Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero PS5 Review

 

Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero is a 3D fighting game was released in 2024 for PS5, XSX/S, and PC, and then was later released both on Switch 1 and 2 in 2025.

It was developed by Spike Chunsoft and published by Bandai Namco Entertainment, and it is a sequel to 2007's title such as Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3 making it a 4th installiment in the Budokai Tenkaichi series.

Before I begin reviewing the game, I wanted to mention that I've previously reviewed 2 of the Dragon Ball Z games quite long time ago.

I've covered the review of Dragon Ball Z: Burst Limit for PS3 in 2017 which I've described it as one and the only decent DBZ game for 7th-gen consoles in comparsion with the later games like Raging Blast and Battle of Z are definitely not good as the Burst Limit, and then I also covered the review of Dragon Ball FighterZ for PS4 in 2021 which is definitely being one of the best fighting game in the Dragon Ball Franchises is something to appericate anime-style fighting game genre more thanks to numerous of memorable base roster, enjoyable 3 on 3 matches, well-written story, quality visuals, and smooth fighting gameplay is what makes the game epically fun on the 8th-gen system.

Here is the link on down below to see my previous review of Dragon Ball games:

https://zeeshanmirzasblog.blogspot.com/2017/06/dragon-ball-z-burst-limit-ps3-review.html

https://zeeshanmirzasblog.blogspot.com/2021/02/dragon-ball-fighterz-ps4-review.html

 

Okay let's get on with this review shall we? we all know this media franchise was created by Akira Toriyama in 1984 which started out as manga series was serialized in Weekly Shōnen Jump from 1984 to 1995. 

As manga series has been adapted into two anime TV series such as Dragon Ball and Dragon Ball Z which together were broadcast in Japan from 1986 to 1996.

It was later aired on worldwide channels like Cartoon Network in late 90's, as well as CNX in 2002 and Toonami 2003. 

Since the release, Dragon Ball has widely become one of the most successful manga and anime series of all time with the manga sold in over 40 countries and the anime broadcast in more than 80 countries.

It was highly praised for its art, characterization, and humour of the story, as well as many manga artists citing Dragon Ball as a source of inspiration for their own now popular works.

Many people had talked about Dragon Ball Z which is the reason why it became popular across the world and is considered one of the most influential in boosting the popularity of Japanese animation in Western culture has impact on global popular culture such as artists, athletes, celebrities, filmmakers, musicians and writers across the world.

It also spawned into films, both animated and live-action, collectible trading card games, numerous action figures, along with several collections of soundtracks and numerous video games.

As I grew up watching Dragon Ball Z as a child back in the days of late-90s and early-2000s, I also got interested to play any of DBZ games which I had a blast time playing with the titles like Dragon Ball Z 2 -Super Battle for Arcade (via Mame 32), Dragon Ball Z: Burst Limit for PS3, Super Dragon Ball Z for PS2, and of course Dragon Ball FighterZ for PS4, but there's one of the series that I've never actually played which is DBZ: Budokai and DBZ: Budokai Tenkaichi is because I'm mostly got used with the traditional 2D fighting game as opposed to 3D-arena style fighting game for DBZ games which is why I've never payed closely attention on 3D fighting DBZ games, but I did hear many positives things about these games by the fans including my classmate from my old-days at college in early-2010s had talked about these game he played said something really special about how fun these DBZ: Budokai and Budokai Tenkaichi games really are in terms of story mode, base rosters, tournament matches, and perfectly great for versus battles which is why it got me convinced to tryout these games if only I had a chance to get it on my gaming console, so it took me 15 years to finally getting my hands-on a 3D fighting DBZ game and also my very first Budokai Tenkaichi game for the PS5 which is Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero. 

It's one of the game that the Budokai Tenkaichi series made the return since 2007, so it's been incredibly long time for DBZ fans were expecting to see a new entry for the modern platform is because it really shows how much they loved the series back in their PS2 days where you had bunch of fighters flying around the arena, throwing tons of rapid punches and kicks, and blasting the shit of each others with projectiles is something that made the series quite special, so does this game lives up the same expectations as the previous entries or is it a huge step backwards in comparsion? let's find out how this game plays it well throughout the journey.

So without go further do, let's start the review.

Presentation

The game's episodes depict the story of Dragon Ball Z and Dragon Ball Super where you must take control of any of selected fighters including Goku, Vegeta, Gohan, Piccolo, Future Trunks, Frieza, Goku Black, and of course Jiren, so each of them has their story arc that follows the canonical events of these two animated series, but it also featured the story branching which require players to complete the secondary objectives in order to access the "what if" scenarios that change the course of history.

Thats the interesting way of having the multiple paths in story mode which resulted a different outcome of story cutscenes just makes the game quite unique for fighting game genre.

The game however shares a really great sagas starting from Saiyan Saga to Frieza Saga and then Cell Saga to Majin Buu Saga is the reason I loved watching Dragon Ball Z back in the good old days, where as I haven't watched Dragon Ball Super but thankfully this game includes two sagas such as Universal Survival Saga and Future Trunks Saga which are also quite decent too.

While these story sagas are pretty amazing in the story mode, it also shares likable heroes like Goku who is the main protagonist of whole Dragon Ball franchise which was loved by many fans and communites due to his super saiyan power and fighting techniques are incredibly badass throughout the fight sequence and he also quite an likable character with his friendly personality which he enjoys challenging with tough opponents, eats huge amounts of food, and being quite kind-hearted and forgiving person.

I also liked Vegeta which is another badass fighter which was best known for being an arrogance and stubborness as he likes to test opponents to prove his dominance, but he then evolves from a cold ruthless villain into a dedicated family man and hero throughout the story.     

Then you have Gohan who is the son of Goku which descibed as gentle and compassionate pacifist who hates fighting, but he only steps up when forced to defend home planet and his friends.

You have Piccolo the green alien dude who is formally villain from the original Dragon Ball are now shifts dramatically as wise mentor and trusted ally after bonding with Gohan in Dragon Ball Z.

Future Trunks is basically the future version of Trunks who is a Vegeta's son, as he visited to his past timeline to warn Vegeta and Goku about the incoming threat of two invincible foes such as Goku Black and Future Zamasu.

Then you have the cast of villains such as Frieza, Cell, and Super Buu which I concider these dudes are the best bad guys in Dragon Ball Z saga, where as you have Goku Black and Future Zamasu in Dragon Ball Super are just as crazy chaotic villains like the previous ones.         

Lastly I concider Jiren as not a traditional villain but rather more of being an rival in the tournament match which he has an incredibly impressive power throughout the battle sequence.

The game's presentation is excellent which I really liked the Akira Toriyama's style of design that are bold, bright, and colourful just like the good old days of animated series we knew and love back in the 90s.

I really love the overall design of cutscenes that are fully cinematic during the conversation dialogue between the characters and the whole scenery in the cutscenes are all in 3D perspective giving the story sequences a dynamic feel which I got to say it's a pretty well designed throughout the story campaign. 

I say I do like the game's main menu screen which has fully animated navigation are filled with cast of characters and the background scenery in each menu screens, and I also liked the menu's user interface design which has really nice layouts and fonts throughout the navigations just looking quite good on the menu screen.

The game does have 12 really great fighting stage locations such as Planet Namek take place on a small clearing surrounded with destructable trees and mountains, empty namekian village with destructible homes and furniture, and small shore that leads to a ocean with underwater.

Open Field is a wasteland areas are filled with small mountains and trees covered in grass and multiple dirt patches along it's vast surface.

Rocky Land is a desert level filled with uneven terrain and has many tall rock formations, canyons, and short small rivers.

City is a large metropolitan places are filled with tall skyscraper buildings, parks, and road with futuristc style layouts and design.

World Tournament is a fighting stadium with large arena of grey tiled square shaped that's elevated over a big patch grass and the whole area is walled off by brick walls on three sides.

Tournament of Power Arena is another fighting area takes place on a huge floating circular battle arena with a huge pole struck in the middle and the surface of the stage is littered with serveral big pieces of debris and broken parts of the ground.

Hyberbolic Time Chamber is an open cicular structre with two small rooms, big clock, two giant hourglasses with green sand, and small pole with a glass sphere.

Land of the Kais is an open field filled with small rock formations and trees covered in grass and a long winding dirt path that crosses along it's vast surface, and it also has a few purple rivers, lakes, and a waterfalls on the background.

Islands is a stage takes place on a 8-shaped island with palm trees and oak trees, tall rock formation, ocean, and small mountains above the surface.

