@somnambulance Executioners definitely had a version released on PSN. I have it installed on my PS5, but I can't find it in the store now for some reason.
I don't remember hearing about a demo that far back though.
@HaveTheSauce I think what you get from it is subjective.
I occasionally enjoy a solo run on the base version of the maps and bosses, but I don't touch the more difficult versions solo. I prefer to play them with my regular group, and we always have fun.
Around launch there was a lot of people who would quit and leave you hanging if Day 1 didn't go well, but I don't see that happening as much now, so doing two or three player with strangers is absolutely viable.
Playing with strangers is how I found the best routes actually. They usually know something my regular group doesn't.
If you prefer a solo experience mute your chat etc and pretend they're just really advanced NPCs.
Anyone who works for a company please remember — finish work on time and don't come in on your day off out of the goodness of your heart. Nobody in a suit will remember that you worked late out of loyalty to your team or that you finished a report on a Saturday instead of playing Mario Kart with your niece.
That second update especially kills any buzz I had for GTA6.
If it's legit, it must be something they're doing with Epic and/or Steam and first party games. I can't see Sony going with their own launcher. The hardcore PC crowd would reject it.
I turned cross play off the very first time I turned the game on.
I stink at FPS games, so going up against players with mouse and keyboard and being killed over and over would be far more boring than risking the occasional game populated with bots.
But generally I'm just happy if I can get the tank and see a few things go boom.
Got the plat in Absolum during the week so my slate is clear now with the exception of new Dispatch episodes. Until Christmas I think I'll just be doing Dark Souls III co-op. A friend told me the other week that she'd never played the expansions so we've been chipping away at them.
Nothing changes for me either way.
The vast majority of my library is on PSN, Zelda and Mario Kart are on Nintendo, and I don't see either platform dropping the fee for online just because the next X-Box is going to be a PC.
@Buckeye4Life2015
@UltimateOtaku91
Same. I mostly pay the sub for the monthly games, catalogue and additional services.
When I was a kid the biggest competitor to my console time was X-Men comics, and the time we'd spend cycling really fast down really steep hills, then cycling back up so we could cycle back down again.
I don't know. Everything competes for our time really. But from Christmas onwards the biggest competitor for my PlayStation time will be the Switch 2.
@rjejr I'm the same. Outside of work Alexa is as much as I have time for. Just a tool to give me an assist during the day.
tbf AI does have great potential to assist people in general, and we use it on our team in work a lot to help us with our day to day tasks too.
The problem is that the companies making AI are selling it like it's the computer on Star Trek, so anyone not familiar with what they're actually dealing with can potentially be exposed to so much misinformation. Also, as you mention it's all still in the testing phase, and we're all the testers.
We encourage our team to use AI to assist them with their tasks. Something to kick-start a process that they can then build on. But if someone was to turn something in that was just AI with no human input I'd flag it so fast.
1 - They'd just be getting the AI to do their job for them.
2 - Whatever they were turning in could potentially be unreliable junk because AI can't do their job.
I do a lot of interviews where I work, and lately a lot of that involves identifying AI submissions.
Mar shampla - “Workforce of 25.00” is the kind of thing we sometimes see on a rushed submission where the candidate didn't take the time to read over what their AI had written for them. It's a formatting hiccup AI sometimes makes when converting text. It should be “25,000.”
Combine that with the corporate tone and the facts without sources and it's kind of a smoke without the fire scenario.
To my original point, I don't see too many facts quoted to me that don't have sources, but up until a few months ago you might have heard of a few political speeches that mentioned studies that didn't exist. I'd bet my bank acc that the person speaking really did believe what they were saying, but their speech writers used AI to do the speech, and AI is crud for anything that requires facts.
I had an AI model a month ago tell me a fact based on a study, but when I asked it to link the study it told me there was no such study. So I asked it why it referenced a non existent study. It told me, I kid you not, that it was simply the direction the conversation was going in and it was the kind of thing people said in those scenarios. Then it went on to explain AI Hallucination to me and told me that unless I tell it to, it won't necessarily provide me with facts, and it's just by chance that sometimes AI in general generates correct statements.
