Community MetaSteam | February 2024 - Let's bring democracy into the zone with love
- Thread starter Mor
- Start date
- Status
IGN - Steam News Hub
The PC games you should be playing, from the internet's #1 game review institution.
EXCLUSIVE: Elden Ring Director Answers All of Our Shadow of the Erdtree DLC Questions | IGN Fan Fest 2024
Bandai Namco surprised fans all over this morning with the trailer for the hotly-anticipated follow up DLC for Elden Ring, Shadow of the Erdtree. I was fortunate to not only catch an early glimpse of the trailer, which also confirmed the DLC's release date for June 21, but also to sit down and talk with the man himself, Elden Ring director Hidetaka Miyazaki.
Over the course of the interview we discuss the details of Shadow of the Erdtree, some of Elden Ring's bolder choices, his thoughts on potentially taking a step back from the director role in the future, and the state of the industry and how it relates to FromSoftware.
Read on for the full interview below, and make sure to check down our complete breakdown of the Shadow of the Erdtree trailer!
This interview has been lightly edited for clarity.
Can you set the stage for us with Shadow of the Erdtree? Where is it taking place? And can you speak kind of generally regarding what the story is going to be about?
Hidetaka Miyazaki, Director:
First of all, the setting of Shadow of the Erdtree is a brand new land. It's a brand new map separate from the Lands Between. It is a land that is overshadowed by the particular Shadow of the Erdtree as opposed to the Erdtree in the Lands Between. And it takes place, again, on an entirely separate, physically separate map. So it will involve a warp of sorts to get there.
In terms of setting and themes, it technically occupies the same space as the Lands Between, the same universe. But due to something story related that we won't reveal today, this has become physically disconnected, and you'll travel to the Shadow of the Erdtree land as a separate place.
So this Land of Shadow itself is a place the player will visit to walk in the steps of Miquella. Miquella is a key part of the story this time, perhaps as guessed by many players who saw the art that was released previously. That is in fact Miquella, and it is he who traveled to the Land of Shadow and it's the players who will be tracing his path and following in his footsteps, trying to see what he's going to do there. Another axis of the story is Queen Marika and what she did in the Land of Shadow, and what led Miquella to follow her there.
Speaking of this new land that we're traveling to, how is it structured? Is it structured in very much the same way as the Lands Between, where there are legacy dungeons and minor dungeons? Can you describe a little bit about how the world is going to be compared to the base game?
Miyazaki:
Yes. We think players can expect a similar experience to what they had with the base game. This is going to be structured in a similar way, as you said, with open field maps, with large scale legacy dungeons, and with small to medium scale legacies as well. So we hope players will enjoy this same sense of scale and sense of adventure throughout that structure.
Can you approximate the size of the world compared to the world in the base game?
Miyazaki:
It's hard to answer without giving away too much and to a high degree of accuracy, but if you think in terms of scale or size, it's probably comparable, if not larger, than the area of Limgrave from the base game.
So, you mentioned Miquella earlier, and that's a character that I know fans have had a lot of questions about. Is there anything specifically you can tell us about the role this character will play in the DLC? And I know the trailer opens with a shot of Mohg's boss arena, with the hand hanging out of the cocoon. Will we learn about what Mohg did to him?
Miyazaki:
Yes. The cocoon and arm you saw at the beginning of the trailer – this is actually the point of entry to the Land of Shadow where the players will enter to the DLC area. And this does have some relation to Miquella. And Miquella has, as we said, traveled to the Land of Shadow. He does have some motive and some objective there, which we don't want to give away too much. But essentially the player will be following in those footsteps in the same way that they followed the blessings from the Grace, the Sites of Grace in the Lands Between. They'll be following in Miquella's footsteps, and these will guide them through the Land of Shadow and reveal that motivation to them.
The cocoon and arm you saw at the beginning of the trailer – this is actually the point of entry to the Land of Shadow where the players will enter to the DLC area And of course the player is not the only one who is curious about Miquella. There are several characters in the world, and NPCs who have been following Miquella as well. And the player will encounter them on their journey in the Land of Shadow, and they will make new friends and enemies, we hope.
There were a lot of striking bosses and enemies that were revealed in this trailer, and I was wondering if we could just go through a handful of them one by one and you can either explain who or what they are, tell us an anecdote about their design, or anything you want. And I'm going to do my best to describe them because I don't know the names of them. First off, there's like... a giant basket of flaming kindling.
Miyazaki:
Okay. So this giant basket of flame, as you so eloquently put it, Mitchell, was a terrible weapon you used in a war that occurred in the Land of Shadow, basically. So again, without saying too much, we can't give away the name just yet officially, but yes, it was a really gruesome weapon that was used. And the kindling that you see is actually the remains of bodies that were put in there to burn. So there's that friendly fellow.
And then there's an absolutely terrifying worm with arms that eats people whole.
Miyazaki:
It's hard to talk about some of these enemies without spoiling anything, hopefully you understand. But there is a significant connection between these enemies, the way they are, and the Land of Shadow.
Okay. I'm just going to skip to the last one, if it's okay. But what can you tell me about the man in red with snakes and flames that's kind of like the focal point of this DLC trailer.
Miyazaki:
Yes, we can speak to this character a little bit. This is a, as you say, a key figure of this DLC. We believe he will be officially revealed to be Messmer by the time the trailer goes live. And yes, he's a key figure in the DLC and he again has this important element of shadow to him, which is a key theme throughout the DLC as well.
And you may have seen at the end of the trailer, there was this piece of key art where it shows Messmer sat in this throne-like chair, and people who've played the game may recognize this throne to be one of those from the boss room where you battle Morgott. And this represents the thrones at the base of the Erdtree. And it's supposed to symbolize that Messmer stands on equal footing to these other demigods and children of Marika who sat around in these thrones and held the rooms of the Erdtree.
