Kraven

I never played this game but always saw things about it. If I recall correctly, there was a resurgence of Western oriented games in quick succession. I remember getting my copy of GameInformer with the game “GUN” on the front cover.

I’ll be picking this up for sure. I loved RoboCop and got the platinum for it, and I felt like the game was over way too soon.

This weekend I am trekking the plains, hills, and desert landscapes in Death Stranding 2, delivering precious cargo. My MP3 player has tailor made playlists for my traveling needs, and I have a varied arsenal of weapons to combat any hostile situation while on my journey.

I have to say - DS2 is a masterclass in every facet. That’s not hyperbole; it really succeeds on every level. The story is compelling and paced brilliantly. It’s also much easier to understand and follow along than the first game, but it still has the heart of Kojima within, with mysteries and bizarre things unfolding. Characters are interesting and fleshed out, all having their own unique identity’s and backstory. The cinematography is gorgeous, with an incredible art design, while the animation is punching above its weight. One word: Dollman.

Last but not least, there is gameplay. Traversal and combat itself has been upgraded since its predecessor. It all controls very well and is balanced between the two, especially when having to partake in both at the same time. You have a wide array of options to tackle these scenarios that will suit your play style whilst providing meaningful upgrades consistently to change your strategy if you deem it necessary. Don’t let the naysayers fool you - this is way more than a “walking simulator”. It might just be one of the best open-world sandbox games ever made, because it doesn’t forget what a game is ultimately meant to be: fun.

It’s genuinely hard to discuss this game properly without providing spoilers because there is so much depth within each episode (chapters). To say anything about the mechanics is only ruining the surprise - and believe me, I’m only 30 hours in, but I’ve been blown away by the amount of tools the game offers you. Simply saying that feels like a disservice to the player(s) that haven’t had a chance to play the game yet.

Death Stranding 2 is a remarkable achievement in game design, and one of the best sequels to a game I’ve ever played. It’s a game I didn’t know needed and has become one I’ll never forget. I’m utterly blown away. This is the PS5 experience we have truly been waiting for.

Death Stranding 2, and by a country mile.

I honestly have to rate it a 10/10. That could change by the end of the game, but I just reached episode 6 and I have been blown away by the game in every facet. The characters are great, the story is compelling and better paced, the gameplay is more refined, and the game continues to give and give in unexpected ways. Just when I think there can’t be any more evolution in weapons/equipment, the game surprises me. It is always expanding and it works perfectly. This game is a pure masterclass in every sense.

@DennisReynolds Agreed. And playing it, I don’t possibly see how it could be a 10-20 hour experience. I’m 25 hours in and just reached episode 4, and I am smitten with the game. In fact, I would be disappointed if it was shorter than a 40-60 hour experience, and that’s rare for me to say since I am a big fan of linear, narrative games.

This sounds awesome. Hotline Miami is fantastic, and a game similar to it but in first person - sign me up!

I’ve been playing DS2 exclusively on my Portal and it has been a brilliant experience. I absolutely adore this device, and the game too, of course!

Good news for Xbox for a change! Hopefully, consumers will support this product because it’s worth all the money. They have been clambering for this so I hope they speak with their wallets.

@get2sammyb It’s possible it could have been a tech demo similar to The Witcher 4, but I’d be shocked if it was. It looked very good.

My issue with these cancellations is that these games weren’t going to be Xbox exclusive, at least further down the road. They were going to come to PlayStation and would have made money.

This is ridiculous. Perfect Dark looked incredible. Moreover, it looked like it was in a playable state and could be released soon. At this point, I don’t want to hear any excuses any longer - this is becoming inexcusable, and it’s poor management from the top down. If I’m being honest, Microsoft - and by Microsoft I mean the Xbox brand itself - needs to do a complete restructure with their staff, particularly management.

Let’s buy studios and then lay tons of those people off, or close down the studios altogether.

To be fair, letting people go is common in any business, but it’s how Microsoft goes about nearly all of their decisions. And let’s not forget Phil Spencer - I just can’t trust what this man says.

So many upcoming games I’m looking forward to, But mainly Ninja Gaiden Ragebound, Gears of War, and MGS3. I’m also curious about Wuchang, but I’ll see how reviews are.

Also, is the release date for September correct for Ninja Gaiden Ragebound? I thought it got announced for July 31st?

I’m currently on episode 3 and it’s blowing my mind. I’ve been taking my time - 15 hours in already - and it’s a game that keeps on giving. At the moment, I can see why this game is receiving 10/10s from many outlets, or 9/10s. Whatever Kojima did, it worked.