AI is good for bouncing ideas off of or kick starting your creative process for art or fiction, but that's it. It's not intelligent in any sense. It's an overprocessed calculator that gives wrong answers most of the time, and correct answers some of the time.
@Striker21 Please consider AI Hallucination when going over whatever your chosen AI is feeding you.
They don't always come back to you with facts. Very often it's just whatever sounds right based on your preferences and what others have said in similar scenarios. Essentially, it's telling you what you want to hear.
I got the plat in Yotei during the week. If they add a NG+ mode I'll go back for another run or two, and obviously I can't wait for the Legends mode, but for now I've moved on to Absolum and Dispatch.
I think I'm done with the franchise anyway. I only have so much time so I tend to stick with the stuff I love. 4 was good in parts, but horribly annoying in others. I haven't loved Fallout since 3 and New Vegas. So... 15 years ago? Yeah, time to leave this one behind.
@RiverGenie To add to what others have said, I've also seen the opposite of your comment several times - Someone stating that the community here loves to hate Sony and that Push Square is too critical of PlayStation.
It makes me chuckle every time I consider Sammy and the team being criticised for being both pro and anti PlayStation. 😂 Damned if you do, damned if you... do?
@zebric21 Same re business speech. It always sounds like a pre approved message from a political party and usually reflects whatever excuse they had to give the shareholders to justify the current strategy.
Or, what @SeaDaVie said.
Personally I'll be looking at exclusives from Nintendo and PlayStation to determine how much time I spend on each platform, and I won't complain if or when those games later turn up on other platforms either.
One group tried boycotting Hogwarts. The other tried the same with Yotei. Neither group realising how similar they sound.
The rest of us all just trying to play some games and get along with each other.
🤷♂️
On the one hand I don't like to see Remedy suffer, but on the other It's definitely starting to feel like we're entering the post "everything must be a gaas" period.
Most companies have an element of shysterism in their day to day, but Tencent seem to take it as a personal challenge.
Imagine luring a business partner around the world to show them something they already said no to, then after they say no a second time just going ahead with it anyway and having the gall to say it's something else.
Makes me wonder how spiteful they might be after this plays out.
@Slidey_Moments I used to do something similar. I'd take the manuals to school with me and read them in class. It was the only thing that helped with sitting in classrooms all day knowing there was a game at home waiting to be played.
I stayed up until the small hours playing the BF6 campaign. I've finished that, so I'll be jumping into the multiplayer for a run this morning before I go back to Absolum and Ghost of Yotei.
I logged in earlier at about 170,000. It took maybe 5 minutes to clear.
What I don't like is that the single player campaign is on the other side of that queue too, not just the multiplayer modes.
@get2sammyb I get it - I stink against people at the same skill level as me and above in most fps games. So if there's any kind of a chance that I might come up against someone worse than me I'll take it.
@GirlVersusGame "There's nothing wrong with investing your hard earned money in something you love but it helps to balance your actual life too"
100% this. I would add that when you're spending your money on FOMO, your gut knows that it's something you don't want and because of that, for me, I'd end up with anxiety rather than excitement. Always listen to your gut.
@GirlVersusGame Been on a similar journey myself and I'm enjoying what I play a lot more now.
I think Nioh 3 was the last time recently where I realised I was trying to convince myself that I wanted it, but it was just FOMO.
I got this way about 15 years ago too and had to do a mad games detox just so I could remember what I actually enjoy again.
FOMO is an absolute buzz killer.
Rule of thumb - If you have to convince yourself that you want it, you don't want it.
That said, I got Yotei last week, and this week it's Battlefield and Absolum, but after that I'll not be starting anything new until Mario Kart at Christmas.
@SuperSilverback I'm in that exact same boat. Exploring is too much fun, and then the map guy will have something else in stock and I'll have to go check that, then find 5 more things on the way.
Love it.
Got my favourite armour set so far from doing bounties, but yeah it feels like sets come slower this time.
@Lowdefal Agreed on all of these points.
