The Thursday letters web page is joyful that the Nintendo Switch 2 is backwards compatible, as one reader is impressed by Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered.
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Pro tips
So the PS5 Pro is out today and… I’m not getting one. I imagine that’s the case for most people though. There seems to be a lot of people, and we’ve seen them on the Inbox, that treat it like a mainstream console that Sony expects everyone to want and buy, but look at the price – it’s clearly not that.
It’s ridiculously expensive and the difference it makes is negligible. If I didn’t already have a PlayStation 5, I might possibly consider getting the Pro instead, but I don’t think so. I can spend all that extra money on games instead, rather than tiny differences I need a YouTube video to spot the differences for me.
If you absolutely must have the best graphics than I imagine it’s actually perfectly worth the money, but for everyone else it’s an expensive luxury that you don’t even particularly want.
This doesn’t mean the PS5 Pro is a failure, it just means it’s a niche machine that’s not designed to appeal to everyone. It’s a shame it’s being used as a bit of a punching bag at the moment but, really, it’s less important than something like the PlayStation Portal and that’s just an optional extra itself.
Sculda
Doubling up
Nice to know the Switch 2 is backwards compatible but it’s hardly a surprise. Nintendo has hinted about it often enough and despite what some people seem to think they’ve always made their consoles backwards compatible where it’s physically possible – it’s only different cartridge or disc sizes that have stopped them.
I do think this is a hint that the original Switch is not going anywhere fast though and that a lot of games will be cross-gen for the first few years. The Switch 2 might not be as powerful as the PlayStation 5, or whatever, but its games are still going to be more expensive to make and take longer than before.
So Nintendo are going to want to recoup that development money by putting it on the older system as well. It also gives them a fallback if the Switch 2 is a flop, that they can keep the Switch 1 coasting along until they figure something else out.
Onibee
Stealth plans
Knowing that Hogwarts Legacy 2 is now underway I would love to hear Warner Bros. talk about how that’s their biggest game ever and Suicide Squad was their biggest flop. And yet it’s live service games that they’re obsessed with and want to make more of.
They’re in a similar position to Sony, where the direction they were going has been shown to be a massive failure and yet they’ve not said anything about switching their plans or going back to making normal games. I guess they don’t want to look weak in front of their investors, or whatever, but this lack of clarity is causing problems all of its own.
For all we know publishers could have already given up on live service games but because they won’t talk about it properly, we still have no idea what’s going on.
Bengfinch
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Top four
Recent letters have had me thinking about my fave consoles of all time and it struck me that the Switch, the SNES, and the N64 are all contenders. Not that I’m arguing that the N64 was the best in any field mind you, but for where I was in my life at the time, the feel of the games that it allowed compared to anything else at the time, etc… it’s in the running. I’d say those three and the Amiga (not a console, but a huge part of my younger years) stand top of the pile for me.
I wrote to GC a few years back saying I could see Nintendo happily releasing an updated version of the same thing as a successor to the Switch and who could blame them – but it does make you wonder for how long? It’s literally the best move they could make, they’d have been mad not to, but it is a small shame that it takes the need of the Nintendo madness in needing to innovate at times.
Can’t wait to see it and eventually own it tho’; no one does games like Nintendo on top form.
Pugmartin
GC: We lost you a bit in that second paragraph, but we think you’re saying Nintendo need to be a little crazy to come up with new ideas.
Zero complaints
Absolute respect to Nixxes for their stellar work on remastering Horizon Zero Dawn. Originally, I wasn’t convinced and I had my doubts because, like many naysayers, I questioned the need for a remaster of a title that still looks astounding. But they’ve turned my doubt into a labour of love and strived for more than just a fresh coat of paint. I guess that’s why a remaster, like the recent tune up of Until Dawn, hasn’t succeeded on a level compared to this.
Sony have made an abundance of mistakes quite recently and I won’t list them out in this letter. But purchasing Nixxes was a move of genius and I can’t wait to see how fantastically successful the PC port for Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 is. But Sony, would it kill you to remaster what we all have prayed to you for almost 10 years? We are born of it, made men by it, and undone by it.
Shahzaib Sadiq
GC: Until Dawn wasn’t a remaster it was a full remake, created new from the ground-up. Why such a comparatively unloved game was given such treatment and Bloodborne still hasn’t had so much as a next gen patch is one of the biggest mysteries in gaming.
Standard behaviour
I’ve been thinking about Game Pass and the differences between the Standard and Ultimate tier, since Microsoft changed things. If a game takes six months to come to Game Pass Standard (I’ll just use Game Pass from now on) that means it’s already been on the Ultimate tier for six months or more.
Does that mean any said title that comes to the standard Game Pass tier will have fewer months of availability to someone on the standard Game Pass plan?
I use Harold Halibut as a current example. I played it months ago and now, via Eurogamer, Microsoft announced that it is coming to the standard Game Pass tier. This brings me to my second thought. Microsoft are now announcing when games come to the Standard tier as if it is a new title available, when really it’s been available to Ultimate subscribers for a lot longer. So it feels like they are essentially massaging (and exaggerating) the figures of new games coming to Game Pass each month.
If this is the case that seems really unfair to those on the standard Game Pass plan, who could have a significantly short period of access to games on the standard plan.
Chaosphere
GC: We don’t believe there are any set rules for when games will come to the Standard tier, it’s all on a case-by-case business.
Double recommendation
To respond to Nick The Greek in Wednesday’s Inbox, I’m so glad I took the plunge on Vampire Survivors, and look forward to supporting the game further by dipping into the DLC down the line.
Somewhat ironically, I’ve just finished Metroid Prime Remastered, and gotta say that Nick’s in for an absolute treat!
James
Stealing from the best
Great review of Metal Slug Tactics, GC. Much like yourselves, I was following this game mostly because of its beautiful visuals, hoping it’d be close to the quality of Into The Breach but not expecting it to get close, in all honesty.
I certainly wasn’t aware it’s a roguelike or inverts the usual turn-based strategy mechanic of using cover by encouraging movement and distance covered, which are interesting changes.
I noticed you mentioned completing a run could take up to two hours, but I was wondering what, if anything, encourages players to go back to the game after completing a run (other than the fun gameplay, of course)? Thinking of Into The Breach, there were additional mechs to unlock through gaining more medals while Hades encouraged repeat runs through its difficulty (making it unlikely to complete a full run without putting in many runs beforehand), story and character development, weapon unlocks, and boons.
Are there any similar incentives in Metal Slug Tactics? You mentioned unlocking nine characters, so maybe this is the incentive for additional runs after having a successful run? There’s no issue if it doesn’t have an incentive like these other games, I’m more intrigued than anything.
Hubert
GC: There are tons of unlockables. Not just extra characters but also weapons and other items. Even with a failed run you can unlock useful stuff, and it’s clear that whole aspect was also inspired by Into The Breach.
Inbox also-rans
I don’t even play them but I’m always fascinating by these long-running online games that reach a certain point and then loop back to reset themselves to what they were at the start, with things like Fortnite OG and World Of Warcraft Classic. Nostalgia really is a hell of a drug.
TwinTurbo
Just finally completed Metaphor: ReFantazio. What an amazing game! Like you said, it does have a slow build up but the majority of it is utterly enthralling. Would heartily recommend to any other Japanese role-player fans.
Danson
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The small print
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