Julius

Always love me an indie showcase. Silksong? Axiom Verge 2? Bear & Breakfast? Garden Story? Dare I even suggest Turnip Boy Commits Tax Evasion?!

Damn, some nice stuff in there, particularly what it mentions about pre-downloading updates, customising game library (does this mean I can finally hide FIFA from myself without having to uninstall it? Because that would be an absolute win), and screen zoom. The trophy settings and updates are nice too, as is cross-generation Share Play. Being able to manage storage from the app before you find out you haven't get any space left is also a great win too

I mean I haven't played as many Final Fantasy games as I would have liked to, but I've listened to a lot of their soundtracks (they just ended up in my daily mix) and I would have to imagine it'd be in contention for delivering high quality over a very long period of time consistently (I would have to imagine across more games too?). Almost feels like cheating though when you've got someone like Uematsu, and most of the games he composed for ended up with soundtracks which are about as flawless as you can get. I would throw Dragon Quest into the ring if not for Sugiyama being a right old weirdo and the obvious reliance on previous soundtracks from my limited exposure to the series, but at the same time, it creates nostalgia for games you might be experiencing for the first time, and that's no mean feat. I haven't played any of the Metal Gear games, but have heard one or two tracks from those earlier games and they seem strong, and I think the series as a whole (when we consider Solid too) delivers very consistently on the soundtrack front. Don't think it's a coincidence that we've heaped quite a bit of praise on Konami games here, because even smaller games like Suikoden ended up with some absolutely stellar soundtracks. Hell, even PES I would say had much better soundtrack selection than FIFA back when I was still playing it! Yeah, the Mystery Dungeon games at times touch that Chrono Trigger level of too stupidly good to be true. If we're talking about quality, I think the main series Pokémon games have music which has for a long time been far better than the games themselves. I really wasn't a fan of how Sword and Shield turned out (ditto for X and Y, and to an extent even Sun and Moon), but those soundtracks are still great to my ears. Plus, you can totally cheat and point to some great rearrangements from the anime too!

At this point I hope that they've knocked it out of the park just for you @drahkon crazy that we're two and a half weeks away from launch and it's pretty quiet, have to imagine it will ramp up next week? Unfortunately I'm going through a weird time with games in general and not playing as much as I have over the last year or so, though think that's more to do with what's going on elsewhere. I've actually cancelled most of my pre-orders because, while I'm still looking forward to them, I've still got games left over from last year, and I don't reckon I'd be playing them immediately (due to the myriad of other games, and just not feeling like I'm in the mood). Think the only pre-orders I've kept are Nintendo games, and that's almost solely because their price won't budge anyways. So yeah, look forward to getting this down the road, but don't think I'll be playing it anytime soon. Hope it's good fun for all those that do, I really hope Housemarque have a success story on their hands!

So there's that new Mamoru Hosoda film coming this year. So it's Hosoda's third attempt at the Digimon Movie after Summer Wars I kid (kind of), but hey, if it ain't broke I guess? We best see a King Kazma cameo is all I'm saying. It's a collaborative effort between Studio Chizu and Cartoon Saloon (The Secret of Kells, Song of the Sea, The Breadwinner, and Wolfwalkers), and they're bringing in former Disney animator Jin Kim for Belle (the pink-haired titular character), so I feel like Hosoda is really gunning for an Oscar win. And, more seriously, it looks like Summer Wars meets Beauty and the Beast to an extent. Which...is intriguing. Loved his previous works (think the only one I haven't watched is his One Piece movie, but as someone who doesn't watch or read One Piece, I guess that makes sense!), and so I'm very excited for this

