Fizza

THE ONE GAME I ACTUALLY MANAGED TO PLAY FROM JULY WON THE WHOLE THING LFGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG

Being honest though, even if I had played some of the other titles on display here like Wuchang or Robocop, I don't think anything would've beaten out Ragebound for me. Ninja Gaiden is a series very near and dear to my heart (to the point where I marathonned the original NES trilogy in prep for NGR's release XD) and Ragebound is a pitch-perfect revival in basically every way I could've possibly hoped for 💙💜

also even if you're not interested in NGR, you should definitely give its soundtrack a listen because holy s*** it is incredible from start to finish 🔥

@dodgykebaab I understand where you're coming from but I can assure you age verification checks are not being implemented out of the goodness of a government's heart XD

I cannot believe the one way GTA 6 could fail might actually come to fruition XD

Like even if you're able to prove your age (which, given the face of a certain Kojima-pilled actor, isn't all that difficult), absolutely nobody wants to have to go through age verification in order to access parts of a game they already payed upwards of 70-80 (and more realistically 100+) bucks for 😭

WOAH MAMA 😳

wallbreaks and stage transitions oh this is not going to go down well with a certain sector of the FGC XD

It seems really cool though! Its absolutely not the same as MvC but it seems to be striking out and doing its own thing instead which I massively respect. I'm particularly intrigued as to how the whole 'start as 2v2 and transition to 4v4 over the course of a game' mechanic is gonna end up panning out in actual matches. Tokon's looking like its gonna be a super fun experience and hopefully we'll start getting some more character reveals once EVO begins proper (Fantastic Four pls).

@Ralizah Its a crazy state of affairs when DMC4 Special Edition of all games is outselling Wilds right now 😱

(granted the recent DMC Netflix show definitely helps there but still XD)

@Ralizah I have to imagine Capcom wishes it waited until they were able to use the RE Engine upgrade they've been working on for the past couple years on MH Wilds because between it and Dragon's Dogma II, its really starting to become apparent how RE Engine simply was not designed to support the huge open areas filled with tons of interactable characters/enemies that these games require to function properly 😭

@TruestoryYep I'm not sure you properly understand just how dire the late-2000s to early/mid-2010s were for Capcom, both from a game quality and financial standpoint: they were bleeding cash at every turn while putting out games like RE6 and MVCI on a regular basis XD

MH Wilds' performance issues are undeniably a big issue for the game but I think they mainly serve to compound a larger issue facing the majority of live-service games released nowadays: the competition is just so damn fierce that any flaws present in an otherwise enjoyable game feel even worse than they would in a traditional single-player affair. Monster Hunter is oddly enough the one Capcom series I could never get into but I still massively respect it and hope it can bounce back from the mire it currently finds itself in 🤞

@get2sammyb The numbers Rivals achieved at launch were highly atypical of most online-multiplayer games, even ones which are generally considered great successes (and the fact it went even higher with the release of the Fantastic Four was even more shocking XD) but with a game as inherently volatile as Rivals is (both in the sense that its a hero shooter and an online-multiplayer game which prioritises casual fun over competitive balance), its not much of a surprise to see the concurrents trend downwards at this point.

even then though, most games can only ever dream of averaging 160K+ daily users on a platform like Steam XD

bro we CANNOT be doomposting over a game that maintains 160K+ concurrent players on a daily basis 😭

I nabbed the Platinum for Rivals a fair bit ago (a bit before Ultron released iirc) but I still actively play it to this day for both the stellar presentation, new events and the general reverence it has towards Marvel as a whole. Not sure how long it'll last per se but I'm still having a great time with over 150+ hours deep XD

Its hard to say what the future holds for Guilty Gear as of now with Tokon's announcement (though its certainly hard to believe they'd outright cancel a new entry after the monumental success of Strive) but the 'source' for this is an anonymous source within an anonymous source man, this is not credible info in the slightest 😭

....yknow I think I finally get what Mai sees in Andy now because hoo LORDY thats one hell of a redesign XD

Its always exciting seeing generally 'meh' fighting game characters get banger glowups (SF6 with Dee Jay and Ed will always be my go-to example for this personally) and between his new look and faster gameplay, its nice to see Andy get a fraction of the love his Bogard brother gets 😅

'The ex-Guerrilla Games managing director pointed to Marathon as a title the company is taking extremely seriously, and he noted that the team is currently reviewing the alpha cycle that the release just concluded so it can better “understand how audiences are engaging with it”'.

