The Monday Inbox wonders about celebrity video game fans, as one reader is upset that EA has given up on Anthem.
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Anniversary spread
The Pokémon Diamond/Pearl remake looks pretty terrible – I have no idea what they’re thinking with those overworld graphics, but the open world game… that could have potential. I would’ve been a lot happier though if Game Freak were the ones sticking to the remake and someone else was doing the Pokémon Legends.
I just don’t think Game Freak have it in them to do a proper open world game, not when they’re so far behind Zelda: Breath Of The Wild – a game that’s four years old and by the same parent company. I’ll give it the benefit of the doubt for now though, if only because it is them trying something different.
Given the problems the pandemic causes it’s a decent 25th anniversary show though: three games, if you count New Pokémon Snap, that fans have been calling for for years and other celebration stuff that I don’t care about but at least shows some effort.
It’s a real shame so many important anniversaries are happening this year though, because I’m sure the companies would’ve liked to have done more. Resident Evil is getting a bunch of games in the future, but I don’t get the impression anything is going to happen on the actual anniversary this March.
Colgan
Singular improvement
Excellent news about Dragon Age 4 being single-player only. I have to say, credit where it’s due, but EA really seems to have turned a corner recently. Star Wars: Battlefront 2 blowing up the way it did really put a fire under them and now they seem to… care whether their games are good or not?
Madness I know, but I can’t fault anything they’ve done lately. With the rather large caveat that I don’t know or care anything about FIFA. A few years ago EA was all about microtransactions and live service games, now they seem to have abandoned that for all of their non-sports or paid-for games.
Compared to the other big two, Ubisoft and Activision, I’d now be automatically more interested in an EA game than either of their. Single-player sells, if it’s good and it’s great they’ve realised that. Hopefully the rest of the industry takes note too.
Korbie
Giving up
I can’t help feeling a little annoyed at EA for shutting down the team who were re-working Anthem. I accept the game had major issues, but you have a choice to dig in and try to sort it out or run away. Now we have seen what they are made of.
Whilst some may say I should let it go, Anthem was a dud, un-salvageable, etc. I point to Ubisoft as an example of a publisher/developer who have a history of sticking with a game after its released. Ghost Recon: Breakpoint is one such example. I can’t say I’ve played it but I’m aware of its history. What it says to me is that if you invest in one of their games you are likely to get your money’s worth down the line.
Look at Rainbow Six Siege. OK, it released in a much better state than Breakpoint or Anthem, but it’s now in a position where legions of players are eagerly awaiting the next update.
EA saw the writing on the wall with Anthem perhaps, but I’ll think twice about buying their games in future and I absolutely won’t be buying one of their games in the first few months to ascertain if it’s going to be a ‘dropper’ or not.
r-s-w
GC: As you yourself say, both of your two examples were in a much better position at launch than Anthem was at any point in its existence. The reviews were unambiguous too, so there really shouldn’t have been any opportunity to be caught out by it.
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Console preference
With the weekend feature about PCs being the better option, in a way I agree but in some ways I disagree. I agree that, yes, it’s cheaper in some ways and you can go back through years of games, but when I play a game and have had my money’s worth out of it I don’t, 20 years later, wish I could play that game again. I’m looking forward, thinking, ‘I wonder how the next game is going to push it more?’ And I’m dumb when a game comes out on PC saying you need this RAM and this GPU or CPU and this much power to play.
With a console you plug it in, turn it on, load the game, and boom you’re playing it. And as for Sony bringing out some games from the PlayStation 4 days, like Days Gone, on to PC that don’t bother me. I played it in 2019, not 2021. Also a few of my mates went to PC only gaming and they soon came back to console and the reason was the cheats.
Whenever I play a game cross-play is turned off. If I could just play with Xbox players I’d be happy but you can’t. Like they say, each to their own but for me, my brain doesn’t understand PC software so for now I’ll stick with a console.
David
Default response
It’s a shame Bravely Default 2 turned out to be more default than brave. I really loved the original on the 3DS and put over 250 hours into it. But part of the original’s appeal was that it brought some fresh new elements into the well-trodden genre. I don’t really just want to play the exact same game all over again, especially as I just recently played Octopath Traveler. The Octopath team’s approach to their follow up is much more interesting, using the same graphical style for a different genre. I will be keeping my fingers crossed for Project Triangle.
Oh well, at least Monster Hunter Rise is looking good. I currently have it pre-ordered off the back of your preview, subject to it being reviewed well too. I’ve been thinking about getting Monster Hunter: World for a while now as my first title in the series and was tempted to plump for it as the cheaper game. But I figure the online community for World has probably diminished by now and I actually prefer the art style of Rise more. Capcom have been on a real roll for me in recent years so I’m very much hoping it continues with Rise.