When I read your post on Friday, I kid you not, I laughed and then realised we were over a week removed from April Fool's Day. First: the leak of The Last of Us remake. I've been thinking about it over the weekend, and the question which keeps springing to mind is "What the hell are they thinking?", not to mention my continued disapproval of Schreier's reporting stance being that it's fine to leak the existence of secretive projects. Maybe it's just me, but it's very, very rare that the existence of a game is leaked before it's official reveal and actually benefits from it (Mario + Rabbids comes to mind as one of the few examples, and that's simply because people were so against it that it leaking actually had people positioned to be blown away by how it was presented). I think back to Elden Ring's reveal at E3 2019, and everyone just immediately going "Oh, hey, look, it's Elden Ring". Can you imagine just how big that reveal would have been if it had never been leaked beforehand? Instead, I've got friends who are big fans of Game of Thrones and G.R.R. Martin but had no idea the game existed for the longest time, because it never wound up in their social media feeds, because it was expected and it felt like there wasn't nearly as much traction to it as there should have been for a game developed by From Software and worked on (to some extent) by G.R.R. Martin. It's an industry largely driven by hype these days, so yes, I do think you're robbing developers of their moment in the spotlight to some extent if you're revealing what they've been working on ahead of any official word. This isn't to say that a potential The Last of Us remake would be met with applause from all directions, but I know that for myself, even having just played the original for the first time last year and it easily being up there as one of my favourite games, I can totally see myself getting excited if you nail the reveal trailer (and this is a first party PlayStation game, so you know they can at least put those out in excellent fashion). Now, if and when it does get revealed, it's people rolling their eyes and going "urgh, it's The Last of Us". Hell, even just think back to The Last of Us Part II's reveal at PSX 2016 and people initially thinking it was something we'd already seen like Days Gone. So yeah, I'm not here for Schreier leaking these things, even if he does good work in bringing light to the plight of many developers out there. I don't think anyone's even come forward to comment on the leak of TLOU's remake in particular and corroborate it, so I think it was fairly shortsighted of Jason to just outright name it (oh, and as if Naughty Dog hasn't gone through enough over the last year or so when it comes to online drama and The Last of Us). Does the article really lose that much if you don't outright say it? I don't think it would, if you just highlight the fact that PlayStation are remaking a legendary first party game from a couple of generations ago...I don't know. There are a few games that could be in my mind, and I think it's pretty different to found footage leaks where companies haven't done their due diligence in keeping their materials safely under wraps (I'm thinking the Elden Ring leaked trailer from a couple of months ago, or the Harry Potter leak we had years ago now). Yeah, agreed. Again, I played it for the first time last year, and that game holds up really well, not to mention the updates it's had over the last few months which have virtually cut loading times out. One of those where if it was a big visual upgrade beyond what The Last of Us Part II managed I could see it doing well with a reveal trailer, but being shared with us for the first time in this way just completely kills it in its tracks for me. I'm just thinking of the first game in Part II's engine when I read this, and well...anyone who's played Part II understands. But back to the article itself, yeah, I agree with H-o-T in not liking how Jim Ryan has run PlayStation since taking over. The problem with only having tentpole releases and being this risk-averse is that you end up with, well, what cinema (and the box office in particular) largely became over the last decade: a collection of reboots and sequels founded on already beloved IP decimating smaller projects. And don't get me wrong, there are some directors who can still thrive when times are like this (Christopher Nolan and Hideo Kojima are quite alike in this regard I feel), but those are very rare exceptions. I think of how Days Gone flourished in Japan in particular, and I do wonder if Jim Ryan and co. just couldn't give less of a damn about Japan (think it's become increasingly clear over the last few months that they don't give them a second thought), and I think it sucks massively that Sony Bend won't get another crack at it - and this is as someone who hasn't played the game themselves, but I mean, it's a massive first party game which is free on PS+ this month, and has been part of the PS+ Collection for PS5 since launch too? Having only big games just puts too much pressure on the team, but more than that, it stifles creativity. Think about some of the biggest trilogies in film and more often than not you'll find directors and writers working on other projects inbetween, and I think it helps to stave off burnout, but also to just flex other creative muscles and ideas. Christopher Nolan in particular comes to mind again, because between Batman Begins and The Dark Knight you had The Prestige, and then between The Dark Knight and The Dark Knights Rises you had Inception; there's a "one for you, one for me" kind of attitude with it, such as we see with many actors who take up bigger gigs so that they can comfortably work on projects their passionate about (I think of those under the Disney umbrella, and actors like Adam Driver in particular). No doubt Naughty Dog has other things in the works, and so does Bend seemingly, but as a producer and distributor, PlayStation needs to recognise that they're getting in the way of some of the industry's most talented minds. Couple this article with the closure of Japan Studio (what the hell happened to their rumoured Rayspace game? And what's going to become of that heavily, heavily rumoured Silent Hill game, seeing as Keiichiro Toyama left with others some six months before the studio closed to start their own studio?), and I do think it's a bit concerning. The difference in messaging between Jim Ryan and Shawn Layden is scarily different, though, and I do think it's very telling that I can't find a Wikipedia article on Jim Ryan. Make of that what you will. It's very clear today - and I think was to some extent back then - that this was a key part of the internal power struggle which resulted in Layden leaving. There isn't a face to attach to PlayStation these days - Shuhei Yoshida has been given the Lucius Fox treatment, Adam Boyes becoming the CEO of Iron Galaxy, Andrew House stepping down, and of course Shawn Layden stepping away from PlayStation. Don't get me wrong: Jim Ryan is a terrific businessman, even if he does say some silly things at times. I still think PlayStation is doing the right thing by focusing on single player games, partnering with studios like Jade Raymond's, and still (for now) being the dedicated home console of choice for most of the big Japanese developers, whether it be marketing deals, timed exclusivity, etc. I still care about the games first and foremost, and for now and the foreseeable future, they're still going to be there. And, of course, it's on Mumbauer and his team to quite an extent that it would have been a TLOU remake (my first thought was genuinely that this was to get to grips with a new engine), as they're the ones who proposed it, but what does it say that they seemingly proposed a remake to a game less than a decade old, and not in the greatest need of it? I guess the underlying message to the article is that it hints not that PlayStation are demanding these games, but that their own internal teams are playing it safe to some degree, which is even more concerning to me. Also, I'm more surprised that they didn't propose an Uncharted remake (which in my opinion needs it much more than The Last of Us, because that game definitely feels aged) or spinoff, and I don't understand the surprise that a TLOU remake would end up at Naughty Dog. Like...yeah, that does seem like it was pretty inevitable. I haven't seen it here, but obviously elsewhere, this has renewed the beaten to death console war narrative. Xbox is doing interesting and different things to PlayStation, as is Nintendo, but I suppose my main concern with Xbox and their single player games in particular right now is how their new studios are actually going to be managed. Buying up studios left and right is going to count for nought if they aren't effectively managed and overseen, and while I want to see them do well, I do think Phil Spencer and co. have a lot to manage over there, because unnatural growth is almost always going to result in some growing pains. We'll have to wait and see, but I hope that Playstation doesn't make a mistake in turning away from what made the PS4 such a runaway success. While I do think quite a bit of Schreier's article is spiced up for obvious reasons, the messaging in Layden's E3 2014 speech I'm sure went pretty under the radar back then, and sounds like generic E3-presenting stuff, but is very different today to the direction they seem to be taking today. Whereas the PS4 seemed to be a place to experiment and grow, the closing of Japan Studio and the secret San Diego team at PlayStation effectively going bust before it was ever made official, never mind all of the internal changes leading up to the release of the PS5, has made for a bit of a rocky ride, looking in from the outside at least. Hopefully it smooths over soon. Good to hear you're enjoying it! If I'm not mistaken, I think @WackerJr has also been looking at playing that games over the last few months. I picked it up myself back at launch but it's just been gathering dust on my shelf as other games have taken precedent and I've got busy with other things, but maybe I'll get to it after Yakuza 6! Managed to find the buried thread for it from last summer.