Cell Games Arena is simular to World Tournament stage but without the stadium layout which has open field with mountains and trees.

City Ruins is a stage that depicts a dilapidated city from the future timeline featuring abandoned run down buildings, wrecked cars, and many pieces of debris.

Destroyed Planet Namek is a dark and gloomy stage are filled with red hot magma spewing from the planet's core, and a lot of jagged terrains along with a few trees and mountains left to be destroyed.

First Demon World takes place on a huge floating circular rock arena with huge curved spikes sticking around the edges and surface of the stage is littered with serveral big spikes and broken parts of the ground.

Overall, it has amazing story sagas, recogniable cast of characters, and excellent presentation settings.

Gameplay

The game has serveral of game modes to play including episode battle, custom battle, mission 100, survival mode, battle mode, and tournament mode which I will explain these game modes for later on this review.

You take control of any playable fighters in 3rd-person perspective as your goal is to defeat your opponent till their health points reaches to zero to win the match.

You have 3 of HUDs such as your health, ki, and skill bar at the top of the screen which displays your character's real-time status during the battles.

The health bar changes the color from blue to orange/red gradients as the health depletes, and it also has small numerical icons or stacked indicators which show how many total health bars remain.

The Ki Gauge represented by the yellow meter boxes underneath the health bar, so it fills up your ki power as you manually charge or land physical attacks, but it also depletes when you fly, dash, or fire energy blasts.

The skill count is a blast stocks shown as blue charging segments beside the main meters, so these fill over time (and faster when dealing damage) to let you use transformations, fusions, super perceptions, or revenge counters.

Sparking! Gauge becomes available to activate once your ki is maxed out and you have at least one skill count ready, pushing your character into a temporary hyper-powered state.

Lets get to the controls scheme starting off with the basics, so push the left-stick control is to move your character around, where as the right-stick control is to move camera around.

Press the left shoulder button is to jump, but pressing the same button again in mid-air to make you float allowing you to fly around in the air, but you can also ascend and descend your flying by holding with the left shoulder button and left trigger.

Press the cross button is to use step which allowing your character to make a short dash used as dashing speed or evading enemy's melee or projectiles.

You can also perform high speed dash by holding the both right trigger and cross button which treverse your dash speed into the enemies much faster. 

Press the square button is to use rush attack which acts as an melee deals weak damage attack on enemies, but to perform the smash attack hold the square button is to charge your melee then let go of it into a strong damage attack on enemies causing them to fly-off the stage in mid-distance. 

Press the triangle button is to shoot multiples of ki blast deals weak damage projectiles on enemies, but to perform charged ki blast hold the triangle button is to charge your ki blast then let go of it to shoot out a large ki blast deals strong damage projectiles on enemies.

The triangle button is also used as a rush chain meaning that you had to make chain attack by pressing the square button from 1 to 4 times then hit the triangle button which creates the chain combo deals a mid-damage attack on enemies.

You can perform a vanishing assault by pressing both of cross and square button near an enemy to teleport behind them allowing your character to attack your enemy from behind.

To defend yourself, hold the right shoulder button is to block the enemy's melee attack, where as you can able to parry enemy's incoming melee attack or projectiles by pressing the circle button at the right time as their enemy attacks you closely will deflect their melee attack or projectiles away from you.

To charge up your ki gauge, hold the right trigger to charge up your ki meter which you will see on the ki gauge bar, so having a fully charged up ki energy will allow you to use it for ki blast, super attacks, execute high speed dash, and of course the sparking! mode.  

To perform super attacks, hold the right trigger then press any of two buttons such as square or triangle which allowing your character to use their super attacks deals heavy damage attack on enemies.

To activate the sparking! mode, make sure your one skill count is ready before you charge up your ki gauge, so once you have obtained the skill count on top of the screen then you can able to activate it by keep holding the right trigger to charge your ki gauge till it reaches up to fully maxed level, so this will allow your character to perform an ultimate blast by holding the right trigger then press the circle button to use it resulting a cinematic finishing blast deals servere damage on enemy.

So far, the controls is not that complicated is because it may takes a while to learn and practice at the very beginning until after you have done completing the tutorials you've finally get used with it at the very end will eventually make you play better throughout the matches.

You can also customise your controls scheme from the option menu which lets you re-map your button layouts to suit your control preferences, as well as giving you an option to turn on assist settings to suit your playstyle which is fine for the beginners, but when it comes with having the best settings for competitve matches I always have all assists turned off except recovery assist is turned on is the better way of playing the game without any unwanted interference or breaking inputs during the matches otherwise your combos and parry system stops working which prevent players enjoying their experience on this game which is why I highly recommended to turn off all battle assists, but you can keep the recovery assist turned on to ease tedious button mashing when trying to recover or stabilizing in mid-air after getting launched which makes pretty sense is because the recovery time is quite slow which you don't really want to keep mashing all the buttons to get it recovered.

Is the control scheme plays any good? I say it plays really decently which I had no problem with controlling the character which I find the movements and fighting system plays out really smoothly, so I can able to pull off many good combos, melees, blasts, dashing, flying, and of course using the special techniques that made the match quite enjoyable to play.

What I liked about the game is the customisation which lets you alter fighters using alternate costumes, accessories, and of course the stat-boosting ability items which tweaks your character's stats like health, strength, and speed for offline and permitted modes.

This will change your fighter's attributes starting from default to custom status meaning that your fighter will have larger advantages of their fighting ability making it stronger and faster during the battles, so its entirely up to you whether you like to change the fighter's stats or just sticking it to the default instead if you do not wish to make changes.

You can get these stat-boosting ability items from the shop which requires zeni coins to purchase these items. 

I did had a blast time of playing various of game modes such as episode battle which is the story mode based on both Dragon Ball Z and Dragon Ball Super with epic story sagas that are incredibly great for not just the canon story, but also shares with multiple routes which resulted a different "what if" scenarios that aren't present on the original animated series meaning that once the alternate objective has been met then you will see the new outcome with different storyline and endings which I really liked the idea of having to choose between the scenario A and B that makes the story in the game quite interesting to play, but the issue is that in order to access at the scenario B you have to set the game's difficulty to normal settings is the only way of unlocking the new scenario which unfortunately it's not that easy is because you had to go through fighting with the opponent while trying to complete the alternate objective is painfully takes too long to beat it just adds up frustration for players who really wanted to get access to new story route.

I'm not saying it plays bad, but at least try not to make alternate objective quite difficult to play otherwise it's takes forever to beat it. 

Despite the difficulty swings on alternate objective, the rest of the whole single-player story mode still plays great which I really liked having to battle against any of the foes such as Frieza, Cell, Super Buu, Goku Black, and Future Zamasu is what keeps the whole story campaign going forward.

I do like the custom battle which includes bonus battles where it had numerous of battles with original scenes that have different victory conditions and some that have event cutscenes trigger during the middle of battle, so not only you can enjoy the bonus battles but it also featured the edit mode is where you can able to create your own original scenes allowing you to freely select any of playable characters, along with camera cuts, poses, facial expressions, effects, dialogue, BGM, and even title screens which I think it's a cool feature that you can create your own original story and battle can be uploaded to the bonus battles servers, so that the public users can able to select and play any of these custom made battles.               

Then you have mission 100 from Budokai Tenkaichi 3 makes a return in a free update which consists of a 100 difficult battles against preset enemies, so it is good to include this mode for this recent title which I adored having the challenge mode for most of the fighting games in general.

Then you have survival mode which features 2 battle types such as round robin where you fight every fighters one after the other, and you have the deathmatch tests you to see how many win streaks you can rack up for a high score.

Then you have battle mode where the players must challenge each other through local split-screen and online multiplayer matches.

It also has tournament mode where you can create or join a tournament online with rivals around the world or play offline.

I say these game modes are actually fun to play especially playing with your friends or rivals through local or online matches, as well as having the tournament mode in this game is also a great addition which I fully appericate.

I wanted to praise the game for its over 100s of playable base roster including your favourites such as Goku, Vegeta, Piccolo, Gohan, Krillin, Master Roshi, Goten, Trunks, Yamcha, Tien, Mr Satan, Majin Buu, Android 18, Kale, Frieza, Cell, Super Buu, Broly, Cooler, Raditz, and many more amazing cast of rosters to play as in the game.

I do like the base content in this game where you can able to earn the bonus points by completing serveral of single-player episodes and other modes or bonus log-in message will reward you with the zeni coins which is a in-game currencies where you can use these to spend on shopping menu to unlock various of playable rosters, outfits, musics, emote voice lines, and title cards.   

