frankmcma

Can I mention how much I dislike all the gaming sites using Aloy's wacky expressions from Photo Mode for screenshots? If you don't know the game, it just makes it seem like this wacky romp.

Can you imagine Elden Ring article screenshots with bosses making cute kissy faces?

@kyleforrester87 So is the content removed the campaign? IS there a campaign? I think I played the first one (Mr. Dinklage played a robot of some sort) but never got too far. It was kind of difficult and the story did not grab me. Although over the years I keep thinking I need to jump in, but I guess not if there is no real entry point for new people.

Just tried the feature and it works great. I went into the settings on my PS5, and after a few seconds the Auto-Upload toggle appeared. Turned it on and did some tests, very nice to have this feature now.

Be nice if the review included info on new graphics/modes, since this was the main problem during the launch.

Otherwise, good to see it in shape now, I’ll get into it after Horizon I think.

@ShogunRok Agreed. One reason I put 150 hours into the game is I could custom tailor the difficulty so it was fun, yet challenging, for me. The granular aspect opens it up to a much wider audience, instead of the developer making an educated guess on what would be a good standard difficulty for millions of different players.

@KundaliniRising333 the thing with HDR is to use expert settings for your tv (place like rtings.com for example) then leave the PS5 HDR and game HDR settings on default. Also keep in mind if you run HDMI through an AV receiver you often have to manually turn on high-color mode, as it is off by default on most receivers. HDR should and does look amazing, night and day, especially on PS5. Bad results are often an improperly calibrated TV.

@UltimateOtaku91 I agree traversal seems pretty easy. I turned on “ Climbing Annotations” in the settings, which turns the yellow bars on all the time, makes it pretty problem free.

Several hours into Horizon Forbidden West, lot of fun and looks great! Especially impressed with the character animation, it often looks like watching an actual movie.

Tried resolution mode and even though motion blur does mask some of the sluggishness, 60 fps is my default now in the game.

If you do settle on 60fps I suggest turning OFF motion blurring, there is no need for it at 60fps and it looks even smoother.

@ItsATM Yeah I never did play Frozen Wilds...always wanted to and thought about buzzing through it before the launch, but did not make it.

Decisions...I kept going back and forth on 30fps or 60fps, resolution or performance, kept trying to decide what mode I would want for the game. Have not played the game yet. I pretty much just play 60fps games now on PS5, and have for a while.

So last night booted up Far Cry New Dawn 30fps, and also Watch Dogs Legion, which has a similar 30fps or 60fps, resolution or performance mode. Tried Dawn and switched back and forth on Legion to see the differences, see if I could go back to 30fps.

NOPE!

I cannot go back, just can't after the deliciousness of 60 frames per second.

So when I do start Horizon Forbidden West, it will be 60fps performance mode

I pre-ordered (anything Horizon or Guerrilla Games is an instant buy), however I always wait a couple months before starting a new game, just so patches and issues can be ironed out. However I am SWEPT AWAY with all the excitement, that I feel like I want to start it tonight!

As always, best release notes ever: https://www.nomanssky.com/sentinel-update/

The genius of Naughty Dog is it can take a sandboxed, on-the-rails gameplay segment, and make it feel like an off-the-rails anything could happen and you can go anywhere segment. I think the Uncharted 4 car chase is amazing because it feels and looks like a movie even though you are playing a pretty linear game. 10 minute master class in game design.

https://youtu.be/2MEpYiS2aOI

@BearFut_1800 Ugh 1080p? I am still unsure why to double the frame rate, so many developers have to cut the graphics to 1/4 (4K to HD)...I feel like the math does not add up. Also I can't understand why 1080p is still a thing on so many PS5 releases.

How do you post pics, memes and make text bold on here?

While we’re on the topic…

@Jeevz me too…I miss the “feed” that showed friends latest trophies and accomplishments. Made the system feel very “alive”

Oh and yes I want themes as well. The current full screen ads, most not even remotely designed around the interface, make the interface look pretty awful 😞

Sony could be making some $$$$ on selling themes. I have purchased themes but I can say I almost never click on these full screen “news” items. Mostly it’s old news I already read about on Push Square 😀

The pinning sounds cool, I just hope we can pin 📌 the order as well instead of the most recent games jumping to the first slot. More games on the ribbon is also very cool. I think with these two things, and sort by genre, I won’t need folders as much.

