The next summer gaming showcase I decided to watch is the Xbox Games Showcase 2024 to see what upcoming new games that Xbox has got on offer. Honestly what I think of Xbox now since seeing the reports that the Xbox is going to go multiplatform is stupid, pointless, ridiculous and most of all meaningless. I don't want to see Halo on PlayStation or Nintendo consoles just like I don't want to see Horizon on Nintendo or Xbox consoles. I will not support any of that and hope that Microsoft changes their minds and their games on Xbox again. I don't want AAA game console exclusivity to die off because it would completely ruin reasons to own a game console in the first place. In other words, I just want Halo to stay and remain on Xbox consoles and NEVER leave the Xbox console platform. With that said let's get on with my thoughts on the Xbox Games Showcase.

To start off with it was a short showcase of game announcements with games that will come to Xbox Game Pass which was then followed by a in-depth look at the new Call of Duty Black Ops 6 game.

Call of Duty Black Ops 6 is yet another entry in the long running FPS series of games known for the Multiplayer and deep Single Player Campaign where it takes in the 1990s. It has new gameplay refinements like the new movement system where you can now sprint in any direction but of course it is just a new Call of Duty game that we are all going to see every single year.

There were some games that I liked during the Xbox Games Showcase. The first game announcement I liked, which is my favorite for this showcase, was one for Doom The Dark Ages which has Doom Slayer returning to blow up hordes of demons in the dark ages. Gameplay showed off incredible new weapons such as the shield with razor blades and you can ride on a Dragon and also pilot a Giant Mech. Wow, this game is incredible and it is looking to be another massive hit for the Doom Series. RIP & TEAR!

Expedition 33 was another game I liked, it featured Turn Based RPG combat where it used a timing mechanic. There are plenty of RPGs today that use a Timing Mechanic but this game uses it well to the fullest for you to get the strike against enemies. The battles themselves look really fun so Expedition 33 should be a rather fun RPG to go through.

The third game announcement I liked was the gameplay reveal of the upcoming Metal Gear Solid Delta Snake Eater Remake which showed off the returning actors and fantastic stealth gameplay. It manages to adapt Metal Gear Solid V's gameplay into the remake of Snake Eater. This is no doubt going to be the definitive version of Snake Eater and fans hopefully can look forward to it.

The last game announcement that I enjoyed watching was the gameplay reveal of the new Perfect Dark game that has been in development for about four years with progress going well. Finally, developer The Initiative has shown off the first actual gameplay look and what it is shown so far is an interesting new storyline and gameplay that featured some parkour, modern FPS mechanics and Joanna Dark being able to do take downs and follow up on that. Joanna Dark's design is actually pretty good and I'm sure other people will appreciate her design better than what they thought of her in Perfect Dark Zero.

Those were my favourite game announcements of the Xbox Games Showcase 2024. It was a good showcase of games that had promised them and it was better than what the PlayStation State of Play May 2024 video showed off. There were some game announcements that weren't good with the worst game announced was Mixtype which had some really unsmooth animation that looked downright terrible. But there were some outstanding game announcements and the announcement for Doom The Dark Ages and the new Perfect Dark made this showcase for me.

Written by Anthony Hayball (AQWBlaZer91)

Well the Summer Gaming announcements started and then the big event started with the Summer Game Fest 2024 where Geoff Keighley hosted the event and told us what was announced. It was shorted compared to the other Summer Game Fest videos but it still had the Day of the Devs videos that followed shortly after. I'll only be concentrating on the announcements that were revealed at the Summer Game Fest 2024.

Lego Horizon Adventures

So the announcements kicked off with an announcement of Lego Horizon Adventures which takes one of the top PlayStation exclusive franchises from Guerrilla into a Lego world. Yeah, some people must have thought that it was good to put Horizon into Lego. It is coming out on not only the PlayStation 5 and Steam but it is also coming out on the Nintendo Switch. Seriously why would you want this on the Nintendo when it is a PlayStation exclusive? Seriously they tried that when they brought MLB The Show games to the Nintendo Switch, another PlayStation exclusive and it was a stupid idea and having a Horizon game on Nintendo Switch makes no sense.

No More Room in Hell 2

Next up was the announcement of No More Room in Hell 2 which is a 8 Player Co-op survival and it is a sequel. Looked okay but nothing really special.

Harry Potter Quidditch Champions

The next game announcement was Harry Potter Quiddith Champions which could the next generation update to the Quiddith focused Harry Potter game which was Harry Potter Quiddith World Cup so hopefully that turns out pretty good.

Cuffbust

Following up was an announcement of a co-op game where you try to escape from prison with friends in Cuffbust. It does look fun where you have to avoid guards and other traps and so forth.

Star Wars Outlaws

Another trailer reveals for the upcoming Star Wars Outlaws which went from an embarrassing showcase at Ubisoft's reveal show to saying that we need an internet connection just to play which is seriously dumb and stupid. I'll think I'll go back to shooting Rebel Scum on Star Wars Battlefront thanks.

Neva

Nomada Studios' Neva was a game that was previously announced back last year and the gameplay revealed looked pretty decent.

Sid Meier's Civilization VII

The Civilization video game series has been an enjoyable simulation series of games that has been doing fantastically well and still going strong after about 30 years. So an announcement was made for Civilization VII which is going to deliver pretty well.

Black Myth Wukong

Another previously announced game comes in the form of Black Myth Wukong which was an Action RPG with a deep combat system that is coming out soon on PS5 and Steam but is delayed on the Xbox Series X/S to improve quality of it or whatever.

Asguard's Wrath II

Another game announcement comes with its first VR game with Asguard's Wrath II which is available now.

Once Human

Next announcement was a Third Person looter shooter called Once Human coming out soon on Steam. The trailer didn't look all that bad but there was nothing really special about it.

Warhammer Space Marine II

And another previously announced game comes up next which was Warhammer Space Marine II which has a release date which is great and all but we all know that it is something to look forward to.

Metophor Re Fantazio

Two members of Atlus came up on stage to talk about the gameplay of the upcoming game Metophor Re Fantazio and everything they talked about is really incredible. Atlus has proven themselves to be the masters of the J-RPG and they still prove themselves as such. Metophor is looking to be another star J-RPG to come from them.

Batman Arkham Shadow

Next announcement was a new Batman Arkham game with Batman Arkham Shadow only that it is going to be a VR game. Unless you really are into VR games and really want one that truly mimics the feel of being Batman then maybe you'll feel disappointed with this one.

Street Fighter 6 Year Two

More characters have been confirmed for Street Fighter 6 and these are Elena and M.Bison who are returning characters from previous Street Fighter games and also Capcom is collaborating with SNK to bring in fighters from Fatal Fury and these are Terry Bogard and fan favourite Mai.

Tears of Metal

Next game announcement was a roguelike, co-op hack & slash game in the form of Tears of Metal. The gameplay on it looks really brutal and violent and it looks pretty enjoyable too.

Dragon Ball Sparking Zero

Dragon Ball has had more fighting games than you can possibly imagine but plenty of them were pretty good including the Dragon Ball Z Budokai and Dragon Ball FighterZ games. Dragon Ball Sparking Zero looks to be a return to the Dragon Ball Z Budokai Tenkaichi games and the game engine used for it is pretty impressive. Since Akira Toriyama's sad and emotional passing many Dragon Ball fans are paying tribute to his works and this game is looking to be a fantastic game worthy of respect to the famous manga and anime artist Akira Toriyama.

Delta Force Hawk Ops

A new Delta Force game emerges as Delta Force Hawk Ops which is planned to be a Free-to-play game that has both single & multiplayer modes.

Fatal Fury City of the Wolves

After a long wait SNK has finally gone back to their old Fatal Fury franchise and release a new game in the series with Fatal Fury City of the Wolves. After well they did with their recent King of Fighters Series games this new Fatal Fury game is bound to be amazing. After Capcom & Bandai Namco have got their old fighting game franchises to the next generation SNK has got to do the same thing with Fatal Fury.

Battle Crush

Another previously announced game comes in the form of Battle Crush which got an extended trailer with new gameplay and it does look okay for a Battle Royale game.

Mecha Break

A new mech game comes from Amazing Seasun Games with Mecha Break and the mech based combat looks pretty decent and the mechs look awesome.

