Julius

Game has gone gold: All the yes, can't wait

Yeah, totally get that, I think I'm one of those in the middle with you where I enjoy the games (I've played Demon's Souls and Dark Souls so far), but they do still stress me out a bit. I think it's just kind of part of the package with this game. They're incredibly intense at times, but that's matched by how rewarding I find them, which is compounded by the fact that I love the challenge of their boss fights, great level design, and S-tier soundtracks. Thankfully, I'm in the mood for another From Software game right about now. So I can't wait to dig in, just need to remember to get up and stretch my legs a bit It's really interesting that you mention RDR2 and BOTW in particular, as yeah, those two games and this all seem to have done something with open worlds that other games have fallen short of with theirs, which is reflected in their respective scores (going off how high they all are on aggregate score sites like Metacritic, anyways). I think the difference is that there's a conversation to be had about these games which transcend the typical open world structure. The problem with creating an open world which is so heavily structured - arguably mollycoddling at times, and perhaps even overdesigned to some extent? - is that every player will be having the same experience when it comes to the general progression of the story and their traversal of the world, etc., which in any non-open world, and more linear game, would be the major beats of the game. The same design ethos - a focus on experiencing the same beats in virtually identical ways - being applied to open world games just doesn't work that well, at least in my opinion, unless I'm looking for such an experience. BOTW, RDR2, and seemingly now Elden Ring, are all games where you are creating stories to discuss with your friends through what you experience and decide to do in the game - where do you go? Who do you talk to? How do you act? - which creates a sense of community and immersive relevance unique to you, because the sense of discovery and awe is amplified by the sense of adventure, which other open world experiences are often lacking. That's not to say that other open worlds are lesser - when I'm in the mood, I love the checklists of open worlds, but I only engage with them when I am in the mood - but I think it's one of the things which elevates these open world experiences and differentiates them from the rest. I know you said they're not your type of game - which is fair enough, play what you want to play! - but have you tried one before? Is there a particular thing which puts you off about them from what you've seen or heard, and is there something you would want to see from them moving forwards that might bring you into the fold? Genuinely curious, hope this doesn't come across as trying to call you out, I always just like getting other perspectives on things, as you know! I feel like you can say that about anything that reviews well in hindsight, but that easily falls apart when you figure that just one of these aspects could have gone disastrously wrong and made the game an incohesive mess. Souls - I haven't played Nioh, so can't comment there, but being Souls-like is an overutilised oversimplification of a game that's considered more difficult than others and tells its story indirectly. But it's been applied to so, so many games at this point that the myriad of review scores out there show that being a Souls-like probably doesn't mean much unless it's executed well. From Software - quality developer develops a quality game and it's reflected in its reviews, that's not too surprising. They could have easily made a bad one and it would have been called out as such by most reviewers. Same goes for other stellar companies in the industry, like Nintendo. None of these guys are infallible. Yes, we're all staring across the room at Naughty Dog right now (and this is as someone who actually enjoyed parts of Part II). Open world - so this is totally subjective, but from my perspective (and I'm basing this only off the reviews, as I haven't played the game yet), this is only going to be the third open world game to knock it out of the park in the last 5 years, the other two being Breath of the Wild and Red Dead Redemption II. No, I don't consider God of War or Dragon Quest XI to be open world, well at least not in the same sense that the other games I mentioned are. And again, this isn't me saying that the other open world games are lesser by any means (even if at times they can be a bit formulaic), but I think these two (and possibly three, now, with Elden Ring) will be standing above the rest when all is said and done. Game of Thrones - assuming this is a reference to GRRM's involvement...it doesn't seem to have done much, if anything, from the perspective of someone reading and watching a few of these reviews. I think his entire involvement fell flat after Schreier leaked it ahead of E3 2019, and I've barely seen it mentioned outside of Bandai Namco's marketing of the fact. The final season of GoT falling flat on its face months before the announcement of his involvement (regardless of GRRM's involvement in the series or lack thereof by that point) certainly didn't help. Early-generation next-gen experience - I genuinely don't think Bandai Namco have had the nerve to market this as being a next-gen experience, and rightly so, because it was designed with last gen in mind. It's a noticeable visual improvement from what From Software has released before, but it doesn't exactly scream next-gen. I also don't think reviewers are viewing it this way either, and I genuinely think it would have reviewed just as well if it hypothetically were in this state and launched before the PS5 and Series X | S. So yeah, I think it's clear it could have failed, quite easily actually. I could end up hating the game, I try to be honest even just on a forum about my opinions on things, but for the reviewers at least, it seems like they've got a whole lot of praise for this game. We rarely see games hyped to all hell reviewing this highly on aggregate score sites like Metacritic, so let us be excited it genuinely reminds me of the reception Breath of the Wild got back in 2017, and I can't wait!

