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Ben’s Week In Review: June 21

Well, another E3 has come and gone but this is one I think we'll all remember for a long time. 🙂

My favorite E3 moments!

Despite the fact that I'm downright terrified Square Enix will ruin my all-time favorite role-playing game, the Final Fantasy VII Remake announcement was tops for me.

Just in terms of shock value and seeing everyone react in such a fashion. It's something I'd long since given up on and suddenly, there it was. It was such a rush. I'm well aware this is a remake and not a remaster , so we all know it won't be turn-based. And I've already explained what they need to do to to avoid an absolute travesty , so I'm not going to dive into that again. They just have to retain the soul of this game and yes, it has to be an RPG first and an action game second, or they will have successfully destroyed the game, as far as I'm concerned.

I may not be a Fallout fan but I freakin' loved Dishonored (there's a reason it won Game of the Year here in 2012) and I was super stoked to hear about the sequel . They can make the environments a tad bigger (not a lot) and keep that same great focus on story, and I'll be happy. Then there's the return of The Last Guardian , which was very exciting. ICO and Shadow of the Colossus are still two of my favorite games of all time, and I just know Guardian is going to be special. On top of which, it's a new IP that appears to be very unique in terms of style and gameplay. We really need that.

Guerrilla's Horizon: Zero Dawn really blew me away. It not only looks like a lot of fun, but I'm digging the mix of futuristic and fantastical; the game had an Enslaved: Odyssey to the West vibe mixed with the scope and depth of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt . If Guerrilla can pull that off, it's bound to be one of the very best games of 2016. I also liked what I saw from Mirror's Edge: Catalyst even though there's obviously a bigger emphasis on combat. At least there aren't any guns; that's a good move. Oh, and who can not love that gameplay demo for Uncharted 4: A Thief's End ? Yeah, it broke. I know. But I seriously doubt we'll have any trouble with the game when it launches.

One note about Microsoft's announced backward compatibility for Xbox One:

Who cares ?

And no, I wouldn't care if it was announced for PS4/PS3 because I really don't play PS3 games anymore. I've said this many times before: These days, the gameplay doesn't really change much over the generations; the technical elements get better but the genres haven't altered drastically in some time. I can see wanting to play older games every now and then because they're completely different than what we have now, but why play slightly inferior versions of current titles? I just can't see going back to play the original Uncharted on my PS4. If I want true old-school RPGs, I have to go back pretty far, at least to the PS2, and…well, I've got my PS2 hooked up so I can play all my PS2 and PS1 games. I just can't imagine that many people wanting to play 360 games on Xbox One, that's all.

Personal gaming update

Batman: Arkham Knight is pretty dang great. Not my thing (never was into superheroes) but it's really good. Review coming ASAP; it's another massive game that's going to require a bunch of time. Then it's back to The Witcher 3 , obviously. I enjoyed LEGO Jurassic World but it had a few too many bugs for my taste. It's still a great option for families and those seeking a light, airy co-op adventure. Once I can put Batman behind me, I'll dive back into The Witcher 3 and if I can finish that before Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain (September 1), I'll start Rogue Galaxy . A friend found the game and the guide cheap and gave them to me as a present; it's one of the very few PS2 RPGs I've always regretted missing. 🙂

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Temjin001
Temjin001
9 years ago

E3 was amazing. I don't think I can really order them actually. I could write a list of two dozen games that really impressed me if I wanted.

PGU: I'm around level 16 in Witcher 3. I'm feeling a bit fatigued of it now so I'm happy Batman is landing here soon. It looks to be a fantastic finale to Rocksteady's efforts with the franchise. Really, many years ago, the thought of a generic superhero game being a AAA critically acclaimed series was basically unheard of. They did something for Batman I'd love to see happen with a Superman or Spider-Man or X-Men or Avengers etc. Rocksteady made me believe any super hero franchise can be great when it's in the right hands. Superhero stuff is such a well-liked thing in pop-culture I expect some dev will nail it again with another gaming franchise sometime soon.

