Julius

The game: Me:

Finally booted this back up this last night after dropping it last year around the time Ragnarök came out and a short break from gaming. Watched the first half of a recap video to get me back up to speed on the story, turns out I got as far as completing Chapter 8, which is way further in than I thought I was! I'd completed the Business Management side content and most of the Dragon Kart stuff, honestly I remembered much more about the quality of the side content than I did the main story – but to be fair, it doesn't help that a lot of these stories definitely start to blend together in my head after a while spent some time in the Underground to try to get myself back up to speed with the combat, and boy am I a bit rusty, but by the end of my session last night I thought I'd found myself in a comfortable spot with it. @Hero-of-Time @drahkon, appreciate it's been a while since you guys have played it, but wondering if you can remember anything tips-wise for going for the Plat in this one? I've looked up the Platinum guide but I think my main question is around the jobs, as I'm pretty sure this is the first time I've played a JRPG with a jobs system (yeah, I know...bite me ) – is it worth just mostly sticking with one job, or changing it up? Similarly, besides some particular grinding points (like the Underground becoming available and I think something that becomes available a bit later on), am I best off saving most of the grinding for late-game/Premium Adventure, or doing it as I go along? There's SO MUCH to this game that coming back to it after a long time out is definitely making it look a bit overwhelming and hard to wrap my head around how I want to tackle it. This isn't me totally committing to the Plat, though, just curious. I think I've got the most Plats I've ever got in a year this year already, and while I think I'm ready for a break from that (because I think I'd rather play more games than Plat/100% at this stage, definitely been burning myself out on games more this year I feel by doing that with more games than usual), a Yakuza game which is a JRPG offers up the opportunity for a bit of a mindless grind I'd imagine, which I wouldn't mind too much with the right podcast or playlist on in the background

Me and my friends weren't in the mood for BG3 tonight, so all ended up doing our own things. One of my friends ended up on AC VI and the next mission he had to do ended in Balteus, so him not knowing this, I asked if I could watch him via Share Screen. He hasn't played a From game before this, and while very different from their other offerings, I think the customisation and mechs is exactly why he was willing to pick it up after my recommendation. Took him a while, long enough for me to redownload the game and beat it with my NG+/NG++-clearing build, and then again with the build I used the first time around, both on my first attempt. As he was having trouble and another friend was watching I had them watch me beat the fight - no pressure, right? - and I beat it first time again, and shared a bunch of tips with them, and showcased how aggressive and in-your-face fighting just seemed to work out better. He then did it on his next attempt, so I'm pretty proud of him So, just bumping this to give the game some more love. I ended up getting the Plat a few months back after around 54 hours with the game, and while I think there are better quality games which have released this year, I think it's my personal GOTY. The fact that I'm thinking of going through it again after just seeing and replaying the same missions a few times tonight is testament to that, I loved it!

Favourite song for me on Dead Club City (though by no means the only great song on there). It's really got that Strokes feel down pat between it's tempo and guitar, love it So I'll be hoping they play it for you too

Not playing, but I read somewhere that between skipping cutscenes and completing the mandatory fights it probably takes 30 - 40 minutes to get to the arcade. Considering just how cutscene-heavy Yakuza games are from the outset in setting things up story-wise before opening up for you to explore, which can take up to an hour or two in many of the other games, that sounds about right to me!

Yep, those are the ones: THE FINAL CHAPTERS Special 1 (60 minutes) and THE FINAL CHAPTERS Special 2 (90 minutes)

Finally got around to watching the Attack on Titan finale. Make sure you watch the credits. I think the first half of the finale released earlier this year was stronger and much more focused, but generally I think this was a great way to end the series; even if I don't think it quite got to the highs of S3 Pt2 or S4 Pt2 (also think the soundtrack didn't live up to the hype for the first time ever? And in the latter part of the finale, no less), that they managed to stick the landing in any sense of the word deserves props here. Between this and Pluto, we've been eating damn good this season, that's for sure!

