Amnesiac

Volatile sludge. A young lady can just never have enough volatile sludge.

@Matroska The realms are definitely on the dainty side. In a way, it reminds me of the first Kingdom Hearts, where a world could consist of a few smallish rooms. Of course, KH is a classic, and while Disney’s Dreamlight is not a classic, I find it pleasant enough to pop in now and then.

I think I’m going to give this the benefit of the doubt. I’ve been on a David Lynch kick lately, so my tolerance for wild tonal shifts is unnaturally high. After all, sometimes when you’re struggling against primordial all-consuming evil, a fish gets stuck in the percolator.

Can’t wait! Inin games is really doing fine work breathing new life into old games. Their Ninja Ja Ja Maru collection is fantastic, though the three separate releases is a bit confusing.

@glassmusic You still have access to the games that the dlc was originally purchased for, don’t you? Quite frankly, playing Pinball FX3 on PS5 is a better experience than the newly released Pinball FX, which needs a ton of polish. I might get some of the new tables for Pinball FX, but my old tables are doing fine right where they are.

@Almost_Ghostly These rip off devs who let me import tables I bought in 2013 across two system generations and one handheld free of charge? I’m thinking at some point the dlc I bought more than a decade ago stopped putting food on anyone’s table.

@FinneasGH I completely agree. The single player game, especially playing from Kamala’s perspective, is top notch with quite a few memorable moments. Fleeing the Hulk and visiting space come to mind. And yet for the life of me I still can’t navigate the war table. For a game that inspired a lot of pointless anger from the internet hive-mind, it had a nice long life.

@LN78 Yes, very few things manage to pull off looking gorgeous in a non-visual way.

@Sil_Am I think of it as Switch games getting an extra point or two just because they’re able to run on the hardware.

Just waiting for the timer on the home screen to finish ticking down so I can hang out with Ryza and her crew again. After what I thought was a bit of a misstep with Sophie 2, which felt like a slog at times, I’m really looking forward to the snappier battle and alchemy systems of the Ryza series.

Looks fun, but is making me hungry. Kinda makes me wish I lived in a reality where smellavision was a thing.

@ShogunRok Great interview! Kind of a nuts and bolts question, but did you use an interpreter or were questions and answers submitted and translated via text? However it was done, it reads very well.

@JamieO What a great read. Since you wrote this more than five years ago, I guess its now a retro review retro review. Maybe a retro retro review? Throwback classic retro review has a nice ring to it. That’s a series I would read.

Another game that I shrugged at when I saw that dreaded combination or rogue and lite. This review and some of the PushSquare regulars have made a strong case for putting my biases aside and giving it a go, though.

Surprised he didn’t go on a rant about how “Today I feel like a developer during crunch!”

@Balosi That will teach me to be too lazy to check myself. What I have is a Negcon, also by Namco. Never had a Jogcon, but it looks pretty amazing.

@Balosi The white controller with red accents that you twisted in the middle to turn? I had one too, and was terrible at using it. It was a neat idea though, and besides racing it would probably be great for Pong, Breakout, and other classic paddle games.

Well, what do you know. For once being a giant scaredy cat has paid off.

I’m a little late to the party having just started HFW a few weeks ago, but what a wonderful and rewarding game. I would say that I’m looking forward to the expansion, but what I’m really looking forward to is work being over so I can get back to the base game.

Ghost of a Tale looks interesting and I’ve come close to picking it up a few times but never pulled the trigger. Maybe Moss has scratched my “play as a rodent” itch. Good to know there’s still a little time to stick a toe in the water, though.

I’m guessing that some of the dissatisfaction with the series around these parts comes from (over)familiarity with the source material. A quick look around the non-gaming interwebs shows that a lot of folks were shocked and impressed with the finale, so the story seems to have done its job. It’s a bit like watching an adaptation of a favorite novel. It’s a lot more fun to enjoy it as its own thing rather than a ‘spot the difference’ exercise.

Ah, it wasn't just me then. I didn’t have any issues with the PS4 version, but the PS5 upgrade came bundled with a few bugs that have crashed the game a couple of times. I do hope there’s a patch soon because the game is truly lovely when it works properly.

One again a PushSquare VR review has nudged a game onto my wishlist.

@Svark Having played Moss on the original headset, I have to say that the PSVR2 version is jaw dropping. It was already a great experience, but boy does it sing on the new headset.

@Sakisa Glad you mentioned Fight ‘N Rage. The free PS5 upgrade was a nice surprise. It really seems like we’re in something of a beat ‘em up renaissance. With these, River City Girls 2, and some of the other Kunio-kun stuff, my square button is taking a pounding lately.

@somnambulance I was really having fun with Forspoken, taking my time and getting a kick out of parkouring all over the place, until the Sila’s Pact quest popped up after downing the first Tanta. That quest is pummeling me into reconsidering my play style.

I really don’t think the traditional “game was unfinished” gripes hold water here, since many of the improvements were made in response to player feedback. People forget that games have always been released in varying states of completion and quality, and you used to have to live with what was on the cartridge. I can’t see how a developer adding quality of life improvements post release can be seen as a negative.

The other moldy complaint about dialogue is a personal preference thing, I guess. My take is that it has its ups and downs, but the line repetition is a bit much. I’ve heard the Newark/New York gag about a hundred times too often.

