Gaming
PlayStation Takes Spotlight at TGS 2015


If you’ve long dreamed of slashing down human-eating titans then this is the game you’ve been waiting for. Fans of the manga and anime Attack on Titan should be plenty excited about this game by Koei Tecmo. The game will be available for the PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4 and PlayStation Vita some time in 2016.
A well-loved title on the PS Vita is coming to the PS4. The remastered version of the cel-shaded action-adventure game will be available later this year while its sequel, Gravity Daze 2, will hit the market some time in 2016.
Umbrella Corps
[irp posts=”4592″ name=”Sony PlayStation 4 Pro and Slim hands-on”]

Accessories
Logitech launches first-ever gaming earbuds

Logitech is venturing into the gaming accessories scene with the release of its first-ever gaming grade earbuds, the Logitech G FITS.
The wearables are the first earbuds from the brand to feature Lightspeed wireless, giving users pro-grade wireless connection for their PC, Mac, PlayStation 4 and 5, Nintendo Switch, and Android devices via USB-A or USB-C.
The true wireless gaming earbuds have 15 hours of total listening time. That’s seven (7) on their own and an additional eight (8) with the charging case. When connected via Bluetooth, the total battery life in one full charge stretches up to 22 hours.
The Logitech G FITS also feature the patented Lightform technology, which allows users to get a contoured and custom fit in just a minute.
They simply have to connect to the Logitech G FITS app which then triggers a number of embedded LEDs and harden the gel-filled tips to suit one’s ear as ideal as possible.
The same app may also be utilized for an equalizer to tailor-fit the listening experience, especially if one wants to emphasize bass or fine tune the settings.
Price, availability
The Logitech G FITS is now available in major retail stores and online via Lazada and Shopee for SG$ 389.

It doesn’t take a lot to create a decent roleplaying game. All you need is a fish-out-of-water character, a vast open map, and a seemingly endless list of objectives. Though it has all three, Forspoken struggles to keep up with its pretenses as a Western roleplaying game.
First, the good
Credit to where it’s due, Forspoken is a fun game for the first few sections. Exploring the incredibly huge map with magical parkour is enjoyable. Eclipsed only by Elden Ring’s Torrent, magic parkour is one of the most innovative ways to quickly traverse large distances, especially after learning more advanced techniques.
Likewise, fighting balanced enemies with limited powers provides enough of a challenge to keep players on their toes in Athia. Neither the player nor the first enemies feel overpowered.
Unfortunately, the game’s novelty quickly evaporates after you figure out that you have to repeat the same motions dozens upon dozens of times. Forspoken’s map is much larger than it ever should have been. Though abundant in number, every point of interest is separated by large distances, some platforming challenges, and a battle sequence. The greater map is empty. Do this over and over, and the game gets stale quick. With adequate rewards, this shouldn’t be a problem, but Forspoken also suffers from a communication issue.
A communication issue
For most roleplaying games, completing an objective on the map usually nets palpable rewards for the player: a significant experience boost, new skills, new gear, or a bag of loot. An open-world game necessitates a lot of exploring. Even if a game is repetitive, earning substantial rewards is satisfying, at least. Forspoken does not have this — not in an easily discernible way, at least.
Treasure chests, which account for most of the points of interest on the map, reward players with a litany of crafting materials. Most of which will go unused because the game doesn’t easily tell players how to use them. After a dozen hours of collecting materials, I had a wealthy cache of each ingredient to make practically anything. Even then, I had little idea where each one went.
The map’s major rewards — new cloaks, new nail arts, and experience — also do little to explain how Frey improves with each completed objective. Clearing out an enemy camp, for example, rewards players with +1 magic. The game does not tell you how much damage that conveys. Certainly, after completing a few of these, Frey feels stronger, but it’s not easy to see how much stronger, especially when most enemies are bullet sponges with absurd health pools anyway.
Plus, these don’t even scratch the surface of objectives wherein the main reward is literally just a lore dump you have to read from a menu.
Difficulty shouldn’t always mean more enemies
Another issue with clearing out Athia’s large map is how Forspoken handles difficulty. Though there are options to adjust difficulty, the game relies on a limited bag of tricks to make it more difficult for players: increasing enemy health and quantity. In moderation, relying on this strategy works. However, Forspoken does this to an obnoxious level.
Prepare to fight five mini-bosses in one encounter for a lore entry. What compounds this issue more is an insane enemy health pool which causes encounters to last a lot longer than they should. One mini-boss encounter took me 15 minutes, even with appropriately leveled gear and the right spells.
Because of the sheer number of enemies, an encounter can stun-lock Frey for an absurd amount of time. The player can hardly prevent this since it relies on chance. Despite offering a wide array of moves, the risk of knockbacks shoehorn players into a slow run-and-gun tactic (which might not even play into an enemy’s weaknesses), instead of using each ability to the max.
On paper, Forspoken’s combat offers a fluid way to take down enemies by seamlessly switching between spells and moving through the battlefield with magic parkour. Unfortunately, an imbalance in enemy strategies bogs the game down in prolonged sequences that often reward players with only middling boosts.
A lack of optimization
For a game released on modern hardware, Forspoken took a while to launch. The game was delayed a few times. Given how delays often work, you’d think that it would release in a fairly optimized state. It’s not.
Though I haven’t hit major game-breaking bugs, there were a number of performance dips throughout the game. Even on performance-focused settings, framerates dropped to a standstill when there were high particle effects on screen. Frey constantly clipped through the terrain and found herself stuck on finnicky edges (which sometimes required reloading from previous saves).
The game is also dragged down by numerous cutscenes. Though not a bug per se, it’s not a great sign of optimization that the game has to pause for a cutscene just to show enemies arriving. For a game featuring fluid movement and combat, Forspoken often takes players out of the action by pausing for unnecessary cutscenes.
Better on sale
Overall, Forspoken is persistently flawed. However, amid the game’s shortcomings, the title still has an exciting combat and movement system. Plus, if you disregard the tedious open world, Forspoken’s linear story, featuring the wide range of abilities, are enjoyable. My interest always bounces back after beating one of the game’s main bosses.
Still, it’s hard to call Forspoken a game worthy of its AAA price tag. It might be better to wait for a discount.

