Spedfrom

I hope it's more like 2016's DOOM and less like DOOM Eternal. I had a blast with the former, but not so much with the latter. Glad it's coming to PS5! Keeping an eye on it as I'm likely to buy if it plays more like the 2016 game.

I'm probably in the minority, but I always found Henry Cavill to be too large and muscular to play Geralt. He's one hot hunk, no denying that, but Liam Hemsworth's slender yet toned figure is more alike the Geralt that I know, the one from the games. Never read the books and not that into the games either, but I did buy and (eventually) finished The Witcher 3.

I had no interest in Spiderman 2 and only a passing interest in Dragon's Dogma 2, which I haven't even bought yet, and likely will not. So my highlight of last year's showcase was Judas and I remain very excited about that game. Despite a boring Bioshock 2 and an extremely derivative and disappointing Bioshock Infinite, Judas appears to be the type of sequel the magnificent original Bioshock should have had.

This reveals the current problem for Sony: my hype is for a third party game. Naturally, I'm there for whatever Naughty Dog, SSM, etc, are cooking up (provided it's single player), but without anything first party to base my hype on, the outlook looks empty and forgettable. I assume a lot of fans and even casuals are feeling disconnected as well for similar reasons. And thus a lack of a showcase will only compound on the problem.

I will add that at this point in time it would be preferable to have no showcase to a disappointing one. Make it impactful or leave people guessing. Not meeting expectations 2 years in a row, 4 years into the PS5's cycle would jeopardise the PS5 Pro and the second half of the console's life.

FF16 is an incredible game but its momentum drops like a rock after the Bahamut fight and story reveals. Moreover, the side-quests are absolute snooze-fests.

FF7 Rebirth is yet another extremely padded experience which is of more interest to long time fans of the original that want to experience every possible little thing about the world and lore. I played the original FF7 shortly after it came out and was disappointed with the padded Remake, having had to force myself to finish it. I find Rebirth to have made the same mistake on an even bigger scale.

Adding to all of this, Square Enix has a history of unrealistic sales expectations, which might be a result of a combination of expecting far too much on the sales front, having an overblown sense of the importance of its own IP, owing to how big it was in decades past, keeping it mostly exclusive to one ecosystem, and also not realising that the shortfalls of each game (as I described in the first 2 paragraphs) hamper its sales potential. So naturally we end up seeing these types of news headlines from the company once again.

Origins is still the best in the series, but I did play 420 hours worth of Inquisition. I love the lore and it is what keeps me coming back to this series. Hoping against all hope that Dreadwolf is an incredible experience.

I mean, remaking one single game and splitting it into 3 different parts over the course of a decade and expecting all 3 parts to sell gangbusters was always a deluded idea. It might be one of the most famous JRPGs ever, but it's an enormous commitment to ask of players. A lot of marriages don't even last that long these days!

Thoroughly enjoyed it when I purchased it during the launch period. For me it's at least an 8/10 rather than a 7. It's a shame a sequel was never released. What is Ember Labs up to these days?

I'm sensitive to frame rate. While I grew up gaming at 30 fps or lower, I can no longer tolerate it. 30 fps has been jarring to me for quite a while now and I will not buy games that don't have a capable performance mode.

So excited for this! Trying to watch snippets to get me even more excited, but also avoiding it at the same time because I want to go in fresh. Bioshock 2 was boring and Infinite was an absolute mess, but the genius of Bioshock 1 guarantess this is a day one purchase for me.

@Zenos What we need is for software houses to optimise their games properly before releasing them at 70 or 80 pounds a piece. It's a profits first attitude that is the problem, not a console power issue.

Well Sony needs to improve the store anyway. The fact you still can't purchase games to give to people as gifts after all these years is baffling. And reeks of incompetence a little as well, I have to say. As does not being able to buy from the different national stores. You are stuck with the one from whatever country you initially created your account in.

Sony's store is stuck in ages past and that performance in search engine results is only a reflection of the reality.

Framerate looks rough and the combat looks awkward. But I am still willing to give them the benefit of the doubt for now. However, the talk about genuinely finding a publisher suggests relations with Sony soured significantly. Which isn't entirely surprising after 4 years of silence. Not a day 1 game for me any longer, but I will be paying attention to developments.

Konami comes across as an incredibly toxic company to work with/for. Things were awful with Kojima and they don't seem to have improved much at all.

@CharlieChooChoo That would imply having the patience to hear about it, which I do not. I merely wanted to state how insufferable I think the game is and how I absolutely despise it for being a Kojima self aggrandising exercise.

Death Stranding is so horrendously boring and mind numbing. I don't understand how it sold so much and how there's so many people excited for a sequel. I was gifted the original game, tried multiple times getting into it and my opinion of the game remains negative.

All that gaslighting about it being a new genre of gaming? Utter *****.

Kojima's games have turned into the works of a man who loves listening to himself talk.

Day 1. No questions asked. Thank you very much.

I pre-ordered it yesterday. On the back of having bought the original TLOU (PS3 2013), the remaster of that (PS4 2014), the remake of that (PS5 2022) and the original sequel (PS4 2020).

I love Naughty Dog games and feel like my money is well invested. I've replayed both games multiple times. It's up to each person to decide whether their money is well spent on these remasters/remakes, but it is not up to anyone to tell me, or any other person, where I should spend my money. Especially if I feel it's warranted.

In saying that, though, I do think it's time for ND to show us what else they're working on. The multiplayer project got cancelled and they have to move on swiftly. And we need to see what's on the way, even if it's going to take a while to come out. I think it's warranted after the cancellation.

Aerith needs to die.

This looks INCREDIBLE. Day one, don't even need to see anything else. I'll buy it just to roam around in those gorgeous environments.

