Category: PlayStation

  • SILENT HILL: The Short Message is not a good game

    SILENT HILL: The Short Message is not a good game

    Some spoilers ahead. Also, this post is going to talk about mental health and social issues that may be triggering for some people. It said so on its initial splash screen with a trigger warning:

    So be forewarned that if you are sensitive to any of those topics mentioned in the screenshot, it may not be a good idea to read this post!

    I didn’t know what kind of game Silent Hill: The Short Message was when I started it up. It was free on the PlayStation Store and bears the same name as a pretty popular franchise. I am only vaguely familiar with the original Silent Hill games that came out on the original PlayStation and PlayStation 2 but I was looking for something easy to play in bed on my PS Portal to wind down the evening with. This was probably the worst game to do that with.

    Look at the gorgeous lighting

    Let me just say first the positives in that the game looks and sounds really good. The presentation and production value was top notch. And it was short, living up to its name. There’s only three Chapters to play through, and they’re all structured mostly the same.

    You play as Anita trying to figure out what happened to her friend Maya and why you’re in the situation you’re in. You wander around an abandoned apartment complex known for graffiti and being a hotspot for teen suicide. After some flashbacks and clues you pick up from the environment, you end up being chased by a monster and you’re only escape is to find the right exit. Make a bad turn or open the wrong door, you end up in a loop until you make the correct choice. There’s no fighting or hiding, just running and opening doors. And if you’re caught by the monster you start the chase all over again.

    I think most everyone has at some point freaked themselves out by imagining that someone or something is chasing you. If you’ve seen a slasher film, then the feeling is the same. If you’ve really been chased by someone in real life, my heart goes out to you. But the underlying feeling in all those scenarios is anxiety. When the monster is getting closer, the sound it makes is louder adding to the feeling of dread and panic. And it’s not easy to get rid of that anxiety either. The only way is to make a successful escape. There’s no attacking, no mashing of buttons, nothing. Once you escape you just have to let the feelings of anxiety naturally diminish. That’s not easy for some people.

    This formula is the same for the first two chapters. Chapter 3 is where they add a slight twist to the chase sequence where in addition to running around, you have to find a total of five pictures in order to unlock two doors to escape the monster. The frustrating part of it is that not once during the game did it mention that you had to do this new task. I ended up finding a YouTube video (this one to be exact) to help me navigate and figure out what the heck I had to do. I’m sure with enough tries I might have clued in on the action icons above the photographs but they are easy to miss during the constant frantic running away that you have to do. It seems pointless too, you don’t have even a second to examine the picture because the monster is still chasing you.

    And that right there should be an indication of my enthusiasm of the game. I pride myself on being able to figure out puzzles, beat bosses, and progress in a game without having to look up any help from the internet (case in point). But the final chase sequence was so frustrating I gave up. At that point in the game, I wasn’t vested at all and just wanted to get it over with. Once I look something up? I’m not having fun and I’ve given up. Very few games made me feel that way. With Silent Hill: The Short Message I was already done before Chapter 1 ended.

    The parts of the games story that necessitated the trigger warning seemed a bit extreme, almost cliché-like. I can’t say for sure because I’m fortunate enough to never had to personally deal with those kinds of issues. That’s just what my gut tells me. There is no doubt that these are real topics, so for anyone who is currently or has in the past gone through those experiences playing this game may not be a great idea, hence the trigger warning. But if the game’s plot around those themes isn’t used to teach then why make this game? I get that not every game needs to be a teaching moment but it seems like it’s a missed opportunity to address really important issues. There are a lot of games that tackle mental health head on, Celeste and Omori come to mind, and those games are fun to play and you learn something. There’s a redemption arc in those games. Silent Hill: The Short Message offers none of that.

    I’ve been in a dark place myself, as I’m sure a lot of us have been. Don’t worry about me though, me playing this game right now given my recent struggles is merely a coincidence and not a sign. Mental health is no joke and I feel like the way the game used it as a plot mechanism, felt wrong and a little gross. If that was the intent of the game designers then in that regard they did well. I just don’t think the end product is worth anyone’s time.

    tl;dr version: This is not a good game. There’s nothing fun about it, no redeeming qualities, and the mental health topics weren’t handled very well in my opinion. I am still looking forward to playing Silent Hill 2 remake though, and Silent Hill f looks promising as well. I just hope those games have a better story.

    Just like the trigger warning in the game, I’ll end this post like this with the same message:

    This post talks about depictions of suicide, self-harm, abuse, trauma and bullying that some people may find distressing.

     

    The author does not intend whatsoever to encourage or make light of self-harm and suicide.

     

    If you feel that you are at risk of suicide or self-harm, please seek medical and/or professional advice, treatment, and/or support from experts in the field of suicide and self-harm prevention.

     

    If you need immediate assistance, please contact a local hotline or hospital.

