ShogunRok

@MARl0

@Kidfunkadelic83 Same, I've been playing on the Pro exclusive mode and it's impressively smooth. While I don't think the graphics are particularly mind-blowing, the artistry and distance detail are stunning.

Just a very pleasant game to play.

@Ravix Yeah it's very, very moreish, which to me is always the sign of a good open world. You don't want to leave!

@guacguacboo I agree, for a first-party AAA game I think it's refreshingly freeing. There are still tutorials, but it's not constantly holding your hand, and that definitely helps the whole thing feel more organic.

@Oram77 I'm still amazed by the initial load from the PS5 home screen. You're loaded into your last save about seven seconds from clicking the icon.

@springer17 Definitely. The fact you're given stuff like the grappling hook and Ghost Stance right off the bat is part of that as well.

I know a lot of people think Yotei's opening is weaker than Tsushima's — and maybe it is, in terms of spectacle and narrative weight — but I do really appreciate how Yotei just gets you into the open world as quickly as it can.

I think Sucker Punch understands what makes an open world fun to traverse.

I spent most of the weekend playing it and I think it's fantastic so far.

Feels like Sucker Punch learned a hell of a lot from Ghost of Tsushima. The structure of the game is much more engaging, the combat is more challenging, and the story is more nuanced.

(And I'm a massive Tsushima fan.)

Been playing with the Japanese dub and the voice acting has been superb. Curious to see what it's like in English at some point.

For me, if the quality remains high, it'll be a personal GOTY candidate for sure.

@somnambulance I was thinking, these next DLC packs surely have to focus on more Super characters. There are already so many to choose from, but they skipped straight to Daima because it's new.

@DennisReynolds @IcarusOOT Except in Pokemon you can get away with having one super effective move because the health bars of your opponents aren't gigantic.

In Time Stranger, you're given absolutely no clue as to what the boss is weak to before you fight it.

Perfect example: the boss is a Virus type Digimon. That's fine, because you've got two Vaccine Digimon in your party.

Except the boss also has an incredibly high spirit stat, so it's basically immune to magic attacks. And guess what? Only one of your Vaccine Digimon has good physical attacks.

Okay, maybe you can get away with that. But wait, the element of your best physical attack is resisted by the boss — so you're only doing 1.5x damage to a health bar that's already massive.

These issues very quickly stack up against some of the game's later bosses, and you really do get stonewalled.

@3Above Hmmm, the answer to that question is a bit yes and no.

There's a nice variety of environments, especially in the Digital World, but they're just not very big. Most are made up of maybe a small village-like area and then a small-ish dungeon.

As you say, I think this game would have benefitted massively from having more open locations that encouraged exploration and additional combat. It feels like most dungeons are over in a matter of minutes.

I do think full price for this game is steep, but it really depends on how much you like Digimon overall. I think super fans will get so much enjoyment out of how well Time Stranger recreates the Digital World in particular.

@Kanji-Tatsumi That's a very concise way of putting it (and now I kind of regret not doing something similar in the review!).

But I do think the story in Time Stranger is a cut above Cyber Sleuth, thankfully. It is still intrusive and far too hand-holdy at times, but the actual plot and how it unfolds is more interesting than what Cyber Sleuth offered. At least in my opinion.

I think part of that is the greater focus on the Digimon themselves, rather than predominantly human characters.

@mlm043 Honestly, if you're on the fence and don't mind waiting, it might be worth seeing whether the game gets an update or two.

A lot of the issues I bring up in the review could be improved through patches, like the sometimes iffy combat balance and technical performance.

@Pat_trick Yeah I had a feeling my review would be towards the lower end of the spectrum.

It's like the review says, the game clearly gets a lot of stuff right, and so a lot of my criticism probably stems from being able to see the game's unrealised potential.

But yeah, I can also totally see why other reviewers might have liked it a lot more than I did.

I do ultimately hope that the game does well with fans and that Bandai Namco gives the series an even bigger budget.

@Brydontk Thankfully those super tedious back-and-forth side quests are much rarer now, although there are still instances where you're given a really basic task that involves buying an item (for example) and delivering it.

Sometimes the side quests do involve some fun characters and they're actually quite comedic, but by and large, they feel very low budget and almost a bit tacked on.

It's a shame too, because the rewards tend to be quite useful.

@Brydontk I'm almost certain there's a skip option during dialogue but I'm not 100% sure on whether it skips entire scenes or just individual lines.

I do know that you can get through most dialogue very quickly either way, just by mashing through it once you've got the gist.