Especially, "We can also ignore PS5 Pro as any indicator"
As you suggest, it's a niche product and not necessarily an indicator of the base PS6 launch price (we hope).
If this XBOX news is legit, nothing changes for Sony - They consider themselves an entertainment company now, so they have to entertain us.
As for the notion that they have no competition without XBOX, I just got myself a Switch 2 packed away for Christmas. Both platforms will be competing for my time.
I mean sure there are a few revenge stories in there, but to say that the first party stable is starting to look samey because of this is an exaggeration.
Anyway, revenge stories are fun. Beating a boss where narratively you want revenge is very satisfying.
It's why I've loved to hate Sephiroth since '97 🤷
Comments 4,114
Re: Phantom Blade Zero PS5 Release Date Could Finally Be Announced This Week
@somnambulance Executioners definitely had a version released on PSN. I have it installed on my PS5, but I can't find it in the store now for some reason.
I don't remember hearing about a demo that far back though.
Re: Phantom Blade Zero PS5 Release Date Could Finally Be Announced This Week
Hopefully. I'm gasping for this game at this point, and a release date reveal feels like a shoo-in for tomorrow.
Re: FromSoftware Still Has Major Elden Ring Nightreign DLC to Release, Out by April 2026
@HaveTheSauce I think what you get from it is subjective.
I occasionally enjoy a solo run on the base version of the maps and bosses, but I don't touch the more difficult versions solo. I prefer to play them with my regular group, and we always have fun.
Around launch there was a lot of people who would quit and leave you hanging if Day 1 didn't go well, but I don't see that happening as much now, so doing two or three player with strangers is absolutely viable.
Playing with strangers is how I found the best routes actually. They usually know something my regular group doesn't.
If you prefer a solo experience mute your chat etc and pretend they're just really advanced NPCs.
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? - Issue 606
Probably some Nightreign but mostly BF6.
I won't be playing much else between now and Christmas.
Re: 'Morale in the Studio Is at Rock Bottom': Rockstar Whistleblower Alleges Union Busting as GTA 6 Is Delayed
Anyone who works for a company please remember — finish work on time and don't come in on your day off out of the goodness of your heart. Nobody in a suit will remember that you worked late out of loyalty to your team or that you finished a report on a Saturday instead of playing Mario Kart with your niece.
That second update especially kills any buzz I had for GTA6.
Re: PS Portal Gets So Much Better Today in Huge UI, Cloud Streaming Update
Amazing. This thing just keeps getting better and better.
Hopefully they keep supporting it through next gen too.
Re: At Least One Publisher Still Strongly Supports PSVR2
Shadowgate VR has my attention. Could be fun.
Re: Marvel 'Proud' to Collaborate with Spider-Man, Wolverine Maker for 'Many Years to Come'
An X-Men game from Insomniac would be it for me. Every game after that would be just cherries on top of a cake I've wanted since '92.
Re: Leaked Cross-Buy Icon on PS5 Hints at Mysterious Pro-Consumer Move from Sony
If it's legit, it must be something they're doing with Epic and/or Steam and first party games. I can't see Sony going with their own launcher. The hardcore PC crowd would reject it.
Re: PC Players or Bots? Battlefield 6 PS5 Players Frustrated by Crossplay Situation
I turned cross play off the very first time I turned the game on.
I stink at FPS games, so going up against players with mouse and keyboard and being killed over and over would be far more boring than risking the occasional game populated with bots.
But generally I'm just happy if I can get the tank and see a few things go boom.
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? - Issue 605
Got the plat in Absolum during the week so my slate is clear now with the exception of new Dispatch episodes.
Until Christmas I think I'll just be doing Dark Souls III co-op. A friend told me the other week that she'd never played the expansions so we've been chipping away at them.
Re: As Sony's PS Plus Premium Expands Slowly, Another Dev Announces PS1 Emulation Plans
Alundra.
Just give me Alundra, you cowards!
Re: Talking Point: If Xbox Drops the Cost, Would You Be Happy Still Paying for PS6 Multiplayer?
Nothing changes for me either way.