Ryan O’D
GC: We agree, Project Triangle seems much more promising. We’re also very optimistic about Monster Hunter Rise.
The real remake
Did you see the Final Fantasy 7: Ever Crisis trailer? It looked fantastic, and aesthetically far closer to what I wanted from a Final Fantasy 7 remake than the proper one. It also has turn-based battles!
Reading into it, it seems like it’ll just be a collection of scenarios (so I suspect no world map, etc.), but I’m hoping they end up with enough art assets from them that they decide to make a full game out of them. Would probably work well for something like the Switch which can’t handle the proper Final Fantasy 7 Remake anyway.
Lord Darkstorm
GC: That’s a good idea and relatively likely.
Famous fans
In regards to Mick’s email on Friday, he may be interested to know that Vin Diesel is very much into Dungeons & Dragons, and World Of Warcraft (as is Jonathan Ross in the latter). If anything, I get the feeling that there’ll be many celebrities who have geeky hobbies (hell, if you’ve ever tried weight training you’ll know exactly how maths-intensive it can be!)
On another note, I wonder if Sylvester Stallone knits (à la Demolition Man)?
Joseph Dowland
Cephalopod racer
It’s 5am on Saturday morning, and I’ve just had an interesting idea for a game. Had anyone made a game where you control an octopus? They seem such a good fit!
For those who haven’t seen much of these amazing creatures, they’re highly intelligent, able to swim, walk (both in and out of water, although less gracefully out, and only for limited time) change colour, disguise themselves with colour and/or by picking up objects and holding them over themselves (shells, etc.), change shape (fit through small gaps, make themselves spiny or smooth), squirt water (both for propulsion and, again, out of water too at times, like a water pistol) and they even have three hearts, which seems ready made for gaming!
In my head, it’d be a beautiful, hand-drawn Ecco The Dolphin style game (also thinking a little of Limbo, for some reason) set both in and out of the sea. You could start off in a tank and have to escape! In the book Other Minds, they talk about some real-life escape from tanks that have happened in lab settings (it’s a while since I read this so may get the detail slightly wrong, forgive me) – one where the octopus shot water at a light switch, shorting the power to the lab, and then crawled out of the pipe which was used to supply clean water… It couldn’t do this when the power was on as there was a fan in said pipe. I mean, if that isn’t a ready-made game, I don’t know what is! It then (they think) hid in a mop bucket to get some water.
Other things that occurred to me – their arms work sort of independently from their brain. If you were stuck, they could show you where to go, like a hint system. They have a beak which could be used for attack. They can squirt ink. They are venomous. They’ve can do things like get inside a jam jar and screw the lid on. They are strong. They have suckers all over their arms, and any lost arms can be regrown! Metroidvania could even work!
I am not at all creative, but please, if anyone out there could do this incredible creature justice in video game form, please do! Would highly recommend Other Minds to anyone interested in knowing a bit more, or even just look at some videos of them changing colours or using camouflage – given the amount of press chameleons get, you won’t believe how much more versatile the octopus is when they put their mind(s) to it!
codename8ball (PSN ID)
GC: There’s always Octodad, by the makers of Bugsnax. And we agree, octopuses are fascinating – we’ve read Other Minds and would second your recommendation.
Inbox also-rans
According to the PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale wiki the official Sony mascot (in Japan) is a little cat dude called Toro Inoue. Read all about it here. Hope that helps. Do I win a prize?
Stuart N(ot) Hardy, Sheffield
GC: Yes, a copy of PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale. Oh.
I’m certain those rumours about Deck Nine working on new Life Is Strange games must be true, they did such a good job on Before The Storm. I’d be surprised if they weren’t making a direct sequel with Max and Chloe first though. I thought the sequel proved that changing the cast each time wasn’t such a good idea.
Musty
This week’s Hot Topic
The subject for this weekend’s Inbox was inspired by reader David, and asks what is your experience with PC gaming and do you think it’s better or worse than consoles?
Do you own a gaming PC and if so how much did you pay for it and how well does it run modern games? What do you see as the pros and cons of PC gaming and do you feel either option has got more or less appealing in the last few years?
If you don’t own a gaming PC what would make you consider it and what has put you off so far? Overall, do you think PC gaming will become more popular in the future or less?
E-mail your comments to: [email protected]
The small print
New Inbox updates appear every weekday morning, with special Hot Topic Inboxes at the weekend. Readers’ letters are used on merit and may be edited for length and content.
You can also submit your own 500 to 600-word Reader’s Feature at any time, which if used will be shown in the next available weekend slot.
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