Balaam_

Never heard of either of these. I’d like to think both are secretly made by the same developer under shell corporations and this ‘controversy’ is a marketing strategy to create awareness. That would perhaps be the best use I’ve seen of ai to date.

We’re so close to that perfect future where ai can play games for us, watch movies for us, read books for us, do pretty much everything for us instead of us wasting our time doing it ourselves, all so that we can finally do what we’ve always wanted to do: Sit in a chair and stare at the wall!

Seriously, there’s also this to consider: Why is Sony allowing games to be made that are so difficult people need artificial intelligence to help them even be able to beat them? Wouldn’t Sony’s time and money be better spent creating a well thought out set of criteria developers must adhere to if they wish to release a game on sony’s machine?

In other words Sony is permitting a problem to exist and then trying to mitigate it with ai. Solve the problem in the first place.

I wanted to cast my vote for Octopath 0, but Square continues to rabidly push in every direction I despise as far as gaming is concerned. Terminator 2D is exactly what it should be and is not weighed down with corporate greed and incompetence. In many ways it’s the ideal plane of what all developers should strive to create when they make their own games.

You know it’s serious when the Top Slop himself issues a statement.

Less grindy trophies. The games aren’t particularly difficult but they’re long and grindy and the trophies reflect that. As an avid trophy hunter completionist, it’s a turn off knowing I’ll need to devote an obscene amount of time to 100% a list which could have been designed in a much more streamlined way if the devs respected gamers’ time better.

That, and perhaps more unique anime visuals. So many of these games look alright in most ways, but the characters themselves all have that generic 2010-2020 era anime look. Flat, low detail character models. If they somehow emulated the old school hand drawn aesthetic like in Neon Genesis Evangelion or Akira or something, that would instantly elevate the presentation.

For me, same as I posted on PureXbox but admittedly less of a worry on this platform.

Play less live service games (I really only play a couple intermittently, but the ideal goal is zero).

Only buy games physically, on disc, where the full game is entirely on disc without any need for internet connectivity or downloads. This is getting more difficult but it’s still easier here and on Nintendo than on Xbox. Last year I gave in a couple times and bought digitally for various reasons, but again the ideal number of digital purchases would be zero.

Play some backlog titles.

Most of these were in the positions I anticipated, with one exception. I’m surprised to see this many people excited for the 007 game. I like James Bond as much as the next person, but the game looked rather blah. Not bad per se, just very middle of the road. Maybe it’ll be awesome and I’ll be pleasantly surprised.

Definitely not how I voted. I put one of the many more deserving titles in the #1 spot.

It deserves a spot on the list. A much lower spot. Great battle system (bonus points for being turn based 😍), epic soundtrack, bland characters, ugly graphical art style. Just repugnant to look at. Numerous other titles easily outstrip this “indie” darling by simply doing each individual thing better and combing into a more compelling whole product. E33 is by no means a bad game, but it’s overhyped and does not deserve the top spot.

2025 was full of ups and downs as far as gaming went. Lots of highs regarding game releases, and lots of lows as far as price increases for various gaming related things. Maybe things will improve as we all start our New Year+ playthrough

All good scores. Can’t really go wrong no matter what order these are assigned to, they’re all really high quality soundtracks that add a lot to the experience of each game. Hats off to the dudes and dudettes plonking at synthkeyboards and conducting orchestras and mixing in the background; job well done!

Kojima or Sucker Punch Productions. I leaned more toward Kojima, because that team upped the ante more than SP did with Ghost of Yotei, but either one is an acceptable pick. These are technically proficient studios that understand how each piece of game development interrelates with each other piece and forms a cohesive whole.

The battle system in E33 was awesome, and the soundtrack too. But the visual design language was like staring into a public toilet. Hideous and repugnant. There were technical issues, performance stutters and a general lack of polish in a few key areas that holds the game back from phenomenal and keeps it simply great.

