GMaster7

What's the biggest reason for Japan's indifference about the PS5? I know that people love handheld gaming - that has always been huge in Japan's gaming culture - but is that the only reason that Switch is so dominant? Is no one there interested in the highest-fidelity JRPGs and whatnot anymore?

I feel crazy, because if I imagine that each word is a synonym for the word in a title, I immediately come up with "Kingdom Hearts: [Subtitle]." Like "Density" or something - I mean, good luck guessing a KH name. But nobody seems to be thinking that. And I guess the picture doesn't suggest that either, unless the croc is the one from Peter Pan and Geoff has cropped out whatever other KH thing would give it away.

I'm extremely interested in Metaphor, but given that my backlog is already super long, I've held off on buying it since release because I fear the "Royal" rerelease. Sega saying this does make me feel like maybe I can get comfortable with pulling the trigger soon. But if they do actually rerelease with revised trophies... I'm not gonna be happy.

Have been waiting for this to come to PS5 for about a year. Here's hoping the trophies aren't too laborious - and even if they are, this may be one where I take the plunge anyway.

Love my Portal. Haven't used it lately - because I've only been playing Silksong on the big TV - but as soon as I move on to my next turn-based RPG or indie game, I'll be back on the Portal regularly.

Finally! Let's rock.

@tameshiyaku Same. Selfishly, I hope for a Royal edition announcement so that I can put this worry behind me. But if not, I'll just keep it on my wish list and continue to plan to get to it when I have time for a gigantic RPG

Huge W if true. I haven't played it, and many others are in the same boat - but those who have played it have raved about it.

Knowing that there are actually no enemies in the game - and thus no actual reason to be scared, anticipating an attack or even a jumpscare - takes the teeth out of the experience. But as a non-horror fan, it also means I'm way more likely to give it a shot.

I would be fine with a smaller SSD, no disc drive, smaller form factor... Just make it fast and get the cooling right. I'm in for whatever the most premium model is at launch. Probably won't upgrade to a mid-gen premium refresh (I didn't buy a Pro), but I want my base system to last me the entire generation.

Don't sleep on this one if you missed it on Switch! It's wonderful. Absolutely gorgeous, good story, and really fun characters and abilities. Branching paths, some challenging fights... I'm off to look at the trophy guide and consider an eventual replay.

@LiamCroft Thank you, Liam! Great to know.

@LiamCroft Hi Liam - amazing work - I read on the PSNProfiles forum that there are potentially a couple of missables in the prologue and a couple later on in the game tied to decisions (one quest-related and one relationship-related). Just wanted to note it here in case you (1) can refute this or (2) want to investigate and refer to it up-front if necessary (for those of us playing blind).

I did hear this a while back. I think MinnMax kinda reported on it and variously used that pronunciation during their GOTY talk. But the popular pronunciation is just much easier on the mouth (and ears), and LocalThunk doesn't care, so... I'll probably keep saying it with the emphasis on the middle syllable.

Great to see that Thank Goodness You're Here! finally got a first-person mode.

Embarrassing. Just embarrassing. As discussed on the latest version of the Sacred Symbols podcast: these things don't happen by accident or without oversight, and Sony doesn't have a passive role in which games do or do not show up on the store. They're responsible for vetting and showcasing content for their consumers, like the operators of any storefront. In the real world, big box stores don't just allow any ol' broken slop to appear on the shelf. Quality control - including vetting these intentionally deceptive and anti-consumer releases - continues to be a giant (growing) issue in this space.

I think the "price revisions" that Totoki mentioned are doing some heavy lifting in getting to that 20% jump. Still not thrilled about such an aggressive increase across the board. But I will say that I'm generally happy with my sub.

I was just thinking about Skies of Arcadia this week! Make this happen!!

@LikelySatan Are you saying this because you think it's inevitable that they'll release a "Royal" version, i.e., Persona 5? Metaphor is on my wishlist, but I have so many other backlog games to get through first that I'm hoping they announce the Royal version before I get to it - if it is indeed going to happen.

I'm also hopeful that a re-release wouldn't require two playthroughs for the Platinum - I know P5 Royal had an easier trophy list than the original game - but who knows.

I love neat UI stuff like this and was really thrilled to see it added last year. I'm a huge fan. I hope they continue adding backgrounds (especially animated ones) over time.

I don't play any of these gacha games, but I do enjoy that Push Square covers them (the big ones) with consistency. If that's what Sammy's playing - and we all know that MANY others are, too - then they're newsworthy.

I feel like I would need to focus almost entirely on them, ignoring other games, if I jumped in. Sammy's GOTY list kinda confirmed that. But these games are super relevant, and it's cool to see how they're evolving over time.

As for me - too much backlog to get through. But I'm making progress lately!

Removing this from my Switch wishlist and adding it to my PS5 wishlist. I've heard good things!

Thought this looked very interesting on PC, so I'm excited to see it come to PS5. Would love to give it a shot. We are just drowning in quality (and very different) RPGs lately.

@GingerAsh You can customize it to remove the ads/store stuff, so that it only shows you relevant info you want to see. I missed the PS4 functionality that showed me what some of my friends were up to, and I like having my controller battery info, storage, friends and stuff at a glance. Saves a few button presses in that way.

Have been trying to figure out what to play next among the many games in the backlog and on the wishlist. Glad to hear that this one is worth it - and mercifully short, making it a no-brainer!