So he is an important figure who rivals these other demigods. And as you play the DLC, you will learn a little about why he wasn't featured in the legends of the Erdtree, the lands between. You'll realize why he exists in this shadow, this land of shadow.
Switching gears for a second. One of the big news points I think of Elden Ring was that the scenario was written by George R. R. Martin. Did he have any kind of role in the planning of Shadow of the Erdtree? And if so, just out of curiosity, have you talked to him since the game has come out and has he had any kind of reaction to the outstanding success of the game?
Miyazaki
: The way George Martin's story has been incorporated is the same as it was with the base game with Elden Ring. And to avoid misunderstanding there, we just want to point out that he hasn't written anything exclusively and new for the sake of this DLC.
But it would still be fair to say that he and his mythos that he created for us are involved in the creation of Shadow of the Erdtree in the same way. And the reason for that is that in making the base game and making Elden Ring, we took from that mythos, but we only took one part of it. We took from a part that created the story of Elden Ring and created the world that we wanted to envision, and the Shadow of the Erdtree is yet another part of that original mythos that he wrote and that has inspired us to create the story of this DLC.
As for your second question, Mr. Martin and I have at least exchanged emails since the release of Elden Ring, but unfortunately we haven't been able to meet and speak in person. It's something I've wanted to do since the release and talk to him again and share in our joy for the game hopefully, but unfortunately he's just been so busy that we haven't had that chance yet. But I'll keep looking for an opportunity.
It's been two years now since Elden Ring has launched, and much of the hardcore audience have already
found the best gear
, they fought the hardest bosses, and they're at such high levels that I imagine it must be difficult to come up with content that can provide a challenge for those hardcore fans without making it too hard for some of the more casual Elden Ring players. So with all that said, how do you approach difficulty with a DLC such as this?
Miyazaki:
Our general approach to difficulty has of course not changed to Elden Ring. We want to create a challenging experience that tests the players and that gives them a feeling of satisfaction and accomplishment when they get through these struggles. However, we do want to stress that there's still a freedom of approach and a breadth of strategy to these encounters. And that means both how you approach them if you want to face these challenges or come back to them later and circumvent them and find another way around and come back when you're ready. This same philosophy is taken in Shadow of the Erdtree. And again, to our more hardcore players, they will find optional bosses who have been tuned in a similar way to the likes of Malenia, who I'm sure you remember from the base game, who are not crucial.
Oh, God.
Miyazaki:
Yeah, you might remember her. They're not crucial to completion of the DLC, but they are an optional extra to help challenge for those who are so inclined.
That said, there may not be another boss on exactly the same level as Malenia, but we feel like this is somewhere that we've paid close attention to, this level of challenge and offering that same level of freedom. And we hope that players are able to blossom in the Land of Shadow in the same way that they were in the lands between.
Actually, I want to redress that. It's not the fact that it's only a lesser level to Malenia, but we have prepared bosses on that with that similar mindset within the DLC area, ones that will challenge the player and hopefully be as memorable as Malenia was.
Final question on the topic of Shadow of the Erdtree, but do you envision this as the end of Elden Ring's story or is there room for either more DLC or in Elden Ring 2 down the line?
Miyazaki:
We don't want to say this is the end of the Elden Ring saga for now. I think we said a similar thing at the end of Dark Souls 3. We didn't want to flatten those possibilities or put a pin in them just at that time. And it's a similar story with Elden Ring. We don't want to discourage the possibilities for that. There might be more ideas in the future.
We don't have any current plans to make a second DLC or a sequel, but we definitely don't want to snuff out that possibility. We think that there could well be something the future.
And lastly, the
state of the game industry right now is pretty rough
. There's a lot of layoffs, studio closures... the
PS5 apparently is already in the latter stage of its lifecycle
. Has the landscape of the industry changed your outlook at all on From Software's future?
Miyazaki:
Yes. I'm aware of the situation in the games industry it's going through right now is quite harrowing. I think in terms of speaking to all those things that are happening, like layoffs and closures at other studios, I think it's difficult for me to understand the exact circumstances there. I won't speak to those in specifics.
Just speaking on behalf of FromSoftware, I think we are very blessed in the way that we have a lot of keen up and coming developers who've grown and they have developed within the studio and they've reached these director positions where they're able to direct projects such as the recent Armored Core VI. We have several of these up and coming directors who we're able to delegate these projects to, and we're able to have multiple projects on the go at once.
What I foresee in this climate, at least for us, is a FromSoftware where games can be directed by others, not only myself. I think in the face of that struggle and the place where the games industry is right now, I do see this as a time for us to continue to grow and continue to cultivate this talent and continue to release these games for as long as we can.
Mitchell Saltzman is an editorial producer at IGN. You can find him on twitter
@JurassicRabbit
Bandai Namco surprised fans all over this morning with the trailer for the hotly-anticipated follow up DLC for Elden Ring, Shadow of the Erdtree. I was fortunate to not only catch an early glimpse of the trailer, which also confirmed the DLC's release date for June 21, but also to sit down and talk with the man himself, Elden Ring director Hidetaka Miyazaki.
Over the course of the interview we discuss the details of Shadow of the Erdtree, some of Elden Ring's bolder choices, his thoughts on potentially taking a step back from the director role in the future, and the state of the industry and how it relates to FromSoftware.
Read on for the full interview below, and make sure to check down our complete breakdown of the Shadow of the Erdtree trailer!
This interview has been lightly edited for clarity.
Can you set the stage for us with Shadow of the Erdtree? Where is it taking place? And can you speak kind of generally regarding what the story is going to be about?
