Physical Games Media: Time To Catch Up

Physical storage media for games that you buy from a brick and mortar store is under fire, mostly on Nintendo Switch due to downloading the remainder of big games that don’t fit, or cheaper developers skimping on costs, but this is the case on all systems.

 

So what spurred this? Well two things. One is Resident Evil Revelations Collection news a few days ago, where Capcom Europe announced that again, like usual, they won’t have a physical run of the game in the EU due to costs. These costs involve paying PEGI and other ratings boards, shipping, distribution, localisation, it’s a bit of a mess to be fair. But even in other regions (Except Japan allegedly), the two games come as such: 1 on a card (The smaller game I might add) and the 2nd game as a download code.

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This isn’t uncommon. The “Switch Tax” as it has become known is just a laundry list of third-party games that cost more on Nintendo Switch, attributed to cartridge costs. L.A. Noire, RiME, the list goes on. Is this entirely true? Not…really? Without official figures on costs we will likely never know, but one idea is that it is simply just price gauging a new market, which is normal. But the inclusion of goodies like OST keys and pins in physical editions shows developers and publishers (Indies, typically) want to sweeten the deal for physical buyers to offset that price.

The next issue with the game cards is actually publishers like Take Two, who have released LA Noire, NBA 2K18 and WWE 2K18 on the horizon. Each game is “Playable” without downloading the remainder, but there has been widespread panning of this move, instead with people preferring to pay a little premium and have the whole experience on a 32GB card, as opposed to what is right now, a 4GB or 8GB card, with the rest as a download.

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In the case of something like DOOM, this is handled quite well. The game fits all single player and DLC content on the card (16GB) and offers all the multiplayer as a download. This way you don’t miss any of the “Main event”. With Take Two though, it’s been revealed that the backlash against the Switch copy being only “Partly physical” should also be levelled at the other editions.

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On PS4 and Xbox One you use Blu-Ray discs, that hold up to 50GB of data. Most games fit on this, and L.A. Noire most certainly would. However, interestingly enough that game actually only has a small amount on the disc, the rest as a download. This is a mirror of what happens on Switch. Why? Simple: It’s cheaper. While full capacity Blu-Ray discs are cheaper than the 32GB cards on Switch, publishers, as noted by Take Two saying the following, want “Maximum Profits”:

“We’ve said that we aim to have recurrent consumer spending opportunities for every title that we put out at this company. It may not always be an online model, it probably won’t always be a virtual currency model, but there will be some ability to engage in an ongoing basis with our titles after release across the board,”

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The truth is the digital storefronts of Xbox Live and PlayStation Network offer something physical games don’t: More money per sale. The prices are often the same regardless, but one of them won’t factor in costs of production, shipping, retailer cuts and so on. On PS4 and Xbox One this model of Digital Only is being pushed heavily, as both systems, even if using discs, just install them to the hard drive anyway, making the disc just a form of DRM and to save you downloading all of a game, instead (In this case anyway) most of it.

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So what does this mean? Well your internal storage is being eaten up anyway, why not just go digital and be more convenient on yourself (Until the game gets pulled from the store…) and you can even get those Digital Gold Editions publishers like so much. In the end, more money for them. Take Two is the most brazen with this, as their games come piece meal regardless of format.

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But sticking with Xbox One for a moment, let’s loop back to the complaint you have to download most of these third-party Switch games to get the full and best experience (OR complete experience) even when you buy physically.

The Xbox One X recently launched, and with it comes the ability to use actual UHD (4K) assets, which I assume (I haven’t got one of the boxes, I’m not rich!) look amazing. The problem with these are the file sizes are enormous, with HALO 5 and Forza Motorsport 7 passing 90GB to 100GBs each! Final Fantasy XV on PC is 170GBs, so that won’t fit on ANY current disc.

The catch here is to fully utilise your new shiny console, to get the best experience you can, you will have to download a good 50GB of game, or more heaven forbid. Why? The games have to come on standard Blu-Ray because they ALSO need to work on the basic Xbox One and One S. So what does this mean? These huge games require downloads, because the storage medium can’t hold them.

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To confound this issue further, there IS a storage medium that COULD hold them. UHD Blu-ray. They go up to 100GBs. In fact, looking at how long regular Blu-Ray has been used for gaming (Since 2006 with the PS3), one would expect UHD Blu-Ray would be used by now, but an issue there would be cost. At which point no matter which option you take, you have the same issue as you do on Nintendo Switch: Games are too big for the medium flat-out, or the medium is too costly to use to store a full game. Sure it’s a little different, where the devices don’t even support UHD Blu-Ray (Well, the Xbox One S and X do for movies…) but the problem even then still persists when some games on the basic PS4 and Xbox One go over GB anyway!