Neither Death Stranding 2 nor Yotei pushed absolute cutting edge tech (Yotei had minimal Ray traced GI, although their pc releases might go a step further), but the end products were both astonishingly well crafted by any metric one could throw at them. Each individual aspect of these games stands on its own, with nothing dragging down the whole. Same can’t be said for E33, and that’s why I’d toss that aside and put a more deserving developer in that premium position.

I prefer this scenario. We haven’t really seen what the current gen machines can do, we’ve mostly received ports of last gen games with better resolutions and/or framerates. We need a lengthy stretch of time where a bunch of high profile games release that could not possibly run on PS4 before we should even be thinking about a PS6.

In a perfect world where E33 resides at the spot it should in these lists, Yotei would indeed sit higher. Not saying it should be #1, although I consider that a far more valid discussion than E33’s overpraised assessment.

Each other game on this list has a better story than E33. E33 is not bad by any stretch of the imagination, but it didn’t wow me either.

Everyone will ultimately pick what appeals to them most, and that can’t really be faulted. That said, it’s hard to defend E33 being in the top spot here. There are 3 other titles on this list plus half a dozen that aren’t which all exceed E33 in various ways; scope, technical prowess, fun factor, visuals, score, replayability, bringing something new to the table etc.

E33 is a good but very flawed entry in an established archetype. It’s the ‘Olympic bronze medal’ game this year, a game good enough to be on the podium but outclassed by other standouts.

There seems to be a resurgence of games getting honest to goodness demos as of late, and I’m all for it. I’m leery of how developers handle “Game Trials” on PSN, as the possibility of trophies being unlocked during the trial has meant I’ve avoided them all thus far (Not going to start a trial then pop a trophy only to find I don’t like the game, with a lone trophy now permanently attached to my account). A simple, straight up demo is a hassle free experience and much preferred to ‘Game Trials’.

This is more indicative of reality. E33 is a great rpg (major points for being turn based!), but it’s simply outclassed by KCD2.

‘Level-5 soon to be creatively bankrupt’ would be a more concise title

Well, on the positive side of things at least there’s no Fortnite or Roblox here.

Again, LMFAO no. This is the single worst aspect of E33. The visual design language is hideous, grotesque. With the exception of Trails’ bog standard generic anime presentation, literally any other game on this list has better art direction, hands down. It isn’t even close.

I misclicked and got an extra answer right when it should have been incorrect. Thanks, sausage fingers!

Right picks; wrong order. That’s all I’ll say.

I spent the most time in Elder Stutters 4, and I’m waiting for 100% certainty they won’t butcher the MGS3 Delta trophy list with any multiplayer garbage before I get that platinum’d, but so far I’m most impressed with THPS 3+4.

It’s practically perfect, and they chose better trophy criteria than that in the first bundle’s extremely grindy list (although if you’re a newbie, some of the challenges can be rather brutal. OG PS2 veterans shouldn’t have much issue though).

Haven’t had time to get to either of the DQ remakes yet so my thoughts might change once I do.

First GT I’ve never bought or played. If I can’t own it, I don’t want it. No reason they couldn’t have put the base single player portion of the game fully on-disc; all that bologna about ‘protecting the competitive aspect from cheating or manipulation’ is a load of crap. Just make the competitive portions server dependent and the rest not.

No smiling Mad Goro avatar? Some avatars based off the boss masks would have been cool too 👺

Perfect, they can use Pig Pen’s stank cloud graphic on the Marathon box art without worrying about violating some intellectual property rights.

‘Let’s design the lead heroine with long, flowing locks like Rapunzel—‘

‘No, takes too long to animate, just make her bald.’

This is a much more accurate reflection of reality than what we got at the game awards.

Good for Geoff, he seems like an ok guy jus trying to carve out a space in this gaming landscape. Whether you agree with the final winners or not (and this year I definitely do NOT ), the shows are usually pretty entertaining and occasionally have some neat reveals.

Hey, at least the eventual 15 rereleases give higher odds that at least one of them will contain the full game on-disc 😆

Hopefully the guy leaving was the person responsible for shoehorning that awful legends multiplayer slop in a game where it doesn’t belong and ruining an otherwise perfect single player trophy hunting paradise of an experience. Fingers crossed the new management makes better decisions.

