aethermath

Weirdly enough, I liked the first one and this one I already preordered cause I'm sure I'll like it too. Doesn't matter if it doesn't soar as high as Elden Ring. It's one of those unpopular games I end up liking for myself.

I’ll believe it when they actually announce a release date and immediately open the preorders. Otherwise, it’s still just a dream.

I don’t know what’s happening at Ubisoft but they’re worse than Google for cancelling so many projects left and right and not knowing where to focus their efforts. That’s a huge waste of money, resources and time right there! I’m not surprised at all.

In a documentary post-release: “One very impatient gamer caused the game to be delayed a further six months.” /S

It’s one of the reasons I avoid MMORPGs, if I get too attached to one, they will inevitably decide to shut down the whole thing a year later, sometimes even less. I’m still surprised to see very old ones like LOTR Online and Star Trek Online still supported, I played those years ago.

I was tempted by Final Fantasy XIV Online, to change from my usual single player games but I fear it might either close or be replaced by a new one.

Also, these types of games tend to be money pit, cause you pay for a subscription, some cosmetics, a few DLCs if they’re not included, maybe one full fledged expansion… it’s worse when they’re free-to-play, cause you face limits that incite you to buy something and when the game die, you can’t keep playing it solo, so you lost everything, like going to a casino basically. I might be harsh but I don’t really see the appeal of a MMORPG, we’re far from the golden days of World of Warcraft, where these games were a real novelty.

Single player games are a one and done deal, sometimes worth the full price and surely worth your money if you finish and had fun with them. I don’t mind good live service ones that allow you to optionally play coop or something like that, but also offer a solo experience.

@CallMeDuraSouka True! I’m still waiting for that awesome RPG set in a somewhat open world of Star Trek. I feel like it’s doable but none are really taking the risk. Something similar to Mass Effect within the Star Trek universe could be awesome, with the right balance of action and science stuff.

I didn’t avoid the Mindseye disaster, but glad I avoided this one. Fool me once, but not twice. At least, I’ve got Avowed to look forward to next month.

I called it in another comment on the upcoming Xbox showcase. Well, I was right… and I immediately preordered cause I loved The Outer Worlds, both 1 and 2. Now if Starfield comes over to PS5, the sci fi loving geek that I am will be very happy.

Pretty sure they're gonna announce Starfield for PS5, it's in the pipeline already and a few more exclusives, maybe Avowed, all heading to PS5. I would be happy if they do.

Merry New Year, my fellow gamers!

Very fun game! I enjoy the occasional play. It’s my relaxing spot between two heavier games.

@AdamNovice Regarding handheld, I think there’s technical limitations and regulations that make putting “slim” ultra high capacity batteries difficult to achieve on the engineering side. They’re not always skimping on costs when it comes to battery life. They’re just harder to build and R&D isn’t cheap.

@ButterySmooth30FPS I was looking at gaming laptops, this would’ve been a good choice for me cause of space, I can’t put a desktop setup here, but yeah… several models of Asus ROG notebooks in Canada went from 2500$ to easily 4000$ for the same specs, with a newer graphics card and a newer version of the same CPU. The price increase is due to tariffs too, but it’s becoming insane. Like a throwback at early 2000s prices, my first family owned desktop computer costed 3500$ with a special discount from the government back then, but it included a screen and a keyboard/mouse. It’s quite the price jump. And now everything else, including consoles are jumping price points by leaps. It’s ridiculous!

It’s actually a good thing, cause nobody here would pay 2000$ for a console. At this price point, switching over to PC could be very enticing. Plus, the PS5 Pro just launched last year, so the PS5 has still a couple more years left of great potential.

I understand the worries about AI replacing artists, but the way I understand it is that it can still be a useful tool that doesn’t replace artists but make them more efficient with things that matters.

Otherwise, what’s next? Asking programmers to manually write thousands, even billions of lines of code, by hand, instead of using an engine? Test this code manually instead of using a IDE? Game development would take 20 years instead of 5 considering the huge amount of resources they need today compared to the early days.

AI is like social media, it’s a tool, nothing more. People using it to replace human-made work are the problem, not the tool itself.

By nature, being independent means you aren’t subjected to the pressure and the obligations of a big corporation, cause you don’t really have a board and shareholders to answer to. You’re financially independent and have the freedom to build the games you really want to build. Sure, you get the financial meetings here and there but you’re driven by the creative people and not a board of directors, along with their shareholders.

I’ll also add that indie studios are often backed by voluntary financial support and investors from the outside, cause the competition is good for bigger studios.

This gave me a good reason to add this game to my library, alongside Baldur’s Gate 3.

I was with Xbox One during the pandemic, I played the game at launch and didn’t have so many bugs except for a few weird ones, almost finished it back then. I played again on the series X, finished it, with Phantom Liberty and played once more on PS5, finished this year, 100%, every gigs, every car, etc. It’s one of my favourite masterpieces, with Elden Ring and a couple old classics from my childhood.

