My Action RPG Idea Pitch

I was on the PS Store looking at RPG Maker. It's a franchise that involved players creating and sharing their own RPG to the world. I would love to try it out and make my own RPG. But I am into action RPGs more. They have more content and more plots and vibes. That's why I wanted to do this pitch for my action RPG idea, so that being said, it's time to begin my pitch.

First off, a open world perspective with 3D graphics. When the Trials of Mana remake was announced, it shaked up the gameplay by being open world rather than having the top down view to have the Class System and an improved combat system. It's common for action RPGs to have an open world perspective with 3D graphics.

Next up, Unreal Engine 5. One of the coolest things about Unreal Engine 5 is that it brings realistic elements into video games using Nanite and Lumen. That would include improvements to character lighting, real-world physics of sweating, cloth, grass, hair, jiggling and water. Know the Lumen in the Land of Nanite demo on the PS5? Because an open world perspective with 3D graphics is a part of my pitch, the game would use Unreal Engine 5 to have real world physics.

Now let's move on to the next thing. A party of six characters with an even composition. When we entered the PS2 era, one of the RPGs that have the party of six characters with an even gender composition is Wild Arms 5. Now, I love Wild Arms 5. The game has a party of six that is even by gender. Three male characters and three female characters. I remember playing this game from back in the day. It's a great RPG.

However, since this is my ARPG pitch and Wild Arms 5 is a turn-based RPG, instead of thinking Wild Arms 5, let's think a little more in line with another ARPG that has the party of six with an even gender composition. That is Ys: Memories of Celceta. And I don't mean follow it up to be similar in terms of having up to three characters in the battlefield and other three outside the battlefield. But picture an ARPG where you would have more than three characters in battle like in the Last Story, Valhalla Knights 3 and Star Ocean: Integrity and Faithlessness. So again, while it would have all six characters in a party, the battlefield doesn't have to be limited to three characters. It would have all six characters in the battlefield and the player can switch between characters.

The next thing I like to see on my ARPG idea is gameplay and combat inspired by the open world mainline Mana games. Trials of Mana and Visions of Mana have the best gameplay and combat system that involves starting battle, earning EXP and money after defeating every enemy in an area and running against the border to escape from battles and not certain battles we can't escape from. I think that my action RPG idea is gonna work like that. What would also work is that when you get into a town, you will only play as the main protagonist that would probably be a male, can't use weapons and the rest of the party is scattered. The action RPGs that produced the best gameplay and combat system were the open world Mana games.

The next thing that I want to see on an ARPG idea that is admittedly an asset from Trials of Mana, and that is classes assigned to each character. Classes are specific to each character and they give them abilities, so this will be in my action RPG idea pitch. Each character would have one class that have up to four levels and each level would give you a Class Ability and each character would have their Class Ability gauge that can hold up to four levels. You can't level up a class until you have a special item required to level up classes.

The second thing for classes is weapons. There are a lot of possibilities that characters can use weapons, so imagine if characters can only use one weapon. I think it would be cool if the first male character that would be the main protagonist wields his greatsword like Val does, the first female character wields her boots for kicking attacks like Palamena does, the 2nd male character wields his cards like Morley does, the 2nd female character wields fans like Careena does and a 3rd male character that is a young male character wields his umbrella like Julei does. But what about a magic wand? Is it gonna be left behind? Of course not! The 3rd female character would wield her magic wand, kind of like Angela.

The characters are gonna play like that and the party of six is gonna work for sure. So would the class system.

Next up is interesting parts. You know that some RPGs have interesting parts. First off, the Johnny Appleseed bit from Wild Arms 5. If you aren't familiar with Johnny Appleseed, he was an American pioneer nurseryman, but in this case, the Johnny Appleseed part would be on my ARPG idea as a place like Wild Arms 5 has. The reason why I'm telling you this is because I enjoyed Wild Arms 5. I want to revisit that game and it's happening in the future because of PS Plus Premium.

Secondly in the interesting parts department is what I experienced on Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door is getting into a cave located at an island. There is some degree to this when it comes to exploring dungeons. Like we know that we had to go inside the Pirate's Grotto. So what if we go into a cave located at an island on my ARPG idea? That can be a good idea to me, as long as it's not gonna be as tedious as the one in Enchanted Arms.

And speaking of tediousness, this is definetely one of the things I don't want in my ARPG idea. Annoying parts. Parts like these were always a struggle and the cave from Enchanted Arms is not the only thing I don't want. There are other annoying parts I don't want implemented. First off is tedious puzzles. There has been one game that has the part where we must complete the puzzle in a limited amount of time. It's Genma Onimusha. I loved the game, but what I hate the most is solving the puzzle while a countdown is present. It became a tedious struggle. That's why I don't want any and I mean any bullcrap on my ARPG idea.

