The Upgrade

The year is 2021. It is a time of great innovation and technological advancement. It is also a time of chaos and conspiracy.

Life is a relentless march ever unto the horizon, never pausing, never faltering, and too must we march in her wake lest we be trapped behind to be drowned in the storm of perfidious stagnancy that so many equate to death. Similarly, we possess technology and our pursuit of such with the same unquenchable thirst that drove our industries forward, renewed our sagging selves and sometimes went as far as to reinvent our very lives. So when affixed with such pretty and ultimately empty frills like those I just exampled, the concept of 'upgrades' and 'upgrading' sounds like a worthy cause, no? To wrestle atop the flailing beast that is life and- nope, sorry, I'm stopping with the gutter poetry. What I mean to address is the fact that, considering how important we are told it is to ever improve, isn't it then worthlessly contradictory how stubborn we become about moving forward? I feel myself a particularly vile perpetrator for this cycle, a cycle of saying "in with the new" whilst clutching the old with desperate abandon. And I bring up such, in this blog here today, because I've been waxing about this new console generation on our hands.

Does it feel hollow to you? This jump forward into the gaming future, or am I perhaps clouding my judgement (and very recollection) with rose-tinted glasses? I ask because it almost feels like this console generational leap has been one of the most underwhelming to date. Don't get me wrong, there have been those eye-wateringly beautiful results from the upgrade that have me spinning, (In concept, that is. I'll likely never get one of these consoles) such as those load times, but I'm not seeing the bold face of the industry rear itself, and it seems like something we used to see a lot. Typically when a console reaches it's twilight years, the industry becomes flooded with these titles that seem to burst at the seams, bulging under misfit skin and pushing the current hardware beyond it's frail limits. These would be the games that would really ignite those hopefuls, because they portended a future that would push ever further still, rewriting that horizon with effortless zeal.

Just thinking back to the last generational leap, the titles of those days seemed to struggle under the weight of their own potential. Think back to Grand Theft Auto V, Mass Effect 3 or Skyrim. (Although Skyrim was, admittedly, a couple of years before the upgrade, it shone nonetheless) And when that next generation landed it was full of prime examples why the new technology was needed and everything it was capable of. We got 'Dragon Age: Inquisition', a fantasy Bioware game that looked better than it had any right to do with a gorgeous engine; 'Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor', a straight-forward game that pushed one of the most exciting new game concepts in years; 'Wolfenstein: the New Order', a blindingly brilliant FPS to show that the genre still could hold some surprises up it's sleeve. These were games that the last generation could not achieve, and it somewhat feels like this new leap is lacking that deluge of incredible newer titles. Or at least it seems that way... 

To be honest with you, I've framed this blog in an intentionally hyperbolic manner in order to mirror some of the voices I've read online, although in truth I have a few common sense answers for myself in regards to this assumedly-lacking generational jump. Importantly, the lack of new games that fully take hold of the hardware is actually an intentional consequence of both Sony and Microsoft's active attempts to cater for their fanbase. (And not lose out on game sales during the transition) A lot of games are still being made with this gen and last gen in mind, thus even when the next gen versions are made the improvements are largely superficial. (Higher resolutions, faster framerates. etc.) Whereas the few games that have gone all-in for the new generation, have me personally excited beyond anything else. (The Demon Souls Remake still gives me chills to look at.)

But that doesn't mean this upgrade process still hasn't left a lot to be desired. In one sense, there's been a lot of talk about the way in which these new consoles would cleanly slide into our lives without any fuss and we'd transition over cleanly. (Sans several hundred buckaroos, of course) However that hasn't been the case due, primarily, to that supply problems I've discussed here and there. Lacking numbers of consoles hitting the market, (severely hurting some online player pools) scalpers scooping up the stock that does hit the stores, the pandemic making it impossible to pick up these consoles in person and then just the general perception that none of it is worth the fuss because most fresh games are here on the established consoles anyway. (Thank god for the crossover in that regard at least.) But at least for those that managed to get lucky they have the benefit of a clean road to upgrade. Heck, just about every developer who isn't 2K went the distance of offering free upgrades, spurred by the console developers who both individually promised to facilitate this. How accommodating and forward thinking! (Even if, in truth, they're likely just trying to ensure no one is deterred from making those all-important week one purchases on flagship titles due to lacking new consoles.)