EDIT: ah, and Rogue Galaxy was something I wanted to play as well. The Gamespot legendary critic Greg Kassavin did a video review that persuaded me to want to play it years ago. I liked the idea of a Star Wars'ish jrpg.


Last edited by Temjin001 on 6/20/2015 10:32:49 PM

xenris
xenris
9 years ago

Rogue Galaxy is amazing. I did everything there was to do in that game.

I really hope level 5 releases a sequel or something, it had a great action RPG combat system, an awesome story and great characters. Lots to do an decent minigames. Also it looked fantastic.

WorldEndsWithMe
WorldEndsWithMe
9 years ago

Rogue Galaxy WooT!

MRSUCCESS
MRSUCCESS
9 years ago

It seems we are more or less playing at same paste. I just made it to level 21 in The Witcher 3. Only reason I stopped was because I had to submit a paper for school.

I see that you haven't made it to Skellige but it's definitely a breath of fresh air. There are several places in Velen that are just bland and boring. Furthermore, the background music in Skellige is more inviting and soothing than that of any other land (opinion of course). Played about 5 hours in Skellige and didn't go anywhere else.

Oxvial
Oxvial
9 years ago

Some reviewers are annoyed with the batmobile, Ben if you already used it.. it's that bad?

Ben Dutka PSXE
Ben Dutka PSXE
9 years ago

Nah.

Oxvial
Oxvial
9 years ago

🙂

Banky A
Banky A
9 years ago

PGUUUUU:

Only finished The Last of Us (Remastered) for the first time on Thursday and yesterday just finished it on Grounded Plus+ an hour ago. On my 3rd play-through right now just to upgrade all guns — then it's on to multiplayer to get the Plat.

Holy crap the game is peerless. Best experience I have played since Journey or SoTC at least. Not the ultimate graphics compared to PC but everything looks REAL and feels REAL. Another pedestal.

I always knew I was getting the game, 100%, no questions but how did I deprive myself of it for two years?? Big cheers to the PS4 bundle.

Honestly Naughty Dog are Kings of the world. I don't know anyone better for me. Uncharted 4 is going to fill my emptiness from Last of Us with a happy bang. I wish I could get closure like Joel did for TLoU but it's okay, life's tough. We're survivors.

God have mercy I played it back to back for the entirety of five days. TLOU isn't even a J/RPG! Completely obsessed, without warning.
Superb. Imagine that with Uncharted 4's new expanded 'open' exploration.

Who still plays the multiplayer and wants to go through the faction journeys with me?
PSN: BankeA

chuckuykendall
chuckuykendall
9 years ago

Sigh. I care, and since Microsoft says they listen to community feedback and tries to implement the most requested features I assume I'm not alone.

I'm confused that you would go back and play PS2 games but not PS3 games. Are there no PS3 games you'd like to revisit or never got a chance to play?

Ben Dutka PSXE
Ben Dutka PSXE
9 years ago

LOL @ Microsoft listening to community feedback.

I mean, that's just hysterical.

Solid Fantasy
Solid Fantasy
9 years ago

Here's a fun game: look up the 1997 trailer for FFVII, then watch the most recent trailer from less than a week ago. Never thought I would be using those words in that order. What an E3! It was just one big moment after another. It compensated for the lack of info on David Cage's project.

PGU: Haven't even made it out of Velen on The Witcher III. Once I'm done with an online class final there will hopefully be more time for Geralt. On top of that maybe by then end of the decade I'll bell done with Rainbow Moon.

Going to see Jurassic World tomorrow. They timed that with my gen so well. It was the first movie I can remember watching in the theater.

Not many will agree with me on this but, I actually miss the orange outline from Human Revolution. It complimented the cyber punk immersion. The new one look crazy awesome, don't get me wrong, but it also reminds me of Kill Zone in some ways more than it does Deus Ex.

Oh and seriously guys FINAL FANTASY VII REMAKE! Still gives me goosebumps!

xenris
xenris
9 years ago

I hope you get a chance to play Rogue Galaxy. It was one of my favourite RPGs on the PS2. The combat might be more action than you like but the RPG elements are there in spades.

