clvr

It's wild how the usual suspects manage to refer anything and everything back to their bigotry even on completely unrelated topics.

You should be asking the same question that's in the title, @get2sammyb.
This site really has gone down the drain and it's exclusively your fault that the perception of it has changed so much for the worse.
I honestly feel sorry for the rest of the staff.

Can't wait, freaking love this game and still banging the OST!

@themightyant yeah I called it shallow because it looked like some defensive whataboutism, but further clarification on both your and my part showed we're definitely closer to an agreement than I thought (and probably you too lol).

Gacha games definitely aren't the evil to end them all, but they're definitely a symptom of a truly sick industry/economy in my opinion.

@themightyant I absolutely agree with your points, and I should've clarified that by "one and done" I meant no micro transactions or anything, so yeah I wouldn't include AC games because of those XP boosters and additional currencies.

As for where I personally draw the line, it's pretty much what you said: no more FOMO inducing content drip feeds, no more gambling, no more fake currencies.

COD, FIFA, and those you mentioned absolutely employ these tactics and should be held to the same scrutiny in my opinion as well.
I never said those are exempt, I singled out gacha games because this article is about one.

@themightyant actively employing every psychological trick in the book to artificially inflate the sense of accomplishment and the perceived value of rewards in order to make people as if they have to play is not something every game follows, but gacha do.
Surely you can recognize that?

@themightyant boy what an unbelievably shallow take.
Of course anything can be addictive, but that doesn't mean everything is equally asdictive.
Do I really have to point out the difference between a single player, one and done game and a gacha?

@Westernwolf4 it's exactly because it's self evident that it doesn't need any further drawing attention to.
What you say about gaming discourse is true about literally anything, so why draw attention to it in the first place, if not to fan the flames?
It doesn't make any sense.

@get2sammyb the same things you mention lead me to conclude the exact opposite but hey, agree to disagree.

@Westernwolf4 @Shepherd_Tallon where is the overreaction though?
If you're preemptively responding to an argument that only exists in your head via the first comment to your own article, you're just fanning the flames, something Sammy has shown time and time again not to be above.

@ItsAlwaysSunnyyy I absolutely agree with you, but the general consensus is that it's just ok in a genre stuffed full of wonderful games, reflecting that score.

@get2sammyb why would it be fine though?
There are plenty of games in the same genre that go way beyond a 70, so why should Sony of all studios settle for less, especially with its arguably biggest IP?

Also how fanboyish and disingenuous of you to insinuate those who disagree with you aren't being "normal".

The only item on this list that's of interest to me is Judas, but I don't think it's going to show up.
I'd love to be proven wrong though!

I've been wanting to start something new for a while, but I just can't stop myself from playing Elden Ring and thinking about it when I'm not lol

On my second playthrough, I'm 60+ hours in and I'm doing stuff I hadn't when I played it for the first time in 2022. I loved it too back then but I was gifted Splatoon 3 midway through and I ended up playing that exclusively for months lol

Best Western studio hands down 🔥

@nessisonett exactly why I came here. It's disgusting the lengths this site goes to glaze predatory gacha games

@kyleforrester87 haven't played Pillars personally but Avowed made me interested in doing so, the lore and world building are really interesting!
If you are into that universe, I'd say, without spoiling anything of course, that Avowed is a must play in terms of lore drops 😉

@IntrepidWombat it was simply a dismissive reply to a dismissive comment, not that much to read into.

@Oram77 ah yes, the game with one of the best artistic directions ever looks like a PS2 or an Xbox 360 game, makes sense.

Of course a competent dev could do it, I'm just not surprised Rockstar couldn't.
They're by far the most overrated studio ever, still coasting on the same design that made GTA III groundbreaking 20+ years ago.

I have a lot on my plate at the moment but I was always gonna play this someday, since I enjoyed the first one and this seems to be better in pretty much every way.

@Flaming_Kaiser Google is your friend, and to be honest it doesn't matter for two simple reasons:

1) if the whole game isn't on disc, there's not much difference between 2 or 20 GB;

2) my main problem is the fact PS writers have only begun to publish these nothing burger articles since MS went multiplatform, and have removed my comment for pointing that out.

@Deljo wow, I'm astounded by the profundity of your reply.
Why do those who support those grifters have such difficulty formulating a sentence?

@Deljo they absolutely are.
They are the poster children for illiterate far right "anti woke" grifters.
If you don't see them to your right, it's highly likely you're way more right leaning than you think.

@KundaliniRising333 I was pretty sure I heard they called it like that cause it was their intention to make Clair Obscur a franchise, but I might be wrong.
If they do, well, those of us who have finished at least Act 2 know what parts of the world they could expand on, but I, like you, wish it would become a sort of anthology series à la Dragon Quest with new worlds, characters, etc. if they have to continue with it.

@Czar_Khastik ah I didn't know we were neighbors! I'm from Italy ahahah

@Czar_Khastik Yes, that's indeed a piece of Dance Gavin Dance lore lol
Trust me, DGD's a pretty deep rabbit hole to get into ahahahahahah
Have a wonderful day/night mate, and if you want some recommendations on where to start or anything don't hesitate to ask!