Honestly, I'm really intrigued by what this is going to mean. We know how Square Enix works when it comes to bringing games to Xbox (specifically Game Pass) at this point: wait for a truckload of money to show up, but until then, show no signs of treating both brands equally (which I think is fair to an extent, just considering how much greater the appetite is for their offerings on PlayStation). But what makes it more intriguing to me is Intergrade. Yes, the timed exclusivity deal for the original version of the game released last year is coming to an end, but what of the next-gen version, which is the only way to access the Yuffie DLC? Is there going to be a separate timed exclusivity deal for that, as seems to be the case? I don't think we've even seen word on that version coming to PC either (could be mistaken here though). I can't see Xbox being particularly excited to get a lesser version of the game on their platform; with all of the caveats over Intergrade I think they'd be better off waiting until that's ready to come to Xbox, but that doesn't seem to be coming in June. Will it come a few months later to Game Pass, because maybe the PlayStation exclusivity is much shorter (have they offered up a truckload of money already)? Or are Xbox owners going to be waiting another year for the best available version of the game to be playable on their platform of choice? It'll be interesting to see what happens I think.

The PC Gaming Show and the Future Games Show are returning on June 13th. Look, PlayStation don't need to have a State of Play the week of E3...but for the love of Shuhei please have the decency to hold it in June.

Yeah was reading about this earlier, and it does have me curious about what's happening (if there is any truth to this, let's not forgets Kojima was also supposed to be spearheading a revival of Silent Hills less than a year ago). Key to this I think is the rumour isn't that Kojima Productions is being bought by Xbox, so we can hopefully not have conversations come up about moneyhatting. If anything, we know PlayStation thought that Death Stranding underperformed from that earnings report a year or so ago, so I imagine it's down to one of a few options: - Kojima needed a huge backing which PlayStation wasn't ready to provide and Xbox could. - PlayStation weren't interested in backing Kojima again just based on the apparent poor performance of Death Stranding (I mean, I imagine the truth lies somewhere here, as we've seen them go hard in on becoming less risk averse over the last few months in particular). - Kojima had an idea he wanted to bring to Game Pass in particular. The last option has me particularly excited, and honestly, I'd hope if there's truth to this rumour that this is the reasoning behind it. Both P.T. and Death Stranding counted on the efforts of its audience to a degree for carrying the game, whether it be figuring out how to actually get to the end of the former, or how collaboration could help massively in the latter. Game Pass would provide Kojima with immediate access to a massive audience to focus on some form of collaboration in a way that releasing a demo or game in a traditional sense wouldn't necessarily. Bigger question for me is the engine they'd use. There's no way it'd be Decima, right, just because that's Sony property? So perhaps Unreal Engine 4/5? I feel like that would make the most sense for Kojima Productions moving forwards as an independent studio anyways, it just gives them more options. Yeah, I'd be gutted personally if his next project was Xbox exclusive, but I've still got a few games of Kojima's to get through anyways at this point. Who knows, by the time this potentially comes around, I might have picked up an Xbox anyways!

