While it would be nice to get more 1st party from PS Studios alongside 3rd party titles, my feeling is that the major problem is the feeling of "i've seen you before" across different games. AAAs are so expensive to make that deviating from a supposed "formula" is a risky move, so most publishers don't. Gaming doesn't feel as fun anymore - the focus nowadays seems to be in graphics and story instead of gameplay.
That said, I think we've been spoiled on PS4. Games like those cost a lot and take an entire gen to make. Who knows, maybe we'll get a bigger 1st party lineup on PS6.
@Jill_Sandwich I'd say this falls into big games bucket, so it's probably a safe bet if they continue to remake older FF games after FF7.
I hope they achieve their (reasonable please) goals. I truly enjoy Square Enix games, so it would be great if could take a hint from Capcom and focus on what they do best with quality.
If they do, some Product Managers at Square Enix deserve a raise. They used to take many years to make each game, suddenly we have FFXVI, FF7 Rebirth and KH4 consecutive months/years + a smooth development period? Kudos to them!
Good strategy, glad they're finally happy with something!
That said, I personally didn't really fall in love with FF16. Final Fantasy used to push the definition of RPGs, this entry dropped most of RPG elements in favor of exploring the Action genre - but at the same time it's not great in this area (God of War set the bar really high for me). So we're left with a good enough game that's not special in any regard.
@B0udoir I wouldn't call it laziness, but rather lower priority. It's always a trade-off to achieve 60fps unless you have excellent optimization experts and a huge budget, so if it's not prioritized from the start over graphics and animations, it's harder to optimize later.
Given the option, I prefer 60fps with dynamic resolution every time. However, 30fps is fine for most game genres, such as our typical Action RPGs, as long as it's consistent.
At the end of the day, consistency is the biggest deal.
Nintendo pretty much sustains hardware and software on their own, while 3rd party and indies work as partners. They have record profits and zero debt as per last report shared in Nintendo Life.
PlayStation needs to start studying Nintendo. Pretty sure Zelda and Mario also cost a lot to make and things are working fine for Nintendo apparently.
It's looking good! Sounds like a must-have. Hopefully the pacing is improved, Remake kinda dragged at some point, the tension built up to a level that felt like the end of the game, only for it to continue for many chapters yet.
Honestly? They're shooting themselves in the foot by calling it DLC. Name it Deluxe Edition and price it 2x higher like everyone else (including PS Studios) and people will pay without complaints or criticisms.
While it's clear to us which is which, the way the R is written looks quite similar, both black, bold with a similar font. More casual players could mix them up (although I'm not sure casual players care about who is making the game).
While 16 is certainly a lot of fun, and I want to play it to the end, it didn't feel any special to me so far. Once I finish it, I probably won't replay it in the future, unlike 15 that feels like a great adventure and I have already replayed it.
I hope they find a better balance between action and RPG for the next FF.
I wouldn't mind if they remade Harry Potter games with Hogwarts Legacy foundation. They would need to make it more focused for it to work without feeling too repetitive, maybe exploring more than 1 book per game. With this success and the future HP TV show, the timing feels perfect.
One of those things that is understandable but will be missed. If all major publishers could agree to create live presentations like they used to do, I'd be up for an E3 revival in the future.
Saying Ragnarok is the best PlayStation game is similar to saying Tears of the Kingdom is the best Nintendo game. Both of these games are not really new, they're a bigger-but-still-copy-paste version of the previous iteration.
The games are brilliant, of course, but if we're gonna award these games as the best, I'd vote for God of War and Breath of the Wild instead, for example.
Edit: Plus I agree with some other comments - Ragnarok (like Tears of the Kingdom, mind you) is too big for its own good.
Your question made me realize 2023 has been a ridiculous year for gaming. So many must-play titles that Spider-Man 2 was not my most anticipated game, and I loved every second of 1 and MM.
Microsoft won't keep their games out of ohter platforms, sure, just wait until cloud becomes the default way to play games. It's the same in all industries, each company creates their own streaming service instead of distributing to multiple "channels".
