The Tuesday letters page is still baffled by Sony’s botched launch of PS Plus Premium, as one reader hopes there won’t be any more Killzone.
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10 year plan
I completely understood the point being made by the Reader’s Feature at the weekend, at being upset that Zelda games will never look cutting edge. I wouldn’t say never though. Yes, Nintendo is always likely to be behind the curve, because it can’t make a console that’s more than just a black box and have state-of-the-art graphics as well. Not unless you want to pay £600 for the Switch 2.
However, the law of diminishing returns, when it comes to graphic advances, does play to Nintendo’s favour. People are always complaining that new consoles see a smaller and smaller leap forward each gen, which is true from a layman’s perspective.
What this means though is that Nintendo should effectively be able to catch up in the next generation, and beyond, with games that aren’t truly cutting edge but which do look amazing, and probably even more so given Nintendo’s innate skills with making the best of underpowered hardware.
I’d be willing to bet that with the next 10 years, perhaps less, we’ll have a Zelda game that looks at least as good as Horizon Forbidden West. I’d estimate that’d be running on the Switch 3 (considering the influence of cloud gaming is a different topic entirely) but I’m willing to bet that the Switch 2 will be powerful to put out some amazing graphics.
There are some great looking PlayStation 4 games, and I would expect the Switch 2 to be only a little less powerful than that. Add Nintendo magic to that and you are going to have some great looking first party games (and probably some mediocre third party ones).
Onibee
Field testing
I’m starting to feel sorry for these people in Asia that are being used as test subjects for the PS Plus revamp. Although it’s hard to understand how it ever launched like this. How can Sony not know their games don’t work and then rush out a patch that makes things worse?
I literally don’t know how this stuff works but I’m going to guess they can test it locally first? And yet apparently someone saw the new update, and the ghosting effect, and thought, ‘Yeah, that’s fine. Nobody’s going to complain about that’.
I actually saw Jim Ryan trying to pretend that the launch had gone well but I don’t know who he’s trying to convince other than himself. This is all so unnecessary, and I see no reason to imagine it won’t be just as bad for the UK launch.
Paulie
Best of both worlds
I’m not sure why Nintendo fans are being so defensive about the Reader’s Feature. Nowhere did they say it was an either/or option. They just said it would be good if Breath Of The Wild played as well as it did but also looked amazing. I don’t see how that’s a controversial idea.
They didn’t even say it looks bad as it is does now. It doesn’t either, it looks really good… for a Switch game. Imagine the design of Breath Of The Wild combined with the graphics of Horizon Forbidden West though, would that not be the greatest thing ever?
I doubt it will ever happen, for the reasons we all understand, but I don’t see why it’s so outrageous to wish that you could have your cake and eat it.
Loche
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The right stuff
I would like to defend Elden Ring somewhat, after the letter trashing it on Monday.
I can understand the frustrations that Sixpacx has with the game. It can be tiresome getting one shot killed time after time by an enemy but the sense of reward and accomplishment eventually beating said enemy is, I think, more satisfying than any other game I’ve played.
I do however, dispute the criticism of the short length. I haven’t yet finished the main quest line yet but would hazard a guess that you could probably get through it quite quick if you knew what you were doing and didn’t get killed a lot. However, that’s likely true of most games. Also, the fact that you can’t breeze through it means you have to explore and take your time. And for those who want to see all the game has to offer I imagine it would take 100+ hours to explore every dungeon or area.
I agree that I don’t think the narrative of the game is particularly engaging but don’t see it as an issue. A great game doesn’t need a great story.
But my main issue the slight snobbery in the tone of Sixpacx’s letter. I don’t much care for Call Of Duty either but don’t turn my noses down at those that enjoy the franchise or that by doing so invalidates any opinions they have for other games.
I don’t mind that the writer didn’t like Elden Ring. There’s well loved games I don’t care for either. But to dismiss another players viewpoint because they don’t play the ‘right kind of game’ is frankly daft.
matc7884
GC: How Long To Beat has the main story at 51 hours and 100%-ing it at 129 hours. We’d say that’s low-balling it though and most people will take at least twice that.
Kill Killzone
I hope Killzone isn’t brought back as a VR game. Not that I have anything special against the games but they were just really bland in terms of both setting and gameplay, and we don’t need more of that. There’s talk of bringing back Resistance as well, which was just as bad.