Second one under the annoying parts department is forked ways in dungeons. Now that's another annoying thing I do not want to see in my ARPG idea. Take Tales of Graces f for example. The dungeon in the game is annoying to deal with. You just have to walk around in the dungeon until you finally make progress. To have annoying parts in an RPG is just a hassle to deal with and it's a waste of time.

And last but not least, giant creatures for characters. If you played Final Fantasy XIII, it handled all six characters beating their Eidolon to earn it. And a TV cartoon that aired back in 2008 on Cartoon Network that involved teens using giant elemental creatures is Gormiti: The Lords of Nature!. Don't get me wrong. I do love me some Gormiti. Now, the characters have to summon their Gormiti in battle, so I thought that an ARPG would have that. But they would use it during giant battles and I think it's gonna be more Final Fantasy XIII than Gormiti in terms of giant creatures not being elemental.

And last but not least, Unreal Engine 5. One of the coolest things about Unreal Engine 5 is that it can bring realistic elements into video games using Nanite. That would include improvements to character lighting, sweat and damage effects, improvements to 3D world

If I were tasked to develop an action RPG, this is how I would do it by bring assets from other RPGs to this one. But this one is just on paper and there might be some check boxes that can be left unchecked. So if this gonna convert the Mana fans into buying this game, will they want this? If so, what's the point of an action RPG idea other than cutscenes? If it was greenlit and the trailer to this game dropped, then fans would dislike bomb the trailer to show that fans wouldn't want it because their action RPG would be a Visions of Mana-infused action RPG with its bland cast of characters because of what I said about their weapons and it would flop once it releases.

That's what happened to Concord. After two weeks, the game has flopped and was shut down. What has happened is that the game has a bland and uninspirational cast of characters having their Guardians of the Galaxy style, slow-paced gameplay and the pricing of $40. Fans are personally glad that Concord flopped that they didn't want this game since both trailers were dislike bombed.

However, if you catch my drift, any respective company can make an action RPG that would be inspired by Visions of Mana, the Last Story, Star Ocean: Integrity and Faithlessness and Valhalla Knights 3 to have several assets from the mentioned action RPGs. Besides, Naughty Dog developed a platformer that was inspired by their favorites, like Donkey Kong, Super Mario and Sonic the Hedgehog, and that is Crash Bandicoot.

Just like that, this will conclude my pitch for an action RPG. Also, I have a pitch for the next mainline Mana title potentially Seasons of Mana coming soon, so stay tuned for that.

My Love for Retro Gaming

Retro gaming has become a golden standard for gamers who were born in the 90s play these games as a child. As a child, I have been playing retro games in all my life. The thing is, they are more charming than the modern age. There was a point of time when I was playing the Nintendo 64 and PlayStation 1. Those are great systems. I played the SEGA Genesis and SEGA Saturn at my aunt's house. Those moments were cherishable. Especially when I played Crash Bandicoot at my cousin's house. I was thinking of the old Nick Jr. logo when hearing the sound of hitting Wumpa fruit. I was going to town on that game too, hitting or collecting Wumpa Fruit.

There was also a point of time when the PS2, GameCube and original Xbox generation came in. The games have a lot of charm in them and have charming copyright screens and logo flows. On the Xbox, I went to town on playing Whacked!. And you see, I mainly play both the GameCube and PS2 versions. I have reignited my love for them and going to town on the retro titles. Even retro RPGs like Wild Arms. I love the franchise so much and I've been wondering if we are gonna get a new Wild Arms or not. There has not been a new game in the works for so long.

I have been holding these games to my heart today that ever since the PS4 came out, I wanted to revisit them. But they have been fizzled out except the ones that are on PS Now, which had a limited selection of PS2 games and lacked a PS1 catalog. I expected full backwards compatibility to be on PS5, but Jim Ryan has confirmed that the PS5 can only play PS4 games and the reason being is that the PS3's architecture is hard unlike the Xbox 360's structure that is easy enough for full Xbox backwards compatibility to be established.

I was looking forward to revisit retro titles, like Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex. It was a great game that the levels' music and environment are so charming. Especially the trolley level inspired by Donkey Kong Country. It does make sense for Crash Bandicoot to be inspired by Donkey Kong in terms of levels that involve underwater and riding on trolleys and Mario in terms of boxes that come in different varieties. The game has more sales than the original trilogy that it received a Greatest Hits accolade. It represents that Wrath of Cortex is actually a success, not a flop. I hold the game dear in my heart today.