Sony is missing the point of how mutiplayer online games work. You see, most are quite simple really, and they grow with time. Sure, there are some high profile multiplayer games, but there's no use copying them - unlike single player games, more of the same doesn't sell many copies.
What they could do is take a smaller team and build an original idea that is simple enough to experiment with. Think more Fall Guys and less Fortnite. It would definitely cost way less money and allow them to try a bunch of different ideas faster IMO.
P.S: Factions was conceptually very simple too, and everyone loved it.
Maybe I'm just poor, but delaying for a week doesn't make much sense to me.
Honestly if I were to purchase Spider-Man 2 at launch price I wouldn't be able to purchase any other game until next month, especially another one at launch price as well.
I wonder if the industry is reaching a point where all games having the same look (ultrarealism) and feel (be a hero and save the open-world/action RPG) are reducing the long-term sales.
If history repeats itself, studios bought by Microsoft change direction completely in a few years and then we have new indie studios led by industry experts that left Microsoft. Hopefully great games such as Crash, Spyro and Tony Hawk will continue to exist under different names eventually.
@NinjaNicky True. The difference is the length/scope of the game. It's less of a problem for shorter linear games to have similar sequels than it is for huge open-world games.
I played a lot of the first one and Miles Morales spin-off, and this seems awesome but more of the same. I'll definitely buy it, however not at launch period.
To be honest, I still need to get Tears of the Kingdom and FFXVI. So many great games this year!
Unpopular opinion: AC4 was the least interesting game in the series. The story is all over the place. Missions are uninspired and repetitive. The ground parts essentially mimic AC3 (which everyone hated) and the sea part becomes tedious quite fast once the novelty is gone.
In summary, everything that makes it AC replicates what has been done for AC3 plus sea navigation simulator.
There is a hugr audience for this game, though, so it's probably a good idea financially.
They don't really need to worry, while the number of sales will certainly increase faster in the first few weeks since launch, a brand new Final Fantasy will definitely continue to sell for years until 17 is ready.
Am I the only one who thinks Sony is exaggerating in their marketing for this game? FFXVI can sell a whole lot on its own brand alone, it's not like nobody knows FF.
There are so many different marketing videos showing up in my Instagram timeline, both from SE and Sony's accounts, and they're all focused on "you don't have to play the previous FF games" or "here is a famous person loving the game". Come on! It's Final Fantasy! If you want to market it, focus on the actual game, people already know about the IP.
This is ok for the likes of Legend of Zelda and God of War. It's definitely not ok for all AAA games. A game that takes forever to create also takes a lot of money, and then you go Square-Enix about how a game sold poorly with zillions of sales. The big publishers need to start working on a roadmap distributing small, medium and big games along the way.
I hope they adjust their expectations. I for one will definitely buy FF XVI, but not at launch because i don't have the time or money to dedicate to this game right now.
I'm looking forward to this. I'm officially a gamer dad starting in November, and I'd like to avoid playing violent adult games where my kid might see it.
@UltimateOtaku91 If they consistently deliver high quality games, though, they'll have money, knowledge and talents to explore new/old IPs too. Capcom is using this strategy and I'm consistently buying their games at launch due to how awesome they are.
That's really cool. I wish they did something similar for PS5, but perhaps as a pluggable device instead of a full dev set. AFAIK Unity can only be used for dedicated consoles if you pay for it, so perhaps a Sony device that allowed any custom code access to their APIs could recreate that sense of community again.
I agree completely. In fact, I didn't renew my sub because I just buy the few games I want (and have time) to play each year. The sub only added value to my imagination (maybe one day I'll play this or that!)
Well, videogame history is full of side activities turned into full spin-off games later after people fell in love with the side activity. There was no reason for WB to remove it completely and offer as a separate game. The game is already huge, full of details, it's more likely that they didn't have the time and budget to focus on yet another part of wizarding world.
I don't like NG+ because it often breaks the story and balance of the game. The characters are too strong early in the game and also have the wrong clothes (think Miles Morales already wearing the outfit he creates in the turning point of his story).
