PS4 Software recommendations

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okerlo
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PS4 Software recommendations

Post by okerlo »

Released in late 2013 the Playstation 4 should have accumulate quite a software library by now.
Being a bit clueless of what wortwhile games are out there and guessing that everybody likes lists of videogames I decided to create another one of these topics. Failing miserably the last time I hope that this time I'm the first one, the search didn't spit out anything similar at least.

So what do you consider must haves and nice enough games on the PS4?
I thought about dividing the games into three distribution categories. The first being normal retail releases that you can easily get in a store or online, limited physical releases for those well...limited physical releases like Limited Run Games which are both a blessing and a curse I guess and a category for PSN-only.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Normal Retail

Bloodborne - PS4 exclusive - title by famous studio From Software. Gets a lot of praise in the From Software - Thread. Available pretty much all over the world, got a Complete Edition - Rerelease on disc as well.

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Limited Physical Releases - As mentioned above these games are available on physical disc as one of those "limited prints". Cheaper PSN alternative is available as well though.

Shikhondo Soul Eater - Also available on PC, XBox One, Switch - Shooting game by Korean developer DeerFarm. Got released on disc by eastasiasoft distributed by Play-Asia. Positive reviews in its thread

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PSN - So far only available digitally on PSN
Last edited by okerlo on Tue Sep 11, 2018 5:25 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Immryr
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Re: PS4 Software recommendations

Post by Immryr »

do you just want ps4 exclusives here? cause a lot of things are either on pc or are basically upgraded versions of ps3 games (although they're worth getting if you don't have the ps3 game). and if you don't just want exclusives the list will be insanely big.
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okerlo
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Re: PS4 Software recommendations

Post by okerlo »

Everything, I think that many people don't bother with keeping their PC-Hardware up-to-date, so a 200$ PS4 is a good alternative for ones gaming needs.
But you're right, I should add to the list if the game is exclusive or not.
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Immryr
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Re: PS4 Software recommendations

Post by Immryr »

ok well, here is some stuff i can think of off the top of my head.

retail:
bloodborne
dark souls 3
dark souls 2 scholar of the first sin
dark souls remastered (i think they're putting out a disc with all 3 dark souls games on)
nioh - team ninja's take on a dark souls style game
evil within - shinji mikami horror game
metal gear solid 5
xcom 2 - turn based tactics game
puyo puyo tetris
wipeout omega collection
monster hunter world
valkyria chronicles - turn based tactics from the makers of skies of arcadia
nier automata - platinum games x yoko taro rpg x character action
prey - system shock like game from arkane
deception iv - tecmo's long running trap laying satanic game
the last guardian - team ico
shadow of the colossus remake
a million yakuza games
the silver case - remake of formerly jp only ps1 suda51 adventure game/vn type thing
the 25th ward - 3rd game in the silver case series (second one is on the ds but i heard it might be being remade)
odin sphere leifthrasir - definitive remake of vanillawear ps2 game


big western stuff i don't like but you might:
horizon zero dawn
spiderman
god of war
uncharted 4
the last of us

digital (some of this stuff has limited style physical releases):
nex machina - twin stick shooter in the style of robotron
battle garegga
dangun feveron
mahou daisakusen
darius burst chronicle saviours
caladrius blaze (i think this has an asian physical release)

i'll add some more when i have a think
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FinalBaton
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Re: PS4 Software recommendations

Post by FinalBaton »

Good list Immryr!

I think we can add some Falcom games in there
as well as Persona 5


EDIT :
Forgot about Dragon's Crown, I really love that, even though it's for PS3 also. The PS4 version is native 4K, so if you have a 4K tv this is the version to get, as everything is better defined and crisp

Another game that's also on PS3 : Alien Isolation. Haven't played it but it looks pretty darn good, seen lots of praise from people I respect. Looks like a pretty good survival horror/stealth game. Whatdo people on here think about it?

Shantae Half-Genie Hero seems pretty good although not as good as the previous entry
Last edited by FinalBaton on Wed Sep 12, 2018 1:34 am, edited 3 times in total.
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kitten
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Re: PS4 Software recommendations

Post by kitten »

never let it be said i do not give modern gaming more than its fair chance, nor that i unilaterally dislike it. here is a list of my favorites - all of these games are either 3 or even 4 stars on my personal rating scale, which is an enthusiastic bode of confidence (if with an obvious caveat for specific tastes) for each.

i'm gonna avoid some stuff that has been ported a zillion times like bastion and whatnot, but may bring a few others up that are still being updated or have had significant improvements/modifications.

