Topic: The PS4 breakdown - has it been the best console ever? Discussion and Banter. Everyone Welcome.

@themcnoisy I’m on Civ 6 (on PC) at the moment as a palette cleanser. I also play a lot of Clash Royale and Scrabble on my phone. Then every weekend I play Fallout because that’s what my friends are playing and I like it.

Gaming really isn’t my secret guilty pleasure anymore ( remember my girlfriend telling me to shut up when we were playing Destiny?) Now I play Scrabble with her Mum. Destiny was my first game playing with a mic, now every time I switch on my PS4 I start a Party chat. I’m so glad gaming is just a part of my life now. I don’t even consider it a hobby anymore.

@nathanSF Haha, I'm with you there. Wife check, kids check, phone, wallet, keys check playstation check. Get outside away from the fire and you've forgotten the cat.

@TheFrenchiestFry there was around 500 games released for the snes in Europe and amongst that you had a good 25% which were bad, like ultraman and waynes world. You also had a ridiculous amount of platform games, great if you liked them - but the variety just isn't there for me. All of the sports games have been surpassed bar maybe nba jam, the better side scrolling beat em up was on the Megadrive and the games were expensive. Its a great console no doubt and some of the games are legendary like FF6, Link to the past and Mario Kart.

@rastamadeus You just need a break! Or to try some leftfeild games. There are loads of great games now.

@themcnoisy
Well...
My PS4 is Slim model, White color, 500 GB, Asia version.
It looks beautiful in White color.
My PS4 games are mostly beautiful innocent white as the machine color, so my PS4 games are only rated Everyone, Eceryobe 10+ and a few of Teen games / PEGI 3, 7 and 12.
I played PS4 games that only appropriate for kids and general viewer so i selected the games very tightly.

Used to be i was very negative with PS4 due to too many adult games and less kids games on it. It was on year 2016 i was very fanatic with my Wii U before i changed my mind and ate my word on February 2017 when i was browsing the PS4 games from playasia, i saw FF XII TZA will be on PS4. It made me curious about PS4 games i could consider.

I bought PS4 Slim on 1st April 2018 (April was represented number 4 of PS4) with some great starter games such as Portal Knights, The Sims 4, FF XII TZA. On year 2019 i have my Top 3 PS4 games: Dragon Quest Builders 2,The Sims 4 and Portal Knights.

So, talking about PS4, if i say it was the Best Sony machine, i can say yes due to my Top 3 PS4 games ever and the white color i got. But i still thought PS2 slim White was the Best Sony machine ever in my opinion. It was small, white color, perfect for playing DDR and K-1 on my PS2.

The thing i still critize about PS4 is the absence of gameplay log time. I wanna see how many hours i have been playing certain games. Overall, PS4 U/I, Blue color scheme and indie games in physical are the best things on PS4.

@rastamadeus good to hear from you anyway mate. I went off gaming for 4ish years. I had played a lot of games prior to that and had just about enough.

I have found variety is the spice of life and will play anything, even badly rated games which can have there own charm. Adventure time pirates of the enchiridion is pretty rough but I loved it. The bigger games have lot of fluff and it sometimes feels like you are wasting time.

Thanks for the tag @themcnoisy!

I think the PS2 is my favourite console overall from what I've owned with it's impressive and diverse library.

Despite me having a smaller line-up of games in my library at the moment then any other Sony console at this point in the generation... I do think I've enjoyed my time with the PS4 quite a bit more then I did with my PS3 (Despite there being some corking titles for it).

Whilst it is smaller I have a more diverse library then what I had on PS3, the Dualshock 4 is a very nice feeling controller & My PS4 slim is more aesthetically pleasing compared to either PS3 I owned (An OG and a super slim).

Generally I'm quite pleased with it overall!

This has been an awesome topic to read. You're all brilliant.

For me, I think I have to consider the PS4 in the context of its generation. These past six-and-a-bit years have reinforced a lot of trends from the PS360 era, as well as introduced a few new ideas of their own; as a PlayStation loyalist, seeing the sands shift solely via my PS4 has been an interesting experience.

Take the increase in social integration, for example. I think Sony have got the balance just right here; we get dedicated tabs for Events and Communities and Parties on the PS4's dashboard, and they work well enough when we use them, but we don't have to go anywhere near them if we don't want to. There's a SHARE button on the DualShock4 and that's great for streamers and content creators, but it's also great for frustrated amateur photographers like me, because you can configure it to simply take screencaps and save them, offline, to a USB stick. Everybody's happy!

