With the latest Resident Evil game proving to be a major hit once again, a reader explains why they’ve been a fan of the series for three decades now.

Resident Evil is going to turn 30 this month and that worries me because I remember playing the original as a kid (my parents were very lenient) and, well… time certainly does fly. I’ve played almost every Resident Evil game over the last three decades and I love the series more than any other.

Despite all the brain-eating zombies and disgusting mutations, playing Resident Evil is my comfort food. I’m never happier, when playing a video game, than when I’m being scared and thrilled and grossed out by a new Resi.

As I sit down to write this it’s actually kind of hard to explain the appeal of the games, even to another fan. Since Resident Evil 4 they’ve been great action games, but they didn’t start that way. And while some can be very scary at times, especially Requiem, they’re generally more tense than frightening.

They also have an ongoing story that spans that whole 30 years, but it’s complete nonsense and the scripts are always terrible – which is one of the things I love about it the most.

Resi games can be funny, but not always intentionally and they’re not straight up comedies, like something like Army Of Darkness or Shaun Of The Dead. They’re great third person combat games a lot of the time but that never dominates the games and, strangely for a Japanese franchise, the boss battles are often not that memorable.

Despite how often they’re copied, they’re strangely unique games where even today you don’t know how much of what you enjoy of them is intended, when it comes to the camp and corny dialogue. It has been hit and miss in the more modern games, because it’s hard to be bad on purpose and still be entertaining.

Thanks to Resident Evil 4, Leon S. Kennedy has always been the funniest of the main characters, with his bad jokes and one-liners. He’s also the best looking of the men, with his famous hair and manly stubble. He’s meant to be 50 in Requiem, but he barely looks it and certainly doesn’t move like he’s that old. But I guess the idea is that he’s not just aging with the games, he’s aging with his audience too.

Almost everything that comes out of his mouth in Requiem is hilarious, with dad joke after dad joke, and all delivered with the ultra-confidence that comes from being an invincible video game character.

To my great pleasure, Requiem has been a big hit – the fastest-selling entry for the series – and we’ve still got whatever Capcom might announce for the 30th anniversary itself (on March 22) to look forward to. I’ve seen people saying that it’s proof that big budget single-player games can still be successful and I’m glad of that too. It’s good to see Resi still leading the way after all these years.

For me Resident Evil will always be the perfect video game, in that the gameplay is great, the storytelling is entertaining (bad but in a good way), the graphics are top notch, and the whole thing is weird and fantastical in a way only a video game can be.

The Resident Evil movies are shlock, just like the games, and they do have some of the same DNA in the so good it’s bad sense, but it’s only the dialogue that’s like that in the games. Everything else is the best it can be and that’s certainly not true of the films.

The mix of elements that is Resi only works because it’s a video game, where you’re able to put your own spin on things, and read between the lines, while you’re playing. I love it and with Requiem it feels like the future is looking very bright for my favourite video game series.

By reader Cher

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MORE: How a video game merch store helped me bond with my daughter – Reader’s Feature

MORE: How the video games industry will finally destroy itself – Reader’s Feature

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The Friday letters page is loving Resident Evil Requiem, as one reader is frustrated at how Sony has used Naughty Dog during the current generation.

Games Inbox is a collection of our readers’ letters, comments, and opinions. To join in with the discussions yourself email gamecentral@metro.co.uk

Surprise hit
Just come back from two hours of playing Pokémon Pokopia and… there’s not much I can tell you at this point, really. I do like the size of the world though and if everything is made out of Minecraft style blocks then it should be very customisable, so I like that.

I also see where the Fallout 4 comparisons are coming from, as seeing the ruined Pokémon Center like that is pretty crazy. I’m not clear what happened though. It obviously wasn’t a nuclear war, so was it an asteroid hit? Or maybe it’s actually a virtual world or something? Curious to find out the truth.

So far, I like the game and I specifically like that I don’t know what’s going on. I don’t know what the game’s limits are or most of what I can actually do as a character. I’m not sure how many different pokémon are in it and I’m not clear whether it’s a game you can win or whether it goes on forever.

As far as I’m concerned, not knowing what’s coming next is the best thing that can happen to you when playing a video game. I admit I didn’t expect a Pokémon spin-off to be the sort of game to offer that level of freedom but then reading all the reviews I get the impression nobody else did either.
Wendel

Saturated market
As far as I understand it there hasn’t been any real growth in the games industry since around the PlayStation 2 era, so I’m not really sure what anyone is expecting to change. Even when the games are free – and that’s what most people are playing – it still isn’t rising. I think we just have to accept that the amount of people playing video games right now are the same percentage that has always been interested.

I guess you could try and open up new markets, like India and such like, but they’re not going to have any nostalgia for franchises celebrating their 40th anniversary, or whatever, so good luck with that. As I always think, if publishers just knuckled down and put out a regular supply of great games they’d be fine, but they can’t seem to bring themselves to do that. Sony seems to be finally realising that truth, but only after wasting five years and who knows how much money.
Bootles

Gaia takes the reigns
So the hits keep on coming in terms of the games industry being in trouble, eh? It seems to me like nature is taking over and doing what publishers wouldn’t. They needed to cut budgets and lower prices but they didn’t so now they’ve got no choice, because no one can afford new consoles, or even PCs, anymore.

I’m joking of course, but if this forces everyone, especially the companies, to stick with the current gen then I think that’s a good thing. No one wants to fork out for a new console right now, and no one wants to see game prices rise any further. The microtransaction angle is a worry but as long as it’s always something you can do without I’ll leave it to the mugs that care.
Futterman

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Unreality engine
What a weird pandemic of boring video game reveals. Tweets, no-info blogs, and now nine minutes of a racing game in which there’s no racing. Is it the same company doing the marketing for all of this because whatever publishers are paying them it’s too much.

I assume not but this does highlight one of the problems I’ve already had with open world racing games in general, in that they’re always so empty feeling. It’s all very well being realistic but if there’s barely any cars on the road, and little or no pedestrians, it feels like you’re driving around a model village or something.

I thought this in the UK one for Forza Horizon, where everything looked like real places but there was no life to it. It felt very artificial, beyond the fact that obviously it is. GTA might not have very good driving but at least it feels like you’re driving around a real place, where you can hit people and cars get damaged.

The lack of collision damage is the other big flaw with Forza Horizon, as far as I’m concerned, especially as it only adds to the sense of unreality.
Terry Gold

I’ve made a huge mistake
Interesting that publishers are suddenly going after leakers, but I think it’s probably a coincidence given this Epic leaker was a producer there. I expected him to be a temp or IT guy or something, but a producer?! What was he thinking to risk his job just to tell nerds on the internet when there was going to be an Overwatch crossover?

The worst thing is that Fortnite leaks are all from dataminers, I thought. I didn’t even realise there were really leaks from actual insiders. What’s the point and what a way to ruin your career. And that’s on top of getting sued by a multi-billion company. Some really questionable life decisions there.
Colin

Bad Dog
Thinking about Sony’s problems this gen, and the hope that they may have finally seen sense, I think the biggest problem is how they’ve handled Naughty Dog. They’re the biggest weapon in their armoury and yet they haven’t made anything all gen, apart from a completely unnecessary remake of The Last Of Us Part 1, a cancelled online game, and two seasons of TV (or at least their main guy went off to do that, which I’m sure was very distruptive).

Considering the show saw a massive dip in popularity in its second season it all seems particularly pointless, as that’s what was pushing the big focus on The Last Of Us. So all Sony got out of them was one remake and lots of talk about never doing a Part 3. I don’t know how things could’ve gone worse really.

Well, the initial response to Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet wasn’t great either. We don’t know much about it yet but everything they’ve said about it makes it sound like a pretty heavy narrative game, just like The Last Of Us, whereas what they showed looked kind of goofy and cheesy.

I don’t much care which it is, but presumably it’s not both. Also, the name is terrible. Especially as I thought it was Interstellar, until I just checked the spelling. So, does that mean we’re getting the Bestie Boys on the soundtrack or not?

We hear a lot about how Microsoft are bad at managing developers, being either too strict or too lax, but seems to me Sony is pretty bad at it too. They’ve let their most important developer waste a whole generation and it’s still very hard to get excited about what they’re cooking at the moment.
Wotan

Medium expectations
So what do we think is going to happen if Marathon is a hit? With a bit of luck that will save Bungie, at least for now, but what will it mean for Sony’s live service plans?

I can’t see it being a mega hit but how medium a hit is enough to keep these things running? It’s a problem we don’t see talked about much, where how big is big enough to keep the lights on? Helldivers 2 isn’t massive but it’s always in the top 30 on Steam, so I would say that was more than just a medium hit.