Blumhouse Games

Blumhouse Games, the studio behind the Five Nights at Freddy's movie, has multiple horror game projects that are announced. First is Crisol Theater of Idols from Vermila Studios, Grave Seasons from Perfect Garbage, Sleep Awake from Eyes Out, Fear the Spotlight from Cozy Game Pals, The Simulation from Playmestudio and from the visionary minds of Sam Barlow and Brandon Cronenberg the last game announced is Project C.

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers Rita Rewind

A new Power Rangers gets announced with Mighty Morphin Power Rangers Rita Rewind which like the recent Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles game Shredder's Revenge it is call back to the retro 2D side scrolling Beat Em Up days. It looks aright as it has multiplayer co-op and a mix of standard Beat Em Up & Megazord segments.

Deer & Boy

Next to be announced was a very calm and yet emotional journey with Deer & Boy and the trailer shown for it had a good storyline with some good gameplay for it.

Kingdom Come Deliverance II

The flawed Action RPG Kingdom Come Deliverance is getting sequel and I can hope that the sequel improves upon the issues with the original game.

Splitterhead

From the creator of the Silent Hill series comes a new horror game in the works with Splitterhead which looks to have a really interesting new gameplay system to it.

Killer Bean

Another game announced was Killer Bean which is a Third Person/First Person Shooter where you go around on foot or by driving and it has over the top combat and it looks very funny.

Cairn

Next was a game called Cairn which is an adventure game where you climb up mountains and you have to plan each route carefully to be able to climb up and it looks okay I guess.

Wanderstop

From the creator of The Stanley Parable & The Beginner's Guide comes a game where you manage a Tea Shop, in it you harvest ingredients to make the most unique tea and be able to talk to other adventurers and get their backstory.

Unknown 9 Awakening

Next was a game where you play as a woman who can channel powers from the parallel dimension known as the Fold and the gameplay shown in the trailer is aright.

Monster Hunter Stories

The spinoff Monster Hunter game Monster Hunter Stories is coming out on the PS4 & the Nintendo Switch and the game was really good on the Nintendo 3DS so it will be great to see it on the Nintendo Switch & PS4 consoles.

EnoTria The Last Song

Next to be announced was a souls/borne style game EnaTria the Last Song and the trailer looked okay but didn't really show any gameplay. Oh well more souls/see itne stuff to get through.

The First Descendent

Next to be announced was The First Descendant which was another looter Third-Person Shooter running on the Unreal Engine 5 and the trailer showed off the Descendents that have special abilities in combat and it will be co-op.

Outersloth

The developers of the popular Multiplayer game Among Us are supporting multiple developers on their indie projects, some of them look impressive while others not so much. They also announced that there will be a Among Us TV Show. Really? how can you make a TV show out of the Multiplayer game where players have to find out who the imposter player is and discuss and communicate with each other about it.

Sonic & Shadow Generations

Another previously announced game is being shown which is Sonic & Shadow Generations and the new trailer didn't really show off anything all new.

Dune Awakening

And another previously announced game gets shown that was Dune Awakening and the new trailer shown wasn't good.

Battle Aces

Next was a real time strategy game with Battle Aces and the reveal showed off some really good gameplay.

The Finals Season 3

Next was an update for the ongoing Free-to-play First Person Shooter which has new characters to play alongside a new map and other updates.

Alan Wake II Night Springs

One of the top games of 2023 Alan Wake II has DLC coming announced which is Night Springs and the expansion has multiple characters to play as and it looks pretty good. If you liked Alan Wake II then you need to check out the DLC.

New World Aetermum

The seriously flawed MMO RPG New World gets a version on the PS5 and Xbox Series X/S that is going to come soon. The game wasn't all that good on PC and I'm sure it won't be all that good on consoles.

Honkai Starrail

Hoyoverse's Honkai Starrail was a great Turn Based RPG and has gotten an update which will have a new character to play as.

Dark & Darker

The free-to-play First Person game with Swords & Magic game got another trailer and is officially released on Steam and the Epic Game Store on PC.

Kunitsu-Gami Path of the Goddess

Yet another previously announced game gets another trailer and it is Kunitsu-Gami Path of the Goddess which is a Hack & Slash game and the new trailer shown wasn't all that special.

Hyper Light Breaker

Another game announced was a game called Hyper Light Breaker which is going to be a rougelike game and it will be a successor to Hyper Light Drifter.

Party Animals

A funny multiplayer game about animals flipping around is coming to the Xbox console so players can enjoy the madness of it on console.

Skate

There is a new Skate game which is coming out soon from a new studio Corp that is looking to reboot the franchise and it looks okay.

Palworld Sakurajima Update

The Pokemon inspired game with guns is getting a new update with a new map and also new pals and other content are coming as well.

Valorant Coming to Consoles

The online free-to-play FPS that is a mix of Overwatch & Counter Strike is finally coming to consoles on the PS5 & Xbox Series X/S. I can't wait to get a PS5 to finally jump in and play it at long last.

Squad Busters

Now we have a mobile game announcement with Squad Busters where it has very funny characters and very silly gameplay.

Monster Hunter Wilds

And yet another previously announced game comes which is a Monster Hunter game with Monster Hunter Wilds and the gameplay shown for it did not look anything amazing compared to previous Monster Hunter games that have come before it especially Monster Hunter Worlds.

Phantom Blade 0

And to end off the showcase was yet another previously announced game and it is on Phantom Blade 0 and while it did show off some gameplay it didn't really show off anything all that new.

So that was it for the Summer Game Fest 2024, it wasn't a great show but at least it was made shorter. It did have plenty of announcements that were just previously announced at other showcases like Metaphor but it did have an announcement or two that I liked. The announcement I liked the most was with Valorant coming to consoles and I have been wanting to see a console release of that game because it was an excellent Free-to-play First Person Shooter that was a great mix of Counter Strike & Overwatch.

What I didn't like about the showcase was that there were plenty of previously announced games that were showcased last year with nothing else shown to them. Other than that, it at least kept the showcase smaller, which is what I would like from future showcases, ones that last about an hour or two hours minimum with enough announcements to care for instead of three-hour announcements with nothing to them.

Written by Anthony Hayball (AQWBlaZer91)

So, the Summer has kicked off and with the Summer comes the Summer Game Announcements. Sony has kicked that off this year with their latest State of Play video and all I need to say is that it was an awful State of Play announcement video and I don't know where to start with it.

How about the predictions I had for the PlayStation State of Play video, I figured that I would hear some news either the State of Play would talk about the PlayStation 5 Pro that got rumoured, maybe information regarding Metal Gear Solid Delta Snake Eater Remake or the Marvel Wolverine game from Insomniac Games, I was even hoping that I would hear an in-depth look at the PS2 Emulation of PS2 games. Instead, we just had a bunch of simple game announcements that weren't great.

Concord was another one of those games that plays like Overwatch and it honestly didn't look all that impressive.

Until Dawn and God of War Ragnarok are making their way to the PC which would be a delight for PC players except that the PC versions require a PlayStation Account Login to play them on PC much like what happened with Helldivers II, yeah, I think I'll pass and get the PS5 versions instead.

Dynasty Warriors Origins is another game in the Hack & Slash series and the gameplay revealed for it wasn't really all that good.

Monster Hunter Wilds didn't really showcase anything new to make it stand over the current Monster Hunter Worlds which still has dozens of people still playing that one.

The Silent Hill 2 remake now has a release date for the 8^th October 2024 but the gameplay is going to be like the recent Resident Evil remakes so it will have the behind the back Third Person perspective which it may not be a bad thing I guess as long as Konami can make that work.

There were also some PSVR games that got announced as well but none of them were all that interesting.

About the only game announcement, I liked in this State of Play video was the announcement of Astro Bot coming soon to the PS5 which will take advantage of the PS5's Dual Sense Controller. It will be a full-fledged platformer that will multiple galaxies to explore and will feature numerous PlayStation cameos. It's nice to see Team ASOBI trying to take advantage of the new controller and hardware to deliver a new gaming experience unlike the majority of other stuff that you see coming out on the console nowadays.

That's about the main positive I have for the June 2024 State of Play video. So overall I say that it was a very disappointing State of Play reveal and the majority of game announcements are not very good and it didn't bring out any truly big game announcements, the PSVR stuff was super underwhelming, no news regarding some previously announced games and the games that were showcased were terrible. It wasn't a very good start to this year's Summer Game announcements.

