Playstation 5 Console Discussion

[Hero-of-Time]

2 minutes ago, drahkon said:

Only if they redo the entire gameplay. The story was ok, but the gameplay was garbage

You wound me deeply, sir.  

[drahkon]

2 minutes ago, Hero-of-Time said:

You wound me deeply, sir.  

Good

Nah, I just didn't like it. Found it tedious to play

I'd be up for a remake, though. Add Dirge of Cerberus, as I've never played it, and it's all good.

[Julius]

On 21/05/2021 at 3:59 PM, Hero-of-Time said:

Looks like another Final Fantasy game is on the way that is exclusive to PlayStation.

For reference, this person correctly leaked Sony’s Future of Gaming event last year and has correctly leaked a bunch of other stuff since. I’m very intrigued what the game will be. C’mon Crisis Core remake.  

I'd been racking my head the last few days as every possibility seemed to slowly get shot down in that thread as I thought of them, but thankfully they've come forward and it sounds like it'll be a Soulslike: 

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It's tricky. It's certainly Souls-inspired, but it's not exactly what you'd imagine when you hear "Souls-like FF".

I mean, I'm in, regardless of exactly what that entails. Potentially in development by Team Ninja (Nioh), which would be interesting to see some of their Souls interpretation applied to an existing IP. Some are floating around the name "Final Fantasy Origin", so...I guess that means crystals? Definitely sounds like a 35th anniversary project for next year if that's the title  it also makes me wonder if it's something of a retelling of the original Final Fantasy but with a focus on action, though I guess I don't know if they'd want something else like that going on with VII Remake ongoing. Also, I've always thought that the Dragoon Armour would suit the style of a Souls game, so that'd be neat to see potentially pop up if this is the case! 

They also went on to say:

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Like I said before, it's not high-end (think Nier Automata or a bit higher) so temper your expectations, but it's something that many could get really into, at least conceptually.

So basically a budget somewhere between AA and AAA, but not AAAA (like a main Final Fantasy title like XVI or VII Remake would get) I guess? It's intriguing all the same. 

Puts me in the mood to play more FF (and heck more From Software games too), that's for sure! Maybe I'll get around to X and/or Dark Souls later this summer 

[Hero-of-Time]

A Final Fantasy game that plays like a Souls game? Sounds right up my street! 

[Sheikah]

That would be really quite cool. Although somehow I doubt S-E could pull it off in the same way From Software do. Final Fantasy is their golden goose and their games often feel set up to sell DLC these days.

[Julius]

Finally managed to find a source on where Team Ninja's name being attached to this came from, this renowned French leaker who was apparently one of the only ones to leak the Ghost of Tsushima post-launch updates:

Found some rough translations of the video, in which he goes on to talk about:

- it apparently being called Final Fantasy Origin, or something along those lines

- developed by Team Ninja

- Souls-like, mentioned Jedi Fallen Order as a point of reference

- PS5 exclusive (as H-o-T mentioned)

- most interestingly, to me at least: there will be a demo on the PlayStation Store this summer to gather feedback

Edited May 23, 2021 by Julius

[Hero-of-Time]

The mention of Jedi Fallen Order is cause for concern. No game should be using that as a template, especially one trying to mimic a Souls game.

[Julius]

2 minutes ago, Hero-of-Time said:

The mention of Jedi Fallen Order is cause for concern. No game should be using that as a template, especially one trying to mimic a Souls game.

I'm hoping that it's more of a "hey, we see what you tried to do there, we'd be interested in giving that a go too with our own big property, with the necessary tweaks" rather than following the same path as Jedi Fallen Order, because yeah, I totally agree that it might be a point for concern otherwise. 

Thought that game had some good moments, and I really enjoyed it from Dathomir onwards, but it needed more time in the oven, and the Souls-like aspects of it in particular just didn't feel at all baked into the actual design of the game. I think we've talked before about how getting access to easy backstabs on the way back to the ship on certain planets felt kind of pointless given how troopers (and most other generic enemy types) were nothing more than cannon fodder anyways, so it didn't feel all that rewarding to be handed these easy kills.

When I think back to one of my favourite places in Demon's Souls, a place where you can farm healing grass, what made it so great was getting to backstab these knights who had been giving me a seriously hard time before getting to the end of that "level". Heck, occasionally I'd mess up sneaking up behind them and I'd be caught off guard before we entered an intense fight, so even though the option for the easy backstab was there, the game still demanded my attention. 

