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[KingT731]

The one reviewer that everyone seems to dislike did seem to finish the game

Yeah I saw his tweet. He says he finished the game in 17 hours.

 

[Reality Czar]

She is right that most game protagonists are white. But that is because most people are white. 72 percent of Americans are white. Finland is like 90%. This is reality. Sorry to burst anyone’s SJW bubble.

What is unreasonable is demanding that games not reflect reality. She wants not a majority of white people but lives in that world. Sorry lady at some point you have to accept your place. Finland is mostly white that means the majority. Minority means that yes you are not in the majority. Duh.

If u gonna get triggered that a Finish game company made a game with a white protagonist then you are the unreasonable one.

 

[Entroyp]

Not many people discussing the game here, quite worrying.

I thought I had a good first run and made it to the boss with some extra health and a level 3 carabine but I got my ass handed to me. Need to git gud..er I guess.

I’m liking the game a lot.

 

[xiskza]

Kotaku continues being cringe

 

[Cyber_hunter026]

Not many people discussing the game here, quite worrying.

I thought I had a good first run and made it to the boss with some extra health and a level 3 carabine but I got my ass handed to me. Need to git gud..er I guess.

I’m liking the game a lot.

Damn, the boss was that hard? I don't have a PS5 sadly so I can't join you Champs on the planet of astropos but how's the level design?

 

[Md Ray]

Wow, thank you Bo_Hazem .

 

[JawaSaysUtinni]

Not many people discussing the game here, quite worrying.

I thought I had a good first run and made it to the boss with some extra health and a level 3 carabine but I got my ass handed to me. Need to git gud..er I guess.

I’m liking the game a lot.

Exactly the same! Was so close to beating them and then they got one big swipe in that finished me off.

Did a second run though and got put up against an even harder boss. Looked like you had to deplete their health bar 3 times over before it died. Got past the second and then died.

First time playing this style of game. Since Sony offered all of those games for PS5 owners at the beginning, I have been much more open to exploring other genres that I initially dismissed. This plays really well, nice and fluid, and has a good pace to it. I think I need to tone it down picking up parasites and malfunctions though. I had a parasite that prevented me from healing myself - clearly didn’t bother reading the description when I decided to pick it up.

 

[Loope]

I think the idea that you must complete a game in order to review it is stupid. If the game is not engaging enough to complete, that should inform the review.

A friend of mine during the Amiga years did reviews for a magazine and i remember being mandatory to finish the games. Some companies would even send cheat codes so you could play it thouroughly. I understand your point if we're talking about Skyrim or GTA, but in a short game they should absolutely finish it, moreso on games that rely heavily on story.

 

[Trainsmove]

Another game that can't produce anything close to a native 4K Resolution. An exclusive Game 2 playstation 5 that should have been madeTo showcase the power of PS5. But no that's not what you got. Probably a great game but to say it's a next generation showcase is A joke. Its quantum break Resolution set up on a next Gen. System.

 

[Ass of Can Whooping]

Another game that can't produce anything close to a native 4K Resolution. An exclusive Game 2 playstation 5 that should have been madeTo showcase the power of PS5. But no that's not what you got. Probably a great game but to say it's a next generation showcase is A joke. Its quantum break Resolution set up on a next Gen. System.

4K resolution isn't a next gen showcase ya donkey. Any game can output at 4K

 

[Ogbert]

Not many people discussing the game here, quite worrying.

I thought I had a good first run and made it to the boss with some extra health and a level 3 carabine but I got my ass handed to me. Need to git gud..er I guess.

I’m liking the game a lot.

Yep. Got to learn those patterns.

Got to say, this is a proper roguelike. RNG rules. At the moment I’m avoiding any malignant cheats and just picking up parasites.

Just had a very good shotgun/melee run. Lots of fun.

 

[Entroyp]

By reading the comments above I meed to stop messing around with malignant items.

