#really bummed about it only being on PC and PS5

[emburbaguette]

That moment you go from knowing almost nothing about Baldur’s Gate 3 to almost everything bc they finally confirmed the Dragonborn race

[toffee-hammer]

Okay, just finished all of Horizon Zero Dawn including Frozen Wilds. Total playtime with every side quest completed (and a lot of screwing around): 62 hours.

Apparently Forbidden West is out tomorrow which didn’t really factor into my decision to finally play Zero Dawn. I only realized just how close the sequel’s release is after I went and watched all the trailers for it earlier today. Just kind of a funny coincidence. Either way it doesn’t matter all that much because I most likely won’t get a chance to play Forbidden West for a while since I don’t own a PS4/PS5. It took over 3 years for Zero Dawn to hit Steam and even longer for them to fix the many problems the PC port had on release so unless I manage to bum a playstation off somebody it seems like I’ll be in for a long wait.

Through some kind of miracle I managed to go into Zero Dawn completely blind. I didn’t even really try to avoid spoilers. I just didn’t actively go looking for them and somehow, despite it being a super popular game that’s been out for over 5 years, I didn’t stumble across anything. Or maybe I did and just lacked context so it didn’t stick in my brain? If that’s the case and my forgetfulness allowed me to play through this game’s story without knowing anything about it then I’m grateful for it (for once). I’m not sure I’ll be so lucky for Forbidden West though.

Anyway, I’ve heard people talking about this game and how great it is for years but I wasn’t even a little bit ready. Genuinely one of the best videogames I’ve ever played.

Aloy is a fantastic protag and Ashly Burch totally knocked it out of the park with her. I made a post like a week ago about how great it is that Aloy is so compassionate and heroic but also she’s just so clearly tired of people’s shit and thankfully that continues for basically the entire game. 

I’d love to say I called it with Aloy being a clone of Elisabet Sobeck but in retrospect it was kind of obvious. The whole thing with Elisabet and Aloy was one of my favourite things about the story. About ANY story probably. My guess was that Aloy was Elisabet’s clone but I thought she would have also transferred her mind into Aloy and over the course of the game she’d remember who she was and what she had to do but I actually like what they went with way better. 

I don’t think I’ve ever been as messed up by a videogame cutscene than when Aloy went to find Elisabet’s body at the end. When she finds that little model of the Earth in Elisabet’s hand and you see her clutch the thing to her chest and look so happy to have something that belonged to her you remember that, even though she’s kept up with all this sci-fi nonsense incredibly well, at the end of the day she’s still a 19 year old tribal girl who just wanted to know more about her mom. The answers turn out to be way more complicated than she could have ever imagined but she essentially discovers that her mother, despite having died a thousand years ago and never knowing she would ever exist, was possibly the most heroic person in the history of the human race and someone she gains a deep admiration for. That final audio log where Elisabet describes what she would have wanted her hypothetical daughter to be like is basically the closest Aloy is probably ever going to get to her mother telling her she’s proud of her. Fuck, I’m tearing up just thinking about it.

I’m sort of conflicted. Part of me wants this to be more or less the last we hear of Elisabet. It’s incredibly bittersweet but it works really well. On the other hand part of me has fucking IDEAS about what kind of involvement she could have in future games. The story enjoyer in me knows it’s probably best to keep references to Elisabet to a few more audio logs and perhaps some secondhand information when Aloy finally meets GAIA but the emotional wreck that constitutes most of my being after finishing this game wants Aloy and Elisabet to meet regardless of what the story would have to do to make that happen goddammit. I like the idea of Ted Faro being so consumed with guilt that he made an AI of Elisabet without her consent just so he would have somebody to tell him what happened wasn’t his fault while he lived out his remaining days in his personal bunker. When Aloy eventually goes to Thebes for whatever reason she’ll find this AI and...that’s about as far as I’ve gotten with that. Maybe she’ll put it in her focus and it’ll tag along for the rest of the game? I don’t know what I want but I know that I want it, okay?