Gaming subscriptions have brought a wave of notable titles to gamers on several platforms. However, as streaming platforms have shown as of late, subscription-locked content can disappear in an instant. In a surprise move, Sony is putting an end to its iconic PlayStation Plus Collection.
Back in 2020, Sony’s subscription service added the PlayStation Plus Collection, an easy way to play all of the most iconic titles of the past era. By paying for the monthly fee, players can access titles such as God of War and Bloodborne.
Surprisingly, Sony has announced that PlayStation Plus will no longer offer the PlayStation Plus Collection starting on May 9. Before then, subscribers can avail themselves of the titles and keep them in their libraries. Players who do so before May will keep their access to them as long as they are a subscriber.
After May 9, the subscription service will no longer offer these titles for free. Players have to buy them individually.
The cancellation is a monumental change for the subscription service. The current games catalog already features a revolving series of titles changing monthly. The Collection, which has featured the platform’s bestsellers over the years, was thought to be untouchable. It already made the price of admission worth it. That’s no longer the case.
The Collection, as it is now, includes: Batman: Arkham Knight, Battlefield 1, Bloodborne, Call of Duty: Black Ops 3, Crash Bandicoot: N-Sane Trilogy, Days Gone, Detroit: Become Human, Fallout 4, Final Fantasy XV: Royal Edition, God of War, Infamous: Second Son, Monster Hunter: World, Mortal Kombat X, Persona 5, Ratchet & Clank, Resident Evil VII, The Last Guardian, The Last of Us Remastered, Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End, and Until Dawn.
-
News2 weeks ago
Apple iPhone 15 Rumor Roundup: Goodbye Pro Max, hello Ultra
-
Entertainment2 weeks ago
LG just launched a limited edition NewJeans laptop
-
Gaming2 weeks ago
Honkai: Star Rail final closed beta sign-up now open
-
Gaming2 weeks ago
Forspoken review-in-progress
-
Gaming2 weeks ago
Cult classic GoldenEye 007 is coming to Xbox, Switch
-
Gaming2 weeks ago
Blizzard shuts down almost all games in China
-
Deals1 week ago
Buy AMD’s Ryzen 7000 series-Star Wars Jedi: Survivor bundle
-
Apps1 week ago
Finally! Grab users may now pay directly using GCash