- - - - - - - - - -

Retail

* ~ * ~ *

The Evil Within - i would nearly consider this a must-play for true resident evil 4 enthusiasts, as mikami is definitely evolving his school of design from that point with this game. if you didn't get enough with RE4 and dead space 2, this will almost surely deliver. the story is uninteresting and the technical aspects can be a little janky, but this is otherwise a superb horror shooter. for truly hardcore enthusiasts, give the one-hit-kill mode a shot! it's a bit of a thrill, if sometimes quite frustrating.

* ~ * ~ *

Bloodborne - recommendations for this are nearly impossible to escape, but i still find it quite good even after being made immensely weary by an onslaught of souls games with little room between them to ruminate on how to improve (fromsoft doing their traditional running of their concepts into the ground that they did with king's field and armored core over their many, many sequels & spin-offs). perhaps honestly worth more to play for its depressingly macabre atmosphere than anything else.

* ~ * ~ *

The Last of Us: Remastered - the definitive way to play my favorite survival horror of all-time. play on the higher difficulties and without the ridiculously stupid batman vision and this game is a mechanically hyper-tight horror shooting (ala resident evil) experience with just the right concessions for narrative flourish and beauty. brutal combat with just the lightest peppering of rng make this quite the addictive experience when over the hump of its bumpy and strange learning curve.

* ~ * ~ *

Uncharted 4 - though tainted a fair bit by trying to open its shooting playgrounds up too far (and ending up with some dreadfully ubisoft-esque light stealth sequences as a result), the narrative in this game is incredibly strong and worth recommended on the weight of that and its utterly superb visuals. each uncharted game was progressively more down-to-earth in its setting and this is like the years-later, full-length novel send-off to your favorite young adult trilogy. i also highly recommend the nathan drake collection, which is ps4 remasterings of all of the original trilogy. 3 is a very big personal favorite of mine that i think has an almost ideal blend of frenetic shooting and cinematic touch.

* ~ * ~ *

Minecraft - it's minecraft.

* ~ * ~ *

Kingdom Hearts I.5 + II.5 ReMIX - collection of four kingdom hearts games and remastered or entirely new cinematic cutscenes from two others. despite being the victim of (frankly justified) accusations ridiculous over-complication and crossover nonsense, the two original games (at the very least) are surprisingly solid action rpgs (though the first can be quite rough, it might ultimately be my favorite). if you find yourself able to recapture the mentality of your childhood or teens and invest yourself unironically in saccharine silliness with heavily peppered-in drama, angst, and reflection on the meaning of identity, you might find yourself to like or even love the story of these games. there is a very strong, underlying message of self-validation, agency, and unconditional love for your friends at the core of the swarm of exterior nonsense that i find truly heartwarming. tetsuya nomura's take on disney's sprawling, corporately-compromised cartoons is like that of a child who sees straight to the slavishly-devoted artists' hearts. this game and the people who like it (self-included) are both embarrassing on so many levels, but i think that's okay, even rather nice.

* ~ * ~ *

Ratchet & Clank - a remake of the original PS2 game. once you get past the cringe-inducing dad humor and complete lack of difficulty, you have yourself an explosively bright and colorful toybox with a joyously simple sense of movement. while little more than a distraction in the roadmap of its way to bigger & better games, it's one i consider damn well worth playing when you're in the doldrums and find yourself craving an ever-so-simple but ever-so-elusive "fun."

- - - - - - - - - -

Limited Physical [AKA: Also on Digital]

* ~ * ~ *

Wild Guns: Reloaded - a remake of the original gallery shooter SFC game by the original team! made with love, care, and immense respect for the source material, this game features quite a bit of new content and is an easy access point to break yourself into natsume's almost outdoably excellent selection of fine action. though i find the change in resolution and additional cursor travel time that comes along with it a slight detriment that keeps it (among a couple other niggling complaints) beneath the original, this is well worth checking out for both fans of the original and those who have never played it before.

* ~ * ~ *

Rock Boshers DX: Director's Cut - i am the only person i've ever seen go to any extent to vouch for this game, but i quite adore it. zx spectrum-inspired top-down variety shooter with various single-screen stages & objectives. follow the story of queen victoria dressed in men's drag as she goes through some sort of corrupt and zombie-filled mining instillation on mars. there is no way i can describe this game to make it sound like a solidly appealing action title, but i swear to god it struck me highly as an excellent one. one of the most unexpected games i will go to bat for. had an outright joyous time shaving my times down on each stage (i think i still hold every single record). this is by the creator of aqua kitty dx: milk mine defender, which is also worth bringing up (though not as much to my taste) due to its popularity. he also made iron crypticle, which i've yet to play but looks like a binding of isaac-esque decent time. for someone with no nostalgia for euro computers and perhaps even active vitriol for most schools of european game design, this took me by surprise.

