 We've seen alliances forged and broken since Team Talk's inception one year ago, but today we look back on that first year with fondness, as we think about all the... err... wonderful things we've learned about one another.
Liam and I are very similar in a lot of ways. We both have an aversion to horror games but can fight through the fear if it's compelling enough (or we have a little back up). It's thanks to Liam that I've finally got around to the underrated Kingdom Come: Deliverance, and his choice of starter Pokémon is second to none. I wouldn't say our professional relationship has evolved to the point where I'd consider moving to a different country just to be physically closer to him, but I can respect anyone's decision to do such a thing.  He's almost adorable. Sam Having been Team Talk’s baby daddy throughout most of its first year, before recently handing the reins over to the very capable combo of Chris and James, I’ve almost definitely spent longer pawing over past entries than anyone else. More than anything I’d say that compiling five (or thereabouts) different opinions on one topic each week has taught me how diverse gaming is and, similarly, how diverse Team PTC are as a group. Many a time I’ve choked at the sight of someone’s unbelievable pick - or, in the case of an appalling lack of support for Sobble, everybody’s - but after resisting the urge to make liberal edits I’m generally abated by logical justifications made in 200 words or less. As Chris pointed out we rarely all agree, which is fine - in fact, no: it’s great! At times games (especially of the AAA variety) can feel homogenised, but in reality, to each individual perspective the landscape is very different. Most recently, however, I learned that our new host is more perceptive than I give him credit for. I am always on the money and, as predicted, Crackdown 3 is total shit. Thanks Chris!  So much potential... Liam Having recently moved back to Blighty, I’ve saved Chris the trouble of having to up sticks and join me in the wonderful land of Nether, however, looking back at my contributions – which includes admissions of liking EA’s maligned Battlefront reboot and finding Roof-Crouching Simulator 2012, aka, Dishonored, rather rubbish – the gaming masses would surely feel his loyalty has been misplaced. I feel slightly less bad about starting and never finishing a game knowing that James, our leader, is a serial offender too. He also favours an aggressive, no nonsense line-up when it comes to assembling a crack team of gaming characters, something I can relate to, considering my suggestion for stopping Voldemort involved massive military strikes. Like me, Rob grew up in the beautiful south (the location, not the 80’s pop group), but there must be something in the sea air down on the coast that’s addled his mind. This is, after all, a man who thinks of slaughtering legions of undead as a party, and, by his own admission, actually bought a Wii U. That being said, there's no-one I'd trust more when it comes to the classics. That’s not as disturbing as Sam’s own revelations, which include never having played Ocarina of Time(!), championing an invisible frog, and using Little Sisters as cannon fodder – though he does display exceptional taste when it comes to Mario Kart and superhero games. Despite all our differences (which, again, is a good thing) it was nice to see this here crew at PTC come together when it really mattered, namely sticking the boot into Google Stadia and loot boxes. You’re welcome, Earth.  Though we could be singing a different tune once it's out in the wild. James Getting a team together is all the rage these days, thanks to them Avengers taking the box office crown this year and also plotting a game release next year. Team Talk has shown off our range of skills quite effectively, establishing the team as our own bunch of colourful superheroes. Sam is our Tony Stark, working tirelessly pushing the envelope with not only Team Talk itself (his Vision, if you will) but our weekly giveaways and a huge number of well thought-through, entertaining and engaging reviews. Fortunately he shuns Tony's less desirable penchant for self-destruction, but is pushing himself to bring you all more gaming stuff from his brain than ever before with new gigs, writing on other sites. Chris is Captain America (or Captain Britain), the anchor who holds the team together by keeping the news agenda going, bringing you hot takes and breaking news from all over the place, from the announcements for new games and consoles to supporting our E3 watch parties (and the subsequent lengthy write ups, in case you missed them). Liam is our Black Widow. Chris' co-pilot in the news stakes and often throwing in a review or two of his own. Also he's a globetrotter, jet-setting from Denmark, to the UK, to Australia and back again in the dead of night. Undoubtedly looking the part in a leather catsuit, Liam's skills keep the team flexible and, until recently at least, let us hit our international quota. Rob is the Hulk. Not only a smarty pants, but prone to lengthy periods of absence to take on all manner of creative pursuits, including music. He's our resident Nintendo guru and will soon be bringing you his take on Ninty's latest hardware – the Switch Lite. Everyone has something interesting to say and Team Talk is the best place to hear from all these clever people.  Which would make James our Nick Fury, because Thor is a fictional character. Will we be all smiles and sunshine after another 12 months of working together? Find out next year.
