Games Inbox: Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom disappointment, PS5 Pro, and The Last Of Us Part 1 PC bugs

The Legend of Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom – even the Master Sword seems broken (pic: Nintendo)

The Thursday letters page wants to see a lot more demos for all video games, as one reader wonders what happened to Capcom’s Pragmata.

Breaking news
Like seemingly everyone else, I really enjoyed the Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom gameplay video but I was disappointed to find that breakable weapons are still a part of the game. I know Breath Of The Wild was very popular, so they’re not going to want to change anything for the sake of it, but I’m one of those that really hated the way weapons only lasted five minutes.

I’d much rather they act normally but maybe degrade a bit and you have to sharpen them. That seems realistic to me but what is clearly a very well made halberd just breaking after a few swipes is nonsense. For me the proof that the idea was silly is the way they fudged you not being able to use the Master Sword all the time, that was one of the worst parts of the game.

Of course, the game was still great anyway but for me the weapons breaking was an unnecessary flaw that could easily be removed and added absolutely nothing of value. I guess it’s too late for them to change anything now but for me it’s a shame and it spoils the quality of both games.
Bis

GC: It’s still unclear how Fuse affects weapon durability. The gameplay video seemed to imply that fusing items made them stronger or can essentially repair an almost broken weapon.

The last remake
So glad to see Capcom enjoy success with Resident Evil 4. It’s a fantastic remake and you can tell they put a ton of effort into it, which I very much appreciate. I do feel it should be the last remake though. None of the other games are as good and it just seems such a waste of time for me.

I’ll allow Dino Crisis but beyond that I’d much rather see Capcom create new games, and ideally something single-player and not Exoprimal. Capcom are always at their best when they’re inventing crazy new games and I’d love to see them use guaranteed hits like Resident Evil to fund more original games.

What happened to that one they announced a few years ago? Some weird sci-fi thing with a spacesuit? I don’t remember ever hearing about it again but I hoped it’s not been canned. I want more weird games that I don’t really understand. That’s when Capcom, and gaming in general, is at its best.
AJ Connor

GC: You’re thinking of Pragmata, which is supposed to be out this year but about which we’ve heard nothing else since it was first announced.

Don’t ask
I remember getting the Xbox 360 at launch, the first time I had ever done so.

It lasted about 22 days before crashing with the Red Ring of Death. Microsoft had decided they were no longer swapping Xboxes so I had to wait two weeks for a replacement. I have had five Xbox 360s. I was given a broken Xbox 1, which I fixed and then gave away for free to my stepson because I was so disgusted with Microsoft gaming product.

My history with Sony:

PlayStation 2 was amazing with WipEout and Gran Turismo series
PlayStation 3 was Uncharted series and Tomb Raider
PlayStation 4 was incredible but then came PS4 Pro which changed everything. For example, GT Sport played the way it was meant to be played.

Microsoft wants you to use Xbox as a media centre, they don’t get it. I don’t care. I want to play games and that’s what the PlayStation is for.

The PS5 Pro will probably be around 499.

And currently PlayStation 5 is currently outselling Xbox at 35 million units compared to 20. And snoy had a slow start. They question isn’t why, the question is when you going to get a PS5 Pro.
Anon

GC: We have plenty of questions right now.

Fire and forget
I said to my wife many years ago, while playing Oblivion, the final upgrade for bows should be homing arrows, or at least a satisfying slo-mo aftertouch, Sensible Soccer style. I see this is a fun new addition to the new Zelda. I wonder if it has it featured in any other games beforehand?

Must say I’m impressed with the latest demo. The fuse skill is genius and implemented with typical Nintendo aplomb.

As an aside, I’m working through the Wii back catalogue when snatches of gaming time permit. I’d forgotten how much fun Need For Speed Nitro and Cruis’n were (tilt control skills honed with Excite Truck helps). The latter being an arcade-perfect forerunner of the splendid Cruis’n Blast on Switch. Long live the non-realistic arcade racer.
will sargent

GC: We know they’re a thing in Minecraft and Terraria, but we’re struggling to think of a more structured game that has them.

Try before you buy
I feel like the death of E3 and its ilk is inevitable, as companies shift from live shows to pre-recorded, Nintendo Direct style presentations.

Can we not have a modern take on the demo booth as well, though?

They should release demos – the ones they would have had E3/Gamescom/whatever – for a limited time during or after the presentations.

I know in the past companies have said demos negatively impact sales, but that was a while ago. The fact that Capcom credited Resident Evil 4’s Chainsaw Demo for its success hopefully means other publishers will follow suit.
ANON

GC: In general, publishers want you to know as little as possible about a game before you buy it, that’s one of the reasons why E3 has been left to die. As you say, it’s a relief to see Capcom enjoy success with their openness over Resident Evil 4. We can only hope it encourages others.

