Never played it or other Chinese gacha games, but I do watch videos every now and then. They seem very well made. Like Japanese anime games on steroids.

Miyabi (another Vergil daughter lol) is such a boss. I was like "I definitely heard her voice in Unicorn Overlord and maybe Odin Sphere", googled it to find out she's voiced by the VA of Rosalinde, my Unicorn Overlord waifu!!

My first Chinese video game will probably either be Ananta or Neverness to Everness (what's up with Chinese titles? lol). I'm kind of hungry for a GTA like experience, having not played anything similar since GTA4.

Totally, just think about it.

- Until Dawn (many new players where happy with it, people who can play the ps4 ver. not so much)

- LEGO Horizon (I liked it but it isn't a $60 game, if you guys are interested and see it in 20 that would be perfect)

- Astro Bot

- A trailer to commemorate the release of the last Destiny 2 expansion

- New trailer to confirm DS2 is a 2025 game (I'm not interested but I want to believe there are people who are)

- Nice stuff they showed in the state of play before summer fest like Dynasty Warriors, Monster Hunter, POE2, SH2R and Chinese games.

And to end the presentation

- Ghost of Yotei

- Interestelar

Obviously Concord would've been the slow part, where you go to the bathroom or for some water and I would keep Horizon Remaster and Helldivers announcements for other shows.

I get that TGA is bigger now than any SoP so it makes sense to have Interestelar there but at the same time a lot of the hate comes from people who watch that show with the predisposition of not liking if PS has any kind of win. A showcase dedicated to the people who are actually going to buy the game would have been way better. 

As far as combat goes ZZZ was already pretty good, excellent I would say, great action all around, but now they really got an one of a kind hit, Miyabi is just so much fun, it's crazy, I just can't stop looking for excuses to get in battles with her.

You are right, she is just like Vergil, she was hyped to be the coolest and strongest from the chars coming in the near future since day one, and she delivered on the insane hype on every level, you know when you unlock a boss to be playable and think it can't be as crazy as it was when it was a boss now that it is in your team, but she plays just like she was into an anime battle climax moment the entire time, lol.

I don't even feel like switching to other chars, not because she is crazy strong, even as she is, but because every second of playing with her is pure adrenaline rush xD

They even structured the game as if it was releasing into anime seasons, now everybody you ever helped in the last 6 months came to help you back and everyone you met plays a big role in helping you out and wrapping things up, it even had an actual ending credits as if season 1 is now over and we move to wait for season 2.

It's crazy to think this thing is free and you can play it on your phone if you want. Same as Genshin Impact, you get a GOTY level game of content updates every year, for free. Genshin has some of the best lore in any game ever too.

Sadly they take so much time out of you, had to drop Genshin twice to be able to play other games and ever since ZZZ released I hardly play any big games, Metaphor just shipped home and I have no clue when I'll get to play all those other PS4, PS5 and Switch games I have, lol. So I definitely recommend caution when Ananta or NTE releases, I'm also looking up to those but how can people have time for all these games? XP

Yeah, like MMO's, gacha games are absolute timesinks. I put hundreds of hours into FF14 and a random Fairy Tail card game on Android lol. And a few dozen hours into Fate Grand Order. But it's been over 2 years since I last played an MMO or a gacha.

Some F2P games make ridiculous amounts of money from addicts and super nerds. Last night I watched a video where one dude paid $4500 just to get Miyabi and max her out apparently. It is these guys that make such well made and content-rich free games possible. Obviously, they get the advantage of wasting much less time than free players. And time is money.

I'll try Ananta or NTE or both if they're F2P. I'll potentially play 3 new GTA's in the same year! 2025 should be another strong year :D

So, I just beat GoW Ragnarok (main game + post game narrative; not the DLC) and I have to say what a wonderful experience it was. I'd say that it's a better overall package than GoW18, from the improved graphics, combat and movement versatility, enemy and environment variety, and overall character writing.

This is not to say I think GoW18 is not a good game: I think the power in its experience is the total refresh for GoW and Kratos as a whole, and the overall simpler design around the game's main narrative arc: spreading the ashes of his wife. And, I think this also comes with fantastic pacing: there never feels like a dull moment in GoW18. This is probably the core area in which it is a better game than GoWR, which most definitely has some pacing issues along the way. But at the same time, I think that is to be expected when you consider just how much larger and complex the overall narrative is and of course the players involved. Odin is such a fantastic villain, Thor has a really unexpected narrative arc, Brok and Sindri shine so much more more than they originally did and I would argue that the relationship moments between Kratos and Atreus hit a lot better than they did in GoW18: just some great moments of growth between them.

I know a lot of people highlight the Woods section as a very dull area. I won't disagree, because it definitely feels like it happens when you probably least want it to from a narrative perspective. But, it's a maybe 2 hour segment in what will be at least a 50 hour experience. I got the final story bits in post-game at around 80 hours, so this segment of the game feels really inconsequential in the grand scheme of things, but yes it is definitely the weakest part of the game.

I'm really excited to dive into the DLC, as it seems to focus almost entirely on the gameplay with more story for Kratos.

On another note: and PS5 settings I should immediately look into when I finally boot up my PS5 tomorrow lol

Most of the settings by default are okay unless you want to use HDR.

I personally lowered the voice/volume of the mic to conserve battery for my Dualsense. If I remember right, did the same thing with the light as well to lower the brightness.

Also congrats again for the PS5 purchase!

Santa brought me the Witcher 3 plat 😮.

Merry Christmas to you all 😁

I'm playing GoW R Valhalla, and as much as I love the added story, I absolutely loathe the gameplay loop. I think it's my first rougelike and honestly, it's going to be my last.

I really just don't know what to do... I think I've completed the loop twice? Everything after that has me dying either at the final encounter or pre-final encounter even with 2 resurrection stones. Maybe I'm just not spending enough mid-run but every single buff I have the option of choosing is just not great for the final encounter at all.

It's a very frustrating experience because it doesn't feel like I'm making any ground at all.

Which difficulty are you playing? Playing on normal I literally died just a single time in an optional boss because I got greedy with the last attacks trying to finish it off.

You have to beat the loop 4 times if I remember well, but the full loop only start being available after 2 or 3 story loops that end midway, you'll definitely know when you are into the full loop parts, believe me.

If you are already in the part of needing to speedrun the minibosses, you have to focus on being quick because the longer you stay there the harder it gets. Get the souls you need and go away.

I focusedly mostly on a single weapon each run, just making sure to get as many different slot runic attacjs as possible. Example: if I already have a light runic attack for the leviathan axe and are presented with a choice about another one that is better than what I have, or a heavy runic attack instead, I would choose the heavy one, then focus on runic attacks from other weapons, because being able to constantly cycle runic attacks means you have a lot of quick damage to deliver most of the time.

There are also 2 kinds of challenges from frost and fire swords you'll find in the map, which makes things harder if you focus on completing them and not just fighting the easiest way possible, if it's too hard you can leave them be, but I was doing those all the times anyway.

I think I did about 12 full loops or so, because there is a bit of lore to listen to in the next 9 or so loops after beating the game (you don't really have to do these, tho), and it was always pretty easy, as long and you keep improving your permanent stats it gets easier.

There is at least two very important events story wise in this DLC, so if you still end up giving up, make sure to watch it somewhere.

I'm not good at rougelikes, nor was I that good on God of War, but it was still decently easy, and IMO the combat is really fun so I had a blast playing it. Give it some more time.