Written by Anthony Hayball (AQWBlaZer91)

So, I have read a blog that Sony is planning an update for the PS3 which will shut down the online services for the PS3 which will include the PS3 Online Play and also the PlayStation Store. Back in 2021 Sony originally wanted to shut down the PSN Store for the PS3 and also the PSVita and when they announced that back then fans grew upset at Sony and gave out partitions to persuade Sony to keep them open and then they did. Sony now knows that that they are a few years into the PS5's life and by now they can't possibly keep the PlayStation Store on the PS3 any longer and are now planning to shut down the Online Support for the PS3 this year. I can imagine that they are also going to shut down the PlayStation Store for the PSVita as well.

Although Sony has not officially confirmed when they are going to release the update to end the support for the Online for the PS3 but I fear that it will likely by either in a month or maybe two or three months or maybe in a couple of weeks or worse. So, I can maybe we won't have much time now with the PS3's Online now before it shuts down for good and might want to consider doing any of the PlayStation 3 Online Games that still has online servers running and get on with doing the online Trophies for them before they shut down the Online Play.

For this reason, after reading the blog I am going to be writing down a list of the Online PlayStation 3 games in my possession currently that still has servers online and then get to work on getting as many digital PS3/PSP/PSVita games that I want to get and also the DLC for each of those games before it's too late.

I also decided to delete some of games that I was spending too much time with so that I can start spending time working on new things, I finished Tales of Arise's DLC Beyond the Dawn and so I removed that game from my PS4's hard drive. I am working on doing Star Wars Battlefront Classic Collection's Platinum Trophy and I recently did a game review on that.

Then there is one of the Online Multiplayer games that I have spent a ton of hours playing and that is Splitgate, I used to do videos on it and play it a fair ton every day but however with the studio focusing their efforts with their new game project. They have decided to do no more updates or patch fixes for the game and I should realize that I have all of the challenges and Trophies/Achievements done for it that I should move on from it. As much as I would like to continue playing that game to maybe work on completing the Ranked Match Medals or maybe work on improving my rank on the Ranked Matches but however because of the recent blog I will for real this time have to drop Splitgate for good and move onto a new game.

Now my main focus is getting as many of the PS3/PSVita Online Trophies done as much as I can on top of working on more game review of some of the games, I have been playing a long time back before I start off on any new projects which includes Splitgate and it is time to move away from that game and do some new projects.

So, for those who would have wanted me to tackle all of the game modes of Splitgate I can't do anymore of it and moving on. I think I did a good number of gameplay videos of that on my Youtube Channel and I did a great job making them. I'm glad a number of people got to check out my videos of Splitgate and enjoy it.

So, I'm working on doing the last of the Tales of Arise Beyond the Dawn videos and then start working on the Star Wars Battlefront Classic Collection videos on my Youtube Channel. As for the Game Reviews on my Gamespot Channel I will be concentrating on a few cheap easy to Platinum Trophy Indie Games as well as some of the Battle Royale games, I have been wanting to tackle for a while. Thankfully after removing Splitgate I can start getting myself together and start working on some new projects. Hope you'll look forward to what I'll work on soon.

Written by Anthony Hayball (AQWBlaZer91)

Breakthrough Gaming is one of those indie companies next to RainbowSpin & Zakym where they release some of the worst kinds of shovelware where they barely qualify as games. As you would expect they are an easy target for people wanting to boost up their achievement/trophy numbers especially for PlayStation owners super fast and easy platinum trophies that you get without effort. It's hard to believe that people still buy them even today which is the example of bad taste that isn't good for anyone but and that leads to more games of this kind being released on digital game stores. Breakthrough Gaming mainly releases games that are christen themed but they have something that stands out from all of the other shovelware trash and that is the Project Summer Ice game series which has many, many games under it's belt.

The Project Summer Ice games were a series that had a bunch different games that was separated into different stories. Most of which came out on PC but the vast majority of the games came to consoles. The games also went through different genres most of which entered RPG to Visual Novel. Each of the games released were released into different parts with there being fifteen games that are usually separated into five or so parts so technically you'd be playing through over fifty or sixty or so games in this series with the PlayStation 4 versions having in total forty-two games currently released which is completely insane. So let's talk about what this series is about and give my thoughts on each one. I will however be talking about the PlayStation 4 versions that were released because if I talked about every version of the game I'd be taking too long to get this done. Also rather then talking about each individual part of each of the Project Summer Ice games in different review blogs that I would normally do, I decided to compile all of the games together into a single blog. So with all that said let's dive in and do a review on the entire Project Summer Ice games released on PlayStation 4.

Project Summer Ice Bowling Series

So the first of the Project Summer Ice games to come out was the Bowling Storyline, and these are separated into three different storylines following Jane, Pammy and Mark. Each of the three characters have storylines that are separated into different parts, Jane & Pammy have six parts whereas Mark has five, but that's not all the three characters also have a game each where it is nothing but a short introduction of them and after you read through their story you'll earn a Platinum Trophy, so read through Jane's, Pammy's and Mark's storyline introductions which are all separate by the way and then you'll have three Platinum Trophies on your PlayStation Profile which is pathetic.

Three of the main characters Jane, Pammy and Mark are college students that introduce themselves to Bowling and eventually they start preparing for the Bowling Tournament. In between the Bowling practices Mark watches Jane and Pammy play and also sees interest in Jane which makes Jane want to go out on a date with him. The storyline is simple yet kind of uninteresting until one of the later parts where Mark pulls a phone out to watch a video and takes more interest in that than dating Jane which upsets her. It shows that Mark gives no care for anything kind of like how I don't really care for a shovelware game that looks so poor in quality. Yeah the resolution for the Bowling games are in a very low resolution with the images being in awful JPEG quality and what I also don't get is why the games have a very poor framerate. Seriously the Bowling games don't even run smooth.

The Project Summer Ice Bowling games are a visual novel where you watch the storyline unfold, everything in them are very straight forward and there are no dialogue options to choose from which would have changed the outcome of the storyline, not that the story is all that interesting anyway. Occasionally you'll get into a sequence where you get to do some bowling and honestly the bowling portions are not very good. Instead of being able to position yourself and how you would like to aim the ball like you could in a proper bowling game Wii Sports instead the positioning is automatic and you have to press the Cross Button to stop the positioning and then an arrow will come up waving back and forth automatically in which pressing the button again will throw the ball at that direction you pressed the button at. It is difficult to get the timing down for the best throw possible to get the majority of pins to set you up for getting all of the pins within two ball throws. The ball physics are not great either there are times the ball will bounce off to hit the pins while other times the ball will just stick to the top or bottom sides of the screen and not hit the pins which makes the bowling gameplay awful.

For the trophies of those games you just need to watch all of the storyline in each part of the games in-between doing the bowling sequences. The Bowling sequences will have different number of rounds to play and you just need to get a certain amount of points to get the trophies and these are only difficult because of the awkward bowling mechanics. It will take a fair amount of attempts to get the points during the bowling sequences needed for the trophies with how annoying the placing and aiming really are but after that you'll then need to do the same in a single player bowling game and then you'll have a couple of fast platinum trophies unlocked on your profile.

There is also the Bowling Tournament sequence which is in the Pammy Storyline where you play a couple of rounds to get the highest amount of points possible. Depending on the amount of points you got would determine the ending you get and what you would do after playing the sequence is type in the code on the website and then you'll get the ending which is kind of ridiculous. Why couldn't they just programme in multiple endings onto the actual game and see the different endings play out depending on the amount of points you got instead.

There is also the Bowling Online Edition where on top of the storyline to play through it also has online multiplayer which you wouldn't believe. However unlike every single multiplayer game where you just jump into a server and easily wait for another player instead you have to send a room code or type in a room code that one of the players give to you. It's so inconvenient like why would anyone need to type in a simple room code just to start a bowling match, it's so dumb. What's worse is that there are online trophies that require you to play with 5 different people in a single session without turning the game off which makes the online multiplayer terrible.

Lastly there were the three Bowling Pinball games that concluded the storylines for Jane, Pammy and Mark. The Pinball aspect is the best part of the bowling storyline because they run smooth and there is actually a game that actually functions. The Bowling Pinball games play decently as Pinball games where you use the bumpers to get the ball to hit the objects to score points. They are decent and do some seem fun with the exception that you don't get to do the starting pull shot, instead you move the ball around the pinball area and then press the button to drop the ball down which is which is not how a pinball game is meant to be played.