Even if they have taken Concord's failure to heart, Marathon and Fairgames are simply too far along in development to actually make any meaningful changes before release unless they delay them (which, with a recent PS5 trailer still carrying Marathon's September release date, seems increasingly unlikely 😬).

I'm a fair bit miffed as a very hardcore Castlevania fan who's never played Silent Hill that this was the big announcement of the Konami show but SH2R was shockingly well-done from what I've heard so I imagine this'll be a pretty good time too 👍

MAHVELMAHVELMAHVELMAHVELMAHVELMAHVELMAHVELMAHVELMAHVEL

@PuppetMaster A heavier marketing campaign wouldn't be that much of a dealbreaker on its own but when you combine it with the celebrity guest characters nobody asked for taking roster spots of previous Garou characters like Jae-Hoon or Freeman, it results in a very off-putting, highly 'corporate' vibe emanating around the game's existence which is very much frowned upon in the FGC where a game like CotW would otherwise thrive (absolutely not to the degree of something like SF or Tekken like you said, but more than fine enough to sustain itself overall).

It just ends up feeling like the money that went into the marketing (that has realistically turned more potential buyers away from CotW rather than enticing people into purchasing it if social media and this very comment section is anything to go by) would've been better to either put into the actual game itself to improve some of its issues or just not spent in the first place in order to make it easier for it to turn a profit 🤷

My personal guess based on what I've seen as a pretty big FGC-head is that CotW has sold fine enough for its status as a 1v1 fighter (being able to average over 1K players on Steam is something most other fighting games wish they could do XD) but its undoubtedly fallen below the absurdly unrealistic expectations SNK's Saudi investors were anticipating given the marketing splurge for CotW specifically.

Its such a shame that CotW had to essentially be the guinea pig for meddling from SNK's newest shareholders because the core game itself, separated from the asinine celebrity guests and exuberant marketing bonanza, is very high-quality and clearly made with a ton of passion and respect to the series overall. Hopefully this teaches shareholders that throwing infinite money and recognisable names into a game is not the stairway to guaranteed success they all seem to think it is....but it probably won't 🥲

40 minutes!? Geez that's very long for a State of Play XD

Don't want to get my hopes too high (since Sony has shown time and time again lately that they are very good at dashing them XD) but it'd be cool to see some stuff related to long-dormant 1st-party IPs again

gif unrelated 😜

I LOVE NINJA GAMES BABYYYYYYYYYYYYYY

Can't say I was expecting a proper follow-up to the 3D Ninja Gaiden games (one made by Platinum at that) but goddamn this looks slick as hell. I've been yearning for proper, over-the-top action games to make a comeback (with the last really notable ones of the past while being mainly DMC5 and Hi-Fi Rush) and this looks like its gonna fill that void perfectly.

I'll tell ya man: from having nothing for the last decade or so to getting three brand new titles basically back-to-back-to-back, 2025 has been one hell of a turnaround for Ninja Gaiden 🤩

Cool slate of games this month for sure. GoW Ragnarok is definitely the biggest name here but titles like LaD Gaiden, Sayonara Wild Hearts and Citizen Sleeper definitely bump up the quality too and seeing Medievil 2 finally get rereleased (completing the whole series on PS5 at that) is wonderful to see. Not too bad a start for the year in all honesty (the starting Essential lineup aside XD).

am I f***ing hallucinating

I....I just....I have no words to describe how completely and utterly stunned I am that this is a REAL THING that is ACTUALLY HAPPENING and not just some decade-plus-old pipe dream.

they announced this in addition to Onimusha coming back too I think I'm gonna pass out

