FullMetalWesker

@RBMango - "To call this a remake is a literal insult to games like Bluepoint's Demon's Souls and Shadow of the Colossus."
To be fair, those projects likely had relatively big budgets to achieve those results; here, the project being delegated to a new studio in India, and the screenshots seem to indicate that, due to the series not being that successful commercially, it wasn't given much priority, or budget. The results are pretty on par with what Ubisoft probably expected.
"This looks the kind of a free remaster..."
Maybe if the original game was a PS3 title, but that's not the case here. Having actually played the PS3 remaster, I can definitely say this is a significant step up from that, let alone the PS2 original. Sure, it's not "PS5 Demon's Souls' level, but it's still a decent upgrade over both the original release, and the PS3 remaster.

7/20 - And a lot of those were guesses (serving as a reminder to get back to playing it at some point).

Maybe I'm missing something, but I don't see the problem here regarding lack of content. Unless I'm misremembering, there's a lot more in this video than the last one: tons of concept art, some work-in-progress locations and gameplay, some motion-capture, animation work...
I mean, sure, it's not likely to release until late next year at best, but was that ever in doubt to begin with?

As for what's actually here, there does seem to be a few interesting things: There's a piece of concept art that seems to show underwater exploration, some gameplay test footage showing a more action-oriented gameplay style, some stuff on Solas (making it clear that this game is going to follow on from Inquisition) including some concept art on how he could look, some interesting creature/character designs, and a somewhat impressive range of environments.
Admittedly, none of this is much of a signifier on the game's quality (which, given Bioware's previous two titles, is at least a little suspect) as, yes, it's still early days, but it's still a nice teaser into some of the possible ideas and concepts the next game is working with, if nothing else.

While I'm a bit puzzled and confused by the premise (I'm guessing/hoping they're not more of Albert's kids but kids of another Wesker?), I'm not sure how it not being a straight game adaptation is a bad thing. The reason the movies failed wasn't because they weren't straight adaptations (in fact, the second film, Apocalypse came pretty close to being one) but because they did do just wasn't that good (though I suspect that wasn't really the goal, given how consistent the films were).

@Jaz007 - Pretty much; as the definition in the article outright states "Games released under the GaaS model typically receive a long or indefinite stream of monetized new content over time to encourage players to continue paying to support the game." This is a lot different from a game simply having a post-release DLC schedule, or microtransations. While something like, say, Street Fighter V (or most fighters these days) could be considered GaaS, games like The Witcher, The Last of Us, or (to use a Nintendo example) Zelda: Breath of the Wild, who only release a relatively limited amount of DLC content, would not have enough to qualify as 'Games as a Service'. On top of that, the DLC for those games serves mainly as bonus extras for the main campaign, which goes against the entire point of Games as a Service, which is built around the idea of constant post-release content. In other words, to qualify as GaaS, your title needs to revolve around and rely upon post-release content, rather than it simply being an extra or bonus.

Upon seeing the trailer I thought this could make for a nice story-focused game, one with a somewhat unique premise for a mainline Batman story, but now I know it's gonna be like the upcoming Avengers game, I'm decidedly less interested (even moreso than Avengers, since that game at least has a large and varied cast of characters who all have their own unique gameplay style).

12/15 - Only questions I missed were the name of Kratos' first wife, and what role Cory Barlog played throughout the series' development(apparently I have no clue), so a pretty decent result overall.

Top 5 seems about right, though I'm surprised RDR2 isn't higher from what I've seen and heard about it.
Outside of the top 5, the only things that strike me as weird are the inclusions of DB FighterZ and Cuphead (which seem more about their art style then graphical detail), as well as the high placement of Detroit: Become Human (which does look good, but not as good as some of the lower-ranked titles on the list).
Overall though, there's no shortage of contenders for great looking PS4 games, so while there are a few titles I personally feel could be here (FFVII Remake, Jedi: Fallen Order, Shadow of the Tomb Raider, etc.) I get that in keeping the list to 25, some are inevitably going to miss out.

