On the list the most unique, wonderful game is Kunitsu-Garni. It really would be a shame if that game would not exist. At the same time it is not the game I enjoyed the most playing. The only VR game on that list is metro awakening. So, I have to vote for that next. But I would rank the wonderfule Maré and Behemoth higher. Astro bot would rank higher for me if it offered a VR mode, and the same is true for rebirth. I never played the original FF7, so for me FF7 is a new game and I really love all the characters. So, rebirth very much a top game for me.
Still playing behemoth on psvr2, I am still enjoying it (in particular grappling around). For me personally it is less repetitive more varied and more fun than metro awakening. But opinions are different and just that: opinions.
I also playing GT7 on psvr2. Still an awesome game.
I haven't finished Behemoth yet. Maybe I played 2/3 or half the game and maybe I change my mind once I finish the game. Up to now I enjoy the game much more than metro awakening. .In particular the grappling is a lot of fun (though, it does not seem possible to attack enemies in a meaningful way from above)
Anyway, while I share a lot of the criticism with the game, 4/10 in comparison to metro awakening 9/10 feels unfairly harsh. Yes, the game is not super polished. Personally I think the combat with bow, sword, axe and grapple is fun. Although, the parry-system feels a bit imprecise which makes it a bit of a hit and miss. I also did not try to beat the game with a single weapon. But I suppose the "criticism" is justified. Though, pretty much the same is true for most of the games, that You can beat them with the second weapon You get. The graphics are ok, but certainly not on a level of what a ps5 should be able to do. But the same is true for metro and many flat "ps5" games. Also repetitiveness, the areas in metro are much more repetitive. Story-wise metro has likely a story with meaningful content. However, neither of the two hit with me and feel very forgettable.
I would place metro and behemoth on the same level. Both are not AAA-level games. Clearly show the lack of budget and their quest roots. But both are still fun games and the graphics are good enough to do the job.
I finished Maré on PSVR2. A wonderful Journey-like game which I would highly recommend to all who liked the latter.
I finished Metro Awakening on PSVR2. A good game, but clearly shows its quest roots and lacks a bit variety and is a bit claustrophobic for my taste. But parts of it are excellent.
Then I started Behemoth on PSVR2 - very much Shadow of the Colossus in VR, but it is of course difficult to come close to this fantastic PS2 game (which I only played on PS4/5). So far I only played until I reached the first Behemoth. The graphics are good, but nowhere near games like Re4 or call of the mountain on PSVR2. The beginning is a little underwhelming, but then it picks up. And I am really enjoying what I played so far. The game was heavily criticised for the large quantity of bugs, which have been largely addressed by the day one patch, I believe (I did not encounter any, but I also only played a fraction of the game). Surprisingly nobody here seems to care for this excellent game,, or everybody is waiting for the next likely big patch scheduled for Dec 12. I like it so far, and I do not have an reason not to recommend it to people who like melee combat in VR and always wanted to experience something like the Shadow of the Colossus in VR.
@Axelay71 Personally I think the jump from ps4 to ps5 is quite noticeable. Loading times are improved significantly: gone are the times to wait for 2min after You died (e.g. rdr2). Then most games can now be played at 60 FPS vs 30 FPS on ps4 and still having slightly improved visuals over ps4 (cyberpunk 2077 on ps4?). Sound is improved in particular better support for 3D audio. Then there the more nuanced controller haptics and adaptive trigger. Many things are more subtle than the jump from PS1 to PS2 or PAL to HD, but the improvements are absolutely there, and noticeable once You go back.
In most cases the more or less best games are games which are developed exclusively for one platform, in my opinion. Even as we see right now where pc, xbox, ps are so close hardware wise, still the games exclusively developed for one platform are the best from a technologically point of view (of course technology alone does not make a great game).
But, then we seem to have reached a point where the cost to utilise all the technology to the latest is so high, that hardly any one ever does it. Also the technology got so complex that it is very difficult to make anything but small iterative changes, and we pretty much have reached the end of moore's law, and the performance gains from shrinking circuits only lead to small performance gains. In that sense the technological differences between the competitors will likely get smaller and smaller, and it will become more and more difficult to propose a compelling differentiator. Also backward compatibility may prevent progression, because no drastic changes will be possible without leaving the old library in the dust. Therefore, Mr Layden is likely right and it will be very difficult to propose something significantly different other than the brand name and the number at the end.
As already was mentioned, also for me the biggest differentiator right now would be VR, and there are also still significant differences between the competitors in the VR space. And it will take a while until VR games can be streamed at low enough latency.
I am currently playing Maré on psvr2. I was not interested after watching the trailer, but after hearing several people praising the game, I picked it up. And it is so beautiful (graphics, animations, sound). Everything is very well done. Though, the graphics are simple, there is little challenge, and it is relatively short. Nevertheless, I would recommend it to people who liked journey. It is often compared to Ico which I haven't played.
Then I also play metro awakening on psvr2. I am not a big horror fan. But I like the adventure part of it. At times it looks good, though texture resolution is a bit on the low side, characters are a bit stiff and it lacks a bit of variety.
@nomither6 I guess this is true to some extend. Though, I dare to speculate that live service games are optimised to make You come back, make You spend money on micro transactions, rather than providing good, innovative new content, ideas, game mechanics, interesting stories, messages etc. . Like industrial food is in most cases not actually good, but tricks You into buying it again and again, because of sugar, salt and glutamate.
Wise choice and very sad. Anyway best wishes to Shuhei Yoshida!
I hope the new generations will continue to bring great, creative games to the platform, and won't just focus on engagement and raking in money through micro transactions.
On one hand people claim games got too long and should go back to about 10h, and people claim that nobody wants GAAS. On the other hand success is measured by the "engagement" metric, which favours long games and GAAS.
I guess the media just trains us to like games not because they are good but because they manage to create some kind of addiction and keep us "engaged".
People eagerly await the yearly COD, FIFA, etc. spend infinite hours playing the exact same multiplayer game. So there seems to be a desire to continue to play the exact same thing with a slightly different skin. People seem to love franchises and buy every comic book in a series with 1000 entries. So, there is certainly a market for frequent entries in infinite franchises.