Don't think I've ever related to a film as much as I have Minari. Growing up I really never understood why everyone made such a huge fuss about having idols from your own racial background, watching shows or movies with people who share your skin colour, and to be honest, I still don't all that much. Maybe part of that is growing up and not having that, but for me, one of the greatest things about being a child is the pure innocence of being able to see the world through just about anyone's eyes. My skin colour and racial background never once came into account when I thought of my bond to characters like Anakin and Luke, Peter Parker, Bruce Wayne, Aang and Zuko, or anyone other fictional character I could possibly list from my childhood as having a big impact on me as a person. It still remains the case for me that a good character is a good character, regardless of skin colour, gender, sexuality, or any other reason people might possibly find to divide themselves further, and there's nothing I hate more than what can oftentimes feel like tokenism (whether that be recruitment quotas, role casting, etc.). For me, what has always mattered most is that everyone is given fair consideration, but beyond that, consideration for the most suitable person for whatever role should come squarely down to their capabilities above all else. I can understand more about the importance of characters like Black Panther and Miles Morales in the West, where I do feel like there is a much clearer divide between black and white people (for obvious historical reasons) than there is between white people and Asian people (I'm half English, half Filipino), and so I really don't think the importance of those characters can be overstated. Being of mixed race is its own can of worms, where growing up I didn't feel like I truly belonged anywhere: in England I was Filipino, and in the Philippines I was English. Because of this, despite having shared childhoods with many friends, my experience was wholly different to theirs, and it is still often difficult to relate to them in that sense. I mention all of this because for the first time last year in The Last of Us Part II, a core character, Jesse, was of Asian heritage, and though it doesn't play into his character (pretty much at all from what I can remember), it was the first time I had ever experienced some type of media and actually noticed what they were trying to do. Okay, it was borderline being inclusive for the sake of inclusivity (again: really doesn't play into Jesse's character from what I can remember), but hey, I guess this all has to start somewhere if we are going to see more people from different backgrounds being given equal footing, and so I'm all for it. Which brings me back around to Minari: it feels like it perfectly captured my early childhood experience, in a way nothing else I've experienced has. The awkwardness of feeling isolated in a new place, being surrounded by people who are quick to point out that you look or sound funny (different), but smiling through it all with this unwavering innocence. I swear some scenes could easily have just been taken straight from my childhood, it's scary just how much is clearly shared by first- and second-generation Asian immigrants when it comes to this. The cast blew me away (especially Steven Yeun and Alan Kim, who carries so much of this film on his tiny shoulders), it all just felt so tangibly human to me, and many of those high and low points of the film hit very, very close to home. I definitely found myself welling up a couple of times. These are the types of stories that need to be told when we talk about inclusion, not just having a token black or Asian character shoved into the main cast of some big budget film, but something intimate and personal, because anyone with the slightest hint of empathy will be able to come away from this with more of an understanding of what it has been like for so many. I can't think of many things more important today, in a world unfortunately increasingly divided, than being able to relate to just one more person.

Finished Yakuza 5 last week - it was my only single player game played in March - and I ended up putting nearly 60 hours into it. Completed all but six substories, all of the side story stuff, and I still wanted more. Not a perfect game, by any stretch of the imagination, but I absolutely loved my time with it. It's exactly what I needed, for every minute that I played it, and that means a lot to me personally. Yes, it's long, and I get why it might not gel with some people (it definitely runs at a slower pace most of the time), but it's funny, because I actually felt like the amount of side content and substories actually helped the slower pacing tremendously, and fleshed the characters out a lot; I genuinely don't think you'll enjoy this game as much as you could without experiencing everything the side stories have to show. When talking about Yakuza 5, Yakuza 4 is the game people obviously draw comparisons to, just because of the number of protagonists, and while I would say that that story is better paced, this felt like it weaved the narrative and characters from previous games into the fold in a much more natural way (and also didn't treat the series protagonist like an afterthought). Ironically, Yakuza 4's faster pacing had it show its hand early on way too many occasions (as in, you'll finish one chapter on a cliffhanger and get answers instantly in the following chapter), but I do agree with those that say 5 is somewhat guilty of taking too long to move onto the next plot point (even if you don't do the side stuff). Akiyama and Saejima were great characters in 4, and were even better in 5. It says a whole lot when recently introduced characters return and I have a stupidly big grin on my face. A certain young idol's gameplay and story was great fun too, and that ending On the flip side, though, 5 felt much darker than previous games, to me at least. A few deaths and moments were really disturbing (though 4 definitely has a very disturbing moment), and even Heat Actions seemed way more brutal than they needed to be at times, not helped by health bars vanishing before Heat Actions are complete now, meaning you might be completing QTE Heat Actions against someone you've already pummeled into unconsciousness...again, I can only really describe this as disturbing. Also, the entire meta of this game boils down to: "if you can't beat it, grab it." Seriously, that resolved every potential issue I came across in big boss fights. Oh, and this game never had a silly moment where you were getting up and instantly being shot down back to the floor, as had been the case in all of the previous games. So, yeah, Yakuza 5. Loved it, and for me, I'd say it edges out Yakuza 4. I get some of the criticisms, but seriously think if they'd stuck Persona 5's 'Take Your Time' loading symbol in here, the game might have been better received by both fans and critics; it's the first one where it felt like they wanted you to slow down a little, and while it slowed down a bit too much at times, it's one of my favourite Yakuza experiences. Started Yakuza 6 last night

