Stealth, sneak and stab. Enemies never see me coming
Complex antagonists not just cackling villain, more of a moral grey area
Assassin's Creed series (played most but it's gone so far off track now)
Parkour (Assassin's Creed, Tomb Raider)
Having to think my way around a scenario rather than stab until dead every time
Third person
Open world
3D
What I don't like so much/dislike:
Shooter games (first person shooters etc.)
Timed challenges or where the margin for error is miniscule to the point of infuriating and repetitive
Standard dark lord of evil with army of the dead type villains
What I've played:
Assassin's Creed series (most)
Tomb Raider 2009 and sequels
Middle Earth: Shadow of War
Horizon Zero Dawn
No Man's Sky (gets a bit dull eventually)
The Last of Us (got stuck)
The Sims 1-4
Minecraft
Satisfactory
Planet Nomads
Space Engineers
Factorio
Racing games
I second Hitman, along with Red Dead Redemption 2 which is a lot slower paced than normal shooters and should appeal a bit more to your tastes. Dishonored is another good stealthy game.
If you're into the Assassin's Creed games, and not burnt out yet by the 'Open-World' genre, I'd highly recommend Ghost of Tsushima.
Ghost has a lot of flexibility regarding how you approach combat, leaving it with the player to decide if you stealth-kill your way through an enemy camp vs going in 'all guns blazing'.
The visuals, story and immersion are all pretty immaculate IMO - and my time spent with the game was remarkably enjoyable.
The story is a relatively simple one, but you do find yourself really rooting for the protagonist (Jin Sakai) as things progress.
I'd recommend getting the Directors Cut version, which includes a the Iki Island DLC (even better than the base game).
There are some small parkour elements as well, and exploration is usually rewarded nicely - with consumables/currency to unlock extra abilities.
Difficulty modes are quite well implemented, going from 'story' - - -> 'Lethal' depending on what you prefer.
I got the platinum trophy is about 60-ish hours, and it was a pleasure to attain.
When it comes to Open-World, I think Ghost would really tick your boxes. I've not really played a lot of AssCreed games, but understand many people seem to consider Ghost as an upgraded version of the AC experience.
@Bluefield There has been several good suggestions that fit your preferences.
The first two games that came to my mind was Ghost of Tsushima and Death Stranding, so I’ll second those. Especially GoT should fit well into your criteria. It has stealth options for most encounters, a villain that I personally liked very much, a gorgeous open world to get lost in. Like CJD87 said, reminiscent of Assassins Creed but more polished and focused, imo.
Death Stranding is a strange one, and you’ve likely read about it, but it comes to mind for you because combat is more limited and there is a heavy emphasis on sneaking around, and avoiding combat. There are sections where it’s necessary, but a lot of the game is spent puzzling out how to get from one point to the next with your cargo while not engaging in the enemies around. If you want a beautiful open world with heavy amount of stealth and strategy focused gameplay, it’s sure to please. The enemy/villain aspect is quite unique also, and the story is crazy and definitely not like anything you’ve played before. There’s no parkour in the truest sense (it’s not like jumping and grabbing onto ledges and the like) but you do have to climb mountains, traverse gorges, and get around the environment with the use of ladders, ropes, etc. And to be honest, there are some timed challenge deliveries, but I’m like you and hate timed challenges in general, and I didn’t mind these. In DS it’s more about calculating and strategizing routes to take that are faster so you can meet some deadlines, not like running a gauntlet and hitting everything perfect like most timed challenges in other games. But most of the deliveries are quite slow paced and I think the timed ones are mostly optional if memory serves.
Both DS and GoT were among my favorite PS4 games. Both are simply excellent and in my opinion, ‘must play’ games.
Another to consider is A Plague Tale: Innocence. It’s more linear rather than open world, and is a lot like The Last of Us, although even more dependent on stealth than that one. Your characters are quite weak without much weaponry so you have to be very stealthy about each scenario. There are light puzzle elements which would satisfy your preference for problem solving the conflicts. The villain is probably the weakest part and I’ll be honest that you probably won’t be too impressed with that part, but it’s good enough and the rest of the game really shines. It’s an under appreciated gem imo.
Speaking of, you should try to go back to TLoU if you can, because the sequel The Last of Us Part II has better gameplay, imo, with a fair amount of stealth and to say the villain is morally grey and complex is definitely an understatement.
Hitman is definitely the quintessential stealth game. It’s not open world per se, but each setting is an open sandbox on its own. There are dozens of ways that you can approach each scenario and they are all best done with the most calculated stealth approach you can conceive, including setting up traps, putting on disguises, poisoning the target, etc, etc. Honestly, for me it was almost too open and stealth driven, but I had fun with the first game, although I never finished it. Apparently the second and third games, Hitman 2 and 3, are even better.
