thefourfoldroot

@WexMajor
Sure… and I don’t collect games just to have a disc of polycarbon, I do it for the fun and the challenges included in the 0s and 1s. I really couldn’t care less about whether the fun is mainly in the narrative campaign or trophy campaign, I see no reason to differentiate. Which is why, if a game has both, it is innately better than if that same game only had the one campaign. Especially if, as in this case, I’ve already played the narrative campaign to death.

@WexMajor
The trophy campaign is an entirely new campaign in every game for me. Often more fun to accomplish than the more linear narrative campaign completion. Developer given challenges are hardly “nothing”, lol.

I’m interested to see whether they have trophy support, or just the same old challenges from before with nothing added.

Trial and error and memorisation. No thanks. Up there with tedious stealth and MMO resets as the most supreme wastes of life in gaming

Games like this are completely transformed in VR. Needs to happen!
Has this flat screen 2d version even got motion control support for fine tuning shots?

@sonicmeerkat
Exactly this. Let’s not be prudish now. First thing I thought. My character in saints row 4 was amazing.

I can see in a video there are sliders for chest size and a section called “modesty”, but so far it’s only been shown applied to a male character. Wouldn’t be surprised if, Sony at least, required the chest slider removed for female avatars.

If there is a choice between a product placement ad and predatory Microtransaction practices then I’ll pick ads every time. Especially if it is integrated into the game in a way that isn’t distracting. Meaning brands that are relevant to the setting.

It’s been done in Japanese games quite a bit. Certain brands in FFXV spring to mind.

To be honest, it bored me. Got a little past the first boss to when it opened up a bit and just couldn’t be bothered. Went back to playing a Yakuza game I think, which is much less po-faced.

For me personally, live service games are an innately inferior genre as I like to play as many varied gaming experiences as possible. Playing the same game continuously for months and years on end is a young persons game; as in I probably would have enjoyed it when my available game time and budget restricted me to playing only a few games a year anyway, but not now.

It’s also the case that, admittedly not exclusively by any means, but most such games are multiplayer. Again, this would have been fine when I was younger and had friends who gamed, but you lose touch over the years and your friend ring shrinks, plus those remaining will have their gaming time similarly restricted.

I do think it’s a bad thing for the videogames market in general too. Not financially, as player engagement being high for years means more Microtransaction sales, plus adding to an already existing game is cheaper than making new IPs and even sequels, but in terms of game diversity and locking talented devs into less interesting projects.

Then, of course, there is the fact that peoples play time is zero sum, so long engagement games can only have a limited number of really big successes at a time. Then they are shuttered and of no value to future players (unlike games of old, which can be enjoyed forever with the correct BC work or on native devices).

I have nothing against Sony releasing a few of these games to keep the money rolling in, but to have 10 simultaneously in development speaks to a level of focus I do not appreciate.

Still, Sony are doing VR, so I stuck with them throughout all their recent terrible policy changes, and I’ll be staying with them a little longer.

In terms of local co-op, It takes two, followed by overcooked 2. Haven’t really found anything else we like, although that Haven looks interesting.

Sounds interesting, but quite a shallow review when it comes to discussing the politics that seems to be such a strong part of the game. Any examples? Is it a balance and nuanced treatment? More of a statement?
Also, what are the mini games?

7. With all of my guesses incorrect, lol.

Going for the fist of the North Star lost paradise plat (or at least making some headway towards it). Still working through blue reflection off and on (but I really don’t like playing two games at once). I also bought Tales of Arise physical for £28, which I though was a bit of a bargain considering I can trade it for £18 when done. Likely won’t start it for a while for the above mentioned reason, but it is calling to me somewhat lol.

I rarely play phone games, but I’m not too much of a snob to think they are all bad, some just don’t translate to controllers though. If Sony would just release phone games on phones, but connected PSN so we can also have trophy challenges, I’d buy them. Guess Sony just don’t want to give anything to the platform holders or stores though.

@Milktastrophe
It’s likely people who haven’t logged in for the year. So, people who have sold their console or died. Now, I think Sony should just have a full screen message pop up every hour for the last days of plus, where people explicitly have to opt in or out of the auto sign up. It can also let people set a reminder within the upcoming 30 days. I think this is a reasonable compromise for Sony (obviously the prompt would not show again after the decision was made).
The problem with not renewing for people only using it for cloud backup is that there will be people who only want it for cloud backup. Now whether Sony should lock that within the service us another question of course…

@Cherrywood
I went to the zoo on a trip to Rome. You didn’t miss too much. It was certainly better than London Zoo, but some of the smaller monkeys were in a shocking state. Some type of skin condition. If you like baby giraffes and baby elephants though it was good.

