@mbun That's so funny to hear you say that quality of life has improved, I can't imagine how hellish the previous entries were to play. New Horizons was my first AC game, and it had to be the most tedious and tiring game I have ever played - certainly within the past 5 years. Its unfortunate too because I liked it at first - the vibes, visuals, and sounds are all very charming. In the end though, it just feels like a never ending time sink with little to do outside of mundane chores. I'm holding myself back from being very harsh because I know people like it, and there are things I like about it; but its just something to me that cannot be paraded around as a well designed game. Again, I don't blame anyone for digging into it and playing a ton of hours - its just too severely flawed for that kind of an award.

By the way my post wasn't a shot at you or anyone else enjoying a game - Its honestly just shocking to me how well the game was critically received by people and its going to pain me to see publications nominate it at the end of the year.

Ori over Kentucky Route Zero, Doom Eternal, and Resident Evil 3 so far... and as an aside; I understand enjoying Animal Crossing, but I can't fathom putting that game anywhere near a GOTY list.

@mbun I didn't know that about the original's development, that's very interesting. I think my issue is that a sequel felt obvious after the fact, especially with Nintendo trying to figure out games that could make use of the gamepad with the Wii-U. It's been 20 years and Pokemon has sort of lost its reverence with me - Shield has probably turned me off the mainline games forever - so I just hope this works out as I've wanted this for a long time.

Not sure why it took so long for them to realize a sequel should be made - hope it holds up to the original and doesn't come across as a cheap imitation.

@hanabi I haven't played it so I don't quite know what the elephant is as I don't have a PS4, looking forward to playing it once I end up getting a PS5 probably in Spring. I'm going to assume Miles being playable is a side story, and whatever happened in the game has greater implications for the sequel that we'll see in 2021-22.

@el-shmiablo Oh OK, that would be interesting - I just feel like a sequel would have a bigger, more obvious name.

So from a Playstation perspective, I've only owned a PSP. A lot of the entrenched franchises don't carry a lot of weight for me. I was excited to watch Lost Legacy when Blood and Huber went through it and thought it was incredibly dull, I was shocked to hear so many people claim that as the best Uncharted. Now its always different watching and not having the context of prior games, but I'll be intrigued to play it once I get the PS5 and start playing all those games that I've missed, including the Uncharted collection.

Gran Turismo has always had an air of quality about it, I'm sure 7 will be ultra impressive. As for competing with Forza Horizon, I don't know what the best way to approach that would be... might be best to try and get a Burnout exclusive or something. Doesn't seem like that style of game is something Polyphony would be interested in.

@el-shmiablo I keep forgetting about that Spiderman trailer; is it supposed to be like Lost Legacy or a full blown sequel, or do we know? Its crazy to me how long GT seemingly takes between entries, but it always looks stunning - though that stream quality I think was doing it a disservice.

@el-shmiablo I kind of agree, and again maybe I just didn't have the proper expectation, but I thought we would see more things like Ratchet's demonstration. While I've never played a Ratchet game, the number of different worlds they were visiting was immediately striking, but then aside from particle effects it just kind of looked like the 2016 game to me.

At the same time, I have to wonder just how many different ways there are to implement instantaneous loading into gameplay scenarios. While I agree that the benefits you listed are positives, I just feel like I kept hearing it would fundamentally change game design; when I hear that I think of something larger than just removing tight crevices or starting races quickly.

Out of curiosity, you said the games portion was 10/10 for you after 15 minutes, which titles left such a strong impression for you?

I'm not sure what to say, but I'm a little let down by what was shown. Even things like Ghostwire and Resident Evil VIII didn't hit me like I was hoping they would. Outside of maybe Ratchet switching between worlds, I didn't see anything ultra impressive - a lot of it just felt like the same old stuff. I guess I was expecting the much talked about SSD to flex itself a little more obviously. There were some cooler indie type games, but nothing really blew me away.
Conference Grade? B-
Console Design? D

Will a Batman TRAILER be shown? NO
Will a Harry Potter game be shown (trailer, gameplay, or title card)? NO
Will Elden Ring GAMEPLAY be shown? (A HUD /menu system is shown) NO
Will we get a release date AND price for the PS5? YES
Will more than 5 individual games by N. American or European devs be shown? (Collections count as one unless different studios worked on different games)? YES
Will Knack reveal himself? YES
Will the words "Silent Hill" appear onscreen in text (not including subs)? NO
Will Kojima reveal himself? NO
Will the sequel to Horizon be revealed? YES
Will a previously unannounced racing game be revealed? YES
Will the total presentation run longer than 1 hour and 10 minutes? NO
Will the number of new next gen games featured (not remasters/reboots/HD collections, etc) be more than 7? YES
How many times during the EZA live reaction stream will the official Sony feed stutter, freeze, or glitch? (unintentionally, not as part of a trailer or something) 2

@scotty Until we officially know what it is, and how its sold, I think we should reserve judgement. It very well could end up being dumb, but its too early to say.

@DMCMaster Its a rumored lower cost next-gen Xbox to be sold alongside Series X. What it is and how it would work varies by source.