     

    If you notice someone around you who appears to be struggling, try talking to them.

     

    One brave step can save lives.

     

    US 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline:
    Tel: 988 URL: https://988lifeline.org/

     

    International resource for local crisis support lines:
    https://www.konami.com/games/silenthill/help/

    Take care of yourselves.

  • Eric’s 2024 in Review: Big Changes

    Eric’s 2024 in Review: Big Changes

    What a crazy, whirlwind year! For those of you who’ve stuck around through 12 months of very few posts…thank you. I can’t speak for Ace or Nick, but FBTB is an important site for me and really informed my earliest brushes with LEGO and video game fandom. I’m grateful to you all, even if this is your first time here.

    What have I been up to? Well, this and that. My life is in a complete different place than it was a year ago. I left my job and started a new career. Fell in love. Moved apartments. Learned guitar. Bought a car. 2024 has been a monumental year for me and my personal growth. It’s been hard, but hard is good. Hard makes diamonds.

    But: my media consumption has dropped. Gone are the days I could spend hours playing video games. My list of movies to watch is ever-growing. I haven’t watched any long-form TV this year. But from what little I have consumed, there are some real gems.

    ⋅ 10333 BARAD-DÛR

     

     

    I am sure that somewhere on this site is an article of me bemoaning missing out on the original wave of Lord of the Rings sets. I got two and no more because I A.) was a child and B.) had no disposable income. Well, those are no longer true!

    So I bought a big tower.

    Like, big big. This thing is almost three feet tall. I put it on my bookshelf so that Sauron peers down at all my guests and makes them really uncomfortable. 

    A lot of large LEGO sets look cool but are God-awful to build. Repetitive. Mind-numbing. Not Barad-dur. Every bag is something new. 

    There are so many references to LOTR in here, tucked away in secret spots along the tower. I will never see them again once the tower is built, but that’s okay. They made me smile while I was building, and that’s plenty for me.

    This is the largest LEGO set I own and one that I am completely satisfied with. 

    Is it worth $459? For me, 100%.

    ⋅ SIFU

    I broke my pinkie finger playing this game. Seriously. I got so mad at this game that I punched the floor. 

    On paper, Sifu is simple: five levels, five bosses. When you die, you give up years of your life to continue. Get too old, you restart. Simple.

    But not easy.

    As you play, you will unlock a bunch of moves and combos to the point where you’re flicking around control sticks and punching buttons at the speed of light. 

    Palm strike into flurry of blows into leg sweep into a face punch – OH! – someone throws a bottle at you so catch the bottle and throw it at someone else then kick a stool and knock someone over then parry another attacker and take his sword and…

    You get the point.

    Only Sekrio: Shadows Die Twice can compete with this game for its combat flow. When you are in the zone, you are in the zone. When you’re not…you break a pinkie.

    ⋅ SLY COOPER

    In the third level of Sly Cooper, I said, out loud: “They don’t make games like this anymore.” The PS2 was perfect for action platformers like Sly Cooper. It easily sits among its peers Ratchet & Clank and Jax & Daxter.

    Every level introduces a new mechanic, and every level includes an unlockable move (or upgrade). No points, no shop, no skill tree – just find all the hidden bottles and open the safe.

    It’s so perfect in its simplicity. So much of the fat is trimmed away, save for the last few levels, which is when I said, out loud, in a different tone: “They don’t make games like this anymore.” 

    Annoying hitboxes, janky physics, and awkward camera controls.

    Do those damn Sly Cooper? Not one bit. It is an absolute treat to play, and a refreshing break from the graphics-pushing, mechanics-full games of today.

    ⋅ RED DEAD REDEMPTION 2

    Perhaps the above sentence is a criticism of RDR2. Perhaps. 

    I should hate RDR2. It is sluggish. Slow. Obtuse. I’ve never been motivated by graphics or story. If the game isn’t fun, why would I play it?

    I…don’t know. I wondered that often. I wondered that while sitting at a campfire and carving notches into my bullets, one at a time. I wondered that while turning through magazine pages looking for a holster. I wondered that while dying in combat time after time because the aiming…sucks!

    And I finally discovered: RDR2 has the juice. Or, as videogamedunkey recently said, the slickness.

    It’s badass to be a cowboy. It’s badass to fight off a bear. It’s badass to build a house for your wife and son. Simple as that.

    It ain’t gotta be anything more.

     

     

    ⋅ LATE NIGHT WITH THE DEVIL

    I’d like to thank my girlfriend for introducing me to some really great horror movies. Late Night with the Devil stands above all of them.

    It’s a failing late-night talk show where the host decides to bring in some supernatural types to spice things up. And spice things up they do. A little too much.

    You know going in that things will go wrong. But you can’t wait to see it unfold.

    Almost everything in the movie is played straight, like a live broadcast of, say, The Tonight Show. You’re seeing what viewers of the show would see.