And this is the company that Naughty Dog cancelled the TLOU multiplayer game for? *****. That. *****. Release the game.

@twitchtvpat That is true. In any case, to me it's more of a mainline RE that 4 is. And I did enjoy 4 for what it was when it came out, but by that point RE had moved on from what it was in the RE1-2-3 + CV + Zero era.

I don't mind a DLC focused on Clive's interim years between the Phoenix Gate attack and the time he encounters Cid, but I hope we find out what happens to Joshua and Clive after that ending. They would need a new big baddie for that though. Sadly, Dion is very clearly gone.

If both DLCs are about stuff that happens before or during the story of the game, then I'm out. What is past, is gone. I don't need to live through it.

I didn't buy RE4, despite having purchased the remakes of 1, 2 and 3, after Capcom announced it was unlikely to remake CV. And I will continue not buying any of their games until they remake Code: Veronica. It is the true fourth RE for me and it's always been one of my favourite games in the series. There's plenty of games to play anyway and I will certainly always vote with my wallet.

Amano is a legend.

James Sunderland is Pyramid Head's origin story. If you know the lore, nothing more needs to be added to that particular conversation.

Performance mode. I don't tolerate anything less than 60 fps very well at all these days. And I'm someone that played through things like FF9 back in the day.

Even a stable 30 fps game these days just isn't good enough for me. Finished FF16 this week and enjoyed the game, but the non-fully optimised performance mode brought it down a notch.

Devs: add a performance mode to your game and do what you must to ensure it remains at a steady 60 fps. At 40 I now would rather have smoothness and snappiness over graphical bells and whistles.

Wake me up when Themes are added.

I think Patapon was cute but it didn't click with me. However I was totally into LocoRoco 1 and 2. They are 2 of the best games I've ever played and a sequel or a successor is definitely something I'd support via Kickstarter.

New-gen console? Push Square, it's been 3 years. Let it go, please.

Vaan as the protagonist of FF12? Not in my eyes. That is Ashe, undoubtedly.

Digitally pre-ordered, space made in SSD for pre-loading, ready to go!

C O D E . V E R O N I C A !

Crazy big Roman numerals are a part of the Final Fantasy magic. I doubt the amount of people nowadays assuming they have to play previous entries in the series before getting the latest one is small. Social media and internet access is everywhere, people are generally more informed than not. Keep the numbers Square, don't follow the latest trend just because.

PS1, hands down. Maybe for PS6 Sony could do an updated version of that. Just the sound alone is majorly iconic.

The potential for incredibly realistic interactions and events creation is incredible, but we are not quite there yet.

Q4 2024 at the earliest is fine with me. I will be there day 1 if so.

I will eventually get this game and the DLC when I get the time for it. The demo showed its potential, both gameplay and lore/plot wise, despite being far from perfect. I remain interested at a lower price point in the future for both the game and the DLC, digitally.

I don't mind characters talking to themselves or amongst themselves. They usually make poignant or funny comments about themselves and the world around them and I very much enjoy that. What I don't enjoy is getting told the solution to even minor puzzles when I've barely started thinking about how to solve them.

Puzzle solving is to me a part of exploration and exploration is one of the most exciting parts of a game. Having it spoiled significantly detracts from the experience. I don't mind if we eventually get a hint. But it needs to come much later down the line.

I agree that Ashe is really the main character. I still remember somewhat what happened with her storyline towards the end of the game. However for Vaan and Penello I remember nothing. They were there I guess?

Seeing as I only like a very short few FPS games, it's a no from me. Keep it third person thank you very much.

Far Zeta? Have you guys actually played the game or know the lore?

Not going to watch. I know enough about the game to get it day 1 and I want to go in knowing as little as possible.

He seems salty that Origins is a "lesser" Silent Hill game.

@pharos_haven Totally get that. I have serious open world fatigue. In actual fact I was never ther biggest fan of them and only a few open world games keep me interested until completion. Wide linear is my preference. It always has been.

@kyleforrester87 I do like dark fantasy, but those games just didn't do it for me. I tried all From Software games since Demon's Souls, apart from Sekiro. I agree with you that Skyrim > Fallout. But again, it's all personal preferences.

@Ear_wiG Yeah, it has always looked a lot more up my alley. But I kept postponing, never tried it, then Ghost of Tsushima came out and sated my itch for a samurai type of game. Currently doing a Master's which leaves me with limited time for gaming, but will definitely consider giving it a go once I'm done. Thank you.

@kyleforrester87 That's the thing though, to me they are very different games. BB is fast paced, fluid, aggressive. And the HP Lovecraft heavily inspired thematic appealed right to the heart of me. DS is slower and more defensive, Elden Ring is all of that in an open world setting, which only compounds the problems for me. Not saying the other games are bad, just saying that personally BB rocks my boat and is my jam. Ahah.

There's only one game from this company that I have actually enjoyed and finished and that's Bloodborne. Can't say I'm too excited at anything they announce.

I bought Demon's Souls with little knowledge of what it truly was when it first came out and disliked it. Tried DS1 and DS2 and disliked them. Bought Bloodborne with a decent grasp of what it was and loved it. Tried DS3, disliked it. Tried Elden Ring, really disliked it.

As with their previous games, I'll have to see it and try it before making any purchase decision, as I'm more likely than not to dislike what comes out.

I like Don't Nod as they make interesting, unique games that have a feel all their own. However, they are generally not fully realised or engaging. Remember Me had limited gameplay, the Life is Strange sequels don't measure up to the original, etc. If they can go the extra mile for that upcoming RPG, they have the potential to create an IP with strong staying power, I believe.