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Ben’s Week In Review: October 6

I have Beyond: Two Souls and I'm not allowed to talk about it yet. …damn. 😉

I don't think Sony is handling The Last Guardian properly

I'm not talking about the development of the game, as I don't know enough about it to make any sort of judgment.

But I can absolutely pass judgment on how they've handled the ongoing situation from a PR standpoint, and I'm not a fan of it. One tactic that has never worked when it comes to constant delays of highly anticipated products in this industry: Vagueness. It's obviously so they don't make a mistake, so they don't make a definitive statement that turns out incorrect, and everyone jumps down their throats. I understand the purpose of vagueness. But after more than a few years pass, you really can't rely on that angle any longer. The "don't worry, it's still in development" appeasement with no exact details satisfies nobody and only creates a lot of questions.

It's only slightly preferable to flat-out silence. The problem is that with so many delays and so many accompanying rumors of dissension among the ranks (Fumito Ueda isn't easy to work for, so insiders say), the same ol' response gets tiring. It also sounds suspiciously like you're hiding something. We don't need a complete and detailed status report but at this point, I think gamers deserve an actual update. That "re-engineering" comment from Yoshida doesn't actually say anything. And that has been my problem with every so-called "update" concerning The Last Guardian . It can't be that hard to say, "yep, it's now coming to the PS4 and it's at least a year off." That at least contains a couple of facts.

If PS4 really does outsell Xbox One in the US this holiday season…wow

Many analysts and industry experts are predicting that Sony's PlayStation 4 has the edge . And not just worldwide, but even in this country, which is saying something. I'm not sure gamers fully understand how huge it would be if the PS4 did indeed outsell the new Xbox in this country during the holiday season. Even if the numbers are close to equal, that's a gigantic turnaround. Have people seen the console stats for the US for the past generation? The Xbox 360 consistently outstripped the PS3 by a 2:1 ratio; if it wasn't for other regions, the PS3 would never have caught the 360 in the sales category. Really, it hasn't been close (as mind-boggling as that seems to me, given the catastrophic reliability of the 360).

Going into the new generation, I thought the PS4 might be able to compete with the Xbox One. I thought at best Sony's console could start outselling Microsoft's in a year or two. Given the stranglehold Microsoft had on the console industry in the US at the end of 2012, I never in a million years would've predicted the PS4 would outsell the Xbox One out of the gate. If you told me that was going to happen in December of last year, my response probably would've been something like- "Yeah? How? Sony gonna toss in a diamond ring with every PS4 purchase?" It really seemed that out of the realm of possibility.

Personal gaming update

Well, as I said above, there's no talking about Beyond . Let's just say that I'm still having a blast with Grand Theft Auto V , although I have no intention of going online to try GTAO. With so much content in the story mode, I'm really not feeling left out at all . However, I've also greatly enjoyed my time with rain and Puppeteer , both of which are wonderfully inventive and creative, and both confirm beyond any shadow of a doubt that games can and often are art. I also think rain isn't getting anywhere near enough credit. It's just another example of how any anticipated game that doesn't score a 9 is considered a failure. It has its flaws but if you loved Journey , I'd be surprised if you didn't love rain .

October is pretty insane, as usual. There are still several sports games that need my attention ( NBA 2K14 and FIFA 14 ), and I know Beyond is going to take up a chunk of time. Not that I'm complaining. 😉

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Temjin001
Temjin001
11 years ago

I enjoyed the Beyond demo. I'd like to play it all the way through when the time comes. I hope Sony has marketed this right to the movie buffs out there. I see it's sales success dependent on the film entertainment group supporting it from outside the core gamer market, much like how GT succeeds without universal gamer praise. And as such, I suspect the game will suffer some critical blows in a few areas from gaming culture, namely the QTE combat approach of reading left jab, hook, or what have you. And I'm sure someone will title their review "Beyond: Two Souls, Going Through The Motions" but I'm thinking overall it'll be well received most, especially from PSXe.

I have to say, seeing a flip flop in pole positions for the coming console race would'nt surprise me. I've seen a lot of leaders come and go over the years.

