@Nepp67 Your feedback isn't without merit. It's actually quite reasonable. I just don't think him wording his acknowledgment any differently would change anything about the situation. It's better than what we get from 99% of developers when something doesn't measure up to the expectations that were set. Instead of only knocking down what we see as not good enough, perhaps we should celebrate the progress with equal measure.

@Pat_trick Your experience and perception of the game don’t have to match his. That doesn’t mean he’s wrong or that he’s telling you that you’re wrong. Creators have just as much right to interpret the art they create as anyone else. I imagine you have the capacity to disagree in a civil manner without making it personal.

@Nepp67 I’m not sure what you think you’re achieving here. A developer is directly acknowledging feedback, yet you still feel the need to be combatant. 🙈

It’s hilarious to see people describing this as “god awful” and “trash” when the reviews suggest a middling reception.

There is such thing as an average game, and you can move along without feeling the need to slander Forspoken to hell and back with second-hand opinions.

Not interested? Play something else. It’s not that serious. Or is bandwagoning more engaging than any of your games right now?

Business is hard and the landscape can change quickly. The only way to achieve continued longevity is to balance innovation with a true understanding of what makes video games such a compelling medium to players.

There is absolutely no reason this game should be as divisive as it has been in online discourse, yet it’s not surprising in the least given the state of humanity.

People are so quick to judge and nitpick without giving something new a chance, unless it ticks certain boxes. The toxicity needs to stop.

I’ll reserve my judgment for when the game is out, not based on perceived advertising or demo missteps.

Naughty Dog learned after having to delay TLOU2 a few times.

I wish more devs would follow suit and not provide a release date OR timeline if they aren’t confident they can get the game to the state they intend to release it in by then. Any announced timelines should also include ample built-in time for unforeseen issues.

@PhenomenalOne I don’t think most of PushSquare’s audience are relying on trailers. Your experience is surprisingly one of the few overtly negative ones I’ve seen. Most thoughts and reviews I’ve found have been positive, but no game will be for everyone.

This controller is targeted toward a specific group of gamers, and I'm comfortable admitting I'm not part of that group. I'm perfectly happy with the standard DualSense.

I smell GOTY, despite the major success of Elden Ring. I'm sure both will receive their dues come major award season next year.

@Hindenburg Because they really are the last of us.

I’m not sure if your article was feigning ignorance or just a joke that didn’t land, but the “look for the light” Firefly slogan is one of the most recognized quotes from The Last of Us.

I’ve been intrigued by Frontiers for a while but it’s outside my budget currently. I plan to wait for a sale and whatever patches drop in the coming months.

2023 is stacked with games so I’m not sure where Frontiers will slot in. Something for a rainy day, perhaps.

Racism and a death threat or death wish over a review? What on earth is wrong with people?

I sincerely hope the person or people engaging in this behavior seek help and identify the underlying causes of the negativity they choose to put out into the world. There’s no excuse…

@LiamCroft — The cost-benefit analysis is certainly a top factor for us as your audience. Look back to the heated debates about the cost of the Last of Us Part 1 remake.

I certainly understand that not having to pay for the game negates any personal reason you would have to consider that in your perspective. However, you can't deny it's an important factor to the audience you're serving in a professional sense.

Taking that audience into consideration is certainly of value when creating a well-rounded review, and I hope you'll reflect on it as a fair bit of feedback (not that you have to agree).

As for me, I cannot justify paying $69.99 (+10.25% sales tax where I live) to "roll the dice" (as Khayl recommends in this article). I've been looking forward to Gotham Knights since it was announced, but that excitement has been tempered significantly by this divisive rollout.

The cons in the review seem to support a 6/10, at most. Considering many of us have extensive backlogs and tons of games are on the horizon, we don’t HAVE to buy/play something just because it’s the latest anticipated release. It’s easy to get excited any time something new is dropping, but not all games are for the masses.