Hidetaka Miyazaki, Director:
First of all, the setting of Shadow of the Erdtree is a brand new land. It's a brand new map separate from the Lands Between. It is a land that is overshadowed by the particular Shadow of the Erdtree as opposed to the Erdtree in the Lands Between. And it takes place, again, on an entirely separate, physically separate map. So it will involve a warp of sorts to get there.
In terms of setting and themes, it technically occupies the same space as the Lands Between, the same universe. But due to something story related that we won't reveal today, this has become physically disconnected, and you'll travel to the Shadow of the Erdtree land as a separate place.
So this Land of Shadow itself is a place the player will visit to walk in the steps of Miquella. Miquella is a key part of the story this time, perhaps as guessed by many players who saw the art that was released previously. That is in fact Miquella, and it is he who traveled to the Land of Shadow and it's the players who will be tracing his path and following in his footsteps, trying to see what he's going to do there. Another axis of the story is Queen Marika and what she did in the Land of Shadow, and what led Miquella to follow her there.
Speaking of this new land that we're traveling to, how is it structured? Is it structured in very much the same way as the Lands Between, where there are legacy dungeons and minor dungeons? Can you describe a little bit about how the world is going to be compared to the base game?
Miyazaki:
Yes. We think players can expect a similar experience to what they had with the base game. This is going to be structured in a similar way, as you said, with open field maps, with large scale legacy dungeons, and with small to medium scale legacies as well. So we hope players will enjoy this same sense of scale and sense of adventure throughout that structure.
Can you approximate the size of the world compared to the world in the base game?
Miyazaki:
It's hard to answer without giving away too much and to a high degree of accuracy, but if you think in terms of scale or size, it's probably comparable, if not larger, than the area of Limgrave from the base game.
So, you mentioned Miquella earlier, and that's a character that I know fans have had a lot of questions about. Is there anything specifically you can tell us about the role this character will play in the DLC? And I know the trailer opens with a shot of Mohg's boss arena, with the hand hanging out of the cocoon. Will we learn about what Mohg did to him?
Miyazaki:
Yes. The cocoon and arm you saw at the beginning of the trailer – this is actually the point of entry to the Land of Shadow where the players will enter to the DLC area. And this does have some relation to Miquella. And Miquella has, as we said, traveled to the Land of Shadow. He does have some motive and some objective there, which we don't want to give away too much. But essentially the player will be following in those footsteps in the same way that they followed the blessings from the Grace, the Sites of Grace in the Lands Between. They'll be following in Miquella's footsteps, and these will guide them through the Land of Shadow and reveal that motivation to them.
The cocoon and arm you saw at the beginning of the trailer – this is actually the point of entry to the Land of Shadow where the players will enter to the DLC area And of course the player is not the only one who is curious about Miquella. There are several characters in the world, and NPCs who have been following Miquella as well. And the player will encounter them on their journey in the Land of Shadow, and they will make new friends and enemies, we hope.
There were a lot of striking bosses and enemies that were revealed in this trailer, and I was wondering if we could just go through a handful of them one by one and you can either explain who or what they are, tell us an anecdote about their design, or anything you want. And I'm going to do my best to describe them because I don't know the names of them. First off, there's like... a giant basket of flaming kindling.
Miyazaki:
Okay. So this giant basket of flame, as you so eloquently put it, Mitchell, was a terrible weapon you used in a war that occurred in the Land of Shadow, basically. So again, without saying too much, we can't give away the name just yet officially, but yes, it was a really gruesome weapon that was used. And the kindling that you see is actually the remains of bodies that were put in there to burn. So there's that friendly fellow.
And then there's an absolutely terrifying worm with arms that eats people whole.
Miyazaki:
It's hard to talk about some of these enemies without spoiling anything, hopefully you understand. But there is a significant connection between these enemies, the way they are, and the Land of Shadow.
Okay. I'm just going to skip to the last one, if it's okay. But what can you tell me about the man in red with snakes and flames that's kind of like the focal point of this DLC trailer.
Miyazaki:
Yes, we can speak to this character a little bit. This is a, as you say, a key figure of this DLC. We believe he will be officially revealed to be Messmer by the time the trailer goes live. And yes, he's a key figure in the DLC and he again has this important element of shadow to him, which is a key theme throughout the DLC as well.
And you may have seen at the end of the trailer, there was this piece of key art where it shows Messmer sat in this throne-like chair, and people who've played the game may recognize this throne to be one of those from the boss room where you battle Morgott. And this represents the thrones at the base of the Erdtree. And it's supposed to symbolize that Messmer stands on equal footing to these other demigods and children of Marika who sat around in these thrones and held the rooms of the Erdtree.
So he is an important figure who rivals these other demigods. And as you play the DLC, you will learn a little about why he wasn't featured in the legends of the Erdtree, the lands between. You'll realize why he exists in this shadow, this land of shadow.
Switching gears for a second. One of the big news points I think of Elden Ring was that the scenario was written by George R. R. Martin. Did he have any kind of role in the planning of Shadow of the Erdtree? And if so, just out of curiosity, have you talked to him since the game has come out and has he had any kind of reaction to the outstanding success of the game?
Miyazaki
: The way George Martin's story has been incorporated is the same as it was with the base game with Elden Ring. And to avoid misunderstanding there, we just want to point out that he hasn't written anything exclusively and new for the sake of this DLC.
But it would still be fair to say that he and his mythos that he created for us are involved in the creation of Shadow of the Erdtree in the same way. And the reason for that is that in making the base game and making Elden Ring, we took from that mythos, but we only took one part of it. We took from a part that created the story of Elden Ring and created the world that we wanted to envision, and the Shadow of the Erdtree is yet another part of that original mythos that he wrote and that has inspired us to create the story of this DLC.