* ~ * ~ *

Firewatch - top notch interactive narrative game where you take the role of a man escaping his wife slowly dying from dementia by taking up the isolating position of watching out for fires in the wyoming wilderness. features (and this is said with no small notion of the weight of it) frankly gorgeous visuals and some really nice environments. most of the narrative takes place in your interactions with a woman over a walkie-talkie, and you're able to respond dynamically in such an interesting way that i found projecting myself onto this character extremely alien to me a real breeze. from ex-telltale employees and far above their previous work in quality.

* ~ * ~ *

Valkyria Chronicles Remastered - the definitive version of a delightfully rich and warmly designed tactics game with a unique twist of commanding your units as though they were third-person shooter characters. much has been said about this one all over, but it even won over someone as staunchly resistant to investment in an SRPG as me.

* ~ * ~ *

Undertale - heartwarmingly delightful jrpg/danmaku-lite hybrid with excellent pacing and a very solid, brisk length (10-ish hours if you're looking to do everything). does some very interesting stuff with its meta narrative and is absolutely charming with its goofy-but-lovable characters. superb soundtrack. can become rather dark and is perhaps most emotionally moving when juxtaposing that darkness with how otherwise warm and loving the game is. highly recommended for fans of earthbound and people who have been way too Very Online for the last several years of their life. though i'm typically bored by jrpgs and often offput by modern gaming, this is one of my top 5 games of all-time.

* ~ * ~ *

Furi: Definitive Edition - absolutely excellent top-down action game that blends of hack n' slash action with danmaku patterns almost flawlessly. truly unique with the only comparison i can think of even coming close being the somewhat-middling (but still rather interesting) the red star, furi carves itself a spot in my heart as a serious standout amongst a dearth of innovative or interesting pure action titles in this generation. features stunningly colorful visuals, a somber and reflective narrative, character designs by takahashi okazaki (of afro samurai fame), and a synthwave soundtrack the likes of which you'll never forget (featuring such talents as carpenter brut, toxic avenger, etc.).

* ~ * ~ *

Oxenfree - another narrative-focused game, this one focusing on a group of shithead teens who visit a strange island and end up trapped seemingly between worlds. excellently written and interactive dialogue that strongly considers interrupting another player as a valid choice in the mechanics of its branching choices. good for lovers of campfire mysteries and those who listen a little too closely to radio static and white noise.

* ~ * ~ *

Bleed - originally an xbox live indie game, now available in physical release through playasia. a more in-depth review was posted by me a couple of weeks ago, but this is a very surprisingly good and arcade-minded action game with a heavy emphasis on hyper-precise controls and the ability to slow time at your command. though the story mode is a little anemic in challenge, the arcade mode is a fairly true arcade experience and where the real meat of the game lies. don't let the newgrounds aesthetic fool you on this one!

* ~ * ~ *

The Binding of Isaac: ReBirth - though the shift to pixel art visuals is give-or-take and edmund's drama with dannyb preventing the original's excellent soundtrack from being in this highly enhanced remake is truly a loss, this is a really goofy and pretty fun roguelike shooter. though there's not a great deal of room for application of skill or consistency, the slot machine that is your first dozen or so runs through this game can be taken as a highly engaging delight. my usual distaste for procedural generation is met with a careful hand in the design for a game that makes for something that seems on the fringe of my extent of taste but happens to reside fairly squarely in it. i do, however, hope you can tolerate the stream-of-consciousness newgrounds humor and visuals as well as the creator's penchant to believe the dead baby joke is both immortal and sacred.

- - - - - - - - - -

Digital Only

* ~ * ~ *

Super Motherload - remake of a many-years-old flash game that i quite liked. upgrade your little mining vehicle and delve progressively deeper into an increasingly dangerous, subterranean world. mine gems, bring them back to the surface, find yourself going a little deeper each time. mixes classic action elements with an addictive & repetitive process not far from comparison to something like minecraft. has a permadeath mode and frankly works pretty well with it. recommended for people who enjoy digging games as a bit of a specialty interest, but perhaps worth checking a demo of, regardless.

