Topic: What PS5 Games Are You Currently Playing?

I'm well on my way through Vampire: The Masquerade - Swansong currently. I picked it up because I had a great time with The Council when I played it a few years ago. This one, however, didn't receive such positive reviews, so I've held out on it for a while but saw a sale I couldn't pass up this time. I completely understand all the criticism this game has received. It's slow, the characters are not all that likeable, it can be buggy and the dialogue system introduces itself terribly. However, I decided I would keep pushing through it and see if it improved. I think it does! As the game goes on, I've gotten more invested in what's going on in the story and what's happening with the characters. I think it just gets off to an incredibly slow start and doesn't help itself with its pacing throughout the game, but there is something very satisfying about how the investigation and dialogue ends up working in this game. It just gives off a terrible first impression because they initially pit you against people that you simply cannot beat in any skill confrontation. It doesn't feel good to be told over and over again that you're failing at the game. I think it's moving towards a satisfying conclusion, so I hope it doesn't mess that up in the final part. The Council definitely managed to be unsatisfying towards the end, so I hope they learned from their mistakes this time around. Perhaps a slow start this time in exchange for a banger ending!

Ironic coming from the guy who just said that he dropped Black Myth: Wukong recently due to soulslike burnout, I recently tried that AI Limit demo. Basically Code Vein in aesthetic but much better. That was a really fun demo. I liked it a lot.

Maybe I should give Black Myth: Wukong another go...

Did a bit of exploring in The Lands Between and got my Greatsword up to +4 .I have nothing invested in Vigor thus far though, so I am running a glass cannon build atm. Will have to level up a bit more so as not to get one shot by the magic-wielding enemies in Raya Lucaria Crystal Tunnel when I go further in and dig deep (kill the enemies there) for those (Smthing Stone [2] ) Minerals!

(55 Str now)

Metaphor Refantazio for me. I’m only a couple of hours in but it’s excellent. I just defeated the optional dragon boss and that was fun; got some good loot too.

I've finished Silent Hill 2 and I shall now be carrying on with Metaphor ReFantazio. To be honest it's not grabbing me as much as a Persona game would. I know that once I put some more time into it I'll end up loving it, but I'm sitting here right now and it just seems like effort to put it on and play it. I think a lot of that could be due to the fact that I've caught a bug and I'm not feeling too great. I have 17 days off from next Wednesday, so that'll be when I really get into it.

I put Final Fantasy VII Rebirth on hold in order to play through Silent Hill 2 but wanted something light to pierce through the bleakness and started Neva. I’m a good chunk into fall now and I’m blown away. A beautifully moving experience thus far. I really love this type of game.

@Jimmer-jammer yeah I really appreciated GRIS and everything I’ve heard about Neva sounds like it’s an improvement in all categories. Like you, I think I’ll save it for a time when I need some reinvigoration from the intensity of some games these days. Pretty sure I played GRIS after Doom Eternal and it was the perfect palate cleanser.

@Bentleyma I'm curious as to your misgivings. Is there anything you could elaborate on? I'm excited to play the game, but whenever something receives almost universal love, I'm interested to read genuine criticism.

@PorkChopExpress Don't get me wrong I still really like what I've played so far and if you like the Persona games then I have no doubt that you'll enjoy it. I think I just prefer the setting less than the school setting of the Persona games. Plus there seems to be a lot less voice acting than in the Persona games, where every other scene was acted. But like I said above I do think that the main reason I'm not as interested in playing it atm is because I've not been feeling great. I'm sure once I feel better I'll get into it properly and end up loving it.

@Bentleyma Oh, ok. Thanks for the response. I think it's healthy to enjoy something, but still be able to be justifiably critical. For example, I absolutely adore Witcher 3, it's probably an all-time top 3, but I don't think it a 10. I sincerely hope you feel better soon and are able to get into it more!

@colonelkilgore I also really enjoyed Gris when I played it a few years ago. Neva was definitely worth the wait! It takes everything Gris did so well and really builds on it. Actual combat, better platforming, a similar but less abstract and more developed art style, and a somehow more emotionally resonant story are all adding up. Might just be one of my favourites in what has been a stellar year for gaming. Being that you liked Gris, I think you’ll get a lot out of Neva when you get to it.

Neva looks great but it seems to be another extremely short game (about 4 hours). That's what I find most irritating about a lot of indie titles. I'm having a great time but before I know it the game just ends.

I'm finally done with Days Gone - I ended up getting platinum - and I started Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus. I'm really enjoying it - the dark humour mixed with some moving moments, the fast gunplay, the cool areas. At times it's a bit punishing - I'm not really that experienced in FPS games - especially that I refuse to use aim-assist, but it's still fun.

