The Tuesday letters page thinks The Last of Us season 2 is a disappointment, as readers argue over whether video games have got too expensive or not.
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Between 1 and 10
Everything I’ve read so far about Mario Kart World has been positive, but I wonder what kind of reviews it’s going to get? Although I trust GC not to get carried away, I think a lot of sites get overexcited at a console launch and score higher than they would normally.
That said, I can see World getting a lot of 10/10s, just like its predecessor. I really haven’t heard of a single complaint about the game so far, so if it is going to get knocked for something, I don’t know what it’ll be.
On the other hand, I feel that some sites will mark it down purposefully just because they don’t want to seem too predictable when it comes to the Switch 2. While a few will be trying to curry favour with readers by complaining about the price.
There always seems a lot of politics involved in review scores and while it’s easy to just stick with the sources you trust it’s why I never see the point of sites like Metacritic. You’re lucky if I’ve heard of half of the sites that they include in their average scores, and yet it’s always those ones that are throwing out 100% marks like candy.
Scorsese
Seasonal change
I haven’t enjoyed The Last Of Us season 2 at all. In fact, it’s been so bad it made me think less of the first season. Without getting into spoilers, none of the changes they’ve made are for the better and yet they missed lots of obvious opportunities to improve the original game and didn’t.
I think Ellie in particular suffers as a character. She’s badly cast (Joel and Abby as well, to be honest) and the show does not sell her changes the way the game does; they just don’t seem natural and there’s no sense that five years have passed since last time. There’s also the major problem that none of the characters are likeable or even particularly sympathetic when you just watch them, as opposed to playing as them. So I do agree that being a video game makes a big difference.
It’s interesting to me that the best thing about season 1, by a mile, is the episode with Bill. that was not in the game. Season 2 invents some stuff too but there’s no equivalent of that episode and I’m beginning to think they should’ve made up entirely new stories with new characters, and just set it in the same world.
Revealing Abby’s back story so early on is a big mistake of the show and I really can’t see how the other stuff, that fans of the game know are coming, are going to work either. The game was already too long and badly paced, but knowing the show is going to run to four seasons means they’re going to end up making the same mistakes again.
Brutus
Play it safe
I think it’s a big shame that Mortal Kombat 1 has not done well, sales-wise, because you can guarantee Warner are going to take the wrong lessons from it. They’ll assume it was because they tried something different with the storyline, so now we’re going to get a Rise of Skywalker style direction change that will try and playthings as straight as possible and with a massive plea to nostalgia.
I thought the game played very well and the only thing the series really needs is a way to shake up the single-player. I don’t think it was ever a question of the story but of having something a bit more involved, like Street Fighter 6’s World Tour, where there’s a bit of exploration and role-playing. Now all we’re going to get is fan service and a fear of ever doing anything risky or original again.
System23
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Extra cut
You mentioned the reason console titles are generally more expensive than PC games is there’s no licence fee to pay the platform owner.
This would be true if most PC games were purchased directly from the publisher, but they aren’t, most are bought via Steam which takes 30% commission (which tapers down with large sale numbers).
There are alternatives that take lower commission and some games you can buy direct, but otherwise for most there’s a fee involved (although not a licence fee)
TheTruthSoul (PSN ID)
GC: Console online stores, like the one on the PlayStation 5, also take 30%, so that just equals out and it’s the lack of general licensing fees that makes PC games cheaper.
Simpler times
Are games too expensive? Yes, yes they biffing are. In what world is it making sense to price a disc and its download counterpart, the same price? I’m fully digital and I’m struggling, I occasionally buy games for myself and a friend whenever we’ve found a good cross-play, but by the time I have enough money to cover everything it’s pointless; the mood is either gone or the game crashed and burned and shut down, this is ridiculous.
Send me back to PlayStation 3. Things were easier, I had a lot more games I played on a daily basis; just send me back
Shadow the pup
GC: Switch 2 games are cheaper digitally than physically.
Dodging criticism
I’m enjoying Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, but I’ve got to say the difficulty level is all over the place. Despite being turn-based, battles are really won and lost based on your ability to dodge. With some you’re forced to go second and can be killed with one hit, meaning unless you can dodge you’re not even getting a turn. If you’re like me and are rubbish at dodging/parry this is a big issue.
Then you can go to the complete other end of the spectrum and an entire section can be beaten in two turns (sometimes even one). The dodging becomes the simplest you’ve ever seen and the fact all your characters might only have one bar of health isn’t really an issue. You’re really just going through the motions, doing the same thing each time with no real danger of losing.
But it’s not like you’ve wondered off to a section you should revisit later (there are bits like that too), these are back-to-back. so I’m finding myself constantly changing the difficulty setting when the game’s far, far too easy and then putting it back down when I’m getting nowhere near.
Overall, it’s an enjoyable game. I just wish the turn-based decision was more about winning/losing rather than how long you have to dodge for.
Tim
Alternative sources
Can we stop complaining about games being too expensive? Who even pays full price for them? Sites like CDKeys and G2A exist and there are dozens like them.
A quick check has Doom for £53. It’s the one good reason to buy digital and seeing as it’s PC, there might be mods and custom maps in the future, providing Microsoft haven’t blocked that sort of thing.
Bobwallett
Questions and answers
I love how it doesn’t matter how much we learn about Nintendo matters, we always seem to be on the back foot. The Switch 2 hardware leaked months in advance and yet the whole thing is still this weird enigma, where it we have no idea what they’re planning in terms of games, whether the relatively easily available hardware is a good thing, or why companies like Microsoft aren’t supporting it.
Maybe there’ll be a Nintendo Direct next month, but I bet that will only pose more questions. This isn’t a complaint, by the way, more the thought that there’ll never be enough rumours or announcements for people to feel that they have a proper handle on what they’re doing or why.
We should probably all just resign ourselves to the fact that Nintendo does things according to what they think makes sense and they try to say as little as possible about it all as they go along. Is there a ‘secret’ Christmas game? When will they announce more games? What’s going to be the average price of games?
I have no idea for any of those, but I’ve resigned myself to never finding out until Nintendo is good and ready. Hardware leaks out because not even they can stop people taking a photo on the production line but now we’re pass that anything could happen at any time.
Seagull
Inbox also-rans
Test Drive Unlimited 2 Remastered, please! I’m waiting!
tdu
Hey everyone, thought I’d give you a quick heads-up on another Switch 2 bundle at Currys: Nintendo Switch 2 + Mario Kart World + Giraffe – £968. Now, where to put that giraffe…
Steve
GC: We’re assuming that was some kind of typo or mistake? Either way, there is still this bundle available, at time of writing, for £579.
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