PGU: Well Crysis 3 looks fabulous. Granted, I'm running an i7 hex core and a 770GTX so the ordinary gamer won't see it as I am. But it really is stunning. I have to take breaks because of sensory overload. It's like too much graphics to compute in my mind and it wears me out fast.

AC3's story has sort of went worse. SPOILERS. Yeah, ever since I got into, and then broke out of prison, I'm having problems with various events. I don't like the unexpected confrontations between Haythom and Conner. I was hoping for something a lot more emotional and dramatic, the game seemed to be building up to that. Conner's bullheaded attitude, remincesnt of Altiar's, suggested to me he would've acted a lot different than he had when they met. And the fact we're now teamed up on an errand seems even more strange. Anyway, I also don't like Conner's anger at his mentor. I just don't buy it. The dude just saved him from death from the gallows and now he's returning the favor wiuth blasting ObiWan and taking the Templars all on his own. Yah, I don't know. I feel like things are racing to a close. Anyway. I could go on. But I still think the game is cool.


Last edited by Temjin001 on 10/5/2013 11:38:48 PM

Jawknee
Jawknee
11 years ago

I'd like to try and finish AC3 but man, I can't bring myself to do it. Every time I try my eyes glaze over and I end up turning it off. I'm at sequence 10 I think. About 65% of the way through.

Beamboom
Beamboom
11 years ago

I ran Crysis 3 on a quad core i7 and a gtx 680 and it looked totally mind-blowing here too. You really do stop and just gaze at the visuals. They got a way of making the picture so rich. It's like you can feel the thickness of the air around you.

WorldEndsWithMe
WorldEndsWithMe
11 years ago

I dig Crysis visual presentation (though you know I play on PS3) so what I'm wondering is are those intense motion blur artifacts a consequence of the port or are those present in the high settings PC game as well?

sirbob6
sirbob6
11 years ago

Its from being a port,you can turn off blur on the PC version.

Beamboom
Beamboom
11 years ago

@World,
I've not played Crysis3 on the PS3 so I can't do a direct comparison but from how I recall C2 on the PS3 I think there might be less blurryness in Crysis 3 on PC, although the effect is definitely still there (and I really like that effect).

But since the picture is at a higher resolution the picture becomes more crisp just by nature. Maybe that's what's making the difference.
Plus the frame-rate is much higher. That too makes a difference on the visuals cause everything is more "solid" in a way.

Temjin001
Temjin001
11 years ago

I have a 670GTX, not a 770. Typo.

Jawknee, yah, maybe AC games aren't your kind of game.

Crysis 3 has settings that allow you to turn on or off motion blur. The game also supports a handful of Anti Aliasing options that inherently cause blurring. That would be FXAA and TXAA (I think it has TXAA). The newer SMAA is a shader based AA method that improves upon MLAA. 1x SMAA does generate some of that sub-pixel crawl, creating ant-like motion on certain edges, but still looks better than an image without any AA. 2x SMAA is a very nice setting, making for a very solid looking image without much performance sacrifice. It's the setting I use.

I haven't seen the console Crysis 3 World so I don't really know what you mean. I can say that none of that 'level of detail' grow-in doesn't happen for me on Very High settings. Everything always looks full and highly detailed. I definitely agree with Beamboom about the weight of the air thing. The atmospheric depth filters and effects they use, some I believe are drawn from the DX11 library, add a volumetric weight to much of your surroundings. It has some very cinematic feeling effects.
Like the first level has some mad impressive rain, weather, and lighting effects that would be too expensive to produce on standard consoles.
I look forward to seeing how KZ Shadow Fall stands up to it come Nov.

greg238
greg238
11 years ago

Dang ben ur lucky I hope beyond two souls is as good as tlou

Anonymous
Anonymous
11 years ago

Beyond as good as TLoU? A certainty.

Ludicrous_Liam
Ludicrous_Liam
11 years ago

(Notice my incredible restraint)

What did you think of the Beyond demo Kid?

Underdog15
Underdog15
11 years ago

LMAO Liam.

WorldEndsWithMe
WorldEndsWithMe
11 years ago

Way different kinds of games.

Jawknee
Jawknee
11 years ago

It's quite disappointing that we haven't seen anything from TLG. It was one of theses I was most looking forward to this generation. Shame, shame Sony or who ever caused this delay.

