johncalmc

It's not my type of game so there's no chance of me playing it, but I am quite curious to see how it does. I wonder if the morbid curiosity factor might actually work in its favour - if it's any good of course.

Yeah I'm not sure this screenshot is really worth the drama.

That's nice but I would really just like the three old games porting over.

What I want to know is how much of the money that Push Square generates Sammy is taking to fund his ludicrous gacha obsession. He's got to have his hand in the cookie jar.

Highguard, I dub thee Horse Concord.

It's not particularly surprising. Ubisoft is so cooked.

Final Fantasy VII Remake guide:

Download the original Final Fantasy VII. Play that.

This one is absolutely on my radar. Had it on my wishlist since I first heard of it. I'll get to it at some point.

I'm so in on this I probably won't tease myself with the demo. Literally the only thing else I want to know about this game is whether Dark Ties and Yakuza 3 are considered two separate games with separate trophy lists, or if Dark Ties is a menu option like Majima Saga. Hoping it's separate for more platinum fun, but I suspect it's the other.

Didn't everyone tell at the time? Aside from the usual hypemongers, I'm pretty sure I recall the response to the game being pretty tepid.

Definitely, DEFINITELY, do not start with Yakuza 7 if you're going to jump into the series. It is a new start for the series but it's not a clean break - most of the best bits of the game hark back to things/characters established in previous games, then the next game in the series The Man Who Erased His Name leans heavily on past events, and the game after that Infinite Wealth is literally 40% reliant on things you won't know anything about.

It's kind of annoying, I guess, that realistically, the only good places to start the series are either Kiwami or 0. It's not exactly friendly to newcomers. But then the Kiryu games are better anyway so really... that's where you should start.

It's pretty wild that they took a game like Marathon with a truly eye-popping art style and then they made a controller for it that looks like a four year old's school art project. All it's missing is the dried macaroni glued to it. Truly dreadful stuff.

Yeah I'm alright thanks. I'm not gonna bother.

Shocking how many times the first I hear about a game is when it's delayed or cancelled or shut down.

This is weird. Yakuza 0 was less egregious for me because 0 and Directors Cut are basically the same game. I still don't like it and you should have both options but they're basically the same.

Kiwami 3 isn't the same as 3.

Won't trouble me in any way since I own 3 (4 times, I think) but it just seems pointless.

Wow, Sonic Chaos! I actually had that on the Master System I think. They're out of control.

I'm absolutely fine for a demo on this one. No need. They had me at "Yakuza".

It doesn't look right to me. It just looks like Sansa doing cosplay. I'm not sure it would look any different with a different actor. It's just weird.

I've played it three times and I didn't even really like it the first time. I don't think I'm going back in for another go.

Please be excited.

Dressing Kiryu up like Ichiban is like dressing up Mulder and Scully as those other two FBI agents that replaced them in X-Files. Actually, they wore the same clothes pretty much. So the analogy doesn't work. But you see what we're doing here.

"Bloodborne Mentioned" should be a regular feature that rounds up all the times Bloodborne has been mentioned by prominent figures.

I feel weird about this game because I simultaneously love that they're taking a risk and doing something unexpected, and I imagine this game will be sufficiently bonkers, but I can't help feeling disappointed that we're not Jesse anymore and it's not a melee game.

Infinite Wealth is a banger and Village is alright but I own them both already and the rest of the list I don't really care about. The perils of buying games I guess.

PS Plus Premium is like that fantastic Nintendo Switch Online thing, except it is apparently managed by a dozen chimpanzees throwing darts at a wall to decide what game comes next and when.

I don't know. Hate seems a bit extreme for what is ultimately just a pretty crummy video game. I think what I don't like, ultimately, is that the time and effort and money spent on Anthem by BioWare could have been spent making something that is more their thing. It's wild to me that people with money making big decisions can't see that chasing trends rarely works, and you probably shouldn't use storied developers to do that.

I hope they announce the next game in the series is Persona 5 2.

Just to clarify on the outfits - I thought I made it clear but maybe I didn't. The problem isn't the sexy outfits. The problem is that the outfits contribute to the overall confused tone of the game.

Stellar Blade worked because the outfits - whether you liked them or not - aesthetically fit with the world (mostly) and felt in keeping with the stylish action. Here it's like they just threw some saucy outfits in without rhyme or reason. And that's why I said they're fine if you like them but can be ignored if you don't, and even listed customisation as a potential positive at the end.