* ~ * ~ *

Night in the Woods - an excellent, rich narrative expressed through a myriad binary choices, highly stylized cartoon characters, and simple platforming. gets to the very heart of the moral turpitude corroding small towns in america from the inside out through the eyes of the world's most believably written (and personally relatable) college drop-out. become a myopic and misanthropic catgirl and hang out, have an awkward relationship with your parents, dissociate and wonder what you're doing with your life and if it will go anywhere, and generally just be a directionless shithead - all with the trappings of a town that should be much too familiar to anyone who grew up in the middle of nowhere. probably likely to get a physical edition, soon.

... if i were ever a game protagonist, it would undoubtedly be mae borowski.
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Steamflogger Boss
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Re: PS4 Software recommendations

Post by Steamflogger Boss »

Immryr wrote: caladrius blaze (i think this has an asian physical release)
It does, but the game is embarrassingly lewd.

I can't think of anything I've played that hasn't been covered already. I've heard loads of great things about Dragon Quest XI but I haven't played it because I am waiting for the Switch release. Lots of good upcoming PS4 games too.
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Re: PS4 Software recommendations

Post by FinalBaton »

I watched the new Shenmue III trailer today and it totally got me hyped. Looks beautiful now too(previous demos had me worried...).
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Immryr
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Re: PS4 Software recommendations

Post by Immryr »

Steamflogger Boss wrote:
Immryr wrote: caladrius blaze (i think this has an asian physical release)
It does, but the game is embarrassingly lewd.
you're easily embarrassed, it's not that bad tbh. also, i'm pretty sure you can turn that off in the menu. it's a good game.

(i find it especially weird that you're happy to play in yakuza hostess clubs for hours but can't handle this!)
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Re: PS4 Software recommendations

Post by kitten »

Immryr wrote:(i find it especially weird that you're happy to play in yakuza hostess clubs for hours but can't handle this!)
i feel like the context is key, here. caladrius' lewdness feels... really out of place and embarrassing for the genre. it's also a lot more objectifying/impersonal, so i don't think it's weird to find it uncomfortable when you at least talk to people kind of like human beings in a yakuza hostess club. caladrius is almost akin to a dakimakura or horny anime milf statue right out in the living room.
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Re: PS4 Software recommendations

Post by Immryr »

oh, it definitely feels out of place and weird. i find it pretty easy to ignore though, or as i said i'm sure you can turn it off in the settings.

i guess i also find impersonal objectification less weird than more personal, simulated, simulated girlfriend experience stuff, if that makes sense.


although i do like the game catherine..... hmm....
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Re: PS4 Software recommendations

Post by Marc »

kitten wrote:
Rock Boshers DX: Director's Cut - i am the only person i've ever seen go to any extent to vouch for this game, but i quite adore it. zx spectrum-inspired top-down variety shooter with various single-screen stages & objectives. follow the story of queen victoria dressed in men's drag as she goes through some sort of corrupt and zombie-filled mining instillation on mars. there is no way i can describe this game to make it sound like a solidly appealing action title, but i swear to god it struck me highly as an excellent one. one of the most unexpected games i will go to bat for. had an outright joyous time shaving my times down on each stage (i think i still hold every single record). this is by the creator of aqua kitty dx: milk mine defender, which is also worth bringing up (though not as much to my taste) due to its popularity. he also made iron crypticle, which i've yet to play but looks like a binding of isaac-esque decent time. for someone with no nostalgia for euro computers and perhaps even active vitriol for most schools of european game design, this took me by surprise.
Another vote for this, I did pick this up purely because of the Spectrum-esque graphics (though you can opt for a Master System look if that's your bag), and found a really entertaining shooter. Bargain at the price.

Didn't know it was the same dev as Iron Crypticle, which I'd also highly recommend. It's basically medieval Smash TV with a few stats to upgrade. Scoring system is based on a multiplier that increases for picking up goodies within a time limit so encourages more risk taking as you get comfortable. Not as RNG based as Isaac and Gungeon, which are the most oft-recommended in this genre.

