Hyena_socks

I do get what he’s saying, but:
A) I love your teams output, but please stop riling people up for no reason Sven
B) This takes away the agency of individuals - if I read a good review it’s clear what I do or don’t agree with, I’ve read some 4/10 reviews where I know the game is 100% for me, and vice-versa with 10/10 games.

The answer isn’t to rely further on what others tell us to think, it’s to call out specific bad reporting (including personal attacks). Otherwise, no matter the love and effort, if a game is bad people need to know before they spend out £50-80 on it

Sounds like weird, unpleasant fetish content to me. Happy to be proven wrong, maybe it’ll be a powerhouse of storytelling.

@Slayer25c absolutely, but I meant I’m a bit confused specifically why they’d remake a Dynasty Warriors game. They’ve all been really similar, besides each games novel extra mode.

But they’re always fun, so whatever, happy for it - just a bit puzzling.

I’m still wondering why this is being made, but more Dynasty Warriors is more Dynasty Warriors - it’ll be good fun whenever it arrives

A whole 11 minutes and they didn’t answer the only question anyone cares about: Can. You. Pet. The. Dog?

Looks great - characters seem a bit cheesy, but the gameplay looks a lot of fun and dramatic.

Isn’t it rather scary this is possible in general?

Not to sound like a conspiracy nut, but there’s no way birds are rea-…I mean, what if this wa used by more nefarious groups as a tool/exploit in the future? For an existing or new game?

I remember seeing genuine gameplay of this years back. I wonder if that was completely reworked.

Still, I enjoy the annual snippet of BG&E2 news. There’s something mesmerising about hauling a corpse around, occasionally grabbing its arm to wave at people, before carrying on its ceaseless journey

@Dimey thanks! I just saw it in the trailer watching it a second time too. Hopefully it’ll be developed nicely, loved how it was implemented in 3

Wonderful news, was really hoping for this. The game looks fantastic! I hope they bring back the property purchasing, with more personalisation and depth possibly.

Also werewolves. Dear gods are we lacking in werewolves in videogames, don’t let us down Chicken Chaser!

The first game reminded me of Dragon’s Dogma, in the sense it’s a deeply odd game.
I enjoyed my time with it, but it had some baffling design choices.

I’m definitely intrigued by this, will wait for reviews. I wonder if they’ll drop the bizarre (and rather…distracting) accent they invented for the elves.

Please add a spoiler warning for this c**t. Some of us experienced Bubsy 3D at a formative age and still carry the very real trauma to this day.

@Oxy the irony of the frames being too fatal.
It is locked at 30fps, but for horror I think it works well being a bit more rugged. As long as it’s stable.

@nessisonett he’s pro LGBT+ and generally a solid, left-wing bloke, so he upsets people of a certain inclination. Might be the case here.

This looks a fantastic remake. So good, in fact, there’s no chance in hell I’m going to play it. I could barely make it through the demo of the original.

Superb game, genuinely fun mechanics, but too upsettingly tense and terrifying for this scaredy-cat. Hope it does well though!

Sounds like a really interesting idea - but you are putting faith in people. I feel there’ll be a lot of murder hobo-ing if given half the chance.

But it’s a great idea, I’ll keep an eye on this.

I have a couple of the Extra games already, but I’d happily play any of the others, and actively interested in half of them. Excellent month!

@Bramble that’s true! Normally when you see that much horny the writing isn’t the priority, but who knows, maybe it’ll be an emotional roller coaster that skewers tropes and turns them on their head.

…or it’ll just be a bunch of questionable character designs of dubious age and attire, with fun-enough standard 2D action. Could be enjoyable though

A loli for every occasion…except my hard earned money. That’s as aggressively anime as it is uncomfortably horny, like Tarantino shoving feet in your face every other shot

I think I’ll be getting my 2D action elsewhere, thank you.

I’ve still got Double Exposure to finish, and I never clicked with 2.

But the first, before the storm and True Colours are fantastic, and all had moments that strongly resonated emotionally with me - in ways few things have.

It’ll be great to see Chloe again, as long as it doesn’t negate the impact of the first game. The comics handled it well though, wonder if they’ll follow suit

Excellent month for Extra - I own RE: Village, but will definitely dive into a Quiet Place and Darkest Dungeon 2.

I’m sure the first will scare me silly and the latter will infuriate me to the point of tears, but it’s always good to feel something

I didn’t realise Meta owned game studios, but they’re a huge corporation so of course they would. Hopefully the talent will be snatched up by worthier hands

Great to see ‘Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy’ in this list - was a real surprise quote how excellent it is, and how little you hear about the game.

Superb, emotional story, very funny dialogue, really fun gameplay. Only negative it has is there’s not more of it.

@TrollOfWar that’s a good point, I hadn’t thought of those, hope for the future!

@Oram77 I’d be interested to see if any Xbox-derived games will enter PS+, it might not be contractually possible. But fingers crossed!

I’m going to wait for a deep sale on this one too - it looks fun, but possibly a big time sink that ends up a bit forgettable.

XIII was absolutely savaged by the single worst VA inflicted upon the word. Vanille is just painful to listen to, as well as just being an annoying character, and she’s the narrator.

I really tried with the game, and there were parts to like, just that VA was so distracting it was hard to take the rest seriously.

But I’ve not played it in many moons, maybe it’s not as bad as I remember. Had great music and chocobos though.

Using it based on your own assets is how it should be, that’s a perfect use of it. The issue using it at concept stage when it’s using stolen assets is you end up with recycled, soulless ideas, and Larian isn’t short on either.

That’s a shame, this was quietly looking an absolute blast. I mean how do you screw up shooting dinosaurs in the face in space with a shotgun?

