Amnesiac

@Jey887 “Alternate between L1 and R1”

Exactly, and it frees your thumbs up for all the stick shenanigans.

Loving this so far, and although some of the stick work is a little fiddly, I don’t really miss the 3DS stylus. Looks and sounds great and the progression system is really engaging. Also, its a good reminder that although FF13 was divisive, it’s packed with great tunes.

Team Push Square is doing some heavy lifting with all of this VR2 coverage. Great stuff! Sony isn’t exactly making it easy on you considering the enormous amount of content available at launch.

Today was one of the only days I can remember where I was happy to see an unseemly charge go through on my credit card. Good times ahead.

Dungeon crawlers aren’t really my thing, but that transformation animation was fantastic!

@orangeblossom Great news! Puzzling Places is a fantastic little game, and the devs seem like good people. They donated the proceeds from their Ukrainian cultural heritage site DLC to aid those displaced by the war.

Oh, thank god! For a second there I thought the “Sony hates Japan” crowd was going to have to rethink their narrative, but it turns out it was just this guy. What a relief.

That’s nice! I’m also committed, as the game has been a good bit of fun to play so far. Seems like the knives were out early on for this one, which just seems to happen sometimes.

@GeneJacket DC fan?

I kid. I’m actually surprised that it rubbed you the wrong way. I fell completely head over heels for it. It’s a bit ugly, but I found the card mechanics addictive and the social elements felt very classic Marvel. The only thing missing was a Claremont style softball game on the Abbey grounds.

I didn’t find much to fault in the writing either, though the voice work took some getting used to. Then again, I’m a sucker for old, corney Marvel. You know, “by the hoary hosts of Hoggoth”, “I say thee, nay!”, “no quarter asked, none given.”, and all that. ‘Nuff said.

I may not like it, but a quick glance at the top selling games on the PS Store or a look at the Steam concurrent player stats make a strong case for doing it.

@tgt Yes, I saw that subtle bit of stereotyping woven through an otherwise sensible seeming post and wondered if anyone else found it more disheartening then the rest of the childish complaints littering the comments. Glad it wasn’t just me.

Nice to see Nina in fine form, and I’m sure her sister won’t be far behind. It’s almost enough to make me want to dig out my copy of Death by Degrees. But I think I’ll settle for a few rounds of Tekken 7 instead.

I’m not finding the dialogue particularly bad so far, though to be fair I’m in the early goings. The swearing borders on being excessive, but it’s nowhere near the F-bomb per minute mark of the average Scorsese movie.

It does seem like “the writing is bad” has become the complaint du jour. It can be a valid critique, but without at least a little explanation as to what’s bad about it, it rings hollow.

The only dark lining to these silver clouds is that it strengthens Microsoft’s case that they can’t compete without reducing consumer access to one of the world’s top selling game franchises.

Hmm. When put that way, it doesn’t really sound like a move that’s pro-competition. Regulate away!

@NEStalgia “ It's easy to "lead" a successful company in good times.”

A global pandemic, war in Eastern Europe, and rampant inflation. Let the good times roll.

@BeerIsAwesome It’s one of those words that says more about the person using it than what they’re trying to describe.

@get2sammyb It’s kind of interesting how many people view these discount codes as a reward. As someone who worked in the nefarious field of marketing many years ago, these campaigns are usually about recapturing lapsed customers or squeezing an extra sale out of mid-tier shoppers. If you already spend a ton at the store, the marketing team has already done its job and there’s no reason to incentivize you.

@themightyant It’s kind of odd, but the first Jumping Flash made a huge impression on me when it released. The feeling of watching the world fly away beneath you as you launch into the sky was totally exhilarating at time when most of my 3D gaming experiences had been powered by “mode 7”.

Nice! Jumping Flash was the first game I took for a spin on the new PS Plus service. This is a good excuse to hop back in.

The Atari Recharged series is great, but I have to admit, Caverns of Mars is not ringing any bells.

Ah, I just learned that it was exclusive to the Atari home computers, so as a member of the 2600 underclass I wouldn’t have played it. Still, it looks entertaining enough so I’ll probably give it a go.

