Mister Jack

To add insult to injury they're not even going to fire Bobby Kotick. What the fuck, MS.

I was actually looking at CDkeys to see how much Monster Hunter World + Iceborne cost on the PC, but this was on the homepage for less than two dollars. I couldn't resist a sale like that.

This is starting to become a thing with websites and especially shopping apps but I hate it when a place makes you play some little time-wasting game to get a discount. First of all, these games are never fun, just tedious. Second, I play games because I want to have fun, not because someone else is holding my money hostage. Just stop making me jump through hoops and give me the fucking coupons already!

Having a great time with the PC port of Monster Hunter Rise. I'm so glad I waited because with so much action going on, sometimes with four hunters AND four NPC companions all attacking the same monster at the same time, I can't imagine trying to run this on a Switch. I also like that this game feels different enough from World to be its own thing and not make World obsolete. At the same time there are some things World does better and some things Rise does better, which makes both games worth playing in their own right. World has better graphics, bigger environments, and better multiplayer while Rise has better combat, more mobility, and cooler weapons and armor. I can't really definitively say one is better than the other. Not yet, anyway.

Mine isn't the exact same but I've been quite happy with my Asus monitor so far.

Steam version. Can't wait.

I don't know how I forgot Elden Ring. I already have it preordered on Amazon and I literally never preorder games anymore.

Definitely PSVR 2 for me. I actually have some VR games sitting unplayed right now because I want to wait and experience them the right way with proper controllers and a better headset. I'm also really crossing my fingers that VR modes on PS5 games will become a lot more common. I was playing Far Cry 6 with a buddy of mine last night and we were both talking about how the series is pretty formulaic but even if nothing else changed a Far Cry 7 with a VR mode would make it feel like a whole new game.

Ghostbusters Afterlife This is definitely a movie made for the fans, which both helps and hurts it. This one is a direct continuation of the original two films (although I don't remember them referencing 2 at all) so it calls back to the first film quite a bit. While it's not a total retread of the original story beats like the reboot was, you'll still be seeing a lot of familiar characters that are sometimes used in familiar ways. The climax is fanservice overload, which is kind of a mixed bag. It's fun to watch, but sometimes it also distracts from the story they're trying to tell. I'd still recommend it, though. Obviously it won't be as good as the original film but I'd put it above the second one.

What is it with time loops in games lately? Seems to be a trend.

I would love it if it was easy to make this work on the PC as well. Index is too expensive and cumbersome and I am not making a Facebook for the Quest so if someone got this running on Windows I could easily see it becoming my go-to VR on both platforms.

PSVR2 specs and features conference.

I don't know why anyone who remembers Evolve would have any faith in Back 4 Blood.

I've played every Yakuza so my answer is definitive: You don't HAVE to play the other Yakuza games to follow Like a Dragon if you don't want to, but if you have any intention of playing the previous games you'd better do that first because Like a Dragon spoils the hell out of what happens in the Kiryu saga. There are also references and characters you will appreciate more if you are already familiar with the setting.

I haven't gotten around to playing it yet but I can't imagine a game about marriage that requires you to play with a second person and encourages playing with your spouse would end up with them deciding it's better to get divorced.

@danielpholt If it makes you feel any better I heard Back 4 Blood kinda sucks anyway. As for me, I never got around to playing Monster Hunter Rise but that's because I'm waiting on the PC port.

If you absolutely have to put out a remaster in 30 FPS then so be it, but fifty dollars for a twenty year old game that's still in 30 FPS? You can't have it both ways, Atlus. I myself paid around 30 for it, which is as high as I was willing to go.

I didn't pay full price so I don't feel totally burned but it's a matter of principle to me. Putting out a half-assed remaster and charging that much for it feels scummy.

If that's the case then they shouldn't be charging fifty damn dollars for it.

Aaaaagh why is the SMT III Remaster capped at 30 FPS?! It costs more than twice as much as the Persona 4 port, which is damn solid. This sucks!

Shin Megami Tensei V Just wrapped this up with the neutral ending. Took roughly about 50 hours or so. The story here is pretty basic and you definitely shouldn't expect a plot or characters as iconic as Persona 5, but the story was never really the point of the mainline SMT series anyway. It's all about team building gameplay here and there are some new changes and QoL updates that I appreciate. Maps are large and open now for the most part and you can explore them as you see fit, although it's not quite open world. Think more like the hinterlands from Dragon Age: Inquisition and you have a general idea. Of course, Shin Megami Tensei is a post apocalyptic franchise so most of the environments are going to be desert and rubble, but I nonetheless like being able to go where I want rather than getting railroaded down a corridor. The maps are also littered with energy balls that help restore your HP and MP during long expeditions and you can teleport back to your last used save point if you find yourself hurting badly. It goes a long way in helping to prevent frustration. However, this game can still be frustrating at times for the simple fact that it's freaking brutal. Unlike Persona, which gives you party members with the abilities you need to get through each area, the party makeup in SMT is entirely up to you and you alone, so if you go up against a big boss and you're carrying a bunch of demons weak to the boss' favored element then tough shit. Time to fuse or recruit some new demons. Buffs and debuffs are absolutely essential, especially where agility is concerned because critical hits give you extra turns while missing attacks takes away turns, which also applies to your enemies. There were many bosses in the game I don't think I would have been able to beat if I wasn't abusing the press turn system to take away their chance to attack more than once per turn. It's very strategic and pretty satisfying when you manage to put together a team that cracks the code of a particularly difficult fight. Unfortunately, there are two main issues I have with SMT that are pretty much baked into the franchise's DNA at this point. The first is that level grinding is going to be required at some point. No ifs, ands, or buts about it. There are rare enemies that drop items that give you an instant level up if you manage to kill them before they run away, but even then I don't like being forced to grind and thanks to a level scaling system you're pretty much forced to fight enemies around your level because anything too high or low will give you reduced exp. I don't know why anyone thought this was a good idea. Don't force me to grind and then handicap my ability to do it, you jerks. My second gripe is that you go into boss battles completely blind. While the game does warn you when a boss is coming so you can go back and save, unless you're using a walkthrough you'll have no idea what element the boss is weak against until you fight it, which means a lot of first encounters are basically going to be suicide runs while you figure out which demons you need to use. I actually recommend playing with a walkthrough just so you can cut out the middleman and go into boss fights with the right demons in your party the first time. Ultimately SMT V is a flawed game but also tactical, challenging, and rewarding. If you feel like most JRPGs are too easy then you might get what you're looking for out of this one.

God damn, and that doesn't even include a GPU. I hate how expensive PC components have become. On the plus side, that will definitely last you for a good, long while. I'm not so sure console games will go back to 30 FPS anytime soon. We're hitting a point of diminishing returns with graphic fidelity and now that Series X and PS5 gamers are getting used to 60 FPS performance options in their games (and as far as I can tell it's the vastly preferred choice) they might not be so willing to go back to 30 again. To be honest I've tried the performance and graphics options back to back in several games and I can't even really notice the difference.

How much did all that run you?

I was originally planning to just play this on Gamepass at some point but 20 bucks on the steam sale is a pretty good deal and the friend pass I can use to get my friend to play it with me for free made it worth the purchase. Plus, I just like Mr. "Fuck the Oscars" and his passion and I wanna support his game. Also got the Yuffie DLC on the PSN sale along with the free PS5 upgrade.

The one thing I wasn't happy with in the prebuilt PC I bought recently was only having 1 TB of space to work with. That is no longer a problem now. Installing it was kind of a pain because my case interior is shaped a bit funny but I managed to get it done and now, with 3 TB on my desktop and 2 TB on my PS5, I am officially all set for this gen.