That's the big question I guess, and I think cases are easy to make for it turning up or skipping the show. TGAs are taking place December 7th, for anyone wondering. If it's turning up at an event? Sure, I mean TGAs have been growing year-on-year and it'd have a massive live audience, and it's the only big live event scheduled for December, so yeah, TGAs would make sense. But then it's Rockstar, they don't need TGAs in the exact same way they didn't need to turn up at E3, and it would almost certainly overshadow just about every announcement made at TGAs. If I'm remembering right, I don't even think Red Dead Redemption II turned up to a single event for any of its trailers or gameplay to be shown? The game could shadow drop tomorrow with no marketing and crush records, so if it does turn up at TGAs, I'd see it as somehow being a token of supporting Geoff and the TGAs more than any considered marketing practice, because it doesn't need it. If anything, I think the kinder thing for them to do would be to release the trailer a few days ahead of TGAs, because the pressure the show would suddenly find itself under would be immense - not only potentially overshadowing everything else, but what if it's not there? It'd be one hell of a "one more thing", but I'd be surprised if that's GTA VI instead of Shadow of the Erdtree. If it is part of the show/that day, it might be the case that it's released hours ahead of time and then included as one of the opening trailers to the show – it's out of the way then, while getting more eyes on TGAs, counterproductive as that may seem to have it first it's the much smarter option imo. Hell, if it's not going to be there, I'd be shocked if Geoff doesn't come out and say so before the show

It's official: trailer to come early December, marking the 25th anniversary of Rockstar Games. Really curious to see how this shapes up, and what their plans are for launch with the balance between story and online. As someone who has put hundreds of hours into GTA Online with my friends since COVID hit, I really just hope the character creator is insane. Baldur's Gate III didn't even knock it out of the park, I feel, but felt like a big step up from most customisation opportunities found in games these days. I haven't completed the story in a single GTA game but I did grow up playing a few GTA-likes and of course have spent time with Online, and can totally see where you're coming from. I love driving up from the airport to the peak of Mount Chiliad every session Everything around how they've talked about GTA VI to me suggests that it might be reined in a bit in terms of scaling things up when it comes to map size, which I'd much prefer to see coupled with more interior locations. Red Dead Redemption II really hit that sweet spot for me of a massive open world with enough going on and interior detail to boot.

Schreier with the scoop: Rockstar plans to announce GTA VI as early as this week (I assume he means a logo reveal considering the statement which kicked off this thread) and will release the first trailer for the game in December. This comes following Take Two reports earlier in the year having them buckle up for a release of seismic proportions which could only ever possibly have been GTA VI, due to an expected bump in revenue so stupid it'd make your eyes bleed. Probably. Anyways, anyone else and I'd say grain of salt, but it's Schreier: the only way I don't see this happening now is if Rockstar just want to spite him.

Yesterday morning we got Nintendo's earnings report for Q2 FY24, covering the period of 1st July 2023 - 30th September 2023. The Big Takeaways The Nintendo Switch across its different SKUs sold 2.93 million units in Q2 (1st July 2023 - 30th September 2023), bringing sales for the first half of FY24 up to 6.84 million units, and this all means that the total lifetime sales of the Switch now stand at 132.46 million units. As a reminder - now that we seem to be all but confirmed to be heading into the Switch's final holiday sales period before the console's successor arrives next year - Nintendo projected hardware sales of 15 million units for this fiscal year (ending 31st March 2024). I say that the Switch successor arriving in the next 12 months seems all but confirmed as Nintendo President Furukawa declined to comment on plans for the console's successor, whereas as recently as May of this year he decisively stated that no new hardware releases were to come out of Nintendo in the following 12 months. With the Nintendo Switch entering its eighth year on the shelves in March 2024, Nintendo have stated that they will continue to release new titles and content "without being bound by the traditional concept of the platform lifecycle" - perfectly inline with their own previous statements on the planned lifespan of the Switch and what we already know of their software plans for 2024. Going forward, they would "also like to continue to see many consumers play Nintendo Switch, and to maintain [their] business momentum." Nintendo Switch Online has over 38 million members as of 30th September 2023, with F-Zero 99 "being enjoyed by many people." Yeah, I don't know what that means either As for big releases since the last report, Pikmin 4 has sold through 2.5 million units since its launch in July, giving it the biggest cumulative sell-through of any game in the Pikmin series to date, and the biggest launch for the series across all regions. Additionally, Super Mario Bros. Wonder has sold-through 4.3 million units in its two weeks since launching on 20th October, making it the fastest-selling Super Mario title to date (since sell-through data collection began, so from the Wii/DS era onwards). Top 10 Best-selling Switch titles (as of 30th September 2023; new Top 10 entries in bold) Mario Kart 8 Deluxe - 57.01M Animal Crossing: New Horizons - 43.38M Super Smash Bros. Ultimate - 32.44M Breath of the Wild - 31.15M Super Mario Odyssey - 26.95M Pokemon Sword/Shield - 26.02M Pokemon Scarlet/Violet - 23.23M Super Mario Party - 19.66M Tears of the Kingdom - 19.50M New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe - 15.41M