On one hand people cry for backward compatibility i.e. play games on new hardware expecting that games automagically utilise all bells and whistles of the new hardware, on the other hand people hate on remasters, remakes i.e. think playing old games on new hardware with all bells and whistles is pointless, a waste of time and money. Or think that playing the exact same old game is good enough and when they get the chance to play the exact old game they complain about the outdated controls, and subpar graphics. Anyway the hate on remasters and remakes does not really have any foundation because many people want exactly this, the same game they played and loved in the past but updated to modern standards.
Anyway if You do not have any interest in something why do You care ?
@Raffles I wonder what spacewarp does that sony's reprojection does not. Maybe it is just better integrated into the rendering pipeline and has more information, or meta spend more on R&D and the algorithm is just better.
Maybe it is impressive what a quest can do with the limited compute power, though from my point of view it is rather disappointing to see how far VR had been in 2016 compared to where we are now thanks to mobile VR being the dominant player (et least hardware and marketing wise).
@NeonPizza I think only GPU compute performance is between a ps4 and ps4 pro. Not sure about the CPU (8 1.6 GHz cores vs 8 performance + efficient cores at variable frequency) and in particular also the memory bandwidth is I believe lower. So on psvr1 more memory bandwidth and only lower res needed, which I guess allows for more variety.
@TrickyDicky99 I would argue that many psvr1 games look better than most quest3 games besides the super low resolution (to name a few: astro bot, re7, hitman, battle zone, wipeout, blood and truth, here they lie). Also most movies on DVD look much better than any 4k game on Your 4090 despite the super low resolution. Because resolution is not equal to detail. The visual quality and detail of the filmed objects, and the lighting is still much better than what real time rendering is achieving. But if You rather play pong in 16k at 1kHZ because it is super sharp and incredibly fluid, why not.
I don't understand all the people who permanently complain about the "no-ps5 exclusives" or "too small iterative improvements."
Personally I think gt7 is superior over gt sport in every way, and I had more fun playing it. I also really liked the gt7 café. Initially I thought it was a ridiculous idea, but in the end it is a fun way to get guided through a series of races. Then there is the wonderful VR mode. Already for that it is worth getting gt7 over gt sport.
Concerning the ps5 in general, besides all other improvements, most obvious for me are the vastly shortened loading times. Gone are the times to wait for several minutes until rd2 loaded after You died! Then on the more subtle level immersion is greatly enhanced by the controller haptics and the 3D audio. It is less obvious, only when going back to older system it is very obvious that something is missing.
Concerning the catalogue, the step from ps3 to ps4 felt like a real generational jump because the entire ps3 catalogue was stuck on the ps3 and the effort to port ps3 games to ps4 was too big, and most studios did not attempt that. The shift from ps4 to ps5 felt less significant, because at launch there were only a handful of ps5 titles, but 4000 ps4 games also running on ps5. In many cases those games automatically looked better when running on a ps5 instead of ps4(pro), additionally diminishing the difference between the two generations. And one should not forget the mid-gen refresh which also reduced the gap to two half steps. From an architecture point of view ps4 and ps5 are much closer than ps3 and ps4. As a consequence it is much easier to get more or less the same game running on ps5 and ps4. Still the differences are sometimes quite large. Personally I really liked the ps5 versions of forbidden west, gt7, ff7 remake, death stranding, cyberpunk (and many others) and playing those games on ps4(pro) would not do these games justice.
Anyway why buy a playstation, xbox or pc if You can play nearly all then games on a switch or via cloud streaming on Your phone ? Same game == same experience or isn't it ?
@TrickyDicky99 Fully agree graphical fidelity is overrated. it is more important to see the polygon edges in its full clarity and jump around in Your 4 square meter space. Why would You like better lightening, better textures, better shadows, more detailed geometry, haptics! if You can rather marvel at the individual polygons in its full clarity? Also the market clearly shows that people rather want switches and series-s rather than overpowered ps5s and ps5 pros /s
@Korgon don't dismiss e.g. the VR modes of re4 remake, re village just because they do some short cuts to fit an original flat game into VR. These games are also very much elevated by the VR mode.
@Bionic-Spencer good that their is xbox and nintendo at least they offer way more powerful systems for a far more reasonable price, and then there fortunately the überpowerful PCs which you can either build for a fraction of the price (and power) or super powerful and only the price of one kidney and which only consume 1kW. It is only sony which somehow does not manage to create with current technology systems with the power of people's dreams and subsidized prices.
@PuppetMaster that I kind of understood. I did not really understand whether there is some grander strategy behind it, which I kind of ignore, or whether it is just a hack'n'slash with some jokers. I just placed my pawns and hacked. But that felt a bit repetitive after a while.
Not really my cup of tea, but I am wondering whether I should finally pick up arizona sunshine 1 or 2, or some of the psvr2 games on sale (ancient dungeon, sushi ben, switch back or crossfire) ?. Anyway instead of playing a game I finally watched rogue one, which I really liked.
Though, I also played the Kunitsu-Gami demo a bit. Beautiful game ! And if somebody complains about the lack of creativity in games, then maybe look beyond call-of-duty or big open world games. Concerning Kunitsu-Gami, likely I do not really understand how to play it, but I found it a bit boring. Its just so beautiful, that I would like to enjoy it.
There are certainly very creative games. At the same time there are also a lot of small iterations, or games which feel like carbon copies.
One reason why it might feel like the creativity is dropping might be that game development time and cost is significantly increased, and there are just many more game studios. Game studios try to cut cost and time by iterating on ideas i.e. putting out sequels. Then there are more game studios than ever and occasionally working on very similar ideas. And finally, since there are so many games already it becomes more and more difficult to come up with a completely unique idea.
When just looking at Sony 1st party. Then clearly this generation saw so far a lot of iterations: Rachet&Clank, Spiderman, God of War, Astro bot. The only truly unique Sony game so far seems to be Returnal. Or do miss something ? But do these iterations really lack creativity ? Isn't it just that because they take place in the same universe and inherit many mechanics that they feel less strikingly different?
I finished Harold Halibut. It is not much of a game, and yet it was for me one of the greatest games I ever played (weird to write this in the same sentences). It is less a game than a slightly interactive story, beautiful set in scene, both visually and acoustically, mostly good voice acting, and story with interesting thoughts. The story apparently does not hit for everyone (e.g. push square review). In my opinion the "game" deserves to be experienced by many people!