Okay, enough beating around the bush; I wouldn't me mentioning the 'free upgrade' scheme if something hadn't gone belly-up with it. (Or at least, on one side of this fence.) You see, Microsoft were the first to announce their support for this kind of thing and they did it to great fanfare and praise for being consumer friendly. Sony sort of lagged behind on the same announcement, which was confusing at it seemed like a really customer-friendly policy that should have been lauded as the jewel of their conferences as their contemporary did. And now it's pretty clear why. Microsoft specifically built their new consoles to harmlessly transition into the new gen thanks in part to the cloud save tech they'd been using for all the Xbox One's life cycle. Sony, meanwhile, seems to have been cornered into getting developers to brute-force some inelegant solutions such as save-transferring. (something I know from my Minecraft days to be less than flawless.) It hasn't been the biggest inconvenience in the world, but it's just another example of how quickly the veneer of these new consoles have waned.

Another is in the specs. So the Xbox Series X is the most powerful console in the world, or whatever, and yet it's still averaging a messy 4k 30fps in games not specifically tuned for the 60 frames? Is this real life? And yes, I understand that 4k is largely overrated and not really the be-all-end-all. (Don't bother with trying to argue the penny-pinching logic with me, I'm probably 10 times stingier than you.) But my god, how can any modern console justify less than 60fps? For any excuse, even if that's high resolution. (Resolution which will be no-doubt offset by other cut corners and lowered settings in order to hit the benchmark) And the PS5 is apparently weaker than that? This is our brave new generation of consoles? Forgive me for feeling just that tad bit underwhelmed with the offerings, then.

Yet again, I'm likely just being a picky sod with my memory, as I have a tendency to be. Growing pains are a part of the process, and I have no doubt that in 8 years times when the next consoles are around (and there will be next consoles, don't listen to what the pipe-dreamers are saying about 'the end of the console age') I'm sure we'll all be having this same conversation and enjoying misremembered virtues from the 2021 console age. Want my proof? Those great games from the last generation, were all from the year following the console generation jump, most of them in the later half of the year. (Wolfenstein was mid-year) Showing, if anything, that these new trailblazers just take some time to be made, and I'd imagine current circumstances may have elongated that time just a smidge. So if you're looking at the new generation scratching your head and wondering if it's going to start getting good, have heart- or at least wait until this time next year to start getting really worried...

Scalping

 Taking that little off the top

Scalping, the dark underbelly of the free market that we all just persist with under the assumption that it's always been there and always will be. I mean, ever since scarcity has existed as a concept there would be those that exploit it; and if those very same exploiters can be the ones creating that scarcity, then it's just a self-fulfilling prophecy of awful. We've seen these sorts of practises come up whenever there are concert tickets for popular artists, designer brand apparel that earns it's value from exclusivity and, of course, physical video game tools because... You know, I think it's just because the world is terrible and we all need to be reminded of that fact every now and then. And if you think that I'm being a bit over the top with the disdain I hold for this very practice, well we're just going to have to agree to disagree because I simply despise those bottom-feeding wastrels who scrounge about in the online vermin pit in hopes of profiteering off of desperation. No love lost in the slightest.

Thus it's galling, for someone like me, to hear the practice bought up again and again in the gaming world, and not always for the actions of scummy opportunists. (Or rather, not the same scummy opportunist) I know I've done a blog on it before, but good god I cannot forget that nonsense with the Nintendo Super Mario 3D HD 3-game-pack and it's limited release window. This, I'll remind you, was a digital product and thus there's literally no excuse for it to be limited in sales. Nintendo just wanted an excuse to sell these decades old games at near premium price. But then, why achieve that by literally creating the perfect ecosystem for scalpers? Having unlimited supply as never got in the way of Nintendo's ridiculously overpriced old games before, why bother now? And you want to know the worst part? They literally did it again with a Dragon Quest game pack a year later; I know people try to say that Nintendo have really grown up in the gaming space, but I really do wonder about that sometimes.

