Topic: PlayStation 5 --OT--

It seems to me that people are forgetting that Sony has it's own Unique Selling Points that make it a superb choice for gamers - regardless of what ever MS or Nintendo offer.

Sony has some of the most critically acclaimed Studio's making some of the most critically acclaimed games that get nominated every year for the 'Game of the Year' awards. As Sony keep telling us, these games are 'ONLY on Playstation' - at least on Day1. As important as Mario, Zelda etc are for Nintendo, Spider-Man, Uncharted, Ghost of Tsushima, God of War etc are important to Sony and if you want to play some of the 'best' games, regardless of whether their 'rivals' are also offering GotY contender games or not, you'll still 'need' a Playstation to play those games.

Whilst I'm talking about Software, the 'lack' of 3rd Party studio support hasn't been that detrimental to Nintendo because of the strength of their first party IP's. The fact the Switch can't run a lot of the 'latest' games and the amount of 'compromises' needed to get other games running does mean that it offers the 'worst' presentation/performance of the games it does get. However, Nintendo also have had hardware Unique Selling Points (USP's) that no other offered (initially at least). With the Wii, it was Motion controls and that meant the Wii sold incredibly well. The Switch offers that hybrid hand-held experience that no other platform offers and is selling incredibly well and neither the Wii or Switch relied on 3rd Party Studio's and their games to be successful. The only console you can play on the bus, play 'anywhere' with relative ease, is the Switch. That USP is a big reason why its been successful despite a lack of 3rd Party multi-platform releases.

That then brings us back to Sony whose USP hardware feature is VR gaming. Its the only Console platform to offer VR and will bring PSVR2 to PS5 soon. That gives Sony complete Console exclusivity on Virtual Reality experiences - whether developed in house or by 3rd Party, any VR developed game on Console is 'ONLY on Playstation'. That could be Sony's 'big' success and yet another reason to buy PS5.

Any studio can [try to] make a CoD type game, a 3rd person cinematic action game etc to offer 'similar' experiences but not everyone can offer a VR experience or the 'hybrid hand-held' experience so these USP's are perhaps more important than I see give credit to. Sony also offer some other 'interesting' features like Haptic Feedback too right now as well.

Instead of looking at what 'others' do and being 'negative', focus on what the Positives are...

@velio84 Have to agree. I have become accustomed to the adaptive triggers and haptic feedback and so to not have it feels a little strange. Kind of empty. Obviously it varies game to game as to how much it adds, with Returnal being the best, along with Control Ultimate Edition and Rift Apart close behind. I was disappointed with FF7 Intergrades complete lack of use of the triggers outside of the motorcycle level. Playing Demon’s Souls now too I am a little disappointed in the lack of use of the triggers, although the haptic feedback is very good. Played a couple hours of Dirt 5 and I do like the triggers there too, although I hear WRC does them better.

@Th3solution A Plague Tale is another good one

@Voltan Yes, much more subtle usage but it really fit the game. Loved feeling the scampering, clawing sensation of rats nearby.

@velio84 Yeah, they are really touting the DualSense features for GT7. I expect them to be really great because as you say, racing games seem to be prime candidates for impactful haptic and adaptive trigger implementation.

@Th3solution Demon’s Souls uses the adaptive triggers to add tension when using bows. But apart, yeah it is not used as far as I know.

I don’t really like the rumble and adaptive triggers to be honest. I often disable rumble and I can’t say I enjoy it on PS5 anymore than I have previous generations. The resistance when shooting is just annoying and the way the pad rattles around in driving games is just kinda weird. Maybe I’ll get used to it some more as the generations moved along.

The PS5 games I have written on my list after some deliberation.
Let's see...

1. Planet Coaster
2. Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart
3. Bibi and Tina at the Farm
4. Spirit of the North (Enhanced edition)
5. Kao the Kangaroo (2022)

@velio84 WRC9, people say it's really good but to me the controller just clicks and rattles around in your hand like it's going to fall to pieces. It's interesting I suppose but I am not sure it makes it feel like I am holding a real steering wheel lol

Dirt 5 just buzzes away like it's last gen.

So Ghostwire Tokyo is an open world game. The powers and some of the ghostly things look cool but I don't know... the gameplay didn't look all that engaging.
Definitely waiting for reviews with this one.