There’s a chance they’ll cut the gaming studios and lay off everyone aside from a handful of developers and keeps the IPs to pump out more mobile games for their own service (there’s Netflix variants of mobile games). It’s sad but I do hope the deal won’t go through and the government will intervene to stop the birth of a giant monopoly.

49 games played in 2025, most played game is Elden Ring, role player gaming style, got 423 trophies, played 714 hours. Not bad!

@MamaSymphonia Don't worry! I'll enjoy it! I used to play hours upon hours of Rune Factory 4 on my 3DS.

I am really excited to see this trailer. Exodus is at the top of my wishlist. I bought their TTRPG books and their novels. Ex-Mass Effect developers are working on this game. I sincerely hope the game releases next year and that it’ll have a superb collector’s edition cause I’m an absolute sci fi fan and I want this game to succeed.

Well, since they fully integrated Bungie into their own studios lately, I am not surprised but Bungie initially wanted to focus on other projects and not do another Destiny. It seems Sony made the final call. Perhaps Destiny 2 is generating enough money for them to justify this. I suppose it could be another “Sony” exclusive in the near future.

I used to love the original campaign (The Red War) and the mix of mythology and sci fi was very appealing, it’s the only online multiplayer game that I genuinely enjoyed back then. The gameplay is addictive and the overall design is top tier for an online game. It became such a mess since then and the super repetitive missions didn’t help.

What killed it for me was when the seasons became story related and you had to do the same couple missions over and over to keep it interesting. I did enjoyed the expansions though. Last one I bought, I didn’t even use my included four seasons passes cause I lost interest in the game.

I’m relatively new in the PlayStation ecosystem. The PS5 being my first complete experience, not counting the brief period I had a PS2 when I was young. I was and remain a Nintendo guy mostly, but some games on the PS5 made me switch over from Xbox. I don’t know if I’m gonna keep up with consoles, just because gaming as a whole is becoming increasingly pricey to maintain. I’ve foregone my Switch OLED to go back to having only one console (two games libraries is too much for my budget), but it’s possible I might drop PS entirely to go with the Switch 2 if nostalgia hit really hard in 2026. I really don’t know.

That said, I think PS5 has been amazing and I continue to really love my experience with the Pro, plus the DualSense many features are just amazing and absolutely worth it, I enjoy the phone calls in Cyberpunk 2077 coming out of the controller’s speaker and the haptic feedback is a must have to me. I will probably hold onto that console a little longer, since I upgraded to the Pro this year. I am not ready for another generation of consoles right now. I spent thousands on rebuilding my game library from my old days with Xbox and also tons of accessories such as the PSVR2 and usually consoles don’t support old accessories entirely when a new gen is released so I’ll wait, I don’t want to feel like I’ve wasted too much time and money on a console. Would be sorely disappointed if they announced the PS6 right after they release their officially branded PS5 speakers and monitor.

Bottom line, I am having lots of fun with my PS5 Pro and all its features, I won’t spend another thousand on a new console next year or the next two years either. I have enough games and enough fun with what I have right now.

I dunno if anyone noticed but Valve clearly said they wanted to price it accordingly, cause they view this as a gaming PC and not a console at all. Emphasis on: "they view this as a gaming PC".

So it'll be a great entry level gaming PC for anyone who wants something reliable, but I fully expect the thing to cost at least 1000$ CAD, considering the high end Steamdeck cost 819$ + taxes in Canada. The main advantage is the console-like experience, the compact size and the easy access to Steam, plus all the other advantages like mods, Windows OS, etc.

It won't make a dent into PS5 or Switch sales, cause let's be honest, Nintendo has carved their own market and PS5 is still viewed as the premium console experience. Microsoft will follow that with their hybrid device but they also said they'll price it accordingly, so maybe more than 1000$ CAD, who knows? Soon, there'll be another "premium" console on the market, with both access to Steam and Xbox games, that one will probably make a dent into PS5 sales, but let's not be hasty about it.

We're past the point where consoles will cost less than a thousand bucks, I believe. That's becoming a very pricey hobby for a lot of gamers out there. I won't be surprised if one day a console cost at least 1200$ or 1500$ in a bundle. I do hope I'm wrong. The impact is greater for countries with non-US prices, as often the prices will be much, much higher overall.

Glad to read that, I didn't buy the PS5 Pro this year to have it replaced in 2027 without even going through at least half my backlog of amazing games. I even got a few PS4 games I intend to play and fully finish. I always wait 1-2 year into a new generation to decide if I'm gonna buy the new console or not. But we're at a crossroads with Microsoft preparing some sort of hybrid of PC/Console and no idea what Sony has planned next, aside from a traditional console. I'm more excited at the prospect of having a handheld that can locally play PS5 games as the rumours suggest. Not sure if I'm gonna keep gaming if the costs keep rising either, cause I have a life outside of gaming and it's getting harder to justify spending hundreds (maybe thousands) every year for the new games and a couple older ones. There's a point where you gotta ask if the cost is worth it overall, especially if you're fully equipped with lots of accessories like I do right now with my PS5 Pro.

