@KidRyan It's simply not the same game. There's no argument otherwise.
Like, come on. That's like remaking a turn-based game like Pokemon Red but making it real-time combat. Or making GTA3 into a linear mission-only game. They're fundamentally not the same.
I hate that this "remake" is somehow not getting critiqued for so fundamentally changing the way the game it is "remaking" operated.
@Dalamar Yeah, at least not at full price. Maybe when it comes down to $20 and it can be justified you're "only buying" 3 or something... I can't support them messing so badly with the core of what made 4 4.
@Bingoboyop Seems like the majority of things put on Gamepass have commercially struggled. That's the entire basis for the critique of the service this conversation is based upon. So... that.
@Max_the_German If you're not making a joke, this is truly next-level spin. Or it's a great example of the issues with object permanence we have as a society thanks to the constant rush of new information flying at us every second.
Firewalk got shuttered within weeks of releasing Concord less than a year ago, my guy. That was one of the biggest and most shocking studio closures in recent history.
Sony may do it less frequently, sure, but it is not immune to the trend. Don't make stuff up to fit your narrative. It's a bad look all around.
But who would have guessed that spending millions to reboot a niche series and then giving it away on a subscription platform would result in poor sales?
Perfect Dark (64) is probably my favorite FPS game of all time. Its reboot looked absolutely awesome to me and was THE reason I would have bought an Xbox One (prior to their multi-platform strategy coming to fruition). It would have been the ONLY Microsoft game I even CONSIDERED buying day one. It would have (in another universe) even pushed me to buy their hardware.
Its cancellation is wild to me. I have no interest in anything Microsoft now owns.
Phil Spencer is the worst thing to ever happen to Xbox. You cannot convince me otherwise.
There was a lot that drove me away from COD over the years, but I tried dipping my toes back in with MW2. The complete tonal dissonance of playing a military shooter but being beamed by players that looked like bad Power Rangers characters just completely drove me away. I abhor everything they have done to that series. It boggles my mind why people put up with their slop.
Why would they buy a studio that made a solid VR-focused roguelike and then not put them on a roguelike title or continue focusing on VR? Makes no sense.
I don't know if I am onboard if it's purely FPS. Don't get me wrong, I love me an FPS game, but there's something about TPS and how you can see your gear and whatnot.
If anything, why don't they just allow for perspective switching like in Battlefront games? Even the TPS GR titles allowed you to go into first person when aiming if you chose to. Why not cater to both audiences?
I just use psprices as my wishlist. Saves me money, too.
Can we also talk about the fact that the Download function on the webstore is broken? If you find a title in the webstore that you wish to download to your system, there's a big fat DOWNLOAD button. That USED to initiate the download immediately, which would be a fair assumption, but it doesn't do that. Now, it takes you to your entire list of titles, which isn't searchable in any manner. You can filter by a few measly options like PS5 and PS4 (more on that later) or whether it's already downloaded to your system (SUPER HELPFUL EH?) but there is no way to just... go to the game you already said you are trying to download. You have to go page by page to find it. Plus, if you filter by, say, PS5... the entire page mechanic breaks anyway and reloads the front page over and over as you "page through" the list.
I sometimes wonder how anyone takes Sony seriously when their software design (outside of games themselves) is so piss poor.
Maybe they should cut the leadership that TRULY cost them $70+ billion instead of the lowly employees just trying to do their jobs, as requested, and make a living.
The only employees putting them in that position/hole are top level management.
Corporations are ***** idiotic and the stupidity always flows from the top.
I've never understood why Sony doesn't get into the business of licensing some of its engines. Decima is a jaw dropper every time it's used but it's in what, 4 games? That's a shame.
Sony should license its in-house engines to devs in exchange for timed exclusivity and a marketing push.
@AverageGamer Okay? I bought a PS5 to play new games. Not 20 year old games that weren't all that great to begin with.
Why would anyone buy this? The entire series and DLC (or at least the first trilogy) packaged up to celebrate the birth of the series? You've got my attention. $40 for one of them? Not remotely close to appealing.
@SMJ But why do a big floating screen? They could put you INSIDE the cabinet, basically.
I have absolutely adored Arizona Sunshine and Pistol Whip. Every "FPS" game on Quest has been - at worst - solid af.
Maybe it'd take a little reworking to do what I envision, so maybe they'd be more remake than port, but I think they would sell incredibly well. VR is the perfect platform for numerous old series and they could be revived and made better than ever.
I don't understand why developers don't port all the old lightgun classics (and these remakes) to VR platforms. They're the best modern analog out there, by a mile.
I'd kill for Time Crisis and Confidential Mission games on my Quest.
No game is worth $80 day one. Not when they're the most unbalanced, glitch-laden versions of modern games. Some people dislike Early Access but come on, people... almost every game on the market is in EA when you consider how poor the launch state of many titles tend to be. It commonly takes months, even years of post-launch support to become the games they sell us. And by then, the game can often be had for less than 50% of the original asking price. Why would you opt to pay to beta test a game? It's absurdly dumb to me.
If you want your product tested, pay for testers. Don't trick consumers into thinking they need to prove their brand allegiance by being suckered into getting to play a glorified demo.
I think it's pretty disingenuous to say we'll be "controlling" 2 characters at once. This isn't going to play like Phogs or something lol.