Well, ain't that a thing. Sony Pictures making a film for Nintendo. Huh. Directed by the director of the Maze Runner trilogy and co-produced by the guy who is notorious for studio interference and hamfisting as much as he can into a film to treat it like a product rather than, you know, a story to be told? See: Spider-Man 3, The Amazing Spider-Man and The Amazing Spider-Man 2. I'm sure this'll be fine. And live-action? Seriously? Can't wait to see Tom Holland as Link, Zendaya as Zelda, and Scarlett Johansson as Ganondorf! Saw this the other day, some of the stuff people pull off in UE5 really is astounding This forever and always comes to mind when I think of a possible Zelda film, such cosy vibes: Probably need to wait for Miyazaki to kick the bucket before Ghibli consider taking on more third-party work, but I'm patient enough to see this live-action film review poorly first

Was just thinking the same, that looks like quite the substantial bit of weight loss! Think it's a real shame that they didn't go with a bit more of a redesign like they did when they went from the PS4 to the PS4 Slim, though, because it just looking like a smaller version of a regular PS5 - while an impressive technical feat - makes it look like a cheap knock-off or toy...only compounded by the keyring-looking stand, the deeper cave-in of the glossy central console, the plate slits, and man, the lack of a grill either side just looks off; like corners have been cut. I'm honestly also still shocked that it's not officially being referred to as the 'PlayStation 5 Slim'

I'm not sure exactly, but I think it's more a case of contextualising what they're even talking about to be honest, as opposed to anything contractual/legal – and I think everyone and their mother in the media has got onboard because it's one of the most baffling rebrands possibly ever? Had a quick look around and it doesn't seem to be the case that that's it's actual name (even if that would probably make more sense than whatever the current mess is). I wouldn't be shocked if it's changed back to Twitter if/when Elon ever steps down, but yeah...goodness knows when or how that'll come about. Shout-out to my physics teacher in college for questioning me for thinking the idea to terraform Mars with nukes was an obviously stupid and dangerous idea. He was a smart guy (my physics teacher, not Elon), but this was back before the edgelord Musk had revealed his true persona, and everyone was praising his every move. You know, writing this all out, I genuinely think Elon Musk is an IRL attempt at the world making a JRPG villain: he's obsessed with the letter 'X', his facial features are so extreme that he looks cartoonishly evil, and he says some of the weirdest things that no-one seems to bat an eye at and just accept (the idea of terraforming Mars with nukes has some real obvious Persona/FF main villain vibes)... Anyways, I'm really curious to see how gaming companies try to pivot out from under X, formerly known as Twitter (*sigh*), because even though I think it's a blight on humanity, it's undeniably the place for breaking news, and that includes gaming news and announcements. The way that Instagram, Facebook et al work simply doesn't cut it as an up-to-date news distributor. Or as a way to post Plats and screenshots