But if Marathon ends up averaging only top 50 or 100 is that enough? Or it is literally all or nothing for these games?
Lentz

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Mission complete
I beat Resident Evil Requiem today and just wanted to write in and say how much I’ve enjoyed. There’s so many terrible things going on at the moment, in the games industry and beyond, that sitting back and relaxing, by putting a hatchet through a zombie’s brainbox has been so cathartic.

I can see why you were slightly down on the ending, as it did seem to run out of steam a little in the last hour or so, but it’s a minor dip and the rest of it was 10/10 as far as I’m concerned. The Leon bits, and his dumb as rock one-liners, were amazing but I really liked Grace as well. Leon is like an amped up superhero but Grace is more normal and I think cutting between them really worked.

Resident Evil 4 is great but it can be… I wouldn’t say repetitive necessarily but definitely one note. Requiem mixes things up perfectly and no part of it goes on for too long and many times you’re left wanting more, even though you know that would probably not be for the best (even though I do agree Mercenaries is definitely needed).

It may only have been a dozen or so hours but I was completely entertained the whole time and haven’t enjoyed anything – game, movie, or gig – as much as this for ages. So yeah, a bit of positivity and the same old message: at the end of the day it’s only the games that matter.
Taylor Moon

Inbox also-rans
Do you think the first party Nintendo Direct could be on MAR10 Day? Which is next Tuesday? They have got a new Mario game to announce after all, and everyone assumes they were going to do a proper Direct this month.
Gracke

GC: We don’t think they’ve ever done one on Mario Day before but now you mention it, it does seem a possibility.

I’m so happy that Resident Evil Requiem has been a big hit. Fastest selling entry after 30 years is nothing to sniff. Now do the decent thing and announce the Dino Crisis remake!
Austin

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The small print
New Inbox updates appear every weekday morning, with special Hot Topic Inboxes at the weekend. Readers’ letters are used on merit and may be edited for length and content.

You can also submit your own 500 to 600-word Reader’s Feature at any time via email or our Submit Stuff page, which if used will be shown in the next available weekend slot.

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MORE: Games Inbox: Will Resident Evil Requiem get a Mercenaries mode?

MORE: Games Inbox: Is it worth buying a PS5 in 2026?

MORE: Games Inbox: When will the next Legend Of Zelda game be announced?

The Thursday letters page wonders when Pokémon Red and Blue will be remade in 3D, as one reader looks forward to Crimson Desert.

Games Inbox is a collection of our readers’ letters, comments, and opinions. To join in with the discussions yourself email gamecentral@metro.co.uk

Mercenary thoughts
I wonder why Capcom hasn’t said anything about The Mercenaries yet? Maybe they don’t want people to put off buying the game at launch but personally I’d feel a lot more confident about buying it if they did announce it.

I’m glad to see Resident Evil Requiem doing so well though and will definitely get it at some point this year. I’m also on board with a new Resident Evil 1 remake, as it’s always been inevitable. But you’ve got to wonder what Capcom is going to do after that?

Even if they remake Resident Evil 5 and 6, which I would advise against, they’re still on the verge of running out of anything to remake. We can see that they like a new Resident Evil game coming out every year, or at least two years, so what takes the place of the remakes?

I only see two obvious options: remake obscure games like the Game Boy game or Outbreak or create a new sub-series. I would’ve made this Revelations, as I liked the focus on co-op, but I’m assuming they didn’t sell that well or we’d already have more.

Maybe a series of prequels? If the main cast are getting old then maybe some stories of them as younger people? I don’t really understand what anyone in S.T.A.R.S. did before the zombie outbreak, so maybe they could explore that. Why did an ordinary city police force have such a highly trained team of special forces soldiers? Were they just giving out parking tickets before Resident Evil 1 happened?
Cranston

Simple explanation
I wonder how many cheering the death of Highguard (and all the job losses at the developer) have actually played the game? I played it and I thought it was good. Not mind-blowing or anything but something I enjoyed and which did have some good ideas.

Personally, I don’t think it failed for any reason than it looked and sounded kinda of generic. I really don’t think it was any more complicated than that. People getting upset about it being the mic drop at The Game Awards are the usual loud minority and I don’t think that affected anything.

It just took a bit of time and effort to get to know and appreciate, and I can totally understand that people don’t have much of the first to spare nowadays.
Bernie

Second thoughts
I completely support Sony’s idea not to release single-player games on the PC. Why they ever thought it would be a good idea I don’t know but, as most people have been saying all along, exclusives sell consoles. It’s why Nintendo is still in business, it’s why Xbox barely is, and it’s why everyone loved the PlayStation 4.

I’m genuinely surprised that they did a U-turn but I’m very glad that they’ve admitted the mistake. Assuming the rumours are true, I suppose, but I guess we’ll see.

It makes me wonder what else Sony might be having second thoughts on though. I imagine they took special note of Highguard’s failure but I wonder what the poor response to God Of War: Sons Of Sparta made them think? More first party games and less stuff farmed out to nobody developers?

I’d be feeling quite optimistic now, if it wasn’t for shutting down Bluepoint, which seems even more stupid given what we’re hearing now.
Goldface

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Whatever annoucement
I’ve got to say you are not exaggerating when you say companies are not putting an effort in anymore. Between Sony tweeting out Wolverine’s release date and whatever that Assassin’s Creed blog was supposed to be, things are being announced with all the enthusiasm of a bored office worker at 4.55pm on a Friday.

We’ve been hearing rumours about a Black Flag remake for years and all we get is a single picture that we’re not even sure is supposed to be there? And it’s not even a good picture, is what makes me laugh!

It’s pointless asking for E3 to come back but please, for pity’s sake, could publishers put some effort into pretending they want to be in the games making business? And by that I do not mean a super slick video were developers are reading things they’d never say in real-life off a board.
Scooter

The remake dimension
I have no problem with Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen being re-released on Switch, although personally I haven’t bought them. I’m curious, though, as to when the inevitable will happen and Nintendo will remake one of the older games in 3D (no I Choose You, Pikachu! doesn’t count).

I imagine the only reason it hasn’t happened so far is that they’ve been mocked for their bad graphics and bugs. But at some point Red and Blue is going to be remade to look like Winds and Waves, or one of the Legends games. It worked for Resident Evil, after all.
MonsterB

Unsatisfied customer
RE: Gambon and buying a PlayStation 5. I think it depends, as most of the best games on PlayStation 5 were cross-gen. If you have played the likes of God Of War, The Last Of Us, and Spider-Man 2 already on the PlayStation 4, and really don’t want to play them again, then it would seem a little pointless.

Resident Evil Requiem may run fine on Switch 2 but the PlayStation 5 is going to be a superior experience. Price wise, if you look at second-hand, you could probably get a PlayStation 5 and a PlayStation Portal for the same price as the Switch 2.

Then there is the game prices. For a tenner(-ish) a month you’d have a huge library of games on PlayStation whereas Nintendo you’ll be coughing up £60 a time to play something new. I have to admit I’ve been very disappointed with my Switch 2 so far and I couldn’t recommend it at it’s current price with the games that have been released.

Hated Donkey Kong Bananza (sorry) and I’m surprised Nintendo would release a game with such frequent frame rate and camera issues. Zelda was well worth playing again but not for the £500+ I’ve spent on it so far.
P B

Catch up
In response to Gambon asking about buying a Switch 2, I’d say that it’s an easy choice to make if you’ve never owned a Switch.

You’ll have instant access to an incredible library of games like Super Mario Odyssey, Zelda: Breath Of The Wild and Tears Of The Kingdom, and a host of amazing indie titles like Into The Breach, Hades etc. that are great for playing handheld.
drlowdon

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Better than fine
Nice pick up on the Switch 2 version of Resident Evil Requiem. I’m sure it’s something that a lot of buyers were looking at. I remember the ‘impossible ports’ of the OG Switch, like The Witcher 3 and Doom (Eternal) and despite them being amazing technical achievements… well, they were pretty dire compared to their PlayStation 4/Xbox One counterparts.

I haven’t seen the latest Resident Evil running on Switch 2, but my young cousin has Cyberpunk 2077 on his and I have compared it to my playthrough on my PlayStation 5. It’s worth remembering that two things can be true with these ports; If you’re not a big gamer they are good enough and remarkable for a handheld, however they are downgrades across the board on the PlayStation 5 versions.

Even to untrained eyes they are noticeable and whether you can put up with that is only something the individual can answer. I’m reminded of PlayStation 2 ports of Xbox or GameCube titles back in the mid-2000s (Max Payne anyone?), they’re fine as long as someone doesn’t show you the other version, after which it’s tough to go back.

I guess the biggest question was always not whether the Switch 2 could run these games… but whether the consoles primary gamers would actually buy enough third party titles to make the efforts worthwhile? The legacy of the OG Switch is that Nintendo taught its users not to expect good third party ports, so those gamers probably picked up other formats in the intervening years leaving just those who played Nintendo exclusively ready to upgrade to the new machine.

