bkeswick

Surely it depends on the price point. Having a dedicated unit with controllers which you can just turn on to use is a nice option so long as it's affordable. It's not like you are forced to buy it in order to use your PS5.

I wasn't sure if Star Ocean The Divine Force would fall into anime, but glad you put it there. It was very enjoyable, there's something about it that screams SNES FF in the best way possible.

I couldn't put a finger on it. The character archetypes, something about sentimental dramas, the way some towns look - it's the combination of many factors.

On the down side, it was also another example of a badly optimized demo, but the retail version mostly ironed it out. Is SE making a habit of releasing bad demos, I wonder.

@RBMango "I'm extremely disappointed in Capcom. For all their well-deserved success and goodwill"

Out of interest, what did you make of all the armor DLCs in Monster Hunter World back in 2018? Or buying skill points in DMC5? Or pay to skip in RE2 Remake?

It's in store instead of in-game? Then it's a non issue for me.

These days it seems the higher ups of most companies want some sort of monetization, so what I look into is how it's implemented instead of whether or not it exists.

Depends on the price point. I wouldn't mind paying for an out of box solution that I can just turn on and use without taking on and off controllers. More a convenience peripheral really, so I wouldn't pay too much.

@Jaz007 "A new handheld would spread them and our money way too thin."

That's key - how much would Sony want to spread their investment. Not much, I reckon. So, ideas like PS4 handheld, which already has PS4 content, makes more sense. PSVR2 aligns with their broader speculative investment in metaverse, so that makes sense even for filing patents.

That leaves us with something to do with mobile or streaming. Whatever they're up to would likely have some synergy with their other core investments.

A straight handheld would be kinda interesting, but given the growth vector and expansion of audience which platforms like to talk about, I fear that it will end up being something I won't care for.

.... like a relatively low-cost, cloud streaming based handheld. Or a streaming dongle. At least it would give more reason for PS Plus Premium to exist I guess. Is this line of thinking so insightful of me? Will I win an award if I got it right?

I know what you mean about the ambiguity of definitions, but no way PS3 is retro in my eyes. PS2 might be, but even that is arguable depending on how you look at it.

The Last of Us was on PS3, is that seriously a retro game to anybody. And if PS3 is retro now, PS4 will be retro right after PS5. Do any of you seriously believe that.

So, no, PS3 isn't retro by any reasonable perception.

@Rob_230 "by front loading so many titles for launch"

Your comment kinda made me realize that there's a point to spreading out titles to frustrate the audience; the resultant anticipation is a momentum generator. I suppose it's generally a positive to keep the beast hungry, and serve him another platter JUST in time before he starves to death.

I don't know if the article is going for sensationalism, but assuming that PSVR2 was never planned to be mass market, I think it was always going to look like a fumble because a niche will be a slow burn.

You should probably view it as a service which builds up over time. It reviewed well, so I would think that's a good foundation to be on at this point.

@Bionic-Spencer "Microsoft is last place each time and it’s purely down to the fact that the Japanese would far rather support Japanese consoles rather than American consoles, especially Nintendo."

That's a myth. Such a prevalent one at that. What boggles my mind is that the logic only works one way; there are plenty of foreign companies which don't fair well in the US against US companies, and we magically gain more perspective and think it's because US companies are better at catering to US consumer needs.

It's an intentional play on "high-end" market segmentation which Sony argued for. I don't think this needs to be dissected as anything more than that.

It's a silly argument for a wholly different reason; the high end market was almost dead in Japan for a long while. It's been recovering slowly in the last few years, but there isn't much of a market.

In the end, you need a market to be monopolized before you can monopolize it. Maybe in the future this argument might actually become meaningful once their high end market recovers fully.

There's a PAX East show on FF16 with Yoshida and Koji - someone uploaded the highlights vid which was about 26 min - it was very good. Fans should watch it.

Maybe let discount stores / dollar stores / pound shops come pick them up. Surely they can sell some of them.

I actually find the side quests more memorable. Some of them are very funny or creepy, all their NPCs are nutters.

I fully expect more patents around in-game advertising and NFTs to be filed this gen; it's first come first serve and everybody else will have to pay the patent holder royalties if they deploy the tech. You might just as well own all the patents, if possible.

Whatever, really. I'm happy with my PS5 anyway, and who knows how I'll feel almost 2 years down the line - maybe I might feel like an upgrade. 2 years is a long time.

That's so SE, I like them.