Been on a Nothing But Thieves kick as of late. Had a few songs buried in my Liked Songs on Spotify already, but finally took the time to get more intimate with some of their albums. Loved it all so far Shout-out to @drahkon for his great taste in music

The Pluto anime adaptation on Netflix was abso-freaking-lutely superb

White 'H' on a light blue background? Who the heck is this @Hero-of-Time fella? Never 'eard of him (welcome back!! ) Same, that and whenever I wanted to quickly post a screenshot I guess if you still want to use it the workaround now is going to be uploading the image to the PS App, downloading to your phone, then uploading via the app? Then again, can't imagine it'll be long before it's a subscription-based service from top to bottom It wasn't not already a blight on humanity in its Twitter form, but good lord, I audibly groan every time I read an article and it's all just referencing content from 'X, formerly known as Twitter'

No, it's more like 40 to 50 hours in a single playthrough. Just a bit of grinding in Clan Creator, which isn't particularly fun (so just stick on a podcast or something), besides that I think I got the rest of them pretty naturally in my playthrough just doing everything I'd normally do in a Yakuza game. Really makes you wonder what got into RGG when it comes to the trophy list on this one, seeing as Kiwami 2 and 3 - 5 Remastered all released after 6, and they all have trophy lists more in line with 0 and Kiwami (which is to say that they can get a little on the silly side, to put it lightly).

You're right – I think I just went with whatever the top option was by default and didn't even check the other option Yeah, I had the same thing happen! I tried one super early on with no upgraded suit tech/etc., went "yiiiiiiiiikes, that's a bit tight", and so just left the rest until I'd upgraded a bit more, and they were all a breeze and I had waaaaaaaay more time left! Yeah, I think I used it twice maybe in my playthrough? Which was when I first unlocked it for a district, just to see what it looked like, and then I wanted to test what it was like immediately after switching Spider-Men, to see if it played up at all Nice! Yeah I'd say go for it, it's a fun Plat, just really depends on what you've got left - if it's only combat trophies (which I'm guessing it is partially after getting 100%?) and potentially a location or two to visit, I guess it would just depend on if you feel like it becomes a grind. This was my 30th Plat, 5 of which are from Spidey games (Spider-Man PS4, Miles Morales PS5, Remastered PS5, and then Miles Morales PS4), so it's a bit funny to think ⅙ of my Plats are from these games but they're just exactly what I like in a Plat: story, some side exploration, and mastering the systems a bit for stuff like no-hit in a base or a 100x combo. With this game not having a no-hit or 100x combo trophy I think it's definitely the most doable/least grindy, and I'm really happy having played through these games to see Insomniac realise what might have been a bit silly/grindy (ahem, required completion of RNG crimes in the first game) and then refining the trophy criteria and resulting gameplay loop further as the games have gone on. It just feels really cohesive and like a natural evolution, whereas I look at a studio like Naughty Dog and watch how they've gone from some of the hardest trophy lists which are more than a bit of a challenge, to...whatever has been going on their last few games, where it seems a breeze and doesn't call for a challenge. Probably something to do with player retention, I imagine?

You know what we should tack onto a 60+ hour JRPG? Animal Crossing: Well there goes my 2024

New in-engine footage from today's Xbox Partner Preview: Yep, that's MGS3 in UE5 alright...

Correct - you do need to unlock it. @Happenstance has completed the game so I just assumed he'd got around to unlocking it. You don't need to equip suit mods in this game like in the first two, though. Suit tech stacks (other than for % modifiers and such, where the highest version you've unlocked and upgraded to is applied), so once you've upgraded to a certain point, everything you've unlocked will be applied from that point on.

Your playtime sounds about right - that pretty much leads into the end of the second act, so around ⅔ of the way through. In addition to this, collectibles not shown with a location on the map can be seen via the mini-map – so it's definitely worth keeping an eye on that bottom corner while you swing around. It also shows parts containers, including containers with rare parts.