CAP.
F***ING.
GOD.
BABYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY

THE ASTRO SWEEP IS REALLLLLLLLLLL

110% deserved. I was in complete jubilation from the moment they announced it and seeing Doucet/Team Asobi give thanks not only to Sony/Playstation but also all the games that inspired Astro had me grinning from ear-to-ear. An incredible achievement for an incredible little team 🩵

Shockingly excellent and that's putting it mildly. Not only did Astro Bot end up winning the ultimate crown (as it deserved), it really does feel like they took all the criticism of last year's show to heart, with each winner being given adequate time to say their thanks, the awards themselves feeling a lot more pronounced and respected and the new game reveals being some of the most bonkers ones I've ever had the pleasure of experiencing live. Gotta hand it to Geoff: he did a pretty fine job this time around 👍

Wonderful little interview! I've always held a high level of appreciation in regards to poncle for offering so much for so little and their latest content effort is no exception (seriously I have absolutely no clue how they got away with charging only €4 for something as massive in scope/content as this XD).

As for myself, I grabbed Ode to Castlevania day-and-date and have had an absolutely wonderful time tearing up the halls of Dracula's Castle so far (TREVOR BELMONT MY BELOVED) and can't wait to see what else is to come in the pipeline for VS! 🧄

Gonna be completely honest: my expectations are through the earth's core after the last one we had XD

I can't say I have high hopes for this if recent rumours/leaks are anything to go by honestly: I'm expecting a heavy mix of both live-service titles and remasters for PS4 games that really don't need them. Still, I'll go into this was as open of a mindset as possible and who knows: maybe Bloodborne Remastered Deluxe Edition with added Funky Mode will get announced

yknow when I said I was hoping the announcement of a PS5 Pro would end up driving the original PS5's price down, I didn't think it'd happen this soon XD

Cosmetic imperfections don't really bother me in the slightest as long as the console itself (and the games on it) runs fine so I might actually use this as a means of getting my own PS5 down the line 😁

A near €300 price increase here in Ireland for games that look/run marginally better and they couldn't even be bothered to put in a disc drive!? Yeah no I'm sorry, that's a huge pass for me. At this point, the most exciting thing that might transpire from this is the price of a base PS5 going down XD

Based on all the rumours I've heard surrounding the PS5 Pro, I'm very interested in seeing how they justify the upgrade personally. The PS5 is still an absolute powerhouse of a system that, in all honesty, doesn't really need a Pro edition much at all based on how games like Spider-Man or Astro Bot run as smoother as butter (plus the rumblings that it'll be ditching a disc drive don't sound all too promising either if I'm honest).

EVERY SINGLE ACE ATTORNEY GAME IS NOW AVAILABLE WORLDWIDE ON ALL MODERN PLATFORMS.

I am deceased.

'ISS MAHVEL BAYBEE!!!'

'OH HE'S SO PRINGLES, WHERE YO CURLEH MUSTACHE AT'

'YOU WANNA LEARN HOW TO DO A [REDACTED] INFINITE!?'

WE ARE LEVELS OF BACK PREVIOUSLY THOUGHT UNATTAINABLE OH MY GOD

This is genuinely one of the coolest things I think I've ever seen. If the source code is in a workable enough condition then I'd love to see more 'lost' games like Star Fox 2 and now this come back. I'm also a massive sucker for PS2-era games so Captain Blood is absolutely up my alley, fantastic to see!

Xbox's announcements have very much been tainted for me after recent events, but I do have to concede: they do always knock it out of the park with DOOM. This looks absolutely fantastic and really gives me the urge play through both 2016 and Eternal in preparation

NOW THIS IS TRUE LOVE WE'RE MAKIN BABY AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

One of the most shocking fighting game announcements I think we've had in a very long time. While I do have some slight grievances with the overall roster choices (Mai feels kinda unnecessary and did we REALLY need Bison back?) but goddamn man seeing Terry goddamn Bogard, the main character from a series specifically designed to be a true successor to Street Fighter 1, finally make his way into SF proper feels absolutely INCREDIBLE 😭

If this ends up being true (which I am very doubtful of personally, even with Microsoft's current multiplatform strategy) then this is going to be the Playstation equivalent of Final Fantasy 7 releasing on a Nintendo console.

YOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Funnily enough, SF6 and MH Wilds were also shown off in that sizzle reel; how much is Capcom planning to show off!? XD

Dragon's Dogma 2 getting DLC just makes a ton of sense honestly: Capcom is always a fan of looking for ways to make more money off of a game's release (with DD2 itself perhaps being one of more infamous examples of that recently XD) so a Dark Arisen-styled expansion feels like a no-brainer really.

This was certainly one of the more standout titles shown during the presentation (even if it was primarily for the fact it was one of the few games there that was actually colourful and charming XD) and seeing it being helmed by a man with as much pedigree as Tominaga (dude was the Assistant Director on both Zelda Wind Waker and Mario Kart Double Dash for crying out loud!) inspires a lot of confidence in Nikki's potential personally.

DOUBLE A GAMING IS BACK BABY ASTRO SWEEEEEEEEEP

Its very rare that a single game announcement can almost turn my entire mood towards a presentation around but goddamnit: the little bot that could found a way. I'm so happy they're finally committing to Astro being a tentpole series for Playstation and literally everything here from the platforming to the gimmicks to the cameos all just screams a deep love for Playstation as a whole. This'll be an instant purchase if/when I ever grab a PS5 and major props to Team Asobi: they deserve a title like this 🩵

This took up a third of the entire presentation's runtime and I still feel like I barely have a clue as to what its actually about.

Pretty woeful to be honest until the very, very, VERY end. While MH Wilds and Astro Bot look absolutely fantastic (Astro Bot especially; the AA fan in me is in jubilation right now), everything else shown was either incredibly generic, something we already knew about or had a trailer that went on for far too long (Concord alone took up a third of the runtime and I still feel like I have no clue what it actually is).

Overall its probably about a C+ and even then that might be a bit generous XD

@Maubari Oh yeah the chats are great; not usually the Youtube/Twitch ones as they tend to be pretty disrespectful from what I've seen, but the ones on sites like here and NLife are always a blast to be a part of

@Maubari I feel like there's always infinitely more excitement surrounding the idea of a State of Play than there is with actually watching one XD

Had a hunch Sony's Summer presentation was gonna be a State of Play due to the radio silence the week beforehand (if it was a PS Showcase, they would've promo-ed the HELL out of it beforehand) and I'm happy to see it officially confirmed. PS Studios titles being here also has me incredibly intrigued as to what that could entail (it'll probably just be a combination of Fairgame$, Concord and Marathon but let me dream goddamnit XD). Excited for tomorrow!

At this point there's been so many rumours on what Resident Evil games are/aren't getting remade that I'm half-expecting them to pull a fast one on us and do the bloody Survivor games next.

Semi-joking aside, I really hope 0 and Code: Veronica are next on the chopping block as RE1 already has a stellar remake available on pretty much all major platforms and I'd much rather them redo the more flawed and neglected RE games first and foremost.

plus it'll allow us to get this beautiful scene in 4K Ultra HD so really we all win in the end XD

Their last Summer presentation kept me sleeping with one eye open for about a week straight so if this one doesn't put me in a shock-induced coma then its an immediate 0/10 XD

Looking forward to seeing Plucky Squire here myself; been looking forward to that one ever since it first got announced and I really hope they're able to finally iron out a concrete release date for it.

oh and a Volvy game wouldn't be half-bad either

'we'll be interested to see what the quirky studio gets up to next; according to the rumour mill, it could even be a Prince of Persia rogue-like'

I think you might be a bit out-of-the-loop here guys 😅

Pedantics aside, I'm incredibly excited for this. Dead Cells is one of my favourite indie games of all-time and seeing an animated adaptation of it that looks as good as it does makes me so damn happy man. Can't wait for the English dub to come out in a couple months time!