So overall the Bowling Series of games have some pretty bad bowling mechanics that is the obligatory thing making the games last longer and the storylines aren't really all that interesting. In terms of the platinum trophies if you put six parts of both Jane and Pammy and five for Mark together as well as the Online Bowling and the three pinball games also, that in total is twenty one platinum trophies that you earn easily without too much effort besides the awful bowling sequences.

My First Date RPG Series

The next series in the Project Summer Ice franchise that Breakthrough would release on the PlayStation 4 is My First Date RPG which has six games that are separated into two characters named Oriana & Elliot who are both high school students who meet each other at the bus stop. The first story parts cover the backstory into the two characters in which Oriana is looking to be a model as her job career while Elliot is working a part time job while looking to go full time after graduation. Simply put the storyline is two students looking to graduate and decide their future careers which is all you need to get to know the two characters.

As for gameplay there is little to no gameplay involved here, you basically go from one screen to another to trigger the next cutscene letting you move onwards but it is very, very straight forward with no actual game elements happening. You do get dialogue choices in one of two of the cutscenes but they are very easy to guess what choices to make and the story cutscenes aren't really all that interesting. At least the games run smooth and the environments done on RPG maker don't look too bad but the anime portraits still look awful with the JPEG quality pixelation.

So My First Date RPG really isn't very good, the games are super short and there really isn't any RPG involved. There's nothing to level up & you don't anything gameplay wise from picking the best dialogue options. All three parts of any of the two characters take about two to three minutes each to complete and the platinum trophies are straight forward to get. Complete the three parts for each of the two main characters you'll have six super easy platinum trophies.

Our Church & Halloween RPG Series

The last of the Project Summer Ice game series that was brought to the PlayStation 4 is the Our Church & Halloween RPG. Unlike the other games released thus far where there is no RPG what-so-ever this series is as close to also playing like a full RPG as it can...well kind of, plus also it falls into that Christian themed gaming that the series claimed that is was to be about but also one all about Halloween. The storyline for this one is protagonist James has to go up to a mountain before Halloween for something that was his fault. The Our Church & Halloween series is divided into twelve different games, the first three games are just simple introductions to James, Erin and also another character called Scott who turns out to be one of the bad guys later on. After you play their introductions you are given a super short stage on each of them where you must reach the finish line in only a couple of seconds and the route is really easy to navigate through, earning you three easy platinum trophies.

The main storyline for Our Church and Halloween is split up between six games. Starting with Part 1, when James goes up to a mountain he moves one of the rocks which causes a ghost spirit to awaken and then tells him to move all of the rocks in the correct order which then opens up access to a cave. James' friends Erin, Sam and Amy jump into the cave and reach a dead end where Sam and Amy are then kidnapped by ghosts. James alongside Erin must journey across the maintain to rescue their friends.

The overall look of the game is the highlight of this package, the Our Church & Halloween RPG games are presented in a black & white screen almost like you are playing on an old black & white Gameboy device which does look authentic despite the text and the anime portraits in the introduction games looking very pixilated. Seriously they can get a game to run smoothly at 60 Frames Per Second but they couldn't get the resolution correctly with casing pixelation problems. It also sounds like an old Gameboy game as well and it manages to sound pretty well.

In the second part up to the fourth part you are finally given random encounters with the ghost enemies using a slingshot. The turn based combat is super basic, you either attack using the slingshot or using an apple which heals you up. You always will encounter one enemy at a time and you start encounters by touching them on the field. There are boss encounters which you encounter throughout the storyline but they are not challenging at all provided that you have enough apples and high HP to deal with them. Every single battle you win will increase your health and nothing else, there are no other RPG mechanics put into the games like you don't get any new weapons or abilities which would be good in combat. Also the enemy variety is lacking it mostly consists of ghosts that look like a black spiked square cube, one where it is a black square shape and one where it is a black circle with four tubes sticking out.

Parts Two, Three and Four has a save feature but for some reason it uses a password system where you type in different number codes to continue where you left off. Why must there be a game in this day and age where you have to put in a password code to continue the game. I know that this game plays the video games of old where you had to use password to continue where you left off because video games of the 8-Bit & 16-Bit era didn't always relay on a Battery Back Up functionality but come on really!? even the many RPGs on the original Gameboy didn't utilize a password feature.

Lastly Part Five where James and Scott are by themselves has abandons the RPG and there is no fighting involved. It is nothing more than navigating through two super short mazes and if you can get through those fast enough you'll earn the trophies and an easy platinum trophy without any effort. That's not all there two separate games to Part Five, one focusing on James and the other on Scott and they both play the same, no changes, no differences from one another, nothing even the cutscenes are the same so why have two different versions of Part Five of the story if you are going to do anything different?

What's worse is that the developer left the storyline on a cliffhanger, yes I swear that's true. So after saving Sam and Amy it is revealed that the spirit was a church pastor's son Scott who tricked James into going to the mountain and then when he appears he imprisons the party while he goes after his father who is the church pastor. After the party escape they rush back to witness Scott taking all the money from the church and then leaves taking Erin with him. Scott plans to use the money for his invention that will change the world. James then catches up to Scott by getting on a ship invested with ghosts and after saving Erin and deal with the ghosts. James and Erin then try to steer the ship only for Scott's back up plan to come into play to make the ship crash which separates the trio. Erin would wash up back at the church while James and Scott would end up at an unknown island. After being washed up on shore the two are then forced to stick together and get themselves through some caves before reaching service only to get captured by pirates and that's where the storyline ends. I did check the Breakthrough Gaming website to see if the developer is continuing the storyline and there is a six part coming soon but the website didn't have a complete release date yet. Will Breakthrough Gaming come back to the Our Church and Halloween series and finish story and learn the fates of James and Scott? We may never know.

And finally Our Church and Halloween series has three different pinball games. With these they are like the Project Summer Ice Bowling Pinball games where you have to keep the ball upwards and hit the targets for a high score. It still doesn't have the ball starting shot and still has you moving the ball and then dropping it. All three of the pinball games are varied with their own theme, one table is set in a forest, second table is set in a cave while the third and last one is set outside the dungeon where Scott imprisoned the party. The pinball games aren't too bad but the ball tends to get stuck near the flippers which is a bug and causes you to lose one of your lives and that can be annoying. Still much like the Project Summer Ice Bowling Pinball games it only takes a couple of seconds of playing to get the highscore which will grant you an easy platinum trophy and if you do all three of them that's three easy platinum trophies that you'll get without much effort.

Which is best & worst?

Out of all of the Project Summer Ice games that are released on PlayStation 4 My First Date RPG is the worst because it literally has nothing that really makes an RPG whereas Our Church and Halloween RPG is the best of them all. It has a decent premise, the turn based combat is basic but it has an RPG system in there...well kind of. Our Church and Halloween also runs smooth, has the looks of an old black and white gameplay game and I like the pinball games it has as well as they have more variety than the ones in the Bowling series.

Conclusion

So with that series done we reached the end of the overview of the Project Summer Ice games released on PlayStation 4. There are maybe other games I could have talked about that are only on PC and/or Xbox consoles at the moment like the Project Summer Ice Basketball, Project Summer Ice Drom Designer and a couple of others but I only wanted to cover the games that are currently released on PlayStation 4. Hopefully with this blog I would have given you a basic look into what these games are and should also spare you the decision of wasting money on these games even if they cost £0.79 each for any of the forty-two games that are released on PlayStation Store. Then if you understand that all of these games including all of the other games from Breakthrough Gaming are just piles of shovelware trash made for quick and easy platinum trophies than really you got yourself forty-two super fast and easy platinum trophies that you unlocked without any meaningful effort.

I would not recommend any of these games at all, they are all not very good with the exception of Our Church and Halloween RPG because at the very least there is some quality to be had with it. It's not very good don't get me wrong but the fact it tries to be more RPG based and have a decent story and presentation makes it above the other games in the Project Summer Ice games. I will at least look forward to seeing the storyline finally concluding if Breakthrough Gaming can get on with that. Till then it is best to avoid playing these games and spending your money on a discount sale of better more worthwhile games.

Okay so last night I saw the latest PlayStation State of Play Video and it wasn't all that great. It was a a 40-minute presentation with some new game announcements but also with previously announced games with new trailers and some guest appearances talking for a bit as well.

So, let's talk about the announcements that the January 2024 State of Play video that it showed. First up was another trailer for Helldivers II which is that coop Third Person Shooter which the gameplay shown for it was kind of decent but doesn't look like it could top the first one.

