Ainu20

I'm always surprised when people react negatively to the art style. I'm not remotely interested in this genre of games but if there's one thing I like about this, it's the art style. I think it looks fantastic and unique. If Bungie made a single-player or strictly PvE game with this art style I'd be all over it.

Slightly off topic but wouldn't it make more sense to open a completely new article for this rather than replace the old one in the future? That entire comment section is now lost. Perhaps not a great loss, some might say, but between all the negativity there were still some interesting discussions.

Anyway, I'm looking forward to this one, while keeping my expectations realistic. An extra long edition is a nice bonus.

@Rich33 There's no question that Sony's overall live service push, the famous 12 games quote by Jim Ryan, was an awful mistake and has had repercussions. Had it just been a few studios, it wouldn't have been so bad, but so many at the same time was exactly the sort of decision that only a completely out of touch executive that wants to please investors could make. They deserve to be criticized for it.

However, I feel like there's evidence that they have since started course correcting, with all but a few of those projects being cancelled under a new, Japanese leadership. On the other hand, I also don't think that they should go back to exclusively doing big single player projects, as diminishing margins have shown them that they need to diversify.

There's a healthy balance somewhere, and the few multiplayer projects that have survived the cull could be part of that balance. It doesn't feel like that right now because they have to make up for lost time, but at some point the other studios that shifted focus back to single player games will catch up again. I personally like to think there are good times ahead of us.

@get2sammyb We don't even have to look that far back, one of Sony's most popular games this generation is a multiplayer game, i.e. Helldivers 2. People see the word multiplayer and their minds melt down to some sort of base instinct that says "monkey sees, monkey must hate". The discourse surrounding it is beyond pathetic.

I personally don't feel that they need to push Saros and Requiem any more, we know enough about those. Let's hope they don't spend too much time on them. Marathon would probably be better served by a dedicated deep dive. Hard to predict this one, I'd be surprised if they have any major first party announcements, but something like FF7 part 3 is not outside of the realm of possibilities.

@playstation1995 We've had 6 Killzone games, and all in all not enough people bought them.

Good god, the absolute state of the comment sections on this site. It's always the same, whenever Sony dares to do something that doesn't cater exactly to their tastes, commenters here go in a complete meltdown. Like a bunch of toddlers having a tantrum. Do some of you ever go back and look at the sort of hyperbolic garbage you write? Because maybe you should.

Anyway, I think it looks fine, even if it occupies a market segment that I'm personally not interested in. It looks fun, and it has character, so I can see this finding an audience. Plus it looks like something that doesn't break the bank, which is the type of project that Sony doesn't do enough of. I hope it does well.

@AverageGamer It's not up to me to judge what everyone can or can't do individually, but the scenario you're describing is a completely unacceptable way to run a business in almost any field. If you personally feel ok with that, then sure go ahead, but that sort of expectation being placed on employees, even if it's just implied, is a clear sign of an incredibly toxic and terribly run workplace.

I have no problem with Intergalactic taking a long time by the way, that's not even an issue for me. I would also not have any problem with studios adjusting their ambitions and setting their targets lower if they cannot be achieved in reasonable timeframes without burning out their employees.

As complete packages, Nioh and Nioh 2 aren't quite at the level of From Soft's games for me personally, but when it comes to combat itself, I'd probably put them at the top. Exceptional gameplay. I have no doubt I'm going to love this.

@AverageGamer You know there's a (huge) middle ground between accepting tons of overtime, crunch and weekend work on the one hand and needing a smoke break every 15 minutes on the other, right? Exceptional overtime is part of most industries and generally acceptable, but that's not what they were referring to.

@JuiceboxMeister Well, it's not exactly a secret, working conditions are just worse over there. Long hours, weekend work, extended periods of crunch, etc are completely normalized and there isn't a lot of pushback. No one speaks out, everyone expects and accepts it. But if they make great games, people over here won't care about it. Already you've seen a reply in this thread that "people are too soft".

I can only add I'm glad I live in a country where people have fought for their labour rights in the past, and I get to enjoy the benefits of it.

@Rich33 It isn't the only way forward for Sony, the obvious alternative is to continue to leave the choice up to studios. Devs don't need reining in by the platform holder, what they need is pushback from gamers if things get out of hand. And it does happen, sometimes. Look at the pushback Ubisoft received prior to the launch of AC: Shadows, which caused them to delay the game and commit to releasing a product that was considered quite impressive at launch from a technical standpoint. Gamer discontent and voting with your wallet can make a difference.

Your stance of not buying games without a proper review is exactly right.

That Jeff Gerstmann reply is embarrassing. I also think the tone of this article is far too defensive. It should be easy to see where Vincke is coming from, I don't think his general point is particularly offensive.