Turning that around will be a slow process and news that third party titles are continuing to sell below publisher expectations is a worry.
Marc

GC: Resident Evil Requiem on the Switch 2 seems to have sold well. It’s just difficult to tell, because a lot of people bought the trilogy bundle instead.

Inbox also-rans
Will you be reviewing Crimson Desert?
LoRd SiNn

GC: Yes. We’re also interested in reviewing crimson dessert. Red velvet cake is delish.

It is so weird to me to see people talk about having a pre-order and then worrying whether the game will be good or not. Why are you pre-ordering it then?
Fome

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The small print
New Inbox updates appear every weekday morning, with special Hot Topic Inboxes at the weekend. Readers’ letters are used on merit and may be edited for length and content.

You can also submit your own 500 to 600-word Reader’s Feature at any time via email or our Submit Stuff page, which if used will be shown in the next available weekend slot.

You can also leave your comments below and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter.

MORE: Games Inbox: Is it worth buying a PS5 in 2026?

MORE: Games Inbox: When will the next Legend Of Zelda game be announced?

MORE: Games Inbox: Does Resident Evil Requiem live up to the hype?

The Wednesday letters page defends Nintendo’s first party record on Switch 2, as one reader offers their opinion on the Marathon Sever Slam.

Games Inbox is a collection of our readers’ letters, comments, and opinions. To join in with the discussions yourself email gamecentral@metro.co.uk

Hardware options
I’ve been watching all the news about memory prices rising and the PlayStation 6 being pushed back to who knows when and it’s left me unsure as to what to do, because I currently only have a PlayStation 4. Naturally, I don’t want to buy a PlayStation 5 just as it’s replaced by a new machine. But at the same time I don’t, as you can tell, care about getting the latest hardware just as it comes out.

Curious to know if anyone else is in the same boat, as I’ve kind of got three options: skip the generation entirely, get a Switch 2 instead, or get a PlayStation 5 and just end up late to the PlayStation 6 as well.

I previously didn’t give much thought to the Switch 2 option but given how well things like Resident Evil Requiem have apparently turned out I’m thinking that might be the best bet. I’ve only had a Wii before, so it’d be kind of interesting to take a break from Sony while the bigger picture sorts itself out.
Gambon

Opposites attract
Really looking forward to playing Pokémon Pokopia tomorrow. It wasn’t on my radar at all until I saw all the positive reviews and now I’m really excited to spend the weekend with it, especially as it’s something my wife will almost certainly enjoy as well.

I got Resident Evil Requiem last week and loved that but at the end of the day it’s only 14 hours or so long and while I do want to replay it, it’s not something I want to do immediately. But a game that is apparently very long and involved, but also laid-back and ‘cosy’, sounds like the perfect follow-up.

Reminds me of the time Doom Eternal and Animal Crossing: New Horizons came out on the same day. Sometimes it’s nice to have a contrast, where the only similarity is that both games are good.
Carson

Not a sprint
Just passing on my thoughts about Marathon, I hope the full game sells well to keep Bungie alive, but I’m on the fence whether to buy it or not.

I played about six hours of the Marathon Server Slam. The base gameplay and shooting mechanics are great. I for one loved the graphic style too. However, I’m not sure I will bother with the full game due to it being an extraction shooter. For me, I just find it a bit too tedious; the missions are mundane. Each round you play is ~20 minutess and you only meet one or two teams of real players. I find it overly repetitive, similar to how Helldivers 2 was.

Now I don’t know if the full game will have deathmatch mode or something similar added, but if it does I would buy it nearly half to relive the old Halo 3 Slayer days.
Carlos

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Ooo, that’s a good one
I really enjoyed the new Indie World Direct. I’m delighted by Heave Ho getting a sequel, the first is probably one of the funniest games for multiplayer.

Getting a shadow drop for Blue Prince is very welcome too, I did a lot in that game through Game Pass but will double dip on Switch 2.

That wood game looked adorable and I’m keen for anything from the Guacamelee developers.

Unbelievably though, I’m most excited by a game that was only in the Japanese version of the Direct. Öoo got an unexpected release and wasn’t featured in the Western stream. I’ve had my eye out for this since it came out on PC, so an unexpected shadow drop on Switch is brilliant news and may sway me away from Resident Evil Requiem, even though I want to finish that before Pokopia.

I know everyone wants to hear from Nintendo about their first party plans, but it’s nice to have such an overwhelming selection of brilliant third party indie and AAA games to enjoy in the meantime.
Euclidian Boxes

GC: Thanks for mentioning that, we had no idea. It’s on the UK Nintendo eShop right now, so we’ll see if we can get a review done.

Something to look forward to
The behaviour of FromSoftware towards Bloodborne truly is bizarre. They keep saying the game is special to them and everything, but they won’t even release a PlayStation 5 patch?! How does that make any sense whatsoever?

Mind you, I don’t understand why anyone is pushing for a remake either. The game’s a PlayStation 4 title, how much better do you expect it to look? Especially as From won’t do the remake themselves, so it’ll be missing lots of little details and secrets that only they know about.

What we need is a sequel, and soon. For all we know that’s what they’re working on but the way he talks about it I don’t think there’s any chance the director would be anyone other than Hidetaka Miyazaki. But he’s doing The Duskbloods at the moment, which implies no serious work has started on Bloodborne 2 yet.

So… I look forward to playing it in 2031, I guess? Or maybe 2035 for the 20th anniversary? Let’s at least hope they can make it by then.
Gavin

User approval
Congratulations to Capcom for scoring the highest rated user score on Resident Evil Requiem. I’ve only played a bit of it and I’ve so far played through the introduction, dispatched some zombies as Leon, and woke up in a very creepy medical centre.

I have to also commend Capcom for changing up the behaviours of zombies. A zombie that sings creepily, a maid zombie cleaning the floor, and a chef zombie with a chainsaw. Very unique and it’s very well deserved to see Requiem dethrone Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. Which is the better game is a topic that will divide fans and gamers, but that’s a topic for another day.

Crimson Desert is set to release in over two weeks, and I honestly can say I have no idea where the reviews will land, especially with the embargo lifting one day before release and by then my pre-order will be all but ready to be dispatched. I truly hope this is the next Elden Ring and Zelda: Breath Of The Wild, rather than the next Forspoken. It looks insane and if the execution is right it could be the perfect title to hold us off until GTA 6 releases.

I’ve also heard some rumblings of Cory Barlog’s next game. Starring Faye as the lead character and utilising a Devil May Cry style of combat gameplay. It’s certainly what I didn’t expect and didn’t ask for. But it’s unconfirmed for now, so I’ll wait until Cory clears the rumours up. But it seems quite a disappointment to me. I would have preferred something fresh instead. Not a live service title per se, but maybe an original story and a new set of characters.

Faye is only in God Of War Ragnarök for 10 minutes and considering I only saw her once in the game, when I came to her section, I don’t see a full title warranted. Freya would have been a better choice. Perhaps a prequel and her journey up to the events of the 2018 game. She’s one of my favourite characters, so I would have loved to see her have her own game. No one asked for Faye. But we’ll see and wait for confirmation.

On a final note, I’m absolutely stoked for the Fatal Frame 2 demo that drops in two days. I really hope this works as well as Silent Hill 2 and Resident Evil Requiem has. Then we can get the first and third games remade and on PC. Fingers crossed.
Shahzaib Sadiq

Regular event
The Indie World was fine and all but I can’t believe they couldn’t have found a fair few more games to promote. 15 minutes seems kind of pointless. If you’re going to try and make people sit down and watch a showcase at least make a proper go of it. 15 minutes is okay if it’s just one game but either this needed longer or they should do it on a more regular basis, like once every month.

I would be happy with that. I buy most indie games on Switch because it’s more convenient to play them like that, but while Nintendo does more to promote them than Sony it still doesn’t do much.
Tosh

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What’s the big secret?
Whilst I understand some of the frustration towards Nintendo I do feel it is somewhat overblown. I know people are keen for news on their big franchises such as Zelda and Mario. I’m in the same boat, myself. However, since the Switch 2 launched there’s many Nintendo exclusives that have released or are due soon, Mario Kart World, Donkey Kong Bananza, Drag x Drive, Kirby Air Riders, Fast Fusion, two Pokémon games, Metroid Prime 4, Yoshi And The Mysterious Book, and Hyrule Warriors: Age Of Imprisonment.

Granted, some of these are cross-generation and not all have been a hit. I get that the quality of certain games hasn’t been up the usual standard of what Nintendo usually produce and that gamers want to know what they are planning next. However, Nintendo have always seemed to keep things close to their chest and announce games only a short time from their launch date.

It’s still early days in the Switch 2 lifecycle and I’d argue they have been far more active in releasing new exclusives than Sony or Microsoft have been this generation.
matc7884

GC: You’re right but at the same time Nintendo has never been quite this secretive before, without an obvious reason. It’s not even clear whether they’re consciously doing things differently or if they’re just letting the chips fall where they may.

