Topic: PlayStation Plus | OT |

@LtSarge I got Titan Souls years and years ago on PC and absolutely loved it. It’s well worth a go given how cheap it gets.

@nessisonett Well with such high praise, I might have to give it a go eventually. I'll add it to my watchlist and maybe I'll get in a mood where I want to play something different and this could be it. Cheers!

It's inevitably going to happen when a genre becomes oversaturated for a period of time, like with DOOM clones in the 90s. Although I still feel like games with a strong sense of identity will stand out from the pack regardless.

I actually think the reverse can kind of happen with games that are undersaturated, where developers can get away with releasing somewhat generic games if there's a shortage of such software on a particular system, for instance.

For the record, I've never played more than a few minutes of an Assassin's Creed game. Something about the way they control drives me up a wall, and I'm not sure what it is.

Oh, did we? My episodic memory is terrible, unfortunately, so you'll have to excuse me.

I feel game reviewing, like comedy, is heavily dependent on perceived authenticity as well as execution. Readers can often tap into a "phoniness" vein and tell the difference between someone who uses comedic exaggeration to convey frustration with amateurish design elements and someone who never intended to give the work a chance in the first place and is just flexing their clever rhetorical barbs on a victim deemed safe enough to dunk on.

Anyone thin-skinned enough to become personally upset by a negative blurb about a game you bounced off of isn't worth wasting energy on.

It's an interest project you're undertaking. Keep it up.

I like how this has become the Review thread 2.0! 😂

@RogerRoger cheers! Haha wake me up when MLB The Show gets some Simpsons DLC and you can play through that episode in Road to the Show!

I guess I'm glad you took a PG interpretation of my Tickling Broc joke 😅. I do remember that PS3 game mega poll. I didn't envy the task one bit, I just don't think I could have let go of my own favourite games for the benefit of a community poll! It was good to keep up with sparingly though. Well done to you and all others involved

@Ralizah cheers, yeah I know what you mean about a dearth causing generic-ness as well. There are actually a fair few generic 3D platformers knocking about because the really good ones are few and far between. And don't worry, I wasn't accusing you of being an Assassin's Creed fan and it's no bad thing if you were anyway 😂. They do have an audience!!!

@JohnnyShoulder haha sorry, the reviews thread has got some appropriately strict criteria which my reviews don't fit. Namely the length and detail required. I'd say only a few of mine, both in this thread and the PS3 thread fit that criteria. I've thought about adapting them, chopping out the PS Plus context and posting them in that thread. They probably still wouldn't be long enough but at the same time, they are appropriately long for the sort of game I'd review. I probably can't justify posting a review there if I only played the game for 5 minutes though!

@ralphdibny lol no worries, don't let me stop you!

@ralphdibny You're perfectly welcome to post your PS+ impressions in the review/impressions thread. Just because I post a novella every other week doesn't mean you need to feel obligated to.

I just wanted to avoid "beat [so-and-so game]. It was fun. 10/10"-type posts.

You also don't need to chop out the PS+ context. Clearly people enjoy what you're doing.

@Ralizah ahh cheers, I appreciate it! I'll carry on as I am for now but when I get a good amount of time I will choose my favourite reviews that I deem worthy for your amazing indexing skills and post them over in the review thread (with a few tidy ups). I don't expect anyone to read them a second time but could be good for archival purposes 😃

Spy Chameleon (PS4/Vita) - 5 missions split up into 15 levels a piece for a 75 level total. This game has you play as a chameleon that is either a spy or a burglar (I can't work out which, probably a bit of both) working your way through quick levels and avoiding detection.

Things that can detect you include drones (if you walk into them), drones with visibility cones (if you walk into their line of sight), cameras (don't stay out in the open too long), fish in fish bowls (like drones w/ cones but you can touch them and they will turn around), small running rats that turn into big static rats (both with visibility cones) when you touch a stage gimmick and hmmm, I think that's pretty much it!

The majority of stealth comes from hiding behind things but as you are a chameleon you can change your colour to blend in to certain rugs and spilled paint cans. Conveniently, the four colours you can change into match the PlayStation face button colours: Green, Pink, Red and Blue and you change at the tap of one of those buttons. Left stick is for movement and right stick is for looking around the stage (which you don't need to do a lot of). Later on, there are also filing cabinets that you can move and hide behind. I almost forgot, but the stealth genre's staple Metal Gear cardboard box is also available in some levels for hiding in and moving around as long as you are not in line of sight of a visibility cone!