Okay, now it's finally being rolled out Finally! The end of my time spent recording my TV on Friday nights to send funny GTA clips on a group chat is nigh

Well, only one of my three friends that I play with weekly doesn't have Ghost of Tsushima yet, so I guess this should be a good way to convince them to dive into Legends with me after Gran Turismo 7 Otherwise, bit of a meh month to be honest

Reviews are dropping and so far they're a doozy to look at. We'll see where it lands over the next few days, I'd expect it to drop a few points, but it's looking like it's going to be From Software's best reviewing game based on the early aggregate scores (for reference, Bloodborne currently sits at the top of their pile with 92 on Metacritic), and potentially one of the highest reviewing of the generation. RISE...YE TARNISHED!

The game's soundtrack is being released in three waves on all streaming platforms, starting with Volume 1 on Friday:

Anime inbound:

Launch trailer (which is immediately going in a spoiler tag to save anyone accidentally opening it up, I'm not watching it either as launch trailers tend to show far too much): Reviews are dropping tomorrow. I think I'll probably only check out one or two from outlets I trust to not show too much, see the hype-inducing scores, and then I'll be going dark on it before the conversation of difficulty rears its ugly head. Less than three days to go! I'm not going to make the mistake I did with Dark Souls last year, I'm going in and will probably be relatively quiet until it's done. But I'm very excited

First look at the PSVR2 headset:

But actually, think it was this: and/or this:

The logo legitimately looks like a free-to-play mobile game letting you know you've got 6 notifications to bug you into buying some microtransactions. But even more damning: I do wonder if they'll change the logo, it really is abysmal. Also, am I the only who hates the fact that they went with the cardinal '6' over the Roman numeral 'VI' this time? Roman numerals are far cooler in practically every case. The earlier Street Fighter titles show that they're aware of that. Capcom, sort your stuff out. I'd be pretty surprised if this were PS5 exclusive to be honest, firstly considering that if that were the case, why not share that here or save it for a State of Play? And secondly because it feels like the FGC has grown quite substantially since V, with many multi-platform successes. EVO is probably the biggest thing going for exclusivity in my mind, but I think Capcom would be silly to limit their install base, especially if it's not a feature complete game at launch in the way that V wasn't. I wasn't even massively into games at that point and I still heard a lot about the blowback there. Also... It'll be interesting to see how this one shakes out. Curious: when does everyone imagine this will release? Capcom has had a pretty tight ship over the last few years, and while I know we've heard a lot about trouble behind the scenes on this one, this is surely arriving before the end of 2022, assuming smooth sailing, right?

More of a look at the facelift the opera scene has got in VI's Pixel Remaster, courtesy of Famitsu: Just...just go all the way with it already!