I'm sure you know where I'm going with this, because it's the only place to go with this, but for the love of everything holy why are we still dealing with current gen console scalping? I mean sure, I understood for the first few weeks, heck even the first month, The Nintendo Switch had similar issues with scalping, but we're into the new year, it's February going on March; why are we still allowing this to happen? Some statistics have claimed, through extrapolation off some arguably imprecise numbers, that 15% of the PS5 consoles sold have been scalped. That's ridiculous; how could Sony allow this to happen? And, just to be clear, this isn't a Nintendo situation where I'm angry at them for the lack of supply. That's understandable in my eyes. The console is made up of so many specially made parts and we're in the middle of pandemic which limits production quantity; limited supply is to be expected. But in reflection there needs to be active attempts to squash the pandemic of self-righteous scalping weasels out there, otherwise all efforts to try and claw back some control of demand is only going to be undermined. (And I guess Microsoft share some blame too, but they're only selling half as many consoles as Sony so that just naturally makes them less relevant.)

And you know what? This might actually be the age where something is ultimately done about this scourge upon the market, and it might just be because of the same catalyst which is making it so bad for this instance. You see, it's bad enough trying to buy a luxury piece of expensive hardware and getting price-gouged over Ebay for it, but when that's happening in the middle of a world-wide financial downturn- well that's some next-level bad optics. At that point it really just looks like you're feeding on people's misery like some sort of vampire, and that sort of public imagery isn't going to win any friends. Now from their end they'll argue that this is exactly what makes their plight so justified, (I'll get to their verbal diarrhoea later) but all the rest of the world sees is the monster. As such, this has actually reached the ears of some of Parliament over here in England, and although I'm sure they'll not actually do anything about it (Parliament is notoriously a lot better at chatting then acting) it's sets a precedent for legislative consideration. What happens if that precedent is picked up by an actually effective government? Who knows...

Well the hopefuls are saying that it could lead to some sort of criminalisation of scalping practises, and wouldn't that be an interesting development to fall at these clown's doors? Of course, such practises are already frowned upon and I do believe there are some markets already in which scalping can land serious legal repercussions unless you have a serious legal team and an army of lobbyists to dissuade such. (such as medicine. You can't buy up that into scarcity unless you hide behind a pharmaceutical label) But a blanket ban on the very idea will certainly be enough to shake some sense into the deluded out there who think they're actually helping people. (And those type of scalpers do exist.) Personally I think that hoping for government regulation to save the day is the absolute bottom of the barrel, no where left to turn, solution; but that's where a lot of people are at.

Now what do the scalpers themselves think of such developments? That's actually been answered to about as well as a degree you could hope for given that you're not talking about a single specific group of people but a collective idea. What we do have is a sort of unofficial spokespeople for this particular scalping wave thanks to the 'do it yourself' scalping kit that a group of braggadocios scalpers have been selling and gabbing about. Maybe they don't represent the collective majority, but their words represent enough. As such you can imagine the sheer incredulity many felt when they read about how these scalpers feel they've been unfairly demonised by coverage. (I like to think when simply recounting your actions can be considered 'demonising', the problem might be in your actions) Still, this group has received hate, condemnation and now this, admittedly slim, chance of legal repercussions and they can't help but feel a little jilted. Apparently, through public statements they've made, the group see themselves as the 'good guys', helping people make money in the middle of the Pandemic by being the innocent middleman between the hardware manufacturers and the player.

Huh, you know that's a pretty good point. There really should be a middle man between manufactures and buyers, it's odd how that doesn't already exsi- oh wait it does, they're called Retailers. Now, I could go through each one of their arguments, but they're so frightfully fragile and moronic is surely isn't worth my time. Plus, I wouldn't want to insult your intelligence. Basically, just take into account how this guy equates his role to that of Tesco's, saying how no one complains when the supermarket chain buys milk from suppliers and then resells that milk to us an upscaled price. Wait nope, I lied I can't not say anything. What are you talking about? Tesco's doesn't gobble up the market's entire supply of milk so that they can inflate the price and sell it out to desperate masses that can't get it that elsewhere. They can't do that because it would illegal under the contracts they signed to become a retailer in the first place. These aren't the sorts of concepts you need to finish business college to comprehend; this here is basic stuff!