That was never the case except for using PS Now. After hearing the disappointing news, I just let it go and stick with playing remasters that kill the old school charm like Crash Bandicoot: N-Sane Trilogy and Spyro: Reignited Trilogy; two remastered trilogies that became a starting point, so to this day, I will never get my possibility to revisit that game. To not revisit Wrath of Cortex and other PS2 games I played as a child after hearing that the PS5 can only play PS4 games due to the PS3's unique structure made it sting. Yes, it really does sting in disappointment and I will miss listening to Gold Rush's theme, until back in 2022 when the new and revamped PS Plus launched. The only thing that caught my eye is that we can be able to revisit older titles released on the PS1, PS2, PSP and PS3 games on the Premium tier as it offers a vast selection of retro titles, including those I loved as a child and given us three retro titles every month, unlike PS Now.

After hearing that the Premium tier offers a vast selection of retro titles, I made an original wish list on Google Docs that has PS1, PS2, PSP and PS3 games and remove the ones that are being added. But it was scrapped, so I made separate wish lists. One for PS1 games and one for PS2 games. And put in an asterisk next to the title to represent that it includes sequels to a particular game. After PS2 emulation came to PS Plus Premium, the older PS2 games didn't get patched with emulation, so I added the older PS2 games to my wish list and added two asterisks to represent that the older PS2 game exist, but lacks emulation features. I didn't plan to make a wish list for PSP games, even though we can play them on the big screen. But if I do, it'll be the ones that are first party and PSP exclusive. And now, since Google Docs now has tabs, I unified my wish lists of PS1 and PS2 games into one document to have two separate tabs. Here is a link to my unified PS Plus Premium wish list.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1XmFK2Y8tle13iNoRycy1cA2o2DLOk9JlpP-EDAohRdU/edit?tab=t.4wijuswkh2v4

I am not making a wish list of PS3 games because they hit a special rule to this. PS3 games are only available for cloud streaming. Which is why the PS3 is hard to emulate unlike the PS1, PS2 and PS3, the three systems that are easy to emulate that the games of these systems are available to both download and stream. If you really want to download PS3 games, you're better off getting a PS3. That and playing remasters of PS3 games. I know that they are not the same as the originals, but they tend to give them better visuals and they are faithful to the originals' gameplay and story.

Last month, they have released one of the fun retro games called Mister Mosquito. It is a game where you can control the mosquito to suck blood from people without being noticed because you are playing as an unwanted guest. I better pick this game up to see how it cranked up to be in the future. And maybe livestream it. Then there's Secret Agent Clank, a PSP spin-off of Ratchet and Clank where you play as Clank to uncover the mystery behind someone impersonating Ratchet. I'll give this a go in the future too.

I am intrigued at the way that new retro titles are being added month to month. And we got new PS2 games coming. As a result, I can finally be able to revisit Crash Bandicoot: The Wrath of Cortex, the Simpsons: Hit & Run and more PS2 games I loved as a child and been holding them dear to my heart if they ever released them. I miss hearing Gold Rush's theme, exploring the goodness of Springfield and switching fighting styles. Except that the games that I played as a child included the 3D era Mortal Kombat games that I wasn't supposed to play because they are rated M and the franchise is marketed towards those that are 17 and up.

Since PS2 emulation came, Sly Cooper and the Thievious Raccoonus became available and I was able to revisit that game. This is a throwback game I played back in the day and I didn't beat it on that time when I was a child because I rented it from a rental place called Hollywood Video, now defunct and was restructured into American Mattress when I came to my old stomping grounds to find out what has changed. But on the time when PS2 emulation came, I beaten it. I was going to town on that game like the previous time. Especially looking at the Dolby Surround Pro Logic II logo. It was worth it.

For the PS1 side of things, we get to revisit them as unlike PS Now, PS Plus Premium offers PS1 games and we haven't seen a new PS1 game since we saw new PS2 games for three months, until we heard that we got two new PS1 games coming out this year in honor of the PS1's 30th Anniversary, Dino Crisis and Blood Omen. That is great, but what would me more ecstatic is that if they released the Crash and Spyro games, as well as the ones published by Universal Interactive; they have a lot of charm. I was in those streets embracing polygon models. And now, I get to embrace them again.

In fact, in the PS1 era, Universal Interactive has games that have a lot of charm that they were the publishers of the Crash and Spyro franchises. The best games they ever published are the original trilogies. They have a good average score and a good average number of sales and they should be released on the catalog anytime soon. On to the PS2 era, Universal gave passing them along to a different studio to continue their franchises a go. The only thing about this is that their games are still having a lot of charm despite them being released on different platforms on the 6th generation era. Turns out that after Naughty Dog and Insomniac parted ways, Universal was awful to Crash and Spyro. I am aware they they were a terrible company that none of their games after the original trilogies couldn't come close and fell short, but I'm willing to revisit them if they released at least one on the back catalog.