    The core concept is so fun, so engaging, and so unique that you will be glued to the screen. It’s a wild ride that any horror movie fan needs to watch.

    THE HOLDOVERS

    This is a Christmas movie that I watched four times this year. None of which were in December.

    I really cannot say more without saying everything, and that would take up a lot of space. 

    If you want to have your soul warmed and your heart broken, then you need to watch The Holdovers.

    Just trust me. It’ll change you.

     

     

    ⋅ CARRIE 

     


     

    Is this the only book that’s been on one of these year-end lists? 

    I avoided Stephen King for a long time. To me, he was the book equivalent of Quentin Tarantino: the director all the annoying kids at my film school lauded.

    But then I read Stephen King’s book Carrie and I got it. Turns out that King’s fame is not overrated. Turns out this guy know how to write a really damn good book. I know, the popular writer is a good writer. Surprise.

    The most unbelievable part of Carrie is that it is Stephen King’s first novel. His FIRST! King has such confidence and conviction in his plot and setting that you’d think this would be his magnum opus.

    But nope. Most lists don’t even put it in the top 5.

    Amazing.

    2025?

    Usually, here I’d talk about my predictions for the next year: the games, sets, and movies I’m looking forward to. But, to be honest, I’m not sure what I’ll have time for in 2025. Life changes fast and hobbies ebb and flow. Perhaps I’ll play the newest, hottest games. Perhaps not. Either way, I’m excited to see what unfolds.

    See you in 2025.

  • LEGO Announces Horizon Forbidden West: Tallneck Set

    LEGO Announces Horizon Forbidden West: Tallneck Set

    Wowee does this thing look awesome! Horizon Zero Dawn is a favorite among the staff here, and I think it’s safe to say when we heard rumors about this set we were cautiously optimistic. But now that has LEGO officially announced 76989 Horizon Forbidden West: Tallneck, I think our fears can be laid to rest because this set looks gorgeous. Before we move on to the pictures and other commentary, I want to point out that the title has a colon in it, Horizon Zero Dawn colon Tallneck. Maybe this is wishful thinking but maybe perhaps there are more sets on the horizon? (No pun intended). I would love to see a Horizon Zero Dawn colon Thunderjaw!

    This shot right here makes it look imposing. And since Aloy only goes up to its ankle, it really does feel tall and imposing.

    This is what the platform up top looks like.

    It has a nice oval-shaped display base.

    It even comes with a brickbuilt Watcher creature! It’s like a two-fer! I like how they shone a red LED light on the eye to fake the glow. Tricky LEGO is tricky.

    Wondering what it looks like on a shelf? This should give you an idea:

    The Tallneck measures 13.5 inches tall and 8.5 inches wide.

    If there was one thing I had to nitpick on is the lack of handholds for Aloy to grab onto. Also, we need a better picture of the Aloy minifigure! Come on, LEGO! This is the best I can do:

    Aloy Minifigure from 76989 Horizon Forbidden West: Tallneck

    You can see she’s sporting her Focus ear piece. It looks like it’s molded onto her hairpiece. No doubt that is the one proprietary element that won’t ever see the light of day in any other theme outside of Horizon Forbidden West.

    Pre-order Information 76989 Horizon Forbidden West: Tallneck

    You can’t pre-order 76989 Horizon Forbidden West: Tallneck, but you can visit the LEGO.com product page starting May 1st to place your order. The cost will be $79.99 and the set comes with 1,222 pieces.

    Click on the image or the link here, place an order, and FBTB will make a small commission. Help me pay off my student loans. Thanks!

    Man, I can’t wait.

    Official Pictures for 76989 Horizon Forbidden West: Tallneck

  • The PlayStation Showcase Was Mostly Meh, Mostly

    The PlayStation Showcase Was Mostly Meh, Mostly

    Sony Interactive Entertainment held a PlayStation Showcase, their version of a Nintendo Direct, last week. I say it was mostly meh because out of the 42-minute video, 32 minutes of it was a yawnfest with really the best games showing up in the last 10 minutes. It did open with a bang though, I’ll give it that much. And no I’m not talking about the weird chess larping sequence, I’m talking about Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic Remake announcement.

    It’s not just a remaster, but they used the word remake and hopefully they take that word as seriously as Square Enix did with Final Fantasy VII Remake. I’ll be honest though, I never played the original but have heard good things about it. And you know what’s funny? As much of a Star Wars fan as I considered myself to be, even before the dark times, before the sequel trilogy, I didn’t play that many Star Wars games. Part of it was platform (I never owned a PC), but most of it was just disinterest. Even the console games never really did much for me. I might give this one a shot though.