Slow death
It is sad but the writing is on the wall for E3 now. It was always such a fun time of year to look forward to in the past. Now we have to hope for random showcases and sometimes we don’t even get them during a calendar year.

In reality, E3 received a fatal blow in 2019, when Sony decided not to attend, and it’s been bleeding out ever since; it seems now the rest of the companies have decided to deal the death blow, to put it out of its misery.
Niall Maguire

Excuses at the ready
That’s an interesting read about The Last of Us Part 1 being a buggy mess on PC.

Especially after Sony threw a grenade at the Activision Blizzard acquisition, suggesting Microsoft might purposefully release games on the PlayStation that won’t be ‘the finished article’, shall we say.

Especially as you guys suggested that Sony probably knew about the problems yet still released it to coincide with the TV show.

Which just adds more fuel to the fire when Microsoft delay the release of Call Of Duty on the PlayStation and the Xbox version is ready to rock and roll four months prior.

The answer will be ‘Of course we wanted it to be a universal release but unfortunately there are still a few kinks on the PlayStation version that need to be ironed out.

We are trying to get out of the habit of releasing games when they’re not ready and hope PlayStation owners understand that we just want them to have the best possible experience they possibly can on their hardware of choice.’

I suspect Microsoft will do more twists and turns through this whole saga. That they would make Maradona blush.
freeway 77

Don’t punch the boulder
If I was Capcom I would not want to remake Resident Evil 5. The game is not that great and the depiction of Africa needs a major overhaul and even then it’s going to cause so much argument I can’t see it ever been a net loss for them. It’s not a terrible game, so I guess it could be improved into a good one, but it just seems pointless considering no one wants Resident Evil 6 either. Unless they’re going to completely remake that one. But what would they keep to even consider it being the same thing?

Make Resident Evil 1 for the next next generation, sure, I can see the sense in that. But if you’re not going to do Code: Veronica, I would just call it a day and concentrate on new stuff.
Focus

Break out the weapons
It appears that the breakable weapons are back in Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom, as demonstrated in the 10 minutes of gameplay video. I remember people complaining that it was a bit like Marmite in Breath Of The wild, you either loved it or hated it. I always enjoyed that feature and any weapons I didn’t want to use I’d still carry along and throw them at enemies, just for giggles.

If you used the right weapon for the right job, for instance, a stone hammer for smashing rocks, an axe for chopping a tree, and not attempting some of other task with it, they became a lot more durable and more durable too as you ranked up in the game. You always had certain spawn areas for certain weapons and could always teleport there pretty quickly to restock on what you liked using. I’m glad they left the breakable weapons in the game, it also gave that element of survival that would be dearly missed.

The thing that entered my head when I watched the trailer was this looks like Breath Of The Wild 2.0. it’s the same land with the floating sky bits added. I remember reading about this will be Nintendo’s biggest ever file size of a game, so I thought it’s Breath Of The Wild plus all the new sky areas added together, which will be some real adventuring on hand.

But clearly the mechanics have changed, so that will offer up totally different gameplay than before. Also, to explore Hyrule again and see what some of the likeable characters are up to will be good to see.

I’m sure there’s a billion more surprises instore for us all as release date looms. I’ve already pre-ordered my copy.
Nick The Greek

Inbox also-rans
I don’t think Zelda has ever really done much with underwater exploration. I would totally be up for it having a Tomb Raider style approach where it’s a major part of the game and you have to swim anywhere.
LEM

If you liked the Leon meets Joe Biden video there’s a follow-up. The language is still pretty spicy but I found it hilarious.
Glovis

This week’s Hot Topic
The subject for this weekend’s Inbox was suggested by reader Tesla, who asks what video game franchise have you played the most entries in?

Many video game franchises have been going for 30 or 40 years at this point, with dozens of sequels and spin-offs, but which one have you played the most entries from? Is it because you’re a fan of the series and you purposefully sought them all out or was it more of an accident?

What put you off the entries you haven’t played and how much of a completionist do you tend to be about series you like? Do you like to keep the games and do you own any merchandise for them?

MORE : Games Inbox: Xbox Game Pass without the £1 deal, Resident Evil 4 DLC, and more Skies Of Arcadia

MORE : Games Inbox: Resident Evil 4 remake fan verdict, the Pawmo controversy, and Untitled Goose Game 2

The Thursday letters page wants to see a lot more demos for all video games, as one reader wonders what happened to Capcom’s Pragmata.