Loamy

It's adorable All Digital™

Absolutely gutted about the closure of Monolith. But then I've heard a lot of the team had changed since the LOTR games... for the worse, that is.

The fact that the Nemesis system patent was tied to this studio makes me wonder about future iterations 🤔🤞WB can't let that gem die out.

@PrincessPeach11 It would have been wiser of me to not use the descriptor "pathetic" and given some more context in my original comment rather than a single sentence 😂 not that I believe it's wrong per se, just that I should know that it could be taken the wrong way.

Regardless, I'm really enjoying the game so far✌️

Love to see it. Brings a tear to me eye 🥲

@themightyant I just gave reasons why. It's enabling. The toggle doesn't prevent your fear, it only prolongs it. People who are that scared of spiders would likely not touch the game regardless and people who are that scared of spiders should be helped making efforts to get better. That does not mean sticking ones head in the sand.

This is a minor issue at the end of the day and I've only been pushed into discussion by claims about my own intentions. I've mentioned this topic before on a few articles and every time it's just people telling me I don't have people's best interests at heart or that I shouldn't care. This is clearly untrue.

And I also say this from a place of love for our spider friends as well. I have progressed so much that I actually keep them as pets now. They get so much flack when they're actually sweet, reclusive creatures. Some people are all about spider genocide. It'd be nice to stop some of that happening.

(Edited for more context - also the fact that I can't scroll when typing out comments 🤔 also also, I just accidentally deleted my original comment trying to change a typo😂)

@Rich33 You make some good points here in that someone with a severe enough phobia of something would not even touch media that contains it, regardless of Santa hats. They need intense exposure therapy over several years. That's why I personally think these modes are more likely to enable people who are more "on the fence" with their phobia.

Honestly, I'm not trying to take a dig at people with irrational fears. It's horrible to hear of people like your friend and their fear of snakes. I completely understand how it happens and how it feels. Some might take issue with the fact I use the word "pathetic" but what is a toggle introduced to make more money because of an irrational fear of something 99.9% harmless that's recreated in pixel form.

I do get angry however, at people telling me I don't have empathy for these people. Predictable knee-jerk. It is precisely because I have empathy that I think these modes aren't great. Enabling an individuals fears does not automatically equal being caring. I can understand that mindset but I completely disagree. My original comment on the topic was only meant as a single remark in an otherwise lengthy comment.

@themightyant Thank you for teaching me this. I struggle with empathy, didn't you know. "Sensible business" is a phrase I am now going to live by and use to enact this newfound empathy I have. Follow the money and the empathy will flow.

@Rich33 ok, I can't argue with that 🤣 I remember the arachnophobia mode in Metro Exodus gave them all Christmas hats.

@DennisReynolds 🤦 you do realise that "bugs" has both scientific and common informal use? For example things like arachnidae and myriapodae.

@TheMightyAnt I'm sorry, it's still pathetic. We aren't talking about dangerous animals, we're talking about virtual animals - an irrational level of fear. I understand the imagery is linked, although Stale-bread is telling me this isn't exposure therapy so I guess it can't both be true. I have nothing but empathy for arachnophobes considering I have been one and have worked with them. Nobody solves this irrational fear by selecting options like this. It's enabling. The reason why fear levels are higher in places that don't have deadly species is because we don't actually have to face them regularly and just feed off of media representation.

@Stale-bread way to be presumptuous 😂 I know how crippling arachnophobia can be. We just disagree on how to approach it clearly. I still think toggles for irrational fears are pathetic. Not that it takes away the severity of the reaction

And guys, I'm not quite as angry as you might think about a toggle 😂 I typed out one sentence to begin with. What is annoying is the inevitable responses from people who think I'm attacking certain people's entire character by calling a toggle for an irrational fear pathetic, meaning I pity those of you who feel they have to use this toggle because people shouldn't be experiencing this.

@Realist enabling an irrational fear in a game made for 16yo+. Yes, I'd say that's pathetic. It's nothing like difficulty/accessibility modes which I fully support.

And no, I don't have to touch it but the fact that the fear is being perpetuated by these options is not something that I have to be fine with. A game with blood and violence that has zero toggles, yet it has one for f***ing bugs? That's ridiculous.

"early access" 🤔 that's weird.