 It's a good time to be a fan of single-player RPGs, as remastered versions of Baldur's Gate and Dragon Quest are looking dapper (having been cleaned up for modern systems), a sequel to The Surge saw release on Tuesday (expect a review very soon) and a new IP from Bandai Namco, the Souls-like Code Vein, will be with us in time for the weekend. With so many differently styled RPGs out there, both old and new, it's hard to choose a favourite, but we've done just that.
 In a situation like this, survival is often the best one can hope for. Sam | Dark Souls It’ll likely come as no surprise to anybody that FromSoftware’s unforgiving Dark Souls is my choice this week. Not only my favourite RPG but quite possibly my favourite game of all time, it’s such an entirely cherishable experience in every which way. That even includes every crushing defeat, because without the comparative lows the game would never reach its intoxicating highs. The in-depth systems, lore, setting and combat are all outstanding on an unparalleled level in my mind; frankly, it’s just a damn special experience. That being said, and I’ll make this transition in part because I’ve gushed over Dark Souls here several times before, BioWare’s Dragon Age: Origins gives it a good run for its money. Launching back before EA got their mitts on the RPG-specialist studio, there were none of the compromises synonymous with BioWare today. Origins’ tactical combat, lore, systems and setting were also great in their own right, but where the game far exceeds Dark Souls is in its cast of characters. Allies comprising protagonist The Warden’s party were particularly memorable, with my personal favourites being Alistair and Morrigan for all their endearing squabbling. They were honestly more like real-world friends than fictional characters in a game and I can only hope we’re reunited in the upcoming Dragon Age 4.  Dark Souls' cast may pale in comparison but it doesn't take away from the series. Liam | The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker All Zelda games are an easy sell, but there’s something extra special about The Wind Waker. Even the ridiculously catchy opening bars of the title music are enough to let you know you’re in for a treat. Stepping out into Hyrule Field for the first time in Ocarina of Time might be regarded by many as a defining moment in the series but, for me, The Wind Waker’s sprawling seas offered a much greater sense of adventure. I loved heading into uncharted waters, watching shadows on the horizon grow steadily larger until they transformed into a new island, ripe for exploring. Rare encounters with spectral ships and kraken-like sea monsters just added to the sense of wonder. This was the first Zelda game I finished on my own, without help from older siblings, friends, or guides. The only assistance I needed was Link himself, who would use his gargantuan cartoon eyes to give hints as to what to do next, almost as if he were pondering the situation as much as I was. The Wind Waker sets a personal standard by which other RPGs are judged. It’s got everything; adventure, action, great storytelling and characters, plus a superb soundtrack. It even has a magic pear that lets you control seagulls. What more do you need? Now that's a catchy opener. James | Mass Effect Mass Effect is not only a series I enjoyed thoroughly, but one I actually finished (and regular readers will know how much of a rare occurrence that is) and was possibly the first time I lost myself in the story of an RPG. Shepard's quest to save the Milky Way started off (and, some would say, ended) clunky and awkward but found its feet thanks to BioWare's mastery in creating compelling characters and an interesting, Star Trek-esque future society where humanity wasn't the leader of the Federation, but a race that was constantly trying to prove itself. The gameplay is solid, and gets even better as the series progresses. You've got a lot of variety to play with in your character too, equipping your version of Shepard with Force-inspired superpowers or technical skills to use in combat. The real game-changer is the branching dialogue trees and Paragon and Renegade system, which sees your Shep change as you play, even opening up dastardly or pious actions depending on which side of the line you tread. Who can forget moments with well-rounded characters like Mordin Solus singing Gilbert and Sullivan, the impossible choice about the fate of the Krogans on Virmire and the epic final dash through the Omega 3 mass effect relay as you tightly clutch every beloved character you can get your hands on. I'm not Commander Shepard, but this is my favourite RPG on the Citadel.  Bioware get top marks for storytelling, right until the very end. Let us know which RPG you would recommend above any other.
 The Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Committee recently released a report on "immersive and addictive technologies" which came with the recommendation that the UK Government regulate loot boxes under the Gambling Act and prohibit the sale of them to children. Loot boxes are not uncommon in most AAA titles, particularly those with a multiplayer component, but are they welcome, or do they subtract more than they add?
