Cikajovazmaj

Don't really care about the rest, but I'm hyped for The Last Case of Benedict Fox!

It's hard to excuse MS here. They did not take anything away, but they did stop it from becoming available in the first place.
And they potentially did decide, 3 out of 3 times, to keep games exclusive on their platform, on a case by case basis. But it does look rather suspicious ☺️
Not saying Sony is any better, however neither is Sony (while MS is full of "for all gamers" PR nonsense).

Looking forward to upcoming DF video analysis. Hopefully framerate is stable enough, as studio seems to be concerned about that themselves.

It's mind blowing, the double standards at PureXbox and PushSquare comments.. somehow it is ok when MS uses "for all the gamers" argument and then immediately goes back on it?
(At the same time it is not ok when Sony did/does the exact same thing)

P.S.
On PushSquare it's just other way around, objectivity is just a lost art..

Not great, but not terrible either...

At this point, if you are interested you probably own this game (it has even been free for PC). But, it is an excellent game and one of my favorite strategies out there. Great addition to the service.

@Sebatrox I'm glad to hear that, and that you enjoy it. I'll probably not revisit unless there is a complete/remaster edition down the line, as it just wasn't what I expected it to be. But the idea and the setting were very appealing to me.

@Decoy_Snake agreed, playing it through GP saved me some money and disappointment. Deleting this game brought me joy.

@Dezzy70 to be honest, MS has not conjured a game on Metroid Prime Remaster level since forever. Literally, there is no Xbox equivalent.
And there probably never will be, as MS is not going for polished and revolutionary, they are going for "most value". Which attracts a user base of "I'll wait until it's on GP and get even more value out of it" profile.
Also, that is why they are selling S consoles better than X. Their user base is OK with compromises exchanged for perceived value. I should know, I'm one of them (Xbox is my "when it gets on GP" console).

I don't think they should drop features from Series S, and I'm not even sure how legal it is (as platform holder - MS - promises feature parity between the systems).
To be honest, I believe everybody has seen this as a future stumbling block MS will have to resolve, but played along with it. As a XSS owner, one of the reasons I bought in was because I expected MS to line devs pockets to keep that feature parity even if it wouldn't make financial sense by pure sales number. Backing out on that would be devastating now.

Good game, very fun through first half. Then it quickly gets samey and introduces required parries and QTE... And people drop off (including me). Shame, I would have loved if there was an accessibility option or something to just skip QTE.

@pip_muzz that whole section feels like an inside joke. And a bloody good one at that.
Anyway, my favorite game to hit GP in a while, very polished for AA release.

@Stnkygrngo I'm not sure that allowing this merger is protecting the consumer. Actually, I would say I'm pretty sure it isn't. No consolidation deal has ever benefited me as a consumer in a long run.
Either way, I just want games. I don't care who owns whom, as long as it doesn't produce price hike. I have my fingers in all the pies, so I just wànt/expect steady stream of games with stable or declining pricing.

I honestly just want good games. Don't care about anything else at this point. No deals, no trailers, no marketing, no monopoly accusations.. I just want games I feel like I would play even if they weren't "free" on GP!

Standards have really fallen off the cliff.. game is rough, poor performance, unbelievable control scheme, mixed visuals, and laughable voice acting and characters.
I'm about 2 and a half hours in, forcing myself to try more due to enormous download size I've stuck through. But I think I'm done.

Phil trolling.. meanwhile, his platform releases such GOTY contenders as Atomic heart directly to GP day 1.

Good luck to him, whatever he decides to do next. He might not be a youngling, but it would be foolish to ignore his contributions and value (which Bethesda and MS seem to recognize). On creative and leadership level, game design might not be as much of a young man's game as people think. Proper understanding of game loop and "what works and why" takes time and experience.

@tho_mi with Hot Wheels I believe it was an option to install Series or One version of the game (aka. circumvent smart delivery). Same for Maiden.
Either way, as a Series S owner I'm all for it, and have been saying that from the get go (having an option is way more valuable in the long run compared to training my eye during first time experience).

@Kaloudz @AlwaysPlaying I've tried to squeeze in an hour of play before my work, just to finally try it out. Damn, it's in rough shape on Series S, even after patch. Colorful design, but very simple in details and graphics department. Which could be perfectly fine (Metroid Prime Remastered) if game wasn't so unappealing and soulless. Main voice actor had to be memeing the whole world, there is no way this is their best possible performance..
Out of respect to Bioshock vibe it doesn't manage to properly replicate yet, I'll give it more time. And 200 GB of traffic. Also due to that.

@Kaloudz I was just logging in to say the same! I have limited network traffic, and have wasted over 200 GB since initial preload on this game.. and have yet to be able to run the bloody thing!

@Kaloudz 45 is bad as it is not targeting 40, it's targeting 60. If game had a 40 fps lock in place, it would probably be much better off than with 45 (45 means you are missing the refresh rate of your TV, which results in a stutter, although framerate is technically higher)

Well, that's disappointing. I really had my hopes high for AH, expecting it to be a GP hit.
Is performance at least decent on Series S?

That will surely be a popular decision..
Ignoring resell value of physical edition is just ignorant (there are old Nintendo games that are genuinely worth 4-5 times more than they were day 1)

Tried SW3 on PS Plus while available.. it really isn't very good. Feels like a game 25 years old at it's core, but not in a purposeful way. So to all fellow Series S owners, not missing much.
On a sidenote, less than a week till Atomic Heart!