The PS1 and PS2 eras are the best eras in all of PlayStation because of opening the disc reader, the NTSC and PAL labels, memory cards, wired controllers and Multitap accessories. With PS Plus Premium, I can finally be able to revisit PS1 and PS2 games that I have been playing as a child and holding them in my heart. And PSP games are also in the back catalog and we get to play them on the big screen. In fact, I have found a decent PSP game to livestream soon.

If I keep track of the pieces of the PS Plus Premium era so far, PS Plus Premium offers a vast selection PS1, PS2 and PSP games with up-rendering, rewinds, quick saves and video filters, including the original releases that got remade or remastered like MediEvil, new retro titles get added every month and we're seeing new PS2 games get released. But there is one piece of the PS Plus Premium era that has not yet been put in. It is shifting the PS2 games from the PS Now line into the PS Plus Premium line.

Just now, Sony has revealed the lineup for October. This month's additions in the classics department came with an interesting development. And it's not the fact that Dino Crisis is one of the announced PS1 games coming this month. But better yet, it's one of the PS2 games on track to undergo a shift from the PS Now line of PS2 games to the PS Plus Premium line of PS1, PS2 and PSP games after wondering if it's possible to do that now that PS2 emulation is here to complete the PS Plus Premium era. That is Siren. But why is it exciting? How is that important?

Well, there has been some arguments that Siren is already on the catalog per se. But to clarify, despite the fact that you need a PS Plus Premium membership to play this game, Siren is currently on the PS Now line of PS2 games with others, which accompanies only up-rendering for PS2 games on PS4. What makes it so exciting is that Siren will be the first PS2 game to undergo a shift to the PS Plus Premium line of PS1, PS2 and PSP games to have not just up-rendering, but also emulation features such as rewinds, quick saves and video filters on both PS4 and PS5, as well as the option to switch between NTSC and PAL versions. Sony is doing this because they intend to work towards shifting their PS2 games to the PS Plus Premium line, starting with Siren as the first PS2 game to undergo a shift.

I have compared the descriptions of Siren weirdly enough. The current description reads "Experience Siren, originally released on PS2 with up-rendering and trophies." while the blog post reads "Experience Siren, originally released on PS2, now enhanced with up-rendering, rewinds, quick saves and custom video filters." The rest of the description in the blog remained the same as the current description. That's the only indication that Siren is on track to be the first outdated PS2 game to undergo a shift, so I purchased it a la carte to find out how will Siren shift to the PS Plus Premium line. It's either an update for the existing game or replacing the PS Now release with the PS Plus Premium release.

To shift outdated PS2 games from the PS Now line of PS2 games to the PS Plus Premium line of PS1, PS2 and PSP games is possible and a very smart choice because they need to have emulation features too. In the case of Ape Escape 2, its logo you're seeing now represents the European PAL version, which is why we can't purchase it a la carte and there are potential issues on it due to it still having the PS Now algorithm. That's why Ape Escape 2 definetely needs to undergo a shift to the PS Plus Premium line. And so do the Jak and Daxter trilogy and its racing game, though their hub has the logos, Fantavision and others that are in my library so that they can also have rewinds, quick saves, video filters and the option to switch between NTSC and PAL versions.

Sure, I know that you would jump up and say what about Max Payne. And yes, it is available on the store, but in this case, it, along with Bully, currently has the PS Now algorithm. Since Siren is launching into PS Plus Premium to have emulation features, it is possible that both Max Payne and Bully will shift to the PS Plus Premium line to have emulation features at some point since we're seeing more PS2 games getting released and the ones like Siren shifting to the PS Plus Premium line. Especially the Rockstar line of older games that were delisted from the store.

Regardless of the fact that the PS3 games are only available to stream, because we're revisiting PS1, PS2 and PSP games and they have up-rendering, rewinds, quick saves and video filters, new retro titles get added monthly, including the original releases that got remade and remastered and it's possible for PS2 games in the PS Now line like Siren to be shifted to the PS Plus Premium line of PS1, PS2 and PSP games, the only thing that will reign supreme over PS Now is PS Plus Premium. We, the gamers who were born at the 90s, can finally be able to revisit games we loved as a child and held dear to our hearts today. Here's to the later months' additions in the classics department, besides Blood Omen, which we know that it will be added later this year.

What SHOULD and SHOULDN'T Be in 2XKO

2XKO is an upcoming free-to-play fighting game set in the world of League of Legends we are quite excited for. Its Alpha Lab has ended weeks ago and I am so sad that it's over. It's not just the gameplay in general. It's also the work Riot Games have been put into after they got our feedback. There are endless possibilities 2XKO will have. I had to get a brand new DualSense controller because my other one just keeps on drifting on me despite rubbing isopropyl alcohol on the analog sticks. And now that I got a new controller, I have been enjoying the game every second of it. And I was able to play Visions of Mana well on my new controller.