 They certainly know how to make them alluring. Liam The only time I have any contact with loot boxes (or whatever industry executives are calling them these days) is when they’re handed out as in-game rewards. I’ve never paid money for one, and I’ve never felt the urge to. But that’s not to say I’m entirely immune to their charms. I’d eagerly rush to open a new box between rounds of Overwatch hoping to find a rare skin, and I’d always save my REQ points (Halo 5’s in-game currency) so I could go for the more expensive gold REQ packs and enjoy the fanfare that came with earning higher tier loot. I can see the problem with having such mechanics, especially paid ones, in games that are readily available to a younger audience. In my teenage years I stood for hours in bookies watching friends lose money they didn’t have on digital roulette machines in pursuit of a win, and I know how painfully addictive the chase is. Slapping an 18 rating or a gambling warning on FIFA is unlikely to stop waves of oblivious parents from buying the game for their child, and while I doubt we’ll ever be rid of them in titles like that in some form or other, more stringent regulation coupled with consumer outrage might at least convince a few publishers to ditch the trend.  Ultra rare drops are sometimes even less common than the name suggests. James Coverage of the scrutiny loot boxes are under has had very few rallying to the defence of the big publishers who make their existence a reality, besides the publishers themselves, as most gamers, it's safe to say, aren't huge fans. The notion that you need to spend more money, after paying upwards of £50 on a game, to get the best experience doesn't sit well at the best of times, but to do so and not be sure what you're even paying for is far worse. The targeting of young and vulnerable people in particular is bad (though it isn't the only industry to do so), and the report specifically suggests putting barriers up to protect youngsters and their parents' credit cards. The regulation of some of these mechanics (which are certainly anything but a surprise) should be an opportunity to help the industry to be taken seriously, when compared to a passion for film or TV, and put an end to the latest story your parents hear about gaming being how a 6 year old spent £1,000 in FIFA Ultimate Team.  A world-class digital team could require a lot of physical funds. Sam Provided they don’t affect game balance, I’m not entirely opposed to traditional microtransactions. This most often means they take the form of cosmetic items that hold little to no value for me personally, but having a reasonably priced option for those of a different disposition is generally harmless enough. Not entirely harmless, mind, with one example being kids getting bullied for playing as the default character in Fortnite. That obviously isn’t okay, but you can at least grab exactly what’s needed to address the “problem” if need be. Games that tie everything into randomised loot boxes don’t allow for that (and it’s telling that this is the stage we’re at) “luxury”. Instead you might be lucky enough to get a 0.5% chance at unlocking the desired item, which can not only lead to children emptying their unknowing parents’ bank accounts, but also prey on adults that are susceptible to the intentionally insidious hooks of problem gambling. Regardless of any ancient definition that might legally rule out loot boxes as a form of gambling on a technicality, the blighters are precisely that. Free-to-play games that need so-called “whales” (a dehumanising term which, one could argue, helps with handling the question of morality) to support them are one thing, but when full price games like FIFA are built around the same model it’s just a display of unchecked greed. Especially when, in this instance, the offending Ultimate Team mode does affect gameplay balance.  The free-to-play model works a lot better in free-to-play titles. Let us know how you feel about loot boxes.
 Borderlands 3 has released today and, just like with Pokemon and Fire Emblem: Three Houses, we've got some pretty strong opinions on who you should start your career with. Join us for a light-hearted, friendly, debate about the best character, and the others, in Borderlands 3.
Sam | FL4K I have to be honest and say that I really don’t like the Borderlands series, although Telltale Games’ narrative-based adventure Tales from the Borderlands does stand as a notable exception. Gearbox Software’s looter shooters have historically bored the pants off me and so I’ll be opting out of Borderlands 3, likely much to the chagrin of the salivating general gaming populous. If I were to be a glutton for punishment and give the latest cel-shaded shooter a try, however, I’d probably opt for FL4K the Beastmaster. This gender-neutral, robotic Vault Hunter doesn’t do anything to appeal to me in themselves, but coming bundled with what are essentially three pet doggy companions makes for an easy win. Unfortunately you can only summon one at a time, but it’s pretty cool that they all have different abilities designed to complement your chosen playstyle as you upgrade their master’s attributes. As for FL4K’s competition? Zane’s a total snooze fest, Amara’s stuck in the shadow of fellow multi-muscly-arm-owner Machamp, and Moze is pretty much just a Titanfall reject... Liam | Moze Sam’s Team Talk choices have come a long way since the dark days of Sobble, but once again we find ourselves at loggerheads following a fleeting alliance against Chris, James, and their moody magicians, although I will allow that Zane is by far the most boring character on offer here, closely followed by Amara and her magic fists. I mean, if you’re going to survive on a hostile planet, it’s best to do so in the company of a giant death machine that also cooks dinner and doubles up as an alarm clock, rather than with a mutant ‘dog’ in ski goggles. Titanfall reject indeed! But there’s also an element of pragmatism to my choice. I know you’re supposed to play these sorts of games with people you like, or, failing that, your friends and family, but nine times out of ten I’ll end up going stag, so having an autonomous mech in tow will at least give enemies something else to shoot at. As Moze herself points out: “When your BFF’s a BFG, you don’t need anyone else watching your back.” James | Zane Having played as Zero on a recent replay of Borderlands 2, it's been an assassin-tastic time on Pandora, and I'm looking forward to continuing the adventure in a similar vein. Zane is a different kind of character though. While Zero is quiet and robotic, Zane is described as a suave, James Bond-esque character who is "wealthy and has a lot of gadgets at his disposal." There's an advantage immediately to choosing the gentleman's assassin, in that he can equip two action skills rather than one, which lends itself to a wider variety of movesets across his Doubled Agent, Hitman and Under Cover skill trees. You have the tried and tested decoy (now known as a "Digi-Clone") as well as a SNTNL drone and a shield barrier to play with as we explore not just Pandora, but a few other planets for a change. In skills, I'm amused to see we have one called "Nanites or Some Shite" which causes your barrier to give you and your allies health regeneration, faster reload speed and quicker shield recharge when cowering near it. The character itself is related to bandit leaders Captain and Baron Flynt and is a "semi-retired" hitman, suggesting he might have seen a few things in his time. Though with Borderlands as a series it's rare your character is particularly important to the plot, more along for the ride. Let us know who you've chosen and if we managed to change your mind.
