Julius

Just finished watching the first episode of Disney Gallery / Star Wars: The Mandalorian. The focus on the directors, their backgrounds, and what they were like on set was much appreciated, but I'm glad they started out the episode with a bit of a focus on Filoni. I think it's important that he is more widely acknowledged for his work on Star Wars. Also, in one of the parts he wore an awesome Princess Mononoke t-shirt that I've just tracked down, the man can do no wrong Really enjoyed it, hope they do more things like this in the future, and I'm looking forward to next week's episode.

The game has gone gold:

Some big news coming from StarWars.com. As far as I can remember, this is the hardest they've pushed May 4th; we've had a lot of announcements today. Please, please, please let Taika's project be about a comedy club in the lower levels of Coruscant...

Yeah, okay, I get that it's May 4th, but relative to the game's release, this update feels a little on the late side to me? Even if it does look cool (albeit a little bare).

Oh no, my wallet...

Poster time: We going to get some news today? EDIT: Update on release frame, looks like it could end up being a Q4 title: EDIT 2: StarWars.com have an interview up with some of the guys over from TT Games about the project. Worth a read if you're interested!

Just to promote the end of The Clone Wars? Or for the reveal of a new show?

The first episode of the BTS docuseries Disney Gallery: The Mandalorian is up now, as is The Rise of Skywalker. Love how the featured titles on the Disney+ hub are all Star Wars shows and films with concept art used in place of the typical poster for today, like so...

So after instinct told me something might be up, I check Disney+ a bit over half an hour ago and, surprise surprise, the final episode of The Clone Wars is up at 12 AM vs the 8 AM slot we've had for the final season to this point. Goodness gracious me Filoni, you beautiful, beautiful man. I definitely need to rewatch the entire arc in one go to see how well it's paced stitched together (or, you know, they could work their magic and release a movie cut? Please?!), and I'll guess I'll gather more cohesive thoughts then, as this definitely had the pacing of a conclusion, but boy is it special. The whole arc has been special, but the imagery, the level of animation, and Kevin Kiner's Blade Runner-esque soundtrack married to previous themes from the show and John Williams classics in this final episode...man oh man, what a show! The mirroring of the Rebels finale in certain shots, the satisfying conclusion to certain character arcs, tying up loose ends and any outlying "continuity errors", if you would go so far as to call them that, from other shows or books. And that final scene. That final shot. That helmet in the snow, and the reflection in the visor. The Clone Wars ended at long last. My mouth was literally agape the entire time. That might be one of the most powerful and tasteful shots in the entire Star Wars pantheon. There are certainly since arcs which have been shown or teased to this point which I would still love to see released as shorter, limited run projects under the banner of The Clone Wars, but this is more than a satisfying conclusion if this is how they want to leave it for now. If the next animated show can hit the ground running, and have this level of animation, then we'll be in for something truly special. Fingers crossed for an announcement soon...

Loved Volgin as the main antagonist, a rare occasion in video games where I felt like the actions he took - against Naked Snake, or against just about anyone else, really - lived up to the cruelty described by others, and surpassed it on many occasions. Honestly, until the torture sequence started and they pulled the knife out, I completely forgot that we're inevitably going to lose an eye at some point, and thought that that scene subverted expectations in a way which still made you mad at Volgin perfectly. Something I really liked about this game, compared with many modern day alternatives, is how Volgin's bisexuality and Raikov's homosexuality were almost completely glossed over, never questioned, and seemingly accepted by everyone in the game, as far as I can remember. It would've been so easy to have guards talking about it mockingly elsewhere in the game, or for Naked Snake to taunt either one of them after finding that out, but no-one bats an eye to any of it, and I loved that. Maybe it's just because of how it's almost always handled way too aggressively in modern media whenever an LGBTQ+ character is introduced for the first time, often overtly, and I feel like the game would be met with a lot of controversy unfortunately if released today ("the only LGBTQ+ characters in the game are villains!"), so it was a welcome change of pace seeing how that was handled. I'd like to think that Kojima wouldn't change a thing if that game was released today. Yep, loved The Boss. Finding out that she's effectively going to fade into oblivion after all of this, and knowing that she's not mentioned or seen at all in the future (at least in the previous two games) really drives that point home retroactively, and I loved that. I think heartbreaking is definitely the best way to describe her part in this story, and I loved that ending too. Totally agree on Naked > Solid, got a much more meaningful arc than Solid did in either of the first two games. Despite clearly being just as lost at times, it's clear by the end of this game that he has conviction in what he chooses to do next. I saw his journey taking out Cobra as quite literal considering the codenames of its members: washing away his pain, overcoming his fears (and his inevitable end), learning to conceal his fury, overcoming sorrow, and, finally, killing his joy. He really is quite literally naked as a character at the start of this game, all of his flaws and qualities on show, and by the end all that remains is an empty shell to perpetuate war. Yep, I loved Ocelot too, much more than in any of the previous games, where I actually thought that he was quite the nuisance. Bond girl charm and femme fatale aside, I was pleasantly surprised at the depth to Eva, too. The Main Theme is killer in this game, I absolutely loved when I heard it kicking in when against the Shagohod as you mentioned. Besides that, I really loved Snake Eater, Way to Fall, and Battle in the Base, which evoked some classic spy music, and did a great job at ratcheting up the tension. By the way, seriously, if someone made an army of scientists in one of these games the game would be over before it even begun. I found it hilarious just how good they were at picking up on you not being one of them. Oh man, you guys are making me really excited to crack on with MGS4 I've already started watching some of the trailers for it, but I definitely feel the need to switch things up for a change of pace after MGS3 (if anything, just because I don't want to be comparing the two too harshly, and just to let Snake Eater breathe a little more in my head), so I'm going to try to tackle a shorter game or two before diving into MGS4 I think and this coming weekend with the bank holiday this Friday is a three-day weekend, so that might be a good time to start... Also, I realise that I didn't actually get to share my thoughts on the first game that much in this thread, but I do get into it during my April update in the Gaming Diary thread, if anyone's interested in knowing how much I enjoyed that!

