Julius

I could be misremembering, but I think this is the first time the game has been officially confirmed as being in development. I think everyone thought when Epic Games announced they were publishing two Remedy titles - a smaller one and a larger one - that one might be a sequel to Alan Wake after they got the full rights in 2019, and it's possible it leaked like Alan Wake Remastered did, but I don't think they actually came out and officially confirmed Alan Wake II until last night. EDIT: not to say it wasn't very openly teased in another one of their games before this

Yes and no I guess? Being this far into a run and getting to a boss for the first time definitely brings a bit of panic with it, though I think jumping around, just dodging and focusing on not attacking for the first 30 seconds did me a lot of favours in staying my nerves. The panic in that instance I think was compounded from the waves of bullet hell style projectiles just before to not knowing if this thing was somehow going to suddenly be behind me and fly through a pillar, I was expecting a maddening shriek or something when it turned back up to scare the life out of me I haven't yet, don't worry! Only just woke up from my Game Awards-induced coma...

Think the Game Awards trailer was much stronger than recent ones we've got for this. Also, we've got a release date: 24th May 2022! So with this in May, Stranger of Paradise in March, and probably some kind of, oh I don't know, tapestry of classic Final Fantasy games coming to console for the 35th anniversary next year maybe in the summer...the back half of next year for Square Enix's Japanese side is looking real quiet. Just saying

Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade is coming to the Epic Games Store on 16th December (so, next Friday):

Sam Lake teased that they would have more to share next year, before stating we would potentially see it again next summer.

Well, don't think anyone saw this one coming.

The Blue Blur finally conceded to peer pressure I guess

Story trailer from The Game Awards: Two months and two weeks to go!

Yeah, get what you mean about the trailers. I think it's much more about the reactions and networking opportunities for those attending. As for Eclipse, I'm hyped as hell because Star Wars, but some of the massive open landscapes they showed seemed far beyond the scope of any of their previous games. So, I'm nervous! Also Alan Wake II published by Epic, so give us Ueda's game Geoff damn it!

Into my veins, oh my goodness! High Republic at last!

Didn't call out any of the companies in particular (Activision, Ubisoft, et al), but fair play to Keighley for his impassioned speech on how harassment, predatory actions, and other disgusting things we've heard about happening way too much and in an increasing manner has no place in gaming. He got a lot of flak recently for not speaking up, but this is as close as he can get I guess without cutting ties. Now here we go

Well, there it is: Hisuian Voltorb confirmed!