@GodofCapcom At this point, I honestly believe only Silksong can take the GOTY from Capcom, assuming it's as perfect as Hollow Knight and releases this year.
Konami was everywhere in the past, I remember booting multiple games with their logo even in the Super Nintendo era. They have lots of IPs to explore, hopefully everything works out!
I suppose they could create a sort of summer game fest where they host a series of online events with big publishers since so many are actually doing their own thing around June anyway.
But E3 as we knew it is long dead. They better cancel it.
Sequel or spin-off, I hope they experiment a bit more with the formula. God of War is really long, and Ragnarok is essentially the same game with a new story and it's also really long.
Its like having too much of a really good food. I was satisfied with the first game, and I got way past full with the second game. That's enough for many years.
Comments 798
Re: Assassin's Creed Shadows the Actual Name of AC Red, Reveal This Week
It's been a very long time since I bought an Ubisoft game. They've always been brilliant with cinematic trailers, I'll wait for gameplay trailers.
Re: Talking Point: Have Sony's Third-Party PS5 Deals Made Up for Its Lack of First-Party Games?
While it would be nice to get more 1st party from PS Studios alongside 3rd party titles, my feeling is that the major problem is the feeling of "i've seen you before" across different games. AAAs are so expensive to make that deviating from a supposed "formula" is a risky move, so most publishers don't. Gaming doesn't feel as fun anymore - the focus nowadays seems to be in graphics and story instead of gameplay.
That said, I think we've been spoiled on PS4. Games like those cost a lot and take an entire gen to make. Who knows, maybe we'll get a bigger 1st party lineup on PS6.
Re: Square Enix Game Cancellations Likely as Publisher Records $140 Million Loss in 'Content Disposal'
@Jill_Sandwich I'd say this falls into big games bucket, so it's probably a safe bet if they continue to remake older FF games after FF7.
I hope they achieve their (reasonable please) goals. I truly enjoy Square Enix games, so it would be great if could take a hint from Capcom and focus on what they do best with quality.
Re: Rumour: Kingdom Hearts 4 Slated for 2025 Release
If they do, some Product Managers at Square Enix deserve a raise. They used to take many years to make each game, suddenly we have FFXVI, FF7 Rebirth and KH4 consecutive months/years + a smooth development period? Kudos to them!
Re: Final Fantasy 16 Successfully Expanded the Series to New, Younger Players, Says Square Enix
Good strategy, glad they're finally happy with something!
That said, I personally didn't really fall in love with FF16. Final Fantasy used to push the definition of RPGs, this entry dropped most of RPG elements in favor of exploring the Action genre - but at the same time it's not great in this area (God of War set the bar really high for me). So we're left with a good enough game that's not special in any regard.
Re: Poll: How Much Do You Care About 60fps on PS5?
@B0udoir I wouldn't call it laziness, but rather lower priority. It's always a trade-off to achieve 60fps unless you have excellent optimization experts and a huge budget, so if it's not prioritized from the start over graphics and animations, it's harder to optimize later.
Re: Poll: How Much Do You Care About 60fps on PS5?
Given the option, I prefer 60fps with dynamic resolution every time. However, 30fps is fine for most game genres, such as our typical Action RPGs, as long as it's consistent.
At the end of the day, consistency is the biggest deal.
Re: 'Smaller' PS5 Exclusives Still Reportedly Coming Later This Year
I've been waiting for a full Astro Bot game ever since I got my PS5 at launch date. That demo challenged Mario for the crown of best platformer.
Re: Devs Allegedly Pondering the Point of Sony's PS5 Pro Upgrade
All things considered, it seems we're at a point where gens have to be longer than usual for devs to fully explore the hardware.
Re: Reaction: The Problem with PlayStation Right Now
Nintendo pretty much sustains hardware and software on their own, while 3rd party and indies work as partners. They have record profits and zero debt as per last report shared in Nintendo Life.
PlayStation needs to start studying Nintendo. Pretty sure Zelda and Mario also cost a lot to make and things are working fine for Nintendo apparently.
