Topic: What PS4 Games Are You Currently Playing?

@TheBrandedSwordsman My, you have had bad luck with your games recently! Hope you fare better with Biomutant!

@TheBrandedSwordsman My real-life golf game, or my actual PS golf game?

@TheBrandedSwordsman Not played anything in the last few days. I decided to play both DLC packs in Control and so have still played that most recently. I’m coming up to the end of the second one (‘The Foundation’) so I expect it won’t be long now until I actually finally move on. The other game I played recently is Bound as I remarked earlier and I really like it. It’s very short and I also will probably finish it during my next sitting, whenever that might be.

I’m not sure what I’ll play next but it’s prone to be Returnal, which seems to finally be stable with the latest patch. Although I’m considering another palate cleansing short game first, depending if Bound finishes too quickly. Something without fast twitch combat since Returnal is going to push me to the edge it sounds like. I think Subnautica should fill that position and so I’ll jump in that with the game club.

Good to see Biomutant is enjoyable so far. What was it about RE4 that turned you off? Too dated feeling? Too difficult or too easy?

@bluedex PS golf game.

@Th3solution I was thinking of picking up Control a while ago, I'll be sure to make that the next game I play as it sounds like you had a decent time with it. How hard is it? That might affect my decision if there are problems with the shooting or what-have-you. RE4 - Ammo wasn't as plentiful as I thought and I ran out and got mobbed to death, happened a couple of times and really put me off. Plus the fixed camera angle, which is present in almost every RE game was just too much for me. I completed the game on gamecube a few years ago but maybe I found the controller setup easier to handle or something, was able to find some more ammo elsewhere along the way, or was just a better gamer. Maybe my skills have aligned with RPGs since gelling with the Dark Souls games a year or two ago, back when it all began...

What is Bound about?

Also, going back to RE4 it's just a very clunky game but if ammo were more plentiful, enough to disperse with mobs easily enough then it would have been a better experience. Don't let me put you off buying it though, as, as I say, I beat it on gamecube about 5-6 years ago and had a great experience with it then.

@TheBrandedSwordsman Control has a few tough fights but nothing too extreme (other than one optional endgame boss fight). Also I think I've seen a mention of some kind of easy mode added in the Ultimate Edition? Not 100% sure

@Voltan Yeah I think they did add an easy mode so that should make it much more accessible. I think I read, though that it doesn't make the challenges you need to take in order to gain new abilities any easier, so I'm still on the fence, I'll give it some thought.

@Voltan Just mentioning you now as I said I would for my playthrough of this game. Biomutant is a large colorful world with a diverse, mythological ecosystem, you can fully customize your character at the beginning of the game and combat and exploration are solid. Based on the first hour - well-worth picking up.

@TheBrandedSwordsman I appreciate the feedback on RE4. Does it have difficulty options? The remake games have an easy setting (I think called ‘assist’) where ammo is typically in ample supply or at least enemies go down with fewer shots anyways. Although even playing on easy I had to run past many a zombie to conserve ammo. The easy setting also had a little auto health regeneration over time so that even if you get into the red, if you can run away for a minute you’ll regenerate at least to yellow level health. For me, the games were tense enough due to the horror aspects that I played the first run on easy and it made it really enjoyable for me.

I actually bought RE4 already in a bundle with RE5 and RE6 when there was a sale recently. All three games were cheaper than just RE4 by itself 😄. I’ve heard 5 and especially 6 are less well thought of, but I think they are more like third person shooters with plenty of ammo rather than the survival type of gameplay of the older games where you have to ration the ammo, so maybe look into those entries if the series still interests you.

Bound is a very artsy game - I’d describe as a 3D platformer. The catch is that you play as a dancer, so the move-set is very elegant and unique. I’m not an expert but it’s a little like a modern dance and classic ballet type dancer feeling to the protagonist. There is no shooting or combat per se, but there are enemies and you have to hit buttons to dance or perform some acrobatic type artistic moves in order to ward off attacks. It’s hard to explain, but it feels a little bit like watching Cirque du Soleil, complete with sliding down ribbons and twirling like those performers do. It’s a cool idea, but definitely not for everyone. Many people will probably find it boring. If you’ve played Journey or Abzu then it’s slightly in that wheelhouse, although still different in its own way.

