Topic: What PS4 Games Are You Currently Playing?

The second Darkest Dungeon is out now on early access for PC @JohnnyShoulder. It came out 4 or so days ago I think?

Whereas the first is more of a turn based dungeon crawl with roguelike elements as you keep building up your estate, going on runs through the various areas and work your way up towards the Darkest Dungeon...

The second is more like slay the spire kinda roguelike, with each go being one run as you try to get to the end and the final boss before doing it again with different teams, routes, new encounters etc. It also has 3D graphics instead of the 2D of the first but keeps the lovely gothic artstyle.

I've played the first game (and seen some gameplay of the second) ... I didn't get close to finishing it but I intend to go back at some point. It's challenging

Monster Sanctuary is what I'm now playing having tore through Dead Rising 2 during the half term break.

The first two areas you go through (The Mountain Path & The Blue Caves) are easy enough for the 3v3 monster battles but the next three (The Stronghold Dungeon, The Ancient Woods & The Snowy Peaks) start to test your monster battling skills.

Keeper Duels are ESPECIALLY tough. Like goddamn the first Keeper duel against Will and his Spectral Toad (I chose the Wolf) was pretty tough to get through.

I have a minor quibble with the game so far... Monster Eggs often take a good while to obtain (Especially if you want repeats) as you need a good rank in battle (3 stars at least) to get them to drop and it's hard to try and farm them as well thanks to encounters taking a while to respawn.

Also only the six monsters in your active party get exp despite the fact you'll have at least 12 or so for all the different exploration abilites you need.

Eggs you hatch are two levels lower then your highest party member too and whilst there is a rare candy like item to level up weaker monsters... It only levels them up to two levels below your highest monster (Just like hatching them from an egg) ... So like what's the point? 😧

I do like how Monster abilities are used in your exploration though and the Metroidvania aspects of the game are pretty well done so far... There's some really tight platforming challenges!

The move trees each monster has so you can make different builds are pretty nice but it is a bit annoying as well in that sometimes for some monsters there might be a point already put into a move/tree you don't want to invest in... Why couldn't it just be blank and give you an extra skill point or two for YOU to invest it where you want? 😐

Pixel art is really nice though and the music is pretty decent so far too!

I am enjoying it despite those little complaints mind you and it does do a lot right so far!

@Foxy-Goddess-Scotchy It was interesting reading your thoughts about the game! I actually tried it out a couple of weeks ago and found the formula to be quite fun that I bought it while it was on sale for like €6 on Switch, which is a pretty good deal considering it's a 30 hour long game. Don't know when I'll get around to playing it but from what I've seen, it's a rather good game. Hopefully you'll find the rest of it to your liking as well!

@Foxy-Goddess-Scotchy Thanks for the info on the Darkest Dungeon games o great guru!

Not sure if I like the the sound of the 2nd game as I wasn't keen on Slay the Spire when I tried it on PS Now.

Will still likely give it a go at some, after I've tried the first game that is.

Lol I am a teacher @JohnnyShoulder after all

Not sure if that was the best comparison I could make (Enter the Gungeon I guess is also similar i the one run get to the ebd or nit nature of it?).

Both DD's have rougelike elements but they have very different overall structures & metagames? DD 2 still had turn based combat sections and everything... Just give a vid or two a look of each and you'll get it better then I can explain lol 😅

I got Monster Sanctuary sometime back in April (for full price I think?) but it's only now I've finally got round to playing it @LtSarge 😄

I am playing it on the regular difficulty (rather then the easier or harder modes that were added in through patches) and I've heard it's also getting some free dlc that'll be added to it soon too so you'll probably have that to go through as well when yiu finall give it a whirl!

The fact you can fight bosses over again in the Sanctuary Keep is neat (which is how you apparently get some eggs by getting a 5 star rating) and the evolution mechanic is actually pretty rare and implimented in a neat way.

I just found a "daycare" place as well which is a nice feature. Unsure if I'll actually use it... though I might turn on the level scaling feature that's also found next to the day care...

@Foxy-Goddess-Scotchy OK will take a look! I've not even played the first game yet so may not even like that. 😆

Playing RE4 and close to the end, I think. Awesome game, it really kicks off about half way in.
Was playing FFX but left it close to the end as I wasn't leveled up enough, so need to grind, tiresome stuff. After playing RE4 I'm wondering will I have the patience to go back to it....

Detroit: Become Human. Never played this on the PS4 for some reason even though I loved Heavy Rain, but I guess better late than never. Still looks gorgeous and I've enjoyed the first couple of hours so far.

@RogerRoger I still am. Unless David Cage completely dropped the ball with the second half of the game (I doubt he did), I will end up highly enjoying it.

