Topic: What PS4 Games Are You Currently Playing?

@Th3solution I think I'm much the same mate. It shouldn't really mean anything but when thinking back on games, the ones where you create your own character do seem to have that extra resonance. Strange but true 😉

I've played around 4.5 hrs of nier automata and I think I might be done with it. The sound track is phenomenal and I can see the promise of the story but the bit I'm struggling with is the gameplay, quest design and world navigation. I'm surprised as I've played a couple of platinum games (bayonetta 1 and 2, decent chunck of the wonderful 101) and they are normally right up my street. I know this is a jrpg and not a character action game and they are a genre known for their grindy nature. Without spoilers, has anyone who has played it found that there are big changes in the action and is there a lot of traditional mmo-esque jrpg quests that are needed to progress through the main story?

@R1spam from my perspective, it did take a wee while to click but once it did I thought the action was very good. I remember feeling withdrawal symptoms once I was done with it and trying to find something to play next. I'd stick with it a bit... coz if it clicks you'll love it.

@R1spam The world navigation is probably the part that won’t get much better for you, although I do remember that early 5-6 hour mark when traversal opens up are when things feel the most tedious. The world feels kind of bare for a lot of the early game. For some reason it seems to flow better later, and maybe it’s just that one acclimates to it, but it’s also because you do get a little variety in scenery eventually. It’s not the most compelling open world ever made. The quest design likewise improves and becomes a bit more varied, but for me, I never felt put off by the quests and even did all the side content and so maybe I’m a poor judge of how they either do or don’t evolve.

The combat really does become better over time, as you acquire skills and weapons to add variance. But the big attraction (in addition to the music as you mentioned) for me was the story. It’s a bit of a slow burn in the early part then really picks up at the end of the first run, then levels off for another stretch until you really hit a series of great narrative moments, the likes of which I’ve not experienced in any other games that I can remember. It takes some commitment, but getting to the ‘true ending’ is really a special experience, imho.

That said, if the gameplay, characters, and futuristic setting and conflict aren’t clicking with you, then you may not ever grow to enjoy it, especially the relatively slower slog in the middle where even I had a few moments where I was sorta going through the motions to get through to the next big reveal. But over the course of a roughly 40-50 hour experience, I’d say a 10-15 hour section in the middle was the only part that I’d would say was tough to push through.

@R1spam Have you unlocked the fast travel yet? I spent ages traipsing back and forward across the map for side quests and should have done a bit more of the main story to unlock fast travel and make life easier.

@Thrillho I have not and I think that would help a lot!! I can only go back to the bunker at the minute.
@Th3solution @colnelkilgore thanks for the responses and interesting to hear you both allude to the story really going places. Will give it a couple of more hours to see if things open up and maybe buy a new weapon set to see if that spices things up, as I've got plenty currency.

@Th3solution You'll be pleased to know I've started FFVIIR after losing interest in KoA:R-R, I'm an hour or so in, on chapter 3, and man, that Scorpion Sentinel boss was a bit of a challenge, and the Huntsman, with his shield etc. was just annoying, plus I found Barrett a bit preposterous with his tough guy accent, saying things like "while the flowahs dahie" lol, you would have thought someone like him would have been all for eating cheeseburgers and hitting the gym while the planet goes to its demise, but yeah, I get it, they are all meant to be Eco-warriors, and Cloud's a hired merc whose being paid to help them the premise is ok, but I really just like whacking stuff about with the Greatsword and enjoying the boss battles, does the game get much harder as it goes along? Potions seem to be in abundant supply throughout the world, which is a good thing.

@TheBrandedSwordsman What was the last game you actually saw through to the end 😂

@nessisonett Control 😂 and before that... Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, oh and some Uncharted games thrown into the mix as well (Lost Legacy & 4).

I think I'm gonna play Psychonauts next (the original game, I want to play it before the sequel)

@TheBrandedSwordsman Sorry to hear that KoA didn’t quite grab you. Was it just the world and setting that was a turn off or was it the gameplay?

As far as FF7R, in my experience the game gets a little harder, especially the bosses, and the characters get better the more you get to know them. Barrett is a strange stereotype with the tough-guy street talk juxtaposed with his environmentalist world view. 😅 A lot of the story and character interaction has the Japanese flair so you have to take that for what it’s worth. It’s more quirky and silly at times, yet all the while trying to tell a very serious and epic dramatic tale. If you enjoy the early combat then I think it only gets better as you gain new squad mate options to mess around with, new materia to give you new spells and abilities, eventually getting summon abilities, etc. Many of the common enemies are pretty simple but the bosses and mini-bosses pose more challenge. When you get to chapter 7 that’s where my favorite fight has been so far.
But look forward to comparing notes on the experience! I’m liking it quite a bit so far.

@Th3solution Thanks for your notes on FFVIIR, I'll keep you updated, it was the gameplay for KOA:R-R.