 

The third-party publishers want a digital only future. Consumers are leaning to it from convenience. Console makers can’t keep up with the scope of games due to costs. A digital only future is most likely coming down the line. Physical media is already outdated on PS4 and Xbox One, skipped out on with all systems by publishers wanting to save costs, and too expensive on Switch and for UHD to hold the games being made in their entirety.

Let’s just hope they include bigger hard drives in the next ones right? 1TB in the Xbox One X…eesh.

 

As always if you enjoyed this give a like and share on social media, and I will see you next time! Happy Gaming!

Review: Sonic Forces

Title: Sonic Forces
Platform: PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC, Nintendo Switch
Reviewed On: PlayStation 4
Developer: Sonic Team
Publisher: SEGA

Copy Provided By: Bought it with my own money!

 

 

Sonic Forces is an interesting game. On its own merits, you can see ideas that would work excellently if given time to develop, and gameplay that in the past has been spot on. It’s a winning idea really. So why does this game strike the average feeling so half heartedly?

So first, some positives. This game looks great. Vibrant, colourful, and runs smoothly. Audio wise, some of the tunes I could do without, namely for the “Classic” levels, but a lot are top-notch unique tracks, some with vocals that really suit a stage. Even the overuse of synth isn’t a detriment, as the music is composed around the instruments.

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Now if we are being honest, this is a game of three parts. Each has its merits and drawbacks but before any of that, let’s talk story.

Story wise, this game is a mess. There are ideas started, that are never finished. There are points that are brought up and then dropped. There are huge opportunities that are simply in the game as marketing tools. The returning 4 villains for instance are nothing more than cut-scene fodder, and any plot point with them is dropped as important while the story shifts to another thread. Chaos and Shadow aren’t even fought, instead being dealt with in cinematics, and Chaos…Chaos just is. This creature shows up for 2 scenes and vanishes. There was potential here, and it raises the question: How often did this game end up being rewritten?

The main plot, or rather the one that actually ends up being followed through, is nothing special. The tone of the story is fine, albeit sometimes taking itself a little too seriously. The main villain of the game “Infinite” is enjoyable, though the resolution to the whole plot is rather empty. Infinite just disappears after being bested, you get your final boss and…hooray we won. That’s another point against the story. Like a lot of this game, it feels unfinished.

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The game is broken up into 30 main stages, including boss fights, with numerous extra and secret stages unlocked via progression or collecting Red Star Rings. Red Star Rings are 5 per level and are fairly simple to get. Nothing more than an alternate pathway or a little tricky platforming to get. Collecting all 5 unlocks 5 numbered rings that you must collect in sequence. Doing that unlocks 5 silver rings that you must collect in a short time. This is true for every stage. Unfortunately, outside of Red Star Rings, you get nothing for doing this in-game.

Missions are also a thing, both daily and regular, and it amounts to no more than busy work, such as maxing out rank on each avatar species, stomping a certain number of enemies, clear each stage fast enough, use each weapon enough, so on so forth. You get nothing for this either.

So with all this fluff, all you get for beating missions is items for your avatar. There is a huge assortment of items to select from, so you will be spoilt for choice in the end, though seeing the game list your unlocks after every mission gets tiresome fast. The avatar creator itself is simple to use and the creativity possible, while not incredible by any stretch, is a fun novel experiment.

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The gameplay for the avatar is also novel. You take your character (With their own native secondary ability such as a double jump or pulling in items when near, species dependant) and run in a shifting 2D/3D space just like Modern Sonic. The grapple hook is used automatically most times, though some are down to the player, and the avatar can use it to homing attack enemies, albeit this is fairly slow.

The character also has Wispons. These are unlimited use weapons you equip before each stage. Drill for instance, lets you dash forward and destroy any enemies. Void swallows enemies and objects in a generous radius. Hover acts like a shotgun that can launch enemies into each other, also with generous range. These are pretty simple though novel ideas, albeit enemies don’t pose much of a threat anyway.

Additionally, Wisps can be used with their corresponding weapon. You can only use say, Red Burst, with the Burst Wispon, and so on. These are used mainly for navigation and are limited in use, such as air jumps, flight, creating platforms, and travelling through lines of rings.

The avatar system is a good idea, but could have been fleshed out more.

 

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Modern Sonic returns to the Boost gameplay of past games (Minus a Drift feature for some reason) and largely it works the same. Destroy enemies or White Wisp capsules to fill a boost gauge and go to town. There is also a double jump feature but it’s very limited in helping you given its minimal height.

These levels typically have the most thought put into them, as high-speed platforming can quickly transition to a race or grinding sequence thrill ride. Additional paths are strewn throughout the levels for those observant, though they are often brief.  The only downside is when boosting, the ability to turn is reduced exponentially, something a Drift feature would have alleviated. Expect to find yourself hugging the sides of paths a lot.

