J2theEzzo

In a climate like this... it's pretty much unjustifiable to have spent 3 billion on a company, just to have them make a game that's reached lacklustre sales, with a bleeding playerbase. Decisions like this don't help.

People need to start making less games, with less bloated budgets, and to stop spending as much on production that goes to unnecessary levels. Less, and cheaper, games. Not more expensive, always forever, always online, celebrity endorsed 500 hour adventures with music videos etc. that are simply aping trends, or trying to appeal to the widest margins by following the curve.

Someone already mentioned the absurdity of paying for an actor to mocap a cube. What does this add exactly, other than rising production costs? As if no-one at Santa Monica could animate a 3d gelatinous cube...

@Andee You can do that if you want; you can spend all day on it, trying to get it right, but it never seems to stick. You can't help but wonder why... 😉

@WhoderMan Congratulations on a balanced, and non-inflammatory, comment/ perspective. 🫡

An absolutely honest "review" of FF16, and I couldn't agree more. The mainline story beats are fantastic, with some great cutscenes, but the side content... ehh, not so much. A whole lot of padding and useless filler. Vapid would be the right word.

Ff7 Re/make/birth suffer from these same problems, also. With terrible npc's and crap side missions being shoehorned in, that totally detracts from the drama and combat. As well as being just too long.

If Squ/Enix could just fine tune their action systems, keep the real time with pause to issue commands, and then strip away A LOT of the excess that keeps getting in the way of their own games, they could be making 10's. Instead, they stutter in my eyes, by trying to make you care, and forcing you to deal with side characters that just don't add anything, and are more annoying than interesting.

@johnedwin I don't really go in for the argument of 'fanboy-ism'; people are entitled to their opinions, doesn't mean they're not warranted.

And are you really suggesting that 'Wolverine' as a popular figure has less global appeal than Laufey, a (fairly) new character we've just been properly introduced to? Don't have to be a fanboy to admit that there's likely to be a greater struggle for GoW to reach as wide an audience as a Marvel property that's been on people's radar for a long time already.

They don't need to sell Wolverine. Pre-sale figures are already showing strong signs, and who doesn't know what to expect?
Laufey, in the other hand, may as well be a new IP, for all the work they're going to have to do, convincing people that this is the new - albeit temporary - face of 'God of War', and in case you missed it; some people are a bit miffed, either by character swap, or the change in direction that the series has taken. It's a much harder sell, in my opinion.

@somnambulance Totally agreed with your point, and the button layout was also my biggest hindrance... had to change to 'defensive' option, which basically makes the parry a comfortable tap of L1, rather than square, freeing up my thumbs for combat. Have to say, it felt immensely better after that!

@themightyant Rebirth could do with a whole lot more of the "less".

It's a maximalist nightmare, at times.

The question is whether completing them all will be essential for acquiring the platinum trophy, or whether they can be completely ignored, rather than whether the 'rewards' will be combat focused, or not.

And what about the pointless busywork that the game repeatedly forces you into, that totally kills the pace; vacuuming mako spills, and throwing boxes around, anyone?

@TheArt I personally think it plays distinctively enough to the titles you mentioned, and then, the overall presentation and emphasis on 'realism' and sword play, over superhuman abilities and skills, kinda makes me feel like it'll slot in perfectly, to be honest! 😉

@JB_Whiting I don't think the pace (or lack of) in the game is a problem, to be honest; that's just Onimusha. The last 3 mainline titles all had resi style tank controls, and were definitely slower. This is pretty snappy, as far as a 'musha game goes.

The difficulty I'd agree with, but seems to be cleared up, with this being an earlier portion of the game, and given the character has more skills unlocked. I've every faith the full release is gonna be fantastic.

Yep, I think it's finally happened... I've grown tired of their masocore souls-like formula. Haven't even been able to get through the first area of Nioh 3 - and not for the difficulty. Just... tired.

@danzoEX To be fair, I thought the same at first. I downloaded the demo and wasn't exactly blown away, but reviews were good, so I decided to buy it anyway. Well, while there are certain qualms, that won't go away, I will say that the gameplay is pretty solid, and wears its Nier influences well. Combat is really the main attraction, and it gets pretty good once you unlock some skills etc.

But obviously, it's also a bit embarrassing to play in front of other people, and all the characters are either very stiff (no pun intended) or weirdly/ cringey horny.

@SystemAddict You're going to love playing as Cait Sith in the Amazon warehouse section. 😉

@johncalmc I feel like I'm also part of that small minority, of not being into the whole multiple timelines thing. Just takes a lot of the drama away, because if anything happens... well, there's a timeline where it didn't, so no biggie 🤷

I really would have rather they stuck faithfully to the story and just implemented the new gameplay systems etc. Minus a lot of the open world bloat!

The Tekken 'force' mode that I always wanted... 😮‍💨
And really, every fighting game should come with some solid SP offering by this point. Looking at you, Tokon.

Looks cool, whatever the premise is with some kind of extra terrestrial threat (or... ?) Could be interesting.

@Yor-sama Doesn't look anything like a Souls game?

Does look good though! 😉

@XanderTigerclaw See my above comment! Haha

@Ooccoo_Jr I think it'd be more like "law-Faye"

Lau- comes from the word 'laurel', so the u is kind of like a stunted 'w' sound. Hence why the letter is called 'double u' 😉👍

I could see it being remembrance, or resurrection... something along those lines, given the weird and convoluted timeline changes keeping every dead character alive. (Spoilers!) Return would maybe be the least cheesey? I kinda just want to get it over with at this point, to be honest. Since the initial excitement of Remake, my enthusiasm has waned...