I gave that Voice Of Cards: The Isle Dragon Roars demo a shot.

The presentation with everything represented as cards is a nice touch. I like it. Makes it stand out. Music was rather nice too.

... Didn't stop me from deleting it twenty minutes later though.

That has got to be one of the dullest games I've ever played. Why is it so damn slow? It's only cards. There's nothing fancy on screen and especially for battles it seemed rather sluggish.

And who's idea was it to have only ONE voice actor?

In principle this could work just fine as I think J.B.Blanc did a stellar job in Dragon's Crown narrating the game by himself (Though there were other options when you beat the game and there WAS other voices throughout DC).

But with the Gothic look & dark, and dare I say oppressive, tone that Voice of Cards has... It'd obviously be rather jarring for it's va to do different accents & voices like J.B. does In Dragon's Crown...

... This however makes the voice acting REALLY drab and dry to me in VoC with his rather samey delivery for everything. It feels cheap and they could've at least sprung for VA's for the 3 protagonists too.

The little story that was here was very mediocre too. Granted it was just a snippet but... Yeah.

Consider me thoroughly unimpressed.

That's strike two for Mr Taro...

Technically a PS2 game but I’m playing the PS4 release (which I believe runs in an emulator) on PS5.

There’s a lot of talk of Psychonauts 2 being a GOTY contender so I decided to give the original Psychonauts a go.
Man, is this game ugly
Of course, a lot of it is by design but playing it upscaled with blurry textures doesn’t seem to do it many favors.
It’s also properly janky and struggles to maintain a steady frame rate on PS5, which is a little mind blowing
Platforming is ok at best and combat is absolutely awful (luckily there’s not a ton of it, although there are boss battles).
That being said, I’m now 10h in and I’m enjoying it. I like the characters, writing is good and there are very good ideas behind the various levels, especially the ones located inside people’s minds.
I’m going to see it through. Too much backtracking for the numerous collectibles to bother with trophies though.

If the sequel keeps all the good stuff and fixes all the bad, I can definitely see how it got those reviews.

@RogerRoger Maybe if they didn't make a trophy for collecting all figments, I could be compelled to chase the others. There are literal thousands of them and their visibility is often far from great. At least there's a counter in the menu so if you revisit each level, you can see how many you missed but is still seems like too much. I think I got all of them in one of the levels so far and I don't even want to think about getting them all in that bull level
It's fine that there's so many since they're used for skill upgrades but there shouldn't be a trophy for getting them all IMO.

@Th3solution In FFVIIR I just started chapter 4 and I know you were talking about Japanese flair, but ,the way Roche rides his motorcycle around as if it's a b***dy 'buckin' bronco' is just a bit ridiculous! His backstory, hinted at, Cloud mentioning that he's a SOLDIER, is interesting though, so be good to see more of that as the game unfolds 🤣 It had me amused and bemused at the same time, are you nearing the end of the game now?

@Voltan
“If the sequel keeps all the good stuff and fixes all the bad, I can definitely see how it got those reviews.”

It does exactly that. I recently fired up the 1st one as well and yeah, it’s aged about as well as a loaf of bread. The half second input delay with jumping alone had me tearing my hair out.

Rest assured, especially if you see the 1st through, you’re in for a real treat when you play 2. It’s honestly staggering how much of an improvement on every level it is over the 1st. Even the writing and general creativity, arguably the strong points of the 1st, are vastly improved. As a fan of the original (with an admittedly rose tinted recollection of it, as my recent foray highlighted), I’ve been pleasantly blown away. Figments are still a thing though, ah well.

@Jimmer-jammer Sounds good to me

Started playing Team Sonic Racing again after taking a 1+ year break from it. When I played it for the first time, I thought the game was just average. But now that I've taken a break from it and come back, it feels so much more fun than the first time around. Really goes to show how important it is to take breaks from games that you aren't in the mood for so that you don't ruin your experience with that title.

Finished chapter 2 of adventure mode and while the story isn't anything to write home about (it's nice to at least see cut-scenes), I just love the tracks. I recognise some returning ones from Sonic and Sega All-Stars Racing (e.g. Whale Lagoon) and some new ones like an ice track and a desert track. I really like the variety in tracks compared to All-Stars Racing which focused on a select few Sega franchises.

The Team aspect is fun as well, even if you're playing with CPU. It makes the racing a bit more engaging compared to the previous Sonic racing games.

All in all, I'm enjoying this game so much more now and I hope that continues until the end!

@LtSarge glad you’re enjoying it more now you’ve returned to it after taking a break. I’ve experienced the same thing a few times recently. I returned to two or three games which I gave up on years ago and ended up really enjoying them. I find expectations (be they high or low) and what ‘type’ of experience i fancy at a particular time have a massive bearing on how much I’ll end up enjoying a game.