@Peek-a-boo Holy crud, inFAMOUS, Child of Light, AND Hatoful Boyfriend in the same month?
I mean, I own those last two games on other platforms, but that's still a really decent selection.
EDIT: Turns out NA's selection is different. According to PushSquare...
"Update: As it turns out, those of you in North America are getting a vastly different selection of monthly games. You're still nabbing inFAMOUS: Second Son and RIGS, but that's where the similarities end.
On PS4, you lot are getting Strike Vector EX. On PS3, Monster Jam Battlegrounds and Hustle Kings. On Vita, Hue and Sky Force Anniversary. Those last two are also playable on PS4."
I'd honestly say we got the better end of the deal, here. Mostly of those games actually sound good and aren't just stuff I already got on other platforms. I might even grab inFamous: Second Son, just in case I need to make some room on my shelf someday...I own a physical copy, but haven't really touched it yet. Sorta just collecting dust right now, although the huge file size isn't appealing, either...
I guess this is one of those months where the PS+ games varies differently from region to region, annoyingly so. Both Child of Light and Hatoful Boyfriend makes the EU line-up a more compelling selection to play.
I’ve really enjoyed PS+ in the past couple of months with noticeable games such as Alienation, Tales From the Borderlands, Killing Floor 2, Life Is Strange, Until Dawn, Darkstalkers Resurrection and Tokyo Jungle.
This months selection (or at least in Europe) is arguably the best line-up so far this year.
@Peek-a-boo Yeah, I'll pick it up. Especially if the first episode is only $5 like the last game. Although I guess it's only 3 episodes, so will we have to buy the whole thing? Weird. Not to mention the Thursday launch, I could have sword it'd be tomorrow. But yeah, I hope it will be more amazing like the middle 3 Life is Strange episodes and less re-used environments like the studio is low on budget.
I already own Child of Light and Second Son, but I guess I'm glad PS4 is finally getting AAA games again since I have to stay subbed for another year to play Monster Hunter.
@Haru17 It’s only £13.99 here, which works out at £4.67 per episode.
I am not overly sure if it is worth stumping up another £6 for a bonus episode called ‘Farewell’ that involves Max, as well as a separate jukebox/soundtrack that plays all of the licensed songs in both the original and prequel. Also includes a dynamic theme for the PlayStation 4 if that’s your kind of thing too.
I’ll probably go with the latter option, seeing as I have £20-odd left in my (digital) wallet.
Funnily enough, I have only just realised that we won’t be playing with any time shifting powers this time round! I wonder how these episodes are going to play out, given that one of the focal points in the original series was based on being able to change time. Not long to find out...
@Peek-a-boo Not being able to rewind dialogue trees is going to suck — that was an idea every RPG / dialogue tree dev should have adopted. Dontnod need to give time travel powers to a new character in season 2 and then just not make the story about the time travel.
@Haru17 Only played the first half an hour or so yesterday before popping out for the evening.
First thing you notice is the improved visuals; character models look a LOT better, and the lip syncing is actually a thousand times better than the original, which was renowned for its nonexistent ventriloquism-inspired lip syncing.
I use subtitles for games like these, mostly due to the sound mix being a bit iffy sometimes, and I had to laugh at the subtitles text size options: ‘normal’, ‘large’ and ‘hella large’!
Once you gain control of Chloe, I turned around and walked back the way she came from, and the little animation that follows was pretty cool. Most games would just make you walk into an invisible wall without any thought put into it.
The concern for the change of voice actress is... slightly overblown.
Unless I had the dialogue recording for the Chloe in the original game next to me, I don’t think I could tell much difference in all honesty. There’s more eff bombs in the opening ten minutes in this than the entirety of one episode in the original series though!
I am not overly sure what to make of the new ‘talk back’ dialogue thingummy just yet, but the first two were easy enough to get you to understand the basic mechanics of it. Perhaps there will be more testing ones later in the episode(s).
So far, so good!
p.s. I went for the ‘deluxe’ edition in the end, if only for the bonus episode that features Max, as well as the jukebox in which you can listen to any of the licensed songs at will. The dynamic theme is pretty spiffy too.
Dead Rising 4 has been announced for PS4 launching in December so it seems that game had 1 year timed Xbox exclusivity like Rise of the Tomb Raider. No news about a Switch version of course because Capcom is Capcom.
@Grumblevolcano DR4 runs on a proprietary engine, getting it to work is a lot more difficult than port an Xbox One game to PS4. I don't think that has anything to do with ''Capcom being Capcom'', I don't think any other publisher would've acted differently in this situation.
@Octane Given how we are hearing reports of proprietary engines being ported simply...uhuh.
Sure. Shovel Knight, Sonic Mania, Sonic Forces, Mario+Rabbids, Monster Hunter, SF2, FIFA, and many other engines took years.
