PS Store Staff: "Announcing the download ranking for January 2024 on PlayStation®Store! We will introduce a total of five rankings for PlayStation®5, PlayStation®4, PlayStation®VR2, PlayStation®VR, and free-to-play titles. We also have monthly rankings for the US/Canada, so please check them out as well.
“Ryu ga Gotoku 8” ranks first in the PS5 rankings. 2nd place goes to "Granblue Fantasy Relink". ARK: Survival Ascended took third place."
Granblue Fantasy: Relink is able to go big on epic spectacle whilst offering relatively bite-sized quests. That makes it a refreshing approach to the genre.
"It has been a while since we named our Co-op Games of the Year, but it’s time to bring it back, baby. This year, your fearless Surviving Editor (I’m not quite dead yet!) and other members of the Co-op Crew each selected a personal co-op game of the year. On top of that, we all picked a "Beyond Co-op" game of the year as well. That’s twice the GOTY picks for the same low price (free)!" says Co-Optimus.
VGChartz's Lee Mehr: "As game scripts expand in size and the technology to capture performances improves, blockbuster game companies are under tremendous pressure to get the right fit for a leading role. In some cases, said actor essentially becomes the face of that franchise; their mug may be digitally altered or cropped in select ways, but they're – more or less – in the same spot as a film actor at this point. As a result, there's also a keener interest in how those performers sound if they're replacing somebody else.
Perhaps the most glaring example of that was Bloober Team's Silent Hill 2 remake. Alongside a bevy of other gameplay & story alterations, Luke Roberts replacing Guy Cihi's original James Sunderland was a major point of distress for long-time fans before release. Sure, Cihi wasn't a trained actor at the time (and it shows), but he carried a type of unique charm that meshed perfectly with the game's strange world. A similar situation was Troy Baker assuming the mantle of Indiana Jones. How similar could he actually sound to a younger Harrison Ford? Judging by the collective staff & community acclaim, both of them fared quite well, and so too did the others who made up our final five."
Yakuza 8 Nr.1, Granblue Nr.2, nice.