Comments 228

Re: Talking Point: What Are You Playing This Weekend? - Issue 518

nocdaes

I've been playing Rebirth. All good so far except for one thing.

1. Why bring Chadley back when he's clearly an irritating character.
2. Why make him pop up ALL THE TIME. I'm practically playing Final Fantasy Chadley at this point.

What is with developers being so out of touch with reality?! Anyone and I mean literally any person on the planet would realise there is way, way, way too much Chadley. It's literally ruining the game!

Re: Final Fantasy VII Rebirth (PS5) - Strong Sequel Seeks a New Direction

nocdaes

Why have SE not made additional content available? There were a few minor preorder incentives, a bang average deluxe and then nothing else.

Do SE need reminding that the original came out in 1997, making a huge audience of 30-40 somethings who can clearly spend more than £60 in 4 years on this franchise. Huge missed opportunity, and genuinely disappointing for fans too.

"It should be included in the game". I disagree entirely. The game is already stupidly large for the price. Give us some extra content to pay you for SE. Perhaps then you can keep your staff employed...?!

And where's the merchandise?! Collectable cards, a poorly written book or two, OK an excellent OST (but not until April?!) and... why is there nothing else to buy?! Not even an official walkthrough guide?!

How much money is SE leaving on the table? Absolute madness. They should be milking this moment but they've literally done nothing! This release was always the moment to go for it. SE have completely missed the boat. Foolish.

Re: Final Fantasy Composer Nobuo Uematsu Unlikely to Score Another Full Game

nocdaes

An absolute legend. The FF7 soundtrack is a masterpiece. I'm as excited for the Rebirth soundtrack, particularly the tracks based on his original work, as I am the game!

I actually did a playlist last night where I followed the original CD1 of the OST with the Remake OST versions. 20 of the 23 tracks are featured - and I'm hopeful the last 3 will be on the Rebirth OST (Barrett's Theme, Red XIII's Theme - both characters feature prominently in Disc 2 of the original game so I think they held these tracks back for Rebirth, and Holding My Thoughts In My Heart which should be very near the opening of Rebirth, if it's included, as it's right at the end of CD1 on the original game).

Re: Poll: What Do You Think of PSVR2, One Year Later?

nocdaes

I think Sony should be praised for attempting to push VR forward. I don't see the issue as a Sony one to be honest - they're doing as much as anyone in this space. The problem is that the consumer behaviour and appetite just isn't at a critical mass.

Seems to me that we are simply not there on the technology side of things - and Sony can't really do anything about that. I don't want to wear this cumbersome equipment, I don't want to charge yet another device, and frankly, I don't even want gaming on VR - not ahead of other things anyway.

I want to be sat in the crowd at the football and watch the match however I want. I want to be stood at the front of a concert. I want to walk into my grocery store and see all the prices automatically compared against other stores. I want to see exactly where I need the screws to go on my flat pack furniture.

VR has so much amazing possibility, but honestly, gaming isn't the priority. We need to fulfill the purpose for wider society first.

It's not dissimilar to mobile phones. Mobile gaming took off long after everyone had a mobile in their hand. (And kudos to Nokia for driving that forward).

Re: SEGA's New Sapporo Studio Contributing to AAA Titles Like Crazy Taxi PS5

nocdaes

I hope SEGA can pull off a great reboot of this franchise as I have fond memories of the original game.

However, I have to be realistic. This multiple IP reboot appears desperate to me - they should have done it years and years ago, so why now? I'd feel a lot more confident about it if there was some significant change in their leadership team ahead of doing it.

The same team, working across multiple IP feels pretty stupid of anyone to expect anything but the same results we've grown tired of seeing.

And let's be brutally honest here... Crazy Taxi is not going to be a super easy IP to bring to "AAA" standard (or whatever they want to call it). Its going to be hugely challenging, yet SEGA are parading it about like it's a sealed deal?

Let's see what happens, but right now I'm thinking we can add "delusion" to "incompetent" to describe the leadership team at SEGA.

Re: Ubisoft CEO Defends Skull and Bones Premium $70 Pricetag, Insists It's 'AAAA' Quality

nocdaes

Ridiculing the "AAAA" aside, there is definitely a huge challenge within the industry right now when it comes to making games.

Fact is, games are getting bigger, taking longer to develop, overheads are increasing and we're at this frankly irritating point in time where developers are forced to take shortcuts (I.e. bulking out content with boring chores) and/or having to increase revenues (in-game transactions and paying for additional core gameplay).

Difficult to see a solution... feels like we're in a really bad spot where games are frankly unimaginative and boring/samey. How do we take things to the next level without increasing the cost of the software to the end consumer?