I just found them bizarre but if you want to play the game as a sexy secretary then go for it!

I never really got the hype for this one. It looks like an Elder Scroll but doubling down on the bits that I don't care about in Elder Scrolls and not doing the thing I do care about in Elder Scrolls.

@FredBiletnikoff Ha! You're totally right! Can't believe that one slipped past the goalie. I'm going to put that one down to post-Christmas blues.

If anyone has any questions about this game for some reason you can ask and there's a good chance I'll answer them because I have nothing else to do today.

Makes sense. GTAVI is going to obliterate everything else released in the same window. There's probably no worse time in human history to launch a game than close to GTAVI launching. Sensible move is to watch it like a hawk and plan around it. Avoid late 2026 and early 2027.

They really dropped the ball not having any of these projects ready to coincide with the TV series. Probably would have gotten a substantial bump.

I haven't played the latest Life Is Strange yet, but outside of the terrible Life Is Strange 2 I really, really like the series. I rate all the other games quite highly. I don't know if we needed to go back to the Max and Chloe well but whatever, I'll take it!

Oh good. I like the Wolfenstein games. Plus the second one didn't feel final enough. I was worried they were leaving Wolfenstein behind when they did Indiana Jones.

The uncle is going to be the baddie. Calling it now.

Media blackout is probably sensible. Not much point putting stuff out if there's just going to be millions of comments calling it Horse Concord. I guess the best move for them is just releasing it and hoping that reviews/morbid curiosity helps them out.

Don't make me turn my Switch on, Kodaka.

It had to be really. There's not been another single player game this year that has made this kind of impact. I've seen people comparing it to Final Fantasy VII - and that seems hyperbolic to me - but there's no denying this is a game that has stuck with players, and has introduced people to a genre they might not necessarily try.

JRPG purists might sit twirling their little moustaches and decreeing that other games have done all of this stuff before and that's fine. I've played a billion JRPGs. I get it. But this one really opened the door for newcomers and it stuck. You can imagine people cosplaying as these characters and writing fanfictions and getting tattoos. It hit.

Of course, regardless of the wider impact, the game was just really, really good. Great story, wonderful characters, superb music. Fantastic stuff all around and a deserved winner.

Persona 5 is just the series at this point. They just keep making more Persona 5's forever.

I already bought this so I can platinum the game again, along with Kiwami 1 and 2. But I think the original 0 will always be my 0, and not this version. Not into the additions.

Are the english dubs still terrible and totally alter the tone of the game?

I played this for a bit and quite liked it but this always felt really stingy to me in terms of unlocking characters. Way too much currency required only to unlock a rubbish one. Kinda got bored of it.

See, everyone thinks Naughty Dog is the woke studio, but really they just didn't have time to give her hair.

Should be illegal to port a game without trophies in 2025.

I was never excited for this because I don't care about fighting games, but it's not surprising. Going four-on-four really dictates that there should be a huge roster to avoid repetition, and even I'm bored of each look at it showing off the same few people. It also seems unwise to try and cater to casuals and hardcore in a genre like this. Maybe they'll manage it, but it seems regardless of what they do they'll fail at appeasing one or both groups.

Still, wait and see I guess. Maybe they'll announce another character at some point.

I think this looks really cool. I don't really play racing games but they've absolutely nailed the vibe. Might be tempted to give it a go!

It'll probably do okay because the Bungie name still means something to people for some reason. I don't have particularly high hopes for it but who knows? Maybe they'll land the plane.

I don't play games like this so it's of no consequence to me really.

I was really surprised by how much I liked Stellar Blade. I actually listen to the soundtrack all the time. Great music, great vibes, love the aesthetic. Gotta play it in Korean though. The english voice acting does it no favours.

I can picture the meeting at Crystal Dynamics HQ now.

"How do we evolve Lara Croft? How do we take this iconic character and bring her to 2026, make her the sort of character that really resonates with what the culture is feeling today?"

"Pre-order bonus swimsuit?"

I find this game tough to go back to after Baldur's Gate 3 but it's still an excellent RPG. Baldur's Gate 3 just has more of what I want - talking to companions, cut-scenes, better character creator etc. I'm probably due another playthrough though. Why not?