Time for my April update. FINAL FANTASY VII REMAKE | 2020 In 1997, a game largely responsible for the explosion in popularity of JRPGs in the West arrived, seeing players take up the Buster Sword as Cloud Strife for the first time, alongside a now beloved cast of characters, as players fought to save the planet from the wicked Shinra Corporation, who take advantage of and make profit from the world’s natural energies. In 2015, the promise was made that we would once again return to that legendary story and fabled world to once again save the planet. And, in 2020, the long-awaited reunion is finally at hand. Final Fantasy VII Remake is an ambitious remake by Square Enix of Final Fantasy VII, and is a retelling of the first part of the journey players first went on some 23 years ago in the city of Midgar. With many returning names from the original game such as artist-turned-director Tetsuya Nomura, amongst many others, and overseen by Yoshinori Kitase, the cyberpunk City of Mako is gloriously realised with breath-taking assets, detailed character models, quality sound design, and a strong art direction, which contributes to an incredible sense of immersion. There is a sheer sense of scale and a passionate level of detail to the world (whether it be advertisements, road signs, or even train schedules) on show in this game which literally left my jaw agape at times, and whether you are speeding through in a motorbike chase, visiting the dirt-infested Slums, or dancing around in Wall Market, it is an incredible achievement that the world feels as unified as it does – it is rare that anything feels out of place. It is a fascinating location to explore, and it begs you to check out everything it has to offer. That isn’t to say that wandering Midgar is without flaws, though. For much of the game, it ran very smoothly, though there were numerous instances of egregious texture pop-in, and you can tell that the game has been somewhat limited in its design by being made for this generation of consoles, most noticeable in how many small gaps you will find yourself scraping through to allow for the next area to load, and this can sometimes hurt its pacing. There was a moment when I was crawling through an airduct and looked down through a vent only for the game to freeze, but I haven’t been able to recreate that issue, though I do think that it’s mentioning as I have seen a few others mention the game freezing and having to back out and restart the game. I feel it is worth mentioning at this point that I played the game a week before its intended release, like many others here, due to early shipments as a result of COVID-19, though as far as I’m aware, a patch still hasn’t been released for the game; it’s also worth mentioning that I played on a base PS4 model, though I know plenty of people have had issues with texture pop-in on Pro consoles too. I would also say that Moogle Medals, clearly inspired by Dragon Quest’s Mini Medals, are a poor reward for searching through every nook and cranny, and it feels like a whole unnecessary addition to the game, as it doesn’t really add much to the adventure. What’s more, there is another set of collectibles in this game that are much better in almost every way – those are the collectible music discs found dotted around the game, each one a remix of a track from the original game (even certain tracks which don’t make It into this game, based on the story not progressing to that point). They range from chirpy tunes to jazzy blowouts, and they’re first heard just by wandering around the game’s world and most often obtained by just locating the source of the music. These tracks can then be played in jukeboxes around Midgar, and it’s generally just a delightful and respectful nod to the original game. I hope they return next time around (and that Moogle Medals are never seen again). Of course, one of the main reasons that the original game is so widely adored is its diverse and loveable main cast, and I’m over the moon that they absolutely nailed these characters, and quite prominently, their interactions with one another. Cloud’s snarky back and forth with Barrett, Aerith’s teasing of Cloud, and Tifa’s concern for just about everyone around her, and Cloud’s opening up to her, are small details which go a long way to fleshing out these characters and making them feel whole. They are every bit as loveable as they were in the original – if not more so – and that is an incredible feat which the game’s writers and localisation team deserve plenty of praise for. With the game taking place entirely in Midgar, it also gave them the opportunity to flesh out plenty of characters from the original game, such as the other main members of AVALANCHE: Biggs, Wedge, and Jessie. The localisation team deserve widespread recognition for their work on this game, because it’s pretty much perfect. Again, they fleshed out these characters in a way which naturally benefitted the story, giving them much more history, and seeing their chemistry and genuine care for one another throughout the game never failed to put a smile on my face. And Marlene is absolutely adorable. There are some recurring characters who are new to this game (and others fleshed out completely from almost nothing in the original game) who do pretty well to blend into the world for the most part, though some of their designs do seem a little closer to Kingdom Hearts or the modern Final Fantasy character designs we’ve seen more recently than the original Final Fantasy VII character design philosophy. Unfortunately, one of the characters that I found myself not loving as much as in the original was Sephiroth. I think that Square Enix just weren’t looking to make him the same chaotic force in the shadows that he was in the original this time around, a nightmarish phantom we were always two steps behind, but then it makes me question some of their cinematography and direction choices at times, such as showing his full face before they, later in the same scene, focus purely on his lips and lower half of his face – as if they hadn’t just revealed his face? It feels like at times they were stuck in the middle on how he was utilised as a character, but for the most part, I think he is still realised in a very effective manner throughout the game’s story, serving more as a manipulative and overwhelming force of nature. I don't have any experience with the modern Final Fantasy games, but from what I've read, heard and seen of XV, VII Remake's battle system seems to be a step above in every regard. It's fluid and dynamic, requires your full attention at all times, and the ATB gauge adds a dimension of strategy to combat that I think most turn-based fans will be pleased with. It reminds me a lot of Chrono Trigger, in a great way, with curated sets of enemies to be found and engaged, and seamless transitions in and out of battle. Getting your materia and weapon set-up just right is pleasing (though I do wish that there was an easier way to transfer sets between characters, or save them for later use, such as with a loadout). Boss battles are epic, as are there soundtracks, and I don't think there was a single one that I didn't love. The game is also very generous on the odd occasion when you do lose a battle, giving you the option to either back out to the last checkpoint