If you know me, I have been a part of the FGC since the time when Naruto: Clash of Ninja comes out on the GameCube. I have never been a part of an offline tournament because it is a thinking thing when it comes to watching what my opponent is doing and I don't think I'll be ready to participate in one of them.

For this post, I got plenty to talk about, and here are the things that I want to see and things I don't want to see in 2XKO. First, I'll monologue the things I want, then I'll monologue the things I don't want and this will be my big feedback for Riot to get.

The first thing I want to see is an endless roster of characters. League of Legends has an endless roster of characters and they keep adding more of them endlessly. While the game has skins, 2XKO will be getting more characters during pre-launch development. But it's unknown if the game is gonna get more characters post-launch. If the game launches, we can find out. There is one thing we do know for sure. On future playtests, future characters will be locked and they would be unlocked by using currency or completing missions. For the stages, we can get more of them and they can be unlocked by default.

The second thing I want to see is different voices and effects on skins. You know that League of Legends handled having skins with different voices and effects. We know that 2XKO will have different skins, so they should also have different voices and effects.

The third thing I want to see is new tag team mechanics. We know that there is already a tag feature that allows the point character to launch the opponent into the air so that the assist character can follow up to a point position to continue the combo and there is already a fuse that grants the assist character to come in to perform their super during the point character's super. But I want is new tag team mechanics.

First off, the Variable Cross feature. Since we entered the PS3 and Xbox 360 era, one of the fighting games that flopped was Street Fighter X Tekken. I loved playing Street Fighter X Tekken. This game has the Cross Assault feature that allows the player to use both characters together for a limited time and the jingle plays during the time depending on the composition. That is the coolest thing the game had. And it has the game mode where Cross Assault is permanent and this is a game mode 2XKO must have.

However, like Tekken Tag Tournament, the round ends when the point character dies on Street Fighter X Tekken and doesn't have assists, so let's think a little more in line with SEGA vs. Capcom: The Next Level. Assist characters have their own super gauge and it is the first game to have that until Beta 2 where assist characters no longer having their own gauge and shares the super gauge with the point character on Tag Mode and has the Variable Cross feature. Then 2XKO came along to have the super gauge on each character. But I think each character having their super gauge is a bit pointless, so each side needs to have one gauge. For the Variable Cross feature in 2XKO, it can burn all three bars of your super gauge and becomes unavailable when you're down to one character.

Now let's move on to the next one, which is cinematic tag supers. Street Fighter X Tekken handled Cross Arts. They burn all three bars of the super gauge. But let's think a little more in line with Naruto: Clash of Ninja Revolution 2. It has tag supers per se, but I don't mean follow it in terms of gameplay because there are not that many unique tag supers in Naruto: Clash of Ninja Revolution 2. But 2XKO would have a lot of unique cinematic team supers depending on what characters you have on your team and they are executed by pressing down twice and two special buttons and the tag button simultaneously. They require all three bars of your super gauge. However, the feature is unavailable like the Variable Cross feature when you have one character left on your team.

Here's the fourth thing I like to see implemented to 2XKO. That is cinematic lv. 3 supers. We know that there are currently cinematic supers that burn two bars of your super gauge, but two bars doesn't fit with the cinematic flavor on supers. What would really make sense is that cinematic supers must burn all three bars. Think of Them's Fightin' Herds where level three supers are so cinematic and are similar to BlazBlue's Astral Heat.

The fifth and final thing I like to see is the dynamic BGM system. Them's Fightin' Herds is known for its dynamic music system to give battles a lot of flow. I loved hearing the dynamic goodness of the stage's BGM. It give matches a distinctive flow, so I like to see this implemented in 2XKO.

And finally, it's time to give you the sixth and final thing I want implemented. A new fuse that grants the point character to execute two different supers, but not the same super back to back. When Beta 2 of SEGA vs. Capcom: The Next Level was unveiled, it introduced the character's option to perform two different supers to make the combo longer. There is already a fuse that grants the assist character to perform two assists, so I think a new fuse like that is gonna work.

Now for the things I don't want to see in 2XKO. The first thing I don't want to see is picking the same stage that fights lag over and over on both offline and online. We know that 2XKO will have rollback netcode to alleviate lag. If you remember other fighting games, Bonne Wonderland is the only legal stage in Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 because it fights lag on both offline and online while the Coliseum is the only stage that fights lag in Granblue Fantasy Versus. Even with Rising available, the organizers made it clear that they had to pick the Coliseum only at EVO. But since rollback netcode is coming to 2XKO, it will definetely never be the case as rollback netcode is intended to predict the inputs instead of waiting for the signal to hit the server before your character performs an action no matter the stage.