@LocalPenguin - I especially liked the first one - (Do you choose; A: Persona 5, B: Persona 5 Royal, or C: Persona 5: Dancing in Starlight?) .

15/20 - Not bad considering I was guessing most of them.

@Ah-Void - To be fair, is it any worse than Call of Duty being in an even higher place? (At least Nintendo games usually have a degree of charm to them)

@phil_j - "The Last of Us: Part II - Master Quest"?

Grounded mode in the first game was a big step up in difficulty from Survivor (though going from a Grounded NG playthrough, to Survivor NG+ one probably helped with that) so I'm not too surprised to hear the same is true with the second game (though I don't remember increased alertness being a thing in the first game, so it might actually be harder?).
Permadeth would be just a straight up no for me, even if I had the game (or it was added to the first for whatever reason); my experiences with the first game are enough to know I'd probably never finish it if I tried that on anything outside of maybe normal mode.

"To be honest, they all unanimously look awful, and the effects don’t really work in this gritty and gruesome world like they did in the Uncharted games."
True, but it is still the typical Naughty Dog thing to do and to be fair, it's not like they have any actual Uncharted games to do this with anymore.

6/10 - Not bad considering I don't know much about ND themselves.

@LiamCroft @Unlucky13 - Also agreed; would be nice to get an accurate idea of how long I've been playing certain games.

As for the poll, outside the top two, all of the options sound at least somewhat useful. Being able to re-play duels and quests along with a horde/arena mode sound preferable to a NG+ mode imo, and being able to revert back to regular weather also sounds like a good thing to be able to do. And stats are always nice to have around.

Well, there goes any lingering interest I had in the game. Seeing the reveal trailer I thought maybe it was going for a 'Marvel UIltimate Alliance' style setup in terms of story and progression, but the more I saw, especially of the gameplay, the less interested I became, and now, hearing it's a lot like Destiny, I think I might just pass on this and focus on other titles instead (which is a shame, as I was kinda hopeful for a solid Avengers-related title).

14/20 - Would've been 10/20 were it not for some luck guesses, but overall not too bad (especially since the only games here I've actually played are Metal Gear and Killzone).

Splinter Cell fans: "Hey, can we get a new Splinter Cell game?"
Ubisoft: "No, is a Netflix anime okay?"

Not sure what made someone think Splinter Cell of all things is good material for an anime, but I guess it's something?

@MarcG420 - Oh, don't get me wrong, the first wasn't all sunshine and rainbows either (especially the ending, as you pointed out) but that game seemed overall more balanced in its tone; even in the ending, Joel and Ellie at least made it out reasonably okay; it's not much, but it's at least something.
@themcnoisy - Agreed, but to be fair, Dreams is kinda like Super Mario Maker: It's reliant on user engagement to create and/or play user-created games and as such, requires a lot of patience and commitment to make it work. Compare it to games like Ghost of Tsushima or Doom Eternal where you simply need to play out the experience provided and it's no surprise that most (myself included) end up playing those types of games, instead of games like Dreams.

@Col_McCafferty - "Perfectly calm mate."
No offense mate, but that last paragraph seems to say otherwise;

"Lastly, you and others are entitled not to like the game but if you can't understand why many do, well that's just pure arrogance on your part. It's pretty obvious why this game is rated highly by many.
Anyway, why not talk about what you DO like or is that beyond you?"

I'm not sure why you jumped on me like that, unless you think I'm one of those '0/10 terrible game' types that were review bombing the game when it came out. If so, I'll state it plain: I'm not one of those. You seemed to have missed it, but in my first sentence, I did in fact list what I thought were the best parts of the game: "I get the technical aspects; the visuals, physics, audio and accessibility options are all top-tier stuff." so it's not like I hate everything about the game; heck, I don't even hate it full stop (I'm not a fan to be fair, but I wouldn't go as far as to say I outright hate it). I just don't get why so many are calling it a masterpiece (especially the story), when the game seems not only overwhelmingly negative (much moreso than the first one), but not particularly subtle either.

