I picked up the Directors Cut upgrade for Death Stranding, so I've restarted that. I've also dipped back into Call of Duty WWII. I never finished the single player story for either of them, so I'm enjoying playing doing that on both. They pair nicely for switching between slower paced exploration and fast paced action.
@get2sammyb Honestly, while this is a PlayStation centric site, I do still want to hear about major stories concerning other platforms. It's not like each console lives in isolation of one another, each move one first party company makes affects the others. Imagine not covering the Bethesda Buyout because it wasn't technically 'PlayStation' news. So thanks for covering this and other topics like it.
@Matroska While I'm not phased by games coming to PS4 as well as PS5, I do agree with a lot of what you've said. This doesn't compare to the great Sony conferences of last gen, but one of those feels more needed now than they did even then.
I'm sure this will be great and the last game was one of my faves, but I would by lying if I said I didn't get just a few worrying feelings with this. The fact that it's a new director and not Cory, that they showed so much of the story in the trailer while showing nothing new gameplay wise and with it being the last Nordic game...I'm getting slight Game of Thrones Season 7/8 vibes where they wanted to wrap it up asap to move onto something they're more excited about.
Really hope I'm worrying for nothing, it still looks great!
Uncharted is my favourite Playstation franchise and I've been waiting for these two games to be patched with 60fps on PS5 more than any others since November, but if they're gonna put that behind a paywall without offering anything much else I think I'm going to have to pass this up on principle. I really hate this practice of minimal effort for maximum cost.
@UltimateOtaku91 I think by that rule we're still in the Far Cry 3.X range. That didn't bother me with Far Cry 4, it was a great example of how more of the same is sometimes great. Far Cry 5 however really grated on me, even though I could still enjoy much of the gameplay.
Oh awesome, I hope it delivers an authentic McDonalds experience like using the speaker to play the sounds of screaming children and minimum wage staff being berated.
@rjejr It is in Dreams, the first three levels were made by Media Molecule and laid loose gameplay and plot foundations, all future levels that are added over time will be developed by the community, submitted to MM who will review submissions and add them in.
You can use all the assets and gameplay templates to create your own levels without going into the 'nitty gritty' make-everything-from-scratch creation. I think it's a way of encouraging that kind of creating as a lot of users (myself included) find the creation tools quite intimidating, even after having done the tutorials.
I played this last week and really enjoyed my time with it. MM are obviously masters of their craft and dreams, which was well demonstrated in the fantastic 'Art's Dream' (one of my favourite games of last year). I sped through the first two levels but the third is where it really opens up and the fun starts (though it's sadly a tad short at this point in development - it seems like MM or the community will be adding more to it).
So if you're not quite vibing with levels one or two please persevere to three. The village is so visually interesting, gameplay and music has major Tearaway vibes (no higher praise) and it adds a much needed free camera. I was hoping my having played it late would mean some community levels would have been added but no such luck - probably a good thing as it shows MM are taking quality control for user submissions seriously.
As for those who want MM to move on from Dreams, I feel like I get where they're coming from but totally disagree. I think there's so much room for growth and little reminders like Megapenguin show it. It's a cliché, I know, but I really think this is just the beginning for dreams. It would be tragic if Sony/MM packed it in and moved on without even seeing what could transpire when multiplayer is added. I'm not too worried though, all signs point towards them having a solid plan - even if they're not always too transparent about it.
That said, Tearaway is one of my favourite games of all time and if they could have some of the team work on a sequel I would be over the moon. They developed that and Dreams simultaneously back in the early years of development, and now that most of the work is done on Dreams I think it might be possible, though one has to acknowledge they are a small team and Tearaway wasn't quite the sales blockbuster that might mandate a sequel from Sony.
I do think having games for the creators and games for the players would be good to quell the dissatisfaction some gamers have at the Dreams-heavy focus of the studio. They may yet pull it off with Dreams.
And yes Dreams was hands down GOTY 2020 for me as well.