The second thing I don't want to see is touch of death combos. These types of combos are annoying to see. I watched videos that shows the touch of death combos. They are unbearable, yet entertaining to watch. I was shocked that they did a long combo with Ekko. Simply flabbergasted at that. We got bursts to prevent that, but the gauge fills up faster by taking damage.

The third thing I do not want implemented to 2XKO is microtransactions. Microtransactions are often featured in free-to-play games. We know that you need to pay with virtual currency to purchase the premium track of the Battle Pass when the game launches and unlock Champions and skins. Picture 2XKO having microtransactions. If there is a skin that I can own by paying real money in game, that is a prime example of microtransactions. This is something I DON'T want in 2XKO no matter the circumstances even though it's a free-to-play game. Dorkly has a video showing if every game had microtransactions. Go watch it on YouTube.

And lastly, the the fourth and final thing I don't want implemented is matching with opponents with a higher skill level. Ranked matches are usually stressful when it comes to ranking up and ranking down. That's why I refrained from doing ranked matches. We know that the game will have more game modes, but one thing I don't want is to be matched with opponents with a higher skill level. I want matchmaking to be skill based so that we can be matched with opponents with the same skill.

And that's it. These are the things I want and don't want implemented in 2XKO. There is a lot of work Riot needs to put into the game. That means getting things polished and refined for launch in 2025. I hope we get some 2XKO news and another playtest soon. If that news involves revealing the next character, I'll be ready for that. But when are we gonna get into the next playtest? And who is the next Champion? We just have to wait to find the answers to our questions. I believe it might be soon.

PlayStation's 30th Anniversary Could Be Bigger

The celebration of the brand is almost upon us. PlayStation has posted their 30th Anniversary celebration page that updates as they got more stuff to come. I believe that PlayStation's 30th Anniversary is gonna be bigger. A couple of weeks ago, they given us the first things, Shapes of Play, My First GT. the soundtracks, the bundle that has the PS5 equipment sporting the gray color of the very first PlayStation console and the Last of Us Part I's launch into PlayStation Plus. I can hear them say what about a lineup of PS1 games, and I'll get to that later. First off, I'm gonna talk about that game that received a Universal Acclaim rank on Metacritic and became the gem of PlayStation. That is Astro Bot.

Astro Bot became an acclaimed gem PlayStation really needs. It celebrates the ultimate PlayStation heritage accompanied by VIP bots that dress up as references to PlayStation characters. A lot of people have praised the heritage and the way Team Asobi, the developers behind Astro Bot did with their game. I am planning to get Astro Bot to celebrate the ultimate PlayStation heritage. I am in the middle of Astro's Playroom to hold me off until I get Astro Bot.

However, things have took a turn for the worse. After the PS5 Pro was revealed, the price of it was revealed to be $700. They don't want to spend that much money for a console they've been waiting, so the trailer showing the PS5 Pro was dislike bombed over the $700 price. It's not the first thing that happened because both of Concord's trailers got disliked bombed over the game's bland Guardians of the Galaxy mimicry in the characters department, slow pacing and the pricing of $40 for a hero shooter game, as well as the eight-year development cycle that Firewalk has threatened to shut the game down and delist it from digital stores. But Ellis has said the game would be shut down while they explore better options including those that can better reach their players. That could mean that Concord may come back in a different form.

After the players became critical of the $700 price tag of the PS5 Pro, Sony decided to blind them with nostalgia by announcing the 30th Anniversary bundle that has the PS5 consoles, controllers and the PlayStation Portal sporting the colors of the PS1 and the old red, blue yellow and green PS logo to pay homage to the brand. The bundle goes available on November. I have a feeling that they want to get the controller since they are critical of the PS5 Pro's $700 price tag. I really want to get the PS5 Pro, but $700 is a bit too absurd.

The first piece of the celebration is the Shapes of Play collection that came in three types, Recharge, Battle and Create, the free-to-play experience, My First GT, the soundtrack that contains music from PS1 games and winning a PlayStation's 30th Anniversary avatar from winning one of the PlayStation Tournaments events. During the recent State of Play, they announced the next milestone to the celebration. That is adding the Last of Us Part I to the PlayStation Plus Extra catalog.

The Last of Us is Naughty Dog's dark franchise known to be beloved for the PlayStation community. They are adding their beloved game to celebrate the Last of Us Day. The milestone comes in several activities. There is a PlayStation Stars Campaign activity. Players that play the Last of Us Part I would receive the Clicker digital collectible until November 26. There are new PS Plus avatars that can be received when redeeming a voucher code until October 26. And finally, the Last of Us merch gets a 10% discount when using the promo code. And that's all what the Last of Us Day has to offer today.