It figures an indie studio would think so. It's a model tailormade to alleviate the risk of failure from poor performers. Instead of having to test and impress the market, you get a decent but not great return guaranteed.
On the other hand, it's the reason why 3rd party AAA games have been severely lacking lately, as they can predict a commercial success using traditional lucrative sale model.

I'm embarrassed for both of these companies, just reading on the side. It's that uncomfortable feeling you get when you experience second hand shame. Can't all of this just be private?

@belmont I'm not a fan of the Series controller neither, similar reasons. Dpad is too clicky, asymmetrical design not what my hands are used to I guess..
But man, that FH5 controller is a thing of beauty. (I don't have one, I've made my own shell out of few neon green and black parts)

Hi-Fi Rush was great, Monster Hunter too (but I've played through that elsewhere). Everything else, I wouldn't have been bothered even if they skipped GP.

I'm really not that into this game and gameplay trailers have not helped. Something is just off and generic. But, games have came out and surprised me, changed my mind. Maybe Redfall ends up being another one.
Either way, as of right now I don't care if it requires online, because I don't think I'll bother long enough.

This guy should play Two Face in the next Batman movie. You can pay me later DC.

Played through campaign and maybe 8-10 hours online. Campaign was dissapointing, game was buggy, and MP was barebones and generic.
And I was definitely done afterwards (I simply could not see anything unique and/or special to keep me coming back).

GwG are just an insult to subscribers. Put it out of it's misery and merge it all into GP. It hurts seeing it struggle.

@Banjo- Forspoken is a terrible mess. The power of marketing is the only reason that game is not gonna sell just to friends and families of developers...

Awesome shadow drop. I would not go as far as 10/10 but I do think of it as an 8.5 - 9 game. Very fun gameplay and initial presentation, does not take itself too seriously.
My cons are mostly around obvious "invisible" wall design, as there are gaps one should be able to go through but can't due to level design. The same can be said about platforming, there is a lot of "only way to properly do it" mechanics at play. Lastly, scope and length are limited and not in the full-priced game territory. These are normal and expected for a mid-budget game.
I feel like most of 10/10 GOTY scores are caused by such a drought of good new games by MS in 2022. That literally caused people to score High on Life as 9/10 (objectively not even a decent game).
Either way, Hi-Fi Rush is by any metric above average and a big win for Team green!

@Bobarino while I do believe lack of RT is not a deal breaker currently, difference is not something that one needs to zoom in to see. If anything, it is obvious on any resolution as lightning and/or reflections are simply more natural, not necessarily sharper.

It's slightly concerning as XSS is obviously not capable of proper RT support, and it means alternative techniques have to be used. These solutions are going to be less and less prioritized as time goes by, and the quality will probably decrease.
On a separate note, I find RT 40fps a very good middle ground between response time and image quality. Probably not widely feasible on XSS, but it has been great on XSX when used.

@InterceptorAlpha I really don't see it. And I don't mean it is a bad game in any way, if anything it feels like something I would love personally. Quick gameplay, doesn't take itself too seriously, aims for fun over bulls**t. But GOTY qualities or production values it simply doesn't have. Which is also perfectly fine, if they were an indie studio, this game should be a heavy contender in that category.
Anyway, a perfect shadow drop and a great surprise. (but you don't shadow drop a Starfield contender)

Not much for me I guess, but that's ok. I'll try out JoJo and Hi-Fi Rush, maybe I get hooked on either..

Not really interested in either. Basic controllers should be good enough for regular usage.

It is probably too early to announce it on Direct tomorrow. My thinking was that the whole point of Direct was to show off "near complete" stuff. But I might be wrong (I don't care for early in development, CGI trailer stuff either way).
Looking forward to Forza and Redfall though.

9/10 from me, but I've played it on Switch. Ran it on Xbox to check out visual upgrades, but I won't be starting from scratch (would be great if there was a save transfer feature). Anyway, my favorite MH game.

I have a feeling this might not be "my faith restored" kind of event. Hopefully I'm wrong

@Acurisur I'm in a similar situation, with year in the future making me start to evaluate things already. I got GPU for a fraction of a price and it was a no-brainer. However, if the current pattern continues, or actually lasts for majority of year, I won't extend my subscription full price. I feel that to be reasonable.
There is literally a year for MS to change my mind.

@Kaloudz I agree with MHR being a great game, but I've played it on Switch and it was a 20 USD game (recurring sale). So value is a bit doubious there.

Maybe the person doing GP community marketing was let go?
Joking aside, they have been communicating GP plans poorly for a couple of months now.

I don't think he is delusional, but his speeches sure seem to make it look like it to anybody with IQ higher than room temperature. Does he stop to reflect how false and contradictory these things he says sound?
He is working on an acquisition of a company involved in one of the greatest office culture scandals in the industry. Acquisition that is arguably threatening to monopolize aforementioned industry.

Getting fired is an awful thing, but at least in 343's case it has been obvious changes will have to be made.

Weren't these guys supposed to be working on new Twisted Metal?

I don't have a sassy thing to say, it just sucks for people let go.

Well, in all honesty, it is a damn good show everybody should watch.
It might make few people think about getting PS5, but hey.. what can you do. Phil plays his best games there too 🤣