Topic: What PS5 Games Are You Currently Playing?

@HotGoomba I agree, I started NG+ but after about an hour I found my enjoyment levels for game begin to drain. So I stopped there, as I didn't won't my overall experience for the game to be ruined.

Great game though, and I preferred it to the first game as it felt less bloated.

Stray. Decided a while ago it would be my first PS5 game and platinum. I did everything but the speedrun and hour sleeping. Whoever thought of the chase trophy is a jerk!

@Kidfried I platted it on PS4, so should say a lot. I will though

Tried Twisted Metal on PS5. Plays abysmally, and I say this as someone who enjoyed WWE Crush Hour as a kid.

@RogerRoger Yeah, the controls are bizarre and the handling on the cars just makes aiming a nightmare. Hard to put into words how painful it feels to play.

Playing Star Wars Jedi Fallen Order. Did start off playing the PS4 version but decided to continue with the PS5 version. It seems fine to me, once I switched to performance mode.

I'm enjoying the game so far. Combat is fun parrying enemy blows and defelcting stormtroopers laser beams back at them. Pew Pew Pew etc etc. Also liking exploration, traversal and level design.

@JohnnyShoulder One of the locales is slightly under-baked, and the map is a mess, but Fallen Order is a really solid game, made even better if you like the SW franchise. Glad you’re finding it enjoyable.

I’m still in the middle of Jedi Survivor and everytime I play it I enjoy myself, but it’s worlds are much bigger and so it’s a little more overwhelming, exploration-wise than JFO. The combat is probably a little better than JFO, however. Mostly because you jump right in with a lot of the skills you had in JFO from the start and then gradually add even more, especially the new stances. I’ve settled into a groove of the dual blades for crowd control smaller groups and weaker enemies and then switching over to the crossguard for bosses and big enemies where I can be more tactical and just hit harder when I get an opening. The blaster stance and dual sabers are fun to mess around with too, and have their advantages, but unfortunately you can only equip two stances at a time.

@Th3solution I think I'm a bit of a lapsed Star Wars fan at this stage, just as I am with Marvel. The original trilogy of films I will always hold dear to me, but everything after has been such a mixed bag for me.

A question. Do you remember when it was best to go back to the first planet? I recall there being a couple of sections I could not access, but now I have force push I could go back. Or is it better to go back once I've gained more abilities?

@JohnnyShoulder I can’t remember, honestly. It’s been a couple years. In general though there’s likely to still be areas you can’t access yet but also areas that you can. So you just have to weigh how much you want to get a few new collectibles and XP, knowing that you’ll probably have to make another trip back there later again, versus just waiting and mopping it all up at once.

The good thing about these games is the map will show areas in red that are blocked off due to lacking the required ability and then they’ll turn green once you have the ability, so check the map and it might help you decide. I’m dealing with the same dilemma in Jedi Survivor and I tend to go back to prior areas as soon as I get the new ability, even though there’s still some areas I can’t access, but it’s easier in this game because of fast travel, on top of the copious short cuts you unlock. JFO has a lot more backtracking.

@Th3solution Cheers dude, I forgot that you can check the other planets for stuff like that.

I've had a few sessions on Operation Tango with a friend of mine. It's a really fun and slightly frustrating experience that kind of reminds me of the old knightmare tv show I watched as a kid - except that both of you are wearing the blind helmet! Relies a lot on communication and problem solving - if you're gonna play it make sure you've got a co-op partner you won't fall out with.
It is definitely a change from what I usually play and looking forward to getting back and finishing it off.

I've finally got round to playing HZD: Forbidden West over the last week or so.

I was struggling to start with as it felt quite samey and a bit dull in the first area but has got more interesting since the embassy.

It's a pretty amazing looking game though and I am starting to enjoy it but am a bit overwhelmed with the map and how much there is to do.

And a similar problem to the first game is that it gives me this huge variety of weapons to use but I mostly just use the one bow and feel I'm not making the most of what I could be doing.

@sorteddan yeah a friend and I played that last year… really refines your use of clear and concise communication skills 😅

@Thrillho About damn time.

I can understand your issue with the weapons, but at least as far as the different bows and arrow types, it really does help to use some of the more powerful ones instead of having to fire 10 arrows into an enemy just to do a decent amount of damage.

A lot of the side quests are well worth doing, especially the ones specific to each area you visit. As a whole, I'd say it's up there with some other games like The Witcher 3 in regards to the overall quality of the side quests as a whole.

@Bentleyma that looks… beautiful actually! I have the original in the backlog gathering (digital) dust but have just added this sequel to my wishlist off that screenshot alone.

Finished Final Fantasy XVI a couple of weeks ago, played Hades which i enjoyed but couldn't keep with it to do multiple finishes which the game intends.

Started 2K23 Golf as it was on ps plus and it's been a while since I tried a golf game and so far I'm enjoying it, nice game to chill out too.

But I've now started Horizon Forbidden West last night, only an hour in but after loving the first one unexpectedly I have high hopes for this one

@MaulTsir 3 of those are in mg backlog to play, if I could ever get finished with Jedi Survivor. FF16 I actually started but then put on hold after a couple hours because I felt like I needed to play it in the right mindset when I cleared space mentally for it. After completing it, how would you rank it? Pretty highly I guess, based on your profile pic. 😄

I have Hades sitting on my shelf and I keep forgetting I have it. I’m surprised it didn’t click with you as I’ve read pretty universal praise.