 The Sims 4: Island Living is the seventh major expansion for Maxis’ popular life-simulator, taking players (and their Sims) to the tropical paradise of Sulani for a slice of laid-back island living. Following a successful launch earlier in the summer, we chatted with Jill Johnson, Associate Producer on the The Sims 4, about escaping the rat race, island upkeep and the danger of mermaids.
The amount of colour offered by a change of scenery is one of the first things you notice, and players have a responsibility for looking after the island to keep it that way. How easy was is to balance the aesthetic elements with making the experience compelling for players? From a visual standpoint, we had a few discussions early on concerning the starting stage for Island Conservation. We universally knew we didn’t want the starting point to look like a bleak wasteland, but we also needed to have that wow moment in contrast for the final stage of conservation. Especially in the earliest phase, boosting up your Island’s conservation takes a bit of commitment. We did this intentionally so that when you’ve finally picked up that magic last piece of trash or spread the word to enough people, you get a very satisfying sense of investment when you get a vibrant notification telling you that your island is thriving. Our Art and Design teams got pretty creative by pulling a handful of different levers to keep a noticeably visual progression without roughing up the starting point too much. The palm trees and the coral gets a little bit brighter. Instead of nets and piles of litter, eventually you start to see more fish and turtles and butterflies. Bright and colorful flowers start to show up. And my personal favorite is the striking bioluminescence you can spot glowing at night. There seems to be a disaster movie element here, with your active volcano in particular stopping Island Living from being a total paradise. What sort of unexpected events will players be dealing with this time? Oh yes, the volcano. It’s true, one of the pillars of Island Living is a peaceful, relaxing lifestyle. But this is still The Sims! And we definitely have some people on the team who love to grief their Sims. Other than possibly getting pummelled by lava bombs and catching on fire - if the Volcanic Activity Lot Trait is on your lot, of course - your Sims can find themselves in some other compromising situations around Sulani. My personal favorite danger is the shark. If you swim out into the deeper, darker parts of the ocean there is a very real threat that you may encounter a shark. Pro tip: If you don’t get your Sim out of the water right away, you might just get pulled under and die. If you displease the Island Spirits from the Island Spirits Lot Trait or the Island Elementals that are tied to the Child of the Island Personality Trait, they will make your luck turn sometimes disastrously bad. And last but not least: not all Mermaids are sweet and friendly. Mermaids can use Summon Ocean Threat or use their Siren’s call on other unsuspecting swimmers that leaves them in a very bad state.  Dolphins also inhabit Sulani's waters, though encounters with them are markedly less threatening to your health With The Sims being loosely based on our own exciting lives, how do you make things like dealing with insurance claims and the more serious business of child protection fun and interesting? Is it difficult to find the right balance between real life and Sim life? We try to keep most things in The Sims generally light-hearted & entertaining, even when dealing with the less glamorous parts of life. We also don’t want our Sims universe to be this pristine perfect utopia, because what’s the fun in that? Sims can fart, Sims can die, and sometimes Sims can milk a Cowplant. Many of our players love being able to play a realistic life, homework and all. Like any of our features, when dealing with something mundane or dark, we play the feature and feel it out. Our development team has gotten a very fine sense of what feels appropriate and what might need a little more silly. If something’s feeling too boring, maybe we’ll adjust the tuning to make it less of a grind or add some extra funny chance to fail. If something’s feeling too serious we might liven it up a bit with some goofy animations. We try to keep a balance. For those who might have been away from the series for a while, or players who haven't tried The Sims before at all, do you feel like this is a good point to jump into the delightful world of Simlish and unprompted kitchen fires? Of course! It’s never too late to jump in and pick up The Sims. One of the coolest things I think The Sims has to offer is that, similar to most of the game pieces, even the packs you chose to play help make your experience modular. So if Island Living is the only expansion pack you own, you won’t be worse for the wear. Your Sims just might be a little more chill than others. Tee hee. Thanks to Jill Johnson for taking the time to answer our Island Living questions.