The vast majority of my library is on PSN, Zelda and Mario Kart are on Nintendo, and I don't see either platform dropping the fee for online just because the next X-Box is going to be a PC.
@Buckeye4Life2015
@UltimateOtaku91
Same. I mostly pay the sub for the monthly games, catalogue and additional services.
Re: Talking Point: Is PS5 Really in Competition with TikTok?
When I was a kid the biggest competitor to my console time was X-Men comics, and the time we'd spend cycling really fast down really steep hills, then cycling back up so we could cycle back down again.
I don't know. Everything competes for our time really. But from Christmas onwards the biggest competitor for my PlayStation time will be the Switch 2.
Re: 'Significant' Layoffs Are Set to Hit Amazon Game Studios
@rjejr I'm the same. Outside of work Alexa is as much as I have time for. Just a tool to give me an assist during the day.
tbf AI does have great potential to assist people in general, and we use it on our team in work a lot to help us with our day to day tasks too.
The problem is that the companies making AI are selling it like it's the computer on Star Trek, so anyone not familiar with what they're actually dealing with can potentially be exposed to so much misinformation. Also, as you mention it's all still in the testing phase, and we're all the testers.
We encourage our team to use AI to assist them with their tasks. Something to kick-start a process that they can then build on. But if someone was to turn something in that was just AI with no human input I'd flag it so fast.
1 - They'd just be getting the AI to do their job for them.
2 - Whatever they were turning in could potentially be unreliable junk because AI can't do their job.
Re: 'Significant' Layoffs Are Set to Hit Amazon Game Studios
@Striker21
Forgive my wordy reply:
I do a lot of interviews where I work, and lately a lot of that involves identifying AI submissions.
Mar shampla - “Workforce of 25.00” is the kind of thing we sometimes see on a rushed submission where the candidate didn't take the time to read over what their AI had written for them. It's a formatting hiccup AI sometimes makes when converting text. It should be “25,000.”
Combine that with the corporate tone and the facts without sources and it's kind of a smoke without the fire scenario.
To my original point, I don't see too many facts quoted to me that don't have sources, but up until a few months ago you might have heard of a few political speeches that mentioned studies that didn't exist. I'd bet my bank acc that the person speaking really did believe what they were saying, but their speech writers used AI to do the speech, and AI is crud for anything that requires facts.
I had an AI model a month ago tell me a fact based on a study, but when I asked it to link the study it told me there was no such study. So I asked it why it referenced a non existent study. It told me, I kid you not, that it was simply the direction the conversation was going in and it was the kind of thing people said in those scenarios. Then it went on to explain AI Hallucination to me and told me that unless I tell it to, it won't necessarily provide me with facts, and it's just by chance that sometimes AI in general generates correct statements.
AI is good for bouncing ideas off of or kick starting your creative process for art or fiction, but that's it. It's not intelligent in any sense. It's an overprocessed calculator that gives wrong answers most of the time, and correct answers some of the time.
Re: 'Significant' Layoffs Are Set to Hit Amazon Game Studios
@Striker21 Please consider AI Hallucination when going over whatever your chosen AI is feeding you.
They don't always come back to you with facts. Very often it's just whatever sounds right based on your preferences and what others have said in similar scenarios. Essentially, it's telling you what you want to hear.
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? - Issue 604
I got the plat in Yotei during the week. If they add a NG+ mode I'll go back for another run or two, and obviously I can't wait for the Legends mode, but for now I've moved on to Absolum and Dispatch.
Re: Bethesda Is Working on New Fallout Games, Todd Howard Confirms
I think I'm done with the franchise anyway.
I only have so much time so I tend to stick with the stuff I love.
4 was good in parts, but horribly annoying in others. I haven't loved Fallout since 3 and New Vegas. So... 15 years ago?
Yeah, time to leave this one behind.
Re: Xbox Boss Believes Sony's Strategy of Console Exclusives Is 'Antiquated'
@RiverGenie To add to what others have said, I've also seen the opposite of your comment several times - Someone stating that the community here loves to hate Sony and that Push Square is too critical of PlayStation.
It makes me chuckle every time I consider Sammy and the team being criticised for being both pro and anti PlayStation.