I want to get a PS4 at launch but funds are tight for the forseeable future. Hopefully my situation will change by Christmas or perhaps shortly after. Killzone Shadow Fall looks delicious.

PGU: it's all about Wind a Waker of course. Amazing how well this game converted over to HD. It's the best HD remake I've seen, evah! It looks like a brand new game. Better than Ni No Kuni, better than any of the cell shaded games we've seen so far really. And the added bloom lighting with the upgraded shaders makes for amazing lighting and shadows. And the gameplay is still some of the best around. For experiences like these, THIS is why I set time and money aside for Nintendo hardware. You just won't get a game like a Wind Waker anywhere else.

WorldEndsWithMe
WorldEndsWithMe
11 years ago

GC version running on my PC looks pretty good:

http://i701.photobucket.com/albums/ww19/TheWorldEndsWithMe/waker_zps7253af76.jpg


Last edited by WorldEndsWithMe on 10/6/2013 11:09:58 AM

xenris
xenris
11 years ago

I actually preferred the more cartoon look of the original than the HD version. But I think the HD version looks awesome as well but for different reasons. Either way the game has aged really well.

Regardless I think Wind Waker is my favourite 3D zelda game.

Jawknee
Jawknee
11 years ago

It still looks like a cartoon. The only difference I noticed is in certain lighting Link looks a tad more three dimensional but it's hardly something to worry about.

World, I can't really tell from that image. It looks low res on my device. Haha but I believe you. I've seen emulators that make GameCube games look awesome. The biggest difference I can tell you from the PC emulators and the Wii U version though is the lighting and shadows. They look amazing. Especially the bloom lighting. Also the addition of the gamepad makes having easy access to your items and maps in real time that much better, for me anyways.

kraygen
kraygen
11 years ago

Honestly parts of the beyond demo I found absolutely amazing, but I think they need to tweak a few of the gameplay mechanics. Certain parts of the demo I found the camera angles and movements very annoying as well.

I think it has a huge potential, I loved Heavy Rain, but I think this needs some minor work done to really be great.

cLoudou
cLoudou
11 years ago

I want to buy rain but I'm a little broke. I'll wait for that to get discounted on PS+.

Been playing Battlefield 4 "beta" as of late. Still have a ton of games to play, only playing about 20 hours of Xillia so far. My sub for FFXIV expired and I'm not renewing until the PS4 version is out, so I can catch up a bit in other games. Getting back in Pokemon White 2 in anticipation for X/Y. Also waiting to get my hands on Beyond on Tuesday.


Last edited by cLoudou on 10/6/2013 1:01:54 AM

johnld
johnld
11 years ago

doesnt really matter when you renew ff14 though, they already said update from ps3 to ps4 is free. might be a good choice though because they still havent got their crap together. down time so much that i lost at lest a day game time that they dont reimburse.

Beamboom
Beamboom
11 years ago

The expectations in regards to the PS4 sales beating Xbone are indeed fantastic. And the worst part is that I really do believe the analysts are right in these predictions.

Cause really, if we put this into the context of the polls and overall response both from the media and users this year, this really was written all over the internet. It basically was just a question of believing our own eyes – something that really was hard to do.

Ben Dutka PSXE
Ben Dutka PSXE
11 years ago

It was a question of whether or not we believe that the PS4 would outsell the Xbox One on a 8:1 or 9:1 basis, as many early polls indicated. And nobody in their right mind would've believed that.

These reports are saying it won't even be 2:1, but in fact maybe a 55/45 or at best 60/40 split, which of course is nothing like the so-called "results" we've seen in the past.

That being said, it remains amazing that the PS4 is even in the picture at all.

Beamboom
Beamboom
11 years ago

No Ben, I don't know why you keep saying that. That is taking the polls far too literal, as I've said earlier too when we discussed this. Not one single person with their sanity in place believed there would be a 1:1 mathematical relation between the polls and the launch result. That is to completely misinterpret the polls.

What the polls showed was a dramatic change in the market, and it showed it to the extreme. And if the PS4 starts the next gen period with a head start before the Xbox in North America that is indeed a *dramatic* change. And that change was written all over the internet these past months.


