Topic: PS4 recommendation thread

Just wanted to chime in here with a couple of games I've enjoyed recently. I'm reforming myself to actually complete the games I buy, so I started with something short and sweet, namely Actual Sunlight on the Vita.
'Sweet' isn't really a word I would choose to describe this game, however the really basic gameplay mechanics and the questions that it asks about social paradigms, mental health and cognitive dissonance are really worth the hour or so it takes to play through. Before I realised it I had the game 100% finished and I haven't done that for a while now.
Finally, I recently completed Assassin's Creed: Origins and I can quite comfortably say that, in my humble opinion, it's one of the most enjoyable entries to the series in recent years. I enjoyed the new direction the series tried to take with Unity and post-patching it wasn't a terrible title, but it honestly feels like Origins actually realises a lot of those ideas with more focus and clarity. The main narrative is engaging and delivers a pretty wholesome conclusion, with a solid playtime and plenty of diversions available at the drop of a hat, whether that's fighting in gladiatorial arenas or exploring pyramids and sunken temples. I'm currently churning through the side-quests which really remind me of the Witcher 3’s approach to ambient storytelling, just under the hand of Ubi's spoonfeeding delivery. Whilst the stories aren't rammed down your throat, some of them are a little on the hammy side and can be reduced to simple fetch quests, but similarly to The Witcher 3's hit-rate there are some fantastic side quests available as well. With more dynamic, if not a little frustrating, combat mechanics and levelling systems in play it feels like Origins may be a really good kick up the arse for this franchise.

Some of that voice acting isn't too hot though. Luckily protagonist Bayek is pretty solidly played and also, if you do play this title then be prepared to adopt 'neket iadet' in to your daily parlance.

@Baitsausage Actual Sunlight was a heavy game, for sure. Not really fun, just ... interesting. And extremely short. For the short run time and unique message alone, i would also recommend it, with just a slight bit of hesitation.

Ok, as far as ACO goes, to give me some perspective, between AC: Origins, Witcher 3, and Horizon Zero Dawn - which would you recommend the highest?

@Th3solution WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT TO ME!? I can't answer that!
But it's The Witcher 3 for me, by a long shot. I think that game was pretty much spot-on after the first couple of patches to fix tinytext and some of those launch bugs!
Having said that, I'm actually still working on HZD so I can't confidently say that won't jump ahead, I really am enjoying it but it's one of those titles I put on hold and failed to complete.
All that considered, I'd probably have to put AC:O towards the bottom of that list based on what it is competing with in terms of contemporaries! Having said all that, I'd still absolutely recommend AC:O to most people. It's more Assassin's Creed, it's a lot more open to allowing each player to have a unique play style and it looks and plays pretty bloody smooth! Just might not quite be better than The Witcher..
Or Hearts of Stone...
Or Blood and Wine....
Or Gwent.

@Baitsausage Ha, ha! Okay, I’ll accept that. So even though it is second fiddle to the likes of W3 and HZD, it is still a high recommendation. I think I’ll end up buying it at some point, but maybe play W3 first. I have really loved HZD, of course, so that is a good benchmark.

@Th3solution At the moment, I'd say that's definitely the case. I'd be VERY surprised if Ubisoft are able to pump this game up much more now that it's in the wild, they would have to produce some phenomenal DLC on par with 'Blood and Wine' (or The Frozen Wilds, which I hear is also excellent) to elevate Origins to actually compete with Witcher in terms of the story it tells and how well it accomplishes that task. Origins has a really brilliant story and I love their new protagonist, Bayek, but it's not a narrative that involves you as a player at all. Whilst it is a linear narrative, Bayek feels really three-dimensional and conflicted in a lot of the conversations and dialogues, which is refreshing given that Jacob Frye in Syndicate was, to my mind, more than a little lackluster.
I'd say if you're yet to play Witcher 3, give a little of your time to that and see how you do, because you'll either find its not to your taste or you'll vanish down the rabbit hole for a few weeks! Origins, in the mean time, will only really get cheaper and more stable, although as I said it does play really well 90-odd% of the time!

@Th3solution If the choice is between TW3 and AC:O. The Witcher 3, hands down.

This is crystallised wisdom. You get so much more for your money with The Witcher 3. And it's less than half the price of AC:O as a GOTY edition now!

