Metonymy

There are so many allusions and unanswered questions set up in the last two games, this makes a lot of sense. I’m sure I remember talk of a 5 game arc years ago as well but I can’t recall where.

I think both mine and this top 5 will look quite a bit different by the year’s end but regardless, what a great year for games.

Hoping to fire up the remaining 3 generators in Mina the Hollower, and continue Bond’s pursuit of 009 in First Light. Both games have been good fun thus far. Happy gaming!

This is a day one game for me, and that’s saying something year! Glad to hear it’s shaping up nicely. Speaking personally, I’d love a return to form for Remedy after being fairly disappointed with Alan Wake II.

Recently played, Games, even Captures are blank in the app for me. Hope it gets sorted soon.

I’m very curious about this one. Conceptually, Hellraiser is genius. Hope it turns out!

@get2sammyb “I do think Xbox leadership did a lot of gaslighting to shield themselves from scrutiny. A lot of chatter about these acquisitions giving studios security and Game Pass being sustainable when it clearly wasn’t true.”

Tim Schafer has some interviews from around the acquisition time that just plain hurt to read today. Here’s a doozy:

https://www.gamesindustry.biz/inside-the-mind-of-tim-schafer

That margin is unfortunately critical. Xbox are in emergency mode, and nothing but the absolute safest bets will survive.

I think the reasoning makes sense, and is likely both liberating and inspiring for the editorial staff; passion is any endeavour’s lifeblood. Looking out into the digital abyss that is the internet, Push Square is in a really nice place 😊

I really want to play South of Midnight, just not sure when.

1.) Mixtape
2.) Saros
3.) Nioh 3
4.) Resident Evil Requiem
5,) 007 First Light/Mina the Hollower - I’m partway through both and they’re both excellent

@ilyn I’m not sure what they were thinking with the difficulty. The combat system naturally has a ‘play with your food’ feel to it, so I still had fun with it in a first run-through but in FF mode the system truly shines, demanding the player stays 3 steps ahead executing perfect parries and dodges while managing cooldowns and charging specials etc. It put me into that rare flow state that the very best combat systems do. It’s a crime that players walked away from this system with the impression that you can just press square to win. And that’s on the developer.

Yeah, I couldn’t agree more. I love traditional Final Fantasy (whatever that even means at this point) but this game is special. The combat system is so fun, especially in Final Fantasy mode (which is frustratingly locked behind a first playthrough). As for side quests, the game itself seems to understand how superfluous they can be, clearly marking out which ones actually give you something worthwhile. Despite everything, this is like top 3 FF for me.

Looking at lifetime sales of all consoles, it’s pretty clear that the market isn’t exactly growing, yet we have more games and more investment tied up in software than ever before. Along with the fact that anything with a screen is now in direct competition with the console space, yeah, something does have to give at some point.

I think what he’s saying is that the release date is determined by when the game is ‘done,’ not by other factors. Which is great. If the insinuation is that the timing of a release (new I.P no less) is irrelevant to its success, well, let’s just say that’s a very unique marketing strategy.

I applaud the transparency and hope to see more of it. A.I is a big buzzword that has basically lost all meaning at this point, outside of ‘good’ in certain circles and ‘bad’ in others. The truth is far more nuanced.

@BearsEatBeets Presumably the third game will star Evelyn, which means we can assume a 4 game arc ending with Evangeline right?

Just catching up on all of the announcements. This is a lovely trailer. Day one for me!

That hero shot of Fey is something else ❤️

The immediate answer for me is Laufey but there was plenty to be excited about. My imagination is running wild with that one though.

I think what SMS is setting up here is is really smart. I remember reading a lot of interviews with Cory around the launch of 2018 God of War, and he was constantly on about wanting to find a way to make these games faster. Sounds like they have a lot of stories planned out. I can’t help but wonder if this is the beginning of that goal. Time will tell.

Jaffe has the right to criticize the direction of the series he was instrumental in creating, even if I couldn’t disagree with him more.

It’s so stylized and over the top that it harkens back to childhood days of mangled action figures, pastels and melted crayons. ILL on the other hand…

Why should all gods be humanoid? Something outside of our realm, outside of our understanding, should absolutely be weird. I genuinely love the swing with the cube and ribbon and can’t wait to learn more.