Oh, and Nex Machina - I'm not experienced enough to give it the write-up it deserves, but from even the short amount of time I've spent with it, it's quite obviously something special if top-down shooters are your bag.
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Re: PS4 Software recommendations

Post by kitten »

Marc wrote:Oh, and Nex Machina - I'm not experienced enough to give it the write-up it deserves, but from even the short amount of time I've spent with it, it's quite obviously something special if top-down shooters are your bag.
played this one recently and have been meaning to offer my two cents on it. this is as good an opportunity as any, i guess! i gave nex machina a run and just... didn't like it. it feels way too busy in its objectives and like it could use a serious trimming down on the active stuff you're balancing doing at any given time. so many secrets to find, objects in the environment to shoot, unique enemies to recognize behaviors of, power-ups to balance, bullets to track, humans to rescue. not saying it's impossible to boil things down to clockwork but getting there seems agonizing, particularly memorizing what innocuous background objects/blocks to shoot for the proper hidden stuff.

my biggest problem with it, though, is that it's visually busier than a jeff minter game and with some occasionally outright awful color choices on level hazards and lighting effects. i constantly died asking what killed me or confusing one visual element (man, when they add those enemies that make a bar that you can't teleport through without dying...) for something else. recovering from a death can also be dramatically challenging, as you can lose certain abilities that the levels seem designed around the idea of you having all of almost all the time. not recognizing which one you lost can lead to chaining deaths together at super high speeds, too, particularly if you lost triple dash or that little explosion that happens on dash that saves you from bullets.

once you hit world 5, i feel like shit is at its most confusing. the blue shots are your shot, the pinkish red shots are the enemy shots, the purple skulls are definitely enemy shots, the red laser is an enemy about to fire but not actually firing yet so not that dangerous i guess, the red arrows are where to rescue humans in danger (but green when they're not), the red moving robots are enemies (but sometimes radically different enemies despite being similarly sized), the purple laser is a laser that is safe to dash through, the even more purple laser is a laser that is... not safe to dash through, the neon purple/white/red on the floor is fire that will kill you (don't confuse it for an ambient lighting effect, which is real easy to do!), the blue things are power-ups but also you sometimes need to stop to manually read the words above them, too, the green things are human... and then the spots in the level you want to shoot for stuff are different mundane colors in each world and very distracting to focus on in the midst of the minter-esque neonstravaganza. also, there are constant, distracting lighting & particle effects on top of an anxiety-inducing, perpetual sense of urgency.

though the game is still at its core more of a genuine, honest-to-god, real life Video Game than 99.9% of modern stuff, i got so bogged down by its clutter that i just couldn't get into it. would frankly rather play robotron, as it gets to be just as intense but i can mostly tell what the fuck i am doing. there is something that has rubbed me the wrong way about every single housemarque game i've ever played, and even beating nex machina i feel like i can't definitively say if it's worth the time to get better or not because of how offputting it feels to climb that learning curve. the psychedelic, neon arcade subgenre seems almost like its own thing altogether and just not my bag, really. i've always had trouble getting into this school of design - be it from something like space giraffe, geometry wars, super stardust, or this - and it usually feels really distinctly western in a way that does not jive with my preferences or usual love for its primary genre (in this case, top-down shooter).

maybe one day i'm going to go back to dyad and just have it all click, but until then...
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Re: PS4 Software recommendations

Post by Zaarock »

Exclusive, retail:
Horizon Zero Dawn
Persona 5
WipEout Omega Collection

Retail:
Monster Hunter: World
NieR Automata
Nioh
Yakuza 0

PSN & limited:
Thumper
Assault Android Cactus
Furi
Wild Guns: Reloaded

I like Nex Machina but if I want to play a twin-stick usually end up replaying Assault Android Cactus instead. It helps that the scoring system is really engaging, visibility is clear and characters play different. I wonder why people dont draw comparisons between these 2 more often. AAC is master class for modern twin-stick imo, don't let the aesthetic fool you.
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Re: PS4 Software recommendations

Post by Immryr »

i find the visual design of nex machina a bit problematic too. i wish you could just turn off all of the unnecessary particle crap in the menu. other than that i think it's great. i like all of the hidden secrets to find.
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Re: PS4 Software recommendations

Post by kitten »

give assault android cactus a limited ps4 release already, i wanna try it but i don't wanna just get it digitally

sob sob sob
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Re: PS4 Software recommendations

Post by ZellSF »

Normal retail:
---
Axiom Verge
BioShock Collection
Bulletstorm: Full Clip Edition
Danganronpa 1&2 Reload
Doom
Dragon's Crown Pro
Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD Remaster
Hatsune Miku: Project Diva Future Tone (Japan only)
Kingdom Hearts HD 1.5 + 2.5 Remix
Odin Sphere: Leifthrasir
Persona 5
Prey
Shadow of the Colossus
Shovel Knight
SteamWorld Heist
Steins;Gate 0
The Last Guardian
The Last of Us Remastered
Titanfall 2
Valkyria Chronicles Remaster
WipEout Omega Collection Game
Zero Escape: The Nonary Games

Limited Physical Releases:
---
Hotline Miami (Japan only)
Rez Infinite

PSN
---
Freedom Planet

Comments
---
Normal retail is a bit misleading, because a lot of games that are released via normal retail channels still have very limited print runs (and aren't announced as such). I wouldn't recommend any of these titles unconditionally. Except maybe Odin Sphere: Leifthrasir which is just perfect in every way.