@dark_knightmare2 - I get the technical aspects; the visuals, physics, audio and accessibility options are all top-tier stuff. However, it's all undermined (at least for me) by gameplay deliberately designed to make you feel awful (i.e. you're not supposed to enjoy it even a little bit), a story that's also designed to make you (and its characters) feel awful (to put it lightly), and generally just doesn't seem worth it as either a sequel (Not a single character from the first game comes out even remotely okay) or a standalone game (a lot of the story relies on your pre-attachment to said characters from the first game).
In short, the game seems a misery simulator to me, so it seems a bit weird for me to see people shower so much praise upon it using (as you did) words like masterpiece and voting it as the best PS4 game of the year so far.

@Kienda - Well, its not like there's much competition this year. Animal Crossing is about it for Nintendo, and Microsoft so far has nothing. If Cyberpunk manages to come out this year that might change things, but as it stands, it seems PS4 exclusives are where its at this year.

A shame The Last of Us II got top spot, but I can't say I'm surprised (the game seems really popular for some reason); at least Ghost of Tsushima gave it a run for its money.

7/15 - Was looking bad for a while, but somehow I managed to get the last 6 correct, so overall not too bad.

@WallyWest - Also, the game covers showed Ellie exclusively, so even if the trailers weren't a giveaway, the box art should be a pretty clear indicator on Joel's presence (or lack of) in the game.

Considering how uncomfortable and depressing the game was designed to be (to the point where the first game seems almost quaint by comparison), I'm honestly surprised it's racking up this many sales. I'm guessing part of it is due to more people having PS4's (see the fastest sales numbers rising with each year's big title) but even then, these numbers seem kinda improportionate for a game that's not really a crowd-pleaser by design.

For me it's a toss-up between Ghost of Tsushima and FFVII Remake for 1st, with Dreams coming in 3rd. Had The Last of Us Part II been less disappointing, it would've been a contender as well, but as it is, these three are the one's I've liked the most this year so far.

Seeing Jessie and Barret above Sephiroth is pretty funny, but well-deserved (both are much better characters in the remake).
Zack at no.10 is kinda surprising given he appears for about a minute, but I guess his old popularity helped keep him in there (albeit barely).
I think the biggest takeaway from this is just how successful their efforts were with making Jessie a likeable character (she's basically the most popular character outside the three heavy-weights)and I'm curious if this'll have an effect on or be a sign of how the character will be treated in Part 2.

Having free multiplayer is a point in a console's favour, but not enough on it's own to switch from one to another (scuse the pun).
Bundling PS+ with PSNow is a decent idea, but only if said service is available in all regions, which at the moment is not the case.

4/15 - A lot of these I just flat had no idea on (including some of the ones I got right) though there were a couple I was surprised to get wrong (like how there was an Uncharted card game on the Vita, and how the Decima engine was not in fact created for Horizon Zero Dawn). All in all, a much harder quiz than I was expecting.

@TheFrenchiestFry - Pretty much; this isn't a Horizon situation, not only because it was never going to remain a PS4 exclusive, but also (likely because of that) it was never really a game associated with PlayStation in the way that Horizon was.

These changes seem okay, but more for PC players who don't have a PS4 copy, (or those who do, but never really played it). I'll be interested to see how the controls work on mouse+keyboard, but that's about it. As for these coming to PS5, there'll probably be some kind of upgrade/re-release, but I'm not sure it'll be at the level of the PC version (not that it bothers me any, after getting the platinum I probably won't be in the mood to re-visit it for some time).

10/15 - Not bad considering I never played Second Son or First Light.

So far, I've only played one of these games for a decent amount of time (FFVII Remake) but even if that wasn't the case, I get the feeling I'd place it at the top of my list anyway. Outside of the ending, which is more a problem for future installments than this one, this remake was everything I honestly could've hoped for; the characters were more fleshed out and likeable, the music was top-notch, the gameplay was among the best in the series (really showing how far SE have progressed since FFXV) with some truly great setpieces/boss fights and even the story was pretty good (which, coming from someone who didn't really like the original's story that much, is saying something).
So far, I think the only game here that has a chance to surpass it is Dreams, and I'm not too sure what to think of that one to be honest. On the one hand, it achieves what it sets out to do pretty well in providing a robust game maker, but on the other hand, as with all game makers, a fair chunk of its value lies in what the community produces, which is very much a mixed bag. Maybe if I went back and put a decent amount of time into it I could get a better idea, but at the moment, I can't really say one way or the other.