If this wasn't enough, you can also get a paid DLCs pack called "Super Limit Breaking NEO" which includes 30 plus new playable roster, 20 more new expanded customisation, 4 brand new stages, and of course the new single-player solo mode called limit breaker journey which is available on digital storefront including PS Store, Xbox Store, Nintendo eShop, and Steam for £29. 

I do appericate the additonal content of the game which sounds pretty cool to have one, but I don't think it's the right price for everyone to purchase which I think it's quite too expensive, so it would have been acceptable if the price were down to £15 or less to get everyone easily to purchase this paid DLCs.

  

These are all the game modes and base content that keeps me going with tons of replayability really proves that this game is just as entertaining that made the Budokai Tenkaichi series quite fun to play thanks to multiple story routes on episode battles, creating your own original story on custom battles, take the challenge of mission 100, and of course participating the local or online match on battle mode is something that makes the game worth of play.  

I had a fun time of playing the game with many cool battles between the fighters with many punching, kicking, and blasting each others, destroying many of environmental areas, having to fly around the arena, charging their power level up, and of course throwing large gigantic spirit ball or blast out with KAMEHAMEHA!!! right at your face is what I love playing Dragon Ball games in general.        

 

Overall, it has decent controls and fighting system, and many great game modes and base contents.          

Graphics

The graphics in this game is looking very good for its cel-shaded environments that has an large open-area which is perfect for big arena battle, and I do like the stage layouts with many structures and objects around the areas such as rocks, trees, houses, and walls which can be break apart in pieces, so I really liked how destructable these stages which I had a wonderful time of having to smash these objects and launched opponents onto the buildings and rocks is just looks awesome during the battle.

The texture surfaces are nicely bold, the art-style are colourful, the background landscape are detailed, the use of lighting and shadow effects in some stages are perfected, and of course the use of special effects is very well made especially the fighters charging up their ki gauge and throwing their blast at them is looking sharp and heavy that made the previous entry of the series look very appealing.

I got to love the character's animation in the game especially the Akira Toriyama's art-style which I really liked the anime/manga in general is because I find their design quite unique and appealing with cool facial expressions and movements is something that made the series quite likable.

Let's talk about how was the game's performance ran on the system is because PS5 and XSX/S (X Model) had managed to run on dynamic 4K or 1440p resolution with 60fps that keeping the pace of the whole quite smoothly as well as the sharp images on the screen is wonderfully look amazing throughout the battles.

I also got suprised finding out with the XSX/S (S model) had managed to upscale between 1080p and 1440p resolution with 60fps which thankfully its runs pretty smoothly throughout the battles.       

The Switch 2 on other hand which the game runs on 810p resolution with locked 30fps on both docked and undocked mode which makes the whole image of the game appears to be a bit soft on the screen and the performances does appears to have minimal stutters during the battle but it's still remains playable. 

Then sadly the Switch 1 is a huge step backwards in comparsion with the 9th-gen systems which ran on 720p docked and 480p undocked with locked 30fps which makes the pace of the game appears to be quite janky to play and it is not running smoothly and detailed as the Switch 2 which you better off sticking with the new Nintendo system instead for playable experience.

Overall, it has very good visual design, great character's animation, and wonderful performance.

  

Music and Sounds

The game has the solid numbers of epic soundtrack done really right for most of the in-game cutscenes and battle.

It fuses the style of J-Rock and epic orchestra just sounds so good to listen especially when battling against the foes just making the players ready to pump up for fast-paced brawling action, so you have the tracks like "Let the Battle Begin", "Flurry of Power", "Believe in Tommorow", "Limit Breaker", "Ultimate Instinct", "Dragon Spirit", "My Hero", "Day of Awakening", "The Final Battle", "Hidden Potential", "Next-Gen Hero", "Peaceful Days", "Serious", "Hope for the Future", and of course the "Main Theme".

It was composed by Takanori Arima, a same composer behind his work on Budokai Tenkaichi 2 and 3, did a great job on his original score.     

The game did a stunning job with the sound effects uses the same collision noises like from animated series which is why I finding these sound designs fits perfectly for the fight sequences with the sound of the clinging fists and exploding blasts everywhere and I also liked the heavy impact sounds of the destructable environments scattered all over the places is just sounds magnificent.   

It also has the returning English dubbing voice cast from the long-running series for their iconic character role that we all know and love which is why it brings me back the nostalgia of the DBZ as my childhood anime TV series.

  

Overall, it has solid epic soundtrack, stunning sound design, and returning voice cast for iconic characters.

Special Features

The game has many unlockable base contents including many playable rosters, outfits, emote voice lines, BGMs, and title cards.

It also has paid DLCs such as "Super Limit Breaking NEO" which includes 30 plus new playable roster, 20 more new expanded customisation, 4 brand new stages, and of course the new single-player solo mode called limit breaker journey.

Overall, an awesome overall content.

 

Advantages

Amazing story sagas and cast of characters

Excellent presentation settings

Decent controls and fighting system

Many great game modes and base contents

Very good graphics and performance

Solid epic soundtrack and stunning sound design

Disadvantages

Alternate objectives is painfully tough

Battle assist option is not suitable for competitve matches

Paid DLCs is overpriced

Final Verdict

Presentation 8.5/10 - amazing story sagas, recogniable cast of characters, and excellent presentation settings.

Gameplay 8.5/10 - decent controls and fighting system, and many great game modes.

Graphics 8/10 - very good visual design, great character's animation, and wonderful performance.

Music and Sounds 8/10 - solid epic soundtrack, stunning sound design, and returning voice cast for iconic characters.

Special Features 8/10 - unlockable base contents and additional paid DLCs with many awesome features. 

Overall 8.5/10 - While I concider Dragon Ball FighterZ as the strongest and also my top favourite fighting game in the series, this could be my 2nd favourite title is because they did a fabulous job of putting so much effort to work on this game with many overall content are filled with many cool things like the story mode has branching paths and choices, custom battles gives you a freedom to create your own original battle, has 100 challenge missions, survival, versus, and tournament modes to keep you busy with the game, and of course having to earn rewards to unlock base content by simply beating the game is what makes the game quite fun to play.

I had a wonderful good time of fighting these opponents by rapidly throwing punches and kicks, shooting many crazy blasts, dashing and flying around the fighting arena, and launching them onto destructable environments is what I loved about playing Dragon Ball games.

I am glad that I've picked really great 3D fighting game that do not regret playing it which shows that how much fun this game really is and I can honestly say is that the game is definitely made for those who previously enjoyed the Budokai Tenkaichi games.

You can get it physical copy on PS5 and XSX/S cheaper for £25, where as the Switch 1 and 2 are slightly expensive for £40.

It is also available on digital storefront such as PS Store, Xbox Store, and Steam for £45, where as the Nintendo eShop are quite pricey for £55.      

Is the game worth playing? the answer is if you really love playing the Dragon Ball's video games then "IT'S OVER 9000!" yes is because it's a solid 3D fighting game title that you may going to find this game an entertaining to play.

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Shadow of the Colossus PS4 Review

 

Shadow of the Colossus is a Action-Adventure game was released in 2018 exclusively for PS4. It was developed by Bluepoint Games and published by Sony Interactive Entertainment, and it is a remake of the 2005's original game for PS2 was developed by Team Ico.

Before I begin the review, let's talk about the team behind the masterpiece that changed video game history.

Team Ico led by Fumito Ueda was responisible for creating his work of art during the early days of PS2 era in the year of 2001, so that is Ico. 

It's an interactive action-adventure was heavily created on subtracting design approach to create a simple and less interfernce game's design elements and focused more on the story and settings to add immersion.

At the game's release, while it's not commercially successful at launch the game had recieved critically acclaimed by the gaming medias praising the game for its immersive atmosphere, influential puzzle design, technically impressive visuals and sound environments, and of course the interactive storytelling and emotional connection between the characters is what makes the Ico a work of art in gaming.

The team was later created the spiritual successor in 2005 which is Shadow of the Colossus for the PS2, so it is an action-adventure title that was originally in development as online multiplayer game titled NICO directly after the completion of Ico, but it underwent a lengthy production cycle during which it was redeveloped as a single-player title, as the team aims to create an cinematic interactive experience including a distinct visual design, unorthdox gameplay template, and NPC's sophisticated artificial intelligence.      