😂 Damned if you do, damned if you... do?
Re: This Astro Bot Dual Speeder Figure Might Be the Best PS5 Merch Money Can Buy
@ShogunRok Yeah, some of us are going to need a PSA when this is available to order. 🫠
Re: Xbox Boss Believes Sony's Strategy of Console Exclusives Is 'Antiquated'
@zebric21 Same re business speech. It always sounds like a pre approved message from a political party and usually reflects whatever excuse they had to give the shareholders to justify the current strategy.
Or, what @SeaDaVie said.
Personally I'll be looking at exclusives from Nintendo and PlayStation to determine how much time I spend on each platform, and I won't complain if or when those games later turn up on other platforms either.
Re: Sep 2025 USA Sales: Ghost of Yotei PS5 Boycott Fails, Sequel Sells 'Great'
@Oram77 100% agreed.
The worst thing to happen to most things I'd say, especially polite debate.
Re: Sep 2025 USA Sales: Ghost of Yotei PS5 Boycott Fails, Sequel Sells 'Great'
One group tried boycotting Hogwarts. The other tried the same with Yotei. Neither group realising how similar they sound.
The rest of us all just trying to play some games and get along with each other.
🤷♂️
Re: PS Portal Still a Huge Success as Sony Reportedly Preps PS6 Handheld
Just saw the trailer for Dispatch today. My first thought was that it will be perfect to play on Portal before bed.
Re: Remedy CEO Out in Aftermath of FBC: Firebreak Disaster
On the one hand I don't like to see Remedy suffer, but on the other It's definitely starting to feel like we're entering the post "everything must be a gaas" period.
Re: Xbox, PC Sci-Fi RPG Starfield Won't Be Revealed for PS5 Until Next Year
Starfield - Now with 5% more game on the disc! 😀
Re: Final Fantasy 7 Remake Part 3 Will Be 'A Bit More Concise' Following Feedback on Rebirth's Filler
@Nyne11Tyme 😂😂
Re: Final Fantasy 7 Remake Part 3 Will Be 'A Bit More Concise' Following Feedback on Rebirth's Filler
@Balaam_ He's suuuuuuuch an annoying character. I dread Chadley. I love everything else about those games but I really dread that pest.
Re: The Awesome Absolum Smashes Through 200,000 Sales in Its First Week
Got it at launch. Been looking forward to it since the reveal.
As soon as I get the plat in Yotei I'll go straight on to this.
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? - Issue 603
Woke up early, rolled out of bed and went straight to Ghost of Yotei. Completely hooked on it now.
Re: Sony Travelled to China to Discuss Mobile Adaptation of The Last of Us with Tencent
Most companies have an element of shysterism in their day to day, but Tencent seem to take it as a personal challenge.
Imagine luring a business partner around the world to show them something they already said no to, then after they say no a second time just going ahead with it anyway and having the gall to say it's something else.
Makes me wonder how spiteful they might be after this plays out.
Re: 'Astro Bot Has So Much Potential': Sony Merch Boss Predicts Big Things for Platformer
@graymamba Astro Kart. Now we're talking. I'd love to see that.
Re: Backlash Begins as New Dissidia Final Fantasy Game Is Revealed for Mobile
@1UP-HUSKY Ehrgeiz! Ah you're taking me back. Instant nostalgia hit just reading that comment.
Re: PS6 Manufacturing Scheduled to Get Underway in Early 2027
@Lowdefal Was just going to say, are we sure this isn't dev kits?
I'll definitely get one of its available for Christmas 2027, but it still feels to me like 2028 is the year for PS6 launch.
Re: Complete Your Physical Copy of Ghost of Yotei with a Fan-Made Manual
@Czar_Khastik 😂😂😂
Re: Complete Your Physical Copy of Ghost of Yotei with a Fan-Made Manual
@Slidey_Moments I used to do something similar. I'd take the manuals to school with me and read them in class. It was the only thing that helped with sitting in classrooms all day knowing there was a game at home waiting to be played.