Next, they went in depth with the upcoming Stellar Blade game which did look pretty good, I do like the combat on that.

A new Sonic game is announced called Sonic Shadow Generations which will be a Sonic Generations sequel I think that will have Shadow and the return of Black Doom from the 2005 Shadow the Hedgehog game.

Hoyoverse's Zenless Zone Zero game is on its way to the PlayStation 5 very soon.

Foamstars was that Splatoon rip-off game that is coming out from Square Enix and owners of PlayStation Plus can get their hands on it free this upcoming February. I'm more looking forward to seeing how long it lasts alongside Final Fantasy VII Ever Crisis before the games go offline and disappear.

The popular indie Dave the Diver is getting a release on PlayStation consoles and also a collaboration with the king of the monsters Gozilla and the trailer showing the legendary monster rise from the water was pretty cool.

Next was a game called V Rising from Stunlock Studios which looks like a top-down action game which looks kind of decent not nothing really special was shown for it.

Next were two Slient Hill announcements, first was a free to download Silent Hill game called Silent Hill the Short Message which looks to be like that P.T. type game. The other game is a remake of the acclaimed Silent Hill 2 which will be using a Third Person camera like what has been done with the recent Resident Evil games. These Silent Hill games could look fun but however after how Konami has been with the recent Metal Gear Solid Master Collection, I don't have much hope for the Silent Hill games.

A previously announced game Judas revealed more story and gameplay with a new trailer and the shooting did look okay but the story could have shown a bit more.

Metro Awakening VR is going to be a VR game in the Metro universe and the gameplay for it looked okay.

Another trailer was shown for Dragon's Dogma 2 and everyone is looking forward to that game coming out and the gameplay and storyline revealed for it was nice.

There was an in-depth look at the storyline and gameplay of one of the other previously announced games which was Rise of the Ronan and the gameplay shown for it looked promising.

The trailer of Supermassive's PS4 masterpiece Until Dawn showed that it is coming to not only the PS5 and also the PC as well and it looked pretty good. So now PS5 and PC players can experience one of Supermassive's cinematic story driven masterpieces where choices matter.

Lastly was a trailer for the sequel to Death Stranding with Death Standing 2 On the Beach which it showcased the storyline and a bit of gameplay which I hope it is much better than the first one. Hideo Kojima appeared on the show to talk a little about the game and also his upcoming new project which will start after the development of Death Stranding 2 is complete.

So, it wasn't a great PlayStation State of Play announcement video, I liked the Steller Blade, Dragon's Dogma 2 trailer, Dave the Diver getting a Godzilla collaboration and Rise of the Ronan which all looked decent whereas the other announcements were not all that good. They also could have shown off some in-depth look into Marvel's Wolverine or the Metal Gear Solid Delta Snake Eater remake but instead just a bunch of uninteresting titles that aren't worth talking about. They are also doing another PlayStation State of Play video which will concentrate on the upcoming Final Fantasy VII Rebirth which will be on the 6^th February but all I need to say that there is no point to that. They could have just shown a simple quick & short trailer of it and just left it there without trying to give too much away. Seriously Square Enix is really spoiling out too much of the new storyline of Final Fantasy VII Remake Universe and I just know that the second part is not going to be good after how Final Fantasy VII Remake ruined the storyline of the Final Fantasy VII Universe.

Controller Accessory: EasySMX 9110 2.4 GHz Wireless Game Joystick Controller

Year: 2020

Developer: EasySMX

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Where as many third-party controller developers try and make their pro controllers for the pro-competitive players by being Xbox style, adding Back Buttons with small customizable features which leads to an overly expensive controller, some other controller manufacturers try to make their own pro controllers that offer said pro controller options at a more affordable price. I've looked at a few manufacturers in the past who have made cheaper alternatives to the pro controllers from Nacon like ASUSPORACE and HORI and many of them have fared reasonably well. Now you have another third-party controller manufacturer making their own line-up of third-party controllers named Easy SMX which releases a wireless controller for players looking for a cheap third-party controller for their consoles. Called the EasySMX 9110 2.4 GHz Wireless Game Joystick Controller it is one of their controller revisions that offers up not only an Xbox/Nintendo Switch controller layout but also has Turbo Functionality, Back Buttons and customizable features which seems unusual for a universal controller.

Like all of these third-party controllers opening the box you get the device itself with the USB Receiver plus the instructions on how to setup the controller and lastly a 10m Type-C USB charging cable which you'll need to charge up the controller. It takes up to 2 hours to fully charge the controller and the controller lasts about 8 hours of playtime on a full charge. The charge cable it comes with is short which is not ideal if you are sitting far away from the TV in the living room, you can use a longer USB Cable provided that it is a Type-C USB Cable but using a different cable can cause the controller to not turn on or operate properly which is something I have had happen a couple of times when I wanted to sit far away from my TV.

Setting up the controller is simple enough like any other third-party controller, you put in the receiver into your console or PC's USB slot, then place the Type-C charge cable onto your controller, then lastly plug the USB into the other USB slot of your console or PC. Once it is plugged in you then press the Home Button, wait for the controller to turn on and you are connected. The controller is compatible with the PC and a range of consoles, it works with the iOS devices, it works with the Nintendo Switch and yet the designers of the device made the thing compatible with the PlayStation 3 system for some reason and completely overlooked the PlayStation 4. Okay sure, the controller doesn't have a Touch Pad Button so it wouldn't be possible for the controller to have any kind of PlayStation 4 compatibility so why have PS3 compatibility with the device when we are far past the Xbox 360/PlayStation 3 generation when the device could have had support for the Xbox consoles? It's just a bizarre design choice when it came down to choosing what systems they were going to make this controller compatible with.

The controller has all of the staple Face Buttons, Analog Sticks, Triggers and Bumpers of any regular controller but it has customizable back buttons that allow you to set any of the Face, Bumper or Trigger buttons to them. Setting up the Back Buttons is the same as some of the other third-party pro controllers I've looked into, you press and hold the Mode Button for a few seconds to put the controller into customize mode then press any button on the controller and then press any one of four of the Back Buttons that you want to have a button set to and then you are done and can do the same for the other Back Buttons. You also have a Turbo Button where you can set any of the buttons on the controller to turbo which is easy to set up and you can toggle Turbo for any button on or off anytime. Having turbo functionality in this day and age is not something you see any-more but if you are playing games that relay on a ton of button mashing like in an Olympic Sport game or a classic turn-based Role-Playing Game if you needed to skip all of the dialogue so the Turbo Function is very welcome.

The EasySMX 9110 Wireless controller has two other buttons on the lower front of the controller which one is the Light Control Button that adjusts the LED brightness of the controller from no light to fully bright, the other button is the Vibration Control Button which allows you to adjust how strong you want for your controller although you can always turn on or off the controller vibration in the PS3 console menu which kind of makes adding additional Vibration Options kind of unnecessary. The LED lights on the controller look absolutely beautiful especially on the brightest and also on the second or third light setting and I also like that the light on the Right Analog Stick changes colour when you enable Turbo mode or Customization Mode, it's pretty good.

The feel of the controller is great, the build quality feels very solid and it is very comfortable to hold in hand. The Face Buttons and the Bumper Buttons feel nice but the Trigger Buttons are excellent and it feels good when you press them. All of the functions of the controller work really well and I didn't notice any kind of lag or delay on my games when I used this controller. The D-pad feels great too however the diagonal movement much like the other third-party controllers that go for an Xbox/Nintendo Switch style layout has a D-pad where the movement is not 100% and if you do diagonal movement, you'll either just go to the right, go down or if you press right on the D-pad you'll sometimes crouch where you meant to go right. Yep, the D-pad is much like other controllers of the Xbox/Nintendo Switch controller style where it does whatever it wants which makes it bad for 2D games or fighting games. The Thumbsticks are really good and they went for a flatter design instead of a hole-based design which is what all of the controllers today go for, to my surprise the EasySMX 9110 Controller's Thumbsticks are really smooth and comfortable and the flat design of the Thumbsticks allows you to rest your thumbs easily on them and move them without feeling any kind of discomfort. It won't beat the original PSOne and PS2 Dual Shock 1 & 2 Controller's Thumbsticks but still the EasySMX 9110 provides has a better Thumbsticks which are better than what you see on the market.

