Gamer83

@LifeGirl
I mean, I read both PushSquare and PLAY. Some of the features in the mag were good. At least there's still some patreon-funded mags left, at least for Nintendo. Haven't seen any for PS but would support one.

@ApostateMage
I think a lot is going to depend on how people feel about the Ubisoft formula. Seems like burnout on that is real. I still don't mind it, which is why I'll get Outlaws on sale, eventually (haven't bought it yet because there are too many other games I wanted to play first) and I think I'll agree with you. The Jedi games are great for what the devs are aiming to do, but the Souls gameplay style can be a bit off putting after a while, imo. That's also why, as much as I like Stellar Blade, I have 4 games above it for Game of the Year.

Going to need a demo for this one. I want to be hyped, Toyama has made plenty of fun games, but nothing shown on this one is making it seem like a must buy.

Well, this is sure to create some 'fun' discussions on Twitter/X. Shouldn't be a big deal but some people will act like this is the end of the world.

Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater is my second favorite game of all-time just behind Resident Evil 2, and it's a very, very close second, so I will be buying this. That said, just like the original RE 2 is difficult to go back to because of the controls so is MGS 3. Hopefully the remake fixes the clunkiness.

Underestimated how sick some people are of the Ubisoft formula, overestimated the power of the Star Wars IP (still popular but not loved nearly as much as it once was) and didn't consider that maybe letting execs say stupid stuff like 'get used to not owning your games,' isn't a good idea.

@Onearmbandit
Felt the same way, surprisingly. I love Horizon Zero Dawn, it's among my favorite games last gen and maybe a top 3 new IP from that era but Forbidden West just didn't click with me at all. Poor story and I didn't like Aloy nearly as much. Writing as a whole was meh. The gameplay is perfectly fine but given how important narrative is to Horizon, it wasn't enough to make up for that failing.

I don't know if I'd say I've been 'won over,' still believe it's an unnecessary remaster. Admittedly, however, I wasn't going to buy it before, now I will since it's only $10 to upgrade my PS4 copy.

@Nepp67
For those other games I wouldn't be surprised if it's something to do with the engine. With Rise of the Ronin I'm leaning more towards talent. That studio really hasn't been great in a long time, since about the early-mid 360/PS3 days.

@BasedBear
Well, this is a brand-specific website so I'd expect more positive talk than negative. Even here, though, you'll find people who have issue with what Sony does but none of us call the shots. End of the day, all you can do is vote with your wallet and see how the market overall reacts to what Sony does. That'll dictate a lot of these decisions.

Inexcusable that it can't be fixed on the base PS5. Seems like a talent issue at the studio.

It's scummy but scummy practices are what I've come to expect from almost any big company in this industry, even my favorites like Sega.

@BasedBear
I don't think Sony even managed to justify the Pro, certainly not at $700. Probably doesn't matter, however, as an enthusiast product like that is one people are simply going to buy or not. For me, saw no reason to upgrade just like last gen when I stuck with PS4 over the Pro.

The NieR Automata crossover is cool, especially if it adds some story or at least new boss challenges.

Honestly thought it sucked aside from Monster Hunter Wilds (which had already been previously announced and shown off) and the DLC for Stellar Blade and Astro Bot.

Put over 200 hours into the main game and DLC on PS4 but for $10, might as well upgrade even if I don't plan to revisit it anytime soon.

Action based and Majima in the lead role? I'm always hyped for a new Like a Dragon game, but this is going to be even more insane with that guy at the forefront and I can't wait.

@IamJT
He's staking a lot on this, then. That number just comes off as unbelievable for what the game was.

@get2sammyb
He can say what he wants and mention all the unnamed sources he wants but looking at that game it certainly doesn't seem like a $400 mil project. Advertising does factor in and I'd be more inclined to believe this if it was marketed like God of War but even that didn't happen.

Maybe I'm wrong but this seems like attention seeking. Possible he thinks his podcast is slipping into irrelevancy as it doesn't pull the numbers that others do.

@get2sammyb
It might be unethical but these are ridiculous numbers and it seems like Moriarty, who runs what has been my favorite gaming podcast, seems to have pulled this straight out of his backside just to create discussion. He has to have solid proof of that outlandish number and report it immediately. If not, his credibility is 100% out of the window. He's been saying some dumb stuff in general lately.

There's no f'ing way. I'd need to see proof of this from verified sources. Impossible that level of slop cost $400 mil to make and even more impossible to believe that anybody with a functioning brain cell would've seen it and said 'this is the future of video games.' No way.

Going to try to get one of the DualSense controllers to go with the anniversary edition DualShock 4 that I have.

@Icey664
Neither could I, but I know there was an update because it popped up in the Games and Apps section on the Xbox.

@Icey664
It already got patched once but I haven't been able to play it since then so I couldn't tell you what it fixed. At least it does show they're working on it.

@get2sammyb
First just want to say appreciate the review since not a lot of others have covered it, and I trust this website (and the other two) more than most anyway. I bought this on Xbox, first time I've ever played Lollipop Chainsaw at all and I think it's great, one of Suda's best. It is too bad that, for whatever reason, they couldn't optimize better before release. Agree that it will probably be in a better place early next year but if it needed a delay I don't understand why the devs and publisher would opt against it? Not like the time of year is going to impact sales positively or negatively for a remaster of a niche game.