In addition to getting from A to B, each level has 3 challenges. Eat all the flies (yes, the insect variety), do the level within a time limit and finally collect some ladybirds (or ladybugs if you prefer). This final ladybird challenge only opens up on each level after beating it so you do have to revisit each level at least once if you want to complete the extras.

I completed this game, on normal difficulty. I would say that revisiting levels is best done as soon as you complete them so the map is fresh in your mind. It's decent, it gave me a hook and I stuck with it. The difficulty curve is fair and progresses well with your experience. Both your skill and the difficulty curve progress fairly quickly though as this is a short game and it's not amazingly difficult anyway. There is a Hard mode which actually makes up the final 25% of the completion stats. I did the first mission (15 levels) in hard after I beat the whole game on normal. I didn't notice much difference but I don't think I can be bothered to play through the whole game again on a higher difficulty anyway.

I like the music. A fast paced, spy infused jazz/fusion/funk affair. I wouldn't say it was top tier but the funky tune that plays on level completion really suits the style of game. Quick levels, quick retries to do the challenges and/or get better times, it's all very smooth and fluid. Kind of like doing different runs on the old time limited Tony Hawk's games.

I wouldn't say I love stealth games even though it's well noted that both Metal Gear and Splinter Cell are two of my favourite game series but having said that, I haven't played many/any others. It's notable however that the two stealth games I've played as part of this PS Plus marathon, Level 22: Gary's Adventure and Spy Chameleon have both been good enough for me to actually finish them.

This game is both a puzzle game and twitch reflex stealth game. You could probably get away without twitch reflexes until the final level at least if you weren't going for the time limit challenges. Worth checking out I think if you had claimed it as part of Plus, you'll quickly know if it's for you or not. Rating = KKKKKC for karma karma karma karma karma chameleon

WE ARE DOOMED (PS4/Vita) - not much to say bout this to be honest. It's a twin-stick bullet-hell shmup game. It has psychedelic colours and geometry but frankly, if you weren't on a journey through the shmup and/or twin-stick genres, much like I am on the PS Plus journey, I can't see why anyone would choose to play this game. It has a wave mode and an endless mode.

I'm a big fan of Smash TV and I quite enjoy Ikaruga but in terms of shmups that I'm coming to nowadays, this game doesn't have the novelty of doing TATE mode in your own home like many of the Switch shmups. Similarly, my reason for playing through the shmup levels in the modern Battletoads (2020) game is because they are part of a larger narrative.

It probably speaks volumes that I have equal amounts of text dedicated to both this game and other similar games I can compare it to. Rating NWt(ab)T for not worth the (admittedly brief) time

Dungeon Punks (PS4/Vita) - from the cover art, I thought this game was going to be a top down roguelike dungeon crawler. It's not that at all. It's like a side scrolling beat'emup RPG. Like those old Dungeons and Dragons games that got a rerelease as a double pack during the Wii U era. Chronicles of Mystara and I forget what the other one was called.

I don't think there is any rogue like elements, at least I couldn't tell if there were because I only played one and a half levels of it. I did spot a metroidvania style map though and it looks like there are points where you can exit the standard beat'emup plane of existence in different directions.

I think the first two things that struck me were a character and a piece of music. The character was a red coloured djinn which is similar to a set of characters that featured in a short film screenplay I wrote 12 years ago back at uni. The piece of music sounded a bit like the music in Pirates of the Carribbean which I have a soft spot for.

I chose the Djinn as my character, only one of a medium/large sized range of colourful characters with different designs to choose from. I played a bit. Sidescrolling beat'emups always control a bit clunky, but never too clunky for the needs of the gameplay itself. This game is no different. It's fine. Unfortunately it doesn't have the nostalgia value of being part of the Streets of Rage series so it's not something I am willing to put up with.

Aesthetically, there is a range of inspirations (much like my screenplay strangely). Pirates, fantasy, horror, Indian mythology, war and politics. I didn't spot any sci fi or Western but if I had then I might say that the developers absorbed similar pop culture to me before I wrote that screenplay.