Re: Final Fantasy VII Rebirth (PS5) - Strong Sequel Seeks a New Direction
@ShogunRok Did Square Enix pull a KH move and made that weird spin-off mandatory to follow the story?
Re: Xbox's 'Everywhere' Future Outlined in Company Memo from Phil Spencer
It's funny how they play with words. Come on, Microsoft, you're becoming a 3rd party publisher, simple as that, no need to write a poem about it.
Re: Preview: Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth Feels Like a Strong Step Forward from Remake
It's looking good! Sounds like a must-have. Hopefully the pacing is improved, Remake kinda dragged at some point, the tension built up to a level that felt like the end of the game, only for it to continue for many chapters yet.
Re: Of Course Full Price Remake Persona 3 Reload Has a Full Spread of Day One DLC
Honestly? They're shooting themselves in the foot by calling it DLC. Name it Deluxe Edition and price it 2x higher like everyone else (including PS Studios) and people will pay without complaints or criticisms.
Re: Remedy and Rockstar's Logos Both Use an 'R', and Take-Two Can't Tell the Difference
While it's clear to us which is which, the way the R is written looks quite similar, both black, bold with a similar font. More casual players could mix them up (although I'm not sure casual players care about who is making the game).
Re: Naoki Yoshida Thinks New Blood Is Needed to Direct Final Fantasy 17
While 16 is certainly a lot of fun, and I want to play it to the end, it didn't feel any special to me so far. Once I finish it, I probably won't replay it in the future, unlike 15 that feels like a great adventure and I have already replayed it.
I hope they find a better balance between action and RPG for the next FF.
Re: Warner Summoning More Harry Potter Games After Success of Hogwarts Legacy
I wouldn't mind if they remade Harry Potter games with Hogwarts Legacy foundation. They would need to make it more focused for it to work without feeling too repetitive, maybe exploring more than 1 book per game. With this success and the future HP TV show, the timing feels perfect.
Re: E3 Is Officially Dead
One of those things that is understandable but will be missed. If all major publishers could agree to create live presentations like they used to do, I'd be up for an E3 revival in the future.
For now, so long E3!
Re: Poll: Is God of War Ragnarok Still One of Sony's Best Games, One Year Later?
Saying Ragnarok is the best PlayStation game is similar to saying Tears of the Kingdom is the best Nintendo game. Both of these games are not really new, they're a bigger-but-still-copy-paste version of the previous iteration.
The games are brilliant, of course, but if we're gonna award these games as the best, I'd vote for God of War and Breath of the Wild instead, for example.
Edit: Plus I agree with some other comments - Ragnarok (like Tears of the Kingdom, mind you) is too big for its own good.
Re: This Mobile Game Will Probably Be Required for Kingdom Hearts 4 on PS5
As a fan, I'll probably give it a chance. But I also don't like to play mobile games, so let's see...
Re: Poll: Are You Playing Marvel's Spider-Man 2?
Your question made me realize 2023 has been a ridiculous year for gaming. So many must-play titles that Spider-Man 2 was not my most anticipated game, and I loved every second of 1 and MM.
Re: PS5, PS4 Players Will 'Remain Welcome' As Xbox Closes $69 Billion Activision Blizzard Buyout
Microsoft won't keep their games out of ohter platforms, sure, just wait until cloud becomes the default way to play games. It's the same in all industries, each company creates their own streaming service instead of distributing to multiple "channels".
Re: The Last of Us Multiplayer Game Is 'Basically on Ice' Right Now
Sony is missing the point of how mutiplayer online games work. You see, most are quite simple really, and they grow with time. Sure, there are some high profile multiplayer games, but there's no use copying them - unlike single player games, more of the same doesn't sell many copies.
What they could do is take a smaller team and build an original idea that is simple enough to experiment with. Think more Fall Guys and less Fortnite. It would definitely cost way less money and allow them to try a bunch of different ideas faster IMO.
P.S: Factions was conceptually very simple too, and everyone loved it.
