Rudy_Manchego

@Th3solution Same here - just sat on the shelf!

@lolwhatno I can only apologise. I can’t help being this gosh darned hot due to playing a video game

Mainly the raw s*x appeal that having a Bloodborne platinum trophy gives me. Awwww yeah baby.

Late to the game on this one, but I am priced out of new games. I would easily have bought both Returnal and Ratchet and Clank day one if not for the price. In fact, I still haven't picked them up.

I have said this before but the extra £20 PS5 tax is completely mad and is slightly ruining the new PS5 for me. It is just a money grab that is not in line with the rest of the industry.

Here's the thing - this game did not need all this development time if they had concentrated on what made the original so good. Instead, you just know the problem is trying to mash the source material with head office mandated huge online persisted world that is ripe for monetisation.

Fans would be happy with a great 13 hour game that built on the foundation of the first game. That just isn't the type of game that Ubisof want to make anymore.

It's Activision Blizzard... so no.

@theheadofabroom Indeed - if they can read all the onscreen instructions in Animal Crossing at 3... well, yes you should be!

@carlos82 He he - yeah, my five yr old doesn't understand some of the games on her 3DS but can still get very competetive on Mario Kart.

@theheadofabroom Eh? Here in the U.K, primary school and compulsory education starts at 5. A lot of children will begin to learn phonics before that age but not to the level where they can, you know, read and contextualise the complexity of rental agreements with Tom Nook on screen in Animal Crossing.

I love the fact you know lots of genius 3 yr olds but believe me, that is an exception.

A few years ago I tried to get my wife into gaming again (she used to play GB and PS1 back in the day but largely platform based games). I tried her on Gone Home as I thought she would like the story and she just... couldn't get her head around moving and looking around. She tried for a bit, kept getting it wrong and then gave up.

For me it was profoundly frustrating because it seems as natural as breathing but she just got frustrated. Now I imagine she would have picked it up if she was that interested but to her, the whole thing of moving with one stick and looking with the other felt unnatural. Not sure it needs tutorials but I think we forget that so much of our gaming has become second nature and is harder for some to get into.

I enjoyed Far Cry 2, loved Far Cry 3, got bored in Far Cry 4 and got half way through Far Cry 5 before stopping. The games just didn't change at all. Plus they are so long and bloated.

They aren't in any way bad games, they play well. I guess you could say that you get value for money in terms of time played. I'm in the minority and I guess it is sort of comfort gaming food but I don't get the fact that the same game is now being released every year or so and sells bucket loads.

I've been playing it on PC and it works but... well, it is an average to good game in all honesty. Good main quest line and world building but everything else has been done elsewhere a bit better.

@naruball Not a problem. I'm assuming the argument here is, well I paid £60+ for a Super Nintendo game in 1993 and that was cheaper to produce so prices should be higher now?

Well it is true that yes, games cost more but have stayed the same price. Surely we should pay more for games that are ever and ever larger? Well, that would be true if it were not for a few factors.

1) The Gaming industry is larger now and generates more revenue and profit then it has ever done. That's with the games staying the same price.

2) Gaming revenue is now not just related to the RRP of a launch price product. DLC, season passes, merchandies, MTX, Battles passes make up a lot of revenue. Not to mention licensing to things like subscription services or PS Plus/XB Gold etc.

3) The increasing cost of games is self driven from the industry. To try and keep selling, everyone is looking for more and more unique selling points and a lot of that focuses now on game length and graphical fidelity.

4) Price points are typically set by what the consumer sees the value as. This ties into my point. From a budgetary perspective, given that I have become accustomed and there is competing products for my money, the balance of a £50 launch game price has hit a sweet spot for gamers.

Comparing an industry and the market from now, when everyone games on one device or another is, to something 30 years ago is always a fallacy. So here is where I am coming from. Within less than a year a product price has changed by £20 with no noticeable reason to me as a consumer. So I, like many other consumers, are basically saying NO to it because the price to value proposition is less.

This is an experiment by Sony. If enough people pay the £70 at day one and the £20 price hike is enough to offset the loss of customers like me, it will stay. If enough people vote with their wallets then it won't.

@BAMozzy Spot on - I have a PS5 and haven't bought an exlcusive title due to the £70 price hike. Returnal and Ratchet and Clank would have been day one.

@AgentGuapo It's weird because last year the hobby was cheaper. I bought TLOU2 and GoT at £49.99 yet for games released in less than a year I have to pay £20 more. So if you can tell me why the hobby is now more expensive than it was less than 12 months ago, that would be great.

Bit gutted about lack of backwards compatibility as there are a few exclusives I loved on PSVR and was hoping I could use them on a PSVR2. Without it, and owning a Quest 2, it will probably not be a day one buy for me.