At the game's release, it was met with strong sales compared to predecessor due in part to a larger marketing campaign and had gained widely acclaimed by the gaming media, as its been fully recognisable as an important example of video game form of art due to its minimalist landscape designs, immersive gameplay, and player's emotional journey.

It won several awards for its audio, visuals, and overall quality, as well as cited as an influrential in the video game industry and listed as one of the greatest game of all-time.

Due to legacy, both games are later being remastered in 2011 for PS3 adding support for HD resolution, higher performance, and stereoscopic 3D designed for HDTV with 3D support which are also recieved acclaimed reception for its additional enhancements and easy recommendation for newcomers.

Then finally the 2005's original title are also getting the full remake in 2018 for the PS4 titled as Shadow of the Colossus. 

First of all, I haven't had a PS2 console at the early 2000s (until I got it as in 2022) which is why I haven't had a chance to play both of these till I had a PS3 console as in 2011 which I did get a chance to play these on HD remastered collection, so thanks to PS Plus's free monthly games subscription back then.

My thoughts on HD remastered collection for the PS3 are incredibly fantastic especially playing on the HDTV, so I liked the Ico which is gorgeously beauitful game but I think the Shadow of the Colossus supasses the predecessor in terms of visual presentation settings, open-world environments, and of course the epic gameplay action is something to adored the most which I concider the game as masterclass in gaming.

I decided to re-visit the game by picking up a copy of 2018's full-on remake title for the PS4 to see if the game does holds up well to the today standards in terms of performance and quality, so is the game still remains as the masterpiece or is it not as what I've remembered? so let's find out the pros and cons of this title.

So without go further do, let's start the review.

Presentation

The game takes place in the fantasy world of unpopulated peninsula known as the forbidden land, as it begins with long opening cutscenes of the young man named Wander traveling through the isolated mythic region alongside his loyal horse named Argo, as he carries the deceased body of the maiden named Mono to the massive stone temple called the shrine of worship where he meets the mysterious entity named Dormin. 

Driven by his grief, he begs the entity to revive the girl's body which the entity has agreed to help the young man, but under one condition he must destroy all dark armored beast known as the colossi to achieve his goal is the only way of bring the dead maiden back to it's life.   

The game' story is quite has an emotional start where Wander had learnt about the maiden who was sacrificed because she was believed to have a cursed destiny had led Wander desperately going on his quest to find his way of bringing her life back, so I think these kinds of story reflecting on the character who witness the death of the loved ones had their soul taken away is something that the game's opening cutscene shares an grieving moment but also finds the last big hope.

Wander is the protagonist in the game is perhaps described as beginner warrior due to his slow and clumsy sword skill, but he is determined to save Mono at any cost.

He has horse companion Argo is crucial for traversing the massive landscape and accessing certain battles.

Lastly the deceased maiden Mono is described as beautiful woman with long dark hair kinda like the sleeping beauty laying on the temple altar...yeah that's all I can say about it, no puns intended.

I concider the game's presentation as a astonishingly gorgeous for its art-direction and environmental quality which proves that the video games like this are concidered as the work of art thanks to dark coloured filter for cinematic view, isolated open-world areas, dynamic scenery, and the settings of style has the mixture between gothic and nature just adds up the game's artistic vision makes it everything look beauitful.

There are various of the locations such as shrine of worship is an massive ancient hub near the center of the ancient lands, so it has an enormous bridge that leads directly to the shrine, the first area has a cylindrical room with a lengthy spiral ramp winding around its edge and the shallow basin of water, the second area has the main hall filled with the altar, the idols, the balcony, and a sunlit aperture in the ceiling.

The sanctuary is a fortress-like battlefield takes place on the top of a high tower which has the gate entrance, the unstable bridge, the cliffside, the barricades, crumbled stairs, and the arena.

The ruins is a old ruined city are filled with the alligned pillars, the large wall of archs, the temple, the big tower, and the lake inside the cave. 

The canyon takes place in a foggy lake is dotted with platforms, ruins with an intact bridge, and a giant pillar.

The deserts are filled with long distance rocky mountain, ringed structures, the broken temples, few unique rock formation, and pile of sands on the ground.

The geyser is a desolate land covered in black clouds, has the crater trees on some areas, and of course the distinct hill mound.

The Kirin's hill is a green land are filled with the underground tunnels and 4 hill-like graves.

The misty falls is an area distinguished by a wide river flowing south with gigantic waterfalls.

The parthenon is a cobblestone plaza are flanked by buildings on both sides and it has inside walls of the arena.

Overall, it has beautiful opening story, gorgeous art-direction, and fantastic open-world settings.

 

Gameplay

In single-player campaign, you take control of Wander at 3rd-person perspective in open-world environments, as your main goal is to go explore around the open-world area and hunt down all 16 colossi to resurrect Mono back to life.

Push the left-stick controls is to move player around and push the right-stick is to rotate the camera around.

Press the cross button is to jump which are used for jumping on platforms, where as holding the right trigger is used as grab are designed for climbing on stuff like ledges, gaps, and of course the fur of the colossi.

You might want to pay an attention to the yellow-symbol on the bottom-right hud which indicates stamina bar shows you how long can you grab on till it reaches zero causing the player losing grips may lead to falling off.

You can also ride on horse by pressing the cross button is to get on the horse, and then to control horse press and hold the triangle button is to gallop, so the more you hold the button down the faster the horse runs. 

You can stop controlling the horse by holding the left-stick down then press the triangle button to stop gallop. 

You can make horse move backwards by holding the left-stick down then press the triangle button to walk back.

Your horse can make a quick turn by holding the left-stick down then press the triangle button twice during the gallop.

You can also perform various of stunts such as standing up on the horse by holding the right trigger then push the left-stick up, then you have the horse does auto jump itself from the small cliff, and you can jump off from the horse by pressing the cross button while gallop, and of course you can also lean side of your horse by holding both of the right trigger and cross button then push the left or right stick control.  

You can access to the world map screen by pressing the touchpad button and you will see the map displayed on the screen which tells you where you heading to and where to find the colossi, but heading back to the in-game exploration when equipping your sword hold the right shoulder button which pinpoints the colossi's whereabouts, as you will see the long blue-colored beam of light coming out from the sword points directly to the spot where the colossi are being located on.   

For the combat, press the square button is to use sword which acts as an melee weapon for close-range attack, where as the right shoulder button is to use bow when equiped which is used as ranged weapon for long-range attack.

You can cycle your weapon by pressing the d-pad left or right button to switch your bow or sword to equip, where as you can unequip it by pressing the d-pad up button.

Press the circle button is to dodge roll which are used for evading colossi's incoming attacks or projectiles.

Hold the left shoulder button is to use camera focus which zooms in to your player, where as the left trigger is to view colossus which pans the camera system at the colossi.  

The control scheme has 2 options such as the modern which is default control for this game are designed for the newcomers, where as the classic which are using the button layouts based on PS2 original, so I say the modern control scheme plays it better which I finding the new button layouts for this remake are slightly easier to learn than the 2005 original's classic controls meaning that having to modernised control schemes improves upon certain things like horse riding, jumps, climbing, and striking being mapped correctly on button layouts will make the playabilty accessible to new players.

Despite the improvement on control scheme, there are few issues that may gonna put you off is the clunky physics and camera system during the battle against the colossi is because we understand Wander is not the best fighter to start with which is understandable for his character perspective, but when its comes with the in-game battle the problem is that his movement and platforming can feel quite stiff and wonky when climbing and holding on the colossi's body and the camera can get lost track in the fur of the colossi just adds-up fraustration for many players.

I say having to ride on horse is useful for travelling around the open-world area which is acceptable for action-adventure games that you may needed an companion that can take you anywhere in the open-world environment, but controlling the horse can be hectic sometimes that may cause the horse to stop completely if avoiding tight spaces like narrow bridges or forrest paths, as well as straying from instructions which sometimes flee in fear of the colossi making it difficult to mount horse when you need to make a quick escape.     

I say the controls are doing fine for the platforming and striking throughout the campaign as well as modernising button layout does really help the playability which is good, but does share the few flaws with the physics, camera system, and horse's A.I can be sometimes be tedious during the battle.

What I liked about the game is the exploration which I really liked having to travel around the open-world environments which are incredibly big at the time, especially on the previous platforms like the PS2 console are being capable of rendering a large potion of open-world design that is quite enormous for the Sony's 6th-gen machine had achieved the technical aspects back in the year 2005, but going back now to the PS4 remake the game is still remains beautifully for the open-world design which I can able to travel anywhere from ancient ruins to underwater cave, then forrest to broken temples, and of course sandy deserts to foggy canyon which are perfectly great for sightseeing to embrace the outdoor natures. 