If the gameplay was fun I’d be tempted, but I’ll wait for the inevitable PS+ drop instead. Ridiculous stories that take themselves too seriously is one of the great joys in life.

Fable would be glorious, maybe Fable Anniversary too. I miss those wonderful games, and what we have seen looks promising

@Petrecis24 I’m a huge fan of LIS, particularly the first game and Before The Storm, so I really enjoyed Double Exposure as it felt like seeing an old friend.

It does have odd pacing, and it feels a bit like a hollowed out B-Movie - dialled down, and no new character particularly grabbed me. But it’s still Max and it’s still LIS. Give it a go, it’s pretty cheap these days.

But this new game sounds intriguing, hope we get new spaces to explore. It cheapens the end of the first game, but they can make it work similar to the comics with multiverse shenanigans.

@Leeg it’s not pointless, we just don’t know.

It’s good to have an update at the year’s start, I found it interesting, and it’s equally interesting that we don’t know what a lot of their studios are working on.

This’ll be interesting, almost feels like picking up a games magazine and flicking through - you might see something big, or a lot of smaller things that just slipped your notice before.

Translation: “we put loads of money into it, stop being poopy heads it’s eating into our profit predictions” but whined with a toddler stamp or two.

Stop making slop, put in safeguards and support then politically where required, and prevent it cutting real people from real jobs, and the views on it might shift more positive.

@sorteddan I know you meant the game, but what a beautiful line that is. It could be a line from an Indie romance

@Balaam_ look we all wish PAW Patrol Rescue Wheels: Championship won platinum, but some years we have to give other franchises a chance

Looks a bit cheesy but outside of combat looks to have its own wuxia personality, I’ll keep an eye on this one. Certainly looks pretty.

As you rightly said @Oram77 Lost Odyssey had a similar atmosphere, and Legend of the Dragoon and the Shadow Hearts series (Covenant particularly) had timing based turn-based mechanics.

Clair Obscur brought a lot of sidelines mechanics together beautifully, and showed it’s still relevant and popular, but it wasn’t completely unique gameplay-wise.

I’m still playing through this but many hours in. It’s beautiful, fun and a wonderful world to lose yourself in.

I wish they’d been a bit bolder with the story though, I’d love it if the Yotei Six weren’t comic book villains, and the Vengence was closer to TLOU2’s savagery - instead of just killing obviously bad guys doing bad things

@MrStark including Forza 5 or Indiana Jones would be a little odd - they came out on PS5 this year, but they’re not new games, the latter’s technically 4 years old.

I think it’s an interesting top 10 so far, games I might have missed that would be good to check out.

I loved Dispatch myself - it’s a bit short, but the characters shine through with solid arcs, and a great fun sense of team camaraderie (despite minor questionable stammer representation).

@EfYI I forgot Bloom & Rage came out this year completely, good shout.

Unfortunately I got very near the end of the first half, then hit by the glitch that wiped your save and never went back. I will in the new year though, great story and, as you say, art direction

Monster Train 2 is mine - seems to have glided right under the radar somehow, but it’s every bit as good as the original while feeling fresh

@Svark that’s great to know, thanks! I’ll take the dive next year when my backlog is down a bit.

I always enjoy these top games of the year, I like the variety we often see in interests and passions. Speaks to a good set of staff at a news/review website.

I’m very much a solo gamer, but I have been tempted by Split Fiction - unfortunately my internet is scrappy, so may not be stable enough for it.

@Frmknst over half of them are at their lowest yet dude, not sure where you’re getting your information from.

But money off is money off, if you really want to play a game any sale is nice. And this sale gives you something for the near-eternal January and February drudge

@Jey887 I agree 100%, I’m very much opposed to AI in the creative sector, but also studios are going to explore it.

As long as they’re hiring artists and not cutting creative jobs (and they’ve said, they’re hiring more than ever), then they can dabble. I’d hate if they’re using it to come up with the ideas, but if it’s to flesh out human ideas then so be it.

The studio conditions is new to me though, that’s a surprise, I’ll have to look more into it

Blimey, a sale on a FromSoftware game! I’m still a bit scared to play Elder Ring, I’ve managed to game my whole life and remain terrible at games like that. One day though, when I’ve got the expendable money to risk it.

A lot of people leaping in to defend AI. AI IS replacing artists and creatives, it’s already greatly impacting very real people in very real ways (I personally know artists who have been affected).

Ultimately, the issue is regulation - there is none at the moment. And there won’t be, unless there is a pushback. If we all roll over and play with our yarn, we’re going to lose people behind the creativity, jobs will continue to be replaced, and the impact on the environment will further plummet.

That said, like anything, if used in moderation it’s not an issue. Larian are not a company to remove the soul of a thing, so it sounds like it’s just being used as a ‘soundboard’ for ideas and planning. There should be a lot of humans behind and in front of the creation.

Looks like a bloomin’ strong year, possibly one of the strongest years yet for PS5.

Shame it’s taking the survival route, and looks like you just slowly hack away at materials then bull deposit buildings. It would be cool if you slowly fed the workers to build up your town over time, protecting them as they worked.

But more cowboy games are more cowboy games, hopefully if it’s popular it’ll lead to a couple more that are more my type.

@IronCrow86 I’m playing it at the moment, same as BG3 you can move around normal but you can switch to point and click if you want.

I also thought I just missed there was a PS5 version, was grumbling to myself it didn’t automatically download when I downloaded it last week. More fools me, but good timing!

@SeaDaVie Sadly I’m not sure it’ll leave the gaming sphere, but at least overall this is a much nicer community. Things are slowly changing overall