This is going to be "the little girl is on your back most of the time and her attacks are buttons X and Y while your robocop dude's attacks are A, B, and C... Oh and every so often he'll be incapacitated and she'll hop off and you'll control her to solve a puzzle or open a door a la controlling Clank in an R&C game."
What I've wanted is a morality system tied into combat encounters. And maybe this just isn't for NMS as a game, but I'd kill to be able to have Farcry-like combat encounters where you come across pirates and raiders (or even good law-abiding people like in these settlements) and take them over. Maybe I choose to turn them in to authorities or take over as their pirate captain and we terrorize the universe!
I didn't like how static NMS felt over time. I want some more role playing elements.
Also... Have they fixed absolutely awful the building interface is on consoles? 😂 It always amazes me they put out all these massive systems updates and yet the actual act of building is as finicky and crappy as ever. Like, come ON.
As a big comic book fan, I have no clue why I should have any interest in that Captain America/Black Panther game. It gives such extremely strong "meh" vibes and I know barely anything about it.
I don't understand how THAT gets greenlit and (seemingly) gets released but EA couldn't crack Black Panther by itself (hint: ape the Shadow of Mordor/Arkham Knight series with a dash of RPG elements no deeper than God of War's reboot).
I've had this game since it launched on Switch years ago and it just never lived up to its potential.
The entire gameplay mechanic whereby team members can steal kills and horde the coins necessary to lay down traps has always been mind numbingly dumb. All it takes is one bone headed (or greedy or trolling) teammate to completely waste your time. And let me tell you: there are a lot of them who play this game, it seems.
I had countless matches ruined by teammates stealing all the coins I was trying to earn and then they'd go exploring and never lay down any additional defenses, meaning we'd lose because the enemies waves get HARD rather quickly.
It really really needed love and attention on a mechanical level, but all they seemed to ever do was add customization options and levels, never touching the rotten core of the whole experience.
The fact deathmatches happen on the same levels as the tower defense mode instead of being crafted for actual deathmatch as a mode also meant the staying power of the package was just far too short for what it sort of bills itself as.
It is probably one of my biggest disappointments in the past generation or so.
@Vivisapprentice Yet games that sounded promising on paper like Wonder Woman and BP ended up shuttering their entire development teams. (Wouldn't surprise me if EA also eventually canned their Iron Man game.) Wolverine hasn't been seen since its assets got leaked and may be in development hell for all we know.
The Arkham series is pressing the strength of the word "last few years," by the way. AK came out 10 years ago. Speaking of, you forgot Arkham Knights in your list of letdowns. That game was also awful.
All I'm saying is, these comic IPs rule the media landscape in most regards but they rarely get good, defining videogames to lay claim to. Where is an epic X-Men RPG? Where is a good Superman game? There are so so many opportunities for fun titles and we barely get anything to stand amongst the other videogame greats. Just always odd to me.
That certainly sucks for the people working on it, but man... comic book games seem to really be hit or miss these days. It's wild to me these massive franchises can rarely put together a game worth bringing to market, let alone playing.
A Black Panther game by way of those ME games would be awesome.
@BrotherFilmriss Seriously. What confuses me is that they have hit on some niche yet popular multiplayer modes over the years (Factions, Uncharted MP, for example) that didn't NEED to be full live service titles to garner fans.
Why they haven't simply taken those core concepts and expanded upon them, relying on the gameplay and FUN inherent to them to feed long term interest (you know, how multiplayer suites used to sustain life) and "inject" them with low-key live services elements like selling skins and some new maps and weapons every few weeks.
It is said Naughty Dog didn't want to support Factions because its scope had grown so large that it'd risk swallowing the entire dev team. But, like... HOW?
Make it a standalone mode (say, $20 to purchase standalone or free if you own TLOU2). Build the backend framework so new maps can be added every, say, 4-6 weeks (surely enough for a a few devs to whip up a new playground as long as they were scaled decently small enough like the OG mode). Put a few devs on generation of cosmetic content. And a few on new weapons and items (1-2 could be added with every map rollout). Then a small team to generate new gameplay mechanics to roll out with "seasons" (same way weapons and maps would) and... how could that not be sustainable? How is that an entire company-wide effort?
If it was scoped properly, it wouldn't be at risk of swallowing a company. These teams get so ambitious (whether from within or from external pressure) that I have to imagine they just don't see the easy wins right in front of them.
If they are going to cover performance as a topic in a review, the game should be assessed and the information should be relayed to the reader for both hardware standards.
If they are going to only cover one, then they should use the base level hardware because that is what the majority of readers will have at home and it is easy for those that need it to go elsewhere to find the detailed information regarding their niche (market penetration-wise) hardware.
Ideally, they would assess performance on both, to be clear.
@Th3solution Don't get me wrong, I think Joel lying in those situations is ABSOLUTELY self serving. But he is doing it, in his mind, to shoulder that burden instead of lay it upon the other person's shoulders.
It's why it's such a tragic character flaw. You can see why he does it here, why he did it to/for Ellie, but in the end it costs him his life. It's simple to imagine doing the same thing for someone you know. You fudge the truth because a "littler white lie" won't hurt them, but in the end it's that exact thing that costs him his life (let alone the lives of anyone who could have been saved had the Fireflies succeeded with the cure). It's the crux of his character.