As for your second question, Mr. Martin and I have at least exchanged emails since the release of Elden Ring, but unfortunately we haven't been able to meet and speak in person. It's something I've wanted to do since the release and talk to him again and share in our joy for the game hopefully, but unfortunately he's just been so busy that we haven't had that chance yet. But I'll keep looking for an opportunity.
It's been two years now since Elden Ring has launched, and much of the hardcore audience have already
found the best gear
, they fought the hardest bosses, and they're at such high levels that I imagine it must be difficult to come up with content that can provide a challenge for those hardcore fans without making it too hard for some of the more casual Elden Ring players. So with all that said, how do you approach difficulty with a DLC such as this?
Miyazaki:
Our general approach to difficulty has of course not changed to Elden Ring. We want to create a challenging experience that tests the players and that gives them a feeling of satisfaction and accomplishment when they get through these struggles. However, we do want to stress that there's still a freedom of approach and a breadth of strategy to these encounters. And that means both how you approach them if you want to face these challenges or come back to them later and circumvent them and find another way around and come back when you're ready. This same philosophy is taken in Shadow of the Erdtree. And again, to our more hardcore players, they will find optional bosses who have been tuned in a similar way to the likes of Malenia, who I'm sure you remember from the base game, who are not crucial.
Oh, God.
Miyazaki:
Yeah, you might remember her. They're not crucial to completion of the DLC, but they are an optional extra to help challenge for those who are so inclined.
That said, there may not be another boss on exactly the same level as Malenia, but we feel like this is somewhere that we've paid close attention to, this level of challenge and offering that same level of freedom. And we hope that players are able to blossom in the Land of Shadow in the same way that they were in the lands between.
Actually, I want to redress that. It's not the fact that it's only a lesser level to Malenia, but we have prepared bosses on that with that similar mindset within the DLC area, ones that will challenge the player and hopefully be as memorable as Malenia was.
Final question on the topic of Shadow of the Erdtree, but do you envision this as the end of Elden Ring's story or is there room for either more DLC or in Elden Ring 2 down the line?
Miyazaki:
We don't want to say this is the end of the Elden Ring saga for now. I think we said a similar thing at the end of Dark Souls 3. We didn't want to flatten those possibilities or put a pin in them just at that time. And it's a similar story with Elden Ring. We don't want to discourage the possibilities for that. There might be more ideas in the future.
We don't have any current plans to make a second DLC or a sequel, but we definitely don't want to snuff out that possibility. We think that there could well be something the future.
And lastly, the
state of the game industry right now is pretty rough
. There's a lot of layoffs, studio closures... the
PS5 apparently is already in the latter stage of its lifecycle
. Has the landscape of the industry changed your outlook at all on From Software's future?
Miyazaki:
Yes. I'm aware of the situation in the games industry it's going through right now is quite harrowing. I think in terms of speaking to all those things that are happening, like layoffs and closures at other studios, I think it's difficult for me to understand the exact circumstances there. I won't speak to those in specifics.
Just speaking on behalf of FromSoftware, I think we are very blessed in the way that we have a lot of keen up and coming developers who've grown and they have developed within the studio and they've reached these director positions where they're able to direct projects such as the recent Armored Core VI. We have several of these up and coming directors who we're able to delegate these projects to, and we're able to have multiple projects on the go at once.
What I foresee in this climate, at least for us, is a FromSoftware where games can be directed by others, not only myself. I think in the face of that struggle and the place where the games industry is right now, I do see this as a time for us to continue to grow and continue to cultivate this talent and continue to release these games for as long as we can.
Mitchell Saltzman is an editorial producer at IGN. You can find him on twitter
@JurassicRabbit
IGN - Steam News Hub
The PC games you should be playing, from the internet's #1 game review institution.
Hidetaka Miyazaki Leaves Door Open for Elden Ring 2 | IGN Fan Fest 2024
Will FromSoftware release Elden Ring 2 or more DLC for Elden Ring following the release of the Shadow of the Erdtree DLC in June? In an exclusive interview with IGN, chief developer Hidetaka Miyazaki said both are possible, although he stopped short of making an announcement.
IGN asked Miyazaki: Do you envision [Shadow of the Erdtree] as the end of Elden Ring's story or is there room for either more DLC or in Elden Ring 2 down the line?
And here’s Miyazaki’s response: “We don't want to say this is the end of the Elden Ring saga for now. I think we said a similar thing at the end of Dark Souls 3. We didn't want to flatten those possibilities or put a pin in them just at that time. And it's a similar story with Elden Ring. We don't want to discourage the possibilities for that. There might be more ideas in the future.
“We don't have any current plans to make a second DLC or a sequel, but we definitely don't want to snuff out that possibility. We think that there could well be something in the future.”
It seems likely that Shadow of the Erdtree isn’t the last we’ve heard of Elden Ring, given its astonishing critical acclaim and commercial success. Elden Ring is easily FromSoftware’s most successful video game ever, with over 20 million sold during its first year on sale. Indeed, earlier this month, a Genshin Impact-inspired Elden Ring mobile game was reported to be in development, but progress was described as “slow”.
The base version of Elden Ring returned a 10/10 in IGN's review
. "Elden Ring is a massive iteration on what FromSoftware began with the Souls series, bringing its relentlessly challenging combat to an incredible open world that gives us the freedom to choose our own path," we said.
Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.
Will FromSoftware release Elden Ring 2 or more DLC for Elden Ring following the release of the Shadow of the Erdtree DLC in June? In an exclusive interview with IGN, chief developer Hidetaka Miyazaki said both are possible, although he stopped short of making an announcement.
IGN asked Miyazaki: Do you envision [Shadow of the Erdtree] as the end of Elden Ring's story or is there room for either more DLC or in Elden Ring 2 down the line?