@Olmaz I loved the Far Cry series, the first game on PC was my OG fps and 2 was my favourite PS3 shooter - but I agree.
I really liked Far Cry 3. Far Cry 4 felt very comfortable and lowered my expectations for the series in seeing how little they evolved the formula, but was still GREAT fun.
Then I played Far Cry 5. The series was never great literary art but told effective survival thriller stories nonetheless. Five started the trend of empty social commentary, ROFLCOPTER gag trash that was dated once 2012 ended. The story was shallow, the characters were pathetically empty and it some of the T>R>A>S>H humour was actually quite depraved, like making players burn animals alive to Marvin Gaye songs or beating a trapped screaming pig to death 'for the lols'. I'm fine with hunting mechanics and fighting predatory animals in a survival game - but honestly it left the worst taste in my mouth. It felt like it was developed by disgusting people with nothing to say - the tone of the game was that gross -and that's to say nothing of the awful writing which aspired to be so much more than it was. The A.I and "chaos" of the open world was too much. It felt like a broken piece of sandbox steam junk that someone had asset flipped together. The game was a lazy 'throw ***** at a wall' mess, though in spite of that retained an entertaining but repetitive gameplay loop.
So yeah, how do I feel about Far Cry 6. If 4 and 5 felt like PS3 games remastered, 6 is becoming a joke. Watch Dogs legion had much the same energy of FC5 to me, and the disabled bomb dog indicates they're continuing the trend. Gimmick after gimmick after gimmick. It would be a 'wait for £20-£30 sale' buy for me, but after 5 I'm concerned it won't even be that.
@Juanalf I think you don't understand the entire ethos of MM. The game is great and could do amazingly, but the release has been botched. From what the team have been saying for the past few months it sounds like they may be planning a soft reboot with multiplayer, which could do wonders.
The thing about Dreams that is so promising is that while it has very complex creation tools that can put off those only mildly curious in creation, it actually has a very collaborative 'remixable' ecosystem that means you don't have to create anything from the ground up and can basically put in as much work or as little as you want. Want to make a far cry like shooter? Borrow someone's shooting mechanics (or use the MM built template), find a level with a good tropical island and nick a fun horde mode. It's all highly encouraged and doesn't require any faffy permisions. You can see through their recent 'Mega Penguin' event they're trying to encourage players to create in this way as it can just seem so overwhelming to newcomers otherwise.
I really think, as long as MM and Sony deliver in the right way, multiplayer could be a game changer - as it has been for some many other creation based games. Dreams is the perfect place for would-be-devs without the time, knowledge, finances or resources to test out their game ideas and produce cool and fun 'Fall guys' or 'Among us' type games which could really help draw people in - you only need one hit. The game is already solid, and with that feature I think it will all come down to whether they can pull off delivery, marketing, accessibility and player reward. As it is it's mostly being used for impressive tech demos and mini games.
@SoulsBourne128 They totally have, which sucks because Gravity Rush was easily one of the best series Sony made over the past decade. I think they gave up on it long ago - before GR2 even released perhaps, hence the classic 'zero marketing campaign' and subsequent poor sales.
A real shame considering how well the franchise could fare in this recent Japanese/anime game boom in the west (imagine Sony giving Gravity Rush the same kind of push that Bandai Namco gave Scarlett Nexus )
@Shepard93n7 Man gaming is getting as dumb and slimy as politics now. How pathetic. Can't we just go back to the days of accusing inanimate objects of having a non-binary sexual orientation?
@RaZieLDaNtE Great post fellow gamer. My three games are :
Horizon Forbidden West: Very high quality comfort food gaming and a tropical 'Precursor Legacy' vibe I'm gonna love in Winter. Big on exploration.
Stray: Cats in an open world robot land. I'm a cat person. What's more to say?
Little Devil Inside: So hyped to see more of this. The tone, art style and visuals were entirely my jam and I've been getting very bored of 'realistic' open worlds, if this is indeed an open world.