Love the Starfox reference in the lower right of the screenshot.That’s clearly an arwing from the SNES era! Also, Dolphin was a code name used by Nintendo.

@revansgc It's a joke on the fact that everyone who bought the Premium Edition is gullible and always want the latest thing, so it's an exclusive "flaw" only for those with the Premium Edition, you can have a good chuckle out of it, mostly.

Obsidian may have not checked correctly, the "Consumerism" flaw work if you simply travel back to the Incognito after applying the hotfix on the PS5. At least, it worked for me. I went to open a high security box with my decryption keys and I was immediately granted the "Consumerism" flaw, which I rejected, of course, but I had a good chuckle out of it. The game also correctly loaded all my preorder and bonus items as soon as I loaded my save.

Ghost of Yotei, although I’m at roughly 45% completed. A little bit of the campaign of Jurassic World Evolution 3, which I love. Just started The Outer Worlds 2 and I love it too. Staying with the newly released games since I finished Hell Is Us and Yooka Re-Playlee two weeks ago. Also tried a bit of Into Black on my PSVR2.

Oh! And since I no longer have my Switch, I added Monster Hunter Stories 2 to my backlog, but that’s for later. It’ll scratch my itch for a Pokémon-like game on my PS5.

@KundaliniRising333 That’s why I stopped buying collector’s edition. Unless there’s something special that appeal to the fan, there’s usually nothing really cool enough to justify the price. I prefer to collect official merchandise or limited edition controllers I find appealing.

@UltimateOtaku91 There will be another Astro Bot controller soon. They announced it a while ago.

This game is absolutely crazy and amazing! So many features since its launch! The devs must be really passionate!

I was always a late adopter, never bought a console at launch. I wait until I have at least ten interesting games I can enjoy on it. I bought my PS5 Pro this April, traded my base PS5 for it, that I had since August 2024 last year, I have nearly 90 games, I finished a dozen, I am in no rush at all to buy the next generation console. I would probably buy a handheld that can locally play my PS5 games, however. It is getting expensive and even if I am more and more picky with my purchases, I need to balance these expenses with the rest of my life. I love my current PS5 Pro and I will keep it a bit longer. I am happy for those who really want the next generation console.

Look like a very stressful job! Glad they made a game about it!

@ear_wig The game is good! I got my ass kicked easily by the first boss but I loved the general aesthetic and the design. I didn’t like being invaded randomly and killed by overpowered players who kept teabagging me as if they were playing Call of Duty. That’s annoying! I disabled multiplayer after that.

@Odium 2 Lords 2 Fallen: Twice The Fall

@rjejr Good point! Some developers use shared assets (reworked) and there might be elements of the same game engine across the board. But I think it’s just a trend, mostly. I wouldn’t say they all look the same but have a similar palette in terms of design. Some will use that as a marketing tool to appeal to the masses, so you can say: “Hey! This game looks similar, let’s check it out!”

September is getting packed with releases, I might not be able to pick all the cool looking games releasing that month! Nonetheless, this game looks great! I will check the demo!

Joy! I might check it out! It’s already on my preorder list for September.

I just bought a Pro this year, I might just get the handheld so I can play at work during my breaks and wait a while before I get the PS6, unless there’s some mind blowing feature that make it a must buy. I am still going through my current library of games.

I got some Zelda vibe from the combat, this is going on my wishlist for sure! I liked Octopath Traveler.

@dark_knightmare2 Me too! The game looks amazing!

@thechetearly I am also one of the few who really liked the game when it was on Xbox. Sure, it’s not amazing, but I love the sci fi design and I would totally buy it again.

I’ll make sure I have my bucket of popcorn ready for that sweet showcase!

If I hadn’t upgraded recently to a regular Pro and looking forward to the Ghost of Yotei plates for it, I would probably try to buy one. I’d rather buy more games instead… and the plates, of course.

Just like with Diablo Immortal, I’ll try it out, play for a couple hours and then sign off and delete the game. I am not a fan of “free-to-play” games full of micro transactions and cosmetics, I even despise them. I am just curious to see how it hold up graphically on my iPhone 15 Pro Max. Anyways, Destiny is not what it was and I used to enjoy this game years ago.

I played it when I was on Xbox, it was the most fun I ever had with the flying mechanics, really. The game was full of potential, the whole cataclysm premise was interesting but yeah, the game suffered from a lack of content and repetitive tasks, in my humble opinion.

I just hope there’s going to be another game with similar flying mechanics in the future.

I am quite happy that more gamers will get to experience this awesome multiplayer game. In the end, all that really matters is you enjoying the games you like.

Oh well another reason to go back to the game, even if it’s to buy more cars or do another gig. Night City never sleep!