I beat and got the platinum trophy for The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion for PS5. It was your classic Bethesda game, and a special experience. I haven’t tackled the Shivering Isles DLC yet - I’m setting it to the side because I want to play other games.

My attention is now all on Death Stranding 2. I’m only four hours in but it’s been great so far. The gameplay mechanics are refined, and feel more like Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain in terms of movement, sound, and gunplay.

I like how there is a more emphasis on stealth combat. There have been numerous situations so far where I’m on the edge of my seat due to nerves combating my way through bandit camps, treacherous weather, and the terrain itself. It’s a perfect blend of environment story telling in a unique way. I also feel a sense of obligation to find lost cargo to deliver to other settlements despite the risky nature. It creates a real sense of urgency, but also forces you to be patient - until you can’t.

There was one instance where I had to make a delivery to a Chiral network, but it was pouring down rain. The rivers began to rise, and there were bandits surrounding me, but unaware of my presence. All the while the rain itself was damaging my cargo, almost forcing me to beeline my way straight to the objective. I offloaded my equipment, hiding it in tall grass so the enemies couldn’t see me carrying so much and alert nearby guards.

I systematically eliminated all enemies without being discovered, but my cargo eventually became damaged. I began scouring the area for container repair spray and found a handful of them, but even more importantly, I found a hidden vehicle. I quickly got inside, drove to my packages, loaded them into the bed of the truck, and carefully crossed the river. Once I reached my destination, I repaired all containers and delivered them safe and sound.

This moment-to-moment gameplay — a free sandbox to operate in — was really fun. It was essentially solving a puzzle that I could have optionally ignored, but with high risk there is a high reward. It’s these types of situations where MGSV: TPP shined immensely, and DS2 has evolved that process in peak form. I can’t wait to see how much more it expands as time goes on.

I started it before work this morning and it blew me away. I only managed an hour of game time but the graphics are incredible, the movement feels more refined - similar to MGSV Phantom Pain - and the cutscenes are shockingly movie quality. It might be the best looking game I’ve ever played. And granted, I have only played an hour, but it has me hooked already. I can’t wait to get off work and dive deeper into it.

@djlard Yes, and I made this comment on PureXbox. In terms of shooting themselves in the foot, Game Pass is an huge catalyst for this, and this is the danger of putting a game on a subscription service instead of promoting it for people to buy. In my humble opinion, this is my biggest issue with Game Pass. It is absolutely fantastic for the consumer, but it has ripple effects across the industry that are negative.

Honestly, you have to have a certified banger on your hands to have success outside of Game Pass. Clair Obscur, arguably GOTY, made 3.3 million dollars in 3 weeks, and it’s higher now no question. However, how many of those sales are from Xbox players? If that game was an Xbox exclusive and day one on Game Pass, that studio would most likely be shut down despite the critical success it has received. The fact is, any developer/studio would tell you they would rather make a $60-80.00 sale outright then someone paying $20.00 for a subscription service with the hope — not guarantee — that audiences will play their game, and then make less money of that percentage.

As I said, as a consumer, Game Pass is awesome, but it’s not good for everyone else involved. This is why I prefer buying my games, whether it be on my PS5, Xbox, or Nintendo Switch.

I won’t be sleeping on any of Capcom’s games. They’ve been making nothing but bangers over the last several years, and this new game looks to continue the trend. I’m really excited for this.

I have to agree wholeheartedly with the first two picks, and in that order as well. I have a feeling Death Stranding 2 will take one of those spots. It’s been a fantastic first half of the year for gaming.

I think we should all agree that Kojima games aren’t for everyone and that’s okay. It’s a subjective medium after all. With that said, just because the game may not be what you seek from a gameplay perspective, or story, doesn’t mean it’s “bad” or “trash”. It’s clear that the game is being universally praised aside from a few outliers, and that is okay. Objectively, the game seems to be nothing less than good, and/or great.

Wow. I don’t want to read it because I want to go in blind, but it sounds like it’s another special game. I can’t wait.

I really need to give this game another chance. I wasn’t in the right headspace when attempting to play this game, and I struggled with the time management aspect, which is interesting since I’m accustomed to it, and P4G is my all time favorite JRPG, and I adore P5(R).

I think it looked good - it’s basically started out the same way as The Witcher 3 in terms of setting. I’m one of the rare people who enjoyed the combat in TW3, so I think it looks solid here. It’s awesome that the devs showed such lengthy footage of the game; that tells me it’s cooking right along just fine, and I don’t see any prominent delays in its future.

Death Stranding is my only focus. That said, I will probably buy I Am Your Beast and have it in the back burner.