Finished the game myself yesterday afternoon after 25 hours to get the Plat: Incredible technical accomplishment of a game wrapped up in an engaging story with super fun gameplay, and representing a big step up once again from Insomniac. The sky seems to be the limit on what they can do, and now I'm really curious to see how they choose to follow this game up - DLC? A sequel? Another half-sequel akin to Miles Morales? - but whatever they choose to do, I'll be onboard, and I also can't wait to see what route they go with Wolverine to help differentiate it. It hit every single one of those 90s animated series itches for me, especially with... There was less to say than I thought there would be about the ending other than to play the game and see it for yourself, because it's one hell of a finale, so I'll cap my thoughts off by saying that I found it really funny how... One of my favourite games of the year, for sure, and yet another dart in the board that is "2023 might be the greatest year for gaming of all-time." There's genuinely an argument to be made for 5-10 GOTYs this year and it's kind of silly. Anyways, the game sold over 2.5 million copies in 24 hours, making it the fastest-selling PlayStation Studios game ever! Well deserved Yeah, absolutely. I think the game really benefits from slowing down and showing other experiences in a way only games really can – it doesn't happen enough, but when it does, it definitely puts a smile on my face! To be fair, for as woke as Insomniac position themselves as being (which isn't at all a problem, despite the seemingly negative connotation that being "woke" seems to have over there in certain places), mixing up the Puerto Rican and Cuban flags in one of the year's biggest releases when one of your deuteragonists is a mixed race, half Puerto Rican character, and to have that mix up happen in and around his own home? It's a pretty huge gaffe. I'll give them the benefit of the doubt simply because I can't see the how or why of this being intentional, but as someone who clocked immediately that something was off, I'm absolutely shocked that none of their devs or testers picked up on it at all. They'll roll out a patch in the next day or two, if not somehow sooner, but yeah, it's a gaffe which, while surely an innocent mistake, has you doing one of these:

I'm at the tail end of the game now after sinking in 20+ hours over the weekend: maxed level, couple of suits left to get, all activities available completed, seen all but two side quest lines through to completion, completed all FNSM quests, and so on - point is I'm in a pretty good spot to talk about the game at length, but don't worry, no spoilers outside of tags to be found here (plus, I'll definitely some time to mull it all over when credits do roll). Got to imagine I'll wrap the story and Plat up in my next session unless something else comes up. It's rare that I sink 20+ hours into a game it's launch weekend - but not every game is the type of game you can sit down with for hours on end, constantly finding something new and fun to do or try out, but Spider-Man 2 certainly is. First things first: the technical aspect. The game's just so gosh darn purty. I ended up going with the Fidelity Mode, in the end because that's what I would have done with Spider-Man 2018 (if it were possible at launch) and did with Miles Morales; the smoothness of the gameplay can come in the eventual NG+ run, which just seems inevitable seeing as I've played the first game through to completion four times, and the same goes for Miles. It's also the first time I've actually chosen to leave motion blur on - the game's look and feel is perfect, and I know at a locked 30 fps that I'm not in for any surprise headaches, and heck, even chromatic aberration has stuck around for a change! Those are normally the first two things I turn off because any lag in frame rate with those on just makes me wanna hurl, but glad to report, felt nothing of the sort so far. Rays are traced and they're absolutely astonishing, and yes, plenty of screenshots have been taken. Some really nice lighting throughout, but again, nothing too surprising there: Insomniac has put out games at a decent enough clip this gen that it's not a shock that the game that looks as good as it does, even if it is a very noticeable step up from their recent games. The sound design is great. The use of haptics and adaptive triggers are a step up from their use in Miles and Remastered. I can go on and on about how great this game is technically, and the Fast Travel - once you unlock it, boo! - is a delight, as are plenty of transitions throughout the game very reminiscent of the portals we saw in Rift Apart, the most obvious example being the entrance to the Mysteriums (Mysterio's little fun mad house style things). Unfortunately, as ever with Insomniac on PS5, I haven't been without issue in this playthrough, so I'll mention it here purely so that it's been said and so that I don't need to talk about it again. I've had two crashes (only today, mind you), and I had crashes in Miles Morales at launch AND when I played through Remastered just a few weeks ago - what's funny is I can't remember 2018 crashing once on PS4, and having just finished replaying Miles for PS4, I didn't encounter anything there. Also had some funny animations, like pressing triangle at a desk to interact and my character deciding to walk in circles, enemies clipping into walls/floors (the funniest of which was one who got his head stuck in a wall and then his body ragdolled...okay it was funny but also kind of legitimately horrifying, and reminds me of some green jelly from Stein's;Gate - iykyk ). Most of this, though, I'd just file under typical open world jank - it's unfortunate, but it does just come with the territory for a game like this, as it hasn't really hindered my enjoyment, and besides, it's far from the worst offender I've played through this year (ahem, Jedi Survivor). With the technical stuff out of the way, let's talk about the gameplay! The Web Wings definitely took a minute to get used to, but I love them now as it just makes long distance travel across the map before Fast Travel is unlocked a bit more enjoyable and breezy. The open world itself I'm so glad threw out the Unisoft towers and instead decided to just have the player uncover the map more akin to old school JRPGs like Chrono Trigger - you know, by *actually* going somewhere on a map to fill it in? - and it just helps the pacing so much, and coupled with what I'd describe as a more natural (well, besides the blaring neon signs in some cases!) just makes exploring this New York actually FEEL LIKE EXPLORING. It freshens things up in such a nice way compared to the first two games, though I'm getting towards the end now and I still can't shake this feeling that this NY feels different and I find myself a little scrambled at times trying to get my bearings compared to the first two games - is it the new coat of paint? The faster traversal? The expanded map? It's probably a combination of all three, and it's by no means a bad thing, but it just feels...different. And it's not the super confusing decision to have the FRND drones at the start have standard flight controls when the glide controls of Peter and Miles are inverted by default - anyone else get a little annoyed at that? Something I think has been really hit and miss for me has been the inclusion of a Parry in this game, because honestly, it just seems superfluous to me in every case outside of a boss fight. The game seriously didn't need it, and while it can lead to some cool combat moments, this game simply doesn't have the combat mechanical depth of a God of War or a From Software for it to feel completely at home and worth investing time into to start getting it right, and it's not helped by it most commonly being appropriate in battles against brutes and a swarm of grunts who are going to overwhelm you while you wait around a bit to get that Parry off. Also not a fan of the AoE attacks that need you to jump; especially after so long with just dodging in the first two games, while I get that it's something new that allows for fresh ideas, I don't think either were absolutely necessary. As for the main story, I've seen things - plenty of things! - but think I'd rather wait until I've completed the game to talk about it, not least so I can hopefully talk to some of you about it. What I will say is that it took me back to the feeling of the Peter Parker I grew up on, and it got me misty-eyed just feeling thrown back through time at points, but this all brings me onto the side quests. The entire thing feels SUPER 90s Spider-Man TAS and Spider-Man for PS1, and I loooooooove it for it. This game has the best side quests of the year, and it's not close. No, I haven't played through BG3 all the way, but I've seen enough to know that none of them have anywhere near as immediate a narrative or emotional payoff as some of these do. I don't think any of them have ended without a smile on my face, and yes, two in particular got me to well up a bit, for personal reasons that I won't get into here. Also plenty of surprises for some quest lines, so let's jump into some spoiler tags to talk about these side quests! This all just adds to this feeling that, much more than the first two games, this world has Peter and Miles really involved in their communities and caring so much for them, it seriously has so much heart and wears it all on its sleeve - IGN might finally be justified in saying that this game really makes you feel like Spider-Man Well, more like preschooler Julius, because I was only 3 or 4 when I watched the 90s animated series (in the early 2000s, owning some of it on a VHS and all!) Which is clearly to say that my judgement was impeccable if that's anything to go by