Yep, intrigued by what Keighley has lined up (wouldn't be surprised if Kojima Productions' next game is there), and curious to see if any of the E3 no-shows have something to show off with Geoff instead. Glad he seemed to hear the message loud and clear about not spreading things out over the whole summer, it just felt like many of the things shown last year weren't strong enough to stand proudly on their own two feet, so got a pretty lukewarm reception, when they could've made a bigger impact as part of a longer list of announcements.

@LazyBoy @Agent Gibbs you two seemed interested, so thought I'd share with you that it's been going up several places over the last week for rental you can find a list of ways to watch it here. Going to be picking it up myself on rental from Prime Video, probably watch it tonight or tomorrow evening, and have pre-ordered the Blu-ray from Amazon too (at the very least to share the experience with my family). I've been waiting to watch this for a while now, because I don't think I've ever identified with a trailer as strongly as I have as the one for this film, so I'm really excited to finally check it out! Just been keeping a general eye out on other Oscar contenders we're waiting to come out over here, and it seems like Sound of Metal should be releasing here in the next few weeks (I've seen April 12th floated out there, but couldn't find anything official). Also started wading my way through a massive pile of Blu-ray's I've had build up over the last year or two, and started keeping a bit of a brief film journal on my phone to try to motivate myself to get to them, which has been going well so far!

Someone else changed it to the title in my absence (thanks!), but I'll add the 2022 release year It's been in the works for quite a while now, I'm more surprised that they're nailing down a year for it instead of keeping quiet (which I feel is the smarter option always, just given the potential for delays due to COVID). Let it cook I say. I'm also surprised it showed up at Square Enix's event of all places

Hype reigns supreme! And quite a few big names are turning up... Nintendo and Xbox is a welcome surprise, but having those big names is such a great get for them. Konami can only be turning up with some pachinko app and PES, though, right? I thought Ubisoft's own showings have been pretty lackluster in the last year, so hoping they've put some more time into this showing. No PlayStation, but that's not too much of a surprise. I'm more surprised Devolver aren't here, but hey, they could turn up anywhere and be welcome. Square Enix not being present isn't too much of a surprise considering their major IP are probably tied up in marketing exclusivity deals and will turn up elsewhere, and I'm glad they seem to have (for now) cut the dead weight that is EA, which always promised a pretty boring corporate start to the show in years past. I'm excited, because I hated everyone doing their own thing last year and the overwhelming feeling of missing things and having to be tuned in 24/7, but at the same time...the ESA still sucks, so we'll see how this turns out.