I don’t know why in games and movies, and everything really, something can’t be accepted to have run its course or have been a failure. I mean, I’m sure someone likes Killzone. There’s always someone that likes everything, but can we not accept an idea didn’t work out or wasn’t very good and move on to make something better.
Companies get so obsessed with the idea of brand recognition they’d rather bring back any old Z-grade property than just invent something new. The word doesn’t need more Killzone, it needs more new ideas.
Futterman
Galaxy of tanks
The problem with all these Star Wars Jedi: Survivor theories is that it’s like the sequel movies, in that all the fan ideas are much more interesting than what they actually had planned. So either they go ahead with the boring option or they suddenly switch stories and it doesn’t integrate properly into the rest of the plot.
I do like the idea of it being someone from the Old Republic era, but I have a nasty feeling it’s going to be the least interesting option and just be a clone of that fallen Jedi guy from the first game or something.
I don’t see how it can be Starkiller though. His original story doesn’t really work in the new continuity and I think if they did use him he’d basically just be a completely different character with the same name, same as Grand Admiral Thrawn. There’s also the little point that The Force Unleashed was rubbish but let’s not get into that.
There might not be much information about Survivor but I did like the idea that they’ll be more smugglers and lowlifes this time round. Like a reader said earlier, the Star Wars games need a lot more of that sort of thing.
Kofey
Non-stop action
I loved the Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade adventure game, that you mentioned in your story about the new game. I know they won’t be doing anything similar, as that’s not what a big budget game is nowadays, but I hope that whatever they come up with is not just a straight action game but something with some puzzles and a lot of dialogue.
We need a chance for these characters to interact with each other in a way other than just punching or shooting. Given their work with Wolfenstein I do feel MachineGames would be a good match for this though, as that’s a game that both takes its time and has great action. Looking forward to learning more.
Gannet
Crossword hater
I cannot tell you how many times I have decided Elden Ring is my next game on the list to be played. And how many times it hasn’t been already.
For games like this, I rely heavily on other users rather than reviews. I look for those who are new to the Soulslike genre for input.
Today I read in the Inbox how about how boring it is, the full letter goes into detail and as it stands today, I can’t be bothered with it. Tomorrow a reader my say how great it is and we are back on again! Is there really no narrative? That would he a breaker for me.
Tying into that, you recommended Nex Machina to me recently as I’d wrote to say I didn’t like stick shooters but quite liked The Ascent (which you hated).
Nex Machina is everything I hate about video games having tried it over the weekend. It just reminds me of standing in front of 1980/90s coin-ops throwing good money after bad for three minutes play time. No immersion of any kind. I am literally playing a skill game.
I may as well do a crossword as far as my entertainment levels went with it. I need to be dragged into the world somehow. These don’t do it for me. Is Elden Ring just a pretty skill game like this? No story, no narrative? Would it take 20 hours if difficulty was ‘normal’?
Razzledazzle
GC: We’ve had one person in three months say it’s boring and that’s the opinion you’re going with? Although given your… distinctive views on Nex Machine and The Ascent, maybe that’s the right choice for you.
Inbox also-rans
I thought each Call Of Duty developer got three years to make a game? Isn’t that actually quite generous, especially with all the support studios they have helping out?
Topaz
GC: It’s not ungenerous but a modern game, especially one with as many modes as Call Of Duty, really needs four to five years.
If Sony mention Morbius during one of their State Of Plays I think I think I might expire. I can’t tell you how happy I am that Jared Leto is now a worldwide laughing stock.
Boromir
This week’s Hot Topic
The subject for this weekend’s Inbox was suggested by reader Carter, who asks what is your favourite sci-fi game?
The genre of the video game doesn’t matter as long as it can be described as science fiction in some way, but which is your favourite and why? How much do you enjoy sci-fi as a setting, and do you prefer it to be more serious or more fantasy led?
Are there any concepts or licences you feel haven’t been done well before and how would you handle them? Which games do things like spaceship combat and futuristic weapons best and what concepts, like zero gravity and alien planets, do you feel remain underexploited?
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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 via email or our Submit Stuff page, which if used will be shown in the next available weekend slot.
You can also leave your comments below and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter.
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