Last edited by Beamboom on 10/7/2013 1:27:02 AM

Vivi_Gamer
Vivi_Gamer
11 years ago

PGU:

I'm really considering a Wii-U. With the recent release of Zelda Wind Waker – Which I have never played, the idea is tempting, that and Sonic Lost Worlds released for this year that is more than what interests me for the PS4 + It also offers backwards compatibility on Wii games at full 1080p, along with Virtual Console games which I still have to get through, it seems like a good offer.

But the main reason is in prep for Xenoblade 2. Xenoblade Chronicles was the best game of this generation, it delivered everything most of us have been longing for in a JRPG on this site. That alone is worth it, but I do fear about the lack of third party support, we have Mariokart & Smash Bros, the usual Nintendo titles early next year, but what about afterwards… This year has been a drought, I want Xenoblade 2 so much, but am not sure… I know I don't want a PS4 yet, it has nothing to offer my until MGS5, so I know I will eventually get one too…

Other than that, I am playing about with GTA5 online and looking forward to Beyond next week 🙂

Jawknee
Jawknee
11 years ago

Dude, do it! You won't regret it. Get the Wind Waker bundle if you can. It comes with the game, a digital copy of Hyrule Historia and a sweet looking gamepad stenciled with gold Wind Waker themed decorations. All for $299. Wind Waker is one of the best Zelda games and they managed to make it even better with the upgrades via the gamepad and by adding a faster sail. Aonuma also hinted at possible Twilight Princess and Skyward Sword HD remakes in the future. Which might not take long given it only took them 6 months to remake Wind Waker. Not to mention Mario 3D World is coming out soon. It's follow up to the 3DS' Mario 3D Land. Which was an excellent 3D Mario. Pikmin 3 is worth playing too.

Oh also, they just updated the firmware with a bunch of new and tweaked features. A great one allows you to now play Wii games on the gamepad. You still have to use the Wiimote but it works great. The gamepad has it's own sensor bar built in.

3rd party support is off to a slow start but they are working with a lot of Indy devs. There's a bunch of interesting Indy games coming to eShop. Support will be there eventually I think. Not to mention Nintendo said they want to make more first party games faster. A brand new Zelda will be released at some point.


Last edited by Jawknee on 10/6/2013 5:07:13 AM

Vivi_Gamer
Vivi_Gamer
11 years ago

I am really interested in the bundle I just wish the Zelda game was a disc version rather than a download code. I might even get it and sell it and pay the difference.

One thing I am so confused about is the controller. I have a lot of Virtual Console games on my Wii. I'd transfer them on to my Wii-U under the Wii-U's emulation. I can't use the Wii-u's Pro Controller on anything emulated on the Wii… So how do I play my SNES & N64 Wii Virtual Console games – I can't use my Gamecube controller.

Jawknee
Jawknee
11 years ago

You can use the gamepad and/or pro controller for all of your virtual console games. The Wiimote will only work with Wii games and NES games. The only thing is, and I'm not sure about, is that in order for your old games to work with the new controllers you have to first transfer over all your Virtual console games from your Wii to Wii U then buy the upgraded version. I think they run like a $1 or a quid. It's kinda crappy but they justify it as having to pay for the upgrade in each game to with the Wii U. Otherwise you have to play them from the Wii app on the Wii U. If you have a Classic controller that too should work with your N64 games if your choose not to upgrade them. I haven't done it myself. I've bought virtual console games on the Wii U that I didn't already own or picked up ones I didn't own during their promotional period. For example I picked up Super Metroid and Punch Out for $0.30 a piece.

Jawknee
Jawknee
11 years ago

I picked up ones I DID own I meant to say. From their .30 cent promotional deals.

johnld
johnld
11 years ago

xenoblade chronicles best game of this generation…. i just cant agree with that at all.

Jawknee
Jawknee
11 years ago

I should amend my comment to make clear that the Wiimote will also work with the Wii U nearly 100%. The only app I've noticed it doesn't work is Netflix which is pretty dumb considering it works with the Wii version. Netflix needs to get on that. Also the Wiimote will work with Wii U games that were designed for it such as Pikmin 3 and New Super Mario Bros. U.

