somnambulance

Starfield’s not a bad game. It’s a 7/10 to me. The narrative was a little wonky, but the relative emptiness of its “open world,” and the small open area structure sort of let the game down a little bit. There’s more to like about the game than hate. It’s ambitious, for sure, but the actual game didn’t match up with its vision. I’d argue it was a better game at launch than Cyberpunk was at launch (since it seems people like to say we’re potentially getting a Starfield redemption arc).

The biggest problem Starfield ever realistically had though is that, all these years later, Skyrim’s still a better game. In fact, in its particular genre of immersive first person action RPGs, I think many are still… ahem… chasing the dragon.

I’d not be surprised if Starfield is being reserved for an Xbox showcase, potentially with a shadow drop because Todd likes that style of release.

I still think we might see Halo in the SoP though.

@Scottyy @Oram77 Pragmata has the element of surprise.

Outside of PC, does League of Legends even have much foothold in the console space? It’s quite popular, but I don’t know anyone that plays it.

Oh god, please let a remaster of Detroit Become Human be false. I loved the game, but c’mon… That’s about as much a waste of resources as Until Dawn was.

Control, Judas, and Onimusha would honestly be a really solid State of Play to me. Tomb Raider would be nice to see too. I’m hoping for maybe just one surprise though. I’d love to see Mina the Hollower, but I anticipate that one may have contractual duties with Nintendo.

Honestly though, if these predictions are the State of Play, it’ll be a solid one, even without much surprise. You guys are talking me in to watching, I’ll admit.

Y’know, I’ve got a controversial prediction. Watch Halo get its release date trailer here. It would certainly get people talking, potentially a show stealing moment for the audacity of seeing it.

It’s good that Trails got a win because it rarely gets one.

@Oram77 I almost feel like Capcom is single handedly carrying AAA development right now. I think every game they have made has hit since RE7.

@Oram77 if Capcom has another banger this year in the wings, I want a Capcom console next generation.

That’s a massive State of Play. I’m not going to let myself get excited. Is it weird if I don’t know if I actually want to watch it in real time and might instead opt to watch the coverage this time? I’ll probably still watch, but man I hope an hour means there’s enough time for games I like to be announced too.

Oh, jeez, I read this and I was like “4Loop, what is that? I’d never even heard of… oh… that one…”

After the Partner Direct being the typical Nintendo showing off full price ports of games you can buy for $8 elsewhere in 2026, I fully expect a full fat live service, Chinese hype game, and Marvel State of Play from Sony. Just setting my expectations at the lowest they can be, so I can’t be disappointed.

I honestly think that Sony’s fanbase is upset right now over the live service games mostly because we were told flat out by Jim Ryan that they would be used to help create the first person narrative adventure games we want from Sony, yet here we are 6 years from that PR speak and the live service push has only given us one decent live service game and zero narrative action adventure games that are the best yet in their respective series. HFW, GoY, and Ragnarok are all good games, but they weren’t as good or impactful as HZD, GoT, or GoW (2018), and therein lies the problem. Rift Apart is the only one that came close to that mark, but Sony’s turned Insomniac into a Marvel machine, so that feels different. Yes, anyone could argue that the Spider-Man games have improved, but that feels different and we all know that feels different.

I mean, we’ve got a Sony that two years ago said they didn’t have anything substantial to release after Concord one year, and that was the year Astro Bot, of all things, came out. This is a Sony that maybe doesn’t seem to know what it has. Because development times are so protracted and because there’s no real competition anymore (and therefore no exclusivity arms race), I think it’s totally viable why the industry is how it is right now. Granted, we’re in a bit of a golden age. You can look at what Capcom’s doing and see some strong evidence of that, but people are looking at what’s missing or what hasn’t evolved. People want things like Uncharted from Sony or Mass Effect from third parties. They want games that felt like how games felt when they loved games most and right now I think the industry is struggling to chase that dragon due to monetization and a different vision for gaming.

It’s hard not to argue that games, in many ways, haven’t evolved this generation like they did in generations prior either. I mean, shoot, remember when CoD: Cold War was talking about how haptics would change the feel of shooting in CoD and then it never returned after that entry. Ironically enough, most gamers turned off the “unique, immersion feature” for the sake of more competitive play. And therein lies another problem.

We forget that we’re a small piece of the gaming ecosystem and I think that rather than listening to us, Sony and others are instead realizing what a small part of the ecosystem the core single player gamers are.

Looks like we’re finally back to reviews season!

Personally, next week’s Mario Tennis for me on Switch and waiting for RE on PS, but I’m looking forward to an uptick in gaming reviews to catch up on.

