Luseth

or barren wastelands @phil bottle 😀

I sign up to Readly every now and again which I believe Martin has just discovered, on there is Retro gamer which I find quite a good magazine talking about older games, thought I might post in here every now and again about what they are talking about each month. So this month is about Ridge Racer, sadly the series isn't really around today but I do have fond memories of playing Ridge Racer Type 4 way back. I am not so into racing games now other than playing with friends. So they also explore how the series came about which began with Mazda (their tech demos over in Japan) and this developed into the video games, they were somewhat ahead of their time when they first launched in terms of graphics and such.

So, I dipped into this at launch and then moved away from it while some of the bugs were fixed. I can happily say that I am playing through this now on my laptop and really quite enjoying it. I feel that maybe the issue with this game is not so much the fact you can't enjoy it with other players (I mean if you want that sort of thing there are a lot of more suitable games), the issue to me is there is too much. I think devs need to stop trying to make the 'biggest' game and start thinking about how to better craft their worlds, how to better populate them and make them feel alive. The reason the Elder Scrolls and The witcher games did so well is because the worlds feel alive, there is a lot going on and almost everywhere you go you come across a new story or tale that is just begging to be explored. Starfield has it's main storylines and it has a few minor ones but the minor ones very much feel isolated and short quests rather than something that may affect the world. I think of the witcher in the swamp when you can choose to sacrifice or save the kids from the old hags. On saving them you had new interactions with the kids afterwards for example.

With how many of us have been enjoying D&D once a month, who here has Baldurs Gate 3? And would you be interested in me setting up an event say once every 2 weeks and we play an evening on Baldurs Gate 3? Could be good fun if we could get a full squad on regularly I think?

Haha sorry @GazzaGarratt I think the whatsapp groups have killed the site off 😄

Sounds about right, the reality is they will get away with this, people will buy it and they will make some of their losses back on Concord. When in reality people should be saying hang on, why am I paying this much for a game I played only a few years ago. My opinion of Sony is plummeting at the moment, if it wern't for people on here I think I would be solely on my laptop/Xbox and Switch these days...

You may be shouting in the wind, there's only about 4 of us that come on here these day's isn't there? 😛

So I have just watched the state of play from last night, there are a few games that have jumped out for me as something I'd like to try (bare in mind some of these aren''t PS5 exclusive) - 1. Hell is us - This is a 3rd party action game, looks quite dark & gritty akin to Hellblade maybe. Could be interesting - 2.Archeage Chronicles - Biggish game that again could be interesting, looks quite pretty and may even have mp elements as you seem to be fighting alongside others - 3. Palworld has come out on the PS5, I do have this on game pass and have meant to play it through, imagine it could be more fun with people though I imagine it's not a game FG would be particularly interested in? 4. Lunar collection hsa been remastered which if you are a JRPG fan like me may interest you. Admittedly I was caught up with Final Fantasy in my younger years so I will have to give it a go at some point. 5. Fantasian Neo Dimension - I haven't gotten round to trying Fantasian as it was locked to apple arcade but I always thought it was worth checking out so this could be on my radar, again another JRPG - 6. Dragon Age Veil Guard - I have been a big fan of this series even platinuming the last game. I love the world and lore so I will be all over this on launch (first time I have booked a day off for a game release in a very long time!) 7. Ghost of Yotei - Ghost of Tsushima sequal, this doesn't look too dissimilar to the original game to be honest visually so it will be interesting to see if there are any new mechanics in there -

I would love it however I am trying at the moment to spend less on hardware and more on content to play on said hardware ^_^ So as lovely as it looks I will probably give it a miss sadly, though it will jump up in value I also feel like this is going to be a forgotten console generation anyway. I am going to keep my funds at the moment for the next Nintendo Switch which can't be too far away I hope!

Sorry for getting your hopes up @GazzaGarratt I was only regurgitating what I had read but the internet is only right about 5% of the time 😄 That was a p*ss poor reveal, trying to advertise a beefed up PS5 when the content on the current generation has been quite poor. In fact they were advertising the PS5 Pro with games that have been out for some time already and even with Ghost of Tsushima that no matter how great the game is, it was a PS4 title! Another notable omission was the lack of footage with Astro Bot, a game that has just come out, that show's off the haptics and such, I wonder if that's because Astro will look the same whichever console you use? I understand why they have done it, for them it's natural to release a pro around this point in a console's lifetime, the issue is complacency and the fact that as absurd as this is people will still buy it as people want the best / shiny new thing to show off on their tik toks and such. I can say, without a doubt I won't be buying this. I am most excited by Nintendo these days and even Microsoft has me more engaged at the moment and they have been pretty poor in recent years.

