Julius

It's been over four years since my last post in this thread, and over two years since my last MGS experience...meaning it's time to round off this HD Collection with Peace Walker. Think Konami have finally got to me with the Snake Eater remake trailers. I started it today by pumping in a few hours (I've just finished off Chapter 1, for anyone curious, as well as all of the Extra Ops available up to this point) and am having a freaking blast with this game. Firstly -- holy hot damn does this game be stylin' with its cutscenes! I love this graphic novel take on the cutscenes and just how dynamic they feel - and surprisingly just how involved when they started to introduce QTEs and light gameplay! - it felt genuinely fresh compared to previous entries I've played. Makes complete sense given the game originally released on PSP, but damn, a few distorted and pixelated moments in some cutscenes aside? I think the cutscenes look great. And, speaking of cutscenes -- I'm really feeling the story for now, too. The "call to action" being a potential cropping up of The Boss (which I doubt is actually the case, but still!) makes perfect sense as something of a sequel to Snake Eater to pull Big Boss in, and I'm really intrigued by Huey turning up, and of course about the true nature of the involvement of Paz and The Professor. It's just ticking all the right boxes for me here so far. That opening tutorial on the beach had me laughing to myself a whole lot, too. Gameplay-wise, it feels like a very stripped back half step away from Snake Eater - a side step more than a step up or down - and obviously a lot of that is down to it originally releasing on PSP. Because it's so stripped back it's reminding me more of some of the emptiness you'd get in the first MGS and, with that in mind, other than when mechs/tanks/etc. show up (at which point the game further reminds me of that final Metal Gear fight in the first MGS which was chaotic and perhaps a bit archaic as a result, by modern standards), my general style of play has been defined by going non-lethal and rushing through missions while being sure to explore as much as I reasonably can. I've really been enjoying playing through the game this way, and considering that I've actually played Ground Zeroes (adding to my curiosity around Paz and Chico, no doubt) before and had more than just a couple of hours sunk into MGS V waaaaaaaaay back before I started over with this series with the first MGS, it also feels like a stripped down version of those games at the same time, too -- which has been nice, because I remember being completely overwhelmed when I played those games and now I know what I'm doing and have some experience with the franchise, I'm really enjoying mission prep. What I'm enjoying but finding a bit more mixed is all the Mother Base stuff. Love the Fulton, love the idea of recruitment (stumbled upon Kojima after completely forgetting a registration number, which gave me a good chuckle), love the idea of building out Mother Base...just not such a huge fan of the execution, I guess? Not that it's bad, but for example, mech/tank/whatever fights aside where I've needed to call on heavier artillery, I've been getting by just fine with my tranquilliser pistol and starting assault rifle, meaning a lot of the weapon development so far is pretty lost on me. I'm early on, so of course this next thought might even out as I get deeper into the game, but for a good while there it felt like we were opening up a new department at Mother Base every 5-10 minutes and I wasn't a huge fan of needing to reshuffle that frequently to try to make sure recruits were placed where they were best suited and going to be most beneficial. The Fulton is excellent - I LOVE just kidnapping enemies and saving POWs - and probably the main thing tying all of this Mother Base stuff together for me which makes me okay with it all. We'll see how it develops (heh), I guess. Appreciate the heads-up from @Hero-of-Time on the last page about this game being more Monster Hunter-esque, definitely see it in the boss fights - especially when there's a timer running down while you try to grab internal parts of the mech, like when you're slicing up your hunt in MH? - and it's given me realistic expectations going in of what to expect, which so far has been pretty manageable. I think my biggest problem actually was having no idea that the Supplies Marker was a thing (to call in extra ammo and rations) because despite being all the way at the end of Chapter 1 when I finally realised I needed it after Huey mentioned it (in fairness, Kaz did during an earlier fight too, but I was too busy flexing on the enemy with my eye patch to notice), the game hadn't really pointed out to me the how and when and why of using it? So it was an interesting challenge, to put it lightly, to run around like a headless chicken in this arena during this first major boss fight while this gargantuan speedy mech was racing around and shooting up the place with bullets and electricity to put a bunch of them down and then read the menu description for how to trigger them. Yes, I finally went down in this game because I had no idea how the Supplies Marker worked Also, even with the MH awareness going in, I was still shocked and surprised to see Monster Hunter straight up called out by name in the controller layout section of the settings! Anyways, to bring it back around: again, I'm just having a grand old time back with an MGS game. Couldn't quite tell you why I put Peace Walker off for so long, but right now I find that I'm starving for a game like it, and it's filling me up with that MGS goodness real good

According to game director Julian Gerighty (great first name, no bias) the game's golden path will be 25-30 hours, and for completionists the adventure will likely run them 50-60 hours. Music to my ears.

