The Friday letters page asks what’s the most impossible sequel after Half-Life 3, as one reader warns of doom and gloom on the PC.
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Opening the gates
I don’t think you even really need a rumour to say that the Nintendo Switch 2 will have good third party support. Unless publishers are really crazy (and I admit sometimes it seems they are) they’ll be flooding the Switch 2 with as many ports and remasters as they can.
If we assume an average of the rumours so far, then it would be a bit more powerful than a PlayStation 4. That leaves a huge amount of potential for some fantastic games you’d never expect to see on a Nintendo console. Elden Ring and Call of Duty, sure, but also Red Dead Redemption 2, GTA 5, Metal Gear Solid 5, Final Fantasy 7 Remake, all the Resident Evils, Cyberpunk 2077, and so many more.
What I’m really interested in though, is whether Xbox and PlayStation exclusives will appear on the Switch 2. Sony and Microsoft both seem to consider Nintendo hardware as neutral ground. We’ve already had previous Xbox exclusives on Switch so why not Gears Of War, Forza Horizon, and Sea Of Thieves as well?
Sony has Lego Horizon Adventures coming out this year on Switch, so what’s to stop the actual Horizon Zero Dawn, or God Of War or Uncharted? It would’ve seemed crazy even just a year ago, but I think it’s clear that even, though it’s not likely, it is definitely a possibilty now.
Gadfly
Best worst example
I’m curious to see whether anyone writes in to defend The Order: 1886, which I found to be the absolute best/worst example of gameplay over graphics. It looked great but it was both boring and ultra generic to play and all the things that were meant to make it unique, like the story and the werewolf stuff was handled so very badly.
Even with the graphics I don’t see any redeeming features with the game and I’m not surprised Sony essentially cut ties with the developer. I’m sorry they’ve been shut down but that seems to a major risk with any company being bought by a big firm. And it’s clearly not something that’s going to stop any time.
Conte
GC: No one has so far.
Impossible sequels
So if Half-Life 3 did actually get made and released what would be the most anticipated sequel that nobody expects after that? Given how much it squandered its last chance I don’t feel Shenmue 4 can really count, so what else is there?
I feel like maybe Bloodborne 2 is the most wanted? Or maybe Chrono Trigger 2 (I don’t really count Chrono Cross) or a new Castlevania? Lately, we have been working our way through sequels that would previously never have been imagined; I guess because they’re known IP and that’s what companies like when they spend their money on things. I feel I’m forgetting something obvious though, what are other people’s thoughts?
Gantz
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Failing upwards
If they weren’t constantly laying off people for no reason I’d find these Warner Bros. execs extremely funny. They had a massive hit with Hogwarts Legacy and what is their response? Not to make something similar but to do the exact opposite. You really have to wonder how these people get their jobs. It sounds like everyone is afraid to tell the big boss that he’s barking up the wrong tree, but who wants to push that angle?
I hope that Warner decides to let their developers make single-player games but that seems very optimistic to me. We’ll know when we find out what Rocksteady’s next game is, I guess. But at this point does anyone really have an appetite for a new Batman: Arkham game? I feel that that well has been poisoned now, especially with that VR game coming up.
Grackle
Singular idea
Does anyone else wish that Bungie had made a single-player spin-off of Destiny 2, that told a proper story you could follow and was more varied? In the early days, when I didn’t quite understand how live service games paid for themselves, I thought this was an obvious idea and was bound to happen, but of course it never did.
It was the same for Overwatch, which I also assumed was going to happen. They kind of hinted at doing it but, as we know now, they never did it. I’m not sure why, as multiplayer games are no good for telling a story and I would’ve though a well done single-player could’ve brought people into the main game as well. It seems a shame to me.
Tim Rogers
Complete doom
So, with all the doom and gloom amongst my console playing gaming brothers (thinking of the ‘Why I’m selling X or Y console’ Reader’s Features), coupled with the odd person thinking of switching to PC, I just thought I would throw in a bit of PC doom-mongering.