    Everything after this was a total snoozefest though. Project Eve from Korean-based studio Shift Up looks like a good PS5 showcase game but didn’t move the needle for me. Tiny Tina’s Wonderland by Gearbox just sounds annoying. I think the voice actress is the same one Gwenpool from the LEGO Marvel Super Heroes 2 game and I probably heard it some fever-induced nightmare too at some point. I could barely get through this game trailer. Forspoken is by Square Enix and looks okay. Next was Rainbow Six Extraction. I guess military shooters have run out of terrestrial threats so now they’re just bringing in aliens. I say that with snark mostly because the idea looks and sounds stupid but also because the game is from Ubisoft. Alan Wake Remastered is a bit interesting only because it has a direct tie-in with Control. Grand Theft Auto V and Grand Theft Auto Online? Meh. Ghostwire Tokyo? Meh. Guardians of the Galaxy? Looks like ass. This looks like it was planned content for the Avengers game but since that game sucks and has no player base Square Enix decided to pull it and release it as a standalone game. Just a theory I have because all of the character models have that same C-level stunt double look about them. Blood Hunt? Meh. Deathloop? Meh. Kid Amnesia Exhibition? I honestly have no idea what this was. Tchia? Meh. Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End and Uncharted: The Lost Legacy? Let’s be honest, I’ll be getting these only because they already exist in my backlog pile. That being said, oddly enough it is motivating me a bit to stop playing Rocket League long enough to maybe get through the Uncharted games. We’ll see how that goes.

    All of that stuff was just fine and boring and took more than 30 minutes to slog through. Then it got to the good stuff, the PlayStation Studios exclusives:

    Wolverine

    Wolverine is coming from Insomniac Games, you know, the studio that brought the most, most excellent Spider-Man PS4 game as well as the most, most excellent Miles Morales game for both PS4 and PS5. I can’t wait to see what they’re going to do with this one. Count me in.

    Gran Turismo 7

    I haven’t played a proper GT game since… II. There was one on … PS3 that I barely touched so I don’t count that. I’m really excited to get into this one.

    Spider-Man 2

    Loved Spider-Man PS4. Loved Miles Morales. Can Insomniac do it again? I really hope so. They’ll have to do it TWICE considering they’re also doing Wolverine. Man I can’t wait.

    God of War: Ragnarok

    And finally, God of War: Ragnarok. It looks like the main story picks up a bit after the first game but there is a nod to the Easter Egg ending from the first. Eric told me I should go play the PS5-optimized version because “it is life-changing”. Definitely gonna do that because if the front page of the site is any indication, time is something I have an abundance of. I snark but I kid.

    I don’t know, I suppose some of those meh games are good. The franchise games slash sequels never intrigued me before and probably won’t ever in the future. And the new stuff just doesn’t look interesting. I’d rather wait for reviews and see where they fall.

    Eric’s Postscript

    Hey guys. I’m going to highlight some of the stuff Ace called “meh”. Because I think there were some interesting games in there overshadowed by the big boys at the end.

    Forspoken, once again reminding us that SquareEnix has no equal when it comes to particles in games. Graphically, this game looks stupendous. Remember – Final Fantasy XV came out 5 years ago, and it still looks absolutely fantastic. Squeenix knows how to make a game look good.

    It’s hard to judge the gameplay, but it looks reminiscent of FFXV, with more of a focus on magic attacks. The dialogue is a little stilted, par for the course with Squeenix, but I want to grab this one just for the visuals alone.

    Ghostwire: Tokyo. I don’t really know what’s happening in this game, but it looks pretty fun. It’s like if Silent Hill was set in a not-fog covered city. It’s from the same studio who put out the Evil Within, which are solid horror games, so I don’t have much worry for this one. Plus, it’s Bethesda, which means eventually it’ll get filtered down to Game Pass.

    Deathloop comes out tomorrow. Last year, I wrote this one was one of my most anticipated games for 2021. Reviews seem pretty good, and I’m excited to play it.

    Tchia looks like if Super Mario Odyssey and Breath of the Wild had a baby. An open world with capturing mechanics. Plus an inspired island theme. It’s always nice to see diversity like this in games. I’m not sure this is an insta-buy for me, but it’s one to keep an eye on for sure.

    Anyway, that’s it. Just highlighting some games other than the big PS Studios games. Although I am beyond excited for God of War: Ragnarok.

  • This Year’s Virtual E3 Events I’m Looking Forward To

    This Year’s Virtual E3 Events I’m Looking Forward To

    This year’s E3 is going virtual once again. I’m not one thousand percent sure of the timing, but I’m guessing it would be happening next week if it were an in-person event. This is based on the fact that a bunch of video game companies announced some online video presentations and I for one can’t wait for a few them. And things kick off this week! Here’s what I’m looking forward to:

    Tuesday June 8 9:00am PST – Playdate

    Ever since Nintendo killed off production of the 3DS, the market for a dedicated handheld is wide open. Sure, the Switch may be portable but it’s not quite fit-in-your-pocket portable like the 3DS was. This hole is something I’m hoping Playdate can fill. The portable with a crank will have an update on YouTube on Tuesday June 8th at 9am PST. I can’t wait.