@lotan666 congrats on the Days Gone plat buddy… and good luck with Wolfenstein 2. Personally I love that there are games available of vastly differing lengths. It would honestly be exhausting if everything was an intense 100 hour+ grind-fest. Don’t get me wrong, I love them too but… after playing a few games of significant length and intensity, there’s nothing better than a quick dip in something serene like GRIS or Neva. Then before you know it, you’re reinvigorated and ready to slaughter nazi’s for hours on end again… or whatever 😉

Sure, but there is a certain minimal satisfactory length that I want from a game For me personally that would probably be around 10 hours (I usually play for 2 hours a day, so that would give me a week's worth of fun, excluding weekends). I also get tired with most 100+ hour titles and 20-30 hours seems to be a perfect length for me. But 4-5 hours just seems a bit disappointing. I recently played Dave the Diver and it was a rare indie title that was actually around 20 hours in length. I loved e.g. Planet of Lana but I felt I'd gladly spend more time in that world.

Started my first foray into playing The Last of Us (Remake Part One) and I don't think Sarah is really grasping the seriousness of what is happening right now 😛

I'm not sure I'll play much before the 'Pro' comes, or maybe I will. What I will say the Performance mode in TLoUp1 is the best performance mode I've ever seen, it is in no way is off putting like some performance modes are to me, in terms of looking fake and having a sped up quality, and is really nice with unlocked fr + VRR. I was surprised that a fully cinematic game nailed a performance mode so well when most of the time they can annoy me. Bravo, ND.

Maybe my eyesight isn't what it used to be or maybe it's a result of me playing on a relatively small screen (27' gaming monitor) but I'd say in a vast majority of games I played performance mode for me was almost indistinguishable from fidelity mode in terms of image quality. GoW: Ragnarok, the Spider-man games, Ratchet&Clank, The Last of Us, GTA5, Cyberpunk 2077, Horizon FW... All of them looked absolutely fine in performance. Actually the only games I remember looking bad in performance mode were Hogwart's Legacy and Jedi Survivor. (Yes, I know about Final Fantasy but I haven't played it ;P)

@lotan666 yeah, a smaller screen will probably help with that with much more densly packed pixels for starters.

But I'm talking about the actual implementation of the motion im games in this instance and how it feels to me to play in those modes. The game still looks great, no doubt, although resolution mode did look even better/crisper, despite me deciding to stick with Performance mode this time as it was clearly a good choice for this game.

But a lot of games I try in performance mode just really mess with my eyes, it's a combination of their motion, cutscenes being completely ruined, strange motion of objects, and the characters acting and moving in a totally fake and exaggerated way, stuff like that makes a lot of games feel less realistic than in their standard 30fps resolution modes, to me. Like a Michael Bay/transformers movie, that'd be a good example from other media 🤮🤮🤮 and I have also tried plenty that look noticably much worse image quality wise too, to be fair.

I will have a good idea of what improvements come via the Pro when that arrives though, but tbh the Pro for me is more a third party saviour for now, and i will still assess modes on a game by game basos for what looks and feels right for me, but current and future SIE titles being pushed further will be a nice cherry on top. And if I get a TLoUp1 performance mode this well done in even higher fidelity on the big screen, then i'm all for that, too, as it is technically pretty darn good as is.

Gotham Knights. It has issues, of which there are numerous, and yet I find myself having fun despite it being desperately average. It's probably a 6 at absolute best.

@PorkChopExpress I haven’t played Gotham Knights yet but I’ve enjoyed a load of games that were supposedly terrible according to the general media consensus. Probably comes down to the appeal of any one game to the individual, serving to counteract its inadequacies. That and how inconsistent games journalism can be lately (these last 5 years or so). It does seem like it can be very unfashionable to like a certain type of game within review circles or in some cases even an individual game. With every negative poured over while any positive is minimised to almost nothing.

Games reviews have put me off a fair few games over the years, games that I have subsequently heard enough positivity elsewhere (from gamers) that I’ll eventually pick up it up and have a great time with it. One of the many reasons forums like this are so important.

@colonelkilgore True say, old chap. I think that the problem for me is not having enough upcoming Soulslikes/quality ARPGs(not involvg guns/ being sci-fi themed) that haven't been spoiled for me by the quality of FromSoftware's output and Survival Horrors that fail to match Silent Hill 2's level of excellence to play. Maybe I just have niche taste but I can't help but feel that there must be other gamers in my position, waiting 'till next year or even 2026 for games that can reach the seemingly unparalleled heights of Demon's Souls (2020) or Elden Ring