So, anyone else staying up to check out The Game Awards tonight? I've just got up from a nap and I'm a little groggy, but raring to go there were some definite lulls at previous TGA's so I'm seriously debating whether to catch the Easy Allies stream, if anything just to not fall asleep at those times. Because we all know they're coming. My expectations are...tempered. On the whole I think it's been a really shoddy year for press conferences across the board, as I'm sure most would agree, especially with E3 being as rough as it was - the equivalent of trying to spread a knife's worth of butter over an entire loaf of bread - and more and more companies wanting to cut out their own space for digital events. It's kind of reminded me that I guess not every company is on the pulse when it comes to knowing what their audience wants, because I don't think anyone wanted what we got in the summer, which was the complete opposite problem to what we had last summer. This all being said though, Geoff has bought a bit of my hype moving forwards with how he got the Elden Ring trailer for Summer Game Fest's Kickoff event - considering that the game first showed up in an Xbox event at E3, that can't have been an easy get! Don't want to be exhaustive, but there are a few games I really want to see here, and one that I almost expect. I know there are a lot of rumours going around (some which just don't seem right, others which seem very legitimate thanks to the GeForce leak), but none I've seen have mentioned what I really want to see. Also not going to mention anything I think is too obvious (like a new Elden Ring trailer - not a guarantee, but I think there's a high chance it's here). Starfield - it's time. We're less than a year out from it's scheduled release, and all we've had so far is concept art, glimpses of in-engine footage, and some pieces of music. Xbox have a history of showing things off at The Game Awards, like Perfect Dark last year or Senua's Saga: Hellblade II the year before along with the unveiling of the Series X, and honestly alongside Elder Scrolls VI this is by far the title that I think will see people buying into the Xbox ecosystem, so there's a lot riding on it. I think it's about time we start to get some idea of what this game is going to be like outside of what Todd Howard says in interviews, so a gameplay trailer would be great I think (with a Fallout 4 styled blowout at E3 next year). I actually feel this one's fairly realistic, I'd say a solid 75% chance. Playdead's next game - so I know Somerville from Jumpship and Dino Patti is something we've seen a bit of, and is probably the more realistic title to expect to see here, but I really think it's time we see Playdead's title. It's been teased a bit with some concept art of a sci-fi world, there are rumours it might be open world to some extent, it's their first dive into 3D gameplay, and they have absolutely carved a niche out for themselves as one of the premier indie studios. Limbo released in 2010, Inside released in 2016, but going off an update the other day with a bit more concept art, it doesn't seem like their next game will make 2022, so any showing here I think could be to get their name back out there and maybe have a drive to expand their workforce for the next year or two as this game gets closer to release. I'd put this at a 50% chance. Fumito Ueda's next game / genDesign's first game - I think we've had glimpses at three separate pieces of concept art on their website throughout the last year or two, and as far as I'm aware, that's pretty much been it besides the announcement that Epic Games would be publishing Ueda's next title. That's the biggest reason I think it could turn up here, because Epic Games absolutely want to show off what I'd say is the most exciting title they've gone on their publishing slate, and I think anything by Ueda absolutely would be worthy of showing up at The Game Awards - he deserves that kind of attention for his games. It was also Ico's 20th anniversary the other day, so I'm imagining a little anniversary montage for his previous works (I can't imagine Sony not giving permission for him to do this, especially after they were allowed to share some early 1998 footage of Ico for the anniversary) before a bit of a tease of their next game. My gut says it's a 2023 title, but that's based on very little evidence. I'd put this turning up at 25%. Final Fantasy XVI - 2021 ends in just over 3 weeks, and we still haven't got the 2021 update we were told to expect in the XVI update we got towards the end of last year. People are whispering about one last PlayStation event to round out the year where this could turn up, but with that being heavily based on rumours, this is currently the only show in this last stretch of the year that I'd expect it to turn up at. Worth remembering, too, that Yoshi-P did his due diligence ahead of Tokyo Game Show to state that they had plans for something there but it just wouldn't be ready in time, and Creative Business Unit III has been very forthcoming from what I've seen with XIV over the years, so I'll be surprised if we don't see it in some capacity before the year ends seeing as they haven't said to not expect it just yet. Unfortunately, I don't think it's that likely simply because it's a PlayStation console exclusive, and I can see them wanting to save it for their own show. I'm putting this down regrettably as a 10% chance of being here. Other than that? I don't dare to predict what Nintendo turn up with. It could be Breath of the Wild's sequel with their history of showing the first game off at The Game Awards, it could be Metroid Prime Trilogy remastered...or it could be something much smaller, like a Samus Returns port. Either way, I'm excited - bit over an hour to go!

I did though admittedly the first time it kind of swoops in I was already spinning in circles trying to figure out where it went like a bit of a mad man Honestly, I think you'd fare pretty well. There's an intimacy you need with the weapons and their abilities, Overloads, range and fluidity of movement, dodge timings, cooldowns, etc., that reminds me of how getting to know your weapons and character in a From game thoroughly is going to do you plenty of massive favours down the road, so I'd have to imagine it'd be like getting back on a bike. It's a bit different obviously in that each run can throw a different weapon at you to get to grips with, but because there aren't so many, it's feasible to still get really comfortable with all of them. Speaking of which, was there a weapon you favoured when playing the game, even if only marginally? I've found the Tachyomatic Carbine really suits my range run-and-gun approach though there is a cool weapon you first see in the second biome which is also a blast (heh)

Yes please! My Great Marsh luck has been terrible. Kangaskhan was my daily Pokémon but not one of the ten I ran to would get in the damn Safari Ball before fleeing the next turn

Masayuki Uemura, lead architect of the NES and SNES, has passed away at 78. Imagine the lives of a lot of people who have had some experience with video games would be very different without him, may he rest in peace. There is a Nintendo Life article on his passing and contributions here.