Re: Alan Wake 2 Was Delayed on PS5 to Avoid Going Neck to Neck with Spider-Man 2
Maybe I'm just poor, but delaying for a week doesn't make much sense to me.
Honestly if I were to purchase Spider-Man 2 at launch price I wouldn't be able to purchase any other game until next month, especially another one at launch price as well.
Re: Final Fantasy 16 Sales Have Been 'Fine', Nothing More, Nothing Less
I wonder if the industry is reaching a point where all games having the same look (ultrarealism) and feel (be a hero and save the open-world/action RPG) are reducing the long-term sales.
Re: Poll: Will You Be Muting Your PS5's Beep?
Raise your hand if your wife ever complained about you playing games late due to hearing the beep, hehe.
I'll mute this ASAP. =)
Re: Microsoft Urges UK Regulator to Renege on ActiBlizz Block, Points to PlayStation Deal
If history repeats itself, studios bought by Microsoft change direction completely in a few years and then we have new indie studios led by industry experts that left Microsoft. Hopefully great games such as Crash, Spyro and Tony Hawk will continue to exist under different names eventually.
Re: Assassin's Creed Mirage Nowhere Near the Length of Origins, Odyssey, Valhalla
It's funny that publishers got so used to huge 100+ hours open-world games that a 20-30 hours game is considered small and not worth a full price tag.
Not complaining about paying less, just wondering why won't they create more "smaller" games if you can even make a profit with a cheaper price tag...
Re: Marvel's Spider-Man 2 Sets Pulses Racing with Jaw Dropping PS5 Story Trailer
@NinjaNicky True. The difference is the length/scope of the game. It's less of a problem for shorter linear games to have similar sequels than it is for huge open-world games.
Re: Marvel's Spider-Man 2 Sets Pulses Racing with Jaw Dropping PS5 Story Trailer
I played a lot of the first one and Miles Morales spin-off, and this seems awesome but more of the same. I'll definitely buy it, however not at launch period.
To be honest, I still need to get Tears of the Kingdom and FFXVI. So many great games this year!
Re: Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag Remake Reportedly in Early Development
Unpopular opinion: AC4 was the least interesting game in the series. The story is all over the place. Missions are uninspired and repetitive. The ground parts essentially mimic AC3 (which everyone hated) and the sea part becomes tedious quite fast once the novelty is gone.
In summary, everything that makes it AC replicates what has been done for AC3 plus sea navigation simulator.
There is a hugr audience for this game, though, so it's probably a good idea financially.
Re: PS5 Exclusive Final Fantasy 16 Hits a Slightly Skewed 3 Million Sales at Launch
They don't really need to worry, while the number of sales will certainly increase faster in the first few weeks since launch, a brand new Final Fantasy will definitely continue to sell for years until 17 is ready.
Re: Sony Spends a Fortune Getting an Assortment of Sports Stars to Explain Final Fantasy 16
Am I the only one who thinks Sony is exaggerating in their marketing for this game? FFXVI can sell a whole lot on its own brand alone, it's not like nobody knows FF.
There are so many different marketing videos showing up in my Instagram timeline, both from SE and Sony's accounts, and they're all focused on "you don't have to play the previous FF games" or "here is a famous person loving the game". Come on! It's Final Fantasy! If you want to market it, focus on the actual game, people already know about the IP.
Re: Final Fantasy 16 (PS5) - Final Fantasy's Triumphant Return to the Top
I loved FFXV, to be honest. And this seems to be more FFXV with KH battle mechanics in the mix and a more focused story.
I wonder how amazing the next Kingdom Hearts game will be after reading about the battle mechanics of this game.
So the big question is - is it worth the launch price?
Re: Sorry, But Games Are Probably Going to Take Longer Than Ever to Make on PS5
This is ok for the likes of Legend of Zelda and God of War. It's definitely not ok for all AAA games. A game that takes forever to create also takes a lot of money, and then you go Square-Enix about how a game sold poorly with zillions of sales. The big publishers need to start working on a roadmap distributing small, medium and big games along the way.