And here’s Miyazaki’s response: “We don't want to say this is the end of the Elden Ring saga for now. I think we said a similar thing at the end of Dark Souls 3. We didn't want to flatten those possibilities or put a pin in them just at that time. And it's a similar story with Elden Ring. We don't want to discourage the possibilities for that. There might be more ideas in the future.
“We don't have any current plans to make a second DLC or a sequel, but we definitely don't want to snuff out that possibility. We think that there could well be something in the future.”
It seems likely that Shadow of the Erdtree isn’t the last we’ve heard of Elden Ring, given its astonishing critical acclaim and commercial success. Elden Ring is easily FromSoftware’s most successful video game ever, with over 20 million sold during its first year on sale. Indeed, earlier this month, a Genshin Impact-inspired Elden Ring mobile game was reported to be in development, but progress was described as “slow”.
The base version of Elden Ring returned a 10/10 in IGN's review
. "Elden Ring is a massive iteration on what FromSoftware began with the Souls series, bringing its relentlessly challenging combat to an incredible open world that gives us the freedom to choose our own path," we said.
Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.
That era thread is completely unhinged. So many fanboys showing their anus there.
Part of me wants FROM to make Elden Ring 2 just to see how incredible it would be with all the next gen tech etc.
The other part of me doesn't want to see them fall into that AAAA trap where they disappear for 6 or 7 years to make that type of game again. I don't want them to fall into that stupid Rockstar and CDPR trap to make everything bigger with better graphics. People demand more n more every gen to the point where its becoming something that is actually hurting the industry and your enjoyment of it. Game development has gotten so dumb and expensive. Seeing what just happened to Rocksteady adds even more danger to that risk. There is no guarantee these things pay off. They went from making some of the goat influential singleplayer action games to now making a terrible GaaS flop like Suicide Squad.
FROM is too special of a dev to do that shit imo. They are the type who can make a 20 hour linear rpg and people will play it for 500hrs. There is no one like them atm.
The other part of me doesn't want to see them fall into that AAAA trap where they disappear for 6 or 7 years to make that type of game again. I don't want them to fall into that stupid Rockstar and CDPR trap to make everything bigger with better graphics. People demand more n more every gen to the point where its becoming something that is actually hurting the industry and your enjoyment of it. Game development has gotten so dumb and expensive. Seeing what just happened to Rocksteady adds even more danger to that risk. There is no guarantee these things pay off. They went from making some of the goat influential singleplayer action games to now making a terrible GaaS flop like Suicide Squad.
FROM is too special of a dev to do that shit imo. They are the type who can make a 20 hour linear rpg and people will play it for 500hrs. There is no one like them atm.
What's scary is that the average user is supposedly 30+ years old... i.e., adults.
So it runs well on Yuzu, that's nice, what about on Steam Deck, heard any new of that?
By the way this past few days I "finished" Dead Rising 1 and Ridge Racer Type 4. And by finish I mean with DR1 I think I beat the main mission. I didn't get all the achievements. I also finished in of the story modes for RRT4. I beat the game on expert difficulty. How ever I did cheat, I used the rewind feature on the PS5.
That thread has so many bad takes that I don't know where to start. But the most hilarious comment comes from that guy claiming that the decreasing popularity of Xbox is the result of Microsofts 1st party games coming to PC as well.
I mean, before that happened, Metacouncil was an Xbox fan site, right?
I mean, before that happened, Metacouncil was an Xbox fan site, right?
Even though fanboyism is stupid, I would have an ounce of sympathy with these people if they weren’t the same voices doing bad faith shitposting in 2108/19 during the EGS exclusivity days.
They just live and breathe console wars. The thought of their “side” being successful outside of the closed box idiocy is just so outside the realms of possibility to them that their brains break when it happens.
They just live and breathe console wars. The thought of their “side” being successful outside of the closed box idiocy is just so outside the realms of possibility to them that their brains break when it happens.
I restarted Yakuza 0 !
I’m really annoyed to see that substories are not marked on the map by default. I don’t want to follow a guide while playing but on the other hand I’m unconvinced I will care enough to chain substories in new game.
On the other hand that may be a good opportunity to let go, be less of a completionist. As good as they seemingly are, I shouldn’t have to jump through hoops to experience a game.
I’m really annoyed to see that substories are not marked on the map by default. I don’t want to follow a guide while playing but on the other hand I’m unconvinced I will care enough to chain substories in new game.
On the other hand that may be a good opportunity to let go, be less of a completionist. As good as they seemingly are, I shouldn’t have to jump through hoops to experience a game.
Being a completionist and playing Yakuza is a surefire way of inflicting yourself long-lasting psychological damage.
Playing all side quests is worth it, IMHO, because that's were the series' zaniness shines through (which is often a welcome palate cleanser from the way more dramatic main plot). But other than that... don't bother with mahjong, koikoi and all other minigames (unless you're into them)...
There is a special item in the game that can mark the substory locations on the map. I can't recall where exactly you can obtain the item, though. I forgot, since it's been years since I've played it.
Sony doing more and more PC releases (even for their precious single player games) has broken them.
Can’t wait until the first single player game releases on PC at the same time as PS5. You’ll be able to hear them grinding their teeth all the way from Mars.
I think for 0 you only get it postgame?There is a special item in the game that can mark the substory locations on the map. I can't recall where exactly you can obtain the item, though. I forgot, since it's been years since I've played it.
I've been reading through the thread on Era and I have to wonder if one of the reasons why console fanboys argue about this is due to resentment? The fact that they see what they perceive to be "their" games going to PC, a platform which has access to third party games, Xbox, and now Playstation games. Add the fact that we don't have to pay for online multiplayer or cloud saves I wonder if they feel as though they made a poor investment?