PlatformGamerNZ
PlatformGamerNZ
11 years ago

well yeah i wudn't have thought so till now that PS4 is getting so much gud press and if sony advertising effort followed the gud press i think i cud actually be possible but only now do i think i cud be possible
and yeah i still need to have a look at puppetter some time but i'm enjoying skyrim too much atm

happy gaming =)

krupex
krupex
11 years ago

PGU: I'm a late adopter to ps3, so now I'm playing Bioshock and later will do Bioshock 2.
I have to wait for a price drop for GTA until I pick it up…

EMax
EMax
11 years ago

Very anxious to hear more about Beyond.

PGU: I have been playing Resident Evil 6 lately, almost finished actually. I thought that it was a huge improvement over RE5. I was thinking though that the rebranding of the franchise may have caused it to be misunderstood. As you all well know, it's originally called 'BioHazard'. Personally, it sums up the entire series up to present. Resident Evil could pass for an alternate title for 'The Evil Dead'. That being said, I have a lot of Plus games to play and after I finish RE6, I intend to play ICO … finally!!!

___________
___________
11 years ago

it would be nice to see a proper updated for TLG, but im sure theres a reason why $ony wont say anything.
why they wont at least confirm the platform who knows, but at least they will say its still in development and the teams never stopped.

exactly, if it was not for EU the ps3 would of been in really hot water.
and this is how they thank us!
go figure!!!!!!!
you say f*ck you we say thank you.
you say thank you we say f*ck you.
ill never understand $onys mentality!

i really dont know what to expect with beyond.
i really dident enjoy the demo, the controls are just way too fiddly for both the new QTE time slowdown system and even the controls for aiden feel really weird.
i just hope the stories allot better and more believable than what heavy rains was.
im going to go frame the mafia, yea, thats totally believeable!

just got back from 3 days at the EB expo.
its so great to finally see AU finally being seen as a relevant gaming market and publishers are finally starting to hold events here which is nice.
still a long way to go, why watch dogs was not playable, i mean come on it was playable LAST year for the rest of the worlds events, and we miss out this year?
figures.

i gotta say by far my favorite thing i saw was a behind closed doors demo of wolfenstein the new order, jimminekers batman that games got some detailed graphics!
such a harken back to the good old PC shooters, the run and gun im a bad a$$ blow everything you can see to kingdom come kind of game.
its good to have you back BJ!
nice little additions littered around the environment to make things easier too, one section you have to fight off a really tough mech.
now you can take it head on, but, well, flesh versus steal yea you can see how this is going to end.
so instead you notice a massive bomb sitting above it on a shimmering chain.
find the air duct that leads up to the above vent, pull out your laser cutter, and bobs your fathers brother the bomb falls down destroying the mech.
couple nice jokes in there, when BJ finds the first charging station he says better recharge this thing its only got a slightly better battery life than the new iphone.
giggle, good pot shot at apple there.

i gotta say though all the things running on next gen consoles were a massive disappointment.
dead rising 3 looks slightly better than 2, i mean yea theres a metric sh*t ton of enemies, and i mean a metric sh*t ton its sometimes really hard to see your character!
that said though i really expected it to look more detailed than it does, all the textures are really muddy.
im starting to think $onys pulled a R* on all their ps4 launch titles too, none of them look anywhere near as good as what they do on the released trailers.
KZSF for instance the MP looks nowhere near what it does on the trailers, and infamous second son, well, looked nothing like the gameplay video they showed off at E3.
i can see allot of people complaining when they get their ps4 home and realize, hey, my game doesent look anywhere near as good as what was advertised!
and heightening that worry $ony would not let anyone take any pictures of the games.
consoles, controllers, the booth, hack your brains out.
but a few guys got kicked out for taking a photo of shadow falls MP and even knack.
i guess they dont want people coming home and comparing pictures and videos to what they have released, and notice, hey, what the!?

i was really disappointed how little changes there are to the DS4 as well.
the new lip in the shoulder buttons is great for shooters, but what about every other game where you need to hold them?
great, now im going to have the lips digging into my fingers for hours on end.
someone was not thinking………….
if the trigger were as long and thick as they should be that would be less of a issue, but there not they feel WAY too small!
the end of the grip on the controller feels allot thicker which is nice, but thats really the only change i actually like.
everything else just makes it A more uncomfortable, like the much shorter and narrower shoulders, or B it feels like its made out of the plastic only the american car manufacturers manage to find!
ie, the cheapest wheelie bins you can find!
or maybe a tim tam packet……..
and were suppose to pay what, 89 bucks?
for this thing that feels like it cost 9 dollars to make!?
yea, good luck with that!