 

[Entroyp]

Another game that can't produce anything close to a native 4K Resolution. An exclusive Game 2 playstation 5 that should have been madeTo showcase the power of PS5. But no that's not what you got. Probably a great game but to say it's a next generation showcase is A joke. Its quantum break Resolution set up on a next Gen. System.

It’s obvious you’re not playing the game. It’s beautiful and a showcase to PS5’s power AND plays like a dream. Amazing given it was developed by a small studio.

 

[DeepEnigma]

Our review thread is a Utopia compared to Ree.

Did Reeeeeee just Returnal their review thread?

They do seem to lack mental endurance.

 

[sainraja]

I think the idea that you must complete a game in order to review it is stupid. If the game is not engaging enough to complete, that should inform the review.

Then why are you reviewing a game?

 

[Kuranghi]

Sorry, Your Cis White Woman Protagonist Isn’t Progressive

The future is bright for the current and upcoming crop of AAA releases. Reviews for Returnal are positive. I’m gassed as hell to have Lady Dimitrescu chase me around in Resident Evil Village before I let her snap me in half. Rift Apart looks so sharp on the PS5 that it might become my first...

kotaku.com

Not progressive enough!

Poor Ash Parrish, she just wants people that look like her to be trapped in a time loop fighting tentacle aliens forever, which to be fair is a weird thing to want.

How can you be this shallow? and in what way would this particular game have been different if the protag was a different race or whatever immutable characteristic they've latched onto today.

You actually just present literal, disgusting tokenism to these people and they go "I love this! More please!".

 

[Kuranghi]

Did Reeeeeee just Returnal their review thread?

They do seem to lack mental endurance.

Which "alt-troll" are they referring to? Heavy emphasis on the quotation marks there lol its probably someone who is diametrically opposed to what they've been accused of I'm sure.

 

[NickFire]

I'm fighting myself over this game. Part of me is dying to play it tonight. Another part is reminding me that I know it will frustrate the hell out of me when i die at the bosses (or before). Decisions, decisions, decisions.

 

[DeepEnigma]

Which "alt-troll" are they referring to? Heavy emphasis on the quotation marks there lol its probably someone who is diametrically opposed to what they've been accused of I'm sure.

Colin Moriarty.

 

[Dr. Samuel Hayden]

Sorry, Your Cis White Woman Protagonist Isn’t Progressive

The future is bright for the current and upcoming crop of AAA releases. Reviews for Returnal are positive. I’m gassed as hell to have Lady Dimitrescu chase me around in Resident Evil Village before I let her snap me in half. Rift Apart looks so sharp on the PS5 that it might become my first...

kotaku.com

Not progressive enough!

Jesus, is Returnal just causing everyone to lose their damn minds? What the hell is happening?

I love the choices of characters used in that image, because it doesn't even make any fucking sense. With Shepard, you can make him/her whatever race and sexual orientation you want. Also, I'm not into Resident Evil but isn't Dimitrescu a villain? So yeah, not a protagonist.

It's almost like these people... don't play video games or something!

 

[MayauMiao]

Sorry, Your Cis White Woman Protagonist Isn’t Progressive

The future is bright for the current and upcoming crop of AAA releases. Reviews for Returnal are positive. I’m gassed as hell to have Lady Dimitrescu chase me around in Resident Evil Village before I let her snap me in half. Rift Apart looks so sharp on the PS5 that it might become my first...

kotaku.com

Not progressive enough!

Dude please, don't give us direct link to Kotaku. We don't want to give that person any reason to still have a job for writing that piece of trash.

 

[Kuranghi]

Colin Moriarty.

 

[Bo_Hazem]

Ok, guys. Started 8:00am (opens that time = 12:00am in VA, USA) and finished the game just 22 minutes ago. Around 11 hours and 45 minutes, and explored nearly all of the optional missions.

Difficulty isn't really hard, didn't restart at the ship after the 2 premature deaths, around 9 hours without getting back to the ship. Died in total around 5 times, you can spare yourself a life past some level so you don't lose progress, but once on each level using your permanent "currency", Ether.