I'll 100% buy the game when it gets down to £25 or so.

@Dalamar oh man, don't 😭 I miss it so much!

@ORO_ERICIUS I had a 10gb(ish) patch today. I believe that is the day 1 patch 👍

@OldGamer999 sharpening filters aren't exactly beneficial to image stability. You introduce way more jaggies for that sharper image. Doesn't mean it's going to be clean. I guess an option for people who want it wouldn't go amiss but having seen the game on both systems it's clear that PSSR is a huge boon for this one, even with the mildly softer image. A softer image doesn't mean lower res/overall detail either but a lot is subjective.

@PuppetMaster Cowboy Bebop is probably my favourite show of all time. It's not limited to the category of anime! 😁

@TheDudeKenobi I think it's more a deep disdain for the constant need for "meta universes" in games. It's a cheap move whoever does it and it's a little bizarre when the themes don't match at all. Nothing wrong with someone playing Fortnite but I really don't like it myself (or the meta stuff) 👍

One of my all time favourites with one of my least of all time. What will this change? Neither fact.

Fortnite is #1 and Cowboy Bebop sucks 🫠

My copy is arriving today 😁 wooo! Should be playing in a couple hours.

@Jey887 gotta be more gentle with the wrist action bro 👀 wishing you a speedy recovery!

🤣 poor Dragon Age - I'll still pass, thanks. The franchise has sadly died a horrible death with Veilguard. I'm kinda pleased Veilguard did die a horrible death though. Obnoxious display of a game (a looong list of issues)

TMNT will be sick though 🤘🍕

I was honestly considering buying an Xbox as a secondary console last year or swapping to PC as my main platform (after the Pro)... I'm perfectly happy staying on PS now. A little tired of hearing Microsoft trying to hammer this point home, however.

@MrPeanutbutterz Fallout 76billion

@DennisReynolds yeah man. Full RTGI, like in DD2, would be lovely. It seems like the GI they're using is much better quality in the balanced and quality modes at least.

@Dragoon1994 I'd recommend changing the voices to "Monster Hunter speak" like in the old games. I believe there was an option in World and Rise, not sure about this one. It's definitely less annoying to me than the shrill, fully-lined voices 😂

@Rich33 yeah it's RT reflections, not shadows 👍 looks nice in the DF vid. I definitely wouldn't play at uncapped 40 even with LFC so it's a 🧢 for me! The performance mode seems great as well.

PSSR is huge for image quality. Crazy how much better/more stable it looks. Even when it's a minor upscale like this.

Edit: said "would" meant "wouldn't" 🤦

Good to hear it uses PSSR instead of FSR1. Worlds apart.

I still think the 40fps mode might be my preference. What scale of RT are they using? Just shadows?

Edit: it doesn't use RT shadows

Every Monster Hunter release has been more and more "streamlined". It's not something I like but it's definitely attracted more players 🤷.

For long-time fans the G-Rank is now a necessity for a feeling of accomplishment. I'm still waiting for Capcom to give us a Dragon's Dogma expansion so we can actually have some challenge!

@xHHHx I highly doubt they'd pivot bloober to a new genre when they have another studio working on Delta already. Bloober will be Silent Hill and the in-house Konami studio will handle more MGS.

Awesome to finally see the corpse of Konami slowly reanimate 😂

It'll be more Silent Hill and I'm all for it ❤️

It would be nice if bloober could fix the Pro version of SH2 though... I completed it on base console at launch and I've been waiting to start NG+ since then 😩 if they can't improve the PSSR just remove it for god's sake! It looked and ran better as was!

Balanced with cap for Pro it is 👍 a mostly constant 40fps with RT.

@ButterySmooth30FPS the newest entry at any time would be the best choice. They've been made consistently "more accessable" over the years. For worse or better - although mostly better.

Looking forward to it! But I'm not so keen on the shift towards all the story stuff. It feels like the MonHun stories always suit the background way more than having fully voiced characters and constant set pieces.

@ShogunRok was the 40fps Pro mode available to try?

@ShogunRok did you get to play on Pro at all? If so, how did it run/look?

I'll be playing my Fender MIJ Jaguar bass this weekend 😂 taking a break from the games to bust some grooves.