So, he’s mistaking people willing to claim a “free” game with those willing to pay full price? I am one of those to claim it, but will probably never play it, and would certainly never have bought it.

Might give this another go. Especially if they add a seperate trophy list I can go for, ideally different to the first so I have new tasks to do.
I almost never replay games, but I also almost never play DLC, so complete versions can be interesting. No auto pops though please.

Oh, and, yeah…delays…not really important to me. Far too much to play. Just take your time and don’t mess things up.

Might seem strange, but I would actually have rather them have released a sequel rather than all of these (even free) updates.

@Panic_Attache
Not sure. I assume there will be a setting to stop it happening, which will prevent the message of course. It’s a little annoying as my TV is already set to games mode on that source, but can’t say it’s bothered me enough to search the settings.

Some decent sales. A little below normal sale price for Catherine and Tales of a Berseria (although far off the best ever price for the latter).
I’m just hesitant to buy anything until I know what new games might be in the new plus collection (although I probably won’t get that straight away to be fair).

@Woogy
I wondered what that “Instant game mode” message thing was on my LG.

Just got some lovely cream and honeycomb from Sainsburys. Can’t remember the make, but it’s on offer for £2. Highly recommended.

Edit: it’s called Mackies

Oh, and glad the system is going to have better performance, lol. I guess that 1Gb is not extra though, most will just replace what’s taking up space already.

@Titntin
Totally agree. I don’t remember telling anyone to boycott the game at all, but if I did my annoyance simply got the better of me.
I’m not so much lamenting these (somewhat) inconsequential changes, as railing against the very consequential policy of which this is a part.
This is very much due to demands of various interest groups as Sony have stated very explicitly and without the need for any interpretation. These groups are extremely self important, which to me is synonymous with arrogant and pompous.
But yes, this is a good place to leave it I think 👍

@Titntin
Lol, ok mate. If you want to look at a 9 year old and sexualise her, then get her to change her outfit because you don’t think it’s appropriate, that’s you. If you want to read the line “break her in to be more ladylike” in a sexual way that’s also up to you. Neither of these things are presented in a sexual context in the game.

But, again, this has nothing to do with a fictional character’s age, this is a Sony policy that they have stated is due to the @metoo movement, and applies to characters of all ages in multiple games now.

So, are you saying that you too believe it is wrong for Sony to change such things when the polygons are labelled as adults? Because if it was only a couple of isolated incidents when the fictional characters are meant to be younger this would impact hardly any games and so it really wouldn’t matter to me either. Then we can agree, rather than having one of us throwing insults…

I would actually be interested in your answer to that question.

Hopefully this investment will give Sony some influence in getting key features of Unreal 5 implemented in VR. Epic have been largely dismissive thus far.

@Titntin
It’s true art is changed all the time to meet the arrogant demands of modern or dominant voices; this doesn’t mean it is a good thing, nor does it mean the original art is destroyed, only new adaptions and interpretations added. These new adaptions have always been allowed to be critiqued. Unfortunately it seems that non compliant voices and opinions are no longer allowed, or are just shut down as being out of touch or (dramatically and pompously) immoral and unacceptable for “right thinking” peoples.

Sony really isn’t going in the direction I’d like them to. Guess they are following the money though, so as long as that lets them continue to make money to invest in stuff I like (such as VR) then I’m good. Would prefer them to actually buy companies so they can guarantee games don’t get locked up by MS though.

@themightyant
I really didn’t want to derail the thread with a censorship debate, so I’ll simply give my opinion on what you said and leave it there:
No, I don’t think it needed to change. It is a character’s personality, not a philosophical treatise by the writers. What you are reading into it is also not what a child would read into it, so your comment about it being teen rated is not particularly relevant.
I know people don’t treat videogames as art, but Its the same as if someone changed lines spoken by a character in a respected literary work simply because they thought such ideas should not be expressed…not good.

@themightyant
Why? Representing a character’s thoughts is not the same as supporting or endorsing those thoughts.
Also, it’s clear that the ladylike bit was removed also.