All but confirmed for Western release seeing as a stream is dropping in a bit with the same title as the Japanese stream, imagine we'll get confirmation on a Western release date: I don't even know where you'd place that bet and while the platform choice is suicide in Japan, it's not exactly the centre of the universe for the sales of niche Japanese games anymore. The West has become much more receptive to such games in the last 5 years or so. At the end of the day, say that there is moneyhatting going on as we had evidence for with MH, then these Japanese devs are getting their cake, and eating it too, and then some. Using Capcom and MH as an example, because that's the one where it's undeniable: they got a PlayStation marketing deal alongside probably some extra to keep it off Switch (where, let's be honest, it wouldn't have run great or would have been drastically pared down), then got crazy PC sales some 6+ months after launch, then got a console exclusivity deal with Nintendo for Rise, and then got crazy PC sales for that game again. Oh, and both games will have huge paid expansions when all is said and done, too. I doubt Capcom is complaining in that case, and in ATLUS's case, I don't doubt that we'll see it come to Switch in the future. They've done similar with 13 Sentinels: came out on PlayStation and Steam, great critical reception, now a year and a half or so after its release it's coming to Switch for what are probably going to be even stronger sales on a comparatively larger install base compared to where the Switch was in September 2020. It's up to these companies at the end of the day whether they want to take that money if that is part of the equation (so it's hard to blame a company for doing it if they're going to be receptive to deals like that), but with a game like this I think it makes sense to hold fire on a Switch release anyways to get double-dipping and new portable customers down the line. Now, I'm not saying this is a good thing if it is being moneyhatted. But I think it's a wise move on ATLUS's part with or without that being the case.

I mean, at this point, it's just an ATLUS thing. I'm sure it'll come, but considering it's on everything, there are some mental gymnastics to it being missing from Switch at launch coming down to PlayStation. Will be surprised if it's not on Switch within two years of launch. I don't think it's down to moneyhatting, I think they just want that sweet cash from people double-dipping to get a portable version down the road on Switch. That's what I'd do. And if, hypothetically, there is moneyhatting going on, I mean you're getting paid to make the smart move anyways. No confirmation for the West yet, but it's got to be coming if it's going to be on Xbox and Steam day and date, and ATLUS West retweeted the announcement. So it's just a matter of time...right?

Yeah, absolutely agree. If it were going to be an announcement like that, I think it'd be saved for the 27th -- so it'll probably just be an event of some sort. What, if anything, do we think we'll see on the anniversary proper on the 27th? Sword & Shield had their DLC revealed a month and a half or so after release (albeit as concept art), so I do wonder if Legends: Arceus DLC is on the cards. That and/or maybe the announcements of mythical events for BD & SP is about as far as my hopes go for the 27th.

That's a pretty boring logo, and I'm sure the RE Engine look will be divisive. Considering there was a week-long countdown to this, that's very little to decide to show. More news to come in the summer. Platforms still TBC.

Developer diary from IGN Game Fest: Pew pew pew pew This is going to be so much fun!

Digital Foundry's take on the newest update is up, for those curious:

Nice! Cleffa isn't too bad, you just need to go to... As for the starters... Out of those, Bonsly is probably the one that spawned the least for me, but I picked a few up while roaming around during the story. I think they're in the second area?

It's been so weird seeing how the launch edition has changed since the game resurfacing last summer at SGF. Regular boxes > what is now the launch edition + regular box > the current launch edition, which seemingly has no regular box but still shows the same slipcase. Super bizarre! What makes it even more confusing is this from the official Bandai Namco store, which still shows the current launch edition slipcase and steelbook + regular box? And in the description it's described as coming with an alternative steelbook. So goodness knows what actually is the case at this point, guess we'll see on Friday I do get it, though. Still irks me that Like a Dragon never got a standard PS4 box, and so I just picked up the steelbook in the end (I know PS5 had one, but meh, gets into a whole other weird thing I've got going on with some of my game collection). If this ever gets a standard release with a regular box I'll probably just pick it up on sale at some point anyways

