Llamageddon

@nomither6 Could you possibly expand as to why this would be exploitative? I feel it is perfectly possible to make a video game on this era/subject without it being exploitative. Genuinely interested to hear why you feel this way.

Others have mentioned a possible steambox and I for one would be interested in that as a second console. I have a deck but in docked mode it just doesn't cut it plus I expect the next cross gen to be the longest yet and as such don't feel the need to get a ps6 day 1. Would love a dedicated console for my steam library.

Certainly nothing day 1 for me on that list (which is a relief), keep making progress on the backlog and keep an eye out on the Xmas/black Friday sales for some of these titles

I've had my eye on this and it's releasing sooner than I expected. Hopefully heart machine stick the landing!

Looking forward to the Saros gameplay, hoping we might get another tidbit for intergalactic and a release date for phantom blade zero.
Either way, I'm cautiously optimistic it will be a pretty solid sop

I'm assuming it will probably be a khopesh then, probably the most iconic Egyptian sword.

I really miss the arcade racer genre. Burnout 3/4 were perfection as far as I'm concerned and nothing since has come close (including paradise).
Why are they all going open world, it's so unnecessary in my opinion.
Got my fingers crossed 'screamer' might scratch the itch

Not sure why people are getting so worked up, it's a minor bit of balancing as part of a larger patch. Which is totally normal for a new release.
If this game already had difficulty options nobody would bat an eye at these changes. People are too quick to assume the devs have caved to online chatter.
Sounds to me like the game is still plenty challenging

Loved the demo, glad the rest of the game lives up to it.

@get2sammyb I just read on polygon that Sony have the sequel rights to K-pop demon hunters and they don't necessarily have to put it on netflix. So now I'm really confused.

I remember playing this with my uncle on the mega drive. If I remember correctly you could do 2 player and choose to be friendly or feisty, the latter of which let you drop banana skins which at the time was comedy gold for me.
The 3d one is utter trash though.

@IOI somewhat of a false equivalence, destiny has a large player base who will at the very least be intrigued by marathon. Concord was a brand new IP from an unknown studio.
I don't expect it to be the next big thing nor do I think it will flop and be cancelled within a year.
I haven't seen much hype men to be honest, far more comments about arc raiders being a better looking game.
Lots of hyperbole and cynicism to be found though.

@Rich33 I really appreciate the information, I'll be downloading it tonight.

I was torn as whether to get this or lies of p + dlc as they are a similar price. Having read a few reviews it does sound as if this suffers from a few performance/balancing issues.
Still want to give this a whirl at some point but I'm happy to wait for fixes or a sale.

@nomither6 Honestly my knowledge in regards to the difficulty of game development is super limited. So any answer I give would be ignorant at best.
I play a lot of indie games and frame rates have never particularly irked me nor have I found a game that runs at 30fps to be 'unplayable' as some here suggest.
Each to their own though, I prefer to focus on the things I enjoy about this hobby. Life's too short

@nomither6 doesn't all tech eventually suffer from diminishing returns though. Just look at TV's, mobile phones, PC's, all of their greatest technological leaps are all well in the past.
I might be wrong but it just seems inevitable and I for one am not surprised by these lesser advancements

@Pacific Wuchang doesn't have difficulty settings but I get the impression from those who have playtested it's closer to an action RPG than a souls like.

Probably best to wait for reviews though.

I agree with others about stellar blade. I'm sure it's a good game, I'm not sure if it's for me. So I'm gonna wait 50% off or until I forget it exists, whichever happens first.

Lies of p with expansion is very tempting though, especially now that it has difficulty settings.

Will probably pick up Lego Harry Potter as well as my wife has been looking for a fun local co-op game and it's at a great price point.

@LogicStrikesAgain I think a lot of people liked it and have faith in the team to produce a great game. The difference being, those who didn't like it need everyone to know they didn't like it as a mask for espousing their own socio-political grievances.
Personally I liked the trailer, but I will reserve judgement for the game till we see a decent chunk of gameplay.

A 2 for 1 sub heading, love it.

Personally I want this game to be an enormous success. That way Sony don't feel the need to keep chasing that live service golden goose and can use the money to fund quality single player games.

@Soulreaver I broadly agree with your point but you mention a decent story/length of game in your comment. Some of dark ages biggest critics have pointed to a terrible story and it only being 20 hours long.
I'm not one of these people that believe more = better value but those 20 hours include the largely panned dragon/mech sections.
All in all £70 does seem a tad steep regardless of an online mode not being present.
This is conjecture though as I probably won't get round to playing this for quite some time myself.

@ridiculous_ties I agree wholeheartedly with your comment. Maybe check blood of the dawnwalker as they seem to be promising a bit more dynamism in their missions structure.
I would like to see the targets in yotei have a routine so you can maybe assassinate them when they visit their favourite noodle shop as an example rather than fighting through a fortress. Just a bit more variety/choice.
As you say though, probably won't happen this gen.

I'd like to see a bit of humour, Tsushima was great but bleak. Not all side quests have to end up with you finding a corpse.

I hope they are doing this to get some surefire wins to help fund what they do best, giving us off the wall indies.
I could go for another cult of the lamb but I wouldn't want a direct sequel as such.

It was no castlevania but it definitely had it's moments. Agree with the people pointing out the hideous CG they used at times, was jarring and seemed totally unnecessary.

@PsBoxSwitchOwner Not to be that guy but technically on the Xbox metacritic there is a 65 rating, so this is now the second lowest review.
Many more glowing reviews though, so definitely a big congrats to the devs.

