just own them.

If we seriously think about the time we have available to play these games I think 90% of people will realise all these subscription services do is cause us to spread our attention so thin between titles rather than playing what we really want to play. And with the added bonus of games you may be looking forward to being removed at 30 days notice, it's kind of a no-brainer to switch back to the old ways. I've caught myself many a time playing a game because it's leaving within the month rather than carrying on with the game I bought because I genuinely wanted to play it. It's pure madness.

Games Pass is not 'the greatest deal in gaming' any more, these day it just feels like a novelty.

@Loamy It's fun to watch the reactions to recent Jimquisition admonishments. The 3/10 Helldivers 2 review certainly got a few people up in arms, but the reaction to the 3/10 Dragon's Dogma 2 Review was far more nuclear.

Quality of the critique aside (Haven't played DD2, enjoying HD2), they're providing some of those golden 'grabs popcorn' moments.

@dschons I do not have faith in Bloober I'm afraid. I fear this will be a case of wondering what a team like Bluepoint may have done while playing.

@Mostik As far as I know it's everything. I'm muscle-memoried the load-out changes into the deployment screen menu at this point.

I Just Want Spyro.

This is nasty. Polyphony Digital/Playstation did this with Gran Turismo 7 after receiving rave reviews at launch and went on to get slated on it's Metacritic user score after the fact. The community clearly doesn't take kindly to this practice and rightly so.

Like with GT7, the timing of these additions seems implicitly manipulative and oriented around circumventing negative reception with the critics. I can see his having a bad reputational impact for what has by all other accounts been a massive success. What a shame.

@IndoorEnthusiast I'm also very excited for this. In general I felt the PSP iterations of Playstation franchises were very good (God of War, Ratchet and Clank, Resistance, Motorstorm etc.) though this clearly was an outlier.

That said, I just have a huge nostalgia and fascination in these games and this is one of the two Jak games I haven't played (the other being X), so I'll be looking forward to diving into both for a trophy hunt even if this isn't up to scratch with the mainline ND games.

I'd also really love for them to follow up next month with Daxter. Ready at Dawn is a fantastic developer and their PSP games really show it.

I hate to comment like this but...why is this news?

Fighting for liberty and managed democracy in Helldivers 2 of-course. And I'll be trying to finish off Ghostwire before it leaves PS+ next week. AND if I need another breather from those, I've just started up Resistance Retribution. Great weekend.

@Intr1n5ic I got into it later via ITV3 re-runs. It felt a bit like a pedestrian version on Uncharted or Indiana Jones all set in North Norfolk (where I've holidayed since I was little).I loved it, a nostalgia for an older time.

@Fyz306903 Dude Sexy Beast is one of my all time favourites. Such a great film.

Ian McShane is one of the best ways to sell me on a game. Anyone else here used to watch Lovejoy?

@Atreus97 If you think the issue is people getting "triggered" you're missing the point entirely.

This is all great, and I really hate seeming this petty (and I do want to play the games regardless) BUT - I'm holding out for a physical release.

@Voltan Hahaha. The trailer was pretty much just remixed SM2 gameplay with a bit of dev tinkering, skins. In a sense they were looking at a finished game, just one that's already been released. You'd think the 'concept' part would give it away.

I would love the behind the scenes of what happened here, it seems like a sure-fire hit if Insombian were behind the wheel, or at least another dev using their framework, mechanics etc.

All I can imagine (and hope) is that maybe there were overlaps between the ideas in this project and another Spidey game in the works, making the development of both redundant.

The rumoured Spider-Verse game from Insomniac would be a natural fit for co-op, and having just seen the leaked concept trailer for The Great Web, it all felt very Spider-verse esque what with the dimension jumping, spider-noir sequences etc. To be honest, I think I'd prefer that art style for a co-op Spider game - would help differentiate it from the mainline series.

Fingers crossed that's what's happening.

EDIT: Realised I typed 'Insombian' instead of 'Insomniac', went to edit, decided I preferred 'Insombian'.

@lankieBD I'm gutted i didn't bite the bullet when it first went up like you did. It does leave a bad taste in my mouth, especially when Helldivers 2 just launched for less money.

The pre-order was initially £32.99 on the PlayStation store, but was soon jacked up to £39.99. Cheeky, I wonder if they saw the numbers and figured they could milk it.

I managed to snag a physical copy from Argos, really looking forward to picking it up and playing it on Monday. Helldivers was one of my favourite PS4 games so my expectations are strong.

I don't usually bother with demos, but I'll be immediately checking this out when it drops proper. Very curious about Stellar Blade.

I'd like.a physical PS5 UK release if possible. They only seemed to make 5 copies and sold them through playstation direct (long gone by now of-course).

My hype is through the roof. Ever since that digital foundry video I've been eager to replay this in 60fps, I just never thought it would happen.

Gravity Rush 2 is easily one of my top 5 games of the last gen. The moment-to-moment gameplay is unlike anything else in the 3rd person action genre, it's very refreshing, and the world is a wonder to explore: So beautiful, cosy and mysterious. If I were to live in any video game world it would be Hekesville.

I really hope more people take the opportunity to play it, maybe then we might even get a sequel, though won't dare to dream.

Like many here I was never chomping at the bit for Sony's big live service push, but somehow it now seems we've lost all the most exciting live service projects (The Last of Us, Twisted Metal, this) and have been left with Fairgame$$$$ and Concord, from which all we've seen is a terrible CGI ubi-style trailer and jiggly burger. What a sad twist of fate.

@__jamiie @NeuralDeclan I'm sorry you had to be involved in that on either side. What is the thinking behind this law and what does it help prevent? I imagine it's vaguely within the realms of transparency and fairness but it seems so unnecessarily cruel.