Yep this feels unique and uninteresting at the same time. The Doctor Strange type moves looked really cool, until they showed uninterrupted gameplay. At which point it just began to look so generic. I cringed a bit when they mentioned using "Spectral Vision" to see things like it's some new idea. Basically just another press R3 to reveal things mechanic. Never mind.

Edit; thought of the perfect way I'd describe what I witnessed. Style over substance.

@Voltan @NedStarksGhost @velio84 Just watched the Ghostwire Tokyo gameplay and I’m not too hyped either. I do like some of the powers and ideas it’s bringing and it has some pretty cool looking moves and attacks. The art design of the demons is alright, I like some of them. But there is an overall sense that the game is lacking a certain something. It doesn’t look or feel like a cutting edge PS5 game; Looks more akin to something they could be done last gen (or even PS3). Maybe I feel that way because it reminds me a little of Dishonored, from what I can see. I’m disappointed that it’s a first person viewpoint. Regardless, I won’t count it out. But I have a feeling it’s going to have a hard time gaining any footing against all the other games coming out over the next 6 months. I’ll hope to be surprised.

@Th3solution You can pet the dog though

@Th3solution That's exactly what I thought when I watched the trailer, it looks just like Dishonoured and probably too much for my liking. I really wanted to like Dishonoured but just couldn't get into it, perhaps because it was first person as well. There was just something about the atmosphere or the pace of the game or the mechanics, I don't know but I just got really bored playing it.

Will have to wait for the reviews of Ghostwire I think but it wouldn't be one that I'd pick up straight away anyway. I think it's perhaps telling that Sony hasn't put as much effort behind this as they did Deathloop, perhaps because they know that it's not going to sell that well so they don't want to spend the money, or maybe because they've got 2 big first party games coming out around the same time and they'd rather people spent their money on those.

@velio84 You also buy stuff from levitating talking cats. GOTY.

@Voltan I’m glad the next gen power of my PS5 can be maximally utilized in creating photorealistic dog petting.

@render Yeah, there is a weird discrepancy between the marketing for Deathloop and Ghostwire Tokyo. Perhaps Sony doesn’t believe in the Ghostwire much. But I do believe you’re right that they have their own first party games to promote now and so they seem content to cut their losses with Ghostwire. I expect steep price discounts quickly, not unlike what has happened with Deathloop.

@Th3solution At least they gave it a showcase. If it didn't even get that, it would have been even more concerning. They do have a lot of stuff to promote right now, so I'll at least partially chalk it up to that. Still, like you said, it should drop in price. I wouldn't expect it to be quite as quickly as Deathloop since that came out much closer to Christmas, but still, I plan on waiting.

I will still likely be playing Horizon Forbidden West, and then I have plenty of other games like the Uncharted Legacy of Thieves Collection (might as well replay them in 60 FPS), Death Stranding, replaying Ghost of Tsushima via the Director's Cut, and also Deathloop itself. That's not counting plenty of other backlog, so waiting will be nice and easy.

Playing a little Dirt 5 every now and then. It’s alright, but it made me think about something:
As I was laser-focusing on the road, trying to overtake the cars in front of me, I finally realized how harshly I was squeezing the trigger full throttle and slamming the left stick right and left. The thought crossed my mind — which games make you abuse your controller the most?

I think racing games are my worst — Because it’s constant focus and you are pulling, pushing, and squeezing so hard and don’t even realize it. The second hardest games on the controller for me are probably fighting games. The relentless button mashing in those games is also buried in such constant concentration that you don’t realize how hard you’re hammering the buttons.

Good thing they make these things durable.

Better do a visual novel or a nice slow turn based RPG after this to give the poor pad a break

@Th3solution One game that I know I’ve abused my controller on is Hades. The later levels are really full on and it’s all about fast reactions so you don’t really think about it. There’s one particular weapon that’s even worse for abuse than the rest and you can really go to town on the buttons and sticks.

One of my controllers has a little bit of stick drift and it’s the only game I really noticed it on. It’s ok to start with but after playing a few levels my character would just start walking left all by itself.

@Th3solution I've been pretty careful with my dualsense but mario aces online legitimately destroyed a set of joy cons on my switch 😂! It's a game that genuinely bums me out that online died, an even match online was a thing of genuine beauty.