Rohsiph

Yeah, agree. I'm close to a point where I'd probably be burning out on the game, just as it's kind of going "hey, it's not worth it to play more than roughly an hour."

Very curious to see how they will expand the map. Disappointed the original 1.1 rumor that a region the same size as the first 2 didn't pan out, but if they switch between smaller intersticial map pieces and larger ones on a 2-3 month cycle, that could be pretty cool.

If they only planning on releasing a new major region every 6 months or longer, esp. after making $100mil in 3 weeks, that's less cool... but time will tell. I don't think I'll play this for 3 years, but I'll probably keep it going for 1 and change.

I like it.

@atheistpreacher:

If they did PS2 Vlassics for PS4 style re-released for all the Kings Field games with trophy support, actually thats all I really need, oddly enough.

Though I'd take a Shadow Hearts collection and Valkyrie Profile 2 if they wanted to do a little more I guess...

I think it's accurate to say some games on there are "fleeting," and the warning for games coming off I don't think counts as "tons of heads up." Haven't payed close enough attention to throw an example off the top of my head, but I vaguely recall at least some games only being on the service for ~2-3 months, with only ~1 week notice before they were pulled.

On the other hand... all 1st party Microsoft stuff is there to stay. That's where I see the value, even though I tend to only dig into one or two Microsoft games a year.

The streaming schedule is pretty much perfect in NL, similar to UK I think--starts after work hours and wraps maybe a little later than I should go to bed, but I'm an adult and can turn it off if I need to get up earlier the next day.

Starting a stream a little earlier to hit 'early afternoon' in EU could be neat, but not at the cost of anyone's health if they usually aren't active at that time. I can't speak for SEA folks, but they'd probably benefit most from a stream that starts later in the US.

@insomniak08:

Always take care when combining "objectively" and "bad."

I would agree with "objectively hard to hear" or "objectively poor sound mix." Overall "objectively bad" though? That means the commentary and game play shown are also "bad." Don't agree with that.

Hoping they have plans to do something more with DP2 in the future... though seems like they may be waiting for a patch or port. which could be months.

In the meantime, I'm enjoying the game on my own.

I'm like 12 hours in.

If you're a true fan of dp you should get this.

If you only watched an endurance run because you couldn't stand playing yourself, probably do that again.

I think most gameplay elements are significantly improved from DP1, but the technical flaws are still egregious. Had one hard crash that set me back 15 minutes so far. Autosaves are pretty frequent so you shouldn't lose much more than that at a time unless you forget your SESO after doing a bunch of random open world chores.

So far this is in the running for my favorite game of 2020 even with the bad frames and crashes.

if you are a true connoisseur of dp, you should do a dp2. So says Mr Stewart.

The luster faded first for Steam achievements, then XBOX. I still enjoy PS4, and I think part of it is knowing it's saving a capture every time. Sometimes I'll dig back through my trophy log and it's fun to see more than just the date and description. It'd be nice if the system could notice when a screen is totally blank/loading, and even more if a short clip could be activated for certain difficult achievements flagged by developers... though I'm wary of video clips eating too much space on whats sounding like a limited (in space) specialized drive for PS5.

Maybe trophies will lose their luster shortly into PS5? For whatever reason, the changes they made from 360 to XB1 just killed any fleeting feeling of accomplishment I used to get from their 'toast,' so it's possible it could happen with the next gen switch.

Now the Nintendo Switch Achievementship system, that's where its at. Talkin' bout :bugsnax.

If the rumors about older-gen back-compat on PS5 pan out with their final marketing push, I'd probably pay whatever they ask though would think about it twice above 700.

Without that, I'm ready to jump in easily for 500, probably ok for 600.

Its videogames after all.

Dark Souls - The ways the world looks around into itself perfectly captures the legendary essence of what the Kings Field games truly excelled at.

Nioh 2 - Its Nioh 1 but more of it and refined. As others have said, threads the needle between Sekiros speed and Souls customization. Plot isn't as gloriously wackadoodle as 1, but no one is here for the plot, otherwise Surge 1 would be up top.

Bloodborne - Its really cool, man. I'm a sucker for Lovecraftian stuff.

Demons Souls - Although the world isn't interconnected, it has a really great tone and atmosphere that's second only to DS1.

The Surge 2 - Plot is a huge letdown compared to the first, but the gameplay is super tight. The somewhat more modern than scifi locales are also a delicious change of pace from most in the genre. Really hope Deck 16 does a Surge 3 that captures the best of 1 and 2.

Nioh 1 - William. You start the game in the goddamn Tower of London then end up in Japan for the rest of it. I love the absurdity.

Surge 1 - The gameplay is so satisfyingly methodical... nearly every weapon demands commitment to succeed, but the enemies also have to commit to their attacks so it never feels unfair once you rap your head around it. Also the plot is basically what if all the things I research as a philosopher focused on new and emerging technologies all go wrong at once, and the choice to force everyone to play as Warren the Wheelchair Dude actually works out in a pretty cool way.

Dark Souls 2 & 3 - These are a tie for me. 3 has better interconnectivity and the pseudo remix thing going on is super interesting. 2 has much more memorable locales and bosses, and the best Fromsoft DLC. Neither has any single element that stands out to make me consider putting them higher in the list compared to everything above.

Sekiro - I wanted to love it. Honest. By the end, I hated it. I followed YouTube guides to Cheese the bosses. Why? It demands both insane speed and insane precision while, at least on PS4 Pro, it feels like every third input is eaten because there are no graphics options to prioritize framepacing. The bosses are pretty cool for the most part, but I had to fight a few dozens of times, and one in particular over a hundred times, because the game kept eating my inputs and punishing me by taking away at least a quarter of my life bar per hit. I suffered through and got the platinum because I have to have all the Soulsborne platinums, and maybe sadly or unfairly this means I'll probably never give it another chance unless there's dlc and a PS5 framerate boost. Fuck this game... Nioh 1/2 goes for the speed , Surge 1 and slightly 2 goes for the precision, and they are so much better for giving slack on the other end. Pick one or the other, not both... unless your engine can promise to never drop an input. EVER.