Inbox also-rans
It’s so weird to me that NieR:Automata is getting an Overwatch crossover and we still haven’t heard a peep about any kind of sequel. That game will be 10 years old next year!
Focus

Would just like to see I got Minishoot’ Adventures a year or so ago and really loved it. Would definitely recommend it to others now it’s on console.
Skimboat

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The small print
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MORE: Games Inbox: When will the next Legend Of Zelda game be announced?

MORE: Games Inbox: Does Resident Evil Requiem live up to the hype?

MORE: Games Inbox: Is Resident Evil Requiem worth getting?

The Monday letters page thinks there’s less crossover between console and PC gamers than publishers pretends, as one reader tries to imagine a Capcom console.

Games Inbox is a collection of our readers’ letters, comments, and opinions. To join in with the discussions yourself email gamecentral@metro.co.uk

Evil weekend
Been playing Resident Evil Requiem over the weekend and I’m loving it so far. I was surprised how relatively serious it was at first and then the bit with Leon and the chainsaws is… I think that may be one of my top five Resi moments ever.

Grace’s longer section after that was amazing too and I’ve just finished that and very much looking forward to the rest of the game. I think it’s obvious the game has lived up to the hype and I’m only sorry it’s not going to last me that long, but there’s no way to make a game of this intensity last forever.

Resident Evil games have neve been long and they’re definitely not going to get any longer given how expensive games are to make now. Plus, the appeal would probably wear off if they were 60 hour epics. I mean, how many times can you go searching for weird-looking keys?!

But it gets top marks from me so far: great graphics, great atmosphere, and Leon’s gameplay (and one-liners) are great. Roll on Resident Evil 10!
Bouncer

Each to their own
So just finished Resi, 12 hours to complete. And while it was good I was left a little disappointed as I’d been looking forward to it for a while. I really enjoyed the Grace parts, especially with my headphones on. I did also really like 7 and Village and the 2, 3, and 4 remakes.

However, I did find this to be a step backwards, personally. I also found it to be a little bit grey in places, taking me back to Xbox 360 days. I’m glad I got it on disc, as I can now trade it in. I will say I’m still happy I played it and I did enjoy it, but it’s got me in the mood to play through The Last Of Us again now, which In my opinion is a better game.
P B

On a roll
Capcom are on great form recently. Resident Evil Requiem looks really good, but it’ll have to wait for me, I’m mid-game replaying the great Resident Evil 4 remake again, which brings me to… Dragon’s Dogma 2, another great game.

I played the first game all those years ago and while the base game was good, the Dark Arisen DLC made it better. It was brutal! I was hoping for similar DLC to be released for Dragon’s Dogma 2, but it appears Capcom have forgotten about it.

Damn shame really. It would be great to go back to Bitterback Isle on the PlayStation 5 but it appears the ferrywoman on the pier is busy elsewhere…
Chevy Malibu (PSN ID)

GC: They do run hot and cold on that franchise in a very peculiar manner.

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Pre-console pre-order
There is a Kickstarter to bring Bit.Trip ReRunner to the Switch 2 currently live on said crowdfunding website.

I first played the games on the Wii, where you play Commander Video jumping, dodging, and kicking to a funky soundtrack. It’s currently a third funded with 16 days left to go. If you back it at $25 dollars and above you get a Switch 2 code for the ReRunner game and your name in the credits of the Switch 2 version. There are optional add-ons for the previous games on Steam and PlayStation 5 at half price their usual store prices.

On PlayStation 5 there is only one game available but on Steam four different Bit.Trip games are available at 50% off to help fund bringing ReRunner to Switch 2. I’ve backed at the $25 level and also added an add-on for one of the other games. I haven’t got a Switch 2 yet, but when I do the code will be sitting there waiting for me.
Andrew J.

Second sequel
A couple of people wrote in about it and whether Kitana is in the original Mortal Kombat film. I picked up the Mortal Kombat Legacy Collection really cheap (massive nostalgia) and it got me in the mood for the films. Kitana is in the first film a lot and plays a major part in the plot and Talisa Soto is gorgeous too.

I’m also really looking forward to the Karl Urban Mortal Kombat 2 film in the summer, as everything he is in is usually great.
Simon

Very important people
Is there many electronic industries where we seem to take an obsessive interest in who the new boss is, etc.? Do we buy a mobile phone and wonder who is in charge of Motorola or Nokia? Do we buy a TV from LG or Hisense and wonder whom is on their board? Or do we buy a PC and really care about Asus, Nvidia changing their boss?

Personally, as someone who has owned an Xbox Series X for four years, I could not care less who the Xbox CEO is. Or whether she likes or plays games; why is that important to me? Saying that though, I think Peter Moore was great for Xbox, but was he a gamer? I doubt it.

And I totally agree with your comments in one article expressing reservation about the new CEO trying to appeal to gamers online. One suspects that some of it feels forced and she would be best not bothering and focusing on strengthening the Xbox brand.

Why does she need to bother but instead make decisions that will put the fun back into Xbox and make it a strong contender again. Perhaps price cuts for Xbox Series X/S before next gen Xbox arrives and free multiplayer for Series consoles.

Regarding exclusives, I’m content with what’s been on offer from Xbox, because I only have so much time and money to play them. For example, this year I will get Resident Evil Requiem and GTA 6, which leaves little room for anything else.

So, in summary I would rather most business heads were kept in the background and allow the product to do the talking. Maybe that was an issue with Phil Spencer as Xbox seemed at times to be more about him and not the consoles itself.
Stephen

Capcom Entertainment System
Great to see Resident Evil Requiem being launched multiplatform, scoring high and selling tremendously well. Even on their worst days Capcom makes decent games, a standard they’ve maintained since the ‘80s in the heyday of arcades.

When the Street Fighter franchise was at its most popular in the ‘90s/‘00s Sony (and Sega before) must have been thanking their lucky stars that Capcom never entertained the idea of entering the console market. If they had, they would have truly ruffled a few feathers and who knows how the market would look today.
Sam

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Separate formats
Seeing Ishi’s comment that Sony exclusives should remain exclusive I had some thoughts.

Personally, as a PC exclusive gamer, I think Sony (and Microsoft) porting games to PC is a good thing. But then I would say that I guess!

They do have very different strategies – Microsoft release games on PC at the same time as Xbox. Whereas Sony only release games on PC a few years after the original release, where, let’s face it, if you haven’t bought a PlayStation to get a specific game by that point, you are very unlikely to!

I personally am extremely unlikely to buy a console. I have already spent enough on my PC and its various peripherals that I’m not going to invest in another ecosystem. I also have a huge amount of games to choose from. I have literally hundreds of games I have never even downloaded thanks to Epic giveaways and Humble Bundles and the like.

There are games in the Sony ecosystem I would like to play, sure! But there isn’t a single one I would buy a whole new console for. I am currently playing Spider-Man on PC. I’m a huge Spidey fan and it looks fantastic in super-ultrawide 5120x1440p.

But if it hadn’t been released on PC I simply wouldn’t have ever played it. I also have The Last Of Us and Uncharted on my Steam wishlist that I will buy eventually, and if Wolverine ever comes to PC (and if GC reviews it well) I will probably buy that.

I honestly don’t think there is a huge crossover between PC gaming and console owning. Most PC gamers I know, if they do have a console, will usually have a Switch to play Mario Kart with their kids.

Obviously my view is entirely biased though! So perhaps take it with a pinch of salt.

Whatever you game on, enjoy!
The Dude Abides

Inbox also-rans
Just beaten got to Racoon City in Resident Evil Requiem and that whole bit was great. Fantastic game so far and I think the two character thing works really well. It’s like a best of hits for the whole series.
Toni

A Pokémon game with good graphics? What an incredible innovation that no one could possibly have anticipated. Let’s just hope that trailer is accurate to what it will actually look like.
Ant

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The small print
New Inbox updates appear every weekday morning, with special Hot Topic Inboxes at the weekend. Readers’ letters are used on merit and may be edited for length and content.

You can also submit your own 500 to 600-word Reader’s Feature at any time via email or our Submit Stuff page, which if used will be shown in the next available weekend slot.

You can also leave your comments below and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter.

MORE: Games Inbox: Is Resident Evil Requiem worth getting?

MORE: Games Inbox: Would you pay £90 for GTA 6?

MORE: Games Inbox: Will Xbox start having exclusives again?

GameCentral plays the Nintendo Switch 2 version of Resident Evil Requiem and is shocked at how it compares to the PlayStation 5 edition.

