Mythologue

Fallout 3 and Skyrim seem the more likely options. Morrowind is a little too niche, and Bethesda never GAF about New Vegas.

Despite the endless re-re-re-releases of Skyrim, I am curious to see what a ground-up rendition would look like.

@Jstevo I completed all of the optional missions save for one (the Garry the Prophet mission), and all but one of the gigs (the last one for Padre.)

If I'm not mistaken, the reason Sony keep tripping over themselves when it comes to PS3 emulation is because of the architecture of the PS3 itself.

I still think Sony should do more with emulation efforts.

70 hours is a bit much, even for games that I love. That's around the time I found my enjoyment waning for Elden Ring, probably around the Haligtree area.

Similarly, I put in around 65 hours for Cyberpunk, which is a game I quite enjoyed, but struggled with the last 10 hours or so.

I'll need to see some actual gameplay. I'm more interested in what the structure of the game is than anything.

If console prices spike to these new, exorbitant levels, I'll probably just stop buying consoles. I think my PC is already future-proofed enough, and there's a much broader pool of games to play (not to mention the other benefits.)

@DonkeyFantasy That's not a common phrase as far as I can tell. It's only a structure I've noticed recently, specifically in AI summaries.

"In particular, fans are quite taken with the slightly more grounded tone, slick traversal, and new loot possibilities."

I don't mean to sound accusatory, but can someone confirm that this isn't AI written? I'm sure I've seen wording like this in AI summaries before ("in particular," followed by three items).

Claws of Awaji looks interesting. Is that the expansion that came with the deluxe edition?

FH4 is better in my view. I wish they'd released them as a collection, a trilogy or something of the sort. I can't really remember 5 much, even though I played it to its natural conclusion on Gamepass.

So...it's a firm and confident maybe from me.

I imagine it's more to do with demand. How many units of Mario Kart are going to be shifted? How confident are Nintendo that it's going to be a not insignificant figure?

I hate £60 tags, £50 to boot, but it seems to be simple in principle.

The formidable world size of Shadows was one of its weaker points. I find myself preferring smaller to larger these days.

I'll be waiting on this I think. It's a weird look, updated graphics with antiquated world and level design. I imagine the jury is still out on whether this is really a good game or just a polished mess.

I hope at least the 'dungeons' have been improved. The caves and ruins of the original were pretty tedious and uninspired.

@ChrisDeku I guess the Witcher 3 just has more variety. GoT is a grounded game and has the restriction of maintaining relative realism. Witcher 3 is a fantasy world, so has multiple times more enemy designs and a broader array of situations to handle.

This is a better approach than pure open world IMO. Oftentimes, open worlds have way too much filler. Smaller environments allow for more focus.

DA:I and The Witcher 3 are both prime examples of this design philosophy.

I finished it not long ago. I'd like to try for the plat at some point in the future. I know I'll be returning when the inevitable DLC releases (one of my biggest gripes with the late plot points was how obviously DLC-bait they were.)

@LifeGirl But people do treat each other with respect. It just depends on where you look.

@ATaco Tariffs are basically just import taxes paid by the importer. This raises prices for imported goods, which is passed to the consumer to cover the additional costs.

I'm starting to feel like Sony are deliberately making themselves as unappealing as possible.

AC Shadows, which I just finished at around 55 hours (some side activities but mostly bee-lining to story content). Great game, something I'm planning on returning to, intending to clear out the map which I think I only explored about 40% of. Naoe is also one of my favourite assassins now, possibly second after Ezio.

I'm moving on to Cyberpunk since I've never cleared it. Definitely rough around the edges but feels a lot more polished than when last I played it.

With enough time, plenty more Rocksmith.

It's funny, I was thinking about this not long ago. Danger Zone was a good low budget revisit of Burnout's crash game mode, but Dangerous Driving was deeply mediocre and riddled with flaws. A typical 5/10 game that I still played to its conclusion (and the follow up never seeing the light of day).

Wreckreation is an interesting concept but I'll reserve judgement until its release, given their recent products.

Shadows. I am enjoying this game a lot but I also recognise that it's ahead by a country mile partly because of there being very little competition.

Split Fiction, a game I'm yet to play, seems to be a well deserved second place.

@KundaliniRising333 For the sake of clarity and in the interest of fairness, Steam user reviews currently have the game at an 81% (8.1/10). So the 8/10 ratings were almost dead on. In fact, understating the quality of the game.

Of course, pending opinions and personal taste, which will always differ.

It would be interesting to see a new take on the modern portions. I didn't love them in previous games, but it seems that this game in particular only very rarely delves into them. Which I think works, especially for a concluding section at the end.

