Topic: PS4 recommendation thread

kingdom hearts 3

I moved it over here for clarity, but one of the games that comes to mind is Oxenfree. It’s not a visual novel, but to me has a relatively laid back story centric approach that’s mostly like that — talking to the NPCs, piece together story, make your way through a few little puzzles, make a few narrative choices, etc.

I haven’t played it but maybe Night in the Woods? Perhaps a similar vibe there.

Or are you looking specifically for Japanese style VN? I know you already did the full Danganronpa series. Are you much into walking sims? Not exactly VN but would be good for “wandering about and talking to people” — so like Firewatch, Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture, What Remains of Edith Finch…. probably you’ve played all those though.

@Th3solution I played Oxenfree and I actually don't like it. Or I didn't like it when I played it. It was the banter. I found it tough to like the characters or care about them when I found them so annoying.

I do like all those walking sims too. I enjoy those games.

The vibe I'm going for here is like... I guess a slightly more involved visual novel. Ever so slightly. One of the things I liked about 13 Sentinels, for example, was that it was basically a visual novel, only instead of descriptions and static screens we saw the settings, and we walked around them, and the story was just told through dialogue. TOKYODARK is a bit like that too, whereas something like Danganronpa or Nonary Games is a normal visual novel with interactive bits tacked on?

Am I making sense? I think I am.

I'm aware this is an oddly specific request. I'm not even sure why I'm requesting it. I just really liked 13 Sentinels and TOKYODARK.

@johncalmc Fair enough. Since I’m playing through (rather slowly, I might add) 13 Sentinels right now I found your request interesting. There isn’t really much quite like it, that I know of. I’m only barely in the first 6-8 hours of it or so and I like it also, mostly for its unique approach to storytelling and the mixture of the tactical combat sections. It’s really not even like the other Vanillaware games except to a little shared art style. I’ve only played Dragon’s Crown and Muramasa Rebirth and those are much less story driven and more ‘gamey.’

Haven’t played TOKYODARK but seems like I might enjoy it. I get what you’re saying and I think we have a similar interest. I played Valiant Hearts last year and it was okay. Not really a VN either and is closer to Oxenfree than to 13 Sentinels so you might not care for it. And there isn’t much dialogue as the story is pretty exclusively told through a narrator, with little character interaction so probably scrap that. Another one that comes to mind is Broken Age. It was too heavy on the puzzle elements for my taste though and the story lost my interest in the end. But it does have the character switching aspect of 13 Sentinels (albeit only two characters, but choices you make as one character affect the other).

I just realized I’ve been basically thinking of 2D indie style art games with a lot of interactive stuff, which isn’t what you are looking for. I’m not doing very well at this.

How about Kentucky Route Zero? I haven’t played it yet and I don’t know what it is, but I think it’s not so much puzzle oriented as it is narrative and piecing together the story.

Eh, ..I think I’m just rambling at this point. 😅

@Th3solution 13 Sentinels is really a treat. At times I found it confusing as the number of characters increased - and of course some of the stories are more interesting than others - but some of the story beats are pretty out there and by the end I was absolutely hooked.

TOKYODARK is by no means as good. It's similar in that you walk about and talk to people. There's also some light puzzling. It's also a lot shorter and lot more straight forward. So, imagine 13 Sentinels but you're one character solving a supernatural murder mystery and it's like five hours long or something. It's fine. If you're into that kind of thing you'll get on with it.

Valient Hearts is a good shout, as is Kentucky Route Zero, but alas, I have played those.

I think, basically, I just want a 13 Sentinels 2.

@johncalmc Have you played Disco Elysium yet? It’s similar in that you walk about the setting talking to people. As in, that’s the game. That’s what you do at all times. Other than that, I guess there’s that wave of bartender games like VA-11 HALL-A and Coffee Talk. Think Necrobarista is getting a port to PS4 this year too.

@nessisonett I have played Disco Elysium. I haven't played VA-11 HALL-A but it's on my list to pick up when I spy it on offer, and I haven't played Coffee Talk but I do actually own it - just haven't started it yet. Never heard of Necrobarister but I'm going to check that one out and see what it's all about.

@johncalmc So I know I'm about a week late for this, but if you're still looking for a phenomenal visual novel (although I don't know how it compares to 13 Sentinels and TOKYODARK), I highly recommend checking out Steins;Gate if you haven't seen the anime already (like most people I know have, lol). The game is pretty much just a visual novel, there's no major gameplay interactions. The most you'll do is bring up your phone and answer texts or call someone as well as make choices during certain parts of the game. The story and characters are just brilliant, the balance between humour and seriousness is just right. You spend a lot of time getting to know the characters as the story unfolds in unexpected ways. I genuinely haven't cared this much about the characters in a video game in a very long time. The game is simply well-written and unique. Never played anything quite like it, so I highly recommend checking it out.

