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Returnal Is A “Mega-Hit” In Sony’s Eyes
- Thread starter Lunatic_Gamer
- Start date
- News
Tschumi
Member
It is a glorious, unique game indeed!
-----
OT for the fiftieth time my prediction that this game would be a sleeper hit from the first reveal is well documented in these pages and so i own ALL the success and it is a personal triumph of mine.
kyoji
Member
^ This + Prometheus/Aliens. The entire game is a vibe and is also my game of the year thus far.
I have a feeling there next game maybe more horror related Harry Krueger has been looking at alot of horror concept art on twitter, im all for it if they go that route.
tommib
Banned
One can only hope. I also follow him on Twitter and his interest for all things horror gives me a hard-on.
Drizzlehell
Banned
Yeah, Ratchet is the only one out of this bunch that's not on sale right now so I think I'll just skip it for now and wait until it's discounted.
Negotiator101
Member
Jaysen
Banned
Honestly have no idea. I assumed a big one given how the game looks and plays.
Negotiator101
Member
I see some outlets described it as AA but it had a AAA price tag which is rather odd. So I imagine it cost around 10 million give or take. Sony are happy, the developer is happy, who cares how much it sold?
Klayzer
Member
One green bleeding jackass cares very much about how many copies were sold. It's really difficult for some that it did well.
MasterCornholio
Member
Negotiator101
Member
Well I'm not sure to be honest, no one seems to know what it cost to create, and no one knows what it sold either
all that matters is both developer and publisher/owner are happy.
MasterCornholio
Member
Well I'm not sure to be honest, no one seems to know what it cost to create, and no one knows what it sold either
Well it sold enough for it to be a success. Which means it wasn't a failure like some people are saying.
Jaysen
Banned
Me. I want a sequel.
Actually, I want them to make a game with similar shooting and traversal mechanics, but in a more traditional single player game.
tommib
Banned
Add lots of horror and a killer soundtrack at the level of Returnal and I’m all in.
kyoji
Member
which outlets described it as AA? that was only fanboys who never played the game every preview i read or review used Triple A, there are levels to triple A just like anything else, noone is saying its the size or budget of Gran theft auto or something but a smaller triple A yes no doubt.
GhostOfTsu
Banned
You're in every UK thread saying physical sales charts don't matter, only digital. Now you are here saying PSN digital don't count, only japanese physical sales?
As usual the greens don't make any sense and keep flip-flopping.
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sainraja
Member
People keep repeating this over and over to the point where it is accepted as being true when it's really not.
Playing through The Last of Us again and also going through Uncharted 4, I have to say that there is plenty of gameplay there. The only thing ND started doing with their own take on adventure & survival horror genre games was blend a character driven story; something they have mastered (yes, they can make mistakes too, I think they did with TLOU: P2 to an extent -- after thinking on the story/narrative aspect some more, I don't share every complaint that others had with it now or anymore -- but gameplay was solid). It is ND's staple now but it doesn't negate or take away from gameplay in their games, the gameplay just ends up supporting the narrative that is going on and lately they have tried to make it fit more. They even try to address criticism (some of which I think is unfair -- e.g. Nathan being a mass murderer while people conveniently forget the situations Nathan finds himself in but this argument is for another time) in sequels.
Before ND released The Last of Us we had Capcom telling us how 'moving & shooting' doesn't work in a survival horror game and now look at the RE2/3 remakes, you can move & shoot. Before anyone responds by mentioning RE6, I will say that if TLOU or Dead Space didn't happen (putting TLOU a little bit above DS given the reception TLOU got), Capcom would have used that to justify their own statements.
With Uncharted, they blended platforming (yes, I know, it's a bit on the simple part) with cover based shooting (we can also run & gun); character movement also being pretty fluid. Uncharted isn't a full scale platformer so people using the simple platforming in it as a way to downplay it is sooo stupid. I can understand people not being into it but calling their games "movies" or "cinematics" is just shallow criticism.
And please, don't start with the "not innovative" or whatever else. Have you all not been playing games the past few years? There is a lot of overlap. Studios borrow and improve upon ideas and gameplay elements.
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Heimdall_Xtreme
Hermen Hulst Fanclub's #1 Member
Sony must be blind
zaanan
Banned
Whoooosh!
Talking about sales figures pardner. Days Gone was the 19th best-selling game in USA for 2019, yet Sony calls *Returnal* the mega-hit?
Also, Returnal had some major bugs n glitches, like the save issue. So I think it’s a fair question and comparison.
zaanan
Banned
Fair enough, you may be onto something there. But respectfully, if Sony believed in the world Bend had created, I think they would have greenlit the sequel anyways. That, and the former dev’s comments about metascore make me think there’s much more to it than that.
CaptainConlock
Member
I honestly think Sony qualifies success with critical praise in addition to commercial performance. I'm sure Returnal didn't bomb, but the critical acclaim and community support for the game is something that Sony seems to consider regarding a game's success. Days Gone performed well, but it didn't permeate the market in the way that they wanted. This is probably where the "mega hit" thing comes from. That and marketing fluff and marketing fluff always plays a role.
kingfey
Banned
No one is making fun of the gameplay of these 2.
I liked the gameplay of last of us 2. My main issue is the cut scenes being too long.
rofif
Can’t Git Gud
Days gone for sure sold more. Nobody talks about returnal. It even feels nicheWhoooosh!
Talking about sales figures pardner. Days Gone was the 19th best-selling game in USA for 2019, yet Sony calls *Returnal* the mega-hit?
Also, Returnal had some major bugs n glitches, like the save issue. So I think it’s a fair question and comparison.
