Sheikah

Haha, I misremembered the episode count... Still, not too many episodes is a good thing. Doesn't overstay its welcome. And the reason they need a map (think this was explained) is because entering the Grand Line is really treacherous and needs to be entered via a certain point and navigated in such a way. Loads of ships/crew that try to cross it don't make it.

I think my in-game clock was about 44 hours at the point of completion (including all side quests and trophies, except for the one that has you starting again).

I finished this game last night, doing all but the final trophy (which requires you to basically play on NG+ up to a certain point). I really loved it. They absolutely nailed the look, feel and tone of an old-school RPG - it really does remind you of Chrono Trigger. The way battles are triggered (i.e. non-random battles) is exactly like Chrono Trigger and works just as well here. The story, gameplay and characters are all really top notch, it definitely scratched the 90s JRPG itch. Really pleasant surprise for it to drop on Extra.

"Hiding" means it's deleted for everyone. I'm not sure why it's called that.

I enjoyed it quite a lot. I'm someone who normally really hates anime live adaptations because the focus is usually on visual appearance and consistency with the anime - so the characters are usually pretending to be "anime" with awkward grunts and gestures. Perhaps because this isn't made in Japan it actually works. The characters are kind of believable in their own way and not just clones of how they are in the anime. Luffy is a good example - not as goofy and stupid as in the anime, but with different eccentricities. The only slightly weak character I thought was Zoro, with the rest being very well realised. It's also 10 episodes long so it doesn't drag on anywhere near as much as the anime, so that's another definite plus.

They should call it the Alexbox.

I've been playing Forager quite a bit. Really nice game, especially fun for those who liked Starwdew Valley.

Surely if they say you don't need to grind, it's the opposite of tedious? I get you like to do it to become OP, but any game that actually needs grinding (I'm recalling Dragon Quest VIII here) has fundamentally flawed game design.

Yeah, Dark Alliance was fun to play co-op back in the day. It's a shame they charged a lot for the recent port/remaster though. Baldur's Gate 1 and 2 though were brilliant though, and I really enjoyed Divinity 2, so I expect this will be great.

You know as they say, snitches get stitches.

Of course they're going to say that... apart from the many times they have said they're disappointed with sales? That doesn't make any sense, does it? You can't expect the game to sell as well as titles sold multiplatform or on systems with many more millions of consoles out there. They're right - the attach rate is really good. And remember that they've been paid off for it being exclusive, so that will have offset the cost of lost sales from it being exclusive.

Just to come back to this...posted on Eurogamer today: Square-Enix, who are famously always disappointed with sales performance, are happy here, giving all the reasons we told you why they were good sales.

The CMA were the only ones who did their job. Anyone who wants or cheers on huge industry mergers like this is sick, quite frankly.

Millions will now lose access to new releases of lots of game series (look at what happened to Bethesda titles upon acquisition, before which all their titles were multiplatform). Not sure why you are only focusing on one game series when they own lots of others. On the subject of COD though, it now has a 10 year agreement so in 10 years we will be in a worse place than we are now. The new platforms to gain COD for the next 10 years like Switch are at most nice to have, certainly not the place most existing COD gamers would choose to play first. It's a box ticking exercise so that they can argue they're putting it on more platforms, and it certainly helped them push the deal through; but all the while people are ignoring the fact that in 10 years this series can go exclusive. 10 years is will mean this will likely happen next generation! Microsoft gamers will also no doubt see their Game Pass subscriptions go up, while ABK releases take the place of other titles that might have made it to Game Pass. So it's not like it's even a win for Microsoft gamers - they could play ABK games before, after all.

The customers don't benefit, and that's what this should be about. Giant industry mergers are always bad for the consumer.

Speak for yourself, the dated quotes make it for me.

Well the Adam Sandler quote has aged like fine wine.

Wow, this is more unexpected than a funny Adam Sandler film.

If it's true the information will come from Sony, if/when it does. That's a bit like if I said there'll be a Final Fantasy XVII, then claiming I revealed it when Square-Enix finally confirm it. This sounds like pure conjecture to me.

Ah, so you're going to argue the remake angle. Never mind that FF7 remake is hardly a remake at all, never mind that FF7 is the most popular game in the series by a country mile and people had been crying out for the remake, and never mind the colossal difference in PS4 versus PS5 install base at the time of game release (with PS4 being much cheaper to pick up at the time too, for people who wanted to buy the console to play the game). It's quite strange on your part though, don't you think. Comparing a multiplatform game sales to a game released on a single platform. I thought it was daft, anyway. I'm sorry, but your take here completely misses the mark. Eurogamer had an article on this earlier today and made pretty much the same points and came to the same conclusion as me. FF16 sales are impressive, there's no doubt about it. Don't forget as well that Square-Enix have agreed a deal with Sony for PS5 exclusivity. By that reckoning, they don't need to sell as many copies as they would have if it was console multiplatform, as they received Sony's money.

FF15 was released on Xbox too, while FF7 is arguably the most popular/revered FF game of them all. FFXVI also was only sold on PS5 with a much smaller install base than the other games. Those are not valid comparisons, and I'm pretty sure you knew that.

Even then the secrets aren't really anything meaty in terms of gameplay, they're more or less curiosities. The core loop of the gameplay gets stale pretty quickly.

It's an enjoyable game but one you play through a lot, unlock everything, then almost as quickly forget about it. The problem for me that the game is practically broken, it becomes almost impossible to lose. Don't get me wrong, it was fun at first while still levelling stuff up but it's ultimately a bit of a throwaway title. The gameplay is too basic, but I think that's also part of its popularity.

A truly bizarre take, even for you. [emoji14]

I just bought a new phone over a week ago that should be with me soon. Bought the just released Xiaomi Poco F5 off AliExpress for £250. It takes a bit of time to come from China but I see no reason than going anything other than this route from now on, for the money it's basically unbeatable for the spec. I did the same thing a few years back with the Poco F3 and that cost the same back then, and it's been a great phone. If you don't mind going the AliExpress route then you can save a lot. The same phone sold on the UK Xiaomi store costs over £200 more, and you never get customs charges in my experience (ordered relatives a few phones this way too). It's basically the same spec as a £500+ phone from other brands, and most phones are basically made in China now anyway.