@BrockSmith No offence, but I think most people are aware of the gelatinous cube as a staple of DnD? It's been in so many action rpg's over the years, as a callback, and even made an appearance in the recent DnD movie (which is surprisingly good!)

That said, I don't like it, and I don't want it in my God of War game. It strikes me as very incohesive to the title as a whole. And sure, it's some weird underworld for God's... but gelatinous cube isn't a god; it's a (mostly) mindless and low tier enemy type.

I thought all this was known already? Is it not common knowledge? 🤔

After playing the demo, Onimusha is my top pick. Game feels fun as hell, and exceptionally slick, but still weighty.

No Rest is my number 2 choice, because I've been waiting for years!

@Chupa_loyzer There's an interview on eurogamer where it's mentioned that dismemberment is a part of the game (and can also be turned off). Suppose they kept it out of the show to be more 'palatable' for a wider audience.

@ShadowRJ Well, someone above basically perfectly summarised it, but to paraphrase "infantalisation of mature themes/ content". Whereby some fantastical and violent realm of dead gods, in a game that was once renowned for its pitiless lead and graphic combat, seeks to introduce "cute" animal companions and wise-cracking comedy buddies, eg. Gelatinous cube and mystical sword ribbon.

I wasn't big on the overall tonal change and constant exposition of Ragnarok, and this looks like it's going to continue with that, and I don't really see why these characters are necessary, other than an appeal to a younger audience, who maybe shouldn't be playing the game at all? (Because presumably too young)

@ShadowRJ They should have sooner implemented the jumping with Kratos, (like in Ragnarok, say) then the blades would have felt like a true callback to the original games. Instead, we get a more action oriented (supposedly) GoW game, with a different character that most people would rather not play as, while continuing the 'Disneyfied' direction of Ragnarok.

I don't understand this recent trend for sidelining main characters in their own franchises. 🤷

I'd rather have more; more visceral and varied animations, and ideally more nuance in how Wolverine gets covered, rather than a solid patch, that just disappears all at once.

I just picked Rebirth up again, hoping to get the plat, before these were released... too late, now. That said, I'm close to the end, and will carry on as per usual, without the assistance, for a well-earned trophy!

I really don't see the point in lamenting not having the trophy, if you'll only use cheats to get it. 'Git good' scrubs! 😉

I don't really understand why they didn't change the title for this. Imagine Spiderman 3 releasing, but you only get to play as black cat.

Lest we forget, Faye is not the God of War. And how can Barlog say she's his favourite character in the series, when she barely existed before?

While I think the action holds up... there's not much of it. Does seem like it'll get ensnared in all the same pacing problems that affected Ragnarok.

Aesthetics make me think of the new Horizon, but gameplay and character design are better by far.

Giving me 'The Thing' vibes 👍

@SKMonkyDeathCar It's a linear action game, like God of War used to be, before the open world. Honestly, I don't really want for much more, and if all you do is 'press square' that's on you?

Sifu is also a linear action game, and it's great.

Looking great. Nice to see it go in such a very different direction to Spiderman. Playing to their strengths.

All look very solid, and green goblin is a nice, left field choice. A proper fittingly villanous trailer too. Poor spiderman...

This will probably be my September purchase, but Phantom Blade has me very curious.

Looks very much a faithful reimagining of the PS2 classic! Wonder how the split screen will hold up, haha.

This is what I've been waiting to hear. A nice surprise.

@LogicStrikesAgain I'm personally quite curious about 4loop!

@DennisReynolds I don't personally think Tekken was ever so difficult to jump into, much as it maybe had a high ceiling. What they've done is brought the ceiling lower, and given all the characters stilts.

@DennisReynolds Yes, but I'm not talking about the characters themselves, necessarily. The whole heat gauge, with simplified power moves, and a slew of other changes have massively changed how the game actually plays.

@Oram77 That's what I'm thinking

Telken 9, if it ever releases, is going to be the most trite, anime-ified, and directionless title in the series isn't it? I can see the technicality and over-the-topness going the way of Kingdom Hearts 3...

Think I was about 3/4s through my 'death march' run on ps4, when the ps5 upgrade dropped. Loaded it up and got immediately battered, with no idea of what I was doing.

But, yet to play any of the dlc, and that might just be a good way to segue back to it, before finishing my adventures!

Divisive art style. Already niche, and limited, gameplay options. No single player content. No co-op/ PvE mode. Already losing masses of players.

I don't see the 2nd season pulling in new players, and I don't see it pulling in as many as launch, which was already lower than they estimated. Yes, it has a loyal fanbase, but that's basically all that's keeping this title on life support. (Maybe they should re-brand it 'live-support, instead of live-service)

And pardon me, but didn't half the people on the site already say the game would be doomed? Along with the rest of Sony's lacklustre push towards this direction, they're really just wasting cash to save face, by this point. Sooner they admit they were wrong, the better.

@Czar_Khastik Glad to be of assistance 🫡

@wildcat_kickz it's fun, but as with most live service titles, I just find the grind gets repetitive after a while.

That said, they recently changed the structure to make levels feel like they're more directed, though I've not jumped in for a while.

Still, if your profile pic is anything to go by, the live service element if it shouldn't put you off - and I will say that combat is satisfyingly crunchy!

Darktide seems like the real winner here, especially after the recent updates they've rolled out, but sadly, I picked it up last year already in a deep sale!

Not much for me, then... 🤷

@Czar_Khastik I rather thought you'd hard pass precisely because there's a main quest, and actually, you only like a game full of side quests, haha.

@Yor-sama If a vampire lord was threatening to kill my family, you best believe I'm not going to be spending my time chasing down pigs, or picking herbs to cure some other sap's cold.

So yeah, sounds like an RPG to me?