Games Inbox: Is Helldivers 2 in decline?

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Stuck in the middle
As someone that was playing the game almost every day at first I’m not surprised that people are starting to lose interest in Helldivers 2. I can’t say why it’s happened so suddenly but, for me, the reason I stopped playing so regularly was not just because of the nerfing of all the good weapons but also because it was becoming a bit samey.

There’s only so many times you can play the same thing again and again, and for me I’ve reached my limit. I’m aware that things like Fortnite and Rainbow Six Siege seem to go on forever, but I require at least some sort of variation. I’ll probably come back to the game properly in a few months, but I can’t imagine myself playing it as much as I did ever again.

Helldivers 2 didn’t do anything especially wrong, but you can have too much of a good thing. How much this applies to other people I can’t say but it occurs to me that most of the long-running live service games are either those aimed at kids (Fortnite and Minecraft) or hardcore shooter fans (Rainbow Six and Counter-Strike).

There’s not much middle ground between those and yet that’s exactly where Helldivers 2 is. Perhaps that was even the point. But if it was, I think we’re going to find out that those sort of games don’t work long-term.
Sasquatch

Working as intended
So is Hellblade 2 the 2024 version of Ryse: Son Of Rome? As in it looks incredible but there’s not a lot going on.

I was unsurprised by the low score as I had played the original and was thoroughly underwhelmed by it. The whole gimmick of the voices was annoying. The combat was one note and there was like three or less enemy types.

Has Ninja Theory made a good game yet? Quick Google check, nope. Maybe Enslaved but not a great record. If course it’s just my opinion and others could love Ninja’s previous but I’ll keep not buying their output unless its dirt cheap, like the games I played.
Bobwallett

GC: Ryse was primarily an action game, so in that sense it was a bigger failure. For better or worse Hellblade 2 is the way it is on purpose. We’re not big fans of Enslaved but we always felt the DmC reboot was underrated, even if the story elements were awful.

90s nostalgia
It’s weird about the 30th anniversary of Resident Evil 1. I remember buying a PS1 to play it and calling everyone in the room to look at the life-like graphics. Nothing like it at the time or the horror style that genuinely made you jump. One of the few games I kept going back to.

Amazing how far we have come in such a short time, though for me Super Mario 64 was the most amazing accomplishment with the limited hardware of the time. Remember watching the intro, waiting for game to start outside the castle, then realising it had started and the whole games was like that. Witchcraft at work. Magical, spent 100+ hours getting every star.

All the best and fingers crossed for everyone at Digital Foundry and Eurogamer staff. Worrying times. They are gamers as well as quality journalists.
TWO MACKS

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Lara in the flesh
Great news for me!

Tomb Raider 1-3 Remastered is getting a physical release on September 24. I have been wanting to play this but wasn’t keen on the idea of a digital copy when my other Tomb Raider games are on disc. Glad I waited now.

It is coming out as a standard edition. But even better, a deluxe steel book edition which will include maps, an 80+ page book, soundtrack download, and greatest hits music CD. It all sounds very retro and just the sort of thing I was originally hoping for. It will be out on PlayStation 5 and Switch. No mention of Xbox.
Tony- -1975 (PSN ID)/SW-4453-8520-2043 (Switch)

GC: There’s also a £160 Limited Run Collector’s Edition that includes all sorts of other things, such as action figures and replica pistols.

Previous advice
RE: Chaosphere and Paul C’s start-up and other problems with the Xbox Series X. I often find that Satan’s Therapist’s advice back from 2019 – on these very pages – usually sorts out a range of issues with the console. The advice was for the Xbox One, but I find it applies to the Xbox Series X as well.

Specifically: ‘Just head to settings, then Disc & Blu-ray, and hit clear persistent storage three times (just like clearing the Xbox 360 cache).
Then navigate to advanced settings under network and clear Alternative Mac Address which restarts the Xbox and everything is buttery smooth again, at least at this end it is.’

Hopefully this will help out to some degree.
NatorDom

Dirty discs
I have a small problem, I received System Shock new and sealed from Hit today for PlayStation 5 and I could hear the disc was loose inside before I opened the jiffy.

I opened it and could see a few small marks on the disc, I have installed the game to PlayStation 5 and it has installed perfectly and I have started the very first area after the cut scene when selecting New Game.

I haven’t had any problems yet. If the disc has installed OK, does this mean the disc is in full working order?

Should I send the disc back for a refund?

I had Sea Of Stars delivered near the beginning of the month from Hit and the disc was loose there too but there were no marks and it installed perfectly.
Andrew J.

As they come
Great review of Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, GC. I’m definitely interested. I briefly played one of them or Super Mario RPG on the DS 15-odd years ago so herein lies my question… I know Mario games don’t really have a continuous story, but in your view, what is the best order to play these games?

As in the Paper Mario/Mario RPG ones. They all seem to be available either now on Switch, Nintendo Switch Online or DS. So, which is the most coherent/enjoyable way to experience them? As even in your review you referenced a few different games in the history of them.

Thanks for your response and keep up the good work!
Lizardpudlian

GC: Thanks. That’s a lot of games though and none of them have any direct story connection (that we remember). We’d just play Super Mario RPG, Paper Mario, and The Thousand-Year Door, then skip straight to The Origami King. The Mario & Luigi games are a little more cohesive, with recurring characters such as the wonderful Fawful, but the answer to any question like this is always release order.

Any port in a storm
Interesting news on Nintendo buying up the Shiver Entertainment port house. Despite some confusion in the readers around the quality of recent ports I feel the reasons Nintendo were in the market for a studio like that make a lot of sense, when hoping to avoid the gaps in the Switch line-up on Switch 2.

Ports from third parties to the Switch usually needed a specialist hired by the original publishers or developers. Panic Button’s work on Doom is probably the most famous but Saber’s work on The Witcher 3 and Feral’s on Alien Isolation is also standout.

With Nintendo buying up their own port studio it seems like they might be offering this service to third parties in-house. If EA or Microsoft can cut deals with Nintendo directly for Switch 2 versions, you’d imagine it would be more enticing to bring their games over to the new platform.

Then there are patches for existing Switch games for the Switch 2. A lot of first and third party Switch titles would benefit from being upgraded, so there would be advantages to handling this with a dedicated studio who know the old and new hardware.

I have a feeling, like other readers, that Nintendo will charge for enhancements to older games, not a bad thing since these things do take resources to produce. I can see Switch 2 playing Switch games out the box fine but if you want higher frame rates and resolutions… that’s gonna be £10 and Shiver will be doing the work.
Marc

GC: You’re talking about the studio as if it’s some sort of renowned expert in its field, when its gameography suggests anything but. Do you really want the people behind the Mortal Kombat 1 port remastering Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom?

Inbox also-rans
Great review on the Paper Mario game. I remember playing this on the GameCube and it was excellent. I was quite sad when it ended. Do you think the load times will become much shorter with the Switch 2 if it has backwards compatibility?
Rave

GC: Thanks. It’ll probably be a bit faster but it’s not a major problem, just a minor irritation.

I don’t see why Helldivers 2 is suddenly tanking in popularity but how is that going to affect Sony’s future plans? This should teach them how you can never tell you’ve got a hit until much later with live service games, but somehow I don’t think they want to hear that.
Lettom

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