I didn't sleep since yesterday, like now ~30 hours awake, because I didn't simply die and start from the ship so I can sleep in peace. If anyone was hesitant about the difficulty I would rate it 7/10 vs Give Me God of War 10/10 and 9/10 Crushing in TLOU2.

I've enjoyed the game and I think there are still some secrets to check out, even though I've visited the house 3 times already and usually try to explore thoroughly. Just don't be afraid about dying, when you jump back again you can skim through fast to the next level as it makes it shorter to you to get back, and when you reach the level you get a weapon upgrade (not the weapon itself but something like ID level for your next weapon you get). You can even manage with 0 level guns as leveling isn't steep in the game.

I would give it 8.5/10.

Bernd Lauert don't push me next time.

Back to the real game, console warring.

 

[Con_Z_ǝdʇ]

Another game that can't produce anything close to a native 4K Resolution. An exclusive Game 2 playstation 5 that should have been madeTo showcase the power of PS5. But no that's not what you got. Probably a great game but to say it's a next generation showcase is A joke. Its quantum break Resolution set up on a next Gen. System.

 

[Kuranghi]

Another game that can't produce anything close to a native 4K Resolution. An exclusive Game 2 playstation 5 that should have been madeTo showcase the power of PS5. But no that's not what you got. Probably a great game but to say it's a next generation showcase is A joke. Its quantum break Resolution set up on a next Gen. System.

Here, I'll save you 7 years of waiting, basically no next-gen game will run at native 4K and 60fps. Not if they actually have a higher graphics fidelity than a PS4 game.

 

[JackMcGunns]

Nice! it looks very impressive.

 

[Shmunter]

Another game that can't produce anything close to a native 4K Resolution. An exclusive Game 2 playstation 5 that should have been madeTo showcase the power of PS5. But no that's not what you got. Probably a great game but to say it's a next generation showcase is A joke. Its quantum break Resolution set up on a next Gen. System.

You beclown yourself with such childlike simplicity.

Nah, just kidding, you’re awesome. Or am I?…..

 

[Punished Miku]

I'm glad people seem to be enjoying it. I'll pick it up down the road. Already swimming in games, with NieR, Monster Hunter and R-Type. RE next month.

But at least the game sounds like it'll be fun when I get around to it.

 

[Hendrick's]

A friend of mine during the Amiga years did reviews for a magazine and i remember being mandatory to finish the games. Some companies would even send cheat codes so you could play it thouroughly. I understand your point if we're talking about Skyrim or GTA, but in a short game they should absolutely finish it, moreso on games that rely heavily on story.

I agree that finishing the game should be the intent going in. But I think there is room for not completing the game for certain circumstances. Could be bugs, difficulty, or simply the game being so mind numbingly bad, that finishing it would not change your opinion.

 

[Soulblighter31]

Jesus, is Returnal just causing everyone to lose their damn minds? What the hell is happening?

Its a sony game. We all know every sony game just HAS to be well received. It MUST be. It needs high metacritic scores and it needs for absolutely everyone to drop on their knees and pretend to be awe struck at its magnificience. A review is negative ? We must burn that person on a stick. In the town square. Gather the mob.

Digital Foundry makes an analysis where the game renders at 1080p then upscales, drops frames to low 50s and its image quality is kinda soft and fuzzy ? We need to come in layers and say how native resolution is a waste and how this game is so clear that nobody would know it outputs from 1080p.

You should know better by now. You are absolutely forbidden to say negative things about sony. You should go ahead and keep repeating every day, in every thread what a beast ps5 is. Got it ? It doesnt matter than its not and never was and its hardware is midtier from 3 years ago. You will fucking say what a beast it is every single day and pretend to be overly impressed by every single game that will ever be shown made by sony. I hope its clear now

 

[Bo_Hazem]

By the way, the game isn't dim on console, that's because it's HDR and we're viewing the content crushed to SDR. On PS5 looks fairly lit.