    Sunday June 13 12:15pm PST Square Enix

    Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade will be out a few days before Square Enix’s presentation, so I doubt they’ll have anything to show that’s related to that game. I’m hoping I’m wrong though. An update to their stupidly named “Project Triangle Strategy” might be shown here if it’s not part of Nintendo’s broadcast. I can’t wait.

    Tuesday June 15 9:00am PST Nintendo

    This is the one to end the week on. Nintendo will have a 40-minute Nintendo Direct focusing on software “mostly releasing in 2021”. I’m hoping for a Metroid update really, everything else will just be icing. Nintendo is going to be the platform of choice for new games. The other platforms are either plagued by delays for the next gen games or absence of hardware due to the global chip shortage. Me? I’ll happily be working on my backlog for now. I can’t wait.

    Playstation

    Sony has been doing their own Direct-style presentations on their own schedule apart from E3 for a couple of years now. With PS5’s nearly impossible to find and most of the major PS5 games being delayed for another year and/or changing from from a platform exclusive to now being available for current and next gen systems, it’s doubtful we’ll see or hear anything around E3 week. People may be complaining about the delays, but that’s fine. I have a big enough backlog to keep me entertained until one of the games on my short wish list come out. For Sony, that would be God of War sequel and Gran Turismo.

    I can’t wait.

  • Eric’s Weekly Game Reviews: Demon’s Souls

    Eric’s Weekly Game Reviews: Demon’s Souls

    I cherish every RPG From Software game: the Souls series, Bloodborne, Sekiro. They’re not the simplest to understand, there can be extremely unfair difficulty spikes, the stories might toe the line between “mysterious” and “too vague”, but they are far and away some of the best games I’ve ever played.

    There’s a common saying among Souls fans: once you play a Souls game, it’s hard to go back to non-Souls games. (Except for you, Nick.)

    Demon’s Souls, released in 2009 for the PS3, is the first of these games. It’s the game that really brought developer From Software into the international light, and its success created Dark Souls. There’s a lot to appreciate about Demon’s Souls.

    But, it’s also the first Souls games. Which means it’s a somewhat bumpy road for mechanics that get smoothed out in later games.

    Buckle up.

    BACKGROUND

    Me and the boys.

    I think it’s important to examine the gaming landscape at the time of Demon’s Souls. 2009 was an extremely different time for games. Indie games were just starting to gain some fame – like Fez, Braid, and Castle Crashers. Halo was still dominating with its third entry releasing just 2 years ago, and Halo: Reach on the way. Playstation wasn’t nearly the Xbox stomper it is today. The games coming out on PS3 weren’t bad, but they weren’t the system selling blockbusters we see today. Uncharted 2 and Metal Gear Solid 4 were really the only two system sellers. Otherwise, things were fairly homogenized. I was in middle school during this year, and I remember my friends all having the same console (Xbox) so they could play with each other. Crossplay was unthinkable back then.

    Innovation was also at a bit of a lull, aside from Nintendo, but they were doing their own thing with the Wii. Between the Xbox 360 and PS3, you had boring looking shooters all trying their best to copy the success of Halo. Some succeeded, others failed. That’s not to say there weren’t some good games in the early days of the Xbox 360 / PS3: there certainly were. But, at least to me, the games everyone was talking about were very homogenous.

    Demon’s Souls didn’t really break up the structure at all. It came out quietly, but many of those that played it loved it. It would be a repeated pattern with the initial days of 2011’s Dark Souls.

    And Demon’s Souls is still a really niche game. I think people coming off of the most recent Souls games: Dark Souls III, Bloodborne, and Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice might be disappointed with this game. I’ll explain why in a bit.

    MY BACKGROUND WITH DEMON’S SOULS

    I’ve covered my Dark Souls history pretty extensively throughout previous posts, but I’ll recap briefly: I was 16, deep in my “rebel” days (whatever that means). My friend recommended I play this “Dark Souls” game. With his guidance throughout my playthrough, I crawled through the game. It was tough. It was bleak. And there are many, many things that annoy me with that game, but the overall experience was positive. Better than positive. Life-changing. At least, my gaming life.

    Like I said: once you’re hooked, it’s hard to go back to games that aren’t Dark Souls. So I didn’t. I played through Dark Souls a few more times, then tapped into Dark Souls 2: Scholar of the First Sin. Dark Souls III was about a year out at this point, so I borrowed my other friend’s PS3 and booted up Demon’s Souls.

    My impression wasn’t…strong. The original Demon’s Souls hasn’t aged badly, per se, but compared to the near masterpiece that is Dark Souls, it’s pretty forgettable. Before this game got a big resurgence with the reveal of the Demon’s Souls Remake trailer, I would have struggled to recall five different moments in the game.