I’m still questing, exploring caves, tackling dungeons, killing trolls, and making my way to the platinum trophy in The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. Hopefully, I’ll have it wrapped up in time for Death Stranding 2, but I doubt it, and that’s okay because I love this world of Cyrodiil.

I’m so stoked for this. I’ve yet to see anything that hasn’t impressed me. I’m also a huge fan of SoR4 and its soundtrack, so I expect great things from this one.

I won’t read the list, but I don’t know if I’ll go for the platinum if it’s similar to the first game. If it can be done in a single playthrough then I’ll probably go for it. Regardless, I don’t even care about trophies for this game - I just want to have the experience.

Wow - I am impressed! This looks fantastic. It’s been a long while since we had a game that has the Uncharted spirit, but this game seems to be channeling it quite wonderfully. Hopefully, the set pieces don’t become repetitive; the trailer did have several repeated instances of falling/sliding down something. Regardless, I’m sold and will be keeping a keen eye on this one.

Hands down, it’s Clair Obscur. In fact, it’s probably my favorite game this entire generation. I’m thrilled to have gotten the platinum, and my wife even got me a t-shirt of the game because she knew how much I talked about it. Runner up is Kingdom Come Deliverance 2 - another game I got the platinum for. I’m very much looking forward to where Death Stranding 2 and Ninja Gaiden Ragebound (and the 4th installment) rank on my list at the end of the year.

I agree with you - PS2-Atlus is a different breed. To this day, Persona 4 is my favorite JRPG of all time, and it’s hard pressed to find a title that can surpass it, though Clair Obscur might do so after more consideration. Nevertheless, I’m glad to see this game is getting another chance and seemingly turn out great. I’ll be picking it up for sure.

I said this over at Pure Xbox, but I’ll say it here as well:

It’s hard for me to get excited about any kind of new console from Xbox. I personally do not care about how much of a leap next gen will be, and the power of the console - we hear that every time from Microsoft. To me, it’s all about games. Are you going to have a steady cadence of AAA games, interspersed with AA/indie games? If so, what is separating you from PS since those games will ultimately be on that console? If it’s Game Pass, and having that subscription across multiple devices - Play Anywhere - how confident are they that developers will want to release their games on that platform?

At the end of the day, GP is great for the consumer, but a detriment to the studios. I guarantee if you ask them, they would all say that they would prefer to make $60-80.00 per game rather than $20.00 or whatever the price is for the subscription service, and not have a guarantee it will find an audience. Look at PS - people are still happy paying for games, and owning them. Look at Clair Obscur, with 3.3 million copies sold (probably more at this point). How many of those copies do you think were on Xbox? Not many, I assume. Moreover, how many people subscribed to the service for Clair Obscur, or were they already existing members? That is ultimately money lost.

I don’t want to speak poorly on Xbox/Microsoft - I love my Series X and it’s a great consumer product if you have GP, but there is a reason why they are releasing their games on PS. If they had a strong AAA exclusive library of games that sold well, I highly doubt Microsoft would be in the situation that they are in now. But truly, it’s evident - console exclusives, particularly in the AAA space - keep the consoles going. Nintendo and Sony aren’t in the position Microsoft is because they have a huge portfolio of exclusive games that people are willing to buy. I can name probably 15-20 Sony exclusives off the top of my head, and can barely think of 10 from Microsoft that has any form of relevance. Microsoft screwed up substantially on the Xbox One era, and they said so themselves (due to a lack of games), and have been playing catch-up ever since, but they can never catch-up because Sony and Nintendo continue moving forward.

I hope Bungie will manage to bounce back from these horrendous last few years because they are a great studio underneath all of this. That said, this acquisition from Sony has turned out to be awful - not only for other studios and their live service games - but as a whole, particularly from a money standpoint and time wasted.

Another problem is that making a successful live service game is damn near impossible in this climate, and part of that is on the studios, but also us as gamers. We don’t have a lot of faith in these types of games anymore, and even if a game does look good, this culture of gaming is so negative and toxic that it becomes an immediate hatefest. I simply can’t see any future live service game being successful like Fortnite. That “era” of new and revolutionary is gone.

I watched this first thing this morning on my daily walk, and I was still confused by everything even though I played the game and beat it. I’m looking forward to being equally confused and hyped for DS2.

I think I’ll pick this up. I remember playing it a lot on the PS2, and also Invisible War on the OG Xbox. Those were some good times.

My most anticipated games for the rest of this year are Death Stranding 2, Ninja Gaiden Ragebound (and the 4th installment), Gears of War Reloaded, and Hell Is Us. It’s going to be an amazing last half of the year, and it’s already been an incredible first half.