I also wanted to mention about the upgrades which are also important part of the game is because you do really need to improve your player's stats such as health and stamina that really needs to be maxing out, so you may want to find and collect the specific items like the lizard tails and fruit which can be found anywhere in the open-world area or if you want to go for the quick method option then killing a colossus will also improve upon your player's stats if you want to go for that route. 

The major highlight of the game's campaign is got to be the epic boss battle is because this is the game's only main objective is to defeat many colossi are the only way to resurrect maiden from the dead, so all you had to do is to go, search, and hunt down the large enormous beast which I find the game's quest objective quite simple and straight-forward that made me spend more time with the game for hours.

It had various of bosses to fight against such as you have Minotaur A which is a tall-large beast welds with massive club, Mammoth is a huge 4-legged beast that can stump you with the large feet, Knight is simular to Minotaur but instead welds with massive sword, Kirin is a giraffe-like creature with two-longed braid on the chin, Bird is a wide-looking flying creature with big-flat wings, Minotaur B is another tall-large beast but instead uses the fist to smash stuff, Eel is a long-looking sea-creature with electrifying pointer swims around underwater, Yamori B is a 4-glowy armed monster has ability to crawl around the walls, Kame is a big tortoise-like creature that can blast you with the projectile, Narga is a enormous dragon-like monster swims under the sand, Leo is a big-fat brute with bull-horns will charge you with the running attack, Poseidon is a giant creature with two hands will blast you with the thunderstruck, Snake is another flying creature with long tail, Cerberus is another large brute also does charge attack as well as smacking you with the fist, Minotaur C is another tall-large beast but instead it welds heavy sword-like weapon, and lastly Evis is the total non-stop iron giant.

These of the bosses that gives you an intense fight where you had to find the way of defeating them by searching for their weak-spots can be located on any of their body parts, so all you had to do is to find the reachable place to jump on and grab onto their hairy fur or armored ledges to proceed the fighting on the bosses with lot of climbing and jumping to do till you found their weakness is the only way of fighting them.

This really adds the epic moments of the whole campaign is all about little guy going out fighting against the giagantic titans is what I loved about this game with epic action sequences and has problem solving strategy going on just made me play the game an over the hours.

Overall, it has modernised control scheme, incredible explorarion, and epic boss battle.

Graphics

The graphics in this game is excellent in which this remake just got made from ground up was designed for PS4's hardware resulting an ambitious details that overhauls the visual quality and performances.  

Its has the large potion of the open-world environments are filled with many structures and objects in many areas including ruins, towers, caves, pillars, and altar are displayed nicely on the in-game exploration.

It has detailed landscapes of hills and mountains, skies and clouds, and waterfall are perfectly layed out from the long-distance view, and the textures are sure looked crisp that adds the sharpness on the surfaces that made it look bold and clean.         

I also liked the foggy effects on some places that gives the some area look gloomy and dark, and the use of shadow effects reflecting on surfaces gives the illusion of light and dark shades.

The dusty particles and falling debris from broken surfaces of objects and walls such as colossi's idol as an example came crumbling down are nicely intact, and the water from outside has a nicely shims when swimming around the pond area.

The ground details has the soft pop-ups of grass and the flat surface of sands are looking quite smooth in some areas.

The character's animation is spectcular especially riding on the horse is looking terrific with impressive animation frame just feel realistic during the exploration, and I say the animation on colossi is also quite intact with slow-paced movement which captures the feel of the heaviness just works really well in the game.

You can also change the colour filters on the option menu which features 15 adjustable in-game visual filters allowing you to completely change the atmosphere of your playthrough ranging from classic black and white to highly saturated or muted styles that suits your preference. 

The game also supports HDR which results a fine detail of color balance to make it look neater on the modern TV screen, and it does have an option to adjust the motion blur which the game looks better by lower it down to zero making it look less blurry on screen.  

I wanted to praise the inclusion of the enhancements which provides 2 graphical mode such as the performance mode and cinematic mode.

The performance mode runs on full 1080p resolution with 60fps provides a smoother gameplay performance, where as the cinematic mode runs on full 1440p (PS4 Pro) or 1080p (Base PS4) with 30fps which result clearer picture on the screen.

The cinematic mode is great, but I kinda perfer the performance mode for its clean performance and responsiveness makes the gameplay plays better in my opinion.

Overall, it has excellent open-world environments, impressive animation, and stunning visual overhauls.

Music and Sounds

This game clearly has the best original soundtrack out of all action-adventure titles you ever heard which I adore the epic score of orchestrial music for many films, TV series, and video games.

It really fits the action sequences of fighting against the giagantic titans that are so intense and terrifying but also a remarkable score that really defines the 2005's original title.

Stuff like you have these track like "A Violent Encounter", "Revived Power", and "The Opened Way" has sort of Hans Zimmer-esque feel to it which made the whole track in the game quite outstanding to listen.

It was composed by Kow Otani, a Japanese music composer was known for creating soundtrack for the Heisei Gamera trilogy and Mobile Suit Gundam Wing, did a fabulous job of creating an amazing score of 2005's original game still featured in this remake is the reason why I loved the game.

The sound design are also highly praised for it dynamic environmental noises on many open-world areas as well as the heavy use of impact sounds that the colossi had made when stomping and banging on the ground is quite satisfying to hear.

Overall, it has outstanding soundrack and superb sound design.

Special Features

The game has in-game unlockable content including new game plus, hard mode, galleries, time attack mode with reward items, and collectable hidden relics really adds the game's replayablities.

 

Overall, an amazing in-game package.

Advantages

Fantastic presentation

Incredible exploration

Epic boss battle

Excellent graphics

Outstanding soundtrack

Disadvantages

Clunky physics and camera system

Hectic horse's A.I

Final Verdict

Presentation 10/10 - beautiful opening story, gorgeous art-direction, and fantastic open-world settings.

Gameplay 8.5/10 - modernised control scheme, incredible explorarion, and epic boss battle.

Graphics 10/10 - excellent open-world environments, impressive animation, and stunning visual overhauls.

Music and Sounds 10/10 - outstanding soundrack and superb sound design.

Special Features 9/10 - new game plus, hard mode, galleries, time attack mode with reward items, and collectable hidden relics.

Overall 9/10 - I say it's an wonderful improvement over the 2005's original game thanks to visual overhaul and modern control option may going to impress many newcomers will likely to enjoy the epic single-player adventure.

Shadow of the Colossus is not the only just being an 2018's incredible remake of the gorgeous 2005's original game, but also still remains as one of the action-adventure biggest masterpiece that defines the gaming history.  

I love the art-direction, the open-world exploration, the quality soundtrack, and of course the battle between the small guy vs big titans is something that made the game so incredibly special to play.

I am really glad that I get to re-visit the title again since I've played the PS3 version of the original game on 2011's remastered collection are also pretty amazing, but I got to say this 2018's remake for the PS4 console is suprisingly fascinating to play is the reason to love the game.

The physical copy for PS4 are cost around between £15 and £20, where as the digital release for PS Store which you can get it for £30 individually or play it for free from PS Plus Extra subscription.

Is the game worth for play? absoultely yes it's an full recommendation for both newcomers and to those who previously played the 2005's original game will likely to enjoy this 2018's full remake...it is a must play title for the PS4 hardware that you definitely need to check it out.

  

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Sony will no longer producing physical disc (My Gaming Rant)

 

What the hell is happening guys? Sony has offically confirmed that they decided to cease the physical media support for their gaming systems and fully focused on all digital platforms in the year of 2028, so what a horrible decision that Sony had ever made is likely to destroy their gaming career.

Their announcement of "ending the production of physical games in 2028" had recieved a massive backlash from many online users aren't really happy with the Sony's poorly decision to stop producing the physical disc is the reason why having enter to all-on digital release only are largely going to negatively impact on the future of gaming meaning that you will no longer obtaining the physical copy of future upcoming games and being forced to purchase it digitally from PS Store in 2028.

Rembember back in the days when you had the systems like the PS1 and PS2 console in a good old mid-90s and early-2000s era of gaming, the physical media is a primary thing for the video game systems that are relying on discs in order to run software titles...all you have to do is to take out the disc from the game case and place it onto the system and then power it on to boot up the game is quite simple without any additional installation like the modern gaming system do in later years. 

Those were awesome back then because it's simply plug and play video game system that does not need a complicated guides and stuff.

