Alundra – will it ever return? (pic: Sony
The Tuesday letters page remembers when addictiveness was viewed as a positive, as one reader doesn’t care if Metal Gear Solid 3 is on Xbox.
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Least expected
I’m very nervous about getting too excited about the PlayStation Showcase on Wednesday but it does seem the best chance for Sony to have a big announcement spree, of the kind we’ve been waiting for all this time. I would imagine most of the time will be spent on obvious sequels, like Spider-Man 2 and Ghost Of Tsushima 2, and all these awful sounding live service games.
Hopefully core PlayStation fans will be thrown a bone though and we’ll get a few unexpected revivals or sequels. Personally, I’m still holding out for a new Colony Wars, Sly Cooper, or Ape Escape but I fear that the token ‘for the fans’ game will be a new Twisted Metal, which I still find it difficult to believe anyone really cares about.
For me the most wanted thing is always new IP, but I do like to see Sony go back and honour some of their classic franchises as well. It’d probably have little in common with the original, but I’d love to see a new Alundra, for example. Imagine that looking and working like Tears Of The Kingdom! I’m sure it wouldn’t be as good, but half as good as Zelda is still very good indeed.
Lester
Internal conflict
There’s nothing you can really say about Sony and Bloodborne at this point but why do they hate it so much? They never gave it much of a push even when it came out and now they pretend it doesn’t exist. It’s kind of like the PlayStation VR2 in that sense.
I get the sense that there’s a lot of in-fighting at Sony, where one side is all beyond certain projects and the other side thinks they’re a waste of time. I don’t know who’s who or why they got like this but it is sometimes very noticeable.
I’m hoping for a Bloodborne announcement of some sort on Wednesday but even then I bet we get no explanation for why it’s taken so long. What an unnecessary mystery.
Piro
In a good way
If I remember correctly some gaming magazines (probably Mean Machines or C&VG) gave a rating for addictiveness. I can understand why that’s not factored in as a plus now, but if it were I do believe Tears Of The Kingdom would have been given a 10. I can be doing something else and then a thought will pop into my head about ‘what if I did that?’ to solve a particular thing.
Probably not healthy but definitely the sign of a great game.
John Atkinson
No need for snobbery
First of all, the informative stuff. I have an Xbox Series X and a Nintendo Switch. I play them on the same TV. It’s a 48 inch C series LG OLED, which handles 4K resolution and is 120fps capable. I sit about one metre away from the TV. So at this range on the Xbox at 4K I can see every detail.
Now back to the latest Inbox topic, Zelda graphics. I did enjoy the Reader’s Feature and their opinion, it was an interesting read. The Switch isn’t running at 4K. It isn’t outputting in any form of HDR. It’s very noticeable. I am a bit of a 60fps snob usually but it depends what kind of game you’re playing to care. Dishonored 2 runs at 30fps on the Xbox Series X and it’s very noticeable. It didn’t get a fps boost like some of the other Bethesda titles. One of my all-time favourite games, may I add.
I watched the Digital Foundry video of the Switch performance of Zelda. It drops to something like 720p when moving around in docked mode and when you stand still it hits a higher resolution I believe. It’s excellent how it does it. There is slowdown but quite honestly I’ve never cared about it. Kakariko Village on Breath Of The Wild suffered dearly with the same thing. It was never a game breaker!
The anti-aliasing on Zelda is not great. Once again, it’s noticeable. We are now comparing the latest consoles to Nintendo’s console, which never tried to match the elite from the get go. They didn’t since the SNES and N64 days to my knowledge. Plus, it’s a handheld.
Zelda does use a washed out pastel palette, it’s usually trying to portray the weather conditions in the game. Sleep and get lucky with a bright sunny morning and sometimes you’ll think it’s a different game you’re playing.
The art style is maybe what is upsetting the person that wrote the Reader’s Feature at the weekend. I’m a big Zelda fan but never liked The Wind Waker style on the GameCube. I have come to terms with that more now and I do appreciate what they did back then.
So what I’m trying to say is don’t be put off by a game for its graphics. The playability factor should always come first, that’s why such a game like Vampire Survivors can win a BAFTA and get a great review on GC.
Nick The Greek
Seen it before
Watching the latest Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning trailer, which does look great, I noticed a scene which looked very familiar. The train hanging over the side of a cliff reminded me of Uncharted 2. I think it was Uncharted 2 (help me out GC). Interesting to see movies ripping off video games. Mind you, Naughty Dog borrowed heavily from cinema. I recall the plane action scene from Uncharted 3 being a carbon copy from a Bond movie. I think it was The Living Daylights? It was definitely a Timothy Dalton Bond movie.