Resident Evil Requiem, the ninth mainline entry in the illustrious survival horror series, is out today and, surprisingly, it’s available for the Switch 2, as well as the PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC. Mind you, Resident Evil does have a long history with Nintendo hardware, particularly from the GameCube era, when it debuted the Resident Evil 1 remake, Resident Evil 4, and Resident Evil Zero. Most people still probably think of the PlayStation first, when it comes to the franchise, but Nintendo second.

However, from the Wii onwards, Nintendo hardware has always been several steps behind the PlayStation, in terms of raw power, and so it’s been impossible to port games to Nintendo consoles in the same generation. We would’ve assumed, without question, that was also true of Resident Evil Requiem, because it is a great looking game and the Switch 2 is nowhere near as powerful as the PlayStation 5… or so we thought.

Although our main review of Requiem is on the PlayStation 5, we were also sent the Switch 2 version and we are genuinely shocked at how good it is. In terms of content it’s identical and in terms of graphics… it’s definitely not as good but the differences are mild enough that a casual observer is unlikely to notice the difference.

We want to be clear: if you care about playing a game with the best graphics possible then the Switch 2 is not the choice you should be making. However, it does have obvious advantages in terms of portability, so that’s what you need to factor into your decision, when balancing up what version to get.

We’re not going to pretend to be technical experts but the moment you play Requiem on Switch 2 the compromises are obvious to a veteran gamer, as it’s not a consistent 60fps. Requiem is an action game, especially when you’re playing as Leon, but we’ve all been playing 30fps action titles for decades, right up until the start of this generation, so it’s hardly an unforgiveable flaw, especially in a slower paced game like Resident Evil.

There’s also something a little off with the lighting, where it seems less realistic when interacting with moving objects, and we assume the resolution is being upscaled using DLSS technology but the latter isn’t obvious at all and the game still looks fantastic.

We’ve already discussed Nintendo’s strange reticence to talk about the Switch 2’s power, with not only no tech demos but no first party game to act as a demonstration of the console’s abilities. Normally when a console maker doesn’t talk about a feature it means it’s below par but it’s perfectly in keeping with Nintendo’s contrariness that their silence actually means the opposite.

The opening hour of Requiem features two short sections in a busy city street and while it’s not quite as photorealistic on Switch 2 as it is on PlayStation 5 – with simpler object models and textures – it is still far better than you’d ever expect. Things are even more impressive when you get inside a building, as the more controlled environments look almost identical to the PlayStation, with only characters’ hair, especially Grace’s, looking noticeably different.

Nothing is quite identical, if you start running side-by-side videos, but it’s nothing that any normal person is likely to recognise. The only time the Switch 2 does show its hand is in terms of the frame rate, which is unlocked – so it varies from a full 60fps to below 30fps, especially in handheld mode. This can occasionally cause problems when there’s a lot going on on-screen but even the PlayStation 5 had the occasional hiccup, particularly in one particular boss battle (that we won’t specify for spoiler reasons).

Overall, it’s a superb port and alongside Star Wars Outlaws and Final Fantasy 7 Remake shows that PlayStation 5 games are perfectly viable on the Switch 2 and, depending on how you prefer to experience your video games, potentially superior – thanks to the portability.

Given these releases, and upcoming titles such as Elden Ring, it would seem that any game that doesn’t rely heavily on 60fps is a good candidate for being ported to the Switch 2. The only problem is the price, since Requiem costs exactly the same as the other console versions.

Ports of Resident Evil 7 and Resident Evil Village were also released today and while we haven’t played them we assume they work even better, as they were on the PlayStation 4. They are cheaper than Requiem but still more expensive than the same games on other formats, where they benefit from years’ worth of cumulative discounts.

We do feel Capcom is missing a trick by not charging slightly less (perhaps they could’ve tried talking Nintendo into subsidising them) as that would likely turn even more people into picking the Switch 2 version. That’s not the situation at the moment though, which means the choice is yours, between a slightly compromised portable edition and a more graphically advanced home version.

It’s an interesting choice to have to make and given most ordinary people aren’t going to see any difference in the graphics it means that, so as long as these ports sell, you should see a lot more in the future, from every publisher.

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MORE: How to watch Pokémon Presents and what could be shown for the 30th anniversary

MORE: Hogwarts Legacy 2 and Rocksteady’s Batman hinted at for 2028 by Warner

MORE: Demon Tides review – the best 3D platformer of the year

The Wednesday letters page thinks the concept of Xbox handhelds may already be dead, as one reader looks forward to a Nintendo Direct in March.

Games Inbox is a collection of our readers’ letters, comments, and opinions. To join in with the discussions yourself email gamecentral@metro.co.uk

Value for money
It always makes me laugh when fans complain about pricing because you can always guarantee that they will pay whatever the publisher charges, because if they care enough to complain it means they already like the game and they’re going to do anything that’s needed to get it.

I’m not at all surprised that Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen are bestsellers before they’re even out. A vocal minority might have complained about the prices, and the general unfairness of it all, but for most people if you like a thing, especially a game that’s going to give you dozens, if not hundreds, of hours of pleasure the upper limit of what you’ll pay is very high.

That’s why I think Rockstar are going to push for a higher price for GTA 6, because they know people will pay. And not only are they right but I don’t even know if it’s not worth the extra money, considering how long GTA 5 lasted. The latest rumour, which I realise might not have been true, was £90 and I admit I’d pay that.

For over a decade of gameplay and the best graphics ever made? Plus a no doubt amazing open world and who knows what else that they haven’t revealed yet? I’d probably go as far as £150 without blinking. I’d probably not buy another game for months, but then I probably won’t be playing another one for that long anyway.
Flashman

Minimum effort
I have to agree, that was truly a weird way to announce Wolverine’s release date. We’ve been guessing what it’ll be for months now and they reveal it with one low effort tweet? They didn’t even bother to make any new artwork for it or anything.

I’ll be there to buy the game, day one, but please, Sony, can we not have a bit of showmanship here? A boring blog post (which we didn’t even get this time) and an overproduced video every six months is just not lighting my fire.

GC is right when it talks about the excitement of E3 being something we all miss, especially you see something like this being the absolute opposite.
Focus

Downhill run
As much as I’m looking forward to the new Resident Evil, I’m curious what happens if Silent Hill Townfall is good as well. If it is, that will be a three game streak that Capcom themselves would be proud of. And if the Silent Hill 1 remake is good as well, which I imagine it will be, Silent Hill could end up with one of the best runs in modern game. Which is weird for a series that has a pretty low ceiling for how popular it can be.

As a fan I couldn’t be happier but I’m curious as to whether it’s profitable for them. They’re good-looking games and don’t seem cheap, even though I’m sure they’re not the most expensive games either. But if they’re able to continue with this level of success I’ll be over the moon, especially because of what that implies about other mid-budget games in general.
Rhino

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Pointed mystery
I’ve been playing Psychonauts 2 recently on my gaming PC, which is really good (and also funny) and I have worked out how you earn Xbox reward points for playing a PC game for more than 15 minutes a day. With Psychonauts 2 you go into the options on the PC version and sign into your Xbox account and save the details.

When you play Psychonauts 2 for more than 15 minutes a day you get the reward points and also when you unlock an achievement on PC in Steam you also unlock an achievement on the Xbox. Because I had already played some of the game on my Xbox before I played the PC version I got nine achievements unlocked on my PC as soon as I logged into my Xbox account on the options of the PC game.

Psychonauts 2 is a Microsoft game so whether to get the reward points you have to use a Microsoft game on PC and then log into your Xbox account, like I did with Psychonauts 2, perhaps for you to get the points. Mystery solved!
Andrew J.

Rest in peace
Apologises to anyone that liked the game but I really don’t think Prototype is worth bringing back. It was kind of popular because its main character was a complete edgelord and open world games were still fairly new at that point, but it was never great even then. And if the sequel flopped… well, if people didn’t like it then I can’t see why they’d suddenly be turned onto it now.

I know nostalgia is a hell of a drug but is it really that strong for things that weren’t even that good? Surely they have to be positive memories for you to care, not just the fact that you recognise something. The game’s nearly two decades old, just let it rest.
Poindexter

Ex-handhold box
Crazy to see Xbox falling apart like this, but I can’t pretend it’s a surprise in any way. They’ve been a dead man walking for years now and Phil Spencer should’ve gone at least five years ago. I read today that the creator of the original Xbox thinks that the new boss has been put in charge to wind things down and find an excuse to give it up but I’m not sure I believe that.

Tech companies never usually need an excuse to drop a product, no matter how much money they’ve pumped into it, so I don’t see why they’d need to put on a performance about it.

My guess is that they want to use it to promote AI in some way, because that’s all Microsoft is about nowadays, and if that doesn’t work out then maybe they’ll decide to call it a day.

I think they will go ahead with the next gen PC idea, but I imagine the handheld Xbox idea is dead now. The Xbox ROG Ally was all Sarah Bond’s idea, apparently, and Phil Spencer was always the one talking up the idea of handhelds in general.