If you fancy taking a trip to paradise (sans the sun burn and jet-lag) Island Living is available now on PC/Mac via Origin and consoles via the Xbox Store and PlayStation Store.  A number of previously released titles have been finding a home on Nintendo Switch recently, from PlayStation-era masterpieces like Final Fantasy VIII and Spyro the Dragon, to the more modern titles that were announced during the latest Nintendo Direct. There's a world of potential adventures awaiting Switch owners but none we'd like to see more than these.
 Games have grown slightly more complex over the years... Sam | Super Mario 3D World Picking a Nintendo game might seem like a bit of a cop out, but honestly, what games better fit Nintendo platforms than the company’s very own? Super Mario 3D Land on 3DS is one of my absolute favourite platformers - it’s seriously sublime! When I found out that the sequel would be a Wii U exclusive my heart sank. I wasn’t clambering into the dumpster fire that was the Wii U, but for a time those flames were mighty tempting... The Switch has enjoyed a variety of Wii U ports during its time so far, including various other Mario titles, but for some reason 3D World hasn’t yet been shown any love. Its level-based structure and portable roots would make it a perfect fit for Nintendo Switch gaming on the go, while if it’s anywhere close to as compelling as the original it’d be a great candidate to get stuck into for longer periods on the TV at home. It’s a bit baffling to me that the inferior 2D games got bundled together for a re-release, but 3D World and the likes of Pikmin 3 remain forgotten Wii U relics.  We'll forgive Sam for cheating a little, as this is clearly an oversight by Nintendo. Liam | GTA: Chinatown Wars Like most games from my past (and if I’m being honest, more than a few from the present), I never managed to reach Chinatown Wars’ end credits, so it would be great to have another stab at Rockstar’s excellent slice of old-school GTA action without having to dig out my Nintendo DS or sit through a sub par phone version. Yes, the Switch might be lacking a second screen, but the one it does have is more than ample enough to hold both displays found on the DS version side by side. Also, thanks to its touchscreen capabilities, we wouldn’t necessarily have to miss out on any extra interactivity found in the original game such as inventory management and grenade tossing. Of course, keeping such a feature would mean the game could only be enjoyed in handheld mode, but I don’t think that would be a problem for most people. There are already a couple of handheld only titles out there, like Severed, and the game’s simplistic visuals might not look so great stretched across big screen TVs of today. Plus, with Nintendo’s next dedicated handheld system, the Switch Lite, right around the corner, now could be the perfect time to introduce a whole new generation of portable gamers to Rockstar’s forgotten gem.  What better way to deal with a stressful commute? James | XCOM 2 Turn-based strategy is far from the most popular genre in gaming these days, but with the success of Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle on the Switch, I’d say the genre is ripe for a decent port. Enter XCOM 2: War of the Chosen, the re-tooled and more character driven expansion to the original game, ready to challenge you to take over the world, again. Though the game looks amazing on PC and its fellow consoles, the visuals could easily be paired back a tiny bit and still give a rich, cinematic experience. Plus the turn-based nature of the game stops too much from happening at once, putting less stress on the already stretched GPU and CPU. There’s an overworld game of course, which lends itself to those shorter play sessions, hopping in and out and leaving the game on pause for a bit until you’re ready to continue the fight against our alien overseers. There’s plenty of fun to be had docked as well of course, as many have already enjoyed the game, but on the move is where this port would really show its colours. If you want something a bit more forward-looking, then think of this as a proof of concept for a port of the upcoming Phoenix Point, from series creator, and generally nice chap, Julian Gollop.  Rob | The House of the Dead 2 Those of you who are regulars to PTC will be fully aware of my personal trials and tribulations with Nintendo in recent years. But with Link's Awakening and the Lite on the cards, yours truly looks likely to come home. With that in mind, I want some Sega ports, please. Oh yes, dear chums, once bitter enemies, the years have softened the feud between the two great games makers. Clearly, the whole Dreamcast catalogue on Switch would be grand (please, please make ChuChu 2) but I've plumped for something multiplayer and unholy. House of the Dead 2 was always a guaranteed party game classic back in t'day, and I see no reason why it shouldn't be again! Grab a friend, take a joy-con each and blast away at the undead - all the while enjoying the gloriously shite voice acting. Perfect.  Truly, party gaming at its finest. What game do you think would make a worthy Switch port?
