Topic: Playstation 5 Recommendation Thread

@Khwarezm89 As a fan of dark fantasy, I can second a few of the ideas already noted — that being Dragon’s Dogma (I haven’t played DD2 yet but the first game was great fun in a dark-ish fantasy setting and DD2 is by all accounts better and fine to jump into without playing the first), and the Dark Souls series.

Probably you’ve considered the Dark Souls games and might be averse to the famous Souls-like gameplay style, but for a sheer setting, they are quintessential dark fantasy in that regard.

Now to add a few other ideas — I guess it’s all about whether it’s the dark fantasy setting you want, or rather the open world action RPG setting (like the HZD and AC games). Probably you’d like to have a game that fits both. If so you might consider the Shadow of Mordor and Shadow of War games. Set in Tolkien’s fantasy defining LotR world, they have all the elements of orcs and evil enemies, dark setting and narrative, swordplay and magic, etc. all with a coating of Ubisoft tower open world gameplay loop. I actually never got around to Shadow of War, the second game, but it was supposed to be better than Mordor and for me Mordor was a solid 7.

But if you want a fantasy action game (not strictly dark fantasy, but..) then the God of War games are in the ballpark. Lots of monsters, swordplay, magic, etc. Not true open world and a little more linear, but have some openness within regions.

Also, if you like the AC series, then Ghost of Tsushima is an easy recommendation. Not dark fantasy, more historical fiction, but really fun and beautiful gritty open world action game.

Other open world action RPGs that are fantasy, just not necessarily “dark” fantasy, but still have monsters, bows and arrows, swords, and magic — Immortals: Fenyx Rising and Kena: Bridge of Spirits can definitely scratch an open world itch. Setting of those is more bright and cheery and even semi-humorous, despite slaying fantastical beasts.

Lastly (and I’m just looking at what I’ve played for inspiration), Final Fantasy XVI is probably the closest to ‘dark fantasy’ that the series has reached, and you’ve got your dragon-type creatures, swords and mounts, etc.

There’s probably more I’m forgetting but that’s a start. 😄

@Ravix I'm actually halfway through FFVII Rebirth and was planning to play Dragon's Dogma 2 afterwards since I'm obsessed with Dragons

Regarding Kingdom Come Deliverance I was really looking forward to play this game but I saw a lot of people talking bad about the combat system. What do you think of it?

And regarding Elden Ring, I would like to play it and really feel it would be a hell of an experience but how hard is it? I didn't play souls games before

@Yousef- Another reason that I should overcome my fears and play Souls games

Thank you!

@Th3solution Thanks for the recommendations.

I actually played Shadow of Mordor and War, I really liked them too. Same goes to FFXVI (It was my GOTY last year).

Fun fact is that FFXVI was my first Final Fantasy game and afterwards I finished FFVII Remake and now halfway through FFVII Rebirth.

Thanks a lot for reminding me about Immortals Fenyx Rising and Kena. They're on my backlog and I forgot about them but I might need to try one of them soon.

@Khwarezm89 well, dragons it has 😁

As far as Kingdom Come goes, I'd say mostly the people moaning are just bad and don't understand you have to learn to improve and unlock counter strikes etc. It's like a more in depth skyrim, where skyrim is just bashing buttons, KCD is changing your angles of attack and defense, waiting for opportunities, and managing your stamina. Of course it could be improved, but I had no real issue with it and it is refreshing to see something different, and
I enjoyed learning various combos for each weapon. And it did make it feel more like a sword fight, rather than an action film. There's a combat teacher in a few locations and visiting them enough you get a feel for what works best for you, and also allows you to unlock further skills and "level up" your abilities too. Early on a gang of people will definitely easily beat you, because that is what would happen in real life, and that is generally the mantra of the game, realism where possible. But later on you can get quite powerful, as it is still a game 😄

As for Elden Ring, I bloody loved it. It was the first (and only) fromsoft game I've ever played, and yes, it can be brutal at times, but it is also so much more forgiving than people realise. If you struggle with one enemy, you can just go off in another direction until you are better or yiur character is more powerful. The run backs are not bad, so if you die you can easily get back to where you were most of the time. And it kind of teaches you to accept death not as a failure, but as a chance to improve and enjoy the various scenarios. And beyond that there's a bunch of "easy mode" features like summoning players to help you, summoning AI controlled characters to help you, or just really levelling up your characters abilities or picking OP weapons and spells 😁

Overall, I'd not say I was ever that good at Elden Ring, but I found my own way to be good and only needed to summon help from a player for one fight vs two big bird bosses at once. And at that point I was tired anyway. The most fun I got from the game was, after beating a boss, putting my sign down to go and help others who were stuck on that boss, and being quite successful at that with the skills I'd got. My character was quite good at facing the stronger enemies, so I helped a bunch of people for most bosses.

No problem. And don’t worry, there’s little to fear. Souls games are pretty manageable.