I wonder about Until Dawn.....It's not going to do terribly well on Steam 6 months after the console release.
Day and date would make sense for that title really.
And as usual, the average Resetera console poster has zero knowledge about PC players. Who knew.
Always was at the origin of the "problem" with Steam, Gaben stole all the games so it's evil and must be destroyed and we must support any other competitor to punish the thief.
Hilarious that we went in a decade from "PC is dead" to "PC killed Xbox and it will kill Playstation too".
Finished the new route added in the remaster, and really liked this one. Feels about as good as Ending E did in Automata, in that it actually provided a hint at a good ending. I still think Automata is better, but I think tha's mostly just that Platinum is the better developer. The design of enemies and characters, the combat and also the music was on another level. That said, it's clear that in many ways Automata was just building on and improving ideas that were first developed in Nier Replicant/Gestalt. So it's not really a competition, of course the game that comes later and iterates on the past one has a much better chance of being better. It's also clear that Automata had overall much, much higher production values.
Actually, having finished Nier Replicant ver. √1.5, I can say quite easily that it's the definitive version, simply due to the fact that it includes a proper epilogue and makes any version of the game that does not include it look quite incomplete. Arguably the best ending in the game.
I never finished Yakuza 0, crazy idea what if I went back and instead of starting Yakuza 0 from the start, I just say screw it and start with the PS2 version of Yakuza?
I’m nearly caught up with what I played on my first attempt in Y0.
Still slow, still incredibly talkative, and the first few sidequests weren’t and are not that great. But I just played through a VERY funny one about a password.
My boy Kiryu, having gone through life or death situations simply to satisfy his curiosity.
Merchant : won’t you buy anything with your hard earned password ?
Motivational music starts in background.
’Maybe later’.
Still slow, still incredibly talkative, and the first few sidequests weren’t and are not that great. But I just played through a VERY funny one about a password.
My boy Kiryu, having gone through life or death situations simply to satisfy his curiosity.
Merchant : won’t you buy anything with your hard earned password ?
Motivational music starts in background.
’Maybe later’.
For the most part, I think the reactions stem from the fact that traditional console gamers are unwilling to accept that the industry has changed drastically since the first Playstation. Since videogame forums are a medium mostly for older people, many users grew up with a games industry in which the Playstation console was the king and its singleplayer games were the crown jewels. Which company would win the console wars was the only thing that mattered because for these users the console industry was the gaming industry.
Fast forward to today and it is clear to most people that the games console industry is just one part of the overall games industry. Singleplayer games are still important but GaaS titles dominate people's spending and time. However, if you spend all of your time in the safe space of an insular community it is pretty easy (and tempting) to fool yourself into thinking that nothing has changed and you can party like it's 1999 forever. Companies stating that they need to look for growth beyond the console and making moves to that effect breaks that illusion.
Console fanboyism is an extension of the above. Playstation diehards see no reason to give away 'their' games like you said to the 'enemy' because Sony won the console wars and that's the only thing that matters! Except it isn't anymore. Even Nintendo, which many console fans are using as an example of the success of the traditional console+exclusives model, has only delayed the inevitable by dropping out of the power race and staying a couple of generations behind. As soon as Nintendo enters the '4K' era, development costs will mount up, the console will be more expensive and the next Switch will not sell more than its predecessor, thus stunting growth and forcing Nintendo to look beyond the console.
It seems that my rig is starting to meet its age. During the past few days it would suddenly freeze for a few seconds during normal operation (not even under heavy load) and sometimes a blue screen appeared afterwards. I checked the update log and there's no update recently so I wonder if this is hardware issue.
Well, I have been using it since 2017, so no surprise that things are getting old. Maybe it's time for an upgrade.
Well, I have been using it since 2017, so no surprise that things are getting old. Maybe it's time for an upgrade.
Yeah there’s some wild takes from PlayStation fans in that thread.
Discussion - JRPG folks, what are you getting in 2024 and beyond?
Is your wallet (and life) ready for the 2024 onslaught? 2022 thread 2023 thread Three Kingdoms Zhao Yun - January 18 Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth - January 26 Granblue Fantasy: Relink - February 1 Persona 3 Reload - February 2 Dragon Quest Builders - February 13 Yohane the Parhelion -...
metacouncil.com
Nintendo is next. Evil Gaben will kill all the consoles.
In all seriousness, I think Nintendo are quite stubborn, but even they’ll crack eventually. But if they can continue to pump out 100m or more selling consoles they can probably carry on as they are for a long while.
I don’t think, even with the advent of a 4K Nintendo system, that they’ll feel the same budgetary pressures as Sony and Microsoft have.
But tying the success of your games to the success of your hardware is a recipe for disaster. Even if you continue to release successful hardware, why expose yourself to that risk without mitigating it?
Without an ecosystem around the hardware, you always have the risk of having another Gamecube or WiiU.
But yes, Nintendo fans don't expect the insane budgets like Sony 1st party exclusives. That's all on Sony for conditioning their fanbase t such a narrow genre/visual fidelity without having other flagship titles that have a more sane budget range (5-50 million)
Over the past few days I've probably run into a lot of the issues facing Helldivers 2. Server capacity problems. Unable to load into the ship. Unable to load onto planets. Unable to use matchmaking. Cannot host or join friends. Most of these resolved themselves as the servers became more stable, but I finally figured out that using a VPN somehow addressed the last couple.
Played most of the evening today, and it's great co-op fun.
It's nice to see they made sure their kernel-level anti-cheat works on Linux. I don't think it's actually kernel-level on Linux however. Probably due to the popularity of the Steam Deck. It's also cool to see a keybind configuration that distinguishes between single-press, double-tap, and hold for keys.