I have no idea about those handhelds and consequently the article, but I will still award you 10/10 for including Yuffie.

I'm happy that we're slowly getting to the point where all English versions are in one place. I suppose it's a progress.

Moving forward, maybe write an article when SE does meet sales expectations? =D

I played it on Switch, and as with any MH game I can't get myself to play it from the start. I did like this round of MH though. As much as I rated MHW, that quasi openworld style was quite a big shift for me, and I enjoyed going back to the more traditional feeling MH Rise line.

So, the whole thing isn't the actual gameplay? Or just the beginning bit. I know it's "only" a city builder, but kinda weird.

"Sony has been ordered to pay back €338 .... While the sums aren’t exactly eye-watering for a company of its size"

The master of understatement. The kid is the least paid, of all the judges, laywers, toilet cleaners at the court and staff involved in the case.

I don't have problems with what Phil is saying tbh, although I've never perceived any issues with the idea of exclusive content/games.

What I never understood is the contrast between that and Bethesda's new titles. With all the rhetoric about bringing games to more gamers, I just haven't managed to square that circle in my head.

Not sure which perplexes me more - squaring that circle, or the fact that somebody in Phil's position doesn't seem to notice the contradiction.

@PegasusActual93 Much less content. But it actually feels like BF so I liked it just as much.

Initially I avoided it for a while like you, then I found a copy for like $10 so I bought it.... but I didn't like it. Then I went back to it months later to find it completely transformed. Finally it felt like BF. I had to re-learn the maps, that's how much it changed.

They've just had yet another big overhaul on top of the aforementioned incremental changes, so I would give it a go if you're on PS Plus. It's essentially a different game from what it was on day 1.

There are some 2023 reviews on youtube so take a look.

It would've been better to update the review itself in time for PS Plus addition IF you were to zombie this review now. It's basically a different game now, not just because of additions and changes, but also features taken out.

I went back to Battlefield 2042 late last year before their biggest overhaul. It was already transformed into a very good BF. So I suspect it's even better now.

I didn't carry on because I'm not really a multiplayer sort. I used to be, long time ago, and I do like them every now and again. I thought BF2042 was still good though so I would recommend to those who like shooters.

The fact that Yoshida is leading is enough for me. I'm itching to find out what he came up with.

I got it on a dollar sale and I'm hopelessly hooked. I recommend this if you like baseball. I don't know if it will hook people who don't know baseball though, but I'm not exactly an expert either and I'm having a blast.

Use the dedicated practice mode and learn to bat properly. You aim using the right stick, and only swing if the incoming ball is in the square box (strike zone). Hit R1 at the same time as the swing if you think you will strike it bulls-eye for power batting. Remember that the ball often swerves, so watch closer to the strike zone to predict where it will arrive.

For pitching, I think the best throw in this game is when you throw at outside the box, but it swerves into the box as it arrives. Again you can practice this in its dedicated practice mode which shows you where the ball will start and end.

Get those 2 things down, and it gets sooooo good, so addictive.

@Th3solution Hehe I hope they make the most of it. All that dreariness of Part 2 wouldn't be in vein then. I just need them both to be normal really, they don't need to be angelic. And no, I don't seriously need Ellie to be an alien 😂

@Th3solution Now that you point that out, I realize that you are technically correct about that. So I think to myself - why on earth didn't I feel like that at the end of Part 2? What's causing the gap between that technicality and my experience.

I think it's because most of the time is spent in the discourse. A little bit at the end doesn't overturn the vast majority of the experience. Then the realization dawned on me that I don't so much "think" the story, but rather "feel" the story in order for me to enjoy it. So technicality can't overcome my problem.

So, I ask myself, how should they change it for somebody like me? I should at least suggest a solution.

I think if they had kept that discourse in the first half to two-thirds, then spent the rest of time with the likeable versions of them, I probably would've managed to internalize their journey by the end of it. It might even strengthen the core message for me becuase there's the Before & After contrast.

That way, the "thinking the story" side of me would've still said revenge is obviously bad and the game isn't telling me anything new, and yet, the "feeling the story" side of me would've been wholesome so I would've likely enjoyed it.

The freaking amazing gameplay and tech they used was enough to keep me in it though, so it's all academic. But in any case, once again my thought process has lead me to the notion that the 'theme' isn't what's causing problems for me.

@Th3solution For somebody like me and my mindset, Part 2 needed a twist. Like, something believable happens and becomes a happy ending - I'd be like, Wow revenge works, I didn't expect that!