Then I started Doki-Doki Literature Club since it is on ps+ and I was curious what it is about. I cannot say much yet. So far it kept my attention, but I have not made up mind whether I like it or not.
Obviously, deep pocket, evil sony is money hatting developers and the trillion dollar underdog is left in the rain. It is unlikely that developers would favour a platform on which they can make more money simply because of the larger install base and a platform on which people actually still buy games. It is also unlikely that developers see different next gen specs like the xbox s and x as an obstacle rather than an interesting challenge. But who knows maybe tides will turn since developers are now forced on the playstation side to adjust their games for the hated, not out-selling ps5pro and who likes to work on a system with more bling /s
I haven't played outlaws yet, so I guess I am part of the problem.
People complain about no games on playstation, but the fact is there are too many good games. So, I think it is more difficult for games to stand out of the crowd.
Concerning ubisoft in particular, it seems that ubisoft has an image problem. The last "ubisoft-game" I played was FarCry6, which I think was a pretty good game, and partially excellent (a fun sandbox with lots of activities, good cast, an okay story, some very good side stories). I think the reception was very mixed, though. People seem to consider all "ubisoft-games" budget games to pick up for 10$. People seem to completely ignore the typically excellent worlds You can find in ubisoft games. They may not live up to the best of the best games. But, they are certainly not utter trash. And it seems to me also that people nitpick on every detail in "ubisoft-games" while they are more forgiving to other titles.
Another problem might be, that with e3 gone, the single market place to raise awareness for new games disappeared. I could imagine that in the past ubisoft profited from showing their games close to big playstation,xbox and nintendo shows, but now they are more hidden among all the various conventions, show cases or state-of-plays.
@Korgon in principle a platform holder has an interest to have a more or less speedy generational shift at least at the beginning to make the platform interesting enough for developers and revenue from game sales on the new platform relevant. The optional intermediate upgrade on the other hand is not very important to grow the platform. In that sense the ps6 has to be more priced in line with what the general consumer is willing to spend, and a pro model has to be in line with concurrent products (in this case PC).
Though it is possible if inflation is not improving that it will be simply impossible to offer in 2028 a console, which looks like an upgrade over the ps5pro, but is cheaper.
@Al3 fully agree for pc's you only get a "vastely" more poweful graphics card and cpu every year, new cpu sockets and ram types every couple of yours. A PC You only buy once and then You can enjoy it for the next ... 3 years without having to fear that it is not powerful enough to run the newest stuff. The 4 year upgrade cycle of consoles is indeed insane ... in particular since it is optional.
I finished the main campaign of "horizon forbidden west. I haven't touched the burning shores yet. Great game! Just the ending felt a little cheap.
Then I started Harold Halibut. I haven't finished it yet so maybe I will change my opinion. Certainly the art style is fantastic, also the music and sound design. In general it creates a superb atmosphere in my book. In contrast to push square's review I actually like the dialogues and presumably appreciate the story more. Since I haven't finished it I have no opinion on its impact, but there is certainly some food for thoughts here and there. There is not much of a game. It is more like a slow paced anime of which the player controls the progression speed to some extent. Anyway so far I really liking it ... very much, actually.
Scalpers should read more sites like this one. Then they would know that the ps5pro is useless, just a meager upgrade, just a greedy move by sony to squeeze out more money from the helpless consumers and nobody wants it.
In my opinion it is an awful development, that You have to sign into what ever online account to play single player games or e.g. that You cannot play non-online content in GT7 if You are offline.
But, so is (on PC) that I cannot install windows without having to sign into the microsoft network, that every piece of software is now full of telemetry including windows.
Anyway it is weird that people happily share all their data with valve, microsoft, ubi, ea, (and likely google, meta, discord) etc. but then make a lot of fuss about a psn account.
Besides the obvious that remasters are relatively cheap to make, and an easy way to earn some money, they also move the game code to a new software base, which may increase its lifetime. Many people cry for backwards compatibility. I could imagine that ps5 games will have a very long lifetime, beyond the ps6.
Presumably I am not creative enough, but I do not see significant changes on the hardware side in the "near" future like fully programmable gpu's (ps3->ps4), "instant" I/O (ps4->ps5). I suppose pretty much all games are now designed for a more variable screen resolution. There were still significant improvements in terms of upscaling (ps4pro -> ps5 / ps5pro). But I could imagine that many of these areas now provide a very solid base and do not have to be changed much in the near future. Maybe even more significant were the changes to the network infrastructure which started with ps3(?).
Not sure what changes could come in the future which require significant changes to the software stack. I personally would like to see better handling of inputs to support games which work well both in VR and on the flat screen ? Maybe also better support for stereoscopic rendering? Fully ray-traced games ? Better support for game streaming (more relevant for the platform holder ... ) ?
PCs are great, You can chose the components You want without being limited to a single manufacturer (faster CPU? faster GPU? more RAM? nicer case ? More silent cooling solution? More ports? ). But the choice also means that You get a less polished overall experience compared to a solution provided by a single manufacturer e.g. PC vs Apple.
More component variety also means that game developers will not have tested Your particular configuration and the experience may vary depending on how close Your configuration is with respect to the configurations which have been used for development or testing.
Then there is the potential advantage to more incrementally upgrade the system. However, upgrades are not always uncorrelated. You want a faster CPU ? Possible, but the CPU You want requires a new socket or more power. So You have to upgrade the motherboard and PSU at the same time. Maybe also the cooling solution. The motherboard You want uses a different memory standard, so You need new memory modules. You upgraded to a shiny new graphics card, but to actually make full use of it, You also need a faster CPU. Choice is great but not all combinations make sense or are even possible.
Game development happens likely on pretty recent hardware, not something that is 5 years old. So, if the games should look good and perform reasonable. You presumably have to upgrade more often. A console has one (or two) version(s) over the cycle of ~8 years, and typically the games perform okay for the entire cycle. I think even nowadays most games also released for PS4 still run decently. At least it seems that many people are still not urged to upgrade.