Again, enjoyed most of JFO for what it was and thought it really picked up towards the end, and I'm excited to see where Respawn with it go next, but even though that game pulls from elsewhere too (like God of War), the Soulsborne influence looking back on it now, with only one From game under my belt, seems pretty clear. I think it's getting the balance right of making something that can be accessible like Jedi Fallen Order was, while not pulling any punches, like having a single difficulty the game is designed and balanced around. You can always come out with a harder difficulty post-launch to push things even further (or you know, maybe just throw some DLC stuff at us that's tougher). 

[Cube]

I see Fallen Order as more of a Metroidvania-like game than a Souls game. Mostly because I loved it while I hated Demons Souls and Bloodbourne. 

[Julius]

13 minutes ago, Cube said:

I see Fallen Order as more of a Metroidvania-like game than a Souls game. Mostly because I loved it while I hated Demons Souls and Bloodbourne. 

I think there are certainly influences from both, some bits that they pulled off well, and some others that I think left something to be desired. I do think there are two very distinct sides to Fallen Order. 

To me it felt like the general exploration was more in line with what we've seen in "modern 3D Metroidvanias" (I hate trying to pin a game's genre down as much as the next guy, but here we are), and when I was playing it I distinctly felt that it was somewhat similar to 2018's God of War, which is funny because as far as I'm aware Stig had nothing to do with that game, but worked on earlier God of War titles, so there's certainly a through line there I think. 

The general combat loop and mechanics, especially with regards to death as far as I can remember, to me at least, is where it felt the most like it was trying to draw from Souls, but floundered.

I guess that the game felt like two very distinct parts to me highlights what a Final Fantasy Souls-like would need to focus on, which is making something that is consistent across the board. Fallen Order wanted me to explore at my leisure as you might in a Metroidvania, but wanted to have the intensity in battles of a Souls game, and in the end - for me at least - wound up in this weird middle ground where the combat was pretty uninteresting. I haven't played Nioh but I've only heard good things about it, and besides From Software, it doesn't really seem like anyone else is well equipped to tackle a Souls-like at the moment. 

The only From game I've played so far is Demon's Souls, but it definitely feels like a Metroidvania at times with how the world and level design all connects, and how certain elements need to be returned to later in the game (though it's not usually an unlocked ability but a found key, having beat a certain boss, or something like that). It's a shame you didn't have a good time with what you played of them from the sounds of it, though I get that they aren't for everyone, and if it wasn't for me sticking with it and catching a bit of a break which saw me jump 10+ levels at once after dying at the same boss over and over again in Demon's Souls, amassing souls, then I might not have been saying that I look forward to playing another game of theirs in the future. 

[Dcubed]

Nah.  Fallen Order is definitely a Dark Souls knockoff more than anything else (though it’s also an Uncharted knockoff too).

It does have backtracking, but so too do the Dark Souls games.

[Julius]

Imran Khan, formerly of Game Informer and Kinda Funny and now over at Fanbyte, has put out an article based on his own sources further corroborating the apparent existence of Final Fantasy Origin. 

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The rumor states that Square Enix is working with Team Ninja, Koei Tecmo’s in-house development team behind games like Ninja Gaiden, Nioh, and perhaps most relevantly the latest entry in the Final Fantasy fighting game series Dissidia NT. The posted rumors go on further by assigning the game a genre, something akin to Nioh or the Souls games, and suggesting it takes place somewhere in or adjacent to the world of the first Final Fantasy game on the NES.

...

The game, which appears to be exclusive to PlayStation 5 with a PC release further down the road, will be one of Square Enix’s tentpoles at their upcoming E3 show. For whatever reason, several large chunks of the undated June show have leaked out, including the Final Fantasy Origin’s logo and demo plans. Square Enix hopes to release an alpha demo this summer, not unlike Nioh’s public alphas, to solicit feedback from the audience while the game is still in a fairly early state. This demo, like several other major demos, has its own title of “Stranger in Paradise.”

That demo name definitely sounds like a Souls player character title 

Edited May 24, 2021 by Julius

[Ashley]

34 minutes ago, Julius said:

That demo name definitely sounds like a Souls player character title 

Or...