"Set years after the events of Resident Evil 7: Biohazard, Ethan Winters and wife Mia have put their past behind them and started a new life in peace. Chris Redfield has other ideas, however. He disrupts their lives and throws Ethan into a new and twisted nightmare in search of answers."

You know, I wasn't really a fan of Chris in Resi 5/6, but this kinda beats anything he did in those games. Am starting to wonder if this is a sign he'll end up as the villain (or should it be VIllain) of the story (which, while not ideal, could lead to his character finally being retired).
Dunno what I think about the lack of zombies (and their replacement with outright fantasy monsters) but the fact they're going back to an action title can't sit well with those who thought 7 was a return to form for the series (seems they can't resist making Resident Evil an action series).
Edit: Graphics look nice though, so there's that at least.

@redd214 - It's within a single console generation, I'd say that counts as quick for these types of things (at least compared to things like the Crash and Spyro trilogies).
@roe - That's because you're seeing this as a single, isolated case, rather than the long-running trend it could very well turn into. It's not the incident itself that's the problem, it's the precedent it sets going forward regarding exclusivity for big console franchises (as opposed to smaller games like Cuphead or Ori).

Got 7/20, which is actually a bit lower than I thought, but some of these questions (like which components do you need to craft Squall's final weapon, or how many issues of Occult fan magazine are there) were pretty obscure so I guess it could've been worse.

@redd214 - More like "Nice! Now no-one will buy a console ever again!" if even 'console exclusives' like Horizon are losing their exclusivity status this quickly, then what's the point of buying a Playstation or an Xbox when a PC can provide everything both consoles have to offer and then some?

@LieutenantFatman - Maybe not, but it does seem.....somewhat weird to write a short article that basically says little more than the title ("Hey guys, did you know we're playing the new Playstation game?") I mean, who would this be for? Those who are hotly anticipating this are probably going to be a bit annoyed, while those like myself who aren't are more likely going to shrug and ask why this article exists.
Just seems a bit unnecessary on its own, that's all.

@thefirst - Those things would still be a problem, and sure, there's always the possibility things could still not work out, but the reason why the vaccine was so important, was because if you had it, you at least had a chance at overcoming them. Without a vaccine, there really is no hope; at best, you could delay the inevitable for a short while, but in the end, without it, humanity is doomed. That's the situation in a nutshell, and it's why the Fireflies (Marlene specifically) made the call to conduct the surgery on Ellie while she was still unconscious (that, and they were running on borrowed time). It's also why that one doctor was a lot more justified in trying to keep Joel from dooming humanity, than for Joel to try and stop them from killing Ellie (thus dooming humanity) just because he couldn't personally handle losing another 'daughter' (Because let's be honest; the reason Joel intervened wasn't because they 'didn't ask permission', but because he had grown attached to her, and couldn't bear losing her like he lost Sarah).

Further proof that regardless of the problems on the story and character side, the technical side is top notch (as has become the case for Naughty Dog titles). Be interesting if this tech gets implemented in other titles, as it could lead to more interesting puzzles and/or traversal options.

12/15 - Not too bad, though given I recently finished the game, probably not too surprising either.

I was planning on buying it later on, but now I'm not so sure. From what I understand, the game's story seems almost completely detached from the first game, and botches many potential avenues the first game set up (both story and gameplay wise) in favour of a simple revenge story, to the point where I have to wonder why this sequel was made in the first place.
I might still end up getting it later, when the price has dropped a bit, but for now, I can't say that's a certainty.

@Shepherd_Tallon - Most likely. The tentacle things look just like the lyrium veins you could find in Dragon Age Origins, only red.

Given Bioware's recent performance, I can't be that excited for a new Dragon Age, but it would certainly be nice if this game marks a positive turning point for the developer.