Both the Avatar and Modern Sonic however, share a similar issue regarding 2D and jumping. The distance you can travel in the air feels inconsistent, and during my time with the avatar I noted moments where he would gain maximum speed immediately after landing from a jump, resulting in death. It’s sloppy to be sure, with inconsistency being its biggest flaw. This remains true in the few tag team stages as well, where you control both Sonic and the Avatar, except the stages are designed to use either or.

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Finally, is Classic Sonic, a character I didn’t mention in the plot summary, as this chubby little fella has absolutely no reason to be here. To be frank, the game may be better without him.

So, during the obligatory “pinball” themed stage for the little guy, I felt forced momentum. This is where the game completely changes and locks your momentum, so you only ever travel a set distance after interacting with say, a bumper, or flipper. This made those sections, particularly awkward, but more so is how this applies to jumps.

Not only does Classic Sonic have the same momentum issue regarding speed and jumping distance as the other characters, his jump is cancelled out by hitting enemies or boxes. Bounce on an enemy, your momentum ends, and that gap just ahead of you wont be cleared, in fact you’ll fall right in. It feels very stiff and unnatural.

Similar, Classic Sonic feels heavy when running or jumping regardless, with acceleration only occurring when curled into a ball, and even then, it’s sluggish. The Drop Dash returns from Sonic Mania and does, thankfully, work exactly as expected. However, it also seems subject to the unusual weight of Classic Sonic, so don’t expect to fly up gentle slopes with it.

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Regarding level design, this game is again leaving an unfinished impression. Stages are exceptionally short for any character ranging from less than a minute to 2.5 at most. Classic Sonic has the worst with very flat, blocky, almost rudimentary stage layouts. Modern Sonic has it better, with brief alternate paths, but a lot of straight lines with enemies in the way simply to continue boosting ahead. That feels mindless. The avatar has many alternate paths for Wisps to take, but again, it’s short.

Where a level has great aesthetics (Egg Gate) or ends just as it seems to start (Aqua Road) it is undoubtedly frustrating. The levels being short means as you get into the rhythm of a stage, it ends. Some levels could have honestly been condensed into bigger stages, but for some reason they weren’t, possible with the aim of spreading the characters out.

Additionally, level aesthetics are once again borrowed. The returning Green Hill and Chemical Plant, while pretty, leave little to be desired, and the returning Death Egg, while nice, is also predictably dull (With the exception again of Egg Gate). The new aesthetics such as the City, Metropolis, Mystic Jungle and the final zone range from very well conceived to pretty generic. This variety is again compounded by how short the stages are, so no one lasts long enough to leave any impression.

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Finally, we come to boss battles. This is also a mixed bag, with once again, reuse of ideas from past games (Or even this game towards the end!). Not battling Chaos or Shadow leaves a lot to be desired, as the battle with Zavok, while interesting, occurs early in the game, and the battle with Metal Sonic, and the Egg Dragoon, are both reused later in the game for different bosses.

Additionally, the two initial battles with Infinite are fantastic. Unique with nice mechanics based around his powers keeps you on your toes as you endeavour to counter attack. More of this would have been greatly appreciated.

None is especially difficult, however. A lack of lives in the game removes any real threat, though some can provide challenge by making your avatar wield less advantageous weapons for their battles.

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Also of note is the free Episode Shadow DLC. While cool to control our favourite black hedgehog once again, he does play exactly like Modern Sonic after all, his levels (All 3 of them) amount to little more than remixed existing stages. A nice touch is the ability to play as Shadow in Modern Sonic’s stages, so for Shadow fans, this is a win.

Plot wise though, it gives a little back story on Infinite in the run up to the main game. It’s the most consistent part of the story, at least, but again, entirely skippable if you don’t care.

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Sonic Forces is by no means a bad game. It’s sadly also not going to blow your socks off. It’s an uninteresting, safe romp, with a mix-match story and ideas, held together by 3 gameplay styles, that with more time and depth added (Or just longer levels, who knows) could have been pretty good. Sadly, that isn’t the case as the game feels unfinished, as though content was cut, with moments where quite clearly something has been removed.

Overall, if you are a Sonic fan, sure, pick it up. If you are looking for a 3D platformer, you could do worse, but you can also do better. Sonic Forces is ultimately a forgettable experience.

 

 

As always if you enjoyed this review give it a share, let me know what you think of the game, and I’ll see you all next time! Happy Gaming!

Review: Sonic Mania

Title: Sonic Mania

Platform: PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC, Nintendo Switch

Reviewed On: Nintendo Switch

Developer: Christian Whitehead, Headcannon, Pagoda West

Publisher: SEGA

Copy Provided By: Bought it with my own money!