Deathloop: I kind of get an old-school PS2 shooter vibe from this, like Timesplitters or James Bond. I'm not a massive Arkane (only for lack of playing their games) fan but I think the setting and replay value are really gonna draw me in.
Kena Bridge of Spirits: Just a great looking adventure with gorgeous visuals, a beautiful setting and old-skool looking gameplay. Again, Jak vibes.
Comments 473
Re: Poll: What Review Score Would You Give Deathloop?
Who the hell is giving Deathloop a 1/10?
Re: Codemasters' 'Biggest and Most Ambitious Game in Over a Decade' in Development at DIRT 5 Dev
Closing Evolution was among Sony's biggest mistakes.
Re: PS Plus Members in Asia Receive Free Bonus PS4 Game for October
Dude this is cruel, Castlevania Requiem is the best game of the lot and I would genuinely love to play it.
Re: Here's Your Very First Look at The Last of Us HBO Series
@jrt87 Spoiling one of the best PS4 games for people there, consider an edit?
Re: The Last of Us Fans Hoping for an Update on Factions Today
I think they'll be disappointed. ND never reveal game stuff at these, but I sure hope I'm wrong.
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? - Issue 395
I picked up the Directors Cut upgrade for Death Stranding, so I've restarted that. I've also dipped back into Call of Duty WWII. I never finished the single player story for either of them, so I'm enjoying playing doing that on both. They pair nicely for switching between slower paced exploration and fast paced action.
Re: Tomb Raider, Marvel's Avengers Maker Now Co-Developer on Xbox Exclusive
@get2sammyb Honestly, while this is a PlayStation centric site, I do still want to hear about major stories concerning other platforms. It's not like each console lives in isolation of one another, each move one first party company makes affects the others. Imagine not covering the Bethesda Buyout because it wasn't technically 'PlayStation' news. So thanks for covering this and other topics like it.
Re: Death Stranding Director's Cut PS5 Upgrade Is Just £5 in the UK
@UboatUK I would almost certainly expect it to be an entirely new download file so I wouldn't bother if I were you.
Re: Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy Has Gone Gold Ahead of PS5, PS4 Release
@The_New_Butler Just a bit yeah haha. It was the most forced 'writing for the beat' dialogue I've heard in a long time.
Re: Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy Has Gone Gold Ahead of PS5, PS4 Release
What makes you call this game a "spin-off" Sammy?
Re: Round Up: What Was Announced at PlayStation Showcase 2021?
@Matroska While I'm not phased by games coming to PS4 as well as PS5, I do agree with a lot of what you've said. This doesn't compare to the great Sony conferences of last gen, but one of those feels more needed now than they did even then.
Re: GTA 5 and GTA Online Delayed to March 2022 on PS5
Didn't they say there would be new single player content? Where was it today?
Re: God of War Ragnarok Wraps Up Norse Storyline, All Nine Realms Featured
I'm sure this will be great and the last game was one of my faves, but I would by lying if I said I didn't get just a few worrying feelings with this. The fact that it's a new director and not Cory, that they showed so much of the story in the trailer while showing nothing new gameplay wise and with it being the last Nordic game...I'm getting slight Game of Thrones Season 7/8 vibes where they wanted to wrap it up asap to move onto something they're more excited about.
Really hope I'm worrying for nothing, it still looks great!
Re: Remastered Uncharted 4, Lost Legacy Collection Adventures to PS5, PC in Early 2022
Uncharted is my favourite Playstation franchise and I've been waiting for these two games to be patched with 60fps on PS5 more than any others since November, but if they're gonna put that behind a paywall without offering anything much else I think I'm going to have to pass this up on principle. I really hate this practice of minimal effort for maximum cost.