 The weekend was looking decidedly spooky with The Dark Pictures Anthology: Man of Medan, an interactive filmic horror-drama, and Blair Witch, a game loosely based on the cult classic, releasing on 30 August. Friday the 13th, Alien Isolation and the newly announced Predator: Hunting Grounds have shown that horror movie tie-ins can be adapted to fit a range of sub-genres, so which spine-tingling stories would Team PTC like to experience through the medium of gaming?
 Jack Nicholson's terrifying face can also be used to great effect. Liam | Tremors Tremors spawned four sequels (and one prequel) but no game tie-in, not unless you count this effort (shown below) which was made in just 24 hours to celebrate Bacon day. Honouring actors who share a name with sweet, sweet pig meat is all well and good, but it’s about time we had a proper gaming experience based on the 1990 cult classic. A Tremors game was said to be in development during the early 2000s but was cancelled before ever seeing the light of day. A shame, I think, because the movie’s chief antagonists, known as Graboids, would make a worthy opponent. These giant, flesh-eating worms that lurk beneath the ground would make traversal one of the most interesting aspects of the game due to their ability to detect movement on the surface. Players would need to find alternative ways to get about a sandbox environment (quite literally if we’re using the film’s Nevada setting) as they search for supplies, weapons and fellow survivors. Basically, it’s the same ‘the floor is lava’ concept you played as a kid, except touching the ground means being horribly devoured instead of a loose bit of Lego in your heel, although both are, arguably, just as painful. Is it even possible to improve upon such a gem? Sam | The Mist The Mist is by no means an amazing film, but the bones of an amazing game are already there. It’s set in a supermarket, which are always fun to explore due to their inherent variety of items, almost akin to a miniature Willamette Mall from Dead Rising, which in itself was channelling zombie horror flick Dawn of the Dead. You can also throw a little bit of The Walking Dead into the mix, with characters facing an internal threat from fanatical fellow survivors in addition to the more conventionally monstrous external threat of winged beasties. The existential question of whether or not humanity is the real monster would be at the game’s core, and you could make choices throughout which ultimately helped to shape what, hopefully, wouldn’t be quite as depressing an ending as the twist from the film. Of course, you’d need to head out of the supermarket in order to complete tasks on occasion, and this is where the true horror gameplay would come into effect. The eponymous mist would obscure player vision, just like in horror classic Silent Hill, leaving little to no opportunity to prepare for what’s around each corner. This would help to make the introduction of each and every enemy - used sparingly to avoid coming off as cheap jump scares, of course - a harrowing encounter.  Whatever choices you make, it can't really go much worse for the Draytons. James | Cabin in the Woods I'm not a huge fan of horror films. More often than not they take the easy way out and descend into tired tropes and predictable conclusions played out by wafer-thin characters. Cabin in the Woods, however, played a bit more smartly with the genre and brought unexpected twists and turns to an otherwise common premise by having the would be slain slowly discover an elaborate, Westworld-esque manufactured reality that is the cause of their suffering. The same sort of thing could be done for the spin-off game. Imagine an asymmetrical adventure where one player can trigger visual and audio glitches in someone else's computer to throw them off and distract them if they get too close to finding the edges of the game's (and film's) facade. It seems like a natural step forward from the likes of Eternal Darkness and Metal Gear Solid's Psycho Mantis (whom we talked about last week) messing with real world elements of the console gaming experience like forcing you to switch your controller to another slot to continue. Perhaps being mean to people would be too popular? It would take concentration to become the master of puppets but the marionettes themselves would be having fun trying to feel for the edges, while turning around to find doors are no longer there.  Let the mind games begin. Which horror films do you think deserves a game tie-in?
 A teaser trailer for Gears 5's campaign premiered during Opening Night Live, giving us a brief look at the terrifying creatures we'll be taking on come September. This left us pondering the big set pieces in some of our favourite games.