Honestly, most people don't give a damn about metacritic scores. Even myself, I'll look at that website out of interest in how a game is reviewing but it factors in zero percent when I decide to purchase or not. The problem is publishers do care and they're the ones who get final on say on what does or doesn't make it to market.

PS5 - Stellar Blade, Astro Bot (only 3 planets in and if it keeps going as it has, this is easily my Game of the Year pick)

Xbox Series X - Lollipop Chainsaw: RePOP

Switch - The King of Fighter XIII: Global Match, SNK Heroines Tag Team Frenzy

Easily a 10. Might be my favorite PS5 game, but I'll wait until I complete it and have let it sink in for a week or two before saying that definitively.

First time in a while I'm going to say the Premium tier selections are absolute garbage.

@SMcCrae95
Ok, thanks for the reply.

@SMcCrae95
Did you install the game directly onto the PS5 or were you playing off an external drive? I'm just wondering if maybe that has an impact on performance.

As has been stated Astro Bot isn't just a nice celebration for those of us who were there when it started but it's a great introduction for younger players or people new to the brand. If I were a studio head at Santa Monica, Naughty Dog, Insomniac, etc, I'd love to have a game or two referenced. You know a kid is going to play this game see some of the characters and want to give Ratchet & Clank or God of War a try. Maybe they're into racing and think Gran Turismo is worth a giving a play. It's really a no-lose situation.

Astro Bot will be the main focus. Possibly Stellar Blade but I think the new game is going to take up most of the free time I have.

@get2sammyb @Quintumply
Thanks for taking the time to make this guide. Not sure I'll use it, unless I get really stuck trying to find something, but still appreciated. This has been one of the few websites that's given this game the coverage it deserves.

@Whately86
I'll be interested to see the regional numbers as well. But just as interesting will be platform breakdown. My guess is it sold better on PC but would've be surprised if the PS5 version, despite the technical shortcomings, also did very well.

A PS1 themed Dualsense to go along with the PS1 Dualshock 4 I bought would be great.

@AlexPorto
Mid-90s is a little surprising but not totally out of left field. Rescue Mission did finish at 90 on metacritic.

@TruestoryYep
I'd have said Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, even if it's a remake, was the frontrunner for Game of the Year based on reception but the Astro Bot reviews have me re-thinking that. Black Myth: Wukong looks fun for what it is, but like Stellar Blade and Rise of the Ronin (two games I really enjoy), not GOTY material.

@truerbluer
A crazy rollercoaster ride the last few days. The Concord disaster but then this gigantic W. Hopefully the PS userbase shows up to support it.

People can call me crazy, I don't care, Astro's Playroom is still one of my top 5 favorite games on PS5 and I had very high expectations for this. Have to play it to find out for sure but I'm very encouraged by these reviews as it's grading ahead of even some of Nintendo's best. Not that I had any doubt the team would deliver. Rescue Mission was also great.

So I can see right from the first comment we're going to keep trying to down play this success as 'it's China carrying the sales.' 18 mil is 18 mil no matter how the game got there. Heck of an achievement with a huge media campaign against it in the West.

The Last Story is one of my favorite games on the original Wii and I've been looking forward to Mistwalker's return to consoles. Would've preferred action to turn based, but I'm still going to give this one a go.

Best of luck to him, will be interesting what the future brings for Devil May Cry now, if it even gets brought back. Not sure it'll be nearly as good.

I'm definitely going to buy this game but after this review and other stuff I've heard from people I trust, it may be a 'wait for sale' type of purchase. Not too surprising. The demo wasn't bad but it wasn't exactly something that made the game feel like a launch day must-have either.

Yeah, this is an absolute day one buy. Some phenomenal stuff here.

@KundaliniRising333
There was a lot I didn't like about The Last of Us Part II main story wise but one area that Naughty Dog knocked out of the park (and is the reason no. 1 reason I'd still say TLoU II is a rock solid 8/10 overall), is the gameplay. Since that would've been the focus in an online multiplayer game, day one buy for sure. Such a missed opportunity.

@LikelySatan
Fair enough. To each their own.

@ED_209
A small team inside Naughty Dog created specifically for the purpose of maintaining the game. I don't believe for a second that they couldn't have pulled off Factions 2 and if it meant no single player game from them this gen? Well, the industry is what it is these days. But Factions 2 is a game that definitely would've been worth it, even heavily pro-single player gamers like myself would've bought it.

I'm probably in the minority with this opinion but I'm willing to make big compromises to get a stable 60 fps for a game like Monster Hunter. Even if that means 1080p resolution.

This is why I trust this website. Doesn't matter if it's a third party game or a big first party release, time and care is taken with these reviews. No way it'd be possible to form a real opinion, good or bad, on a live service game so quickly after it launches.

@Randinator123
Definitely. A shame, too. Both those games deserved better sales than they got but I can also understand why gamers turned away from them.