@ChrisDeku That's great to hear, in all honesty I'm a sucker for metaprogression.
And no offense, but you don't need to speak down to me. I completely understand the game mechanic of an inventory/vault in extraction shooters. I have played them before. I know full well what they're based around and I was using the phrase "lose everything" to implicitly refer to "what's on your person" because I thought we were speaking the same language.
Don't take ***** like that so literally because you assume the person you're talking to is an idiot. I thought, given the context of discussing extraction shooters, that I didn't need to be so specific.
I'm not sure I've paid $80 for the entire series, and I've played all 3 main line entries, both spin-offs, and the probably 90% of the DLC. Guess I'm not a real fan to Randy. He can ***** right off, as far as I'm concerned. Guess consumers that wait for inevitable GOTY edition sales aren't good enough fans. Wait until he learns it's a lot easier to not buy a game at all than it is to find $80 to pay for his *****.
You're doing a disservice to the community by only addressing performance on the Pro level hardware.
I hope this doesn't become the norm for PushSquare or else I'll have to start looking fo opinions elsewhere, as that data point means nothing to me (nor the vast majority of PS5 owners).
@Th3solution If you didn't understand that Joel was trying to do right by Gail and give her a good last memory of her husband instead of the truth in order to give her sollace amidst the pile of ***** surrounding the entire situation, then I don't know what to tell you.
Joel was very clearly lying in order to serve what he saw as a greater good (bend the truth so Gail can sleep better sort of thing). It's the exact same thing he did, though at a smaller scale/with lower stakes, regarding Ellie and the Fireflies. How can you say that'd be out of character for him?? Him lying to do right by someone is literally the biggest defining part of the character.
It was Ellie being an immature ***** in that moment who overstepped in the name of the truth. It directly echoes her drive to get the truth out of Joel regarding the hospital, consequences be damned.
It was their entire relationship in a nutshell. I thought that part was pretty brilliantly showing that.
@ChrisDeku Making the maps smaller is in no way innovative, imo. It's just scaling down each match in scope. You wouldn't call GTA6 innovative if its map was half the size (or smaller) than 5's. You'd just be upset there's less there. (Maybe not you specifically, but many people.)
Introducing hero shooter elements when the market hasn't reacted well to those designs as of late (outside of Marvel Rivals) is also a choice, but not one I'd define as outright innovation. "Heroes," after all, are just character classes by a different name. Been done to death at this point.
Also, you chose the word "innovation." I'm not necessarily saying what Arc Raiders is doing is any more innovative than Marathon, but it cannot be argued Marathon is more forgiving than Arc Raiders. I think that's the biggest place people are looking for distinction between the old and new in extraction shooters and Marathon is poised to be quite unforgiving.
Again, if classic extraction shooters are "rogue like" in nature, where you lose basically all your progress in a failed run, then Marathon still falls squarely in that camp. Maybe there's some banking of items on a successful run, but a failure is outright failure in all senses. That grates on people's nerves.
Arc Raiders is more "rogue lite" whereby even in failure there is some meta progression (by way of your xp and some systems in-base to help you inch forward). I think that's goes a long way to making people feel better about risking another run: they know they may lose gear but they can still inch forward.
That risk/reward may be the bread and butter of the genre to its fans, but it's also usually the part that makes people bounce off them. The fact Marathon isn't trying to change that is what baffles me. I really don't think "flashy graphics" (let alone polarizing ones such as they are) will be what's needed to change perception of the genre's unforgiving nature which is, when all is said and done, the biggest hurdle that Marathon faces.
@Lysterao I thought Eternal was far too chaotic for its own good. I think I got halfway through before I abandoned it. It wasn't nearly as fun and focused to me as 2016 was. It completely lost the plot, design-wise, and simply became far too hectic.
@get2sammyb What's wild is that extraction shooters are popular, yet remain a VERY specific niche (they're like the rogue likes of PvPvE shooters in a way, a niche within a niche). Bungie probably saw this as an opportunity to make them mainstream, especially on consoles where they don't have a strong foothold, but decided to not innovate on the formula or make it ANY more accessible than others in the genre. That is a TRULY baffling design decision when you think about it.
If extraction shooters as-designed are not built to be more forgiving, then it's probably a huge part of why they remain so niche, even on PC. (General audiences do not love the idea of gambling away their hard fought spoils of war or wasting their time to get nothing in return after dedicating time and effort to a title. Shocker.)
Meanwhile, Arc Raiders swoops in with tangible improvements to the formula that - gasp - make it all more palatable for more casual players and lo and behold, it's getting a lot of positive buzz. (Arc Raiders seems like a rogue lite compared to others' rogue like set ups - an important nuance.)
It's like... who thought copy pasting the existing formula was EVER going to be enough to make the genre more mainstream? CLEARLY something had to be tweaked to make it accessible and enjoyable. It seems Bungie was not keyed into that whatsoever, which boggles my mind. How do you greenlight such a project for untold millions and not see the inherent flaw in that vision?
I loved Doom but hated Eternal. All I heard was that Dark Ages was "different" than them both. That did not translate to me understanding whether I would enjoy my time with it or not, so I certainly was not going to drop $70 on it.