Then pushing forward from mid-2000s to early-2010s, we had system like the PS3 and PS4 console that are so advanced and powerful with the technology like high-defination quality graphics, hard-drive spaces for additional storage, online gaming for matchmaking, plays Blu-ray movies, region free support for most of their games, and of course introducing digital gaming where you can purchase the digital games individually or get it free on PS Plus subscription through PS Store, so these are just an optional choice for consumers which they mostly prefers getting the physical games from the gaming retail store like GAME and CeX or online store like Amazon and Ebay.   

Then going forward to the 2020s, we had the PS5 consoles which is the recent gaming system that pushes a new technology like the ray-tracing support for visual and performance, adaptive triggers for PS5 controller, has ability to play most of PS4 games and Ultra HD Blu-ray films, internal SSDs for faster loading times and external M.2 SSDs for additional storage, and of course you not gonna believe it...this is a Sony's last physical media console which unfortunately it's likely to be end in 2028 meaning no more physical disc for upcoming PS5 games and it is confirmed that the future unannounced next-gen PS6 will be likely to be going full-on all-digital without disc-drive add-ons. 

Let's talk about why the physical media are so important in gaming and what makes the physical games as our prefered choice for gaming collection?

Physical games are easier to trade and share

Many of discs and carts are fully complete in box which we all know that these are being manufactured through the factory to produce it and then its been transfered to the gaming retail store where they can able to sort and place the physical copies on the store shelves for the display, so that the customer can able to interact the gaming retail store that has a full of video games software. 

They go inside the shop, then browsing through the libary of games to choose, and then lastly pick-up and buy the copy for your gaming platform, but the gaming retail store are also provides an trading options in which you can also sell or exchange your second hand copy which is a reasonable choice so that you can able to either save and keep money or exchange it for the other titles.  

There are some of the other places like rental store where it had full collection of films, TV shows, and video games, so instead of buying it you just simply pick and choose stuff that you want to borrow it for the few days and then after the few days you can head back at the rental store to return back the item before the date hits the deadline, so this is the cheapest way of borrowing stuff for less than £5 which is quite acceptable for those who wanted to use it for try outs or just do it for one time. 

You can also ask your friends or family members to borrow the games that you wanted to play, so that they can lend you a physical copy of the game for borrowing or keeping it.

This makes physical gaming a lot easier to trade and share things makes it an accessible to many of customers or owners can to pick-up and play it on their system without any restriction whatsoever.          

The digital gaming on other hand is the total opposite which is heavily restricted with the DRM-system which prevents many of customer from sharing their games from primary to other console meaning that your digital games are locked behind your primary user account which can only worked on the primary console, so that's sounds absoulte a joke that you can't able to share and download games to your friend's console in which your friend will have to rely on your user account in order to play your digital games on their console, but the problem is that you have to deactivate your primary user account off from your primary console which you don't want to do it otherwise all your digital games on your console will get locked out and becoming unplayable without your primary user account. 

The worst part of it is that once you have deactivated your user account from your console you can't able to re-register your user account back to your console where it was originally before, so you had to wait longer for 6 months till its ready to re-register your user account back again which sounded like a total pain the ass.    

I think sharing games digitally on consoles did not work at all which I can blame it on Sony's horrible DRM-system practice.

Oh...one thing I totally forgot to mention is that digital gaming doesn't have an proper trading option like the physical medias do, so instead once you have purchased the digital game in day 1 you will only have a 30 days of making decision to sell the game digitally by going into the Sony's customer support services to contact them and then asked them that you want to sell your digital game that you've previously bought, so they can able to proceed it to you for full refunds.      

This is not straight-forward because when you had these digital games after long 30 days then you just can't get a refund from Sony's customer support services, and it's pathetic that the PS Store doesn't have an trading options menu meaning that you just can't sell or exchange your digital games at all, which is why many of consumers find the physical media is much more flexable and easier to trade their physical games which is why everyone goes to many retail and local shops outside or they sell stuff at online retail store which makes the physical media a huge win for gaming. 

Physical games has the complete in box

The cool thing about owning the physical games is that you will have a colorful art-cover inlays, the instruction booklet, and of course the game disc or cart on a standard game case, where as you will also have an option to choose the special limited edition boxset which packs with not only just the physical game but also includes extra goodies like keychains, stickers, posters, artbook, and CDs soundtrack.

These physical games and collector's boxset are looking quite awesome when being stored on the shelving unit as the display are perfectly well suited for the gaming rooms. 

This hugely benefits most of the video games collector are very passionate with collecting stuff that they really love as the part of their favourite hobby, as much as many of movie & TV fans loves to collect their favourite films and TV series for DVDs and Blu-Rays as an example.   

The digital games does not have the kinds of things besides the DLCs are the only thing that adds the content of the game which is fine, but you don't get really cool stuff like the physical games are full of booklet, posters, stickers, and reversable art-covers in complete boxed copy, which proves that the physical media is always a huge win for console gaming was widely known for its boxed gaming collection.   

Physical games is the best for video games preservation

The benefits of physical media is that their data of games are normally stored on the disc meaning that the games is permenently stays on the disc will last forever is the best way of preserving the gaming archives is the reason why the physical media keeps the gaming industry alive and the best thing of owning the physical copy is that once you've picked up the copy of the game physically from the shops you actually own the game that you are happy to have a right to keep it on your collection and your games on the disc is not going away from your ownership, so take it and keep it forever guys...no fuss. 

 

As opposed to digital format which unfortunately it didn't last long is because of the digital games are likely to get wiped out, if your console's internal hard drive or SSDs as well as the external HDDs or M.2 SSDs gets corrupted easily meaning that you have to do re-downloading all over again to get it back, but nope what's even worst is that once the company has shutting down their Playstation Network servers in the future then there's no way of getting the digital games back.

The truth is that you don't actually own the digital copy of the game as an owner, so instead you just actually had their license key that requires to play the full digital game that you previously bought meaning that your digital game needs a one-time check ins through online connectivity to authenticate your local license by having to re-sync with your user account on the PSN servers, but worst part is that if your user account gets permenently banned forever then all your digital games that you previously bought gets locked out completely.

Those practices are badly designed which adds up vulnerability on these libaries of digital games are likely to get bricked if your user account on your primary console are completely dissapeared meaning that the license key for digital games gets fully revoked and leaving it instantly unplayable.  

What about most of the movie or comic book licensed games that are likely to be removed from the digital store and never be available to purchase at all which makes it difficult for players to find games digitally, so this is why the physical media is the best way of preserving games libary that you're not going to lose these licensed titles that can be replayed again (via game disc).  

My thoughts on Sony's ending physical gaming

After I read the gaming articles of Sony had confirmed to cease the production of physical media for their gaming system in 2028, so I'm completely gobsmacked by Sony's horrible decision that likely to affect future gaming meaning that the end of the physical media has part of disadvantages that you need to keep in the mind.

For example: 

The stuff such as the detatchable disc-drive for PS5 consoles are likely to limit the availabilty on online store causing the item shortages if Sony are no longer to produce the physical disc which seems to be a bad news for those who owns the digital edition of PS5 console are planning to buy a detatchable disc-drive unit or someone who has the disc edition of PS5 console has their disc-drive unit stopped functioning are planning to get a detatchable disc-drive unit as an replacement, you guys aren't able to get these if its ran out of the stock or the price gets really expensive on the online store makes it impossible to find it in-stock and buy it cheaper.

It is going to affect on big AAA game's sales if the physical media aren't around anymore meaning that the future game titles are unlikely to get sold well at the launch relase if the players aren't willing to buy the game digitally, and also the digital games are much expensive to purchase in which you had to wait for longer till the price goes down slowly, where as the physical copy do get a cheaper quickly in 6 months after the release in which you can get it cheap from online store like Amazon and Ebay has the reasonable price during the season sales or discounts offer that makes it easier to purchase for the customers.

     

Most players are unlikely being interested to get a future unannounced next-gen PS6 if its goes fully digital gaming only that would negatively affect the launch hardware sales in 2028.

Sony could lose many of the PS Plus subscription's players count for their gaming machines could end up made PS Plus less popular meaning they stopped playing games online and they are no longer download and play the latest free titles from PS Plus subscription.   

This is a huge slap to the gaming consumers who are a huge video games collector for decades are hoping to look forward for the future upcoming games of 2028 if Sony wouldn't had to shut down the physical media for gaming, so unfortunately this is offically confirmed on PS Blog website at July 1st 2026 stated that the company are no longer produce the physical disc for Playstation consoles in 2028 and the result of the news had sparked overwhelmingly negative from the player users aren't really happy with the company decision.