Currently in my shopping cart waiting for me to hit purchase, thanks to the new sales, are: Hyper Light Drifter; Sky Force Reloaded; Crypt of the Necrodancer; Celeste; Dragons Crown Pro.
Anybody who had played any of these got anything good, bad or indifferent to tell me whether I should buy/avoid or just and opinions or comments.

@Sorteddan I can only comment on Dragon’s Crown — and I played the vanilla version on Vita, not the Pro one. I’d say it’s a solid 7. I played through with one character and I don’t think I was quite enamored enough to try all the characters, but it has a solid framework of combat and lite rpg. Of course the art is the star of the show, if you’re into that kind of thing. It borders on the salacious with the Amazon and the Sorceress, but if you’re not playing it with your mom, then you should be okay. 😅. You just have to wonder why all the female characters don’t have chronic back problems, if you know what I mean.
I’d recommend it if you like fantasy rpg based 2D side scrolling beat ‘em up action games.

I’m curious about Hyper Light Drifter and Celeste as well.

I highly recommend Void Bastards especially seeing it's on sale until the 1/9/21 for £12 odd base game & £13 odd base game with DLC. I tried it on GamePass really like so brought it with the DLC for my PS4 Pro. I am sure some ex-Bioshock devs work on Void Bastards, it's that type of game first person shooter with instead of the abilities in Bioshock you have gadgets & the ability to upgrade you're weapons & abilities for different weapon & gadget effects.. The graphics are Borderlands like with great sound and houmours voice acting, with a science-fiction out in space setting. It's s roguelike but if you've never played a roguelike I wouldn't let it put you off, this game has a ton of replayability. It's a brilliant game that blends different gameplay mechanics really well, like Bioshock like FPS, RPG elements & choosing you're own path for different benefits.

Since I've already bought most of the games I want to play on PS4, I've been trying to expand my horizons a bit to find more titles to experience that I don't know much about. One of those is Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen and the only thing I know is that the game is kinda like a Souls game and that there are a lot of people who love it. What makes it so good compared to other games and is it hard like a Souls title? And also, is it worth getting for €15?

@LtSarge It’s not really Souls like to be honest. You do have big enemy encounters which are a highlight of the game as you can climb them and target weak points. But there aren’t particularly big boss battles and most enemies are beatable at the right level (I spent ages to beat one enemy when I was under levelled just to prove a point.. it wasn’t worth the time it took!)

The story is a bit cheesy and the voice acting almost hilarious but the combat mechanics really are cool. Plus, the pawn system is really unique where you create a small NPC character who follows you and joins you in combat. You can also recruit others online who can have knowledge of areas and enemies you don’t have (from what I remember).

I really enjoyed it as a PS+ freebie back in the dying days of the PS3 so it has been a long time since I played it. While it does have its flaws, it is still a fun game.

@LtSarge To piggyback on @Thrillho , Dragon’s Dogma is a fantastic game, and not really like Dark Souls except it’s fantasy based and has dragons. I don’t remember it being all that difficult either. In fact, I went on a fantasy binge back in PS3 after playing Skyrim and I wanted more of that genre so picked up Dark Souls at the recommendation of the worker at GameStop and I didn’t make it past 5 or so hours before I jumped off and
then went on to instead play DD and Kingdoms of Amalur Reckoning in quick succession and loved them both. So the difficulty shouldn’t deter you.

The pawn system is really fantastic, and it’s a fun asynchronous online wrinkle that add to the uniqueness of the game. Definitely recommend it. This is based on the base PS3 game, I didn’t ever go back to complete all the extra Dark Arisen added content and I don’t know how the PS4 port holds up, but I’m sure it’s most likely an improvement.

The game is pretty long, as I recall. The main story isn’t probably too bad but it’s got an openness to it and it seems like I poured 80+ hours into it and didn’t even do it all.

@Thrillho @Th3solution Really enjoyed reading your thoughts about the game, especially the part about the pawn system, which I had no idea about. It sounds really interesting! I'm definitely adding the game on my to-buy list for the foreseeable future as I've been wanting to buy more titles for my collection seeing as how I'm completing games faster than I'm buying them. Not gonna lie, I've been actually getting worried that I won't have many games to play at this rate, lol. Anyway, I appreciate your informative comments about the game!

@LtSarge I’d be interested in your thought if/when you get to it, particularly if it does still hold up today.

@Thrillho Will definitely keep you as well as @Th3solution in mind when I eventually start playing this game!

@Foxy-Goddess-Scotchy It definitely sounds like it will be a good time! Seems like most of you have played the PS3 version so it's going to be interesting to play the PS4 version and share my experience with that one. Really looking forward to playing it now!

Perusing the current sales I find myself tempted to pick up both Shady Part of Me and The Last Campfire for some emotive, narrative driven puzzle solving type action. Now I will probably get them regardless but just wondering if anyone here has played them or have anything positive or otherwise to say about them?

So I've been contemplating buying some games in the Halloween sale and one I'm interested in getting is Manhunt. I've never experienced this series before and the first game seems like it could be rather fun. It's also only €9. Has anyone played it and would recommend it?