Topic: Playstation 5 Recommendation Thread

Several games on my wishlist popped up as being on sale now in the current summer sale. Most of them are known quantities but I had put the game Shatter Remastered on my watchlist, mostly due to strong recommendation from Colin on Sacred Symbols. Has anyone played this game?

It’s hard to go wrong for a measly $5, so I’m prone to take a fly on it, but it looks a little too ‘mobile phone gamey’ for my tastes. Wondering if I’m being too close minded.

Final Fantasy XVI or Spider-Man 2? Next week is my payday and I just can't choose between the two...

@Kidfried weirdly, I'd say go for Spider-Man 2, I loved/technically still am loving FF16, but FF16 will likely be heavily discounted at Black Friday/Christmas to get a further wave of new players in, and it's a game that suits a long Dark winter. Spider-Man seems more like a late summer release, but obviously it's released past that time, but it's only going to get darker and wetter as time rolls on, and to me that doesn't suit actual winter gaming as much as FF would, so the sooner the better lol 🤷‍♀️

@Kidfried That’s a tough choice! I have an extremely positive opinion of FFXVI but it has proven to be somewhat divisive whereas Spider-Man 2 looks to be fully baked gaming comfort food. Both are incredibly high quality experiences but one is probably a safer bet.

@Kidfried I'd go with Spider-Man 2. Partially because I hated the ending of FFXVI and it really hurt my overall opinion of the game (I loved it up until then), but Spider-Man 2 is probably a safer bet regardless.

@Kidfried I’m in agreement with what’s been said, surprisingly. I’m very much enjoying FF16 but there’s a small chance that you may not click with the game. It does things differently and blazes a new trail with its approach to storytelling and gameplay in the Final Fantasy universe. It’s excellently crafted, but the risk of disappointment is there. You could try the demo if you are into that kind of thing though.

I think Spidey 2 is as close to a sure thing as we’ve had this year. If you enjoyed the first game and it’s expansion, I feel like there’s virtually no risk in disappointment. Although obviously we are speculating based on critic reviews.

————

I have a similar personal quandary though. Baldur’s Gate 3 or Spider-Man 2? I’m considering one of those for my next game when I complete FF16. Perhaps I take my own advice and go with the sure thing…🤔

@Th3solution yes, except the sure thing in that situation is actually Baldur's Gate 3 😁

@RogerRoger FF16 isn't a fantasy RPG really though, it's an action game in a fantasy setting, with no need for any actual RP. Both still a good choice, but BG3 is also half the price of Spidey RRP if you use digital vouchers too @Th3solution 😄

Going to throw it out there because I don't expect it to get much mention (and it's brand new) but if you're in the mood for 'classic' Assassin's Creed, Mirage is a great return to that. It's one of my favorite PS5 games already.

@Ravix I could have guessed what your suggestion would have been. 😅

@RogerRoger I agree with your approach about varying the games I play, and that’s been my inclination too. Lately I’ve even been mixing in different styled games to play concurrently with the main game and that also seems to help stave off burnout. I have to be careful though, because it has to be just enough of a small temporary distraction so as to not pull me off the main game altogether.

@Th3solution Very simple, go Spidey. Final Fantasy and Baldur's Gate have a somewhat too similar setting. Basically what master Rog has said. And I also think you'll enjoy some comfort food gaming more after a big epic RPG, versus an even more epic game.

@RogerRoger @Ravix @Jimmer-jammer @KilloWertz Thanks for the responses. The weird thing is... I really love love love the Final Fantasy series. It has a bigger chance of becoming my game of the year than Spidey ever would, but I am going to follow your advice here.
A breezy open world game would do me good. It's nice to play a game in its launch week without running the risk of millions of bugs or anything. We know Insomniac equals quality.
And I think @Ravix might be right here, that I'll probably be able to pick up Final Fantasy XVI for a nice price pretty soon, whereas Spidey 2 will be this expensive for a long while.

@Kidfried yep yep yep. Enjoy Spider-Man 2. And FF16 will be waiting for you next up anyway, and probably be perfect game to follow it (at a nice price) 😁

Let us know how it's going when you've got your teeth into it. Spider-Man isn't a game I'd instantly think of getting, not even played Miles Morales yet, but SM2 looks pretty fun, and the Venom element is what intrigues me the most about it, and it does look like a tempting buy.