    WHAT IS DEMON’S SOULS?

    There he is. The big tree demon.

    Demon’s Souls, actually, has a pretty straightforward and clear story for a Souls game. A King makes a deal with an eldritch being called “The Old One” in exchange for power. But, uh oh, that causes demons to basically take over the area, slowly spreading out. You play as a deceased knight, and your soul goes through the levels in the game to capture demon’s souls to basically catch the Old One’s attention. Then, you kill the King and either lull the Old One back to sleep, or embrace the power of the Old One. It’s easy to see how the story of Dark Souls evolved from that and got way more complicated.

    The combat is extremely simple, and relies heavily on a rhythm of knowing when to attack and enemy, and when to block its attack / roll away from it. Souls combat is elevated by interesting enemies and the level design giving you different context for enemies. Sure, attacking one archer is pretty easy. But what about when there’s a swordwielder with it? Suddenly you have to prioritize. Either rush the archer to try and kill it before the swordwielder can attack you, or attack the swordwielder while dodging arrows. And it only gets more complex from here.

    There’s a variety of weapons and attacks as well. Light attacks, heavy attacks, backstabs, ripostes, two-handed attacks, pushes – you’ve got several tools at your disposal in how to attack an enemy. Light attacks are quicker, but less powerful. Heavy attacks are the opposite, and they can leave you vulnerable.

    Each weapon type has distinct timings and attacks that emphasize that time / power ratio. A knife is quick but relatively powerless. A great club smashes the enemy, but it takes about two minutes to wind the attack up.

    When you add the option of shielding and rolling, things bump up to the next level. I notice that players who like quick weapons, like me, prefer to roll. A heavier weapon generally needs a higher defense in case you get hit while swinging, so shields are the way to go. Of course, there’s a lot of variation. For my playthrough, I ended up going with a Kaiji, a quick slashing weapon with the ability to give enemies the “bleeding” debuff, where they slowly lose health. But I also had a shield, because I wasn’t 100% confident in my abilities with the game yet. When I replay this, I probably will go with a two-handed weapon and greatly prioritize rolling over blocking.

    There are also magic and miracles. I never get too into these in Souls games, because I prefer the reflex-based melee combat to casting spells. However, I did level up my bow a lot in my playthrough, to the point where most bosses I actually took down with a combination of my Kaiji and bow. Some bosses with the bow exclusively. The penultimate boss (cause the final boss is really more of a cutscene), decided to stay away from me and shoot spells at me, so I just picked his health down with my bow. Hey, it was his strategy.

    LEVELS

    This is the only Souls game that has “levels”, as in: you can’t go from one to another through a connected world. At the end of the day, it doesn’t really make a difference (and might actually save time). Each individual level, at least, is as interconnected as any Souls game, with a mixture of elevators, doors, and shortcuts meaning by the end of each level you can generally run to the beginning in a short time.

    The five levels are really distinct, with different atmospheres, enemies types, and mechanics. The first level, Boletaria, is very standard medieval. A castle, with undead knights and dragons. There’s a few hints to the deeper, creepier Souls world, like the Phalanx boss, a mass of black goo that stabs at you with about 40 different spears.

    A complete change is the second level: Stonefang Tunnel. You’ll spend a lot of time in cramped tunnels, dodging rock worms and miners who blend in with the rock. The Tower of Latria (my favorite) is a moody, claustrophobic prison that opens up into an assault of a tower in the sky dodging Gargoyles. The Shrine of Storms (my least favorite), starts out strong, with a rain-soaked ruined castle guarded by fierce metal skeletons. But it soons devolves into running across skinny cliff faces dodging a million projectiles. The last, and the one that feels the most “Souls-like”, is the Valley of Defilement, a dank, poisonous swamp. That one’s great.

    The best part about this level design is the openness of player choice. Once you beat the first boss in Boletaria, you’re own your own to select how you proceed. Continue in Boletaria, or switch to another. I went to Stonefang Tunnel, but found the enemies had way too much HP for my current level, so I went to the Shrine of Storms, where enemies were harder but took fewer hits. You can skip around in a way that’s very different from Dark Souls. If you got stuck in Blighttown in Dark Souls, you didn’t have any other option. You either got out or you never beat the game. I actually quite like the Dark Souls route, but there’s something nice in getting sick of a level and being able to switch to a totally fresh stage.

    But there’s a downside to this. Because you can go anywhere at any point, enemies have to be pretty much on the same level across the board. So whichever level you go into last won’t be too difficult. I went to the Valley of Defilement last and had absolutely no trouble with it. I was in and out in a half hour. It’s the age-old balance of a tailored experience versus player choice. Everyone’s got their preference. Mine leans towards the former.

    BOSSES

    More than any other Souls game, I think the bosses are the highlight here, mainly because the level design isn’t super strong, and most of the regular enemies don’t give you too much trouble.

