ConstableJelly

A generation living too late to explore the Earth and too early to explore space--also doomed to live so long in the era between a fledgling, pre-corporatized internet and a free and open post-corporatized internet (which I consider inevitable, eventually, because a capitalist, enshittified internet can't sustain indefinitely...right?).

I played Alan Wake around when it was released, then skipped Quantum Break. When I started Control, I was expecting an interesting story supported by passable but derivative gameplay, because that's what I remembered from Alan Wake (light mechanics aside, the controls and gunplay felt wholly unremarkable).

So I was surprised when pretty much every aspect of Control exceeded my expectations, gameplay top of the list. Even the story and atmosphere was a level up from what they achieved in Alan Wake. Point being, I think the niche they've built for themselves has always been interesting, but they I don't think they figured out broad appeal until Control. I am super excited for Alan Wake 2.

Avengers was arguably the only one that deserved to flop, but Guardians and Midnight Suns are both referenced, which certainly have degrees of critical praise. It's a shame, but it seems like Marvel is learning the right lesson and leaning into single-hero, single-player games akin to Spider-Man, which I think is great news.

Playing the first one again through the remaster. I don't think I had the right mindset or pop-culture context to appreciate it the first time I played it ~10 years ago and am definitely enjoying it more now. Especially after playing Control, it's extra interesting with the idea of playing through an active AWE.

I was really excited for Weird West. The developer, WolfEye Studios, was founded by Raphael Colantonio, co-founder of Arkane Studios and director of Prey, which I personally consider one of the greatest video games in history. Ultimately, I did enjoy Weird West a lot, but its smaller scale meant that it was lacking in the genius level design and "holy shit" moments of games like Prey and Dishonored 2 (Dishonored 2 in particular has two of the most mind-bogglingly awesome levels I've ever played in a game).

Unfortunately, due to my own high expectations I felt a lot more disappointment than I might have otherwise by the end of my experience with Weird West. But especially if you've never played it, getting it for free is a no-brainer. Hope you enjoy!

I can't see this as anything other than a losing scenario for just... sensibility and maturity in general. Neither DeSantis nor Hannity are serious people, and there's simply no way this debate isn't just chum for the rabid fanatics who enjoy their malevolent circus act.

If you want to be friends then why aren't you friendly?

I'm in favor. However, I think shuttering c/PS5 would be better than leaving it open/active if the intent is to consolidate and grow the community. A loosely moderated and largely disused secondary community will just draw some of that precious engagement away from c/Playstation. When the PS6 is announced it can be opened back up :-)

I am almost never bothered by minor niggles and do my best not to blow things out of proportion, but I don't care how good this game is, I will play it with deep resentment if Insomniac doesn't patch in Peterface 1.0. To me, that face was somehow the perfect expression of benign charm, compassion, and hidden pain. It impeccably complemented what I think is one of the greatest adaptations of the character, including some/many eras of the mainline Amazing/Superior comic books.

Peterface 2.0 is...blank somehow. Even though it's supposed to be more expressive, its features just don't seem to match the emotion that's being animated, at least certainly not to the same degree as 1.0. And it just doesn't look like the Peter that I grew so instantly attached to the first 3-4 times I played this game in the original release version.

I feel so validated by SkillUp's stark disbelief in the beginning and throughout this video. Nothing about this game seems like it should work, but I can't say I'm not glad and intrigued that it, apparently, somehow very much does.

The Spider-Man video's theme was so uninteresting to me. It's been five years since the first game, whose open world was already derivative of tired tropes (towers, collectibles, repeat activities, etc.), and the video was advertising how they've just...combined their existing ideas to slightly refine the original formula.

Don't get me wrong, I'm going to play the hell out of the game. I loved the first game enough that they could have changed nothing to the core gameplay and just made a new story and I'd play it through 4-5 times again like the original. But the activities within the open world was one of its weakest components, and it doesn't sound like they've done anything interesting with it.

From the developers of the critically ~~acclaimed~~ derided Terminator: Resistance and Rambo: The Video Game (as well 90(!) other games since 2006) comes another bizarrely timed nostalgia-arousing video game based on an 80s IP.

The gameplay clip here looked almost provocatively bad, but some hands-on previews seem...relatively positive. Hands-ons are always a little more soft on criticism though, so I'm gonna go with my gut on this one until proven otherwise.