HerlockSholmes

My favourite publisher by far. Japan in general is doing so much of the heavy lifting when it comes to gaming at the minute. It's quite funny considering 10 years ago the general consensus seems to be the opposite, and that western developers were keeping the industry afloat.

A lot of Japanese companies have hit that sweet spot between scale/ budget and a decent cadence of releases. Hopefully western devs will learn from it and sort their sh*t.

So many games.... So little time... Definitely buying this tonight though.

Not a chance. Unlike Sony and their PC endeavours, Microsoft have made a fortune from putting Xbox games on Playstation. They are consistently in the top sellers.

@LikelySatan No, not allowed. You must either love it and defend as if it were your first born child, or you must hate it like it were an estranged spouse.

No inbetweens and half measures. Shame on you. Now which is it to be?

It's great to see Level 5 branching out and making their games available to more people.

That being said, I think the reviews for this one were pretty mid when it was released. I love me some Level 5 though so will probably give it a go at some point.

Nice one. I haven't played enough of these games. I'd love for the whole series to be made available on modern consoles. I think a collection would sell really well.

Also give me a new Dark Cloud you cowards. I don't care if Sony owns the rights. Just get it done!

I'm surprised to see negativity in the comments around this one. I think it looks fantastic and has a brilliant pedigree of developer behind it.

You just know it's going to be snappy and fun to play.

@RyPal Did you mean to say 'Virtue Signaling'? Or is 'Virtual Signaling' a new thing? Because it sounds like it fits the great AI debate of our time.

@lazarus11 I think it might from some publications but definitely not on here. It didn't seem to hit for the staff here which is fair enough.

You've just reminded me that I need to add Kcd2 to my ever growing backlog as well. So many games, so little time.

Game looks decent. I look forward to playing it once I clear my backlog a little... A lot...

What is it about this game that causes such uproar? The comments section is all over the place. I expect this years Game of the Year debate is going to be interesting. There's going to be a lot of angry comments asking why Crimson Desert isn't in the top 10.

Cheers for the heads up. Doubt I'll ever play it but added it to the library anyhow.

@MrPeanutbutterz Ha! I was about to post the exact same thing. His voice is synonymous with Mass Effect in my head. Might be time for a trilogy replay.

Why is it the live service games get trashed to high heaven here, but gacha games seem accepted? This is a genuine question as I've never played one but from the outside they seem to have the same business model, no?

Dark Cloud. Dark Cloud. Dark Cloud. Dark Cloud. Dark Cloud. Dark Cloud. Dark Cloud. Dark Cloud. Dark Cloud. Dark Cloud. Dark Cloud. Dark Cloud.

And did I mention... Dark Cloud?

@Frmknst "A gameplay only game". Wut?

@CWill97 To play it again for the first time... I'm jealous. The payoff is so good.

Let me know what you think when you finish.

Regardless of what people will try and tell you - This is neither the worst game ever made, nor the best. I played and finished it at launch and thought it was a 7/10. This was before the 60fps patch and lots of other updates mind.

I look forward to picking up the inevitable gold edition at half price in about 2 years time. I hope everyone that picks it up enjoys it.

@captainsandman Yeah me too. The game looks great and I really want it but I cannot bring myself to spend £70 on any game. I hope the multiplayer is still active when it hits the magic £35 mark.

@Yor-sama Yes I think so. Can't wait to see more from Intergalactic. One of my most anticipated games.

Finally 'Big the the Cat Chronicles' will be released. It's about time!

Oh wow this is very surprising. I thought Rec Room was pretty popular. My son plays it quite often on his Oculus.

It seems no live service is safe in 2026. The industry is making a huge course correction at the minute. With any luck it will be to focus on smaller, tighter games with lower development budgets and lesser development time.

We don't know why this has been put on ice but I suspect it is to keep their release cadence smooth. For better or worse big publishers keep games like this in the pocket for months/ years (e.g. Nintendo) to release when they have a quiet period. All speculation of course but I wouldn't be surprised if that was the case.

@Yor-sama Dragon Quest remake 1, 2 and 3. Octopath Traveler 1, 2 and 0. Final Fantasy XVI, 7 Remake and Rebirth, 14, Tactics Ivalice Chronicles, Neo: The World Ends with You, Triangle Strategy, Tactics Ogre: Reborn, Live A Live.

All of these released in the last 6 years and most are critically acclaimed. Stop confusing the fact that you don't like the direction they are going in with failure. They have been on a roll for several years now. They were the highest rated publisher on Metacritic last year:

https://metro.co.uk/2026/03/25/square-enix-best-video-game-publisher-2025-according-metacritic-27663508/

@Yor-sama Liking The Last of Us 2 is an ice cold take. It's a critically acclaimed best-selling game. Ignore the nutters that hate on it for.... Reasons.

It's by no means perfect and there are plenty of criticisms that can be directed towards it provided they are shared in good faith. A part 3 would sell gangbusters.

@thechetearly I wish it was every week. More like every day.

@LogicStrikesAgain You are totally right. I've spent the last two days playing through the Resident Evil 1 Remake and it's an absolute masterpiece. I've had so much more fun with it than any of the open world games I've played in the last 5 years.