I’m completely sold. The direction, the music, the combat, the imagination…the talking cube and ribbons 😄 Day one buy.

Voted ‘very good.’ Not a lot of new announcements but what was shown was great. God of War: Laufey was the standout for me, looks absolutely incredible.

A big part of why I’m playing the game at the incredibly slow pace that I am. Looking forward to this.

I’m hopeful that this will be great. Hope we see more soon!

Yes! I’ve been waiting for something more on this but wasn’t expecting a demo. All over it!

I enjoyed reading this analysis. I’d add the whole concept of a generation not quite being the same as it used to be into the mix. Voted ‘ask me again in a few years’ as this generation ain’t over yet. Sony has released some outstanding games, I expect them to release a few more by the time PS6 releases.

I’d be willing to bet that $200 million does not include marketing but by all accounts, the game’s a knockout and appears to be selling well so all’s good.

Even without knowing exactly what this is, I really couldn’t be more excited. Cronos is just that good.

I’ll be putting the finishing touches on ‘Pragmata’ and continuing on with ‘Mina The Hollower,’ which I started last night. What a strange and captivating world I can’t wait to fully explore. Happy gaming!

Picked this up and intending to start it tonight. A shame it frustrated the reviewer so much, I’m hoping to fare better. The healing mechanic actually sounds cool to me.

A more accessible, T-rated Resident Evil alternative should be an easy green light.

What an incredible accomplishment at that age! I know nothing about this but it sounds cool.

All I can say is I’ve put over 50 hours into it and it’s been pure bliss. Rifles, crossbows and Prominence for me. And when it comes to the microliths, R1 over triangle 😊

I see you, Dispatch.

There are certain instances where I think a re-review makes sense. It doesn’t alter the aggregates anyway, so we’re just getting a more informed and up to date opinion (Cyberpunk is a good example and was also re-reviewed), which I for one appreciate and doubt I’m the only one. I don’t see at as all that different from a ‘revisiting No Man’s Sky 5 years later’ type article. Anyway, I’ve been playing since the launch period and I feel this review is spot on.

Saros is a niche game. Not one of my gamer friends even knew what it was. It’s why it’s been such a pleasure discussing it with the folks here. I think it will do just fine over the course of its lifetime.

As for the difficulty discussion, I’m straight up confused. I legitimately think Saros is the more difficult game. More approachable? Accessible? Customizable? Certainly. But the skill ceiling is way higher. Going back to Returnal now makes that pretty clear in my opinion.

As long as “Trust the player” doesn’t translate to “No option to suspend your game” then I’m stoked. As much as I love Returnal, it was a logistical nightmare for me to complete when I first played it. Can’t wait to see what they’re working on!

Im excited to see what Wolverine is all about as I still don’t feel like I have a real sense of what it is. I’d also love to see release dates for Control Resonant and The Eternal Life of Goldman.

Now this is intriguing!

Some exclusives are cool. Buying up huge swathes of the industry in an attempt to force the market isn’t. Having little direction and consistently sending mixed signals to both current and potential player bases is just kind of insulting.

I think it was an experiment worth doing. It’s a huge market but obviously one Sony couldn’t successfully tap. If the numbers were there, they would continue.

Think I’ve finally figured out where I keep going wrong in this whole conversation. I take for granted that typing in a prompt, pumping out an asset and calling it a day just doesn’t even cross my mind as a valid way of using it. No writer would do this and call themselves a writer, or an artist etc. I really believe that creatives intuitively understand the ethical boundaries of using A.I. as a tool because they appreciate the creative process.

Anyway, a person should be able to think their lunch kit is cool for whatever reason they see fit without an army of schoolyard bully’s shouting at them that it’s not.

Well that’s great to hear, the game’s rad as hell.

Disco Elysium is a fascinating game. I’m very curious about this.

Hoping to nab the platinum for Saros, which has been a real treat all around. Also have Pragmata to finish, then back to Crimson Desert. Happy gaming!

@Leonardo_Turtles I won’t argue that logic. Master Splinter makes everything better.