Topic: What PS4 Games Are You Currently Playing?

I just started Shadow of the Tomb Raider @Th3solution I just followed the Trinity head honcho to a VIP area of a party and now have to climb down a cliff , how close am I getting to a difficulty spike?

Playing Concrete Genie and have to say it's a really charming game, I love the interactions with the genie's and trying to channel the inner artist in me.

It's a pretty looking game and has a nice art style to the human characters, in particular the lead protagonist Ash and especially so in the cut scenes.

@TheBrandedSwordsman I can’t remember much of detail about when difficulty spikes, to be honest. I didn’t remember much that was very high in difficulty, but I have my difficulty sliders set at a pretty normal level across the board.

@Arugula I would definitely check a guide to see the requirements for doing the third semester. If I remember correctly, you just have max out the three new confidants.

So around 10 hours into AC: Black Flag and really enjoying it. The controls are clunky and unintuitive but you do learn to play around that in time and... intuit the unintuitive if you get my drift.

It's surprisingly varied too which I like, the typical AC segments supply you with a decent amount of weapons and tools so there are options in how you take on a mission. Then the sea-faring is where the game shines... the open water and island-hopping still looks beautiful even though it was a cross-gen title and there is more to it than just travelling and naval battles. Whale hunting is a half-decent diversion and attacking coastal forts is epic. There is also the odd puzzle that is 'just right' in the goldilocks zone if you know what I mean... tricky but not too difficult and time-consuming to work out.

Epic swashbuckler of a story too.

@colonelkilgore Glad to hear you’re enjoying it. I’ve mentioned before that I didn’t get along with Black Flag in its opening hours and I bounced off of it back at release. Perhaps I need to consider another go at it. I actually kept my disc with the thought that maybe it would be worth revisiting. I have Odyssey in the backlog also, so I was planing to play that instead since the setting and character interested me more. Let me know how the game comes out in as you finish it.

I love the sea shanties in Black Flag.

@colonelkilgore Honestly, Black Flag was one of my least favourite titles during my AC binge. I loved the setting and pirates are very cool but the story sections didn’t really cut it for me. The island hopping was good fun but since I wasn’t going for the platinum due to the multiplayer trophies, I couldn’t really bring myself to clear everything!

@Th3solution will do Sol, though if I were you I'd probably stick with your plan to play Odyssey... and then if you're still craving some naval battles a few months later you can always dust off Black Flag. I really enjoyed Odyssey... and I honestly think controls have progressed quite a lot during the 8th generation and as a result the onland gameplay (at least) is smoother in the later game.

@nessisonett I try not to binge any series really, as I'm so cautious of ruining a possible good experience through burn out. Of the series, so far I've only played AC1 (back in the day... and promised myself never again), Odyssey (lured back in by Greek myth) and Origins (loved Odyssey so I figured I'd love that... only liked it in the end though).

Basically, I'm gonna ensure I have a good few months between installments but have them all waiting to be installed.

As a side note, I was quite pessimistic about trying the pre-Origins ones but my experience with Black Flag so far has made me far more open to the others.

@ApostateMage they're great aren't they... and always on the verge of sounding quite rude. There was one yesterday where I wasn't sure what they were actually singing but in my head it sounded like the main verse was "Someones got a boner" which I took to singing along with. Think my missus was a bit disappointed when she walked in and I was still 'soft' 😂🤣😂🤣

I've finally decided to give Jedi: Fallen Order a go. I'm only on to Zeffo but enjoying it so far although I've just unlocked the evade and kick move which feels a little hit and miss.

Loving the big orchestral score though!

@nessisonett Black Flag was a great game. It just wasn't a great Assassin's Creed game. It would have shined as a new IP, which I assume they realized too late and that's where their vaporware online pirate game game from. All the AC stuff felt shoehorned into a game it didn't fit, and the decent AC stuff that was there felt like it deserved to have its own game.

Personally I agree though, as an AC game i think it might be the weakest entry. Even liberation despite it's Vita limitations is better as an AC game. It was amazing for it's time running on Vita though. I can't remember the PSP one but that one was actually pretty good. My thumb did not get along with that game and the cheese shredder nub of the PSP though!

Revelations remains a weak entry, but 3 is imo the low point. The lack of verticality destroyed the ac gameplay and it became a brawler. Though i hear Valhalla has the same problem. I haven't started it yet.

@NEStalgia 3’s probably my favourite one although I’ve only played the remaster 😅

i'm still playing through Shadow of the Tomb Raider, looking forward to the deep gameplay, crafting and exploration that is allegedly to be found in the game. Climbing already seems more complex than in the Uncharted games. @Th3solution - Thoughts?

@nessisonett eewww! That could be the difference though. I got the remaster with odyssey gold edition but haven't had the urge to check it out past the ever awesome theater intro, because it's ac3. I do remember them saying they were intending to fix fan complaints about it and make it "more assassin's creed", so maybe that means they were successful. The original release had almost no real stealth, it was mostly grabbing weapons and playing Bad Dudes: Colonial Edition. On a 2D plane. That's cool if they really did make it a proper AC...a bit like what happened with Unity.

My favorite remains the first though. Sure the side quests were repetitive and uninteresting but no other game has really duplicated the grandeur of the big stalk and kill assassinations. I hadn't really thought about it before recently but technically the first channeled a lot more of Hitman then later entries, which might explain part of why it's my favorite.

I'm on the fence about syndicate. It tried to bridge 3s action brawler in Jacob with traditional AC in Evie. So i ended up loving the Evie missions and hating the Jacob missions. Except the freaking Thames... Screw that bland river and it's endless barges!

@TheBrandedSwordsman So you not started with the first game in the trilogy as we discussed? OK then! 😂

In regards to Shadow, if you are expecting deep crafting and climbing from the game, prepare to be disappointed unfortunately. The crafting and climbing seemed pretty light I seem to remember.

How you generally finding the game so far?

@JohnnyShoulder I am enjoying it, the gameplay seems to be more in-depth so far anyway, with more complex requirements for the navigation of environments than in the Uncharted games, which is what I started off with in this particular action-adventure style of game.

@JohnnyShoulder How did you find the game?

I thought they had refined the combat, exploration and puzzles to the best in the series. I wasn't too keen on some of the RPG-lite stuff (like having to speak to numerous villagers for quests) and some of the story beats. But, overall I really enjoyed it.

Death Stranding - Playing for the first time, really enjoying it. would have liked for it to have a PS5 upgrade, but looks amazing already. I'm about 15 hours in

I’m enjoying Fallen Order so far and haven’t had too many technical issues (a few long pauses when auto saving, a few stuttery cutscenes). The game looks pretty good but did they outsource the wookies to someone on the cheap??