Re: Far Cry 6 Overview Trailer Explains Story, Setting, and Guerrilla Tactics
@UltimateOtaku91 I think by that rule we're still in the Far Cry 3.X range. That didn't bother me with Far Cry 4, it was a great example of how more of the same is sometimes great. Far Cry 5 however really grated on me, even though I could still enjoy much of the gameplay.
Re: Crash Bandicoot Wumpa Fruit Piñatas Hint at New Game Reveal for 25th Anniversary
@Rob_230 Good observation. I'm down for a Crash Bash remake as long as they don't change the loading music. That stuff was euphoric, hypnotic.
Re: Crash Bandicoot Wumpa Fruit Piñatas Hint at New Game Reveal for 25th Anniversary
I'll be waiting forever for Spyro 4...
Re: Marvel's Avengers' PS5, PS4 Exclusive Spider-Man Swinging By This Year
"Spiderman at home"
Re: JETT: The Far Shore Blasts Off on PS5, PS4 This October
@LiamCroft Ahh of-course. Wishful thinking on my part, I've been looking too forward to this game.
Re: JETT: The Far Shore Blasts Off on PS5, PS4 This October
May well not be, but October 5th sounds a lot like a PS+ launch game date.
Re: Horizon Zero Dawn Gets 60FPS Patch on PS5, Available Now
Ahhh maybe this could be preceding a Gamescom announcement with delay...
Re: Horizon Zero Dawn Gets 60FPS Patch on PS5, Available Now
This really came out of the blue but hey I'm not complaining. It's about time.
Re: Riders Republic Is a Big Deal in PS5, PS4 Customisation Trailer
Isn't the title of this article a bit back to front? Why wouldn't Riders Republic be a big deal in a Riders Republic commercial?
Re: Assassin's Creed Odyssey Runs at 60FPS on PS5 with New Patch
Damn I hope they do this soon for Origins.
Re: Such Is Sony's Secrecy, Fans Hope New PlayStation Banners Mean Impending News
We are all so desperate for something to be excited about in our lives. Only Sony can save us.
Re: Take-Two Has a Trio of Unannounced Ports or Remasters in the Pipeline
@darkswabber Out of interest, what more would you actually like from a PS5 version that the PS4 version doesn't already have?
Re: Upcoming PS5 Firmware Will Display Trophy Lists Vertically
Thank goodness for that, it's been a pain these past few months.
Re: Aussies Can Win This McDonald's Themed PS5 Controller
Oh awesome, I hope it delivers an authentic McDonalds experience like using the speaker to play the sounds of screaming children and minimum wage staff being berated.
Re: Astro's Playroom PS5 Dev Team Asobi Staffing Up for its Next Game
@Korgon I miss Gravity Rush
Re: With the Steam Deck Announced, This Is What a Next-Gen PSP Could Be
Sammy that's God of War III, not II - and it wasn't on Vita.
Re: Jim Ryan Says Players Only Remember the Best Games
How is it that every time this man speaks about his plans for PlayStation I get shivers up my spine?
Re: Hands On: Media Molecule Flexes with Megapenguin Rehatched's Opening Levels in Dreams
@rjejr It is in Dreams, the first three levels were made by Media Molecule and laid loose gameplay and plot foundations, all future levels that are added over time will be developed by the community, submitted to MM who will review submissions and add them in.
You can use all the assets and gameplay templates to create your own levels without going into the 'nitty gritty' make-everything-from-scratch creation. I think it's a way of encouraging that kind of creating as a lot of users (myself included) find the creation tools quite intimidating, even after having done the tutorials.
Re: Hands On: Media Molecule Flexes with Megapenguin Rehatched's Opening Levels in Dreams
I played this last week and really enjoyed my time with it. MM are obviously masters of their craft and dreams, which was well demonstrated in the fantastic 'Art's Dream' (one of my favourite games of last year). I sped through the first two levels but the third is where it really opens up and the fun starts (though it's sadly a tad short at this point in development - it seems like MM or the community will be adding more to it).