@Rich33 This isn't the way. You cannot simply give games a quality label based on performance, like resolution in movies or shows. It will always be a balancing act between performance and visuals, and studios need to be able to set their own targets. If a studio wants to make a very cinematic title at 30 fps, they should have that creative freedom. If an indie developer lacks the technical baggage, time and resources to get their game running at a decent performance, they shouldn't be prevented from releasing it. And if Sony tries to mandate that, it would be the worst display of hubris in their entire history. They don't own the gaming industry, and it would simply drive studios away and into the arms of other platforms, and in particular the PC market.

If we as gamers don't want unfinished slop, we need to stop buying it. It is as simple as that.

@Rich33 That is a terrible idea. Mandating a certain average framerate is not the job of the platform holder, and would only serve to alienate game developers. It's up to the market to incentivize studios to achieve performance targets.

@LifeGirl A blanket statement that the only real reason to upgrade is FOMO is, of course, complete nonsense. Might be true for some people though.

Anyway, I don't think there's anything wrong with a notification like this on a 12 year old console, provided it's just a one-time notification and they don't keep insisting. It's not exactly aggressive marketing, more of a "hey, you're on a pretty old system, consider upgrading" reminder.

It must be frustrating that so much work can just disappear. For actors trying to make a name for themselves, if something like this happens you're left with nothing to further your career on. That aside, I don't get how Ubisoft managed to crash a remake of a (for modern times) relatively straightforward game at what seems to be the final hurdle.

@KundaliniRising333 If the alternative is upgrading to UE5, which generally makes Rebirth seem like a masterpiece of optimization, then they are definitely making the right decision here.

Dragon Engine games generally look a lot better than that particular screenshot, so is this just a worst-case scenario at certain locations (as the article seems to imply) or is there actually a wide-spread issue? Because if it's the former, than all of this sounds like an overreaction.

Looks really good. I'm looking forward to seeing some more in-depth gameplay footage, but for now I'm definitely intrigued. And I have to say I'm impressed by how this studio seems to be juggling two major projects like Forza Horizon 6 and this one, so let's hope they stick the landing on both.

I feel like it was met with more apathy than hate, which is actually worse.

Might sound harsh but the main character has this art style that I've come to associate with ads for mobile games.

@Slayer25c They are no more beta testers than PS5 gamers who buy PS5 games day one. It is "technically" true-ish, but it's true for every game that releases, on any system. Waiting is always better.

Feels like an overstatement on his part. Obviously Sony won't be planning a release around it at the moment (who would?), but they will also be well aware that the date might slip again. Saying they're planning their entire calendar around it sounds a bit silly.

I've said this before, and it may sound pedantic, but you cannot call something a spiritual successor if it's made by completely different people than its inspiration. A spiritual successor implies some form of continuity.

Bioshock is a spiritual successor to System Shock, with the continuity coming from Ken Levine. Same for Bloodstained and Castlevania, through Igarashi. This is at best an homage.

This might a decent game on its own merits, but as a Carmageddon game, I absolutely hate the look of it. It's simply not Carmageddon, not even remotely close.

I have no clue what that word salad is supposed to mean. Reads like slop to me.

It was another excellent year for indie games, so there were always going to be some great games that had to lose out. For me personally, Silksong is my overall game of the year so I obviously agree with its placement.

It's not without its frustrations, but despite those it's a fantastic game that has some of the best movement and combat in the genre, sublime world design, incredible enemy variety, an absurd amount of secrets to discover and all time great boss design. More than worth the long wait.

@SeaDaVie Yes, but Larian is still a privately owned company and Tencent are just minority stake holders. As long as Vincke has majority ownership, he answers to no one.

@Jey887 Absolutely. And especially us gamers, as a community, seem incapable of or unwilling to give people the benefit of doubt, even those who have clearly earned it. We're talking about someone who has built up his own studio through decades of hard work, retains full indepedence and creative control and has delivered one of the most celebrated games of all time just two years ago. Yet he says one thing the community disagrees with and he's being burnt to the ground, and his entire studio with it. Our community has the emotional maturity of a toddler.

I don't agree with his take, but he has absolutely earned the right to be heard properly and to be given the benefit of doubt.

@Darylb88 It's no less of a role playing game than the games I already mentioned, the likes of FFX or Lost Odyssey, or more action oriented JRPGs like the Ys and Tales series for that matter. In the strictest sense of the term, very few JRPGs have actual role playing. It's not just the turn-based combat that makes it so similar to JRPGs, but the world building, party structure, heavy narrative focus and generally linear structure before opening up at the end.

It is technically not a JRPG, but for all intents and purposes it might as well be one. There's a much greater chance this game appeals to fans of JRPGs than to fans of Baldur's Gate or Pillars of Eternity.

A football game envisioned by the man that invented a peace trophy for the orange-in-chief, developed by an untested studio and made available on a streaming service by the company that doesn't see much value in the gaming industry. This is what dreams are made of.

@Darylb88

I find it hilarious when I see people call it a JRPG because it has turn-based action combat lol.