    However, I would say this is easily the most divisive boss list out of all the Souls game. Because almost every boss is extremely distinct, so every player will likely have varying degrees of challenge. For me, I loved a boss like Flamelurker, a fire demon who gets very in your face and tries to maul you. As someone who focused melee, this boss was perfect. But I hated Dragon God, a giant dragon whose fight plays more like a really crappy Metal Gear Solid game.

    The only boss safe enough to take pictures of.

    Still, almost every boss has their own gimmick, which keeps it fresh. We’ve seen what happens when every boss is a big knight (Dark Souls 2). This is the polar opposite of this. The only knight in Demon’s Souls is 30 feet tall and tries to step on you. But the problem with gimmicky bosses is that some can end up feeling pretty cheap. I had a lot of trouble with Fool’s Idol, who puts invisible circles on the ground that stun you for a few seconds. Or Old Hero, who only fights you if you make noise (he’s blind). There are some really cool ideas here that I’d love to see revisited, but some of the bosses I’m glad to see retired.

    There’s also a lack of optional content here. Every other Souls game has at least one hidden away boss, but not Demon’s Souls. You get the full experience. Again, not necessarily bad, just different. Searching levels in these games only get you a few extra items.

    EXPERIENCE

    The “Good Lord”‘s were audible.

    This game is knockout gorgeous. People have said it since it came out: it’s the first game that really looks next gen. I honestly don’t think the PS4 could run this one worth a crap. There’s so many nice details in everything. I honestly think we’ve reach a plateau when it comes to textures and polygons. Now it’s all about lighting to make things look as realistic as possible. And Demon’s Souls gets as close as any modern day release that I’ve seen. Souls games haven’t really pushed the graphical envelope, so it’s weird (in a good way) to see the best looking game belong to that same series.

    I love gray.

    The one thing I don’t love here – thought to be fair it’s something the original Demon’s Souls did – whenever you’re in soul form. You turn into this bleh kinda pale green ghost. And that’s going to be what you see of your character for a majority of the time. I’d love to have some kind of option to toggle this, without changing the other effects of Souls form. Plus, whenever you’re in human form, your footsteps have haptic feedback and play sounds on the controller. Really nice details you won’t get for 90% of the game.

    Adaptive triggers play an extremely minimal role in this game. The right trigger only comes into play when you’re shooting a bow. You can pull the trigger halfway to kind of queue up an arrow. I have no idea what the point of this is, since it’s just as fast to draw it back and shoot it. They really missed an opportunity to have your heavy sword swings really feel good. Or have parries become easier with the left trigger at just the right moment. It seems like Bluepoint really dropped the ball here. A small thing, but with the PS5 boasting these adaptive triggers, there’s a shockingly small amount of games that utilize it in any meaningful ways.

    THE FLAWS

    Honestly, Bluepoint has created a fantastically faithful remake of Demon’s Souls. And as janky as Demon’s Souls can be sometimes, it’s still a pretty good game. But I’ve listed out a few grievances below.

    The Nexus is way too large. The Nexus is the hub where you come between levels to level up and upgrade your hero. You can also take NPCs you find around the levels and use their services – as merchants or spellmakers. And while most of the NPCs stay on the lowest level, some of them hide up in some dark corners. It takes around 5 minutes to search the whole place, and it can be fruitless. The upper levels are completely wasted. I don’t think I found a single NPC or item up there, and staircases led to nothing. I have no clue what the point of all that is. An easy fix? Shrink it down. Cut off some staircases.

    Some levels segments are extremely short. Bluepoint definitely could have stretched them out to make them more meaningful.

    The push move (R1 + up on the joystick) is way too sensitive. I found that if I was moving forward while attacking, 30% of the time I would push instead, which basically did nothing. It’s not something that cost me any lives or anything, but it was pretty annoying. I don’t remember if this was the case in the original, but man it happened way too much to me in the remake.

    Equipment burdens. Basically every item you pick up has a weight. And if you have too much of it, you have to send it back to your storage at the Nexus. I get that equipment weight is a very traditional RPG idea, which is likely why From Software originally put it in. But in a 2020 game, it feels extremely archaic and unnecessary. It does nothing but inconvenience you.

    I don’t even remember the name of this boss. I beat it in around 30 seconds.

    Some of the bosses are just so forgettable. This was really the chance to spice every boss up to an equal level. Instead, you can just sort of bulldoze through some without even dying. It doesn’t feel really like a challenge, just a roadblock.

    The healing system is still pretty bad. You have a finite amount of healing grasses, and there are 6 different grasses that heal you different amounts. So you have to keep track of a lot, and use up some valuable quick item slots with 2-3 different types of grasses depending on what you have.

    In that same vein, upgrade materials are even worse. There are 14 different stones used to upgrade your weapon, and what each one does is pretty vague. This lead me to just stick to the obvious ones – hardstone (boosts strength) and sharpstone (boosts dexterity). The other 12 were too intimidating for me to want to get into.