or, much more likely, just retry from the last battle. All-in-all, I can’t wait for the next game to see how the combat system is further evolved, and what changes and additions the team decides to make. It's worth mentioning though that were a number of times where battles were a little frustrating, in that some enemies have extremely good targeting and are guaranteed to hit you almost regardless of what you do, and you can actually be knocked out of using your Limit Break/a spell/ability if hit by an enemy in the small amount of time between selecting to use it and the animation starting. It still spending your Limit meter/MP/ATB bars as though you'd used it when being knocked out of the animation is never welcome. The camera can also be a little hard to control at times in battles, and while the sense of scale in the battles are spot on for the most part, there were some occasions where you practically just end up in the face of a boss, which makes it difficult to read the battle on the scale that they want you to. Until you ground them, flying enemies can also cause this issue with the camera, and it didn’t feel nearly as well thought out as some of the other battle mechanics. Going into this game, and especially after having played the demo three times after that released, I must admit, I was a little concerned about the game’s soundtrack; my main concern was that they would lean too heavily into a generic orchestral soundtrack which might grow stale by the end of the game. Was also a bit concerned that they were going to rely too heavily on One Winged Angel and toss aside Those Chosen By The Planet, and honestly, I still think that concern was somewhat justified based on the game’s intro and what we got to experience in the demo. But boy was I wrong. That teaches me for doubting a Final Fantasy OST. This game’s soundtrack is nothing short of incredible – new tracks fit into the world of Midgar seamlessly, and every track from the original game is reimagined in a way that is fresh and thrilling. Humming and whistling along to Wall Market’s The City That Never Sleeps which seamlessly transitions from that upbeat theme, to an Eastern Asian-styled one, to a whistling, chocobo barn tune based on the part of Wall Market that you’re in was awesome. The Turks Theme is so moody and patronising. Those Chosen By The Planet starts out with an unnerving, fragmented distortion which leads into its impending sense of dread. Characters themes and the main theme are incredible, as they were always going to be. Some tracks are just stunningly beautiful, and I think that is best heard with Flowers Blooming in the Church. I’m getting goosebumps and tearing up even now just listening to it. Kudos to Masashi Hamauza and Mituto Suzuki for their new arrangements of Uematsu’s original, and their original compositions, they did a great job. I’ve touched on it a bit already, but I feel the need to talk about the game’s story a bit more. I feel like it does a great job overall of capturing the essence of the original game, and the major story beats are still excellently executed. The Remake nails this and almost always manages to evoke the feeling that they’re going for, whether it be despair, jubilation, or absolute disgust and hatred for the actions of certain characters in this game. I had a smile on my face almost all the way through, and it made me nostalgic for a time before I was born. That being said, the story does have some issues, as was always going to be the case when adapting a game opening which is at most 8 hours long, to a 30+ hour modernisation. While side quests do offer an optional change of pace, and are a great way to gain some experience in what I would describe as being a “contextualised grind”, they are of extremely varying quality: some of them are actually really fun, but others do just feel like padding to stretch out the experience. Certain chapters do feel a bit drawn out, and many are of varying lengths, and there are certain chapters which I thought really damaged the story flow and pace of the game. I’ll also use this opportunity to to talk about the ending of the game. In the end, I think that Final Fantasy VII Remake is an ambitious reimagining of the original Final Fantasy VII’s Midgar, and although there are one or two missteps along the way, it is an incredible experience which I look forward to revisiting in the future, and I have faith in Square Enix’s vision for this project. A new promise has been made. I can’t wait to hit Continue. After a beautiful showcase of current hardware realising an old classic, I figured that it was finally time that I started playing through another widely praised series which in recent years has somewhat faded into the back of the casuals gamer's mind, and has seemingly been completely tossed aside by its developer. Another game widely recognised as a classic, released just one year after Final Fantasy VII; another title for the PlayStation 1. I'm talking about... METAL GEAR SOLID | 1998 In early 2005, Shadow Moses, a remote island off the coast of Alaska, was the setting of a revolt staged by the Next-Generation Special Forces, led by members of the formidable elite black ops unit known as FOXHOUND, in which they successfully captured a secret nuclear weapons facility. They demanded that the US Government returned the body of Big Boss, the greatest soldier who ever lived, and that if their demand was not met, that they would launch a nuclear weapon. Backed by a support team led by Colonel Roy Campbell and data analyst Mei Ling by Codec (an advanced radio developed by Mei Ling herself), former FOXHOUND agent Solid Snake is pulled out of retirement and despatched to the scene with only two objectives: save the hostages, and if the enemy do have the means to launch a nuclear strike as they threaten that they do, to stop them. Directed by Hideo Kojima and developed by Konami Computer Entertainment Japan, Metal Gear Solid is a stealth action game originally released on the PlayStation 1 which is often cited as one of the most pivotal video games in the industry, taking heavy influence from Kojima’s love of cinema. This was my first time playing this game. As Solid Snake, you infiltrate Shadow Moses, doing your best to make your way through without being detected, whether that be by ducking or hiding around walls, crawling out of sight, or using noise to distract the enemy. This is especially important early on, as emphasis is placed on on-site procurement (i.e. you’re sent in without weapons, so you’ll need to find some), which I found to be an interesting and smart design decision to promote players to be less violent in their approach to the game, as setting off alarms after being spotted (and waiting for the signal to go out that I hadn’t been spotted) often results in being surrounded by a number of guards who are pretty trigger happy often carrying superior weaponry to you. That’s not to say that you won’t have weapons (you’ll get access to a range of weapons throughout the game, from pistols and rifles to rocket launchers and grenades), but it gives you a strong impression of the type of mission you’re about to head out on, and gives you the opportunity to adjust your playstyle accordingly from the get-go. Armed with a plethora of gadgets, Snake can also make use of another system