Totally forgot to comment on this, but I freaking LOVED this trailer. Thought it was the best one we've had for the game so far. Finding it really hard to commit to this on Day 1, though, just because of Atlus's recent history of DLC/enhanced editions. Heck, I'm still waiting for that Episode Aigis stuff to drop for Persona 3 Reload so I can pick that up!! What are you doing Atlus?!

It could do, but it's a bit hard to predict at the moment based on how things have been since 2020 onwards, I think. We haven't had a Nintendo Direct arrive in the first half of June since E3 2021 (15th, time and date announced close to a full 2 weeks ahead of time for the last time), and since dropping the "E3" mention in the title of their June Directs, 2022's June Directs for Xenoblade Chronicles 3 (22nd) and their Direct Mini (28th) and last year's June Direct proper (21st) all took place in the latter half of the month, a full week and a half after the Not-E3 festivities had kicked in. Obviously, granted, one of those is a game-focused Direct paired with a Direct Mini a week later, but based on the small sample size of the last two Not-E3s, this week isn't the one where I'd put money on a Direct being announced and aired, as they've kicked their Not-E3 off in the third full week of June the last two years running. Not that it can't happen this week - I'd love it to, the sooner we get a Direct the better in my eyes - but I don't see any real reason Nintendo might have to be seen mixing in the week of Not-E3 vs last year or 2022 -- especially with wanting to perhaps lower expectations going into the last June Direct for the Switch, what with the Switch 2 all but expected to be announced and released by this time next year. Xbox, Ubisoft, et al all stand to benefit from the hype trickling off other events and Summer Game Fest - a rising tide lifts all ships and all that jazz - but Nintendo I think benefit most from the distance they put between themselves and this initial wave of Not-E3, where expectations drop back down, we're all somewhat disappointed and missing the hype of E3s of old, a bit of the recency bias shown for some of these shows wears off and Nintendo could pummel the rest of the industry events with just one or two A-tier announcements held up with a few B-tier first party titles and some indie hits. If I had to bet money, it'd be on it turning up next week during the third full week of June like it has done the last two years. But I WANT - no, CRAVE - it to be this week. ...can we get this even if it doesn't air? An alt reality take on the final June Direct solely for the Switch I love that they did this. Feels like everyone's on their toes already, and have been for months -- sweating, anticipating. Xbox and co. were all probably praying that the Nintendo Direct would be announced a good bit ahead of time so they'd get some trickle off hype. They could drop this thing two hours from now and I genuinely wouldn't bat an eye. Their June Directs proper always hit and they've almost let the title of Kings of Left Field go to their heads at times this gen it feels like with random news drops and Direct announcements, and I LOVE the chaos and hype that their approach perpetuates. Them bowing out of live E3 shows as early as they did has only benefitted them in that these recorded Directs just feel E3 through and through, and I'd argue are the last bastion of that level of hype and anticipation in June; not to say there haven't been other good presentations in June since E3 closed, but Nintendo are always closing, and it feels like they do everything in their power and development schedule that they reasonably can to earn that right and responsibility. I fully expect this June Direct to be relatively refrained and I still think it's going to comfortably crush all the other showings we've seen over the last few days. That's the hype and power that Nintendo has bought with their consistency and chaotic approach this gen, and I hope it only continues on with the Switch 2

M...Mil...Milwaukee was it?

Trailer from the weekend: Hayter also turned up in Part 2 of the MGS Legacy Series... ...which also includes the first look at the Deluxe and Collector's Editions of the game: Anyways, still not really sure how I feel about this. I think that this is the best that this remake of Snake Eater has looked - bit of a facelift from it's last showing - but a lot of the animation work definitely still looks like it's following the original just a bit too closely. Also, as someone who played Snake Eater for the first time just a few years ago - he says, refusing to acknowledge that it's already been 4 years since 2020 and that miserable lockdown - I just struggle to see what the pull is of this remake. Is this new coat of paint really going to be enough to get new fans onboard? I have my doubts.

