Nothing against it. Gameplay pacings and styles are not to my tastes. Creating builds in RPGs or faster passes action oriented gameplay are my preferences over 3rd person psuedo stealth games.
Doesn't help that the original tlou gameplay was in my opinion just too sluggish and kind of put me off the franchise going forward.
I do think the central story premise is one of the best I've seen though. I do love a good 'end the cycle of revenge' story and this one took it to the dark conclusion unlike many others
People talking about the new xbox being a reskinned pc and not wanting to deal with the complications involved are missing large parts of the information given about the handheld and future Xbox.
They have already said they will have a dedicated 'gaming' launch mode that needs none of the bells and whistles if pc launchers. Id also expect buying games on this to default to Xbox store.
This has a lot less to do with platform and more to do with the power of release window fomo. Release later somewhere else and suffer the consequences (unless you are a live service cross save/play game then maybe you are lucky)
Not being on the disc (and playable offline) is just a line in the sand that some people will not cross. To each their own though I think it's a smaller minority than the internet would lead people to believe
I have every console. I have favourite games across multiple genres and systems. Sony has had games this generation I liked. But nothing of the ps5 generation of 1st party games has actually really immersed me and had me think of it as a favourite. Closest would be Spiderman 2 which has a large buff via IP and love of the 1st.
I have never, and will never, be gaslit into believing I need raw graphical power to be immersed in a story/world or gameplay.
But that's also not really what he was saying. The article is exaggerating
From what I remember having played all gears games. Even though they aren't my favourite shooters I liked the horde Modes with friends you could turn off the camera shake in the newer ones but it still remained slightly when sprinting.
Stylistically and aesthetically it will always look like a 2000's shooter but to be honest I'd say a lot of that is because it almost encapsulated that era of aesthetic the most and arguably the best with it's tone and themes.
I only have so much free time to game and am rarely 100% sure I want a game if it's a new IP or a late series sequel I've not played before.
I have game pass and it first introduced me to Yakuza 0 a few years ago. Now I've bought every game in the franchise and have (almost) caught up.
I hadn't bought expedition 33 or metaphor because I had other chunky RPGs on my backlog but because the former was in my library when I finally finished persona 5 royal it immediately got played and now I've purchased it on my ps5 for the better gaming experience (only have a series s) after that I will play metaphor.
Countless indie games like the brilliant slay the spire and monster train I never would have played without game pass because it's just not easy to sort through games nowadays when reviews are so polarised by internet negativity.
Gaming is a growth driven industry that started to saturate and die. The same IS going to happen with game pass etc. I know it but for now it has given me a bit of breathing space for game selection at times and introduced me into some of my all time favourites
@OldGamer999 same if only 1 generation behind (I ain't that old). Also owned all Nintendo hardware from N64 onwards, every Xbox and even a dreamcast.
I've had favourite games on each console and still have done to this day. It's just a rough world to be a gamer who plays everywhere and calls out each company as sees fit these days
@IronCrow86 yes. The system has 2 modes. One acts like a pc, the 2nd is a custom Xbox 'platform' where you can load games from all your various other platforms in one place without jumping hoops.
@UltimateOtaku91 I've been enjoying civ vii mouse controls and went back and replayed Pokémon snap to feel the screen improvements. For me though they need to really sell how much you want protective accessories for the switch 2. This screen is heavy, beautiful but feels so so fragile
This isn't a game that warrants 60 for my personal playing preferences but for those who really find games under 60 to be uncomfortable to play I commiserate
I don't think it's expected to sell much. Xbox likely just paid them for it so they could have the optics. With expedition 33, oblivion and metaphor all recently on game pass I don't think FF 16 has any chance this far outside it's release window fomo
@Odium yeah I quite enjoyed it too. Probably because I have quite a wide taste in gaming.
Sonic racing brought me back to all stars racing transformed days , Lies of p dlc (remember when people were interested?) , More from Yakuza franchises , Code vein 2 (I liked the first anyway), Re9, Jurassic park SIM 3 (the other 2 are popular) Atomic heart 2 (I'm only mildly interested as the first wasnt the best), Onimusha always a win for me, Lego party I'll probably get on sale as mario party is never known sale, Dice of destiny ill probably get to play with my partner and my younger brother
And I know I'm forgetting others I was interested in when they were shown off. I don't particularly care for all the overhype in the big franchise games like GTA or the over the top cinematic games I see paraded a lot (death stranding frankly bored me too much too fast)
Thoroughly enjoyed the comments. Came here knowing they had 2 versions. 1 with and 1 without the game (makes sense as there is no physical release for pc or Xbox).
Watching the many spiritual journeys from screw SE -> this article is misleading was worth the engagement
I've bought final fantasy tactics every time it released. It's been one of my comfort games my entire life and I cannot stress enough how happy this makes me
@BAMozzy nice to see someone else who understands what this game is. Everyone is too focused on the mainstream gaming experience.
Both the first and this one are experiences entirely separate from standard gaming that require an entirely different mindset and atmosphere to enjoy properly
@Onelastgo video game market analysts have had plenty to say about physical gaming.
Most notably that it is no longer to be expected. Physical gamers are now 'enthusiasts' in the same way music enthusiasts buy vinyls or frankly just...CDs, CDs have declined 95% since their peak for music and similarly physical games are over 85% down from their peak. Except they rarely complain when every new release isn't on vinyl.