If it is for other kinds of competitive games like racing games, sports games and most importantly for shooters like Fortnite, Call of Duty, Apex Legends, Paladins and so forth then this controller succeeds and the Back Buttons give you the advantage you need against other players online.

It works well with the Nintendo Switch system; it is easy enough to plug in and setup and it responds perfectly to what buttons you press. It also works fine with PC and iOS as long as you set up the controls on what PC game you are playing on. As for using it for PlayStation 3 it works for the vast majority of games but like all other third-party controllers on the PlayStation 3 it may not work with every game on the system if a game uses either Six-Axis motions which the EasySMX 9110 controller does not provide or if a game uses a different Analog Stick movement behaviour from other games which will make the controller not work well for them. It just depends on what games on the PS3 that will work fine with the controller but for the vast majority of online multiplayer games that are on the PS3 will likely work fine without issues.

One other thing with the device is that if nothing is pressed on the controller for about a minute the controller will turn itself off. While it may be a great feature that if not playing & charging it will turn off to save battery power but if you are playing a game where there are long cutscenes (not ones like in the Metal Gear Solid games) or playing games like Heavy Rain where there are Quick Time Events and you have to react to them. If the controller turns itself off during the ending of the cutscene and you have to take action immediately you have to turn on the controller every time and sometimes it may cost you a game if you start out in a quick life or death situation which is annoying.

The EasySMX 9110 2.4 GHz Wireless Game Joystick Controller overall offers some pretty cool adjustable features from the LED Brightness and Vibration. It also has really smooth and comfortable Thumbsticks customizable Back Buttons as well as adding Turbo Functionality. It may be some bizarre compatibility with consoles like making it compatible with Nintendo Switch, PC, iOS as well as making it compatible with the old PlayStation 3 console for a controller made in 2020. It has necessary features of a pro controller and best of all it sells for a very cheap price tag under £29.99 so if you are looking for a cheap third-party controller that has the Back Buttons and want one that is comfortable to use on the Nintendo Switch as well as using it on your ageing PS3 hardware then I do recommand this controller. It's only held back by the USB Charge Cable issue were using a different one can sometimes cause it to not function properly, turning itself off automatically if you are watching long cutscenes forcing you to make sure it doesn't turn off during a cutscene. If you can look past the small issues then you get yourself a reasonably good controller that has the features you want plus customization all for a cheap price tag.

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Console Score: 7.5/10

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The Goods

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Customizable Back Buttons, LED Brightness and Vibrations

LED Lights look beautiful

Comfortable Analog Thumbsticks

Turbo Functionality which is good for anything involving rapid button mashing or skipping dialogue

Compatible with a good number of platforms including the PS3

The Bads

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Controller turns itself off every minute which don't make it good for games with long cutscenes

Using a different USB Cable can cause the controller to not function properly

Another year, another time to get ready for a batch of new releases of games with us ready for the biggest hyped releases that are coming in 2024. There are plenty of big new game releases including DLC for existing titles but I am only going to talk about the new games coming out so sorry guys I won't be covering the expansion for Eldern Ring which I know dozens of people are looking forward to. 2024 looks to be a reasonably solid year for new game releases and here are the 10 most anticipated games of 2024.

10: Tomb Raider I-III Remastered

Developer: Aspyr/Crystal Dynamics

The original three PSOne Tomb Raider games are returning to modern consoles with the Tomb Raider I-III Remastered. The three games are going to be released with updated visuals but there is the option to switch back & fourth between the new graphics and the original graphics. There are going to be options to play the games with a new control scheme and also the old school control scheme with camera lock on, health for bosses and of course achievements. Players will look forward to revisiting the old Tomb Raider days on the PSOne and being faithful to the original as it could be.

9: Paper Mario Thousand Year Door

Developer: Intelligent Systems/Nintendo

Another excellent remake of a classic Mario RPG comes to the Nintendo Switch and it is the remake of Paper Mario Thousand Year Door which was a fan favourite Nintendo Gamecube game from 2004. This remake looks incredible and it is also very faithful to the original with the excellent battle system where well-timed presses deal massive damage is the name of the game and the art style alongside the fantastic storyline and humour. Many players can't wait to revisit one of the finest Paper Mario titles.

8: Like a Dragon Infinite Wealth

Developer: Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio

Yakuza Like a Dragon changed up the Yakuza formula by going for a turn-based approach and the change was reasonably well praised alongside the trademark humour and content. A new sequel is in the works with Infinite Wealth which will have returned main character Ichiban Kasuga heading to Hawaii with it having a ton of activities to do and of course it will likely have tight turn-based combat and more crazy humour. How much wealth will be in this sequel when it finally comes out.

7: Prince of Persia The Lost Crown

Developer: Ubisoft Montpellier

The Prince of Persia series is making a return with a new entry which will be a 2.5D platformer with the abilities to jump, slide and dash between platforms, return of time-based powers, well timed parries allow you to charge up for powerful special ability when it is fully charged. It will also have some Metroidvania elements allowing you to find shortcuts and secret rooms which will be accessible if you have the ability to get to them later on. Definitely one of the better games from Ubisoft to look forward to.

6: Hollow Knight Silksong

Developer: Team Cherry

Team Cherry is working on a sequel to Hollow Knight which was a really good Metroidvania type game, it promises that it will be a bigger game than the original game featuring a bigger roaster of enemies, more benches to rest in and bigger environments to explore. Combat is sure to be really good alongside having some really tough bosses to fight. Another great Metroidvania to look forward to and hopefully soon.

5: Tekken 8

Developer: Bandai Namco Studios Arika

The King of Iron Fist Tournament returns as Bandai Namco is getting fighting game players ready for the release of the anticipated Tekken 8. Tekken 8 has four new characters alongside many returning characters. The rage system from the previous entry returns but with some changes such as having a Heat Smash which is used for special attacks and also a Heat system which changes properties of character's attacks which will make players want to focus more on attacking than playing more defensively. The online play will also be different, players will be thrown into a battle lobby which will feature a more arcade environment which will allow players to customize their avatars and then compete in online matches and tournaments. Many players can't wait to get their hands on it and enter the Iron Fist Tournament arena.

4: Senua's Saga Hellblade II

Developer: Ninja Theory

Ninja Theory's anticipated sequel is looking great and more new trailers are finally showing off some really incredible gameplay and really beautiful environments. With the release date getting closer the players will look forward to seeing more refined combat, a deeper look into the lore of Norse Mythology and history which will hope to create a brilliant narrative storyline. Xbox players are waiting for Hellblade II to be ready very soon.

3: Dragon's Dogma II

Developer: Capcom

Capcom's Dragon's Dogma is finally getting a sequel and a sequel it rightfully deserved, the game is going to be set in a open world which will seemingly four times bigger than the original game and will also have a day & night cycle. You will not only have your main characters but also can get non player characters who will join you as your pawns to assist you in combat that you find or recruited from other players. Dragon's Dogma II will look to refine a lot of the mechanics of the original game but it will look to be a really good sequel that is worth the wait.

2: Hades II

Developer: Supergiant Games

Supergiant's award-winning rougelike game Hades is also getting a sequel and hopefully it will be released this year, the sequel will look to expand on the things that made the original game so great. It will have a new protagonist which will be Melinoe the Princess of the Underworld and sister of Zagreus who is on a quest to stop Chronos, the Titan of Time. With challenging encounters, a tight battle system and getting upgrades which change up your current run in a couple of ways Hades II could be the anticipated sequel we've been waiting for.

Honourable Mentions

Dragon Age Dreadwolf – BioWare

Unicorn Overlord – Vanillaware

World of Goo 2 – 2D Boy

Metaphor Refantazio – Studio Zero

Neptunia Game Maker R Evolution – Idea Factory

1: Persona 3 Reload

Developer: P-Studio

A fantastic 2006 RPG from famous studio Atlus is finally getting a remake treatment after requests from fans with Persona 3 Reload. Persona 3 was an incredible entry of the Persona series in the Shin Megami Tensei franchise so it deserved a remake. It shifted to the Unreal Engine 4 for the graphics which look really incredible, it will feature the social and traditional turn-based role-playing game aspects that made it great including characters summoning their Personas by pointing a gun like device called an Evoker to their heads which may be dark and strange but it still looks cool. This remake will implement many quality-of-life features from other Persona games including Persona 5 such as improved map, heads up display & being able to give commands to all party members. The improved combat and other updates to the game will give many players including long time Persona & Shin Megami Tensei fans a chance to experience the third entry with a modern twist which makes this game the Most Anticipated Game of 2024.