E3 was excellent this year, I enjoyed seeing all the conferences and thought they all did pretty well. I don't think any of them were a complete flop, although Nintendos didn't appeal to me because I don't have one, the charm was there with the whole puppet thing.

I trust Nomura to not screw up FF7 remake, his games are good, and I think the only thing that is going to be divided for fans is whether or not they like the combat system he decides to go with.

I also am curious if they are going to shave some of the fat off the game. I'm not talking about key moments but more so moments in the game where you had to grind, or travel super long distances with tons of random battles that got kind of tedious.

Ah well, we will wait and see as always.

PGU:

I still can't believe the Witcher 3 has this many fleshed out side quests. Seriously I don't know how such a small studio did this but man this game has really impressed me.

Its all I'm playing right now until Phantom Pain I think. I might skip on Batman in the beginning and wait for the game of the year edition, or if there is a gaming drought…lol like thats going to happen anytime soon.

Temjin001
Temjin001
9 years ago

I made it into Skiliage last night at lvl 17. Is there an area passed that? I ask because I checked a walkthrough main plot checklist to see about how far along I was and it would appear I'm about halfway through the main story.


Last edited by Temjin001 on 6/21/2015 12:22:37 PM

WorldEndsWithMe
WorldEndsWithMe
9 years ago

Rogue Galaxy WooT!

xenris
xenris
9 years ago

I couldn't tell you TEmjin. I haven't even ventured to Skellige yet. I have been doing all the quests in Velen and Novigrad I can.

I still have about 100 ? scattered about those two areas….such a big game.

I would think it depends on how many side missions you do. The game can be beaten in 25 hours if you just do the main missions.

Temjin001
Temjin001
9 years ago

Thanks.
It was actually a secondary quest that took me to Skelliage.
I met up with another witcher who looked like a vampire. The quest started in novigrad and continued across the water. This prompted me to start the main quest to skilliage. After I finish that secondary I plan on going back to novigrad.


Last edited by Temjin001 on 6/22/2015 10:14:34 AM

Squirreleatsman
Squirreleatsman
9 years ago

Fallout 4 has me excited, though I don't need it right now…the endless open world of the Witcher 3 has me pretty burnt out. Don't get me wrong the Witcher 3 is absolutely fantastic but I have to take breaks from it.

No Man's Sky continues to bore me, the concept is intriguing but the world design, graphics/art direction, and gameplay just aren't grabbing and the demos that they have show are incredibly repetitive looking…I'll probably pass.

Batman is my favorite super hero but the games just aren't very Batman like, they are overly action oriented and very gimmicking in my opinion.

Horizion Zero Dawn looks fantastic, glad to see guerrilla games getting to do something different. Definitely they most exciting looking new IP coming to consoles. Combat looks intense and deep…can't wait.

Naughty Dog you beautiful sons of $&%&$'s Uncharted 4 will of course be fantastic and with every demo they show I get more and more excited to revisit my favorite series.

My only disappointment is that I really wanna hear the Ready at Dawn is working on a sequel to the Order 1886, despite what the haters say this game truly was a fantastic first entry to a new IP and has so much potential both story and gameplay wise. I swear if the stuck up "professional" critics ruined the chance at a sequel I will no longer be frequenting their sites.


Last edited by Squirreleatsman on 6/21/2015 12:39:11 PM

WorldEndsWithMe
WorldEndsWithMe
9 years ago

Now I wish I watched, stupid World.

FFVII is the biggest thing since God but thats a long way off so I'm all about Fallout 4.

I turned my room into a retro retreat because of that game. (edit, because of that franchise and a little bit of Bioshock influence).