As for the pricing that's just tiresome to hear. I earn well over 50% more compared to when I started my job for doing nothing particularly different or more. Everything has gone up in prices in turn. Compare the cost of luxuries like sweets and chocolates. Production costs remain similar but they are now very noticeably more expensive. Then we sit and complain that video games that have exponentially been growing in production values need to put up prices to remain sustainable? And complain we are paying more for less? While every year wages go up for no more work? Every analyst has been saying video game prices have been so far past due a rise that we have frankly been LUCKY it lasted this long
@ConsoleAgnostic I know perfectly well what the bystander effect is. But this really doesn't apply. It's such a low impact topic for such a vast majority of gamers that it just doesn't matter.
News outlets and media using rage in clickbait for everything just makes people angry and they push that anger everywhere except for actually productive places
All the console makers and the larger publishing arms don't particularly care too much for physical sales.
We are consumers, not customers. That's the shareholders. This is why 2019 Sony stopped allowing 3rd parties to sell download codes (even the developers themselves!) to force you to buy through their store for digital (Sony tax = shareholder win)
Same reason the pro is discless as standard let's be honest.
Nintendo already announced several switch 2 games are going this route.
By the same vein epic just won the apple lawsuit and are still encouraging all Fortnite players to buy v-bucks directly through epic not apple store. All about the shareholder profits
Do I think physical media should exist for preservation purposes? Yes. Do I think this was only ever going to be a one way slope? Yes. Is preservation ONLY possible through physical media? Not in the slightest. Do the majority care? Nope. Do the shareholders care? Nope.
So ultimately we can do nothing. Saying words matters not as it's too small a minority. Accept the reality of it and move on. No sense in getting worked up over some things outside our control
Where was this conversation when Like a dragon infinite wealth also sold over 1 million copies in its first week with a turn based combat system that featured QTE? Turn based is turn based. They've had games with also qte in them for over a decade. Legend of the dragon, paper mario, lost odyssey (the most like expedition 33... Let this team remaster THAT monster).
FF has had its own identity crisis for years. I enjoyed most entries but have found them lacking creative writing sparks most often that other RPGs I've enjoyed more from like a dragon, atlus games, expedition 33 seem to have as their real core.
@Northern_munkey I'm laying a portion of the blame of publisher's and audience expectations. I'm taking none away from Epic. They released press statements 2 months ago admitting UE5 had stutter issues largely because of shaders (which is almost always worse on pc than consoles), and digital foundry even posted a video on that subject where they said insiders in development studios were telling them that some aspects of UE5 weren't even working as they were told they should forcing developers to have to call in specialists to fix things and we still end up with these stuttery messes.
Now epic promise it will 'eventually be better'. Epic know that UE5 isn't really ready for the flawless AAA development they are promising these companies but they are downplaying it as much as possible on their end so people on the internet can blame rushed, underpaid developers instead.
When such a substantial amount of UE5 AAA games suffer this badly among a wide variety of developers then the common denominator isn't the devs. Go look at shader comp issues in UE5. Even Fortnite is a stutter fest with it at times.
UE5 as it is right now is a joke. It is not up to the standard epic claimed it was and developers and gamers are paying the price while they use us as testers.
@Northern_munkey it's not on the developers though. They aren't the top of the food chain. They aren't the ones making the engine decision. That's on the publishers that want faster, cheaper turnover, that's on the shareholders pushing for the cheapest employee turnover rates incentivising shared skillets being taught to new developers, that's on the audiences wanting games faster and prettier with no increase to the price of games. The developers are ultimately the LAST people to be blamed.
@Northern_munkey UE5 is pushed so hard on all new developers that it is literally taught on university courses. The problem is that UE5's many user friendly interfaces also scale together poorly when over relied on instead of more intimate coding by individual developers. This in itself then breeds more sloppily optimised games as it saves time and money pleasing shareholders and encouraging developers to continue cutting themselves kinds of corners.
Granted this mostly applies to the open world games as default UE5 settings tend to steer towards visual flair first and then require more developer knowledge for the performance side. I.e. games like hell blade 2 which isn't large open world, expedition 33 which is a small team of developers not pushed to release fast and actually taking their time to learn the engine in depth
Look at recent games in UE5 silent hill 2 remake, nightingale, immortals of aveum, lords of the fallen, avowed, even oblivion remaster
Then look at developer teams leaning on teaching their Devs actually how to use engines because they aren't just encouraged to learn the basics of the cheapest to teach engine out there
Alan wake, kingdom come deliverance 2 spring toind immediately.
The industry is pivoting en masse to UE5 so speed up production times, lower production cost, and make it easier to cycle Devs in ***** conditions because ALL Devs are graduating with basic UE5 knowledge. Just another symptom of gamings issues and an underlying cause for so much terrible optimisation and performance. All boosted by the fact UE5 has the good graphics base looks needed to get pre-orders in from trailers looking pretty on top
@Northern_munkey I don't disagree that the shadow drop hid performance issues but even if it had stable 60fps this graphic level would've been slaughtered in the internet.
I blame Bethesda less due the performance than epic quite frankly. UE5 is a joke considering the level of push to make it almost a universal engine that the smaller studios like virtuos would obviously default to
Bethesda had to shadow drop oblivion. If it had been a normal release schedule it would've been ridiculed and mocked online for poor graphics and jank. Overpowering the nostalgia rampage sweeping people with this shadow drop. The shadow drop and excitement of old fans created tonnes of fomo.
This is no ordinary (sometimes lazy) modern remaster of a game barely 5 years old to coincide with some series, sequel or movie to generate hype.