But there are also trends the PS4 makes worse. Games aren't released finished any more, and post-release patches are an unfortunate certainty now, but the console's insistence on copying the entire game's data for safety purposes can be an agonising unforeseen roadblock to an evening's entertainment, no matter how necessary it may be. With game sizes ballooning all the time, you can genuinely lose an entire two-hour session to this if you boot up unaware of a new update (which, often times, doesn't add or change anything significant anyway). It's something that'll become a laughable bit of nostalgia before long but, for now, it's one of my biggest headaches and an inescapable dent in my otherwise-positive PS4 feelings.

So the console itself is what I'd categorise "Jack of All Trades, Master of Some" and that's the best I think any piece of technology can hope for. Where it elevates itself is obviously its first-party games library, but it's also important to note that, as the generation leader, many third-party games have been developed on PS4 dev kits and so ultimately run best on Sony's console. Previously, fans of predominantly third-party games (like me) had to settle for awkward and janky ports poorly optimised for the PS3's bespoke guts. After experiencing such sub-par work, there's been a small degree of comfort for me when purchasing games for PS4, knowing that I'm less likely to encounter major issues across the board.

Which is good, because the games themselves have been excellent. Personally speaking, Sony have provided a good balance of sequels (Killzone: Shadow Fall, Uncharted 4: A Thief's End and The Lost Legacy) and original ideas (The Order: 1886, Horizon: Zero Dawn and The Last Guardian) as well as snagging some important, exclusive licences (Marvel's Spider-Man) to deliver a well-balanced selection for my preferred type of gaming. Outside of first-party consideration, I got new instalments from Batman, Hitman, Mass Effect, Metal Gear, Sonic the Hedgehog, Star Trek, Star Wars and Tomb Raider (and, even when those third-party games were delayed by other deals, they eventually arrived on PS4 bigger, better and more complete than ever before, so I didn't mind the wait).

Is the PS4 the greatest ever console? I don't know. Is it one of the greats? Undoubtedly.

Perhaps the thing I'll remember most fondly about the PS4, however, is the fact that it's the console during which I decided to join PushSquare, and start talking to my fellow gamers about these incredible experiences I was, um... experiencing (me English good). For somebody who's usually allergic to social interaction, being able to share my thoughts with you guys has been a huge victory. I consider you all good friends, and have had tons of fun. That's why I'll always love my PS4, no matter what.

Anyway, this is just my opening salvo for this great topic. I hope it continues, as the PS4 will do for a few good years to come. Long live the PushSquare forums!

Oh, and the MegaDrive beats the SNES. Every time, no question.

The GameCube is my favourite console of all time. It has my two favourite games Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time and Super Mario Sunshine. At the time it was also the console I would choose to play any multi platform game that was available for it. The GameCube has my favourite controller of all time and compare to the other consoles of its generation had fast loading times and better graphics as well.

I think the PlayStation 4 is the best PlayStation. PS4 is the console that this generation I would choose to play a game on if it was available for it. PS4 is my second favourite console of all time.

In terms of its library of games the PS4 probably has more 9 out of 10 experiences and any other console I’ve owned. Nintendo still has a slight lead in the 10 out of 10 but they’re still very rare and the gap has closed considerably every generation after the GameCube.

@Ryall do you mean wind waker or Majorcas mask? I recall ocarina being a bonus disc for one of them at 60fps but that is an N64 game. I loved the GC too, the controller, portability, aesthetically very pleasing, great opening salvo of games. It then went through long droughts with not much releasing and the 3rd parties started to avoid releasing on the system.

It had the best version of one of the greatest fighting games of all time in Soul Calibur 2 (entered my first and last fighting tournament with that game). It played so well and was the perfect fighting game. So so good. Then we got the first proper wireless controller in the wave bird. But again as a counter point memory cards would fill up quickly where as the xbox had a hard drive, online was awful and those gaming droughts were too much att.

@Foxy-Goddess-Scotchy You need more games Fox! I'm pleased how the PS4 panned out too. I've kind of forgotten my lost years on xbox 360, bar Mass Effect and Trials HD everything is better on the PS4 including the reliability. It's lost to time but xbox live back then was down way more often than PSN is now, so kudos to Sony for that.

