EDIT: https://www.forbes.com/sites/paultassi/2024/05/04/arrowhead-tells-helldivers-2-players-to-change-reviews-to-negative-over-psn-linking/?sh=5984c1623d01 I guess I'll have to edit the review in the future, but only once they fix the country bans on Steam due to the PSN Linking Controversy.
Here's what I'm going to say about HELLDIVERS 2 right now. I love the game, shoutout to Scroto Baggins for buying me the game, I've had a lot of fun with it and it's amazing. I love the gameplay loop, the actual accessibility of the rewards that's not tied to terrible microtransactions, the toungue-in-cheek humor along with the fact that the action is honestly controlled by a sort of Dungeon Master. As someone who is obsessed with roleplaying game storylines, I love this idea.
However, recently the game decided to put in an invasive feature: Playstation Account Integration. Doesn't sound bad right? I have one, I wouldn't care to do it. However, think of it like this: having stuff locked behind making accounts is annoying yes. How about the fact that certain countries have Playstation banned? If you put an existing game and lock it behind different walls six months after the game released, players from a lot of these countries bought these games. Now they're stuck with a game they can't play, and as such they should rightfully get a refund for this. This isn't just specifically a Playstation Organization thing, apparently Arrowhead knew this AND agreed to this before and had only delayed it this long due to bug (no pun intended) issues. It feels misleading and honestly s h i tty.
Does that mean I'd stop playing it? No, if my buddies want to play a multiplayer game with me then I'll do it. Helldivers 2 and The Outlast Trials have been some of the best multiplayer games that I've played in a good while. However, I can't guarantee that the rest of the playerbase won't jump ship for something else. I'm not going to say that things can't go back to the way they were before, a lot of good will and time will heal a lot of wounds but you don't s h i t where you eat and that's what these guys did. If you want to make it optional, then fine. I wouldn't mind linking it for exclusive rewards and HOPEFULLY trophy integration so I can get a platinum for my Playstation account; however I'm not changing this review until the issue is fixed. Review bombs may happen over stupid s h i t sometimes, but this time it's warranted. It just sucks because there's a really fantastic game underneath this issue and started off really strong.
EDIT: Apparently a buddy of mine in Scotland said that they asked for his government ID to play this game? Unsure as to what basis this is, but if this is actually a thing then it's double stupid.
Links:
https://www.ign.com/articles/helldivers-2-pulled-from-sale-in-177-countries-due-to-psn-linking-requirement
https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2024/05/sony-will-soon-demand-helldivers-2-players-on-steam-have-psn-accounts/
https://www.pcgamer.com/we-have-an-actual-person-with-the-title-of-game-master-a-single-helldivers-2-dev-named-joel-is-pulling-the-strings-on-its-galactic-war-like-an-all-powerful-dandd-dungeon-master-war-will-become-more-and-more-sophisticated-over-time/
https://www.reddit.com/r/Games/comments/1ckpdej/arrowhead_ceo_addresses_helldivers_2_psn_account/
https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/553850/view/4196868529806518741
Here's what I'm going to say about HELLDIVERS 2 right now. I love the game, shoutout to Scroto Baggins for buying me the game, I've had a lot of fun with it and it's amazing. I love the gameplay loop, the actual accessibility of the rewards that's not tied to terrible microtransactions, the toungue-in-cheek humor along with the fact that the action is honestly controlled by a sort of Dungeon Master. As someone who is obsessed with roleplaying game storylines, I love this idea.
However, recently the game decided to put in an invasive feature: Playstation Account Integration. Doesn't sound bad right? I have one, I wouldn't care to do it. However, think of it like this: having stuff locked behind making accounts is annoying yes. How about the fact that certain countries have Playstation banned? If you put an existing game and lock it behind different walls six months after the game released, players from a lot of these countries bought these games. Now they're stuck with a game they can't play, and as such they should rightfully get a refund for this. This isn't just specifically a Playstation Organization thing, apparently Arrowhead knew this AND agreed to this before and had only delayed it this long due to bug (no pun intended) issues. It feels misleading and honestly s h i tty.
Does that mean I'd stop playing it? No, if my buddies want to play a multiplayer game with me then I'll do it. Helldivers 2 and The Outlast Trials have been some of the best multiplayer games that I've played in a good while. However, I can't guarantee that the rest of the playerbase won't jump ship for something else. I'm not going to say that things can't go back to the way they were before, a lot of good will and time will heal a lot of wounds but you don't s h i t where you eat and that's what these guys did. If you want to make it optional, then fine. I wouldn't mind linking it for exclusive rewards and HOPEFULLY trophy integration so I can get a platinum for my Playstation account; however I'm not changing this review until the issue is fixed. Review bombs may happen over stupid s h i t sometimes, but this time it's warranted. It just sucks because there's a really fantastic game underneath this issue and started off really strong.
EDIT: Apparently a buddy of mine in Scotland said that they asked for his government ID to play this game? Unsure as to what basis this is, but if this is actually a thing then it's double stupid.
Links:
https://www.ign.com/articles/helldivers-2-pulled-from-sale-in-177-countries-due-to-psn-linking-requirement
https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2024/05/sony-will-soon-demand-helldivers-2-players-on-steam-have-psn-accounts/
https://www.pcgamer.com/we-have-an-actual-person-with-the-title-of-game-master-a-single-helldivers-2-dev-named-joel-is-pulling-the-strings-on-its-galactic-war-like-an-all-powerful-dandd-dungeon-master-war-will-become-more-and-more-sophisticated-over-time/
https://www.reddit.com/r/Games/comments/1ckpdej/arrowhead_ceo_addresses_helldivers_2_psn_account/
https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/553850/view/4196868529806518741