@FinneasGH The communities that had access to both recent alphas were ABSOLUTELY praising Arc Raiders as the superior title, almost universally.
Marathon's alpha revealed a lot of the general game design concerns are valid (such as the size of the game world and the progression systems). Meanwhile, players basically had nothing but nice, exciting things to say about Arc Raiders. It was a big surprise to everyone who played it (myself included).
Just because you yourself are not tuned into the broader buzz around these titles and only rely on sources like PushSquare doesn't mean you are remotely close to being in the know (and PS itself may not be, either, which I'm sure they'd admit).
The communities springing up around these titles are currently far more excited about Arc Raiders.
If Sony wants to make good live service games, which at has every right to despite what people say, then they need to be creating interesting games in that space. They shouldn't be chasing trends. They shouldn't be slapping IP on basic mechanics and ideas. Or at least put an IP on a concept where it makes sense (like TLOU would have).
Where is there extraction shooter? Where is their racing game? Where is their concept we don't even have a name for?
They keep trying to make competitors to the big boys. They should stop and come up with original ideas that play in new spaces so that fans want to play the titles first and foremost. That's why they're simply seen as chasing trends. Nothing besides Helldivers has been truly original, which is not going to set them apart enough to pull players from the existing heavy hitters.
MAG as a giant large-scale FPS with a meta war game/front element.
A Killzone extraction shooter where you have to dip behind enemy lines and escape. (This concept could also work for SOCOM, honestly. Doing it alongside a squad would be awesome.)
Twisted Metal as a car combat battle royale.
TLOU Factions.
Hell, any of Media Molecule's games where they end up creating platforms - if marketed properly - could be huge "platform" hits like Roblox if Sony had the vision for it.
Instead they greenlit a God of War live service game and Concord. Like... how did they ever think people wanted that stuff?
Some people have a blanket hate for live service games. That's fine. The only way you'll win them over is making a game they want to play first and foremost. Sony has been failing at THAT worse than anything else. They deserve all the criticism they receive for that blunder, not chasing the golden goose.
Comments 1,710
Re: Round Up: Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 + 4 PS5 Reviews Say Shove-It to the Sceptics
@KidRyan It's simply not the same game. There's no argument otherwise.
Like, come on. That's like remaking a turn-based game like Pokemon Red but making it real-time combat. Or making GTA3 into a linear mission-only game. They're fundamentally not the same.
I hate that this "remake" is somehow not getting critiqued for so fundamentally changing the way the game it is "remaking" operated.
Re: Round Up: Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 + 4 PS5 Reviews Say Shove-It to the Sceptics
@Dalamar Yeah, at least not at full price. Maybe when it comes down to $20 and it can be justified you're "only buying" 3 or something... I can't support them messing so badly with the core of what made 4 4.
Re: Round Up: Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 + 4 PS5 Reviews Say Shove-It to the Sceptics
If you're going to mess with the core of the game, don't remake it. No interest in this package with such a jacked up 4.
Re: 'I Much Prefer PS Plus' Lifecycle Management Strategy': Devs Weigh in on Crippling Xbox Game Pass Impact
@Bingoboyop Seems like the majority of things put on Gamepass have commercially struggled. That's the entire basis for the critique of the service this conversation is based upon. So... that.
Re: 'I Much Prefer PS Plus' Lifecycle Management Strategy': Devs Weigh in on Crippling Xbox Game Pass Impact
@EfYI I didn't argue otherwise. My statement was purely in response to the factually incorrect comment made by someone else. Nothing more.
Re: 'I Much Prefer PS Plus' Lifecycle Management Strategy': Devs Weigh in on Crippling Xbox Game Pass Impact
@Max_the_German If you're not making a joke, this is truly next-level spin. Or it's a great example of the issues with object permanence we have as a society thanks to the constant rush of new information flying at us every second.
Firewalk got shuttered within weeks of releasing Concord less than a year ago, my guy. That was one of the biggest and most shocking studio closures in recent history.
Sony may do it less frequently, sure, but it is not immune to the trend. Don't make stuff up to fit your narrative. It's a bad look all around.
Re: Gran Turismo's Primary Console Competitor May Be No More
But who would have guessed that spending millions to reboot a niche series and then giving it away on a subscription platform would result in poor sales?
Re: Mass Xbox Layoffs Begin, Everwild and Perfect Dark Both Cancelled
Perfect Dark (64) is probably my favorite FPS game of all time. Its reboot looked absolutely awesome to me and was THE reason I would have bought an Xbox One (prior to their multi-platform strategy coming to fruition). It would have been the ONLY Microsoft game I even CONSIDERED buying day one. It would have (in another universe) even pushed me to buy their hardware.
Its cancellation is wild to me. I have no interest in anything Microsoft now owns.
Phil Spencer is the worst thing to ever happen to Xbox. You cannot convince me otherwise.
Re: What the Hell Has Happened to Call of Duty?
There was a lot that drove me away from COD over the years, but I tried dipping my toes back in with MW2. The complete tonal dissonance of playing a military shooter but being beamed by players that looked like bad Power Rangers characters just completely drove me away. I abhor everything they have done to that series. It boggles my mind why people put up with their slop.