2024 begins and while there are going to be a number of games that we can look forward to there are always going to be games that aren't going to turn out so well and here are the games of 2024 that I am NOT looking forward to the most.

10: Little Nightmares III

Developer: Supermassive Games

Tarsier Studios did a superb job with the Little Nightmares games that were 2.5D games that were super creepy and terrifying dark atmosphere. Now Supermassive Games the team behind Until Dawn and The Dark Pictures Anthology titles has taken the franchise and is working on the third entry but however, they decided to go with a day light setting instead of focusing on the darkness aspect like the previous games and it will also be a co-op game. These are kind of baffling decisions because the previous two games' focus was on the dark terrifying aspect so to change the series with a day light setting let alone to have it co-op isn't going to make this third entry not so scary. I'm sure that there are some people that aren't really pleased about this decision.

9: South Park Snow Day

Developer: Question

South Park have had a terrible run with video games until developers Obsidian Entertainment and Ubisoft make true quality games with South Park The Stick of Truth and South Park the Fractured but Whole that were really good and captured the feel of the TV Show. South Park Snow Day may look to go with the super hero theme that the previous games did however two things, one that it is going to be a 3D game which is odd considering the previous games captured the look and feel pretty well and it is going to be a multiplayer co-op game, okay? As much as there are some South Park fans that won't mind this direction except that it is done by an entirely different studio Question and as much it will have single player options as well it is impossible to tell how good or bad it will be. Yeah, not so sure about this one to be honest.

8: Black Myth Wukong

Developer: Game Science

This was a game that was announced back in 2020 and it did look like an interesting Souls/Borne game, however years later the game is finally getting closer to release but however there have been much better Souls/Borne games especially by From Software with Eldern Ring which really changed up the Souls/Borne formula and this game may not do as good as other games in that genre in comparison. At least the game's art style still looks pretty good though.

7: Helldivers II

Developer: Arrowhead Game Studios

Helldivers was a pretty good top-down co-op shooter that was well praised back in 2015, Arrowhead Game Studios is looking to change things by opting to a Third Person Shooter and wanting to make it bigger than the original. They could have gone for a simple boots on the ground experience or refine the top-down perspective but instead they want to go the third person shooter just to make it like some other third person action games on the market. The gameplay on it just doesn't deliver a good enough first impression.

6: Killer Klowns from Outer Space The Game

Developer: Teravision Games

Another asymmetrical multiplayer game based on an old movie and how many of these have failed especially when there are people that would rather play Dead by Daylight when various horror movie characters made their way to that game. Killer Klowns from Outer Space The Game will have the various humans and clowns from the movies and their abilities but seeing that it will be yet another asymmetrical online multiplayer game that will lose interest very shortly on the gaming scene.

5: Vampire The Masquerade Bloodlines 2

Developer: The Chinese Room

A game that has had its troubled game development, Vampire The Masquerade Bloodlines 2 is looking to be a part of the World of Darkness series and based on the Vampire The Masquerade Bloodlines tabletop role playing game. It originally was being worked on by Hardsuit Labs but then shifted to being worked on now by The Chinese Room. Here's hoping that the game comes out and delivers on its promise but the change in developers and long development time is likely not going to give hopes for it especially if it is already taken more than long enough for this game to get finished.

4: Star Wars Outlaws

Developer: Massive Entertainment

Respawn did a great job with the Star Wars video game licence with Jedi Fallen Order and Jedi Survivor. This time Massive Entertainment and Ubisoft have now taken the license and they are working on an open world Star Wars game with Star Wars Outlaws, after their embarrassing video showcase and a couple of trailers there are a number of fans that are sceptical about the direction they are going with this game. Sure, it will take place sometime in between The Empire Strikes Back & The Return of the Jedi and they did say that it will be an open world with a Bounty System which can alert the Galactic Empire to you. It will feature stealth, open combat on foot, vehicles and in space and it will also have branching dialouge. The problem is that Ubisoft is known for the multitude of open world games that they have done including some of the entries in the Assassin's Creed series and later Far Cry games. So, for Ubisoft to have a open world Star Wars game under their belt means it could fall under the standards of Ubisoft's other open world games, not to mention you already have Avatar Frontiers Pandora which was okay and there are some Star Wars fans that are being reasonably sceptic with Star Wars Outlaws.

3: Foamstars

Developer: Square Enix/Toylogic

You know what's bad when it comes to Square Enix? Their terrible New Years resolution blog posts where they announce some kind of terrible business practice supporting NFTS and blockchain projects that fail badly or that the company is continuing to produce more terrible live service games that end up dying months after release. Enter Foamstars which is a rip off of Nintendo's successful Splatoon games but you shoot foam to build terrain & create slippery surfaces and vantage points to shoot down enemies. Sure, the game may look very colourful but however the gameplay doesn't look to amazing and seeing that this is going to be yet another live service game from Square Enix it will no doubt feature microtransactions and other atrocious business practices stuff that will ruin it. Also you'll have to wonder how many months that Square Enix will have the servers up for the game up for before they shut it down alongside Final Fantasy VII Ever Crisis. If I had to guess, possibly 6 months.

2: Suicide Squad Kill the Justice League

Developer: Rocksteady Studios

Rocksteady gave us some of the greatest super hero video game experiences with the Batman Arkham games and they were so good and made us all feel like the dark knight with the execution of fantastic combat and exploration. So, when the studio announced a Suicide Squad game where you have to fight against the Justice League it sounded all kinds of promising, then the gameplay reveals came in and showed off that the gameplay isn't really all that good. It is a stock standard loot shooter game with you playing as the four members of the Suicide Squad with them having the same arsenal and attacks that make the characters the same as each other. To top it all off it is going to be a live service game with microtransaction practices that you would expect from cosmetics and a Battlepass. It would have been great to fight against the Justice League but it is a shame that Rocksteady that has created the combat and game design that have been so tightly crafted for years is likely to ruin this game by forcing it into the worst gaming practices ever.

1: Final Fantasy VII Rebirth

Developer: Square Enix

After how Square Enix ruined the storyline of Final Fantasy VII with Final Fantasy VII Remake including the stupid Intergrade DLC Chapter disappoints can only hurt more and more with what Square Enix could possibly do to ruin the storyline even harder to the point that you don't even recognize it any more. Final Fantasy VII Rebirth is the second part of the remake trilogy and will likely have more meaningless sidequest nonsense from any new characters that have no impact on the story, combat which still tries to be like a combat system from the Tales games & Kingdom Hearts but with an Active Time Battle system which is still not great and new storyline elements that don't make any sense. If Final Fantasy VII Remake feels too much of a re-imagining of Final Fantasy VII's storyline in the worst possible way Final Fantasy VII Rebirth on the other hand will no doubt ruin the most iconic moments of gaming history and I don't want to know let alone even think about what could happen after this game comes out soon making this game my pick for the Game I am NOT looking forward to in 2024.

2023 was an excellent year for video games but more so for the video games of all. This year saw many excellent remakes of old games as well as big game sequels from some old franchises and also from games that needed a good sequels. With many great titles that earned their high marks within fans and critics alike this year only the best ten will take the best games of 2023 lists.

10: Armored Core VI Fires of Rubican

Developer: From Software

A long time ago before From Software was known for the souls/borne games series and getting us familiar with seeing that one single quote “You Died!” From Software had a bunch of different game franchises and one of those was Armored Core which had giant customized mechs called Armored Cores. Finally after hiatus the company's mech based shooter franchise resurfaced and it was a glorious return. Armored Core VI Fires of Rubican much like the other Armored Core games focused on improving your mech with different parts that you can customize which give your mech different weapons from machine guns, rockets and missiles as well as other abilities to overcome the different challenges. There is even multiplayer which allows players to compete against their mechs as well. Best of all Armored Core VI removes the debt system from earlier games and instead allows players to retry missions without losing any currency, something you wouldn't expect of a From Software game.