wish $ony would swallow their pride, admit the xbox controller is so much better, and draw on improving that and customizing it for how they think it should be.
instead of trying to improve what will always be a flawed design.
funny how $ony has gone in the complete opposite direction as M$ with the controller.
the ones controller is smaller than the 360s, the DS4 is larger than the DS3.
the ones controller has thicker bumpers now, theres a nice strip of plastic acting as an up ramp on the new controller making it much more precise and comfortable.
the DS4 is narrower and shorter.
$onys gone for a touchpad, M$ has gone with feedback rumbles in the triggers.
which are really cool BTW, you can feel the cars losing grip under hard braking in forza 5 and as you accelerate it gives you good feedback on how much gas you can give it without overcooking it and losing precious speed.
i always rode off the rumble as a gimmick, but it really does enhance the game if used right.
touchpad though, well, thats a gimmick.

the xbox ones controler just feels so much better put together too.
solid matte black plastic, goes not feel cheap and flimsy at all.
the DS4 actually reminds me out of the almost seethrough plastic the original sixaxis controlers was made out of.
just feels really cheap and flimsy.
love the xbox logo on the xbox ones controller too it looks like a boilled in candy it looks so cool, lights up as well.
the PS logo though, somehow $onys managed to make it look worse than what it does on the DS3!
hows that possible?
does not lightup either.
🙁

i wish $ony and M$ would agree to create a version of the ones controller that works with the ps4, that would be a absolute dream come true!
its just so much more comfortable and nicer to use than the DS4.
im really disappointed, after all this oh we went to so many developers to optimize the controler.
yea?
which developers were they?
because they clearly were not any third party developers, because the DS4 is still as uncomfortable as the DS3 was!

johnld
johnld
11 years ago

mark me for not bothering to read this. been here long enough to know the ghist of it. sense of entitlement is just amazing for someone who says that they should keep him in mind but got no problem selling his games right away. any time that game is sold means no profit from new customers. i got no problem with people buying used, just dont complain that youre being ignored even if you buy the game used.

Lawless SXE
Lawless SXE
11 years ago

Went to the EB Expo yesterday. Played heaps of games and a generally eyeball melting experience was had by me. Gotta say that I wasn't impressed by pretty much anything that I played except Beyond, simply because it felt completely different. One thing that I noticed was that there were a LOT of people playing it that just didn't "get" the controls. I mean prompts were popping up on screen saying "WAIT UNTIL SLOW-MOTION ACTIVATES, THEN PUSH THE LEFT STICK IN THE DIRECTION OF JODIE'S MOVEMENT" and it just was not happening. Like, I swear I watched one guy try to perform the same basic motion about thirty times before he got up and walked away and he was just flicking before it went into slo-mo.**MINOR SPOILERS** And then there was another guy whose reactions were too slow when it came to sequence after Jodie's been caught by the police and she's in the van and orders Aiden to save her. He'd possess the guys in the van and then do nothing until it basically failed. **END SPOILERS** It was just really, really… I hesitate to say this, but pathetic is the only word that springs to mind. Was it just that it was so different from every other game that they couldn't get it, or what? Ended up talking to a few journalist sorts at a bar afterwards and they were pretty unanimous that TitanFall was game of show, but I never got around to it, unfortunately for me.

Just a few notes… One thing that disturbed me a little bit in Killzone: Shadow Fall was the lack of the sticky cover. Maybe it was because it was MP, or beta code but nothing I did allowed me to stick to cover, which is odd as I've always considered that to be a core feature of Killzone. Oh, and it seemed pretty blah. DriveClub was beautiful, but the gameplay demo was average. I also played Forza 5 and NFS: Rivals, but neither of them matched up to GT6. Maybe it's because GT was being demoed with the full wheel/pedal set-up, but it simply blew everything else away.
My hype for Knack imploded. It's totally a Mark Cerny game, but it doesn't feel any more advanced than the original R&C games, which is a damned shame. Speaking of, I played a little bit of Nexus, and I'm fully excited for it. It's classic, so if you love the originals, don't sleep on it.