developed by Mei Ling called the Soliton Radar, which allows players to see surrounding enemies and their cone of vision; honestly, this is a very welcome addition which I think is one of many decisions helped this game hold up to this day, and I can’t imagine this game without it. The Codec is another example of this which is used for simple game things, like saving for instance (shoutout to Mei Ling and her many words of wisdom), but also works as a sort of in-game guide. Calling members of your support team outside of cutscene-specific scenarios, during which they often call you, allows you to get advice on how to best handle a situation, such as giving you hints on possible weaknesses when facing down against a boss, or lets them remind you what you need to do next. There’s also the matter of a Continue just taking you to the last checkpoint, which is more often than not the last time you loaded into a new area, which I found surprisingly generous; this game is much more about the experience of learning from your mistakes than penalising you for them, which I have found to be the case in all of the Metal Gear Solid games that I have played so far, and it’s something that I really appreciate. In addition to this, when starting the game back up for another session, you’re given the option for a recap of a short paragraph or two recapping the most recent events in the game, paired with some beautiful art from Yoji Shinkawa (and his art style is really well translated in this game, perhaps more so than any other Metal Gear Solid game that I’ve played to this point, I suppose in large part thanks to the technical limitations at the time). It’s decisions like these which I think have managed to futureproof many of the game’s mechanics, and I was pleasantly surprised by how much of the game still holds up. Throughout the game, themes such as genetics and purpose are brought to the forefront, as are questions which remain very important to this day about the use and storage of nuclear weaponry. They are explored from a number of perspectives, whether it be Snake’s, your support team’s, or even from the members of FOXHOUND after your battles with them. I think the most interesting perspectives, though, are from Meryl, an operative you meet on-site who also happens to be the Colonel’s niece, and Hal Emmerich, otherwise known as the big fan of anime who attends otaku conventions: Otacon. Meryl is interesting as she comes from a family who have strong ties to the military, but questions why she’s doing what she’s doing, and often feels out of place in attempting to realise her purpose. Otacon comes from a family which is tied to the tragedy of nuclear arms, and has a lot of questions and opinions about fate and love. Both seem out of their depth when you first meet them, but prove themselves to be worthy allies by the end of the game. Speaking of which, a lot of the boss battles in this game remain fun and challenging to this day, whether you’re taking on a tank in a snowy field, a chopper from a rooftop, having a sniper duel or running from bullets being bounced off of walls. A lot of the boss battles remain unique to this day, and there are multiple ways to go around each encounter (as if the case with much of the game), but I think a special mention has to go to Psycho Mantis. Him “reading your mind” (referring to your progress in the game to that point, such as determining that you’re careful if you frequently save), taunting you to put your controller on the floor so that he can show off his psychic strength, or even that you can change controller ports to stop him from reading your mind during your fight (something I learned after the fact) are clever ways to break the fourth wall while still totally keeping you immersed in the game. As much as I enjoyed this game, I do think there are certain points where it does show its age. This is most noticeable with its top-down camera perspective: though it does give you a wide view of what’s going on around you, there are certain times where the camera angle awkwardly shifts, or even worse, doesn’t shift ahead to show you the next area at all, meaning that you can’t see what’s up ahead at all on the odd occasion. At those times, the game feels more like an arcade experience, where a well-timed run between a bunch of guards is a better choice than the slower paced espionage the early parts of the game place such an emphasis on. Another one of the few complaints which I would levy at this game is to do with backtracking damaging its pacing. There is a certain point in the game, around the halfway mark, where you are forced to backtrack across most of Shadow Moses up to that point, and there is a similar issue towards the ending of the game which I found really hurt the endgame’s pacing, as you backtracked through most of the second half of the game changing the temperature of a keycard, a cool concept which I think was poorly executed – I was expecting to use some items on hand to be used to do this, and was surprised when I found that wasn’t the case. I also think that there are certain bosses in the game – namely the fights against Ninja, Metal Gear REX, and Liquid – which just don’t hold up that well. Ninja’s fight could have been fun if he didn’t go on a random rampage around the room when you fully drained his health in what can be quite a drawn-out fight, shocking everything nearby when he does so, which is frustrating to experience. The camera against Metal Gear REX puts what could be an epic fight to bed into the same category as the final boss of Shadow of the Colossus for me: potentially awesome, but let down by the camera and some frustrating mechanics; it felt like sheer luck at times, and being sent to the start of the fight if you die in the second phase – after a cutscene – just felt so out of touch with how the rest of the game handled things like that. Finally, the fight against Liquid was epic, but it felt like a bit of a coin toss as to what was going to go down between him and Snake as opposed to my skill level. The final chase sequence to close out the game was also surprisingly frustrating too, thanks to the camera (even with first-person), but I’m not sure if that’s a case of my expectations for a chase sequence in a video game not matching a chase sequence which is now over 20 years old. That being said, the end of this game is great, and it has an extremely satisfying conclusion. I just think that these little wrinkles do diminish somewhat from the experience, at least for me, as someone playing through the game for the first time. The music for this game is superb, with the composers creating a haunting and tense atmosphere on Shadow Moses with tracks like Cavern and Blast Furnace. Tracks like Enclosure make this game’s twists and turns stab into you like nails, perfectly capturing that sense of harrowing sorrow that I think they were going for. And the game’s end title song, The Best is Yet to Come, is both a promise of what’s in store for this series from that point, and a great opportunity to look back at what you’ve accomplished throughout the game. That being said, I don’t think there’s any hesitation in my mind that the best piece of music in this game is the Main Theme: Besides a few times where this game shows its age in ways that couldn’t have possibly been