And it's incredibly indicative of the nature of people on the internet trying to hate on it just for the sake of hate.
Is expedition 33 better? Yes. Is that proving true with sales? Yes. Do I think Oblivion is rudely reducing sales of this fantastic new IP? No.
A lot of the vocal minority online of gamers are a lot more flexible with their purchases than they like to pretend online. And a lot of the 'I'll wait for a sale' group either do not manage to wait for a sale or simply never purchase. As has been proved several times with past games and further show how people won't purchase even with sale outside of initial Zeitgeist with things like the late port of ff7 to pc and it's corresponding sales numbers on pc
@AverageGamer was about to say the same thing. Ps5 pro or high end pcs can probably brute force the ue5 issues away but for base ps5 and the Xbox pair I expect some frame rate issues in the open world segments and maybe the capitol
@Dragoon1994 most of that discourse was referring to the fact that upscaled switch 2 versions of switch 1 games will only have the switch 1 version on the cartridge and the upgrade is via a download.
The rest is because some extra large 3rd party companies either can't because of size or just won't release physical copies of games all in the cartridge (as many of these companies also do with disc)
One point I don't see being mentioned is that one of the reasons Nintendo don't reduce the cost of their games is they are generally complete on release and don't rely on mtx to make up profits. All their love service bs is reserved for mobile devices and funds single player games. You may not like the genres they aim for or the fact they iterate on the same IPS but a LOT of people do. I don't want the next mario kart to sell out and offer 6 thousand different pieces of outfit for individual prices just to save £10 on the purchase. But neither do I begrudge that some companies do have to do things that way to make the games they want to make. We can't have our cakes and eat them. The extra development costs have to come from somewhere
@RagnarLothbrok Something commonly said in online circles but not as widespread proven considering the number of different outlets agree from various places.
Regardless the user scores for all four of those games are all at 7.6 or higher. And taking pentiment as the lowest of the lot the low reviews are laughably boiled down to 'not next gen graphics, don't wanna read'.
@RagnarLothbrok that's a little disingenuous and rude. They may be out of the zeitgeist and talking ppints but every single game in that list boasts over an 80 on metacritic. All are good, respectable games
@themightyant agreed. People always vastly underestimate the effect of no longer being in the zeitgeist.
I think they should try and time single player ps5 releases with DLC/Expansion drops if they ever want large sales numbers while still having an exclusivity period elsewhere
@themightyant I'm just sad he also dragged in halo infinite, avowed and hi fi rush into the fight.
As someone who enjoys a a wide spectrum of games across pc and all 3 consoles why pick out some of the 3 actually good Xbox games (infinite I mean campaign, multiplayer I gave up with after the abysmal release schedule).
AC shadows is doing ok. It's got plenty of the more unsavoury modern gaming stuff, i.e. lots of paid options in a sp game, but it's definitely at the same standard as past ubisoft mainstream titles and other AC games partnered with a popular period and location. Angry internet people gotta be angry I guess
8% of steam users game time is on games less than 2 years old as pointed out in one portion of the article above. Pc gamers pirate new games more and wait for sales in a much larger proportion to console gamers. Steam sales really don't mean a whole lot for more console centric new titles.
@Ralizah having played almost every monster hunter game I can't disagree more. It's a very very different experience playing from base versus starting from the dlc. It's a wildly different difficulty curve for one and most importantly the entire endgame loop of the base game is usually redundant for the dlc with the way the power scaling works. Especially so ever since world.
Playing monster hunter only from the dlc release may be smoother but it's really not the same experience intended by the developers in terms of content intake
All I'm personally expecting over the next few years is a fresh new legal battle. Epic have set the trend on mobile and I don't doubt it will come to console.
Epic and likely Microsoft, possibly (though unlikely) even companies like steam, Amazon, netflix will be looking for the potential to have their own storefronts for sales and streaming.
I'm still fairly confident this is the end goal for Microsoft. Tie it in with game pass and their soon to be very large rollouts of mainstream western games and they will be hoping to become a platform for game purchases across all places to play games.
They will still sell consoles just for the optics and the die hard fans. Probably while saying that they are the 'best' place to play their games.
One thing that the industry has shown in the last couple generations. Players follow their friends. And many people follow their old library. There used to be nothing stopping a swap in company gen to gen but once back compatibility and achievements took off along side the rise of console multiplayer it was the perfect time for Sony to win and Xbox to fumble and things to snowball from there. Microsoft probably see this as their last real chance to turn that tide utilising the next generations interest in mobile gaming and a look at a future of streaming to do it.
@Northern_munkey as mentioned in the article the intent is that the game knows what button you are pressing a few fractions of a second faster and prepares the input slightly quicker reducing input lag. This may be especially useful for streaming games
@middyone I quite literally said it was at a time that Ubisoft formula was popular at that time. Far cry 5 came out a year later and was the best selling in the franchise.
I also specifically added that it was the Sony stamp of approval during Sony's peak brand time that contributed to sales.
Horizon forbidden west went so far as to add 'destructible walls' to the minimap with nothing more behind them than a pile of gold. Zero dawn had little to no waste in the general nooks and crannies of the map being actually related to quests and collectibles. That is what I refer to as bloat. Forcing me to traverse the map back to places for these things on my map that serve 0 purpose.
The way Aloy was written in forbidden west felt incredibly forced at least so far as the early game. It got significantly better later but it is on the developers to make early game better.(starfield anyone?) The tonal dissonance between Aloy's urgency in the intro contrasted poorly to the flippant side quests. In zero dawn the framing of gaining allies framed things more organically for the side quests that culminated well at the end.