Exploding Hisuian PokéBalls... Hisuian Voltorb/Electrode inbound?

Well: it clicked. Beat the first boss on my first run yesterday on probably my third or fourth attempt at it. I found that ranged attacks and, as @drahkon pointed out, dodging (a lot) really helped. That last phase definitely gets wild, though! Put the game down after as it was a bit late, but then picked it up in the second biome today. Yeah, this game still looked gorgeous in a completely different hue, and the enemy variety and enemy composition of some of these rooms was just a whole lot of fun to take on. And man, some of those enemy designs are just so...alien, for lack of a better word, that I've got to double down on what I said before about some of them looking Lovecraftian. This game is basically the lovechild of Prometheus and Edge of Tomorrow, and I love it. There were a few times today where I was on the brink of death but really getting to grips with different types of weapons, all of the abilities at my disposal, and learning about new mechanics through experimentation (though I do think the lack of explanation of some mechanics does make the game a little tough to get a read on early on) really pushed me to feel like, even this early on, I've already got some level of mastery over Selene's capabilities, and have the confidence to turn the odds around. This is to say: it feels good. Today I got about two thirds through in the second biome on my first attempt at it (continuing yesterday's run), before dying in a room where I learned far too late that dodging was disabled...meaning that I tried to dodge phase through some lasers as I finished reading that the dodge was disabled at the bottom of the screen Second run of the day, spent a fair bit of time in the first biome getting the right gear before carrying on, and got all the way to the second biome boss...and I killed it on my first try! An Astronaut Figurine did save the run, but I managed to get it down to a sixth of it's final health bar before I needed it to kick in, which I was pretty chuffed with! Such a fun but challenging boss fight (the shmup-styled craziness was ramped up here, and I imagine it will be with every boss), I would love a Boss Rush or survival mode because it's so rewarding to just dial in and focus. Very intense at times, but man, it's really just clicked the last few runs. There's a definite flow of the game and understanding of it which is making it very satisfying to wade through. Stepped into the third biome where I suspended my cycle and will kick on tomorrow!

PC features trailer for God of War, which is still coming 14th January 2022. Also put out a handy graphic for the system requirements of the five configurations for the game:

Well, hot damn. That would match Sword & Shield's first week of sales, meaning it's double what Let's Go did in its first week. The remakes don't tend to have legs when it comes to sales anyways (so don't expect it to keep pace with Sw/Sh), and I know the Switch install base has grown significantly since Let's Go released in 2018, but considering this was outsourced to ILCA and likely cost less to produce than Let's Go, it's hard to not see them being given a shot at more Pokémon titles. I really just hope they get more time next time around. Will be very surprised if we return to Johto in a Let's Go game rather than remakes of HeartGold & SoulSilver by ILCA. The overlevelling might help with the awful level curve (or lack of one altogether) in the second half of those games, and the foundational knowledge of faithfully remaking a DS game in Unity is there for all to see, so would be happy to revisit that adventure relatively stress-free.

Nick Offerman has been cast as Bill in HBO's The Last of Us series. Took me by surprise, but then I quickly came around to it. It was probably that photo

Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection is coming to PS5 on 28th January 2022. Those wanting to play on PC will need to wait a bit longer for a release date. And the new PS5 features for the games: And yes, there will be an upgrade path for existing owners of the games, likely at £10 a pop. I still haven't got around to playing Lost Legacy, so I guess this will be a good excuse to? Also worth noting: - owners of the PS+ version of Uncharted 4 will not be able to upgrade. - multiplayer mode is cut from this release. - limited movie ticket offer for a standard ticket to a showing of Uncharted in February. Limited to residents of Australia, New Zealand, UK, and US.