@Shepherd_Tallon And I’ll echo yours. I preordered it as part of a shameful year end splurge and have enjoyed what little I’ve played of it so far. And since I don’t do physical games, I’ll put it next to my copy of Valkyrie Elysium on the shelf in my mind.

@Flaming_Kaiser I can’t speak for the live service or online part of the game, but the single player experience is worth a go. Fleeing the Hulk, fighting off AIM with piecemeal Iron Man armor, and the space level were all memorable moments that can be enjoyed without engaging with the live service aspects. It’s ok to eat the sandwich and leave the crust.

@Browny And yet it was, and still is, a fun little single player adventure with Kamala stealing the show. Unfortunately it’s also a whipping boy for people who hate live service games. There’s plenty to enjoy if you can get past that aspect of it and the horrendous menus that came along for the ride.

Just came here to applaud the subheading. I’ve never gotten into Sword Art, but it seems popular around the world, so maybe if I did a little homework and tried one more time, I’d get lucky and find that it’s something I enjoy.

@NEStalgia It would be interesting to see how they handle GaaS projections considering how difficult it is to get them to stick. I understand why companies keep trying, given the long-term revenue prospects, but finding a receptive audience is a bit like winning the lottery and the failure rate is spectacularly high. Give that, I’m guessing they add a bunch of risk when forecasting for them to avoid accounting disasters.

It definitely seems like they offered up Rabbids and Just Dance as scapegoats for investors. My best guess is that they bumped forecasts up to cover holes in their release schedule and increased marketing spend to try to hit those numbers, but it wasn’t enough.

As expected, lots of copy pasted comments complaining about copy pasted Ubisoft games. Yet the Assassin’s Creed and Far Cry titles that the usual suspects moan about are what keep Ubisoft afloat. Their underperforming Switch releases in Q4 and repeated delays of major releases seem to be the biggest contributor to this year’s losses.

Many commenters say that they don’t want the same old Ubi games but are certain that their new IPs are terrible and destined to fail. Reading between the lines, it seems there’s a sizable group that just want to see a company that employs 20,000 people burn to the ground. Schadenfreude at its best.

On a more pleasant note, I hope they get their 4 day work week.

@Ralizah I don’t think I’ve ever heard the argument that “nearly ever PS4 version of a demanding game was an "inferior version."

Probably because comparing a console release to a PC release is meaningless given the staggeringly wide array of PC set ups out in the wild. I’m pretty sure I’d be playing an inferior version of any game I ran on my work laptop.

…Not that I would ever install unauthorized software on company property.

…Please don’t fire me.

@ShogunRok I was being a bit facetious. If anything, Switch games should cost more considering the difficulty of porting modern games to a 7 year old tablet that can barely display its own storefront without breaking into a sweat. My little Switch is strictly for the occasional Nintendo exclusive and games of…questionable taste that Sony shies away from these days.

“Paying roughly the same amount of money for an inferior version of a game? “

It’s disappointing but I’m pretty sure Switch owners have this problem all the time!

Thanks for the PSA. Looks like I’ll have to do some housekeeping to avoid the disappointing ‘failed to download’ error from popping up in my near future.

Midnight Suns is a gem of a game. I put off playing it until after the holidays and am now completely hooked on the battle, socialize, explore loop. Not sure what the soft sales mean for future Marvel adaptations that try for something different, but I’m glad we’ve got this to enjoy.

I can’t wait to play this! I adore early 90’s fighting games. It was a time when everyone wanted some of that Street Fighter success which led to a steady stream of 2D fighters of varying quality. Nearly all of them were worth a round or two though! Bring out a Sunsoft or Data East fighting collection and I’ll really be a happy camper.

I hope you can’t gouge your new cedar deck because you accidentally use the wrong nozzle and the psi is set for cleaning tungsten. That would suck. I mean, it probably would suck. It definitely hasn’t happened to me…

@Tidus_g If it helps, look at it this way; one is based on a comic book, one on a series of YA novels, and one on a movie.