As for completion rate they are pretty identical. Despite the fact that zero dawn was free for everyone and that can be extrapolated to a massive amount of people who opened the game with no intention of completion.
The higher % platinum rate also leads credence to the sentiment that collectibles in forbidden west were on the higher end of the open world spectrum compared to zd.
Young audience + moba does not sound great long term to me. Even
Pokémon unite is only doing ok because of a more adult hardcore scene, especially in china.
I can't see enough of a playerbase for a long lasting live service game without a large IP or some stellar gameplay with that target audience in the moba scene of all things. I at least believe the latter might happen though it's very outside bungies comfort zone.
For me horizon zero dawn was a fun week but it left no impact on my even if I got the platinum. It just came out when the 'ubisoft formula' was at it's most popular and Sony was at their peak PS4 crest of popularity. Forbidden west in comparison was far to bloated and poorly written.
I appreciate hzd for what it was but it doesn't really have me hooked on the IP. I'll probably still give the movie a wat h as I found zd premise and execution on the history lore in it to be good
A LOT more negative talk went around about ms buying Activision (rightly so) I don't see this purchase overwhelmingly affecting the gaming world.
As for the anime world well 80% of crunchy roll anime are mid and of the remaining 20% lately the 'better' anime have been releasing elsewhere as well. Some of the biggest rated anime lately even being exclusive elsewhere. I.e. Oshi no KO.
The only reasons I could see msft being legitimately interested in kadokawa are the following:
1. Kadokawa want to remain pretty much intact and as such would be a profitable, working company in Japan for msft. (Tango was closed largely due to the director leaving and there being tenuous management available to msft for tango in Japan)
2. EVERYTHING kadokawa have could be available on msfts future plans of 'everything is an Xbox if you subscribe'. Music, anime, games. All of it
I don't want that so I'd rather Sony have it. Sony the gaming developer wouldn't buy a company this big. Sony the entertainment company most certainly can and would benefit massively.
As a 'real gamer' (TM) I'm contractually obligated per the social media rules to say Fortnite sucks blah blah blah. /S
(If this is the multiplayer game my friends want to play these next few months I'll play it and enjoy spending time with my friends. I have plenty of 'real' sp games to keep me busy otherwise)
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Re: Poll: How Do You Feel About The Last of Us Part 2, 5 Years Later?
Nothing against it. Gameplay pacings and styles are not to my tastes. Creating builds in RPGs or faster passes action oriented gameplay are my preferences over 3rd person psuedo stealth games.
Doesn't help that the original tlou gameplay was in my opinion just too sluggish and kind of put me off the franchise going forward.
I do think the central story premise is one of the best I've seen though.
I do love a good 'end the cycle of revenge' story and this one took it to the dark conclusion unlike many others
Re: PS5's Ghost of Yotei Features Some Kind of 'Foraging' System, Sucker Punch Confirms
Please don't be bloat collection stuff like ubisoft
Re: FBC: Firebreak (PS5) - PS Plus Shooter Proves Remedy Should Have Stayed in Its Lane
@Lami people just lump in most multiplayer games as live service immediately now sadly
Re: The Next Xbox Is a PC, So What Does That Mean for PS6?
@Majin_Deicide they have already said the handheld will have a dedicated gaming mode to do just that. Id expect the console to offer the same
Re: The Next Xbox Is a PC, So What Does That Mean for PS6?
People talking about the new xbox being a reskinned pc and not wanting to deal with the complications involved are missing large parts of the information given about the handheld and future Xbox.
They have already said they will have a dedicated 'gaming' launch mode that needs none of the bells and whistles if pc launchers. Id also expect buying games on this to default to Xbox store.
Re: Final Fantasy 16 May Have Underperformed on PS5, But It's Doing Terribly on Xbox
This has a lot less to do with platform and more to do with the power of release window fomo. Release later somewhere else and suffer the consequences (unless you are a live service cross save/play game then maybe you are lucky)
Re: Rumour: Gears of War PS5's Blu-ray Will Include the Full Game on the Disc
Not being on the disc (and playable offline) is just a line in the sand that some people will not cross. To each their own though I think it's a smaller minority than the internet would lead people to believe
Re: Switch 2 Can't Achieve a Great Experience on Big Screens, PS5 Boss Implies
I have every console. I have favourite games across multiple genres and systems. Sony has had games this generation I liked. But nothing of the ps5 generation of 1st party games has actually really immersed me and had me think of it as a favourite. Closest would be Spiderman 2 which has a large buff via IP and love of the 1st.
I have never, and will never, be gaslit into believing I need raw graphical power to be immersed in a story/world or gameplay.
But that's also not really what he was saying. The article is exaggerating
Re: This Is How Gears of War Reloaded Looks and Plays on PS5 Pro
From what I remember having played all gears games. Even though they aren't my favourite shooters I liked the horde Modes with friends you could turn off the camera shake in the newer ones but it still remained slightly when sprinting.
Stylistically and aesthetically it will always look like a 2000's shooter but to be honest I'd say a lot of that is because it almost encapsulated that era of aesthetic the most and arguably the best with it's tone and themes.
But haters gonna hate etc etc
Re: 'People Are Less Willing to Pay': Dev Speaks Out Against Day One Releases on PS Plus, Xbox Game Pass
I only have so much free time to game and am rarely 100% sure I want a game if it's a new IP or a late series sequel I've not played before.