So if you're not quite vibing with levels one or two please persevere to three. The village is so visually interesting, gameplay and music has major Tearaway vibes (no higher praise) and it adds a much needed free camera. I was hoping my having played it late would mean some community levels would have been added but no such luck - probably a good thing as it shows MM are taking quality control for user submissions seriously.
As for those who want MM to move on from Dreams, I feel like I get where they're coming from but totally disagree. I think there's so much room for growth and little reminders like Megapenguin show it. It's a cliché, I know, but I really think this is just the beginning for dreams. It would be tragic if Sony/MM packed it in and moved on without even seeing what could transpire when multiplayer is added. I'm not too worried though, all signs point towards them having a solid plan - even if they're not always too transparent about it.
That said, Tearaway is one of my favourite games of all time and if they could have some of the team work on a sequel I would be over the moon. They developed that and Dreams simultaneously back in the early years of development, and now that most of the work is done on Dreams I think it might be possible, though one has to acknowledge they are a small team and Tearaway wasn't quite the sales blockbuster that might mandate a sequel from Sony.
I do think having games for the creators and games for the players would be good to quell the dissatisfaction some gamers have at the Dreams-heavy focus of the studio. They may yet pull it off with Dreams.
And yes Dreams was hands down GOTY 2020 for me as well.
Re: Random: Sony Ad Shows PS5 Console Placed Upside Down
...and they've taken it down.
Re: Reminder: State of Play Spotlights Deathloop, 'Exciting Indie and Third-Party Titles' Today
Alan Wake and Sunset Overdrive would be great, though I'm always hoping for them.
Re: Latest PS5 Firmware Update Is Available to Download Now
I've been having some problems with games freezing and connectivity issues, particularly with Youtube, so I hope this helps.
Re: Red Dead Online Reboots with Big Blood Money Update
@get2sammyb They can certainly cope with all the money they make from selling gold bars and shark cards.
Re: Ubisoft Planning for Assassin's Creed Infinity, Online Platform in 2024
Count me as far out as possible from this and pretty much all things Ubisoft at this point!
Re: Sony Alludes to More PS5, PS4 Updates Throughout the Summer
@nessisonett Hahaha got me!
Re: Reaction: It's Time to Accept We Can't Predict PlayStation Anymore
@nessisonett Insider? I barely knew her!
Re: Sony Alludes to More PS5, PS4 Updates Throughout the Summer
@scottdevine48 I'm an insider and this is actually the big announcement of Thursday's show.
Re: Feature: The 10 Most Anticipated PS5, PS4 Games for the Rest of 2021
@Olmaz I loved the Far Cry series, the first game on PC was my OG fps and 2 was my favourite PS3 shooter - but I agree.
I really liked Far Cry 3. Far Cry 4 felt very comfortable and lowered my expectations for the series in seeing how little they evolved the formula, but was still GREAT fun.
Then I played Far Cry 5. The series was never great literary art but told effective survival thriller stories nonetheless. Five started the trend of empty social commentary, ROFLCOPTER gag trash that was dated once 2012 ended. The story was shallow, the characters were pathetically empty and it some of the T>R>A>S>H humour was actually quite depraved, like making players burn animals alive to Marvin Gaye songs or beating a trapped screaming pig to death 'for the lols'. I'm fine with hunting mechanics and fighting predatory animals in a survival game - but honestly it left the worst taste in my mouth. It felt like it was developed by disgusting people with nothing to say - the tone of the game was that gross -and that's to say nothing of the awful writing which aspired to be so much more than it was. The A.I and "chaos" of the open world was too much. It felt like a broken piece of sandbox steam junk that someone had asset flipped together. The game was a lazy 'throw ***** at a wall' mess, though in spite of that retained an entertaining but repetitive gameplay loop.
So yeah, how do I feel about Far Cry 6. If 4 and 5 felt like PS3 games remastered, 6 is becoming a joke. Watch Dogs legion had much the same energy of FC5 to me, and the disabled bomb dog indicates they're continuing the trend. Gimmick after gimmick after gimmick. It would be a 'wait for £20-£30 sale' buy for me, but after 5 I'm concerned it won't even be that.