Re: Ambitious, AAA PS5 Exclusive to Deliver Ground-Breaking Story and Atmosphere
Why would they buy a studio that made a solid VR-focused roguelike and then not put them on a roguelike title or continue focusing on VR? Makes no sense.
Re: Rumour: Realistic, First-Person Ghost Recon Game Is Ticking Along, Targeting 2026 Release
I don't know if I am onboard if it's purely FPS. Don't get me wrong, I love me an FPS game, but there's something about TPS and how you can see your gear and whatnot.
If anything, why don't they just allow for perspective switching like in Battlefront games? Even the TPS GR titles allowed you to go into first person when aiming if you chose to. Why not cater to both audiences?
Re: Some PS Plus Users Can't Download Diablo 4
Sony the company sucks at software design.
Re: Sony Buffed PS5's Wishlist, But It's Been Broken for Weeks Now
I just use psprices as my wishlist. Saves me money, too.
Can we also talk about the fact that the Download function on the webstore is broken? If you find a title in the webstore that you wish to download to your system, there's a big fat DOWNLOAD button. That USED to initiate the download immediately, which would be a fair assumption, but it doesn't do that. Now, it takes you to your entire list of titles, which isn't searchable in any manner. You can filter by a few measly options like PS5 and PS4 (more on that later) or whether it's already downloaded to your system (SUPER HELPFUL EH?) but there is no way to just... go to the game you already said you are trying to download. You have to go page by page to find it. Plus, if you filter by, say, PS5... the entire page mechanic breaks anyway and reloads the front page over and over as you "page through" the list.
I sometimes wonder how anyone takes Sony seriously when their software design (outside of games themselves) is so piss poor.
Re: 'Employees at Virtually Every Studio Are Worried': Major Layoffs at Xbox Expected Next Week
Maybe they should cut the leadership that TRULY cost them $70+ billion instead of the lowly employees just trying to do their jobs, as requested, and make a living.
The only employees putting them in that position/hole are top level management.
Corporations are ***** idiotic and the stupidity always flows from the top.
Re: Tech Experts Call Death Stranding 2 'One of the Best Looking Games of This Generation'
@PuppetMaster I had no clue the engine was so old that it ran Killzone SF and the Until Dawn games! Good looking out.
Re: Tech Experts Call Death Stranding 2 'One of the Best Looking Games of This Generation'
I've never understood why Sony doesn't get into the business of licensing some of its engines. Decima is a jaw dropper every time it's used but it's in what, 4 games? That's a shame.
Sony should license its in-house engines to devs in exchange for timed exclusivity and a marketing push.
Re: The Witcher, Kingdom Come Vibes in Blood of Dawnwalker Gameplay
Color me extremely intrigued.
Re: After Messy First Beta, Gears of War: Reloaded's Second Beta Weekend Extended on PS5
@AverageGamer Okay? I bought a PS5 to play new games. Not 20 year old games that weren't all that great to begin with.
Why would anyone buy this? The entire series and DLC (or at least the first trilogy) packaged up to celebrate the birth of the series? You've got my attention. $40 for one of them? Not remotely close to appealing.
Re: After Messy First Beta, Gears of War: Reloaded's Second Beta Weekend Extended on PS5
Maybe I'm just jaded, but I don't own a PS5 to play Xbox 360 games.
Why this was prioritized over more recent Xbox titles like Halo Infinite is beyond me.
Re: PS5, PS4 Players Forced to Wait for House of the Dead 2 Remake
@SMJ But why do a big floating screen? They could put you INSIDE the cabinet, basically.
I have absolutely adored Arizona Sunshine and Pistol Whip. Every "FPS" game on Quest has been - at worst - solid af.
Maybe it'd take a little reworking to do what I envision, so maybe they'd be more remake than port, but I think they would sell incredibly well. VR is the perfect platform for numerous old series and they could be revived and made better than ever.
Re: PS5, PS4 Players Forced to Wait for House of the Dead 2 Remake
I don't understand why developers don't port all the old lightgun classics (and these remakes) to VR platforms. They're the best modern analog out there, by a mile.
I'd kill for Time Crisis and Confidential Mission games on my Quest.
Re: The Outer Worlds 2 Gets Gameplay Blowout Covering RPG Systems, Combat, More
No game is worth $80 day one. Not when they're the most unbalanced, glitch-laden versions of modern games. Some people dislike Early Access but come on, people... almost every game on the market is in EA when you consider how poor the launch state of many titles tend to be. It commonly takes months, even years of post-launch support to become the games they sell us. And by then, the game can often be had for less than 50% of the original asking price. Why would you opt to pay to beta test a game? It's absurdly dumb to me.
If you want your product tested, pay for testers. Don't trick consumers into thinking they need to prove their brand allegiance by being suckered into getting to play a glorified demo.
This stuff is absurd to me.
Re: Frenetic Roguelike FPS Void Breaker Targets PS5 in 2026 Following Early Access Stint
Must buy, imo. Looks right up my alley. Solo dev, too, iirc. Gotta support the little guys.
Re: Just What Is Going on in Capcom's Long-Delayed PS5 Game Pragmata, Then?
I think it's pretty disingenuous to say we'll be "controlling" 2 characters at once. This isn't going to play like Phogs or something lol.