 This may look like someone used photos of Psycho Mantis to make a collage of Psycho Mantis, but in 1998 he was frightening. Sam | Soul of Cinder - Dark Souls 3 In a series famed for its boss encounters - many of which see you face off against unspeakable, towering horrors - Dark Souls 3’s concluding encounter with the distinctly humanoid Soul of Cinder might seem like an underwhelming choice. Soul of Cinder is the game’s cover star, with everything from the moment you first set eyes on the game building towards the final battle; not just of Dark Souls 3, but the entire Dark Souls trilogy. A trilogy that’s one of my all-time favourites, beautifully brought full circle by an ending that mirrors and also furthers that of the first game. I could mention the amazing original track that accompanies the fight, but then that’s nothing unique - the same applies to pretty much every Souls series boss fight. Without spoiling too much, the encounter is a sentimental one years in the making. Anyone that finished the original Dark Souls knows this character well, in both of their forms, thanks to the significant mid-fight phase changes introduced in this third entry. You’re given a very literal taste of your own medicine by a character skilled in all distinctions, plus you can’t parry them, avoiding the encounter being trivialised as with the first game’s conclusion. You could summon a co-op buddy to help, but that’d just be wrong for such a personal duel.  You'll get no spoilers from us. Liam | Moldorm - A Link to the Past Boss fights are usually all about learning patterns and memorising attacks, a deadly ballet where even the slightest misstep means failure. And then there’s Moldorm. Moldorm, if you’re unfamiliar, is the worm-like creature with the disturbing eyes that can be found guarding the top of the Tower of Hera in A Link to the Past. Its attack - if you can call it that – is extremely simple; all it does is charge around its small arena bouncing off walls and edges, wiping out anything standing in its path. I’m not 100% convinced it’s even aware of what it’s doing, or that you’re even there, which raises several moral questions when it comes to ending it. Despite only needing six hits to the tail for a victory, Moldorm was one of the more challenging bosses in ALTTP because it could knock you down to the floor below, forcing you to start the fight again from scratch. I always enjoyed the chaotic mess that were these battles. Trying to avoid the wriggly bastard as it careened around like a headless chicken was a frantic and often hilarious experience, especially when you factor in the limited range of movement afforded by a SNES controller.  Again, the graphics don't really do Moldorm justice. James | Saren - Mass Effect The Mass Effect series made a splash on the Xbox 360 and it all began with the first game in 2007, ushering in a new era of story-driven RPG/action games. One of the shining stars of the game was the antagonist and fallen Spectre, Saren Arterius, who sided with the original trilogy's big bad, the Reapers, to act as the Darth Vader of this sci-fi tale. Like many compelling villains, he feels as though he's working for the greater good, enabling the Reapers to "reset" the galaxy by destroying the Mass Relays used to travel between star systems, a fate you must work through the entire trilogy to prevent. Saren's fight goes through multiple stages, forcing you to call on the powers of your class to take him down, and in fact you can even avoid the first stage of the final fight altogether by convincing him he's possessed and so must take his own life. The sort of depth to his character is atypical and your numerous interactions with him through the game, constantly trying to get him to see your perspective, only build the impact of the final showdown. Without it, there's no doubt the series as a whole wouldn't have had as much impact as it did.  Saren was far more charismatic than anyone we encountered in Mass Effect: Andromeda. Share your favourite boss battle with us in the comments below.
 E3 has disappeared from the rear view mirror and the next stop in the 2019 gaming road map is Gamescom. With new content and announcements promised right from the get go during Opening Night Live (hosted by The Game Awards creator, Geoff Keighley), here's what we're looking forward to.
 Will the Avengers be bolstering their ranks? Sam | Death Stranding It’s been confirmed that Hideo Kojima will be taking a break from crunching on Death Stranding with the team at Kojima Productions, what with its 8 November release fast approaching, to join best buddy Geoff Keighley at Gamescom 2019’s Opening Night Live event. Making the trip to the show, which takes place in Cologne, Germany, for the first time since 2014, it’s reasonable to assume that the former Metal Gear Solid director has big news regarding his latest project to share. It’d be about time, as Death Stranding remains shrouded in an air of mystery less than two months ahead of its PS4 release. Long-term Team Talk readers may already know how devastating Silent Hills’ cancellation was for me, largely due to a collaboration between some of my favourite talents from multiple mediums - namely Kojima himself, film director Guillermo del Toro, and actor Norman Reedus - being wrestled from almost within my grasp. Now, albeit in a different form, that majorly mouth-watering meeting of masterminds is back on. As such, I already know that you can count me in wherever Death Stranding is concerned, but I’d rather like to find out if the game really is about an incredibly devoted package delivery service assigning babies in jars as co-drivers...  Every image seems to reinforce that theory. Liam | Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Call of Duty: Modern Warfare’s absence from the E3 public meant that my predication - along with pretty much every other guess I made - failed to come true. So, it’s up to Gamescom to get the hype train back on track after the summer’s minor derailment. I was initially excited about the reboot following an announcement trailer in which we get our first glimpse of the grounded, modern day setting and a fresh-faced Captain Price (complete with his iconic boonie hat) but since then my enthusiasm has waned somewhat. So far, I’ve seen nothing of the campaign and very little of the multiplayer, save for a brief round of Gun Game and a trailer that dropped earlier in the month. Whilst the latter started off well, highlighting new tactical abilities like being able to peak through doors before entering a room, it quickly descended into some trademark Call of Duty silliness. I'm not totally against some over-the-top action, but I’m hoping that next week's show will present something similar in style and tone to the announcement trailer, especially if it includes a look at the campaign. Even if the final product is only half as good as the original Modern Warfare, I’ll still be satisfied.  War never changes, but it does look better each year. James | Astral Chain There are still quite a few games due to come out this year which we'll hear all about at Gamescom, but I feel fairly confident that none of them are quite like Astral Chain. Platinum Games' latest jumped to the top of my Switch list after the Nintendo Direct at E3. The game comes from Takahisa Taura, who was previously lead game designer for Nier: Automata, and sees you fighting alien-like monsters from another dimension with help from your Legion, a powerful weapon who fights independently in combat. Platinum is known for its slightly off-beat approach to action games, with Bayonetta, Vanquish and Neir under its belt, which has me thinking this could be one of the most original releases due out this year. Better still, it's a Switch exclusive, so it has the best possible chance to be well-optimised and the gameplay shown off so far looks really impressive. Plus, with potentially all of what we'll see about Pokémon ahead of its release out of the bag, this is the Nintendo game that really tops the excitement-o-meter. While it's not likely to make the biggest smash of the show (especially when some have the Hulk in their corner), it's an experience which is sure to be unlike anything else.  Platinum Games' portfolio has us eager to see more. Lets us know what you're most excited to see at Gamescom 2019 in the comments below.