I have game pass and it first introduced me to Yakuza 0 a few years ago. Now I've bought every game in the franchise and have (almost) caught up.
I hadn't bought expedition 33 or metaphor because I had other chunky RPGs on my backlog but because the former was in my library when I finally finished persona 5 royal it immediately got played and now I've purchased it on my ps5 for the better gaming experience (only have a series s) after that I will play metaphor.
Countless indie games like the brilliant slay the spire and monster train I never would have played without game pass because it's just not easy to sort through games nowadays when reviews are so polarised by internet negativity.
Gaming is a growth driven industry that started to saturate and die. The same IS going to happen with game pass etc. I know it but for now it has given me a bit of breathing space for game selection at times and introduced me into some of my all time favourites
Re: Days Gone Dev Hit with Layoffs, Loses 30% of Staff
@OldGamer999 same if only 1 generation behind (I ain't that old). Also owned all Nintendo hardware from N64 onwards, every Xbox and even a dreamcast.
I've had favourite games on each console and still have done to this day. It's just a rough world to be a gamer who plays everywhere and calls out each company as sees fit these days
Re: Yep, PlayStation's PC Games Will Be Playable on Xbox's New Handheld System
@IronCrow86 yes. The system has 2 modes. One acts like a pc, the 2nd is a custom Xbox 'platform' where you can load games from all your various other platforms in one place without jumping hoops.
Re: Sounds Like Switch 2 May Have Obliterated PS5's Launch Record in France
@UltimateOtaku91 I've been enjoying civ vii mouse controls and went back and replayed Pokémon snap to feel the screen improvements. For me though they need to really sell how much you want protective accessories for the switch 2. This screen is heavy, beautiful but feels so so fragile
Re: Digimon Story Time Stranger Disappointment as 30FPS Cap Is Confirmed on Consoles
This isn't a game that warrants 60 for my personal playing preferences but for those who really find games under 60 to be uncomfortable to play I commiserate
Re: Final Fantasy 16 Is No Longer a PS5 Console Exclusive, Gets Superb Artwork to Celebrate
I don't think it's expected to sell much. Xbox likely just paid them for it so they could have the optics. With expedition 33, oblivion and metaphor all recently on game pass I don't think FF 16 has any chance this far outside it's release window fomo
Re: Poll: How Would You Rate Summer Game Fest 2025?
@Odium yeah I quite enjoyed it too. Probably because I have quite a wide taste in gaming.
Sonic racing brought me back to all stars racing transformed days ,
Lies of p dlc (remember when people were interested?) ,
More from Yakuza franchises ,
Code vein 2 (I liked the first anyway),
Re9,
Jurassic park SIM 3 (the other 2 are popular)
Atomic heart 2 (I'm only mildly interested as the first wasnt the best),
Onimusha always a win for me,
Lego party I'll probably get on sale as mario party is never known sale,
Dice of destiny ill probably get to play with my partner and my younger brother
And I know I'm forgetting others I was interested in when they were shown off. I don't particularly care for all the overhype in the big franchise games like GTA or the over the top cinematic games I see paraded a lot (death stranding frankly bored me too much too fast)
Re: Final Fantasy Tactics Remaster's Expensive Collector's Box Doesn't Include the Game
Thoroughly enjoyed the comments. Came here knowing they had 2 versions. 1 with and 1 without the game (makes sense as there is no physical release for pc or Xbox).
Watching the many spiritual journeys from screw SE -> this article is misleading was worth the engagement
Re: Round Up: What Was Announced During Sony's State of Play Livestream for June 2025?
I've bought final fantasy tactics every time it released. It's been one of my comfort games my entire life and I cannot stress enough how happy this makes me
Re: Hellblade 2 Finally Getting Physical Edition on PS5, Courtesy of Limited Run Games
@BAMozzy nice to see someone else who understands what this game is. Everyone is too focused on the mainstream gaming experience.
Both the first and this one are experiences entirely separate from standard gaming that require an entirely different mindset and atmosphere to enjoy properly
Re: PS5 Fans Furious As Microsoft Ships DOOM: The Dark Ages with Just 85MB on the Disc
@Onelastgo video game market analysts have had plenty to say about physical gaming.
Most notably that it is no longer to be expected. Physical gamers are now 'enthusiasts' in the same way music enthusiasts buy vinyls or frankly just...CDs, CDs have declined 95% since their peak for music and similarly physical games are over 85% down from their peak. Except they rarely complain when every new release isn't on vinyl.
As for the pricing that's just tiresome to hear. I earn well over 50% more compared to when I started my job for doing nothing particularly different or more. Everything has gone up in prices in turn. Compare the cost of luxuries like sweets and chocolates. Production costs remain similar but they are now very noticeably more expensive. Then we sit and complain that video games that have exponentially been growing in production values need to put up prices to remain sustainable? And complain we are paying more for less? While every year wages go up for no more work? Every analyst has been saying video game prices have been so far past due a rise that we have frankly been LUCKY it lasted this long
Re: PS5 Fans Furious As Microsoft Ships DOOM: The Dark Ages with Just 85MB on the Disc
@ConsoleAgnostic I know perfectly well what the bystander effect is. But this really doesn't apply. It's such a low impact topic for such a vast majority of gamers that it just doesn't matter.
News outlets and media using rage in clickbait for everything just makes people angry and they push that anger everywhere except for actually productive places
Re: PS5 Fans Furious As Microsoft Ships DOOM: The Dark Ages with Just 85MB on the Disc
All the console makers and the larger publishing arms don't particularly care too much for physical sales.