If we'd had a Nintendo Direct last week I probably wouldn't have minded at all, but as Nintendo isn't doing directs at the moment (or any of their other E3 things like Nintendo Treehouse), their presence at least was something I missed. Outside of that though, not really; most of the information I was interested in was covered in Sony's PS5 presentation.

Not quite what I was hoping for, but a step in the right direction. Would've preferred a more ambitious game that spanned multiple eras, but there's always the possibility I guess for that to be added later on (though given Battlefront 2's content was likely an attempt to make up for its horrendous launch, that may not be likely).

Admittedly I haven't played any other new games last month, but honestly I'd be hard pressed to find something to match FFVII Remake's soundtrack, it's just that good imo.

8/10 - Messed up Dishonored (didn't read all the options) and Need for Speed, but surprisingly got Wreckfest right (thought this was going to be a cakewalk till that showed up), so not too bad all things considered.

@Enuo - Pretty much this. I didn't necessarily need a gameplay trailer for AC Valhalla at this point (as it's likely similar to Origins and Odyssey), but a video called 'gameplay trailer' should provide at least some footage of what the game is going to play like.

Edit: In general though, I don't really mind either (though both would be ideal) as long as they provide an accurate idea on what the game is going to be like.

I hear a lot of people saying they liked the ending because it means future titles won't be a 1:1 remake of the original. The thing is though, this part here was also not a 1:1 remake of the original, but was instead an enhanced remake that added new bits and expanded on old ones to provide a better version of the original story. A 1:1 remake would not even attempt to tackle that sort of thing, but would instead (much like the Shadow of the Colossus remake) release the whole thing verbatim, with the same turn-based combat, isometric angles, characterisation etc. So even if SE stuck to the same approach they took to the majority of this remake (which if the ending is to be believed will not be what will happens), we would still not be getting a 1:1 remake. So what the ending means, to me at least, is that rather than get an enhanced version of the original like we did with this remake, we're going to be getting an entirely original story whose quality can range wildly and be anything from a masterpiece to a complete train wreck.
Personally, I'm going to remain wary until I see evidence that suggests this won't be the latter, as given SE's track record with FF titles, I wouldn't be surprised if it turns out that way.

@clvr - You can most definitely play it blind, no problem. The remake takes the Midgar segment from the original and improves upon it greatly, with the characters and themes given a lot more time to breathe rather then just being tossed aside after a few hours. Sure, it's interesting to compare the two, but you don't need to play it to do that; watching a playthrough will have the same effect.

@Ichiban - I've seen others compare him to Charlie Sheen's character in Platoon so no, you're not the only one who saw that.

Gonna agree with the article on this one, this is spoilery as all hell; even as someone who played the original this showed a lot of things I didn't know were in the game, as well as things that were, but I still wish I hadn't seen (like the Hell House). When your initial experience with something from a game comes from a trailer, rather than the game itself, then there's a problem with the trailer imo, and while it's not like it's the first (or last) to do this, that doesn't change what it is.

@LiamCroft - To be fair, all people are doing is pointing to other games and saying "but hey, these games managed to do it, so why can't yours?". You don't really need specialist knowledge to make comments like this, in fact they could be an indicator of just that, but it's one that makes sense; if the only problem was memory on the console itself, then how come other games didn't have that problem? There are of course legitimate answers for this, but they're all different to the one given here, thus the real reason is likely something related (e.g. bad engine, budget constraints), but different to the one Obsidian provided, hence the comments.

A Code Veronica remake would be nice (especially if they can fix the villains), but after two remakes back-to-back, the latter of which probably suffered from a rushed development, it might be best to shelve it for now and work on something else for a bit, then visit it later with a decent development time.

@Gamer83 - Even as someone who probably prefers RE2R to RE7, I can't say going backwards is a good way forward, especially now that we've had two such remakes in the same number of years. At this point, going ahead with a new game that continues on from RE7 in taking the franchise in a new direction is probably the best option; you can always have the Code:Veronica remake afterwards for that more old-school aesthetics, but for now, something new is probably best.