This is going to be "the little girl is on your back most of the time and her attacks are buttons X and Y while your robocop dude's attacks are A, B, and C... Oh and every so often he'll be incapacitated and she'll hop off and you'll control her to solve a puzzle or open a door a la controlling Clank in an R&C game."
Re: Free-to-Play Piratical RPG Sea of Remnants Sets Sail for PS5
Turn-based? Nevermind then.
Re: No Man's Sky Beacon Is Another Game-Changing Free Update Available This Week on PS5, PS4
What I've wanted is a morality system tied into combat encounters. And maybe this just isn't for NMS as a game, but I'd kill to be able to have Farcry-like combat encounters where you come across pirates and raiders (or even good law-abiding people like in these settlements) and take them over. Maybe I choose to turn them in to authorities or take over as their pirate captain and we terrorize the universe!
I didn't like how static NMS felt over time. I want some more role playing elements.
Also... Have they fixed absolutely awful the building interface is on consoles? 😂 It always amazes me they put out all these massive systems updates and yet the actual act of building is as finicky and crappy as ever. Like, come ON.
Re: Talking Point: What Are Your PS5 Predictions for Summer Game Fest 2025?
As a big comic book fan, I have no clue why I should have any interest in that Captain America/Black Panther game. It gives such extremely strong "meh" vibes and I know barely anything about it.
I don't understand how THAT gets greenlit and (seemingly) gets released but EA couldn't crack Black Panther by itself (hint: ape the Shadow of Mordor/Arkham Knight series with a dash of RPG elements no deeper than God of War's reboot).
Re: One of PS5's Most Popular Games Will Blow Your Mind
No it won't, because PCGamer reported on this days ago and Insider Gaming simply stole the story and now you've stolen what was stolen.
Re: Poll: Are You Happy with Your PS Plus Essential Games for June 2025?
As a big JGR fan, I had been eyeing Bomb Rush for a while. Happy to end up snagging it for free.
Re: Mini Review: Hypercharge: Unboxed (PS5) - Aesthetically Pleasing, Disappointingly Thin
I've had this game since it launched on Switch years ago and it just never lived up to its potential.
The entire gameplay mechanic whereby team members can steal kills and horde the coins necessary to lay down traps has always been mind numbingly dumb. All it takes is one bone headed (or greedy or trolling) teammate to completely waste your time. And let me tell you: there are a lot of them who play this game, it seems.
I had countless matches ruined by teammates stealing all the coins I was trying to earn and then they'd go exploring and never lay down any additional defenses, meaning we'd lose because the enemies waves get HARD rather quickly.
It really really needed love and attention on a mechanical level, but all they seemed to ever do was add customization options and levels, never touching the rotten core of the whole experience.
The fact deathmatches happen on the same levels as the tower defense mode instead of being crafted for actual deathmatch as a mode also meant the staying power of the package was just far too short for what it sort of bills itself as.
It is probably one of my biggest disappointments in the past generation or so.
Re: EA's Black Panther Game Cancelled, Studio Shut Down
@Vivisapprentice Yet games that sounded promising on paper like Wonder Woman and BP ended up shuttering their entire development teams. (Wouldn't surprise me if EA also eventually canned their Iron Man game.) Wolverine hasn't been seen since its assets got leaked and may be in development hell for all we know.
The Arkham series is pressing the strength of the word "last few years," by the way. AK came out 10 years ago. Speaking of, you forgot Arkham Knights in your list of letdowns. That game was also awful.
All I'm saying is, these comic IPs rule the media landscape in most regards but they rarely get good, defining videogames to lay claim to. Where is an epic X-Men RPG? Where is a good Superman game? There are so so many opportunities for fun titles and we barely get anything to stand amongst the other videogame greats. Just always odd to me.
Re: EA's Black Panther Game Cancelled, Studio Shut Down
That certainly sucks for the people working on it, but man... comic book games seem to really be hit or miss these days. It's wild to me these massive franchises can rarely put together a game worth bringing to market, let alone playing.
A Black Panther game by way of those ME games would be awesome.
Re: PS5, PC Live Service Fairgames Is a 'Super Clunky' Cross Between Fortnite and The Division
@BrotherFilmriss Seriously. What confuses me is that they have hit on some niche yet popular multiplayer modes over the years (Factions, Uncharted MP, for example) that didn't NEED to be full live service titles to garner fans.
Why they haven't simply taken those core concepts and expanded upon them, relying on the gameplay and FUN inherent to them to feed long term interest (you know, how multiplayer suites used to sustain life) and "inject" them with low-key live services elements like selling skins and some new maps and weapons every few weeks.
It is said Naughty Dog didn't want to support Factions because its scope had grown so large that it'd risk swallowing the entire dev team. But, like... HOW?
Make it a standalone mode (say, $20 to purchase standalone or free if you own TLOU2). Build the backend framework so new maps can be added every, say, 4-6 weeks (surely enough for a a few devs to whip up a new playground as long as they were scaled decently small enough like the OG mode). Put a few devs on generation of cosmetic content. And a few on new weapons and items (1-2 could be added with every map rollout). Then a small team to generate new gameplay mechanics to roll out with "seasons" (same way weapons and maps would) and... how could that not be sustainable? How is that an entire company-wide effort?
If it was scoped properly, it wouldn't be at risk of swallowing a company. These teams get so ambitious (whether from within or from external pressure) that I have to imagine they just don't see the easy wins right in front of them.
