Latest news with #Metacritic
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Danganronpa creator would love to port his acclaimed strategy RPG to more consoles, but the studio is "still on the brink of going under"
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Kazutaka Kodaka's new strategy RPG The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy came out just a few weeks ago, but the developer's still on thin ice financially. By most metrics, The Hundred Line seems to have gone down like a treat for players. On Steam, the game has over 1,400 user reviews with 91% of people giving it a thumbs up. And it's also gotten some sweet reactions on Metacritic and such, but it hasn't totally saved its developer Too Kyo Games yet. Over on BlueSky, one fan asked about whether The Hundred Line would ever come out on more platforms after its launch on PC and Nintendo Switch on April 24, 2025. Co-director and Dangonronpa creator Kazutaka Kodaka responded by saying: "If I can pay off my debt early and secure enough operating funds for the company, I'd love to get started right away. But right now, we're still on the brink of going under." Kodaka previously explained how the studio "ended up with a lot of debt" while making the game since funding a fashionable high school visual novel, tactical RPG hybrid with around 100 full-fledged endings is a significant undertaking. For those out of the loop, Too Kyo Games was jointly formed by Kodaka and Zero Escape creator Kotaro Uchikoshi. The visual novel royalty worked on a few other games together, but The Hundred Line is easily the team's biggest, most ambitious production yet. Here's hoping the duo can keep making wild, unpredictable games while finding some financial stability. In the meantime, check out some of the other new games of 2025 to see what's coming next.
Metro
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Metro
Amazon Prime fans rush to save ‘incredible' axed series as 70,000 sign petition
Amazon Prime Video viewers are rallying behind yet another show being cancelled by a major streaming service. It's the unfortunate circle of life now: discover a new show, obsess over it, then the feeling of devastation when the series gets scrapped before the story's even finished. Fantasy series The Wheel of Time has suffered that fate, having been cancelled after three seasons – but fans aren't going down without a fight. A petition has been set up on a suitably epic website SaveWOT, with over 72,000 fans and counting signing their names. They're going the extra mile, as the site includes The Wheel of Time's 97% Rotten Tomatoes score alongside similarly high ratings on IMDb and Metacritic. Organisers behind the campaign pointed out that it's third season is better rated than recent series of House of the Dragon, The Witcher and Rings of Power, along with fan testimonials, quotes from professional reviews, and viewing figures. To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video Based on the popular book series of the same name by Robert Jordan, The Wheel of Time followed Moiraine Damodred (Rosamund Pike) as she sought the reincarnation of the prophesied Dragon Reborn. This legendary figure would supposedly save ot doom the world. It's all classic fantasy stuff, really, but sadly, we'll never know the Dragon Reborn's destiny. Deadline reports that despite Amazon execs liking the series, it just never caught on with a big enough audience to make it financially sustainable. They claim that it all came down to season three's performance, which just wasn't good enough to justify the costs involved. The streaming service examined all other scenarios but just couldn't find a way to make season 4 work. What makes this an even more bitter pill for fans to swallow is that many believe the show was finally finding its feet, and they've taken to social media to make their fury known. @umbreoonnnn wrote on X, 'Wdym Prime cancelled The Wheel of Time after the best season they ever had? Rosamund Pike literally spent weeks in a desert for nothing?' A similar sentiment was held by @annetteb, who claimed 'S3 of The Wheel of Time was amazing, it shows the improvement!! It is not fair neither for cast or fans! Please some other studio take over it'. It was @oluwatroy, however, who perhaps summed up fan despair best when they posted 'Cancelling The Wheel of Time is not fair'. It's not just people on X who are upset, either. Over on The Wheel of Time section of Reddit,where lvs301 complained, 'every story was on a cliffhanger!!! This is so disappointing!' Cease_Cows admitted that while they didn't love a lot of the decisions the show made, they thought 'season 3 was definitely an upswing'. Others, meanwhile, were happy to point the finger of blame for the show's cancellation, and it seems that the rocky fan reception to season one is taking the brunt of the finger wagging. 'This sucks – but it's expected,' wrote Spyk124. 'It alienated too large of the fan base in the first season and wasn't quality enough to get a large enough audience outside of fans.' Sadly, this belief that the first season just cost the show too many eyeballs seems to be pretty widespread, with 2ndChanceCharlie adding It was doomed after the first season. Too many people gave up on it. More Trending 'I watched season one,' replied Hurrly90. 'Didn't even realise a second season, never mind a third, was out. I had zero interest after the first season.' Still, while fans may be devastated, they're still determined to save their favourite show with a #savewheeloftime campaign already well under way on X. Or if you're desperate to know exactly what happens, why not give Robert's original books a read? View More » All three seasons of Wheel of Time are available to watch now on Amazon Prime Video. Got a story? If you've got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@ calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we'd love to hear from you. MORE: Security drags ex WWE star off daytime TV show after physical clash MORE: TV fans can't stop watching controversial show's new season despite 'hating it' MORE: The Grand Tour's 'new line-up revealed' after Jeremy Clarkson quits Amazon series
Metro
27-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Metro
Games Inbox: What review score will Mario Kart Worlds get?
The Tuesday letters page thinks The Last of Us season 2 is a disappointment, as readers argue over whether video games have got too expensive or not. To join in with the discussions yourself email gamecentral@ Between 1 and 10 Everything I've read so far about Mario Kart World has been positive, but I wonder what kind of reviews it's going to get? Although I trust GC not to get carried away, I think a lot of sites get overexcited at a console launch and score higher than they would normally. That said, I can see World getting a lot of 10/10s, just like its predecessor. I really haven't heard of a single complaint about the game so far, so if it is going to get knocked for something, I don't know what it'll be. On the other hand, I feel that some sites will mark it down purposefully just because they don't want to seem too predictable when it comes to the Switch 2. While a few will be trying to curry favour with readers by complaining about the price. There always seems a lot of politics involved in review scores and while it's easy to just stick with the sources you trust it's why I never see the point of sites like Metacritic. You're lucky if I've heard of half of the sites that they include in their average scores, and yet it's always those ones that are throwing out 100% marks like candy. Scorsese Seasonal change I haven't enjoyed The Last Of Us season 2 at all. In fact, it's been so bad it made me think less of the first season. Without getting into spoilers, none of the changes they've made are for the better and yet they missed lots of obvious opportunities to improve the original game and didn't. I think Ellie in particular suffers as a character. She's badly cast (Joel and Abby as well, to be honest) and the show does not sell her changes the way the game does; they just don't seem natural and there's no sense that five years have passed since last time. There's also the major problem that none of the characters are likeable or even particularly sympathetic when you just watch them, as opposed to playing as them. So I do agree that being a video game makes a big difference. It's interesting to me that the best thing about season 1, by a mile, is the episode with Bill. that was not in the game. Season 2 invents some stuff too but there's no equivalent of that episode and I'm beginning to think they should've made up entirely new stories with new characters, and just set it in the same world. Revealing Abby's back story so early on is a big mistake of the show and I really can't see how the other stuff, that fans of the game know are coming, are going to work either. The game was already too long and badly paced, but knowing the show is going to run to four seasons means they're going to end up making the same mistakes again. Brutus Play it safe I think it's a big shame that Mortal Kombat 1 has not done well, sales-wise, because you can guarantee Warner are going to take the wrong lessons from it. They'll assume it was because they tried something different with the storyline, so now we're going to get a Rise of Skywalker style direction change that will try and playthings as straight as possible and with a massive plea to nostalgia. I thought the game played very well and the only thing the series really needs is a way to shake up the single-player. I don't think it was ever a question of the story but of having something a bit more involved, like Street Fighter 6's World Tour, where there's a bit of exploration and role-playing. Now all we're going to get is fan service and a fear of ever doing anything risky or original again. System23 Email your comments to: gamecentral@ Extra cut You mentioned the reason console titles are generally more expensive than PC games is there's no licence fee to pay the platform owner. This would be true if most PC games were purchased directly from the publisher, but they aren't, most are bought via Steam which takes 30% commission (which tapers down with large sale numbers). There are alternatives that take lower commission and some games you can buy direct, but otherwise for most there's a fee involved (although not a licence fee) TheTruthSoul (PSN ID) GC: Console online stores, like the one on the PlayStation 5, also take 30%, so that just equals out and it's the lack of general licensing fees that makes PC games cheaper. Simpler times Are games too expensive? Yes, yes they biffing are. In what world is it making sense to price a disc and its download counterpart, the same price? I'm fully digital and I'm struggling, I occasionally buy games for myself and a friend whenever we've found a good cross-play, but by the time I have enough money to cover everything it's pointless; the mood is either gone or the game crashed and burned and shut down, this is ridiculous. Send me back to PlayStation 3. Things were easier, I had a lot more games I played on a daily basis; just send me back Shadow the pup GC: Switch 2 games are cheaper digitally than physically. Dodging criticism I'm enjoying Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, but I've got to say the difficulty level is all over the place. Despite being turn-based, battles are really won and lost based on your ability to dodge. With some you're forced to go second and can be killed with one hit, meaning unless you can dodge you're not even getting a turn. If you're like me and are rubbish at dodging/parry this is a big issue. Then you can go to the complete other end of the spectrum and an entire section can be beaten in two turns (sometimes even one). The dodging becomes the simplest you've ever seen and the fact all your characters might only have one bar of health isn't really an issue. You're really just