The morning Inbox thinks its going to be a quiet year for Sony and Nintendo, as one reader suggests an alternative Final Fantasy VII remake.
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Dirty concept
Ive been reading all the comments about Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice with interest and they remind me of the regular arguments people got into when a new Soulsborne game is released. I very much respect those games but I have neither the skill nor the time to play them and I always feel left out.
That does not mean I want them to change but I do wish they had an easy mode and I do not understand any argument against it, if you assume that the normal hard mode is unchanged and available from the beginning. Hard games used to have an easy mode, I remember Viewtiful Joe and Ninja Gaiden in particular and even though they gave them insulting names to tease you they were a totally legitimate way of playing them.
Its only the rise of FromSoftware thats made easy mode a dirty concept and while I think every game should have the option I wouldnt even mind that much if From games were the exception. But instead their policies has influenced other games and now its very common to have no easy mode, permadeath, and rock hard difficulty – all things I cannot, and do not want to, handle. I just dont see whats wrong with other people having fun too.
Espo
For the fans
The reader asking about Final Fantasy VII the other day was funny because I had forgotten it had got a remake, despite its announcement being such a huge deal. Ive no idea when it is going to release but Ive very little confidence in it being something Id enjoy. What little theyve shown so far looks so different from the original game it might as well be something completely different.
Which brings me to my point. Weve had a lot of remakes that either upgrade PlayStation 3 era games with modern graphics (Shadow Of The Colossus) or completely revamp older games (Resident Evil 2) but I cant think of anything that has tried to update a game but still kept some of the limitations.
The Resident Evil 1 remake is probably the closest but what I wouldve done with Final Fantasy VII is kept the gameplay more or less exactly the same, just making things more accessible where needed, and update the graphics to something close to PlayStation 2 level. Any better than that and I think you lose the charm and tone of the original. Plus the game becomes so expensive to make it has to be changed to suit the mainstream instead of the fans, which is what seems to be happening.
I doubt any company would do this but it seems to me a much more cost effective way of pleasing fans and making your money back without having to worry about anyone else.
Winston
Quiet year
Never mind Capcom at E3 I want to know when were going to hear something from Sony. I know theyre not there this year but surely theyre going to announce something around the same time? Arent they? Or are those little Nintendo Direct style videos all were getting all year?
Some people have said that 2019 has been a good year for games, and thats probably true, but its been a bit of a non-event so far for Sony. They only thing theyve got coming up is Days Gone, which looks like the weakest thing theyd done almost all gen.
Perhaps theyre just keeping their powder to me but it looks like the perfect time for Microsoft (and Google and whoever) to pounce. We could be in with another PlayStation 3 situation where Sony get complacent and have the lead stolen away from them. Especially if this year ends up being as dead for them as its looking at the moment.
Iceman
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Late again
I think that Zelda: A Link To The Past listing must be a mistake or something. I dont see what they could do with it if theyre already releasing Links Awakening. They cant just re-release it, as theyve already been selling it for around £5 online, but its a much bigger game than Links Awakening so they cant be remaking it either, or itd be a bigger deal than the game the one its supposed to be bundled with.
To be honest I think that reader is being a bit optimistic when he says Nintendo are going to have a great second half of the year. A lot of the games he mentioned were just remasters and if Nintendo follow standard procedure half of the other ones will end up being delayed into next year.
We keep hearing about Nintendo combining their home and portable teams but theres been zero return from that so far, and Im beginning to worry there wont be until their next console. Id still rather have quality than quantity, but as usual the opposite doesnt really seem to be an option anyway.
Russell Carey
Stock fantasy
Comparing Japan and Western games, I had been playing Skyrim again on Switch (given the lack of big releases lately) and was quite shocked how badly the game has aged… especially in the face of Zelda: Breath Of The Wild.
GC picked it up in their re-review and while it looks great in portable mode Its just so unimaginative, not only in the stock fantasy world it creates but the (lack of) interactivity and the mission design. Im about 10 hours in and Im essentially fast-travelling around ticking endless nearly identical items off a to do list, its more like work and I could feel my gaming creativity dripping away. Compared to the joy of Zelda theres just no sense of discovery.
I had to give up the game and go back to the still brilliant Dark Souls Remastered, which has barely aged a day I might add.
Marc
Rockstar reputation
Personally, I agree that Rockstar Games are definitely too much in love with their own reputation. I also found Red Dead Redemption II to be extremely dull once you got over the initial wow factor of the graphics. Its also an extremely old-fashioned design, that you can tell mustve been started years and years ago. I wasnt really impressed by any aspect apart from the technology, and that includes the story which was horribly bloated and made the cardinal sin of telling and not showing why each of the characters acted the way they did.
In terms of which is their best I do think Bully is up there but I think Manhunt has it beat. Its a much smaller game than the ones theyre best known for but for me it nailed what it was trying to do perfectly and has the strongest gameplay of any of their games. The sleazy tone was also spot on and a lot more honest than GTA.
In terms of their open world games Id say the best one was still probably GTA: San Andreas, with the first Red Dead Redemption in second place. Theyre both a little bloated but at the time they seemed fresh and exciting enough that they could coast along on just that.
Goodley
Pure indie
I have to agree that Outward sounds like it has sale impulse purchase written all over it. Theres no way Im picking it up at full price but half price or close to it and Ill give it a go. Id never heard of the game until now and Im kind of surprised this sort of low budget (I assume) game is still being released by normal publishers and not just put out as a pure indie title.
Not that Im complaining but I wonder what the developer got out of the deal that was better than just doing it all themselves and keeping all the profit? I assume they mustve been given some money to get it finished? I think it was mentioned the other day that its surprising more indie dont find the funding from elsewhere. Im sure theyd be better off with a venture capitalist trying their luck, that doesnt know anything about games, rather than a publisher that knows exactly what its doing and how to screw over small studios.
Kano
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