Oh, word? I think the "real calendar" aspect of Persona is great when I'm following a guide - it feels like every day brings something new and interesting, and it truly feels like time is passing in a meaningful way - but as a completionist, it DOES stress me out. This sounds less stressful.

I'd love to dive into Metaphor and not have to feel like I NEED to follow a guide to see and do everything (or most things).

Always wanted to play this back on PS3 and never did. Will be eager to check it out on PS5.

This is great. Really love how much they're pushing this. I think it's going to be a terrific (and big!) game for Playstation.

I'm usually someone who jumps on new hardware day one, but I might actually wait and see with this one. My backlog is so large, and so many of those games are PS4 games or indies or games that probably won't benefit much from a Pro upgrade. I'll get it eventually, and then I'll have a backlog of AAA stuff - Ragnarok and FFXVI are the first two that come to mind - but there's so much I can play first.

This looks really cool! Excellent trailer. I dig how it presents as a slice of life, relaxing kiddie RPG but starts to seem... off... and then seemingly goes off the rails. Aesthetic reminds me of Chained Echoes. I'll be following this one!

Somehow never played Dark Brotherhood, even though I was a massive Sonic fanboy and RPG gamer as a kid, and the only thing I know about it is that it has laughably horrendous - truly awful - music. Would love to see a Sonic RPG at some point.

Love to see it. I didn't buy Dawntrail, because I'm still back in Shadowbringers, but I did resub, so I'm back in the fold. Just such a wonderful game and so consistently engaging and rewarding.

@NarutosBiggestFan Give me a remake! I would go wild for this. Such an awesome IP.

I thought Arise - my first Tales game, and I suspect many people's first - was totally awesome. Gorgeous graphics, terrific combat, memorable characters - a little samey and predictable on the plot points, and it did overstay its welcome by the end, but I'm totally game to check out the next entry in the series.

Certainly there are new releases every once in a while that I'm hyped enough to purchase for full price, but given the constant (constant!) sales and my (everyone's?) tremendous backlog, I so rarely pay anything close to full price for games anymore. I've saved a lot of money these past few years by buying nearly everything at 40-90% off. I used to wait until Black Friday and spend like $200+ on huge PSN discounts, but these days it seems like a new sale is always on.

HSR is the gacha game that I'm most tempted to try. Just a little nervous (with a new baby) to dabble in any sort of timesink. I also always feel like it's the wrong time to jump in. The reality is that anytime is probably a good time to try it, because there are always promotions and new player bonuses and whatnot. But again, not enough time.

It's stunning just how much more interesting the actual exchange is. Corporate PR totally dumbs it down to the point that it sounds sterile, robotic, and throwaway. So much so that it's not even worth reading. The real answer, while longer, brings in more context and actually says something.

Is it scary? If so, jump scares or just creepy weirdness? I'm not one for super scary games, but I have heard relatively good things about this one, so I'd consider checking it out.

Reminds me of Carto, another charming indie puzzle game where you move around map/puzzle pieces to rearrange the level. Enjoyed that one (a fun and quick Plat, too) and may need to check this out as well.

Absolutely love mine. It's been a game-changer with a new baby. So happy with it and highly recommend it if you have a strong home network speed (or a hard-wired PS5) - but do your research! Strong home network (packet loss, latency) is not the same as fast internet.

@DonkeyFantasy But... Who says no???

@Marquez Love this plan. I've been playing RPGs on my Portal and am really enjoying that. Sea of Stars is on the short list - seems like it'd be a perfect Portal game and take me back to playing old-school SNES RPGs on my GBA in bed.

@BeerIsAwesome Thank you and congrats to you as well!

Jumped back in recently to get the final two trophies I need for the Platinum (which will be my 100th!). Glad to have the opportunity to immediately be highest-level and experience a bunch of content I've missed. Just need one more trophy now - not the hardest one - and I'll knock that out today or tomorrow.

Nothing feels as good as Bungie's gunplay, so it's a nice treat to be playing again. Not sure if I'll stay on the treadmill - probably depends on how the Final Shape is received - but in any event, this initiative makes a lot of sense, and I'm sure it'll pull some lapsed players.

I love mine. I wish I could do more to evangelize - simply because I think a lot of people would find it very useful and reliable. YMMV, but I haven't even needed to hard-wire my PS5 to make it work ultra-reliably (which I've heard is very necessary for some people). With a newborn at home, the Portal is a godsend.

Has a great look, and it's very cool to see Sony stand behind it with a day-one Plus Extra release, but I have no idea what to expect from the gameplay - so I'm eager to see some reviews (and the trophy guide). Hopefully it's a good first release from Bigmode as a new publisher - interesting to see them describe it as a Metroidvania on their social media acct (just checked).

The graphical enhancements are what I am most excited about with Dawntrail. I'm still only at the end of Shadowbringers, but I'm thinking of preordering and getting back into FFXIV when Dawntrail rolls around. It's just such a tremendous MMO.

First game was a really fun and rewarding Platinum. Really looking forward to the sequel - and it's coming pretty soon! Sounds like some interesting additions.

Pretty pumped for this to be the first game I play on PS5 Pro later this year. Good to see so many improvements!

I really need to get over my hang-up about the impossible Balatro trophies and grab it. It's perfect for my new PS Portal.

Unicorn Overlord, too. That's a must at some point this spring.