Last edited by WorldEndsWithMe on 6/21/2015 1:40:18 PM

trumpetmon65
trumpetmon65
9 years ago

I still can't believe FFVII was announced. Gamespot even announced a rumor leak that it was going to be announced, but I was thinking it would just be a repolish or something. I'm really happy with what I've heard about Dark Souls III and have seen with Star Wars Battlefront. Microsoft's conference was fun to watch too. At first, I thought this year was going to be a shoe in for them and then suddenly it wasn't. This was by far the best E3 in a long time.

Bio
Bio
9 years ago

Finally finished up Peace Walker. Figured it was a good time with Phantom Pain coming fairly soon. I didn't give it much of a shot back in 2010 because I was so put off by Portable Ops, but after giving myself enough time to get accustomed to the controls I ended up really liking it, for the most part.

Except for the ridiculous difficulty spike on the final missions of Act IV, where despite doing everything right up to that point you need to go grind out mother base levels to upgrade your weapons to an appropriate level to make the fight manageable or, as I ended up doing, simply kiting the PW using a machine gun, which turned what should have been a 5 minute fight into a 20 minute bullet sponge extravaganza.

I hope the base stuff in PP is a bit more polished.

TheAgingHipster
TheAgingHipster
9 years ago

I get the XBone backwards compatibility. I know literally dozens of gamers who have hedged on getting into the new generation because they have a huge collection of last-gen titles, and they don't want to give up the old console or have two systems taking up space (silly to me, but still). This will give those gamers the incentive to come into the new generation. It also artificially expands the XBone game library to include established success stories. Hell, I'd love to replay Mass Effect on a new system. (Shame about the remake.)

xenris
xenris
5 years ago

I hope you get a chance to play Rogue Galaxy. It was one of my favourite RPGs on the PS2. The combat might be more action than you like but the RPG elements are there in spades.

E3 was excellent this year, I enjoyed seeing all the conferences and thought they all did pretty well. I don&#39t think any of them were a complete flop, although Nintendos didn&#39t appeal to me because I don&#39t have one, the charm was there with the whole puppet thing.

I trust Nomura to not screw up FF7 remake, his games are good, and I think the only thing that is going to be divided for fans is whether or not they like the combat system he decides to go with.

I also am curious if they are going to shave some of the fat off the game. I&#39m not talking about key moments but more so moments in the game where you had to grind, or travel super long distances with tons of random battles that got kind of tedious.

Ah well, we will wait and see as always.

PGU:

I still can&#39t believe the Witcher 3 has this many fleshed out side quests. Seriously I don&#39t know how such a small studio did this but man this game has really impressed me.

Its all I&#39m playing right now until Phantom Pain I think. I might skip on Batman in the beginning and wait for the game of the year edition, or if there is a gaming drought…lol like thats going to happen anytime soon.

Temjin001
Temjin001
5 years ago

E3 was amazing. I don&#39t think I can really order them actually. I could write a list of two dozen games that really impressed me if I wanted.

PGU: I&#39m around level 16 in Witcher 3. I&#39m feeling a bit fatigued of it now so I&#39m happy Batman is landing here soon. It looks to be a fantastic finale to Rocksteady&#39s efforts with the franchise. Really, many years ago, the thought of a generic superhero game being a AAA critically acclaimed series was basically unheard of. They did something for Batman I&#39d love to see happen with a Superman or Spider-Man or X-Men or Avengers etc. Rocksteady made me believe any super hero franchise can be great when it&#39s in the right hands. Superhero stuff is such a well-liked thing in pop-culture I expect some dev will nail it again with another gaming franchise sometime soon.

EDIT: ah, and Rogue Galaxy was something I wanted to play as well. The Gamespot legendary critic Greg Kassavin did a video review that persuaded me to want to play it years ago. I liked the idea of a Star Wars&#39ish jrpg.

Last edited by Temjin001 on 6/20/2015 10:32:49 PM

WorldEndsWithMe
WorldEndsWithMe
5 years ago

Rogue Galaxy WooT!

Oxvial
Oxvial
5 years ago

🙂

Oxvial
Oxvial
5 years ago

Some reviewers are annoyed with the batmobile, Ben if you already used it.. it&#39s that bad?

xenris
xenris
5 years ago

Rogue Galaxy is amazing. I did everything there was to do in that game.