Re: PS5, PC Live Service Fairgames Is a 'Super Clunky' Cross Between Fortnite and The Division
Factions died for this.
Re: Embracer Group Says It'll Release 76 Games in the Next 12 Months
Metal Eden looks cool as hell imo. And I loved KF2, so hopefully they can turn KF3 around. From what I heard, beta impressions were NOT good.
Re: Blades of Fire (PS5) - Steely Action with Blunt Art and Storytelling
@Northern_munkey You and most of us here, yes.
Re: Blades of Fire (PS5) - Steely Action with Blunt Art and Storytelling
@Rich33 Uh... yeah. But that's not my point.
If they are going to cover performance as a topic in a review, the game should be assessed and the information should be relayed to the reader for both hardware standards.
If they are going to only cover one, then they should use the base level hardware because that is what the majority of readers will have at home and it is easy for those that need it to go elsewhere to find the detailed information regarding their niche (market penetration-wise) hardware.
Ideally, they would assess performance on both, to be clear.
Re: TV Show Review: The Last Of Us (HBO) Season 2 Episode 6 - Robbing the Story of Its Genius
@Th3solution Don't get me wrong, I think Joel lying in those situations is ABSOLUTELY self serving. But he is doing it, in his mind, to shoulder that burden instead of lay it upon the other person's shoulders.
It's why it's such a tragic character flaw. You can see why he does it here, why he did it to/for Ellie, but in the end it costs him his life. It's simple to imagine doing the same thing for someone you know. You fudge the truth because a "littler white lie" won't hurt them, but in the end it's that exact thing that costs him his life (let alone the lives of anyone who could have been saved had the Fireflies succeeded with the cure). It's the crux of his character.
Re: Marathon Maker's Morale in Tatters as Art Director Forced to Admit Asset Theft in Ill-Conceived Livestream
@ChrisDeku That's great to hear, in all honesty I'm a sucker for metaprogression.
And no offense, but you don't need to speak down to me. I completely understand the game mechanic of an inventory/vault in extraction shooters. I have played them before. I know full well what they're based around and I was using the phrase "lose everything" to implicitly refer to "what's on your person" because I thought we were speaking the same language.
Don't take ***** like that so literally because you assume the person you're talking to is an idiot. I thought, given the context of discussing extraction shooters, that I didn't need to be so specific.
Re: Helldivers 2's Major New Update Is Proving Wildly Popular on PS5, PC
I hopped in after the last update with weapon customization and it felt better than ever. I can't wait to try these new missions on Super Earth.
Re: Real Fans Will Find a Way to Buy $80 Games, Says Borderlands Boss
I'm not sure I've paid $80 for the entire series, and I've played all 3 main line entries, both spin-offs, and the probably 90% of the DLC. Guess I'm not a real fan to Randy. He can ***** right off, as far as I'm concerned. Guess consumers that wait for inevitable GOTY edition sales aren't good enough fans. Wait until he learns it's a lot easier to not buy a game at all than it is to find $80 to pay for his *****.
Re: Blades of Fire (PS5) - Steely Action with Blunt Art and Storytelling
You're doing a disservice to the community by only addressing performance on the Pro level hardware.
I hope this doesn't become the norm for PushSquare or else I'll have to start looking fo opinions elsewhere, as that data point means nothing to me (nor the vast majority of PS5 owners).
Re: TV Show Review: The Last Of Us (HBO) Season 2 Episode 6 - Robbing the Story of Its Genius
@Th3solution If you didn't understand that Joel was trying to do right by Gail and give her a good last memory of her husband instead of the truth in order to give her sollace amidst the pile of ***** surrounding the entire situation, then I don't know what to tell you.
Joel was very clearly lying in order to serve what he saw as a greater good (bend the truth so Gail can sleep better sort of thing). It's the exact same thing he did, though at a smaller scale/with lower stakes, regarding Ellie and the Fireflies. How can you say that'd be out of character for him?? Him lying to do right by someone is literally the biggest defining part of the character.
It was Ellie being an immature ***** in that moment who overstepped in the name of the truth. It directly echoes her drive to get the truth out of Joel regarding the hospital, consequences be damned.
It was their entire relationship in a nutshell. I thought that part was pretty brilliantly showing that.
Re: Marathon Maker's Morale in Tatters as Art Director Forced to Admit Asset Theft in Ill-Conceived Livestream
@ChrisDeku Making the maps smaller is in no way innovative, imo. It's just scaling down each match in scope. You wouldn't call GTA6 innovative if its map was half the size (or smaller) than 5's. You'd just be upset there's less there. (Maybe not you specifically, but many people.)
Introducing hero shooter elements when the market hasn't reacted well to those designs as of late (outside of Marvel Rivals) is also a choice, but not one I'd define as outright innovation. "Heroes," after all, are just character classes by a different name. Been done to death at this point.
Also, you chose the word "innovation." I'm not necessarily saying what Arc Raiders is doing is any more innovative than Marathon, but it cannot be argued Marathon is more forgiving than Arc Raiders. I think that's the biggest place people are looking for distinction between the old and new in extraction shooters and Marathon is poised to be quite unforgiving.
