glennthefrog

I'm in the underwhelmed camp as well. I enjoyed GOT but don't have a lot of interest in this one based on what we've seen. I'd be slightly more hyped if Jin's story was continuing on the Japanese mainland, but the gameplay looks like more of the same either way so it wouldn't make it a day one purchase.

I also might be biased because I can't remember the last Sony sequel that was as good as the original, unless you count Astro Bot as a sequel to Astro's Playroom. Spidey 2, GOWR and TLOU2 all fell flat for me, not terrible but 8/10, whereas their predecessors were all 9.5 or 10s imo.

@Flaming_Kaiser That would be a typical Atlus move. They love making their fans pay for the same thing in several versions over a couple years. Generally after insisting there will be no DLC or Royal/Reload edition at the game's launch.

I half expect them to first sell the P3 Reload with Answer DLC all on one disc in 2026, then wait a year and release P3 Reload Platinum with all the above and FemMC.

I'll buy it when it hits between $20-30 just like the original. If it's a code in a box I'll wait til it's $10 or not bother.

I hope this one is a truly definitive version with all the Golden content included.

P3 Reload was great but it sucks that fans still have to choose between a version with The Answer (and therefore the true ending) or the Female MC.

First one had a few rough edges and some jank but there was the core of a great game. With a bit more time (and budget) to polish I'm hoping they can smooth all that out and give us something really special with the sequel.

To be fair a lot of companies did try their hand at copying Mario Party, they all just bombed spectacularly.

-Sonic Shuffle
-Disney Party
-Shrek Super Party
-Muppets Party Cruise
-Pac-Man Party
-Alien League

Those are just ones I remembered from back in the day. I recall there were many many others though. The key is quality, those games lacked it for the most part. Hopefully this LEGO game is top notch, MP could use some competition.

I'd say it was a good show.

It was similar to what we used to get during the big E3 blowouts, not quite at that level but maybe that on a down year. Compared to previous State of Plays this was a S-tier banger though.

Potentially three seasons to adapt TLoU2 was just an awful idea. It wasn't a universal fan favorite story direction to start with, everyone can at least agree it was quite polarizing. That's not the sort of project you stretch out over what will probably be 3-5 years of development hoping viewers hold interest.

I at least am happy it's becoming okay again to say the plot is lacking without being censored or shouted down. It's had the same polarizing effect in two different mediums now. Obviously it's not beyond reproach.

I regretted buying the first one, and I got it for $15. The reviews and impressions of this one sound like they've magnified every flaw of the original.

It's a shame because Ninja Theory is a really good dev, or have been in the past. Enslaved was an underrated gem.

There are so many problems this one has to overcome to succeed, I just don't see it happening.

-Wrong genre (has to compete with Marathon and Arc Raiders)

-GaaS reputation is mud among PlayStation devotees

-Premise and art style are already looking anachronistic. 'Eat the rich' premise was all the rage when it was green lit but it's cooled off now. The only way they could make it seem less lame is by leaning far into the radical direction, grabbing the Luigi sympathizer audience, but there is no chance a corporation allows that level of transgressive edge in a product this mainstream.

@Oram77 'Best shape' for Bethesda is 6-12 months after launch when fans finish debugging it. Unfortunately console players never get those improvements.

They can save the port costs on this one. It's boring to the core.

I don't pay full price for digital or code in a box, others may have similar purchasing habits. Reviews also made it sound good but not stellar. I'll get it on sale down the line.

Should have been Digital Devil Saga.

But I'll definitely pick this one up anyway. Atlus is always quality.

@AhmadSumadi That's actually a really great feature that should be implemented. Might have to work with a mic to get pronunciation right for unusual names.

But personally I reserve A1 for steaks.

Let's just shoot for profitability first.

Unless they've invested so much it has to be an instant blockbuster or else it's a financial failure, in which case...keep those resumes updated to be safe.

@AverageGamer They have a similar arc as Rareware. Ever since leaving Microsoft they're not exactly bad but also not the same level of quality as the golden age.

I thought this 'design language' was sterile, sexless and boring Current Year slop, not a world I'd care to interact with, but the artist obviously needs to be compensated.

Everything I hear about Bungie since entering the PS fold has been bad. Seems like a very questionable investment so far.

@Damage99 They already did the opposite by splitting 'III' into 'I' and 'II' during the Nintendo Direct trailer so it would be true to form.

If it runs well and they don't censor anything I'll be there day one.

@ATaco It turns out the plot was always shoddy, the idea it was just gamer bigotry or whatever was pure cope. Killing off a beloved father figure (and in this case, star of the show that kept women watching) in that manner is always going to crush enthusiasm because it's bad writing, it was entirely predictable this would happen again.

This is a misuse of the term review bombing.

If viewers genuinely watch the show and find it lacking it's not 'bombing' to give an honest negative review. It's only 'bombing' when reviews are submitted en masse by people who didn't watch the show and only gave it the bad score to do it harm.

Viewers just don't like the direction the series has taken. It happens.

The chasm between critics and users the author refers to is due to the critics by and large being compromised and untrustworthy. It's the downside of access journalism.

Confirming the obvious I think. They're going to milk this cow until it's dead.

Halo 1-3 + Reach/ODST are my most-wanted Xbox exclusives. I just hope they don't drip feed us one game at a time.

