Thursday’s letters to the editor page is excited about the collector’s editions of Tomb Raider 1-3 Remastered because a reader has a theory about Nintendo and Shiver Entertainment.
To join the discussions yourself, email gamecentral@metro.co.uk
Stuck in the middle
As someone who initially played the game almost every day, it doesn’t surprise me that people are starting to lose interest in Helldivers 2. I can’t say why it happened so suddenly, but for me it’s the reason why I stopped playing so regularly. This was not only because of the nerfing of all the good weapons, but also because it became a bit monotonous .
There’s only so long you can play the same thing over and over again, and for me, I’ve reached my limit. I realize that things like Fortnite and Rainbow Six Siege seem to go on forever, but I need a change of pace at least. I’ll probably get back into the game properly in a few months, but I can’t imagine ever playing it as much as I did before.
Helldivers 2 didn’t do anything particularly wrong, but you can have too much of a good thing. How much this applies to other people I can’t speak to, but I notice that most of the long-lasting live service games are aimed at either kids (Fortnite and Minecraft) or hardcore shooter fans (Rainbow Six and Counter-Strike). .
There’s not much in between, and yet Helldivers 2 is just that. Maybe that was the point. But if that was the case, we’ll soon find out that these types of games don’t work in the long run.
Sasquatch
Works as intended
So is Hellblade 2 the 2024 version of Ryse: Son Of Rome? It looks incredible, but not much happens.
The low score didn’t surprise me as I had played the original and was completely disappointed by it. The whole gimmick with the voices was annoying. Combat was single note and there were about three or less enemy types.
Has Ninja Theory made a good game yet? Quick Google check, no. Maybe Enslaved, but not a great record. Of course, it’s just my opinion and others might love Ninja’s predecessors, but I will continue to not buy their output unless it’s dirt cheap, like the games I’ve played.
Bobwallett
GC: Ryse was primarily an action game, so it was a bigger failure in that regard. For better or worse, Hellblade 2 is the way it is on purpose. We’re not huge fans of Enslaved, but we always felt that the DmC reboot was underrated, even if the story elements were terrible.
90s nostalgia
It’s a strange thing about Resident Evil 1’s 30th anniversary. I remember buying a PS1 to play it and calling everyone in the room to see the lifelike graphics. Back then there was nothing like it or the style of horror that really made you wonder. One of the few games I’ve returned to again and again.
Amazing how far we’ve come in such a short time, although Super Mario 64 was the most amazing achievement for me with the limited hardware at the time. Remember watching the intro, waiting for the game to start outside the castle, and then realizing it had started and the entire games were like witchcraft at work. Magical, I spent more than 100 hours trying to get every star.
We wish everyone at Digital Foundry and Eurogamer the best of luck and keep our fingers crossed. Worrying times. You are both gamers and quality journalists.
TWO MACKS
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Lara in the flesh
Great news for me!
Tomb Raider 1-3 Remastered will be released as a physical version on September 24th. I’ve always wanted to play this but wasn’t keen on the idea of a digital copy since my other Tomb Raider games are on CD. Now I’m glad I waited.
It’s coming out as a standard edition. But even better: as a deluxe steelbook edition, which includes maps, an 80+ page book, a soundtrack download and a greatest hits music CD. That all sounds very retro and exactly what I had originally hoped for. It’s coming out for PlayStation 5 and Switch. There’s no mention of Xbox.
Tony- -1975 (PSN ID)/SW-4453-8520-2043 (Switch)
GC: There is also a limited collector’s edition for £160 which includes all sorts of other things such as action figures and gun replicas.
Previous advice
Re: Chaosphere and Paul C’s launch and other Xbox Series issues The advice applied to the Xbox One, but I find it applies to the Xbox Series X as well.
To be more specific: “Just go to Settings, then Disc & Blu-ray, and triple-click “Clear Persistent Storage” (just like you did when clearing Xbox 360 cache).
Then navigate to Advanced Settings under Network and disable Alternate Mac Address, which will restart the Xbox and make everything buttery smooth again, at least on that end.
Hopefully this helps somewhat.
NatorDom
Dirty discs
I have a small problem: I received System Shock new and sealed from Hit for the PlayStation 5 today and I could hear the disc inside was loose before I immediately opened it.
I opened it up and could see a few small marks on the disc, I installed the game on PlayStation 5 and it installed perfectly and I started with the very first area after the cutscene when I selected “New Game”.
I haven’t had any problems yet. If the CD was installed properly, does that mean the CD is fully functional?
Should I return the CD for a refund?
I got Sea Of Stars from Hit earlier this month and the CD 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 these or Super Mario RPG on the DS about 15 years ago, so here lies my question… I know Mario games don’t really have an ongoing story, but what do you think is the best order to play these games?
Like in the Paper Mario/Mario RPG games. They all seem to be available now on either Switch, Nintendo Switch Online, or DS, so which is the most consistent/fun way to experience them? Because even in your review, you referenced a few different games in history.
Thank you for your answer and keep it up!
Lizardpudlian
GC: Thanks. That’s a lot of games though, and none of them have any direct connection to history (that we remember). We just played Super Mario RPG, Paper Mario, and The Thousand-Year Door, and then went straight to The Origami King. The Mario & Luigi games are a bit more cohesive, with returning characters like the wonderful Fawful, but the answer to any question like that is always release order.
Every port in the storm
Interesting news regarding Nintendo’s purchase of the Shiver Entertainment port house. Despite some confusion among readers about the quality of recent ports, I think the reasons why Nintendo was in the market for such a studio make a lot of sense if they hope to avoid the gaps in the Switch lineup from Switch 2.
Third-party ports to the Switch have typically required 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 Alien Isolation are also notable.
With Nintendo buying out its own port studio, it seems like they’re going to offer this service internally to third parties. If EA or Microsoft can make deals directly with Nintendo for Switch 2 versions, it would probably be more enticing to bring their games to the new platform.
Then there are patches for existing Switch games for the Switch 2. Many first and third party Switch titles would benefit from an upgrade, so it would be beneficial to have this done with a dedicated studio that deals with the old and new knows about hardware.
I, like other readers, feel like Nintendo will charge money for improvements to older games, which isn’t a bad thing since producing these things requires resources. I imagine the Switch 2 can easily play Switch games straight out of the box, but if you want higher frame rates and resolutions… then that’s £10 and Shiver will do the work.
Marc
GC: You talk about the studio as if it’s some kind of renowned expert in its field, even though its gameography suggests anything but that. Do you really want the people behind the Mortal Kombat 1 port to remake Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom?
Inbox is also running
Great review of the Paper Mario game. I remember playing it on the GameCube and it was excellent. I was pretty sad when it ended. Do you think loading times will be much faster with the Switch 2 if it’s backwards compatible?
rave
GC: Thanks. It will probably go a little faster, but it’s not a major problem, just a minor inconvenience.
I don’t understand why Helldivers 2’s popularity is suddenly declining, but how will this affect Sony’s future plans? This should be a lesson to them that with live service games, you don’t realize you have a hit until much later, but somehow I don’t think they want to hear that.
Lettom
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