The type of game I want Skull & Bones to be... I just don't see how they can ever deliver it without charging more for the game.

There is also the issue of time. Developers are still churning out a high volume of games despite the longer lead times in development.

Honestly, I want the industry to move on to developing fewer games that actually push the boundaries and bring some wow factor. This generation is getting a nasty reputation of being underwhelming and boring. Games have too many limits on them and I'm convinced it's all driven by price.

Re: Preview: Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth Feels Like a Strong Step Forward from Remake

nocdaes

I'm most excited for the 400 song soundtrack. That's a staggering amount of music.

Final Fantasy 7's soundtrack is the best part of the game - that's a fact. The story hits some highs, but generally becomes a big old mess of nonsense in the end. The characters are well developed and interesting, but it all goes a bit trippy towards the end... I mean Sephiroth goes from al ltime greatest villain to absolute garbage. The locations include some of the best, for sure, but the later areas really aren't so good or interesting (I'm hoping the third game will pad these areas out more as the original game seems to have lost momentum).

The soundtrack though? What an absolute masterpiece from start to finish. Everyrhing about it. From Underneath the rotting pizza to one winged angel. Tifa and Aerith's theme. Cosmo canyon. The main theme! The whole thing is utter brilliance. Even what should be simply a filler track for a minor location is brilliant - Farm boy is a good example.

The game I'm not so fussed about - although Gold Saucer is going to be great - but the soundtrack with all new songs in keeping with the original? And 400 of them?! That's the thing we should be drumming up more. It's going to be amazing!

Re: Preview: Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth Feels Like a Strong Step Forward from Remake

nocdaes

Part 2 of the Trilogy was always going to be awesome. Cosmo canyon, gold saucer, Costa del sol are all legendary locations in the Final Fantasy series.

The challenge for SE is Part 3. Less exciting locations and the story in my opinion goes off the rails into borderline jibberish. But that's a problem for another day... for now, it's Gold saucer time!

Re: When Is the Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth State of Play?

nocdaes

Not interested in this at all, or a demo for that matter. I'm buying the game day one and will enjoy it then...

It's less than 4 weeks... why do we even need this update and a demo now?

I'd have liked an update and a demo like a year ago... Honestly, it's just poor marketing. They're just doing the same old when this was an opportunity to try new things.

Re: PlayStation Pours Investment into Africa as It Looks to Grow Globally

nocdaes

I'm kinda surprised it's taken this long. They have a dedicated EMEA team, but they may as well just be called European team for the lack of work done in the Middle East and Africa.

South Africa isn't the most obvious choice in my opinion. Egypt is just as wealthy, but would be "easier" from a logistics point of view due to its close proximity to Europe.

Nigeria is also extremely wealthy, and again a good target due to the amount of countries you could quickly and easily distribute to if you had logistics setup there. The likes of Ivory Coast and Ghana.

Then there's Algeria and Morocco that again offer close proximity to Europe and are also very wealthy.

Language is obviously an issue, and moreso than Europe due to the insane amount of dialects in some of those African countries. The other major issue is war and conflict - and all the associated issues with corruption, security and the economy.

Africa, and indeed the Middle East, are rarely peaceful parts of the world.

Re: Poll: Are You Playing Tekken 8?

nocdaes

I'm not playing Tekken 8 as I'm still playing Street Fighter...

When I'm done with Street Fighter, I'll pick up MK1. And when I'm done with MK1, I'll pick up Tekken 8.

Even in a booming economy, buying 3 fighting games in quick succession is a crazy ask. I don't understand why these 3 games came out so close to each other.

It suits me fine though. I will end up getting 3 quality fighting games for cheap.

Everyone knows the fighting genre has a sales ceiling. Really poor decision making from the publishers.

Re: Disney May Have Accidentally Outed Star Wars Outlaws' PS5 Release Window

nocdaes

The majority of my excitement for this title stems from it not being developed by EA.

Disney need to bite the bullet and develop games in-house - or, adopt the WB Games model of buying a decent studio and working more closely with them.

Seems to me, its too easy for Disney to take a back seat on these games and we will never get anywhere near the potential unless those that own and manage the brand are fully invested.

Think about how much hidden lore there could and should be in this Outlaws game. Now think about the process Ubisoft devs would have to go through with Disney execs to secure it in the game. And now realise how much will not be in this game as a result.

Re: Push Square Readers' 20 Most Anticipated PS5 Games of 2024

nocdaes

Agree with the Top 3!

Who voted for the Tomb Raider games at 10 though? Did you see the announce trailer?! These are lazy upgrades. Where's the full remake some of the biggest games in history actually deserve? In fact... where is our new Tomb Raider game for the PS5? It really is a toss up between Tomb Raider and Donkey Kong for the worst gaming franchise management this console generation.