Finally, the PS4/XB1. Overall, I'm not impressed with any of the games shown for either system at the show (that I played). It all felt as though I've done it before many, many times. So, it only killed my enthusiasm further. On the other hand, both Thief and inFamous look as brilliant as I had hoped and I know for certain now that they are the two games that will test my resolve. Now… I truly despise both new controllers. The XB1's feels a bit heftier, but both sticks and buttons seem curiously small and there just isn't the resistance in the buttons that I've grown accustomed to in the DS3. And I don't understand the triggers at all. As for the DS4, I don't know what the hell they've done, but the contours do not sit nicely in my hands. The changes to the sticks do what they're supposed to, but the lip on L2/R2 is bloody ridiculous and, again, the resistance feels much diminished from the DS3. I'm sure I'll get used to it, but right now I'm just not bloody happy.

I'll leave it at that. As for the update, I've been playing GTAV, but now it goes on hiatus as I got the review code for PES at the show that didn't show up in my mailbox. It's pretty fun so far. And then there is Beyond and my editor is also trying to force me to play Gone Home, so I think I'll do that too before I go back to Los Santos.
Peace all.

P.S. To Ludicrous_Liam, I swear that that TLoU analysis is done, I'm just waiting for publication approval from my editor. He's been on holidays :/. I will let you know when it goes live…


Last edited by Lawless SXE on 10/6/2013 7:24:21 AM

Ludicrous_Liam
Ludicrous_Liam
11 years ago

hahaha, I'm hanging on every post man! xD

As for the controls in the Beyond demo, I felt it was camera/visual communication to the player that made things a bit confusing. I mean, most third-person games have dedicated buttons, and the camera is always behind the character. So it's ingrained in your mind that every action you do will be relative to your character's perspective.

However Beyond might sometimes use a more cinematic camera angle in the QTE scenes, and I got confused as to which direction I am to be paying attention to. Even though it does flat out say "JODIE'S direction" in text, the camera doesn't necessarily agree. For example the tutorial with the trainer. When her leg is going in an upwards direction in the slow-motion bit, my instinct reaction is to press up – as I say, it's ingrained in my mind from third-person games. But the position of the camera could be telling me to press the analouge stick to the right, because it's viewed from the side. Like Jodie is on the left and the trainer on the right, so pushing to the right would make sense, y'know?

I can't even remember which direction it was in the end, so I still feel conflicted about what to do lol.

It was only that scene I actually had trouble with though; the following action scene flowed very smoothly for me. When I get round to playing the game, I'll probably just develop an ignorance for what the camera is telling me to do, and just focus on Jodie.

I had some other little problems with the demo, like the black bars and Cage's comment that game-over screens are a failure, yet he still employs invisible ones. You can't get past the trainer unless you get that last move correct! I'll just paste the link to my previous post:

https://temp.psxextreme.com/ps3-news/13645.html

But yeah, Beyond is gunna be just as good as Heavy Rain by the looks of it.

Lawless SXE
Lawless SXE
11 years ago

Yeah, I saw your comments in that post, and I totally understand that sentiment, there were moments in the demo where that seemed to make little sense, but a little trial-and-error quickly got me used to the mechanics. I think that it is Jodie's movement in relation to the camera, which is a really odd way of looking at things, really. Like, if it's from behind, then you would push up to attack, but if it's from the right side and she's attacking someone in front, then you push right. It is a little odd, but there's no reason for a person to have as much difficulty as I saw these others having.

I only had a limited time with the demo, so I didn't really have the option of trying to fail, but it was based on that scene where Jodie is trying to escape from the police (which I think is the regular demo that everyone's played). I failed to get away from the police when Jodie arrived in the town, which meant that there was an additional scene to the video footage, which involved Jodie being unconscious in a police van, but the ending of it had her escaping from it with Aiden's assistance, and it resulted in the same ending where Jodie grabs the guy and says like "Next time, I'll kill everyone" or whatever the line is.

