any1th3r3

any1th3r3, rok temu

I finished Final Fantasy VII Rebirth a couple days ago after about 110 hours, what a journey!

I’m currently playing a few shmups since I just purchased a (very cheap but perfectly adequate) arcade stick, easy modes for now and “moving up the chain”:

• DoDonPachi Resurrection
• ESP Ra De
• Espgaluda II
• Radiant Silvergun

After that, I’ll probably pick Cyberpunk 2077 back up (only 10 hours in from the free trial a few weeks ago).

any1th3r3, rok temu

I’ve only quickly skimmed through, but another two:

• A Short Hike, adventure/exploration game with relaxing gameplay, I really recommend this one
• ZeroRanger, “old-school” shmup with awesome gameplay and ost, if you’re into shmups it’s almost worth getting the bundle for this one alone tbh

any1th3r3, rok temu

The Nathan Drake Collection. Uncharted 1 is a bit rough around the edges, but I would recommend going in order of release either way.
Enjoy, those are wonderful games! (I might be slightly biased, Uncharted is probably my favourite video game series tbh)

any1th3r3, rok temu

Performance issues are definitely present in the console versions of the game, albeit not 4-5s stutters and whether you notice framerate drops or they bother you or not is a different thing entirely I suppose.

any1th3r3, rok temu

NB: Careful, that reporter has apparently been wrong on a number of accounts regarding Sony’s PlayStation business in the past, eg:

• Sony: "We have not changed the production number for PlayStation 5"
• Sony: “We have not cut PSVR 2 production numbers”

I wouldn’t take this article too seriously / as gospel (although PSVR2 has probably not been selling like hot cakes).

any1th3r3, rok temu (edited rok temu)

I would wholeheartedly recommend the A Plague Tale duology (Innocence and Requiem). They both had a lasting impact on me (especially Requiem) and the overall presentation is really great IMO.

any1th3r3, rok temu

I’m not saying the combat is straight up bad, but throughout my 6-7hrs with the game (so far), it was definitely its most underwhelming aspect IMO.
I have to give it another go, but Sekiro’s was definitely more fun (or at least rewarding), while Ghost of Tsushima’s felt tedious. Maybe it just didn’t “click” for me though.

any1th3r3, rok temu

It used to be that the timer started as soon as you hit download, however they supposedly fixed it later on to only start whenever you booted up the game (and stop as soon as you fully quit it).
I guess there might be some bugs / potential rollback on that fix, but since it’s never been officially communicated AFAIK…

any1th3r3, rok temu

I think it’s fair to see the Xbox as a Game Pass box in the short to mid-term, yes. Microsoft’s efforts have been focused on getting everyone on Game Pass, be it Xbox, PC or Mobile (and they would love for other console manufacturers to have it as well).
They are selling Xbox consoles at a loss and are only recouping money on games and Game Pass subscriptions, now that neither Nintendo nor Sony is onboard with bringing the latter to their ecosystem, might as well port their first-party games to competing platforms to make more money.

any1th3r3, rok temu

A Plague Tale: Requiem.

any1th3r3, rok temu (edited rok temu)

I’m rounding off the year with The Last of Us Part I and so far it lives up to my expectations (and even more).

I’ve also been playing some PSVR2 recently, I recently completed Moss and just started RE: Village (and it seems I’ve almost got my “VR legs”, I wasn’t really feeling nauseated after the first session).

any1th3r3, rok temu

No, I didn’t want to spoil myself at all, so I’m not sure how the two compare tbh. I would imagine there are still some slight differences and/or you might want to play on a more challenging difficulty if that’s your thing?

any1th3r3, rok temu

WRT how small it is, this video comparing the OG and Slim PS2 could be of interest to you, just so you can see how Sony was able to make it that much smaller back then.

any1th3r3, rok temu

The company’s dedication to retro authenticity goes far beyond creating desirable gaming hardware.

Sure, Analogue also caters to scalpers, to a point.
Somewhat /s, I guess?

I love my Analogue Pocket, which I’ve had for a little over a year, and Dock, which I’ve gotten maybe a week ago but has already surpassed my (fairly mild) expectations. I’ve also had a Super Nt for over a year and have a pre-order in for the Duo, so I tend to appreciate what Analogue comes out with, but their recent strategy with limited edition Pockets feels a bit ill-intentioned.
They had seemingly finally caught up to production issues and were able to deliver everyone’s orders towards the end of August and suddenly made both regular editions of the Pocket unavailable to then “drop” limited editions a few weeks later.
Those are once again hard to get, unsurprisingly slightly more expensive than the “regular” variant and generate a significant amount of demand for very limited quantities.

I might be reading too much into it, but it feels like they’re still trying to cultivate a constant feeling of FOMO and/or limited supply around the Pocket, all the while being finally able to catch up with demand (I fully understand production was not at scale compared to how much demand there was for it back in 2021/2022).

any1th3r3, rok temu

Used or loaned games (provided you have libraries offering them in your area) are still a huge benefit for (most, ie physical media “enabled”) consoles.

The subscription model is broken by default, regardless of Sony, Microsoft or Nintendo, and is only good and cheap until it isn’t anymore.

Agreed that consumers have a say, to some extent, however some are too far “into the ecosystem” to either care or be willing to boycott or make a change that would inconvenience them, so they’d rather give in.

any1th3r3, rok temu

Oh absolutely, I know I’m already part of a minority when I favour physical over digital media.
We’re likely seeing the last (or, more realistically, second to last?) generation of consoles with physical media as an option and that’s a bummer…
GOG is great on the PC side of things, but as someone with a Steam Deck as their only PC, it isn’t always the best option (some games have been giving me a headache or end up straight up not working - eg I’ve had to rebuy Gris because the GOG version would show a white screen with any version of Proton I tried, while the Steam version was perfectly fine).

any1th3r3, rok temu

considering that Sony doesn’t offer PS+ Day 1 Launches, unlike Xbox

They don’t offer them as often as on Game Pass, but there are some day 1 launches on Extra.

As with most subscription models, the value proposition will probably decrease as we move forward (one only has to glance at streaming services to see what awaits us in the gaming space imo…). Bummer, but expected.

any1th3r3, rok temu

Yes, thank you!
Microsoft has historically never been profitably selling consoles, which is certainly part of their shift towards different business models, including Game Pass and a focus on more than just Xbox, but PC and Cloud as well. They don’t really have much of a financial incentive to sell consoles for that sake alone, they have to get people to subscribe to Game Pass and/or buy games (possibly digitally whenever possible) and the Series S is their best console for that, as the consumer is very much locked in.

any1th3r3, rok temu

I’ve been going back to The Witcher 3 to play the DLCs.
I finished Hearts of Stone and started Blood and Wine. I really enjoyed the former, but the change of atmosphere and setting of the latter is simply something else and it feels like a new game with how much content there is!