I got Detroit: Become Human when it was a PS Plus game. I think I bought the Heavy Rain/Beyond: Two Souls bundle when it was on sale at one point, but have yet to play Beyond and haven't replayed Heavy Rain. Maybe someday when I have a couple of openings.

@RogerRoger That's a shame if people are right about Heavy Rain as I absolutely loved that game back on the PS3. Someday I'll probably play it again, especially since I'll be getting trophies for it all over again of course. I'll probably play Beyond as well, if for nothing else but to finally have my own opinion since they are mixed for the game. Well, that and I paid money for it.

Thanks. We'll see obviously. I'm trying to get a "good" ending, but I'm not sure what the ending options really are since I decided to play the game finally out of the blue. Well, that and obviously I didn't want the endings spoiled.

@RogerRoger I'm not sure when I will be able to get to Heavy Rain again. Definitely not right after Detroit as I try to mix it up as much as I can, but we'll see. I'm a bit curious if it holds up for me as well though.

I've only "cheated" a couple of times and went back to the cloud save when I messed up.

@RogerRoger True. I know it's somewhat against the nature of the game, but it's in a way a product of not being able to sit down and play a game multiple times right away. There's at least one thing per the three main characters you play as that I have predetermined that I don't want to mess up since this could be my only playthrough of the game given backlog plus new games. At least for a while.

@KilloWertz @RogerRoger I really enjoyed Detroit a lot. Heavy Rain also, despite its less complex design. I really like Detroit’s integration of the chart which maps your decisions so you can actually see where you’ve veered off and have other options had you made other choices. Even though I didn’t go back and play through some of the other pathways, it’s nice knowing how diverse the outcomes can be and makes it even more special when you do get your ending. Heavy Rain doesn’t have that and it definitely has fewer possible outcomes, but the murder mystery aspect still makes for great storytelling.

I think I'm on the verge of abandoning Metal Gear Solid V once again.

I'd forgotten that the second half of the game consists mainly of re-used missions, and I soon realised that this was the reason I never finished it back in 2015. I just can't bring myself to do it, not when the brutal checkpointing system can cause you to lose half an hour's play with an accidental press of a button.

Also, I'm really struggling with the story. The consensus seems to be that this is Kojima's great unfinished masterpiece, but personally (and maybe this belongs in the controversial opinions thread) I think it's a mercy the game was never finished because this plot is bobbins of the highest order. Also, Quiet is embarrassing. My wife walked in the other day and I swear it would have been less awkward if I'd been watching porn. With my parents.

Also slightly off-putting, but nowhere near as annoying, is Keifer Sutherland as Snake. It's like listening to a cover version of one of your favourite songs - you can appreciate that it's not terrible, in fact it might even be technically better; but it'll always feel... wrong.

I don't want to seem like I hate MGS V, because I genuinely believe that, purely from a gameplay point of view, it's one of the PS4's best titles. I just don't have it in me to beat it. Forgive me, Snake.

@Gremio108 That’s pretty dead on with my thoughts on V as well. I couldn’t see it through to the end cause of that second half. The gameplay’s good yeah but it can be a bit too big at times and yes, Quiet is an utter embarrassment despite the actress clearly trying very hard. It has potential for sure but I personally think it needed more of a substantial ‘back to the drawing board’ approach than just adding the missing chapters like some people suggest.

@RogerRoger I had the identity of the killer in Heavy Rain spoiled for me (thanks OPM), and still enjoyed the game. It was a couple years until I played the game and I kept second guessing if my memory was right. The controls aren't as refined in Detroit so may take awhile gettingnused to them.

@JohnnyShoulder wait OPM spoiled the biggest plotpoint in a very narative driven game?

@jdv95 Yeah and they even had a screenshot of the killer, so even if you didn't read it wouldn't have been hard to put 2 and 2 together.

@nessisonett @RogerRoger Yep, I just can't do it. Blaming Kojima's rift with Konami almost feels like a cop out of sorts. Part of me wonders whether Koj knew he had lost it, and used that as an excuse to bail.

I think I'd like Sutherland's performance more if he actually had amything to do. It seems odd to acquire such a big name and use him so little.

Roger, the only thing that's stopping me from watching the game out in youtube is that it would mean crossing the un-crossable line. Once I've done that, I'm never going to finish it. It irks me that I played all the other Metal Gear Solids but didn't manage this one. But then, it's unfinished, so maybe it's fitting. I don't know. I'll have to think on it!

@JohnnyShoulder I got spoiled as to who the killer was immediately after playing the chapter with the baby. Needless to say I was so disheartened I didn’t play the rest of the game.