 

Sonic Mania is a fantastic game: A showing of true potential and design skills, held back from true greatness by technical and development choices.

 

Sonic Mania is a simple game. It asks nothing more than you enjoy 2D classic pixel Sonic with all its physics based platforming and speed. For a game attempting to relive and reinvigorate this branch of the franchise, it’s truly a great game.

The problem is it most certainly “Relives” a lot. But more on that later.

 

Whether you control Sonic, Tails, or Knuckles, it’s like jumping in to old games. All are fast, Sonic has a new Drop Dash for quick burst of speed and is a great way to keep flow going. Tails can fly, and even carry Sonic or Knuckles without a second player being present, and Knuckles can glide and has a slightly lower jump height, and can climb walls. It’s all as you knew it. You can even unlock the Super Peel-Out from Sonic CD or the Insta Shield from Sonic 3, but you can only use one of Sonic’s 3 abilities at a time.

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Before a patch however, there was an issue: To do any of them secondary abilities of any character, you had to press Jump in the air. This is also how you transform into your Super forms. In mid air, or if you need to glide with Knuckles as is often mandatory, prepare to fall to your death. A patch did recently fix this, and many other issues, by adding a dedicated separate button combination to transform.

The game sees you chase Dr Robotnik all through…time and space I guess (Sonic Forces complicates how much of this game is real by trying to explain a core element) as he and his newly upgraded Hard Boiled Heavies play a game of keep away with the Phantom Ruby: A mystical stone that can warp reality. This leads to the Heavies being upgraded and Robotnik gaining control of Little Planet again, from Sonic CD.

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The Ruby is also how you get from zone to zone…though…not all zones have transitions between them. Some simply fade to black and you are back on a zone that was seen on Angel Island…after just being in a zone that’s on Little Planet. The inconsistency with continuity is jarring especially as the game, seemingly at random, decides whether or not to fade to black: As if they couldn’t explain the zones being in the game half the time.

With the zones themselves though, they all maintain the high speed, many different routes to take, goodies sprinkled all over approach that past 2D Sonic games also did. Find a giant ring in a zone and go to one of the Special Stages, and win a Chaos Emerald. These are fun little chase sequences and a fresh idea: Collect rings to extend your timer, and spheres to go faster and catch the UFO, though by the time you reach the final one the truth is you’ll find them rather easy.

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If you have 25 Rings and hit a checkpoint though, prepare to play one of over 30 Blue Sphere mini-games, returning from Sonic 3. These are far too long to be mere checkpoint mini-games that you’ll have the chance of doing multiple times per act, and frankly they are a bit boring. But they are they, if you want to flesh out that Extras Menu with goodies.

Back to the zones though, while the level design itself is top notch, the bosses can range from great call backs with new twists, great new ideas, or sadly, straight up repeated ideas. Part way through the game the bosses seem to start reusing a lot of past game ideas, without sprinkling in anything new. It’s as though the bosses range from great to seen it before. It’s a little disappointing, especially with how long some of them can potentially take.

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The zones themselves though, are actually my main point of contention for this game. The phrase “Missed Potential” will be used a lot on this site I feel, but here it goes. 4 of the 12 zones are totally new ideas and environments we have never seen in past games. 8 are stages returning from Sonic 1, 2, 3 and CD. After seeing the sheer brilliance of the 4 new stages and how unique and fun they are, it’s such a shame to see the game fall back on old ideas.  One or two old zones would have been fine, but this is a majority, and it does bog down the experience. The game very much does “Relive” the past.

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Visually the game is fantastic. Bright and colourful, wonderfully smooth and detailed, this is what a great 2D sprite based Sonic game can look like. Audibly as well, the game has a fantastic jazzy feel throughout, and it does scream Classic era Sonic. I couldn’t fault that aspect of the game at all.

Sadly though, the game even after patching is prone to some rather funny glitches and softlocks, though most have been removed at the time of this review, some persist. Some scripted events also fail to play out, and has happened a few times over a good 50 hours of play time.

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To be fair, this game is still an absolute blast to play, except when the occasional glitch rears it’s head. The gameplay is fun and very re-playable, even if the bosses are at times drawn out or unimaginative, and the zones, while screaming of missed potential, are still a treat to play. I can highly recommend this game to anyone interested: Just don’t expect the Sonic 4 you always wanted. It’s close, but it’s not nearly new enough.

If you are getting this game, I do highly recommend the Switch version. From what is seen it only missed Trophy/Achievement support, and the game looks just as good undocked as it does docked – I personally can’t imagine playing it any other way, though any version is fantastic – It’s all the same game after all!

 

As always, if you liked this review or have your own opinions, leave a comment down below about Sonic Mania – And share this with your friends and on social media – and as always: Happy Gaming!