predicted, Metal Gear Solid is undisputedly a classic title which stands the test of time and deserves just as much praise looking back on it now as it did when it was first released, and its compelling story, strong characters, and the themes explored throughout show that, yes, love can bloom, even on a battlefield. After playing through Metal Gear Solid for the first time, I thought that a change of pace would be nice. Different style, different world, different music, and I didn't want to be saving the world after doing that for a few games in a row. A complete change of pace. MAFIA II | 2010 Developed by 2K Czech, Mafia II is a game about loyalty and friendship in a world of gangsters. Set in the fictional city of Empire Bay, largely inspired by New York, you play as Sicilian immigrant Vito Scaletta, who finds himself in 1943 with a simple choice to make after a robbery gone wrong: jail or war time. Deciding that he'd rather be anywhere but behind bars, Vito becomes a war veteran back in his homeland in the dying days of World War II, until he is given leave to return home months before the war ends. While back in Empire Bay, Scaletta reunites with his best friend Joe Barbaro, who quickly comes up with counterfeit papers to keep Vito around, and after finding that his father died with debts left to a loan shark, Vito dives headfirst into the seedy underbelly of the world of organised crime. What follows is a good but pretty by-the-books mafioso story, hitting just about every story beat and trope you'd expect from a story centred around the mafia and gangsters. Although the story doesn't really have many unexpected twists for fans of the genre, except maybe one, it's easily one of the strongest parts of this game, having a strong enough cast of characters that you'll want to see it through to the end. Set in two distinct eras - the mid-1940s and early-1950s - you see Vito climb his way up through the families. There's no real sense of direction and goal to his character other than staying around his friend Joe: there's no lofty goal of making it to the top of the ladder, or jumping ship once he's made enough cash. It goes friends, family, money, cars, and women for him, in that order. The most unfortunate thing about this game is without a doubt its lacklustre gameplay. It's about as run-of-the-mill as a third-person shooter could get, with some frustratingly inconsistent AI with some taking cover, others having the sense to just walk up to you with a shotgun in the middle of a massive firefight, and cover is seriously bad in this game (for example, you can't blindly fire from cover, despite the fact that your enemies often can). Heck, the shotguns aren't even fun. Set in an open world, it is as chaotic as a GTA game (carjacking included) - which detracts from the immersion intensely when you are just driving around the city carefully and slowly turn a corner only to mow someone down, especially as someone in organised crime - but without much else to do besides the story: there aren't any side quests or many side activities to keep yourself busy with. It really is an open world game just for the sake of it, and I think that this feeling was best captured by my realisation that this game wouldn't be much without its cutscenes, and it might as well have been submitted as a film or television script. In fact, I think this game could have potentially been made better by being a purely linear experience cut down to half of its length and thus doing away with the open world. Or, at least, that's what I'd say if this didn't capture the era's look and sound perfectly, which undoubtedly puts this game in a really weird spot. Cars and buildings look like they're from the era, and you can customise your look and cars throughout the game (though be prepared to lose them...not just once, but twice). But what steals the spotlight in this game is its radio and licensed soundtrack. Tune into Empire Central, Empire Classic, or Delta, and find yourself transported into the background of a Scorsese film. Seriously, this game's probably got the best licensed soundtrack (linked for your listening pleasure) of any game I've ever played. You want to know what really drives this point home, that they nailed the feeling of a Scorsese soundtrack? The fact that I watched The Irishman, directed by Scorsese and released towards the end of last year, not too long before playing this game and heard The Five Satins' In The Still of the Night in both. Seriously, whoever arranged this soundtrack deserves some recognition. It's S-tier. There are also some serious technical issues with this game, namely a lot of screen tearing and almost amusing framerate dips, and perhaps one of the most frustrating things in this game is that you cannot manually save. Yes, you read that right; no, I'm not joking. There's an auto-save at the start of most cutscenes and all chapters, but there are certain chapters which open up with a lot of driving around the map from A to B to C...all the while there's the chance that something could go terribly wrong, like crashing in a high speed chase, and your progress will be reset to where that last auto-save occurred. I often found myself pushing through to the end of a chapter just to ensure that my progress wouldn't be lost. Easily the most frustrating save system I've come across in a video game. Mafia II is a good story with an excellent soundtrack, and it being a video game unfortunately gets in the way of that. I can't think of anything remotely important that would have been lost by this being presented in almost any other medium, and I think it's pretty damning to say that about a video game. Fortunately, that trainwreck of an attempt at a change of pace (which also apparently meant quality) wasn't the last game that I completed in April. That was... METAL GEAR SOLID 2: SONS OF LIBERTY | 2001 Two years after the Shadow Moses Incident, Metal Gear Solid 2 sees the return of Solid Snake and Otacon, this time working as Philanthropy, a non-governmental organisation hellbent on opposing the manufacturing and production of the superweapons known as Metal Gears. As Snake boards a tanker on the Hudson River believed to be transporting a new type of Metal Gear, the ship is seized by Russian mercenaries led by Revolver Ocelot as they attempt to steal the weapon for themselves. The Tanker Incident serves as something of a prologue for the game, and allows players the opportunity to get familiar with many of the new mechanics in this game. The first person view aiming mode introduced in this game allows for more nuanced and varied tactics than was previously possible, such as by aiming specifically at an enemy's head after sneaking up on them to hold them up, or taking aim at particular objects in the environment, such as fire extinguishers, to give yourself the upper hand, and is a part of this game which still holds up very strongly today; I'd actually go so far as to say that the first person view holds up much better than the third person perspective used throughout most of the game, a camera I often found myself fighting against, whether it be not being able to see around a corner after climbing a flight of stairs and immediately being spotted by an enemy guard, or when trying to use the returning corner-press move which allows you to see