Been a little while since I've posted here, as I haven't actually picked up and started another game since around mid-February, when I finished up the game I'll be talking about today. METAL GEAR SOLID 4: GUNS OF THE PATRIOTS | 2008 Set 50 years after Metal Gear Solid 3's Operation Snake Eater, and 5 years after the climactic events of Metal Gear Solid 2's Big Shell Incident, Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots takes place in a dystopian 2014 where the "war economy" has plunged the world into an endless barrage of conflicts, fuelling the need for private military companies (or PMC's), the largest of which are owned by a single company, helmed by none other than Liquid Ocelot. You return to the fold as Solid Snake, in this game often referred to as Old Snake as a result of his advanced accelerated aging. Unlike in earlier games in the series, the game is divided into a number of distinct acts, each taking you to a new locale on your globetrotting mission to assassinate Liquid Ocelot as a favour to The Colonel, with many familiar faces from throughout the series turning up on both sides as the world slips towards destruction. In terms of gameplay, Metal Gear Solid 4 once again returns the focus to stealth as you navigate through the game's Acts, but this time the focus is often not on Snake taking on a certain enemy group, with your stealth efforts instead taking place on battlegrounds between PMC and rebel groups, often allowing you to sneak around the battlefield or join the battle. The Camouflage Index from Metal Gear Solid 3 makes a welcome return, this time in the form of a camouflage suit called "OctoCamo", which allows the wearer to blend into their surroundings in a matter of seconds, taking on its colour and textures. Giving Old Snake an appearance closer to Big Boss is the "Solid Eye", a device which replaces a lot of features from previous titles and puts them all in one place, such as the different types of binoculars, image intensifiers, and gives you a small map similar to - but harder to read than - the Soliton Radar, giving you a more accurate picture of which general direction to head in and the locations of enemies in relation to your position, but not much of an idea about the terrain you're making your way through. Another handy device you'll use throughout the game is the Metal Gear Mk. II, a short but stout robotic drone which you can send ahead to carry out surveillance and shock enemies, and also sees the return of the Codec, though this time much closer to what we're accustomed today with video calling than the form it took in earlier titles. The "Psyche Gauge" replaces the stamina meter seen previously, serving as an assessment of Snake's psychological state, and when in combat Snake's adrenaline will increase, allowing him to fire off rounds faster and take more damage; however, if Snake is near something which might stress him out (such as bad smells when hiding in an old dumpster, or overwhelmed by the chaos of the battle around him) or hears something debilitating in a cutscene (which is used to hilarious effect through the game), this meter will lower, decreasing Snake's accuracy and movement speed until replenished, which can be done in a number of ways, such as by removing Snake from the stressor, checking in with a familiar face for some psyche coaching through the Codec, or eating a bit of food. Overall, considering the narrative's focus on war - and more specifically at times, war-induced trauma and PTSD - it feels like a natural progression from the stamina meter for this particular game. While playing Metal Gear Solid 4, especially early on, I found it to be a mixed bag, and my struggle with that is clear to see in my posts in the game's thread as I made my way through. Technically, the game was extremely ambitious visually for the time of its release, but still, the number of distractingly noticeable dips in framerate - on gameplay and in cutscenes - as well as the abundance of loading screens hurts the pacing of the game dramatically in its opening act. I've seen many point at the game's long cutscenes as being an issue, and though there are some long ones in there, I personally enjoyed them as someone who has loved most of the story elements and themes of the series to this point, but I actually think a much bigger issue is the number of shorter cutscenes weaved in and out of short spurts of gameplay (sometimes we're talking about walking a few metres, a short cutscene playing out, picking up an item, another cutscene playing out, and so on). While I think it's clear that the aim was to deliver on a cinematic experience filled with setpiece moments which felt driven by the player, when this happens in the game, I think the game was perhaps trying to be a bit too ambitious for when it released in the PS3's life, as it isn't as seamless as we often see in games today (and even those later in that generation), which results in this stop-start nature at times, which is to the game's detriment. It would be interesting to see if they would try to make it flow better in a potential remaster for modern consoles, and I think that would definitely be a great way to implement fixes to the frame rate issues and loading screens. That this happens in the opening credits, of all places, results in what is by far the most limp opening to a Metal Gear Solid game that I've played through so far. And yeah, let's not get into how long the opening credits last, or how the title is flashed before more credits are shown, which results in "Kojima Productions Presents...Konami". I want to give them the benefit of the doubt on that, though, because I still find it hilarious, and struggle to see how that wasn't an intentional gaffe on their side (or just making a point of how silly opening credits sometimes are). If you want to take a look for yourself (12:38 for the "Presents...Konami" part): Which brings me onto my next point: Act I of Metal Gear Solid 4 might genuinely be the worst "level" of any Metal Gear Solid game I've played so far, too. I do think a large part of that is down to the stop-start nature of it all, but the war-torn streets and narrow alleyways of some Middle Eastern city just doesn't make for an interesting or great way to get yourself reaccustomed with the mechanics of the series either, which means if there's so much as a slight gap between you playing MGS3 and MGS4, you might end up like me, running around like a bit of a headless chicken for the first hour or so, accidentally pressing the wrong button on occasion and needing to run out of places, or just mowing enemies down. It's a way to play the game, sure, but compared to previous games, it definitely took me much longer to get myself familiarised with it all again. I genuinely think this level could have been shortened dramatically, as the story and gameplay doesn't really pick up until you meet Rat Patrol towards the end of this Act, and I feel similarly about how the game just throws a lot at you at once when you find yourself on a ship later on in the game. To cover some of the other issues I've seen people have with the game, I've seen some say the game betrays what came before it by going over the top, but I would have to disagree with that. While, yes, there is one particular character carrying a sword around who is at the centre of these seemingly ridiculous anime-like moments, which get increasingly over-the-top as the game goes on (okay, a couple of the ones in Act 4 might have got me close to rolling my eyes and laughing), that silliness and over-the-top nature of it all has been there since the first Metal Gear Solid. I had much more of an issue with the over sexualisation of Naomi, because unlike Eva in MGS3, there was no reason narratively or for her particular role in this story (and further, it's not a vibe I got from her in MGS either) for her to unbutton the first few buttons of her shirt and then never do them back up for no reason at all; yes, you've made an attractive character, but that's conveyed enough in her face design and how other people act around her, so we definitely don't need some of the camera angles we ended up with in the game, because it was borderline embarrassing at times. I also think Drebin's Shop - which gives you access to buying weapons, items, and ammo at any point in the game through the menu - really breaks the game at times? It feels like a decision to try to make MGS4 a potential entry point to the series, but with this game's story depending so heavily on having experienced earlier games and an ensemble of returning characters, I have to think it was a decision by committee to some extent. At this point you might be thinking that I hate the game, and I wouldn't blame you for thinking that, but I feel the need to acknowledge what I considered as low points, because I adored so much of what happened from meeting Rat Patrol at the end of Act I and onwards. Act II is fundamentally a level where it basically condenses down so much of the look and feel of MGS3, which finally allowed me to really get back to grips with the mechanics of the series, and heck, even some of the plot points, setpieces, and character interactions felt extremely evocative of that story. Act III had a long list of awesome reveals, probably my favourite trailing mission in video games (seriously, if you've played it, you know what I'm talking about; it just captures that detective noir vibe insanely well), an excellent chase sequence. The boss fights with the Beauty and the Beast Unit in this game are great fun to figure out, and feel like fresh takes on ideas we've already seen with earlier bosses in the series. We don't talk about Act IV, because there isn't much to say without potentially spoiling things, but...it's awesome. Trust me. It's awesome. Super awesome. From the location, to finally getting to kick the ass of a certain enemy type, to the chance to do something I could only have dreamt of when playing through MGS1 for the first time last year, it's one of my the most exciting levels to play through and is filled with hype moments, and I loved it. The game is just packed to the brim with excellent cameos and interactions with returning characters, it ties everything together and picks up pretty much every loose thread you could think of, and it does it all with you perched on the edge of your seat, giddy with excitement. It's really hard to discuss without spoiling, and I would hate to do that for anyone who hasn't played the game yet, but I loved it. I'll just stick my reactions from the game's thread in the below spoiler tags, for anyone curious about how that turned out: As ever, something which catapulted my appreciation of this game ever upwards was its soundtrack, once again led by Harry Gregson-Williams, Nobuko Toda, and Norihiko Hibino. Love Theme is the name of the song composed by Nobuko Toda and sung by Jackie Presti which we hear in the opening credits, this strange - almost primal - vocal track which fits the Middle Eastern setting of the opening act greatly. There are the strained, almost painful plucks of the guitar strings of Old Snake. There's the fitting, modern detective noir track Under Curfew, or the epic struggle of Guns of the Patriots. There's the amazing Here's To You which closes out the game, composed by the legendary Ennio Morricone. And there's Sorrow and Father & Son, which both hint at times to the main theme of the earlier games, but definitely resulted in feeling me left wanting the original main theme, and in some cutscenes, it even distracted me because of how much they hint at it but then subvert from using that theme. I've read up on the unfortunate development before the game's release back in 2008 that they decided not to return to the Main Theme of Metal Gear Solid, which I have loved every time it's turned up in previous games, as a result of the allegations made against the composer of the Main Theme, Tappi Iwase, that he had plagiarised motifs for the track from Winter Road by Russian composer Georgy Sviridov (you can listen to a comparison of the tracks here), and while I do think there are similarities, I do think it's just part of the composition business at the end of the day, and intentional or not, these things do happen, such as with John Williams and a great number of works when it comes to the score of the first Star Wars film in particular. I lean towards it being either a genuine mistake where Iwase internalised the composition to some degree (there are many videos online of this happening, such as with Deadmau5 accidentally recreating Darude's Sandstorm), or Winter Road was used as a temp track, and it's something Kojima or others on the team loved in particular and wanted Iwase to go with. Either way, I think the reason that they folded had less to do with the fact alone that the tracks are similar in terms of their motifs - as I've covered, it happens sometimes without any ill will - and more to do with the fact that it was allegations from Russia in particular relating to a track being used as the main theme for a fictional but American "Greatest Soldier to Ever Live". Now, the reason that I bring this up is to point out the absolute genius of Harry Gregson-Williams in this situation, who could have very easily just composed a theme evocative of, but enough of a subversion to, the main theme of the previous games, as was the case in Sorrow and Father & Son, which I mentioned above, as well as a number of the other tracks in the game. Instead, he used the secondary melody and set of motifs which opened his composition for Metal Gear Solid 3's Main Theme (0:51 - 1:57, which that link starts at if you want to have a listen) as the basis for this game's main theme, Metal Gear Saga, which is easily my favourite part of this soundtrack, not just for which epic moments in the game it is tied to, but also because it provides that through line which I think was essential to helping tie this game to the rest of the series musically, and almost subconsciously when you first hear it. I don't think it quite lives up to the original Main Theme, but damn, it gets pretty close to it for my ears at 1:57 and from 2:44 onwards once that guitar kicks in (and then those trumpets!). Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots is a flawed game in my eyes, without a shadow of a doubt, and perhaps what I would consider the most objectively flawed of the Metal Gear Solid games I've played through so far. Its first act is sloppy and poorly paced, it is jarring on a technical level, and yes, some cutscenes can get a little long in the tooth. And yet, it is undeniably Metal Gear Solid. With an excellent cast of returning characters, Guns of the Patriots tells an engrossing story founded on how someone's understanding of the world is lost when they die, and how their will - their core purpose - is left open to interpretation by those that survive them, for better or for worse, but also how we shouldn't let the idea of our ambitions being manipulated by those surviving us stop us from looking ahead and striving forwards. There's something very human - very hopeful - about that message, especially considering the focus the game also has on the world's growing reliance on technology, and how we deal with trauma, which continues to resonate with the world we live in today. That it did all of this, burdened with the weight of fans' expectations, and under an increasingly cynical magnifying glass, while also paying homage to what came before it, and delivering some of the greatest, chills-inducing, hype moments in video games? I came away loving it. Flaws and all.

THE (major) EVENTS SCHEDULE Pre-E3 Summer Game Fest Kick-Off - Thursday 10th June - 19:00 BST / 20:00 CEST / 11:00 PDT / 14:00 EDT E3 2021 Saturday 12th June Ubisoft Forward - 20:00 BST / 21:00 CEST / 12:00 PDT / 15:00 EDT Devolver Digital E3 2021 - 21:30 BST / 22:30 CEST / 13:30 PDT / 16:30 EDT Gearbox Showcase - 22:00 BST / 23:00 CEST / 14:00 PDT / 17:00 EDT Sunday 13th June Xbox & Bethesda Games Showcase - 18:00 BST / 19:00 CEST / 10:00 PDT / 13:00 EDT Square Enix Presents | Summer 2021 - 20:15 BST / 21:15 CEST / 12:15 PDT / 15:15 EDT PC Gaming Show - 22:30 BST / 23:20 CEST / 14:00 PDT / 17:00 EDT Monday 14th June Future Games Show (directly follows PC Gaming Show) - 00:00 BST / 01:00 CEST / 16:00 PDT (13th June) / 19:00 EDT (13th June) Limited Run Games - 21:00 BST / 22:00 CEST / 13:00 PDT / 16:00 EDT Tuesday 15th June Nintendo Direct | E3 2021 - 17:00 BST / 18:00 CEST / 09:00 PDT / 12:00 EDT

25 minutes of gameplay from IGN: It looks pretty good to me? Shotgun sounds pretty sweet too!

Awesome, enjoy! And yes there is I believe, you should be able to upgrade to the Ultimate Edition from the in-game menu in Miles (this tweet is from before launch, I think I remember seeing it when I played through it though):

Damn, time flies, I remember all of the excitement around here at launch! I also remember having to cancel my pre-order a month or so out to be sensible, because it definitely would have been a distraction from my studies In terms of actually Switching *clicking sounds*, as a result of lockdowns, over the last year I don't think I've undocked it for more than 5 minutes at a time, so I'm definitely not hearing the Switch *click* in my head as often these days. Has that been the case for you guys, or are you still getting a good mix of both types of play? It's a tough platform for me to gauge for me personally. Seeing as I don't have the most storied history with Nintendo and their home consoles, I think I've probably put just as much times into ports as I have new titles, which is great for me, though I do understand why some might have expected a greater output from them with the Switch, and aren't chomping at the bit to return to titles they've already played through. The next 12 months is looking a bit stronger for me personally (because of Pokémon, and Sinnoh specifically) but I do have concerns over a large number of the titles I'm looking forward to (though admittedly personal). How much of my time will New Pokémon Snap actually take up? Will Skyward Sword end up being a second tier experience with the Switch's motion controls and button layout when compared with the Wii version? Are the Pokémon Diamond & Pearl remakes going to be near enough 1:1 that aside from some QoL features and playing it on a TV, it won't really be worth picking up? Will Legends: Arceus have a passable frame rate or some half decent textures by the time it releases? And will BOTW2 address some of the weaker points I thought it's predecessor had, such as with the main storyline? It's tough, but hey, I'm still excited. The news of Legends: Arceus and how they're phrasing things around BOTW2 has me near convinced that we're seeing a Switch Pro at the end of this year or at the start of the next, which would be exciting too. But, hardware aside, I do wish they'd give us some more customisation options too: WHERE THE HECK ARE THE THEMES?!

THE REDEMPTION ARC BEGINS NOW who am I kidding all of these Wii U ports to the Switch is the redemption arc

Bunch of PSVR announcements in store today. First announcement was DOOM3 VR: Other announcements:

Well, I think it's inevitable it gets a 4K and/or 60fps version. If not in a patch, it'll be sold as a remaster, but I don't doubt that it's coming in some form. Because it's going to be pretty hard to argue against once we've got our hands on a better performing game with the same engine and assets in Factions But seriously, wouldn't surprise me if they're saving any news on it until we get a major update on Factions. "And for those who have TLOU2, or are playing the game for the first time, the PS5 upgrade will be available later today." Easy marketing tie-in.

To watch the world burn Optimistic take: free upgrade. Pessimistic take: upgrade will be bundled with Factions.

Aaaaaaand I guess I know what me and my friends are playing on Fridays this summer It looks great!