It's not really an artificial game over, but it's pretty clear that things have to conclude in a certain way, no matter what happens. I like the idea, it reminds me a little bit of the criticism of Prince of Persia (2008), but it works here because there is a narrative function to it, rather than just meaning you can't die. As for the black bars, didn't notice them, but I was a little disappointed by the way the gameplay stuttered early in the sequence, and also by the way that the sound kept dropping out (though that could be because the headphones were a bit dodgy – a recurring problem for me at the show).

The potential is definitely there for Beyond to blow Heavy Rain away, but something tells me that there are going to be a lot of reviewers claiming that QD should have stuck with the QTE approach because "it worked better". And I reckon that's going to be a load of malarkey.

WorldEndsWithMe
WorldEndsWithMe
11 years ago

They need to hire actual gamers to do PR, and just about everything else in the industry. We all suffer from suits in the business.

Beyond demo was great, I can tell it's going to connect with me personally because it feeds off player emotion and anxiety, two things I have in radical abundance.

Playing some Knight's Contract, besides being a mediocre technical production I really dig the cinematic nature, the varied and creative locations, and the fantastic soundtrack. If Japanese devs would just finish their games they could really be something special.

Fussing a little with Amalur, I really want to love it but it's so hard because it lacks a soul. It hits the bases but that's it, it isn't a patch on Two Worlds II. I really like that hot Fae girl though, "What are you doing here?" I say, "That damned tree sent me!" she responds, haha

homura
homura
11 years ago

It's good to know that The Last Guardian is still in production. I used to look forward for the release of this game.

As for Beyond Two Souls. I'll just wait for the review. I hope the game is good. I'll get it someday.

PGU: Pretty much enjoyed everthing Ni No Kuni's world has to offer. It will be great if someday I can see Oliver all grown up and his friends in a new adventure in the other world. Now, I'm just playing Dead Space Extraction. It's fun. Scary sometimes because of the music, sound effects and ambience. But the dialogue is pretty much a B-Movie level. And I thought that it will only be 2-3 hrs but it's quite lenghty. After that, it's Resident Evil 6. It's time to finish the other campaigns. It's zombie killing time with Japanese flare. Those die hard big boss here I come.

Corvo
Corvo
11 years ago

Was forced to sleep, sometimes I miss being 15 and not caring what the girlfriend said. Anyway all about GTAVO right now. Funniest thing happened. Me and my 3 friends were doing a mission and we were taking cover from the reinforcements and at the same time we were all launched into the air, above the clouds, and fell back to earth and didnt die. It was the first major glitch I've experienced but it was also the most awesome.

Off topic a little bit but the music in GTAV is kind of garbage. Theres a few good songs but I had to make a personal playlist to play whenever im driving on my ipo..personal music device. Anyone who hasn't tried the online yet make sure to give it a try with a friend or something. Its crazy how much fun it is to run around a GTA world, with friends. I'd like to play it with my girlfriend but she doesn't like it, "Too violent."

greg238
greg238
11 years ago

I want to try rain is it good or what

greg238
greg238
11 years ago

Meant to say heavy rain is it good anybody can give me there point of the game

WorldEndsWithMe
WorldEndsWithMe
11 years ago

Sure, it's awesome.

frylock25
frylock25
11 years ago

the game isnt for everyone. although everyone should play the game.

the controls are different and take a little getting used to. it is very heavy with quick time events or qte for short. you control 4 characters throughout the game. warning, avoid all spoilers. the story will carry on if you die as one character, you just dont see that story. there is some crazy amount of endings for the game. you could play the game 5 times and have a different events every time.

also, one of the 4 your playing as is the killer. please avoid finding out before you play. it will ruin the whole game for you.

johnld
johnld
11 years ago

really? thats the biggest spoiler you couldve said without giving out the ending. cant say that one of them is the killer, youll narrow their scope. now he'll be wondering which one and would probably figure out who without finishing the game. it would be clear with that info.

frylock25
frylock25
11 years ago

hmm yea my bad but there is enough in the game to keep you guessing. its been out a few years, cant shelter it forever. pretty sure i knew that going in to the game when it came out and it didnt ruin it for me.

Jawknee
Jawknee
11 years ago

If you have PS Move, be sure to play it with that. It makes the game a lot better IMO.

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