We are consumers, not customers. That's the shareholders. This is why 2019 Sony stopped allowing 3rd parties to sell download codes (even the developers themselves!) to force you to buy through their store for digital (Sony tax = shareholder win)
Same reason the pro is discless as standard let's be honest.
Nintendo already announced several switch 2 games are going this route.
By the same vein epic just won the apple lawsuit and are still encouraging all Fortnite players to buy v-bucks directly through epic not apple store. All about the shareholder profits
Do I think physical media should exist for preservation purposes? Yes.
Do I think this was only ever going to be a one way slope? Yes.
Is preservation ONLY possible through physical media? Not in the slightest.
Do the majority care? Nope.
Do the shareholders care? Nope.
So ultimately we can do nothing. Saying words matters not as it's too small a minority. Accept the reality of it and move on. No sense in getting worked up over some things outside our control
Re: Expedition 33's Sublime Success Sparks Chatter About Final Fantasy's Future
Where was this conversation when Like a dragon infinite wealth also sold over 1 million copies in its first week with a turn based combat system that featured QTE? Turn based is turn based. They've had games with also qte in them for over a decade. Legend of the dragon, paper mario, lost odyssey (the most like expedition 33... Let this team remaster THAT monster).
FF has had its own identity crisis for years. I enjoyed most entries but have found them lacking creative writing sparks most often that other RPGs I've enjoyed more from like a dragon, atlus games, expedition 33 seem to have as their real core.
Re: Not Everyone Loved Oblivion Remastered's Shadow Drop
@Northern_munkey I'm laying a portion of the blame of publisher's and audience expectations. I'm taking none away from Epic. They released press statements 2 months ago admitting UE5 had stutter issues largely because of shaders (which is almost always worse on pc than consoles), and digital foundry even posted a video on that subject where they said insiders in development studios were telling them that some aspects of UE5 weren't even working as they were told they should forcing developers to have to call in specialists to fix things and we still end up with these stuttery messes.
Now epic promise it will 'eventually be better'. Epic know that UE5 isn't really ready for the flawless AAA development they are promising these companies but they are downplaying it as much as possible on their end so people on the internet can blame rushed, underpaid developers instead.
When such a substantial amount of UE5 AAA games suffer this badly among a wide variety of developers then the common denominator isn't the devs. Go look at shader comp issues in UE5. Even Fortnite is a stutter fest with it at times.
UE5 as it is right now is a joke. It is not up to the standard epic claimed it was and developers and gamers are paying the price while they use us as testers.
Re: Not Everyone Loved Oblivion Remastered's Shadow Drop
@Northern_munkey it's not on the developers though. They aren't the top of the food chain. They aren't the ones making the engine decision. That's on the publishers that want faster, cheaper turnover, that's on the shareholders pushing for the cheapest employee turnover rates incentivising shared skillets being taught to new developers, that's on the audiences wanting games faster and prettier with no increase to the price of games. The developers are ultimately the LAST people to be blamed.
Re: Not Everyone Loved Oblivion Remastered's Shadow Drop
@Northern_munkey UE5 is pushed so hard on all new developers that it is literally taught on university courses. The problem is that UE5's many user friendly interfaces also scale together poorly when over relied on instead of more intimate coding by individual developers. This in itself then breeds more sloppily optimised games as it saves time and money pleasing shareholders and encouraging developers to continue cutting themselves kinds of corners.
Granted this mostly applies to the open world games as default UE5 settings tend to steer towards visual flair first and then require more developer knowledge for the performance side. I.e. games like hell blade 2 which isn't large open world, expedition 33 which is a small team of developers not pushed to release fast and actually taking their time to learn the engine in depth
Look at recent games in UE5 silent hill 2 remake, nightingale, immortals of aveum, lords of the fallen, avowed, even oblivion remaster
Then look at developer teams leaning on teaching their Devs actually how to use engines because they aren't just encouraged to learn the basics of the cheapest to teach engine out there
Alan wake, kingdom come deliverance 2 spring toind immediately.
The industry is pivoting en masse to UE5 so speed up production times, lower production cost, and make it easier to cycle Devs in ***** conditions because ALL Devs are graduating with basic UE5 knowledge. Just another symptom of gamings issues and an underlying cause for so much terrible optimisation and performance. All boosted by the fact UE5 has the good graphics base looks needed to get pre-orders in from trailers looking pretty on top
Re: Not Everyone Loved Oblivion Remastered's Shadow Drop
@Northern_munkey I don't disagree that the shadow drop hid performance issues but even if it had stable 60fps this graphic level would've been slaughtered in the internet.
I blame Bethesda less due the performance than epic quite frankly. UE5 is a joke considering the level of push to make it almost a universal engine that the smaller studios like virtuos would obviously default to
Re: Not Everyone Loved Oblivion Remastered's Shadow Drop
Bethesda had to shadow drop oblivion. If it had been a normal release schedule it would've been ridiculed and mocked online for poor graphics and jank. Overpowering the nostalgia rampage sweeping people with this shadow drop. The shadow drop and excitement of old fans created tonnes of fomo.
This is no ordinary (sometimes lazy) modern remaster of a game barely 5 years old to coincide with some series, sequel or movie to generate hype.
And it's incredibly indicative of the nature of people on the internet trying to hate on it just for the sake of hate.