Ok, maybe some Kingdom Come: Deliverance II as well...

@ButterySmooth30FPS same here, man. These games are amazing. I'm a bit strapped after buying KCD2 and MonHun this month but as soon as there's a price drop I'll bite.

MLP Horde shooter inbound! (Horse shooter?🤔)

@pebz7 it was the only time I forgot to do regular saves 😩 typical!

I'd love to be a character that is made to purposely bug out all the time as an easter egg but I guess that's gonna happen regardless 🤔

@Logonogo is there a trophy for that specific quest or completing all quests? I didn't want to look at the trophy list in case of spoilers. Ill happily play it again but I've put down the game thinking it might be fixed soon... maybe not.

@ApostateMage Sounds like built up dust on the honeycomb plate inside. A really common problem - for some reason they made it with tiny, sparse holes. Take the fan out and use something like a paintbrush to remove the fluff from within 😊

I was hoping they'd fix a minor quirk where a point of no return message pops up about a certain side quest but it's actually locked out a few quests earlier than that. Well, you can start it but there's a room that becomes un-enterable.

There was also an issue with the hermit quest where he would become hostile during a fight. Took around 10 tries before he chilled out 😂

Overall it's been smooth sailing though. Especially compared to other games of its size and the first one. I can forgive a few blips when it's as grand as this.

I'm absolutely loving the increased output from the East ❤️ we've had tonnes of good stuff already and there's tonnes to keep us excited still.

My mate who I share accounts with wasn't interested at first so I bought the steelbook instead but all the positive feedback has made him a hungry Henry. I've picked him up a copy 😁 he can't be missing out on this gem!

I'm pretty patchy in the brain department so I can attest to the fact that deep worlds like KCD2 can do wonders to get you through bad periods in life. Lovely to see things like this.

@Richy2025 so am I 😔

The only time I ever watch gaming playthroughs is for small horror titles like this that I don't think will get a PS release... dammit. I'll probably still grab a physical copy though. It was a very well-written game with distinct visuals.

@Steeleye50 woah. That's not very /jōk/ of you!

@Lup Awesome! Those two are so much fun. Simple but very effective gameplay. I've wanted to play the older Gungrave for a while but I don't have the means at the moment.

Glad to introduce you to some more obscure ones 😁 I go a bit mad for physical copies of the weird horror games. I've got a whole shelf dedicated to them.

@Lup oh wow, there's so many 😂 I'm big on horror so my collection is mostly of the creepy variety (none of the listed ones are particularly scary though) but here's a mix of genres from this gen - in no particular order:
The Chant (horror-action)
In Sound Mind (horror-adventure)
Tormented Souls (oldschool horror)
Fobia St. Dinfna Hotel (horror-shooter)
Chernobylite (horror/survival FPS)
Evil West (TPS)
Nobody Wants to Die (first-person investigative-adventure)
Still Wakes the Deep (Horror-adventure)
The Inquisitor (Third-person fantasy action)
Indika (Very bizzare adventure game - I have lots of love for this one)
Gungrave G.O.R.E. (TPS)
Slitterhead (horror-action)

For a PS4 wildcard try out Disaster Report 4 😂 I'll leave that one for you to discover.

I could go on for ages but these are some that I particularly enjoyed 👍

No thank you. I usually enjoy a Ubi game here or there (Avatar was great fun!) but many aspects of this look like utter s**t to me 😔 does not fit the grandeur they've attempted to present it with and there are some other games with similar themes that I'd much rather play/replay. Rise of the Ronin received a fantastic Pro update that I still haven't got stuck into.

Of course this is just my personal opinion. I'm sure many will love it as I did other Ubisoft games that were decried.

Edit: 🌈🐸 Alex Jones

This recent SoP had loads of cool AA games. A lot of people don't seem to care about them. This is a potential result for many of those studios.

They'll keep coming though 😁 and I'll keep buying them. Many of my favourites games would be classed as "AA".

@DrkNight365 Everybody here knows what "console exclusive" means... you don't?

And why are you the only one "crying" in this comment section 😂 the thick waft of irony is burning my nostrils and stinging my eyes. Nobody is this highly regarded - there's no way this isn't bait.

Only a physical release now? What changed? I was hoping for a blu ray release 😢

Haha 😉