The Friday letters page fears for the jobs of Battlefield 6’s developers, as a reader discusses his favourite idle animations from older games.
Games Inbox is a collection of our readers’ letters, comments, and opinions. To join in with the discussions yourself email gamecentral@metro.co.uk
Smallest leap
I don’t think there’s any chance that any normal person is going to be able to tell the difference between a PlayStation 5 and 6 game. There’s just nothing more for it to do, which I think is clear from the fact that all Sony can talk about is better ray-tracing and better upscaling – things that already make very little difference.
That’s not a complaint against them though. I don’t know what else they could do and at least, unlike Microsoft, they’re not talking nonsense like the biggest leap forward ever.
It’s got to be the games that differentiate the two generations, which should be easy given nothing on the PlayStation 5 has taken any real advantage of the console. However, I have very little confidence that Sony, in its current semi-hibernation state when it comes to making games, even cares about do anything groundbreaking.
Zeiss
Software stimulus
So, Sony are kicking off their hype for the PlayStation 6, I see. I’m going to guess an official reveal in the summer (a couple of months after GTA 6) and then a launch for Christmas 2027. I don’t think anything else make sense if they’re talking about it now and PlayStation 5 sales have already peaked.
I am completely indifferent to the idea of getting one but technically I welcome it because I expect all games to be cross-gen for a very long time and hopefully the release of a lot more game and maybe even a change in attitude from Sony towards first party games.
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I don’t think we really need new hardware but we definitely need new games, so if that has to mean a new console first then so be it.
Boke
All or nothing
I already feel real bad for all the talent behind Battlefield 6. It’s not my sort of game but that doesn’t mean I can’t appreciate the work that goes into it or the lives of hundreds, perhaps thousands, of people making it. So I look forward to finding out that they’ve all lost their jobs because the game only made $1 billion in profit, instead of the $1.2 billion EA promised its shareholders.
The other great shame is that all these companies used to make their own games. Criterion Games will never get another chance to make a new Burnout, DICE will never go back to Mirror’s Edge, and those other two studios, that I’ve never heard of before, will be Battlefield or nothing forever.
If Battlefield 6 is great, I hope the fans enjoy it, but to a non-fan it seems so basic and overfamiliar. They’ve been making this exact same game for decades and it never changes. I miss when developers were allowed to be creative.
Courser
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Direct comparison
You can’t really compare Switch 2 to PlayStation 5, can you? PlayStation 5 has been out five years, whereas the Switch 2 is been out a few months. If they were both out the same time you could.
I’m not knocking Nintendo, it’s like waiting till PlayStation 6 comes out and then saying Switch 2 has been out three years and the PlayStation 6 is selling more. It’s going to be because one of them has just launched.
David
GC: The figures were comparing the first three months for both consoles, just as you’ll be able to compare the first three month of the PlayStation 6 when it comes out.
Idle animation
Reading the article about Bubsy being released on Nintendo Switch Online reminded me, do any older gamers remember when you left him standing for a while he would look at the screen then knock it several times? (quite hard to word this!).
Or in SNES Krusty’s Fun House where Krusty would do the Egyptian dance when left for a while. One other good one was Super Mario 64, when he would yawn and fall asleep. I can’t remember many other good ones but I’m sure other viewers do.
Adams6legend
Play to win
Now I’m at the end of the game and there’s little to spoil, I’ve been watching some Hollow Knight: Silksong speedruns on Twitch.
They really showcase how improved the movement and combat are from the first game. Silksong is Bloodborne to the first game’s Dark Souls, when it comes to movement and combat.
The game also reminds of two other 2D games where you didn’t need to know the full extent of what’s possible to enjoy it but once you do it transforms the enjoyment of the game. Those are Rayman Legends and Hotline Miami.
I wasn’t going to attempt the Platinum trophy for Silksong, as complete game in under five hours and complete the game 100% in under 30 hours looked like too much effort to get good enough for.
But I put in around 2,500 hours in the online challenges for Rayman Legends and learnt the transformative aggressive playstyle needed to get the Hotline Miami Platinum trophy, as it was so much fun to get better at those games and enjoy them on a different level.
Silksong has that potential and I think I will have a bash at that Platinum.
Simundo
Original take
I have never heard of Absolum before today, but I hope that’s not a sign that it won’t do well, as I really like Dotemu’s stuff and will definitely be looking to get this now I know what it is.
I’ve always enjoy beat ‘em-ups and I’ve loved what they’ve done with Streets Of Rage and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, so the thought of an original game with a bit more depth to it seems great to me. As usual, indie games are so much more interesting than the mainstream games they’re putting out nowadays.
Bosley
Wrong protocol
Has the Callisto Protocol just got a sequel? But this time set in Japan with a skinny teenage girl, who miraculously can lift huge axes and steel pipes – of which, for some reason, there are loads of them lying around. And also sledgehammers, perhaps.
Because this is clumsy close quarters melee combat all over again. Oh, and crawling through tight spaces. The Callisto Protocol was half the time spent pushing through gaps in walls. And we get it again in this, ridiculous. Awkward melee combat in tight corridors, where the swing is blocked by scenery that doesn’t need to be there and where the lock-on stops me from moving properly and thus causes problems with camera angle. And repeating the same bosses. Also, she moves so slow, this game is about stamina; OK, I get it, but it’s too much. As for the sanity, well I forgot all about it. It just felt as if it was tacked on.
I don’t care for the Otherworld sections either, with the moron Fox Mask who vanishes to leave me to fight it out all alone. Those sections take me out of the game and drag on for too long. I just wanted to roam around in the spooky town in a foggy atmospheric setting. Oh, and the town map, don’t get me started on that, not good. I admit I haven’t finished it yet and I know it’s set-up for more playthroughs. But personally, I think as a horror action game this is well below something like Resident Evil 4 and Dead Space remakes, both superb in my opinion especially in terms of combat.
Despite all this I’m not saying it’s a bad game overall, far from it. But there are things in this that reminds me of Callisto Protocol in terms of combat and pacing. It reminded me of The Evil Within 2 as well, which I think was a better game. Perhaps if I finish it and play it again I may change my opinion for the better but I think the combat needed more work. And also ditch the Otherworld sections and have a larger open area and town where melee would be more effective.
Icelticghost
GC: It doesn’t sound like the game is really for you. There’s combat in it, but it’s not an action game. Also, Hinako isn’t skinny and there’re multiple references to her being on the athletics team.
Inbox also-rans
I can only assume that Sony doesn’t have any quality control at all for the games they put on their store. They just automate it and then remove stuff afterwards if it causes a problem. I bet it’s all handled by AI nowadays. Oh well, it keeps Nintendo’s lawyers in work at least.
Anders
Do we actually know who or what Wario is? Obviously, he’s an evil Mario, but how evil and why has he got elf ears? Is he a plumber too, and who’s Waluigi? Is that his brother? I feel these important questions have not been addressed in the usually complex narrative of the Mario games.
Focus
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