They announced the Shapes of Play collection, My First GT, the soundtrack of music from PS1 games, the chance to earn a special avatar by winning a tournament, a special bundle and launched the Last of Us on the Extra catalog today. Now let's talk about the next piece of celebration they announced recently, but didn't hear much about yet. That is a lineup of PS1 games.

"Like why would anyone play this?" This is a super rude out of context quote from former PlayStation boss, Jim Ryan. He went in for the record and just said that after he said that the PS1 and PS2 games looked ancient. He was at the event where Gran Turismo Sport on the PS4 was showcased. But then he has addressed what he said. And just to answer the question, it's because there's lot of love for the back catalogue as we approach the 30th Anniversary of the brand.

On the past post, I mentioned about the one thing I like about both the PS1 and PS2 and it remained a mystery. Well, one thing I like about both the PS1 and PS2 is two things. First off, their Multitap accessory. the first two consoles only have two ports while there are some games that have up to four players. But it's possible for the four players to play any PS1 or PS2 game that have up to four players when you plug your Multitap to any controller port. Plug in two Multitaps and it can expand up to eight players. The PS Plus Premium catalog has PS1 and PS2 games that have multiplayer and you don't need a Multitap. All the third player got to do is to turn on their wireless controller. Same with the fourth player when playing on the same system.

Now, over to the second thing, the NTSC and PAL versions. The cases of both systems have a label to make it easy to tell if it's North American or European. NTSC is for the North American versions while PAL is for the European versions. When playing a PS1 or PS2 game on the PS4 or PS5, it's possible to switch between NTSC and PAL on settings. I prefer to play the NTSC version.

The PS1 era has become the community's most favorite era for years, being known for their 3,000 pixel graphics, the buttons only controller, the upgrade to the controllers with analog sticks, which are required to play Ape Escape and other titles that were released in 1999, the original Crash and Spyro trilogies, as well as titles published by Universal Interactive and more.

When the PS4 came out, the retro titles were fizzled out, except the ones on PS Now, which didn't offer a catalog of PS1 games. That's why PlayStation's 25th Anniversary didn't turn out to be big. It's also the fact that the PS4 lacked backwards compatibility while the PS5 is only backwards compatible to PS4 games due to the PS3's hard to develop structure. But hey, who needs full backwards compatibility when we have the PS Plus Premium tier?

During the recent State of Play, Sony has announced two PS1 games. They are Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain and Dino Crisis. These are the two fan favorite PS1 games coming later this year and they are a part of PlayStation's 30th Anniversary set to be bigger than ever like Days of Play did because of it, though I don't have any of these games on my wish list. To have the PS Plus Premium tier offering PS1 games in the back catalog along with PS2 and PSP games is a very smart business choice as we are seeing two PS1 games get added to the classics catalog during the celebration later this year.

They had to announce that Blood Omen would be released on the classics catalog later this year because Soul Reaver 1 and 2 are getting remastered and put in a compilation as Blood Omen is the first game of the Legacy of Kain franchise they have to play first before playing Soul Reaver to understand the story. While Soul Reaver 1 and 2 are getting remastered, the original releases might be released on the catalog one day. Releasing original releases on the catalog while the remakes and remasters are present and vice versa has no conflict today, and it went well with their entry of MediEvil and Star Wars: Bounty Hunter.

Soul Reaver is not the only PS1 game celebrating its 25th Anniversary to get remastered along with its sequel, so for context, the other two PS1 games also celebrating their 25th Anniversary this year are Ape Escape and Xena: Warrior Princess. Which means the remasters for both games might be confirmed because if there is a PS1 game that is at least 20 years old, the likelihood of its remaster is high. Also, there is literally one PS1 game Sony must release to the classics catalog. So what are the common denominators for both of these games? I'm glad you asked. Let's highlight the common denominators between both games that are celebrating their 25th Anniversary this year.

Ape Escape and Xena: Warrior Princess are both platformers that involve Spike and Xena having an arsenal of gadgets and weapons to defeat enemies. They have intros that involve friendships, whereas Spike and his best friend Jake entering the laboratory and Xena and her best friend Gabrielle walking through the trail while making a joke and both Spike and Xena can save their best friends. Both games have a training grounds where Spike practices his gadgets and Xena practices her weapons. And these are the common denominators between these two games that are turning 25 this year.

To have both games having good common denominators is ideal and there is not a lot of competition between these two games today. Also, Xena: Warrior Princess, though is a third party PS1 game turning 25 this year, is based on the show with the same name. You need to remember that the show first premiered back in 1995 before the PS1 game adaptation came out in 1999 with Ape Escape and others, so the show is having its 30th Anniversary next year in 2025, hoping Warner Bros. Discovery owns the show's rights to stream it on Max, make a LEGO Xena: Warrior Princess and put Xena into MultiVersus while the PS1 video game adaptation of the show with the same name is having its 25th Anniversary this year. Maybe Aspyr could remaster it.