around corners - this involves pushing up against a surface and sliding yourself alongside it, but there were far too many frustrating instances where the camera would snap to another perspective and I found myself struggling to keep behind cover as a result, making firing from cover a rarity during my playthrough. The increasing tension in the depths of the Tanker was exhilarating, even if I think that a certain shootout down there left much to be desired. Sneaking pictures of RAY against the clock was fun too. The other major development with this game was a more advanced AI for guards, who you will now find working in squads, using radios to check in on each other, and calling in a strike squad and trying to cut off your escape route in the event that they spot you. Strike squads carry riot shields and wear body armour, placing an emphasis on trying to avoid being spotted as was the case before, and due to the potential to become easily overpowered in any event when the strike team turns up, it's well worth sticking to the shadows. I was also pleased to see that non-lethal weaponry such as tranquilizer guns and stun grenades were added this time around, and when combined with melee attacks, it's possible to complete this game without killing anyone - including bosses. For an action game, I think that's nuts, and though it's something I'd probably never attempt myself, that you can even attempt a non-lethal run in this game is something which I think Kojima and Konami deserve a lot of respect for, especially at that time in the industry when, having a quick flick through, action games heavily relied on lethal actions. Options on playstyle are always important in games in my opinion, and this is just an additional way to approach a situation which can already be handled in a myriad of other ways. Given the trailers that I had watched in anticipation of playing this and the intro cinematic for the game, despite the whispers I had heard elsewhere about someone other than Solid Snake being a playable character in this game, I was still shocked when the Tanker Incident came to a close, and found myself taking control of Raiden (I can't begin to imagine how such a decision would be received today), a new FOXHOUND operative on his first assignment after years of training in virtual reality (much like you could optionally do in the first game): infiltrate the offshore cleanup facility known as the Big Shell, built in the same location as the Tanker Incident which took place just two years prior, and neutralise the terrorist faction who have forcefully gained control of the facility calling themselves the Sons of Liberty, led by the members of Dead Cell, a former special forces unit specialising in counter-terrorism. Quickly finding himself out of his depth, with his loved one, Rose, and The Colonel on the Codec, Raiden is given a hand by a familiar looking face, who introduces himself as Pliskin, and another hand by a familiar-looking cybernetic ninja. I found that the first half of my time as Raiden was riddled with pacing issues, namely the incessant backtracking throughout the Big Shell facility, another tutorial (although this is contextualised through this being his first assignment, it's just a poor decision from a gameplay pacing perspective), and just overall feeling like it was so similar to the original game throughout my time with it. Events mirroring events from four years prior. Certain boss battles feeling familiar in design, or similar characters with similar roles turning up. Something just felt...off, which I was certainly concerned by, but knowing that this was a conscious design decision as I pondered that it might be during my playthrough after having completed the game, the pacing of the game makes a lot more sense, and that unnerving sense of something feeling off had a huge payout from a storytelling and gameplay perspective. The second half of my time as Raiden was leaps and bounds better than the first: the best character moments and interactions, the strongest story beats, and the best gameplay moments in my opinion all come in that second half. It was just much more focused. The boss battles in this part of the game are superbly executed. Running around nude during an infiltration mission is absolutely hilarious, and slicing down foes through slashing around the right analog stick with a sword put a massive grin in my face, especially with Pliskin at my side. I think that my favourite boss battle would easily be the one against the Metal Gear RAYs - after having such a frustrating experience with REX in the last game, this felt much more refined, and left a much stronger impression as a result. There's also a certain character in this second half whom I quickly warmed to after meeting them, and having that character die hit me really hard, as did the reaction of some of our allies. And then there was that beautiful sunset. Norihiko Hibino returned once again, playing a big part in this game's soundtrack, once again capturing that overwhelming tension which could be found in the first game's atmosphere. However, this time around, Harry Gregson-Williams, a Hollywood film composer who had worked at Hans Zimmer's studio to that point, was chosen to compose many of the more narrative driven pieces of music found in the game's cutscenes. The two did a splendid job with this game, and it has a much more diverse soundtrack than its predecessor, with Fortune capturing a melancholic jazz, the pained key strokes and strings found towards the end of Comradeship (which took me too long to locate, meaning that it's probably criminally underrated when compared with the rest of the soundtrack), and the enlightened sorrow of Who Am I Really? (which cheekily sneaks in a bit of the Main Theme at the start of the piano there, which I love). The end credits song, Can't Say Goodbye to Yesterday, is a song as tragic as it is hopeful, hauntingly beautiful, perfectly capping off the game's ending, written and produced by Rika Muranaka with vocals from the late and great Carla White. But the piece of music that in my opinion undoubtedly steals the show, once again, is the Main Theme, this time rearranged and re-composed by Gregson-Williams, an exciting reimagining of the track from the previous game, which hypes you up every time you boot up the game as backing to the intro cinematic (found below, which I urge you to listen to the end of - linked here - as we enter my final thoughts). Once again, Hideo Kojima's cinematography and forward thinking resulted in a story which really to this day is like very few others, and the final third of this game is mindbogglingly good, and impossible to peel your eyes away from. The exploration of themes such as identity, free will, and perhaps most importantly memetic engineering (the theory that ideas, beliefs, and thoughts can be controlled and isolated through taking advantage of societal constructs and the manipulation of information, and the flow and freedom of said information) are relevant today perhaps more so than ever before. Ultimately, some pacing and camera issues aside, Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty was a game years ahead of its time, an eye-opening example of a great game married to ambitious storytelling, and what the industry is capable of at its very best.