Re: Feature: The 10 Most Anticipated PS5, PS4 Games for the Rest of 2021
That bottom 5 is so weak it makes the year look awful!
Re: Random: Ratchet & Clank Recreation in Dreams Is Yet More Proof of Its Power
@Juanalf I think you don't understand the entire ethos of MM. The game is great and could do amazingly, but the release has been botched. From what the team have been saying for the past few months it sounds like they may be planning a soft reboot with multiplayer, which could do wonders.
The thing about Dreams that is so promising is that while it has very complex creation tools that can put off those only mildly curious in creation, it actually has a very collaborative 'remixable' ecosystem that means you don't have to create anything from the ground up and can basically put in as much work or as little as you want. Want to make a far cry like shooter? Borrow someone's shooting mechanics (or use the MM built template), find a level with a good tropical island and nick a fun horde mode. It's all highly encouraged and doesn't require any faffy permisions. You can see through their recent 'Mega Penguin' event they're trying to encourage players to create in this way as it can just seem so overwhelming to newcomers otherwise.
I really think, as long as MM and Sony deliver in the right way, multiplayer could be a game changer - as it has been for some many other creation based games. Dreams is the perfect place for would-be-devs without the time, knowledge, finances or resources to test out their game ideas and produce cool and fun 'Fall guys' or 'Among us' type games which could really help draw people in - you only need one hit. The game is already solid, and with that feature I think it will all come down to whether they can pull off delivery, marketing, accessibility and player reward. As it is it's mostly being used for impressive tech demos and mini games.
Re: Japan Studio Has Officially Been Removed from Sony's Website
@Korgon Get your filthy mitts off Media Molecule!
Re: Japan Studio Has Officially Been Removed from Sony's Website
@SoulsBourne128 They totally have, which sucks because Gravity Rush was easily one of the best series Sony made over the past decade. I think they gave up on it long ago - before GR2 even released perhaps, hence the classic 'zero marketing campaign' and subsequent poor sales.
A real shame considering how well the franchise could fare in this recent Japanese/anime game boom in the west (imagine Sony giving Gravity Rush the same kind of push that Bandai Namco gave Scarlett Nexus )
Re: Random: PlayStation Fans Start Petition to Cancel Hideo Kojima's Rumoured Xbox Game
@Shepard93n7 Man gaming is getting as dumb and slimy as politics now. How pathetic. Can't we just go back to the days of accusing inanimate objects of having a non-binary sexual orientation?
Re: Feature: What Are Your Most Anticipated PS5, PS4 Games for the Rest of 2021?
@RaZieLDaNtE Great post fellow gamer. My three games are :
Horizon Forbidden West: Very high quality comfort food gaming and a tropical 'Precursor Legacy' vibe I'm gonna love in Winter. Big on exploration.
Stray: Cats in an open world robot land. I'm a cat person. What's more to say?
Little Devil Inside: So hyped to see more of this. The tone, art style and visuals were entirely my jam and I've been getting very bored of 'realistic' open worlds, if this is indeed an open world.
Deathloop: I kind of get an old-school PS2 shooter vibe from this, like Timesplitters or James Bond. I'm not a massive Arkane (only for lack of playing their games) fan but I think the setting and replay value are really gonna draw me in.
Kena Bridge of Spirits: Just a great looking adventure with gorgeous visuals, a beautiful setting and old-skool looking gameplay. Again, Jak vibes.
Re: Ghost of Tsushima Director's Cut Bundles in New Island Expansion, Coming to PS5 and PS4
Very dumb upgrade map, I would have preferred a standalone release, but good news overall.
Re: Feature: What Are Your Most Anticipated PS5, PS4 Games for the Rest of 2021?
Please add Little Devil Inside to the poll!