Is expedition 33 better? Yes. Is that proving true with sales? Yes. Do I think Oblivion is rudely reducing sales of this fantastic new IP? No.
A lot of the vocal minority online of gamers are a lot more flexible with their purchases than they like to pretend online. And a lot of the 'I'll wait for a sale' group either do not manage to wait for a sale or simply never purchase. As has been proved several times with past games and further show how people won't purchase even with sale outside of initial Zeitgeist with things like the late port of ff7 to pc and it's corresponding sales numbers on pc
Re: Oblivion Remastered: Everything New and All Changes Compared to the Original Oblivion
@AverageGamer was about to say the same thing. Ps5 pro or high end pcs can probably brute force the ue5 issues away but for base ps5 and the Xbox pair I expect some frame rate issues in the open world segments and maybe the capitol
Re: PlayStation Is Dying to Know What You Think of Nintendo Switch 2 in Player Survey
@Dragoon1994 most of that discourse was referring to the fact that upscaled switch 2 versions of switch 1 games will only have the switch 1 version on the cartridge and the upgrade is via a download.
The rest is because some extra large 3rd party companies either can't because of size or just won't release physical copies of games all in the cartridge (as many of these companies also do with disc)
Re: Feature: PS5's Not Perfect, But Here Are 5 Ways It's More Consumer Friendly Than Switch 2
One point I don't see being mentioned is that one of the reasons Nintendo don't reduce the cost of their games is they are generally complete on release and don't rely on mtx to make up profits. All their love service bs is reserved for mobile devices and funds single player games. You may not like the genres they aim for or the fact they iterate on the same IPS but a LOT of people do. I don't want the next mario kart to sell out and offer 6 thousand different pieces of outfit for individual prices just to save £10 on the purchase. But neither do I begrudge that some companies do have to do things that way to make the games they want to make. We can't have our cakes and eat them. The extra development costs have to come from somewhere
Re: Switch 2 Isn't Targeting People Who Want 'High-Performance Hardware', Like PS5 Pro
Nintendo are making exclusives that vary greatly in genre, rarely ask for mtx and are almost always released in a complete state.
Most other AAA developers make up their costs with mtx and cut corners.
I'll take gameplay over graphics anyday. Nintendo have been nominated for 7 of the last 10 goty awards.
People screaming that the games aren't worth it if they aren't graphical monstrosities are entitled and have lost the core of gaming as a medium
Re: Analyst Firm Predicts Some Pretty Unimpressive Sales Numbers for Xbox Ports on PS5
@RagnarLothbrok Something commonly said in online circles but not as widespread proven considering the number of different outlets agree from various places.
Regardless the user scores for all four of those games are all at 7.6 or higher. And taking pentiment as the lowest of the lot the low reviews are laughably boiled down to 'not next gen graphics, don't wanna read'.
God forbid we have non mainstream games out here
Re: Analyst Firm Predicts Some Pretty Unimpressive Sales Numbers for Xbox Ports on PS5
@RagnarLothbrok that's a little disingenuous and rude. They may be out of the zeitgeist and talking ppints but every single game in that list boasts over an 80 on metacritic. All are good, respectable games
Re: Analyst Firm Predicts Some Pretty Unimpressive Sales Numbers for Xbox Ports on PS5
@themightyant agreed. People always vastly underestimate the effect of no longer being in the zeitgeist.
I think they should try and time single player ps5 releases with DLC/Expansion drops if they ever want large sales numbers while still having an exclusivity period elsewhere
Re: Assassin's Creed Shadows Seemingly Claims Second Biggest Launch in Series History
@themightyant I'm just sad he also dragged in halo infinite, avowed and hi fi rush into the fight.
As someone who enjoys a a wide spectrum of games across pc and all 3 consoles why pick out some of the 3 actually good Xbox games (infinite I mean campaign, multiplayer I gave up with after the abysmal release schedule).
AC shadows is doing ok. It's got plenty of the more unsavoury modern gaming stuff, i.e. lots of paid options in a sp game, but it's definitely at the same standard as past ubisoft mainstream titles and other AC games partnered with a popular period and location. Angry internet people gotta be angry I guess
Re: Assassin's Creed Shadows Seemingly Claims Second Biggest Launch in Series History
@heavyartillery56 https://gamerant.com/pc-gamers-play-old-games/
8% of steam users game time is on games less than 2 years old as pointed out in one portion of the article above. Pc gamers pirate new games more and wait for sales in a much larger proportion to console gamers. Steam sales really don't mean a whole lot for more console centric new titles.
Re: Warner Bros. Games Closes Multiple Studios, Wonder Woman Cancelled
Can we release the nemesis system to other developers now....
Re: PS5 Pro Is By Far the Best Way to Play Monster Hunter Wilds on Console
@Ralizah having played almost every monster hunter game I can't disagree more. It's a very very different experience playing from base versus starting from the dlc. It's a wildly different difficulty curve for one and most importantly the entire endgame loop of the base game is usually redundant for the dlc with the way the power scaling works. Especially so ever since world.
Playing monster hunter only from the dlc release may be smoother but it's really not the same experience intended by the developers in terms of content intake
Re: Some Monster Hunter Wilds Fans Are Losing Their Minds Over the Game Being 'Too Easy'
Only the late to post game content loop should be 'hard' imo. Otherwise you won't even have enough of a playerbase for post game free updates
Re: Phil Spencer Posits Generative AI Tech Preserving Old Games, Called 'Idiotic' by Expert
Anyone who knows how A.I tech has been progressing could tell you this being designed was an inevitability.