Whilst people like this continue to suffer no repercussion for their transgressions, the transgressions will continue, that's just the way of things. Humans aren't the morality imbued beasts of nobility that we paint ourselves as in fiction, we aren't fraught between clearly defined lines of right and wrong, we constantly justify and mould ourselves to be forever in the right, only really shifting our opinion when the ugly head of consequences rears it's head. (and sometimes we delude ourselves to overlook that too) But the scalpers do make one good point, and that's how these retailers don't have enough bot protection and update their stock without any indication to the public, and Sony/Microsoft don't demand such measures from their buyers. (Or heck, even sell the consoles themselves.) I sure that the stalemate will break after some time, like they always do, but if we really don't want to see ourselves in this stupid dance of whack-a-mole, it's going to take actual effort from some end. I'm just hoping we don't have to wait another console generation for that to materialise.

Demon's Souls: The remake we need right now

 But maybe not the remake we deserve

The 'Souls Game' genre is an interesting proposition. They are a series of games that promise to put you through as much trail and tribulation as they can manage to attempt at skirting the edge of fair play and balance that'll bring you unreasonably close to caving in at any given moment. That being said, the tradeoff is that after setting your blood pressure rising off the charts and putting you in constant life-or-death situations, you'll be all that more relieved once you hit the otherside and pull out a win. (if you hit the otherside) It's a type of game that highlights being unforgiving, but not unfair, and needs to constantly strike a balancing point between the two ideals that often feels a thin as a needle's point. But when they do, and if we're talking about the mainline Souls game which spawned the franchise, then they always do, it heightens that sense of victory to unbelievable vistas. (Take it from the guy who spent 30 Human Effigies last night in order to first reach, then kill 'Darklurker')

This is a formula that has since been perfected, but it started with a little PS3 exclusive game from a while back called Demon's Souls. (And yes, Demon's Souls is the first Souls-Like and not King's Field. Do you have to recollect your experience points upon dying in King's Field? No. But I will concede that there are some similarities between the two games which could imply that one influenced the other.) Now in today's age a great many folk have played and are intimately familiar with the 'prepare to die' antics of Dark Souls, but not so many people have the context of where the franchise started with Demon's Souls, even though back when it came out the game was quite the interesting concept. "A title that was brutal, vague and let other people join your game and try to kill you? How very new and exciting!" This would grow into some success in popularity and, I can only assume, sales, which spearheaded the efforts for the spiritual successor Dark Souls and birthed a new genre unto gaming. (The Miracle of life) But given the original launched 11 years ago, isn't it crazy to think that in 2020 this cult classic is literally the shining spearhead of the next-gen launch title lineup?

And I mean that honestly, no other game which has launched on either console has managed to pop and stand out nearly as gloriously as Demon's Souls. When you look at the other games there is Assassin's Creed Valhalla, a decent game that also launched on last gen, COD, same situation, Spiderman Miles Morales, a seriously gorgeous game but also nothing strictly new in terms of concept, whilst the Xbox gets... wow, nothing interesting at all... (Seriously, Mircosoft, this is embarrassing) Demon's Souls is a game that was made for PS5, and though it's a remake/remaster of a game that already existed, it's also a title that a good number of folk never played before and thus gleans with that inexplicable aura of 'brand new' despite itself. And that has allowed the truly mind-blowing spectacle of the game to just grab audiences and blow them away; Demon's Souls is a next gen system seller right now! Do you think FromSoftware ever pictured that back in 2009?

So as far as most can tell, in terms of gameplay Demon's Souls is a one-to-one with the original, keeping all the brutal punishment of the first game whilst simultaneously maintaining some of the jank. (I.e. Occasionally questionable level design and a goddamn puzzle boss. I don't know if he's as bad as The Bed of Chaos, but I shudder to think) The only addition appears to be a random and currently unopenable door which, as of the writing of this article, hasn't been figured out and makes me personally expect something in the way of surprise DLC. But even then, I doubt many could take a look at this game and struggle to call it a 'remake' considering how much this game evolves in pure spectacle alone. (This ain't no, 'slightly sharper colours in Dishonoured's remaster' scenario) This is a whole different ballgame.

Bluepoint have rebuilt the entirety of the game in a manner that resembles the original, but which takes advantage of all the hardware afforded with the PS5 to evolve the art style. An ominous bare walk towards a far away tower becomes a musky hall sprawled in shrubs and forestry, a spacious but barren temple-space becomes a dark foreboding horror scape, and as I've mentioned in past blogs, the PS3 era fire depths evolve into something mindblowingly vibrant. (I'm a sucker for good fire effects.) It really stands out to me because I've never really thought of the Souls games as titles that were particularly memorable for their graphical fidelity. I mean the games still hold up for the most part, just because of the prevailing artistic intent, but Bluepoint have gone that extra step to make Demon's Souls literally one of the prettiest games on consoles to date, if not the prettiest.