My prediction is they’ll ditch that idea, and downgrade and eventually shut down Game Pass. Then they’ll try and make the rest profitable but if that doesn’t work they’ll lose interest, and that’ll be it.

I’d bet the farm they never do exclusives again though, not when the main Microsoft dude hates them. He’s really the one in charge now and we already know he doesn’t care about games at all.
Onyx

Series Slim
So what do we think will be the first thing to be shut down at Xbox, following the new boss taking over? It’ll probably be a couple of studios, but I think Game Pass is probably not long for this world now. It was a gamble that didn’t pay off and it was all Phil Spencer’s big idea, and that’s just the sort of thing new bosses try to get rid of early on.

Perhaps the most important question though is what will her big new idea be? AI seems too obvious a guess so maybe a new model of console, like an Xbox Series X Slim, that isn’t as compromised as the Xbox Series S? A better naming system for their hardware would probably be a good idea too.
Gamph

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Still waiting
Very interesting article on Monolith Soft and why Nintendo isn’t pushing the graphics of the Switch 2. It’s crazy that all the best-looking games on the system are not anything to do with Nintendo. I’m very curious to see how Resident Evil Requiem turns out because I never would’ve imagined a game like that would’ve worked on the Switch 2, but everything I’ve heard says it works very well.

The problem is though, since I also own a PlayStation 5, there’s no way I’d buy that or probably any other third party game on the Switch 2, so it’s kind of a wasted effort. I get that some people will only have one console, but what I really want to see is how far Nintendo can push the console.

I agree whatever the first Switch 2-only game is will probably involve Monolith Soft but who can guess what that’d be? It’s probably too early for Zelda but would it still be open world or maybe even a new IP. We’ve been making guesses like this for years now and we never get anywhere.

I just hope we have a really good Nintendo Direct next month and the Switch 2 can catch up with itself, because at the moment it feels like it’s just treading water and all because of a lack of information and even a lack of any way to make an informed guess of what to expect next.
Gifford

Inbox also-rans
To Lumpy, who claimed to be a nerd in yesterday’s Inbox… evidently they’re not quite nerdy enough! Kitana was indeed in the first Mortal Kombat movie is 1995, played by Talisa Soto. She had a pretty key role!
Bingo Rose

Now that FireRed and LeafGreen have been released on the Switch eShop, I can now throw out my complete-in-box copies of said games.
LeeDappa

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The small print
New Inbox updates appear every weekday morning, with special Hot Topic Inboxes at the weekend. Readers’ letters are used on merit and may be edited for length and content.

You can also submit your own 500 to 600-word Reader’s Feature at any time via email or our Submit Stuff page, which if used will be shown in the next available weekend slot.

You can also leave your comments below and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter.

MORE: Games Inbox: Will Xbox start having exclusives again?

MORE: Games Inbox: Is Phil Spencer going good news for Xbox?

MORE: Games Inbox: Why did Sony shut down Bluepoint Games?

The Wednesday letters page looks forward to a Pokémon Gen X reveal this month, as one reader imagines a Half-Life x Portal crossover game.

Games Inbox is a collection of our readers’ letters, comments, and opinions. To join in with the discussions yourself email gamecentral@metro.co.uk

Top of the list
I realise it’s pointless talking about any kind of most anticipated game this year, when GTA 6 is out in November, but there are honestly a bunch of games I’m looking forward to more. I’m sure GTA 6 will look good, but I can tell from the trailer that it’s going to be the same old, same old.

I don’t hate it, but I’d much rather play Saros, Marvel’s Wolverine, and even Fable has me more intrigued. But the game I’m most looking forward to this year is Resident Evil Requiem, which is handy as it’s out soon.

I don’t think there’s any question that it’ll be worth getting, given the unanimous good previews and Capcom seeming to be on top of their game. The marketing has been good, without giving too much away, and I like the idea of the two characters being very different. I just hope I don’t get spoiled on anything this week, because I see copies are already out in the wild.
Damon

Empty shelves
Although I agree with the reader who said that the PlayStation 6 being delayed till 2029 is overall a good thing I think he’s overlooking the fact that if there’s no RAM – or hard drives – that means no PlayStation 5s either. We could be looking at a bit of a gaming apocalypse, where there’s no new consoles to sell and they can only sell games to their existing base.

That’s not good for any company that wants their graphs to go up but it’s probably especially bad for Nintendo, who have only just launched a new console, so there aren’t that many Switch 2 owners in the world. It’d be an understatement to say that increasing the price doesn’t seem like a good idea in that situation.

But it’s difficult. It’s not actually the companies’ fault but I bet they want us to pay for the trouble anyway. They’ll be gutted to miss out on all the new business GTA 6 will bring too.
Hammeriron

Still unbeaten
While we’re talking about so many anniversaries this year there is another one, although compared to Zelda or Resident Evil I guess it’s not that big. But I was surprised and alarmed to find that Uncharted 4 is 10 years old in May. In my mind it’s a relatively new game but… I guess not.

It is really good though, even though I don’t really approve of the more grounded, non-supernatural approach. The bit around the middle, in Madagascar, is still absolutely peak action gaming and I’ve not seen anything since best it.

Worse thing is though I’ve barely seen anything even try. Only Uncharted (and the money Sony give them) can do things this well and I’m shocked there’s been no attempt to make a new game since or for anyone to outdo them. Maybe the new Tomb Raider can take the crown, but they’d have to be doing really well to get that good.
Grackle

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Slow-motion storytelling
Since it’s cheap, I might check out ChromaGun 2, as I’ve never heard of the series before. But I do miss Portal. People have been talking about Valve not making games anymore, and whether they might come back with Half-Life 3, but I’ve never heard any talk of a Portal 3. I think that’s the one that really suffered from everyone leaving, because you can recruit people that make first person shooters pretty easy but people that can write comedy of the quality of Portal aren’t exactly common.

I always imagined there’d be a crossover game where Gordon Freeman meets Chell, which I think they were building up to at one point, but I really don’t know if they’d do that now. Even Half-Life: Alyx was six years ago now, so they’re not exactly rushing this, but I don’t have any faith it’s going to happen.

You need a bunch of games to build up to it and at this rate they’ll have just about got the prologue done when Gabe (and me) dies of old age.
Hake

Pre-existing prequel
As much as I’m looking forward to Resident Evil Requiem this month, I was secretly hoping that Capcom would re-release Resident Evil Outbreak in some way, to help promote it and to show who Alyssa Ashcroft is, because I’m sure many people do not know.

I always wanted to play the game online, but it didn’t have that feature when it was released in Europe, so I never got the chance. (I know the sequel had online but I didn’t have a PlayStation 2 by that point.) Maybe it was rubbish but that’s not what I hear and it always sounded a lot more interesting than the other multiplayer Resident Evil games Capcom has done.
Scooter

Generational interest
I hope that Gen X of Pokémon does get announced this month. By which I mean I hope they reveal some games that are actually worthy of the legacy and look like some actual money has been put into them. People are trying to guess what Nintendo will make their big Christmas game, but I think it’ll be Pokémon Wind and Waves, or whatever it’s actually called.

I feel nowadays that Pokémon games just come and go without as much fanfare as they used to, partly because there’s so many of them nowadays and only the uber fans can keep up with it all. It all seems kind of sectioned off from all the other Nintendo first party games, which is why I think Z-A didn’t really make much of an impression last year.

The 30th anniversary is going to put a lot of eyes onto it this year, so this is moment to go all out and make something more than an easy cash-in. It feels like that’s what Pokémon has been for so long now and it’s a shame because I have very fond memories of playing it as a kid and now my kid is the right age to give it a go. But they know the toys and the cartoon but not really the games.

I don’t like to push thing on them, and I’m actually interested to see what they pick up on and what they’re aware of and not. I’ll see if they’re interested in the Pokémon Presents when it gets announced and what they think of whatever’s in that.
Belsh

Twin Snakes
Never mind delisting PlayStation 3 games as soon as a new release is announced, I didn’t realise the new Metal Gear Solid Collection wasn’t remasters. So it’s just a straight port of Metal Gear Solid 4? That is disappointing, to say the least.

With this and the Rainbow Six Siege crossover Konami are clearly building up to doing more with Snake and co. but I can’t imagine it going well. For better and worse there was just too much of Hideo Kojima in those games and trying to copying him, or not making it weird like he would, both seem like a bad idea.
Iceman

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Smash Street Fighter
With all the success Nintendo have had with their Super Smash Bros. games, why haven’t Capcom done something similar with the Street Fighter games?

It would still play as a traditional Street Fighter game (1v1 on a 2D plane) but have all fighters with all their individual fighter colours, outfits, all variations of their stages, music, backgrounds, bonus stages, fighting styles, and so on and would surely be amazeballs!

Maybe in order to not overwhelm the player with all that content, these could be either unlocked through gameplay or (the most-likely route of) DLC.