I have interest in the sense I want another shooter to play with FG, however I am running out of steam with COD again which is probably why I did not stick it out with the last release ^_^

So I have just watched the recent Beverly hills cop film, generally I would say it's not a fantastic film however I love the 80s film era and watching this really struck some of the right notes. So yeah, I would give it a 7 maybe a 7.5 / 10 but it really made me miss those sorts of films, the number of times I sat up on a Friday night when I was young watching the likes of Mel Gibson, Arnie & Eddie Murphy, fond memories 🙂

It was a baffling game to release, something no one asked for in a rather busy space. It had such an uphill battle right from the start... I imagine it will be back as a free to play, albeit temporarily as I can't see it ever being worth running. Sony will end up having to accept this one.

No thanks

Oh sorry, one more negative, the lockpicking. Why does everyone feel the need to put lockpicking into a game, and why change it and make it worse each time!

And yet I am having a wonderful time with the game you miserable sod 😛 Yes it is a Ubisoft game and yes it has issues that shouldn't really occur in a triple A title, however for anyone that enjoys the Star wars universe, in particular the feel and tone of Star Wars a new hope you will enjoy this game. The good and bad things I have come across from my play so far - Good - World building, the tone of some of the areas and the way things have been crafted it really makes you feel like you are in the star wars Universe. It feels alive with so much going on, sort of on par with the witcher 3 which I loved. The little companion Nix, he gives you quite a few options for how you approach certain scenarios and can really help you in a bit of a pinch. You can send him to attack or distract an enemy, steal from them, open doors or vents or go and pick you up a weapon an enemy may have dropped while you are hunkered down behind cover. There is a lot to do, this can be a good and bad thing. I have found myself oh so many times wondering through the town or the Cantina and overhearing something from a conversation and finding a new treasure trove or little quest to carry out. The voice acting and writing is pretty well done, it's a story I think I am going to enjoy. Bad - The game breaking update that requires you to start again. Crap if you paid obscene amounts of money to play the game 3 days early. That said I think doing that is idiotic in the first place so similar to you James I have no sympathy. Having received the game on launch, updating right away and getting stuck in this is a non-issue for me. The stealth thing is irritating, I am not a big fan of stealth in games and I feel like this game over relies on it. Some of the best moments have been where I have tried to be stealth, fucked it up and then felt like Han Solo must have felt having a shootout against the empire on the death star only to escape at the last second down a cliff face. You can't shoot while on a speeder bike, this one baffles me. Empire troops can shoot at you while chasing you but you can't shoot back other than some cinematic moment which is on a timed cool down. So the only thing you can do is try to outrun them, seem's a real oversight this one. I think this is typical of people and the industry, a game that has a big IP or brand associated with it and people make money out of producing videos and reviews and such for criticising it. I have heard people say that if it wasn't a Star Wars game then it wouldn't have sold any copies at all but I feel if it had not been a Star wars game it wouldn't be crucified in the manner it is. It's a comfortable 7.5 / 10 for me as a game and it falls down a half point for the bad points above otherwise I would have given it an 8, I can see myself getting a lot of hours out of this game.

I am not far off agreeing with you there, only changes for me are similar to Elliot in that the first captain America for me was one of my favourite films, I think I enjoyed Shang Chi less than most though it did not have my full attention when watching it so maybe I need to give it another go

But quidditch isn't launching free is it so there is no need for microtransactions? Sony are paying a fee for the game to be on Plus so in all liklihood the game probably won't be far off breaking even at launch. The little nightmare games are brilliant so don't write them off ^_^ I will give quidditch a go as we are a household that enjoys the harry potter world and assuming there is mp it gives us something new to try. The Show doesn't really interest me as I have never been into baseball but I imagine if it is released in the US as a PS plus game, over there it might gain more interest?

Yeah it feels like we have some fantastic hardware currently but the only console I have been remotely excited for content on is the Switch. Feels like Sony and microsoft have really lost what made earlier consoles so great, working with developers and such to push the boundaries of these machines, now it seem's like they are given the consoles and just told to crack on.

Hi @Midori S welcome aboard.

I enjoy chess, whether I ever been any good at it I have no idea, I hear people give certain names to moves but wouldn't have a clue what each of them is. As for games I am playing at the moment, Eiyuden Chronicle hundred heroes is the main one on my switch, Fifa with the lads on here and I am meant to be getting Star Wars Outlaws this weekend as a late birthday gift so I imagine I will be straight on that.