I'm pretty upset to hear this is because physical media is my prefered choices of collecting video games titles adding to my shelves in my gaming room and its really sad to see physical media are going away in the next 2 years.

The worst thing that Sony had ever said on their news is they making claim that the sales of the physical media for PS5 has been sold less compared to digital sales which I think it's a huge lie by the company, so they don't have the clear evidence of the sale figures which they are hiding it from the public eye is just to make many consumers forced to buy the digital games. 

If you take a look on the twitter or reddit messages, there are a users who are really good at providing the leak information on the documents that has the list of sales numbers of software games for both physical and digital which tells you exactly what Sony is been hiding from and proves that the company is nothing but a lie that doesn't explain the actual sales figure. 

  

Sony's bad decision is a major sign of the end of the era for gaming will no longer be the same.

  

 

    

Conclusion

To conclude the whole thing, the initial reaction of Sony's ending support on physical media and goes all full-on digital in 2028 had negatively impacted on the future of gaming which could resulted the abysmal hardware sales is not only just the cost of the systems are rediculously expensive, but also going to lose all the player users are likely to giving up on Playstation gaming meaning they are no longer be interested in getting the recent PS5 console and the future unannounced next-gen PS6 if its goes on fully digital in 2028.     

We will never going to see the future game titles being listed on online stores like Amazon and Ebay, and there will not be on the store shelves at the second hand store like CeX, Cash Generator, and Cash Converters.

It's really depressing to hear that the physical media in gaming are no longer in the production meaning that the gaming are not going to be the same without it as used to be.   

I had many of great titles being shelved on my storage cupboard and I can able to browse through the libaries of games that I like to pick up and play it on my systems like the PS2, PS3, PS4 and PS5, so thats what made me keep playing the video games over the years. 

I just can't believe the company like Sony had done f***ed it up to screw over the gaming fans who are not completely happy to hear and they demanding the company to bring back the physical media where it's supposed to be in order to continue their gaming.

Physical media is what keeps the gaming industry alive and active that benefits many games collectors who can buys stuff and play games to enjoy their time, the store that can sell or trade stuff is what makes the amount of money in order to continue the business, and of course having the successful software sales unit is the only way to support the game developers that worked so hard on creating the best games as possible to impress many players who can able to buy and enjoy video games is what made the gaming team keeps continuing their career. 

So without it, the digital gaming is not going to save Sony and their future console if the sales went plummeting down faster will be the Sony's downfall in 2028, so that will be the fault of Sony for killing Playstation brand.    

Sony, it is time to stop giving up on physical media is because we all know that you're not gonna last very long, you're not going to win console wars against your rivals in next 2 years, you're going to lose all customers and player base are likely to cancel their subscription, you're going to lose your trust from the gaming community feel very betrayed from your stupid decision, and of course you're going to destroy your gaming business if no one ever being interested to buy your future gaming machine in the next 2 years which is the reason why you shouldn't reject the physical media and start focusing on the digital gaming, that is not going to save your company. 

I hope that you will live to regret it with your decision you make is because this is going to be your final nail in the coffin at the darkest days of gaming that will happen pretty soon, so please reverse your decision and go back where it normally it be before its too late, so give us a physical disc or else you will end up failing at the end. 

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This is Zeeshan Mirza's Blog and I'll see you next time, happy blogging everyone. 

Kill La Kill If PS4 Review

 

Kill La Kill If is a 3D fighting game was released in 2019 for PS4, Switch, and PC. It was developed by A+ Games and published by Arc System Works, and it is based on the anime television series titled as Kill La Kill.

To be honest, I've never actually watched the TV series except you guys may have seen or heard of it before, but I did hear many positive things about this anime TV series which most of the media critics and fans did enjoy watching these kinds of show was known for its frantic and over-the-top action, gorgeous visuals, high-energy storytelling, and of course two hot-headed chicks is the reason it got popular has maintained a dedicated fanbase and strong viewership numbers since its release in 2013.

After the popularity, it also got adaptated to manga series got released 2 months after the anime TV series and then of course the video game adaptation. 

Before I begin talking about the video game adaptation I wanted to talk about my thoughts on anime fighting games as an sub-genre.

There are many of great anime fighting games when we had titles like Arcana Heart 3, Under Night In-Birth, Skullgirls, Persona 4 Arena, Dragon Ball FighterZ, Blazblue, and of course Guilty Gear.

These of the kinds of fighting game sub-genre which combines 2D fighting and anime that makes these games quite unique at the time with the cool numbers of fighting rosters, stylish fighting systems, and of course the cinematic story campaign featuring visual novel cutscenes and duel battles is something that I adored the anime fighting game as an sub-genre.

There's one of the fighting game that are totally different from what I've mentioned above, so instead of going for the traditional 2D fighting game approach which is why I've discovered the 3D fighting game that not many of people have played or ever talked about it...that is Kill La Kill If.

So despite the positive reception and popularity of the TV series, the game itself has mixed reception by gaming critics were not impressed with the results where as it gained not many but has a small numbers of fans did actually enjoyed the fighting game which is why the sales units are pretty low that leaves the game quite niche at the release.

I decided to review this 3D fighting game to show you what's really good and bad about the game's story, combat, rosters, and various of modes to discuss everything.

So without go further do, let's start the review.

Presentation

The story campaign is split in two chapters with 10 episodes featuring an entirely original alternate version of the plot in the anime series.

The 1st chapter follows a "What if?" storyline with Satsuki Kiryuin as the protagonist instead of the original protagonist Ryuko Matoi, so you have Satsuki fighting to unite the student council and overcome her's mother's brainwashing schemes, where as the 2nd chapter focuses on Ryuko takes center stage to uncover her own branching path of twists and turns. 

Despite the game's storyline has nothing to do with the original timeline from the anime series, it's basically an alternative timeline of the original story that made sounded different with the "What if?" scenario that has resulted an alternative outcome which is why I finding it quite good is because instead of sticking to the original timeline its good to have another alternative branching path that makes the "What If?" storyline quite interesting in story campaign.

I say the cast of characters in the game are actually awesome in the story campaign, so you have Satsuki and Ryuko are the twos badass hot chicks with their nice-looking outfits and stylish blades.

Then you have elite fours like Ira Gamagori the big muscular dude with heavy armored suit, Hoka Inumuta the tech genius does a hacking job, Nonon Jakuzure the sassy pink hair girl loves to play drums, and Uzu Sanageyama the cocky athletic guy with long-ass sword and his green-colored mecha.  Then you have two antagonists such as Nui Harime are pretty sure look cute on the outside but she's definitely inside sadistic and childish does such an evil things, and lastly you have Ragyo Kiryuuin who is Satsuki's mother is kinda look attractive judging with her appearence...well despite her portrayal as wickedness and treacherous person does a horrible stuff in the story cutscenes you can't go wrong with that madam just got her perfect look...that's all I got to say guys.

The game's presentation is looking spectcular especially I really liked the anime as a animation genre for video games, films, and TV shows.

I say the game has really cool animation opening at the start of the story campaign with stylish title cards and crazy fight sequences just like you normally see the opening of anime cartoon series.

I also wanted to praise the design of the cutscenes are well animated throughout the sequences just looks really stunning to watch.

The game has 6 fighting stages sharing with the different settings of the sceneries such as you have honnou-cho open field which is the small town filled with many tiers of houses at the background, then you have the medium sized stages such as naturals election stadium are concidered naturals with the daylight fighting arena and bright looking sky where as the polling grounds are much more darker tone with crooked fighting arena and devilish looking sky, and then lastly you have ragyo stadium runway are long and narrow with limited space fighting arena where as the ragyo stadium grounds and thread palace are extremely large stage with long distance fighting arena.

These are all 6 fighting arena has the mix of small and large size of stage can be benefiting for any players that has a choice to choose any of the suitable arenas for them to battle on.       

Overall, it has interesting story, awesome characters, and spectcular presentation design.

Gameplay

The game has various of modes to select such as you have story campaign which features two chapters with 10 episodes such as Satsuki and Ryuko to uncover their alternate events, and you have 1 on 1 versus mode which includes free battle for local play and of course the online battle for player or ranked match, and then lastly the practice mode which has tutorials, training, and challenge.

The game has 10 playable rosters to play on both versus and practice mode such as Satsuki, Ryuko, Ira, Hoka, Nonon, Uzu, Nui, Ragyo, and of course the 2 DLCs roster such as D.T.R and Mako.