Another day, another delay. It’s almost comical at this point. I’d have a lot more respect if we stopped receiving vague reasoning and formulaic apologies. It’s also becoming quite pitiful to see release dates announced so haphazardly… time and time again.

I understand there are challenges in video game development, but I’m not the best at being patient or staying invested when there’s no tangible information to hold on to. 🤷🏽‍♂️

@GreatAuk — I have a feeling Pedro Pascal may have difficulty growing a full beard. Everyone’s genetics are different. I can’t grow a full beard like Joel’s myself, and applying fake facial hair can have tacky results in films and shows.

I think they were focused on which actor was best for the role and his facial hair not being as full was a concession they had to make to cast the actor they felt was the best fit.

@GreatAuk — I'm intrigued at the thought of a full vs partial beard being enough of a point of contention to cast doubt on the rest of the project for you. I'm sorry you're disappointed and I hope the show exceeds your expectations nonetheless.

I’m a bit disappointed by the rampant cynicism in these comments. Nowhere does it say they’re ignoring the source material just because they advised the actors against playing the games.

Why is it so difficult to trust Neil and Craig to have accounted for the fans in their writing of the show?

It’s quite simple. If you want the Troy Baker and Ashley Johnson performances, play the games again. However, this relentless sucking of joy from every announcement is starting to become quite daft.

Perhaps it’s best you wait until an episode is out, that way you’ll at least be arguing about something tangible instead of relying on fear and anxiety to form your opinions.

We should leverage our expectations to some degree. That’s important. But not getting your hopes up doesn’t mean doing the extreme opposite. Try finding a happy medium.

@Juanalf Please don’t patronize me. I can follow your logic just fine without the air of superiority.

I’m sure there are certain directives initiated by executives. However, just like in the film industry, it’s common for studios to pitch ideas to executives hoping for them to get the green light. Example: Bend Studio pitched a sequel to Days Gone that was shot down. Ideas come from the top down and bottom up all the time.

The gist of what I’m saying is that it’s unreasonable to act like anything is being forced on us. There are hundreds of thousands of games and nobody is making anyone buy them. Nor are the studios (or execs) saying their target audiences are specifically people who have already played an earlier version of any games they’re considering remastering.

The opinions that tend to be shared here and on social media are from those who have already played the games in question and are demanding something else. I imagine it’s hard for people to step outside of themselves and think objectively about this stuff, but it’s not impossible.

Thanks for the discourse. Best wishes.

I think people feel a bit too much of a sense of ownership and control over these things. Whether you’re arguing that devs could be “working on something else” or you “don’t want to have to pay again for a current gen experience,” it’s really not up to devs to cater solely to our whims and desires.

If they deem there to be enough of an interested audience, which frankly doesn’t have to include all of us to be worthwhile, nobody’s forcing our hands.

The lack of awareness when it comes to the rampant entitlement and self-absorbed expectations is growing tiring. If we don’t like something, we just don’t buy it… but not everyone has to care that we’re not buying it. 😅

This is why we can’t have nice things.

It's a far cry from Game of the Year. 😬

@frabbit What would excite you? I'm surprised. There's almost everything under the sun coming out next year.

Are you looking for something specific?

This is stunning! The Ravenclaw Common Room already feels like home. 💙

The ability to bring your house and wand from your Wizarding World (aka. Harry Potter Fan Club) account is an incredible touch as well.

@KundaliniRising333 No, it doesn’t. There are numerous mechanics at play that weren’t present anywhere in the original or the PS4 Remaster. Opinions on the price tag aside, let’s not be reductive here.

You’re welcome to play something else without trying to make people feel bad for buying/playing what they want. Good day!

I’ve never played Unleashed. I don’t care about the similarities in any level design.

Intentional homage or intentional repurposing, either way it’s not a big deal. There’s plenty more about the game that will truly determine whether it succeeds or fails. I’m not going to nitpick over a recreated stage design. 🤷🏽‍♂️

If this sours anyone to the idea of buying the game, they can always go play something else.