Im willing to put money on Capcom being Capcom. Lots of other enginss even from Capcom themselves, have been successfully ported.
However, it uses the Forge Engine which Capcom announced they were dropping before DR4 came out. So who knows? Maybe they dont want to port it if it will mever be used again.
Plus, let's not forget that at least half (if not most) of those engines you mentioned were already optimised for ARM. Even FIFA seems to be using a custom version of the Ignite engine that is supported on ARM. Porting engines isn't that easy, and this is especially true for the high-end stuff. So yeah, I would be surprised if they couldn't get SF2 running on Switch in a few months time. But in general it takes resources and time to port and engine over, and in the case of DR4, what's the point? The game won't be a hit, and the engine is dated at this point. The game practically already runs on PS4, so why not get those few extra sales while you still can?
Finished episode one of Before the Storm earlier this afternoon, and I genuinely hadn't expected at all how good this would be. I was moved and mesmerised. Having a prequel story that, when announced, I believed would undermine the original proves to me that it has something worth telling is a very pleasant change of pace!
Just a few thoughts without spoiling anything:
It's pretty impressive that Deck 9 managed to not only make a worthy prequel, but to add depth to characters introduced in the original, introduce new interesting characters (Steph and Mikey are great fun) as well as giving the fans of this series things to speculate over, even though we thought we knew what all went down before the (tornado) storm in the original game.
Moving onto the spoilers:
I really enjoyed Chloe's inner voice, especially her sarcastic commentary. A good contrast to Max's thoughts and puns. "Also, Chloe, you're poor and in trouble."
The part where you play Dungeons & Dragons. Steph and Mikey are brilliant new additions to the cast, and it was fun to see Chloe get excited and nerd out about something. Listening to the Blackhall security guard playing a demo song to Chloe from his band, the ‘PissHeads’, was subtly done too.
Rachel's distraction at the national park. I laughed out loud at her "Nnnnnooooo" when Chloe told the picnicker guy to give mouth-to-mouth. Everything felt natural and not at all forced about these little moments.
And then everything showing Chloe's turmoil, especially the dream sequences with her Dad and the scene at the junkyard. Seeing all your options turn into "Smash," building up to you hitting the ‘X’ button to pound on the car hood... Phew. What a way to illustrate Chloe's frustrations.
That scene, and seeing the car crash play out before you, are on par with some of the peaks from the original.
And just who is that lady overlooking the wildfire at the end?
The wait for episode 2 is going to be hella tough...
Knack 2 is actually getting some pretty good reviews, much to my surprise!
Kotaku:
In my review of the first Knack, I wrote: “It’s not that I want to knock Knack. It’s a launch game. Launch games seldom offer more than what Knack offers. You get a game you can show off to friends. You get a game that hints at what new gaming hardware can do. You get a game that feels ready to be supplanted by a richer sequel.” Knack II appears to be that sequel.
It’s less of a punchline and more of a success than I ever expected it to be.
Polygon - 7.5
Knack 2 is an entertaining platform game like those of yesteryear. It's been created with due care and attention. Sure, it's old fashioned, and its story is appalling. But it's a reminder that the character-led platform combat game is still alive and well. Despite its good looks, it's more a work of engineering than it is a work of art.
But, as my kid said to me after we'd mashed our way through a co-op level, it's kinda fun.
Press Start - 8
The original Knack had gamers hoping for so much, but failed to deliver. Thankfully, the little guy from launch has been fleshed out in Knack 2. The game is full of improvements and is a much more enjoyable experience (especially in co-op). It's well worth checking out for platforming fans.
Sounds like a significant improvement over the original.
This might be one of those rainy afternoon games to buy during a quiet period next year. There’s now three worthwhile platforming games for the kids (and adults!) to buy on the PlayStation 4; Ratchet & Clank, Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy and Knack 2. All three are very reasonably priced at £30/€40/$40 to boot too.
@Octane I prefer the original Tearaway on the PS Vita however, Unfolded has its moments, and the more open space levels, especially the ones you can fly around on suits the big screen.
Only just realised that Knack 2 is receiving slightly better reviews than Yooka-Laylee!
How many free games do you get for buying Uncharted: Lost Legacy? I got a free copy of Jak and Dexter, inside the box was a download voucher for That's You! and another voucher for Uncharted Digital Content whatever that may be...
Hilariously....Yooka-Laylee has a higher average on 2 of 3 currently released platforms, sitting at 73 on both Xbox One and PC. 68 on PS4. So it kind of averages out to be the same.
My take away from this is that Knack 2 is definitely a more focused game than the original, but its still nothing amazing. But it what it does, and does well, and it knows what it wants to do. It's right in that "It's a good game, but won't blow you away" category. Which honestly, is what the high 60s/low 70s are meant to be on the scale.
Because you know, its 1-100 for a reason.
Now Playing: Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart, Crash Bandicoot 4
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