The game is played in 3rd-person perspective on the fighting arena, so you and your opponent must face to face on the arena battle and who ever the person knocks out their opponent with their life bar down wins the round. 

For the controls, push the left stick control is to move your character around, and press the cross button is to jump but press it again while in mid-air will allow player to jump dash towards the opponent.

Press the square button to use close ranged attack for the close combat melee, and press the triangle button to use long ranged attack for far distance melee.

Press the circle button is to perform guard break attack which temperaily destroys opponent's shield block. 

Hold the right shoulder button is to weld guard which allowing you to block an opponent's melee attack, but while holding the right shoulder button you can able to perform two movements by pushing the left/right of the left stick control for evade allowing you to dodge opponent's projectiles where as the up/down of the left stick control is to dash forwards or backwards.

You will also have SP gauge on the bottom of the life bar up to 3 level displaying how much your gauge power you have filled up on the bar, so this will allow you to perform a special moves known as deathblow which has 3 flashy special attacks such as close-range deathblow, long-range deathblow, and of course the guard break deathblow which delivers a heavy damage blow on the opponent, so these can be used by holding the left shoulder button then press any of 3 buttons such as square for close-range deathblow, triangle for long-range deathblow, and circle for guard break deathblow. 

I say the controls are pretty straight-forward is because it feels quite simple and easy to learn things that are not complex and confusing to play.

It's just all slashing, dodging, dashing, and jumping around the fighting arena makes the fighting control a lot easier to get into.

The combo system works pretty decent with the button mashing system where you can able to attack the opponent with lot of slashing, juggling, and dashes forward at the opponent feels really natrual to press and I say I really liked the deathblows on the opponent which does a really cool blows at the opponent just works really good.

I also want to mention a special technique called bloody valor system which is a ultimate form of deathblow meaning that if your SP gauge meter is fully packed to level 4 then this will activate it by pressing both of the shoulder buttons together which triggers a rock-paper-scissors QTE sequence which has 3 action buttons such as taunt deals the most damage, provoke heavily recovers your SP gauge, and of course the mock recovers your life, so if the attacker wins or ties the QTE they trigger a cinematic clash and win the debate will award you with your valor level up to maximum of 3 stars.

If your valor level reaches 3 stars and you have a full SP gauge with 4 bars then this will allow you to perform a cinematic match ending blow which instantly kills off the opponent for good.    

These fighting system are actually done a fine job which does not feel anything dull to play for the 3D fighting game.

I did manage to enjoy the story campaign quite a bit with few of the story battles that plays really fun on both character's scenario with action-packed stuff going on in the game, but unfortunately it suffered with the short-length playthrough in which you can beat the game for like an hour-in-half in each chapters that makes a total of 3 hours long which I don't think it's quite enough to progress the story campaign enough, so despite the game has a good story I wish they could have add a bit more of scenarios for more characters could have helped the game a bit.

The game does have various of game modes to play such as the 1 on 1 versus mode in which you can able to enjoy battling with your friends through local play or online battle which is quite acceptable for fighting games that was known for a 1 on 1 multiplayer battle, and it also has a useful practice mode where you can able to learn a combat and moves throughout the tutorial as well as the training mode which helps you to practice a various of the fighting moves displayed on the command move list, so if these game modes aren't quite enough then you have a 2 challenge mode such as survival challenge where you must face a various of opponents until you are defeated and then you have a horde mode called covers challenge where you must face off against multiples of covers in 3 distinct rule variations such as 1 min challenge which you must defeat as many covers as possible before the timer runs out, 100-man brawl where you must defeat all 100 covers as fast as possible, and of course the endless battle where you must continue fighting against endless waves of covers until you are defeated. 

All of these game modes are pretty solid to play which is sounds great, but the annoying part in the game is that all these game modes are locked behind story campaign in which you will need to complete some of the episodes in order to unlock all the game modes, so that is not quite convenient for those who wanted to play the game for online match, local versus, and practice challenge had to first beat some of the episodes till it unlocks.     

I do wanted to point out the numbers of playable rosters is rather too small which I don't think 10 roster is quite enough for this fighting game which I was expecting 15 or more would have been an acceptable numbers, so I wish that the development team could have been done something right if they would have delay the game's release to give a bit more time for them to make more rosters, so that could have made it better. 

Overall, it has decent fighting system, fun story battles, and soild game modes.

Graphics

The graphics in this game is looking quite great on the 8th-gen system for its environmental design on the fighting arena depending on which stage you're fighting on, so some of them are about mid-size arena and the others are quite large which I think having a good balance of the small and large sized potions does make the fighting arena quite appealing in the battle.

The texture surfaces has the sharp details that made it look bold and you could see some of the layouts on the background landscape from far distance, and then finally I like the way the camera angle works on the fighting arena starts rotating around when controlling your player from left to right just gives the dynamic look of the stage.

I say I liked the flashy look of the hit collision displaying the clinging effects with every hit of melee or projectiles just adds up the impact of fighting style.

The animation is well designed and moves pretty smoothly on battle with every great frame of movements and melees it performed are just looking amazing on the fighting battle.

The PS4 version had performed better for the performance side running on 1080p resolution with 60fps which the game has optimised really well without the sign of major frame drops, where as the switch version running on 1080p resolution on docked mode and 720p resolution on undocked mode with capped 30fps which may have some frame dips but not something quite servere during the battle which remains still playable.

     

Overall, it has great fighting arena design, detailed environmental layouts, and well designed animation.

 

Music and Sounds

The soundtrack is excellent which I really liked the mix of J-rock and epic music throughout the in-game battle and story cutscenes.

It really suits the game's action sequences pretty perfectly that makes the player feel pumped for fighting game action.

The main menu and characters theme was composed by Akiyuki Kubota did a fabulous job for his original score for this game. 

It also features music from the original anime composed by Hiroyuki Sawano (nZk) which has the actual opening theme song on title screen such as "Sirus" sang by Eir Aoi which we all know anime TV show has the coolest theme songs, where as other song such as "Before My Body Is Dry"  sang by Mika Kobayashi (vocals) and rap by David Whitaker which kinda gives me the vibes of Evanescence and Linkin Park with simular style of music which is amazing to listen.  

The sound effects are quite stunning for its environmental sounds design on some stages, I also liked the clinging noises of the hit collision are quite sharp and impactful during the battle, and of course the voice acting are really good on both English and Japanese dub. 

Overall, it has excellent soundtrack, stunning sound effects, and good voice acting.

Special Features

The game features unlockable stuffs such as gallery art, cutscenes, voice libaries, musics, and digital figure parts which these can be unlocked with in-game gallery points.

Overall, not a bad unlockable content. 

Advantages

Interesting story and awesome characters

Spectcular presentation design

Decent fighting system and fun story battles

Solid game modes to play (versus and practice)

Great visuals and excellent music

Disadvantages

Short-length campaign

Game modes are locked behind story mode

Small numbers of rosters aren't enough

Final Verdict

Presentation 8/10 - interesting story, awesome characters, and spectcular presentation design.

Gameplay 7/10 -  decent fighting system, fun story battles, and soild game modes.

Graphics 8/10 - great fighting arena design, detailed environmental layouts, and well designed animation.

Music and Sounds 8/10 - excellent soundtrack, stunning sound effects, and good voice acting.

Special Features 6.5/10 - gallery art, cutscenes, voice libaries, musics, and digital figure parts. 

Overall 7/10 - Kill La Kill If is a fine 3D Fighting Game with bit of small flaws could have done it better if they could have a bit more time to add more playable rosters as well as more chapters on story campaign to make it bit longer, but overall it's still worth for play in which you may going to enjoy story campaign (even its short) with really fun action-packed battles to fight and has a good story sequences with 2 kick-ass chicks going on their frantic battle, and yes you may going to like the versus mode for local play and online battle are also decent as well as these challenge mode that keeps you busy with the game is something that you might find this game quite entertaining to play.  

The price of physical copy are likely to go up from £20 to £30 which is not going to be cheap for later future years which means you might want to grab the copy before the price lasts, where as the digital copy from PS Store, Nintendo eShop, and Steam are slightly bit cheaper around between £17 and £18.

Is the game worth to play? I say if you love the original anime series or if you're one of those fighting games fanatic looking for the niche title then yes, you should check it out if you haven't try this game out and see if you might going to find that game quite fun to play. 

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This is Zeeshan Mirza's Blog and I'll see you next time, happy blogging everyone.