DOesn`t matter much how many employees or teams if they work on a single IP =p

I doubt they're working on a single IP with over 800+ employees lol.

I actually don't know lol. I assumed the annual COD release is made possible due to multiple development teams.

Seems like Bungie started working on a new IP... but they already had a very big team for a single IP, they basically launch half a game every year with expansions.

CoD have like 5 or 6 teams (at one point Acti said all devs would work on CoD), so it is like 3 teams for the annual release cycling a release every 3 years and other 2 or 3 teams to keep supporting and expanding the F2P.

I'd be interested to see what non VR games they are working on..

So GTA V is out next week for next gen consoles - save your yapping, I know. Its currently $9.99 or £8.99 on PS Store. Price is for first three months. I already preordered my copy and its even preloadable rn - think it came in at a whopping 87GB download, which is quite substantial. Hopefully its more than just a simple resolution bump and PC textures https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2022-03-07-gta-5-for-ps5-and-xbox-series-x-s-is-half-price-for-first-three-months

Yes I wouldn't expect much from them to be honest.

You know, the thing about Elden Ring's open world is that it's not packed with content like I initially thought, but that every drop COULD be significant. like, when I first started playing in Limgrave my thought was that every ruin, every dungeon, every catacomb, every castle had the same level of detail and attention given to, say, Undead Parish or something. And I do believe that's true. But my initial stance that there's stuff to do everywhere and that there's little to no empty space is wrong. Especially in the lake region.

THAT SAID, I think the reason I still FEEL the same way is that, like with Dark souls and Bloodborne, the loot drops and items strewn about aren't just random thing, necessarily. Any random drop could be a new spell, or a new weapon, or a new weapon art. It's not that there's stuff everywhere - there is - but anything could be important. In Zelda Breath of the Wild, most of those drops were 'yay, a rupee' or 'yay, another royal broadsword'. Useful, but the chances of finding new armour or something was pretty slim and your items are/were disposable.

Elden Ring is equally packed with content, but its content has more potential to be significant, and I think that makes it so that every ruin is worth exploring. In Zelda (And keep in mind I LOVE both of these games, I am not disparaging Zelda), I often passed by the random ruins because I didn't feel the rewards would be worth it. But in Elden Ring, I get that feeling of 'what if I find something unique and awesome for my build!?"

So yeah, definitely a factor.

Sony saved Russians.










From hefty microtransactions.











Pulling GT7 release in Russia.

https://www.vgchartz.com/article/452781/sony-pulls-gran-turismo-7-release-in-russia/
https://www.vgchartz.com/article/452782/gran-turismo-7s-microtransactions-can-cost-up-to-40-for-a-single-car/

Yeah I do like that there's not much boundaries and essentially you can play as you want. You can go at your own pace and explore and get stronger arts, power level and get to areas faster or even cheese your way to the top. The level and maps and drops so well done and excellently put together it doesn't feel like your average open world game. I loved exploring Limgrave and the later levels and the dungeons are so good. But saying that some of the smaller levels a big pita like the rolling trap one (seriously horrible).

Nearing the end with my Strength build and I'm still having so much fun with it. PVP is also great with so many builds, arts and so on. Will keep most people happy (including myself) for a long long time.

I am currently running two characters. One is a barbarian (wearing the Champion's set, wielding a longsword and a Zweihander as well as a turtle shield and a longbow) that I play 100% solo. I will offer myself for others, but I do the game solo. I've done all the other games solo so it feels like I kinda have to. 

But my other character is a Dex/Astrologer, and I'm exclusively playing that character coop with two of my friends (A Samurai and a Strength/Faith warrior). Both gameplay styles are completely unique to one another and are giving me VASTLY different experiences. and I love it. 