Still, on the whole I’ve really enjoyed Forspoken. I just need to figure out how to finish Sila’s Pact so I can move on and continue to enjoy it.

@ThaBEN I thought I was going to have to do a lot of hunting and pecking when setting up a gamelist for VR, but adding games via the options button is quick. I guess you still have to search for the games you want to add, but it’s not as bad a system as I first thought.

This is why these reviews are so helpful. I instantly turn away from anything “co-op multiplayer”, but seeing that its from the developer of Arizona Sunshine has made it worth a second look to me.

@awp69 I see no need to attack you, but I might raise an eyebrow and wonder why you think a Playstation site would be improved by having less coverage of a huge hardware launch.

Also, I had no idea this was made by Owlchemy Labs! My interest is piqued, so onto the wishlist it goes for when the dust from this new game barrage has settled.

"Well, this just makes me even less likely to support Microsoft.", I thought to myself while waiting for Windows to finish updating so I could download a report hosted on Azure, import it into Excel, and send it to my boss via Outlook before my next Teams meeting.

Glad you mentioned the HDR issues. I thought my eyesight was going.

I poured hours into the old Zen Pinball on a bunch of different Sony systems and got way more entertainment value out of them than what I paid for more than10 years ago. I don’t mind buying them again on a new system with a few touch ups.

What I do mind is the piecemeal DLC/season pass stuff. I understand that the model of make a comprehensive game and sell it may not be viable long term, but surely this amalgamation of annoying monetization practices isn’t the best way forward.

@Deoxyr1bose You have a point, but if developers don’t announce early, games inevitably get leaked and they lose control of the narrative. Kind of damned if you do damned if you don’t unless development goes exactly as planned.

I’ve been having a ball with this, even though the musical styles are not my thing. Wailing away on the drum kit is so fun that I could care less what I’m bashing along to. It’s perfectly intuitive and the stick flipping mechanic makes for a great risk/ reward system. Just a great experience for aspiring drummers, or people who like to rhythmically beat on things.

@cburg Sure, there’s a lot of crowing in this thread, but to be fair, this is a Playstation enthusiast site. After all, it’s Push Square, not Push Square, Press Y, or Tap X.

@PressTurn That’s a fair point. Not sure if it’s an editorial decision or if something else is in play. I guess only those within the hallowed halls of PushSquare towers know for sure…

@PressTurn I was wrong, I thought the charts were from GameIndustry.biz but it seems it all originates from GfK analytics which must include additional data, likely behind a paywall.

Still, my guess is what you really wanted to say was "Look at how much better Octopath sold on a musty 7 year old tablet than on PS5!" And now you have. Well done, you.

I picked this up for PSVR1, and although the move controllers made it a bit fiddly, it was still very engaging. Looking forward to trying it with the fancy new controllers. Also, the developers are donating proceeds from the Ukraine historic site DLC, so good on them.

@PressTurn I don’t think that’s a PushSquare thing. The source charts from GameIndustry.biz don’t break them out.

I just started Call of the Mountain, and holy crap what an amazing looking game. I regularly find myself just staring at random things, like the fabric of a character’s clothing or the vines on a wall. I haven’t met Alloy yet, but when I do I hope she doesn’t think I’m staring because she’s vertically challenged.

@NEStalgia Upgrade paths have really been a pebble in the shoe of this console generation. If it takes more than short sentence to explain to consumers how to buy your product, your marketing team isn’t doing a very good job.

Given the reasonable upgrade cost, this was a no-brainer. There’s still nothing else really like Thumper. It manages to balance stress and fun almost perfectly, and the soundtrack is pretty amazing. Reminds me or early Liars stuff, dark and drummy.

We’ve hit the point with remasters where I’ll only bite if it’s a game that I really want to experience again. I played through The Outer Worlds and really enjoyed it, but I’m perfectly happy with what I got out of it and don’t feel the need to replay it, even with shiny new bells and whistles. Definitely nice for anyone who didn’t take the plunge on the first go around though.

I’m really excited to play this and am very happy that it's on PS5. I just need to dig out from this unusual late winter avalanche of games that’s wiped out much of my money and time.

I was really tempted to add this to my shameful PSVR2 splurge given the very reasonable price, but I get frustrated and exhausted enough in real life.

Just wanted to say that “peppered with wonderful moments” is a great turn of phrase. Everything in life should be peppered with wonderful moments.

@dskatter It’s published by NIS, so the chances of a free upgrade are slim to none. That being said, I enjoyed the PS4 version, though you can definitely tell that it’s built on the bones of a Vita game. Lots of interesting ideas and a unique, pre-visualization approach to battles, but I don’t think it all completely comes together. Worth a look for JRPG fans though.

“The wai-a-a-ting is the hardest part…”

Off to check if the doorbell works. Again.

Well that’s adorable. They’ve really made some great costumes for A Big Adventure. A few abominations too, but on the whole, cute as can be.

I’ll be honest, I didn’t play the original and don’t plan on playing the remake. I just don’t do gore. But this was a great read! I like the idea of “corrupting” a theme through traditional instrumentation rather than processing. Fascinating stuff.

@TrickyDicky99 “ it's the exact same game.”

Yes, other than the visuals, performance, and load times, they’re exactly the same. Enjoy waiting for whatever generation racing game you’re hoping for. I’ll keep enjoying GT7.

@TrickyDicky99 Or is it a PS5 game with PS4 diminutions?