My main issue for gaming is, when I've finished BG3, I have such titles like Forbidden West, Ragnarok, Hogwarts, Jedi Survivor of the AAA ilk that I'm still yet to play (damn myself for replaying TW3 earlier this year and KCD the year before) I do love how I always have a choice of big AAA titles to play at any time of the year, but also, the backlog doth groweth, and new games have taken over this year as well, with Zelda, FF16 and BG3 dominating, along with my one game played slowly at a time method.

I also feel like something like Rift Apart would be a nice follow up to BG3 for a complete tone change 😬

I expect I'll be back to this thread to let people guide me to my next game lol

What game should I buy next?
Lies of P
Hi-Fi Rush
Horizon Forbidden West
Final Fantasy VII Rebirth (haven’t played remake)
Street Fighter 6

@OctolingKing13 Difficult to answer without knowing your tastes...

But from my own perspective, I've played all of those (with exception of Rebirth) and would highly recommend Lies of P - assuming you're up for a challenge.

All those games are great though, and solid entries within their respective genre arenas.

@OctolingKing13 I haven’t played any from the list, but just noting that Horizon Forbidden West and FF7 Rebirth are sequels where there’s some narrative continuity from before. It’s probably less of an issue with HFW, but definitely something to consider about Rebirth since it’s the middle entry in the FF7 trilogy. Playing Remake first would be the best approach I would think. As for HFW, I’m not sure how critical it is to know the storyline from Horizon Zero Dawn in order to get the full impact, but the HZD is really good and although there’s not a native PS5 version of the game (yet. One is supposedly in the works) it holds up well and I think it at least has PS5 patch that runs the game at 60fps and should still look quite good.

As for Lies of P, they say it’s the best Bloodborne imitator out there, and so until Bloodborne gets a PS5 version or patch, it might fill that void for you if you’re curious what all the fuss is about Bloodborne. Have you played any FromSoft games like Dark Souls?

@Th3solution @OctolingKing13 Forbidden West directly continues the story from Zero Dawn, so I say it is essential to at the very least watch a recap on YouTube. I will always go for playing the game in the first instance, and only watching a recap if I need to refresh my memory.

@JohnnyShoulder @Th3solution @OctolingKing13

Yep, the overall plot is quite weird and there is a lot of world building via holodiscs and recordings in the first game too, so it is definitely a sequel to play as a sequel. I couldn't imagine playing it without the other as it is a rather bat**** crazy twist on the genre and you would have no reference to why there are robot dinosaurs and all the different teraforming systems and AI and characters from the 'before times' that get referenced within the first 30 minutes.

I think both the Horizon games are on PS Plus though?

@Ravix Yeah, as @OctolingKing13 is new to the ecosystem, it might be worthwhile to join PS+ Extra. Both Horizons are on there, as is also FF7 Remake (Intergrade PS5 version including the Intermisson Yuffie DLC). But I know that subscription services aren’t for everyone. A year sub is $134 (you can usually get it twice a year on sale for $100/ year, at a summer sale and Black Friday), so it’s about thr cost of two full priced games. Or maybe 3-4 discounted games. So if you plan to play over 4 games from the service in a year then it’s a decent deal. (Not to mention getting cloud saves, online multiplayer access, etc). But, of course, you don’t own the games and so that is a dealbreaker for some people. Personally, I still buy some games and then play some from the service— so sort of a hybrid model of gaming.

I suspect Lies of P isn’t coming to PS+ for a while, nor Street Fighter 6 or HiFi rush.

@Th3solution that sale you mentioned is 'Days of Play' and it is usually pretty worth it for newcomers to the system and regulars, and it will be sometime soon (fingers crossed it is maybe in May again) But it is a bit random which week it falls on, and last year it was pushed back to June (according to my ps plus sub which I let expire to get it on sale a week or so later, and i'm currently due to pay June 2nd, which means that was the day the sale began last year lol)

The current pretty-rubbish sale is finished May 8th, might be a bit early to expect Days of Play to be May 8th/9th, but the sale date after that could be the winner 😆 was there rumours of a PS Showcase style event for May too?

Love a good sale and speculate 😁😁

@Ravix Oh that’s it - Days of Play. There’s usually quite a few good deals, including PS+.
I stacked an extra year right before the price went up so I’m actually good for a while.

As for this sale… I’m seriously considering RE4 for $20. I don’t think it will go less than that for at least another year or so. Question is, will I play it within the next year? 😅