Again, if classic extraction shooters are "rogue like" in nature, where you lose basically all your progress in a failed run, then Marathon still falls squarely in that camp. Maybe there's some banking of items on a successful run, but a failure is outright failure in all senses. That grates on people's nerves.
Arc Raiders is more "rogue lite" whereby even in failure there is some meta progression (by way of your xp and some systems in-base to help you inch forward). I think that's goes a long way to making people feel better about risking another run: they know they may lose gear but they can still inch forward.
That risk/reward may be the bread and butter of the genre to its fans, but it's also usually the part that makes people bounce off them. The fact Marathon isn't trying to change that is what baffles me. I really don't think "flashy graphics" (let alone polarizing ones such as they are) will be what's needed to change perception of the genre's unforgiving nature which is, when all is said and done, the biggest hurdle that Marathon faces.
Re: Fans Discuss the Reason Behind DOOM: The Dark Ages' Lukewarm Opening
@Lysterao I thought Eternal was far too chaotic for its own good. I think I got halfway through before I abandoned it. It wasn't nearly as fun and focused to me as 2016 was. It completely lost the plot, design-wise, and simply became far too hectic.
Re: Marathon Maker's Morale in Tatters as Art Director Forced to Admit Asset Theft in Ill-Conceived Livestream
@get2sammyb What's wild is that extraction shooters are popular, yet remain a VERY specific niche (they're like the rogue likes of PvPvE shooters in a way, a niche within a niche). Bungie probably saw this as an opportunity to make them mainstream, especially on consoles where they don't have a strong foothold, but decided to not innovate on the formula or make it ANY more accessible than others in the genre. That is a TRULY baffling design decision when you think about it.
If extraction shooters as-designed are not built to be more forgiving, then it's probably a huge part of why they remain so niche, even on PC. (General audiences do not love the idea of gambling away their hard fought spoils of war or wasting their time to get nothing in return after dedicating time and effort to a title. Shocker.)
Meanwhile, Arc Raiders swoops in with tangible improvements to the formula that - gasp - make it all more palatable for more casual players and lo and behold, it's getting a lot of positive buzz. (Arc Raiders seems like a rogue lite compared to others' rogue like set ups - an important nuance.)
It's like... who thought copy pasting the existing formula was EVER going to be enough to make the genre more mainstream? CLEARLY something had to be tweaked to make it accessible and enjoyable. It seems Bungie was not keyed into that whatsoever, which boggles my mind. How do you greenlight such a project for untold millions and not see the inherent flaw in that vision?
Re: Fans Discuss the Reason Behind DOOM: The Dark Ages' Lukewarm Opening
I loved Doom but hated Eternal. All I heard was that Dark Ages was "different" than them both. That did not translate to me understanding whether I would enjoy my time with it or not, so I certainly was not going to drop $70 on it.
Re: Marathon Maker's Morale in Tatters as Art Director Forced to Admit Asset Theft in Ill-Conceived Livestream
@FinneasGH The communities that had access to both recent alphas were ABSOLUTELY praising Arc Raiders as the superior title, almost universally.
Marathon's alpha revealed a lot of the general game design concerns are valid (such as the size of the game world and the progression systems). Meanwhile, players basically had nothing but nice, exciting things to say about Arc Raiders. It was a big surprise to everyone who played it (myself included).
Just because you yourself are not tuned into the broader buzz around these titles and only rely on sources like PushSquare doesn't mean you are remotely close to being in the know (and PS itself may not be, either, which I'm sure they'd admit).
The communities springing up around these titles are currently far more excited about Arc Raiders.
Re: Like It or Loathe It, This Is Why Sony Won't Stop Trying to Make Live Service Games for PS5
If Sony wants to make good live service games, which at has every right to despite what people say, then they need to be creating interesting games in that space. They shouldn't be chasing trends. They shouldn't be slapping IP on basic mechanics and ideas. Or at least put an IP on a concept where it makes sense (like TLOU would have).
Where is there extraction shooter? Where is their racing game? Where is their concept we don't even have a name for?
They keep trying to make competitors to the big boys. They should stop and come up with original ideas that play in new spaces so that fans want to play the titles first and foremost. That's why they're simply seen as chasing trends. Nothing besides Helldivers has been truly original, which is not going to set them apart enough to pull players from the existing heavy hitters.
MAG as a giant large-scale FPS with a meta war game/front element.
A Killzone extraction shooter where you have to dip behind enemy lines and escape. (This concept could also work for SOCOM, honestly. Doing it alongside a squad would be awesome.)
Twisted Metal as a car combat battle royale.
TLOU Factions.
Hell, any of Media Molecule's games where they end up creating platforms - if marketed properly - could be huge "platform" hits like Roblox if Sony had the vision for it.
Instead they greenlit a God of War live service game and Concord. Like... how did they ever think people wanted that stuff?
Some people have a blanket hate for live service games. That's fine. The only way you'll win them over is making a game they want to play first and foremost. Sony has been failing at THAT worse than anything else. They deserve all the criticism they receive for that blunder, not chasing the golden goose.
Re: Despite Unfathomable Marketing Spend, Fatal Fury Appears to Have Flopped
"Unfathomable marketing spend" and yet I never knew the game existed until the Ronaldo DLC kerfuffle. And I'm a gamer that's pretty tuned in.