I honestly think this game would be better to play with a friend or two. But still not good enough that you and a friend (or two) would be willing to dedicate a night to it. I guess it depends on whether it's your bag or not. It's not really mine. Rating = BwaF(bnbm) for better with a friend (but not by much)

Curses 'N Chaos (PS4/Vita) - a charming pixelated but fully animated intro followed by single screen wave based combat on a 2D plane. Such promise unfulfilled. Rating = B for boring

Bombing Busters (PS4/Vita) - I am sure every review of this game has mentioned that some console manufacturers required a name change before release (strangely not Nintendo though). Instead of Busters, this used to have a rude word that means illegitimate child 🤭. It's funny how words become rude and then less rude and then rude again and so forth. I long for the day that we have full command of the English language, with respect of course.

This game is like Bomberman. Except it's a bit funny. I kind of liked the mad scientist character that introduces you to the game. I also like the hip hop remixes of random songs. I couldn't name the menu music but the first set of levels are a hip hop arrangement of sugar plum fairy. I've looked online for a tracklist but to no avail. I have seen some Youtube footage that had a remix of the Alton Towers advert music.

I have to say my knowledge of song titles from old ballets and plays and stuff is incredibly non existent, even though the music itself permeates our culture. I really really want to hear more of these arrangements that feature in this game as I enjoyed what I have heard so much. Unfortunately the game is rock hard. I can't even get past level 2. Rating = GS for great soundtrack

forma.8 (PS4/Vita) - this game is a tricky one for me. I really like some aspects of it but find other aspects incredibly boring.

It's a moody and atmospheric metroidvania. Aesthetically and possibly even thematically, it's somewhere between the shadow levels in Donkey Kong Country Returns and Ori and the Blind Forest. But it's not a platformer, I don't know what it is. You control a character who flies around the levels.

That is the problem, the flight is so slow. The combat is inaccurate or at least, hard to master. I believe similar moves are present in Ori too but it's far easier to get hooked in that game before you master the mechanics.

It's so annoying to me that it plays like this. I really want to love this game and I do love certain aspects but I just don't have the patience for its means of traversal. I'd love to explore its minimalist alien landscape as haunting low key music and sounds play through the speakers. I'd like to see it through to the end.

Unfortunately, mistakes and deaths suffer a harsh penalty because of how long it takes to get back to where you were. It's not even a long distance, it's just my little flying orb takes ages to get there. It's ok once or twice, but having to do it multiple times in multiple instances is tedious.

I want to like this game and certainly, like many others I've played this week, I will keep it in the back of my mind. Perhaps one day I will be less impatient and return to experience the mystery of forma.8. More likely, as the clock winds down on my finite life, I will stress more about the lack of experiences I've had and the minimal impact I will leave on this world. I doubt forma.8 will make a return. Rating = LbtS for lovely but too slow

Downwell (PS4/Vita) - it's a 2D platformer where you fall down a well. I guess it's a well anyway based on the title of the game. It's ok, I can see it being quite addictive. I'm also not sure if the levels are procedurally generated. They seemed different on my second and third runs after I died a few times. Honestly, unless you can be bothered to learn how to play this game then it is wholly unremarkable. I sort of want to like it but there are better and more interesting platformers out there. I guess the level style reminds me of one of those later levels in Battletoads on the NES where you race a rat down the screen or something. A similar level was featured in the 2020 reimagining/sequel but was a lot easier. Anyway, Rating = DGDW for didn't go down well (haha good one, not really)

Laser Disco Defenders (PS4/Vita) - umm. I think this is another procedurally generated game. Again I'm not sure but the levels seemed different when I redid them after dying. You play as a space man that looks like a 70s disco dancer, a bit like Jimmy from WarioWare. You fly around on a jet pack with the left stick, aim with the right stick and shoot with the R button. It's not quite a twin stick shooter because gravity always pulls you down to the bottom of the stage. You have to clear the level of baddies and hazards to trigger a warp point to the next level.