Nice! These old Saturn games have been a pleasant surprise and hold up really well.

@AnnetteM Happy New Year to you as well. Nice to see Relayer on one of these lists. I’m afraid the marketing direction they took has doomed it to sub-niche levels of success.

Your question made me think of one of the most lackluster games I’ve finished in recent memory. For some reason, I finally got around to playing Arc of Alchemist after picking it up during a sale ages ago and saw it through to the end. Like many other Idea Factory games, it didn’t do anything particularly well, but I enjoyed it despite all the glaring flaws.

Nice to see Michelle Zauner’s work on Sable recognized. One of the few times when I’ve bought a game because I wanted to listen to it more than play it.

I really enjoyed the music in The Artful Escape as well. The gameplay is…limited, but good lord the epic chord changes that game throws at you! It’s like being permanently stuck in the payoff chorus of a song from a 1970’s Yes album. And I mean that in a good way.

Boy, I really like Level-5 but that game looks like it was developed for a 7 year old tablet…

I’m sure its hard enough to create a single quality game, but getting two out the door in the same calendar year is quite a feat. Also, the mash up picture reminded me of the times I wanted to go all Rollerdrome on my character in Ollie Ollie World after missing a jump for the thousandth time. Kidding aside, two wonderful games well worth playing.

I really enjoyed Atari 50, although I probably spent more time in the archives than I did with many of the games. I’ve been a fan of retro collections since I meandered through the virtual halls of Namco Museum on the PSX. I liked that series so much that I imported the Japan only ® disc that came with a cardboard case for the other five discs. The number of games per disc was a bit slight, but a lot of thought and care went into those releases.

@JudgeDredd Maybe I’m missing something. The reviews on Push Square tell you who wrote them and more often than not, the author participates in the comments to answer questions. If memory serves, they do include a different PS member’s take in reviews for larger games, but the authorship is always clear.

The fact that Road 96 is on this list and garnered zero votes…made me curious enough to buy it. ‘Tis the season for overindulgence after all!

I enjoy this game vicariously through Sammy’s entertaining articles, but maybe someday I’ll finally pay the fare and start riding the rails myself.

This looks interesting and possibly annoying, but what drew me in was the title of the article which reminded me that I need to catch up on Mark Steel’s podcast.

@Porco I completely disagreed with you until I watched it with the sound on. That is some aggressively chipper voice acting. Still, it’s a Vanillaware game which makes it a day one purchase.

For any other Vanillaware fans out there, Sword of the Vagrant is a recent release that pays homage to their style. It’s more than worth the asking price in my opinion.

I still have these on a memory stick somewhere tucked away with my other PSP goodies. I’m excited to play them again for the hit of nostalgia alone. Also, I wouldn’t say no to an updated High Velocity Bowling release. Lots of fun and quite a bit of swearing while getting the spin on the ball just right.

@Milktastrophe I really enjoyed The Council, and if memory serves, it doesn’t take too long to complete. It really owns it’s weirdness, and turns what could have become a silly history mash up into an excellent adventure game. Hope you get a chance to play through it.

@JamieO I thought for sure one of the Cottons would show up in your list! I really enjoy these end of year round ups because they point me towards games that I overlooked, but when I read your lists I just wind up nodding my head in agreement.

Happy to see that Pac Man Museum and Capcom Fighting Collection snuck into your expanded list, though I’m glad that I held off on the Wonder Boy collection. In any event, fine choices and a great year for retro gaming, especially for shoot em ups. Enjoy the holidays and if we’re lucky, 2023 will be just as kind to fans of classic games.

@nomither6 I had a roof leak a few years ago and it wasn’t particularly fun or interesting. It was hard to locate the source, did considerable damage, and wound up costing quite a bit of money.

“I am fully aware of the damage that even a small and simple leak can do to the work of people that have spent many months or years on a game.”

And he did it anyway. Charming.

@themightyant Fair point! I have almost no willpower when it comes to classic games, yet was irritated enough to hold off. Unfortunately now I’m going to reward Bliss by buying this in January because the amount of content in this package has crushed my willpower like a grape.