Tag: Foamstars

These are the PS Plus games for February 2024 and one of them is a hidden gem

These are the PS Plus games for February 2024, and one of them is a big surprise, in addition to introducing one of Square’s major innovations.

Sony doesn’t rest on its laurels and has already announced the games for February for PS Plus subscribers. One of them is not a surprise, but the other two… The other two are interesting. But let’s not beat around the bush. Just a reminder that all three titles will be available from Tuesday, February 6th until Monday, March 4th. That being said, let’s go with the games!

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Foamstars (PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5)

The new 4 vs. 4 team-based online multiplayer shooter by Square Enix and Toylogic is very reminiscent of Splatoon, and we won’t blame you if you think the same. Here, instead of ink, we have foam, and instead of squids, we have attractive boys and girls with a Korean aesthetic, but everything else feels like a shooter of this kind. Undoubtedly, the big release of the month for Plus.

Rollerdrome (PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5)

Not our favorite. Roll7 gave us Rollerdrome, a third-person action shooter that combines three things we love: skating, shooting, and cyberpunk retrofuturism. We are in a competition where we have to shoot down our enemies, and to reload our weapon we have to do incredible stunts with our inline skates. Sounds complicated? It’s not that much. But it is incredibly fun and very underrated.

Steelrising (PlayStation 5)

For those who love soulslike games, or have always wanted to get into the genre but have been hindered by its difficulty, Sony has decided to give them a treat. Steelrising is an action RPG, heavily inspired by From Software games, but set in a French revolution with loyalist robots and a much more balanced difficulty. It may not be Bloodborne, but it is still a remarkable game.

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Square Enix will release a clone of ‘Splatoon’… But they don’t want us to call it what it obviously is

Square Enix hasn’t taken well the comparisons between its new game, ‘Foamstars,’ and the one it directly mimics, ‘Splatoon.’

Imagine for a moment that the creators of ‘El Chavo Kart’ got angry because we compared their game to ‘Mario Kart’. Or that the developers of ‘PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale’ wondered what their game has to do with ‘Super Smash Bros’. Well, that’s what happened with Square Enix, who didn’t take well the comparisons between their new game, ‘Foamstars’, and the one it directly copies, ‘Splatoon’. They say they don’t know why the comparison, but frankly, we’ve all noticed it.

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Splatoon bad

Change ink for foam, and you have ‘Foamstars’, an online competitive shooter with which Square Enix will try to win over a new audience by introducing AI that nobody asked for. Specifically, those who haven’t already played the Nintendo game, because the concept is the same: the objective is to fill the space with foam and colors using our special gun for that purpose. Let’s see.

Now it’s Kosuke Okatani, the game’s producer, who has come out to defend it saying that he is tired of the comparisons: “We have also seen on social media that people who have actually tried it have seen that it is a completely different game”, he says, using as an excuse that the foam you throw remains, instead of being erased like the ink in ‘Splatoon’. We accept it.

The game will be released on February 6th and faces a much greater danger than being compared to ‘Splatoon’: not having enough people to play. That’s why, for the first month, it will be available for free in an attempt to compete with so many, so many free-to-play games. And then, if you want to keep playing, you’ll have to pay. The developers are confident that they will attract enough people to become a new essential like ‘Fall Guys’ or ‘Fortnite’. I’m not so sure.

The future of ‘Foamstars’ hangs by a thread for multiple reasons and it’s going to be one of the most interesting things to watch in the gaming world at the beginning of this year. Will Square succeed or will we forget about it like a footnote in the Wikipedia of ‘Splatoon’?

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Square Enix announces the release date of their next game… and the fans have not taken it well

Square Enix announces the release date of its upcoming game… and fans are not happy about it, as they have announced that it uses AI to create part of its art.

Square Enix has been doing a good job with their games for a few years now. With a greater focus on their old catalog, releasing more small and medium-sized games, giving space and budget to their bigger games, they are doing interesting things. They still need to improve the marketing of their non-AAA games, but it seems like they are on the right track. Except for their marked obsession with NFTs, generative AI, and everything that causes allergic reactions in players.

Stable Diffusion ACCESS

Last Tuesday, January 16th, in a post on the PlayStation blog, they revealed the release date of their upcoming game, Foamstars: February 6th. This game is a 4vs4 third-person multiplayer shooter for PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 that strongly resembles Splatoon, but with a k-pop-inspired aesthetic. Something they hope will reach a different and broader audience.

The problem for Square Enix is that the game has not been well received. Because, according to the game’s producer, Kosuke Okatani, the development team has used AI-generated assets. While he has emphasized that all design aspects have been developed by humans, the reality is that some game icons and disc covers have been created through Midjourney. This can also create several problems for them in the medium and long term.

The most obvious one is that, as we have already mentioned, the public does not feel particularly excited about the idea of playing a game that uses AI-generated art. However small it may be, the public’s perspective on this type of content is becoming less favorable, and Square Enix seems to be aware of this, clarifying that 0.01% of the game’s art, or even less, is generated by AI. Which does not solve the problem at hand.

Foamstars will be released on February 6th for PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5. In addition, from February 6th to March 4th, all PlayStation Plus users will be able to play it for free. At least, those who are not bothered by its use of Midjourney to create game assets.

Stable Diffusion ACCESS