@PuppetMaster Yeah, it’s the in-house thing I miss. Perhaps I should’ve used Concrete Genie as an example instead. Sony had a different vibe previously and it just feels so different now. Sword of the Sea and Death Stranding 2 were heads and shoulders above most everything Sony’s done this generation. There’s that Sony cool that feels like it’s shifted. I feel like I’m not getting the AA or AAA I’d like from Sony anymore. As Ubisoft has crumbled, Sony feels like they’re taking that spot rather than remaining a premium developer. In my eyes anyway.

@OldGamer999 Ironically, in 2024, Sony considered Astro Bot a AA title, and it seems that Concord might’ve been what they thought might be their big game. Astro Bot’s easily the best game Sony’s released this generation by a wide margin. For me, that one and Rift Apart are the only games Sony’s done this generation that stand side-by-side with what was made in the PS4 generation for me. Horizon 2 and Yotei were both fine, but they weren’t better games than the first games in their respective series.

Personally, the Spider-Man games don’t do anything for me and GoW’s not my cup of tea. I know many people love those two, but they’re personally not for me. That said, if Spider-Man does nothing for me, you can bet the slate of Marvel titles this year also don’t. Honestly, the fact that Marathon might be the most exciting game Sony’s announced for this year to me is a little dire. They don’t even really have third party exclusives outside samey looking Chinese games now either. Interstellar and Physint are basically the only known Sony games I currently care about.

Again, that’s maybe me though. I used to love Sony’s efforts in bringing unique experiences to the forefront. We had unique things like Parappa and Vib Ribbon and flawless titles like Ratchet and Clank and Jak and Daxter. Uncharted, Last of Us, etc. I miss when we had games like Flower, Bound, and Gravity Rush filled the empty space between bigger releases. If Sony was releasing a game, it used to be a sure fire purchase for me, but now… no… @StitchJones said above me that Sony must be glad Xbox had such a terrible start to this generation because Sony’s been able to coast. It’s unfortunate.

While PS5 has been a huge success for Sony, I do wonder how many gamers they’re burning off with the shift away from their cinematic first party games.

I bought Battle of Asciion on the Steamdeck and that’s a neat little curio. I’m mostly playing “waiting for Mario Tennis to come out next week.” I’m feeling ready to play my “first big game of the year.”

I have eshop credit on the Switch and Bomberman is looking more appealing than it probably should because I’m ready to buy something good. I might do it. I started watching my son play Monster Hunter Stories 3 yesterday too and I suspect we’ll continue.

January was a vacant slate for me. I cannot in good conscience vote for anything.

The real question is if Capcom will score a triple play and win the next three months.

That art style isn’t for me. With all these Overwatch-esque games flopping these days, I do wonder why that style of art keeps getting pushed out there. I wouldn’t be surprised if this is the next target by the internet hate brigade.

Personally, outside of Intergalactic and the potential of another Hideo Kojima game with Physint, I can’t say I’m interested in anything that Sony’s currently doing though, so take my opinion with a grain of salt.

Played the demo on Steam and immediately preordered on PS5 after playing

@MamaSymphonia oh it’s totally unrealistic, but how good are realistic expectations doing in the gaming industry?

Hope it’s at the Partner Direct tomorrow instead. Can you imagine? I’d be losing my mind!

@themightyant Yeah, I think that might be it. GTA’s basically been the same game since GTA3. I remember feeling that way before RDR2 though, but then it sucked me in and arguably might be my favorite game they’ve made. But most of that’s the storytelling and world building.

GTA tends to live somewhere far more cartoonish and vulgar, and I suppose that’s what both interests and repulses me most. I think, for me, the big question above the gameplay even is whether the cartoonish take on crime holds up in 2026. We live in a different world with different boundaries now. GTA used to appeal to so many people, but gamers are now more segmented than they’ve ever been and I suspect more people will buy a console and return to gaming for GTA6 than for any other game this generation. I think I’m looking more forward to the response than playing the game.

It could be personal that I’m skeptical, being that I was present for a tragic public event too. My perspective on the “dumb fun” moments in GTA is different than it used to be.

@Americansamurai1 That’s how I feel.

I’m sure GTA6 will be huge, but I just don’t know how I personally feel about playing a criminal sim as I get older. Lol. For some reason, I don’t expect GTA6 to have the type of gravitas Red Dead Redemption 2 had. I know most people will disagree with me, but GTA’s one of my least favorite of the Rockstar titles.

Judas, on the other hand, sounds like it’ll be doing new things with gameplay and immersion and narrative storytelling. If I was giving awards back in 2013, Bioshock Infinite would’ve topped GTA5 for GotY.

Just give us cynics a demo already

Releasing three games in a year is a bad thing? Tell that to Capcom. They’ve got at least four this year and all of them look incredible.