I feel like the way the story deals with Ted Faro is a little weird sometimes. I mean this shithead greedy CEO of the biggest corporation on Earth causes the extinction of all life on the planet and...nobody seems to care that much? Like, they obviously care that the world is ending but not really that this fucker was responsible. Elisabet tells him she won’t spread the word that it was all his fault if he pays for Operation Zero Dawn but...the genocidal robots have HIS logo on them and everybody calls it “the Faro Plague”, right? I was expecting (hoping) to find an audio log where an angry mob breaks into his house and beats him to death but nope. Right up until he deletes APOLLO and murders the Zero Dawn team leaders it feels like you’ve got this guy who literally ended the world and...everyone is just slightly annoyed at him for it. It’s very strange. I hate him but I also kind of hope he’s somehow still alive so I can kill him myself? Whether he’s a shriveled old corpse hooked up to life support or a bunch of clones I’m not picky. Blast sling’s ready to go either way.

After watching a bunch of the promotional stuff for Forbidden West I’m thinking there's a good chance they’ll include some kind of romance system. Nothing major probably. Just “choose these dialogue options and it changes some cutscene things”. I’m not opposed but if that’s true I hope it’s not just a case of “choose between Erend and Varl” with them being the two dudes helping Aloy do her thing who get to be on the box art. Nothing against either of my boys but if romance is something they’re doing in the sequel then they had better include Petra as an option or I’ll be upset (especially considering she’s the only one who actually flirts with Aloy in the trailers). Or they could just not do romance stuff at all. That’s good too.

I was super super impressed at the amount of voice acting in the game. I’ve seen so many games aim real high but then they scrimp on voice acting. Horizon Zero Dawn on the other hand has Aloy comment on nice views when you point her at them. Did Ashly Burch just live in the VA booth for a while?

Daemonic Scorchers can eat my entire ass. I’d rather fight five Thunderjaws at once than one of those things. 

I know HADES and HEPHAESTUS both want Aloy dead but I hope at least one of the other AI’s is friendly. Possibly MINERVA (since her whole purpose was to stop Faro’s robots) or DEMETER (who was probably responsible for the metal flowers + maybe the flowers around Elisabet’s resting place)? Although Forbidden West keeps hyping underwater exploration so possibly POSEIDON?

I absolutely adore the part where Sylens assumes Aloy thinks the world is flat and she’s just immediately like “bitch what kind of dumbass idiot would think that?”.

I may have only been playing on normal mode but the shield-weaver outfit makes the ending sequences of the game so easy. I know you spend basically the whole game trying to get your hands on it but it’s so worth it. I like that they’re apparently making it the starting outfit for Forbidden West (minus the shield generator).

I remember being a little bit disappointed that you didn’t get to fight a Metal Devil as the final boss but I totally understand why. According to all the old world lore those things are supposed to be able to create machines faster than anyone can kill them so if one of them woke up it’d probably be game over no matter how many arrows you shoot at it. I can see a heavily damaged Metal Devil whose fabrication functions aren’t all the way online so it can only pop out a handful of adds for you to fight making a good boss for a future game though.

[britesparc]

Weekend Top Ten #380

Top Ten Favourite Moments at E3 2019

I have to concede it was a slightly disappointing year. Maybe I was just too excited and had set unrealistic expectations. But most of the big games were already announced, and Microsoft didn’t really say anything we didn’t know regarding their next console. But there were at least one or two really cool moments – one of which is probably going to be held up as one of the big E3 moments of the modern age. And so, with no further ado, here’s my list of favourite E3 moments. Nowt much to add, let’s get onto the list!

Keanu! Yeah, this is it. At the end of a pretty but very grim trailer for Cyberpunk 2077 (which, sadly, seemed to be a cutscene that failed to show anything about how the game played), all of a sudden a character appears talking to the player, and it’s only bloody Keanu Reeves. Then the doors parted, smoke billowed, and he is come among us. “You’re breathtaking!” someone shouted (less weird than it sounds in context). He was suitably hyped, seemed to have a vague idea of what he was talking about, and really just cemented his position as the grooviest, coolest, nicest guy in showbiz. It was during the Microsoft conference, and managed to steal all the thunder from Microsoft’s other reveals before they had time to make them; arguably, it even stole all the thunder from Cyberpunk, too. Who cares about violent Blade Runner homages when here’s Ted Theodore Logan to tell us that we’re breathtaking, too?