No point holding it against the creators. Instead watch and lambast those who use this technology for the wrong reasons in the wrong way.
Microsoft know this and are likely just trying to dissuade the knee jerk reactions with silly words
Re: UK Sales Charts: Civilization 7 Sells Best on PS5 in Strong Debut
I need to see reviews on civ 7 on console. Wasn't impressed by the turn speeds and controls of 6 previously compared to on my pc
Re: Reaction: Xbox Publishing More Games on PS5 Than Sony Is Not a Gotcha, It's Just a Sign of the Times
All I'm personally expecting over the next few years is a fresh new legal battle. Epic have set the trend on mobile and I don't doubt it will come to console.
Epic and likely Microsoft, possibly (though unlikely) even companies like steam, Amazon, netflix will be looking for the potential to have their own storefronts for sales and streaming.
I'm still fairly confident this is the end goal for Microsoft. Tie it in with game pass and their soon to be very large rollouts of mainstream western games and they will be hoping to become a platform for game purchases across all places to play games.
They will still sell consoles just for the optics and the die hard fans. Probably while saying that they are the 'best' place to play their games.
One thing that the industry has shown in the last couple generations. Players follow their friends. And many people follow their old library.
There used to be nothing stopping a swap in company gen to gen but once back compatibility and achievements took off along side the rise of console multiplayer it was the perfect time for Sony to win and Xbox to fumble and things to snowball from there. Microsoft probably see this as their last real chance to turn that tide utilising the next generations interest in mobile gaming and a look at a future of streaming to do it.
Re: Sony Patents Predictive AI Button Presses, So You Don't Have To
@Northern_munkey as mentioned in the article the intent is that the game knows what button you are pressing a few fractions of a second faster and prepares the input slightly quicker reducing input lag. This may be especially useful for streaming games
Re: Sony's Bringing Horizon Zero Dawn to the Big Screen with Live Action Movie Adaptation
@middyone I quite literally said it was at a time that Ubisoft formula was popular at that time. Far cry 5 came out a year later and was the best selling in the franchise.
I also specifically added that it was the Sony stamp of approval during Sony's peak brand time that contributed to sales.
Horizon forbidden west went so far as to add 'destructible walls' to the minimap with nothing more behind them than a pile of gold. Zero dawn had little to no waste in the general nooks and crannies of the map being actually related to quests and collectibles. That is what I refer to as bloat. Forcing me to traverse the map back to places for these things on my map that serve 0 purpose.
The way Aloy was written in forbidden west felt incredibly forced at least so far as the early game. It got significantly better later but it is on the developers to make early game better.(starfield anyone?) The tonal dissonance between Aloy's urgency in the intro contrasted poorly to the flippant side quests. In zero dawn the framing of gaining allies framed things more organically for the side quests that culminated well at the end.
As for completion rate they are pretty identical. Despite the fact that zero dawn was free for everyone and that can be extrapolated to a massive amount of people who opened the game with no intention of completion.
The higher % platinum rate also leads credence to the sentiment that collectibles in forbidden west were on the higher end of the open world spectrum compared to zd.
Re: 'Gummy Bears' Details Leak, Bungie's MOBA Taken Under Sony's Wing
Young audience + moba does not sound great long term to me. Even
Pokémon unite is only doing ok because of a more adult hardcore scene, especially in china.
I can't see enough of a playerbase for a long lasting live service game without a large IP or some stellar gameplay with that target audience in the moba scene of all things. I at least believe the latter might happen though it's very outside bungies comfort zone.
Re: Sony's Bringing Horizon Zero Dawn to the Big Screen with Live Action Movie Adaptation
For me horizon zero dawn was a fun week but it left no impact on my even if I got the platinum. It just came out when the 'ubisoft formula' was at it's most popular and Sony was at their peak PS4 crest of popularity. Forbidden west in comparison was far to bloated and poorly written.
I appreciate hzd for what it was but it doesn't really have me hooked on the IP. I'll probably still give the movie a wat h as I found zd premise and execution on the history lore in it to be good
Re: Sony Confirms Interest in Buying FromSoftware Parent Company Kadokawa
A LOT more negative talk went around about ms buying Activision (rightly so) I don't see this purchase overwhelmingly affecting the gaming world.
As for the anime world well 80% of crunchy roll anime are mid and of the remaining 20% lately the 'better' anime have been releasing elsewhere as well. Some of the biggest rated anime lately even being exclusive elsewhere. I.e. Oshi no KO.
Re: Kadokawa Wants Sony's Full Commitment with Buyout of Entire Company
The only reasons I could see msft being legitimately interested in kadokawa are the following:
1. Kadokawa want to remain pretty much intact and as such would be a profitable, working company in Japan for msft. (Tango was closed largely due to the director leaving and there being tenuous management available to msft for tango in Japan)
2. EVERYTHING kadokawa have could be available on msfts future plans of 'everything is an Xbox if you subscribe'. Music, anime, games. All of it
I don't want that so I'd rather Sony have it. Sony the gaming developer wouldn't buy a company this big. Sony the entertainment company most certainly can and would benefit massively.
Re: Godzilla, Baymax Front Fortnite's Japanese-Themed Hunters Season
As a 'real gamer' (TM) I'm contractually obligated per the social media rules to say Fortnite sucks blah blah blah. /S
(If this is the multiplayer game my friends want to play these next few months I'll play it and enjoy spending time with my friends. I have plenty of 'real' sp games to keep me busy otherwise)