I don't often play games on my PS4, so that's why a lot of the list are remasters or games with PC or Vita versions.
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Re: PS4 Software recommendations

Post by Steamflogger Boss »

kitten wrote:
Immryr wrote:(i find it especially weird that you're happy to play in yakuza hostess clubs for hours but can't handle this!)
i feel like the context is key, here. caladrius' lewdness feels... really out of place and embarrassing for the genre. it's also a lot more objectifying/impersonal, so i don't think it's weird to find it uncomfortable when you at least talk to people kind of like human beings in a yakuza hostess club. caladrius is almost akin to a dakimakura or horny anime milf statue right out in the living room.
Yeah pretty much. Also there has been stuff in Yakuza that made me cringe so I get Immryr's point. I found it more ignorable in Yakuza. Used to just skip going to the cabaret clubs (back in like 3/4, I don't remember if the original US release of two had them) but of course the manager thing is a huge part of Zero and Kiwami 2.

I felt it was just an okay not amazing shmup so I ended up selling it. There are a lot of great digital shmup options on PS4 which were already brought up, I'd certainly buy those first.
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Re: PS4 Software recommendations

Post by iconoclast »

S tier:
Yakuza 0, Yakuza Ishin, Street Fighter V, Persona 5, Earth Defense Force 4.1, Dark Souls III, Bloodborne,

A tier:
The Evil Within, Metal Gear Solid V, Nier Automata, Volgarr the Viking, Devil May Cry 4: Special Edition, Monster Hunter World, Yakuza Kiwami, Nioh, Dark Souls II, Doom, Resident Evil 7, Ys VIII

B tier:
The Last of Us, Danganronpa V3, The Silver Case, DmC: Devil May Cry Definitive Edition, Gravity Rush 2, Odin Sphere, Ratchet & Clank, Rise of the Tomb Raider, The Evil Within 2, Until Dawn, The 25th Ward, Assault Suit Leynos, Alien Isolation, Resident Evil Revelations 2

C tier:
Furi, Wolfenstein: The New Order, Final Fantasy Type-0, Transformers Devastation, inFAMOUS Second Son, Mirror's Edge Catalyst, Shantae and the Pirate's Curse

I think that's everything I've played enough to have an opinion on, ordered from strongest to weakest more or less. I left out remasters/ports unless they're significantly different (except for TLOU).
FinalBaton wrote:Another game that's also on PS3 : Alien Isolation. Haven't played it but it looks pretty darn good, seen lots of praise from people I respect. Looks like a pretty good survival horror/stealth game. Whatdo people on here think about it?
I liked it, but there isn't enough variety in the gameplay or setting to justify its length, so I was tired of it by the end. It's a good Alien game though, and those are pretty rare.
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Re: PS4 Software recommendations

Post by kitten »

oh, wow, i forgot about baton asking about alien isolation.

i didn't play more than a couple of hours, but it struck me as being pretty good. i played it during a point of severe trauma in my life and had to put it down because i was too unstable for a horror game, though. been meaning to go back to it. a lot of people talk very highly of the AI routines in this game, but i didn't play nearly enough to get a feel for if they're just conducive to a first run of actual psychological spookiness or if the mechanics actually hold up to make it a really fair & interesting challenge, too.

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FinalBaton
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Re: PS4 Software recommendations

Post by FinalBaton »

Thanks for your take Icono and kitten

Damn I totally forgot about EDF.