Game Pass Ultimate! I love Game Pass. I think it’s a really good deal. I also think it’s not really for me, not in the medium term; I have too big a backlog of bought games, not enough time, and, frankly, not enough money. I get my Gold and that’ll do for now. But Ultimate, which rolls in Game Pass for both PC and console, as well as Gold, sounds like it’s probably the future (especially once they roll in xCloud too). But really this is here just because they did the best deal I think I’ve ever seen in gaming. Try Game Pass Ultimate for £1, they said; cool, I said, gives me an opportunity to check out Void Bastards and get back on Crackdown 3. What they didn’t say is that, for £1, they convert your existing Xbox Live Gold to Game Pass Ultimate for the duration of your subscription; in my case, next May. So – having already paid for Gold – I’ve now essentially got eleven months of games for £1. £1. That’s crazy. Thank you, Microsoft.

Star Wars! They’d sorta shown Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order before E3, but the extended gameplay that they demoed during both the E3 presentation and the MS one has made me quite excited. I like both Titanfall games so I’m already fond of Respawn, and I’m a long-standing fan of Star Wars games. I’ve seen some sniffing at this, but I think it looks terrific; sufficiently like Jedi Knight (or, more specifically, Jedi Knight II and Jedi Academy) to whet my appetite. It looks more fun than Force Awakens; faster, frothier, brighter, and with better combat. In short: I have a good feeling about this

LEGO Star Wars! In a way, even more exciting, even if I’ve already played a LEGO version of two-thirds of this game. But my understanding is that this is all-new, a journey through nine films retold through the medium of LEGO. My near-religious adoration of LEGO games, plus Star Wars, plus the fact that LEGO Star Wars was the game that started this crazy franchise in the first place, means this will be a must-have next year.

Animal Crossing! I guess we all knew it was coming but it was simply delightful to see: the Switch version of Animal Crossing. Not being a fundamentalist Nintendo fan, I’ve not played a Crossing since the DS, but I am a big fan of the games (I remember insisting one December 31st that I ring in the New Year with my DS open, just to see what it was like over partying with the Animals). The new one looks gorgeous; beautiful, cute visuals, a really nice semi-tropical setting, little touches that I can imagine will just make day-to-day gameplay more appealing, and some great multiplayer options. I know everyone else is disappointed that it’s been pushed back slightly to next Spring, but that fits in better with other games I’ve got to play (including Fallen Order at Christmas) so job’s a guddun as far as I’m concerned. Roll on 2020.

Zeldas! Plural! I never had a Gameboy (or a NES, or a SNES; technically I never had an N64 or a GameCube either, although I did live with people who had them at the time); I never played the original Link’s Awakening. Everyone goes on and on about it but it holds precisely zero emotional attachment for me. But I do like Zelda games; even if I’ve never spent a phenomenally long time with any of them, really, I do like them, and I’d love to really sink my teeth into Breath of the Wild. The art style of the Awakening remake is phenomenal; it doesn’t look like it’s revolutionising the gameplay but it’s simply beautiful to behold. And then at the end, a darker-tinged Breath sequel? Even I find that exciting, and I’ve barely played Breath as it is. I suppose one of the true game announcement surprises this E3.

Watch Dogs! Yes, I know! I’ve never played a Watch Dog. They look a bit generic, if I’m honest. And dense. Another big open-world game for me to sink time I have into. The new one being set in London is quite nice, although prospect of playing a post-Brexit London just feels depressing, if I’m honest. However! The video they showed looked really good fun. True, the London they showed did not look recognisably London-ish, but the gameplay looked crazy. Helen, the geriatric assassin, flopping over barriers and tasering people? Yes please. More ninja grannies in games. And the lady who fought like John Wick, kung fu-ing mofos before shooting them once in the head? Incredible. I want an entire game of that. Will I get Watch Dogs Legion? Probably not. But I’d like to play it.

Scarlett! I know, I know. It’s not what I predicted, and not what I wanted. But when I think about it, I was being a bit unrealistic. I suspected, based on what I know about the industry and what I read about available technology, that in al likelihood the next Xbox console would be coming out Christmas 2020. So how much were they likely to show eighteen months prior? No name, no box, no price. Figures. So in that respect, I guess it was disappointing, but it was really nice to hear them talk about the future of Xbox. It’s interesting that, from what we know so far, it appears identical to the PS5. but, really, it’s the confidence of Microsoft in the future of the brand and the consoles we’ll play in years to come that’s reassuring. Bit bummed out that Nintendo didn’t offer any new hardware either, mind.