9: Resident Evil 4 Remake

Developer: Capcom

Okay so I was very skeptical about Capcom with the way they were going to handle the Resident Evil 4 Remake which was a remake that didn't really need to happen. After later previews and the chainsaw demo it seemed that Capcom played their cards right this time and created an outstanding remake that does things better than the original game. Resident Evil 4 Remake enhanced a lot of the mechanics in many ways such as being able to move and shoot no longer making you a sitting duck, a parrying mechanic where you can parry attacks including a chainsaw which doing so causes damage to Leon's knife. Upgrading and buying new weapons felt better than ever because you have some new and existing weapons to use against certain types of enemies, especially for doing side quests. Ashley is a lot better as a character in this remake having a much better personality and a deeper interaction with Leon while still keeping her alive and you don't need to waste healing items on her, thank God. Mercenaries made a spectacular return and is addictive as ever and months later we eventually got the Separate Ways campaign following Ada Wong through DLC. While it may not have been the remake, we all asked for it, but Capcom remade various aspects of the original Resident Evil 4 for the better, which proves that someday soon we'll see a remake of Resident Evil Code Veronica.

8: Hi-Fi Rush

Developer: Tango Gameworks

An interesting and fantastic rhythm action game to come from the developers at Tango Gameworks the makers of The Evil Within games. As Chai who is a man with a disabled right arm who wishes to become a Rockstar and accidentally has a Music Player embedded into his chest. Yep, the storyline is strange but it is an incredibly good story thanks to good writing and enjoyable characters. The rhythm combat was excellent and you don't always have to follow the game's soundtracks in time with their beats. The presentation was fantastic and it used music from The Black Keys and Nine Inch Nails. Combine all that with the amazing art style direction then you got yourself a rocking action game that you must check out.

7: Super Mario RPG

Developer: ArtePiazza/Nintendo

Back in the Super Nintendo era Japanese and American gamers had a healthy amount of excellent Role Playing Games but hardly few came to Europe and Super Mario RPG was one of the games that gamers like myself living the European countries sadly missed out on. That then changed with this outstanding remake on the Nintendo Switch. Super Mario RPG on the Nintendo Switch remains every bit as faithful as it can be even the graphics do a fantastic job of maintaining the look and feel like the original just done with a 3D model look. Super Mario RPG had an excellent battle system where pressing a button at the right time will deal extra damage to enemies and reduce the damage your party takes making battles very involving compared to many other RPGs released especially ones on the Super Nintendo. It included some new enhancements to the combat and also you can challenge all of the bosses again for a harder fight. For anyone who has not experienced Mario's first foray into the RPG especially for the people in the UK, they can finally get this chance with this impressive remake.

6: Sea of Stars

Developer: Sabotage Studio

Sabotage Studio, the team behind The Messenger, which was one of the top games of 2018, went on to create a Turn Based Role-Playing Game with heavy influence from RPG masterpiece Chrono Trigger as well as Paper Mario and Golden Sun. It had an excellent combat system where characters take up battle positions after touching enemies on the screen without going to a separate battle screen, it has a timing mechanic with you having timing to an attack to deal additional attacks as well as lock types that you can break to stop enemy moves and spells and thankfully the combat has been streamlined to make it feel modern. It also had brilliantly designed puzzles that were enjoyable and were rewarding from exploration. It had engaged characters and a very emotional storyline that gets dark. Sea of Stars is a perfect homage to classic Turn Based Role-Playing Games of old and manages to implement the gameplay mechanics in a modern way and everyone who likes RPGs should check this game out.

5: Street Fighter 6

Developer: Capcom

Capcom lost some of the great fighting game groove after the controversies with Street Fighter V and downgraded gameplay of Marvel VS Capcom Infinite. Eventually, years later, Capcom returned to fighting on the streets with Street Fighter 6, and it was a return to form regaining their fighting game champion belt. The battle system was amplified relaying on the Drive Gauge allowing for different techniques that players can prioritize. On top of that players can utilize perfect parries to counter attack and get the upper-hand alongside Focus Attacks, EX moves and Super Combo Moves. The competitive online play was brilliant supporting cross-play and rollback netcode and the competitive scene is remarkable with many players using the new fighting mechanics in many different ways. Five newcomer characters like Kimberly and Jamie were incredibly fun to play as the new real-time commentary system where commentators watch the action unfold and comment on what is happening given it a tournament like feel. By far the best new thing to come to Street Fighter 6 was the new single player World Tour Mode which is where you get to create your very own Street Fighter avatar, explore around the world interacting with characters, improving stats and getting into fights which makes you feel like you are a part of the Street Fighter world. With over 3 million copies sold and Capcom adding new characters through DLC Street Fighter 6 is no shortage of amazing and it shows that the franchise has more fight left in it.

4: Metroid Prime Remastered

Developer: Retro Studios/Nintendo

On top of great remakes this year we got an excellent remaster of one of the best rated Nintendo Gamecube titles ever and that is Metroid Prime which has gotten the Remastered treatment on the Nintendo Switch. Tallon IV never looked so much better with High-Definition visuals, the environments and the enemy designs look so beautiful and it feels satisfying to explore it for all the secrets to get the power ups and upgrades. The game's combat is vastly improved, giving the player multiple control options including one where you can now play the game with Dual Analog Sticks, which is what many fans wanted and it is great that the Dual Analog Sticks option is there. Thanks to the new control setup, the combat is better, especially with the lock on system that makes targeting and keeping track of the enemies easier and also uses different visors to see enemy weaknesses so you can beat them. One of the best games on the Nintendo Gamecube got the correct remastered treatment and we can hope the treatment can be given to Metroid Prime 2 & 3 as well...while we still wait a few more years for Nintendo to give us more news on Metroid Prime 4.

3: Dead Space Remake

Developer: Motive Studio

The true definition of bringing back a classic game and modernizing it while keeping it faithful and Dead Space Remake has done that proud and what's better that this a game published by EA that doesn't break down or run awfully at launch which is great. The storyline is enhanced with Isaac actually speaking which allows him to interact with the other characters, the gameplay is streamlined and it features more gore than the original allowing you to dismember necromorphs in many graphical ways plus weapons are given to you through the course of the game instead of being purchased through suit kiosks using blueprints. The zero-gravity mechanic was also improved from the original allowing Isaac to freely move around to designated areas of the Ishimura. It was rebuilt from the ground up well with the Frostbite Engine which allowed for improved volumetric and dynamic lightning effects. This game proved that you can make games work on the Frostbite engine if you actually take the time to make it play and run well as well as proving that you don't need to rely on microtransactions or other terrible business practices to sell your game. Truly one of the best remakes to come out this year and anyone who loved the original Dead Space game will want to check out this fantastic remake.

2: The Legend of Zelda Tears of the Kingdom

Developer: Nintendo EPD

After how outstanding Breath of the Wild was everyone was ready for the follow up to it and The Legends of Zelda Tears of the Kingdom immediately lived up to everyone's expectations in every way. While some will say that this game is similar to Breath of the Wild while others say that it is better. Tears of the Kingdom retains the open-world aspect of Breath of the Wild but also added new stuff that were very welcome to the experience. These include new powers that replace runes from it's predecessor, sky islands and depths add more to the exploration thanks to clever puzzles and bosses that will put all of the new abilities to use. The Legend of Zelda Tears of the Kingdom not only refined what made Breath of the Wild so enjoyable but it also increased the scale, powers, areas and the story which all made for a brilliant entry.

Honourable Mentions

Neptunia Sisters VS Sisters – Idea Factory

Honkai Star Rail - miHoYo

Lies of P – Neowiz Games

Hogwarts Legacy – Avalanche Studios

Super Mario Bros Wonder – Nintendo EPD

Alan Wake II – Remedy Entertainment

Marvel's Spider Man II – Insomniac Games

1: Baldur's Gate III

Developer: Larian Studios

Developer Larian Studios gave players not just any kind of sequel that had to live up to its predecessors, they didn't just create a big game that gave you tons of stuff that is available to the player to do. It created something that was everything, it decided to base itself on the Dungeons & Dragons tabletop role playing system and it offered up every possible amount of customizable option to the player and there were multiple storyline branches that the player could take which changes up how they play the game either alone or in online coop with other players. The combat is turn based much similar to Larian Studios own Divinity Original Sin games and it fantastic and really fun and has a ton of depth to get into. The game's production quality is fantastic with top notch voice acting performances with each of the excellent characters players will interact with, amazing narration and the presentation is outstanding with superb quality on the environments and the character models. Every moment of Baldur's Gate III is impressive from the gameplay and the storyline that are so good that you want to invest further and further into both the lore and also want to do the next side quest with your friends. Baldur's Gate III was not only one of the most engaging online fantasy role playing games in recent memory but it is also my pick for the best games of 2023.