going through the motions, doing the same thing each time with no real danger of losing. But it's not like you've wondered off to a section you should revisit later (there are bits like that too), these are back-to-back. so I'm finding myself constantly changing the difficulty setting when the game's far, far too easy and then putting it back down when I'm getting nowhere near. Overall, it's an enjoyable game. I just wish the turn-based decision was more about winning/losing rather than how long you have to dodge for. Tim Alternative sources Can we stop complaining about games being too expensive? Who even pays full price for them? Sites like CDKeys and G2A exist and there are dozens like them. A quick check has Doom for £53. It's the one good reason to buy digital and seeing as it's PC, there might be mods and custom maps in the future, providing Microsoft haven't blocked that sort of thing. Bobwallett Questions and answers I love how it doesn't matter how much we learn about Nintendo matters, we always seem to be on the back foot. The Switch 2 hardware leaked months in advance and yet the whole thing is still this weird enigma, where it we have no idea what they're planning in terms of games, whether the relatively easily available hardware is a good thing, or why companies like Microsoft aren't supporting it. Maybe there'll be a Nintendo Direct next month, but I bet that will only pose more questions. This isn't a complaint, by the way, more the thought that there'll never be enough rumours or announcements for people to feel that they have a proper handle on what they're doing or why. We should probably all just resign ourselves to the fact that Nintendo does things according to what they think makes sense and they try to say as little as possible about it all as they go along. Is there a 'secret' Christmas game? When will they announce more games? What's going to be the average price of games? I have no idea for any of those, but I've resigned myself to never finding out until Nintendo is good and ready. Hardware leaks out because not even they can stop people taking a photo on the production line but now we're pass that anything could happen at any time. Seagull Inbox also-ransTest Drive Unlimited 2 Remastered, please! I'm waiting! tdu Hey everyone, thought I'd give you a quick heads-up on another Switch 2 bundle at Currys: Nintendo Switch 2 + Mario Kart World + Giraffe – £968. Now, where to put that giraffe… Steve GC: We're assuming that was some kind of typo or mistake? Either way, there is still this bundle available, at time of writing, for £579. More Trending Email your comments to: gamecentral@ 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: Are video games too expensive on console and PC? MORE: Games Inbox: Would you buy a PlayStation that was a PC? MORE: Games Inbox: Is the Nintendo Switch 2 the start of a new generation?
Hindustan Times
22-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Hindustan Times
Longest standing ovation at Cannes lasted 22 minutes; was for a low-budget film that made $55 million in DVD sales
Every year at the Cannes Film Festival, the measure of feedback to a good film changes from critics' stars to the time that the audience spends applauding it. Headlines mentioning 7-minute or 9-minute standing ovations for films at Cannes are common, and it is a tradition that has existed for decades now. So much so that there are established records about films that have received the longest standing ovations in the film festival's history. In 2006, Mexican filmmaker Guillermo del Toro arrived at Cannes to premiere his new film, El laberinto del fauno, also known in the English-speaking world as Pan's Labyrinth. The dark fantasy film was made on a small budget of $14 million and described a young girl's escapist fantasies in the middle of World War II. Pan's Labyrinth received a rapturous reception at Cannes, with the crowd applauding it for 22 minutes straight at its premiere. In 2015, in an interview with GQ, del Toro described his initial reaction to that never-ending applause. 'It's hard to describe what it is, to go that long, because the first three, four minutes, you're bathed in a sort of realm of acceptance and joy. Ten minutes in, you don't know what to do,' Del Toro said. 'You're just smiling and nodding. And in the middle of that, Alfonso Cuarón, who was next to me, gave me a strong pat on the back and he said, 'Allow yourself to be loved, man.' And then I just opened myself up to that ovation, and it went for the full 22 minutes. And it was only when they opened the doors of the Palais to let people out, that it started subsiding.' Starring Ivana Baquero, Sergi López, Maribel Verdú, Doug Jones, and Ariadna Gil, Pan's Labyrinth followed up this critical acclaim with commercial success too. The film grossed $84 million worldwide, way beyond its production budget. It was also one of the best-selling films on home entertainment, grossing $55 million just from DVD sales in the US. Pan's Labyrinth won three Oscars and a host of other awards, with Metacritic calling it "the best reviewed film of the decade" in 2010. It has been named in several lists of the best 100 films of all time. What started as something novel later became tradition and is now just pageantry. Many have called the long standing ovations at Cannes a sort of mob mentality. Others have called it one-upmanship. But as one attendee chirped a few years ago: 'Do you want to stop clapping before Christopher Nolan does?' That peer pressure keeps the applause going, and the headlines churning. The record for 2025 is a 'pedestrian' 9 minutes so far. Clearly, this edition of Cannes needs to do better.