Double Fine! Microsoft’s rampant acquisition of companies continues apace, which reassures me when approaching a new console generation. It’s still too early, really, to see the fruits of these developer purchases: incoming games from the likes of Ninja Theory will have been well underway before they saw juicy MS dollars. Buying Double Fine is a surprise, and a welcome one for me; I’ve been delighted by so much of their output (Brutal Legend, Costume Quest, underrated puzzle game Scurvy Scallywags); and I’ve loved Tim Schafer since his LucasArts days. It was Schafer’s hilarious onstage appearance that most appealed though: claiming he’d do anything MS asked, “Halo stuff, Forza stuff”. A self-deprecating wit so rarely seen on an E3 stage.

Devlolver Em-Effing Direct! The Devolver Digital “press conferences” are a witty riposte to the earnestness of E3. Foul-mouthed, hyper-violent spectacles that lampoon sacred cows of the videogame industry and dare to ask questions of the way in which things are done – as well as actually announce cool new stuff – they serve as an amusing if throat-stinging chaser after days of corporate doublespeak. This year they turned their bloodshot gaze onto “Direct” videos; apt given the number of big publishers who eschewed a showfloor presence in favour of a tailored YouTube stream. A steady flow of deep-cut RoboCop references was the order of the day, along with some surprisingly dense continuity and another cliffhanger ending. Can’t we do these more than once a year?

There we are; not necessarily a banner year, given that it was the last gasp of a fading generation. But plenty to like and a few surprises. I guess it’s a bit weird that it’s not really the news of individual games that I will be taking away from E3 2019; rather, it’s moments and services and promises of the future.

So was I right about any of my ridiculous predictions? Well, a bit. Microsoft and Nintendo didn’t divulge any concrete details on their consoles; nor did Ninty really pull a classic out of their hat. But there was a second Star Wars game alongside Fallen Order (LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga); there will be “xCloud shenanigans” this autumn, if not quite in the way I predicted; there was a “Big game on Switch”, but it was The Witcher 3; no “Minecraft 2” but there was Minecraft Dungeon. Most of the other predictions didn’t really happen, however. I nearly suggested something big would end up an Epic Store exclusive, but I was trying to be positive, and I didn’t really want that to happen; lo and behold, here comes Shenmue 3. So – considering it was more of a wishlist than a realistic prophecy – I’m pretty pleased with how it turned out.

[entergamingxp]

Spider-Man Being a PlayStation Exclusive Character for Marvel’s Avengers Sucks

August 8, 2020 5:01 PM EST

In a recent discussion with DualShockers Editors, we discuss why Spider-Man being PS4 exclusive sucks for Marvel’s Avengers.

Here’s a hot take for you: Spider-Man Being a PlayStation exclusive character for Marvel’s Avengers sucks. And while this is an opinion being passed around by stalwarts in the Xbox community, a few members of our team (who are primarily PlayStation gamers) share the same opinion. Specifically, that console-locked in-game content is a bad practice that ruins the broader gaming space.

In the video below, DualShockers’ Managing Editor (Logan Moore) and Video Manager (Mario Rivera) give their hot take about the business decision by Square Enix. Specifically, they look to see if Marvel’s Avengers content could be better implemented to promote PS4 and PS5 products, and why even PlayStation fans should seem bummed by it.

You can catch the full discussion, below:

And hey, if you disagree with our opinions, let us know why in the comment section below (or on YouTube).

If you totally missed the news, it was revealed (originally by leak) that Square Enix’s Marvel’s Avengers would be adding Spider-Man as a PS4 exclusive. This was later confirmed as the only platform-exclusive character in a follow-up interview with the development team. Understandably, this came with a significant PR blowback from many in the Xbox community that tried to boycott the game (though, in turn, drove it to the #1 pre-order spot on Amazon for all consoles).

All in all, we really liked our hands-on preview with Marvel’s Avengers; in our most recent write-up, we noticed that the game has some similar vibes as vanilla Destiny. In other words, the gameplay fell somewhere in the middle of “not bad but not blowing us away” — definitely not something that will stand head-to-head against Insomniac Games’ Marvel’s Spider-Man.

Marvel’s Avengers is set to be released on Google Stadia, PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X; if you are looking to pre-order the PS4 version (to get Spider-Man, obviously), you can grab the game physically from Amazon to help support DualShockers.

This post contains affiliate links where DualShockers gets a small commission on sales. Any and all support helps keep DualShockers as a standalone, independent platform for less-mainstream opinions and news coverage.

August 8, 2020 5:01 PM EST

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