 

[Julius]

PlayStation Direct is coming to Europe:

 

[Julius]

Sony projection for this financial year is to sell 15 million PS5's, and then 23 million the year after. 

For reference, at the same point in the PS4's life cycle that they expect to reach 50 million with the PS5, there were 40 million units sold. 

[drahkon]

Demo for Scarlet Nexus is out on PS4/PS5.

[Ganepark32]

9 hours ago, drahkon said:

Demo for Scarlet Nexus is out on PS4/PS5.

Was waiting for this. Timed exclusivity for demos is a bit ridiculous, even if it was only a week to wait for it to hit PS4/PS5.

Anyway, played through it as the male character and its alright. Visually there's a lot going on with the environments and so it looks a little cluttered. It does look like a cross gen title though, or at least one that started on last gen as things do look muddy in places and it doesn't look the sharpest for its resolution.

Combat was fine but there's a lot going on with different systems so I felt I was only getting my head round button prompts for using different combo types as the demo ended. The boss battles felt a bit flat as a way to end it, having to kite it to jump and belly flop below the cranes before you could use them even though there were plenty of times the boss was standing under them just spamming the gunge shot move.

Its one I'll keep my eye on. I wasn't blown away but there's enough there thats got me interested (like the psychokinesis powers) but I'll see how reviews land for it and if its got the legs and depth to keep me engaged longer than another similarly styled title, Astral Chain.

[Sheikah]

The PS Plus 12-month sub is discounted on the PSN digital store now, for those interested. ShopTo are also selling 12-month sub codes for even cheaper at £32.85 (link).

[drahkon]

[lostmario]

6 hours ago, Sheikah said:

The PS Plus 12-month sub is discounted on the PSN digital store now, for those interested. ShopTo are also selling 12-month sub codes for even cheaper at £32.85 (link).

Amazon have price matched here if you prefer to use them instead of ShopTo.

[drahkon]

Got 50€ PSN credit for 38€ and used it for a PS+ subscription. Got 5€ credit left

[Julius]

Some of the kind of smaller parts from Hermen Hulst's Q&A. 

Sony Bend officially working on a new open world IP (aka Schreier was right, not much of a surprise there)

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And you know, Bend Studio is working on a very exciting new IP that they’re very, very passionate about. They’re building on the deep open-world systems that they developed with Days Gone. So I’m really happy for Bend Studio.

More plans to expand into the PC space (Uncharted 4 was recently potentially spilled as part of those documents from a week or two ago)

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We’re still early on in our planning for PC. And Horizon Zero Dawn has been very successful. I think it shows there’s an appetite from gamers outside the PlayStation ecosystem to experience the amazing portfolio of games that PlayStation fans have enjoyed for years.

But I want to emphasize that PlayStation will remain the best place to play our PlayStation Studios titles at launch. But we do value PC gamers, and we’ll continue to look at the right times to launch each game. Bend Studio just released the PC version of Days Gone on May 18. So that’s about two years after the PS4 release.

And I hope that a new set of fans can and will enjoy that title. And that’s the goal — we want to reach new gamers who haven’t yet experienced the great stories, characters, and worlds that we’ve built. Releasing games on PC will not come ever at the expense of building an exciting lineup of great console games.

An update on Team Asobi

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We’re building Team Asobi in Tokyo, a world-class studio that are developing a franchise for all ages with global appeal. Such a creative team.

Just give me the next Astro Bot already 

Edited June 2, 2021 by Julius

[Dcubed]

Oh, and God of War Ragnarok & Gran Turismo 7 have also been confirmed as PS4 cross-gen titles too.  They'll also be getting PS4 releases.

Not surprised at all regarding GOW, but I am surprised that GT7 is also a PS4 game for some odd reason.

Edit: GOW Ragnarok has also been delayed till 2022...

 

Edited June 2, 2021 by Dcubed

[Julius]

PlayStation have put up a PlayStation Blog entry formally announcing Team Asobi, with a new studio logo:

Well worth checking out the blog, it's a quick read (but long enough for me to choose against quoting it ). It mainly touches on the team's philosophy and history. 

Looking forward to their future, Astro's Playroom looked and felt amazing, and hopefully I'll get to check out VR Mission some day when the PSVR2 rolls around! 

[Ronnie]

Really loved Astro's Playroom, so would love to see them working on a full length (non VR) sequel next!

Edited June 2, 2021 by Ronnie