Still holding out hope for USB game saves. It is very concerning to me to have games with 300 hours played and I have no way to make an offline backup for safe keeping.

Heading in to 80 hours so far, finished campaign and doing endgame stuff, side quests I missed and still exploring. Game is an absolute blast. I only played New Dawn so not familiar with previous villains. Except the out of context (for me) New Dawn cameos. So I have not done any of the DLCs at this point yet. The rogue part does not intrigue me. But there is so much to do on the map that will keep me busy. Plus there is a whole end game live service Insurgency thingy which keeps things going. It’s a little too Division 2, but it’s optional at least. I guess its hip to dump on Far Cry, but for my first proper FC game, I am getting a lot of fun out of it!

“new graphics modes with up to 4K resolution, up to 60 frames per second”

So no 4K/60fps clearly, one or the other. Shouldn’t a game this old be able to do both?

Headline is a bit incorrect. This is an email signup not a preorder sign up.
I did sign up, looking forward to more info!

That's nice now where is Stray for PS5

@commentlife It is literally $5 a month, a coffee. I think 95% of people are very happy. Sony would have to change it to a total train wreck for the masses to leave. I can't see getting 40 games for $60 being a huge problem for a majority of peeps. Plus I don't see tons of "PS Plus Not Worth It" articles. Aside from here of course

PS Plus last Wednesday: Dramatic drop of high quality standards, short-changing subscribers, Sony dropping the ball again, gulf in value

PS Plus this Wednesday: Most successful service in the industry, strongest it's ever been, extremely positive picture

If you are working for the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) this year...please...take your vacations now...

Pretty simple, like the Xbox talking points, current game will be on same platforms, but future games (Destiny 3) “we would like the game to be available to all players”

Seems very clear, Destiny 2 won’t change. After that, lots of wiggle room. Otherwise why spend billions on a company?

Seems very similar to Nintendo’s recent sly claims “We have no plans or development on a 4K Nintendo Switch”

Yes it will be called something else…

So not much of a Discord person and know it mainly from every single gaming Reddit forum having a pinned announcement to "LEAVE REDDIT AND GO OVER TO OUR DISCORD SERVER"
I've tried the app on a few platforms and find it a bit...odd. Hard to follow topics and it looks pretty bad. Need to spend more time with it.
So this thing...it's not a PS app? WHERE exactly are we "linking our Discord and PS accounts'?
I need to get up to speed with the times. Problem is I am currently focused on getting these kids off my lawn...

Got it on sale for $25, have not played it yet, been waiting. Be nice for the proper PS5 version to finally come out. It might be better to play now, after all the big hype and controversy has somewhat declined. Also be better to get it out this week before we're all deep into Horizon Forbidden West.

I LOVE strategy guides and love collecting them! They seemed to have become more rare these days unfortunately, so it’s exciting to see one for this game…gonna order it…

Finished Far Cry 6 last night, at around 60 hours (did exploring and side stuff + campaign + did not touch DLCs). Aside from dabbling in New Dawn, it’s my first full Far Cry game. I thought it was amazing and it’s now one of my all time favorite games. Story was compelling, funny and dark (usually in the same few minutes), gameplay was fun and bombastic, graphics were lush, and characters were all well done. There is a whole end game mode and the DLCs, so I’ll still keep playing, although may take a breather after leading the revolution.

Feeling like some looting/shooting so I may jump back into Borderlands 3 and/or Outriders this weekend, or maybe do the Tiny Tina mini-game.

Don’t want to start another big game, as I plan on diving into Horizon Forbidden West when it arrives in a couple of weeks. I have done my best to avoid articles, screenshots about it. Have not watched any video of the game either. Excited to dive in fresh.

@TooBarFoo Oh yes I forgot about the collection. So many great titles in there!

Something not mentioned often is PS Plus is $5 a month and Game Pass is $15. That's triple the price (yearly $60 vs. $180) and a pretty significant jump for a service. So yes, Game Pass is going to offer more for that higher price. And yes I know they offer other tiers, but if you look at all the packages, it's set up so you are basically a fool if you choose anything other than Ultimate.

