Gran Turismo 7 is a lie. For all the words spouted about how this is a return to form of the massive singleplayer campaigns and content of Gran Turismos past, it's really not. It tries, goddamit, and definetly scratches the itch that we all have of Gran Turismo 4 and such... but it never goes more than skin deep.

Because Gran Turismo 7 is just an expansion of GT Sport, and with it, the promise of new stuff to come at an indeterminate date. At time of writing it's just a buy in to a live service.

The kicker here is content. Versus GT sport there's a grand total of... 4 new tracks and two new layouts of existing ones. I'm not joking thats it, and whilst the selection is mostly good - High speed ring, deep forest, and Trial Mountain are classics - there being no completely new additions outright is really sad.

The car selection is also quite small by mainline gt standards. 400 cars which are mostly unique (compared to GT6's deluge of 20 different types of Miata) and all beautifully modelled - but lots of these are ludicrously expensive, the vast majority are imported from GT sport, and there's very few additions in the racing car categories. The overall car selection is also, by now, quite old. Most of the cars here you can track back to about 2015-ish, and there's very few non concept cars from post 2020.

And it kinda all makes sense. The reduced scope of GT7 compared to - particularly GT4, is almost unavoidable. The level of fidelity demanded these days makes something the scope of GT4 or even GT6 basically impossible, and Polyphony arent the crazed madmen sleeping at the office and making Naughty dog's crunch practices look pedestrian anymore.

And thus, the campaign doesn't really work. There's the delightful level of gran turismo charm and cheese which is lovely to have back and is probably my outright biggest criticism of Sport, but the whole thing is too linear, short, and really lacks the freedom of previous GTs.

Particularly dissapointing is the lack of the super high level events from bygone days - Like the wind, Formula grand turismo championships, etc. It's outright bizzare, the game carries the license system from previous games, but there arent even any license requirements over A in the game at time of writing. And it's so weird, because the game dangles these awesome legendary cars in front of you for stonking credit values but there's like fuck all to do with them except online!

But despite it all, there's sparks here. S-10, the final license test, has you wrangling a classic Porsche 917 around a slightly damp Spa Francorchamps. It's probably the most fun i've ever had in a driving game. The handling model in GT7 is top tier, it's implementation of weather and changeable conditions amazing, it's level of fidelity so damn high, the Car such a fun beast to drive - that it all comes together and it's downright magical. It's the apotheosis of the driving fantasy GT has always been trying to fullfill, and it's the best it has ever done it. Some of the other missions and driving tests are also great, but this moment is what makes it, and proves GT7s potential.

But we'll have to wait, i guess. More than even GT sport, this is a game where buying it is buying into a live service and years of updates which will eventually make it the game we all wanted. GT sport eventually got there. And if there's more moments like S-10 coming... I guess i'll be there to see it in GT7.

Honestly it's pretty neat, yall are just mean.

Being into old game hardware, the demo scene has always fascinated me as people over there always find ways to make even the most unassuming of hardware do some pretty unexpected and crazy tricks. The only thing was these demos were usually locked to homebrew enthusiasts, so seeing a demo from the scene on the official playstation store that you yourself can download onto your system and enjoy is really cool.

The thing itself is a 6 minute video about a dog that gets yote by the darkness, and everything is rendered in real time. Eventually the video will hit a wall and rewind, which will then allow you to interact with various parts of the video in real time in order to find out how to progress. The visual techniques are pretty cool, lots of particle effects, lighting, clouds, detailed fur, that kind of deal. Some scenes even render in full 1080p, which is incredibly rare for the system.

I can certainly understand the low review score for this as it for the most part is a video that's less than 10 minutes, which isn't very impressive when separated from the context of its release and it's technical showcasing. I def think it should have been free, as most tech demo games that get digital releases usually are, but this was made by a small team so they probably needed the money tbh. If you can appreciate what this demo is actually trying to do and showcase there's actually something pretty cool here.

It's always nice when you play through a game again after nearly 10 years and you end up appreciating the game a bit more!

Is Zelda 1 a hard game to get into in 2023? Absolutely, and I can see why this game would be off-putting to so many people. But, if you can get past the oldness and clunkiness here, you get a game that's incredibly impressive for it's time. It shows a game philosophy that you don't see as often nowadays: a game built around community. A game that's designed to share secrets about it with your elementary school classmates. A pre internet gem. It has it's issues, but in the end it's so charming and unique that I think it's worth going back to nowadays.