It might not be a JRPG by definition, but in everything but its country of origin it's essentially a textbook JRPG. It was clearly made to appeal to a very similar audience as games like, say, Lost Odyssey and Final Fantasy X.

@Drago201 Sure, that's a difference, but not a relevant one in this case. The actual cost of the project and the team size are far more relevant.

@Drago201 You're mistaking wealth for budget. Unless you mean to argue Team Cherry somehow allocated and spent $100M while making it, that was not its budget. The actual costs of development will have been higher than Hollow Knight, but not several orders of magnitude greater.

At the end of the day, the game is still 2D hand drawn by the same artist as the original, has a soundtrack made by the same composer and was developed by the same people using the experience and tools of the first game.

There's no clear-cut definition, which makes it such a difficult discussion. Instinctively, my feeling is that Clair Obscur is clearly a double A game and should never have been eligible in the indie categories. But it's hard to qualify that opinion.

Should a game be self-published to be considered indie? Technically, yes, but that would rule out games like Outer Wilds, What Remains of Edith Finch, Cult of the Lamb, Dredge and so many more. These all embody the indie spirit but would not qualify on this condition, which feels wrong. So I would change this condition to either self-published or published by a small, typical indie publisher. On that basis, it doesn't rule out Clair Obscur.

Should a game's budget and team size be limited to be considered indie? I think we can all agree the answer is a resounding yes here, or we'd have games like Baldur's Gate 3 and Cyberpunk qualifying as indie. But in that case, how limited? This is where it gets muddled again. In my opinion, having a team of around 30 full time studio employees and a budget closer to $10M than $5M is just too much. Then again, Disco Elysium reportedly had around 35 working on it full time, and Hades 2 around 25.

Which brings me to the vaguest condition of all: the aesthetic and vibe of the game. I personally like to use this "rule" to separate edge cases. Disco Elysium and Hades 2 look and feel like indie games. Clair Obscur does not. Good luck using that as an argument in a discussion though.

@Fizza I don't see those two (Sandfall Interactive reacting to AI assets and Swen Vincke's stance) as different at all. Sandfall's reaction tells me they'll be careful about not letting AI assets slip into the final product, but not necessarily that they won't use them in pre-production again. Swen Vincke's stance is exactly that: they will use it in pre-production but definitely not in the final product.

Of course, he's reacting very defensively because they're getting a hell of a backlash, something Sandfall Interactive haven't experienced. Yet. Considering they're the current gaming community darling, I'm expecting them to get their turn as well at some point in the next few years. That's what we as gamers seemingly love to do.

Hell yes. Even after putting 75+ hours into the game, I'm ready for more.

As someone who plays all these games with original Japanese voices, it's a bit strange to see and hear it being acted in English. Just doesn't feel right for these games. Anyway, if it's anything like RGG, I'm definitely interested.

A proper full remake of the original is something I could see myself being interested in. I haven't touched the original since about the late 90s or early 2000s so it would be the ideal way of revisiting it.

It looks a little underwhelming compared to his previous projects, but since it's Jonathan Blow, I'm expecting it to be more than it first appears. It will be hard to top The Witness though.

Bruce Straley has earned a lot of trust from me for his work at Naughty Dog, so I'm looking forward to seeing what he's been working on. I can't say I'm a fan of such statements like "unlike any you've played before", though.

@Max_the_German Saros already has a confirmed release date on 20 March 2026.

@SegaBlueSky I've seen this "gotcha" about Expedition 33 before, but saying that it was made by a team of around 30 people is no less accurate than saying, for example, The Witcher 3 was made by a team of around 250 people. The size of the core development team has always been the main way to report on development team size, even though in that same example of The Witcher 3, over 1500 people worked on that game.

I find it bizarre that Expedition 33 attracts such discourse, when it was never a talking point before, not even for indies like Hollow Knight, which is generally said to be made by three people despite having a credits list of over 100 contributors.

I really have no idea what that point about Expedition 33's team size is supposed to highlight. All those external studios and their staff are mentioned in the credits of the game, so I don't see the issue here. Do you need to have all of them mentioned at the awards show or something? That's not an expectation we've ever placed on other games, so why now?

This comes across as looking for problems where there are none.

Like so many others, I only got into these games with Yakuza 0, and I was even a couple of years late with that. Since then, I've played a whopping 12 further games in the series, including spin-offs like the Judgement games and Ishin. Once these games get their hooks in you, there's no way out.

Those two statements back to back is pretty wild. Not a great look for them.

@brakeman90 I wouldn't class Saros as a new title. Name aside, it's basically a sequel. Still awesome though.

This doesn't give me much of a Carmageddon vibe, to be honest.

Without getting into the whole AI topic, let's just wait and see how the market evolves and whether these price hikes have a permanent effect. For the PC consumer market, it certainly isn't looking great right now, but Sony isn't just a consumer and should hopefully have some strategic and historic partnerships to fall back on. And full production on the next console is still pretty far away.