It sort of opens up with a dumb but possibly fun storyline in a cutscene about a band of disco enthusiasts travelling through space to save the universe's taste in music. Weirdly, I don't think the soundtrack is actually "disco" music. I would say the music has the makings of a decent soundtrack but the instruments are all wrong, it just sounds a bit off. Switch it to some funky electric guitars and this would have been a winner. Rating = RGbMHP for rubbish game but music has potential. But that's all it is, potential. It's not good in its current form.

Claire: Extended Cut - this game plays like a really really old adventure game. Something like Maniac Mansion. But it doesn't have the humour of Maniac Mansion and therefore is miles less interesting.

To be fair to it, it has a bunch of Quality of Life improvements over its forebear. A map for example, sort of allows you to make sense of your position inside a 3D hospital as you traverse it's 2D corridors. I'm guessing stuff pops up that can do you damage. I have an inventory screen full of recovery items.

I'm sorry but I just can't be bothered to continue. Something like Maniac Mansion is obtuse enough as it is but has the benefit of a wry sense of humour to help you see it through. This is just freaky horror and a dated (but not necessarily bad) game design that had me switching it off as soon as my confusion reached intolerable levels. Rating = C for confusing

@RogerRoger 😂 i am fully braced. I only know of 3 Brocks in media. The sleepy pervert from Pokémon, the wrestler Brock Lesnar and Crossbones in Captain America who's real name is Brock Rumlow or something. Oh and also now the Motorcross person Broc Tickle lol. I've never met a real life Brock!

Cheers for reading again. I know the reviews are probably getting less and less interesting but they are actually helping me ​ground my thoughts and put some of these games to bed. Before I wrote about forma.8, I was wondering if I would go back to it but writing my thoughts down on the page really put it into perspective for me so I doubt I will. Not any time soon. Although when i quit, it did say I was 20% complete so maybe I'll return. Damn it, now I have new perspective! 😂

I wish there was a playlist of the bombing Busters music on YouTube or something. I'd love to hear some of it but can't actually get to it in the game because it's so hard.

I've actually written 3 screenplays but the one I mentioned is the only one that's finished (probably because it was a short film). I probably won't bother finishing the second and I plan to go back and finish the third at some point. That last one I wrote in like 2019. But yeah, I always seem to get the old writer's block about two thirds of the way into the process. Whether it's screenplays or music or whatever lol. I quite liked that last one so hopefully I can be bothered to finish it at some point. It was a kind of "in the moment" thing that I wrote because I was stressed at work. Writing it helped relieve my stress but that moment has passed now so I'm not sure I'll be able to write the final act with as much conviction. I'm keen to finish it though because its something that could actually get made because it's relatively low budget in comparison to the other 2.

Edit: oh yeah! I should add that Torquel is another game where the on screen action is represented by the colours of the controllers facebuttons. The Xbox version has its colours changed for the Xbox pad and the Switch version uses the SNES pads colours. I have to say that I'm most familiar with the PS colours though because it's been some time since I've used a SNES pad regularly so it actually makes it more difficult for me to play the game on other consoles because of that

@ralphdibny I continue to enjoy and appreciate these mini-impressions. 😄
It’s looking bleak though — the percentage of actually decent small games from PS Plus looks to be about 10%. I think I have nearly every game you’ve reviewed (and you’ve tried a lot of them!) and I’ve yet to feel pressed to play any yet. And I’m grateful to know I’m not missing anything! 😄
Keep ‘em coming!

@Th3solution haha thanks will do! 👍, glad they are useful!! I think I've played or bought all the truly great ones that were exposed to me as part of Plus. Maybe when I'm nearing the end of my mission (if it ever ends), I will post a list of my favourite games with a short summary. There's a few I've discovered as part of Plus but also a fair few (especially PS4 games) that I either owned already or would have played anyway

@RogerRoger haha I think two of them are real athletes (Lesnar and Tickle)

I think deciding on an ending puts me off in some ways. Especially with that one from 2019. I don't know whether to end it in a schlocky but satisfying way or instead, end it in that British film style nothing really happens from the culmination except a sense of crushing oppression and defeat way. We'll see!