Another update from Schreier:

Just finished the first EZA podcast of the Jones era. Solid start, Jones did a great job!

Yep, the guy's a genius. He just gets it, and is second only to George Lucas when it comes to worldbuilding and telling compelling stories in the Galaxy Far, Far Away. Him being the head of animation over at Lucasfilm is great, but I selfishly wish he had a larger role over there, so hopefully The Mandalorian can be the platform to get him there. Glad you loved Rebels! Just dug out my thoughts on the finale from back in March 2018, which I posted over on the first page of this thread from a Star Wars forum I used to frequent...damn, this show's been finished for over 2 years now?! But hey @Ronnie, I think you know what's next...

Just finished watching the credits on MGS3. Loved Way to Fall as the end credits song, what a great and fitting piece of music: Got so much to say, but I'm going to take a little time to digest it a bit more. If you want the short version, though, it's: Holy crap. I loved this game. But some quick, muddled thoughts while it's all fresh... Loved the ending. Loved the post-credits tease. Most of the boss fights were great. Favourite scene is undoubtedly when you hear the song climbing the ladder at the end of the Krasnogorje Tunnel, such a powerful way to let the player breathe after quite a condensed rush through some bosses, and I found it really cathartic - it felt like a great blend of good storytelling/cinema and gameplay, and you get that at several times throughout the game. Love the story, and I found that Eva and Ocelot were so damn likeable as characters throughout. One of my favourite chase sequences in a video game. The tracks on the soundtrack are superb, and not for the first time, I've got to praise the original music of this series: it's ridiculously powerful stuff. Gameplay mechanics like "camouflage" and "cure", with how they're utilised in this game, should be in so many more games today than they are. The camera is so much better than in the previous games, though it's not without its flaws; most noticeably, there were a couple of times where I clicked in R3 and (correct me if I'm wrong here) the game reverted back to the fixed camera pre-Subsistence and found that it should've been the default camera (such as during the chase sequence) for that scene, because it loses so much without it. Experienced a bit of a frame rate dip when I used certain weapons, like the M37, which was a bit of a shame, and definitely some other noticeable technical things I noticed, but in the whole I'd say Bluepoint knocked it out of the park with this remaster. So yeah, I love this game. Easily my favourite Metal Gear game so far, and a massive step up from Sons of Liberty - that's not me speaking ill of that game, but this game just felt like the last third of that game, the part that I enjoyed the most, the entire way through. Had a massive smile on my face throughout most of the game. I think this might be one of my favourite video games.