I have been re-playing the Switch version of Street Fighter 30th Anniversary recently and thought it’d be great if all these games could merge into one.

The PS1 version of Street Fighter Alpha 3 remains my favourite Street Fighter game to this day, which sadly isn’t in this compilation.

I’m not sure if to include the Marvel or other non-Capcom characters for fear of the licensing.
LeeDappa

GC: We’re not really sure what you’re after, you mean just more guest characters? Between them, Street Fighter 5 and 6 have featured fighters from games including Final Fight, Rival Schools, and SNK’s Fatal Fury. We’re sure there’ll be more over time.

Inbox also-rans
I’m still trying to get over the idea of paying £12.1 million for a Pokémon card. What would you even do with it? I’ve seen the card and more than half of it’s Japanese writing, which I’m will to bet Logan Paul can’t read.
Badgerman

Just beat Donkey Kong Bananza. That was an excellent final boss fight and last couple of levels! The game had some ups and downs but overall, really liked it.
Pinky

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The small print
New Inbox updates appear every weekday morning, with special Hot Topic Inboxes at the weekend. Readers’ letters are used on merit and may be edited for length and content.

You can also submit your own 500 to 600-word Reader’s Feature at any time via email or our Submit Stuff page, which if used will be shown in the next available weekend slot.

You can also leave your comments below and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter.

MORE: Games Inbox: When will the PS6 be out?

MORE: Games Inbox: When will Super Smash Bros. be on Nintendo Switch 2?

MORE: Games Inbox: Was the latest PS5 State of Play a good one?

The Monday letters page realises that the next gen Xbox will be able to play PS5 games, as one reader hopes Bluepoint Games isn’t working on God Of War.

Games Inbox is a collection of our readers’ letters, comments, and opinions. To join in with the discussions yourself email gamecentral@metro.co.uk

Nintendo logic
So, Sony has had a successful State of Play, their best in years I’d say, and Xbox’s was good too (I’ll be honest, I can’t remember anything about it, but I remember the buzz was decent). That means that Nintendo is the next one to have a showcase, but we still don’t have a date for it.

I’ve seen some rumours that it’ll be March, but I feel that’s just the obvious guess anyway. But my question is what will they be talking about? All we know about from them at the moment is Fire Emblem and Splatoon Raiders and while I don’t think many people here would consider them a particularly big deal you just don’t know with Nintendo.

But surely they must be preparing to announce at least one new triple-A game (or whatever you’d call them with Nintendo). It’s probably not Animal Crossing or Zelda, because the timings don’t work out, so to me the two obvious options are Super Mario or Smash Bros.

You might say Mario is the most obvious, but Nintendo has been so weird about it so far I don’t think there’s any guarantee they’ll suddenly become predictable. My bet would be on Smash Bros., with some new characters and other minor new content. Not the most thrilling choice, in my opinion, but the logical choice. I would expect it to be the big game for Christmas.
Ishi

Perfect prelude
There was a lot of good stuff at the State of Play but it didn’t shake my opinion that Resident Evil Requiem is the most exciting game at the moment and the one I’m most looking forward to. The new footage looked great and so has everything else before it. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a game not make a single mistake before release and always look like a must have.

If it turns out to be a dud after all this I will actually be really impressed that Capcom has been able to hide it so well. I don’t expect that will be the case though and while I’ll still wait for the reviews I’m predicting this will be one of the best game of this year and probably the whole generation. Don’t let me down now!
Purple Ranger

Stuck in Sparta
I tend to agree with the Reader’s Feature about God Of War. Sons Of Sparta looks bad and a remake trilogy does sound like a big wasted effort, given those earlier games were nothing like the new ones in terms of gameplay or story. It’d be tragic if Santa Monica Studio were wasting their time on it, but it’d be just as bad if it were Bluepoint Games, doing it – which is something I’ve heard fans talking about.

It’s not that remaking the game itself is a terrible idea, it’s just that by doing that you’re locking out talented developers for five years or more. Developers that could be busy moving the franchise forward or just generally not redoing something that already exists and you can play as remasters. I just don’t see any good outcome, because if they get a no-name dev, like with Sons Of Sparta, then that drastically decreases the odds that it will be any good.
Focus

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Two Keanus
I didn’t think much of the state of play. The hair on the back of my neck when the John Wick trailer started playing. It would have been obvious to anyone that has watched at least one of the films it was a John Wick game.

But that’s tempered by the fact that I’m an old gamer that remembers when movie tie-in was just another way of saying a game was a poor quality, rushed cash-in. Remember The Matrix game?

GoldenEye 007 was the first game I remember that was based on a film that turned out to actually be good.
TomTom

For the love of the game
Interesting comparison of Sony and Valve’s attitude in the Reader’s Feature at the weekend. I would not have thought of the comparison myself, but it does work. I think the problem for both companies is that ordinary games – basically anything but a mega hit – have become too small for them to bother with.

This seems a mistake to me though, as in Sony’s case they lose out on a key incentive in buying their console. But for both companies it’s a waste of talent and knowledge that has taken years to build up and is no longer being used properly. As long as a profit is made why not make them anyway, for the kudos alone?

That worked for Astro Bot, which wasn’t a big hit but made people think better of Sony for a while. Soras will probably be similar, but I feel we need a lot more of that, multiple times a year.
Tenna

Only on PlayStation
Perhaps I’m just being slow here, but I realised that if the next gen Xbox is just a PC in console’s clothing, as it were, then that means that all PlayStation 5 games will, eventually, be on Xbox. I guess it doesn’t really mean much, since Microsoft doesn’t get a cut of the sales or anything, but we may finally have our all-in-one single format (except for Nintendo, but that was never going to happen).

For years that seemed like something to really wish for but now that it’s actually close to happening it feels like nobody will actually care. In the end, the PC has been the single format all along (especially for those using emulators) and Microsoft putting the Xbox logo on a different machine isn’t going to change that.

I think we’ll soon begin to realise that, in terms of consoles, single format domination is a bad thing. People are upset about Sony not releasing more first party games but now that the Xbox has slipped into irrelevance they have no incentive to change.

Why spend all that money when you’ve already proved it doesn’t matter to whether your game Is a success or not? Sony won by doing nothing so there’s no incentive to do more next time.
Tom Meadows

Last gen
I’ve been watching Nioh 3 a bit on Twitch and wondered whether or not it should have been a dual console release. I can’t see any reason it couldn’t work on the PlayStation 4. Surely they could lower the resolution or whatever it was that stopped a version on PlayStation 4. It seems like Sony left money on the table with this decision. To me at least it still looks the same as Nioh 1 and 2.

Pretty sure there’s still millions of PlayStation 4 users out there.
Bobwallett

GC: It’s not Sony’s game.

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Positive recap
I’m still thinking about Thursday’s State Of Play, because it was more than a few steps ahead of the usual disappointments that we are usually served by Sony. It absolutely began with a bang. Death Stranding 2 on PC; Ghost Of Yōtei: Legends in March; Kena 2; the reveal of a John Wick game, with Keanu Reeves returning in the role of the Baba Yaga. Silent Hill Townfall was revealed and it’s first person; that was quite the surprise. It’s also set in an island inspired by Scotland, so that’s a nice change of pace to see locations from Japan to the UK being used. It’s a very fresh take on the series.

Metal Gear Solid 4 is free from PlayStation 3 jail. I’ve wanted for this for many years and to see it finally happen is just unbelievable. Saros continues to look stunning and I can’t wait for it, personally. Pragmata looks charming and I actually have played the demo; very enjoyable and a fun hacking romp – Diana is a charmer as well. Project Windless is quite interesting. A chicken with a bone to pick and dual swords. Yep, I’m sold.

The anime titles and Marathon were my low points. I’m not particularly interested in either title. Control: Resonant and 007 First Light continue to impress. Crimson Moon sounds like a lot of fun and I look forward to seeing more. The final reveal was the remake of the God Of War trilogy, which was a win for me personally. It’s obviously years away, and it did just begin development, but spoken as a massive fan of the franchise I’m absolutely pumped for this.

However, it was disappointing to see no Phantom Blade 0 at the event. At least pre-orders could have been revealed. Since it does have a release date, after all. We didn’t see Final Fantasy 7 Remake Part 3 or Kingdom Hearts 4. That was a let down on Square Enix’s part. Maybe we’ll see those at the Tokyo Game Show.