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Austin
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Re: PS4 Software recommendations

Post by Austin »

kitten wrote:played this one recently and have been meaning to offer my two cents on it. this is as good an opportunity as any, i guess! i gave nex machina a run and just... didn't like it. it feels way too busy in its objectives and like it could use a serious trimming down on the active stuff you're balancing doing at any given time. so many secrets to find, objects in the environment to shoot, unique enemies to recognize behaviors of, power-ups to balance, bullets to track, humans to rescue. not saying it's impossible to boil things down to clockwork but getting there seems agonizing, particularly memorizing what innocuous background objects/blocks to shoot for the proper hidden stuff.

my biggest problem with it, though, is that it's visually busier than a jeff minter game and with some occasionally outright awful color choices on level hazards and lighting effects. i constantly died asking what killed me or confusing one visual element (man, when they add those enemies that make a bar that you can't teleport through without dying...) for something else. recovering from a death can also be dramatically challenging, as you can lose certain abilities that the levels seem designed around the idea of you having all of almost all the time. not recognizing which one you lost can lead to chaining deaths together at super high speeds, too, particularly if you lost triple dash or that little explosion that happens on dash that saves you from bullets.

once you hit world 5, i feel like shit is at its most confusing. the blue shots are your shot, the pinkish red shots are the enemy shots, the purple skulls are definitely enemy shots, the red laser is an enemy about to fire but not actually firing yet so not that dangerous i guess, the red arrows are where to rescue humans in danger (but green when they're not), the red moving robots are enemies (but sometimes radically different enemies despite being similarly sized), the purple laser is a laser that is safe to dash through, the even more purple laser is a laser that is... not safe to dash through, the neon purple/white/red on the floor is fire that will kill you (don't confuse it for an ambient lighting effect, which is real easy to do!), the blue things are power-ups but also you sometimes need to stop to manually read the words above them, too, the green things are human... and then the spots in the level you want to shoot for stuff are different mundane colors in each world and very distracting to focus on in the midst of the minter-esque neonstravaganza. also, there are constant, distracting lighting & particle effects on top of an anxiety-inducing, perpetual sense of urgency.

though the game is still at its core more of a genuine, honest-to-god, real life Video Game than 99.9% of modern stuff, i got so bogged down by its clutter that i just couldn't get into it. would frankly rather play robotron, as it gets to be just as intense but i can mostly tell what the fuck i am doing. there is something that has rubbed me the wrong way about every single housemarque game i've ever played, and even beating nex machina i feel like i can't definitively say if it's worth the time to get better or not because of how offputting it feels to climb that learning curve. the psychedelic, neon arcade subgenre seems almost like its own thing altogether and just not my bag, really. i've always had trouble getting into this school of design - be it from something like space giraffe, geometry wars, super stardust, or this - and it usually feels really distinctly western in a way that does not jive with my preferences or usual love for its primary genre (in this case, top-down shooter).

maybe one day i'm going to go back to dyad and just have it all click, but until then...
Hm.. Interesting take on it, I suppose, but personally speaking I didn't have a problem with anything you took issue to. Different strokes for different folks? I don't know. I suggest giving it more time though and understanding how things work, like the scoring system. You have your standard multiplier that carries until you game over (and decreases every time you die), then you have the separate human multiplier which can skillfully be linked from stage to stage. All of the weapons are useful when playing for survival purposes as well (others are distinctly better for scoring, but that probably shouldn't be anyone's goal on a first playthrough or on the route to a 1CC or the TFB). Triple dash is excellent as well and familiarity with this is key. The Arena challenge mode allows you to play specific maps over and over and is a good way to learn where the secrets are (by the way, destructible objects get blown away quickly, so if you're shooting something and it doesn't degrade or disappear quickly, good chances are it can't be destroyed; secret level blocks do make a distinct sound indicating you are on to them). There's a lot that's hidden in this game and it's a lot of fun to explore and experiment with.
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Re: PS4 Software recommendations

Post by kitten »

Austin wrote:Hm.. Interesting take on it, I suppose, but personally speaking I didn't have a problem with anything you took issue to. Different strokes for different folks?
yeah i think this is a taste matter for me more than anything else, tbh. i feel like it is almost under my scope of interest, but just outside of it!

though a very different thing, i feel most danmaku are not to my liking despite being a pretty big fan of traditional shooters, too.
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Re: PS4 Software recommendations

Post by Marc »

I really wanted to like Alien Isolation, but I remember my first two hours consisting of wondering around finding buttons to open locked doors. I got bored and gave up.