Phase One line-up: Goodness knows how many phases there will be, mind. In all likelihood, I'm guessing this will likely either be May or May/June. Interesting nonetheless. I was a bit concerned that everyone doing their own thing might mean some things that might otherwise blow up from the E3 spotlight might now end up flying under the radar, so this seems like a smart move to give everyone a chance of keeping caught up.

The plot thickens. Taken from this GamesIndustry.biz article.

Been getting through MGS3 at a steady pace, beat The End last night, guessing I'm around the halfway point? What a funny sentence Definitely still gathering my thoughts on a lot of things I want to discuss, but needed to comment on booting up my game today, loving the opening as always, and then immediately following that up with climbing up the ladder in the Krasnogorje Tunnel, with a vocal-only version of Snake Eater? Was nearly tearing up, what a powerful moment in so many ways

That's awesome news! Congrats on the new virus @bob!

I've seen Order 66 play out tens of not hundreds of times by this point, from many different perspectives. The perspective of it in Part III of this final arc of The Clone Wars is gripping, chilling, and perhaps one of my favourites. Kevin Kiner knocked it out of the park in this episode with his score, my goodness. Early on, once the dust settles and we see the aftermath of the ending events of Part II, this eerie and cold background music creeps in, and it just doesn't leave for a good ten minutes or so. It's so persistent. It's so tense. It seriously feels claustrophobic. And then how it swells into Anakin's Dark Deeds when the deed goes down...wow Adding to the claustrophobia is some incredible cinematography, and really subtle character interactions and decisions like having what would normally be a "Yes Sir" from a clone be this slow, telling nod. The way that this episode, like the others in the arc, blend so well and effectively with the events of Episode III is just awesome. Again, while Filoni has plenty to learn about directing live-action and is already well in his way in learning how to do so (being on set for the three sequel films, the spin-offs, being surrounded by a great cast of directors on The Mandalorian - I know he's going to be fine), he is easily the man that gets Star Wars the most still working at Lucasfilm. I don't want Monday to come around for this show to be over.

Some new screenshots from the game:

Update from Schreier: I'd want to suggest security concerns about working from home possible being the culprit...but wasn't there a leak a few months ago too, before the majority that could work from home started doing so? Really odd. None of this really takes away from the crunch situation over there, but you've got to wonder who it was, if potentially not an employee?

New Japanese promotional trailer: So excited