Of course, there have been some deviations from the original when it comes to pure design decisions, but myself and the thousands of others who never played the original would never notice them anyway. Some people have argued that there's an almost steampunk/Lovecraftian element to some of the creatures in the original that gets lost in this new, more uniform, art direction, with a few bosses being entirely redesigned this way. For a purist I can imagine that this could come across as startling or even a bit disappointing, Souls games are renowned for their world building and the manner in which small design choices can spell out huge implications for the story. I can't say if this was true all the way back in Demon's Souls too, I actually have no idea what that game is even about, but I understand those who do find those deviations concerning.

The one aspect about Demon's Souls which really sells the next gen, however, is the one thing that can't be seen or interpreted by those without access to this new hardware, so all we have to go off is the word of those that do. (If that's worth anything to you.) I'm talking about the new haptic feedback mechanics built into the PS5 controller itself which, according to folk who've tried it, is subtle enough not to seem gimmicky yet impactful enough to transform the experience. Reports say that the direction of the character's swing will correspond with the direction of the feedback, with hard collisions rattling on your arm as well. And even something I really don't understand about how missed arrows can be heard from the controller as they whizz past your head. (Are they talking about something similar to how the Wii remote made sounds now and then really inconsistently? Because I'm not gonna lie, I found that rather annoying myself.)

All these come together to make a Demon's Souls remake that looks like a brand new entry to the Souls pantheon for those that never played the original, although I've heard some veterans ponder whether the prevailing similarities tarnish the package. I mean that puzzle boss I mentioned earlier was a big issue for a lot of the original players because he just wasn't very fun or interesting, and he's here completely intact yet again. No one wanted a complete remake of the sort of game that folk in this industry regard as sacred, but maybe a few improvement here and there (more than just the quality of life stuff) could have gone a long way. It's the same way in which we currently hope that the Mass Effect Legendary pack evolves Mass Effect 1 a bit, because just because it was a great game back in the day doesn't mean absolutely everything holds up in the here and now. Still, it makes me smile to think that in today's age it isn't the generic shooters or gimmick-strewn Ubisoft games that are defining this generation but an artistic masterpiece which stuns today as much as it did in the late 2000's. 

FNAF Security Breach

He always comes back

Five Nights at Freddy's, how is it that I've never spoken about this franchise at length before? I mean I've mentioned it in passing but there's never been that one excuse to just sit down and go into exactly what it's all about for the blog. I suppose, that would dictate that I have to start from the beginning, but it almost seemed redundant to go into the history of one of the biggest indie success stories of all time. Then again I'm always astounded by the amount of people who've never even heard of FNAF, so maybe it makes sense for a little recap. This goes especially true since these games have ballooned to such a height wherein the latest game got itself an actual trailer in the PS5 showcase! I mean how cool is that for ol' Scott to rave about!? If I were him that'd be the kind of thing I'd never shut up about, getting his game out there in possibly the single most mainstream manner possible. I mean sure, it was arguably the most bait-ey and eye-rolling trailer of the entire conference, but at least it was there, you know? And though we've very little information to go on for the moment we've still a decently solid idea about what this game is, so let's get into it.

But first, a history. Scott Cawthon was a animator in the early 90's who started to get into indie game development in the late 2000's. He made a few games which were published through the Steam Greenlight program (wherein users play games and determine whether or not it should be continued in development or something, I forget the specifics) but not every title he put out made the cut. In fact one game, 'Chipper and Sons Lumber Co.' was ridiculed for it's lifeless-looking character design which made the beaver protagonists look like animatronics. As the legend goes, which I'm fairly certain is played up for effect, Scott was a little upset with this feedback, along with other issues in his life at that point, and so he promised himself he'd make one final game before putting game development behind him for good. But rather than just forget his past failures he decided he would leverage them, by taking that "They look like animatronics" and "These 'cute characters' look horrific" criticism and turning them into the point of his newest game. Thus was born, Five Nights at Freddy's.