I know everyone knows about it by now, but I'm going to drop the new console SKUs reveal for the Series X|S releasing this Holiday 2024 season in here because it'd feel weird to not have it mentioned somewhere in this thread. Per the Xbox Wire press release, the 2TB Series X will come in at $599.99/€649.99; the all-digital 1TB Series X will come in at $449.99/€499.99; and the all-digital 1TB Series S will come in at $349.99/€349.99. I think the most interesting part of this press release is that Xbox haven't put a price for us in the UK, which I'm guessing is probably down to the upcoming election having the potential to hit us pretty hard in the value of the GBP. Yay us. Anyways, caught up on the showcase by skipping through the Easy Allies reactions to the thing, pretty easily the best show over the last few days of the big hitters just from the updates and games announced alone, but is that saying much when Nintendo are still out partying and aren't turning up until later, and PlayStation phoned it in a couple of weeks back? For me, the highlights were Doom: The Dark Ages (haven't played the other modern Doom games but I also just think this was an excellent trailer), Winter Burrow, Mixtape, Life is Strange: Double Exposure (another series I haven't got into but is a big get, and returning character after a time gap hype?), Indy, and Mecha Break (which I have zero interest in playing but hey, the mech customisation looks neat!). Still, none of these are reason enough - once again - for me to give much thought to picking up an Xbox anytime soon, especially seeing as a lot of them - if not all, with how Xbox are handling things these days - are destined to come to other consoles.

Overview trailer and gameplay from today's Ubisoft Forward: Yeah, think I'm giving into the Dark Side by booking the week off and picking up the game at a higher tier for earlier access. Give me a 7 and I'll be a happy bunny

Gameplay from today's Ubisoft Forward: Yep, this is definitely going to scratch that samurai itch while Sucker Punch are still hard at work

2026 it is. Ya know, they've won me over. Relaunching the game's marketing with a CGI candle has made me do a complete 180° on this game.

Trailer from SGF on Friday: Still looks hype

S-E continue to be weird, as they've put up a premiere for the launch rate trailer which will drop at 12:45 BST this Wednesday: Very surprised this didn't turn up at Xbox or sneak in elsewhere (like SGF). Huh. Trying not to extrapolate that that's a bad sign, but...

Gameplay trailer has been released: A demo is due to drop on Steam as part of Next Fest...today, at 18:00 BST, just over half an hour away! Game Informer have also released their New Gameplay Today impressions for the game:

Think I'm going to throw it on the background while I pack for my trip tomorrow First thing Geoff mentioned was the layoff situation. Shouldn't have taken this long, but hey, at least he's done it.

Thank Goodness You're Here finally has a release date of 1st August In for Matt Berry

Aww she moves to the countdown portal Seen some mention that it might be the case that each Bot is only made obtainable after we reach a certain number of days out from Astro Bot proper: 90 days (today), 60 days (7th July), 30 days (6th August), and launch day. Makes perfect sense when reading back the description for the trophy you get for getting them all. Is there a way to play this fresh without overwriting my save and without needing to use a different profile? Now that's the real riddle here

Did you find the... That they've gone full ARG with this is pretty funny to me love the new gatchas added, was 100 coins short of getting them all in one go because of that stupid can live that there's a countdown space to Astro Bot, and that you can see parts of the trailer on the Portal!

And here I was with nothing much to do this evening besides Elden Ring prep (super rusty btw, I think I might need to start a new file to prep for Shadow of the Erdtree...) Time to get this downloaded!

Before I went to sleep last night the physical edition of the game had turned up on a European store for ~€70, and while still not up on the PlayStation Store proper, it has now turned up as ~$100 in a number of Australian stores and for $60 at Walmart in the US. So, that very likely means an RRP of £60/US$60/€70, and I've got to imagine a number of physical edition retailers are going to push that down a bit closer to the £55 mark in an attempt to take your hard earned cash off your hands.