Part of me hopes Sony does not focus a lot on beating Game Pass. I think MS has a very different focus of making an all-you-can-play service, higher price with many more games. Basically copying the streaming services model.

Sony has always focused on quality over quantity, and I hope they stay on that track. I switched to PS from Xbox because they had the highest-end diverse game catalog, not because they had the most games available.

It's just about a year old. It would be good to maybe do a yearly review, or maybe a year one review, for service games of this type. I see some around the web (for example several sites did "Apex Legends 2021 Review" last year). A lot of these games add so many tweaks and new content, and learn from their mistakes, it would be nice to see a proper review a year or two after launch of a game. Fallout 76 is a good example, over 2 years it turned into an amazing fun game with tons of content and improvements. But everyone still remembers the disastrous launch and even more disastrous reviews.

@naruball Indeed! If you hunt around you can usually get a year for around $40. Even Sony has PS Plus discounts on PSN throughout the year.

So I pay $60 a year for PS Plus. About the cost of a single game.

Here is what I got for my $60 in 2021:

GreedFall (January)
Maneater (January)
Shadow of the Tomb Raider (January)
Concrete Genie (February)
Control: Ultimate Edition (February)
Destruction AllStars (February)
Farpoint (March)
Final Fantasy 7 Remake (March)
Maquette (March)
Remnant: From the Ashes (March)
Days Gone (April)
Oddworld: Soulstorm (April)
Zombie Army 4: Dead War (April)
Battlefield V (May)
Stranded Deep (May)
Wreckfest (May)
Operation: Tango (June)
Star Wars: Squadrons (June)
Virtua Fighter 5: Ultimate Showdown (June)
A Plague Tale: Innocence (July)
Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 (July)
WWE 2K Battlegrounds (July)
Hunter's Arena: Legends (August)
Plants vs. Zombies: Battle for Neighborville (August)
Tennis World Tour 2 (August)
Hitman 2 (September)
Overcooked! All You Can Eat (September)
Predator: Hunting Grounds (September)
Hell Let Loose (October)
Mortal Kombat X (October)
PGA Tour 2K21 (October)
First Class Trouble (November)
Kingdoms of Amalur: Re-Reckoning (November)
Knockout City (November)
The Persistence (November)
The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners (November)
Until You Fall (November)
Godfall: Challenger Edition (December)
LEGO DC Super-Villains (December)
Mortal Shell (December)

Is every game here a slam-dunk? No. Are there gems? Many. Is $60 a fair price for these 40 games? I think so!

If you feel like PS Plus is a huge ripoff, just cancel. I'm sick of the crying

I've read it's not 60fps...so hard pass for me...

Wondering what is the bonus for pre-ordering.

It says: Pre-order to receive these digital in-game bonuses (unlock via story progression):

• Nora Legacy outfit
• Nora Legacy Spear

Are these the same as the ones listed in the Digital Deluxe Version? In the description it says two Nora Elite items.

Just wondering if the Deluxe version has "everything" or if these two items are in addition to what is included.

@Unlucky13 The industry sure has changed...great comments. I think it was the Final Fantasy XIII games for me, the first one I liked but it was so on the rails, then XIII-2 opened things up, and then I think I lost steam by the time Lightning Returns rolled around. I still would love to revisit that trilogy...see what I think now. Probably did not have the deepest stories compared to earlier JRPGS, but at the time, it looked stunning. But during and after that trilogy western RPGs started to gain traction and I just kind of settled into those. Oh and Dragon Age Inquisition was awesome! That one just seemed more...epic..huge. I remember everyone starting to play it, and I was like this is huge, and the devs did a post saying "umm..guys..that's just the first area...you can move on from there...'. What I thought of as a large open game changed after that.

@Elodin @nessisonett Thanks for the details...I may get it...it sounds pretty cool for sure!

Would have been nice to hear about the technical aspects and graphic visual updates as opposed to just “still holds up!” as I am still unclear on what the remakes actually offer for improvements.

I may not play Uncharted 4 again, it was good but a bit long. But Lost Legacy I’ll give that a try, I only played an hour back in the day, I think I was Uncharted-out at the time.

Looks cool! How does this compare to Civ or CivRev?