I'm honestly very disappointed it's just one game and the not the trilogy. I'm not sure I will jump in day one now, I definitely would have if it were more than just Gears 1, but I do appreciate the lower price.

Spoiler: It won't be coming out in May 2026 either.

If you're going to take the plunge and buy one, do it now. It would be great if Sony didn't raise the price to match competitors but it's almost certain they will in short order.

3 was so bad it made me skip Tiny Tina's game. From what we've seen I don't think 4 will be able to draw me back into the franchise either.

@danzoEX If the reviewer considers grinding a negative, and obviously they do, that makes sense. Suikoden's design holds up much better to modern sensibilities.

@Foxhound I just need these and I'm basically set on classic RPGs that are currently locked to classic hardware:

-Breath of Fire 3+4
-Xenogears
-Suikoden 3-5
-Vagrant Story

I'm shocked we got Lunar. It looked lost a lost cause for so many years due to IP rights. It's great to have two of the genres best remastered.

@thechetearly Yep. And the price being kept secret almost never turns out to be good news in the end, so it sends a bad signal.

Sounds very generous.

The perfect outfit for a nice afternoon of golf.

@Oram77 Can you voice chat on PS without PS+? I honestly don't know because I've always been signed up. I just assumed you needed to pay for online to access any online features but the shop.

@HonestHick Xbox seems to be leaning much harder into the multiplat route than Sony though, at least if the increasing speed of their ports are any indication. But sure you'll get a bunch of great Playstation games on PC as well eventually.

As you said, Nintendo is the real indispensable part of the combo.

Switch 2 has a solid 2025 lined up but that's it. The machine will sell out this year thanks to early adopters no matter what, so it doesn't really matter. Next year is when they're going to need to start pumping out software that draws in the mainstream consumer.

It will probably outsell the PS5 over its lifetime, and have a better lineup of 1st party exclusives in the end due to reduced development costs as was the case with Switch 1. I'm not sure it matters much to Sony, they consider themselves in a different market segment, but fanboys will squabble over that. But as always the best combo is both, a Switch + Playstation gives you access to essentially everything especially now that Xbox is multiplat.

Joel was heavily implied to be correct in the original game, where the hospital looked super dingy and iirc audio logs suggested the operation was something of a hail mary and not a sure thing.

In TLOU2 and to a lesser extent the HBO show it's heavily implied Joel is wrong because the hospital is depicted as clean in TLOU2 and there is far less ambiguity in the show over whether the operation will succeed. Druckmann himself, as others noted, has since said it would have worked for sure. Clearly that is the preferred reading at this time.

Personally I think the player was originally intended to believe the Fireflies were quacks but after TLOU2 it has been retconned to the Fireflies were competent because that was what the writers wanted to explore in a sequel.

@thechetearly If it's finished, I doubt it. If anything I'd expect any Shadows comparisons to be very favorable to Yotei based on how most people view Tsushima vs Shadows. Something like: 'if you liked AC Shadows, this is an even better Japanese adventure'.

They were also released too far apart for one to cannibalize sales of the other. Generally the superior game tends to leave the other behind in those cases anyway, and Yotei is very likely to be the superior game. So if it fails to find an audience it will almost surely be for reasons unrelated to Shadows.

To be fair, maybe one of these is the type of game that could find mainstream success (Sea of Thieves) and even that is a totally new IP to PlayStation owners. The rest are very niche. Then add to that they're being released years late, I can't imagine Microsoft expected much more.

@Totheteeth Never mind. You haven't even played it and just seem here for the drama.

@Totheteeth To be honest I'm equally puzzled by the 10s. On what basis is that justified? Is this game better than Elden Ring (I'd say no)? Is it a GOTY contender (also, I'd say no)? 10 is sheer fangirling, just like the 1s are pure haters.

Culture war has sent people to polar opposite conclusions about this one, and I think they're rating with a favorite team in mind.

IMO it's not a 10 and it's not a 1, it's roughly a 6 or 7 depending on how tired you've become of the Ubi formula. Graphics are great, but gameplay too often feels repetitive or like busy work. Again, the Ubi formula. Side quests are improved from previous AC but still well short of industry leaders (or even exceptional last-gen titles like Witcher 3).

The 8s and 9s feel high to me personally. Do you all really not consider many games to be superior to Shadows? I sure do. It's not bad but also not terribly exceptional.

@Th3solution It's not the 'human psyche' it's access media and bot campaigns.

Entertainment media is shameless in their HBO boosting, there was no chance a major show from that network was getting anything but praise from those outlets. That's how they earn their early access and preferential scoops in the future. Then add in astroturfed social media bots designed to nurture 'organic' enthusiasm (everyone does it in Hollywood). Not saying no one genuinely enjoyed it, some did, but any dissenters were drowned out by design.

Once the critics move on and the bot campaigns are no longer being paid to continue you can see the actual viewer opinion with less of a rose-colored filter. It was mixed. The show had some highs, but it was also rushed in places.

@themightyant At this point would a hostile investor takeover really be the worst outcome though? The Guilemot family has strangled multiple golden geese, there is little reason to believe their management will turn things around.

New management and ownership is most likely to improve the quality of Ubisoft's output and their overall resource management. If current management stays in charge the company will continue to circle the drain.