The basic premise behind the games is... well, basic. You are the night security guard in a pizzeria for kids based on Chuck E. Cheese (RIP), meaning that it's aimed at kids and features a cast of animatronic mascots who operate during the day in order to delight the children and bring their restaurant experience to life, or something. (I never got the concept behind Chuck E. Cheese, it's all a mystery to me.) Now life as a night security guard should be pretty boring except for one thing, according to the voiceover the phonecall you get each morning (that provides your orientation because no one here believes in training days, I guess) the Animatronics themselves have a tendency to turn themselves on and wonder through the halls at night. (As you'd expect from ostensibly lifeless robots.) What's more, they have a 'failsafe' built into them that if they happen across anyone in this wander state they will assume they are an animatronic exoskeleton outside of it's suit and thus forcibly try to force that person into a animatronic suit. (Suits which absolutely do not have enough room for an adult human to fit into without loosing a lot of vital organs.) Huh, this lazy night job turned into a survival horror real quick...

So the basic gameplay loop which all the games have come back to for the most part (I see you, FNAF World, you RPG abomination upon man, you.) goes a bit like this, the player must observe the animatronics from the security office over the restaurant's cameras and close the door to their office whenever one comes too close. Although you can't just close all doors and ride it out because the building runs on old electronics and you'll quickly run out of power unless you ration it correctly. (Oh, and apparently the act of looking through the cameras drains the generator. These guys need a decent technician, I swear!) So this is a slowburn survival horror scenario defined by resource management and punctuated with jumpscares when you screw up. Throw in some curious mysteries, a threadbare storyline and a background about murdered children possessing the animatronics and hunting for victims, and you've got yourself a multi-million dollar franchise.

Fast forward through what feels like a decades worth of sequels, spin offs and whatever the hell FNAF World was meant to be, and we get to the game announced (officially) during the PS5 conference 'FNAF Security Breach'. Cue a creepy trailer taking us through possible the most extravagantly 80's location ever made by man, ending with a supremely ineffective jumpscare (seriously Scott, even your games have better jumps than that) and there's the most mainstream debut of the series right there. A niche title touted as a system seller, who'd a thunk it? Okay, to be fair I can name a least one person who legitimately jumped to this trailer, but amidst all of the other indepth announcements this one stood out as a supremely underexplored trailer. Only God of War Ragnarok was less informative but that was just a teaser.  Still, as I said, we're not entirely in the dark.

Just as the history of Hyrule was also the history of Calamity Ganon, the story of FNAF coincides with the life and times William Afton. Will is one of the co-creators of Freddy Fazbear's Pizzeria (the franchisation of Fazbear's Diner) and a lifelong child murderer. I don't know what his motivation is, I don't even know if Scott even bothered to think up a motivation, I just know that William has a history of killing kids and stuffing them in animatronic suits, even long after it became apparent to him that doing so was what led to these suits becoming possessed. (How many times does a guy gotta screw up to learn his lesson?) This time-jumping series has covered his long serial killer history as well as his successful robotics career, and the way that his entire family ended up becoming victims to him in some way or another. Now with Security Breach it seems the series may be stepping forward from him for the first time. (With heavy emphasis on 'may')

This 80's inspired- (you know I don't what this place is. A diner? A disco? What is going on?) was teased first during the run of FNAF's VR game, a game which introduced a new character killer going by the name of Vanny. (Who was a VR character that escaped to the real world through your body or something, I dunno; this franchise is freakin' odd) Vanny, as she is definitely called thanks to the merchandise of her already making it's way to shelves, is dressed in a bunny rabbit suit and will allegedly seek to start a cult in the name of the original killer. How that pans into what sounds like menacing a small child in an empty Fazbear location is beyond me, but there's your backstory.

Ultimately, I'll be honest, I'm not entirely sure what this game was doing in an event about the PS5. FNAF games are usually best at home on the PC and even then they don't have a reputation for being particular lookers or even being that well made in some early titles. Again, even the trailer was pretty ropey for this title, and I'd say this trailer stuck out next to FFXVI and other games that I've yet to talk about. Yet, I have to concede and say; at least Scott managed to get his indie title to the mainstage. (If it still counts as an Indie game at this point, I'm guessing not.) You can poke holes in the presentation, concept, writing, scripting and everything else of the games, but you can never take that away from them. Good for you, Scott, Good for you.