As for Control, I do think you might get along with it, although it’s nothing like Dark Souls. The gameplay is shooting based but also with “force powers” (for lack of a better term) where you can grab objects via a telekinesis power and fling them at enemies as well. You also eventually get the ability to levitate, so that plays a factor into combat and platforming. The gameplay is pretty unique. The shooting is not quite cover-based though, because you’ll be swarmed if you just try to hide behind cover and really have to move to survive, but I do spend a good bit of time utilizing cover and mixing thing up with more kinetic movement to dodge and run around during combat. One good thing you’ll like probably is that you don’t have to pick up ammo. If you are annoyed at that mechanic, no need to worry because ammo is constantly regenerating so you essentially have infinite ammo. Your clip will run out though and you’ll need to dodge or alternate using your force powers while the ammo fills back up. But if you alter your combat moves you’ve always got something to assault the enemy with, if you can get into a rhythm. I’d say the shooting is pretty solid, and on par with any other third person shooter. You have some defensive skills too, like a shield and a really nice dodge move. Difficulty-wise, I’d say it’s medium (not easy, but not hard. There aren’t difficulty settings). I’m not a very skilled gamer and I got the platinum. I do die regularly and a couple of the optional bosses had me pretty frustrated and I had to retry them several times, a la DS. The game is plentiful with its save points though, so even dying doesn’t put you too far back. It’s definitely not Dark Souls, it’s combat is more frantic than that and the game world is more forgiving, but it’s fun. The story is pretty strange and confusing, but I like it. Maybe if I can compare it to other games I’ve played I’d say gameplay is a little bit like ‘Uncharted meets DOOM meets Star Wars: The Force Unleashed’. I absolutely love it. One of my favorite games this last year. However, I’m playing on PS5 and apparently the PS4 version runs pretty poorly with a lot of frame rate issues during heavy combat. There is tons of particle effects and moving objects on screen and it pushes poor little PS4 to its limit, so beware of that if you decide to try it. (If memory serves, you haven’t upgraded to PS5 yet have you?)

Edit: I guess there is an assist mode in Comtrol. I must have missed that. I didn’t really go into the setting where it must apparently be hidden.

@Th3solution RE4 does give you difficulty options, but like you, outside of the Souls games and Souls-likes like Fallen Order, and well, outside of RPGs in general, I'm not the greatest gamer either. I would like to try Control, but, no, I haven't upgraded yet to PS5, and when I do, Demon's Souls will obviously be first on my hitlist, I advise you, again, to give Dark Souls 3 a go before Demon's Souls. @nessisonett has told me that DeS is the easiest entry in the series though, so it might ,on the other hand be worth playing it from his perspective. However, I ,personally found DS3 much easier than Demon's Souls on PS3, I was never able to beat that game, didn't getvery far with it at all. And that, my friend, is due to the frankly sparse number of save points in DeS, whereas in DS3 there are bonfires (akin to Bloodborne's lamps) practically everywhere, DeS and Bloodborne have roughly the same spacing in terms of check-points, so factor that into your decision as well as you were able to beat Bloodborne. Also, I'm not 100% sure but I think you can level up before the first boss in DeS, but you can't do that in DS3, but in DS3 it's worth it, it's a real gauntlet to run but beating the first boss lets you level up and then it's smooth sailing. With Bloodborne under your belt, I reckon you could beat the first boss of DS3 and level up, but, if you're still worrying about it, go with ness and get DeS, let me know how you get on with whichever game you take the plunge with.

@Th3solution It also depends how much you want to employ cheesing in your playthrough. You can't really cheese the basic enemies in DeS like you can in Bloodborne, as you can't really run past them, you pretty much have to fight your way to each save-point/boss, and if you die to the boss you go back to the beginning of the level and have to fight your way to the boss, potentially only to die again, unless you have unlocked a shortcut and not every area, if I remember correctly, has a shortcut in DeS, therefore, again, I make the case for DS3 with it's multiple save-points per level.

@TheBrandedSwordsman I see that DeS has finally gone on sale this week, so maybe I’ll take the plunge. But I have a few games lined up and since Returnal is supposedly intense and difficult, I probably will need a break after that before taking on a Souls game. I have to see how it goes. If/when I jump in DS3 or DeS (or RE4) then I’ll tag you with thoughts. Lately I’ve been making such slow progress in general though.

Been away for about 2 weeks with holidays ans such so not much gaming the last 14 days but...
Started Tomb Raider (2013) and man how did I skip this game I've been enjoying it so much, its aged pretty well and even though Lara has been stabbed about 90 times and fell of heights higher than everest its self I'm the one suffering from arthritis I think while she runs on fine and dandy.

