crispy4000

I take my time with these games. Did 95% of the side content, finished in 153 hours. Could have wrapped it up a few dozen hours sooner if I wanted to beeline.

It’s true for the most part. Performance is as solid as BotW is on Switch generally, which is the quality bar big games should be trying to hit on the hardware. There is an area near the end of the game that is a little more iffy pefromamce-wise, but still within those bounds. Xenoblade 2 is the messy one technically. Performance is eh, but the resolution and sharpening filter they use can look gross.

The nice thing is that you can enjoy 3 perfectly fine without needing to play the others. There's some in-references, but not much of consequence to the past, and you'd still enjoy plenty on the other end going back to 1 and 2. Starting with 3 is sort of like someone new to Zelda playing Breath of the Wild. The Temple of Time won't mean as much, but BotW also isn't trying to say much with it. STAY AWAY from the upcoming story DLC though, haha. It seems to be made for people who completed all three mainline games. Gutsy, but I'm totally here for it!

If you manage to make it through 3, play 1 next. After a good break, of course.

Hey I’m glad you actually gave it a shot. It’s not a perfect video game, but I agree, the tone is amazing throughout. If you can make it far enough, its biggest twist(s) hit really hard. The whole series deserves praise, they all have their own strengths. Glad you’re getting a taste of what you’ve missed.

I said from the beginning “Perhaps not a major one, but who knows.” We were never in disagreement on that. I brought up Japan in response because from what Phil’s said, it looks like they’re more eager for M&A’s there than the West regardless.

There is no Japanese gaming company beyond Sony or Nintendo themselves that would be a deal of this magnitude. I agree with you in thinking that they’ll start small.

There’s very few companies on Activison’s level, so there’s few worries there. Plus if the deal goes through in their favor, it shows there’s practically no limits on who they buy as long as they say the right things. Microsoft has struggled with Japan for so long, I believe a Bestheda-like purchase to buy themselves into that segment would still be on the table. As I linked earlier, they’ve signaled themselves: they’re not done, or taking a chill pill, they will remain in competition with these deals. Sony’s not going to rest on their laurels after this either. As far as funding goes, it’s clear by now that they’re not concerned about the short term. Microsoft is playing the long game. Which means throwing money at good opportunities when they arise. If there is a limit to their M&A funding, we haven’t seen it yet. I think it’s whatever it takes to reach their goals. Otherwise, why spend the money?

I'd be shocked if both weren't already sniffing around at multiple Japanese companies, big and small.

People thought the same after the Bethesda acquisition. Meanwhile Phil was talking up future M&A's in Tokyo only a few months ago. I don't think we can predict what Microsoft isn't willing to spend if the right deal comes along. They're all in on this Netflix of Gaming thing, that necessitates investment in all categories.

If only because they want this deal to clear. Phil's expressed interest in Japan, we'll likely see a pickup there eventually. Perhaps not a major one, but who knows.

It’s a rewarding game to finish, I’ll say that much. Ending is top notch. I still have to wrap some things up in the post-game, I'll probably do that once the expansion gets a date.

You know who else gets cut a big fat check for a deal enabling games to be blocked from competing platforms? ... ..... Pot, meet rich man kettle.

Focused on 2023 remakes, collections and DLC.

I find games with different difficulty selections tend to fail at a compelling difficulty ramp up within a setting. It's really hard to accommodate for the player getting better naturally, and that problem compounds with multiple settings. It's best addressed with intelligent design choices, a dynamic scaling difficulty, or both. A game like Resident Evil 4 threads that needle pretty much perfectly, to where it needs no difficulty slider. There's also the issue of games scaling up difficulty by only adjusting damage outputs, health bars and parry windows. I completely understand the idea that playing on higher difficulties forces you engage with the systems better. But if that means it turns into Bushido Blade, or I'm wailing at enemies twice as long, screw it. That's just poor game design. Do a legitimate hard mode, not a half-assed one that doesn't change the content of the game whatsoever. I consider Viewtiful Joe to be one of the worst offenders. It's a decently enjoyable experience at lower difficulties. It encourages you to replay levels on higher difficulties. But it becomes a tedious, nauseating piece of crap the harder you push it. It's a game that feels designed to make you hate it the more you play. And I do, so mission accomplished.

So cheat codes don't count?

They would love to put CoD on Games Pass and charge Sony up the butt to do the same on PSN extra. That's a win / win for Microsoft. That's the kind of leverage that matters in the short term. Long term, I see exclusivity as an ace up their sleeve to pull later on. Even if its something as simple as DLC, early access or early releases for Games Pass players. Some of that stuff makes too much sense to not explore once they don't have regulators breathing down their neck. They would sell more consoles as a result. Or they could renew a parity promise conditionally to get other things they'd want out of their competitors. As for the rest of Activision, it'll be a lot more than Diablo not coming to Playstation. Sony (and Nintendo) releases probably won't be a condition for other IP, and going off Bethesda, it won't be the norm.

I think this is probably a sign of why difficult games do need PC releases, or better yet, developers should bring back cheat codes within their games themselves. That way they can appeal to both audiences. As for Returnal, it's very poorly balanced in its difficulty curve compared to other roguelikes. Others have said there's a moment when it clicks. I think that moment only comes in runs you don't get hit (much) in the first hour or so.

All I know is that if this deal doesn’t get properly scrutinized, then nothing should be off limits in this industry as far as M&As in the future. They’ll all be able to point back to when Microsoft bought Activision. Also, that 10 years is nothing in this industry anymore. We’re past the point of these console manufacturers trying to ‘make it.’ If anyone has ever been on the outs, it’s Nintendo, and they still bounce back. I’m far more inclined to believe that the means of competition in this industry have been tarnished by greedy executives. Both with how they deal with each other, and how they collude to screw their consumers in tandem. (see: online multiplayer paywalls)

Aren’t UK and US regulators the major hurdle?

Call of Sea is next week. Highly recommended by me if you enjoyed Edith Finch or other walking sims, but wish they had a few more puzzles.

Comes out this month. This looks like it could be one to watch, looks like Furi on motorcycles.

Pretty meh past 2 months for giveaways, other than some Bethesda stuff.

"Bold New Fantasy RPG" has a better ring to it.