Bad news, you've agreed to remake Resident Evil 4. You can't do a dead space where you just make it look prettier and make obvious improvements because RE4 isnt the sort of game to benefit from that and is about as close to a perfect action game as has ever been produced. And unlike your previous, considered remakes which even at their worst have value in portraying the same events differently, you cant change this one too much because that'd make less money. Also, corporate demands you remove the tank controls the original game is completely built around because modern gamers dont understand not being able to move whilst aiming.

It's a testament to the fine state of modern Capcom that this realisation of terrible ideas sort of works. Give this project to the capcom of 2016 and it'd almost certaintly be a remake on the level of Demons Souls 2020 where even if it looks """"prettier"""" it ultimately contributes basically nothing and just looks kinda off. Given what must have been ludicrously tight limitations considering the straight regugitation of RE4 with modern menuing and movement is probably the version that sells best - I think the job here is a good one.

Perhaps the boldest, though basically unspoken decision, is basically to drop the part where RE4 is this really clear, methodical and calculated action game. Whilst RE4make is still kinda decent in this regard, and it's encounters are often very fun, the focus is far for more on chaotic situations and reacting on the fly, in real time, to stuff. The decision alone to adapt RE2make's pretty stupid crit mechanics, along with enemies now focusing more on flanking (i get the feeling many way well spawn behind you but am not gonna state that definitively), variable stun damage, and the way animations interact and are rarely invulnerable - the end result i'd say is unquestionably a worse action game in terms of replayability and depth, but it does heighten how intense the encounters often feel. It almost feels crass to make this comparison considering it's lineage - but it feels a lot like the last of us.

And I think it's neat. Its kinda fascinating how significant the change in gameplay feels with nearly identical encounter design, weapons, general structure - to the original. I like how it rewards a different set of tactics and sort of fiddles with things like the balance of the original not by neccessarily buffing and nerfing things, but the game system changing neccessities. Grenades for instance are good in OG RE4 but here they are insanely good thanks to them simply allowing a way through masses of bodies.

The best changes, and the ones you can clearly tell the devs are most confident of, are those to the knife, probably the only real glaring fault for my money of the original RE4 combat system. Speeding up ground takedowns alone helps a lot, but I think limiting it as a resource and it's use defensively is very well done, and works particularly well with all the grabs and flanks the game throws at you. It's the one thing i see in this game as somethig which, with balance accordingly, i'd say "straight up mod that into RE4" were it that easy.

More questionable decisions come in the story and tonal changes. The middle ground adaptation of still keeping the story pretty fucking stupid (this is a good thing) whilst having the characters and general tone be much darker and less in line is not too great, though it could be worse. The character portayals being so good does sweeten the deal though. Ashley and Leon's growing friendship over the course of the game is legitimately lovely, the new Luis stuff is fantastic, the somehow made the Merchant better, and I like how Ada seems a bit more conflicted in this version. The antagonists definetly do take a blow in being less fun though. Whilst the original is clearly better overall, I will say there is fun to be had playing a serious version of Leon experiencing all this stupid shit.

Overall, I find it hard to judge. Part of the brilliance of particularly the RE2 remake is in how it accompanies the original work, provide an alternate take on events, and the entire "RE2 experience" is raised from having the two versions regardless of which one is "better." RE1 and 3 also benefit similarly (Even if the 3 remake is pretty weak). And with RE4 being such a conservative remake, the risk was that it would be almost pointless. Fun, yes - its Resident Evil 4 - but ultimately contributing very little. But I do think it is worthwhile. It certaintly isnt the best version of RE4 and it's more confused than any prior remake, but the changes here are interesting and make for an interesting take on the game, and particularly the character changes which can kinda feed back into enjoyment of the original.

Also, it really is a title that really makes you appreciate the original. Nothing can hammer home just how strong the encounter design, pacing and scenarios are in the original like them being nearly unchanged for the most part 18 years later, put in a different game system thats not as good, and it still is fun as hell. RE4 really is one of the best to ever fucking do it.

In a perfect world, the RE4 remake is a much bolder title. In my head I imagine something similar to RE1make with fixed camera angles and making greater story changes to give things to give more contrast - but that was never going to happen when that would not sell so well. RE4 is not the best remake and probably never could be burdened with the reality that it will sell 10 million copies if it just played it safe. With the constraints in mind, I think it's about as good as we were going to get.

And the silver lining is now Capcom has drunk the poisoned chalice, it's shackles are gone. The potential with Code Veronica and even RE5 for remakes which have the alternate take potential of RE2 is now ripe for picking. And im really up for that.