But yeah I'm really enjoying it, it does have an undoubtedly uncharted feel to it but with more exploring and seeing Lara at the beginning of her journey from vulnerable archaeologist to bad arse heroine is a good character arc.

I binned off Persona 5 I know its very popular in here but after about 12 hours I just got bored of all the reading and go here and then go there and then shut the shop and then dream and then go to school and then ask a question to a pupil who hates you, mabye I should of give it more time but I just felt that their is alot of games calling name.

Picked up Assasins Creed Oddesy Definitive Edition on ps sale so gonna start along side my Tomb Raider Trilogy playthrough.

@Th3solution @TheBrandedSwordsman How are you two doing? I haven't been too active lately feels like forever since we had a chat

@Jimmer-jammer my bad for bringing up Ashen in the Biomutant thread... didn’t want to clog it up so relocated it to here.

So yeah, I agree totally it is a great game and a souls-like of the highest order. It is a little short (shorter than most souls-likes anyway) but not in a bad way. The best thing I can say is that it is the first souls-like for gawd-knows how long that evoked that classic ‘souls-ian ‘anxiety’ on a long journey between Ritual Stones (bonfires). If it’s one issue that I have with Dark Souls 2 and especially Dark Souls 3, is that there are far too many bonfires dotted around. There were a fair few moments in Ashen where I was getting pretty ‘desperate’ for a Ritual Stone tbh.

As I mentioned, I still have to beat the final boss and play the whole thing through again on the unlockable harder difficulty (which I reckon will be tough!) but it’s a very high quality game for a first time developer.

Tagging @TheBrandedSwordsman as I know you wouldn’t want to miss out on any souls chat. I’m yet to play every souls-like (I have a few queued up in the backlog) but my personal ranking would be ‘something’ like this.

1. Bloodborne
2. Demons Souls
3. Dark Souls
4. Dark Souls 3
5. Nioh
6. Ashen
7. The Surge
8. Dark Souls 2
9. Star Wars: Jedi Fallen Order
10. Code Vein
11. Immortal: Unchained
12. Lords of the Fallen

I personally don’t consider Sekiro to be a Souls-like but wouldn’t have a problem with people who do. If I had to include it I would probably slot it in at around 5.

The ones I’m yet to play (that I own, there might be a couple of others which I haven’t picked up yet) are Demons Souls Remastered, Nioh 2 (and the two PS5 remasters), The Surge 2, Mortal Shell and Chronos before the Ashes.

@colonelkilgore that’s a nice list! I’m surprised not to see Remnant on there. You talking about it in the forums actually got me quite interested. I’ve yet to try The Surge or Fallen Order yet. They both look intriguing to me. I currently have an unusual amount of games on the go/partly finished so once I get my gaming situation back within reason I’d like to give a few of those a try.

@Jimmer-jammer Remnant was awesome (definitely my favourite game so far this year) but I’d never class it as a souls-like. First and foremost it’s a co-op looter-shooter with a smattering of souls-like elements. I’d suggest anyone to give it a go, it’s as tight a third-person shooter as I’ve played.

I really enjoyed The Surge and I’ve only heard from reliable sources that The Surge 2 is a massive improvement over the original. In regards to the original, once you make some decent progress, the build variety is phenomenal, can’t wait to see how they’ve expanded on that in particular. I’d definitely consider it underrated and anyone who enjoyed the sub-genre should consider giving it a go.

Fallen Order was good but I actually found myself having to ‘force’ myself to plough on with it... can’t quite put my finger on why but it didn’t provide the scratch to the souls itch as consistently as a lot of the others... for me at least.

@colonelkilgore I might jump in on The Surge 2 then when I’m ready! I’m not a huge Star Wars fan so I might end up skipping that one all together but might be worth a go at a good price.

Also tagging @TheBrandedSwordsman here as I see the rumour mill is churning again in regards to Elden Ring. Supposedly a reveal of some kind is imminent.

@Jimmer-jammer well if you do so, definitely let me know how you get on.

Also, don’t let me put you off of SW:JFO. It didn’t necessarily hit all the right spots with me but the vast majority of people really enjoyed it... and even though I only ‘liked’ it, I’ll certainly play the sequel.

@MaulTsir I replayed Tomb Raider (2013) earlier in the month as it goes. Really good game and I’m quite excited to play the sequels when I can find the time. They might miss out (a bit) on the just blockbuster-ness of the Uncharted series but they’re better games for sure. I came to the series late too, glad you finally stumbled upon them though.

Also, I’m a big fan of AC: Odyssey.