For anyone thinking of getting into PC gaming, a couple of things to be aware of.
1). Intel has really dropped a clanger with the latest chipset (13th and 14th gen processors). There are multiple reports of the processors just crashing – primarily (but not exclusively) the high end processors, but apparently it can affect any CPU that draws over 65watts (so… all of them?). Nvidia are working on a fix, but there is no recall and who knows if it will work?
2) Nvidia still rule the roost when it comes to GPUs, but since the launch of the RTX architecture there have been two noticeable trends. Firstly, generational pricing takes a huge leap each time – in particular their upper-mid and high-end cards are far more expensive than they used to be (although they are incredibly powerful). Secondly (and to me this is a potential dealbreaker) they are now so stingy on VRAM. Modern games need a lot of VRAM but Nvidia’s most accessible cards only have 8GB. This is simply not enough for future-proofing, especially if you use over 1080p/use an ultra-wide monitor, like I do.
AMD are able to stack their cards with loads of VRAM but, frankly, losing DLSS is a big sacrifice. I have no idea what I will do when I upgrade next.
Anyway, just wanted my console brethren to know it’s not all rosy in PC world either.
Whatever you game on, whatever you’re playing, have fun y’all!
The Dude Abides
Not enough time
As a fan of Dead Space I bought and played The Callisto Protocol and I cannot imagine how it would’ve suddenly been improved by an extra three months in development. I don’t care how many extras bosses the game has, it was boring, repetitive, and just flat out no fun.
There was nothing original in it and it wasn’t scary. Apart from good graphics it got almost everything wrong it could’ve. It still wasn’t terrible, because it was well put together, but it was completely uninteresting and forgettable. My biggest gaming disappointment in a long time.
Kerny
Youth appeal
Whilst pondering how to have a PlayStation 5 in the lounge and in a playroom, without shelling out for a second-hand console, I discovered that the PlayStation 5 remote app is available on some Android TVs. It does beg the question of why they don’t shout about these great features a little more. I did wonder if anyone had any experience of this. I do stream to a PS4 Pro and that works well, but I want to sell it and you can use the DualSense controllers with the app.
Meanwhile, where are the games? Still playing Gran Turismo 7 in the main, but some nice free treats such as Dave The Diver have made it a little more used recently.
I’m just relieved that after my eight-year-old has been dining out on Fortnite for eight or 10 months, after watching me play Zelda a couple of nights ago (still trying to finish it, I have two kids and really don’t game as much as I want to) he has suddenly started trying both Switch and PlayStation 5 games.
Current favourites are Mario Kart (I mean obviously), Spider-Man, Riders Republic (anyone else found Ubisoft’s child management entirely impenetrable? Epic’s isn’t great but this is a whole other level), Splatoon 3, and he wants to play Zelda. Fortnite has taken a definite back seat, which is a relief because I can thrash him at Mario Kart after nearly 30 years of dedication, whereas my Fortnite skills are atrocious.
He also weirdly loves Excitebike 64, I never remember it being as hard!
My point, it’s nice to see that perhaps live service games have a place but not to the exclusion of a good game, done well! There is hope!
Packed a lot in there… so Inbox magic for Switch 2 launching with F-Zero GX 4K DX Edition… and I loved my GameCube!
Catcave
Currently still playing: Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom, Gran Turismo 7, Balataro, and Mario Kart 8
Inbox also-rans
Are you still planning to review Fallout London or is that not happening anymore? I’m really interested to hear your thoughts on it, as always.
Chris
GC: It was too buggy when we last played it, we don’t want the criticism to be just about that.
Now that you say it, Star Wars Jedi: Survivor as a Switch 2 launch game seems almost guaranteed. I bet that’s exactly the game EA practised on for the console, why else would they release the last gen version so late?
Sidle
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The small print
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