Microsoft is just trying to have an unrealistic expectation on how big Obsidian is. If Obsidian doesn’t take a unique spin on an established franchise, I fully expect them to be the Grounded studio as Rare became the Sea of Thieves studio, sad as it is.

I’m looking forward to Astro Bot’s podcast.

@Kingy @ShogunRok I love DQ, but I think that was the answer I needed. When I’m not in the middle of a game currently and waiting on new releases, the temptation to make a dumb purchase is very real. Thanks for talking some sense into me! I’ll no doubt buy this one when it’s on sale, so I can have it collect dust next to the DQ1/2 remake (and 3, though I actually removed that one from the plastic and beat it).

@ShogunRok Alright, Robert, give it straight to me here: if you felt that original was arduous and overlong in length, does this remake still retain that feel? I’d argue the original is maybe my least favorite in the series (of the mainline games anyway).

I’m torn on this one. Your review makes me feel like this one’s got a lot more charm than the original and I’m a sucker for Dragon Quest. It’s just so darn cozy. I’m not in a rush to get it or anything (some may scoff at this, but Mario Tennis and Resident Evil right before a packed March makes me feel like I’m quite content to wait for the inevitable lull that will no doubt occur if GTA6 does indeed launch this year), but would you recommend it to someone that feels totally torn?

@Judal27 That’s actually a valid point, though it’s almost a certainty that’s one problem solved for a short period of time until the touch screen introduces new issues.

@kyleforrester87 Depends on the youngsters. I know my kids get frustrated playing touch screen versions of games on their tablets. I was watching my son play Ducktales Remastered the other day (which is baffling that it’s on tablets apparently, but not on modern consoles, but that’s a different topic entirely) and I heard him say, under his breath during a boss battle, “this would be easy with real buttons.”

@SuntannedDuck2 Yeah, I’d argue that controllers are far more advanced now than they were in the PS3/360/Wii era, but developers are certainly less novel with how they utilize the controllers.

Sony’s not the only one at fault with that either. We’re on the second year of the Switch 2 and I can’t for the life of me understand why there’s a mouse mode yet for the Joycon 2. Welcome Tour and that Wheelchair game are the only games that have utilized that, and Welcome Tour’s the only game yet that has shown off how impressive the haptic feedback could be on the Switch 2. While I think the Dualsense is more powerful a controller, being in two separate hands, the joycon 2s could create a unique, immersive haptic motion blend of experience that could be unrivaled.

I do wonder if Nintendo will make anything truly quirky this generation to utilize that. The Switch era was the least quirky Nintendo’s perhaps ever been. I do miss weird Sony and weird Nintendo after roughly a decade of “safer” gaming experiences.

Honestly, Sony has barely utilized the potential of the DualSense with the power of its haptic feedback. They should really make more games that actually utilize that controller since, I mean, has it ever gotten utilized as well as Astro’s Playroom anywhere else in the console’s library?

Personally, I have no interest in a touch screen interface. The tactile feel of buttons is important. I thought Astro’s Playroom felt really immersive for the haptics and I’m sure Sony’s thinking that might be the case with this, but I don’t know. If that’s the PS6 controller, I can actually see my family not being interested in using the controller.

My Little Puppy is my game of the weekend. I started playing it with the wife and kids last night and it seems to be a short one. I imagine there’s a possibility I’ll complete the game and have yet more gaming time this weekend as the wife is sick and I expect she may want to rest rather than do our weekend plans, but I’m not sure what else I may play just yet.

@Questionable_Duck the crazy thing is that I don’t know if it’s Gen AI or not. I’ve tried to research it and it seems that it was “probably not Gen AI,” but it’s always a possibility. All I can find is that Toaplan tried to make this collection as faithful as possible to the retro stylization that it came from, which means next to nothing in determining the authenticity of the artwork. I hope it’s the real deal.

Voted for Design N: Sweeper Woman. I’d be really happy with design K too. They’re similar designs and I just slightly liked N more.

Honestly, I hope Capcom does the right thing and maybe uses design Q too because Cactus Man is really unique and it’s cool to see a robot master have transformations. Maybe it’s a Dragon Ball thing for me, but I like transformations. Lol.

@Nightcrawler71 the Half-Life series, Wolfenstein, Bioshock, Goldeneye, Metroid Prime, Superhot, Left 4 Dead, Doom, the Halo series, etc. For a PvE FPS to be solid, it just needs to be 15+ years old, basically.

@Questionable_Duck Sort of sad that this is a question that’s being asked of a small project like this

@AhmadSumadi I agree. I can’t say I’m excited about a single one of these games. They all seem pretty similar to something else that already exists, but missing something intangible at the same time.