@Octane @Baitsausage Yeah, it’s amazing to me how the game is nearly 3 years old and has yet to have any serious challengers to compete with its universally praised world, narrative, characters and gameplay, despite us now being in the peak of this generation’s development cycle and with all the quality titles that have come out and are coming out constantly. I believe the games tend to gradually improve in quality through a console generation but W3, despite being relatively early in this gen (released less than 2 yrs after PS4 released) is still undisputed keeper of the throne. I would guess HZD is the only game that comes close in the open world story driven third person genre. I will play W3 eventually, just need to clear up some games first. Thanks for the insight and recommendations!

@Th3solution That used to be true in the past, when each console was a completely new machine and the developers had to put serious time and effort into understanding how to get the most out of it. I think it's less true these days, now consoles are essentially PCs in a box. The architecture is familiar, and sure, we'll see some improvements, but I don't think the difference is night and day as it was the case on older consoles. I feel that we've already had plenty of (good looking) quality titles ever since day one, meaning that they can still compete with newer titles.

@Th3solution I've got to agree there, I try to keep up with games as they release, largely because I budget for my games a month or so in advance, but even then I'm not buying games that are blowing me away anyway near as much as The Witcher has done. I played the first two titles on the PC as they released and to see how far that franchise came with The Witcher 3 makes me really excited to see what CD Projekt Red will come up with next! If it's this Cyberpunk title, I think I'm gonna be made up!
And always happy to recommend a game! I never get to talk about this stuff in my day to day, so it's nice to have a place like this where we can all just chat about what we're playing!

@KratosMD The only one of these I have experience with is Until Dawn, which I only played because it was free on PS plus a while back and I just suddenly got in the mood for a story driven game. I enjoyed it much more than I expected. I think I gave it a 8/10. Despite the premise sounding mundane (a horror/thriller with teenagers spending the night in a cabin...) I actually found the story to be pretty good. Most of the characters were okay and the voice acting was good. Gameplay is kind of watered down (QTEs, exploration, plot choices) but how you play the game and decisions you make do affect the outcome and conclusions, to an extent. Seems like the experience was about 8-10 hours and I don’t really plan to play it again, although there is incentive to do so to get some alternate endings, depending on who survives your playthrough. Is it worth €20? That’s a good question. I’d say yes, but barely. If it were €15 I’d say definitely buy it. But at this price point, it depends on your budget. I don’t know, the other two games on your list might be better options, I haven’t played either. I’m kind of interested in Everybody’s Golf, but afraid I might get bored quickly of it.

@KratosMD That sounds like a good plan. Yooka reviewed well. Too bad you don’t have PS plus then huh? Or at least didn’t have it about a year ago when they gave away Until Dawn.

@Kidfried so is playing WD1 a prerequisite to understanding what’s going on in WS2? I never played the first.

Has anyone played ADR1FT? It's on sale right now, but reviews aren't very positive...

Just got Mantis Burn Racing. On offer at the moment for £4.99, well worth a punt. Lovely little game

The Sexy Brutale!
Took me 7+ hours to beat, 9 to platinum. Great game I picked up in the recent sale (ends tomorrow £6.50).
I'm not very good at puzzlers, but this one really got the balance right. Think the most I spend on trying to save someone was an hour.
There's a lot to like here. Great death scenes, unique characters, a captivating story & an awesome soundtrack! Actually played the entire game with headphones on- it's that good!
Definitely recommended.

I have Until dawn and Amnesia in my PS Plus backlog. I am not a huge fan of horror titles so I have a couple of questions if any of you played either one. Are they worth playing? Did you like them?

@YeYa Until Dawn was great IMO. It was alot better then I thought it was going to be, though it helps if you like 80's slasher movies like I do.

@YeYa Until Dawn could have been fun, but later plot developments... ruin it. It's pretty but mediocre. I was thoroughly disappointed. And that's putting aside the fact that it's essentially an interactive movie, so there is precious little "game" to be had with this one.

Amnesia, on the other hand, is a modern classic of horror gaming. It has its rough edges, of course, but I think it's still worth experiencing.

I really enjoyed Until Dawn and found it genuinely scary and creepy, which surprised me as I didn't think it would be for me. It plays a like Telltale game minus the flaky engine, so temper your expectations accordingly. I too wasn't too fussed on the last third also, but didn't ruin the overall experience for me.