They are useful for other things than just games, but they are also not tailored just for games. That also means You pay for something You do not need to run games. Games are also not necessarily the most trustworthy pieces of software (in particular free to play games). So, with the game You may also install some malware, which could steal Your banking credentials, or encrypts the data You need for work.
Finally there is the price, You can have a cheaper PC compared to a PS5, but it won't be anywhere close in gaming performance of a PS5, Even today It seems only possible to match the performance of a PS5 when using second hand components. If You want something to match the PS5 pro You are certainly looking at a price well above 1k EUR/USD/GBP. Likely even 1.5k if You want something that lasts. You likely upgrade more often than once during a 8 year cycle. So, even if You managed to stay in budget close to a e.g. PS5 You presumably spend more over the course of 8 years. Since there are better PC components every year, PC components also loose there value faster. Which might be an advantage if You use second hand components, but then You may not have any warranty.
Anyway in terms of price and simplicity there is nothing that beats a console. Although, today a console is also not just plug and play anymore, since You have to setup Your account, fiddle eventually with settings until it works well with Your TV and audio solution, pair controllers and such. Not a big deal but less simple than a PS1/2
Still in the process of finishing horizon forbidden west which I started some months ago. Beautiful game both in picture and sound ! In pretty much every aspect better than horizon zero dawn (which I also liked), except there are fewer surprises. One already kind of knows what to expect. But other than that, a very good game, maybe too easy for hard core gamers (not for me though ....). Though, I am surprised that there are a few occasions, in which horizon call of the mountain looked better, but I did not do A/B comparisons.
Then, I continued the artful escape (which I also started some time ago but did not finish). Presumably not the best game in terms of game play, but a wonderful visual and acoustic spectacle. I think that would also mesmerizing in VR, just the same game pad version, but being surrounded by all the scintillating colors would be quite something. Shame nobody tries to offer something like that.
Finally, I would like to give a shout-out to Nobody wants to die which I finished some time ago. Also maybe not the best game in terms of game play, and the character animations feel a bit stiff occasionally, but a well told interactive story beautifully arranged which reminded me a lot of heavy rain, or detroit becoming human in terms of the concept.
@RubyCarbuncle I am not quite sure where You buy PCs, but If I try to match a PS5pro I end up with a much higher bill. But I agree a PC can actually be useful and one has more control over how much one wants to spend on what. But it is also less plug&play and depending on the hardware Your experience may vary,
@Matroska where pc somehow always means performance like a 2k EUR pc but for the price of the cheapest pc one can find.
Even today You do not get a new PC for the price of ps5 which matches the performance of a PS5. Also, such a pc won't come with a disk drive and neither a controller.
But of course a console is just a console, and a PC can actually be used for useful things.
@Ralizah ... or maybe sony will only do even less risky projects in the foreseeable future to recover the losses of the failed projects ( last of us factions, bungie, concord, ... )
I wonder what "numbers on xbox" means. Are this all people who have some kind of xbox, activision, blizzard or king's account ? Or does it really mean the number of players actually playing on a xbox box.
Anyway if microsoft says that exclusives do not matter anymore, it must be true. Like with hbo, apple+, etc. clearly content-platforms are not chosen because of the content but because of something else.
Concord is not my kind of game (maybe if it had a VR mode , but still I find all the comments and drama around concord strange. People really want to hate the game without much of reason.
Maybe because it is not my type of game, I do not see what is bad about concord in comparison to all the other similar games. At the same time I don't see anything novel about concord (besides the vignettes). But what are the stand out features of other similar games ( that other games run worse on high end PCs compared to a PS5 ? Or are only playable on console ? Also have mouse and keyboard support on console ? Are actually third person adventure games with over the shoulder camera ? Have more pleasing color schemes ? Likable characters ?
Comments 555
Re: Mark Cerny Basically Confirms PS6 Partnership with AMD in PS5 Pro Tech Deep Dive Video
top presentations!
Re: Official PlayStation Blog Reveals Game of the Year Winners, Astro Bot Sweeps
Good to see some love for the Re4 VR mode.
Re: Poll: Vote for Your PS5 Game of the Year 2024
On the list the most unique, wonderful game is Kunitsu-Garni. It really would be a shame if that game would not exist. At the same time it is not the game I enjoyed the most playing. The only VR game on that list is metro awakening. So, I have to vote for that next. But I would rank the wonderfule Maré and Behemoth higher. Astro bot would rank higher for me if it offered a VR mode, and the same is true for rebirth. I never played the original FF7, so for me FF7 is a new game and I really love all the characters. So, rebirth very much a top game for me.
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? - Issue 559
Still playing behemoth on psvr2, I am still enjoying it (in particular grappling around). For me personally it is less repetitive more varied and more fun than metro awakening. But opinions are different and just that: opinions.
I also playing GT7 on psvr2. Still an awesome game.
Re: Behemoth (PSVR2) - Great Concept, Poor Execution
I haven't finished Behemoth yet. Maybe I played 2/3 or half the game and maybe I change my mind once I finish the game. Up to now I enjoy the game much more than metro awakening. .In particular the grappling is a lot of fun (though, it does not seem possible to attack enemies in a meaningful way from above)
Anyway, while I share a lot of the criticism with the game, 4/10 in comparison to metro awakening 9/10 feels unfairly harsh. Yes, the game is not super polished. Personally I think the combat with bow, sword, axe and grapple is fun. Although, the parry-system feels a bit imprecise which makes it a bit of a hit and miss. I also did not try to beat the game with a single weapon. But I suppose the "criticism" is justified. Though, pretty much the same is true for most of the games, that You can beat them with the second weapon You get. The graphics are ok, but certainly not on a level of what a ps5 should be able to do. But the same is true for metro and many flat "ps5" games. Also repetitiveness, the areas in metro are much more repetitive. Story-wise metro has likely a story with meaningful content. However, neither of the two hit with me and feel very forgettable.
I would place metro and behemoth on the same level. Both are not AAA-level games. Clearly show the lack of budget and their quest roots. But both are still fun games and the graphics are good enough to do the job.
Re: Sony Highlights Biggest PS5 Games for 2025 in New Trailer
Yes because there will be the psvr2 version of hitman 3, also The Midnight Walk looks pretty cool.