Played most of the evening today, and it's great co-op fun.
It's nice to see they made sure their kernel-level anti-cheat works on Linux. I don't think it's actually kernel-level on Linux however. Probably due to the popularity of the Steam Deck. It's also cool to see a keybind configuration that distinguishes between single-press, double-tap, and hold for keys.
Last edited:
Nintendo just did the first step.
They just changed their domain from co.jp to com/jp
They just changed their domain from co.jp to com/jp
Code:
https://twitter.com/Nintendo/status/1761632118533415020
Picked up Pacific Drive. Loved the demo. But will still wait on patches.
OP
- Thread Starter
- #1,437
Nintendo just did the first step.
They just changed their domain from co.jp to com/jp
Code:https://twitter.com/Nintendo/status/1761632118533415020
Discussion - What are you currently playing? (Week 9 of 2024)
New week, new thread! What are you playing? Returned to Ace Attorney 5 after a short break. Continuing putting time into case 5-2 and now in the second investigation session. I remember playing this one with English translation years ago and I don't like how the story was told. Now that I am...
metacouncil.com
To follow up on this, the OP of that Era thread has totally shown his butthole. He said he’d feel bitter and resentful if the next Xbox was more powerful than PS6. That he’d stop watching DF videos and so on.
The guy’s completely crackers.
Last edited:
a Mod coup de grace'd the thread finally while the OP dug deeper and deeper
People are something else sometimes. But look at Nintendo, they gave exclusives...... Yes and no. Look at their launch title it was a ports of a Wii u title. The Wii u had exclusives, how well did that go?
Well, you see the reason the Wii U failed was because Nintendo did know how to mark it. Oh so in other words the reason the Switch has been insanely successful is because it practically sells itself. How does the switch distinguish itself from not only the Wii U, but also from other consoles? It's a hybrid console/handheld that's what lead to its success. You do also have that whole annoying, it would be perfect for Switch, which is part fan boy stuff but I will let it slide here , since that's more to do with the desire of a game being on Switch, rather than people thinking the only way for the switch to be successful is for the game to only be on Switch. Switch fans are far my upset about emulation and stuff like that.
Look at the PS5 and XSX, asides from exclusives what is your real reason to pick one over the other? During the PS4 and Xbox One days, the deciding factor, was where do your friends play? That's doesn't matter nearly as much as it does over 10 years ago since cross play now exist and is becoming more common place.
We have moved passed exclusive games and are now trying to distinguish themselves by services that they can provide you with, Xbox has Gamepass that is not restricted exclusively to their consoles. Sony has PS+ which expanded what it offers over the last few years to offer different services, including stuff like being able to stream PS5 games onto your PS5 without having to install it. I do have to look to see if PS Now still even works on PC. Since I was using it and I was able to play PSOne games (Ridge Racer Type 4, it even had a rewind gameplay feature, and once I exited out of the game it still let me load up stuff).
The switch averages around 12-14 games owned per users. Meanwhile the PS4 only has about 10 on average per users. With a number of switch first party titles being ports or remakes of older games. Not sure what PS5 is averaging out at but a lot of its games are also not exclusive to that platform and also exist on PS4, why upgrade to a PS5 when those games are also on PS4. Which to a certain extent you could have said the same thing about the Switch and Wii U. Why buy a Switch when these games are not just on Switch but also on Wii U.
Will Nintendo be able to keep up? I have my doubts, after the Switch 2 is when I would imagine things would start to change drastically, but maybe not so much during the lifetime of the Switch 2. If anything Nintendo might look at what Sony and MS have to report about releasing on PC.
Well, you see the reason the Wii U failed was because Nintendo did know how to mark it. Oh so in other words the reason the Switch has been insanely successful is because it practically sells itself. How does the switch distinguish itself from not only the Wii U, but also from other consoles? It's a hybrid console/handheld that's what lead to its success. You do also have that whole annoying, it would be perfect for Switch, which is part fan boy stuff but I will let it slide here , since that's more to do with the desire of a game being on Switch, rather than people thinking the only way for the switch to be successful is for the game to only be on Switch. Switch fans are far my upset about emulation and stuff like that.
Look at the PS5 and XSX, asides from exclusives what is your real reason to pick one over the other? During the PS4 and Xbox One days, the deciding factor, was where do your friends play? That's doesn't matter nearly as much as it does over 10 years ago since cross play now exist and is becoming more common place.
We have moved passed exclusive games and are now trying to distinguish themselves by services that they can provide you with, Xbox has Gamepass that is not restricted exclusively to their consoles. Sony has PS+ which expanded what it offers over the last few years to offer different services, including stuff like being able to stream PS5 games onto your PS5 without having to install it. I do have to look to see if PS Now still even works on PC. Since I was using it and I was able to play PSOne games (Ridge Racer Type 4, it even had a rewind gameplay feature, and once I exited out of the game it still let me load up stuff).
The switch averages around 12-14 games owned per users. Meanwhile the PS4 only has about 10 on average per users. With a number of switch first party titles being ports or remakes of older games. Not sure what PS5 is averaging out at but a lot of its games are also not exclusive to that platform and also exist on PS4, why upgrade to a PS5 when those games are also on PS4. Which to a certain extent you could have said the same thing about the Switch and Wii U. Why buy a Switch when these games are not just on Switch but also on Wii U.
Will Nintendo be able to keep up? I have my doubts, after the Switch 2 is when I would imagine things would start to change drastically, but maybe not so much during the lifetime of the Switch 2. If anything Nintendo might look at what Sony and MS have to report about releasing on PC.
I just watched a 30 minutes segment from a French stream about one of the biggest recent scandal in Japan.