Re: The Last of Us Multiplayer Project Is Officially Cancelled

nocdaes

This is a shame. I'm hoping they can salvage a good chunk of the work into future projects though... I personally had no interest in an online multiplayer of this kind, but I would absolutely love something akin to Resident Evil 4.

Feels like we're at a really annoying point in videogames where innovation is really limited. I want to see the next generation of games... PS5 is just PS4 with less loading. I want an online The Last Of Us game where I am challenged to survive in a world that has other real players in it - not just shooting people on a map. I want to race in Gran Turismo against real drivers - not multiplayer 1 on 1, I want every race, online or offline, to have cars that have been driven by real people. I want FIFA to allow me to do whatever I want with the football, not just an algorithm of button presses.

This generation feels like it has stalled. We need more innovation.

Seems to me, the costs are so high that no-one is taking any real risks to push things forward. It's prevalent in the movies industry too. Genuinely a bit of a naff time all round!

Re: Review: PS Access Controller - An Innovative But Expensive Game Changer

nocdaes

Great review and a great product from Sony at a great price too!

On the topic of price, I think it's unfair to suggest this is expensive. It's surely more comparable to the elite controllers Xbox and Sony have released in the £200 range than it is the standard controller. In that respect, circa £80 is beyond reasonable.

Having worked with a few charities that specialise in this area in the past, I know for a fact that some of the bespoke controller setups they create run into the many hundreds of pounds. This controller won't be an alternative solution for all, but it is certainly going to help a lot and the price is really respectable. Good job Sony.

Re: Soapbox: The Wait for GTA 6 on PS5 Will Be Excruciating

nocdaes

Didn't you guys post an article just the other week about how stacked early 2024 is with quality games? The wait for GTA6 is going to be easy. We're in prime top quality games period for this console generation. Not to mention Nintendo may have some surprises in 2024 too. The wait will be easy.

Re: Reaction: You Really Shouldn't Be Surprised Kids Want PS5, PS4 Game Currencies for Xmas

nocdaes

I think there's a generational aspect to this debate too. A lot of young parents, born in the 80s, will know more about games and gaming than the previous generation did.

There will always be a place in gaming for live action, don't get me wrong, but the growth and frankly outrageous profiteering that the likes of EA and Epic have enjoyed over the past 10 years will certainly not be sustained in the next 10 years. We Are better equipped to steer the pocket money away from these, largely but not entirely, fruitless endeavours.

Re: Reaction: You Really Shouldn't Be Surprised Kids Want PS5, PS4 Game Currencies for Xmas

nocdaes

This will be a controversial view... but the thing about kids and gaming is that it is all down to the parents. I grew up with games and have kept them in my adult life too. Therefore my kids play a wide range of stuff from Crash Bandicoot, LEGO, Mario, Kirby, Super Monkey Ball, Sonic. They play a wide range of consoles, old and new, too. They've been enjoying that Watermelon game recently.

They won't be playing any live action games. I don't care if their friends do. I have enough high quality games from present day through 20 years to ensure they never get bored or feel short changed.

The kids playing Roblox all weekend, and sinking all their pocket money into it are the unfortunate ones as far as I am concerned. I feel sorry for them.

Re: Poll: Did You Buy a PS Portal?

nocdaes

Why is everyone so up in arms with the price? It costs me more to run my frigging tumble dryer in the winter months than the PlayStation Portal. Besides, this is obviously aimed at the demographic that are TV time poor but cash rich aka anyone born in the 80s that decided to have kids and held down any desk based job.

Re: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 (PS5) - Bloated, Undercooked, and Outdated All at Once

nocdaes

Sounds like it should have been DLC at half the price at best, and just simply not worked on at all at worst.

Not sure why there is hate for the annual releases. A developer with the knowledge and resources of Activision should be more than capable of releasing a remaster/reworked game intertwined with a brand new release every 2 years. These are the same games in the same series... it's perfectly achievable as evidenced by the fact they've releases a COD every year for nearly two decades.

Re: Gran Turismo 7's New Advanced PS5 AI Could Change Racing Games Forever

nocdaes

Human 1 does a race. Human 1 saves and uploads the replay of their race to the GT servers. GT servers download that result into Human 2's race as an AI driver. Human 2 now races a really good AI. Repeat process 1000s and 1000s of times.

Perhaps I'm naive to think that's a simple and effective solution? It took hours to download the game before I could play it... a few more hours to have some decent AI loaded ahead of each race is fine with me.

In fact, I'm fine with downloading Human races ahead of all the races. It's a far better experience to wait and enjoy ONE high quality race versus ploughing my way through dozens of rubbish races in a row.