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? - Issue 558
I finished Maré on PSVR2. A wonderful Journey-like game which I would highly recommend to all who liked the latter.
I finished Metro Awakening on PSVR2. A good game, but clearly shows its quest roots and lacks a bit variety and is a bit claustrophobic for my taste. But parts of it are excellent.
Then I started Behemoth on PSVR2 - very much Shadow of the Colossus in VR, but it is of course difficult to come close to this fantastic PS2 game (which I only played on PS4/5). So far I only played until I reached the first Behemoth. The graphics are good, but nowhere near games like Re4 or call of the mountain on PSVR2. The beginning is a little underwhelming, but then it picks up. And I am really enjoying what I played so far. The game was heavily criticised for the large quantity of bugs, which have been largely addressed by the day one patch, I believe (I did not encounter any, but I also only played a fraction of the game). Surprisingly nobody here seems to care for this excellent game,, or everybody is waiting for the next likely big patch scheduled for Dec 12. I like it so far, and I do not have an reason not to recommend it to people who like melee combat in VR and always wanted to experience something like the Shadow of the Colossus in VR.
Re: Ex-PlayStation Boss Thinks the Days of Consoles Are Numbered
@Axelay71 Personally I think the jump from ps4 to ps5 is quite noticeable. Loading times are improved significantly: gone are the times to wait for 2min after You died (e.g. rdr2). Then most games can now be played at 60 FPS vs 30 FPS on ps4 and still having slightly improved visuals over ps4 (cyberpunk 2077 on ps4?). Sound is improved in particular better support for 3D audio. Then there the more nuanced controller haptics and adaptive trigger. Many things are more subtle than the jump from PS1 to PS2 or PAL to HD, but the improvements are absolutely there, and noticeable once You go back.
Re: Ex-PlayStation Boss Thinks the Days of Consoles Are Numbered
In most cases the more or less best games are games which are developed exclusively for one platform, in my opinion. Even as we see right now where pc, xbox, ps are so close hardware wise, still the games exclusively developed for one platform are the best from a technologically point of view (of course technology alone does not make a great game).
But, then we seem to have reached a point where the cost to utilise all the technology to the latest is so high, that hardly any one ever does it. Also the technology got so complex that it is very difficult to make anything but small iterative changes, and we pretty much have reached the end of moore's law, and the performance gains from shrinking circuits only lead to small performance gains. In that sense the technological differences between the competitors will likely get smaller and smaller, and it will become more and more difficult to propose a compelling differentiator. Also backward compatibility may prevent progression, because no drastic changes will be possible without leaving the old library in the dust. Therefore, Mr Layden is likely right and it will be very difficult to propose something significantly different other than the brand name and the number at the end.
As already was mentioned, also for me the biggest differentiator right now would be VR, and there are also still significant differences between the competitors in the VR space. And it will take a while until VR games can be streamed at low enough latency.
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? - Issue 557
I am currently playing Maré on psvr2. I was not interested after watching the trailer, but after hearing several people praising the game, I picked it up. And it is so beautiful (graphics, animations, sound). Everything is very well done. Though, the graphics are simple, there is little challenge, and it is relatively short. Nevertheless, I would recommend it to people who liked journey. It is often compared to Ico which I haven't played.
Then I also play metro awakening on psvr2. I am not a big horror fan. But I like the adventure part of it. At times it looks good, though texture resolution is a bit on the low side, characters are a bit stiff and it lacks a bit of variety.
Re: Black Ops 6 Is the 'Biggest Call of Duty Ever', Player Engagement Through the Roof
@nomither6 I guess this is true to some extend. Though, I dare to speculate that live service games are optimised to make You come back, make You spend money on micro transactions, rather than providing good, innovative new content, ideas, game mechanics, interesting stories, messages etc. . Like industrial food is in most cases not actually good, but tricks You into buying it again and again, because of sugar, salt and glutamate.
Re: PlayStation Exec Shuhei Yoshida Will Leave the Company in January
Wise choice and very sad. Anyway best wishes to Shuhei Yoshida!
I hope the new generations will continue to bring great, creative games to the platform, and won't just focus on engagement and raking in money through micro transactions.
Re: Black Ops 6 Is the 'Biggest Call of Duty Ever', Player Engagement Through the Roof
On one hand people claim games got too long and should go back to about 10h, and people claim that nobody wants GAAS. On the other hand success is measured by the "engagement" metric, which favours long games and GAAS.
I guess the media just trains us to like games not because they are good but because they manage to create some kind of addiction and keep us "engaged".
Re: Sony's Latest First-Party Release Is Struggling to Do Concord Numbers on PC
@TurboTom All games are pointless.
People eagerly await the yearly COD, FIFA, etc. spend infinite hours playing the exact same multiplayer game. So there seems to be a desire to continue to play the exact same thing with a slightly different skin. People seem to love franchises and buy every comic book in a series with 1000 entries. So, there is certainly a market for frequent entries in infinite franchises.
On one hand people cry for backward compatibility i.e. play games on new hardware expecting that games automagically utilise all bells and whistles of the new hardware, on the other hand people hate on remasters, remakes i.e. think playing old games on new hardware with all bells and whistles is pointless, a waste of time and money. Or think that playing the exact same old game is good enough and when they get the chance to play the exact old game they complain about the outdated controls, and subpar graphics. Anyway the hate on remasters and remakes does not really have any foundation because many people want exactly this, the same game they played and loved in the past but updated to modern standards.
Anyway if You do not have any interest in something why do You care ?
Re: Square Enix's New AAA Games Are Being Trounced by Final Fantasy 14
Apparently nobody wants GAAS, so absolutely a big mistake on Sony's end to invest in this abomination /s
Re: Metro Awakening (PSVR2) - One of the Most Immersive VR Games Ever
@Raffles I wonder what spacewarp does that sony's reprojection does not. Maybe it is just better integrated into the rendering pipeline and has more information, or meta spend more on R&D and the algorithm is just better.
Maybe it is impressive what a quest can do with the limited compute power, though from my point of view it is rather disappointing to see how far VR had been in 2016 compared to where we are now thanks to mobile VR being the dominant player (et least hardware and marketing wise).