Awesome move by Rebellion!

@Kienda I considered shouting HEY AREN'T YOU THOSE GUYS FROM PUSHSQUARE over and over again but a) I'm shy and b) my friends would have thought me odd(er).

@Haruki_NLI I know... really miss events to be honest

True story - I tried to play this at EGX 2019 but there were two guys from some Playstation site called Push Square hogging it. Naming NO names.

Course when I did play it, it was pretty awesome!

Can't wait to watch this properly. Love things like this.

Excellent article and a fascinating view into how the business side works. I have sympathy for the back end issues that hopefully will change but lack of time and attention for smaller games is purely a question of resources and interest. How much worse will the PS ecosystem be without varied indie games?

I don't like acquisitions on the whole but I think this is an interesting development from Sony and is very in line with what their unique selling point is.

Making studios work needs a lot of vision and careful nurturing. Buying say, Naughty Dog, doesn't guarantee a Last Of Us. If Sony bought SquareEnix for example, what would they be buying? A large publisher with varied titles and mixed success in terms of quality?

Better to invest in a smaller studio then build them into something larger. I think that we are going to see expansion of major studios to increase output.

@Westernwolf4 Pretty much this.

I mentioned this on thread when Greedfall upgrade was announced and pretty much got called entitled.

People keep using the word free but that is not the case. I pay for PS Plus. Now in my mind it depends on the upgrade path - if I can upgrade to PS5 version for a minimal cost I may consider it. In the case of FF7 Remake, I was slightly annoyed that as something I had paid for via PS Plus, the only way I could get an upgrade at the time was to pay £70 for an entire version.

With Greedfall, I can get the similarly upgraded version on Gamepass without any additional fee.

Is this the end of the world? Not at all. It is a small point. It's just something that niggles as an early adopter of the PS5. I just want a simple and consistent upgrade path.

@danlk1ng The infuriating element, to me, is the uncertainty and knowledge. Also, I think you missed some of my main points.

1) You use the word free. I rent these games with my subscription. I do not own them, they are dependent on me maintaining a payment to Sony.

2) By claiming a copy of FF7 Remake you are unable to buy a digital upgrade seperately OR to buy a copy of the PS4 game digitally to upgrade. If you wish a digital copy, you must buy the PS5 version at £70. As you say, is this worth it?

3) It's great you have a PC and use that to play high resolution games. Of course, I don't believe Final Fantasty VII remake is on PC as yet (though I have no doubt of a port in future). As someone that has invested in a PS5 at launch and there is an upgraded version available, why would I not want to play that version?

Ultimately, I may sound like an entitled gamer (tm) but I feel it is reasonable that there should be a clear upgrade path on a title that I received as part of a subscription rather than have to buy the game entirely fresh again. If that costs some, then I am OK with that but why would I pay £70 as you pay for an upgrade on a title that I have technically already paid for.

I mean, of course, the actual solution in my case was to pay £15 for a second hand copy on PS4 and get the upgrade for free but then nobody really wins there except the person I bought it of. He was called Roy.

@LordOfTurnips My exact question as well - For FF7 Remake, you did NOT get a free upgrade if from PS Plus. Which was rather infuriating.

This is a great article. Apart from some obvious ones (and to all those people who told me Bethesda games aren't going exclusive - na na na na na), the show was very much like most Xbox shows. Slick and some great games but very little tied to the brand.

BUT Gamepass is a big disrupter. It doesn't matter too much that they don't have their own games, why buy a game at launch when you can get it on gamepass.

@BadPlayerOne Agree completely - for me the review process is something that helps me to decide on a game or not. That doesn't mean I don't play games that aren't very highly rated but it sets my expectations correctly and how much I think I can afford to play the game. It just seems that people decide beforehand they like a game then get angry if the consensus isn't the same.

As my avatar suggests, this film will flop HARD without a moustache. We all know, I'm just the bravest one to say it out loud.

Still don't understand how passionately people take review scores. As others have said, a review can only ever be one persons view. If you are interested as a consumer, read a mix of reviews to get a flavour of what the game is like and whether you think it will suit you.

Huge supporter of PSVR and loved the headset dearly but I have taken the jump to the Quest 2 and to be honest, it has made me less likely to be a day one adopter of PSVR 2. Since I have a VR capable PC I get the wireless experience for smaller games and have now played Half LIfe ALyx and can play most top tier PC titles.

I think the kicker for most people will be the cable to the unit - now if this is because they are really using the PS5 to push visuals and experiences then I'll probably be on board. I have a wait and see - this is not Sony's fault, only that the VR headspace has moved on a LOT.