HFW is another albatross around my neck that I have neglected for a long time. One of several long, huge games that I can’t seem to create appropriate latitude in my schedule for.

Meanwhile I’m well past hour 50 with Jedi Survivor and every time I think I’m going to make progress along in the main campaign I find myself exploring the planets mopping up side quests and collecting random loot and power-ups during play sessions. It feels like I’m going at a snails pace. 😅

@MaulTsir Better late than never on Horizon Forbidden West, right?

@Th3solution where would I rank 16 ermmmm I enjoyed it, I wouldn't rank it higher than 7 remake. I liked alot of things about the game, the characters are pretty good and I liked Clive, the story was really good but did seem longer than it needed to be, there was alot of going around in circles to get to the plot points. The combat was enjoyable but later in game you sort of get a few abilities that are alot more powerful and useful than others so becomes abit stagnated. Overall I would say it's a fun and enjoyable game but I have no intention of a second playthrough for the plat. Where as I could probably play 7 remake another 3 times!.

Hades is good, really good but Returnal is the only rouge like game that I've really gotten hooked by and Hades requires alot of time to get through it all, I think 9 times to get the full story I'm not quite sure on that though so don't take my word for it. It's very addictive and they way the power ups and abilities work is brilliant. I just felt like once was enough. You could probably spend 60 to 90 hours on it easily but I just didn't have it in me.

I'm looking forward to getting into HFW because since Elden Ring its been hard to get really invested in a game in the same way, not that I want to play ER again because as much as I loved it, it's a massive undertaking and I still feel a little "burnt out" from it. FF16 took me about 50hours to complete and I was starting to get really agitated towards the back end because I feel almost impatient now, like every game wants such a big time investment from you that it makes me think twice, I felt the same with Hades as much as i was enjoying it I could sense my self feeling annoyed that it wanted to go on for another 40 hours. Sounds weird I know.

How is Jedi Survivor? 50 hours in must mean your still having a good Time with it atleast. Is it better or on par with the first?

@KilloWertz indeed! I played the first 2 years after release because I really didn't fancy it and then absolutely had a brill Time with it so I'm hoping for the same.

@MaulTsir Yeah, you’re really speaking my language there — I’m a little frustrated at the time commitment that games are requiring. Perhaps that gives you a little insight into your question about Jedi Survivor. Comparing it to the first, it’s objectively a better game, if you base it on gameplay and sheer build of the maps. It’s quite fun. If you enjoyed the first then there’s a solid chance you’ll love Survivor.

That said, at hour 50 I’m feeling that dragging feeling you described. There’s a hint of annoyance that the game has packed too much in there. It’s mostly my fault though, since I could easily mainline the campaign at this point and rush through to the end in the next 5-10 hours, but I feel like the world and the optional bosses and areas are so well done that I want to see it all. It’s a weird schism in my brain. I’d be very surprised if I didn’t feel the same about HFW when I play it. By all reports the game is huge; exceptional in quality, but huge. It makes me tired just thinking about it.

The FromSoft games have a way of remaining fresh feeling even on hour 50 whilst backtracking over an area for the umteenth time. With From games the grinding feels more satisfying, mostly because each XP point you spend or weapon upgrade you do has immediate survival impact. In Jedi Survivor I am at a point where I’m fairly overpowered, I have my two favorite saber stances almost completely max leveled, and I have so much health (I’m up to 10 stim packets) that I rarely feel in critical danger unless I venture off and try an optional boss. Then there’s a pretty huge difficulty spike for some of those side bosses where I end up just dialing down the difficulty so I can check it off the list and move on. So I guess there’s a lack of finely tuned balance, but it’s still great fun and really well conceived otherwise. The Metroidvania style has always been hard for me also, because I’m too tempted to go back immediately with each new traversal skill I get and revisit the previous maps to do all the extra exploration, even though there will still be other parts in that map I still don’t have the skill for yet.

The performance is decent, but I did have really bad frame rate drops this weekend on Koboh, the largest map, even on the 30fps fidelity mode. There’s been a lot of complaints about the game’s performance and I think it’s overblown because this was the first time I actually noticed it getting in the way of my play and it was sporadic in just a couple areas. And I can’t be sure it wasn’t my PS5 starting to run too hot, although I’ve never had that happen before with other games but I felt my console and it was quite warm at the time. I recently moved it into a cabinet so I’m concerned I may need to reposition it again.

Based on your love of Bloodborne, Demon’s Souls, and Elden Ring, you are sure to enjoy the first Dark Souls. I plan to play DS2 a few months down the road, but I reckon I need to distance it from Jedi Survivor since it borrows a lot gameplay-wise. I plan to get back to FF16 as soon as I’m done with Jedi, and meanwhile play smaller games on the side like I’ve been doing. (I really enjoyed Stray, by the way, which I know you also liked. It was a nice smaller diversion for a while)

Speaking of, how did you like Death’s Door? I’m considering playing it soon too.