I really hope level 5 releases a sequel or something, it had a great action RPG combat system, an awesome story and great characters. Lots to do an decent minigames. Also it looked fantastic.

Ben Dutka PSXE
Ben Dutka PSXE
5 years ago

LOL @ Microsoft listening to community feedback.

I mean, that&#39s just hysterical.

Ben Dutka PSXE
Ben Dutka PSXE
5 years ago

Nah.

MRSUCCESS
MRSUCCESS
5 years ago

It seems we are more or less playing at same paste. I just made it to level 21 in The Witcher 3. Only reason I stopped was because I had to submit a paper for school.

I see that you haven&#39t made it to Skellige but it&#39s definitely a breath of fresh air. There are several places in Velen that are just bland and boring. Furthermore, the background music in Skellige is more inviting and soothing than that of any other land (opinion of course). Played about 5 hours in Skellige and didn&#39t go anywhere else.

chuckuykendall
chuckuykendall
5 years ago

Sigh. I care, and since Microsoft says they listen to community feedback and tries to implement the most requested features I assume I&#39m not alone.

I&#39m confused that you would go back and play PS2 games but not PS3 games. Are there no PS3 games you&#39d like to revisit or never got a chance to play?

Solid Fantasy
Solid Fantasy
5 years ago

Here&#39s a fun game: look up the 1997 trailer for FFVII, then watch the most recent trailer from less than a week ago. Never thought I would be using those words in that order. What an E3! It was just one big moment after another. It compensated for the lack of info on David Cage&#39s project.

PGU: Haven&#39t even made it out of Velen on The Witcher III. Once I&#39m done with an online class final there will hopefully be more time for Geralt. On top of that maybe by then end of the decade I&#39ll bell done with Rainbow Moon.

Going to see Jurassic World tomorrow. They timed that with my gen so well. It was the first movie I can remember watching in the theater.

Not many will agree with me on this but, I actually miss the orange outline from Human Revolution. It complimented the cyber punk immersion. The new one look crazy awesome, don&#39t get me wrong, but it also reminds me of Kill Zone in some ways more than it does Deus Ex.

Oh and seriously guys FINAL FANTASY VII REMAKE! Still gives me goosebumps!

WorldEndsWithMe
WorldEndsWithMe
5 years ago

Rogue Galaxy WooT!

Bio
Bio
5 years ago

Finally finished up Peace Walker. Figured it was a good time with Phantom Pain coming fairly soon. I didn&#39t give it much of a shot back in 2010 because I was so put off by Portable Ops, but after giving myself enough time to get accustomed to the controls I ended up really liking it, for the most part.

Except for the ridiculous difficulty spike on the final missions of Act IV, where despite doing everything right up to that point you need to go grind out mother base levels to upgrade your weapons to an appropriate level to make the fight manageable or, as I ended up doing, simply kiting the PW using a machine gun, which turned what should have been a 5 minute fight into a 20 minute bullet sponge extravaganza.

I hope the base stuff in PP is a bit more polished.

trumpetmon65
trumpetmon65
5 years ago

I still can&#39t believe FFVII was announced. Gamespot even announced a rumor leak that it was going to be announced, but I was thinking it would just be a repolish or something. I&#39m really happy with what I&#39ve heard about Dark Souls III and have seen with Star Wars Battlefront. Microsoft&#39s conference was fun to watch too. At first, I thought this year was going to be a shoe in for them and then suddenly it wasn&#39t. This was by far the best E3 in a long time.

Banky A
Banky A
5 years ago

PGUUUUU:

Only finished The Last of Us (Remastered) for the first time on Thursday and yesterday just finished it on Grounded Plus+ an hour ago. On my 3rd play-through right now just to upgrade all guns — then it&#39s on to multiplayer to get the Plat.

Holy crap the game is peerless. Best experience I have played since Journey or SoTC at least. Not the ultimate graphics compared to PC but everything looks REAL and feels REAL. Another pedestal.