So when I'm exploring as my barbarian, going at my own pace and sort of digging through every ruin or point of interest, I keep finding new weapons and stuff I could use on my astrologer, then I guide my buddies to that location in the coop game. It's just a truly wonderful experience. And since it's such a huge, long game this run will last us a very, VERY long time. And I'm actively trying to stretch it out. I've been at the gates of Raya Lucaria for a week now, and I just can't help but explore all around Liurnia and do as much as I can there before moving on. 

and yeah, back to the content question. In other open world games, even ones I love like Breath of the Wild and Red dead Redemption 2 (And even Skyrim now that I've played that game a dozen times or more), I tend to run right to where I need to go without exploring. I see the mission marker, I just fast-travel there, do the thing, and move on. It's 'fine', but it's not the same level of engagement. And unless an area has a sort of map marker or significant detailing, I just avoid it. Red Dead, I rarely strayed from the paths unless I was hunting, and even though plenty of things in that game were cleverly hidden, I didn't find 99% of it because I never felt it would be anything more than 'oh, hey that's cool/interesting', then move on. I had my weapons customized, I had the things I needed, I didn't care about anything else. Same with Breath of the Wild. I would be walking past a ruin, see some bokoblins, think to myself 'eh, I'll check that ruin out later', in a game about checkin' out ruins! 

but with Elden Ring, it's never 'I'll check that ruin out later', it's 'dude, I gotta check that out!' because as I said earlier, who knew if there would be some cool spell or crafting material or smithing stones? It's just a different experience when every point of interest you find COULD house something useful or significant. OR a boss. OR an underground cave system. 

I can't wait for the performance/framerate to be fixed. right now the framerate/loading times are less than ideal and really the only problem I have with the game. I love that it made coop more friendly and encouraged. I love the spirit summons. I love the mix of open world and legacy dungeons. I love that the world is littered with catacombs and caves. I love that every building, every ruin, and every little campfire could bear fruit of some sort. I love the ethereal feeling of the lands between. I love the sheer variety of spells, weapons, gameplay mechanics, and ways to play the game. It really is a mix and mash of basically all the best elements of all the prior FromSouls games mixed into one...they even took many elements from Dark Souls II and made them work remarkably well! (my buddy is power-stancing Katana and I'm using a twinblade, two-handing it, and absolutely LOVING it). And the bosses. Oh my freaking god the bosses!

While yes, they reuse a LOT of the bosses, I don't actually think any of them are bad yet. There are some simple ones that don't really do much, or are just beefed up normal mobs, but they all have unique enough designs and abilities that I'm somehow not bored. Like, I've fought three Night's Cavalry bosses, each with a different weapon but mostly the same moves/patterns, and it always felt like a challenge and something worth overcoming. I lost track of how many dragons there are, each with a different element or special move. Yeah, it's basically the same thing, but the different environments and subtle changes to the move set make it feel unique. 

I've seen some counts have the 'boss' list at over 170 bosses in the game. yeah, some of those bosses are recycled, most of them are mini-bosses (At the end of non-important dungeons or just random encounters in the open world), but that's such a wonderful thing to explore and square-off against. It helps make the game more engaging. It keeps that feeling of accomplishment going. there's always something to do, even if it's just another rendition of a boss you already beat. 

Maybe this is why it's best I don't do game review anymore. the games I love I just LOVE to gush about. Seriously, though, this game is easily a 9.7 for me. That's nestled right in between Bloodborne's 9.8, Dark souls III's 9.6, and matches games like Red Dead Redemption II, Breath of the Wild, skyrim, rock Band, and Smash Bros. Ultimate. 

Long-term, I do feel its replay value may be hurt a wee bit thanks to just how LONG it is (I can play Bloodborne from start to finish in a weekend and still love it, but this is a month-long engagement either way), but hot damn what a masterpiece. Up to nearly 100 hours put into two characters in the last few weeks. I expect to at least double that by the time I'm done. and my one buddy already has the platinum trophy, something I plan on getting myself some time down the line. 

Well deserving of all the praise. I do look forward to the drama when some fool gives it a 7/10 or something, whining about it being too hard or some shit.