Publishers and developers have needed to reduce scope creep for years at this point. Games need 3 year development cycles and smaller teams making them. It's the only direction for sustainability. It will also mean less focus on graphics (which provide hugely diminishing returns in 2026) and more on gameplay systems/ creativity.

I feel absolutely gutted for the developers being laid off but this pain seems to be the only way for the industry to course correct. The d*ckheads in suits need to make all the right decisions moving forwards or the writing is on the wall.

I let my plus subscription lapse this month as it occured to me I wasn't actually using it. I add the games to my library, download the odd one and then go back to my backlog of games I actually own.

Good for you if these games sound appealing but I'm not seeing anything yet to reverse my decision.

@Balaam_ Oh you're into trophies? I had no idea...

@Member_the_game Nice, I don't think you will regret it. The Pro feels powerful and it's still a fraction of the cost of current PC prices.

These price increases really suck. Something will have to give at some point. Everything is costing more and people have less money to spend. The tipping point feels like an inevitably. It's going to be fascinating to see how to see how companies respond when the pendulum swings away from the status quo of increased sales.

@CWill97 Thanks man. The first one is brilliant but you have got an absolute treat coming up with the second. It's in my top 5 games of all time. Enjoy the ride!

@Npc1987 Ignorant comment of the day award goes to you my friend. If only you had taken a minute to think about what you were typing out there. Could have saved yourself the embarrassment.

"My pay has doubled so it's fine." Amazing insight.

@LordAinsley You're welcome. There's no chance you will win the lottery this weekend. There you go. Enjoy!

Welp my last comment aged like milk. I was sure it would be a years exclusivity on Switch. Glad to be wrong. Easy day 1 buy.

@LordAinsley I think Hades 2 will be a year exclusivity with Nintendo unfortunately. I fully expect it to release on 25th September this year.

I've nearly pulled the trigger on it for Steam Deck but I want the trophies....

@Globo Won't somebody please think of the A.I. children!

Loads on my wishlist here. Doom Dark Ages for £23 is calling to me. As is Shadow Gambit for 8 quid.

Brilliant game that I own on Switch. Tempted to buy it on PS5 and go for the platinum with this news.

Interested in this one. I've just picked up Sonic Racing Crosswords but something about it doesn't feel quite right. I love arcade racers and always welcome more of them.

@DennisReynolds Yep. Using the term 'Slop' is past the point of cringe now. It's lost all meaning (and didn't have much of one to begin with).

But it's the internet - People will overuse the terms they are told to.

I'm glad they are pricing it at its worth. Vampire Survivors was an absolute steal for how much content was packed into it.

@StrifeInMidgar Whoosh!

The online discourse of this game has been super weird. It's not a game for me but people seem determined to say it's a flop. Usually this is because of a female or person of colour as a main character but I don't see that.

Can anyone tell me what the root cause of the hate is? Genuine question.

It's a great console. I don't regret getting mine. I feel future proofed for a while. Hopefully RE Requiem is a sign of things to come.

Yep. I can wait for the full release. From what I hear it's a fairly robust offering as it stands but i'd much rather play the full game with all issues and wrinkles ironed out.

@Frmknst No thanks. There is plenty of shovelware s**t available on the store for you to get your eroticism in games. Action and stealth sounds good for a Bond game made by the Hitman developers.

@Deadhunter People seem to forget that Lost Legacy exists. A shame since it's a brilliant game in its own right.

I adore Uncharted and think 4 is by far the best one.

I was glad it ended at the time but it's been a decade since then and I'm more than ready for another. Bring Drake out of retirement!

I really don't care. I appreciate it is important to the gaming landscape as a whole but this isn't the reason I visit this site.

It seems the articles on upcoming games and reflective pieces on games gone by are becoming a rarity. I could be wrong here (I haven't actually counted), it just seems like it. Clearly I'm in the minority as all of these articles seem to have a lot of engagement. The constant doom posting is the reason I stopped visiting Reddit and I'm visiting this site less and less (something I really don't want to do - I've been coming here for over a decade)

I'm not naive, I fully respect that this is all important stuff and is shaping the future of the game industry. However, I choose to engage in this hobby as a means of fun and escapism and it just seems like disengagement of media sites (and the internet at large) is the only way to stop myself becoming disillusioned.

I understand this is a me problem and this is more of a rant than anything. I'm just as upset as anyone about the closure of Bluepoint, and some of the wider decisions made by large gaming corps, but I'm exhausted by the constant barrage of negativity around something I choose to do for fun. I'm not sure what my point is nor why I've chosen this article to make it - Just a bit fed up I guess.

@UltimateOtaku91 Thanks. I think I'll just dive into 2.

Yep. Spiderman 2 and Monster Hunter Stories makes the value insane for me. I'm debating whether to start with MH Stories 1 or just jump into 2.... Time is at a premium after all.

The irony of telling anyone to get over themselves is hilarious.

Sony did well dropping this melt. Remind me Jaffe - how did 'Drawn to Death' do again?