@ShogunRok The game looks so dense that I’m hoping for a demo. Even if it gets good reviews from people I trust, I’m still not sure this one will be for me since there’s just so much going on with it.

@RoomWithaMoose “Even amidst the darkest nightmare, it may be broken by the light of the dawn”

@RoomWithaMoose if we, as a society, accept that as too virtuous a reality, we are choosing to doom our ability to coexist with others, and opt into an Orwellian nightmare. There is always the opportunity to choose q better future and to believe in the greater good of our species. We have far more choice than we are led to believe.

I strongly disagree with Swen. And I say that as someone that can’t stand the YouTube echo chamber and a great deal of review sites.

Instead, I think gamers too highly value aggregate reviews like Metacritic to sway their purchases and tend to move as a flock these days. All you have to do to understand the flaw of “reviewing the reviewer” is to look at user scores of Metacritic. Credible reviewers may get toasted for disagreeing with the consensus just like developers do. And honestly this agenda would push a hegemony of opinion, which we absolutely don’t need in any field of rational thought.

I think back on the @pjoreilly reviews of Stalker 2 and Indiana Jones on PureXbox last year. Those were brave reviews to post, but totally honest to his perspective. I totally disagreed with his opinions, but they were some of my favorite reviews to read because they were valid criticisms.

We need more honest feedback in gaming, sure, but reviewing the reviewer isn’t the way. Supporting the reviewers you trust IS the way. Forming your own opinion IS the way. Learning to respectfully disagree and learn from opinions that may differ from your own IS the way.

By the way, @pushsquare, @NintendoLife, @PureXbox, @TimeExtension, if ever you all do get reviewed by the masses, you’re all getting a 10/10 from me.

@darylb24 So often in the industry right now you hear those stories of “my mom told me that my game was cancelled” and I dunno. That just seems like such an insane, disrespectful way to work with talent to me. The game had to have been pretty close to complete if she was done with her contract too. Wouldn’t be shocked if this remake gets leaked in a couple years and it’s a discussion point.

@darylb24 If you cancel a project, you tell the team. Even if she was paid, that’s bad business.

I need a demo for this one. Not to be cynical, but I’ve been buying a lot of these new wave of Chinese games and I’ve yet to play one that plays as well or feels as cohesive as they look before launch.

Who fires people without telling them? Seems really haphazard how they cancel these projects these days

Got RE9, Life is Strange, and Pragmata preordered and eying Bubsy for May of all things. Gotta admit, it’s looking like a game per month for me this year and I’m loving that. Would be happy to see a Control release date.

Would love to see a Sony First Party surprise we don’t know about, but not expecting it. I’m just being greedy and hoping for a first party Sony game that appeals to me to be announced, but there’s enough coming that looks high quality, even if none of that stuff’s for me.

Yuck Super 17. The worst arc in all of Dragon Ball. I’ll buy this, but, man… I hope there’s little GT stuff. Would be happy to see more OG DB like King Piccolo though. Wish we could get some of the unexplored character from Super more than anything, but I know that’s a dream.

Also, I hope Supreme Kai and Kibito are in the next DLC! How are they missing!?

Interesting to see them go so far into the future that it disconnects things entirely from the main series and frees it from canon. I wonder where they’ll go with this. I feel like Toriyama’s wanted to explore the future of Dragon Ball for a long time and I’m glad they greenlit him to do it in some capacity for one of his final projects. I mean, Toriyama’s been pigeonholed into a Goku shaped corner since Super Saiyan debuted.

Man, I can’t wait for this one, no matter what it’s called!

Played the Rubato demo on my Switch 2 last night and I just have to remark about that because it was utterly fantastic and I’m looking forward to buying the full game in March now.

But, for the weekend, I’m working today and my birthday party’s tomorrow, sooo… I’m sure we’ll play some form of party game tomorrow. Jackbox or Mario Party or something along those lines.

With my birthday being so close, I’m sort of using that to play more games than usual. I did finally start Terranigma after years of wanting to see what it was about and it’s a really beautiful 16 bit JRPG. I’d really like to start the Seance of Blake Manor tonight. I was also able to find Vib Ribbon recently and that’s been a definite go-to game for me. Man, do I wish Sony would revisit Vib Ribbon and Parappa… That’s a wish for the birthday candles…

@Oram77 I know some may disagree with me, buuuuut…

Queen’s Blood > Gwent

Square complains about how they don’t hit their financial targets, but a Queen’s Blood standalone is such obvious, easy (and likely lower budget to produce) money. Square, just take a win.

Hey now, maybe this game truly is special and we just don’t realize it yet.

I never say this but I want a Queen’s Blood mobile app. I want to play it if I take a lunch break at work.