I always knew I was getting the game, 100%, no questions but how did I deprive myself of it for two years?? Big cheers to the PS4 bundle.

Honestly Naughty Dog are Kings of the world. I don&#39t know anyone better for me. Uncharted 4 is going to fill my emptiness from Last of Us with a happy bang. I wish I could get closure like Joel did for TLoU but it&#39s okay, life&#39s tough. We&#39re survivors.

God have mercy I played it back to back for the entirety of five days. TLOU isn&#39t even a J/RPG! Completely obsessed, without warning.
Superb. Imagine that with Uncharted 4&#39s new expanded &#39open&#39 exploration.

Who still plays the multiplayer and wants to go through the faction journeys with me?
PSN: BankeA

TheAgingHipster
TheAgingHipster
5 years ago

I get the XBone backwards compatibility. I know literally dozens of gamers who have hedged on getting into the new generation because they have a huge collection of last-gen titles, and they don&#39t want to give up the old console or have two systems taking up space (silly to me, but still). This will give those gamers the incentive to come into the new generation. It also artificially expands the XBone game library to include established success stories. Hell, I&#39d love to replay Mass Effect on a new system. (Shame about the remake.)

xenris
xenris
5 years ago

I couldn&#39t tell you TEmjin. I haven&#39t even ventured to Skellige yet. I have been doing all the quests in Velen and Novigrad I can.

I still have about 100 ? scattered about those two areas….such a big game.

I would think it depends on how many side missions you do. The game can be beaten in 25 hours if you just do the main missions.

Temjin001
Temjin001
5 years ago

Thanks.
It was actually a secondary quest that took me to Skelliage.
I met up with another witcher who looked like a vampire. The quest started in novigrad and continued across the water. This prompted me to start the main quest to skilliage. After I finish that secondary I plan on going back to novigrad.

Last edited by Temjin001 on 6/22/2015 10:14:34 AM

WorldEndsWithMe
WorldEndsWithMe
5 years ago

Now I wish I watched, stupid World.

FFVII is the biggest thing since God but thats a long way off so I&#39m all about Fallout 4.

I turned my room into a retro retreat because of that game. (edit, because of that franchise and a little bit of Bioshock influence).

Last edited by WorldEndsWithMe on 6/21/2015 1:40:18 PM

Temjin001
Temjin001
5 years ago

I made it into Skiliage last night at lvl 17. Is there an area passed that? I ask because I checked a walkthrough main plot checklist to see about how far along I was and it would appear I&#39m about halfway through the main story.

Last edited by Temjin001 on 6/21/2015 12:22:37 PM

Squirreleatsman
Squirreleatsman
5 years ago

Fallout 4 has me excited, though I don&#39t need it right now…the endless open world of the Witcher 3 has me pretty burnt out. Don&#39t get me wrong the Witcher 3 is absolutely fantastic but I have to take breaks from it.

No Man&#39s Sky continues to bore me, the concept is intriguing but the world design, graphics/art direction, and gameplay just aren&#39t grabbing and the demos that they have show are incredibly repetitive looking…I&#39ll probably pass.

Batman is my favorite super hero but the games just aren&#39t very Batman like, they are overly action oriented and very gimmicking in my opinion.

Horizion Zero Dawn looks fantastic, glad to see guerrilla games getting to do something different. Definitely they most exciting looking new IP coming to consoles. Combat looks intense and deep…can&#39t wait.

Naughty Dog you beautiful sons of $&%&$&#39s Uncharted 4 will of course be fantastic and with every demo they show I get more and more excited to revisit my favorite series.

My only disappointment is that I really wanna hear the Ready at Dawn is working on a sequel to the Order 1886, despite what the haters say this game truly was a fantastic first entry to a new IP and has so much potential both story and gameplay wise. I swear if the stuck up "professional" critics ruined the chance at a sequel I will no longer be frequenting their sites.

Last edited by Squirreleatsman on 6/21/2015 12:39:11 PM