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? - Issue 602
I stayed up until the small hours playing the BF6 campaign. I've finished that, so I'll be jumping into the multiplayer for a run this morning before I go back to Absolum and Ghost of Yotei.
Re: Battlefield 6 Server Queues Are Absolutely Humongous on Launch Day
I logged in earlier at about 170,000. It took maybe 5 minutes to clear.
What I don't like is that the single player campaign is on the other side of that queue too, not just the multiplayer modes.
Been having a great time since I got in though.
Re: Call of Duty Is Trying Everything It Can to Make You Play Black Ops 7 Over Battlefield 6
@get2sammyb I get it - I stink against people at the same skill level as me and above in most fps games. So if there's any kind of a chance that I might come up against someone worse than me I'll take it.
Re: PS6 Out 'in a Few Years' as Sony, AMD Discuss the Future of Games
Video sounds like wizards talking about the mysteries of the universe.
Re: Absolum (PS5) - Dragon's Crown and Hades Combine in Stunning Beat-'Em-Up
I played 20 minutes on my lunch break just now and loved it. Been hyped for this since the reveal, and the demo reviews from PC were great too.
Between this, Yotei and BF6, it's going to be a lazy weekend.
Re: People Don't Buy Anywhere Near As Many Games As You Think
@GirlVersusGame
"There's nothing wrong with investing your hard earned money in something you love but it helps to balance your actual life too"
100% this.
I would add that when you're spending your money on FOMO, your gut knows that it's something you don't want and because of that, for me, I'd end up with anxiety rather than excitement.
Always listen to your gut.
Re: People Don't Buy Anywhere Near As Many Games As You Think
@GirlVersusGame Been on a similar journey myself and I'm enjoying what I play a lot more now.
I think Nioh 3 was the last time recently where I realised I was trying to convince myself that I wanted it, but it was just FOMO.
I got this way about 15 years ago too and had to do a mad games detox just so I could remember what I actually enjoy again.
FOMO is an absolute buzz killer.
Rule of thumb - If you have to convince yourself that you want it, you don't want it.
That said, I got Yotei last week, and this week it's Battlefield and Absolum, but after that I'll not be starting anything new until Mario Kart at Christmas.
Re: Aug 2025 USA Sales: Massive Month for Single Player Games, PS5 Can't Catch Switch 2
Surely that's a mistake re Helldivers. The amount of people online at any given time in the week or so after launch was crazy.
Re: 'Really, Really Good': Ghost of Yotei Beats EA Sports FC 26, Super Mario Galaxy in UK Physical Sales
@SuperSilverback I think I got it before that one.
Maybe you get it after a certain amount of bounties?
Re: 'Really, Really Good': Ghost of Yotei Beats EA Sports FC 26, Super Mario Galaxy in UK Physical Sales
@SuperSilverback I'm in that exact same boat. Exploring is too much fun, and then the map guy will have something else in stock and I'll have to go check that, then find 5 more things on the way.
Love it.
Got my favourite armour set so far from doing bounties, but yeah it feels like sets come slower this time.
Re: PS6 May Go Uncontested as Rumours of Next-Gen Xbox Cancellation Spiral
@Lowdefal Agreed on all of these points.
Especially, "We can also ignore PS5 Pro as any indicator"
As you suggest, it's a niche product and not necessarily an indicator of the base PS6 launch price (we hope).
If this XBOX news is legit, nothing changes for Sony - They consider themselves an entertainment company now, so they have to entertain us.
As for the notion that they have no competition without XBOX, I just got myself a Switch 2 packed away for Christmas. Both platforms will be competing for my time.
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? - Issue 601
Well I was going to save Ghost of Yotei for Christmas Day, but when it arrived on Thursday I couldn't help myself. So, Ghost of Yotei.
Re: Talking Point: Are You Getting Sick of Sony's Supposedly 'Samey' Approach to Story Telling?
I mean sure there are a few revenge stories in there, but to say that the first party stable is starting to look samey because of this is an exaggeration.
Anyway, revenge stories are fun. Beating a boss where narratively you want revenge is very satisfying.
It's why I've loved to hate Sephiroth since '97 🤷