 

[ethomaz]

Its a sony game. We all know every sony game just HAS to be well received. It MUST be. It needs high metacritic scores and it needs for absolutely everyone to drop on their knees and pretend to be awe struck at its magnificience. A review is negative ? We must burn that person on a stick. In the town square. Gather the mob.

Digital Foundry makes an analysis where the game renders at 1080p then upscales, drops frames to low 50s and its image quality is kinda soft and fuzzy ? We need to come in layers and say how native resolution is a waste and how this game is so clear that nobody would know it outputs from 1080p.

You should know better by now. You are absolutely forbidden to say negative things about sony. You should go ahead and keep repeating every day, in every thread what a beast ps5 is. Got it ? It doesnt matter than its not and never was and its hardware is midtier from 3 years ago. You will fucking say what a beast it is every single day and pretend to be overly impressed by every single game that will ever be shown made by sony. I hope its clear now

Well your post makes no sense at all.

The Xbox fans losing their mind was not about the score at all.

 

[pratyush]

Its a sony game. We all know every sony game just HAS to be well received. It MUST be. It needs high metacritic scores and it needs for absolutely everyone to drop on their knees and pretend to be awe struck at its magnificience. A review is negative ? We must burn that person on a stick. In the town square. Gather the mob.

Digital Foundry makes an analysis where the game renders at 1080p then upscales, drops frames to low 50s and its image quality is kinda soft and fuzzy ? We need to come in layers and say how native resolution is a waste and how this game is so clear that nobody would know it outputs from 1080p.

You should know better by now. You are absolutely forbidden to say negative things about sony. You should go ahead and keep repeating every day, in every thread what a beast ps5 is. Got it ? It doesnt matter than its not and never was and its hardware is midtier from 3 years ago. You will fucking say what a beast it is every single day and pretend to be overly impressed by every single game that will ever be shown made by sony. I hope its clear now

That's all you took from Digital Foundry video? It would be good for your health if you avoid PS5 thread considering how invested you seem to be.

 

[Soulblighter31]

That's all you took from Digital Foundry video? It would be good for your health if you avoid PS5 thread considering how invested you seem to be.

Sony should be proud with a couple of warrior like you two looking out for them, so they dont get sligted on the internet by bad people. Jumping from your ass at the slightest negative thing about that shit console is precisely what i was talking about - and you're proving it nicely. That you think your saying something smart or correct is just cherry on top

 

[killatopak]

Its a sony game. We all know every sony game just HAS to be well received. It MUST be. It needs high metacritic scores and it needs for absolutely everyone to drop on their knees and pretend to be awe struck at its magnificience. A review is negative ? We must burn that person on a stick. In the town square. Gather the mob.

Digital Foundry makes an analysis where the game renders at 1080p then upscales, drops frames to low 50s and its image quality is kinda soft and fuzzy ? We need to come in layers and say how native resolution is a waste and how this game is so clear that nobody would know it outputs from 1080p.

You should know better by now. You are absolutely forbidden to say negative things about sony. You should go ahead and keep repeating every day, in every thread what a beast ps5 is. Got it ? It doesnt matter than its not and never was and its hardware is midtier from 3 years ago. You will fucking say what a beast it is every single day and pretend to be overly impressed by every single game that will ever be shown made by sony. I hope its clear now

I wish Days Gone has this magical power to be well recieved.

 

[Ass of Can Whooping]

Sony should be proud with a couple of warrior like you two looking out for them, so they dont get sligted on the internet by bad people. Jumping from your ass at the slightest negative thing about that shit console is precisely what i was talking about - and you're proving it nicely. That you think your saying something smart or correct is just cherry on top

 

[Dr. Samuel Hayden]

Its a sony game. We all know every sony game just HAS to be well received. It MUST be. It needs high metacritic scores and it needs for absolutely everyone to drop on their knees and pretend to be awe struck at its magnificience. A review is negative ? We must burn that person on a stick. In the town square. Gather the mob.