I’m ready to tell some lies.

I’m sure people will find plenty to criticize or nitpick, but I’ll wait for legit reviews. Imperfect NPC animations and iffy dialogue aren’t enough to turn me off from an entire game.

I want to know how it feels to play. If the traversal and combat are solid and the story is passable, I’m still on board.

@IonMagi Yep! It'll be on PS5. 🙌🏼

Another day. Another delay.

I hate to be cynical, but... With all the other high-profile delays going on these past few years, I wouldn't be surprised to see Gotham Knights notch itself an additional delay as well. It's hard to get excited about release dates anymore. Prove me wrong, Warner Bros.

🤦🏽‍♂️ While many of us understand delays, repeatedly pushing games back after announcing multiple release dates (or, in this case, release windows) kills hype and creates a lack of trust and reliability.

Poor forecasting and expectation-setting is an industry-wide issue at this point and we deserve far better on that front, at the very least.

There's no reason to get hyped over release date announcements anymore. #TheBoyWhoCriedWolf

There are approximately 18 hours of gameplay (average from HowLongToBeat for TLOU1 + Left Behind) so a $70 price tag = about $3.89 per hour for a current gen experience. Multiple playthroughs provide a significant value-add.

I’m sure many will be just fine waiting for the price to drop (or not playing it at all), but it’s really not Naughty Dog’s fault inflation is a thing.

To each their own, but I love the game so much that I’ll be playing on day 1. Just finished an additional playthrough of the PS4 Remaster and I’m hyped for the remake.

Spend your money on what you think you’ll enjoy. Let others do the same without raining on their parade. It’s that simple. 🤷🏽‍♂️

I want the devs to realize their full vision for this game but I’d be lying if I said the multiple delays haven’t dulled my excitement a bit.

I’m all for not getting Cyberpunked but we can only give our attention (and $) to so many games each year. Here’s hoping there aren’t any further delays. 🤞🏼

I haven’t gotten around to beating the OG P5 because P5R was announced shortly after I bought it. I bought P5R and haven’t played that yet, and now here we are with this PS5 remaster on the imminent horizon. Do I wait for an eventual sale and buy it a third time? 🙈

My gaming backlog isn’t as bad as many, but I still need to get it in order and stop buying games on launch that I’m unlikely to play until months or years later. 💀

I backed Temtem on Kickstarter in 2018 and became incredibly disillusioned with their inability to deliver in a timely manner. I don’t intend to partake at this point but I don’t regret backing. It feels great to see a small team bring their passion project to fruition and I’m glad my pledge (among the many others) was able to help them do that. I wish them the best.

It's time for studios to stop giving release dates unless they're 99% sure they can make them. Delays becoming the norm is a problem.

It's one thing for us to be patient and understand that development takes time. It's another for studios to set expectations then go back on them time and time again.

I'd rather they estimate further out, then surprise us with a moved-up release date if it plays out that way.

It's the boy who cried wolf... Release dates mean very little these days and it's to get excited about or plan around them anymore.

@pyrrhic_victory - Ah! My understanding is that it’s still a standalone episode and isn’t folded into the main game. I was hoping for the latter myself.

@pyrrhic_victory - 100%. It has been confirmed officially on multiple occasions. Clips we’re shown in the initial announcement video as well.

From the purchase page in the PlayStation Store:

“Includes the complete The Last of Us single-player story and celebrated prequel chapter, Left Behind, which explores the events that changed the lives of Ellie and her best friend Riley forever.”

Sorry to those of you who are stuck on being salty about the "cash grab." I've played both games numerous times and I'm excited to revisit Part 1 in an updated style.

It's impossible to make everyone happy but I imagine this remake is about to win some major awards next year, whether any of us spend our hard-earned $70/£70 on it right at launch or not.

I appreciate that they incorporated more of the original actress's facial features. Similar to how they updated Ellie's look for Part II (and now for the remake) to incorporate more of Ashley Johnson's features.