Netflix and a Leek Extracts Money From People Wanting To See GTA VI Gameplay, The State of 'State Of Play' and Oh Right, Gamescom - The Cleanup 06/09/26
Been a while since I've done one of these, not due to a lack of news, but really due to a lack of news I want to talk about. Getting real sick of talking about layoffs, whether it's from Microsoft or Bit Reactor; Sony's stubborn refusal to back down from the cancellation of physical discs; or even stuff like developer laptops being stolen from the Gamescom floor. But enough interesting stuff, both good and bad, has occurred to warrant this post, so let us get started.
The Newest Netflix Hit Show Is An Extended Grand Theft Auto VI Trailer
I've always admired the Yakuza series for focusing on dense but detailed environments. How every little alleyway and street has unique signage and structures. GTA VI appears to have that same density but blown out to a massive open world. Rockstar, in interviews, has said that VI is approximately twice the size of GTA V. That sounds impressive but, as someone who has spent hundreds of hours in Los Santos as part of GTA Online, it's not all that impressive. You've got to remember that large chunks of Los Santos were barren deserts and grasslands. Most people don't remember, but that northeast part of the map is just a bunch of large grassy hills and nothing else. So having a stupidly big map is not that much to celebrate, but if they can fill that map with the same density as seen in those trailers, then they've got something really special.
In terms of gameplay, it was what most people expected: a blend of typical GTA gameplay with the mechanical systems of Red Dead Redemption 2, with a little sprinkle of San Andreas on top. You've got your standard GTA mould: firefights, stealing cars, evading the police, alongside the more sim-like aspects of RDR2, like interaction with NPCs, eating food for gameplay boosts, and a seemingly more down-to-earth tone. While these new mechanics for GTA do seem a little interesting in this context, I'm quite curious to see how this will work in GTA Online 2, or whatever they are going to call it. GTA Online might have started off as a realistic-ish crime simulator, but it wasn't long until we had flying rocket bikes, laser miniguns, and a legally distinct Batmobile. With this tone and gameplay shift, it makes me think they're going to shift away from the nonsense that was GTA Online. Say what you will about Red Dead Online, but they didn't add robot horses or lightsguns.
However, that wasn't the only time we saw GTA VI gameplay.
Grand Theft Auto VI Gameplay Was Leeked... Uh, Leaked
If I had a dollar for every time a hacker leaked GTA VI footage with watermarks to boost their crypto, I'd have... two dollars. So yeah, as with tradition around GTA VI, a hacker managed to get a playable build of the game and leaked footage of it a few weeks before its official reveal.
What's funny about this one is that this hacker claimed to be doing it for "the gamers" by listing a series of demands, including reinstating physical discs for the release of GTA VI, as well as the removal of microtransactions... which, yeah, sure, buddy. The problem is this "crusader" was also plastering their footage with links to their crypto coin, which immediately discredited everything they were doing. This was visibly, from the start, a ploy to make money off stolen assets which, after a few weeks, they vanished into the dark, netting a reported $200,000. Firstly, if you gave any money to this dingbat, I hope you feel as stupid as you are. Lastly, I wish we didn't exist in a culture that cheers this stuff on. All this does is inspire other people to do this shit, and all this is going to do is make everything worse. I'm not talking about, "Oh, the surprise of GTA VI gameplay was ruined", but this eventually going to lead to full playthroughs and potentially even builds of games getting leaked because some guy wants to get rich off stolen assets.
I'm not going to really talk about what was in these leaks, but I will say that it matches up with the more grounded tone and feel the extended look gave us. Which is exciting to me, at least.
State of Play and the State of PlayStation
It's quite an odd thing this generation for Sony. They've more or less won the console war between them and Microsoft, yet their actual showing has been quite lacklustre, at least for me personally. The only Sony first-party games I've enjoyed this entire generation are Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart and Spider-Man 2, and also I guess Death Stranding 2 technically counts. But a majority of the games Sony has released have just done nothing for me. God of War, Horizon, and Ghost of all had sequels that I didn't even bother with. Their original output has run the gamut from barely interested (Astrobot) to disappointing (Marathon) to generational disaster (Concord). Their next line-up of games isn't doing much better. Completely indifferent to Wolverine and God of War Laufey, and while Intergalactic does have a pedigree to it, the last game Naughty Dog made I actively did not like.
So every time Sony does a State of Play, it usually is okay at best and boring at worst. Their last few were probably the best ones they've done, but all the games in those showings that I was excited about were third-party games. If economics continue the way they are trending, the PlayStation 6 might be the first console I entirely skip since the PS2. Pretty grim, all things considered, but let's have a look at what they showed anyway.
Rev.Noir: Probably the biggest surprise was the reappearance of Rev.Noir, the anime-style original RPG from Konami. This was actually announced earlier in the year, but it definitely came across as a "Hey, we're making this game, see you in four years" kind of announcement. But no, they showed off actual gameplay and a tentative release date. Kind of looks like they're taking a lot of things from Tales of Arise, a game I liked quite a lot, so it will be interesting to see where Konami goes with this.
Rhapsody in Scarlet: Now, if you thought Rev.Noir was the biggest surprise of the day, how about another original Konami JRPG? Rhapsody in Scarlet looks to be a DMC-style action game with the typical anime aesthetic, set in 1920s New York City, which is a bonkers thing. It's an art style and setting that absolutely should clash, but Konami is going for it anyway. It is wonderful to see not only Konami back making original games again, but taking wild swings with them too. Extremely interested to see how this pans out.
A third attempt to make a Resident Evil movie: I've been hurt enough by movies called Resident Evil to know not to trust this one. Between the "bad but sort of fun to laugh at" Milla Jovovich series and the actually bad Welcome to Raccoon City, I've had my heart broken enough by this series... but this does look good. It's going for a different thing than every other attempt before. While I am still not convinced to see this in theatres, if Resident Evil gets good reviews and comes to Netflix or something, I'll give it a tentative watch.
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Crimson Desert DLC: What the fuck is this game? When Crimson Desert came out, it looked to me like it was some faux-Witcher 3 game, but it was also a physics sandbox like Breath of the Wild, but it's also base management sim, and with this DLC is now also Happy Home Designer and The Sims as well? I need to check this game out. Wish it were on a decent sale.
I Avoided Watching A Keighley Thing And I Am Better For It
Finally it's time to talk about Gamescom. I didn't watch Gamescom. I didn't even watch the replay. I just sorted of looked at a big list of announcements and went 'Oh, ok'. Honestly the biggest announcement of the show was Lego Skylines, which made me think why no one hasn't done anything like this before? A Lego City Builder seems like the obvious idea. We should have had about 12 of these by now by no. Stage Tour caught my eye but strictly only the hardware. The game looks fine but I am much more interested in the instruments they're releasing. I've been wanting a drum controller for many years and with Rock Band 4 kits becoming more rare by the day, a new game and kit would be my only way to get one. But when your big showcase ends with a remastered of a 2014 game, you know you had a weak show.