I think this is one of those games I’ll have to try before I buy, and I’ll know right then and there if I’ll like it. Everything looks promising except the idea of a second character piggy backing the whole game. Escorting NPC’s is a cardinal gaming sin and something I detest. Between the added tedium of worrying about managing their health to incompetent NPC ai, it’s nothing but frustration.

If she’s invincible and for all intents and purposes ‘part of the suit’ so to speak, then it might be able to pull it off. But if you need to micromanage her, that pretty much kills any desire I have for this game on the spot.

No trophies > poorly designed, anti-trophy hunter completionist trophy list.

I’m at about 2/3 correct prognostication rate. Sadly. Wish I was wrong about a good-albeit-overhyped game winning GotY ahead of more deserving titles, but I was not wrong to bet on the popular opinion of the masses to push it farther into the limelight than warranted.

This is irrelevant since I have no intention of getting involved with Marathon, but I see they’ve done something right at least. One of the myriad of reasons I dislike live service games is the fomo element when it comes to battle passes, in-game unlocks, timed rewards etc.

So seeing them state upfront that battle passes don’t expire and previous stuff can be repurchased at a later date by new people coming into the game is a big ‘win’, if you want to call it that. This way of doing things is obviously the best way as it screws over the least amount of players, and I wish all these games operated under this structure.

One of the greatest real-time combat systems in a 3D action game, no question. It took me longer than anticipated to platinum, simply because I would seek out mobs and field bosses just for the sheer enjoyment of the battle system. As far as I’m concerned, the Shift Up ceo deserves every bit of praise.

At this point I’m wondering which will launch first, Little Devil Inside or Bloodborne Remaster

Really looking forward to Phantom Blade. It grabbed my attention from the very first debut trailer, and it’s looked better each time they’ve shown it.

I bet the executives have that same look in their eyes that Xerxes had in 300 after he was wounded and his divinity called into question.

Ghost of Yotei, KCD2, either one should have won GotY instead of Claire Overhypa. Technically there are a bunch more qualified titles like MGS3, THPS 3+4, Oblivion, but remakes and remasters shouldn’t count in GotY runnings (although I’d be willing to break that rule if it meant knocking an overhyped game out of an undeserved position).

Plenty of mumble rappers win Grammy’s so this type of unwarranted accolade is nothing new.

I need to get to LotF1. It’s been on my radar since first revealed, but the state of the launch build was unplayable. I think it clocked in @ sub-540p base resolution at spots. Hopefully it’s been optimized with patches by now, and I’m really hoping this new one isn’t a technical disaster when it launches. The game itself looks pretty good, let’s pray the tech is up to par.

Feels like it’s 2011 all over again.

Physical, full game on disc without any online download/check in required or not a chance. I have too much backlog to bother with anything not putting the end user first.

I’m not a ‘watch guy’, but I’ll admit these look pretty cool

It’s 2011 all over again. Skyrim somehow inexplicably beat out Dark Souls for GotY, and now Expedition 33 will beat out the more viable contenders. It’s good (I do love my turn based RPG’s) but not that good, not GotY good.

Fitting, it takes a bunch of chilled monkey brains to mint a disc with no data on it that requires an internet download.

Agree 100%.

Square today is not the same Square I grew up with during the golden era of RPG’s. Priorities have shifted with the company, both in business related performance metrics and what they’re looking to achieve in the corporate world, as well as elements within the games themselves. When discussing the shift from turn based combat to fully real time combat in FF16 it’s clear it was a strategic, calculated act targeting the tastes of a specific audience. That’s just one example of the transition Square has undergone, moving from a company filled with auteurs making the games they want to make for themselves to a company more interested in designing a product to sell to a target demographic.

Are they making more money now than ever before? Idk, probably. Are they making the games I want to play? Mostly no.

PSA for anyone wanting to play it, and though it may sound inconceivable for a game made in the past 20 years or so, but there is no option to invert the Y-axis in Concrete Genie. One of the many reasons I test any potential game I’m interested in on a throwaway alt account first.