Team Talk | Games nobody asked for11/8/2019  Last week an email popped into the PTC inbox informing us that Garfield Kart Furious Racing was coming to Xbox One, PS4, Switch and PC this November. For some reason, James saw this as an opportunity to pitch a Team Talk on games that nobody ever asked for… Not one to pass up a freebie, Sam ran with it and here we are.
Things have been quiet since the game’s debut, which is understandable, given the trailer has 326K downvotes vs. 24K upvotes... Chris | Needless yearly updates I'd like to make it clear that I'm not cheating and picking every single sequel. There's a certain type of game that doesn't need a new release each year but gets one anyway. FIFA, NBA, NFL and the rest of EA's '19 series are probably the most advanced digital recreations of ball touching that have existed to date, yet there's not a great deal that separates them from their predecessors. It isn't just sport sims or EA, Infinity Ward are obviously not looking to break the mould with Call of Duty '19: Modern Warfare, Again. An argument could be made that any big changes in the franchise are often met with resistance, potentially hurting sales, though this feels too much like blaming ourselves. We don't always know what we want until it's right in front of us, so developers shouldn't be afraid of thinking outside the box every now and then. Ubisoft's reboot of Assassin's Creed was a resounding success which breathed new life into a series that, for many, had grown stale. Whilst there's not much chance of FIFA being rebooted in the same manner, there's very little on offer that we haven't already seen.  Can you tell which iteration of FIFA this is? James | Garfield Kart Furious Racing When the news that Garfield already has his own kart racing game reached me this week, and not only that but we're getting a sequel in November, I was perplexed. I'm partial to a kart racer (as I've mentioned in a previous Team Talk) and on the surface I don't think it's fair that Mario gets a monopoly on them, but I mean...come on now, Garfield?! The lasagne-loving feline jumped back into pop culture in 2004 with the almost certainly dreadful movie (which I did not see), and 9 years and a number of cash-ins later, the game to truly capitalise on/sell out the character - Garfield Kart - was released on iOS, Android, Steam and 3DS. With the remake of Crash Team Racing out and performing well, an alternative to Mario Kart is there for you already, and even Sonic Team Racing feels like it earns its place with a few unique mechanics. Most importantly of all, a kart racer needs characters, and, while Mario Kart 8 Deluxe takes the kick on this a bit, Garfield alone does not a compelling roster of players make.  Here we see Garfield, surrounded by all of the memorable characters from the franchise. Liam | Angry Birds Star Wars It’s fair to say that most game concepts are so bizarre it would be a bit of stretch to expect people to even think them up, let alone ask for them. Take Super Mario, for example. Before it came into existence, I'd wager that no-one was going about their day thinking, “You know what I need in my life? A game about an Italian plumber stamping giant turtles to death in a land inhabited by mushroom people." Angry Birds falls under the same category. In any other industry, pitching the idea of slinging kamikaze birds at pigs with giant catapults is more likely to get you a very awkward meeting with the HR department instead of a multi-million selling, movie-spawning game series. Even if the original concept of murdering pigs with birds was already lurking in the deep, dark recesses of someone’s mind, I highly doubt they had the foresight to blend it with George Lucas’ iconic space opera. Yet, that’s exactly what Rovio did when they came up with Angry Birds Star Wars, which, to this day, remains the strangest franchise crossover I’ve ever played.  The Force is not very strong with this one. Which game's simple existence most baffles you? Let us know below!
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