Would be interested if there's a single player campaign, but if it is exclusively a multiplayer extraction shooter then I'm out.
Still hope it turns out great for those who are interested.

Enjoying ac shadows so far, will probably feel burned out by the end though just like with Odyssey.
This and PoP lost crown definitely seem like steps in the right direction for Ubisoft (even if the latters team were disbanded after the release). People have short memories, capcom at one point was a dumpster fire and they turned it around. Here's hoping ubi can do the same through quality games and learning from mistakes.
Also give me a new Rayman already!

I enjoyed the demo on steam, it played like a high octane memory game.

@PsBoxSwitchOwner you're right that MH wilds has done considerably better than Shadows but shadows success shouldn't be measured against a game that will probably be the second best selling game this year (assuming gta6 does come out). Ac popularity has been on the wane whilst skepticism is at an all time high. Monster hunter is still riding the crest of its popularity.
I'm not trying to give you grief specifically as I know you to be one of the more reasonable commentors on here, I just get tired of the endless goalpost moving.
For example when gta6 inevitably sells 10x more than MH wilds it doesn't suddenly make MH wilds a failure but by the logic endorsed by some people here it should.

Also monster hunter has 5 mainline entries, let's see what their sales are like after 14 mainline entries like ac.

Why do people compare ac shadows to mh wilds. Wilds is probably the most hyped game this year other than GTA 6. So shadows releasing as close to it as it did has done relatively well
When it comes to steam numbers we should really be comparing shadows numbers to others in the same franchise as it has always been a console heavy series.
Personally I hope both games do well if only for all the hardwork the Devs at both companies have put in.

It seems to me to be a game that is weird for the sake of being weird and that's how they hope to get an audience. Maybe there is a genuinely good game in there but the gameplay trailer didn't do anything for me personally.

@beltmenot it is amusing that those complaining about the volume of articles can't seem to help but engage with them thus ensuring we get more articles.
I do this revolutionary thing where if I'm not interested in an article, I skip it!
Personally I'm glad the game seems to be a success if only for all the hardworking Devs who poured their heart and soul into it.

Looks interesting. The protagonists name being Alan Rebels though, oof. Almost impossible to take it seriously

So happy to hear they stuck the landing (though it was expected given their pedigree). Almost certainly going to be in the conversation for my GOTY and I can't wait to give it whirl with my other half!

You lost me at weapon durability, if there is 1 game mechanic I cannot stand it's that. Hope it turns out well for all those interested though.

@ChromaticDracula I thought Hela looked like it had potential, another mouse game you may not be aware of.

@zupertramp don't think you have to worry about platforming in this one. They described eternal as the doom guy being like a jet fighter whilst this one you're more of a tank, hope that allays some concern.

@Skynet04 maybe from a player perspective with a lack of first party games, this gen hasn't been the strongest. From a business perspective, they have widened their lead on Xbox in terms of player base and left Microsoft on the verge of becoming a third party publisher. They are also recording record profits in spite of the monumental failure that was concord.
So failure really isn't accurate and 2025 is looking like an absolute banger of a year for gaming even if some games slip into 2026.
I get the pessimism but Sony tend to be stronger in the second half of a console gen.

I know a lot of people are sick of remasters but I think everyone has a handful of games they would love remastered. Burnout 3 would definitely make my short list, if they do make a new one don't make it open world. Arcade racers do not need to be open world!!!

@Carck you make fair points but to say they are 'terrible' games is disingenuous. The AC origins, oddysey and Valhalla all have a critical score in the 80's with mirage just below. So they may not be to your tastes but are you suggesting the vast majority of critics are wrong and you are right?
Your opinion is perfectly valid but it certainly isn't fact. They're not masterpieces but I know plenty of people who enjoyed them.
Lastly you might be right about the devs finding better jobs but it must still be disheartening to have people dumping on their hard work constantly.

I totally agree with your points, I'm much more an indie gamer myself. I agree AAA Ubisoft has become a bit of a copy paste machine, but lost crown was unexpected and a great metroidvania in my opinion.
Personally I hope Ubisoft pull it out the bag because I could never hope for failure knowing people's livelihoods are on the line.
2025 is looking like an exceptional year for gaming for all tastes from indie through to AAA, the issue will be finding the time and money.
Hope you have a great 2025

@Coffeeglitch It's also true that everyone on these sites cry out for AA games only to not buy them. We wonder why we keep getting sequels and remakes.

@Carck they do seem to be creatively bankrupt for the most part but PoP lost crown was one of my games of the year last year. I know it's the way of the internet but maybe don't tar everything with the same brush.

The fact of the matter is the decision to fix this will come from the higher ups.
If you must hate/pile on maybe direct it at Yves Guillemot rather than Ubisoft. I'm sure most of the devs are doing their very best to produce fun games for us to enjoy all whilst working for that insufferable tool.
I suppose it's easier (lazier) to just follow the herd and pile misery on the undeserving though.

@MrGawain I largely agree and live service isn't for me but ghost of yotei, heretic prophet and wolverine are just 3 eggs not in said basket.

@Shad361 The vast majority of people under 25 probably didn't. I imagine a lot of gamers fall under that bracket, most people I know game less as they get older (more responsibilities etc).

@savarunl I'm also in Europe but as luck would have it Friday is actually a bank holiday here. Maybe a nap in the afternoon then stay up and watch it.
If it's as dull as the last couple, will probably still fall asleep anyway