@RogerRoger As you love 3rd person action adventures this is a console designed for you Rog. I enjoy the odd one - but it has to be mixed in with other games.

I also think we are doing the current crop of top games an injustice when we compare them to last gen, as playing Killzone 3 (which is arguably in the top 3 PS3 games) would be a 7 out of 10 these days. It's partly to do with reinforcing known enjoyable gaming mechanics and building upon them, the big strides have been graphically and flair graphics. Realistic clothing, things floating in the wind - gone are the days you think an enemy in the distance and it turns out to be a part of the scenery at an odd angle. Which happened a lot with the grey and brown colours 10 years ago.

You are right with the unfinished games and updates. I can't forgive Capcom for the release of Street Fighter 5, awful. But this is more to do with the current gen rather than the console and happens on PC and X1 just as often.

And yeah, don't be a stranger I'm often on my console so send me a screenshot now and again!

@Anti-Matter I think we need another one of your pictures to brighten the place up mate.

@themcnoisy Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time was originally a N64 game. But the best version is the GameCube one. It has the master quest which remixes the dungeons increases the challenge. It also uses the GameCube controller which is better than the N64 for controller. I did get it as a bonus disc with my copy of the Wind Waker .

I never attempted to connect my GameCube on the Internet. Did play a lot of 4 player local multiplayer with super smash Bros melee, WarioWare Inc Mega party games$!, Mario Kart double dash and Wave Race blue storm. I would argued that the only one of a series that is better on the current generation is Smash Bros and only because you can hook up 4 GameCube controllers to the switch and play with up to 8 players.

@Ryall Yep, that bonus disc is brilliant. That’s how I played OoT for the first time and Master Quest is a fantastic addition. I probably played it more than Wind Waker in all honesty.

It’s undoubtedly better than the PS3, that’s for sure. That console was marred by subpar multi platform releases and horrendous hardware compared to the 360, the latter of which was a well-balanced console and had a far stronger set of exclusives in the early years of the generation. The PS3 had a very, very, very slow start. The worst thing for me about the PS3/360 era was that Japanese console development almost imploded. Many developers - particularly of RPGs - moved to the DS and PSP and the ones that remained seemed to be on a deranged quest to “cater to the West”. Things have really turned around on the PS4 and Japanese console development has seen an incredible resurgence, both with big AAA games and smaller RPGs alike. I’m glad that Japanese developers have realised that Western gamers actually like Japanese styled games. A small part of that is perhaps down to the surprise success of certain Bandai-Namco published games in the latter years of the PS3. It’s been wonderful to see franchises like Dragon Quest, Kingdom Hearts and Persona (although 5 was also released on the PS3) return to consoles.

While I think there’s a case to be made that the PS4 is up there with the greats in terms of the quality of its library, on the merits of its hardware it’s a slightly more mixed picture. It’s dragged down a little by a wretched CPU, but has a decent GPU and excellent RAM, so it feels like there’s a balance there that didn’t exist with the PS3. 1080p is the standard, more or less, although frame rates are still not where they should be. The PS4 was designed when the world was still reeling from the recession and so compromise was needed otherwise it would have been too expensive. It’s interesting that the PS5 and Xbox Series X will be releasing in the midst of COVID-19 crisis and the worst recession since the Great Depression of the ‘30’s, but the hardware for the new consoles was set in place before that hit.

As for the games the PS4 has brilliant and varied library. Persona 5 hasn’t yet been unseated as my personal favourite of the generation (and is also one of my all-time favourites) and then there’s lots of other exceptional titles such as Nier Automata, Dragon Quest XI God of War and many, many others. Indies have also filled an important niche left by the death of AA development and the risk aversion of AAA games. Sony’s first-party games have truly grown into their own and it feels like they are at the peak of their powers. I’m excited to see what their studios can come up with on the PS5.

That said for me the library still doesn’t quite compare to the sheer breadth and depth of the PS2’s library. There were so many games there was something for everyone and almost every genre was represented. The PS2 was simply on another level and I don’t think any other console will have the sheer dominance it did. Coupled with comparatively low development costs it enabled such a diverse range of games to be made and developers were more willing to take risks. If I think back, so many of my favourites are PS2 games. Many of those franchises have since risen again on the PS4, so I do think gaming is in a far healthier position than it was on the PS3. In general the PS2/GameCube/Xbox generation was great because each console had its own unique selling point and each had strong libraries - even given the dominance of the PS2. I guess I have a great fondness for that era generally, although should note that it isn’t childhood nostalgia as I was already in my late teens. It’s important to point out that games now cost so much and take so long to make we are actually seeing far fewer big releases compared to previous generations. I don’t know if this will be even more pronounced on the PS5.