Yeah, I'm up for it I also caught a Nosepass yesterday, so I'm good there thanks. Now it's just that illusive Yanma...

Yeah for sure, also noticed I was basically strafing at points when going towards the boss clearly would've been the easier way to avoid some of it's ranged attacks

After picking this up as part of the Black Friday (/week/month) sales, got around to starting it up this evening as my time with another game starts winding down. Only spent a bit under two hours with it, so these are very early impressions. To start off with setting the atmosphere, the game's sound design is great, some of the enemy and object designs are unnerving (almost Lovecraftian - especially those tentacles that drag you up to higher levels, running into those without noticing them made me jolt several times ) and so far the enemy variety has been pretty good. The environment in the first biome is basically a spooky, ancient alien woods, and I dig it. Unhinged Dagobah is probably the most succinct way to describe it. Game is one hell of a looker, too: In terms of gameplay, it hasn't quite fully clicked for me yet - but I have only had three runs, getting further each time, and I'm having fun with it, so I think it's just a case of early game adjustment. The dodging is snappy, the sprinting is just about right for the size of each new room you enter, I love the Alt Fires I've picked up and tried out so far, and the DualSense has elevated a lot of the experience even this early on, from similar input setups to what we saw in Rift Apart (half-pressing L2 to aim, fully pulling it to access Alt Fire) to the haptics in the controller itself, with honestly the best use of it so far being the long press of [Circle] to back out of Photo Mode and the way it feels like winding a camera reel (though, admittedly, it does take longer than it needs to in backing out of Photo Mode). I love the bullet hell nature of some of the combat encounters too (personally only really experienced this in third person elsewhere in NieR: Automata), it's been fun, and really nice and tense at times. To nitpick - and again, this is early on, where all of my nitpicks normally come out as I'm fresh to the game anyways! - I'm not a fan of the camera position relative to Selene, it made me a bit nauseous in the first half an hour or so, which I haven't experienced in any other third person games outside of crazy frame pacing and frame rate drops. Think I've started adjusting, but it's like over the shoulder but at a distance; I get it from a game design perspective (they want that wide field of view and the camera to be able to go around and under Selene when traversing/in combat), but for me it was a little disorienting. Some of the fights so far have got so loud and busy that I've not been able to reliably track when my Alt Fire is ready based on the sound made (honestly the best time I've had with this was in my first attempt at the boss), so I've been going off of the DualSense haptics, but this early on - and with how they're used quite heavily in fights anyways - I'm not yet used to what I'm supposed to be feeling for, so it can get lost in the shuffle a bit. Again, not really a big deal, just a nitpick. Outside of those, the only other thing really is the jump can feel a bit floaty, and I definitely accidentally missed a platform early on because of it. It's early on, I'm sure I'll adjust. There's also clearly a deeper narrative going on both with Selene and separately for the history of Atropos, and while the breadcrumb nature of the story so far definitely suits being a roguelike, it hasn't really got me invested in Selene, which is what it feels like it's going for with certain sequences I've seen so far. I'm pretty interested in the history of Atropos, though, it seems pretty neat. The furthest I've got so far was the first boss on my third run, which I died to, so I'm looking forward to kicking his/her/their/it's ass and getting revenge. And there was also this funny moment I had when I picked up an item... Anyways, solid start (albeit with some nitpicks), but I'm looking forward to getting back to it. The only other roguelike I've really played before are the Pokémon Mystery Dungeon games, which are a whole different kettle of fish compared with this and what I normally think of when I hear the word "roguelike"/"roguelite", so I'm happy I'm not bouncing off of it. Yet to try a Malignant item/enhancement out other than one in my first run, so maybe I'll flip the coin and see if that makes getting to the boss a bit faster