I was never expecting it to release in 2027 to begin with. I feel like it’ll be a launch game for the PS6. Either way, I’m here for it - Stellar Blade is one of my five favorite games this generation.

I haven’t had much time to play games this week, let alone this weekend. Whatever free time I do have I will be spending it in the world of Cyrodiil in The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion.

I always find Bethesda RPGs interesting because I tend to forget how they are meant to be played, and it’s incredibly easy to become overwhelmed. I never know if I should immediately set out and explore, or start the main quest. And yet, the result is always the same - I wander aimlessly and complete dungeons I’m not a high enough level for, pick locks and break into homes, read random notes and journals that lead me down an interesting quest line, and stealth my way through enemies with my bow and arrow.

Somehow, after discovering towns and stumbling my way through tons of side quests, I always manage to organically start the main narrative, unsure of how I did so. I think this is the brilliance that modern Bethesda games are missing — Fallout 4 (I really enjoyed that game; got the platinum for it) and Starfield particularly. There is a certain magic to the art of discovery that will eventually lead you to where you’re meant to go even if it doesn’t appear that way initially.

With that said, there is one issue I have with the game design, albeit it’s a product of 2006. Exploring caves and dungeons are great, but it can be disheartening when at the end of the area there isn’t an exit — you have to backtrack to leave. This isn’t with every area, mind you, but it’s incredibly noticeable. Thankfully, Skyrim fixed this problem.

Other than that minor quibble, Oblivion is sublime. When it first released in 2006, I did not like the game whatsoever. My best friend was obsessed with it, and watching him play it I thought, ”Man, this looks so cool”, but it was never fun to play for me. I had the same reaction to Fallout 3. It wasn’t until Skyrim that these types of games clicked with me. Fast forward 19-years, and it has become my favorite genre. And when Bethesda does make a good game, you know it, and there is no other feeling like it.

I, just like many people here, want Sony to focus on single player games, particularly from their most prestigious studios. With that said, they would be stupid to not invest in live service games. That is a market they have to pursue because of the amount of money that can be raked in. All they need is one good hit — similar to Helldivers 2 — to make a difference in this medium. Unfortunately, that is where a lot of money is being made in gaming nowadays, and where a lot of players are at. It’s ultimately a business.

Glad to see there is a massive patch for the game! I started it up for the first time last night and am having a blast, but there were a few technical issues. It’s nice to see the issues I’ve been having have been addressed.

This is an awesome feature, and it sounds as if it plays well in both perspectives which is always a concern. I’ll definitely do two playthroughs alternating between the two. It sounds like it’s shaping up to be another Capcom hit.

My god, it looks incredible. The gunplay looks more refined too, hopefully in the same vein as MGSV Phantom Pain. I really don’t need to see anymore from this game — I’m in day one.

This is a solid list of games. I wish some people would understand that just because some of the games may not suit their tastes doesn’t mean it’s a bad month of offerings. There are some great games on this list regardless of it appeals to you or not.

I’ve played about two hours so far and it’s solid. It isn’t going to blow anyone’s mind, and it has its technical issues: lip synching, and some stuttering, but the driving is great. The gunplay is okay, but the sound design is off. The story actually seems pretty cool, and the voice acting, animations, and cutscenes are good. It’s probably a 6.5/10 or a 7/10 kind of game, and I’m okay with that. It was what I was expecting and I’m content.

@Toot1st You’re not the only one. I think it looks pretty good.

Regardless of reviews, I’m quite interested in this game. I’m honestly ignoring all the negativity because I think it looks like a solid, PS3-era romp. If the driving mechanics and gunplay feel good, that’s all I’m really looking for.

I played the base game on my X and loved it. I was kind of bummed because two achievements were bugged, or I should say the collectibles themselves were bugged, otherwise I would have gotten all the achievements. I bought the game for PS5 to support the developers, so I’ll probably just do a replay later this year when the DLC drops. Surely all of the updates and patches will help me get the platinum trophy this go around.

I’ve watched this trailer four times and it blows me away even more than the prior time. It looks so good.

@Greifchen I don’t see The Last of Us in this trailer at all aside from it being 3rd person.

Man, this is day one for me. I remember playing this on the 360, and I got every achievement — even the 10k kills in multiplayer. I also remember me and my best friend playing all of these games co-op religiously. And this was around the same time Need For Speed Most Wanted was out, and we played that in the downtime.

This looks pretty cool. You can obviously see where the game gets its inspiration from. I’ll be keeping an eye out for this one.