@themcnoisy Oh, totally agree. Every game has to be judged in the context of its time, at least in terms of an honest critical analysis. Killzone 3 remains my favourite of the franchise; of course it wouldn't be today, if I played it right alongside Shadow Fall or heck, even Mercenary on PS Vita. Sony worked hard on making their first-party games shine on PS3's bespoke hardware. With the PS4, it's just become easier for third-party developers to match that level, given the more accessible inner workings.

You're practically quoting from my snarky review of Rainbow Six: Vegas there, a game in which I spent far too long shooting at bits of scenery, thinking they were enemies! My personality type and, as you say, gaming preferences means that incremental refinement is as acceptable to me as bravely trying to reinvent the wheel. If this has been the generation of "more, but shinier" then I'm okay with that.

I shall find a good screencap and send it your way, the next time I boot up my console!

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@mookysam Good argument, well made. The PS2 is what stopped me short of concluding that the PS4 was my nomination for best-ever console; not because it was a particularly impressive machine, but simply because its dominance ensured a gaming library which, as you say, reflected every single, possible and conceivable taste. It's great to see those Japanese developers making a comeback, too. Don't get me wrong, I'm still no JRPG fan, but I had more chance finding something esoteric and delightful like We Love Katamari on the PS2 than I ever did on PS3. We live in an increasingly international world, where diverse cultural understanding and appreciation has come a long way; I really hope the West sees more content from Japan in the coming generation (some obvious exceptions notwithstanding).

Lots of great games on the PS4. It also has my favourite multiplayer game of all time in MHW. Overwatch's up there too.

@WanderingBullet Good to see you back in the forums, by the way!

Just now getting around to thinking about this topic. There’s been some great discussion so far.

I’d say it would come down to PS2 vs PS4 for me. The library of both consoles is what makes them such juggernauts and it’s no coincidence that these are the two best selling gaming consoles of all time. I think PS4 may eventually edge PS2 in sales, depending on how PS5 rolls out, and I think it edges the older console in personal opinion as well. Trying to account for nostalgia, I just think the PS4 has more quality games and boundary pushing experiences. Even though I’m a single player gamer mostly, the addition of online interactivity opens up the possibilities that PS2 just didn’t have.

I honestly feel like PS4 could be perfectly acceptable as a game console for another couple years and I’m not nearly as anxious to move on to PS5 as I was in the previous two generations.

@themcnoisy My childhood nostalgia will always make me prefer the PS2, but PS4 definitely comes close.

Thanks for thinking of me when you were making mentions. I don't post as often as I used to anymore (due to work), but still try to engage in PushSquare community when I can.

The Ps4 has been just stellar. Lots of brilliant games and some definitive versions of my faves. I haven’t latched to it in the same way I did with the Megadrive or SNES or the Dreamcast or even the Vita but I guess that’s just because it’s really a machine for everybody and not this niche thing I felt really mine.

PS4 has definitely been the best console I've owned but a much younger, more excited and nostalgic me would disagree. He can sod off though, Cyberpunk 2077 is out soon.

@mookysam thanks for the thought out response Mooky, the ps2 gen was great. Looking back it is one of my favourites too.

I just think with the volume of remasters and the fact you can play loads of that gens games now, pushes me towards the PS4.

The Ps2 / xbox / Gamecube gen was the pinnacle for offline gaming on a crt TV which is a positive. I'm struggling to think of games from that gen which are still the best in class though, which is a negative.

@WanderingBullet But are either of those better than Bomberman?

@themcnoisy Resi 4, Silent Hill 2, GTA San Andreas, Metroid Prime, Paper Mario TTYD, Timesplitters 2, Half Life 2, MGS 2 and 3 haven’t been surpassed in their series/genre imo. I’d say that’s pretty good for consoles almost 20 years old considering the advances in technology. The PS4’s been great but I think in terms of ‘at the time’, I appreciate the advances that gen did more.