So, I believe that PlayStation's 30th Anniversary is gonna be bigger than previous milestones. We have the Shapes of Play collection, My First GT, PS1 music soundtrack, a chance to win a special avatar by winning a tournament, the bundle that sports the colors of the very first PlayStation console, the launch of the Last of Us on the Extra catalog with various items to get and more importantly, two PS1 games being a part of the celebration of the brand turning 30 this year like others that turned 30, including me. Here's to a wonderful future of the brand we all know and love.

The Truth Behind Concord's Biggest Failure

You know, things have gone chaotic within the game industry and community these days. I was about to make several posts; one about 2XKO, one about how a Mana fighting game works and one about PlayStation's 30th Anniversary, but I have to talk about this news piece that blew up and it's even worse somehow! Concord has died after two weeks. So here we are, ladies and gentlemen. After eight years of development, Concord has flopped real bad after its release on August 23rd and two weeks later, the game was taken offline and dead. For those of you who loved the game, be sure to show up to its funeral and bring it some flowers.

If you don't know what is going on regarding Concord's failure in performance and life, Firewalk Studios game director, Ryan Ellis has posted his article regarding the game. And it shows that the game's servers will be taken down offline on September 6th, which it did. So it's official that Concord's servers have been taken offline. This is where it stands now that Concord is no longer listed on PS5 and Steam and on retailers that sell physical copies. I'm gonna tell you what made Concord flopped real hard with 25,000 copies in sales.

The reception of its two gameplay trailers were poor that they were dislike bombed. Many people suggested that Sony and Firewalk should've delayed the game a bit to change its business model that relied on people to spend $40 on a hero shooter as other competitors are free-to-play. This wasn't the problem with Overwatch 1 because it was $60 dollars. It's clear that Sony and Firewalk should've delayed the game a bit before releasing to differentiate from Overwatch and Apex Legends. However, the majority of people that aren't interested are actually happy that Concord flopped due to the trailers' poor reception, the pricing of $40, the characters and generic maps that lacked inspiration. I was interested in getting Concord and I never played it, but personally, I'm glad I did not get it in case it flops, and it did. That has to be the biggest flop I have experienced and it's probably the worst since Sanjay and Craig.

Regarding the poor reception, Concord's characters became ugly and bland and the cast became a Guardians of the Galaxy mimicry. The shooting is great, but the gameplay is slow. And the game was sold for $40. That's why nobody didn't want this game unless if it was free-to-play. But Ellis has clarified that the game will be taken offline while exploring options to better reach players. This is not the only bad news that came to fruition.

In exchange, the death of Concord comes with a new release, Astro Bot, which received a 92 and a Must Play accolade on Metacritic and an outstanding reception, thus being a universally acclaimed game over Concord. So it makes it clear that on September 6th, an utterly disappointing game like Concord was shut down in favor of an utterly outstanding game like Astro Bot was released in exchange. It is the fact that both of Concord's trailers got dislike bombed over the game's lukewarm Guardians of the Galaxy mimicry of characters, inspiration lacking maps, the bland gameplay and the $40 pricing while Astro Bot's trailer received an overwhelming amount of positivity over the game's ultimate PlayStation experience accompanied by VIP bots that dress up as our favorite PlayStation characters and it's in time for PlayStation's 30th Anniversary. I have a post about PlayStation 1's 30th Anniversary coming soon, so stay tuned for that.

Again, Ellis has made it clear that Concord will be offline while they explore other options to better reach more players. Does this mean that we will never see Concord again and is it deemed dead? Absolutely not. It will return in a later date potentially as a free-to-play title and will remain on Prime Video's upcoming anthology series, Secret Level. This is not common of the situation today and it's largely dominated by Blizzard with their free-to-play entry of Overwatch 2. To have a free-to-play hero shooter is a very smart business choice as everyone can play it without their paid membership on console and the chances of a free-to-play hero shooter to flop are very slim.

In fact, if I recall correctly, there has been one free-to-play hero shooter that has been ported to console and has not flopped, and that is Valorant, which did a great reception since the console launch. The only upcoming free-to-play hero shooter coming to consoles this year is Marvel Rivals. There is literally one free-to-play team-based game that Concord will have to compete with if it returns as a free-to-play title.

One last thing to be made. The main reason of hero shooter games to be free-to-play is a train that they have a slim chance of flopping and an excellent chance of doing pretty well. If the game goes free-to-play, it will very likely succeed to have a good player base. To give a hero shooter a pricing makes no sense. They need to be free-to-play so that they can succeed to have a skyrocketing player base. So it's possible that Concord may return as a free-to-play title as Ellis stated that they would take the game offline to explore better options to reach more players. But when? The answer is unknown.