Hitoshi Matsumoto, basically the king of comedy was outed as a rapist, and even went on to set up a system for lesser comedians to bring him women to sleep with on the regular.
Fascinating. The size of the scandal is mind boggling. The man who appears on every ad out of five is a rapist. He's in trouble. It's huge. But there is more, this famous comedian helped him, and this one, and this other one etc.
It's ongoing, his wikipedia page doesn't even mention it yet.
Hitoshi Matsumoto, basically the king of comedy was outed as a rapist, and even went on to set up a system for lesser comedians to bring him women to sleep with on the regular.
Fascinating. The size of the scandal is mind boggling. The man who appears on every ad out of five is a rapist. He's in trouble. It's huge. But there is more, this famous comedian helped him, and this one, and this other one etc.
It's ongoing, his wikipedia page doesn't even mention it yet.
------------------------
I know that English is not every ones first language and I also make plenty of mistakes (I hardly ever proof read and I just type some stuff up and just post it). But you can tell that OP must have spent a decent amount of time making that post. If you look at OP comments they look as if they were made very quickly and without proof reading (the stuff I some times do, I will sometimes even write the same word twice without realizing it at the time).
Just because looking at some of the comments didn't make sense.
I've thought plenty of times to just make threads in general with some topics and stuff in mind but I usually spent more time thinking of making a thread and just being too lazy to start one for stuff, be that here, or era, or some other place. I've tried making post on Reddit and that typically ends badly because of how I drag out stuff for too long. Reddit loves TLDR
I know that English is not every ones first language and I also make plenty of mistakes (I hardly ever proof read and I just type some stuff up and just post it). But you can tell that OP must have spent a decent amount of time making that post. If you look at OP comments they look as if they were made very quickly and without proof reading (the stuff I some times do, I will sometimes even write the same word twice without realizing it at the time).
Just because looking at some of the comments didn't make sense.
I've thought plenty of times to just make threads in general with some topics and stuff in mind but I usually spent more time thinking of making a thread and just being too lazy to start one for stuff, be that here, or era, or some other place. I've tried making post on Reddit and that typically ends badly because of how I drag out stuff for too long. Reddit loves TLDR
Oh it's the Pepsi dude?
Wait what? I've been a massive massive Gaki No Tsukai fan for 15 years... Come on...
Nintendo just did the first step.
They just changed their domain from co.jp to com/jp
Code:https://twitter.com/Nintendo/status/1761632118533415020
Dumb question but is this common knowledge? Or I guess the more specific question would be in different parts of the world, do some companies to the .co.region? Or do they just do .com/(language) or do they do something else? Be this for a domestic company if your country or if it's in international company that has a page for people that live in your country.
I was looking at some other Japanese sites to see what they ended in. You have Gamespark.jp Shonenjump.com 4gamers.net
As domestic examples for Japan. I guess co.jp is less common than I previously had thought. But you do have stuff like amazon.co.jp
Still about the Matsumoto scandal.
The man reporting it, Greg, is why I watched this stream, because he is basically the original otaku in France. Worked in a legendary mag, published manga, etc. So his career is long, anecdotes are insightful and he is a gold mine about Japan society. Just for context.
This is darkly humorous, as Greg puts it Japanese tv producers are in a pinch. They can't have pretty boys because of last year pedo scandal, and now comedians are canceled left and right.
This is also plain dark, as apparently the original forced silence was for the year end shows where the man appears to be able to be broadcast. So a lot of shows.
Japan continues to be the best country where you absolutely don't want to live
The man reporting it, Greg, is why I watched this stream, because he is basically the original otaku in France. Worked in a legendary mag, published manga, etc. So his career is long, anecdotes are insightful and he is a gold mine about Japan society. Just for context.
This is darkly humorous, as Greg puts it Japanese tv producers are in a pinch. They can't have pretty boys because of last year pedo scandal, and now comedians are canceled left and right.
This is also plain dark, as apparently the original forced silence was for the year end shows where the man appears to be able to be broadcast. So a lot of shows.
Japan continues to be the best country where you absolutely don't want to live
Last edited:
Your post really REALLY bummed me out. He was my favorite member of Gaki's cast... a few years ago I even bought merch when I went to Tokyo (I even own socks with the cast's caricatures hanging in my room). I just looked and I have a bit less that 280Gb of videos (from Gottsu Ee Kanji, Gaki No Tsukai, Suiyobi no Downtown,...)
I haven't looked into it enough yet and don't know all the details and the amount of proof there is... I just hope it isn't true. But if it is, fuck him.
Man...
I'm clearly no expert and only repeating what I watched, but from the report I got the feeling we are past the doubt phase (even if there evidently was no trial or anything yet), we are at three reported victims and the size of the scandal isn't even that, it's that apparently lesser comedians BROUGHT fresh meat for him on the regular.
We are at the phase were the lesser comedians are impacted and in trouble. This is not a rape scandal, this is bigger, there was a whole system.
Apparently the tabloid who pushed the revelations (Bunshun ?) was not yet done and were aiming at February 15 to publish one last bomb. They are apparently more broadly targeting the whole comedian agency, which seems to be monolithic in Japanese society (and complicit if the 'system' accusations are true).
As another dark side effect, Matsumoto figures and other goods have seen their value multiplied by an order of 5.
We are at the phase were the lesser comedians are impacted and in trouble. This is not a rape scandal, this is bigger, there was a whole system.
Apparently the tabloid who pushed the revelations (Bunshun ?) was not yet done and were aiming at February 15 to publish one last bomb. They are apparently more broadly targeting the whole comedian agency, which seems to be monolithic in Japanese society (and complicit if the 'system' accusations are true).
As another dark side effect, Matsumoto figures and other goods have seen their value multiplied by an order of 5.
Last edited:
- Status