And like nessisonett also suggested, Dishonored and Prey, both by Arkane studios, are supposed really good in the stealth genre and have a lot of openness to how you approach the game. Both are first person though, so I don’t know if you’d like that part. I don’t, so I’ve actually not played them; only played a couple hours of Dishonored once.
You might consider the Batman Arkham games. The Arkham City and Arkham Knight are open world, Arkham Asylum is more linear / 3D Metroidvania. Definitely have a lot of stealth and some parkour, and no shooting.
@Bluefield There has been several good suggestions that fit your preferences.
The first two games that came to my mind was Ghost of Tsushima and Death Stranding, so I’ll second those. Especially GoT should fit well into your criteria. It has stealth options for most encounters, a villain that I personally liked very much, a gorgeous open world to get lost in. Like CJD87 said, reminiscent of Assassins Creed but more polished and focused, imo.
Death Stranding is a strange one, and you’ve likely read about it, but it comes to mind for you because combat is more limited and there is a heavy emphasis on sneaking around, and avoiding combat. There are sections where it’s necessary, but a lot of the game is spent puzzling out how to get from one point to the next with your cargo while not engaging in the enemies around. If you want a beautiful open world with heavy amount of stealth and strategy focused gameplay, it’s sure to please. The enemy/villain aspect is quite unique also, and the story is crazy and definitely not like anything you’ve played before. There’s no parkour in the truest sense (it’s not like jumping and grabbing onto ledges and the like) but you do have to climb mountains, traverse gorges, and get around the environment with the use of ladders, ropes, etc. And to be honest, there are some timed challenge deliveries, but I’m like you and hate timed challenges in general, and I didn’t mind these. In DS it’s more about calculating and strategizing routes to take that are faster so you can meet some deadlines, not like running a gauntlet and hitting everything perfect like most timed challenges in other games. But most of the deliveries are quite slow paced and I think the timed ones are mostly optional if memory serves.
Both DS and GoT were among my favorite PS4 games. Both are simply excellent and in my opinion, ‘must play’ games.
Another to consider is A Plague Tale: Innocence. It’s more linear rather than open world, and is a lot like The Last of Us, although even more dependent on stealth than that one. Your characters are quite weak without much weaponry so you have to be very stealthy about each scenario. There are light puzzle elements which would satisfy your preference for problem solving the conflicts. The villain is probably the weakest part and I’ll be honest that you probably won’t be too impressed with that part, but it’s good enough and the rest of the game really shines. It’s an under appreciated gem imo.
Speaking of, you should try to go back to TLoU if you can, because the sequel The Last of Us Part II has better gameplay, imo, with a fair amount of stealth and to say the villain is morally grey and complex is definitely an understatement.
Hitman is definitely the quintessential stealth game. It’s not open world per se, but each setting is an open sandbox on its own. There are dozens of ways that you can approach each scenario and they are all best done with the most calculated stealth approach you can conceive, including setting up traps, putting on disguises, poisoning the target, etc, etc. Honestly, for me it was almost too open and stealth driven, but I had fun with the first game, although I never finished it. Apparently the second and third games, Hitman 2 and 3, are even better.
And like nessisonett also suggested, Dishonored and Prey, both by Arkane studios, are supposed really good in the stealth genre and have a lot of openness to how you approach the game. Both are first person though, so I don’t know if you’d like that part. I don’t, so I’ve actually not played them; only played a couple hours of Dishonored once.
You might consider the Batman Arkham games. The Arkham City and Arkham Knight are open world, Arkham Asylum is more linear / 3D Metroidvania. Definitely have a lot of stealth and some parkour, and no shooting.
Well, that’s a lot, so I’ll stop there.
Thanks for your review 🙂
✔️= already played
A Plague Tale: Innocence ✔️
Hitman ✔️ ish
Dishonored ✔️ and sequel
The Arkham City and Arkham Knight ✔️
also Styx: Master of Shadows and Shards of Darkness
@Bluefield Very surprised that nobody's suggested Marvel's Spider-Man and its follow-up, Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales. Whilst the gameplay isn't 100% stealth and some brawling will be required at times, you can still opt to sneak more often than not. Beyond that, they're just unparalleled cinematic rollercoasters with a remarkably "alive" open world sandbox, accessible gameplay, incredible traversal mechanics and better-than-average, compelling superhero storylines. They tick most of your boxes.
"We want different things, Crosshair. That doesn't mean that we have to be enemies."
Based on your criteria Dishonered fits the most....but it’s first person.
Prey is also excellent & the game can be tackled a number of ways but it has more of an emphasis on gunplay & is also first person.
Lives, Lived, Will Live.
Dies, Died, Will Die.
If we could perceive time for what it really was,
What reason would Grammar Professors have to get out of bed?- Robert & Rosalind Lutece
Forums
Topic: Game suggestions?
Posts 1 to 14 of 14
Sorry, this topic has been locked.