Re: Metro Awakening (PSVR2) - One of the Most Immersive VR Games Ever
@NeonPizza I think only GPU compute performance is between a ps4 and ps4 pro. Not sure about the CPU (8 1.6 GHz cores vs 8 performance + efficient cores at variable frequency) and in particular also the memory bandwidth is I believe lower. So on psvr1 more memory bandwidth and only lower res needed, which I guess allows for more variety.
Re: Metro Awakening (PSVR2) - One of the Most Immersive VR Games Ever
@TrickyDicky99 I would argue that many psvr1 games look better than most quest3 games besides the super low resolution (to name a few: astro bot, re7, hitman, battle zone, wipeout, blood and truth, here they lie). Also most movies on DVD look much better than any 4k game on Your 4090 despite the super low resolution. Because resolution is not equal to detail. The visual quality and detail of the filmed objects, and the lighting is still much better than what real time rendering is achieving. But if You rather play pong in 16k at 1kHZ because it is super sharp and incredibly fluid, why not.
Re: Gran Turismo 7 Clocks Native 4K/120fps on PS5 Pro Via Game Boost, Pre-Enhanced Patch
I don't understand all the people who permanently complain about the "no-ps5 exclusives" or "too small iterative improvements."
Personally I think gt7 is superior over gt sport in every way, and I had more fun playing it. I also really liked the gt7 café. Initially I thought it was a ridiculous idea, but in the end it is a fun way to get guided through a series of races. Then there is the wonderful VR mode. Already for that it is worth getting gt7 over gt sport.
Concerning the ps5 in general, besides all other improvements, most obvious for me are the vastly shortened loading times. Gone are the times to wait for several minutes until rd2 loaded after You died! Then on the more subtle level immersion is greatly enhanced by the controller haptics and the 3D audio. It is less obvious, only when going back to older system it is very obvious that something is missing.
Concerning the catalogue, the step from ps3 to ps4 felt like a real generational jump because the entire ps3 catalogue was stuck on the ps3 and the effort to port ps3 games to ps4 was too big, and most studios did not attempt that. The shift from ps4 to ps5 felt less significant, because at launch there were only a handful of ps5 titles, but 4000 ps4 games also running on ps5. In many cases those games automatically looked better when running on a ps5 instead of ps4(pro), additionally diminishing the difference between the two generations. And one should not forget the mid-gen refresh which also reduced the gap to two half steps. From an architecture point of view ps4 and ps5 are much closer than ps3 and ps4. As a consequence it is much easier to get more or less the same game running on ps5 and ps4. Still the differences are sometimes quite large. Personally I really liked the ps5 versions of forbidden west, gt7, ff7 remake, death stranding, cyberpunk (and many others) and playing those games on ps4(pro) would not do these games justice.
Anyway why buy a playstation, xbox or pc if You can play nearly all then games on a switch or via cloud streaming on Your phone ? Same game == same experience or isn't it ?
Re: Metro Awakening (PSVR2) - One of the Most Immersive VR Games Ever
@TrickyDicky99 Fully agree graphical fidelity is overrated. it is more important to see the polygon edges in its full clarity and jump around in Your 4 square meter space. Why would You like better lightening, better textures, better shadows, more detailed geometry, haptics! if You can rather marvel at the individual polygons in its full clarity? Also the market clearly shows that people rather want switches and series-s rather than overpowered ps5s and ps5 pros /s
Re: Metro Awakening (PSVR2) - One of the Most Immersive VR Games Ever
@Korgon don't dismiss e.g. the VR modes of re4 remake, re village just because they do some short cuts to fit an original flat game into VR. These games are also very much elevated by the VR mode.
Re: PS5 Pro was a '5-Year Project', In Development Before PS5's Launch
@Bionic-Spencer good that their is xbox and nintendo at least they offer way more powerful systems for a far more reasonable price, and then there fortunately the überpowerful PCs which you can either build for a fraction of the price (and power) or super powerful and only the price of one kidney and which only consume 1kW. It is only sony which somehow does not manage to create with current technology systems with the power of people's dreams and subsidized prices.
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? - Issue 551
@PuppetMaster that I kind of understood. I did not really understand whether there is some grander strategy behind it, which I kind of ignore, or whether it is just a hack'n'slash with some jokers. I just placed my pawns and hacked. But that felt a bit repetitive after a while.
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? - Issue 551
Unsure about what to play,
Not really my cup of tea, but I am wondering whether I should finally pick up arizona sunshine 1 or 2, or some of the psvr2 games on sale (ancient dungeon, sushi ben, switch back or crossfire) ?.
Anyway instead of playing a game I finally watched rogue one, which I really liked.
Though, I also played the Kunitsu-Gami demo a bit. Beautiful game ! And if somebody complains about the lack of creativity in games, then maybe look beyond call-of-duty or big open world games. Concerning Kunitsu-Gami, likely I do not really understand how to play it, but I found it a bit boring. Its just so beautiful, that I would like to enjoy it.
Re: Ex-PlayStation Exec Shawn Layden Says There's Been a 'Collapse' in Gaming Creativity
There are certainly very creative games. At the same time there are also a lot of small iterations, or games which feel like carbon copies.
One reason why it might feel like the creativity is dropping might be that game development time and cost is significantly increased, and there are just many more game studios. Game studios try to cut cost and time by iterating on ideas i.e. putting out sequels. Then there are more game studios than ever and occasionally working on very similar ideas. And finally, since there are so many games already it becomes more and more difficult to come up with a completely unique idea.
When just looking at Sony 1st party. Then clearly this generation saw so far a lot of iterations: Rachet&Clank, Spiderman, God of War, Astro bot. The only truly unique Sony game so far seems to be Returnal. Or do miss something ? But do these iterations really lack creativity ? Isn't it just that because they take place in the same universe and inherit many mechanics that they feel less strikingly different?
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? - Issue 549
I finished Harold Halibut. It is not much of a game, and yet it was for me one of the greatest games I ever played (weird to write this in the same sentences). It is less a game than a slightly interactive story, beautiful set in scene, both visually and acoustically, mostly good voice acting, and story with interesting thoughts. The story apparently does not hit for everyone (e.g. push square review). In my opinion the "game" deserves to be experienced by many people!