@LN78
No. It’s ok. My posts are there to read again if you care about not being confused, but it’s not important everyone gets it.

@Titntin
It’s not sexual and not necessary, nor is her age (which I didn’t know) in the slightest bit relevant because Sony do this irrespective of a characters age. If you think this isn’t done with characters of any “age” then you haven’t been paying attention. It’s common knowledge and has led to the mutilation or non release of many games on Sony systems these last 4 years.
Sony have admitted themselves that anything considered an “upskirt” or anything “anti-feminist” is simply not allowed in the wake of the @metoo movement. Of course, they consider what is anti-feminist centrally now, and don’t take into account different cultures.

@LN78
No problem. I can see that justifying my thoughts based on my own personal experience could easily lead to tangled wires.

@LN78
True, but when talking about game preservation as I was (rather than for personal lifetime use), “eventually” is kind of the point…

@LN78
Lol, true, but that doesn’t mean I’m about to go kill myself. Nor does it mean people / companies shouldn’t think about the best way to preserve gaming history for future generations.

@LN78
Yes, well, 3 younger siblings and cds that can get scratched are not a great combination. As for carts, they do wear, But admittedly it could be my actual NES on the way out. I don’t have another to try the carts in. Either way though, the idea that physical media last forever is clearly not going to be true. Decentralised digital preservation with hard backup is the best way to go.

@mrtennis1990
Well, physical discs won’t last forever anyway. Many of my PS1/2 discs don’t work. To go back further, many of my NES carts only work intermittently, and carts were even less prone to damage.
No, I’d go all digital tomorrow if getting a digital “license”, that you cannot trade or resell, wasn’t such a colossal rip-off compared to physical ownership.

@OneWingedAngel
Put some big bloomers on a character instead of knickers (to be fair I hear this collection of polygons is canonically 9, but I doubt any weirdos are going to be getting their rocks off to this game!, plus, you know, fictional characters); they also changed some text to cater for those who consider the term “ladylike” to be offensive.

https://archive.ph/qcQZ1

@theMEGAniggle
For not liking censorship in principle? Ok. Would advise not insulting people needlessly.
Anyway, I was just informing people it was censored, no need for a long conversation about it derailing the topic.

@WadeIsInsane
Admittedly I didn’t know her age, but then the question becomes why Sony are thinking about it in a sexualised way at all.
That, however, was not the only thing they changed. Also parts of the script have been changed from the original. Apparently asking a female to become more of a lady is offensive now 🤷‍♂️

It’s also been censored, so yet another way it’s not as good as the original…avoid this like covid.

Fist of the North Star Lost Paradise, Blue Reflection, and Falcon Age. Haven’t started Falcon Age yet but bought it on sale recently. The other two really have their grip in me.

I understand why the design is divisive. Personally though I really love the look. That’s probably helped by the fact that I moved house shortly after getting one and literally chose largely white furniture and a large TV stand specifically to compliment the console though, lol. If I had a smaller, maybe brown, TV cabinet which it didn’t properly fit into, it might just look wrong.
No faceplates for me.
Plus, I’d want it to match the white PSVR2 anyway.

Depends on the game. Very glad Kiwami and Kiwami 2 got remade for example, and really wish they would remake Dead Souls. On other occasions I wish they’d just put effort into sequels or new IP.

Great. I know lots of people can’t get a new console due to supply, but even they will benefit when they finally do and games actually take advantage of the tech rather than having old gen games up-resed.

Not played Returnal as the genre isn’t really my thing. I’m really glad It Takes Two got it’s deserved recognition though. One of the best games of last year for sure. The wife and I hope this means their next games will go along similar lines.

I can’t express how little I care about stuff like this. Barely games as far as I’m concerned. Just places for people to hang out and chat with mates while doing the same mindless things over and over again.

Would be phenomenal in VR, but wouldn’t turn my nose up at a flat window game with motion controls.

@MightyDemon82
I don’t have a problem with the game mechanics or age, it’s just I feel like I’ve played it a million times before. It feels tired. But mileage will vary. I’d just rather be playing more engrossing games is all. It’s fine for what it is.

Edit: and Astro Bot Rescue Mission surpassed all other platformers, including the Mario games, lol.

Might give slay the spire a go at some point. No interest in the rest (well, I tried SpongeBob earlier and it was poor).