Wolverine will be shared in the spring, so I wasn’t expecting that. All in all, it was a fantastic event and the games look very stellar. There’s much to be excited for and I can’t wait to see more. I’ll also say that I would have liked to see more from Judas and Tides Of Annihilation and Lego Batman, but I can wait longer. To a wonderful 2026 and the release of Resident Evil Requiem in two weeks!
Shahzaib Sadiq

Inbox also-rans
I’ve got a lot of sympathy for the Highguard dev complaining about ‘gamer culture’. It’s not my type of game, so I wouldn’t be interested in it whatever happened. But I never saw any explanation for why everyone turned on it except that they were hoping for something else to be revealed at The Game Awards – which is hardly the developer’s fault.
Kakem

Am I the only one that thought the latest trailer for Marathon made it look like Splatoon? Not necessarily a bad thing but why do they have blue blood?
Gonk

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The small print
New Inbox updates appear every weekday morning, with special Hot Topic Inboxes at the weekend. Readers’ letters are used on merit and may be edited for length and content.

You can also submit your own 500 to 600-word Reader’s Feature at any time via email or our Submit Stuff page, which if used will be shown in the next available weekend slot.

You can also leave your comments below and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter.

MORE: Games Inbox: Was the latest PS5 State of Play a good one?

MORE: Games Inbox: Would PS5 exclusives on Switch 2 be a mistake?

MORE: Games Inbox: What will the new The Witcher 3 DLC be about?

The Monday letters page is not convinced that physical game sales are dead yet, as one reader discovers the joys of Thank Goodness You’re Here!

Games Inbox is a collection of our readers’ letters, comments, and opinions. To join in with the discussions yourself email gamecentral@metro.co.uk

Game of the years
We all know what the best-selling game of 2026 is going to be, but will GTA 6 be the most critically acclaimed? It probably will be, just because fans will go crazy against any reviewer that dares to say it’s bad, but somehow I doubt it’ll actually be the best. GTA 5 may have been a phenomenon, but I wouldn’t put it on any kind of best ever list and I can’t see Rockstar changing their approach, including bad combat and racing, because they know what they did last time sells.

So what will the be 2026’s critical darling? The equivalent of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33? Normally it’s hard to say because we don’t know what’s coming out later in the year, but thanks to GTA 6 probably not very much.

Resident Evil Requiem seems like a good contender and maybe Saros if it’s as good as Returnal (I guess, I didn’t play that). But how do you predict the impact of Marvel’s Wolverine, The Duskbloods, Fable, Forza Horizon 6, and Control: Resonant? And what if Valve really do release Half-Life 3 this year?

People have been understandably down about the games industry this year, and I’m sure we’ll all be sick of hearing about GTA 6 soon enough, but there is a lot of interesting stuff on the horizon that could make 2026 a classic year.
Gorf

GTA 6 money
I am very curious as to what Sony and Microsoft are playing at with GTA 6. I would imagine that Microsoft is actually thinking early September for Fable and Gears Of War: E-Day, which shouldn’t be too much trouble. Although you’ve got the obvious problem that people have only got limited money to spend on games, and you can bet neither of those are going to get it over GTA 6.

I guess Microsoft is thinking that most people have already put aside their GTA 6 money but I’m not sure it’s something I’d bet on if I was them. As for Sony… they really do seem like they’re ignoring the problem and putting Wolverine out as their big Christmas game.

Maybe they figure that if there’s literally nothing else out then they can still do well. But this would mean that it’s something like the third time they’ve ignored GTA 6 when talking about games coming out this year. If they do know something that we don’t they’re not being very subtle about hiding it.
Tacle

Stick your neck out
I am fascinated by the idea of the Resident Evil Requiem neck speaker, especially the fact that apparently this is a thing that already exists and wasn’t just made for the game. What on earth benefit would that have above just wearing normal headphones?

I don’t see how it would help with immersion, because the sound would presumably be coming from your shoulders. I’d be very interested to hear from anyone that has used one of these and could explain why it exists. I guess it allows you to hear other things in the room better but isn’t that definitely less immersive?
Campbell

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Retro console
I’ve finally purchased a Switch 2 and have been enjoying playing Mario Kart World with my better half, especially in the tough online Knockout Tour mode.

Surprisingly though, considering the age of the game, my main enjoyment has come from revisiting GoldenEye 007 via the Nintendo Switch Online Expansion Pack, played with the official N64 wireless controller I purchased. The visuals have been sharpened up, plus it runs at a noticeably higher frame rate (it needed too!). For me it’s by far the first person shooter ever.

Just need to wait a few weeks for the hotly anticipated Resident Evil Requiem now. Hopefully it has a good Mercenaries mode included.
Adams6legend

GC: If it has, they haven’t mentioned it yet.

Northern goodness
Just played through Thanks Goodness You’re Here! as it was free with PlayStation Plus Extra. I don’t think I’ve ever said, ‘What the hell?!’, while laughing incredulously as much before while playing a game.

Always nice to play something a bit different.
Matt (he_who_runs_away – PSN ID)

Touch only
I read the Reader’s Feature with the argument that digitally-downloaded games are better, linked with the demise of GAME.

Well, as most gamers would know, GAME went wrong when they closed as independent shopping units and went in-store with Sports Direct. The gaming section was then normally found right on the top floor, in a corner right at the back. If you are looking for games you don’t want to go traipsing past rows of trainers and tracksuits.

Secondly, GAME is highly overpriced. They want people to stop buying online but charge £10+ more per game compared with online outlets. Plus, there must be a high percentage of gamers that miss the old enjoyment of picking up used game bargains; GAME used to do 3 for £10, for instance. Who remembers those deals? Not every gamer can afford £30-60 for a new game.

And there it is, yes, let’s imagine just a digital download arena for purchasing games. No more bargains then, like Nintendo. Everything will just keep rising in price because gamers will be forced into this only way of purchasing. Buy it at that price or give up gaming near enough, is what we will be told.

Plus, just the general joy of letting your other family members mooch around the shops for an hour or so, looking at clothes while you can have that hour to yourself to look through shelves of bargain games. Games which you can also then sell on again, if you wish, to the delight of another fellow.

Looks like CeX will still be my only place to go now. How long will they last before they too are pushed out by government taxes or corporate muscle? I will enjoy my little weekend jaunts while I can. Long live the physical touch.
Jools

Physical existence
While I agreed with the sentiment of Gannet’s Reader’s Feature, regarding the so-called business of GAME, I completely disagree with what he said about physical games being dead too.

If that was true, why are CeX queues always full of people with second-hand games in hand?

No doubt these very gamers could easily and knowingly not have to tramp out in the UK’s current rainy weather and simply download the game from the comfort of their home.

Regardless of what ‘the industry’ says, physical media will never leave us.

There is a thing (trend?) on TikTok now where people are starting to re-buy DVDs and even CDs because they are fed up of streaming services removing media they’ve prepaid for, and quite rightly so.

A friend of mine has even complained about this, saying certain songs from her Spotify playlists have simply disappeared.

I’ve always seen Spotify as an utterly complete waste of money, as all my music is ripped from my CDs of yore (and some are MP3 files from BandCamp).

I am currently holding off on buying certain games (Marvel Cosmic Invasion being one of them) as I’ll wait for the physical release, as I did with Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Rita’s Rewind.

I just think paying more than £15 for a game you don’t own, and can’t sell or trade if you don’t like it, is crazy.
LeeDappa

The smell of gaming
It is a definite shame about the final GAME shops closing down, although not surprising. It’s still an achievement to have survived as long as they did in the ever-usurping digital world of gaming.

I had many enjoyable conversations with staff members over the years, finding out about games I may not had heard of and getting them from that shop. It was not only at GAME retailers but other local high street gaming shops, where if you know and get on well with a member of staff.

I was not one to exchange games or get a previously purchased second-hand game, as I am one of those folks who likes that cellophane-wrapped brand new game feeling. But I have purchased rare games that you couldn’t get anywhere at all anywhere, as no new versions of these games were being made anymore!

But for me it’s watching new games on their TV screens and being in a shop with like-minded fans of gaming. Also, I miss that sweaty type of smell at some of their locations, which was always very invigorating to breathe in!

It’s that less interaction with our fellow humans that’ll be missed, especially as I work from home! But I do go to places like Waterstones, HMV, hobbyist shops, and city or town markets to support them. I’m hoping the future for these retail businesses will survive in some form or another into the near and far future.
Alucard

Inbox also-rans
Any news on Days Gone 2?
Tony

GC: None at all. At this point it’d be very surprising if it ever happened.

I have Wrestlemaina 21 and is the next gen Xbox played that game.
Barry

GC: Pardon?

Email your comments to: gamecentral@metro.co.uk

The small print
New Inbox updates appear every weekday morning, with special Hot Topic Inboxes at the weekend. Readers’ letters are used on merit and may be edited for length and content.

You can also submit your own 500 to 600-word Reader’s Feature at any time via email or our Submit Stuff page, which if used will be shown in the next available weekend slot.

You can also leave your comments below and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter.

MORE: Games Inbox: Is Bethesda overrated as a game developer?

MORE: Games Inbox: What will a post-GTA 6 video games industry be like?

MORE: Games Inbox: When will GTA 6 Trailer 3 be released?