EDF is another game I've tried with on numerous occasions on PS2/360/PS4 but I just can't get into it properly. The scale and sense of destruction is immense, but it never really seems to do anything interesting with it. Normally make it around halfway and give up due to the repetition.
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Re: PS4 Software recommendations

Post by okerlo »

Nice, thank you all for the recommendations, more interesting stuff than I thought at first, gotta take some time to update the list.
iconoclast wrote:S tier:
Yakuza 0, Yakuza Ishin, Street Fighter V, Persona 5, Earth Defense Force 4.1, Dark Souls III, Bloodborne,
[..]
Huh interesting, I like Street Fighter 2 (and its thousand invocations) a lot but so far only heard bad things about Street Fighter V. Could you elaborate a bit on that? Was it just because of the initial release that pretty much forced one to buy DLC after DLC?

Sonic Mania is another title that comes to my mind, hasn't been mentioned yet but looks nice enough.
Also Dex, neat little game from a Czech studio with a Cyberpunk-asthetic. You can feel the tight budget but you can get it for 20 bucks and is worth at least a playthrough in my opinion.
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Re: PS4 Software recommendations

Post by iconoclast »

okerlo wrote:Huh interesting, I like Street Fighter 2 (and its thousand invocations) a lot but so far only heard bad things about Street Fighter V. Could you elaborate a bit on that? Was it just because of the initial release that pretty much forced one to buy DLC after DLC?
It came out unfinished, and practically everything related to the online system was broken, but that was all addressed a long time ago. SFV also has the best DLC model out of any fighting game that I know of, so I don't see much reason for anyone to complain about it. You never need to buy anything to keep playing (all version updates are free), and any DLC characters and stages can be earned through in-game currency.

As far as the game itself goes, I have no major issues with it. Arcade Edition fixed most of the stuff I didn't like about season 2 (I really just hated Balrog & Ibuki), character balance is pretty good for the most part, game balance keeps getting better with more general design adjustments, online play is good (rollback netcode, skill matching, best 2/3 sets), and PC/PS4 crossplatform play stops the PC version from being irrelevant. If you like single player content, there's plenty of it nowadays as well (cinematic story, a bunch of arcade modes, survival mode (which recently had an overhaul to make it not suck)). It's a great game.
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Re: PS4 Software recommendations

Post by pestro87 »

I skipped sf5 but heard many people claim similar things to this - that the input lag is unstable --> https://twitter.com/WydD/status/1018324 ... 69313?s=19
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Re: PS4 Software recommendations

Post by tnc »

Nier Automata, every time I decide to buy it, I don't. Is it really good?
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Re: PS4 Software recommendations

Post by Steamflogger Boss »

tnc wrote:Nier Automata, every time I decide to buy it, I don't. Is it really good?
Most people will tell you it's great. I dropped and sold it in under an hour.
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Re: PS4 Software recommendations

Post by BurlyHeart »

There a lot of fighting games out there a the moment. I play them a lot, so allow me to chime in with my two cents.

I was an avid Street Fighter fan, and played nearly every iteration. I stopped at five. SFV is one of the more boring Street Fighters imo. It feels slow and ponderous - normals have poor reach, combos don't feel satisfying, new characters don't appeal. I'm also not a big fan of the presentation, and the fan service (i.e. all the skimpy outfits).

In contrast, I think Guilty Ger Xrd Rev2 is one of the best fighters ever made. It's not perfect (hello Yellow Roman Cancel), but it's a hell of a lot of fun with a huge variety of characters and depth. Intimidating for newcomers though.

Dragon Ball FighterZ is a fun game too. It manages to simplify everything while still being deep enough to keep it interesting (though each characters moves are a bit too samey for me). Overall, it's a great introduction to the fighting game genre. Plus it's frickin' Dragon Ball.

Under Night In Birth is decent too, as is BlazBlue and Skullgirls 2nd Encore. However I've only dabbled in single player for these games.

While I'm here, I'll list some other PS4 games I'd recommend: (I mostly play arcade style games, and a lot of these games are available on other systems - also I generally only play digital)
Physical Only:
PuyoPuyo Tetris - a blast. Crappy story mode though. Not available online, and only available as a physical edition due to some copyright over the tetris name.

Digitally bought:
Enter the Gungeon - I love it. The characters, the gameplay, the lore. It's tremendous fun. The new update has made it easier to find good items.
Celeste - superb platformer that'll leave you pulling your hair out (as long as you leave 'assist' mode off).
Nex Machina - Arcade feels, hidden depth and an actual scoring system!
99Vidas - decent beat 'em up. Looks good and has good music. Combat system is just okay though it's fun.
Overcooked 1 & 2 - if you have a friend, it's a real hoot. #2 allows you to play online.
Sleeping Dogs - Great combat and a cool world to explore.
Streets of Red - decent beat 'em up.
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