The Thursday letters page shares some special Beyond Good & Evil memories, as one reader hopes for Advance Wars on Switch 2.
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Jumping on point
RE: Adams6legends and faster loading not being a justifiable reason to go current gen.
The performance boons of faster loading and higher frame rates gave me more incentive to upgrade earlier than most pervious gens.
Most gens take a while to get going, most you could probably wait until mid gen before you’re looking at a overwhelming weight of must-have games.
We all have different jumping on points for a new gen. We buy a new console when there’s enough to personally interest us but also expecting that there will be many more games to come. We don’t buy it just for what is available at the time.
The performance jump to the PlayStation 5 is a perfectly justifiable jumping on point.
I probably would of gone current gen early for Demon’s Souls remake and Returnal but that plus the performance boosts to my back catalogue and cross-gen games made it more of a sure thing.
The performance jump from PlayStation 4 to 5 really does feel like a generational leap and I really couldn’t go back to PlayStation 4 loading times.
Simundo
Speed isn’t everything
Faster loading times aren’t the only reason to buy a PlayStation 5. You also have faster download speeds, it runs much quieter, and the control pad is much more comfortable to use. Plus, although there probably aren’t as many as there should be, there are still some very good games that you can’t play on PlayStation 4: Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, Returnal, Demon’s Soul remake, Spider-Man 2, Astro’s Playroom, Final Fantasy 16, etc.
By the way, this exact comment got rejected in the comments for ‘violating community guidelines’. Comments just seem to be deleted at random of late…
drlowdon
GC: We’re sorry about that, we are trying to get it looked at.
PC veterans
I hope the changes made to Shadow Of Erdtree weren’t because of a bunch of PC gamers complaining. It seems unlikely to me, given the quick turnaround, but it would make me think less of FromSoftware if it was true. I am completely baffled as to why someone that bought, and presumably completed, Elden Ring would be surprised that the DLC was hard.
I also don’t understand why it’s only PC players complaining, which makes me think they’re getting confused over the bad performance and not realising it’s making the game more difficult. Nothing else makes sense to me.
Is there anyone else reading this that thinks it’s too hard? I’ve put about 10 hours in so far and I think it’s great. I really can’t understand the complaints.
Henry99
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Recruiting tool
I’m not surprised to hear that developers don’t think the games industry is doing well at the moment. Can you imagine how worrying it must be right now, wondering if you’re just a number on some accountant’s spreadsheet, waiting to be sacrificed so the company can show 0.01% more growth this year?
I can’t help but wonder what effect this is going to have on recruiting in gaming. I’m sure it won’t stop kids dreaming of being game creators but anyone studying it at university right now might be wishing they’d picked something else.
And how many current developers, that have survived the purges, are now looking for the quickest way out? Or at least trying to form their own indie studio? I’m sure the publishers didn’t think too long or hard about getting rid of these people, but I think they’ll end up regretting it more than they know.
Focus
Stock update
I have some very good news for the reader who was wanting to buy the Sora amiibo. It is currently in stock on Nintendo Store UK. Hopefully by the time this is printed it will still be in stock still. It wasn’t in stock this morning, but I checked this afternoon and it was!
Andrew J.
PS: Has the video game shop Hit.co.uk closed down? I went on there last week to look at their prices for games after the Nintendo Showcase and the site wasn’t working and it still isn’t working as I type this
(Wednesday evening). Last month I bought System Shock and Sea Of Stars from them for very good prices. They used to be called Base and before that I think they were called DVD.co.uk, so they have been going a while even though they have changed their name twice.
GC: It’s still in stock as we type this. However, Hit.co.uk is down.
Advance thinking
Do you think if they call the next switch the Switch Advance we can get new entries for Advance Wars and Final Fantasy Tactics? Been a long time since the classics had any love and would love to see them again.
In the meantime, I’ve been entertaining myself with Unicorn Overlord, which was absolutely fantastic, I can’t recommend it enough. I was sad when it was over, as there doesn’t really seem to be anything to do other than a bit of clear up at the end of the story. I’m not really into multiplayer so that hasn’t kept me engaged.
I’m now attempting to play No Man’s Sky and can I just say, wow! There is a game that needs a much better tutorial! So much isn’t explained, I’ve been having to look up things so that I can actually play it. On the positive side I just got a second ship by accidentally stumbling onto it, so yay?
Keep on with the good work.
Solabound
GC: We think we can categorically state that, unfortunately, Advance Wars is not shaping Nintendo’s thinking on the Switch 2. You’re right about Unicorn Overlord though.
Generation game
I have such fond memories of Beyond Good & Evil, as my son was eight and did the whole game without guides or walkthrough which weren’t really a thing then for 100% completion. Even getting and finding codes off the bottom of shoes, taking every photo… only for him nearly to give up with the weird ending and controls where up was down and down was up.
I think he spent two weeks on that last bit. Now he is 28, married and father of twin girls who are two in August. Who would of thought 20 years on that we would be where we are in our lives and I know he can’t wait to revisit the game. Special times then and special times now.
TWO MACKS
Beyond good
I agree with GameCentral’s comments on Beyond Good & Evil’s 20th anniversary review and originally I just took it for what it was when I first played it. I have to admit that it’s only over the last few years that things like favourite television programmes and games are being explored and thought about more thoroughly, by having a different mindset now – especially ones with weird or unusual concepts.
I personally wish they’d just get back to finishing the second Beyond Good & Evil instead of a new release of an older game. I remember that when I played computer games in general back then, that playing anthropomorphic animal games was just such a normal experience, including the human race being a minority race – which was a done deal in some games. The fact that Jade interacts with so few of her own kind is something I never thought of deeply!
The gameplay is definitely old school and something which newer or younger gamers are going to find interesting and a bit awkward. The story is maybe a bit like you were left out of the loop at first, but I think it does add to the mystery a little more and I loved the whole conspiracy and citizen demonstrations and anti-government part of the plot.
The best parts are the puzzles and getting parts to make up your transport and breaking out of orbit and navigating some of space and its celestial objects, which was definitely a win for me. The other win is the photography of rare or special life forms and not forgetting the various water transport races. The music is top notch and the characters are very well written and designed, with enough emotion to make the final cliffhanger an endless enigma over the years.
I won’t be needing to buy this new 20th Anniversary Edition but I do encourage others to give it a try, who have yet to experience this rather special game. I hope that the much anticipated sequel gets a motivational kick soon, so as to let the story be expanded and completed after all this time! GameCentral Inbox magic most definitely is needed here for sure.
Alucard
Inbox also-rans
Of all the games Capcom could’ve brought back why did it have to be Dead Rising? As far as I’m concerned it’s their least interesting major franchise. That’s two remasters we’ve had of that game now and still zero for Dino Crisis!
Tacle
Is it me or is 1 million sales for Stellar Blade not that much? You hear about indie games selling multiple millions in just their first week. I guess Stellar Blade is more expensive, so it evens out a bit, but even so.
Gauntlett
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The small print
New Inbox updates appear every weekday morning, with special Hot Topic Inboxes at the weekend. Readers’ letters are used on merit and may be edited for length and content.
You can also submit your own 500 to 600-word Reader’s Feature at any time via email or our Submit Stuff page, which if used will be shown in the next available weekend slot.
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