If we do get an Uncharted 5 trailer on Wednesday, I wonder if we will see some more plagiarism? Check out the trailer, it looks as though Tom Cruise has saved the cinema once again.
Anon
GC: The train was the beginning of Uncharted 2. The Living Daylights cargo plane scene was ripped off for both Uncharted 3 and the Uncharted movie.
Three point turn
I don’t often email in as I find my thoughts wonder too randomly to make points, but I think I have some coherent thoughts for once:
First off, the complaints about Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom map reuse: imagine a band you like announce a new gig close by: yay! They have great music and an awesome stage show, so it’s reviewing fantastically. But, wait, it’s in your local stadium and you’ve been there before to see another band. No! Why should you go see this band you like? You’ve been to the venue, how dare they reuse that same venue! That’s the basis of their complaints, and it’s a bit pathetic really.
Next, weapon durability: am I the only one who appreciates it? I really love the realism of it, real swords are only good for a few hits before they start to become a gnarly mess and I appreciate the attempts to bring that detail to games. Also loved it in Fire Emblem, adding another level of strategy to consider (was very disappointed that Engage did away with this).
Finally… Oh damn I’ve lost my coherent thoughts…. I haven’t played the new Zelda yet, it’s my first purchase on payday (coincidentally also my birthday, so a nice present to myself) and am very much looking forward to it.
Solabound
PS: I see mention of the Underbox every now and then but can never find it, any advice?
PPS: Ah, I remembered my last thought, having played Tomb Raider recently, bad things need to happen to whoever created QTEs…
GC: It’s at the bottom of the page, or just click Comments at the top. Unless you have some kind of blocker turned on (please don’t). Yu Suzuki might have created QTEs, but he also made OutRun and After Burner so we’re going to give him a pass.
There and back again
For any readers that are interested, there are some Zelda amiibo coming in and out of stock and back again on the Nintendo Store. So might be worth having a look every so often if you are after a certain one of Zelda, Link, Ganon, or other characters like Midna and more.
Andrew J.
Currently playing: Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom, Spider-Man DLC (PS4 version)
What matters
It’s not my original thought but it’s a shame that recent talk of Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom is why it doesn’t looks like Horizon Forbidden West or any current gen game and not why doesn’t Horizon Forbidden West have the level of creativity of Tears Of The Kingdom? Especially at it resides on non-arm tied behind the back hardware like the Switch.
In creativity, gameplay, and ideas terms Tears Of The Kingdom is the shiny bleeding edge graphics of a PlayStation 5 game and Forbidden West is as outdated and generationally challenged as some say Tears Of The Kingdoms graphics are. It’s mechanically the same game I played on PlayStation 4 in Zero Dawn, which itself used an already well trodden Ubisoft open world format. Still a great game but nothing new.
I don’t know who was the bright spark at the Nintendo who said, ‘You know what? Let the player attach anything to anything’ but give him, and all the higher-ups who cleared it, a medal. To do that and fuse these gameplay ideas and mechanics in such a meaningful way is a level of ambition and execution a generation ahead of prettier open worlds games like Forbidden West and Hogwarts Legacy.
It’s not a perfect game. But just like when I played Ocarina Of Time on N64 I feel Breath of the Wild and, far more so, Tears Of The Kingdom are doing stuff other games, especially other open world games, aren’t coming close too. That this isn’t the takeaway from the game for some and that it looks technically pretty rough when stacked up against PlayStation 5/Xbox Series X is a bit depressing.
Simundo
Inbox also-rans
I can understand Nintendo being secretive about Zelda but is it really a good idea for Remedy to wait just a couple of months before release to talk about Alan Wake 2? I’m going to suggest no.
Ragman
As an Xbox owner can I just say I couldn’t care less whether Metal Gear Solid 3 remake comes to my console or not. Most overrated series ever if you ask me. Which I know you didn’t but I wanted to get that off my chest.
Cabbie
This week’s Hot Topic
The subject for this weekend’s Inbox was suggested by reader Lamont, who asks where do you usually play your video games?
Do you have a specific room set aside for them or is it just the living room or bedroom? Is your television set-up specially designed for games and what do you in terms of the sound system and storing the consoles and controllers?
If you do have a special room, does it have a lot of games related merchandise and decoration in it? If it doesn’t do you wish it did?
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.
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The Tuesday letters page remembers when addictiveness was viewed as a positive, as one reader doesn’t care if Metal Gear Solid 3 is on Xbox.