Do you ever post your stories online or anything? Or are they available to check out anywhere? I think I'd be a bit scared to do mine as I'm in more of that old school mail it to yourself with a dated post stamp mind set before I publish it anywhere. Of course I can't mail it to myself if I haven't finished it 😂

Between Xbox and PlayStation, it's not so bad. The confirm/cancel buttons are in the same place. They're in opposite positions on the Switch and all other Nintendo's though so that often throws me for a loop. Luckily the eShop requires me to put in a password before I buy anything so I don't do an accidental buy instead of cancel!

@ralphdibny Yeah, when calculating the value of PS+ at large, if I consider that there are many games which are given that I already own, then the offerings are even more impressive. I’m playing FF7R now, which I decided to just keep my copy I’d bought so I could play the PS5 version, but it’s amazing this game was given out as a Plus game.
In fact, when I look back at the last 16 games I’ve played, 12 of them are/were on PS Plus! That includes the PS Plus Collection on PS5 with the likes of Persona 5 and God of War. 5 of those 12 I already owned beforehand. So almost half of the really good Plus offerings I already own, but that’s still a really good sign regarding the overall quality of the service.

@Th3solution there have been many heavy hitters available on it. I do wonder what the frequency is though whether it's every other month or every 2 months. Something as new as FF7 that is also a triple A single player seems rare. MGSV had been out for a long time before it hit Plus, same with Uncharted 4, both games cost less than a tenner on disc at the time. Even NBA 2K20 was on sale for like £2.50 digitally a month before it landed on Plus. It's hit and miss for me and personally, I don't think it's worth it. I think we've discussed the value of it before and I said something along the lines of that I'd rather just pay like £1 a month to play online with a friend every now and then and skip getting rentals of a bunch of games I either don't want or would buy anyway. I'm speaking from a PS4 perspective here too, I know the Plus collection on ps5 adds a bunch of value but even then for me, I already own all the games id want to play from that lot.

I can't deny that I've discovered one of my favourite games from it though which was Tales from the Borderlands. Funniest game I've ever played! Also VVVVVV which was probably the best game I've played out of the Plus games I've ticked off this year. I'd throw a shout out to The Bridge as well as I really enjoyed that one.

I'm mulling over playing FF7R. I actually really don't like the original game, I just never understood it when I was a kid and never bothered trying to get back into it. The remake does look rather tasty though and seems to make it more accessible to lunkheads like myself.

@ralphdibny FF7 remake follows the same story outline but the overall game design is very different. So unless you really hated the story and characters, you should definitely check it out

@Voltan quite the opposite, I actually really loved the world, story and characters when I was little. My 8 year old brain just couldn't wrap itself around the RPG mechanics!

Weird though, since I was perfectly ok with Pokémon Blue

@ralphdibny Yes, fair enough. I think the frequency of newish AAA and AA games coming to PS+ is going to be more and more rare and we’ll keep getting new or recent indies and older big budget games. I do really like the current trend of giving out the PS5 versions of older PS4 games as was done with Control Ultimate Edition, and A Plague Tale. Absolutely fantastic games made even better with a native PS5 build. I was in GameStop recently and Control UE is selling for $35 pre-owned! And A Plague Tale PS5 ver was $30 new. But yeah, most of them like Hitman 2, SW Squadrons, Days Gone, and pretty much the entire PS+ Collection of older AAA games are probably able to be found for $5-20, depending on a sale or pre-owned.

And yes, you’ll probably like FF7 Remake because the gameplay is very updated. Almost too much for me. My brain keeps wanting to think it’s turn based but the action comes fast and furious!

@Th3solution it's a weird one actually. Recent games from the last 2-3 years seem to be holding closer to their retail price for much much longer, that's if they even drop at all. The best I've seen crash 4 at is £35 on PlayStation. Even sales on the oldest games in that time range rarely go much lower than £20. I'm such a cheapskate that I always wait for games to be like £8 😅 which is what I bought the last 2 Uncharted games and The Last of Us for last/this year!

I've been claiming all the PS5 games, even though I can't play them at the moment. To be fair, I probably wouldn't replay any of the ones they've given upgrades for if I had already played them though. I liked A Plagues Tale but not enough to play it for a second time. Will probably check the sequel out though.

Those Spider man 2 and Wolverine games that were just announced will convince me to pick up a ps5 somewhere down the line though for sure! Hopefully a smaller and cheaper revision comes out in a couple years. No pro model though or FOMO will make me buy it 😅