It's a surprisingly strong game, and this is coming from a long-time Ubisoft hater. The world is well-realised, especially the cities and towns, and the combat is very satisfying and reactive. Even the story, this time around, has some degree of intrigue comparative to previous entries.

It might not be a return to form as such, but it's certainly an improvement from the direction the franchise was heading in.

I'm sure gamers used to play games. Weird how that changed.

I've been convinced to get this very soon. It'll be the first release of this year that I play. Also the first full-priced game I've purchased since BG3.

I'm more sold on this game than I was before, but I'll probably wait to see a full list of critic reviews before committing. I'm also anticipating review bombing, which I'll naturally ignore. As should everyone, really.

I'd quite like to try Shadows. Just not sure if I'm bold enough to pre-order it. I'll check the reviews. I did enjoy Valhalla a fair bit, especially visiting familiar locales and (almost) my home.

Metro is a harsh sci-fi horror take on a relatively believable subject matter. It's appropriate that they would explore further themes even more relevant and close to home in the sequel.

Besides the fact that this is a generally appropriate design, it's also very reminiscent of the old cover designs for the original trilogy of games.

I just hope it's not riddled with needless clumsy metaphors. I think we can do with less of those these days.

People are complaining about the trigger warnings, presumably those who haven't been fans from the start.

Silent Hill (PS1) also had a warning like this.

I recall Bad Company 2 being tantalising for the sole reason that there wasn't really anything else like it on console, from what I recall.

Large maps with multiple families of vehicles, and a robust engine for tearing down buildings. All of that, at the time, was novel and exciting.

But "real-life explosion from Gaza" shows that they're about as tasteless as they always have been. I don't have any faith in this return.

Why abuse a DMCA? To kill what?

@Fyz306903 I think it's Halo 1 and 2 remastered, and then 3 and 4 are more or less the same.

It's unlikely but a hypothetical Fable 2 remake coming to the PS5 would spell the end for the blue vs. green console war. This might be the start of the end for MS in terms of hardware.

It's wishful thinking to believe that high-budget titles will run at 60FPS on current generation consoles that are roughly equivalent to low-mid-range PCs. Every generation, we go through the same thing, this discourse. Consoles are for 30FPS gaming. They're budget options compared to PC counterparts.

That much seemed obvious. That's probably roughly a quarter of what consoles will cost in two to three years' time.

I'm looking forward to it actually. Ubisoft is usually about as beige as it gets but they can pull off unsung heroes (The Crew, Watch_Dogs, Rocksmith, Valhalla) when they want to. This could be one of those cases, here's hoping.

I'm curious to see what they pull off with this one. Valhalla was great but it was a bit bloated and felt stagnant in places. If they weave in the trademark history and culture titbits and really lean into the setting, it could be strong.

But I'll reserve judgement. This is Ubisoft we're talking about.

In retrospect, £100 would be a good price point for Elden Ring and maybe BG3. That's a personal thing and I wouldn't expect anyone else to agree.

Generally, however, I wouldn't pay £100 for any game. Unless it's a special edition (collector's and such) with physical components. £70 is a reach. Some of my favourite games were priced lower than the old industry standard of £50 (SOMA, Meatboy, Penumbra, Gmod, TF2, Portal, etc.) and so anything excessive would go ignored by me until it drops in a sale. I'd favour smaller indie and AA titles.

Mass Effect as part of the legendary edition. I'm enjoying it a lot more than I thought I would. It's content-rich without feeling bloated and will probably only take around 30 - 35 hours, refreshingly short for an RPG.

Diablo IV with my partner. She doesn't play games much but seems to just enjoy making her sorceress look as suggestive as possible whilst blasting flaming beams at demons. It's the second time we've beaten the main story and we're just checking off the outstanding dungeons.

I'm starting to feel like the push for live service is just accelerationism for gamers.

@Porco I'm not sold on the game right now, so I'd be one of those you mentioned. DS seemed like an idea that could work exceptionally well as a Netflix or Disney series, but I just don't think it worked at all as a game. I'm not expecting a radical change, either, so I think I'll be skipping it outright.

But I guess it remains to be seen. It could be lightning in a bottle, like SH2.

Veilguard. I've been returning to Diablo IV coop as well so I'll be alternating between the two.

It's a shame that Veilguard didn't make top 10. It has some weird design choices, like certain enemies and some of the art direction, but it's a seriously impressive game in places. It's probably the most fluid that Dragon Age has ever felt, and even as an RPG-Lite, it has some fantastic character building choices and mechanics.

I can't disagree much with the list all in all, though. Astrobot especially.

A shame. But I've got it on Steam right now anyway so it's no big deal. I'll probably end up playing on both platforms.

@djlard Of course, that famous witcher, the star of the show, the iconic face of the franchise.

Gerald.

Seeing the nominations only makes me realise how dry the year has been.