Then I started Doki-Doki Literature Club since it is on ps+ and I was curious what it is about. I cannot say much yet. So far it kept my attention, but I have not made up mind whether I like it or not.
Re: Microsoft Is Investigating Why Devs Are Prioritising PS5 Over Xbox
Obviously, deep pocket, evil sony is money hatting developers and the trillion dollar underdog is left in the rain. It is unlikely that developers would favour a platform on which they can make more money simply because of the larger install base and a platform on which people actually still buy games. It is also unlikely that developers see different next gen specs like the xbox s and x as an obstacle rather than an interesting challenge. But who knows maybe tides will turn since developers are now forced on the playstation side to adjust their games for the hated, not out-selling ps5pro and who likes to work on a system with more bling /s
Re: Report Finds Lack of Star Wars Outlaws Sales Disturbing
I haven't played outlaws yet, so I guess I am part of the problem.
People complain about no games on playstation, but the fact is there are too many good games. So, I think it is more difficult for games to stand out of the crowd.
Concerning ubisoft in particular, it seems that ubisoft has an image problem. The last "ubisoft-game" I played was FarCry6, which I think was a pretty good game, and partially excellent (a fun sandbox with lots of activities, good cast, an okay story, some very good side stories). I think the reception was very mixed, though. People seem to consider all "ubisoft-games" budget games to pick up for 10$. People seem to completely ignore the typically excellent worlds You can find in ubisoft games. They may not live up to the best of the best games. But, they are certainly not utter trash. And it seems to me also that people nitpick on every detail in "ubisoft-games" while they are more forgiving to other titles.
Another problem might be, that with e3 gone, the single market place to raise awareness for new games disappeared. I could imagine that in the past ubisoft profited from showing their games close to big playstation,xbox and nintendo shows, but now they are more hidden among all the various conventions, show cases or state-of-plays.
Re: Ever-Evolving, Live Service Experiences Like Fortnite Are 'the Future of Gaming'
Possible that the majority of people thinks this way. It is not what I am looking forward to.
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? - Issue 548
@3Above looking forward to it !
Re: Star Wars Outlaws' Rescue Roadmap Provides a Snapshot of Modern PS5 Gaming
I would by it if it had a VR mode ...
Re: Fans Appear to Be Coming Around to PS5 Pro
@Korgon in principle a platform holder has an interest to have a more or less speedy generational shift at least at the beginning to make the platform interesting enough for developers and revenue from game sales on the new platform relevant. The optional intermediate upgrade on the other hand is not very important to grow the platform. In that sense the ps6 has to be more priced in line with what the general consumer is willing to spend, and a pro model has to be in line with concurrent products (in this case PC).
Though it is possible if inflation is not improving that it will be simply impossible to offer in 2028 a console, which looks like an upgrade over the ps5pro, but is cheaper.
Re: Fans Appear to Be Coming Around to PS5 Pro
@Al3 fully agree for pc's you only get a "vastely" more poweful graphics card and cpu every year, new cpu sockets and ram types every couple of yours. A PC You only buy once and then You can enjoy it for the next ... 3 years without having to fear that it is not powerful enough to run the newest stuff. The 4 year upgrade cycle of consoles is indeed insane ... in particular since it is optional.
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? - Issue 548
I finished the main campaign of "horizon forbidden west. I haven't touched the burning shores yet. Great game! Just the ending felt a little cheap.
Then I started Harold Halibut. I haven't finished it yet so maybe I will change my opinion. Certainly the art style is fantastic, also the music and sound design. In general it creates a superb atmosphere in my book. In contrast to push square's review I actually like the dialogues and presumably appreciate the story more. Since I haven't finished it I have no opinion on its impact, but there is certainly some food for thoughts here and there. There is not much of a game. It is more like a slow paced anime of which the player controls the progression speed to some extent. Anyway so far I really liking it ... very much, actually.
Re: Talking Point: What Was Your Favourite PS5 Game from State of Play September 2024?
Hitman was the biggest surprise. Also midnight walk looks very interesting.
Re: Scalpers Want $10k to Try to Buy You a 30th Anniversary PS5 Pro
Scalpers should read more sites like this one. Then they would know that the ps5pro is useless, just a meager upgrade, just a greedy move by sony to squeeze out more money from the helpless consumers and nobody wants it.
Re: God of War Ragnarok PC Review Bombed Over PSN Requirement
In my opinion it is an awful development, that You have to sign into what ever online account to play single player games or e.g. that You cannot play non-online content in GT7 if You are offline.
But, so is (on PC) that I cannot install windows without having to sign into the microsoft network, that every piece of software is now full of telemetry including windows.
Anyway it is weird that people happily share all their data with valve, microsoft, ubi, ea, (and likely google, meta, discord) etc. but then make a lot of fuss about a psn account.
Re: Reaction: Why There Are So Many Unnecessary PS5 Remasters for Games That Don't Need Them
Besides the obvious that remasters are relatively cheap to make, and an easy way to earn some money, they also move the game code to a new software base, which may increase its lifetime. Many people cry for backwards compatibility. I could imagine that ps5 games will have a very long lifetime, beyond the ps6.
Presumably I am not creative enough, but I do not see significant changes on the hardware side in the "near" future like fully programmable gpu's (ps3->ps4), "instant" I/O (ps4->ps5). I suppose pretty much all games are now designed for a more variable screen resolution. There were still significant improvements in terms of upscaling (ps4pro -> ps5 / ps5pro). But I could imagine that many of these areas now provide a very solid base and do not have to be changed much in the near future. Maybe even more significant were the changes to the network infrastructure which started with ps3(?).
Not sure what changes could come in the future which require significant changes to the software stack. I personally would like to see better handling of inputs to support games which work well both in VR and on the flat screen ? Maybe also better support for stereoscopic rendering? Fully ray-traced games ? Better support for game streaming (more relevant for the platform holder ... ) ?
Re: Jaw-Dropping 30th Anniversary PS5 Pro Console and Accessories Will Bankrupt You
On the picture this ps5pro looks actually quite good ! Not sure whether it looks premium price good.