Overview trailer is up, and it's beefy, and apparently shows a lot, so beware if you're avoiding stuff, as I imagine the launch trailer that will drop in the next week will be showing a lot too, and not to mention reviews (which I think are dropping on Wednesday?). I'm right there with you, I've rewatched a few of the trailers we've had for a while a lot over the last few days, and trying to pin it down to a game I can't quite remember one was the last which had me quite as excited. The PS5 launch was pretty hype-inducing, though I think that had a lot to do with the myriad of lockdowns just making it so much easier to pool all of my hype into one spot. I'm just going to be careful when I do get my hands on the game, as with Dark Souls the timing of me burning out on it (I think in part due to talking too much about it) lined up with Ornstein and Smough, and I don't want a repeat with Elden Ring. Also need to be careful I don't go too far the other way and actually get some sunlight well, heavily filtered sunlight, thanks English weather! What's everyone playing/doing to pass the time up until release? I think I'll try to finish off Ocarina of Time and maybe sneak in another shorter game, depending on when I do manage to finish OoT. Originally I was planning to go back to complete the Artorias of the Abyss DLC in Dark Souls, but trying to do whatever I can to avoid potential Souls burnout with Elden Ring less than a week away (!) I'll probably have to come back to it after.

I think it's a bit more complex than that. Beyond the bugs I remember seeing a whole range of opinions on how the game handled quite a bit, it never seemed like a game that was half great and half bugs from what I experienced, and from what I remember seeing and hearing from others at the time of release, the issues went deeper. That's not to say there's nothing to enjoy in it, I'm sure there is based on even just the opinions of people in this thread who either played on PC or were fortunate to not have too many issues on a next-gen console at launch, but if anything, I think it *might* be a case of eliminate the bugs = somewhere between good to great story/world, but not exactly a great *game*. I remember the world being very interesting, I enjoyed a quest or two and some of the characters, and the story was starting to pick up by the time I found myself putting it back on the shelf. I didn't get particularly far into it (well, I think I got to the second act, so maybe I was further along than I felt when I dropped it? Which I suppose might be more difficult to perceive when it's crashing pretty frequently), but to talk about it from a gameplay perspective, I remember driving around being pretty joyless, hand-to-hand combat had very little depth to it, and while the gunplay was a fine first attempt for CDPR, for what promises to be a first-person RPG and would naturally be 20+ hours of gunfighting at minimum in a single playthrough, it wasn't fun enough. I also remember it doing a terrible (read: sometimes non-existent and oftentimes very poor) job of explaining things at times, and some of it's menus were like diving into a hoarder's den. And this is just what I remember over a year out. As @martinist said, I don't think this game is out of the woods just yet, and for anyone like me who has been waiting to give the game it's second shot - while it seems to be running better and is a bit less buggy, I think it's definitely worth waiting for the Digital Foundry update on this if one is coming - I have a hunch that it might be worth waiting a little longer. The fact that this is a Version 1.5 rather than a 2.0; that it's getting these next-gen updates pushed out with very little fanfare behind it; and that it was so unceremoniously shadow-dropped the same week a game like Horizon Forbidden West released and just over a week from Elden Ring arriving makes me think that this isn't the update we've been waiting for to go back. If it was, I think it could have easily waited until April or May, when it could have got a lot more press and fanfare than it did, and I don't think anyone waiting would have been complaining. Personally, nothing I've seen or heard about this update so far has given me the confidence that I should be going back to Cyberpunk over playing something else right now. So I'll be waiting a bit longer, I think.

Yeah, I think that's also something they do when you get a game early too (it happened with me when my copy of Brilliant Diamond turned up half a week early). I can kind of get it for a full game release in some instances where you don't want reviewers or people with early copies going rogue and spoiling things for others, but it seems a bit extreme for a play test of a game specifically like this? Though, I suppose they want to make it clear that this isn't the final product and is a stress test, and would be concerned about people sharing footage of the game which isn't representative of that Anyways, great reading yours and @BowserBasher's thoughts. I didn't sign up myself for the Play Test in the end because I knew I'd be busy around the times of the tests, but reading that you guys are getting some proper enjoyment out of it and that the online is smooth is pretty much all I needed to see coming out of this

Somehow it's already been three weeks since launch, so Pokémon are now showing off some of the Pokémon and characters not shown off in the build-up to the game's release. I'll throw the video in a spoiler tag for now as I know some are still playing: