Julius

Yep, we gave a pretty average performance, and Arsenal deserved it. And after this season, it's really hard for me to be optimistic about our chances against Bayern. It's just been such an inconsistent season for us, and even with the great signings we're making, the short gap between the end of this season and the start of the next (which feels rushed, but oh well) doesn't give us much time to iron out our weaknesses, but at the very least I hope we strengthen our defence a bit. Looking forward to the Champions League being back, at any rate. Fully expecting it to feel like a cross between the World Cup or Euro's - in that you only have to turn up for a couple of weeks to win it now, and basically it's anyone's guess as to who could win from the quarter finals - and a pre-season tournament. I'm fully expecting to see some bizarre scorelines, should be a good watch!

Glad you mentioned this Glen. My younger brother has put thousands of hours and quite a lot of money into Fortnite over the last few years, and the issue I've generally noticed with the majority of that community is just how dialled in they all seem to be when it comes to these cosmetics. Knowing when new cosmetics are being made available in the store, exclusive items being added in another country and trying to change their server and system settings to obtain it, or exclusive things being made available on certain platforms/through certain activities outside of the game, they're ready for it. Watching videos, reading (a lot of totally bogus) articles, etc., seems to be their source. I think, at least for most cases I've seen through my younger brother and his friends, it goes beyond a surface level "yeah, I'll just buy this skin and be set for a month". Of course this varies from person to person, depending on a whole load of other factors (emotional and psychological maturity, awareness, money handling, etc.) and I don't want to lump everyone in together on this, but it just rubs me the wrong way. I don't care if it's not gambling through EA's "surprise mechanics", it is clear as day to me that cosmetics-only F2P platforms which are updated on a daily basis can have just as big and unhealthy an impact on younger minds. As for the topic at hand, I agree with general the sentiment that it's cool that Halo's multiplayer will be F2P, and it might tie in further to something else which seems to be knocking around as a headline today: Xbox are apparently planning on dropping Gold and going all-in on Ultimate/Game Pass, and will be returning to free online gaming across the board, which would be a very interesting turn of events. Curious to see how PlayStation respond if that is the case, but considering they have somewhere around 30 million PS+ subscribers, I don't think there's a chance they'll be budging anytime soon. 120 Hz is fine and dandy (though perhaps a little excessive at this stage for the overwhelming majority of gamers), though I do agree with the spirit of what @Sheikah is saying, in that I would rather have them focus on selling the story of Infinite's campaign and blowing us away with a stunning gameplay demo, rather than announcing that the yet-to-be-seen multiplayer will be capable of running at 120 Hz and free-to-play. I could be totally wrong here, but I had always been under the impression that the campaigns were the big selling point of Halo games, like with most first person shooters, with the online multiplayer adding a reason to return after the campaign on a regular basis. I still feel like they should have gone all-in on blowing us away with that demo rather than showing us something that they've since claimed is something like 6 months old? I don't know who thought that would be a great idea.

Thanks for the recommendations everyone, appreciate them! With the older Mario, Kirby, and Metroid games (as well as some of the Donkey Kong Country games), I'm hoping that I have access covered to most of those mentioned across NES and SNES Online, as well as the NES and SNES Classics I picked up earlier this year. I kind of feel obligated to start with the Super Mario Bros. games, so I think I'll be starting my platforming adventure there. @markderoos mentioned Castlevania and Mega Man too, which I've looked into. I picked up the Requiem of the Night (Rondo of Blood and Symphony of the Night) and the Mega Man and Mega Man X Legacy Collections (1 & 2 for both) a while back when they were on sale, so got those lined up too! Have added the Castlevania Collection to my Switch wishlist in anticipation of a sale also. @drahkon, you mentioned Rayman Legends, and thanks to your mention I noticed it had gone on the sale on the eShop, so have picked that up. Look forward to getting around to it, recall watching a great Game Maker's Toolkit video on the game but I completely forgot about it, so glad you put it back on my radar! And speaking of sales, turns out the Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy and the Spyro Reignited Trilogy were on sale too, so picked those up on my PlayStation. Played a bit of both of these franchises way back on the PS1, mostly around friends' houses (don't think I ever owned them myself), can barely remember it but I do remember having a good time, so looking forward to that too. Thanks drahkon, @GenericAperson and @Zell for those recommendations Blew me away how many people recommended Sonic, played quite a bit of it in high school through Flash. Obviously not the same, but I've picked up the SEGA AGES version of Sonic the Hedgehog, and have added 2 and Mania to my eShop wishlist. Thanks for sharing some love for the 'hog @Goron_3, @will', markderoos and GenericAperson, looking forward to that too! @Ronnie some big recommendations, I've seen you say glowing things about a number of them throughout the years so they are well on my radar. I actually picked up Hollow Knight, Celeste, and Ori and The Blind Forest during a sale at some point on the eShop, but Shovel Knight and the Guacamelee games have also been added to the wishlist. Conker's Bad Fur Day and Banjo are both on my radar after all of the recommendations, but unfortunately going to be playing the waiting game for them to be made readily available in some way, either on a Classic console or a platform I already own. Other games I haven't mentioned (Ratchet & Clank, Jak & Daxter, et al) are also on my radar now and have been added to my Excel spreadsheet for games I want to play at some point, but definitely in no rush to get through all of these games and I'm sure will get to them when the opportunity presents itself! Finally, about the 3D Mario games...same thing there, that's up to Nintendo I already own Odyssey, and actually put a few hours into it, but stopped myself as I really wanted the context of the older games, in the sense that strong mechanics seem to be the core of those games, and I would love to experience them in order because of this. Have brief memories of Sunshine from when I was younger, and the fact that a specific area sticks in my mind to this day from that game means it certainly left an impression. Here's to hoping that the 3D Mario collection comes to fruition, because I will be there day 1 if so

Grubb is teasing a PS5 State of Play between 5th August and 11th August... ...though he has said this is very shaky due to everything going on at the moment. Apparently PlayStation have some more third party deals to share (Doritos swooped on Call of Duty this year though, clearly!). With the Tokyo Game Show going digital for the first time this year and unlikely to attract huge crowds from abroad, hopefully we could see some Japanese developers at this potential State of Play. I don't care if it's a couple of years away and is a completely CG trailer. I want to see FFXVI! Would also love to see some more of the PS5 UI that they teased during the event back in June. Side note: August looks packed, and like a great way to wrap up this summer of gaming news!

If that 30 Day Video Game Challenge made one thing abundantly clear to me, it's that I haven't played nearly enough platformers. I've dabbled here and there with a number of them, but can't think of any that I've played to completion since New Super Mario Bros. on the Nintendo DS. This has got me wanting to play more platformers, 2D or 3D. They're generally much shorter than the games I usually play, and I'm always up for trying out new games and learning more about the history of games. I'm sure I know certain names that will pop up (a certain plumber I'm sure), but I'm just going to build from a blank slate. So, I turn to you for guidance, N-Europe. What are your essential platformers?

Holy smokes @Sprout those are fantastic, hadn't the slightest idea that things like this were possible with Ultimate's Photo Mode. Love the captions for each, and the descriptions of how you got the shot, and especially what was challenging on some of them. Awesome stuff Personal favourite has to be Squirtle's gasp reaction to Mechazard. I can't stop laughing

Really sorry to hear that @MindFreak, can't imagine the toll that news might have after everything you've already gone through until now. In a weird way, I'm glad you were willing to share that with us, if only so that you know that we're here if you ever need to talk or just vent that frustration. Hoping for all the best for you and your family, and fingers crossed things only look up from here.

Right, been very hit-and-miss when it comes to consistency on this, but it's time to catch up. I'll start with today's topic first. Day 30: Personal Gaming Tradition In terms of something I would consider a tradition seeing as I do it pretty much every time I play a game: lights out, curtains drawn, door closed. Like when focusing on a film, I want to be as focused as I can (reasonably) be on whatever it is that I'm playing. In terms of returning to games, I don't really have games that I return to on an annual basis like many do here. I have a lot of respect for @Glen-i returning to Explorers of Sky so often (it is probably one of my most played story-driven games, I've played it four or five times I think and that's excluding Explorers of Time), it's short, sweet, and so impactful. Though then again, I have played Chrono Trigger two Januaries in a row...coincidence? No idea, guess we'll find out in January 2021 oh, and I quite enjoyed reading through the list of games you've played over the last few years @Ronnie! In terms of other traditions? Unwrapping games as soon as they arrive, even if I know they'll be on the shelf for a while (looking at you, Yakuza 6). Watching credits all the way through like I do with films, I really like when I get to a point where I start recognising the same names popping up. Ejecting a game cartridge or disc as soon as I am done with it (whether that be story or 100% completion), putting it back in its case, and throwing it on a pile of complete games (found this is the best way for me to motivate myself to get through far more games than I have before). Screen protectors for anything and everything that needs it. And I always keep a game installed that I can play pretty mindlessly, like FIFA or Need for Speed, for whenever I'm not really in the mood for watching or playing something new. Now to catch up... Day 15: Best Story Really surprised by just how many aren't the biggest fan of stories in their games, but to each their own! For me, story is oftentimes the biggest draw when it comes to just about any entertainment (as some might be able to tell from my previous Gaming Diary or Anime thread posts), so it's little surprise that this is another really tough one for me. But there's only when answer for me when I think of the best story I've experienced in a video game. I will wholeheartedly throw in the towel here on Hard Mode, because this won't be the last time I mention this series. The Last of Us. I only played this for the first time a few months ago, somehow managing to avoid spoilers for the better part of a decade, and it blew my socks off. I don't really touch horror games in any definition of the genre, but had to make an exception for this solely because of the praise I'd heard for its story, and it also gave me a great opportunity to decide on whether I was going to buy and play its sequel last month (spoiler: I did. I pre-ordered it before I finished the game). Having only played the first three Uncharted games before this, apart from standout moments in Among Thieves, it was really difficult for me to understand the hype behind Naughty Dog. This sold me on everything they might do for the next decade. Brilliantly paced with a terrific soundtrack from Gustavo Santaolalla, a nerve-wracking world which matches the dread of surviving its moment-to-moment gameplay, great characters and some of the standout character moments in video game storytelling, the real difficulty here was trying to justify my other potential picks with this in mind. That being said, honourable mentions to Chrono Trigger, the most tightly-packed and impactful JRPG I've played (and it isn't even close) with a great time travel story, and my other mention has to go to Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater. Excellent story with some of the best setpieces in video games. Day 16: Most Interesting Collectibles The Last of Us Part II. Specifically, the notes left behind from the old world which you'll find as you make your way through the game. It just adds such a depth to each and every area. Most buildings have notes left behind, as well as their fair share of corpses and Infected, which all combine into small vignettes, and you're often left piecing together what happened there. The way it goes about this is by detailing things from codes for opening safes, to dark secrets kept until someone's dying breath, to something like the above: a guilt-ridden admission of taking safety for granted in such a brutal world. Special mention to Dragon Quest XI's Mini Medals, they're so abundant and smartly placed that it's impossible to not find yourself opening up everything you can get your hand on, or deviating from the beaten path. What's most interesting about them isn't necessarily how you obtain them, or where, but rather how much it incites just exploring every nook and cranny with confidence that, at some point, you will find a Mini Medal. Along similar lines, special mention also to Final Fantasy VII Remake's Music Discs, which are remixes of a number of songs from the original game (many for locations and characters not in this game), hinting at a musical taste of what is to come next. Day 17: Racing Game Burnout Paradise. Killer soundtrack, huge variety in challenge and race types available, fun collectibles and open world, and it's always awesome seeing the crumple zones come into play when you inevitably end up crashing. Day 18: Best Mini Game "Hey, how about a game of Lucky Hit?" For the fiftieth time, street vendor: yes. Shenmue II's Lucky Hit reminds me of a simpler time of when I visited family in the Philippines for a month at the age of 8 back in 2007, when I would frequently see similar boards dotted around while walking the streets there, and would bet on them with my cousins. Cosy times I feel perfectly captured in Shenmue II, where throughout your journey in Hong Kong you will have the opportunity to play game after game of Lucky Hit (in an attempt) to earn some serious cash. It's simple: you drop a ball from the top of an angled board packed with pins, normally arranged based on the design of an animal or creature on the board, and hope your ball lands in one of the designated win slots, either for a payout or a prize. Seriously addicting but its so simple and fun, I had to tear myself away from it after a while, otherwise I'm sure Ryo's story would have ended right then and there: a lost, down on his luck foreigner with a newfound gambling addiction. Special mentions this time to the Pokéathlon events in Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver, as well as the Pokémon Contests in Pokémon Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald and Diamond/Pearl/Platinum. Put a lot of time into earning those medals and ribbons as a kid. Day 19: Melee Combat Playing the Arkham series backwards right now, returning to the first three having played Arkham Knight first a few years ago (finished Arkham Asylum a few weeks ago), and it's interesting from only playing the first and most recent entries in the series how consistent the combat is, save for small differences in the timing of how Batman reacts. The weight of the blows Batman deals, and the impacts of those he is dealt, are hard to not feel, and chaining combos together while beating down on Gotham punks is awesome. Agree with a lot of the other choices mentioned though: God of War, Spider-Man, NieR:Automata, But my special mentions have to go to the first two Shenmue games for how it perfectly evolved the arcade-style structure and mechanics of Virtua Fighter to make a compelling and fun melee combat system, as well as, perhaps with a hint of recency bias, Ghost of Tsushima. A lack of lock-on hurts it for me, but it still easily has my favourite "normal" sword combat of any game I've ever played, Day 20: Saddest Moment The Last of Us Part II. @Glen-i, yep, that's definitely the sad moment to choose from Explorers, but it's an excellent one! And @Vileplume2000, about Valkyria Chronicles, excellent pick, really glad that you mentioned it. That moment got me too. Especially when... Day 21: Game that takes you back to your childhood Pokémon Diamond & Pearl. I mentioned this only last month in another thread, so yes, I'm going to quote myself Probably my favourite main series Pokémon OST alongside Ruby & Sapphire, too. So many great memories. Day 22: Favourite Playable Character Going to have to second @Happenstance on this one. Without hesitation: Kazuma Kiryu. I've mentioned it before, but having "only" played 0, Kiwami, Kiwami 2 and 3 to this point, I feel like I have a strong grasp on Kiryu as a character now having played through around 100 hours of adventures with him, and I maintain that he is a role model male video game character, and a prime example of how everyone should try to act. Day 23: Best Licensed Video Game Star Wars: Battlefront II (2005). Told you it would be back. I've put thousands of hours into this game. To date, the best Battlefront game (and then some), one of the best Star Wars campaigns which elegantly walks that fine line and successfully ties the prequel and original trilogies together, which is no mean feat, a diverse range of modes (Galactic Conquest is like Monopoly meets turn-based, galactic scale Star Wars skirmishes, with four unique endings for victory as the Republic, Separatists, Rebels, and Imperials). It has space combat, ground warfare, and a vast array of heroes, and one of the best hero implementations in a game like this. I love this game. Admittedly, I haven't played Knights of the Old Republic (though I know the story inside and out, thanks Wookieepedia for indulging a young Star Wars fan well over a decade ago!), nor have I played Rogue Leader. I simply wasn't at an age where that was feasible when they were released, but I hope to play them soon (I've got KOTOR on Steam, so that's ready to go when I'm in the mood). But special mentions to Republic Commando, the original Battlefront, and the first two LEGO Star Wars games. I think there's an undeniable fact here the more and more I talk about this: Star Wars by far has the strongest catalogue of licensed video games. Fight me. Day 24: Best Final Mission Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater. It's hard to nail down what exactly the final mission is here seeing as there's a fluidity to how levels weave into one another, but I'll just say that final boss fight. It takes everything you've learned throughout the game and forces you to take someone on who is objectively stronger than you are, wraps all of the game's themes and messaging into a nice bow, and has some excellent music backing it all up. Day 25: Online Multiplayer Got to admit, I really don't play many games online, so I'll go with Rocket League. Great mechanics and gameplay, it's a whole lot of fun and chaos but, like the best of games, it's easy to pick up yet difficult to master. It's easy to sink hours into. Not at all mentioning them in the same breath as Rocket League...but I have put far more hours into EA's Battlefront and Battlefront II online offerings than I would ever care to admit. Those are at the opposite end of the spectrum (or at least they were, DICE have actually turned Battlefront II around for the most part since launch). Day 26: Favourite NPC Mimir from 2018's God of War. If you've played the game, you know exactly why. But again, @Glen-i the Explorers call here with Wigglytuff is a great one. So many great characters in that game...might be time for a replay soon. Day 27: Best Boss Battle Jenova from Final Fantasy VII Remake. Not going to spoil anything about it, but this game has plenty of great boss battles, but this one stands out for how well it punches through the roof that were my expectations for this game (which were super high, by the way). Awesome song to back it up, because of course that's something that would win me over, shame I can't post a link to share it because Square Enix are still busy clamping down on this game's OST. Special mentions to the first colossus in Shadow of the Colossus; the final boss, The Shagohod, and The End in Metal Gear Solid 3; and Magus in Chrono Trigger. But an extra special mention to The Ice Queen in Dragon Quest XI. Up until that point, the sum of my turn-based JRPG experience was a long list of Pokémon games and Final Fantasy VII. I love those games, but it was so easy to just brute force my way through battles, and I never understood why anyone would be more tactical in their approach to turn-based games, specifically when it came to buffs and debuffs. Enter The Ice Queen. Up until that point in Dragon Quest XI I had cruised along without any concern, I don't think I had got close to meeting my maker, so much so that I was still trusting the AI to control my other characters. Against The Ice Queen I hit that wall, and I hit it hard. I tried brute force again after wiping for the first time in the game, but then figured that I would have to play it more methodically. Taking control of my other characters and focusing for the first time on buffs and debuffs, I found myself going from a struggling hero to one who overcame The Ice Queen with aplomb. I will never forget that boss fight, as it's the first time that I found myself having serious difficulty for reasons other than low levels in a JRPG, and while levelling up I'm sure would have fixed things, I'm so happy I learned the hard way. It resulted in an hour long clash of back and forth buffs, debuffs, and long sequence setups with the final boss of the main story in Dragon Quest XI, as well as me figuring out how to grind to LV 99 effectively in the game, comparing my tactics to others online for doing so and even being so bold as to tweak their tried and true tactics with my own spin to make it even more efficient. It opened up the world of JRPG's to me, for instance my three hour back and forth with Storm Dragon in Final Fantasy VI where I was adamant that I wouldn't grind and would find a way to overcome it without, and I did. That's one of my proudest moments in a game to date. Day 28: Favourite DLC/Expansion The Last of Us: Left Behind. A great two hour long epilogue to a great game which explores something briefly mentioned in the main game, and expands on it and delivers in a great way. Pacing and writing just as good as the main game, some more excellent music from Santaolalla, it adds so much meaning to what could have easily been some throwaway lines in the main game, and adds more standout moments and interactions to the long list you can already find in the main game. It is must play if you play The Last of Us. Day 29: Favourite Graphics/Art Style Having not played Wind Waker I don't feel it's fair for me to throw another mention at that, though that art style used in promotion is exactly why I bought Spirit Tracks. Wind Waker was that game I didn't know the name of as a kid (not until Smash Bros. Brawl) but wanted to play, mainly thanks to its art style. Having played Breath of the Wild I think that game also has a beautiful art style, up there with the very best. And @Goafer's mention of Persona 5 is absolutely something I need to mention, that game's art style is fantastic (as is that opening), and it doesn't get old during the around 100 hours you'll spend with that game. On the other end of things, in terms of realistic art style, I think Ghost of Tsushima and its vibrant and colourful island of Tsushima is the best in that regard. But I'm going to finally give a game I've mentioned a lot in my honourable mentions a win here. Say what you might (or rather, what I might!) about Square Enix's underhand marketing and distribution of this game in the West, Dragon Quest XI perfectly captures Akira Toriyama's art style in a 3D setting, is a massive step up technically from Dragon Quest VIII (which let's be honest, also probably deserves mentioning here in the art style department), and Toriyama's art style just matches the cosy vibes of Yuji Horii's Dragon Quest world. This is then furthered by battle animations and other interactions in the world, which just emanate an overwhelming feeling of warmth. And that's me all caught up!

This game doesn't seem to getting that much attention on here! Gameplay demo from the other day: Hopefully with their next showing they do a better job of communicating why this should be a next gen launch title. I felt like this demo was a bit lackluster.

It's not too late! I fell behind because I've had so much on my plate, but I'll be catching up on it later. It's a great thread and there's been a lot of interesting discussion, always really nice to learn more about everyone's gaming history and preferences too. Thanks again for the thread @Cube!

Think it's more the fact that there was already a thread for this, which @CrowingJoe79 himself started back in April when rumours were flying around. Feel like that one should have just been renamed. Though there doesn't seem to be as much interest in the Other Consoles threads in general, I don't think the Halo Infinite one has even been updated with the gameplay demo from Xbox's Showcase. But that's been the trend I've noticed since H-o-T stopped posting, I remember feeling super weird being the one to start a bunch of threads well after the PS5 conference was over. Not much there in that other thread either though, to be honest. I feel like most of the discussion probably happened in the PS5 thread during the event. Oh, and H-o-T hasn't been around, feel like he would have had some stuff to say, being a huge fan of the series.

After around 55 - 60 hours, I have liberated the region of Kamiagata and completed the game's story, meaning that I've liberated the steadfast island of Tsushima. Platinum get: The main story starts out with some shaky pacing, but is otherwise great at the best of times, and a solid Samurai story at the worst, but the real strength here lies within the side quest storylines, sword combat (easily the best I've experienced), secrets, stellar soundtrack, and the absolutely gorgeous open world. There's a lot of respect for Japanese culture and samurai cinema on show, and judging from the reactions over there, I'd guess that the feel is mutual. I have never cared about an open world so much, there's just so much life and vibrance to it all, despite it being quite dark and serious throughout. It didn't pull any punches, and I think that's important, because it didn't shy away from the brutality of war, and sugarcoat it like so many forms of entertainment do. It's one of the best looking games of the generation, so playing on a base PS4 I was surprised I didn't experience too many technical issues (the normal frame rate drops and such) throughout my adventure. My final special mention has to go to the fast travel: 2 - 5 seconds to load into another spot in this beautiful open world means, for once, it's viable as a way to just hop back if you think you might have missed something, and it often loaded much faster than I could read the tips. I'll stop there as I've mentioned a lot of my thoughts in this thread since starting the game, but in short, I think Sucker Punch have knocked it out of the park. This is a not completely polished masterpiece of a game, easily one of my favourite open world experiences to date, and one of my favourite games of this generation.

Doing a lot of pretty monotonous spreadsheet processing for work at the moment, so been listening to a mix of film scores (a lot of Morricone after his recent passing) and game scores. This stands out: This Final Fantasy VI medley arrangement by Roger Wanamo, performed by the Royal Philharmonic, is absolutely fantastic

Yeah, seconding the opinions here: I can't wait to try Fall Guys out. I was on the fence before but having it be a PS+ game pushes that well over the edge, it just looks fun. Hopefully this will be another Rocket League-type situation. I put off picking up MW2 a few months back because of its launch price (I bought a PS3 earlier this year and could have just picked up a cheap copy of the original instead), and now I'm glad I did. I played MW's campaign last year and thought it was solid if a little predictable, I'll be fine with the same here. Still a massive shame they didn't include Spec Ops though, that was the main mode I played with my friend back in high school and had a blast with.

Well...that's a bit of a buzzkill. Oh well, it's only one week! I've actually been toying with the idea of picking up a modded GBA for the last 7 or 8 months, because there are certain games I'm interested in playing that just aren't widely available on modern platforms, as well as revisiting some I already own. Going to try my best to get a pre-order in, but I finish work at 16:30 next week being kept on my toes at least!

Took a few days off this game before digging back into it again yesterday, unfortunately I've got a lot going on at the moment which means this game hasn't had my undivided attention as I would have liked to give it. Still, I'm guessing I'm somewhere between 40-45 hours on, and have just started Act III after liberating Toyotama. Really smelling the roses (cherry blossoms?) with this game and I'm just loving it. Still looks incredibly beautiful (yes, I've taken a few hundred more screenshots since my last post!), the story and the world still has me fully engrossed, and above all else I think the quests really stand out in this game. "Typical" open world games like this normally aren't my cup of tea, but the setting and focus on character is really making it hard to peel myself away from the game when I'm playing. Also, the combat is still top tier. There have been one or two moments where the game's technical problems come into play again, which is a real shame. It's honestly stuff I've come across in other similar games, so nothing new, but still with mentioning. This time around, halfway through a story quest when raiding a camp, there's a moment where you can take a break and you need to speak to an NPC to progress, however I couldn't because the NPC was stuck acting like it was still in combat. I started taking out the Mongols I could see but then another NPC got killed, do the checkpoint got restarted. Luckily there was no more weirdness from there, but yeah. That happened. My shout out this time around has to go to the variable speeds of NPC's at the core of quests (whether main or side). In every other open world game I've played like this, following a character from one area to another involves running ahead and waiting for them, or matching their speed and slowly trudging along. That Ghost of Tsushima makes them move ahead of you but let you decide whether they walk or run from the speed you're moving at is such a great touch, to the point that when I met a certain NPC in a quest where they couldn't do that (due to their age), I was rolling my eyes. But then I was grateful that it was only this time, and was contextualised, and tried to imagine how frustrating the game might have been if this wasn't something we could do. Hope to make some decent progress with the game this week. I don't want it to end but I am looking forward to finishing it, because then I can catch up on my Gaming Diary at long last

@Mandalore, I agree with @dwarf on this one. Unfortunately, while I do think that there are a number of legitimate criticisms to make about this game, the main reasons behind the review bombing come from a place of hatred.

Yeah, I mentioned this in my super long post on the last page, because I find it really strange. I took notes while I watched the show after I noticed it in the lower third, what I found was: State of Decay 3, the next Forza Motorsport, Everwild, Avowed, As Dusk Falls, Hellblade II, and Fable were the ones I noted that were labelled as being under the Xbox Game Studios banner but were only presented at the end of their respective showings as being for XSX and PC. Of the third party offerings shown, this was also the case for Stalker 2, Darktide, and The Medium. I'm surprised at the number of games that were slated here as being for Series X/PC only, given how strong cross-gen support had been promised for XBO for the next two years. Unless it's going to be mentioned that these can be played during a potential update on xCloud at the next event, as being able to stream on the XBO?

Oh yeah sure, my bad. And I mean, while separate strategies in some ways, getting those games announced early and setting expectations for what was coming in the last few years of the PS4 left them with space to have their audience wanting - and expecting - more when it came to the PS5 unveiling. That would have been part of an overall strategy, including their focus on well defined generations, and I doubt that anything that we've seen so far from their first party studios coming to PS5 would have been intended to be developed with the PS4 in mind. They've given themselves plenty of time to run down the clock on the PS4, and it's clear that they had a clear cut off point for their first party games in mind a few years back. But anyway, what did you think of Xbox's showing Ronnie?

Missed out on watching live earlier, but watched the stream immediately after finishing work, then got caught up on the pre-show information. Yesterday, I said I wanted to come out of this wanting to buy a Series X, and I genuinely meant that. It would mean more games that I'm interested in playing, and would be great for Xbox fans. I'm in on day 1 for PS5, so while this wouldn't necessarily be a launch purchase, I'm ready to be swayed to pick up a Series X. But did this particular Showcase make me want to buy a Series X? Not in the slightest. I think they've completely dropped the ball again, and I have little confidence that their next showing will be much of an improvement. Which is a real shame. I'm not here to throw shade at Xbox - I want them to succeed, competition is great for this industry if nothing else! - but I do want to try to voice why I think it fell flat for me, and I'm sure many others. Firstly, I like Phil Spencer. I think he's a great guy from the podcasts I've heard him on, the projects him and Xbox lead for inclusivity in gaming always put a smile on my face, and having brushed up on my gaming history since joining here, absolutely think he's the right guy to lead Xbox. Purely as a consumer though? Pretty hard for me to ignore the hypocrisy on show when he has called out timed console exclusivity before, yet it was plastered all over this event. It just doesn't sit right with me whenever someone advocates against something and then clearly supports that same thing. As for the actual show, it started off really poor for me. I mentioned yesterday I have no real investment in Halo, having only dabbled with the series before when at friends' houses growing up, but wanted to see Infinite shine and show itself off. Xbox needed to send a message with their marquee franchise and tentpole generation launch title! I know that it's cross-gen and is being held back by the capabilities of the Xbox One to some degree, but it doesn't come close to what Sony's first party have managed to get out of the PS4 this generation (I'm not even talking about The Last of Us Part II here, or even Ghost of Tsushima which released a few days ago! But games which are a few years old at this point like Horizon Zero Dawn), or even other major third party developers (looking at you, Rockstar and Red Dead Redemption 2) from their open worlds. Animations, character models and effects looked dated compared with other AAA offerings this year, and while I can clearly see it's them returning to their roots, the little that we saw looked sluggish and repetitive. There was no urgency at any point in the demo either, which I think made it all the more apparent. Think back to the demo at E3 2018 that Sony had for TLOU2, and the way they orchestrated a sense of urgency by having Ellie not have a flawless time. Now think of this, and how I can't remember Master Chief taking any big hits whatsoever to his health. Also, opening with what clearly looked like a CG cutscene (could be wrong on this, but if that's in-engine it's clearly set up differently to the gameplay we saw) and then going into the demo wasn't a great decision either, because it sets the wrong expectations. It also took me out of the demo completely when we got to the top of the ride up on that platform and the music swelled with the view of one of the flattest and least interesting open world vistas I've seen in a game in years. It looked so generic to me. And the rest of the show was pretty similar to that to some extent for me. Poorly paced from the off, too many people turning up just to give their projects lip service (not what we're here for). Too many CG trailers, too many games which weren't shown effectively as being next gen (or even up to par with the end of this one), but then being surprised when some big ones weren't coming to the One, considering just how much support has been talked up for the next few years (State of Decay 3, Everwild, the next Forza Motorsport, Avowed, As Dusk Falls, Fable). I get it, COVID will have delayed things, but we got only got dates (I'm not just talking the day of release, but even a window or year!) for like 5 different things here. I don't think any game was shown off particularly well, and so many of the games featured here were things that we've seen before. And then of course there's Fable, the worst kept secret in the industry for the last few years. If you ever have a "one more thing", read the room and don't pretend that we haven't know about it for years, put together a trailer for literally anything else in development which you think could sell and bring hype raining down, and move Fable up into the middle of the show. I know @Ronnie took issue before when PlayStation hadn't revealed much of anything new from a first party perspective from the end of 2017 up until the PS5 event last month, and while I was more optimistic, I agree that some of those announcements were made a bit too soon. Not calling you out here by the way, but in the end, I think we can both agree Sony were just holding things back until the PS5, and we know there's still more to come, and can have some degree of confidence in them to deliver with whatever comes next after last month's showing (even if there were one too many indies, and one too many games which look like they'll never see the light of day). I don't just want to be down on this event before I get to what I think the main problem is, so what actually did grab my attention? Well, as @Glen-i and @Dcubed mentioned, the announcement of Dragon Quest XI S coming to Game Pass is a pretty massive deal (though I have become less and less of a fan of how Square Enix have rolled that game out as someone who supported it when it launched on PS4 - I get it, they build a different version from the ground up, but still runs me the wrong way). Turns out my Dragon Quest XII example yesterday actually wasn't too far off, but it's a shame this wasn't part of the main show, though it makes sense considering that it doesn't seem like it will be much improved in how it runs over the Switch release.Loved that game, glad more people will get to play it. I liked the art style for Everwild, interest has been piqued, but as others have rightly mentioned, it still feels like we still know so little about it. Phantasy Star Online 2: New Genesis and Crossfire X were also big ones for me, both being high energy trailers where I got a good sense of what the game was like, and actually came away wanting to check them out (also the music in that PSO trailer was brilliant). I don't think it's a coincidence that the high energy trailers were the ones that got me back on the hook for that final 10 minutes, and I honestly think that trailer for Yakuza 7 from the other day should've been shown here first too, seeing as it was very action heavy (a little deceptive considering it'll be turn-based, but not the point) and has that English dub now. Anyways, the big issue I think that Xbox has kind of stumbled into, and that I think was the main takeaway from this event, is that while being slated as a look at Xbox Game Studios titles ahead of the start of the next generation of games, this was focused on promoting Game Pass above all else. Big AAA first party titles like Halo Infinite look dated because developers have very little incentive to optimise them for the next gen console they're supposedly here to promote, and while I think Xbox is making the right move by leaning into Game Pass as a longer term strategy, it's come at the detriment of their brand image as a whole, illustrated no better than by how their first party titles are perceived. Not pushing forwards and optimising titles like Halo means that "The World's Most Power Console™" is only really appealling to the small minority of gamers interested in power above all else who want a cheap alternative to a gaming PC, and of course those already invested in the ecosystem (who likely don't have or want a gaming PC), because it means little if it isn't running some of the best looking games. For the person who wants to mention Cyberpunk 2077, my point is that while it will likely run best of the consoles on Xbox Series X, we see one game from CDPR a generation at this point, and so is not a good indicator of support for that. It's in this weird middle ground for me because of this, and seemingly for many others too, where their indecisiveness on their direction has landed them in a tough spot. The only potential saving grace for someone like me who does want an Xbox to play the Halo games for the first time, among a small number of their other legacy titles, is the potential of something like Lockhart, which is still, of course, MIA. Overall, viewing this as a fan of the medium, considering it as an event for showing off games for the next generation and for showing off the Series X, I think Xbox took quite a few missteps this time around. The lack of a price here too means that the ball is now seemingly back over in Sony's court while we wait on the price announcement for next gen consoles and, presumably, another PlayStation showing in the coming months.

Unfortunately I won't be tuning in live (working until 18:00 ) but getting quite excited to see what Xbox has in store for us with this event. While I'm interested in seeing more of Halo Infinite, that comes more from a general interest in games and what this game might set out to do, rather than any particular investment in the Halo series. What I think I'm most excited for is the potential of new or rebooted IP's (haven't played a Fable game before, but I have played Forza, and would be intrigued to see how Playground go around tackling a project like that), and as always what third parties might be bringing to the table, especially Japanese publishers and studios when it comes to Xbox. Getting to show Final Fantasy XVI first would be a huge get for them, but considering the international appeal rather than the domestic appeal for the Japanese market with the FF series these days, and that I think we're going to see them trying to push for that market a bit more this time around, I would be much more interested if they showed off a more niche series on the international market, but is crushing it in Japan (not going to happen, but an example of what I mean would be something like Dragon Quest XII turning up). Not long to go now. Given how many of their cards Xbox has played so far, I think they need to knock this one out of the park. They just haven't played their cards right up to this point in my opinion, and I'd go so far as to say they've kind of muddied the waters a bit? That reveal of the console at The Game Awards last year I think was premature, and didn't garner nearly enough attention as it could and perhaps should have, and the May next gen showcase was a bit of a disaster. They need a win with this one. Fingers crossed that it's a great show, because there's nothing I'd love nothing more than to come out of this wanting to pick up a Series X.

Big update: coming November 2020 to PS4, Xbox One, and PC (Windows/Steam), Series X as a launch title this Holiday, and coming to PS5 with an upgrade at a later date. There will also be an English dubbed version, which includes George Takei.

The remake got delayed a couple of weeks back to 25th September, but at least we finally got a look at some gameplay:

Looks like kiosks are starting to be set up in Currys PC World, some 4 months ahead of launch: Can't imagine us being too far from a launch date and price with these popping up, but at the same time, even with masks becoming mandatory in stores...seems a bit risky.

Work continues to be the gift that keeps on giving. Hey, let's stick Julius on a payment holiday specialist team because he's doing well at his job and we want this done right. Today, let's tell him to work this spreadsheet. And three hours later, when he's making good progress, let's take him off that spreadsheet and get him to start handling complaints related to said payment holidays, ignore him and toss aside our contact strategy when he brings up the fact that there's an overlap in customers on the spreadsheet his team and another team are working, and let's ignore the fact that we've created a giant mess out of this. This has been my experience over the last week and a half at work, and it's starting to drive me up the wall. Stick me on something, let me get the job done, then move me across to do something else. Moving me about so much and brushing aside problems I notice is the best way to get me to start half-arsing things. The managers at my workplace are nice people, but they are not good managers.