I...have genuinely no idea what to make of this, and it's been doing the rounds for a little while now. I just...I don't know, I found Zero Dawn to be a really pretty robot hunting game with pretty middling content around that, and I still haven't got around to Forbidden West (though, I don't play all that many open world games as is anyways). I just don't see the pull of this franchise personally (which is fine), but now it's getting a LEGO game, there was that cartoony Monster Hunter-looking game which leaked in development at one point a good while ago, that PS5 remaster of the first game... Yet, by all means, it sells gangbusters and from everything I've read the LEGO Tallneck was a huge success. So, I guess that means more LEGO and more Horizon spinning off? Think I'm getting old

According to Billbil-kun, this is dropping on October 25th: Also got a box art leak courtesy of @mysterylupin, so there's that: Guess it gets confirmed over the next few days, if not just at SGF tomorrow night?

Esquire (of all places) have an article on Summer Game Fest, titled Is Summer Game Fest the Best Thing to Happen to Gaming—or the Worst?, and it's pretty great. Definitely noticed more and more big publications getting into the gaming side of things of late. The whole thing is worth a read, but of particular note to me - especially in an which isn't big on sharing it's numbers - we've actually been given some numbers to work with here for the cost of Days of Play and TGA and SGF spots! Again, well worth a read when you've got the time – I think I'm going to be bookmarking this one and returning it for a while, it's so rare we get insights on anything like this, let alone ACTUAL NUMBERS!

Reminder that pre-orders for this game will start going up tomorrow, and while it seems like we'll be waiting until then for the prices to drop, we do have news on the different editions of the game courtesy of the PlayStation Blog. The Blog itself includes some nice short clips of Astro and buds goofing around in some of the pre-order items listed below, so well worth checking out All pre-orders, regardless of edition, will include: Anyways, onto the editions... Physical standard edition + pre-order items We also get a nice sneak peek of the included poster, and it's great: And if you take a closer look at the first one... Digital standard edition + pre-order items: Digital deluxe edition + pre-order items So yeah, just wanted to put that in bold: some of these are early unlocks and will still be attainable in the main game. I LOVE the Yharnam Tourist outfit (also, outfits and paint schemes confirmed I guess?)! And we'll be unlocking respective buildings on the crash site? Did someone say Comet Observatory from Galaxy with PlayStation buildings of interest which we'll build up?! Closer look at the avatars: Curious to see if a physical deluxe edition gets announced? Would seem strange to me to list it as the "physical standard edition" and not simply the "physical edition" if there weren't any plans for one. Would also suck if the Digital Deluxe Edition was the only way to get my hands on all those other avatars! Aloy, Nate, Traveller, generic GT driver and Lady Maria are A-tier; Selene is absolutely S-tier!!! The one red and one blue eye? Looks so cool! Anyways, looks great. Curious about price but, well, this is somehow just 3 months away and is going to be a great way to round off the summer!

Slabhead not being there due to injury is unfortunate, say what you will about his form for United, felt like he's always tried with the England shirt on. The rest all make sense to me. Grealish has never been fully utilised by Southgate (swear he's always saved to be a super sub in tournaments and then isn't picked even after putting a decent enough shift in?), and Palmer 100% deserves to be in this squad over Grealish after the season he's just had. Bet Jack's really questioning how the last year's gone at City. Feels good that Guéhi is likely to turn out at CB alongside Stones, shame he never really got much of a chance with us. Our back line is definitely our weakest part of the pitch, though. Not to overhype us - because I think England are missing that spark which makes a tourney-winning squad - but, on paper, we have the second best squad at this tournament behind France. I mean, if me and my mate can win the thing with this squad in the Euro 2024 mode on FIFA via Share Play, with all the latency that brings...

I watched the first two episodes of The Acolyte last night and yeah, I thought it was a really solid start to the show. Bit weird in terms of framing and pacing at times (see: the way the first episode decided to wrap itself up) but the narrative intrigue is definitely there. Thought the music was fairly serviceable too, definitely leaning more into the Williams influence, but there hasn't really been a moment for it to stand out and grab me just yet. Loved Sol, can already feel he's a bit of a Qui-Gon type and a bit tired of the obstacles in the way of getting the work of a Jedi done. Really leaning into the attachment stuff here, too, which is interesting. Yeah, I think I feel the same so far? I guess it makes sense, seeing as these are the waning days of the High Republic and the transition from the ornate and lavish to however we'd describe the prequels is well under way. For me I think the big sticking point so far is the lightsaber hilts look just kind of meh, at least we'll be getting a Lightwhip but the new outfits for Jedi are neat but it almost feels like formal wear vs informal wear? This has all made me want to pick up the Art of the High Republic just to have a flick through...