    CONCLUSION

    All that said, my recommendation for Demon’s Souls is kinda abnormal. I would say if you’re a big Souls fan who never had a chance to play the original, then this one’s for you. However, I would not want this to be your first Souls game. There are many better options, and I would say Demon’s Souls is down there with Dark Souls II as probably the worst intro to the series that there is. As for the remake itself, Bluepoint has done an astonishing job of glowing up the original, but they were so faithful that the flaws of the game weren’t fixed.

  • Sony Makes PS5 DualSense Controller in Two New Colors

    Sony Makes PS5 DualSense Controller in Two New Colors

    Sony is ramping up production of PS5 DualSense controllers in different colors. Not only are we getting a standard Midnight Black, the featured image above, but just a killer Cosmic Red too:

    You can pre-order the Midnight Black version from Amazon for $69.99. The Cosmic Red one is sold out for now but is $5 more at $74.99. Best Buy and Target also have them up for pre-order as well. I already have a second DualSense in white. The question now is do I go through the hassle of selling one to get that red one? I was holding out for inevitable special edition colors but that red is gorgeous. Can’t go wrong with black either though. I’ll probably over analyze the decision and end up not doing anything. Click through any of these links and you’ll be supporting FBTB’s gaming habits by giving us a commission. No extra cost to you, but win-win for both of us. Thank you.

  • I Spent More Money Than I Care To Admit To Get This PlayStation Miles Morales LEGO Minifig

    I Spent More Money Than I Care To Admit To Get This PlayStation Miles Morales LEGO Minifig

    At some point in mid-January, on a whim I did a search on eBay for “lego miles morales playstation” wondering if they were sent out yet. I had not received any email from Sony saying that I won the not-Comic Con exclusive LEGO Miles Morales minifigure so I just assumed I was not one of the lucky few. And eBay is always, amongst other things, a good indication of market availability. And lo’ and behold, they were there.

    I was mentally prepared to see prices in the $500 range but I guess I missed that phase ’cause the prices I was seeing were in the $800 range. Yikes! I monitored auctions and buy-it-now’s to see where at the market would stay steady. Prices rarely dipped below $800 during the month of February. I believe because the minifigures went to gamers and not Comic Con resellers, the market isn’t flooded with them driving the price down. If you’re looking to get one, start looking now because the prices will continue to go up. As a long-term investment, Comic Con exclusive minifigures aren’t a bad idea. And I have a feeling Miles Morales will be one of the more sought-after ones.

    I managed to get the Advanced Suit Spider-Man Comic Con exclusive a few years ago. The pair is complete now and I can stop obsessing about it. I won’t say exactly how much I spent for Miles Morales, but I was really lucky to find a seller who was willing to sell below market value for the sole reason that it would be going to an obsessive collector. I sent him a pic of the Advanced Suit hanging on the wall as proof of my collecting habit and we agreed on a price. Still, it was really high, and now I need to sell some things to pay off the Miles figure. No regrets.

  • Finaly Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade Announced During Today’s State of Play

    Finaly Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade Announced During Today’s State of Play

    Sony put out a new State of Play video today, their version of a Direct. It was about 30 minutes of commercials for upcoming games headed to the PS5. A few interesting things, but mostly things that really didn’t move the needle for. That is until they got to the end where they revealed some Final Fantasy VII Remake announcements.

    First up is Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade. Intergrade looks like a very short DLC episode that will introduce another original cast member, Yuffie Kisaragi.

     

    The other is that FFVIIR is being tuned for PS5 with upgraded textures, lighting, new photo mode, faster load times, and probably more. The PS5 version will be a free upgrade for PS4 users. Disc owners of PS4 will need the disc version of a PS5 console to get the free digital upgrade. Yuffie’s episode will be available for purchase after upgrading to the PS5 version.

    Yeah, “for purchase”. Hopefully it’ll be reasonably priced. I can’t imagine it being more than $10.

    Final Fantasy VII Remake PS5 Upgrade and Intergrade will be available worldwide starting on June 10, 2021. A good day to call in sick, I’d say.

  • PS5’s at Walmart on Wednesday, Two Days Before Black Friday

    PS5’s at Walmart on Wednesday, Two Days Before Black Friday

    In my seemingly impossible search to get a PS5 and play Demon’s Souls, I noticed on Walmart’s PS5 page show the next available day on Wednesday. Not, you know, Black Friday.

    I have little doubt getting one will be as glitchy and difficult as it was two weeks ago, so take this with a grain of salt.

    The four other retailers have been less communicative about their stock, but keep these links handy, because you never know.

    We’ll likely post something on Thursday about the PS5 / Xbox Series X / other Lego deals coming in on Black Friday, just wanted to let you all know about this early release.