Digital Foundry makes an analysis where the game renders at 1080p then upscales, drops frames to low 50s and its image quality is kinda soft and fuzzy ? We need to come in layers and say how native resolution is a waste and how this game is so clear that nobody would know it outputs from 1080p.

You should know better by now. You are absolutely forbidden to say negative things about sony. You should go ahead and keep repeating every day, in every thread what a beast ps5 is. Got it ? It doesnt matter than its not and never was and its hardware is midtier from 3 years ago. You will fucking say what a beast it is every single day and pretend to be overly impressed by every single game that will ever be shown made by sony. I hope its clear now

I don't even care if people like Returnal or not, dude. I'm just dunking on the absolutely ridiculous shit that's been coming out of some journalists' mouths the last 24 hours - and Returnal seems to have triggered a lot of it for some reason.

 

[mckmas8808]

My only problem with the game is that mid run saves would be nice since runs can be rather long. Best game released so far this year though.

Mine too. Once they "fix" this, I'll buy the game.

 

[mckmas8808]

She wants to see some games w/ black women w/ "non-European" features... it's been a thing in Hollywood, music, modelling for ages that it's mostly black women with what she'd call "white features" who find success/get representation. When that's actually not what the majority of black women look like. Kind of like fat dudes in Hollywood, "black looking" black women are mostly used as comedic bit characters. And they generally don't exist in videogames.

It's a perspective.. one I'm not up in arms about, but try to have some empathy for a group of people who don't get a lot of respect in media.

But yes, they are a Finnish studio.. not a bad point, but it's a product for Playstation.. and at this point, Playstation is American lol

Then I have a problem with her with this point too. It's complete BS to say, "I want a black woman to be a main character but she can't have 'white features' because that doesn't count". No you don't get to play the colorism game here amongst us black people. If you black, you black. End of story.

So in my mind, she isn't helping the cause at all. And to some degree, she's making things worse.

 

[GHG]

Honestly, they've been more privileged than white men for about 15 years at least.

So I think the article is basically 2021 Kotaku telling 2012 Kotaku that they're wrong, but they don't even realize it lol.

Soon black men will be the same as white men and white women.

It's the next (il)logical step along the ladder.

 

[pratyush]

Sony should be proud with a couple of warrior like you two looking out for them, so they dont get sligted on the internet by bad people. Jumping from your ass at the slightest negative thing about that shit console is precisely what i was talking about - and you're proving it nicely. That you think your saying something smart or correct is just cherry on top

You just proven my point.

 

[Heisenberg007]

Its a sony game. We all know every sony game just HAS to be well received. It MUST be. It needs high metacritic scores and it needs for absolutely everyone to drop on their knees and pretend to be awe struck at its magnificience. A review is negative ? We must burn that person on a stick. In the town square. Gather the mob.

Digital Foundry makes an analysis where the game renders at 1080p then upscales, drops frames to low 50s and its image quality is kinda soft and fuzzy ? We need to come in layers and say how native resolution is a waste and how this game is so clear that nobody would know it outputs from 1080p.

You should know better by now. You are absolutely forbidden to say negative things about sony. You should go ahead and keep repeating every day, in every thread what a beast ps5 is. Got it ? It doesnt matter than its not and never was and its hardware is midtier from 3 years ago. You will fucking say what a beast it is every single day and pretend to be overly impressed by every single game that will ever be shown made by sony. I hope its clear now

Man, you have a problem with Returnal, and you have a problem with Ratchet & Clank Rift Apart as well.

Is there anything we can do to help you or ease your pain?

 

[Soulblighter31]

Man, you have a problem with Returnal, and you have a problem with Ratchet & Clank Rift Apart as well.

Is there anything we can do to help you or ease your pain?

you're tracking some random guy on the internet over multiple games where you perceive a slight against lord sony ... and you're asking me if you can help me ? Sony really did a number on some of its fanbase, didnt it ?