@themightyant I also played on Gamepass and it is true that maybe that affects your opinion since I thought it was a nice little game. I obviously wouldn't consider price. All in all though I think the game is above average but these type of story games are all about connection. I liked it but I can totally see otherwise.

I can't comment on the PS5 upgrade side of things, but this references the original game being very disappointing which I don't really agree with. I am a fan of the original movies and I thought it did a good job of engaging the player. It is very much a AA game in scope and ambition but it is emminently playable.

Of course, charging for an upgrade that is not necessarily worth it is a different matter.

It's a fair review - I possibly liked this game more than the reviewer, I think its setting and story/lore were intriguing and it had a very neat spin on lovecraftian horror. It also never outstayed its welcome. Personally I'd put it at a 7 but I can understand some of the criticisms made.

As a consumer, I've said it elsewhere, I can't afford £70 for a game that isn't necessarily in my wheel house. I refer again that Ghost of Tsushima as £20 less at launch 9 months ago.

@Beefy01 I dunno - I paid £49.99 for Ghost of Tsushima on launch day less than a year ago and now i have to pay £69.99 for this game at launch. I don't understand why there is this price hike.

Great review but I am not a fan of roguelites and I am just not paying an extra £20 on a new release for no reason. I am glad the title is reviewing well... but yeah, most people seem to forget this.

@Jaz007 Completely this - I'd love to support the game, even though I am not a huge fan of roguelikes but I can't justify that cost for one game at the moment.

This has nothing to do with the quality of the game - it's just a price point that I'm not comfortable with when I know that this will be reduced in 6 months time.

Hopefully this is a case of a large day one patch but this is sad. I will qualify that Disco Elysium is one of the best games I have ever played. I am tempted to double dip just.. well, because it is that good!

Still, if it has launched for consumers in a bad way then the quality of the game is secondary.

Open mind from me - I personally see it will probably be a very similar style to A Plague Tale: Innocense - stealthy narrative based adventure. If it has an engaging story and plays true to the character and world (looking at you sexy Shelob on Shadow of War) it could be a nice little game.

@Octane I hope so!

Ultimately, if Sony turns its servers off, games become unplayable anyway because they need massive updates to run at their optimum version (unless you have a GOTY version that has the latest build on it).

Did you also know that everyone that got the first smallpox vaccine in 1798 has died? Makes you think.

Of all the properties, this isn't a bad one to take. I can't wait to see some naked hotspring Jin butt on the big screen. Gonna go IMAX

@lolwhatno I couldn't possibly say... but imagine how great Ebrietas would be in a kart racer.

Bluepoint - call me.

Game preservation is a big deal to me. I do collect retro games but there are some games I can never play without emulation because of rarity and cost. Also, playing games on a modern set up is great. I understand that most players say they want it but don't play it and I don't play retro over newer games typically. However, for me, it is madness not to monetize nostalgia. I'd love to be able to have a library of retro games on a modern console.

Xbox is great for this, true, but Playstation has such a great legacy.

One of my favourite games of all time - despite how much I struggled, suffered and swore.

Remember the age old quote on how to master combat in Bloodborne.

"We are born of the Roly Poly, made men by the Roly Poly, undone by the Roly Poly"

Quote stolen from Viva La Dirt League.

@Flaming_Kaiser Agreed but I think that half the content would still make for a really good game. Possibly better because it would be more focused.

I am playing this right now and am about 40 hours in and... yeah, this game is too long. Like Odyssey before it, the game is ace in so so so many ways. Stories aren't bad, the world is beautiful. It is fun to play. Music is wonderful. It is just so huge and has a full kitchen sink approach. It's like the Witcher 3 on crack.

I genuinely believe that a 40-50 hour game (max) with less filler would have made this and Odyssey stone cold classics.

Anyways, as to the point of the article, I've had no game affecting bugs so I have been lucky (playing on PS5).

It's just the uncertainty. I'm not expecting support for old platforms forever and I get usership of these consoles is very very low BUT if you want to get people to buy into a digital future, respect peoples digital libraries.

I get where Jim Ryan is coming from - I suspect that the people that want backwards compatibility in older generations and those that play it are different but game preservation and legacy is important AND a no brainer. If I can't buy a game, how does someone get access to it?

I have taken mine upstairs to the office when I moved my PS4 as the PS5 is downstairs. That means I am fine for sit down games but I have no room for anything active. I also have a 4k HDR tv so not using the passout box on the PS5.

I'm tempted by the Occulus Quest 2 at the moment, especially since Sony are clearly a year or two out from releasing the PSVR2. THe idea of wireless with no cables, or if I want PC gaming, just one wire, will give VR a new lease of life to me.

@JapaneseSonic Good idea and I do though my HDD is fairly full on that. Good suggestion though, thanks!