PlayStation Portal – is it worth it? (Picture: Sony)
The Thursday letters page discusses the video game references in Ahsoka, as one reader looks forward to a new game using the Nemesis System.
To join in with the discussions yourself email [email protected]
Close the Portal
So the Project Q/PlayStation Portal is just a Wii U 2? You can’t even use it when you’re out and about? It’s literally just for when someone else is using the TV? Explain to me why Sony couldn’t have just done this with a mobile phone and save me £200.
The whole concept seems completely unnecessary and it’s terrible value for money. People questioned why Sony was wasting time with the PlayStation VR2 but at least people are interested in VR and used to spending that sort of money on a headset. Who wants a remote device that only works if it’s close to the console?
Imagining buying it and finding that it’s just out of range for your bedroom or whatever! Sony has done (or rather not done) a lot of questionable things lately but reinventing the Wii U has got to be the wildest. I have no idea what they’re thinking.
Pirit
Fun with Portals
Sony has just saved me £200 with PlayStation Portal. I really don’t get the point of it. Yes, you can play wireless but you have to stay near your PlayStation. At least Nintendo got it right with the Switch. I don’t know why they didn’t do it 5G or where you could play it on someone else’s Wi-Fi like the PS Vita.
I’d rather have the £200 in my bank and have to keep moving my PlayStation 5 then buy that. In all honesty, it looks horrible, I’ll pass this one. Sony should of done the PS Vita 2. It would’ve been so much better.
David
Final score
I wonder if the Metacritic score for Baldur’s Gate 3 will drop any further. It’s still only at 80 reviews, which is low for a big game, and I see sites like Gamespot still haven’t reviewed it. I imagine more sites will review the PlayStation 5 version but what will its score be? It seems more likely to have performance issues and have trouble fitting everything in, so I think it’ll be lucky to get away with low 90s at best.
Still obviously a great game but it seems to have so much cut content sitting around, especially when everyone’s main complaint seems to be the that the ending feels a undercooked compared to the beginning. Maybe spending so much time in early access isn’t such a great idea if you can’t pass on what you’ve learnt to the rest of the games.
Korky2
E-mail your comments to: [email protected]
Missing rival
I think we’re a long way away from getting any footage yet, but the news that Wonder Woman will use the Nemesis System (in some fashion at least) from Shadow Of Mordor/War has massively piqued my curiosity for the game. Those two games were hugely derivative of Assassin’s Creed and the Batman: Arkham titles in terms of their traversal, stealth and combat mechanics but added plenty of elements to the latter and were very slick and playable.
The Nemesis System really elevated them both in terms of creating a thirst for vengeance after you lost to a cackling orc opponent, mocking you as you lay in the dirt at their no doubt calloused and stinking feet!
Meestah Bull
GC: It is very strange that it hasn’t been copied by anyone else. At the very least you would’ve expected it to turn up in other Warner Bros. games; Mad Max and Hogwarts Legacy could have made great use of it.
In the cloud
I’m a little confused, so hopefully GC can help out.
So Microsoft maybe/might not be/who knows, getting Ubisoft+ to handle their cloud services for the Activision games in the UK.
Does this mean I will need another subscription just to play them or would it be a join and they would be free through Game Pass?
Hopefully GC has some inside information on how this will work.
Cassius2K
GC: Ubisoft is definitely handling cloud services; it’s been officially announced by both companies. Nothing has been said about free access via Game Pass, but we wouldn’t bet on it.
Short but sweet
If like me you are sick of overly long games which outstay their welcome, you might like to try A Short Hike, which is currently on Game Pass. It’s probably two to four hours at most, with the core concept of getting to the top of a mountain to take a call from your mum as you have no reception below. That’s it. You meet some characters on the way, have conversations, a few little side quests and then you come down again.
It is just so refreshing to be able to play a game through in one sitting and come away feeling like you’ve had fun. Plus, the music and graphics are great (you can change the ‘pixely’ look if you prefer it a bit smoother).
Would recommend it for a palette cleanser before embarking on things like Armored Core or Starfield, especially as it’s free on Game Pass.
Tom
GC: We agree, it’s a great little game.
It’s a living
Remasters 90s first person shooters is a hell of a specific job but you’ve got to admit that Nightdive Studios has definitely cornered the market. Loved their work on Quake 2 and very interested to play Star Wars: Dark Forces. Although I liked the Jedi Knight games I do feel it was a shame that the first game got kind of forgotten quite quickly, as I much preferred the focus on non-Jedi combat.
I’m very interested to see what Respawn will do for its new Star Wars shooter, as I never felt that any of the games, including Battlefront, really handled like I imagined they would from the films. There’s never any weight to them and those blaster bolts can send you flying, it’s not like being hit by bullets.
If the game also brings Kyle Katarn back as well then all the better, although it’s his ship I like the best. Much cooler than the one in the modern games.
Coulthard
More: Trending
Ahsoka: The Dour Years
Did anyone get Star Wars: Knights Of The Old Republic vibes from the plot of the new Ahsoka show on Disney+? That temple and the map really seemed like the ones you were collecting in that game, so I wonder if they’re going to be referencing all that?
Then again it was also quite a bit like Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, with the puzzles and the ancient artefacts. Although I’m not really sure what the puzzles were. Line up the sights with the three super obvious balls and then the ball turns out to be a super easy Rubik Cube that seemed to only have a few possible solutions? If Ahsoka was stuck on that she must be really bad at Zelda games.
Curious to know what GC thought of the show, as I bet they’ve seen it. I’m also interested to see what other video game references there might be. There’s been quite a few in The Mandalorian and Obi-Wan Kenobi. An Ahsoka game would be cool too, since she’s got all these years between the trilogies, where we don’t know what she was doing.
Herbie
GC: It was okay-ish. The casting and effects were great but there’s nothing interesting going on in terms of characters or story yet. Our biggest issue is that Ahsoka doesn’t act at all like her usual self. We know she’s had a hard life but if she’s going to be this joyless and stoic was it really a good idea to base a whole show on her?
Inbox also-rans
With news of Ubisoft doing the streaming for Microsoft games in the UK I can see next year’s big news story bring Microsoft buying Ubisoft as a middle finger to the UK CMA.
Mark Matthews
Thumper is a measly £1.59 on the Xbox store.
Chaosphere616
GC: It’s worth much more than that.
The PlayStation Portal is named like the Facebook portal released a few years back. I imagine it will be just as successful. (Yes, I know they are different products, just the name sounded familiar.)
Mark Matthews
This week’s Hot Topic
The subject for this weekend’s Inbox was suggested by reader Simon, who asks what is your favourite level or set piece in a video game?
Many games nowadays don’t have levels as such, but any distinct section of a game will do, including areas or missions in an open world game. What was it you enjoyed so much about the level and how did it compare to other elements of the game, especially the sections immediately before and after it?
Have you played a game where one level was significantly better than any other part of it and did you still feel the game was worth playing just to experience that?
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 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.
MORE : Games Inbox: Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty questions, Gamescom disappointment, and Somerville
Follow Metro Gaming on Twitter and email us at [email protected]
To submit Inbox letters and Reader’s Features more easily, without the need to send an email, just use our Submit Stuff page here.
For more stories like this, check our Gaming page.
Sign up to all the exclusive gaming content, latest releases before they’re seen on the site.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
The Thursday letters page discusses the video game references in Ahsoka, as one reader looks forward to a new game using the Nemesis System.
