Happy Friday everyone!
This past week I’ve put some real work on to GoW: Ragnarok. I’m about 2/3rds of the way through. I have to admit, I found the first 1/3 a bit slow and somewhat aimless. There didn’t seem to be a huge driver behind the story, almost like they had to lay a lot of initial exposition in order to justify and build toward where I am now. Not sure if it’ll pay off but things are ramping up and I feel more engaged. Lots of awesome boss fights also help. Really great designs here, and the combat options have expanded enough that I feel in the zone.
After that I am looking forward to starting Spider-man 2. I can’t wait!
I also wanted to include a bit of pre-discussion here about the new upcoming PS hardware now that they are all available for purchase/preorder:
- PlayStation 5 Slim Console
- PlayStation Portal Remote Player
- PlayStation Explore Earbuds
- PlayStation Elite Headphones
- PlayStation Access Controller
What new hardware are you interested in? What are your use cases for each?
- Upgrading to a Slim?
- Planning to use the Access controller to accommodate a disability, or even for younger kids, or even linking it to an existing DualSense for some single-player coop?
- Kids taking over the TV and you are excited to game on the Portal in the bathroom, bedroom, or out on your patio with the sunrise and a cup of coffee or tea?
- What about the new planar magnetic drivers in the new Headphones/Earbuds? Where are the audiophiles at?
- Thoughts on the PlayStation Link protocol in general?
Whatever it is, Let us know!
Special Note:
- I know that the Portal in particular is quite divisive, so while you all are free to express your opinions on the matter, please refrain from beating a dead horse if you decide to express a negative opinion. In some other forums people feel the need to reply to everyone in a thread to express and spread negativity in order to convince people it’s bad. Just keep in mind that some people are excited for these devices and have legitimate use cases. With that in mind, I will not take any action to make this place an echo chamber unless it veers into personal attacks or toxicity. So if you hate it, hate away and tell us why. Just keep it civil and remember to have fun.
Even though I bought the Pulse headset not too long ago, I’m still interested in the new earbuds.
When the PS5 launched I had bought the pulse headset, but it was too tight on my head. The clamp force was way too hard. That’s when I opted for the Arctis 7.
I’m interested in the earbuds but I have trouble with any silicone isolating earbuds fitting my ears. I’m still rocking Razer Hammerheads for the way they hang like og airpods, and their low latency mode for the rare times I game on my phone with headphones on.
That’s one of my main gripes with the Pulse as well, that and it’s not noise cancelling. How does the Arctis 7 feel? I have a tough time finding a comfortable headset, it’s always a gamble. The last one I bought that felt comfortable was a HyperX Cloud but it malfunctioned after only a few months. I’d buy another one but reviews say other people have had the same experience so I’m hesitant.
Personally I am getting the Portal and am excited to let the wife watch TV at night while I game next to her. As for headphones, I recently bought the new Arctis 7 which already has a 2.4ghz wifi dongle with the option for simultaneous bluetooth, so the new earbuds/headset aren’t doing much for me. I really hope the Portal supports usb-c audio out so I can use my Arctis dongle with it. If not, I’ll just hardwire it, or leave the dongle in the PS5 and get the audio directly (I already tested this and it works, just go to audio out settings after establishing a remote play connection). The range will be less, but I think it reaches my bedroom so I should be ok.
I loved my Arctis 7p+, but a slight “accident” at home broke it… I didn’t know it did bluetooth though, or maybe 7p+ didn’t have it, not sure, and can’t check now. 😢
I have both the 7p and the new 7 wireless. The P did not have Bluetooth. Only the new 7 wireless with the USBC dongle has Bluetooth. I know because that’s why I bought it lol.
I use the 7p dedicated to my PC and now I use the 7 wireless with my PS5 and for travel.
Ah, makes sense. Maybe I should get the new 7 wireless, there might be some black Friday sale coming up.
Forbidden West. My first go around with the series. I got a PS5 a couple months back and this was one of the games I got with it.
So far I am about lvl 45 and just finished the Faro (sp?) quest where you find out what happened to him.
I sorta didn’t play it like a lot of my friends did - with going thru the maps and opening up all the cauldrons, I guess to each their own. I’m going back through the map at this point before starting the Gemini quest/storyline and opening up all the cauldrons and cleaning up any major side quests I had not finished.
I emphasize major since there seems to be an endless amount of quests, missions, and plots in this game. It almost reminds me of Skyrim, lol.
I have been avoiding talking with NPCs too much just so I don’t get too many side quests going.
I am very interested in Portal, but at $200, it’s a bit above my budget. I am still going to keep an eye on it though, the reviews and the prices.
Don’t care about rest of the hardware. Slim looked interesting, but it turns out the chipset is same, it hasn’t reduced in size, so while it has more storage and smaller overall size, the power usage should remain the same. Either way, even it was “proper” slim or even “Pro” version, don’t plan to buy another PS5 as long as my current one is working fine (hopefully which will last me a long long time, even after I have got PS6 and PS7).
In games, I am still playing Nioh, slowly and steadily clearing missions and beating bosses.
Probably playing some GT7 and maybe AC Mirage
How are you liking Mirage?
It is good but nothing earth shattering. More stealth based than some of the other recent entries. I do like the setting nice to see something different.
I’ve been chipping away at Tales of Arise, I like it, although I feel like the slightly over the top anime nature of the game might wear on me at some point, we’ll see.
I’m somewhat interested in the Explore headset, assuming comfort is (much) better than the Audeze Maxwell it should (hopefully) closely resemble sound-wise.
I would have liked a console agnostic headset though, but I can’t blame Sony for that.I am waiting for the Bluey game to release. Super excited to add that platinum to my collection.
Hell yeah, me too. My daughter is gonna love it!