@Czar_Khastik that's honestly the best reply I could've hoped for, I'm always super eager to evangelize DGD ahahhaha

Fun fact: a month ago they put out their 11th album, and the opening track (Animal Surgery) references that song explicitly ahahahah

Btw yeah, if you like their style you've just unlocked a whole new subgenre called Swancore. Happy listening!

@Czar_Khastik Don't Tell Dave has been an ironclad rule of mine since 2008.

Such a fanboyish reply.
Why bring up GT and Astro Bot when it's clear which games they're referring to?
But the real masterpiece is mentioning Clair Obscur. Not only is it on another league compared to Sony's games and it tackles it's themes with actual nuance and maturity, but truth is a game so unique and original would've never been made in the first place if it were up to Sony (or any other megacorp for that matter). So what are you even going on about?

Boy do I loathe this crossover frenzy everywhere.
They basically the whole identity of a game/series/whatever for a quick buck, and it's disheartening to see the majority of people getting excited just because they see something they recognize from another brand.

@MFTWrecks I'm completely with you regarding the skin filter and everything else, but it's also fair to say that anyone who buys cosmetics for COD does know that they won't have access to them in the next game, just like those who buy Ultimate Team packs in EAFC.

I'm not saying it's a good practice, I think it's the opposite actually and that It doesn't make any sense to do it from a player's perspective, but at least that's openly known to be the case.

So Game Pass bad but PS+ good?

"But it’s clear, whatever Microsoft says, its subscription cannot support the size of its development network anyway – that’s pretty much the only reason you’re seeing it bring basically its entire library to the PS5 at this point."

There's so much wrong with this statement I can only think @get2sammyb is either incredibly misinformed, or straight up lying.
In any case, such load of nonsense being pushed with such misplaced confidence is shameful to say the least.

You don't know whether Gamepass is sustainable or not as nobody does, and the PS5 ports part is a non sequitur.
The console war is over, Xbox lost big time, and there's tons of money to be made by selling their games on other platforms with bigger install bases. Simple as that.

Well, your take is just as shallow as theirs, since you seem to conflate storytelling with "cinematic-ness" and an overabundance of cutscenes.

"but it's just a tool!" cry out the ignorant, evidently unaware that for an AI to "learn" anything you have to feed it stuff made by actual humans who will never be compensated for their efforts.
There's no such thing as ethical AI use.

Screw this game, I'm still fuming they gave the nth comic book based project to one of the best studios in the world, such a waste of talent.
They're not even a good fit, as this is a 3rd person action game.
I'm so incredibly tired of this seemingly neverending era of comic book inspired slop everywhere, especially when they drag Arkane into it.

No, I hate actors in video games just as much as I can't stand Kojima.
He's so pretentious and full of himself, but makes games that are so insecure because he clearly sees cinema as a superior medium.
I don't want nor need real faces and advertising in a video game, they only break immersion and add absolutely nothing in return.

I mean, it's not surprising that it didn't sell well.
Of course it would've sold better if it had launched on both consoles simultaneously.
At this point, this game is old news, and on top of that, the hype has died down and people have seen how shallow this game actually is.

"And in this way, we have provided a unique offering to players and creators in this current console generation.”

AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH
...Wait, he's serious?
This generation has been a complete sh*tshow for Sony, truly abysmal.
Absurd price increases, barely any exclusive (and the few that are there are basically all sequels and remasters/remakes, aside from Astro Bot), and above all, the completely tone deaf push to live service that has yet to bear any fruit almost a decade later.
Sony is incredibly fortunate that it has such brand power that most casuals buy a PS to play Fortnite and GTA on, because such incompetent management would've sunk most companies.

@Ralizah not true, The Dark Ages may be underperforming sales wise, but it's been widely acclaimed basically everywhere, and rightly so.
It's absolutely unique, which means it won't be to everyone's taste, but I'd has shown once again why they are best in class.
Aside from the technical achievements they keep pushing, there are not many studios out there willing to reinvent their most popular series with each new installment, delivering a fresh new take not only on Doom, but on the whole genre, for the third time in a decade.
That's incredibly impressive if you ask me.

Great news! I absolutely loved the first one to bits and the other night I caved and bought in on my Series X.
I won't hide I was a bit worried about the seemingly hellish development this game went through, but it's an absolutely adorable and charming game brimming with fun stuff to do, congrats to Level 5!
It's weird to see them back on a roll with this, a new IE, AND a new Layton in the span of a year or so after so many years of nothing, but I'm not complaining lol

I'm terribly scared what they might do to Rapture if they do come back to it.
I mean, Infinite and especially the DLC were abysmal and they were headed by the same guy who came up with Rapture in the first place, so I'm not confident this won't be just cynical nostalgia bait.
Hope I'm wrong.

@EchoRange I see, my bad then! Have a great one!

@EchoRange I thought people stopped using "woke" unironically lol
It's become such a buzzword, so utterly devoid of meaning, that I don't understand how one can not realize it was always a boogieman and the trendy moral panic of these times.

Still don't get why people are making a huge fuss here over the required download thing...have you guys ever played literally any AAA game in the last decade? Cause I have and most of them do require an internet connection for installing, since the game is rarely on disc.
I'm not saying it's a good practice, in fact as a physical collector I'd obviously much rather have the whole game on disc, but it's simply undeniable that most big games do exactly that.
So why single out Doom? Many comments here in articles related to this game give off a strong impression of wanting this game to bomb, but why? Just because it's owned by Microsoft now?