Tiny Tina and Planet Coaster...both from my PS wishlist...awesome!

@Unlucky13 I sort of feel the same way. I got a late JRPG start, for me it started on Xbox 360, when MS had a big plan for making XB the "home for JRPGs"

At the time, loved Lost Odyssey, Eternal Sonata, Final Fantasy XIII, Blue Dragon and others. XB kind of gave up on JRPGs, and so did I. Eventually I got into Dragon Quest on various platforms as my go-to. Last JRPG I really played was DQ XI. But I don't know...something about the style now, very linear and limited, I am not as into them.

I see new JRPGs like Tales of Arise (which looks great) and I think, now I will get back into them! But I watch the gameplay and I think...maybe not. Not sure if its the art style or maybe I am spoiled by newer RPG true open-world games with realistic 4K graphics.

Guess maybe my tastes have changed over time.

@Amnesiac oh yes the podcasts were great, added great context and flavor while traveling around. Another part I loved was the Assassins Creed DLC with Darcy, it played like a modern day AC game, with actual stealth and assassinations, and the tombs were challenging and fun.

It was my 4th most played game of last year according to my PS Wrap-up at 60 hours. It was a blast and very innovative game mechanics, ironically I was thinking this past week about jumping back in. I think the game ran its course like most releases and had a year of (a lot) of extra content, but because of the online component they felt the need to make an announcement. I do feel like the online part never took off as they would have liked, but I still feel the game was a big swing that mostly landed, I had a lot of fun with it!

Is anyone playing this solo? I almost preordered because I heard it was a PVE game, like The Division, but then I was not sure if there was a campaign. Then I read it’s hard to play solo, but then the article mentions an easy difficulty mode for playing solo. So still unsure. I’ve spent many hours in Division 2 and Ghost Recon Breakpoint, so becoming a fan of the Clancy games, but I am not sure if this is along those same lines. I don’t usually do co-op, but would play solo if its doable.

643 hours played, 12 games, 64% PS5, 36% PS4

1) Division 2 - 196 hours
2) Assassins Creed Valhalla - 155 hours
3) Borderlands 3 - 86 hours
4) Watch Dogs Legion - 60 hours
5) Outriders - 45 hours

Yes I am mostly lost in Ubisoft worlds throughout the year, but interesting I am still putting time into B3 (300+ hours total), that game just keeps on giving and the devs were constantly adding new things last year.

Outriders was my surprise of the year, loved that game, so much fun in the campaign. I did hit a wall at endgame (too hard solo) and jumped off, but a great crunchy looter shooter. Interested to see the DLC when it arrives, I am sure I will jump back in.

Why I don't like is the new style of the Wrap-up page, it is awful, filled with ads, I mean global stats, of games I never played. Please bring back the old style and stop pushing Destructive All Stars and other games on me..grrrrrr...

I think COD, like Minecraft, will remain on PS. There are just too many downsides to pulling the most popular game completely off the platform. I do think however there will be major DLC and release window incentives on XB though.

45 hours into Far Cry 6 and can't stop, won't stop. Love this game, very addicting. It's "my next Fallout" I've been searching for the past couple of years.

Also finally booted up Riders Republic for the first time after installing it weeks ago. Played about an hour. First hour throws a lot at you (its good to get a taste of all that it offers) and the acting/plot is maybe not needed, but the triggers I am getting (SSX 3, Motorstorm, Need for Speed, Split/Second, Burnout, etc) in this mix of just about everything, gives me hope I will enjoy it as the training wheels are now off. Love that they have also added exploring for stuff, have to dig into that as well.

Never got around to Steep (but now want to check that out) and not sold on the music (yet) so may have to install Apple Music or Spotify, but so far it seems really cool with lots to do.

So I don't have Hitman 3 yet, so not sure what this is. Is the Hitman Trilogy a new remastered game? Or are these additions to the main game with no charge? Is the season pass included or separate charge? PSN mentions a separate "access pass" but the deluxe version of the game does not list it as included. Or does the deluxe version include "everything"?

Just curious..I keep thinking I really need to get this game! Interested to know what I need to purchase to get "everything"

Oh..I thought the Yule festive was broke for everyone..so I did not jump in to check it out. I’ll drop in when the patch is live, sounds cool.