I know this because the pacing is very similar to Cyber Sleuth, where something will happen in the story, and then three different characters will instantly remind you of what just happened and what you need to do next. The script's in desperate need of an editor at times.

If anyone's got any questions about the game or the review, let me know and I'll try to answer them.

Regular readers might know I'm a big fan of the Cyber Sleuth games and I was really looking forward to Time Stranger — so it stings that this one never really clicked with me.

If you're really into Digimon I think you'll still find a lot to enjoy, but for me, the mechanical side of the game just gets buried far too often.

Here's hoping that updates fix the frame rate, too.

Yakuza 3 was my first experience with the series as well. I remember it got a 9/10 in the Official PlayStation Magazine and I was beyond hyped to finally play it.

Still has some of the coolest moments in the series, and the soundtrack is godlike. With a much updated combat system (which it desperately needs by today's standards) it'll be well worth playing again.

It'll take a while for the recasts to make sense, though.

@Kingy @Eduard_Brenton Reminiscent of the promotional artwork for Ghost of Tsushima — looked nothing like Jin!

@RadioHedgeFund Yeah, and there's no way that investment firms, specifically, don't look at EA as a whole and think about how to immediately cut costs across the company.

It feels like (potentially mass) layoffs are all but inevitable.

RIP BioWare, only a matter of time until they're gutted along with a bunch of other studios who don't work on key franchises.

@Atreus97 Jan / Feb / March next year already look insane in terms of release schedule. The fear of GTA 6 is real!

@Oram77 I'm thinking those screenshots may need to be locked behind a password...

I always appreciate photo modes but rarely use them.

Wasn't the case with Ghost of Tsushima — my old PS4 has hundreds of screenshots on it. The environments were just too stunning not to pause and capture the moment.

@Questionable_Duck They haven't yet, to be fair, but I'd be hugely surprised if there is a path.

Yakuza Kiwami 2 finally unshackled from the hell of 30fps on PS4. One of the very best Yakuza games, in my opinion.

Still, no upgrade option for any of these PS5 ports is rubbish.

@Blauwe_Chimay @Futureshark There's the love it / hate it effect Stephen mentions in the review! Didn't take long.

@PsBoxSwitchOwner I know you're kind of joking, but I'll put this here for good measure...

Review scores are a guideline, not a definitive stance on what game is ultimately the best one.

Obviously it's difficult to avoid comparisons between some games — like sequels or games from a specific genre — but again, review scores are there to give you an at-a-glance indication of how good a game is.

They should be seen as a supplement to the review itself, and not the purpose of the review.

Phew!

@EfYI It's always been quite a hardcore series, but from what I've seen, STALKER 2 is more modernised and streamlined in a lot of ways.

But yeah, the previous games can definitely be difficult to get into.

@Ricky-Spanish Fantastic co-op game but it does have a bit of a learning curve. Community tends to be very committed and plenty of players are willing to help newcomers out.

I'd highly recommend giving it a go if you can find one or two people to play with.

@wildcat_kickz Yeah I think this is the most egregious issue here. The PS5 Pro mode being a bit crap is bad, but the fact that you can't even toggle between settings on Pro is just stupid.

@Fighting_Game_Loser As sad as it is to admit, there's no way Geoff even acknowledges that this game exists during The Game Awards. I'd honestly be shocked if it's even a nominee for best RPG.

@SeaDaVie The gap's definitely been shortened due to features like aim assist, but on a fundamental level, being able to just sweep or flick across the screen with a mouse in order to reposition your view is always going to be faster than using a controller.

'Twitch' aiming is king on mouse, but you're right in that experienced controller users can go toe-to-toe in most games. Just might take a lot of practice and the fine tuning of various settings.

@Jammer From what I understand it's free if you pre-ordered the game, regardless of edition. Otherwise you have to buy it separately.

@rjejr Nah, nothing official, but it's been implied in an interview that there will be some kind of expansion at some point, like Ghost of Tsushima had with Iki Island.

And obviously there's the Legends mode coming next year, but that'll be free.

@Oram77 Stuck at 30fps even on PS5 though... It's criminal.

@captainsandman If it's like previous Ninja Gaiden games, it's going to be incredibly punishing at times. The person playing this is also seriously skilled (I assume it's a developer or experienced play tester).

But this game will have difficulty options that are designed to teach you the mechanics.

@Vaako007 Maybe the master who teaches Atsu this style actually is Musashi? I can't see Sucker Punch name-dropping him completely, but another 'version' of him could make sense.