Re: Sony Boss Says 'PCs Are Difficult to Set Up', Firm Will Focus on PS5
PCs are great, You can chose the components You want without being limited to a single manufacturer (faster CPU? faster GPU? more RAM? nicer case ? More silent cooling solution? More ports? ). But the choice also means that You get a less polished overall experience compared to a solution provided by a single manufacturer e.g. PC vs Apple.
More component variety also means that game developers will not have tested Your particular configuration and the experience may vary depending on how close Your configuration is with respect to the configurations which have been used for development or testing.
Then there is the potential advantage to more incrementally upgrade the system. However, upgrades are not always uncorrelated. You want a faster CPU ? Possible, but the CPU You want requires a new socket or more power. So You have to upgrade the motherboard and PSU at the same time. Maybe also the cooling solution. The motherboard You want uses a different memory standard, so You need new memory modules. You upgraded to a shiny new graphics card, but to actually make full use of it, You also need a faster CPU. Choice is great but not all combinations make sense or are even possible.
Game development happens likely on pretty recent hardware, not something that is 5 years old. So, if the games should look good and perform reasonable. You presumably have to upgrade more often. A console has one (or two) version(s) over the cycle of ~8 years, and typically the games perform okay for the entire cycle. I think even nowadays most games also released for PS4 still run decently. At least it seems that many people are still not urged to upgrade.
They are useful for other things than just games, but they are also not tailored just for games. That also means You pay for something You do not need to run games. Games are also not necessarily the most trustworthy pieces of software (in particular free to play games). So, with the game You may also install some malware, which could steal Your banking credentials, or encrypts the data You need for work.
Finally there is the price, You can have a cheaper PC compared to a PS5, but it won't be anywhere close in gaming performance of a PS5, Even today It seems only possible to match the performance of a PS5 when using second hand components. If You want something to match the PS5 pro You are certainly looking at a price well above 1k EUR/USD/GBP. Likely even 1.5k if You want something that lasts. You likely upgrade more often than once during a 8 year cycle. So, even if You managed to stay in budget close to a e.g. PS5 You presumably spend more over the course of 8 years. Since there are better PC components every year, PC components also loose there value faster. Which might be an advantage if You use second hand components, but then You may not have any warranty.
Anyway in terms of price and simplicity there is nothing that beats a console. Although, today a console is also not just plug and play anymore, since You have to setup Your account, fiddle eventually with settings until it works well with Your TV and audio solution, pair controllers and such. Not a big deal but less simple than a PS1/2
Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? - Issue 546
Still in the process of finishing horizon forbidden west which I started some months ago. Beautiful game both in picture and sound ! In pretty much every aspect better than horizon zero dawn (which I also liked), except there are fewer surprises. One already kind of knows what to expect. But other than that, a very good game, maybe too easy for hard core gamers (not for me though ....). Though, I am surprised that there are a few occasions, in which horizon call of the mountain looked better, but I did not do A/B comparisons.
Then, I continued the artful escape (which I also started some time ago but did not finish). Presumably not the best game in terms of game play, but a wonderful visual and acoustic spectacle. I think that would also mesmerizing in VR, just the same game pad version, but being surrounded by all the scintillating colors would be quite something. Shame nobody tries to offer something like that.
Finally, I would like to give a shout-out to Nobody wants to die which I finished some time ago. Also maybe not the best game in terms of game play, and the character animations feel a bit stiff occasionally, but a well told interactive story beautifully arranged which reminded me a lot of heavy rain, or detroit becoming human in terms of the concept.
Re: 'It Felt Like Putting New Glasses On,' Claims First PS5 Pro Hands On
@RubyCarbuncle I am not quite sure where You buy PCs, but If I try to match a PS5pro I end up with a much higher bill. But I agree a PC can actually be useful and one has more control over how much one wants to spend on what. But it is also less plug&play and depending on the hardware Your experience may vary,
Re: Prospective PS5 Pro Buyers Cause Surge in Disc Drive Sales
can only be scalpers who haven't understood that the most hated console is DOA.
Who could possibly want a few more pixels and frames ? If that was the case expensive gaming PCs would be a thing ....
Re: 'It Felt Like Putting New Glasses On,' Claims First PS5 Pro Hands On
@RubyCarbuncle If there was no game that pushes the hardware (ps5) why would I buy a PC? Because on a PC I get a few more pixels and ray tracing ?
Re: 'It Felt Like Putting New Glasses On,' Claims First PS5 Pro Hands On
@Matroska where pc somehow always means performance like a 2k EUR pc but for the price of the cheapest pc one can find.
Even today You do not get a new PC for the price of ps5 which matches the performance of a PS5. Also, such a pc won't come with a disk drive and neither a controller.
But of course a console is just a console, and a PC can actually be used for useful things.
Re: Did You Know PlayStation Almost Had a Different Name?
Don't always trust Your marketing folks I guess ....
Re: Talking Point: Can PS5, PC Shooter Concord Be Saved?
@Ralizah ... or maybe sony will only do even less risky projects in the foreseeable future to recover the losses of the failed projects ( last of us factions, bungie, concord, ... )
Re: Reaction: It's Time for Xbox to Tell Us Which Games It's Bringing to PS5, and Which Games It Isn't
How should they know ? They have a business to run.
Re: Xbox on Bringing Exclusives to PS5: The Industry Is Changing for All of Us
I wonder what "numbers on xbox" means. Are this all people who have some kind of xbox, activision, blizzard or king's account ? Or does it really mean the number of players actually playing on a xbox box.
Anyway if microsoft says that exclusives do not matter anymore, it must be true. Like with hbo, apple+, etc. clearly content-platforms are not chosen because of the content but because of something else.
Re: Concord Probably Best Played on PC, According to Official Features Trailer
Concord is not my kind of game (maybe if it had a VR mode , but still I find all the comments and drama around concord strange. People really want to hate the game without much of reason.
Maybe because it is not my type of game, I do not see what is bad about concord in comparison to all the other similar games. At the same time I don't see anything novel about concord (besides the vignettes). But what are the stand out features of other similar games ( that other games run worse on high end PCs compared to a PS5 ? Or are only playable on console ? Also have mouse and keyboard support on console ? Are actually third person adventure games with over the shoulder camera ? Have more pleasing color schemes ? Likable characters ?