Or an unreasonable twist. A UFO lands and Ellie's dad walks out and says Ellie, we are immune to a human disease.

Or I needed Ellie and Abby to transform through hardship into people I want to care for and follow in the steps of. I tend to be particularly susceptible to that type of flow because what happens to them suddenly becomes my business.

Or the route Part 1 took, which to me feels like a very artsy, ambiguous tale which makes me argue with myself forever as to whether I would have done the same. You know, unanswerable questions type thing. Even to this day I argue with myself on whether Part 1 was a happy or unhappy ending for me personally. (Good job devs for doing that to me.)

So there are a number of ways to hook somebody with my perception. The more I think about it, the more I think that "themes" are almost secondary to me. I don't know. It just feels like that when I introspect.

@Th3solution Your reply made me think. I think my problem with Part 2 is that I instinctively think 'revenge' is bad, so it seemed black & white to me. I probably feel the difference because Part 1 was more about killing in order to protect oneself/somebody, rather than a premeditated revenge.

I realize that I'm a lot more ambiguous about self defence. That might be at the heart of the difference I perceive.

Hard to comment until there's more info on the gameplay and what you can do in it. There are many good directions they can go. Genshin like, or MH direction, or maybe even a survival element. Let's see how it comes together.

@Th3solution "I was actually impressed with the subversion of expectations they did with TLoU2. “The power of love” is a well-traveled narrative trope, “the bitterness of revenge” is much more novel."

Personally, I disliked the lack of subtlety in Part 2. What made me like Part 1 was that they delivered it in such an ambiguous, nuanced way. For my senses, Part 2 was a lot more cut & dried and left little room for me to argue with myself on the rights and wrongs of whatever I saw. I perceived 'art' in part 1's delivery, but 'logic' in part 2's delivery, as it were.

So, I think a lot of it is down to the story telling methods and devices. I suspect I could enjoy any 'themes' they do, depending on how the message is delivered. Subtlety is beautifu, I love it when authors pull off that difficult art.

I have mixed feelings. I absolutely adored part 1 which was a very nuanced, ambiguous story, but part 2 told a story which was so painful for me, I had to detach myself from the series after I beat it.

I think playing part 3 will bring all that back and I'm not sure if I can stomach it. The gameplay was amazing though. A spinoff with a whole different cast might work in the future.

Been watching a let's play, it comes across far better than the demo I played.

That's huge, but I suppose I have to get used to that as we go deeper into this gen.

BTW, apparently "stick sensitivity" in Forspoken is the dead zone setting. I was looking for that option because the default has a huge dead zone, the right stick was not responsive enough by default.

@Beeeee-AHH-eer On the flip side, every digital unit could potentially be eliminated by adding a drive at anytime. Whereas with the previous way of doing it, a digital unit would be stuck to being digital for life.

So pick your poison really. The root cause is the fact that the concept of a digital delivery exists. Not whether a drive is detachable.

I want a disc drive edition either way, but I don't mind if it's detachable or not. Either is fine.

Great news. Ys has been a solid series and I think it's easier to get into than more turn based JRPGs, but maybe it doesn't take off because of what seems like a low fidelity graphics.

Shout out to Dragon Quest Builders. It's such an unobvious and obscure action JRPG outside of Japan, and it was a bigger hit in the west on Switch for some reason. Because of weird graphics, probably, but looks can be deceiving as they say.

The gameplay loop gets addicting as hell once you get the hang of the controls. There are 2 of them independent of each other.

On the other hand though, we get to watch a rather good detective-mystery thriller unfolding in real life.

With all the twists and turns, minus the obligatory love making scenes which always get in the way of a good movie (as I say that, I'm blanking out my mind frantically as the image of Jim and Phil started to emerge).

It may not quite be the show we were after, but you still get to sit and watch while shoveling popcorn like a madman.

Thank you for covering this. I love the series.

I have a theory that the Premium tier is actually a placeholder for live services and their percs. I draw that from the fact that big Jim said that to him a subscription is for live services.

NCsoft + mobile? Sounds like this isn't even targeting the west. 1 or 2 titles like that will be fine by me. A high revenue stream in the east is actually a smart idea.

I loved Gachapon Senshi line (into G Generation), so personally I hope they will always keep SD ones going as well.

The more I see this game, the more I'm intrigued. I like what I'm seeing.

@GorosBat Your basic assumption is that exclusivity is intrinsically bad. I just don't agree with that. That's probably why this whole row comes across off base to me.