Re: Square Enix Allegedly 'Slightly Panicking' About Final Fantasy 16 PS5 Pre-Orders
I hope they adjust their expectations. I for one will definitely buy FF XVI, but not at launch because i don't have the time or money to dedicate to this game right now.
Re: PS5's Remote Play Portable Will Allegedly Launch in November
I'm looking forward to this. I'm officially a gamer dad starting in November, and I'd like to avoid playing violent adult games where my kid might see it.
Re: PlayStation Console Exclusive Ultros Stands Out with Trippy, Psychedelic Gameplay
Taking a few pages from Hollow Knight, are you? I'm in. 😁
Re: Square Enix Wants to Release More Higher Quality Games, Starting with Final Fantasy 16
@UltimateOtaku91 If they consistently deliver high quality games, though, they'll have money, knowledge and talents to explore new/old IPs too. Capcom is using this strategy and I'm consistently buying their games at launch due to how awesome they are.
Re: Square Enix Wants to Release More Higher Quality Games, Starting with Final Fantasy 16
I hope they succeed. While they're quite hit-and-miss as publishers, when they have a hit it's always amazing.
Also, add Dragon Quest to your roadmap, please. 😁
Re: PS5 Firmware Update Has Fixed an Overlooked PS4 Backwards Compatibility Issue
Great. I play a lot of PS4 games on my PS5, so I'm glad Sony is doing maintenance on the feature. Also gives me hope that they won't remove it on PS6.
Re: Feature: Net Yaroze - Sony’s Fascinating First Foray into the World of Indie Game Development
That's really cool. I wish they did something similar for PS5, but perhaps as a pluggable device instead of a full dev set. AFAIK Unity can only be used for dedicated consoles if you pay for it, so perhaps a Sony device that allowed any custom code access to their APIs could recreate that sense of community again.
Re: Sony Reassures All That Marvel's Spider-Man 2's Release Date Is on Track for PS5
As long as it doesn't follow the copy+paste formula from Ragnarok, I can wait. Hoping for some new gameplay elements.
Re: Soapbox: I No Longer Think Subscriptions Like PS Plus, Xbox Game Pass Are the Future of Gaming
I agree completely. In fact, I didn't renew my sub because I just buy the few games I want (and have time) to play each year. The sub only added value to my imagination (maybe one day I'll play this or that!)
Re: Hogwarts Legacy Fans Livid Quidditch Is Allegedly Being Sold as a Separate Game
Well, videogame history is full of side activities turned into full spin-off games later after people fell in love with the side activity. There was no reason for WB to remove it completely and offer as a separate game. The game is already huge, full of details, it's more likely that they didn't have the time and budget to focus on yet another part of wizarding world.
Re: Poll: Are You Playing God of War Ragnarok's New Game Plus?
I don't like NG+ because it often breaks the story and balance of the game. The characters are too strong early in the game and also have the wrong clothes (think Miles Morales already wearing the outfit he creates in the turning point of his story).
Re: PSA: Resident Evil 4 Remake Has a Super Specific Game-Breaking Bug
@GodofCapcom At this point, I honestly believe only Silksong can take the GOTY from Capcom, assuming it's as perfect as Hollow Knight and releases this year.
Re: Konami's Return to Games Continues with New Studio Opening
Konami was everywhere in the past, I remember booting multiple games with their logo even in the Super Nintendo era. They have lots of IPs to explore, hopefully everything works out!
Re: E3 2023 in Doubt as More Publishers Pull Out
I suppose they could create a sort of summer game fest where they host a series of online events with big publishers since so many are actually doing their own thing around June anyway.
But E3 as we knew it is long dead. They better cancel it.
Re: New God of War Game Seemingly Teased by Tyr's Voice Actor
Sequel or spin-off, I hope they experiment a bit more with the formula. God of War is really long, and Ragnarok is essentially the same game with a new story and it's also really long.
Its like having too much of a really good food. I was satisfied with the first game, and I got way past full with the second game. That's enough for many years.