@Baoki Bo staff is pretty good, has a really effective perk that increases each hit's damage if you time your attacks correctly. I'd say it's probably one of Naoe's best weapons.

Not sure it's worth revisiting the game purely to play around with it, but it is a nice addition.

@CosmicJester It took me around 7 or 8 hours (going by my save data) to complete all the main quests and see most of the island.

I think you could make it to 10 or more hours quite easily if you take your time and explore absolutely everything / complete every activity.

@wildcat_kickz That's a good question, I'm not 100% sure. I don't recall picking any new decorations up but then I don't think I ever checked the shops on Awaji.

I'm willing to bet the devs must have added some new bits and pieces but I haven't seen them.

@Andee I think the character dialogue is generally very good in the Trails games, if a bit verbose at times.

Characters are often written in a way where they initially come across as walking anime tropes, but they've all got depth as you get to know them.

I'd also say that Falcom's great at bouncing personalities off one another.

Like the review says, we're 13 games in now and honestly, it's a testament to the writing that the gigantic cast is still so full of personality.

But at the same time, I can see why Trails' style of writing / storytelling won't be for everyone. Again, it's very wordy at times, and (in later games especially) it crutches on certain plot devices and character cameos.

Stomach those elements, though, and I personally think it's one of the best written JRPG franchises out there.

@dskatter Fair!

If anyone's got any questions about this one, let me know and I'll try to answer them.

Won't lie, I really felt the Shadows fatigue while reviewing this. I put a good 100+ hours into the base game (don't judge me) and I was looking forward to this DLC — but you can only fight and assassinate the same enemies so many times before the whole thing just feels lifeless.

If you're still into Shadows you'll undoubtedly enjoy this DLC, though. I just think there was potential here to improve on the base experience.

@dskatter To be fair, the story expansions are due out in 2026, so they're definitely not finished.

But yes, the corporate stink is strong with this one.

@Pandalulz Zin definitely feels big in 1st Chapter, he towers over the other party members. His attack animations are really weighty, too.

On the topic of the Daybreak games, I think my biggest criticism is what you mention. There's a real lack of exploration / travelling. Partly because most of the game is set in the same city, and partly because Van and the gang just drive everywhere.

In the Cold Steel games, you obviously have a lot of transport too, like the trains. But even then, you still get a lot of countryside to traverse on foot, and varied dungeons to fight through.

Marchen Garten should have alleviated these criticisms to some extent, but even that feels really repetitive (and the rewards are just plain bad outside of cosmetic items).

1st Chapter reminded me how much I enjoyed travelling from town to town and seeing the sights. Really helps with the game's structure and pacing, too.

@Barry_vV There's still a lot of dialogue here, but the story isn't populated by a gigantic cast of characters like it is in Daybreak, so it feels more manageable.

But yeah, this is just the way Trails games tend to be — they've all got massive scripts.

I do think 1st Chapter does a better job than Daybreak in that it has long stints of exploration gameplay between story beats, but again, there's still huge chunks of dialogue to get through.

@Agentx714 It's certainly possible that a future update will remove the cap. I can't understand why the developer's stuck to 30fps — I just can't imagine that the game becomes that demanding at any point.

Makes me think it must be an optimisation issue — like something's stopping it from hitting a smooth 60 so they just decided to cut their losses and cap it at 30.

I don't mind it too much since it's ultimately a turn-based RPG, but it's still such a weird decision.

@belmont Funnily enough, I felt burnt out on the series for the first time ever with Daybreak 2. But I think that was partly because of the time-hopping story that grew old long before the end (in my opinion).

But for me, playing through 1st Chapter really made me remember what I enjoy about the series. It feels so streamlined (in a good way) compared to the Daybreak games, which I think have become a little too complex in places for their own good.

I am looking forward to Trails beyond the Horizon, though, and seeing how it moves the overall story forward again.

@belmont Nah, nothing significant. Specific scenes have added dialogue and some are made more in-depth through the use of cutscenes (like the stage play at the academy, for example), but I don't think there are any major additions.

If you're already super familiar with the original game, the main draw of this will be to see everything reimagined in 3D, as a modern Falcom RPG.

I personally think it's worth it for the spectacle and nostalgia alone in that case, but if you're specifically looking for something new, it's a harder sell.

As for the series going nowhere, it does feel a bit like that sometimes. But I do trust Falcom to push towards a conclusion soon — I think the team just has too much respect for the series to keep dragging it out.