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Bernd Lauert
Banned
Sick reading comprehension, bro. Maybe try again.
Hezekiah
Banned
What about those MGS game sales?
Hezekiah
Banned
Coming from the middle-aged man who was banned for constantly claiming Demon Souls "bomba".
I'm sure there are more reliable sources
.
sainraja
Member
You only need to view the cut scenes the first time and you can skip those by pausing the game.
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Bernd Lauert
Banned
Unjustly banned.Coming from the middle-aged man who was banned for constantly claiming Demon Souls "bomba".
I'm sure there are more reliable sources
MrFunSocks
Banned
Did Sony release sales numbers to go with this "mega hit" announcement? I've been told that unless you announce sales numbers you're just hiding a bomba. I don't agree, but that's been the narrative for years.
As long as it's enough to keep their doors open, I'm happy.
As long as it's enough to keep their doors open, I'm happy.
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Hezekiah
Banned
And asking for sales data before being able to claim sales success.Unjustly banned.
I guess we'll have to apply that to every Xbox game going forward then
.
Warnen
Don't pass gaas, it is your Destiny!
Don’t got to go that farAnd asking for sales data before being able to claim sales success.
I guess we'll have to apply that to every Xbox game going forward then
Xbox website
Xbox own website says it’s the best place to play. Isn’t that all we need to know? I mean we believe everything we read on a website.
Hezekiah
Banned
Yeah I mean it used to say " World's most powerful console".
Doesn't say that any more does it
.
Sander Cohen
Member
No surprise if this game flopped just like DS. People don’t like to be tortured in their free time coupled with shorter attention spans is recipe for disaster. Once you get to Citadel, game stops respecting your time and cynically wants to ruin you in every way possible.
highrider
Banned
I be don’t know man if I ever can get a ps5 without jumping through hoops that game is probably the one I’m most interested in playing. I get a little Lost Planet but faster vibe from it. Ngl hearing about punishing difficulty isn’t a selling point though, it’s more just time.
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![[Sigma]](/data/avatars/m/701/701747.jpg?1726376545){kind=avatar}
[Sigma]
Member
CaptainConlock
Member
Citadel is one of the most brutal yet beautiful difficulty curves in a video game for me. Yeah Crimson Wastes is pretty tough, but Citadel will make you fucking beg for mercy. Fractured Wastes is even harder than Citadel because it forces you to go through all of the hardest challenges in one go. Abysmal Scar is legit a fun level, in my opinion. It can get pretty hectic but you reach your most powerful state in that game and Housemarque loves to make you feel like a demigod.
Hugare
Member
I hate rogue-like games
But I love Returnal. It's by far the best game that I've played so far on my PS5, beating R&C, Demons Souls, Miles Morales and others.
The gameplay is just delicious. Best usage of the Dualsense so far: you feel everything, the adaptive triggers feels awesome and etc.
I usualy preffer games that are heavy on story, but somehow I keep going back for Returnal. "Just one more run". Maybe because there are no loading screens and the gameplay is so fast, its very adicting.
The only negatives are the well known lack of a save mechanic and it really doesnt explain shit to you. I figured a lot of things by myself, but sometimes its annoying. I still dont know if I carry something from my past runs with me or not. Feels like I lose absolutely everything everytime I die (with the exception of stuff like the sword and etc.)
Dont know about the $70 price tag tho.
But I love Returnal. It's by far the best game that I've played so far on my PS5, beating R&C, Demons Souls, Miles Morales and others.
The gameplay is just delicious. Best usage of the Dualsense so far: you feel everything, the adaptive triggers feels awesome and etc.
I usualy preffer games that are heavy on story, but somehow I keep going back for Returnal. "Just one more run". Maybe because there are no loading screens and the gameplay is so fast, its very adicting.
The only negatives are the well known lack of a save mechanic and it really doesnt explain shit to you. I figured a lot of things by myself, but sometimes its annoying. I still dont know if I carry something from my past runs with me or not. Feels like I lose absolutely everything everytime I die (with the exception of stuff like the sword and etc.)
Dont know about the $70 price tag tho.
mckmas8808
Mckmaster uses MasterCard to buy Slave drives
physical? mostly zero....in Italy
SLB1904
Banned
But days gone has a white male protagonist. And the freakers are all white
dumb ass reviewers didn't know the virus affect the melamine of the skin
Shame
nekrik
Member
Bo_Hazem
Banned
I managed through from the first try. Well, finished the game within 11 hours of release anyway. Citadel is the hardest level. Just run away when overwhelmed and be smart.
geary
Member
Being an exclusive and with an install base most of enthusiastic games which were early adopters to play exclusive PS5 games, it should sell near the top limit of consoles.
Why those games bought PS5 so early in it's cycle? To play last gen games?
Duchess
Member
Thing is, different games are going to have different metrics for success.
Consider some other industries, such as the book publishing industry. A small publisher could sell 10,000 copies of a book and declare that a major success. For Penguin Random House, that would be a massive failure (and in extreme cases could mean them blacklisting the author for future contracts).
Sony may well have expected Returnal to sell fewer copies than it did. And there will be more sales to come, as the price drops. I'm still holding out until it hits £40, myself.
Consider some other industries, such as the book publishing industry. A small publisher could sell 10,000 copies of a book and declare that a major success. For Penguin Random House, that would be a massive failure (and in extreme cases could mean them blacklisting the author for future contracts).
Sony may well have expected Returnal to sell fewer copies than it did. And there will be more sales to come, as the price drops. I'm still holding out until it hits £40, myself.
GHG
Gold Member
This aged well.