Yahoo
16-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
‘Duster' divides critics: The ‘skillfully executed' J.J. Abrams show is a ‘messy delight' akin to an ‘R-rated Hot Wheels series'
Lost creator J.J. Abrams and star Josh Holloway have reunited for Duster, a 1970s crime thriller series that debuted Thursday on Max. The project has an 89 percent at Rotten Tomatoes and a 73 score on Metacritic, with critics essentially agreeing it's a "skillfully executed" show that also serves as a "messy delight." Abrams and LaToya Morgan co-created the series, which stars Holloway as a getaway driver named Jim Ellis, and Rachel Hilson as Nina Hayes, the FBI's first Black woman agent. Rounding out the main cast are Keith David as Ezra Saxton, Sydney Elisabeth as Genesis Saxton, Greg Grunberg as Nathan Abbott, Camille Guaty as Izzy Reyna, Asivak Koostachin as Awan Bitsui, Adriana Aluna Martinez as Luna Reyna, and Benjamin Charles Watson as Royce Saxton. More from GoldDerby Benito Skinner's 'Overcompensating' revives the college sex comedy for a new generation 'Forever' creator Mara Brock Akil on updating Judy Blume - and finding 'real intimacy' - in the age of social media 'The Studio' leads 2025 Astra TV Awards nominations with 14, followed by 'Severance' and 'The Last of Us' with 13 each Alan Sepinwall (Rolling Stone) raves about the project, "This should all play like hollow mimicry — less tribute than televisual karaoke. But the affection that Abrams and Morgan have for this stuff is palpable, and the style they and collaborators like director Steph Green bring to it skillfully executed." "When Duster lets itself have fun, it's high-octane and highly watchable television," praises Allison Picurro (TV Guide). She also calls the show a "messy delight," likening it to popcorn fare. Nick Schager of the Daily Beast also gives a thumbs-up to the show and its cast. "Duster traverses familiar terrain and yet the show ... has attitude and flair to spare. Better still, it's bursting with personality, beginning with Holloway as a ne'er-do-well with a heart of gold and a gift for using a clutch. The actor hasn't had a role this good since the island-stranded Sawyer, and he nails it, radiating the sort of neon-bright hunky charisma that turns female heads and impresses male compatriots." Schager also praises Hilson ("who has a fiery glint in her eye that speaks to her no-holds-barred determination") and "national treasure" David. Daniel Fienberg (The Hollywood Reporter) isn't quite as enthusiastic, writing, "These eight episodes don't have much substance or meaning but Duster is like an R-rated Hot Wheels series and an entertaining star vehicle, so to speak, for Josh Holloway, Rachel Hilson and especially Keith David." Zaki Hasan (TheWrap) notes, "Thanks to Abrams and Morgan's savvy ability to blend pulp with pathos, Duster offers a story with stakes, heart and humor." One of the harsher reviews comes from Garrett Martin (Paste Magazine): "It occasionally loses confidence in its own characters and tone, and tries way too hard to force the sense of fun it should just naturally possess." Sound off in Gold Derby's TV forums to let us know if you're looking forward to Duster on Max. The show airs one episode every Thursday until the finale on July 3. It will be eligible at the 2026 Emmys. SIGN UP for Gold Derby's free newsletter with latest predictions Best of GoldDerby 'I do think that I burned down the cabin': How 'Yellowjackets' star Steven Krueger pulled off Coach Ben's mental and physical decline 'The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power' star Charles Edwards on his tragic death scene: 'He did single-handedly withstand Sauron' 'It keeps me on my toes': 'St. Denis Medical' star Allison Tolman on walking a fine line between zany and 'incredibly heartfelt' Click here to read the full article.