 

[Coulomb_Barrier]

Did Reeeeeee just Returnal their review thread?

They do seem to lack mental endurance.

Fucking crazy how upset and angry some of those losers on there get over such trivial things.

 

[DeepEnigma]

Soon black men will be the same as white men and white women.

It's the next (il)logical step along the ladder.

The oppression hierarchy already calls straight black men the white men of the black community.

Figure that shit out.

Fucking crazy how upset and angry some of those losers on there get over such trivial things.

The ultimate sign of comfort and privilege. When the brain no longer has to fight for survival, it starts to fight itself.

 

[Kuranghi]

Soon black men will be the same as white men and white women.

It's the next (il)logical step along the ladder.

I don't know if its even a ladder, thats too sensible and orderly. Its more like they are clinging onto a mop shaft thats spinning endlessly into the void, they are desperately clinging onto it, and the best point to hold onto, the mophead, is about to fly off:

 

[Kuranghi]

Holy SHIT, this one is a keeper

 

[rofif]

vvvvvvvv

I think the idea that you must complete a game in order to review it is stupid. If the game is not engaging enough to complete, that should inform the review.

I was of the same stance but then I saw all the reviews of tlou2 who clearly have not finished the game... and that is a prime example of contrary - why it is important to finish the game to review.
I would've missed one of best games last gen if I listened to these weird reviews

 

[Mozzarella]

Just a few things:

1. He literally started his review with this sentence, "The art of building a quality roguelite is in the sleight of hand. In order to finish the game, the player needs to improve their skill. But that is a tedious and laborious process." It's so absurd I don't even want to comment any further.

2. He spent roughly 500 words on his review criticizing the roguelite genre (not the game itself, but the genre). And then he deducted Returnal's score and gave it a 6/10 because of his problems with the genre. So by his logic, even if a roguelite is a 10/10, it can't get a higher score because Jeff doesn't like the genre.

3. Then under the subheading You almost lost me there, he says, "My low point with Returnal came as I was struggling to get through the second biome."

For reference, you can get to the second biome after playing the game for 2-3 hours. So, Jeff had made up his mind about a 40-hour game in the first 2 hours. At around this time, most of the games do not even open up properly.

He also clearly said that he was struggling as soon as he started the game, in the first 2 hours, when he didn't even get skills and gear or get familiar with the mechanics and combat style. His review scores aren't on the game, but the genre and the difficulty that comes with it. That's why he is being criticized.

The sensible thing would have been to look at the game itself, see what it does good and what it does bad, base your score on that, and then mention that the game is a rogue-lite (explain the mechanics for casual gamers) and highlight that it is difficult and may not be for casuals.

But the reason he didn't do any of that is because he is clearly biased against Sony. He said that he won't even preview Returnal. Why the anger? Just because Sony doesn't tell you inside stuff so you could leak and stay relevant?

Also, as far as his review pedigree goes, he said that Crackdown 3 was a better game than Spider-Man (PS4). Any rational person could see the bullshit in that claim. He doesn't even hide his bias. That's it.

Yeah i can see that being infuriating, if he doesnt like the genre then perhaps its for the best he doesnt review games from that genre. Clearly he is biased but i would say it balances itself out since there are also journalist who are biased towards Sony. I think that guy is insufferable and most of his reviews/takes are basically begging for attention, i can tell he is loving the attention on twitter and he's clearly trolling some people as well.
Good reviewers will use try to be as objective as possible when writing about games, but sadly nowadays a lot of journalists simply let their political leaning, social media drama and genre/console bias get in their way of liking games. Oh even movies too.

 

[Kuranghi]

Back on topic, I've stacked up some PS4 games to trade in, I'll get £54 quid for them in CeX, so as soon as my local one has Returnal in stock I'll be dropping the £11 on this baby, can't really go wrong at that price.

I also don't like the very concept of roguelikes but this one is clearly made with cry babies like me in mind so I don't fear it sapping my joy here.